Ammianus: RES GESTAE A FINE CORNELI TACITI

1. Et hanc quidem noctem nullo siderum fulgore splendentem, ut solet in artis rebus et dubiis, exegimus, nec sedere quoquam auso nec flectere in quietem lumina prae timore. ubi vero primum dies inclaruit, radiantes loricae limbis circumdatae ferreis et corusci thoraces longe prospecti adesse regis copias indicabant.

1. And indeed we spent this night, shining with no brilliance of the stars, as is wont in strait and dubious circumstances, with no one daring to sit anywhere nor to bend his eyes into rest from fear; but when first the day grew bright, the radiant loricae, girt with iron borders, and the coruscant thoraces, seen from afar, indicated that the king’s forces were at hand.

2. hocque viso accensum properantem congredi militem dirimente fluvio brevi prohibuit imperator, et non procul a vallo ipso inter excursatores nostros et Persicos proelio acri conserto Machameus cecidit ductor unius agminis nostri. cui propugnaturus Maurus frater, dux postea Phoenices, cum germani trucidasset interfectorem, obvium quemque perterrens, infirmatus et ipse umerum telo, pallescentem morte propinqua Machameum extrahere pugna viribus valuit magnis.

2. and on seeing this, the emperor prohibited the soldier, inflamed and hastening to engage, since a short river, acting as a divider, intervened; and not far from the rampart itself, with a sharp battle joined between our skirmishers and the Persians, Machameus fell, the leader of one of our columns. To defend him, Maurus his brother, later duke of Phoenice, when he had slaughtered his brother’s killer, terrifying whoever met him, himself also weakened in the shoulder by a missile, had strength with great force to drag Machameus, paling with near death, out of the fight.

3. Et cum fatiscerent vix toleranda aestuum magnitudine crebrisque congressibus partes, ad ultimum hostiles turmae gravi sunt repulsa discussae. hinc recedentibus nobis longius Saraceni nostrorum metu peditum repedare conpulsi, paulo post innexi Persarum multitudine ocius inruebant, Romana inpedimenta rapturi, verum viso imperatore ad alas subsidiarias reverterunt:

3. And when the sides, scarcely able to endure the magnitude of the heats and the frequent engagements, were beginning to give way, at last the hostile squadrons were scattered by a heavy repulse. Thence, as we withdrew farther, the Saracens, compelled by fear of our infantry to step back, a little later, interlinked with the multitude of the Persians, were rushing in more swiftly, to snatch the Roman baggage-train; but, with the emperor seen, they returned to the subsidiary wings:

4. qua ex regione profecti ad Hucumbra nomine villam pervenimus, ubi per biduum omnibus ad usum congruis, et satietate quaesita frumenti, ultra spem recreati discessimus, et confestim absque his, quae tempus vehi permisit, reliqua flammis exusta sunt.

4. from that region we set out and arrived at a villa called Hucumbra, where for two days, with everything convenient for use, and with a satiety of grain obtained, we departed refreshed beyond hope; and immediately, apart from those things which time permitted to be carried, the rest were consumed by flames.

5. Postridie exercitu sedatius procedente, extremos, qui eo die forte cogendorum agminum officia sustinebant, nec opinantes Persae adorti negotio levi interfecissent, ni proximus equitatus noster hoc ocius intellecto per patulas valles late diffusus tantam molem discriminis, vulneratis, qui supervenerant, reppulisset.

5. On the next day, with the army proceeding more sedately, the rearmost, who on that day by chance were sustaining the duties of mustering the columns, the Persians, assailing them unexpecting, would have slain with slight trouble, if our nearest cavalry, this more swiftly perceived, widely spread through the broad valleys, had not repelled so great a mass of peril, after wounding those who had come up.

6. in hac cecidit pugna Adaces nobilis satrapa, legatus quondam ad Constantium principem missus ac benigne susceptus, cuius exuviis interfector Iuliano oblatis remuneratus est ut decebat.

6. in this battle fell Adaces, a noble satrap, once a legate sent to Constantius the emperor and benignly received; and for his spoils the slayer, having presented them to Julian, was remunerated as was seemly.

7. eodem die Tertiacorum a equestris numerus a legionibus incusatus est quod, cum ipsae hostium adversas inrumperent acies, illi paulatim dilapsi alacritatem paene totius minuissent exercitus.

7. on the same day the cavalry troop of the Tertiaci was censured by the legions because, while they themselves were bursting into the adverse battle-lines of the enemy, those men, gradually slipping away, had diminished the alacrity of almost the whole army.

8. unde ad indignationem iustam imperator erectus ademptis signis hastisque diffractis omnes eos, qui fugisse arguebantur, inter inpedimenta et sarcinas et captivos agere iter inposuit, ductore eorum, qui solus fortiter decertarat, aliae turmae adposito, cuius tribunus turpiter proelium deseruisse convincebatur.

8. whereupon the emperor, roused to just indignation, with their standards taken away and their spears broken, imposed on all those who were charged with having fled that they should make the march among the impedimenta and packs and captives, appointing over them as leader—one who alone had fought bravely—from another troop, whose tribune was proven to have disgracefully deserted the battle.

9. abiecti sunt autem sacramento etiam alii quattuor ob flagitium simile vexillationum tribuni: hoc enim correctionis moderamine leniori inpendentium consideratione difficultatum contentus est imperator.

9. moreover, four other tribunes of vexillations were also discharged from the oath on account of a similar disgrace: for with this gentler moderation of correction, in consideration of the impending difficulties, the emperor was content.

10. Progressi itaque septuaginta stadia, attenuata rermn omnium copia, herbis frumentisque crematis, ex flammis ipsis raptas fruges et pabula, ut quisque vehere potuit, conservavit.

10. Having advanced therefore seventy stadia, the supply of all things attenuated, with the grasses and the grains burned, each preserved the fruits and fodder snatched from the flames themselves, as each was able to carry.

11. hoc etiam loco relicto cum ad tractum Maranga appellatum omnis venisset exercitus, prope lucis confinia inmensa Persarum apparuit multitudo cum Merene equestris magistro militiae filiisque regis duobus et optimatibus plurimis.

11. This place too left behind, when the whole army had come to the tract called Maranga, near the confines of light there appeared an immense multitude of Persians, with Merene, the equestrian master of the soldiery, and the king’s two sons, and very many optimates.

12. erant autem omnes catervae ferratae ita per singula membra densis lamminis tectae, ut iuncturae rigentes conpagibus artuum convenirent, humanorumque vultuum simulacra ita capitibus diligenter apta, ut inbracteatis corporibus solidis ibi tantum incidentia tela possint haerere, qua per cavernas minutas et orbibus oculorum adfixas parcius visitur, vel per supremitates narium angusti spiritus emittuntur.

12. but all the cohorts were iron‑clad, so covered over each single limb with dense plates that the junctures, rigid with the couplings of the limbs, corresponded; and simulacra of human faces were so carefully fitted to their heads that, with their in‑bracteated bodies solid, only there could missiles striking find lodgment—where, through minute cavities fastened to the orbs of the eyes, one looks out more sparingly, or through the upper parts of the nostrils narrow breaths are emitted.

13. quorum pars contis dimicatura stabat immobilis, ut retinaculis aereis fixam existimares, iuxtaque sagittarii, cuius artis fiducia ab incunabulis ipsis gens praevaluit maxima, tendebant divaricatis brachiis flexiles arcus, ut nervi mammas praestringerent dexteras, spicula sinistris manibus cohaererent, summaque peritia digitorum pulsibus argutum sonantes harundines evolabant vulnera perniciosa portantes.

13. of whom a part, about to fight with pikes, stood immobile, so that you would think it fixed by bronze restraints; and next to them the archers, in the confidence of which art the nation has from its very incunabula prevailed most, were drawing with arms spread apart their flexible bows, so that the strings grazed their right breasts, the missiles clung in their left hands, and with the highest expertise, the reeds, shrilling at the pluckings of the fingers, were flying out, bearing pernicious wounds.

14. post hos elephantorum fulgentium formidandam speciem et truculentos hiatus vix mentes pavidae perferebant, ad quorum stridorem odoremque et insuetum aspectum magis equi terrebantur.

14. after these, the panic-stricken minds scarcely endured the formidable aspect of the gleaming elephants and their truculent gaping jaws, at whose shriek and odor and unaccustomed aspect the horses were more terrified.

15. quibus insidentes magistri manubriatos cultros dexteris manibus inligatos gestabant, acceptae apud Nisibin memores cladis, et si ferociens animal vires exuperasset regentis, ne reversum per suos, ut tunc acciderat, conlisam sterneret plebem, vertebram, quae caput a cervice disterminat, ictu maximo terebrabant. exploratum est enim aliquando ab Hasdrubale Hannibalis fratre ita citius vitam huius modi adimi beluarum.

15. the masters seated upon them carried hafted knives bound to their right hands, mindful of the calamity sustained at Nisibis; and, if the raging animal had overborne the strength of its controller, lest, returning through its own (as then had happened), it should strew the plebs, crushed, they would with a very great blow bore the vertebra which separates the head from the neck. For it was ascertained at one time by Hasdrubal, Hannibal’s brother, that thus the life of beasts of this kind is more quickly taken away.

16. quibus non sine magno terrore perspectis, stipatus armatarum cohortium globis cum primatibus fidentissimus imperator ut flagitabat maior vis et atrocior, lunari acie sinuatisque lateribus occursuros hosti manipulos instruebat.

16. these things having been observed not without great terror, the most confident emperor, surrounded by masses of armed cohorts together with the leading men, as a greater and more atrocious force required, was drawing up the maniples, in a lunar battle-line and with curved flanks, to meet the enemy.

17. et ne sagittariorum procursus nostrorum cuneos disiectaret, inlatis concitatius signis spiculorum impetum fregit, datoque ad decernendum sollemniter signo denseti Romani pedites confertas hostium frontes nisu protruserunt acerrimo.

17. and so that the rush of the archers might not scatter our wedges, by bringing in the standards more rapidly he broke the impetus of the darts; and, the signal for deciding the action having been given solemnly, the Roman infantry, massed, with very keen effort shoved back the packed fronts of the enemy.

18. et fervente certaminum mole, clipeorum sonitus et virorum armorumque lugubre sibilantium fragor, nihil perpetiens iam remissum, campos cruore et corporum strage contexit, effusius cadentibus Persis, quibus saepe languidis in conflictu artius pes pede conlatus graviter obsistebat, pugnare fortiter eminus consuetis et, si inclinatas suorum copias senserint, cedendo in modum imbrium pone versus directis sagittis hostes a persequendi fiducia deterrere. pulsis igitur pondere magnarum virium Parthis miles solis cursu flammeo diu lassatus, signo in receptum dato in tentoria repedat ad audenda deinceps maiora sublatus.

18. and as the mass of the combats burned hot, the sound of shields and the lugubrious crash of sibilant men and arms, now admitting of no let‑up, covered the plains with gore and a wreck of bodies, the Persians falling more profusely, against whom, often languid in close conflict, foot set tighter to foot offered heavy resistance—men accustomed to fight bravely at range and, if they sensed their own forces inclined, by yielding, turned backward, with arrows directed in the manner of showers, to deter enemies from the confidence of pursuing. Therefore, with the Parthians driven back by the weight of great forces, the soldiery, long wearied by the sun’s flamy course, when the signal for recall was given, steps back to the tents, uplifted to dare greater things thereafter.

19. In hoc proelio Persarum maior, ut dictum est, apparuit strages, nostrorum admodum levis. eminuit tamen inter varios certaminum casus Vetranionis mors viri pugnacis, qui legionem Ziannorum regebat.

19. In this battle the greater slaughter of the Persians, as has been said, was apparent, while that of our men was very slight. Yet, among the various chances of the combats, the death of Vetranion stood out—a pugnacious man, who commanded the legion of the Zianni.

1. Post quae triduo indutiis destinato, dum suo quisque vulneri medetur vel proximi, commeatibus nos destitutos inedia cruciabat iam non ferenda: et quoniam frugibus exustis et pabulis homines in discrimen ultimum venerant et iumenta, ex eo cibo, quem animalia tribunorum vehebant et comitum, imae quoque militum plebi penitus indigenti pars distributa est magna.

1. After which, with a truce appointed for three days, while each man was tending to his own wound or that of his neighbor, starvation, we being destitute of supplies, was tormenting us now no longer to be borne: and since, the grain and the fodder having been burned, both men and draft-animals had come into ultimate peril, from that food which the animals of the tribunes and of their companions were carrying, a great share was distributed even to the lowest plebs of the soldiers, utterly in want.

2. et imperator, cui non cuppediae ciborum ex regio more sed sub columellis tabernaculi parvis cenaturo, pultis portio parabatur exigua, etiam munifici fastidienda gregario, quicquid ad ministeria postulabatur, per contubernia paupertina sui securus egessit.

2. and the emperor, for whom—about to dine not on delicacies of food in royal fashion but beneath the small little-columns (tent-poles) of the tent—a meager portion of pottage was prepared, such as even a common soldier, accustomed to munificence, would disdain, whatever was required for the ministrations he had carried out through the poor tent-contubernia, unconcerned for himself.

