Ammianus: RES GESTAE A FINE CORNELI TACITI

1. Dum per eoum orbem haec, quae narravimus, diversi rerum expediunt casus, Alamanni post aerumnosas iacturas et vulnera, quae congressi saepe Iuliano Caesari pertulerunt, viribus tandem resumptis licet inparibus pristinis, ob causam expositam supra Gallicanos limites formidati iam persultabant. statimque post Kalendas Ianuarias, cum per glaciales tractus hiemis rigidum inhorresceret sidus, cuneatim egressa multitudo licentius vagabatur.

1. While through that eastern orb the events we have told unraveled in their various turns, the Alamanni, after the distressing tossings and the wounds which they often inflicted upon Julian Caesar, with strength at last resumed though not equal to their former state, and for the reason set forth above feared beyond the Gallic limits, were now skirmishing. And immediately after the Kalends of January, when the star grew rigid through the icy tracts of winter, a wedge-formed multitude going forth wandered more freely.

2. horum portioni primae Charietto, tunc per utramque Germaniam comes, occursurus cum milite egreditur ad bella ineunda promptissimo, adscito in societatem laboris Severiano itidem comite invalido et longaevo, qui apud Cabillona Divitensibus praesidebat et Tungricanis.

2. to the first portion Charietto, then comes through both Germanias as companion, sets out with a soldier most ready for entering into wars, Severian likewise admitted into the fellowship of the enterprise as a comrade, weak and long-lived, who presided at Cabillona over the Divitenses and the Tungricans.

3. proinde confertius agmine in unum coacto ponteque brevioris aquae firma celeritate transmisso, visos eminus barbaros Romani sagittis aliisque levibus iaculis incessebant, quae illi reciprocis iactibus valide contorquebant.

3. therefore, the column having been drawn more closely together into one and a bridge over the shallower water crossed with sure swiftness, the Romans harried the barbarians seen from afar with arrows and other light javelins, which those men vigorously hurled back in reciprocal throws.

4. ubi vero turmae congressae strictis conflixere mucronibus, nostrorum acies impetu hostium acriore concussa nec resistendi nec faciendi fortiter copiam repperit, cunctis metu conpulsis in fugam, cum Severianum vidissent equo deturbatum missilique telo per os fixum.

4. where, indeed, the squadrons having met clashed with drawn blades, our battle-lines, struck by the enemy’s keener onset, found neither the means to resist nor to act bravely; all, driven by fear, fled, when they had seen Severianus dismounted from his horse and fixed through the mouth by a missile weapon.

5. ipse denique Charietto dum cedentes obiectu corporis et vocis iurgatorio sonu audentius retinet, pudendumque diluere dedecus fiducia diu standi conatur, oppetit telo letali confixus.

5. he himself finally, while more boldly detaining the fleeing by the obstruction of his body and by the railing sound of his voice, and striving to wash away the shameful disgrace by the confidence of standing long, met his end, transfixed by a lethal spear.

6. post cuius interitum Erulorum Batavorumque vexillum direptum, quod insultando tripudiantes barbari crebro sublatum altius ostendebant, post certamina receptum est magna.

6. after whose death the vexillum of the Eruli and Batavi was torn away, which the barbarians, stamping and dancing and jeering, repeatedly raised higher to show; after great combats it was recovered.

CHAPTER 2

1. Qua clade cum ultimo maerore conperta conrecturus secius gesta Dagalaifus a Parisiis mittitur. eoque diu cunctante causanteque diffusos per varia barbaros semet adoriri non posse, accitoque paulo post ut cum Gratiano etiam tum privato susciperet insignia consulatus, Iovinus equitum magister accingitur, et instructus paratusque, cautissime observans utrumque sui agminis latus, venit prope locum Scarponna, ubi inopinus maiorem barbarorum plebem antequam armaretur temporis brevi puncto praeventam ad internecionem extinxit.

1. After that disaster, Dagalaifus, seized by a final grief and about to give up, is sent from Paris. And with him delaying long and making excuses that he could not attack the barbarians scattered through diverse regions, and a little later being summoned so that he might take up the insignia of the consulship even then as a private man with Gratian, Iovinus, magister of the cavalry, girds himself; and having drawn up and readied his men, most cautiously watching each flank of his column, he comes near the place Scarponna, where, unexpectedly, he wiped out a larger rabble of barbarians, who, anticipated in a brief instant before they could arm themselves, were extinguished into destruction.

2. exultantes innoxii proelii gloria milites ad alterius globi perniciem ducens sensimque incedens rector eximius speculatione didicit fida, direptis propius villis vastatoriam manum quiescere prope flumen, iamque adventans, abditusque in valle densitate arbustorum obscura, videbat lavantes alios, quosdam comas rutilantes ex more potantesque non nullos.

2. the soldiers, exulting in the harmless glory of the battle, and leading toward the destruction of the opposing host, and advancing slowly, the eminent commander learned by faithful reconnaissance; with the nearer villages pillaged he found the marauding band resting near the river, and now approaching, and concealed in a valley dark with the density of shrubs, he saw some washing, others with hair gleaming red according to custom, and not a few drinking.

3. et nanctus horam inpendio tempestivam, signo repente per lituos dato, latrocinalia castra perrupit contraque Germani nihil praeter inefficaces minas iactanter sonantes et fremitum, nec expedire arma dispersa nec conponere aciem nec resurgere in vires permittebantur urgente victore. quocirca forati pilis et gladiis cecidere conplures absque his, quos versos in pedes texere flexuosi tramites et angusti.

3. and having seized the timely hour for the undertaking, with a signal suddenly given through the lituus, he burst into the brigand camp; and the Germans opposed him with nothing except ineffectual threats, loudly sounding and clamor, nor were they permitted to clear their scattered arms, nor to form a line, nor to recover themselves into strength with the victor pressing. Wherefore many were pierced by javelins and swords and fell, and others, thrown back onto their feet, were hemmed in by winding and narrow paths.

4. Hoc prospero rerum effectu, quem virtus peregerat et fortuna, aucta fiducia Iovinus militem ducens, diligenti speculatione praemissa, in tertium cuneum, qui restabat, propere castra commovit, et maturato itinere omnem prope Catelaunos invenit ad congrediendum promptissimum.

4. By this prosperous turn of affairs, which valour accomplished and fortune, confidence increased, Iovinus, leading the soldier, with diligent scouting sent before, quickly shifted the camp into the third wedge that remained, and after the hurried march found almost all the Catelauni most ready to engage.

5. et vallo oportune metato suisque pro temporis copia cibo recreatis et somno, primo aurorae exortu in aperta planitie conposuit aciem dilatatam arte sollerti, ut spatiis amplioribus occupatis aequiperare Romani hostium multitudinem apparerent, inferiores numero, licet viribus pares.

5. and with the vallum duly measured out and his men refreshed with food and sleep for the need of the time, at the first rising of dawn he drew up the battle-line on the open plain, extended by cunning art, so that, the more ample spaces being occupied, the Romans might appear to match the enemy’s multitude, inferior in number, yet equal in strength.

6. signo itaque per bucinas dato cum pede conlato res agi coepisset, insueta vexillorum splendentium facie territi stetere Germani. quibus hebetatis parumper reparatisque confestim, ad usque diei extimum concertatione protenta validius inminens miles fructum rei bene gestae sine dispendio quaesisset, ni Balchobaudes armaturarum tribunus magniloquentia socordi coalitus, propinquante iam vespera cessisset incondite. quem si secutae residuae cohortes abissent, ad tristes exitus eo usque negotium venerat, ut nec acta nuntiaturus quisquam posset superesse nostrorum.

6. therefore when the signal had been given through the bugles and, the foot having been brought together, the action began, the Germans, terrified by the unfamiliar face of the shining standards, stood fast. To them, their dulness for a short while recovered and repaired, immediately — with the contest stretched out to the very close of day — the soldier, pressing on more forcefully and leaning in, would have sought the fruit of a well‑wrought deed without loss, if Balchobaudes, tribune of the armours, allied by magniloquence with the sluggish, had not foolishly stopped with evening now approaching. If the remaining cohorts that followed him had withdrawn, the affair would have come to such a sorrowful end that not one of our men who would bear news of the deeds could have survived.

7. sed resistens animorum acri robore miles ita lacertis eminuit, ut hostium quattuor milibus sauciis sex alia interficeret milia, ipse vero non amplius mille ducentis amitteret, ducentis tantum modo vulneratis.

7. but the soldier, resisting with the keen vigor of his spirit, so towered in his arms that, with 4,000 of the enemy wounded, he slew another 6,000; he himself, however, lost no more than 1,200, only 200 merely wounded.

8. noctis itaque adventu proelio iam dirempto, refectisque viribus fessis prope confinia lucis ductor egregius in agminis quadrati figuram producto exercitu, cum conperisset occultantibus tenebris barbaros lapsos, securus insidiarum per aperta camporum sequebatur et mollia, calcando semineces et constrictos, quos vulneribus frigorum asperitate contractis dolorum absumpserat magnitudo.

8. therefore with the arrival of night and the battle now broken off, and with their strengths refreshed, the distinguished leader, having drawn out the army into the figure of a battle-square near the borders of daylight, and when he had discovered the barbarians slipped and hidden by the concealing darkness, secure against ambush, pursued them across the open fields and trod down the soft, treading upon the half-dead and the bound, whom, with wounds contracted by the harshness of the cold, the magnitude of pain had consumed.

9. exin progressus ulterius, revertens, ubi nullum repperat, didicit regem hostilium agminum cum paucis captum ab Ascariis, quos ipse per iter aliud ad diripienda tentoria miserat Alamannica, suffixum patibulo. ideoque iratus in tribunum animadvertere statuit ausum hoc inconsulta potestate superiore fecisse, eumque damnasset, ni militari impetu commissum facinus atrox documentis evidentibus constitisset.

9. then having advanced further and returning, where he found none, he learned that the king of the hostile ranks, with a few men, had been captured by the Ascarii — whom he himself had sent by another route to plunder the tents of the Alamannic — and hung on the gallows. And so enraged he resolved to punish the tribune, for having dared this with unconsulted superior power, and would have condemned him, had not the atrocious deed, committed in a military impulse, been established by evident documents.

10. Et post haec redeunti Parisios post claritudinem recte gestorum imperator laetus occurrit, eumque postea consulem designavit, illo videlicet ad gaudii cumulum accedente, quod isdem diebus Procopii susceperat caput a Valente transmissum.

10. And after these things, returning to Paris, the emperor met him joyfully because of the fame of deeds rightly performed, and afterwards designated him consul, that is, this adding to the heap of rejoicing, since in those same days he had received the head of Procopius sent by Valens.

11. praeter haec alia multa narratu minus digna conserta sunt proelia per tractus varios Galliarum, quae superfluvm est explicare, cum neque operae pretium aliquod eorum habuere proventus, nec historiam producere per minutias ignobiles decet.

11. besides these, many other things less worthy of narration were fought — battles across various tracts of Gaul — which it is superfluous to relate, since none of them had any gains worthy of the effort, nor is it fitting to extend a history through ignoble minutiae.

III

CHAPTER 3.