3. ipse autem ad sollicitam suspensamque quietem paulisper protractus cum somno ut solebat depulso, ad aemulationem Caesaris Iulii quaedam sub pellibus scribens obscuro noctis altitudine sensus cuiusdam philosophi teneretur, vidit squalidius, ut confessus est proximis, speciem illam Genii publici, quam, cum ad Augustum surgeret culmen, conspexit in Galliis, velata cum capite Cornucopia per aulaea tristius discedentem.

3. but he himself, prolonged for a little while into an anxious and suspended repose, with sleep, as he was wont, driven away, writing certain things under the leathers in emulation of Julius Caesar, at the obscure height of night, when he was held by the notion of a certain philosopher, saw—in a more squalid guise, as he confessed to his closest companions—that apparition of the Public Genius which, when he was rising to the Augustan summit, he had beheld in Gaul, departing more sadly through the hangings, her head veiled and with a Cornucopia.

4. et quamquam ad momentum haesit stupore defixus, omni tamen superior metu ventura decretis caelestibus commendabat, relictoque humi strato cubili, adulta iam excitus nocte et numinibus per sacra depulsoria supplicans, flagrantissimam ffcem cadenti similem visam, aeris parte sulcata, evanuisse existimavit, horroreque perfusus est, ne ita aperte minax Martis apparuerit sidus.

4. and although for a moment he stuck, fixed in stupor, yet, superior to all fear, he was commending what was to come to the celestial decrees; and, with the couch spread on the ground left behind, roused when the night was already advanced and supplicating the divinities through depulsory sacred rites, he judged that a very blazing torch, seen as like a falling one, with a part of the air furrowed, had vanished; and he was suffused with horror, lest the star of Mars had appeared thus openly menacing.

5. Erat autem nitor igneus iste, quem diaissonta nos appellamus, nec cadens umquam nec terram contingens. corpora enim qui credit caelitus posse labi, profanus merito iudicatur et demens. fit autem hic habitus modis conpluribus, e quibus sufficiet pauca monstrare

5. Now this igneous splendor was that which we call a diaissonta, neither ever falling nor touching the earth. For whoever believes that bodies can slip from heaven is rightly judged profane and demented. Moreover, this habit/appearance arises in several modes, of which it will suffice to show a few

6. scintillas quidam putant ab aetherio candentes vigore, parumque porrectius tendere sufficientes, extingui, vel certe radiorum flammas iniectas nubibus densis acri scintillare contactu, aut cum lumen aliquod cohaeserit nubi. id enim in stellae speciem figuratum decurrit quidem dum viribus ignium sustentatur: amplitudine vero spatiorum exinanitum in aerium solvitur corpus ad substantiam migrans, cuius adtritu incaluit nimio.

6. Some suppose sparks, glowing from ethereal vigor, and, being scarcely sufficient to extend farther, to be extinguished; or certainly that the flames of rays, cast into dense clouds, scintillate at sharp contact, or when some light has cohered to a cloud. For that, fashioned into the appearance of a star, does indeed run along while it is sustained by the forces of the fires; but, emptied by the amplitude of the spaces, it is dissolved into the aerial body, migrating to the substance by whose attrition it had become excessively hot.

7. Confestim itaque ante lucis primitias Etrusci haruspices accersiti consultique, quid astri species portenderet nova, vitandum esse cautissime responderunt nequid tunc temptaretur: ex Tarquitianis libris in titulo de rebus divinis id relatum esse monstrantes, quod face in caelo visa committi proelium vel simile quicquam non oportebit.

7. Immediately, therefore, before the first beginnings of light, the Etruscan haruspices having been summoned and consulted as to what the new appearance of a star portended, they answered that it must most cautiously be avoided that anything be attempted then: showing that this had been related in the Tarquitian books under the title On Divine Matters, namely that, with a torch seen in the sky, it will not be proper to engage in battle or in anything similar.

8. quo etiam id inter alia multa spernente orabant haruspices saltem aliquot horis profectionem differri, et ne hoc quidem sunt adepti imperatore omni vaticinandi scientiae reluctante, sed exorto iam die promota sunt castra.

8. and as he, spurning this too among many other things, the haruspices were begging that the departure be deferred at least for several hours; and not even this did they obtain, the emperor resisting all the science of vaticination, but with day now risen the camp was moved forward.

III

1. Hinc nos egressos Persae cum saepe adflicti peditum stabiles pugnas horrerent, structis insidiis occulte comitabantur, altrinsecus viantes catervas a celsis collibus explorando, ut id suspicans miles ad usque perpetuum diem nec vallum erigeret nec sudibus se communiret.

1. Hence, as we went out, the Persians—since often afflicted—dreaded the steady combats of the infantry; with ambushes laid they secretly shadowed us, exploring from lofty hills the marching companies on the flanks, so that, suspecting this, the soldiery throughout the whole day would neither raise a rampart nor fortify themselves with stakes.

2. dumque teguntur firmiter latera et exercitus pro locorum situ quadratis quidem sed laxis incedit agminibus, invasa subito terga pone versus arma cogentium principi indicatur, etiam tum inermi ad speculanda anteriora progresso.

2. and while the flanks were being firmly covered, and the army, in keeping with the situation of the places, advanced in formations squared indeed but loose, it is indicated to the commander, even then unarmed, having gone forward to spy out the things in front, that the rear had been suddenly invaded by those pressing on to arms from behind.

3. qua concitus clade oblitus loricae, scuto inter tumultum adrepto, properans ultimis ferre suppetias, revocatur alio metu, qui etiam antesignanos, unde discesserat, paria perpeti nuntiabat.

3. stirred by this, in the disaster forgetful of his cuirass, with a shield snatched amid the tumult, hurrying to bring succor to the hindmost, he is called back by another alarm, which was announcing that even the vanguard, whence he had departed, were suffering the same.

4. quae dum sine respectu periculi sui redintegrare festinat, ex alia parte cataphractorum Parthicus globus centurias adoritur medias, ac sinistro cornu inclinato acriter superfusus, faetorem stridoremque elephantorum inpatienter tolerantibus nostris contis et multiplicatis missilibus decernebat.

4. which while without regard for his own peril he hastens to redintegrate, from another side a Parthian mass of cataphracts assails the middle centuries, and, the left wing inclined, having poured fiercely over them, as our men, ill-brooking the fetor and stridor of the elephants, with pikes and multiplied missiles fought it out.

5. verum principe volitante inter prima discrimina proeliorum exilivit nostra succinctior armatura, aversorumque Persarum et beluarum suffragines concidebat et dorsa.

5. but, the prince flitting about amid the first hazards of the battles, our lighter armature leaped forth, and was cutting down the hocks and the backs of the turned Persians and of the beasts.

6. quos cum Iulianus cavendi inmemor diffluxisse trepidos, elatis vociferando manibus aperte demonstrans, irasque sequentium excitans, audenter effunderet semet in pugnam, clamabant hinc inde candidati, quos disiecerat terror, ut fugientium molem tamquam ruinam male conpositi culminis declinaret, et — incertum unde — subita equestris hasta, cute brachii eius praestricta, costis perfossis haesit in ima iecoris fibra.

6. when Julian, forgetful of caution, plainly showing with upraised hands as he vociferated that the panic‑stricken had flowed apart, and arousing the wraths of the followers, boldly poured himself forth into the fight, the candidati were shouting here and there, whom terror had scattered, that he should avoid the mass of the fleeing as if the collapse of a badly composed rooftop, and — uncertain whence — a sudden cavalry spear, the skin of his arm grazed, with the ribs pierced, stuck fast in the deepest fiber of the liver.

7. quam dum avellere dextra manu conatur, acuto utrimque ferro digitorum nervos sensit excisos, et provolutus iumento praesentiumque veloci concursu relatus in castra, medicinae ministeriis fovebatur.

7. while he was trying to tear it away with his right hand, he felt the nerves of the fingers cut by steel sharp on both sides, and, rolled forward from his mount and by the swift concourse of those present carried back into the camp, he was being tended by the ministries of medicine.

8. moxque ubi lenito paulisper dolore timere desiit, magno spiritu contra exitium certans arma poscebat et equum, ut reviso proelio suorum fiduciam repararet ac videretur sui securus alienae salutis sollicitudine vehementer adstringi: eo vigore licet in negotio dispari, quo Epaminondas ille dux inclitus letaliter apud Mantiniam saucius et revectus ex acie conquirebat sollicite scutum. quod cum vidisset propius, laetior vi vulneris interiit, et qui animam intrepidus amittebat, iacturam clipei formidavit.

8. and soon, when the pain was soothed for a little while he ceased to fear, and, contending against destruction with great spirit, he demanded arms and a horse, so that, the battle being revisited, he might restore the confidence of his men, and it might be seen that, secure of his own safety, he was being powerfully constrained by concern for the safety of others: with that vigor, though in a different business, with which that renowned leader Epaminondas, lethally wounded at Mantinea and carried back from the battle-line, was anxiously searching for his shield. When he had seen it from nearer, happier, by the force of the wound he perished; and he who was losing his life undaunted feared the loss of his clipeus.

9. sed cum vires parum sufficerent voluntati sanguinisque profluvio vexaretur, mansit immobilis, ideo spe deinceps vivendi absumpta, quod percunctando Phrygiam appellari locum ubi ceciderat conperit. hic enim obiturum se praescripta audierat sorte .

9. but when his forces were scarcely sufficient for his will and he was vexed by a profluvion of blood, he remained immobile, therefore, with the hope of living thereafter consumed, because by inquiring he learned that the place where he had fallen was called Phrygia. For here he had heard that he would die by a prescribed lot .

10. reducto ad tentoria principe, incredibile dictu est, quo quantoque ardore miles ad vindictam ira et dolore ferventior involabat, hastis ad scuta concrepans, etiam mori si tulisset fors obstinatus. et quamvis offundebatur oculis altitudo pulveris, et aestus calescens officeret alacritati membrorum, tamen velut exauctoratus amisso ductore sine sui parsimonia ruebat in ferrum.

10. with the prince led back to the tents, it is incredible to say with what and how great ardor the soldiery, more fervent with wrath and pain, was rushing to vindicta, clashing spears against shields, obstinate even to die if chance should so bear. and although a lofty cloud of dust was being cast over their eyes, and the heat glowing hindered the alacrity of their limbs, yet, as if discharged by the loss of their leader, without sparing themselves they were rushing upon the steel.

11 . contra animosius :Persae sagittarum volantium crebritate conspectum sui rapiebant oppositis, quos elephanti tardius praecedentes magnitudine corporum stridorumque horrore pavorem iumentis incutiebant et viris.

11 . on the other hand, more spiritedly :The Persians, by the frequency of flying arrows, were snatching away the sight of themselves from those opposite, with screens set before them, whom the elephants, going before more slowly, by the magnitude of their bodies and the horror of their shriekings, were inspiring fear in the beasts of burden and in the men.

12. concursus itaque armatorum et cadentium gemitus, equorum flatus, tinnitus ferri procul audiebatur, quamdiu satietate vulnerum partibus fessis nox diremit certamina iam tenebrosa.

12. thus the concourse of armed men and the groans of the falling, the snorting of horses, the ringing of iron was heard from afar, until, with a satiety of wounds and the parties weary, night broke off the combats now darkened.

13. quinquaginta tum Persarum optimates et satrapae cum plebe maxima ceciderunt, inter has turbas Merena et Nohodare potissimis ducibus interfectis. obstupescat magniloquentia vetustatis diversis in locis proelia viginti Marcelli Sicinium Dentatum adiciat ornatum militarium multitudine coronarum: miretur super his Sergium, qui viciens et ter vulneratus est in variis pugnis, ut fertur, cuius posteritatis ultimus Catilina claras gloriarum adoreas sempiternis maculis obumbravit. deformabat tamen tristitia laetiores eventus.

13. Fifty then of the Persian optimates and satraps fell, together with a very great common multitude, amid which tumults Merena and Nohodare, the most outstanding leaders, were slain. Let the magniloquence of antiquity be astounded: in various places let it add to Marcellus twenty battles, to Sicinius Dentatus the military adornment with a multitude of crowns; let it admire, over and above these, Sergius, who, as it is said, was wounded twenty-three times in various fights, the last of whose posterity, Catiline, overshadowed his bright crowns of glory with everlasting stains. Yet sadness disfigured the more cheerful outcomes.

14. dum haec enim post discessum ducis ubique aguntur, exercitus cornu dextro defatigato et Anatolio interfecto, qui tunc erat officiorum magister, Sallustius praefectus actus in exitium praeceps et opera sui apparitoris ereptus, Phosphorio amisso consiliario, qui ei aderat, casu evasit et fuga: quidamque milites per multa discrimina occupato castelli vicini praesidio post diem denique tertium iungi exercitui potuerunt.

14. for while these things, after the departure of the commander, are being transacted everywhere, the right wing of the army having been exhausted and Anatolius slain, who at that time was Master of the Offices, Sallustius the Prefect, driven headlong into destruction and snatched away by the effort of his own apparitor, with Phosphorius, his counsellor who was at his side, lost, escaped by chance and by flight: and certain soldiers, through many hazards, after the garrison of a neighboring little castle had been occupied, at last on the third day were able to be joined to the army.

15. Quae dum ita aguntur, Iulianus in tabernaculo iacens circumstantes adlocutus est demissos et tristes: �advenit, o socii, nunc abeundi tempus e vita inpendio tempestivum, quam reposcenti naturae ut debitor bonae fidei redditurus exulto, non ut quidam opinantur adflictus et maerens, philosophorum sententia generali perdoctus, quantum corpore sit beatior animus, et contemplans, quotiens condicio melior a deteriore secernitur, laetandum esse potius quam dolendum. illud quoque advertens quod etiam dii caelestes quibusdam piissimis mortem tamquam summum praemium persolverunt.

15. While these things were thus being done, Julian, lying in his tent, addressed those standing around, downcast and sad: "The time has come, O comrades, now of departing from life, exceedingly seasonable; at which I exult to render it back to Nature, who demands it, as a debtor of good faith, not, as some suppose, stricken and mourning, being thoroughly taught by the general sentence of the philosophers how much happier the mind is than the body, and contemplating that, whenever the better condition is separated from the worse, there ought to be rejoicing rather than grieving. Noting this also, that even the celestial gods have paid out death to certain most pious men as the highest premium."

16. munus autem id mihi delatum optime scio, ne difficultatibus subcumberem arduis, neve me proiciam umquam aut prosternam, expertus quod dolores omnes ut insultant ignavis, ita persistentibus cedunt.

16. but I know full well that this charge has been conferred upon me, lest I should succumb to arduous difficulties, nor ever cast or prostrate myself, having learned by experience that all pains, just as they assault the cowardly, so they cede to the persistent.

17. nec me gestorum paenitet aut gravis flagitii recordatio stringit vel cum in umbra et angulis amendarer, vel post principatum susceptum: quem tamquam a cognatione caelitum defluentem inmaculatum, ut existimo, conservavi, et civilia moderatius regens et examinatis rationibus bella inferens et repellens, tametsi prosperitas simul utilitasque consultormn non ubique concordent, quoniam coeptorum eventus superae sibi vinclicant potestates.

17. nor do I repent of my deeds, nor does the recollection of any grave disgrace sting me, whether when I was kept in the shade and corners, or after the principate was undertaken: which, as though flowing down from a cognation of the celestials, I preserved, as I think, immaculate, both governing civil affairs more moderately and, the reasons examined, bringing on and repelling wars, although prosperity and the utility of counsels do not everywhere agree at the same time, since the heavenly powers claim to themselves the outcome of undertakings.

18. reputans autem iusti esse finem imperii, oboedientium commodum et salutem, ad tranquilliora semper ut nostis propensior fui, licentiam omnem actibus meis exterminans, rerum corruptricem et morum, gaudensque abeo gestiensque ubicumque me velut imperiosa parens consideratis periculis obiecit res publica, steti fundatus, turbines calcare fortuitorum adsuefactus.

18. considering moreover that the end of a just imperium is the advantage and safety of the obedient, I have always, as you know, been more inclined to the more tranquil, exterminating all license in my actions, the corrupter of affairs and of morals, and rejoicing I go forth and exulting wherever the commonwealth, like an imperious parent, with the dangers considered, has thrown me, I have stood grounded, accustomed to tread down the whirlwinds of the fortuitous.

19. nec fateri pudebit, interiturum me ferro dudum didici fide fatidica praecinente. ideoque sempiternum veneror numen quod non clandestinis insidiis nec longa morborum asperitate vel damnatorum fine decedo, sed in medio cursu florentium gloriarum hunc merui clarum e mundo digressum. aequo enim iudicio iuxta timidus est et ignavus, qui cum non oportet, mori desiderat, et qui refugiat, cum sit oportunum.

19. nor will it shame me to confess that long ago I learned, with fatidic faith fore-singing, that I would perish by iron. And so I venerate the sempiternal numen, because I do not depart by clandestine ambushes, nor by the long asperity of illnesses, nor by the condemned’s end, but in the midst of the course of flourishing glories I have deserved this bright departure from the world. For in equitable judgment, alike timid and ignoble is he who, when it is not fitting, desires to die, and he who shrinks back, when it is opportune.

20. hactenus loqui vigore virium labente sufficiet. super imperatore vero creando caute reticeo, ne per inprudentiam dignum praeteream, aut nominatum quem habilem reor, anteposito forsitan alio, in discrimen ultimum trudam. ut alumnus autem rei publicae frugi, opto bonum post me reperiri rectorem�.

20. thus far to speak will suffice, with the vigor of my powers ebbing. but concerning the emperor truly to be created, cautiously I am reticent, lest through imprudence I pass over one worthy, or, having named someone whom I judge able, with perhaps another put before him, I thrust him into the utmost peril. but as an alumnus of the Republic, upright, I wish that after me a good governor be found�.

21. Post haec placide dicta familiares opes iunctioribus velut supremo distribuens stilo, Anatolium quaesivit officiorum magistrum, quem cum beatum fuisse Sallustius respondisset praefectus, intellexit occisum acriterque amici casum ingemuit, qui elate ante contempserat suum.

21. After these things, calmly spoken, distributing his familiar wealth to the more closely joined as if by a final stylus, he asked after Anatolius, the Master of Offices; and when Sallustius the Prefect had responded that he was “blessed,” he understood he had been slain, and he keenly groaned over his friend’s mischance—he who earlier had loftily contemned his own.

22. et flentes inter haec omnes qui aderant auctoritate integra etiam tum increpabat, humile esse caelo sideribusque conciliatum lugeri principem dicens.

22. and as all who were present were weeping amid these things, with his authority still intact even then he was rebuking them, saying that it was base that a prince reconciled to heaven and to the stars be mourned.

23 quibus ideo iam silentibus ipse cum Maximo et Prisco philosophis super animorum sublimitate perplexius disputans, hiante latius suffossi lateris vulnere et spiritum tumore cohibente venarum, epota gelida aqua, quam petiit medio noctis horrore, vita facilius est absolutus anno aetatis altero et tricensimo, natus apud Constantinopolim, a pueritia usque parentis obitu destitutus Constanti, quem post fratris Constantini excessum inter conplures alios turba consumpsit imperii successorum, et Basilina matre, iam inde a maioribus nobili.

23 and so, with them therefore now silent, he himself, with Maximus and Priscus philosophers, disputing more intricately about the sublimity of souls, with the wound of his side, having been gouged, gaping more widely, and with the swelling of the veins restraining his breath, after cold water had been drunk, which he sought in the horror of midnight, he was more easily released from life in the thirty-second year of his age, born at Constantinople, from boyhood onward left bereft by the death of his parent Constantius, whom, after the departure of his brother Constantine, among several others the throng of the empire’s successors consumed, and by his mother Basilina, noble already from her ancestors.

1. Vir profecto heroicis connumerandus ingeniis, claritudine rerum et coalita maiestate conspicuus. cum enim sint, ut sapientes definiunt, virtutes quattuor praecipuae, temperantia prudentia iustitia fortitudo, eisque accedentes extrinsecus aliae, scientia rei militaris, auctoritas felicitas atque liberalitas, intento studio coluit omnes ut singulas.

1. A man indeed to be reckoned among heroic talents, conspicuous for the renown of his deeds and a coalesced majesty. For since there are, as the wise define, four principal virtues—temperance, prudence, justice, and fortitude—and in addition to these from without others accruing, the science of military affairs, authority, felicity, and liberality, with intent zeal he cultivated them all as if each were a single one.

2. Et primum ita inviolata castitate enituit ut post amissam coniugem nihil umquam venereum agitaret: illud advertens, quod apud Platonem legitur, Sophoclem tragoediarum scriptorem aetate grandaevum interrogatum ecquid adhuc feminis misceretur, negantem id adiecisse, quod gauderet harum rerum amorem ut rabiosum quendam effugisse dominum et crudelem.

2. And first he shone with such inviolate chastity that, after his spouse was lost, he never at any time pursued anything venereal: noting this, which is read in Plato, that Sophocles, the writer of tragedies, very advanced in age, when asked whether he still mingled with women, denied it, adding that he rejoiced to have escaped the love of these matters as a certain rabid and cruel master.

3. item ut hoc propositum validius confirmaret, recolebat saepe dictum lyrici Bacchylidis, quem legebat iucunde id adserentem quod ut egregius pictor vultum speciosum effingit, ita pudicitia celsius consurgentem vitam exornat. quam labem in adulto robore iuventutis ita caute vitavit, ut ne suspicione quidem tenus libidinis ullius vel citerioris vitae ministris incusaretur, ut saepe contingit.

3. Likewise, that he might more strongly confirm this resolve, he often recollected the saying of the lyric poet Bacchylides—whom he read with pleasure—asserting this: that as an excellent painter portrays a beauteous visage, so pudicity adorns a life rising more loftily. He so cautiously avoided that stain in the full-grown strength of youth that not even to the extent of suspicion was he accused of any lust, not even by the ministers of the more intimate life, as so often happens.

4. Hoc autem temperantiae genus crescebat in maius iuvante parsimonia ciborum et somni, quibus domi forisque tenacius utebatur. namque in pace victus eius mensura atque tenuitas erat recte noscentibus admiranda, velut ad pallium mox reversuri, per varios autem procinctus stans interdum more militiae cibum brevem vilemque sumere visebatur.

4. This kind of temperance, moreover, was growing into something greater, with the parsimony of food and sleep helping, of which he made more tenacious use at home and in the field. For in peace the measure and tenuity of his diet was admirable to those who recognized aright, as though about soon to return to the pallium, but through various campaigns he was seen, standing sometimes in the manner of the soldiery, to take brief and cheap food.

5. ubi vero exigua dormiendi quiete recreasset corpus laboribus induratum, expergefactus explorabat per semet ipsum vigiliarum vices et stationum, post haec serias ad artes confugiens doctrinarum.

5. when indeed, with a scant repose of sleeping, he had refreshed the body hardened by labors, awakened he used to explore by himself the turns of the vigils and the stations; after these things, he would resort for refuge to the serious arts of doctrines.

6. et si nocturna lumina, inter quae lucubrabat, potuissent voces ullae testari, profecto ostenderant inter hunc et quosdam principes multum interesse, quem norant voluptatibus ne ad necessitatem quidem indulsisse naturae .

6. and if the nocturnal lights, among which he lucubrated, could have borne any voices to bear witness, surely they would have shown that there was much difference between this man and certain princes, whom they knew not to have indulged pleasures even to the necessity of nature .

7. Dein prudentiae eius indicia fuere vel plurima, e quibus explicari sufficiet pauca. armatae rei scientissimus et togatae, civilitati admodum studens, tantum sibi adrogans quantum a contemptu et insolentia distare existimabat: virtute senior quam aetate: studiosus cognitionum omnium et indeclinabilis aliquotiens iudex: censor moribus regendis acerrimus, placidus, opum contemptor, mortalia cuncta despiciens, postremo id praedicabat, turpe esse sapienti, cum habeat animum, captare laudes ex corpore.

7. Then the indications of his prudence were very many, of which it will suffice to unfold a few. most knowing in military affairs and in the toga-clad (civil) sphere, very devoted to civility, arrogating to himself only so much as he judged to stand apart from contempt and insolence: older in virtue than in age: zealous for all inquiries and at times an unbending judge: a censor most keen for governing morals, placid, a despiser of wealth, looking down on all mortal things, finally he proclaimed this: that it is base for a sapient man, since he has an animus, to angle for lauds from the body.

8. Quibus autem iustitiae inclaruit bonis, multa significant, primo quod erat pro rerum et hominum distinctione sine crudelitate terribilis, deinde quod paucorum discrimine vitia cohibebat, tum autem quod minabatur ferro potius quam utebatur.

8. By what goods of justice he grew illustrious, many things signify: first, that he was terrible, without cruelty, for the distinction of things and of men; then, that by the punishment of a few he restrained vices; and then, that he threatened with iron rather than used it.

9. postremo ut multa praeteream, constat eum in apertos aliquos inimicos insidiatores suos ita consurrexisse mitissime, ut poenarum asperitatem genuina lenitudine castigaret.

9. finally, to pass over many things, it is agreed that he rose up against certain open enemies, his own insidiators, in the most mild manner, so that he would castigate the asperity of punishments by genuine lenitude.

10. Fortitudinem certaminum crebritas ususque bellorum ostendit et patientia frigorum inmanium et fervoris quoque. corporis munus a milite, ab imperatore vero animi poscitur. ipse trucem hostem ictu confecit audacter congressus, ac nostros cedentes obiecto pectore suo aliquotiens cohibuit solus: regnaque furentium Germanorum excindens et in pulvere vaporato Persidis augebat fiduciam militis dimicans inter primos.

10. Fortitude was shown by the frequency of combats and the use of wars, and by the patience of immense colds and of heat as well. The service of the body is required of a soldier, but of an emperor indeed that of the mind. He himself, having boldly engaged, finished off a truculent enemy with a stroke, and our men, when they were yielding, he alone several times restrained by setting his breast in their way: and, rooting out the realms of the raging Germans, and in the vapor-heated dust of Persia, he increased the soldier’s confidence, fighting among the foremost.