1. Hoc tempore vel paulo ante nova portenti species per Annonariam apparuit Tusciam, idque quorsum evaderet prodigialium rerum periti penitus ignorarunt. in oppido enim Pistoriensi prope horam diei tertiam spectantibus multis asinus tribunali escenso audiebatur destinatius rugiens, et stupefactis omnibus, qui aderant, quique didicerant referentibus aliis, nulloque coniectante ventura, postea, quod portendebatur, evenit.

1. At that time, or a little before, a new species of portent appeared through the Annona into Tuscany, and those thoroughly skilled in prodigious matters utterly did not know to what it would come. For in the town of Pistoia, about the third hour of the day, while many were watching, a donkey, having mounted the tribunal, was heard portentously bellowing; and with all astonished, those who were present and those who learned, reporting to others, and no one conjecturing what would come, afterwards what was portended occurred.

2. Terentius enim humili genere in urbe natus et pistor ad vicem praemii, quia peculatus reum detulerat Orfitum ex praefecto, hanc eandem provinciam correctoris administraverat potestate. eaque confidentia deinceps inquietius agitans multa, in naviculariorum negotio falsum admisisse convictus, ut ferebatur, perit carnificis manu, regente Claudio Romam .

2. Terentius, born of humble stock in the city and a baker, in lieu of a reward, because he had accused Orfitus the prefect of peculation, had administered this same province with the authority of a corrector. And, thereafter, acting more restlessly on that confidence and being convicted, as was reported, of having committed many frauds in the shipping merchants’ business, he perished by the hand of the executioner, Rome being ruled by Claudius.

3. Multo tamen antequam hoc contingeret, Symmachus Aproniano successit, inter praecipua nominandus exempla doctrinarum atque modestiae, quo instante urbs sacratissima otio copiisque abundantius solito fruebatur et ambitioso ponte exultat atque firmissimo quem condidit ipse, et magna civium laetitia dedicavit ingratorum, ut res docuit apertissima.

3. Much earlier, however, before this befell, Symmachus succeeded Apronianus, to be named among the chief examples of learning and modesty; at that very moment the most sacred city was enjoying leisure and resources more abundantly than usual, and exulted in an ambitious bridge and in the very firm one which he himself built, and, to the great joy of the ungrateful citizens, he dedicated it, as the matter most plainly showed.

4. qui consumptis aliquot annis domum eius in transtiberino tractu pulcherrimam incenderunt, ea re perciti quod vilis quidam plebeius finxerat, illum dixisse sine indice ullo vel teste, libenter se vino proprio calcarias extincturum, quam id venditurum pretiis, quibus sperabatur.

4. who, after several years had elapsed, set fire to his very beautiful house in the Transtiberine quarter, driven by a thing which a certain base plebeian had fabricated — namely, that he had said, without any informer or witness, that he would rather, willingly, extinguish his limekilns with his own wine than sell them for the prices that were hoped for.

5. advenit post hunc urbis moderator Lampadius ex praefecto praetorio, homo indignanter admodum sustinens si, etiam cum spueret, non laudaretur, ut id quoque prudenter praeter alios faciens, sed non numquam severus et frugi.

5. after him came the city’s moderator Lampadius, promoted from the praetorian prefecture, a man who bore great indignation if, even when he spat, he was not praised; he did that too more prudently than others, and was not infrequently severe and frugal.

6. hic cum magnificos praetor ederet ludos et uberrime largiretur, plebis nequiens tolerare tumultum, indignis multa donari saepe urgentis, ut liberalem se sed multitudinis ostenderet contemptorem, accitos a Vaticano quosdam egentes opibus ditaverat magnis.

6. here, when as praetor he gave magnificent games and lavished most abundantly, unable to endure the tumult of the plebs, often pressing that many things be given to the unworthy, so as to show himself liberal yet a despiser of the multitude, he had enriched certain needy men summoned from the Vatican with great resources.

7. vanitatis autem eius exemplum, ne latius evagemur, hoc unum sufficiet poni leve quidem sed cavendum iudicibus. per omnia enim civitatis membra, quae diversorum principum exornarunt inpensae, nomen proprium inscribebat, non ut veterum instaurator sed conditor. quo vitio laborasse Traianus dicitur princeps, unde eum herbam parietinam iocando cognominarunt.

7. an example of his vanity, lest we wander more broadly, this one thing will suffice to be set down — slight indeed, but to be guarded against by judges. For throughout all the members of the city, which the expenditures of diverse princes had adorned, he inscribed his proper name, not as a restorer of the ancients but as a founder. By this fault Emperor Trajan is said to have been plagued, whence they jocularly surnamed him the parietine herb.

8. Hic praefectus exagitatus et motibus crebris, uno omnium maximo, cum collecta plebs infima domum eius prope Constantinianum lavacrum iniectis facibus incenderat et malleolis, ni vicinorum et familiarum veloci concursu a summis tectorum culminibus petita saxis et tegulis abscessisset.

8. This praefect, driven out of his wits and by repeated uprisings, one greatest of all, when the gathered lowest plebs had set fire to his house near the Constantinian bath with torches and hurled mallets, would have been gone—had he not withdrawn by the swift concurrence of neighbours and householders, having fetched stones and tiles from the highest roofs.

9. eaque vi territus ipse primitus crebrescentis seditionis in maius secessit ad Mulvium pontem — quem struxisse superior dicitur Scaurus — adlenimenta ibidem tumultus opperiens, quem causa concitaverat gravis.

9. and by that force terrified, he himself at first withdrew to the Mulvian Bridge — which the elder Scaurus is said to have built — as the increasing sedition grew worse, there awaiting alleviations for the tumult which a serious cause had provoked.

10. aedificia erigere exoriens nova, vel vetusta quaedam instaurans, non ex titulis solitis parari iubebat inpensas sed, si ferrum quaerebatur aut plumbum aut aes aut quicquam simile, apparitores inmittebantur, qui velut ementes diversa raperent species, nulla pretia persolvendo, unde accensorum iracundiam pauperum damna deflentium crebra aegre potuit celeri vitare digressu.

10. setting out to raise new buildings, or to restore certain old ones, he ordered that expenses not be supplied from the customary funds but that, if iron or lead or bronze or anything similar were sought, apparitors be sent who, as if buyers, would snatch up diverse wares without paying any price; whence the anger of the incited, the losses of the poor who bewailed them, could with difficulty and oftentimes be avoided by a swift departure.

11. advenit successor eius ex quaesitore palatii Viventius integer et prudens Pannonius, cuius administratio quieta fuit et placida, copia rerum omnium adfluens. sed hunc quoque discordantis populi seditiones terruere cruentae, quae tale negotium excitavere.

11. to succeed him came from the palace quaestor Viventius, an upright and prudent Pannonian, whose administration was quiet and placid, an abundance of all things flowing in. but bloody seditions of the discordant populace also terrified him, which had roused such a business.

12. Damasus et Vrsinus supra humanum modum ad rapiendam episcopalem sedem ardentes, scissis studiis asperrime conflictabantur ad usque mortis vulnerumque discrimina adiumentis utriusque progressis, quae nec corrigere sufficiens Viventius nec mollire, coactus vi magna secessit in suburbanum.

12. Damasus and Ursinus, beyond human measure eager to seize the episcopal seat, with torn factions most bitterly contended even to the point of death and the hazards of wounds, each aided by advancing supporters; which strife Viventius, neither able to correct nor to soften, being compelled by great force withdrew into the suburb.

13. et in concertatione superaverat Damasus, parte, quae ei favebat, instante. constatque in basilica Sicinini, ubi ritus Christiani est conventiculum, uno die centum triginta septem reperta cadavera peremptorum, efferatamque diu plebem aegre postea delenitam.

13. and in the contention Damasus prevailed, the faction which favored him pressing on. And it is reported in the basilica of Sicininus, where the Christian rite is a conventicle, that on one day 137 corpses of the slain were found, and the populace, long enraged, was afterwards with difficulty placated.

14. Neque ego abnuo, ostentationem rerum considerans urbanarum, huius rei cupidos ob impetrandum, quod appetunt, omni contentione laterum iurgari debere, cum id adepti, futuri sint ita securi ut ditentur oblationibus matronarum, procedantque vehiculis insidentes circumspecte vestiti, epulas curantes profusas adeo ut eorum convivia regales superent mensas.

14. Nor do I deny, considering the ostentation of urban affairs, that those desirous of this thing, for the purpose of obtaining what they seek, must be engaged in every contention of factions, since having obtained it they will be so secure for the future that they are enriched by the offerings of matrons, and go forth seated in vehicles, decorously clad, minding profuse feasts so much that their banquets excel royal tables.

15. qui esse poterant beati re vera, si magnitudine urbis despecta, quam vitiis opponunt, ad imitationem antistitum quorundam provincialium viverent, quos tenuitas edendi potandique parcissime, vilitas etiam indumentorum et supercilia humum spectantia perpetuo numini verisque eius cultoribus ut puros commendant et verecundos. hactenus deviasse sufficiet, nunc ad rerum ordines revertamur.

15. who could be truly blessed, if, despising the greatness of the city which they oppose by their vices, they lived in imitation of certain provincial antistites, whom slenderness of eating and drinking, the cheapness even of their garments and brows forever cast downward, recommend to the numen and its true cultors as pure and modest. So much will suffice for having strayed thus far; now let us return to the orders of things.

CHAPTER 4.

1. Dum aguntur ante dicta per Gallias et Italiam, novi per Thracias exciti sunt procinctus. Valens enim ut consulto placuerat fratri, cuius regebatur arbitrio, arma concussit in Gothos ratione iusta pemotus, quod auxilia misere Procopio civilia bella coeptanti ergo convenit pauca super harum origine regionum et situ transcurrere per brevem excessum.

1. While the things just recited were being carried through Gaul and Italy, new ones were stirred up and prepared through Thrace. For Valens, as had been agreed upon by design to his brother, by whose arbitrium he was governed, shook arms against the Goths, moved by a just reason — namely that he had supplied auxiliaries miserly to Procopius, who was beginning civil wars — therefore it is fitting to run over briefly a few things concerning the origin and situation of these regions.

2. Erat Thraciarum descriptio facilis, si veteres concinerent stili, quorum obscura varietas quoniam opus veritatem professum non iuvat, sufficiet ea, quae vidisse meminimus, expedire.

2. A description of the Thracian lands would be easy, were the veteres to sing with one stilo; but their obscure varietas, since a work gains no aid from professing veritatem, it will suffice to set forth those things which we remember to have seen.

3. has terras inmensa quondam camporum placiditate aggerumque altitudine fuisse porrectas, Homeri perennis auctoritas docet, aquilonem et zephyrum [ventos] exinde flare fingentis, quod aut fabulosum est, aut tractus antehac diffusi latissime, destinatique nationibus feris, cuncti Thraciarum vocabulo censebantur.

3. those lands once lay forth with the immense placidity of plains and the height of embankments, Homer’s perennial authority teaches, portraying the north wind and the zephyr as blowing thence [winds], which is either fabulous, or tracts formerly spread very widely and allotted to savage nations; all were reckoned by the name of the Thracians.