11. castrensium negotiorum scientiam plura declarant et nota: civitatum oppugnationes et castellorum inter ipsos discriminum vertices, acies figura multiformi conpositae, salubriter et caute castra metata, praetenturae stationesque agrariae tutis rationibus ordinatae.

11. The knowledge of camp affairs is declared by many and well-known things: the assaults of cities and the forts upon the very crests of dividing ridges, battle-lines composed in multiform configuration, camps laid out healthfully and cautiously, the forward-defenses and rural stations arranged by secure methods.

12. auctoritas adeo valuit, ut dilectus artissime, dum timetur, ac si periculorum socius et laborum et inter concertationes acerrimas animadverti iuberet in desides, et Caesar adhuc sine stipendio regeret militem feris oppositum gentibus, ut dudum est dictum; adlocutusque tumentes armatos, discessurum ad vitam minaretur privatam, ni tumultuare desisterent.

12. his authority prevailed to such a degree, that the levy, while he was feared, was carried out most strictly, as if he, a companion of dangers and of labors and amid the most sharp contestations, were ordering punishment to be inflicted upon the idle, and that Caesar, even without stipend, governed the soldiery set against savage peoples, as was said a little before; and, having addressed the swelling armed men, he threatened that he would withdraw to a private life, if they did not cease from tumultuating.

13. denique id pro multis nosse sufficiet: exhortatum eum simplici contione militem Gallicanum pruinis adsuetum et Rheno, peragratis spatiis regionum extentis per tepentem Assyriam ad usque confinia traxisse Medorum.

13. finally, this will suffice to know for many: that by a simple harangue of exhortation he drew the Gallic soldiery, accustomed to hoarfrosts and to the Rhine, after traversing stretches of regions extended through tepid Assyria, right up to the confines of the Medes.

14. Felicitas ita eminuit ut ipsis quodammodo cervicibus Fortunae aliquam diu bonae gubernatricis evectus victoriosis cursibus difficultates superstaret inmensas. et postquam ex occidua plaga digressus est, et quoad fuit in terris, quievere nationes omnes immobiles ac si quodam caduceo leniente mundana.

14. Felicity so stood out that, borne aloft in a certain way upon the very necks of Fortune, a good governatrix, for some time by a victorious career he surmounted immense difficulties. And after he departed from the occidental quarter, and so long as he was on earth, all nations were quiet, motionless, as if by a certain caduceus soothing worldly things.

15. Liberalitatis eius testimonia plurima sunt et verissima, inter quae indicta sunt tributorum admodum levia, coronarium indultum, remissa debita multa diuturnitate congesta, aequata fisci iurgia cum privatis, vectigalia civitatibus restituta cum fundis absque his, quos velut iure vendidere praeteritae potestates, quodque numquam augendae pecuniae cupidus fuit, quam cautius apud dominos servari existimabat, id aliquotiens praedicans Alexandrum Magnum, ubi haberet thesauros interrogatum, �apud amicos� benivole respondisse.

15. There are very many and most truthful testimonies of his liberality, among which were these: taxes imposed were quite light, the crown-money (coronarium) was remitted, many debts piled up through long duration were forgiven, the lawsuits of the fisc were put on an equal footing with private persons, the revenues (vectigalia) were restored to the cities together with the estates, except for those which previous authorities had, as if by right, sold; and that he was never desirous of augmenting money, which he judged to be more safely kept with the owners, declaring more than once that Alexander the Great, when asked where he kept his treasures, graciously replied, “among friends.”

16. Digestis bonis, quae scire potuimus, nunc ad explicanda eius vitia veniamus, licet dicta sint carptim. levioris ingenii, verum hoc instituto rectissimo temperabat, emendari se cum deviaret a fruge bona permittens.

16. With the good things that we were able to know having been digested, now let us come to explicating his vices, though they have been said piecemeal. He was of a rather lighter disposition, but he tempered this by a most upright principle, permitting himself to be emended when he deviated from the good fruit.

17. linguae fusioris et admodum raro silentis, praesagiorum sciscitationi nimiae deditus, ut aequiperare videretur in hac parte principem Hadrianum, superstitiosus magis quam sacrorum legitimus observator, innumeras sine parsimonia pecudes mactans, ut aestimaretur, si revertisset de Parthis, boves iam defuturos, Marci illius similis Caesaris, in quem id accipimus dictum:
hoi Boes hoi leukoi Markoi toi Kaisari chairein
an pali nikeseis, ammes apolometha.

17. of a rather more diffuse tongue and very rarely silent, devoted to an excessive inquisition of presages, so that in this part he seemed to equal the princeps Hadrian; more superstitious than a legitimate observer of sacred rites, slaughtering innumerable cattle without parsimony, so that it was estimated that, if he had returned from the Parthians, oxen would already be lacking, like that Marcus Caesar, about whom we receive this saying:
the white oxen to Marcus the Caesar, greetings
if you win again, we shall perish.

18. Vulgi plausibus laetus, laudum etiam ex minimis rebus intemperans adpetitor, popularitatis cupiditate cum indignis loqui saepe adfectans.

18. Glad at the crowd’s plaudits, an intemperate seeker of praise even from the smallest things, by a cupidity for popularity often attempting to speak with the unworthy.

19. Verum tamen cum haec essent, aestimari poterat, ut ipse aiebat, vetus illa Iustitia, quam offensam vitiis hominum Aratus extollit in caelum, eo imperante redisse rursus ad terras, ni quaedam ad arbitrium agens interdum ostenderet se dissimilem sui.

19. Yet nevertheless, although these things were so, it could be estimated, as he himself used to say, that that ancient Justice, whom Aratus, offended by the vices of men, extols to heaven, had, with him ruling, returned again to the earth, were it not that, acting in certain matters at his own arbitrium, he sometimes showed himself unlike himself.

20. namque et iura condidit non molesta, absolute quaedam iubentia fieri vel arcentia, praeter pauca. inter quae erat illud inclemens quod docere vetuit magistros rhetoricos et grammaticos Christianos, ni transissent ad numinum cultum.

20. for he also enacted laws not troublesome, and certain measures absolutely ordering things to be done or forbidding them, except a few. Among which was that unmerciful one whereby he forbade masters of rhetoric and of grammar who were Christians to teach, unless they had passed over to the worship of the divinities.

21. illud quoque itidem parum ferendum quod municipalium ordinum coetibus patiebatur iniuste quosdam adnecti vel peregrinos vel ab his consortiis privilegiis aut origine longe discretos.

21. that also likewise scarcely to be borne, that he unjustly allowed certain persons to be annexed to the assemblies of the municipal orders, either foreigners or those far separated from these consortia by privileges or by origin.

22. Figura talis utique membrorum. mediocris erat staturae, capillis perquam pexis et mollibus, hirsuta barba in acutum desinente vestitus, venustate oculorum micantium flagrans, qui mentis eius argutias indicabant, superciliis decoris et naso rectissimo ore paulo maiore, labro inferiore demisso, opima et incurva cervice, umeris vastis et latis, ab ipso capite usque unguium summitates liniamentorum recta conpage, unde viribus valebat et cursu.

22. Such, at any rate, was the figure of his limbs. He was of moderate stature, with hair very well-combed and soft, bearded with a hirsute beard ending in a point, attired, blazing with the venusty of flashing eyes, which indicated the acumen of his mind, with comely eyebrows and a very straight nose, the mouth a little larger, the lower lip drooping, an opulent and curved neck, vast and broad shoulders, from the head itself to the tips of the nails a right compacture of the lineaments, whence he was strong in strength and in running.

23. Et quoniam eum obtrectatores novos bellorum tumultus ad perniciem rei communis insimulant concitasse, sciant docente veritate perspicue, non Iulianum sed Constantinum ardores Parthicos succendisse, cum Metrodori mendaciis avidius adquiescit, ut dudum rettulimus plene:

23. And since his detractors accuse him of having stirred up new tumults of wars to the destruction of the commonwealth, let them know, truth clearly teaching, that it was not Julian but Constantine who kindled Parthian ardors, since he more eagerly acquiesced in the mendacities of Metrodorus, as we have already reported fully:

24. unde caesi ad internecionem exercitus nostri, capti militares aliquotiens numeri, urbes excisae, rapta munimenta vel diruta, provinciae gravibus inpensis exhaustae, et ad effectum tendentibus minis cuncta petebantur a Persis ad usque Bithynos et litora Propontidis.

24. whence our armies were cut down to utter destruction, military units captured repeatedly, cities razed, fortifications seized or torn down, the provinces exhausted by heavy expenses, and, with threats tending to fulfillment, everything was being demanded by the Persians as far as the Bithynians and the shores of the Propontis.

25. at in Galliis bellorum tenore gliscente, diffusis per nostra Germanis, iamque Alpibus ad vastandam Italiam perrumpendis nihil, multa et nefanda perpessis hominibus, praeter lacrimas supererat et terrores, ubi et praeteritorum recordatio erat acerba et expectatio tristior inpendentium. quae omnia iuvenis iste ad occiduam plagam specie Caesaris missus, regesque pro mancipiis agitans ignobilibus cuncta paene mira dictu celeritate correxit.

25. but in Gaul, as the tenor of wars was swelling, the Germans diffused through our lands, and now with the Alps about to be broken through to devastate Italy, nothing, for men who had suffered many and nefarious things, remained beyond tears and terrors, where both the recollection of past things was bitter and the expectation of impending things sadder. all which this youth, sent to the occidental quarter in the guise of a Caesar, and hustling kings as if ignoble chattels, corrected almost everything with a celerity marvelous to say.

26. itaque ut orientem pari studio recrearet, adortus est Persas, triumphum exinde relaturus et cognomentum, si consiliis eius et factis inlustribus decreta caelestia congruissent.

26. and so, that he might restore the East with equal zeal, he assailed the Persians, thence to bring back a triumph and a cognomen, if the celestial decrees had agreed with his counsels and illustrious deeds.

27. et cum sciamus experimento adeo quosdam ruere inprovidos, ut bella interdum victi et naufragi repetant maria, et ad difficultates redeant, quibus succubuere saepissime, sunt qui reprehendant paria repetisse principem ubique victorem.

27. and since we know by experience that some rush so improvident, that, defeated and shipwrecked, they sometimes reattempt the seas, and return to the difficulties under which they have most often succumbed, there are those who reprehend the emperor, victorious everywhere, for having repeated equal undertakings.

1. Nec fuit post haec lamentis aut fletibus locus. corpore enim curato pro copia rerum et temporis, ut, ubi ipse olim statuerat, conderetur, principio lucis secutae, quae erat quintum Kalendas Iulias, hostibus ex omni latere circumfusis, collecti duces exercitus, advocatisque legionum principiis et turmarum, super creando principe consultabant.

1. Nor after these things was there room for lamentations or for tears. For, the body having been cared for according to the supply of resources and of time, so that it might be interred where he himself had once determined, at the first light of the following day, which was the fifth day before the Kalends of July, with the enemies surrounding from every side, the gathered leaders of the army, and the leading men of the legions and of the squadrons having been called in, deliberated about creating an emperor.

2. discissique studiis turbulentis Arintheus et Victor et e palatio Constanti residui de parte sua quendam habilem scrutabantur, contra Nevitta et Dagalaifus proceresque Gallorum virum talem ex conmilitio suo quaeritabant.

2. and torn apart by turbulent partisanships, Arintheus and Victor and the remaining men from Constantius’s palace, on their own side, were scrutinizing for some suitable man; conversely Nevitta and Dagalaifus and the nobles of the Gauls were seeking such a man from their own comrades-in-arms.

3. quae dum ambiguntur, nulla variante sententia itum est voluntate omnium in Sallustium

3. while these things were being disputed, with no opinion varying, it was proceeded, by the will of all, to Sallustius.

2, eoque causante morbos et senectutem, honoratior aliquis miles advertens destinatius reluctantem �ecquid ageretis� ait �si id bellum vobis curandum commisisset absens, ut saepe factum est, imperator? nonne posthabitis ceteris militem instantibus aerumnis eriperetis? id nunc agite, et si Mesopotamiam videre licuerit, utriusque exercitus consociata suffragia legitimum principem declarabunt�.

2, and he alleging sickness and old age, a certain higher-ranking soldier, noticing him resisting more resolutely, said, �Would you do anything, if the emperor, being absent, as has often happened, had entrusted that war to you to be cared for? Would you not, with the rest set aside, rescue a soldier from pressing hardships? Do that now, and, if it is permitted to see Mesopotamia, the combined suffrages of both armies will declare a legitimate emperor�.

4. Inter has exiguas ad tantam rem moras, nondum pensatis sententiis, tumultuantibus paucis, ut in rebus extremis saepe est factum, Iovianus eligitur imperator, domesticorum ordinis primus, paternis meritis mediocriter conmendabilis. erat enim Varroniani notissimi comitis filius, haut dudum post depositum militiae munus ad tranquilliora vitae digressi.

4. Amid these slight delays for so great a matter, with opinions not yet weighed, and with a few tumultuating, as in extreme crises it has often been done, Jovian is chosen emperor, chief of the order of the Domestics, moderately commendable by his father’s merits. For he was the son of Varronianus, a most well-known count, who not long ago, after laying down the duty of soldiery, had withdrawn to the calmer pursuits of life.

5. et confestim indumentis circumdatus principalibus, subitoque productus e tabernaculo per agmina iam discurrebat proficisci parantia.

5. and at once clothed in imperial garments, and suddenly brought forth from the tent, he was already running through the ranks preparing to set out.

6. et quoniam acies ad usque lapidem quartum porrigebatur, antesignani clamare quosdam Iovianum audientes Augustum, eadem multo maius sonabant: gentilitate enim prope perciti nominis, quod una littera

6. and since the battle-line was extended as far as the fourth milestone, the front-rankers (antesignani) began to shout; some, on hearing “Jovian,” cried “Augustus,” and the same cries resounded much more loudly: for they were almost stirred by the clan-name of the name, which by a single letter

6 discernebat, Iulianum recreatum arbitrati sunt deduci magnis favoribus ut solebat. verum cum incurvus ille visus et longior adventaret, suspicati quod acciderat in lacrimas effusi sunt omnes et luctum.

6 distinguished it, they supposed that Julian, restored, was being led forth with great favor as he was wont. But when that man, appearing stooped and taller, was approaching, suspecting what had occurred, all burst into tears and mourning.

7. quod si gravis quidam aequitatis spectator in ultimo rerum spiritu factum criminatur inprovide, nauticos idem iustius incusabit, amisso perito navigandi magistro, saevientibus flabris et mari, quod clavos regendae navis cuilibet periculi socio conmiserunt.

7. but if some grave spectator of equity, in the last breath of affairs, indicts the deed as improvident, he will with more justice blame the sailors, the skilled master of navigating having been lost, while blasts and the sea were raging, because they entrusted the helm for steering the ship to any associate in peril.

8. his ita caeco quodam iudicio fortunae peractis, Iovianorum signifer, quos Varronianus rexerat dudum, cum novo dissidens principe etiam tum privato, ut patris eius obtrectator molestus, periculum ex inimico metuens iam communia supergresso, discessit ad Persas, ac data dicendi copia quae sciret, docet Saporem iam propinquantem, extincto quem verebatur, turbine concitato calonum ad umbram imperii Iovianum adhuc protectorem adscitum, inertem quendam et mollem. hoc ille audito, quod semper trepidis votis expetebat et inopina prosperitate elatus, multitudine ex regio equitatu adiuncta his, qui dimicavere nobiscum, celeri disposuit gradu agminis nostri invadi terga postremi.

8. these things thus completed by a certain blind judgment of Fortune, the standard-bearer of the Ioviani, whom Varronianus had long governed, being at odds with the new princeps, who even then had been a private citizen, as a troublesome detractor of his father, fearing danger from an enemy who had already overstepped the common bounds, departed to the Persians; and, the opportunity of speaking having been granted, he informs Sapor, already drawing near, that the one he feared had been extinguished, and that, a whirlwind of the calones (camp-followers) having been stirred up, Jovian, still a protector, had been admitted to the shadow of the empire, a certain inert and soft man. on hearing this—which he had always sought with trembling vows—and lifted by unlooked-for prosperity, with a multitude from the royal cavalry added to those who had fought with us, he arranged at a swift pace that the backs of the hindmost of our column be assailed.

1. Quae dum ultro citroque ordinantur, hostiis pro Ioviano extisque inspectis, pronuntiatum est eum omnia perditurum, si intra vallum remansisset ut cogitabat, superiorem vero fore profectum.

1. While these things were being arranged to and fro, with sacrificial victims for Jovian and the entrails inspected, it was pronounced that he would lose all, if he remained within the rampart as he was thinking, but that he would be superior upon setting forth.

2. proinde egredi iam coeptantes adoriuntur nos elephantis praeviis Persae, ad quorum fremitum accessumque terribilem equis inter initia turbatis et viris, Ioviani et Herculiani occisis beluis paucis, cataphractis equitibus acriter restiterunt.

2. therefore, as we were now beginning to go out, the Persians attack us with elephants in front, at whose roaring and terrible approach, with the horses and the men thrown into confusion at the outset, the Jovians and the Herculians, a few beasts having been slain, stoutly resisted the cataphract horsemen.

3. dein legiones Ioviorum atque Victorum laborantibus suis ferentes auxilium, elephantos duo straverunt cum hostium plebe non parva, et in laevo proelio viri periere fortissimi, Iulianus et Macrobius et Maximus legionum tribuni, quae tunc primas exercitus obtinebant.

3. then the legions of the Iovii and the Victores, bringing aid to their comrades who were laboring, struck down two elephants along with no small common multitude of the enemy, and on the left wing of the battle very brave men perished, Julianus and Macrobius and Maximus, tribunes of the legions, which then held the foremost rank of the army.

4. hisque sepultis ut rerum angustiae permiserunt, prope confinia noctis cum ad castellum Sumere nomine citis passibus tenderemus, iacens Anatolii corpus est agnitum quod tumultuaria opera terrae mandatum est. hic et milites sexaginta cum palatinis recepimus, quos in munimentum vacuum coxfugisse rettulimus.

4. and with these buried as the constraints of circumstances permitted, near the confines of night, when we were making for the castellum by name Sumere with quick steps, the body of Anatolius, lying there, was recognized, which by a makeshift operation was committed to the earth. Here too we received sixty soldiers together with Palatines, whom we reported had fled for refuge into an empty fortification.

5. Secuto deinde die pro captu locorum reperta in valle castra ponuntur, velut murali ambitu circumclausa, praeter unum exitum eundemque patentem, undique in modum mucronum praeacutis sudibus fixis.

5. Then, the following day, a camp is pitched in a valley that was found, according to the capacity of the terrain, enclosed as if by a mural circuit, save for one exit—and that open—with very sharp stakes fixed on all sides in the manner of sword-points.

6. hocque viso e saltibus nos hostes diversitate telorum et verbis turpibus incessebant ut perfidos et lectissimi principis peremptores: audierant enim ipsi quoque referentibus transfugis, rumore iactato incerto, Iulianum telo cecidisse Romano.

6. and with this seen, out of the woodlands the enemies assailed us with a diversity of missiles and with foul words, as perfidious men and slayers of a most select prince: for they too had heard, with deserters reporting, an uncertain rumor bandied about, that Julian had fallen by a Roman weapon.

7. ausi denique inter haec equitum cunei, porta perrupta praetoria, prope ipsum tabernaculum principis advenire, occisis multis suorum et vulneratis vi repulsi sunt magna.

7. finally, amid these things, wedges of cavalry, the praetorian gate having been broken through, dared to come near the very tent of the princeps; but they were driven back by great force, many of their own having been slain and wounded.

8. Egressi exinde proxima nocte Charcham occupavimus locum, ideo tuti, quod riparum aggeribus humana manu structis, ne Saraceni deinceps Assyriam persultarent, nostrorum agmina nullus ut ante vexabat.

8. Having set out from there on the next night, we occupied the place Charcha, safe for this reason, that with embankments of the banks constructed by human hand, lest the Saracens thereafter leap across into Assyria, no one, as before, was harassing the columns of our men.

9. cumque his Kalendis Iuliis stadiis triginta confectis, civitatem nomine Duram adventaremus, fatigatis iumentis, vectores eorum novissimi pedibus incedentes, a Saracena multitudine circumsaepti protinus interissent, ni expeditiores turmae nostrorum opem laborantibus attulissent.

9. and when on these Kalends of July, with thirty stadia completed, we were approaching a city by the name Dura, the beasts of burden being fatigued, their riders, the hindmost, proceeding on foot, having been surrounded by a Saracen multitude, would straightway have perished, if swifter squadrons of our men had not brought help to those in distress.

10. hos autem Saracenos ideo patiebamur infestos, quod salaria muneraque plurima a Iuliano ad similitudinem praeteriti temporis accipere vetiti, questique apud eum, solum audierant, imperatorem bellicosum et vigilantem ferrum habere, non aurum.

10. we endured these Saracens as hostile for this reason, that, forbidden by Julian to receive salaries and very many munera in the similitude of past time, and having complained before him, they had only heard that the emperor, warlike and vigilant, had iron, not gold.

11. in hoc loco Persarum obstinatione tritum est quadriduum. nam progredientes nos sequebantur crebris lacessitionibus retrahentes, et cum staremus ut pugnaturi, gradum sensim referentes, moris diuturnis excruciabant. iamque, ut solent extrema metuentibus etiam ficta placere, fama circumlata fines haut procul limitum esse nostrorum, exercitus vociferans inmodeste dari sibi copiam transeundi Tigridis flagitabat.

11. in this place, by the obstinacy of the Persians, four days were worn away; for as we advanced they followed us, drawing us back with frequent provocations, and when we stood as if about to fight, gradually drawing back their step, they tormented us with their long-standing delays. And now, as even things feigned are wont to please those who fear the worst, a rumor circulated that the borders of our frontier were not far off, and the army, vociferating immoderately, kept demanding that permission be given them to cross the Tigris.

12. quibus oppositus cum rectoribus imperator, tumentemque iam canis exortu sideris amnem ostendens, ne se periculosis committerent gurgitibus exorabat, nandi inperitos adserens esse conplures, simulque adiciens hostiles manus hinc inde margines superfusi fluminis occupasse.

12. to whom the emperor, set in opposition with the commanders, pointing out the river now swelling at the rising of the Dog-star, was beseeching them not to commit themselves to perilous currents, asserting that many were unskilled at swimming, and at the same time adding that hostile bands had occupied, on this side and that, the banks of the overflowed river.

13. sed cum haec saepe congeminando refragaretur in cassum, milesque conclamans magno contentionis fragore minaretur extrema, id impetratur aegerrime, ut mixti cum arctois Germanis Galli amnem primi omnium penetrarent, ut his magnitudine fluentorum abreptis residuorum pertinacia frangeretur, aut si id perfecissent innocui, transitus fidentior temptaretur.

13. but when, by often reiterating these things, he opposed in vain, and the soldiery, shouting with a great din of contention, threatened the worst, this was obtained with the greatest difficulty: that, mixed with the arctic Germans, the Gauls should be the first of all to penetrate the river, so that, these being swept away by the magnitude of the currents, the pertinacity of the rest might be broken; or, if they accomplished this unharmed, the crossing would be attempted more confidently.

14. electique sunt ad id negotium habiles, qui maxima prae ceteris flumina transmeare in regionibus genuinis a prima pueritia sunt instituti, et cum latendi copiam nocturna quies daret, tamquam e transenna simul emissi, spe citius ripas occupavere contrarias, Persarumque conculcatis pluribus et truncatis, quos loca servare dispositos securitas placido vinxerat somno, efficacis audaciae signum elatis manibus contortisque sagulis ostendebant.

14. and men fit for that task were chosen, who in their native regions had been trained from earliest boyhood to cross the greatest rivers before the rest; and when nocturnal quiet gave the opportunity for hiding, as if released all at once from a drag-net, they, in hope, more swiftly seized the opposite banks, and, with many of the Persians—who had been posted to guard the positions, but whom a sense of security had bound in placid sleep—trampled down and hewn, they were displaying, with hands raised and cloaks whirled, a token of efficacious audacity.

15. hoc longe conspecto ardens ad transitum miles ea mora tantum modo tenebatur quod utribus e caesorum animalium coriis coagmentare pontes architecti promittebant.

15. this having been seen from afar, the soldiery, burning for the crossing, was held back only by this delay: that the engineers were promising to piece together bridges with water-skins from the hides of slaughtered animals.

VII

1. Quae dum vanis conatibus agitantur, rex Sapor et procul absens et cum prope venisset, exploratorum perfugarumque veris vocibus docebatur fortia facta nostrorum, foedas suorum strages et elephantos, quot numquam rex ante meminerat, interfectos, exercitumque Romanum continuis laboribus induratum post casum gloriosi rectoris non saluti suae, ut memorabat, consulere sed vindictae, difficultatemque rerum instantium aut victoria summa aut morte memorabili finiturum.

1. While these things are being stirred with vain endeavors, king Shapur, both when far off and when he had come near, was being informed by the true voices of scouts and deserters of the brave deeds of our men, the foul slaughters of his own, and that elephants, in a number such as the king had never before remembered, had been killed; and that the Roman army, hardened by continuous labors, after the fall of its glorious leader, was consulting not for its own safety, as he kept saying, but for vengeance, and would end the difficulty of the pressing affairs either with supreme victory or with a memorable death.

2. ob quae reputabat multa et formidanda: diffusum abunde militem per provincias levi tessera colligi posse, expertus et sciens populum suum post amissam maximam plebem ultimis terroribus deformatum, simul conperiens in Mesopotamia relictum haut multo minorem exercitum.

2. on account of which he was considering many and formidable things: that the soldiery, diffused abundantly through the provinces, could be collected by a light tessera (watchword), having experienced and knowing that his people, after the loss of the very great populace, had been disfigured by utmost terrors, at the same time learning that in Mesopotamia there had been left a not much smaller army.

3. quae super omnia hebetarunt eius anxiam mentem uno parique natatu quingenti viri transgressi tumidum flumen incolumes, custodibusque confossis, reliquos consortes suos ad similem fiduciam concitantes.

3. which, above all, dulled his anxious mind: with one and equal swim five hundred men crossed the swollen river unscathed, and, the guards run through, were inciting their remaining companions to similar confidence.