4. et partem earum habitavere Scordisci, longe nunc ab isdem provinciis disparati, saevi quondam et truces, ut antiquitas docet, hostiis captivorum Bellonae litantes et Marti, humanumque sanguinem in ossibus capitum cavis bibentes avidius, quorum asperitate post multiplices pugnarum aerumnas saepe res Romana vexata postremo omnem amisit exercitum cum rectore.

4. and part of these lands were inhabited by the Scordisci, now far dispersed from those same provinces, once savage and fierce, as antiquity teaches, sacrificing captive victims to Bellona and imploring Mars, and more eagerly drinking human blood from the hollowed skull-bones, whose ferocity, after manifold hardships of battles, often vexed the Roman state and at last caused it to lose an entire army with its commander.

5. Sed ut nunc cernimus, eadem loca formata in cornuti sideris modum effingunt theatri faciem speciosam. cuius in summitate occidentali montibus praeruptis densitate Succorum patescunt angustiae, Thracias dirimentes et Daciam.

5. But as we now see, the same places, formed in the manner of the horned star, fashion the fair face of a theatre. At its western summit, with precipitous mountains, by the mass of the Succi the narrow passes lie open, separating the Thraces and Dacia.

6. partem vero sinistram arctois obnoxiam stellis Haemimontanae celsitudines claudunt et Hister, qua Romanum cespitem lambit, urbibus multis et castris contiguus et castellis.

6. but the left part, exposed to the Arctic stars, is enclosed by the Haemimontana heights, and the Hister, by which it laps Roman turf, is contiguous with many cities and camps and castles.

7. per dextrum, quod australe est, latus scopuli tenduntur Rhodopes, unde eoum iubar exsurgit, finitur in fretum; cui undosius ab Euxino ponto labenti, pergentique fluctibus reciprocis ad Aegaeum, discidium panditur terrarum angustum.

7. on the right, which is southern, the Rhodopes of craggy aspect stretch; from which the eastern light rises, it terminates in a strait; on the more wavy side, slipping from the Euxine Sea and pressing with waves that return toward the Aegean, a narrow rift of lands is disclosed.

8. ex angulo tamen orientali Macedonicis iungitur conlimitiis per artas praecipitesque vias, quae cognominantur Acontisma : cui proxima Arethusa cursualis est statio, in qua visitur Euripidis sepulcrum, tragoediarum sublimitate conspicui, et Stagira, ubi Aristotelem, ut Tullius ait, fundentem aureum flumen accepimus natum

8. from the eastern corner, however, it is joined to the Macedonian borders by narrow, precipitous roads, which are called Acontisma: to this Arethusa, a coursal station, is nearest, in which the tomb of Euripides is visited, conspicuous for the sublimity of his tragedies, and Stagira, where Aristotle, as Tullius says, we learned was born, pouring forth a golden stream.

9. haec quoque priscis temporibus loca barbari tenuere, morum sermonumque varietate dissimiles. e quibus praeter alios ut inmaniter efferati memorantur Odrysae, ita humanum fundere sanguinem adsueti ut, cum hostium copia non daretur, ipsi inter epulas post cibi satietatem et potus suis velut alienis corporibus inprimerent ferrum.

9. these places also in ancient times were held by barbarians, dissimilar in the variety of customs and speech. Of these, besides others, the Odrysae are remembered as cruelly savage, so accustomed to pour out human blood that, when a throng of enemies was not available, they themselves, amid banquets after satiety of food and of their drink, would thrust the iron into bodies, their own as if they were alien.

10. Verum aucta re publica, dum consulare vigeret imperium, has gentes antehac semper indomitas vagantesque sine cultu vel legibus, Marcus Didius ingenti destinatione pressit, Drusus intra fines continuit proprios, Minucius prope amnem Hebrum a celsis Odrysarum montibus fluentem, superatos proelio stravit, post quos residui ab Appio Claudio pro consule sunt infesta concertatione deleti. oppida enim in Bosporo sita et Propontide classes optinuere Romanae.

10. But with the res publica grown, while the consulary imperium prevailed, Marcus Didius crushed these peoples, hitherto always indomitable and wandering without cultus or laws, with a mighty deployment; Drusus confined them within their own fines; Minucius routed in battle those flowing near the river Hebrus from the lofty Odrysarum mountains; after whom the remainder were destroyed in hostile contest by Appius Claudius as proconsul. For towns seated on the Bosporus and the Propontis were taken by Roman classes.

11 . advenit post hos imperator Lucullus, qui cum durissima gente Bessorum conflixit omnium primus, eodemque impetu Haemimontanos acriter resistentes oppressit. quo inminente Thraciae omnes in dicionem veterum transiere nostrorum, hocque modo post procinctus ancipites rei publicae sex provinciae sunt quaesitae.

11 . after these events came the imperator Lucullus, who first of all engaged the very hard people of the Bessi, and with that same onrush crushed the Haemimontani, fiercely resisting. With this danger looming over Thrace, all passed into the dominion of our forefathers, and thus, after the perilous exigencies of the republic were overcome, six provinces were acquired.

12. Inter quas prima ex fronte, quae Illyriis est confinis, Thracia speciali nomine appellatur; quam Philippopolis, Eumolpias vetus, et Beroea amplae civitates exornant. post hanc Haemimontus Hadrianopolim habet, quae dicebatur Uscudama, et Anchialon, civitates magnas. dein Mysia, ubi Marcianopolis est a sorore Traiani principis ita cognominata, et Dorostorus et Nicopolis et Odyssus, iuxtaque Scythia, in qua celebriora sunt [aliis] oppida Dionysopolis et Tomi et Calatis.

12. Among these the first on the frontier, which borders the Illyrians, is specially called Thrace; which Philippopolis, old Eumolpias, and the ample city Beroea adorn. After this Haemimontus holds Hadrianopolis, which was called Uscudama, and Anchialon, great cities. Then Mysia, where Marcianopolis is so named from the sister of Trajan the prince, and Dorostorus and Nicopolis and Odyssus, and nearby Scythia, in which the more celebrated towns among others are Dionysopolis and Tomi and Calatis.

Europa omnium ultima praeter municipia urbibus nitet duabus, Apris et Perintho, quam Heracleam posteritas dixit.

Europa, last of all except for the municipalities, for cities shines by two, Apris and Perintho, which posterity called Heraclea.

13. Rhodopa huic adnexa Maximianopolim habet et Maroneam et Aenum, qua condita et relicta Aeneas Italiam auspiciorum prosperitate perpetua post diuturnos occupavit errores.

13. Rhodopa, adjoining this, has Maximianopolis and Maronea and Aenus, which, founded and then abandoned, Aeneas occupied in Italy with a perpetual prosperity of auspices after his long wanderings.

14. Constat autem, ut vulgavere rumores adsidui, omnes paene agrestes, qui per regiones praedictas montium circumcolunt altitudines, salubritate virium et praerogativa quadam vitae longius propagandae nos anteire, idque inde contingere arbitrantur, quod conluvione ciborum abstinent calidisque et perenni viriditate roris asperginibus gelidis corpora constringente, aurae purioris dulcedine potiuntur, radiosque solis suapte natura vitales primi omnium sentiunt nullis adhuc maculis rerum humanarum infectos. his ita digestis pedem referamus ad coepta.

14. It is agreed, moreover, as common rumor holds, that almost all the rustic peoples who dwell around the heights of the aforesaid mountains surpass us in the salubrity of their vigour and in a certain prerogative for the prolongation of life, and they think this comes about because, abstaining from the confluence of foods and by cold sprays of dew binding their bodies amid a warm and perennial verdure, they enjoy the sweetness of a purer air, and perceive the sun’s rays—by their own nature first and most vital of all—unblemished yet by any stains of human affairs. With these things so disposed, let us turn our foot back to what was begun.

1. Procopio superato in Phrygia internarumque dissensionum materia consopita, Victor magister equitum ad Gothos est missus cogniturus aperte, quam ob causam gens amica Romanis foederibusque ingenuae pacis obstricta armorum dederat adminicula bellum principibus legitimis inferenti. qui ut factum firma defensione purgarent, litteras eiusdem obtulere Procopii, ut generis Constantiniani propinquo imperium sibi debitum sumpsisse commemorantis, veniaque dignum adserentes errorem.

1. With Procopius overcome in Phrygia and the matter of internal dissensions lulled, Victor, master of the cavalry, was sent to the Goths to learn openly for what cause the people, friendly to the Romans and bound by treaties of ingenuous peace, had given the supports of arms to those waging war against the legitimate princes. They, in order to clear the deed by a firm defense, produced the letters of that same Procopius, recounting that, as a kinsman of the Constantinian line, he had assumed the empire due to him, and asserting the error to be worthy of pardon.

2. Quibus eodem referente Victore conpertis Valens parvi pendens excusationem vanissimam in eos signa commovit, motus adventantis iam praescios, et pubescente vere quaesito in unum exercitu, prope Daphnen nomine munimentum est castra metatus, ponteque contabulato supra navium foros flumen transgressus est Histrum resistentibus nullis.

2. When these things were learned with Victor reporting the same, Valens, caring little, raised a most vain excuse against them and gave the signals, the movement already foreknowing the coming; and, his force growing and properly gathered into one army, he marshaled the camp near a fortification called Daphne, and, with a plank bridge laid over the prows of ships, crossed the river Ister with no resistance.

3. iamque sublatus fiducia cum ultro citroque discurrens nullum inveniret, quem superare poterat vel terrere: omnes enim formidine perciti militis cum apparatu ambitioso propinquantis, montes petivere Serrorum arduos et inaccessos nisi perquam gnaris.

3. and now, his confidence gone, running to and fro he found no one whom he could overpower or terrify: for all the soldiers, struck with fear at the ostentatious array of the approaching force, sought the Serrorum’s steep and inaccessible mountains, accessible only to those very well acquainted with them.

4. ne [igitur] aestate omni consumpta sine ullo remearet effectu, Arintheo magistro peditum misso cum praedatoriis globis familiarum rapuit partem, quae antequam ad dirupta venirent et flexuosa capi potuerunt per plana camporum errantes. hocque tantum, quod fors dederat, impetrato redit cum suis innoxius nec inlato gravi vulnere nec accepto.

4. so that, therefore, with the whole summer consumed he might not return without any result, Arintheus, master of the infantry, sent with predatory bands, seized part of the households, which, before they could be overwhelmed and taken in the winding passes, were roaming across the level plains of the fields. And having obtained only that which chance had given, he returned with his men unharmed, neither having inflicted nor having suffered a serious wound.

5. Anno secuto ingredi terras hostiles pari alacritate conatus fusius Danubii gurgitibus vagatis inpeditus mansit immobilis prope Carporum vicum stativis castris ad usque autumnum locatis emensum, unde quia nihil agi potuit dirimente magnitudine fluentorum, Marcianopolim ad hiberna discessit.

5. In the following year, attempting to enter hostile lands with equal alacrity, he was held fast and impeded, the broader gulfs of the Danube wandering about; he remained immobile near the village of the Carpi, his stationary camps pitched up to autumn and his campaign spent, whence, because nothing could be done by reason of the separating magnitude of the streams, he withdrew to Marcianopolis for the winter quarters.