4. Haec inter cum neque pontes conpaginari paterentur undae torrentes, et absumptis omnibus quae mandi poterant utilibus, exacto miserabiliter biduo, furebat inedia iraque percitus miles, ferro properans quam fame ignavissimo genere mortis absumi.

4. Meanwhile, since the torrenting waves did not allow bridges to be joined together, and, with all useful things that could be chewed consumed, with a pitiably completed two-day period having elapsed, the soldier raged, struck by hunger and anger, hastening to be consumed by steel rather than by hunger, the most cowardly kind of death.

5. Erat tamen pro nobis aeternum dei caelestis numen, et Persae, praeter sperata priores, super fundanda pace oratores Surenam et optimatetm alium mittunt, animos ipsi quoque despondentes, quos omnibus paene proeliis pars Romana superior gravius quassabat in dies.

5. Nevertheless, on our side was the eternal numen of the heavenly God, and the Persians, earlier than had been hoped, send as envoys, on the establishing of peace, Surena and another noble, themselves too losing heart, spirits which the Roman side, superior in almost all battles, was shaking more grievously day by day.

6. condiciones autem ferebant difliciles et perplexas, fingentes humanorum respectu reliquias excrcitus redire sinere clementissimum regem, quae iubet si impleverit cum primatibus Caesar.

6. but they were bringing conditions difficult and perplexed, feigning that, out of regard for human beings, the most clement king would allow the remnants of the army to return, the things which he bids, if Caesar shall have fulfilled them with the chief men.

7. Contra hos cum Sallustio praefecto mittitur Arintheus, et dum deliberatur examinatius quid fieri deberet, dies quattuor sunt evoluti inedia cruciabiles et omni supplicio tristiores.

7. Against these, with Sallustius the Prefect, Arintheus is sent, and while it was being deliberated more exactly what ought to be done, four days elapsed, excruciating with inanition and more grievous than any punishment.

8. quo temporis spatio antequam hi mitterentur, si exabusus princeps paulatim terris hostilibus excessisset, profecto venisset ad praesidia Corduenae, uberis regionis et nostrae, ex eo loco, in quo haec agebantur, centesimo lapide disparatae.

8. in which span of time before these men were sent, if the prince, after reconsideration, had gradually withdrawn from hostile lands, he would certainly have come to the garrisons of Corduena, of a fertile region and ours, from that place in which these things were being transacted, separated by the hundredth milestone.

9. Petebat autem rex obstinatius, ut ipse aiebat, sua dudum a Maximiano erepta, ut docebat autem negotium pro redemptione nostra quinque regiones Transtigritanas: Arzanenam et Moxoenam et Zabdicenam itidemque Rehimenam et Corduenam cum castellis quindecim et Nisibin et Singaram et Castra Maurorum, munimentum perquam oportunum.

9. He was demanding, moreover, more obstinately—as he himself said—his property long since snatched away by Maximianus; but, as the negotiation showed, for our redemption the five Trans-Tigridian regions: Arzanene and Moxoene and Zabdicene, likewise Rehimene and Corduene with fifteen forts, and Nisibis and Singara and the Camp of the Moors, a fortification most opportune.

10. et cum pugnari deciens expediret, ne horum quicquam dederetur, adulatorum globus instabat timido principi, Procopii metuendum subserens nomen, eumque adfirmans, nisi rediret, cognito Iuliani interitu cum intacto milite, quem regebat, novas res nullo renitente facile moliturum.

10. and although it would have been expedient ten times over to fight, so that none of these things be surrendered, a crowd of flatterers was pressing upon the timid prince, insinuating the fearsome name of Procopius, and affirming that he, unless he returned, once the death of Julian was known, with the untouched soldiery which he commanded, would easily engineer a revolution with no one resisting.

11. hac perniciosa verborum ille adsiduitate nimia succensus, sine cunctatione tradidit omnia quae petebantur, difficile hoc adeptus ut Nisibis et Singara sine incolis transirent in iura Persarum, a munimentis vero alienandis reverti ad nostra praesidia Romani permitterentur.

11. inflamed by this pernicious, excessive assiduity of words, without hesitation he surrendered everything that was being demanded, with difficulty obtaining this: that Nisibis and Singara should pass without inhabitants into the jurisdiction of the Persians, but that, from the fortifications being alienated, the Romans be permitted to return to our garrisons.

12. quibus exitiale aliud accessit et inpium, ne post haec ita conposita Arsaci poscenti contra Persas ferretur auxilium, amico nobis semper et fido. quod ratione gemina cogitatum est, ut puniretur homo, qui Chiliocomum mandatu vastaverat principis, et remaneret occasio, per quam subinde licenter invaderetur Armenia. unde postea contigit ut vivus caperetur idem Arsaces, et Armeniae maximum latus Medis conterminans, et Artaxata inter dissensiones et turbamenta raperent Parthi.

12. to which another thing was added, deadly and impious, that after these things thus arranged aid should not be brought to Arsaces, requesting it against the Persians, ever our friend and faithful. which was thought out on a twin rationale, namely that the man who had ravaged Chiliocomum at the mandate of the prince be punished, and that an occasion remain, by which Armenia might from time to time be licentiously invaded. whence afterwards it befell that the same Arsaces was captured alive , and the greatest flank of Armenia, conterminous with the Medes , and that Artaxata, amid dissensions and disturbances, was snatched by the Parthians.

13. Quo ignobili decreto firmato, nequid committeretur per indutias contrarium pactis, obsidatus specie viri celebres altrinsecus dantur Nemota et Victor ex parte nostrorum et Bellovaedius, insignium numerorum tribuni, ex parte vero diversa Bineses e numero nobilium optimatum, tresque alii satrapae non obscuri. I

13. With this ignoble decree ratified, lest anything be committed during the truce contrary to the pacts, renowned men are given in the guise of hostages on either side: Nemota and Victor from our side, and Bellovaedius, tribunes of distinguished numeri (units); and on the opposite side, Bineses from the number of the noble Optimates, and three other satraps not obscure. 1

4. foederata itaque pace annorum triginta, eaque iuris iurandi religionibus consecrata, reversi itineribus aliis, quoniam loca contigua flumini ut confragosa vitabantur et aspera, potus inopia premebamur et cibi.

4. therefore, a federated peace of thirty years, and this consecrated by the religions of oath‑taking, we returned by other routes, since the places contiguous to the river were avoided as broken and rough, we were pressed by a lack of drink and of food.

VIII

1. Et pax specie humanitatis indulta in perniciem est versa multorum, qui fame ad usque spiritum lacerati postremum, ideoque latenter progressi, aut inperitia nandi gurgite fluminis absorbebantur, aut si undarum vi superata venirent ad ripas, rapti a Saracenis vel Persis, quos, ut diximus paulo ante, exturbavere Germani, cadebantur ut pecora vel longius amendati sunt venundandi.

1. And the peace, granted under the appearance of humanity, was turned into the ruin of many, who, torn by hunger to the very last breath, and therefore having slipped forward secretly, were either, through inexperience of swimming, absorbed in the river’s whirl, or, if with the force of the waves overcome they came to the banks, seized by Saracens or Persians—whom, as we said a little before, the Germans had driven out—were slaughtered like cattle or carried farther away to be sold.

2. ubi vero transeundi amnis aperte signum dedere buccinae concrepantes, inmane quo quantoque ardore temere rapiendo momenta periculorum semet quisque reliquis omnibus anteponens, vitare multa et terribilia festinabat, et pars cratibus temere textis iumenta retinentes hinc inde natantia, alii supersidentes utribus, quidam diversa in necessitatis abrupto versantes undarum occursantium fluctus obliquis meatibus penetrabant.

2. but when, in truth, for the crossing of the river the blaring trumpets openly gave the signal, with monstrous—what and how great—ardor, in rashly snatching at the moments of dangers, each one, placing himself before all the rest, was hastening to avoid many and terrible things, and part, with hurdles hastily woven, holding the beasts of burden swimming on this side and that, others sitting atop skin-bottles, some, turning diverse contrivances on the brink of necessity, were penetrating the billows of the onrushing waves by oblique courses.

3. imperator ipse brevibus lembis, quos post exustam classem docuimus remansisse, cum paucis transvectus eadem navigia ultro citroque discurrere statuit dum omnes conveheremur. tandemque universi praeter mersos ad ulteriores venimus margines, favore superi numinis discrimine per difficiles casus extracti.

3. the emperor himself, in short lembi (skiffs), which we have shown to have remained after the fleet was burned, having been conveyed across with a few, decided that the same vessels should run to and fro while we were all being ferried over. and at length we all, except those drowned, came to the farther margins, by the favor of the supernal divinity, drawn out of peril through difficult chances.

4. Dum nos inpendentium aerumnarum opprimit timor, conpertum est procursatorum indicio, Persas pontem iungere procul e nostro conspectu, ut post firmatam pacem et foedera, sopitis belli turbinibus incuriosius gradientes aegros et animalia peterent diu defatigata, verum cum se proditos advertissent, a conatu nefario destiterunt.

4. While the fear of impending hardships oppresses us, it was ascertained by the report of the scouts that the Persians were joining a bridge far from our sight, in order that, after peace and treaties had been made firm, with the whirlwinds of war lulled, they might target, as we went more carelessly, the sick and the beasts long worn out; but when they noticed themselves betrayed, they desisted from the nefarious attempt.

5. hac etiam suspicione iam liberi properantesque itineribus magnis prope Hatram venimus, vetus oppidum in media solitudine positum, olimque desertum, quod eruendum adorti temporibus variis Traianus et Severus principes bellicosi cum exercitibus paene deleti sunt, ut in eorum actibus has quoque digessimus partes.

5. Freed now also from this suspicion and hastening by great marches, we came near Hatra, an old town set in the middle of a solitude, and once abandoned, which Trajan and Severus, bellicose princes, having assailed to raze at various times, with their armies were almost destroyed, as in their acts we have likewise set forth these parts.

6. unde cognito per porrectam planitiem ad usque lapidem septuagensimum in regionibus aridis nec aquam inveniri posse praeter salsam at faetidam, nec ad victum aliquid nisi abrotonum et absinthium et dracontium, aliaque herbarum genera tristissima; vasa quae portabantur aquis impleta sunt dulcibus, et mactatis camelis iumentisque aliis alimenta quaesita sunt licet noxia.

6. whence, when it was learned that across the outstretched plain as far as the 70th milestone in arid regions neither water could be found except salty and fetid, nor anything for sustenance except abrotonum and absinthium and dracontium, and other most wretched kinds of herbs; the vessels which were being carried were filled with fresh waters, and, the camels and other beasts of burden having been slaughtered, provisions were sought, although harmful.

7. Et via sex dierum emensa, cum ne gramina quidem invenirentur, solacia necessitatis extremae, dux Mesopotamiae Cassianus et tribunus Mauricius pridem ob hoc missus ad Vr nomine Persicum venere castellum, cibos ferentes ex his quos relictus cum Procopio et Sebastiano exercitus parcius victitans conservarat.

7. And, a journey of six days having been traversed, when not even grasses, the solace of extreme necessity, were found, the dux of Mesopotamia, Cassianus, and the tribune Mauricius, previously sent for this, came to a Persian fort named Ur, bringing foods from those which the army, left behind with Procopius and Sebastianus and subsisting more sparingly, had conserved.

8. hinc Procopius alter notarius et Memoridus militaris tribunus ad tractus Illyricos mittuntur et Galliarum, nuntiaturi Iuliani mortem et Iovianum post eius obitum ad culmen augustum evectum.

8. from here Procopius, another notary, and Memoridus, a military tribune, are sent to the Illyrian tracts and of Gaul, to announce the death of Julian and that Jovian, after his decease, had been raised to the august summit.

9. quibus mandaverat princeps ut Lucillianum socerum suum post depositum militiae munus digressum ad otium, morantemque eo tempore apud Sirmium, oblatis magisterii equitum et peditum codicillis, quos isdem tradiderat, properare Mediolanum urgerent, res firmaturum ancipites, et, quod magis metuebatur, si casus novi quidam exsurgerent opponendum.

9. to whom the prince had mandated that they urge Lucillianus, his father-in-law, after the military office had been laid down, having withdrawn to leisure, and lingering at that time at Sirmium, with the codicils of the magistery of the cavalry and the infantry having been offered, which he had handed over to these same men, to hasten to Mediolanum, to strengthen the dubious affairs, and, what was more feared, to be opposed if certain new cases should arise.

10. quibus secretiores addiderat litteras, Lucillianum itidem monens, ut quosdam lectos exploratae industriae fideique duceret secum, adminiculis eorum usurus pro incidentium captu negotiorum.

10. to whom he had added more confidential letters, likewise admonishing Lucillianus, that he should take with him certain chosen men of proven industry and faith, intending to use their adminicles according to the measure of the incidents of the arising affairs.

11. prudentique consilio Malarichum ex familiaribus negotiis, agentem etiam tum in Italia, missis insignibus Iovino iussit succedere armorum magistro per Gallias, gemina utilitate praespeculata, ut et dux meriti celsioris ideoque suspectus abiret e medio, et homo inferioris spei ad sublimiora provectus auctoris sui nutantem adhuc statum studio fundaret ingenti.