6. Simili pertinacia tertio quoque anno per Novidunum navibus ad transmittendum amnem conexis, perrupto barbarico, continuatis itineribus longius agentes Greuthungos bellicosam gentem adgressus est, postque leviora certamina Athanaricum ea tempestate iudicem potentissimum ausum resistere cum manu, quam sibi crediderit abundare, extremorum metu coegit in fugam, ipseque cum omnibus suis Marcianopolim redivit ad hiemem agendam ut in illis tractibus habilem.

6. With similar pertinacity in the third year as well he, at Novidunum having ships joined to ferry across the stream, after the barbarian obstruction was forced, and with marches continued pushing farther, attacked the Greuthungi, a bellicose people; and after lighter skirmishes, Athanaric at that season, the most powerful judge, daring to resist with a force which he believed to be abundant, was driven into flight by a fear for his rearguards, and he himself with all his men returned to Marcianopolis to pass the winter there so as to be suitably placed in those tracts.

7. Aderant post diversos triennii casus finiendi belli materiae tempestivae. prima quod ex principis diuturna permansione metus augebatur hostilis, dein quod conmerciis vetitis ultima necessariorum inopia barbari stringebantur. adeo ut legatos supplices saepe mittentes venialem poscerent pacem.

7. After the diverse events of the three-year war there were timely means for ending the war. First, because by the prince’s long continuance the fear of the enemy was increased; then, because with commerce forbidden the barbarians were pressed by a want of the last necessities. So much so that, often sending supplicant legates, they besought a merciful peace.

8. quibus imperator rudis quidem, verum spectator adhuc aequissimus rerum, antequam adulationum perniciosis inlecebris captus rem publicam funeribus perpetuo deflendis adfligeret, in commune consultans pacem dare oportere decrevit.

8. to these matters the emperor, indeed raw, yet still the most equitable spectator of affairs, before—being seized by the pernicious allurements of adulation—he might afflict the res publica by perpetually bewailing it with funerals, consulting with the commonwealth, decreed that peace ought to be given.

9. missique vicissim Victor et Arintheus, qui tunc equestrem militiam curabant et pedestrem cum propositis condicionibus adsentiri Gothos docuissent litteris veris, praestituitur conponendae paci conveniens locus. et quoniam adserebat Athanaricus sub timenda exsecratione iuris iurandi se esse obstrictum, mandatisque prohibitum patris ne solum calcaret aliquando Romanorum, et adigi non poterat, indecorumque erat et vile ad eum imperatorem transire; recte noscentibus placuit navibus remigio directis in medium flumen, quae vehebant cum armigeris principem, gentisque iudicem inde cum suis, foederari, ut statutum est, pacem.

9. and in turn Victor and Arintheus were sent, who then oversaw the equestrian soldiery and who by true letters had instructed the Goths to assent also to the infantry with the proposed conditions; a place suitable for composing the peace was provided. And because Athanaric maintained that he was bound by the dreaded execration of an oath, and by his father's commands was forbidden ever to set foot alone among the Romans, nor could he be compelled, and it would be indecorous and base to cross over to that emperor; it pleased those rightly knowing that, with the ships' oars directed into the middle of the river, the ships which carried the prince with his armigers, and the judge of the people thence with his own, should be foederated, and thus, as was decreed, peace established.

10. hocque conposito et acceptis obsidibus Valens Constantinopolim redit, ubi postea Athanaricus proximorum factione genitalibus terris expulsus, fatali sorte decessit et ambitiosis exsequiis ritu sepultus est nostro.

10. this having been settled and hostages received, Valens returned to Constantinople, where afterwards Athanaric, expelled from his native lands by a faction of kinsmen, died by a fatal lot and, with ambitious obsequies, was buried according to our rite.

1. Inter haec Valentiniano magnitudine quassato morborum, agitanteque extrema, convivio occultiore Gallorum, qui aderant in conmilitio principis, ad imperium Rusticus Iulianus tunc magister memoriae poscebatur, quasi adflatu quodam furoris bestiarum more humani sanguinis avidus, ut ostenderat, cum proconsulari potestate regeret Africam.

1. Amid these things, with Valentinian shaken in bodily stature by illness and wrestling with his end, at a rather private banquet of the Gauls who were present in the prince’s comitatus, Rusticus Julianus, then magister memoriae, was being urged to the imperial office, as if by a certain gust of madness, ravenous for human blood like beasts, as he had shown when he governed Africa with proconsular power.

2. in praefectura enim urbana, quam adhuc administrans extinctus est, tempus anceps metuens tyrannidis, cuius arbitrio tamquam inter dignorum inopiam ad id escenderat culmen, lenis videri cogebatur et mollior.

2. for in the urban prefecture, which he was still administering when he died, dreading the perilous time of tyranny, whose arbitrium had, as it were in a lack of the worthy, climbed to that summit, he was compelled to seem mild and more lenient.

3. contra hos nitebantur aliqui studiis altioribus in favorem Severi, magistri tunc peditum, ut apti ad hoc impetrandum, qui licet asper esset et formidatus, tolerabilior tamen fuit et praeferendus modis omnibus ante dicto.

3. against these some strove with loftier zeal in favor of Severus, then master of the infantry, so that he might be deemed fit to obtain this; who, although he was harsh and dreaded, was nevertheless more tolerable and in every respect to be preferred to the aforesaid.

4. Sed dum haec cogitantur in cassum, imperator remediis multiplicibus recreatus, vixque se mortis periculo contemplans extractum, Gratianum filium suum adulto iam proximum, insignibus principatus ornare meditabatur.

4. But while these things were pondered in vain, the emperor, restored by manifold remedies, and scarcely reckoning himself drawn out of the peril of death, was devising to adorn his son Gratian, now nearly adult, with the insignia of the principate.

5. et paratis omnibus militeque firmato, ut animis id acciperet promptis, cum Gratianus venisset, progressus in campum, tribunal escendit, splendoreque nobilium circumdatus potestatum, dextra puerum adprehensum productumque in medium oratione contionaria destinatum imperatorem exercitui commendabat.

5. and with all things prepared and the soldiery made firm, so that they might receive it with ready minds, when Gratian had come, having advanced into the field he mounted the tribunal, and, surrounded by the splendour of noble authorities, with his right hand seized the boy and, having brought him out into the midst and destined as emperor for an assembly-address, commended him to the army.

6. 'Faustum erga me vestri favoris indicium, hunc loci principalis circumferens habitum, quo potior aliis iudicatus sum multis et claris: consiliorum sociis votorumque auspicibus vobis, pietatis officium adgrediar tempestivum, prospera deo spondente, cuius sempiternis auxiliis stabit Romana res inconcussa.

6. 'A fortunate token of your favor toward me, bearing this habit of the principal place, by which I am judged preferred to many and illustrious men: as companion of counsels and auspices of vows to you, I will undertake the timely duty of piety, God prospering, whose everlasting auxiliaries will keep the Roman state unshaken.

7. accipite igitur, quaeso, placidis mentibus, viri fortissimi, desiderium nostrum, id reputantes quod haec, quae fieri caritatis sanciunt iura, non tantum transire voluimus per conscientiam vestram, verum etiam probata firmari ut congrua nobis et profutura.

7. receive therefore, I beg, with placid minds, most valiant men, our desire, considering that these things, which the laws of charity sanctify, we wished not only to pass through your conscience, but also to be established by proof as fitting for us and advantageous.

8. Gratianum hunc meum adultum, quem diu versatum inter liberos vestros commune diligitis pignus, undique muniendae tranquillitatis publicae causa in augustum sumere conmilitium paro, si propitia caelestis numinis vestraeque maiestatis voluntas parentis amorem iuverit praeeuntem: non rigido cultu ab incunabulis ipsis ut nos educatum, nec tolerantia rerum coalitum asperarum, nec capacem adhuc Martii pulveris, ut videtis, sed familiae suae laudibus maiorumque factis praestantibus concinentem, potioribus — invidiae metu dicitur — protinus surrecturum, ut enim mihi videri solet, mores eius et adpetitus licet nondum maturos saepe pensanti.

8. This my Gratian, now grown, whom long practised among your freeborn you commonly cherish as a pledge, on every side for the sake of fortifying the public tranquillity I prepare to take up into the august conmilitium, if the propitious heavenly numen and your majesty’s will shall aid the parental love that goes before: not reared from the very incunabula in rigid colture as we were, nor steeled by the endurance of harsh affairs, nor yet capable, as you see, of the Martian dust, but harmonizing with the praises of his family and the outstanding deeds of his ancestors, said to rise at once to the better offices — from fear, men say, of invidia — for as it seems to me his manners and his appetites, though not yet mature, often give weighty promise.

9. ineunte adulescentia quoniam humanitate et studiis disciplinarum sollertium est expolitus, librabit suffragiis puris merita recte secusve factorum: faciet, ut sciant se boni intellegi: in pulchra facinora procursabit signis militaribus et aquilis adhaesurus: solem nivesque et pruinas et sitim perferet et vigilias: castris, si necessitas adegerit aliquotiens, propugnabit: salutem pro periculorum sociis obiectabit: et quod pietatis summum primumque [munus] est, rem publicam ut domum paternam diligere poterit et avitam�.

9. on entering youth, since he has been polished in humanity and by the studies of the disciplines, clever and apt, he will weigh by pure suffrages the merits of deeds rightly or wrongly done: he will cause them to know that they are held to be good: into noble exploits he will rush, adhering to the military standards and eagles: he will endure sun and snows and frosts and thirst and vigils: he will defend the camps, if necessity has driven him, on several occasions: he will expose his safety for comrades in perils: and what is the highest and first duty of piety, he will be able to love the republic as a paternal house and his ancestral estate.

10. Nondum finita oratione, dictis cum adsensu laeto auditis pro suo quisque loco et animo milites alius alium anteire festinans tamquam utilitatis et gaudiorum participes Gratianum declararunt Augustum, classicorum amplissimo sonu blandum fragorem miscentes armorum.

10. Not yet had the oration been finished; the words, when heard with joyful assent, each in his own place and spirit, the soldiers, one hastening to outdo another, proclaim Gratian Augustus, as if participants of utility and joys, mixing the trumpets’ most ample blast with a pleasing crash of arms.

11 . quo viso maiore fiducia Valentinianus exultans corona indumentisque supremae fortunae ornatum filium osculatus, iamque fulgore conspicuum, adloquitur advertentem, quae dicebantur.

11 . with that sight, and with increased confidence Valentinianus, exulting, having kissed his son—adorned with a crown and the vestments of supreme fortune, and now conspicuous in splendor—addresses him, attending to what was being said.

12. �En� inquit �habes, mi Gratiane, amictus, ut speravimus omnes, augustos, meo conmilitonumque nostrorum arbitrio delatos ominibus faustis. accingere igitur pro rerum urgentium pondere ut patris patruique collega, et adsuesce inpavidus penetrare cum agminibus peditum gelu pervios Histrum et Rhenum, armatis tuis proximus stare, sanguinem spiritumque considerate pro his inpendere, quos regis, nihil alienum putare quod ad Romani imperii pertinet salutem.

12. "Behold," he said, "you have, my Gratian, the amictus, as we all hoped, august—borne by my and our comrades' judgment and by auspicious omens. Gird yourself therefore for the peso of urgent affairs as colleague of father and uncle, and accustom yourself, fearless, to penetrate with the agmina of foot soldiers through frost made passable, the Hister and the Rhine, to stand near your armed men, to consider expending blood and breath for those whom you rule, to regard nothing alien that pertains to the salvation of the Roman empire."