11. and by prudent counsel he ordered Malarichus, from familiar/household affairs, acting even then in Italy, the insignia having been sent, to succeed Jovinus as Master of Arms for the Gauls, with a twin utility pre‑speculated: that both a leader of loftier merit and therefore suspected would be removed out of the midst, and that a man of lower hope, advanced to more sublime things, would by immense zeal make firm his patron’s still wavering state.

12. iussum est autem ad implenda haec perrecturis extollere seriem gestorum in melius, et rumores quaqua irent verbis diffundere concinentibus, procinctum Parthicum exitu prospero terminatum, additisque festinando itineri noctibus, provinciarum militiaeque rectoribus insinuare novi principis scripta, omniumque sententiis occultius sciscitatis remeare velociter cum responsis, ut conperto quid in longinquis agatur, principatus corroborandi matura consilia quaerantur et cauta.

12. moreover it was ordered to those who were going to proceed to accomplish these things to extol the series of deeds into a better light, and to diffuse rumors wherever they went with consonant words, that the Parthian campaign had been terminated with a prosperous outcome, and, by adding nights to hasten the journey, to insinuate the writings of the new princeps to the rectors of the provinces and of the military, and, the opinions of all having been more secretly inquired into, to return swiftly with answers, so that once it was ascertained what was being done in distant parts, mature and cautious counsels for strengthening the principate might be sought.

13. Hos tabellarios fama praegrediens, index tristiorum casuum velocissima, per provincias volitabat et gentes, maximeque omnium Nisibenos acerbo dolore perculsit, cum urbem Sapori deditam conperissent, cuius iram metuebant et simultates, recolentes quae adsidue pertulerit funera, eam saepius oppugnare conatus.

13. These couriers a rumor going before, the swiftest index of sadder mishaps, was flitting through provinces and peoples, and most of all it struck the Nisibenes with bitter grief, when they learned that the city had been surrendered to Shapur, whose wrath and hostilities they feared, recalling the slaughters which he had assiduously inflicted, having more than once tried to besiege it.

14. constabat enim orbem eoum in dicionem potuisse transire Persidis, nisi haec civitas habili situ et moenium magnitudine restitisset. miseri tamen licet maiore venturi pavore constringerentur, spe tamen sustentari potuerunt exigua, hac scilicet, quod velut suopte motu vel exoratus eorum precibus imperator eodem statu retinebit urbem, orientis firmissimum claustrum.

14. it was established indeed that the eastern orb could have passed into the dominion of Persia, had not this city, by the apt situation and by the magnitude of its walls, resisted. the wretched, however, although they were constrained by a greater fear of what was to come, nevertheless could be sustained by a slight hope, this namely: that the emperor, as if by his own motion or entreated by their prayers, will keep the city in the same condition, the firmest bolt of the East.

15. Dum gestorum seriem ubique rumores diffunditant varii, in exercitu absumptis commeatibus paucis, quos advectos praediximus, in corpore sua necessitas erat humana vertenda, ni iumentorum caro caesorum aliquatenus perdurasset, unde effectum est, ut et armorum pleraque proicerentur et sarcinarum. adeo enim atroci tabuimus fame, ut, si usquam modius unus farinae fuisset repertus, quod raro contigerat, aureis decem mutaretur ut minus.

15. While various rumors were diffusing everywhere the sequence of the deeds, in the army, the few supplies consumed, which we have said were brought in, necessity would have had to be turned upon human flesh—our own bodies—if the flesh of the slaughtered beasts of burden had not lasted somewhat; whence it came about that most of the arms and of the baggage were thrown away. For we were wasting away with so atrocious a famine, that, if anywhere a single modius of flour had been found—which rarely befell—it was exchanged for not less than 10 aurei.

16. Profecti exinde Thilsaphata venimus, ubi Sebastianus atque Procopius cum tribunis principiisque militum sibi ad tuendam Mesopotamiam commissorum, ut poscebat sollemnitas, occurrerunt. et sequebantur benigne suscepti.

16. Setting out from there we came to Thilsaphata, where Sebastianus and Procopius, with the tribunes and the principal men of the soldiers committed to them for the guarding of Mesopotamia, as the solemnity required, came to meet us. And, kindly received, they followed.

17. post quae itinere festinato, Nisibi cupide visa, extra urbem stativa castra posuit princeps, rogatusque enixe precante multiplici plebe, ut ingressus palatium more succederet principum, pertinaciter reluctatus est, erubescens agente se intra muros, urbem inexpugnabilem iratis hostibus tradi.

17. after which, with the journey hastened, Nisibis eagerly sighted, outside the city the emperor placed a standing camp, and, having been earnestly asked, with the manifold plebs pleading, that, entering the palace, he should succeed in the custom of princes, he stubbornly resisted, blushing that, with himself acting within the walls, a city impregnable was being handed over to wrathful enemies.

18. ibi tunc vespera tenebrante raptus a cena Iovianus primus inter notarios omnes, quem in obsidione civitatis Maiozamalchae per cuniculum docuimus evasisse cum aliis, ductusque ad devium locum et praeceps actus in puteum siccum obrutus est saxorum multitudine superiacta, hanc profecto ob causam quod Iuliano perempto ipse quoque nominatus a paucis ut imperio dignus nec post creatum Iovianum egit modeste, sed susurrans super negotio quaedam audiebatur, invitabatque ad convivia subinde militares.

18. there then, with evening darkening, Jovianus, first among all the notaries, snatched from dinner—whom, in the siege of the city Maiozamalcha, we have related to have escaped through a tunnel with others—was led to a secluded place and, driven headlong into a dry well, was buried by a multitude of stones thrown on top; indeed for this reason, that, Julian having been slain, he too was named by a few as worthy of the empire, and after Jovian had been created he did not act modestly, but was heard whispering certain things about the affair, and he kept inviting soldiers to banquets.

1. Postridie Bineses, unus ex Persis, quem inter alios excellere diximus, mandata regis conplere festinans, promissa flagitabat instanter, et principe permittente Romano, civitatem ingressus, gentis suae signum ab arce extulit, submigrationem e patria civibus nuntians luctuosam.

1. On the next day Bineses, one of the Persians, whom we have said excelled among others, hastening to fulfill the king’s mandates, was urgently demanding the promises, and the Roman emperor permitting, having entered the city, he raised the ensign of his nation from the citadel, announcing to the citizens a mournful migration out of the fatherland.

2. et vertere solum extemplo omnes praecepti, manusque tendentes orabant ne inponeretur sibi necessitas abscedendi, ad defendendos penates se solos sufficere sine adiumentis publicis adfirmantes et milite, satis confisi adfuturam iustitiam pro genitali sede dimicaturis, ut experti sunt saepe. et haec quidem suppliciter ordo et populus precabatur sed ventis loquebantur in cassum imperatore, ut fingebat alia metuens, periurii piacula declinante.

2. and all, having been ordered, immediately to change their native soil, and stretching out their hands they were begging that the necessity of departing not be imposed upon them, affirming that they alone sufficed to defend their Penates without public aids and soldiery, quite confident that Justice would be present for those about to fight for their native seat, as they had often experienced. and these things indeed the order and the people were beseeching suppliantly, but they were speaking to the winds in vain, the emperor, as he was feigning, fearing other things, avoiding the expiations of perjury.

3. tum Sabinus fortuna et genere inter municipes clarus ore volubili replicabat, Constantium inmani crudescente bellorum materia superatum a Persis interdum, deductumque postremo per fugam cum paucis ad Hibitam stationem intutam, panis frusto vixisse precario ab anu quadam agresti porrecto, nihil tamen ad diem perdidisse supremum, et Iovianum inter exordia principatus provinciarum muro cessisse, cuius obices iam inde a vetustate innoxiae permanserunt.

3. then Sabinus, distinguished among his fellow townsmen by fortune and lineage, with a voluble tongue was reiterating that Constantius, as the immense matter of wars grew savage, was at times overcome by the Persians, and at last, brought down in flight with a few to Hibita, an unsafe station, had lived precariously on a morsel of bread proffered by a certain rustic old woman, yet had lost nothing up to his final day; and that Jovian, in the beginnings of his principate, yielded to the wall of the provinces, whose barriers from antiquity have remained unharmed.

4. cumque nihil promoveretur, iuris iurandi religionem principe destinatius praetendente, cum oblatam ei coronam aliquamdiu recusans, coactus denique suscepisset, Silvanus quidam causarum defensor confidentius exclamavit �ita� inquit �imperator, a civitatibus residuis coroneris�. quo verbo exasperatus, intra triduum omnes iussit excedere moenibus, detestantes rerum praesentium statum.

4. and since nothing was being advanced, the prince more resolutely putting forward the scruple of the sworn oath, although, refusing for some time the crown offered to him, at last, compelled, he had accepted it, a certain Silvanus, a defender of causes, cried out more confidently, �so,� he says, �emperor, you will be crowned by the remaining cities.� exasperated at this word, within three days he ordered all to depart from the walls, detesting the condition of present affairs.

5. Adpositis itaque conpulsoribus, mortem, siqui distulerit egredi, minitantibus, moenia permixta sunt lamentis et luctu et per omnia civitatis membra una vox cunctorum erat gementium, cum laceraret crines matrona exul fuganda laribus, in quibus nata erat et educata, orbataque mater liberis vel coniuge viduata, procul ab eorum manibus pelleretur, et turba flebilis, postes penatium amplexa vel limina, lacrimabat.

5. And so, with enforcers set in place, threatening death to whoever should delay to go out, the walls were commingled with laments and mourning, and through all the members of the city there was one voice of all groaning, as a matron, an exile to be driven from the household gods, tore her hair in the home in which she had been born and brought up, and a mother bereft of children or a wife widowed of her spouse was driven far from their hands, and the tearful crowd, embracing the doorposts or the thresholds of the household gods (Penates), was weeping.

6. exin variae complentur viae qua quisque poterat dilabentium. properando enim multi furabantur opes proprias, quas vehi posse credebant, contempta reliqua supellectili pretiosa et multa. hanc enim reliquerunt penuria iumentorum.

6. then the various roads are filled with those slipping away wherever each was able. for, by hurrying, many were snatching up their own wealth, which they believed could be carried, the remaining household furniture, precious and abundant, being scorned. this indeed they left behind because of a shortage of beasts of burden.

7. Tu hoc loco, Fortuna orbis Romani, merito incusaris, quae difflantibus procellis rem publicam excussa regimenta perito rei gerendae ductori, consummando iuveni porrexisti, quem nullis ante actae vitae insignibus in huius modi negotiis cognitum, nec vituperari est aequum nec laudari.

7. You, at this point, Fortune of the Roman world, are deservedly accused, who, with tempests blowing asunder, the commonwealth’s helms wrenched away, extended them to a leader skilled in the conduct of affairs, a youth yet to be consummated, whom, known by no insignia of a previously lived life in affairs of this kind, it is not equitable either to blame or to praise.

8. illud tamen ad medullas usque bonorum pervenit quod, dum extimescit aemulum potestatis, dumque in animo per Gallias et Illyricum versat quosdam saepe sublimiora coeptasse, famam adventus sui praevenire festinans, indignum imperio facinus amictu periurii fugiendi commisit, Nisibi prodita, quae iam inde a Mithridatici regni temporibus, ne oriens a Persis occuparetur, viribus restitit maximis.

8. Yet this reached to the very marrow of the good, that, while he dreads a rival of power, and while he revolves in his mind that certain men throughout the Gauls and Illyricum have often attempted more sublime things, hurrying to forestall the rumor of his arrival, he committed a deed unworthy of the imperial power, under the cloak of evading perjury, by betraying Nisibis, which from the times of the Mithridatic kingdom onward, lest the Orient be occupied by the Persians, has withstood with the utmost might.

9. numquam enim ab urbis ortu inveniri potest annalibus replicatis, ut arbitror, terrarum pars ulla nostrarum ab imperatore vel consule hosti concessa, sed ne ob recepta quidem, quae direpta sunt, verum ob amplificata regna triumphales glorias fuisse delatas.

9. for never from the city's origin can it be found, with the annals unrolled, as I judge, that any part of our lands to the enemy was conceded by an emperor or a consul, but not even on account of things recovered, which had been plundered, rather on account of amplified realms, triumphal glories have been conferred.

10. unde Publio Scipioni ob recuperatas Hispanias, Fulvio Capua post diuturna certamina superata et Opimio post diversos exitus proeliorum Fregellanis tunc internecivis hostibus ad deditionem conpulsis, triumphi sunt denegati.

10. whence to Publius Scipio on account of the recovered Spains, to Fulvius, Capua having been overcome after long contests, and to Opimius, after diverse outcomes of battles, the Fregellans, then mortal enemies, having been compelled to surrender, triumphs were denied.

11. id etiam memoriae nos veteres docent, in extremis casibus icta cum dedecore foedera, postquam partes verbis iuravere conceptis, repetitione bellorum ilico dissoluta, ut temporibus priscis apud Furcas Caudinas sub iugum legionibus missis in Samnio, et per Albinum in Numidia sceleste pace cogitata, et auctore turpiter pactionis festinatae Mancino dedito Numantinis.