13. haec pro tempore praecepisse sufficiet, cetera monere non desinam. nunc reliqui vos estis, rerum maximi defensores, quos rogo et obtestor, ut adcrescentem imperatorem fidei vestrae commissum servetis adfectione fundata�.

13. these things will suffice to have been commanded for the time, I will not cease to admonish the rest. now you remain, the defenders of the greatest affairs, whom I ask and beseech that you preserve the growing emperor, entrusted to your faith, with a firmly founded affection.

14. His dictis sollemnitate omni firmatis Eupraxius Caesariensis Maurus, magister ea tempestate memoriae, primus omnium exclamavit �familia Gratiani hoc meretur� statimque promotus quaestor multa et prudentibus aemulanda bonae fiduciae reliquit exempla, nusquam a statu naturae discedens intrepidae, sed constans semper legumque similis, quas omnibus una eademque voce loqui in multiplicibus advertimus causis: qui tunc magis in suscepta parte iustitiae permanebat cum eum recta monentem exagitaret minax imperator et nimius.

14. With these words, every solemnity having been affirmed, Eupraxius Maurus of Caesarea, magister at that time of renown, was the first of all to exclaim, “the household of Gratian deserves this”; and immediately, promoted to quaestor, he left many examples of good faith to be emulated by the prudent—nowhere departing from the state of nature, intrepid, but always steadfast and akin to the laws, which we observe to speak with one and the same voice to all in manifold causes: he then remained the more constant in the assumed part of justice when the menacing and excessive emperor harried him for admonishing him rightly.

15. consurrectum est post haec in laudes maioris principis et novelli, maximeque pueri, quem oculorum flagrantior lux commendabat vultusque et reliqui corporis iucundissimus nitor et egregia pectoris indoles: quae imperatorem implesset cum veterum lectissimis conparandum, si per fata proximosque licuisset, qui virtutem eius etiam tum instabilem obnubilarunt actibus pravis.

15. After these things there rose up praises of the greater prince and of the younger, and especially of the boy, whom a more ardent light of the eyes commended, and whose face and the pleasant sheen of the rest of his body and outstanding nobility of heart: qualities which, filling the emperor, would have caused him to be compared with the most select of the ancients, if fate and kinsmen had permitted — who even then, by wicked acts, clouded his virtue, unstable.

16. In hoc tamen negotio Valentinianus morem institutum antiquitus supergressus non Caesares sed Augustos germanum nuncupavit et filium benivole satis. nec enim quisquam antehac adscivit sibi pari potestate collegam praeter principem Marcum qui Verum adoptivum fratrem absque diminutione aliqua maiestatis imperatoriae socium fecit.

16. In this matter, however, Valentinian, having set aside a custom long instituted, called his brother not Caesars but Augusti and his son quite benevolently. For no one before had proclaimed for himself a colleague of equal power except the prince Marcus, who made Verus his adoptive brother a partner without any diminution of imperial majesty.

VII

CHAPTER 7.

1. His ex sententia rectoris et militum ordinatis vix dies intercessere pauci, cum Mamertinum praefectum praetorio ab urbe regressum, quo quaedam perrexerat correcturus, Avitianus ex vicario peculatus detulerat reum.

1. By this judgment having been passed and the commanders of the troops ordered, scarcely a few days elapsed, when Mamertinus, the praetorian prefect, having returned from the city — to which he had gone to correct certain affairs — Avitianus had accused the vicar as guilty of peculation.

2. cui ideo Vulcatius successit Rufinus omni ex parte perfectus et velut apicem senectutis honoratae praetendens, sed lucrandi oportunas occasiones occultationis spe numquam praetermittens.

2. to whom therefore Rufinus succeeded Vulcatius, perfect in every respect and as if holding forth the apex of honored old age, yet never omitting opportune occasions for lucre, with the hope of concealment.

3. qui nanctus copiam principis, Orfitum ex praefecto urbis solutum exilio, patrimonii redintegrata iactura remitti fecit in lares.

3. who, having obtained the prince's favor, caused Orfitus, discharged from the office of prefect of the city by exile, with the loss to his patrimony made good, to be sent back to his household.

4. Et quamquam Valentinianus homo propalam ferus inter imperitandi exordia ut asperitatis opinionem molliret, impetus truces retinere non numquam in potestate animi nitebatur, serpens tamen vitium et dilatum, aliquamdiu licentius erupit ad perniciem plurimorum, quod auxit ira acerbius effervescens. hanc enim ulcus esse animi diuturnum interdumque perpetuum prudentes definiunt, nasci ex mentis mollitia consuetum, id adserentes argumento probabili, quod iracundiores sunt incolumibus languidi, et feminae maribus, et iuvenibus senes, et felicibus aerumnosi.

4. And although Valentinianus, a man openly fierce at the outset of his command, strove to soften the opinion of his asperity, he nevertheless did not always succeed in retaining his savage impulses within the power of his mind; yet the vice, serpent-like and long‑standing, for a while broke forth more licentiously to the ruin of very many, which was increased by anger boiling more bitterly. For the prudent define this as an ulcer of the mind long‑continued and sometimes perpetual, born from a habit of weakness of mind, those asserting it with a plausible argument, namely that the more irascible are the sound rather than the sick, women rather than men, the young rather than the old, and the fortunate rather than the afflicted.

5. Eminuit tamen per id tempus inter alias humilium neces mors Dioclis ex comite largitionum Illyrici, quem ob delicta levia flammis iussit exuri ; et Diodori ex agente in rebus, triumque adparitorum potestatis vicariae per Italiam ob id necatorum atrociter, quod apud eum questus est comes Diodorum quidem adversus se civiliter implorasse iuris auxilium, officiales vero iussu iudicis ausos monere proficiscentem ut responderet ex lege. quorum memoriam apud Mediolanum colentes nunc usque Christiani, locum ubi sepulti sunt Ad Innocentes adpellant.

5. Yet in that time among other deaths of the lowly there was the death of Diocles, a comes of largitiones of Illyricum, whom, on account of slight offenses, he ordered to be burned with flames; and Diodorus, an agent in affairs, and three subordinates (adparitores) of the vicariate’s power throughout Italy were atrociously slain on that account, because it was complained against him that the comes Diodorus had indeed, in a civil manner, implored the aid of the law against him, whereas the officials, by order of the judge, dared to warn the one setting out that he should answer according to the law. The memory of these men, venerated at Mediolanum even to this day by Christians, gives the name Ad Innocentes to the place where they are buried.

6. Dein cum in negotio Maxentii cuiusdam Pannonii, ob exsecutionem a iudice recte maturari praeceptam, trium oppidorum ordines mactari iussisset, interpellavit Eupraxius tunc quaestor et �parcius� inquit �agito, piissime principum: hos enim, quos interfici tamquam noxios iubes, ut martyras, id est divinitati acceptos, colet religio Christiana�.

6. Then when, in the matter of a certain Maxentius of Pannonia, because the execution had been rightly commanded by the judge to be hastened, he had ordered the orders of three towns to be slaughtered, Eupraxius then intervened, quaestor and "�parcius�," he said, "act, most pious of princes: for those whom you order to be killed as if guilty, Christian religion honors as martyrs, that is, accepted by divinity."

7. cuius salutarem fiduciam praefectus imitatus Florentius cum in re quadam venia digna audisset, eum percitum ira iussisse itidem ternos per ordines urbium interfici plurimarum �ecquid agetur� ait �si oppidum aliquod curiales non haberet tantos? inter reliqua id quoque suspendi debet, ut, cum habuerit, occidantur�.

7. whose salutary confidence imitated, the prefect Florentius, when he had heard that in a certain case clemency was deserved, struck by anger ordered him likewise to be slain, and three to be put to death through the orders of very many towns; he said, "what will be done if some town has not so many curiales? Among other things this also must be decreed, namely that, when it has them, they shall be killed."

8. ad hanc inclementiam illud quoque accedebat dictu dirum et factu quod, siquis eum adisset iudicium potentis inimici declinans, aliumque sibi postulans dari, hoc non inpetrato ad eundem, quem metuebat, licet multa praetenderet iusta, remittebatur. itemque aliud audiebatur horrendum quod, ubi debitorum aliquem egestate obstrictum nihil reddere posse dicebatur, interfici debere pronuntiabat.

8. to this inclemency there was added also a thing dire to tell and to do: that if anyone, avoiding the judgment of a powerful enemy, came to him and asked that another be given in his place, and this not obtained, he was sent back to the same man whom he feared, although he put forward many just pleas. Likewise another horrible thing was heard, that when any debtor, bound by want, was said to be able to pay nothing, he was pronounced to deserve killing.

9. Haec autem et similia licenter ideo altiore fastu quidam principes agunt, quod amicis emendandi secus cogitata vel gesta copiam negant, inimicos loqui terrent amplitudine potestatis. nulla vacat quaestio pravitatum apud eos, qui, quod velint fieri, maximas putant esse virtutes.

9. These and similar things moreover certain princes perform licentiously with loftier pride, because they deny to friends the opportunity to amend matters thought or done otherwise, and they terrify enemies from speaking by the amplitude of their power. No inquiry into corruptions is allowed among those who reckon that whatever they desire to be done are the greatest virtues.

VIII

CHAPTER 8.

1. Profectus itaque ab Ambianis, Treverosque festinans, nuntio percellitur gravi, qui Brittannias indicabat barbarica conspiratione ad ultimam vexatas inopiam, Nectaridumque comitem maritimi tractus occisum, et Fullofauden ducem hostilibus insidiis circumventum.

1. Having therefore set out from the Ambiani and hastening to the Treveri, he is struck by a grievous message, which reported that the Britannias, by a barbaric conspiracy, had been harried to the utmost want, and that Nectaridus, a companion of the maritime tract, was slain, and Fullofaudes the leader was surrounded by hostile ambushes.

2. quibus magno cum horrore conpertis Severum etiam tum domesticorum comitem misit, si fors casum dedisset optatum, correcturum sequius gesta: quo paulo postea revocato Iovinus eadem loca profectus, Provertuidem celeri gradu praemisit, adminicula petiturus exercitus validi. id enim instantes necessitates flagitare firmabant.

2. when these things were discovered with great horror, he even then sent Severus, a comrade of the domestics, who, if chance had granted the wished-for occasion, would have corrected the proceedings; but a little later, when recalled, Iovinus set out for the same places, and sent forward Provertus at a swift pace, to seek the aids of a strong army. For pressing necessities were firmly insisting that this be demanded.

3. postremo ob multa et metuenda, quae super eadem insula rumores adsidui perferebant, electus Theodosius illuc properare disponitur, officiis Martiis felicissime cognitus, adscitaque animosa legionum et cohortium pube, ire tendebat praeeunte fiducia speciosa.

3. finally, because of the many and dread‑worthy things which constant rumours bore concerning that same island, Theodosius, having been chosen, was arranged to hasten thither, most felicitously known for Martial services, and with a spirited youth of legions and cohorts added, he was intent on going with a fair confidence in the lead.

4. Et quoniam, cum Constantis principis actus conponerem, motus adulescentis et senescentis oceani situmque Brittanniae pro captu virium explanavi, ad ea, quae digesta sunt semel, revolvi superfluvm duxi, ut Vlixes Homericus apud Phaeacas ob difficultatem nimiam replicare formidat.

4. And since, when I was composing the deeds of Prince Constans, I explained the movements of the sea in its youth and old age and the situation of Britain to the extent of my powers, I judged it superfluous to return to those things once set forth, as the Homeric Ulysses among the Phaeacians, on account of excessive difficulty, fears to repeat.

5. illud tamen sufficiet dici, quod eo tempore Picti in duas gentes divisi, Dicalydonas et Verturiones, itidemque Attacotti bellicosa hominum natio et Scotti per diversa vagantes multa populabantur, Gallicanos [vero] tractus Franci et Saxones isdem confines, quo quisque erumpere potuit terra vel mari, praedis acerbis incendiisque et captivorum funeribus hominum violabant.

5. yet this will suffice to be said, that at that time the Picts, divided into two peoples, the Dicalydones and the Verturiones, and likewise the Attacotti, a bellicose nation of men, and the Scotti, wandering through diverse regions, were devastating many places; the Gallic tract, however, the Franks and the Saxons in the same confines, wherever each could break forth by land or by sea, violated the people with harsh plunderings, burnings, and the funerals (i.e., deaths) of captives.

6. Ad haec prohibenda, si copiam dedisset fortuna prosperior, orbis extrema dux efficacissimus petens cum venisset ad Bononiae litus, quod a spatio controverso terrarum angustiis reciproci distinguitur maris, attolli horrendis aestibus adsueti, rursusque sine ulla navigantium noxa in speciem conplanari camporum, exinde transmeato lentius freto, defertur Rutupias stationem ex adverso tranquilla unda.

6. To prevent these things, had more prosperous fortune granted the means, a most efficacious duke, seeking the world’s extremes, when he had come to the shore of Bononia—which by the reciprocal narrowness of the lands is distinguished from the sea—where the sea, accustomed to be lifted by horrible tides and again, without any hurt to those sailing, to be spread out like plains, and thence, after a slow transit of the fret, is carried to the station of Rutupiae opposite by a tranquil wave.

7. Cum consecuti Batavi venissent et Heruli Ioviique et Victores, fidentes viribus numeri, egressus tendensque ad Lundinium

7. When the Batavi had come up in pursuit, and the Heruli, and the Iovi and the Victores, bands confident in their strength, having disembarked and making for Lundinium

6 vetus oppidum, quod Augustam posteritas appellavit, divisis plurifariam globis adortus est vagantes hostium austatorias manus, graves onere sarcinarum, et propere fusis, qui vinctos homines agebant et pecora, praedam excussit, quam tributarii perdidere miserrimi.

6. the old town, which posterity called Augusta, was attacked in many parts by bands divided into several groups of wandering hostile raiders, heavy with the burden of their packs, and, quickly routing those who opposed them, they drove off bound men and cattle and carried away the plunder which the most miserable tributaries had lost.

8. isdemque restituta omni praeter partem exiguam, inpensam militibus fessis, mersam difficultatibus summis antehac civitatem, sed subito, quam salus sperari potuit recreatam, in ovantis speciem laetissimus introiit.

8. and with everything restored the same save for a small part, the expense laid out for the soldiers who were weary, the city formerly plunged in the highest difficulties, but suddenly, as soon as safety could be hoped for and was revived, he entered most joyful in the semblance of one exulting.

9. Vbi ad audenda maiora prospero successu elatus, tutaque scrutando consilia, futuri morabatur ambiguus, diffusam variarum gentium plebem et ferocientem inmaniter, non nisi per dolos occultiores et inprovisos excursus superari posse, captivorum confessionibus et transfugarum indiciis doctus.

9. Where, raised by prosperous success to attempt greater things, and by scrutinizing safe counsels hesitating about the future, he learned from captives’ confessions and from deserters’ indications that the dispersed plebs of various nations, ferociously savage, could be overcome only by more secret deceits and by sudden incursions.

10. denique edictis propositis inpunitateque promissa desertores ad procinctum vocabat et multos [alios] per diversa libero commeatu dispersos. quo monitu ut rediere plerique, incentivo percitus retentusque anxiis curis, Civilem nomine recturum Brittannias pro praefectis ad se poposcerat mitti, virum acrioris ingenii sed iusti tenacem et recti, itidemque Dulcitium, ducem scientia rei militaris insignem.

10. finally, with edicts set forth and impunity promised, he summoned the deserters to the muster and many others scattered by various routes with free passage. By that admonition, when most returned — moved by the incentive and detained by anxious cares — he had demanded that be sent to him, as prefects, men who would govern the Brittanies in the name of the civil authority: a man of keener genius but tenacious of justice and of right, and likewise Dulcitius, a leader distinguished in the science of military affairs.

1. Haec in Brittanniis agebantur. Africam vero iam inde ab exordio Valentiniani imperii exurebat barbarica rabies, per procursus audentiores et crebris caedibus et rapinis intenta quam rem militaris augebat socordia et aliena invadendi cupiditas maximeque Romani nomine comitis.

1. These things were being done in the Britains. But Africa, already from the beginning of Valentinian’s empire, was being set aflame by barbaric rage, intent upon bolder forays and frequent slaughter and plunder; the military situation was worsened by negligence and by a lust to invade others, and above all by a comes named Romanus.

2. qui venturi providus transferendaeque in alios invidiae artifex, saevitia morum multis erat exosus, hac praecipue causa quod superare hostes in vastandis provinciis festinabat, adfinitate Remigii [tunc] magistri officiorum confisus, quo prava et contraria referente princeps — ut prae se ferebat ipse — cautissimus lacrimosa dispendia diutius ignoravit Afrorum.

2. he, provident of the coming and an artificer of envy to be transferred onto others, was by the severity of his morals hated by many, chiefly for this cause: because he hastened to outdo the enemies in ravaging the provinces, trusting in the affinity of Remigius, then magister officiorum, to whom, bringing back crooked and contrary reports, the prince — as he himself vaunted — most cautious, for a longer time ignored the tearful losses of the Africans.

3. Gestorum autem per eas regiones seriem plenam et Rurici praesidis legatorumque mortem et cetera luctuosa cum adegerit ratio, diligentius explicabo.

3. Once the narrative has set forth a full series of deeds through those regions, and the mournful death of the praeses Ruricus and of the legates and other like matters, I will explain more diligently.

4. et quoniam adest liber locus dicendi quae sentimus, aperte loquimur: hunc imperatorem omnium primum in maius militares fastus ad damna rerum auxisse communium, dignitates opesque eorum sublimius erigentem, et quod erat publice privatimque dolendum, indeflexa saevitia punientem gregariorum errata, parcentem potioribus, qui tamquam peccatis indulta licentia ad labes delictorum inmanium consurgebant; qui ex eo anhelantes ex nutu suo indistanter putant omnium pendere fortunas.

4. and since a free place for speaking of what we feel is at hand, we speak plainly: this emperor above all first increased military arrogance to a greater degree to the detriment of the common weal, loftily elevating their dignities and riches, and which was to be grieved both publicly and privately, punishing with unbending cruelty the errors of the rank-and-file, sparing the more eminent, who, as if by sins pardoned and by indulgence, sprang up with licence to the ravages of monstrous crimes; and those panting for that, from his nod indiscriminately imagine that the fortunes of all depend on him.

5. horum flatus et pondera inventores iuris antiqui mollientes etiam insontes quosdam aliquotiens suppliciis aboleri censuere letalibus. quod saepe contingit, cum ob multitudinis crimina non nulli sortis iniquitate plectuntur innoxii: id enim non numquam ad privatorum pertinuit causas.

5. the inventors of ancient law, softening the flatus and pondera of these, judged that even some innocents should at times be abolished by lethal punishments. Which often happens, when, on account of the multitude of crimes, some innocents are punished by the iniquity of lot; for this has not unfrequently pertained to the causes of private persons.

6. At in Isauria globatim per vicina digressi praedones, oppida villasque uberes libera populatione vexantes magnitudine iacturarum Pamphyliam adflictabant et Cilicas. quos cum nullis arcentibus internecive cuncta disperdere Asiae vicarius ea tempestate Musonius advertisset, Athenis Atticis antehac magister rhetoricus, deploratis novissime rebus, luxuque adiumento militari marcente, adhibitis semiermibus paucis, quos Diogmitas appellant, unum grassatorum cuneum, si patuisset facultas, adoriri conatus, per angustum quendam transiens devexitatis anfractum, ad inevitabiles venit insidias, et ibi cum his confossus est quos ducebat.

6. But in Isauria, robbers, setting out in masses through neighboring districts, plundering towns and villas rich with depopulation, were afflicting Pamphylia and the Cilician regions with losses of great magnitude. When Musonius, vicarius of Asia at that time — formerly a teacher of rhetoric in Attic Athens — observed that all things were being scattered with none restraining or slaying them, lately bereft of resources and with his military equipment failing through luxury, having brought in a few half-armed men, whom they call Diogmitas, he attempted to attack a single wedge of the raiders, if opportunity had allowed; passing through a certain narrow defile he came to a tortuous bend of the hollow, into unavoidable ambushes, and there was pierced together with those he led.

7. tali successu latrones praetumidos palantesque per varia confidentius, interfectis aliquibus, ad latebrosa montium saxa quae incolunt excitae tandem copiae contruserunt; ubi cum eis nec quiescendi nec inveniendi ad victum utilia copia laxaretur, per indutias pacem sibi tribui poposcerunt, Germanicopolitanis auctoribus, quorum apud eos ut signiferae manus, semper valuere sententiae, obsidibusque datis, ut imperatum est, immobiles diu mansere, nihil audentes hostile.

7. with such success the robbers, swollen with pride and prowling more confidently through various places, after some had been slain, at last massed their forces against the lurking rocks of the mountains which the inhabitants had roused; where, since no store useful for resting nor for procuring victuals was afforded them, they asked that peace be granted to them by truce, with the Germanicopolitans as guarantors, whose counsels among them, like signal-bearing hands, always carried weight, and with hostages given, as had been commanded, they remained immobile for a long time, daring nothing hostile.

8. Haec inter Praetextatus praefecturam urbis sublimius curans, per integritatis multiplices actus et probitatis, quibus ab adulescentiae rudimentis inclaruit, adeptus est id quod raro contingit, ut cum timeretur, amorem non perderet civium, minus firmari solitum erga iudices formidatos.

8. Meanwhile Praetextatus, caring for the prefecture of the city with a loftier concern, by manifold acts of integrity and probity, by which he shone from the rudiments of youth, obtained that which rarely occurs: that though he was feared, he did not lose the love of the citizens, and that affection, which is less wont to be fixed toward judges who are feared, was not diminished.

9. cuius auctoritate iustisque veritatis suffragiis tumultu lenito, quem Christianorum iurgia concitarunt, pulsoque Vrsino, alta quies parta, proposito civium Romanorum aptissima, et adulescebat gloria [prae]clari rectoris plura et utilia disponentis.