11. this too our elders teach us for the record, that in extremest crises treaties struck with disgrace, after the parties had sworn with conceived words, were straightway dissolved by a repetition of wars, as in ancient times at the Caudine Forks, when the legions were sent under the yoke in Samnium, and through Albinus in Numidia, a wicked peace having been contrived, and with Mancinus, the author of the hastened pact, surrendered to the Numantines.

12. Proinde extractis civibus et urbe tradita missoque tribuno Constantio, qui munimenta praesidiaria cum regionibus Persicis optimatibus adsignaret, cum Iuliani supremis Procopius mittitur, ea ut superstes ille mandarat, humaturus in suburbano Tarsensi.

12. Therefore, the citizens having been extracted and the city handed over, and the tribune Constantius sent, who was to assign the garrison muniments to the districts together with the Persian optimates, Procopius is dispatched with Julian’s last dispositions, to bury him in the Tarsian suburb, as he, while still alive, had directed.

13. qui ad exsequendum profectus confestim corpore sepulto discessit, nec inveniri usquam potuit studio quaesitus ingenti, nisi quod multo postea apud Constantinopolim visus est subito purpuratus.

13. he, having set out to carry out the obsequies, immediately, the body having been buried, departed, and he could not be found anywhere, though sought with immense zeal, except that much later at Constantinople he was seen suddenly in the purple.

1. His hoc modo peractis discursisque itineribus Antiochiam venimus, ubi per continuos dies velut offenso numine multa visebantur et dira, quorum eventus fore luctificos gnari rerum prodigialium praecinebant.

1. With these things carried out in this fashion and the journeys traversed, we came to Antioch, where for continuous days, as though the divinity were offended, many and dire things were seen, whose outcome, those skilled in prodigial matters were foretelling, would be mournful.

2. nam et Maximiani statua Caesaris, quae locata est in vestibulo regiae, amisit repente sphaeram aeream formatam in speciem poli, quam gestabat, et cum horrendo stridore sonuerunt in consistorio trabes, et visa sunt interdiu sidera cometarum, super quorum natura ratiocinantes physici variant.

2. for also the statue of Maximian the Caesar, which was placed in the vestibule of the palace, suddenly lost the brazen sphere formed in the likeness of the pole, which it bore, and with a horrendous screech the beams in the consistory resounded, and cometary stars were seen by day, about whose nature physicists, ratiocinating, differ.

3. quidam enim eos hoc nomine ideo existimant appellari, quod tortos ignes spargunt ut crines, in unum stellis multiplicibus congregatis. alii eos arbitrantur ex halitu sicciore terrarum ignescere paulatim in sublimiora surgente. quidam currentes radios solis densiore nube obiecta digredi ad inferiora prohibitos, splendore infuso corpori crasso, lucem velut stellis distinctam mortali conspectu monstrare.

3. for some indeed think them on this account to be called by this name, because they scatter twisted fires like hairs, with multiple stars congregated into one. others judge that they ignite from the drier exhalation of the lands, gradually rising into the more sublime regions. some [hold that] the coursing rays of the sun, when a denser cloud is interposed and they are prohibited from departing to the lower parts, with splendor infused into a thick body, display to mortal sight a light, as if distinguished into stars.

sedit quorundam opinioni, hanc speciem tunc apparere, cum evecta solito celsius nubes aeternorum ignium vicinitate conluceat, vel certe stellas esse quasdam ceteris similes, quarum ortus obitusque, quibus sint temporibus praestituti, humanis mentibus ignorari. plura alia de cometis apud peritos mundanae rationis sunt lecta, quae digerere nunc vetat aliorsum oratio properans.

It accords with the opinion of some that this appearance shows itself when a cloud, raised higher than usual, shines by the nearness of the eternal fires; or certainly that they are certain stars similar to the others, whose risings and settings—the times at which they have been appointed—are unknown to human minds. Many other things about comets have been read among experts in mundane reasoning, which a discourse hastening elsewhere now forbids to set out.

4. Moratum paulisper Antiochiae principem, curarumque ponderibus diversis adflictum exeundi mira cupiditas agitabat: proinde nec iumento parcens nec militi, flagrante hieme inde profectus, signis, ut dictum est, vetantibus plurimis, Tarsum urbem Cilicum nobilem introiit, cuius originem docuimus supra.

4. The emperor, delayed for a little while at Antioch and afflicted by the diverse weights of cares, was driven by a wondrous desire of departing: therefore, sparing neither beast of burden nor soldier, with winter blazing he set out thence, with many signs, as has been said, forbidding, he entered Tarsus, the noble city of the Cilicians, whose origin we have explained above.

5. exindeque egredi nimiu m properans, exornari sepulchrum statuit Iuliani, in pomerio situm itineris, quod ad Tauri montis angustias ducit, cuius suprema et cineres, siqui tunc iuste consuleret, non Cydnus videre deberet, quamvis gratissimus amnis et liquidus, sed ad perpetuandam gloriam recte factorum praeterlambere Tiberis intersecans urbem aeternam divorumque veterum monumenta praestringens.

5. and from there, being overly eager to go out, he decided that Julian’s tomb, set in the pomerium along the road that leads to the narrows of Mount Taurus, be adorned; whose remains and ashes, if anyone had then advised justly, ought not to be seen by the Cydnus, however most pleasing and limpid a river, but, to perpetuate the glory of deeds done rightly, to be flowed past by the Tiber, cutting through the eternal city and grazing the monuments of the ancient gods.

6. Deinde Tarso profectus extentis itineribus venit oppidum Cappadociae Tyana, ubi ei reversi Procopius notarius et Memoridus tribunus occurrunt, gestorumque aperiunt textum, hinc, ut ordo poscebat, exorsi, quod Lucillianus Mediolanum ingressus cum Seniaucho et Valentiniano tribunis, quos duxerat secum, cognito quod Malarichus recusavit suscipere magisterium, effuso cursu petierat Remos.

6. Then, setting out from Tarsus by extended marches, he came to the town of Cappadocia, Tyana, where Procopius the notary and Memoridus the tribune, having returned to him, met him, and they open the text of the deeds, beginning from this point, as order demanded: that Lucillianus, having entered Milan with the tribunes Seniauchus and Valentinianus, whom he had led with him, on learning that Malarichus refused to undertake the mastership, had made for Reims at full speed.

7. et tamquam in alto gentis silentio extra calcem, ut dicitur, procurrebat, et intempestive, parum etiam tum firmatis omnibus, ex actuario ratiociniis scrutandis incubuit, qui fraudum conscius et noxarum ad militaria signa confugit, finxitque Iuliano superstite in res novas quendam medium surrexisse, cuius fallaciis turbo militaris acerrime concitus Lucillianum et Seniauchum occidit. Valentinianum enim paulo postea principem, trepidum et quo confugeret ambigentem, Primitivus hospes tutius amendarat.

7. and as though in the deep silence of the nation beyond the chalk, as it is said, he was running ahead, and untimely, with all things even then little yet secured, he applied himself to scrutinizing the ratiocinations from the actuary, who, conscious of frauds and crimes, fled to the military standards, and he fabricated that, with Julian still surviving, a certain go-between had risen up into revolutionary measures, by whose deceits the military whirlwind, most fiercely stirred, killed Lucillianus and Seniauchus. For Valentinian, a little later the emperor, trembling and unsure whither to flee, his host Primitivus had removed to a safer place.

8. his ita tristibus laetum aliud addebatur, missos a Iovino milites adventare, quos capita scholarum ordo castrensis appellat, nuntiantes aequo animo Ioviani imperium amplecti exercitum Gallicanum.

8. to such sad things another glad thing was being added, that soldiers sent by Jovinus were approaching, whom the camp order calls heads of the schools, announcing that the Gallic army was embracing the rule of Jovian with an even mind.

9. Quibus conpertis, Valentiniano, qui cum isdem redierat, regenda Scutariorum secunda committitur schola, et Vitalianus domesticorum consortio iungitur, Erulorum e numero miles, qui multo postea auctus comitis dignitate male rem per Illyricum gessit, confestimque mittitur in Gallias Arintheus ferens litteras ad Iovinum, ut constanter ageret suum obtinens locum, eique mandatum est ut animadverteretur in concitorem tumultus, auctoresque seditionis ad comitatum vincti transmitterentur.

9. With these things learned, to Valentinian, who had returned with the same, the Second School of the Scutarii is committed to be governed, and Vitalianus is joined to the fellowship of the domestics, a soldier from the number of the Heruli, who much later, advanced to the dignity of count, managed affairs badly through Illyricum, and immediately Arintheus is sent into the Gauls bearing letters to Jovinus, that he should act steadfastly, holding his place, and he was instructed that punishment be inflicted upon the inciter of the tumult, and that the authors of the sedition be sent bound to the imperial court (comitatus).

10. post quae, ut videbatur expedire, disposita apud Aspuna Galatiae municipium breve Gallicani milites visi principi, ingressique consistorium, post audita gratanter, quae pertulerant, munerati redire iubentur ad signa.

10. after which, as it seemed expedient, arrangements having been made at Aspuna, a small municipium of Galatia, the Gallican soldiers were seen by the emperor, and having entered the consistory, after what they had endured was heard gratefully, they were rewarded and ordered to return to the standards.

11. Et cum introisset Ancyram imperator, paratis ad pompam pro tempore necessariis, consulatum iniit adhibito in societatem trabeae Varroniano filio suo admodum parvulo, cuius vagitus pertinaciter reluctantis, ne in curuli sella veheretur ex more, id quod mox accidit portendebat.

11. And when the emperor had entered Ancyra, with the things necessary for the pomp prepared for the time, he entered upon the consulship, with Varronianus, his own son, a very little boy, admitted into the partnership of the trabea; whose wailing, as he stubbornly resisted, lest he be carried in the curule chair according to custom, was portending what soon befell.

12. Hinc quoque Iovianum celeri gradu praescriptus vitae finiendae dies exegit. cum enim venisset Dadastanam, qui locus Bithyniam distinguit et Galatas, exanimatus inventus est nocte. super cuius obitu dubietates emersere conplures

12. From here also the day prescribed for ending life, at a swift pace, overtook Jovian. for when he had come to Dadastana, which place distinguishes Bithynia and the Galatians, he was found exanimate at night. concerning whose decease several doubts emerged

13. fertur enim recenti calce cubiculi illiti ferre odorem noxium nequivisse, vel extuberato capite perisse succensione pruna rum inmensa, aut certe ex colluvione ciborum avida cruditate distentus. decessit autem anno tricensimo aetatis et tertio. cumque huic et Aemiliano Scipioni vitae exitus similis evenisset, super neutrius morte quaestionem conperimus agitatam.

13. for it is said that, with the bedchamber plastered with fresh lime, he was unable to bear the noxious odor; or that, his head swollen, he perished from the kindling of an immense mass of coals; or else from a foul confluence of foods, distended by greedy indigestion. he died, moreover, in the thirty-third year of his age. and since to him and to Aemilianus Scipio a similar exit of life had occurred, we learned that over neither’s death was an inquest conducted.

14. Incedebat autem motu corporis gravi, vultu laetissimo, oculis caesiis, vasta proceritate et ardua, adeo ut diu nullum indumentum regium ad mensuram eius aptum inveniretur. et aemulari malebat Constantium, agens seria quaedam aliquotiens post meridiem, iocarique palam cum proximis adsuetus.

14. He advanced with a grave movement of the body, with a most cheerful countenance, with gray-blue eyes, of vast and towering tallness, to such a degree that for a long time no royal garment apt to his measure was found. And he preferred to emulate Constantius, doing certain serious things several times after midday, and was accustomed to jest openly with his nearest intimates.

15. Christianae legis idem studiosus et non numquam honorificus, mediocriter eruditus, magisque benivolus, et perpensius, ut apparebat ex paucis, quos promoverat, iudices electurus; edax tamen et vino Venerique indulgens, quae vitia imperiali verecundia forsitan correxisset.

15. Likewise a devotee of the Christian law and at times honorific, moderately erudite, and more benevolent, and, more deliberately, as was apparent from the few whom he had promoted, about to choose judges; yet gluttonous and indulgent to wine and Venus, vices which perhaps an imperial modesty would have corrected.

16. dicebatur autem Varronianus pater eius monitu cuiusdam somnii dudum praescisse quod evenit, idque duobus amicis commisisse fidissimis, illo adiecto quod ipsi quoque deferretur trabea consularis. sed inpetrato uno adipisci non potuit aliud. audita enim filii celsiore fortuna, antequam eum videret, fatali praeventus est morte.

16. it was said, moreover, that Varronianus, his father, by the monition of a certain dream, had long before foreknown what happened, and had committed this to two most faithful friends, with this added: that the consular trabea would be conferred upon himself as well. But, the one having been obtained, he could not acquire the other. For, upon hearing of his son's loftier fortune, before he saw him, he was overtaken by fated death.

17. et quia huic nomini amplissimum magistratum portendi per quietem praedictum est seni, Varronianus nepos eius infans etiam tum cum Ioviano patre declaratus est ut supra rettulimus consul.

17. and because to this name the most ample magistracy was foretold in sleep to the old man, Varronianus, his grandson, a child even then, together with his father Jovian, was declared, as we have reported above, consul.