9. by whose authority and by the just suffrages of truth the tumult, which the quarrels of the Christians had stirred up, being soothed, and Ursino having been expelled, deep peace was secured, most fitting for the proposed Roman citizens; and the glory of the [prae]famous ruler, arranging many and useful things, was coming to maturity.

10. nam[que] et Maeniana sustulit omnia, fabricari Romae priscis quoque vetita legibus, et discrevit ab aedibus sacris privatorum parietes isdem inverecunde conexos, ponderaque per regiones instituit universas, cum aviditati multorum ex libidine trutinas conponentium occurri nequiret. in examinandis vero litibus ante alios id impetravit quod laudando Brutum Tullius refert, ut cum nihil ad gratiam faceret, omnia tamen grata viderentur [esse], quae factitabat.

10. for he also removed all the Maenian structures, caused to be built in Rome things forbidden even by ancient laws, and separated the walls of private houses from sacred buildings, shamelessly joining them to the same, and set up weights throughout all the regions, since he could not oppose the greed of many composing balances out of lust. in adjudicating disputes, moreover, he obtained before others that which Tullius relates in praising Brutus, namely that although he did nothing for favor, nevertheless all things seemed pleasing [esse] which he caused to be done.

CHAPTER 10.

1. Sub idem fere tempus Valentiniano ad expeditionem caute, ut rebatur, profecto, Alamannus regalis Rando nomine, diu praestruens quod cogitabat, Mogontiacum praesidiis vacuam cum expeditis ad latrocinandum latenter inrepsit.

1. At about the same time, while Valentinian was setting out on an expedition cautiously, as he thought, an Alamannian royal called Rando, long fore-constructing what he was devising, stealthily crept into Mogontiacum, empty of garrisons, with light-armed men to pillage.

2. et quoniam casu Christiani ritus invenit celebrari sollemnitatem, inpraepedite cuiusque modi fortunae virile et muliebre secus cum supellectili non parva indefensum abduxit.

2. and because by chance he found the solemnity of the Christian rite being celebrated, unimpeded he carried off, undefended, men and women alike according to each one's fortune, together with not a small amount of household furnishings.

3. Parvo inde post intervallo inopina rei Romanae spes laetiorum adfulsit. cum enim Vithicabius rex, Vadomarii filius specie quidem molliculus et morbosus sed audax et fortis, ardores in nos saepe succenderet bellicos, opera navabatur inpensior ut qualibet concideret strage.

3. A little afterward, unexpectedly a hope of brighter days for the Roman state shone forth. For Vithicabius the king, son of Vadomarius, outwardly somewhat effeminate and sickly but bold and strong, often kindled warlike ardors against us; he labored with increased exertion that by any slaughter he might cut us down.

4. et quia temptatus aliquotiens nullo genere potuit superari vel prodi, fraude citerioris vitae ministri, studio sollicitante nostrorum occubuit, cuius post necem aliquatenus hostiles torpuere discursus. interfector tamen prae metu poenarum, quas verebatur si patuisset negotium, ad Romanum solum se celeri transtulit gradu.

4. and because, having been tempted often, he could not be overcome or betrayed by any kind of means, by the fraud of the earlier attendant of his life, with the zeal of our men urging, he fell; after whose death the hostile movements were for a time somewhat paralysed. The slayer, however, through fear of punishments which he dreaded would follow if the affair were laid open, conveyed himself to Roman soil with a swift step.

5. Parabatur post haec lentioribus curis et per copias multiformes in Alamannos expeditio solitis gravior, destinatius id publica tutela poscente, quoniam reparabilis gentis motus timebantur infidi: milite nihilo minus accenso, cui ob suspectos eorum mores nunc infimorum et supplicum, paulo post ultima minitantium, nullae quiescendi dabantur indutiae.

5. After this an expedition against the Alamanni was being prepared with slower cares and, through manifold forces, heavier than the usual, more decisively so at the insistence of the public guardianship, since the treacherous were feared as capable of reviving the movement of the people: the soldier nevertheless none the less inflamed, for on account of their suspected customs—now of the lowest and of suppliants, and a little later of those threatening the last—no truces for resting were granted.

6. Contracta igitur undique mole maxima catervarum, armis et subsidiis rei cibariae diligenter instructa, accitoque Sebastiano comite cum Illyriis et Italicis numeris, quos regebat, anni tempore iam tepente Valentinianus cum Gratiano Rhenum transiit, visoque nemine, indivisis agminibus quadratis ipse medius incedebat, Iovino et Severo magistris rei castrensis altrinsecus ordinum latera servantibus, ne repentino invaderentur adsultu.

6. Therefore, with the greatest mass of bands gathered from every quarter, armed and carefully equipped with arms and auxiliary food‑stores, and Sebastian the count having been summoned with the Illyrian and Italic numbers which he commanded, in the season of the year already growing warm Valentinian crossed the Rhine with Gratian; and seeing no one, with his columns undivided in square formation he himself marched in the middle, Jovinus and Severus, masters of the camp, keeping the flanks of the ranks on either side, lest they be surprised by a sudden assault.

7. protinusque inde ductantibus itinerum callidis, exploratis accessibus, per regiones longo itu porrectas sensim gradiens miles inritatior ad pugnandum velut repertis barbaris minaciter infrendebat, et quoniam aliquod diebus emensis nullus potuit qui resisteret inveniri, cuncta satorum et tectorum, quae visebantur, iniecta cohortium manu vorax flamma vastabat praeter alimenta, quae colligi dubius rerum eventus adigebat et custodiri.

7. and straightaway thence, the routes being guided by those skilled in marches, the approaches having been reconnoitred, slowly advancing through regions stretched out by a long way, the soldier, the more incited to fight, would menacingly snarl at the barbarians as if discovered; and since after some days’ consumption no one could be found who would resist, a voracious flame, launched by the hand of the cohorts, devastated all the sown fields and roofs that were seen, except the provisions, which the uncertain event of affairs drove to be gathered and guarded.

8. post haec leniore gressu princeps ulterius tendens cum prope locum venisset, cui Solicinio nomen est, velut quadam obice stetit, doctus procursantium relatione verissima barbaros longe conspectos.

8. after these things the princeps, advancing with a lighter step further on, when he had come near a place called Solicinium, stood as if before some obstacle, instructed by the most true report of the scouts that the barbarians were seen far off.

9. qui nullam ad tuendam salutem viam superesse cernentes, nisi se celeri defendissent occursu, locorum gnaritate confisi unum spirantibus animis montem occupavere praecelsum, per confragosos colles undique praeruptum et invium absque septentrionali latere, unde facilem habet devexitatem et mollem. signis ilico fixis ex more, cum undique ad arma conclamaretur, imperio principis et ductorum stetit regibilis miles, vexillum opperiens extollendum: quod erat oportune subeundae indicium pugnae.

9. they, seeing that no road remained for the preservation of safety unless they defended themselves by a swift onset, trusting in their knowledge of the localities, seized with eager breaths a single very lofty mountain, everywhere broken by craggy hills and precipitous and impassable except on the northern side, whence it has an easy descent and soft ground. Standards there being fixed at once according to custom, and a shout to arms resounding from all sides, under the command of the prince and the leaders stood the controllable soldiery, awaiting the banner to be raised: which was a timely indication of a battle about to be undertaken.

10. ergo quia spatium deliberandi aut exiguum dabatur aut nullum, hinc inpatientia militis perterrente, inde horrenda circumsonantibus Alamannis, id consilium ratio celeritatis admisit, ut arctoam montium partem, quam clementer diximus esse proclivem, Sebastianus cum suis occuparet, fugientes Germanos, si fors ita tulisset, levi negotio confossurus: quo, ut placuit, maturato Gratianoque apud signa Iovianorum retro detento, cuius aetas erat etiam tum proeliorum inpatiens et laborum, Valentinianus ut dux cunctator et tutus centurias et manipulos capite intecto conlustrans, nullo potentium in conscientiam arcani adhibito, remota multitudine stipatorum, speculatum radices aggerum avolavit cum paucis, quorum industriam norat et fidem, praedicans, ut erat sui adrogans aestimator, inveniri posse aliam viam ducentem ad arduos clivos praeter eam, quam inspexere proculcatores.

10. therefore, since space for deliberation was given either scant or none at all, on the one hand the impatience of the soldiers terrifying, on the other the Alamanni roaring dreadfully around, reason admitted the counsel of swiftness: that Sebastianus with his men should occupy the narrow part of the mountains, which, as I kindly said, is proclive, and so, if fortune had so borne it, would easily pierce the fleeing Germans with small effort. Accordingly, the plan was hastened; Gratian, detained behind at the standards of the Jovians — whose age even then was impatient of battles and labors — Valentinian, as a hesitant and cautious commander, scanning the centuries and maniples with head uncovered, with no secret of the powerful brought into counsel, having removed the crowd of attendants, flew off to reconnoitre the roots of the ramparts with a few whose industry and fidelity he knew, proclaiming — as he was, an arrogant estimator of himself — that another way might be found leading to the steep ascents besides that which the assailants had inspected.

11, per ignota itaque et palustres uligines devius tendens insidiatricis manus locatae per obliqua subito oppetisset adcursu, ni necessitatis adiumento postremo per labilem limum incitato iumento digressus, legionum se gremiis inmersisset post abruptum periculum, cui adeo proximus fuit, ut galeam eius cubicularius ferens auro lapillisque distinctam, cum ipso tegmine penitus interiret nec postea vivus reperiretur aut interfectus.

11, and so, steering off through unknown and marshy bogs, he would have suddenly met the ambusher’s hand set in an oblique on‑run, had he not, by the aid of necessity at last, urged his fickle pack‑beast over the slippery mire and departed; he plunged himself into the bosoms of the legions after the sudden peril, to which he was so near that his chamberlain bearing his helmet, ornamented with gold and little stones, perished utterly with the very covering, and was not afterwards found either alive or slain.

12. Proinde quiete reficiendis corporibus data, signoque erecto, quod solet ad pugnam hortari, tubarum minacium accendente clangore, fidentissimo impetu acies motas prompte ante alios praeiere duo iuvenes lecti in principiis adeundi discriminis, Salvius et Lupicinus, Scutarius unus, alter e schola Gentilium, fragore terribili concitantes: hastasque crispando cum ad rupium obiecta venissent, trudentibusque Alamannis evadere ad celsiora conarentur, advenit omne pondus armorum, isdemque antesignanis per hirta dumis et aspera magno virium nisu in editas sublimitates erepsit.

12. Therefore, after time was given for the bodies to be quietly refreshed, and the signal raised, which is wont to exhort to fight, with the threatening clangour of trumpets kindled, two young men chosen at the outset of the impending crisis, with most confident impetus, promptly went forward before the others in the battle-line, Salvius and Lupicinus, one a scutarius, the other from the schola Gentilium, shouting with terrible din: and when, with spears brandished, they had come to the projecting rocks, and the routed Alamanni strove to flee to the higher ground, the whole weight of arms fell upon them, and those same antesignani, through shaggy brambles and rough places, with great exertion of strength dragged them up to the exposed heights.

13. acri igitur partium spiritu conflictus cuspidibus temptatur infestis, et hinc arte belli doctior miles, inde licet feroces sed incauti barbari dexteris coiere conlatis, quos latius sese pandens exercitus infusis utrimque cornibus adflictabat, per fremitus territos et equorum hinnitus et tubas.

13. therefore the conflict, keen with the spirit of the two parties, was tested by hostile spearpoints, and hence the soldier more learned in the art of war, and thence, although fierce but unwary, the barbarians joined with their right hands conjoined; whom the army, spreading itself more widely, harried with horns blown on both sides, terrorized by the roar and the neighing of horses and the trumpets.

14. nihilominus tamen ipsi adsumpta fiducia restiterunt, aequataque parumper proeliorum sorte, haud parva mole certatum est, dum turmarum funeribus mutuis res gerebatur.

14. nevertheless they themselves, confidence having been assumed, stood firm; and, the fortunes of the battles for a short while made equal, the struggle was contested with no small mass, while by the mutual funerals of the squadrons the affair was carried on.

15. disiecti denique Romanorum ardore metuque turbati, miscentur ultimis primi, dumque in pedes versi discedunt, verrutis hostilibus forabantur et pilis. postremo dum anheli currunt et fessi, pandebant sequentibus poplites et suras et dorsa. stratis denique multis, lapsorum partem Sebastianus cum subsidiali manu locatus post montium terga trucidavit ex incauto latere circumventam: dispersi ceteri silvarum se latebris amendarunt.

15. at last, scattered and disordered by Roman ardor and fear, the first were mixed with the last; and while, turned to their feet, they departed, they were pierced by hostile spears and javelins. Finally, while they ran panting and weary, they bared to their pursuers their knees and calves and backs. With many lain low, Sebastian, having taken position with a supporting hand, slaughtered a part surrounded on the unguarded flank behind the ridges of the mountains: the others, dispersed, sought refuge in the hiding-places of the woods.

16. In hac dimicatione nostri quoque oppetiere non contemnendi. inter quos Valerianus fuit domesticorum omnium primus, et Natuspardo quidam Scutarius, exsertus ita bellator, ut Sicinio veteri conparetur et Sergio. hisque tali casuum diversitate perfectis milites ad hiberna, imperatores Treveros reverterunt.

16. In this fight our men too perished, not to be lightly esteemed. Among them Valerian was the first of all the domestics, and a certain Natuspardo, a scutarius, a warrior so audacious that he is likened to the veteran Sicinius and to Sergius. And with these, such a diversity of fates fulfilled, the soldiers returned to their hiberna, the emperors to Treveros.

CHAPTER 11

1. Per haec tempora Vulcatio Rufino absoluto vita, dum administrarat, ad regendam praefecturam praetorianam ab urbe Probus

1. During these times Vulcatio — Rufinus having been deprived of life while he was administering — was sent by Probus from the city to govern the praetorian prefecture.

2 accitus, claritudine generis et potentia et opum amplitudine cognitus orbi Romano, per quem universum paene patrimonia sparsa possedit, iuste an secus non iudicioli est nostri.

2 summoned, known to the Roman world by the renown of his lineage and by his power and the amplitude of his wealth, through whom he possessed almost all scattered inheritances; whether justly or otherwise is not for our small judgment.

2. hunc quasi genuina quaedam, ut fingunt poetae, fortuna vehens praepetibus pinnis, nunc beneficum ostendebat et amicos altius erigentem, aliquotiens insidiatorem dirum et per cruentas noxium simultates. et licet potuit, quoad vixit, ingentia largiendo, et intervallando potestates adsiduas, erat tamen interdum timidus ad audaces, contra timidos celsior, ut videretur cum sibi fideret, de cothurno strepere tragico, et ubi paveret, omni humilior socco.

2. Fortune, as poets feign, bearing him on swift wings as if of some genuine sort, now showed him beneficent and raising friends higher, at times a dreadful plotter and, through bloody rivalries of the noxious, injurious. And although he could, while he lived, by lavish largesse and by intermittently granting continuous powers, yet he was sometimes timid toward the bold, toward the timid loftier; as it seemed, when he trusted himself he rattled in the tragic cothurnus, and where he feared was humbler than any soccus.

3. atque ut natantium genus elemento suo expulsum haut tam diu spirat in terris, ita ille marcebat absque praefecturis, quas ob iurgia familiarum ingentium capessere cogebatur, numquam innocentium per cupiditates inmensas, utque multa perpetrarent inpune, dominum suum mergentium in rem publicam.

3. and just as the kind of swimmers, driven from their element, does not so long breathe on land, so he languished without the praefectures, which, on account of the quarrels of mighty households, he was forced to assume; never could he endure the immense cupidities of the supposedly innocent, who, that they might perpetrate many things with impunity, were plunging their lord into the res publica.

4. namque fatendum est: numquam illa magnanimitate coalitus clienti vel servo agere quicquam iussit inlicitum, sed si eorum quemquam crimen ullum conpererat admisisse, vel ipsa repugnante iustitia, non explorato negotio sine respectu boni honestique defendebat. quod vitium reprehendens ita pronuntiat Cicero � quid enim interest inter suasorem facti et probatorem? aut quid refert utrum voluerim fieri an gaudeam factum?�.

4. for it must be confessed: she never, united with magnanimity, ordered a client or a slave to do anything illicit; but if she discovered that any of them had committed any crime, or with justice itself resisting, she did not, without having examined the matter, defend them regardless of what was good and honorable. Cicero, rebuking that vice, thus declares: “for what difference is there between the instigator of a deed and the approver? or what does it matter whether I wished it to be done or I rejoice in the deed?”

5. suspiciosus tamen, et munitus suopte ingenio fuit et subamarum adridens blandiensque interdum, ut noceat.

5. suspicious, however, and fortified by his own ingenium, and smiling a little bitterly and at times flattering, so as to do harm.

6. id autem perspicuum est in eius modi moribus malum, tum maxime cum celari posse existimatur; ita inplacabilis et directus, ut si laedere quemquam instituisset, nec exorari posset nec ad ignoscendum erroribus inclinari, ideoque aures eius non cera sed plumbis videbantur obstructae. in summis divitiarum et dignitatum culminibus anxius et sollicitus, ideoque semper levibus morbis adflictus. hae per occidentales plagas series rerum fuere gestarum.

6. and this was manifest: in a man of that disposition the vice was the more evil, especially when it was thought it could be concealed; so inexorable and straightforward that, if he had determined to injure anyone, he could neither be entreated nor be inclined to pardon errors, and therefore his ears seemed to be stuffed not with wax but with lead. Restless and anxious on the highest summits of riches and dignities, and consequently always afflicted by trifling illnesses. These were the series of deeds carried out through the western regions.

XII

CHAPTER 12.

1. Rex vero Persidis longaevus ille Sapor, et ab ipsis imperitandi exordiis dulcedini rapinarum addictus, post imperatoris Iuliani excessum et pudendae pacis icta foedera, cum suis paulisper nobis visus amicus, calcata fide sub Ioviano pactorum, iniectabat Armeniae manum, ut eam velut placitorum abolita firmitate, dicioni iungeret suae.

1. But that long-lived king of the Persians, Sapor, and from the very beginnings of ruling addicted to the dulcetness of rapine, after the departure of the emperor Julian and the treaties struck by shameful peace, for a little while appeared to us friendly with his men; with the pacts under Jovian trampled in faith, he laid his hand upon Armenia, that he might join it to his dominion as if the firmness of settlements had been abolished.

2. et primo per artes fallendo diversas, nationem omnem renitentem dispendiis levibus adflictabat, sollicitans quosdam optimatum et satrapas, alios excursibus occupans inprovisis.

2. and at first, by arts deceiving in divers ways, he harassed the whole nation, stubborn and resisting, with light exactions, stirring up certain optimates and satraps, and occupying others with unexpected raids.

3. dein per exquisitas periuriisque mixtas inlecebras captum regem ipsum Arsacen adhibitumque in convivium iussit ad latentem trahi posticam, eumque effossis oculis vinctum catenis argenteis, quod apud eos honoratis vanum suppliciorum aestimatur esse solacium, exterminavit ad castellum Agabana nomine, ubi discruciatus cecidit ferro poenali.

3. then by exquisite allurements mixed with perjuries he, having taken the king Arsaces himself, and having invited him to a banquet, ordered him dragged to a hidden backroom, and with his eyes dug out and bound in silver chains — which among them, the honored, is esteemed a vain consolation of punishments — he exterminated at a castle called Agabana, where, after being tortured, he fell by the penal sword.

4. deinde nequid intemeratum perfidia praeteriret, Sauromace pulso, quem auctoritas Romana praefecit Hiberiae, Aspacurae cuidam potestatem eiusdem detulit gentis diademate addito, ut arbitrio se monstraret insultare nostrorum.

4. then, lest perfidy leave anything unscathed, Sauromace expelled, whom Roman authority had set over Iberia, conferred the power of the same people upon a certain Aspacura, a diadem being added, so that at his arbitrium he might show himself to insult our men.

5. quibus ita studio nefando perfectis, Cylaci spadoni et Artabanni, quos olim susceperat perfugas, commisit Armeniam — horum alter ante gentis praefectus, alter magister fuisse dicebatur armorum — isdemque mandarat, ut Artogerassam intentiore cura excinderent, oppidum muris et viribus validum, quod thesauros et uxorem cum filio tuebatur Arsacis.

5. with these things thus completed in a nefarious zeal, he entrusted Armenia to Cylax the spadon and Artabannus, whom he had once received as defectors — one of them was said formerly to have been prefect of the people, the other master of arms — and he had charged them likewise to raze Artogerassa with more intense care, a town strong in walls and in forces, which was guarding the treasures and the wife with the son of Arsaces.

6. iniere, ut statutum est, obsidium duces. et quoniam munimentum positum in asperitate montana, rigente tunc caelo nivibus et pruinis adiri non poterat, eunuchus Cylaces aptusque ad muliebria palpamenta, Artabanne adscito, prope moenia ipsa fide non amittendae salutis accepta propere venit, et cum socio ad interiora susceptus ut postulavit, suadebat minaciter defensoribus et reginae, motum Saporis inclementissimi omnium lenire deditione veloci.

6. the commanders began the siege, as had been decreed. and since the fortification, placed on a rugged mountain, with the sky then freezing with snows and frosts, could not be approached, the eunuch Cylaces, given to feminine caresses, with Artabannes added to him, came swiftly up near the very walls, having received a pledge of safety not to be violated; and when, as he demanded, he and his companion were admitted to the interior, he was menacefully urging the defenders and the queen to soothe the advance of Sapor, most merciless of all, by a speedy surrender.

7. multis post haec ultro citroque dictitatis, heiulanteque muliere truces mariti fortunas, proditionis acerrimi conpulsores in misericordiam flexi mutavere consilium, et spe potiorum erecti, secretis conloquiis ordinarunt hora praestituta nocturna, reclusis subito portis validam manum erumpere, vallumque hostile caedibus adgredi repentinis, ut lateant id temptantes, polliciti se provisuros.

7. after many things thus said back and forth, and with the woman wailing over the harsh fortunes of her husbands, the most bitter instigators of treason, softened into mercy, changed their counsel, and, raised by the hope of better things, they ordained in secret conferences that at a prescribed nocturnal hour, the gates being suddenly opened, a strong hand should burst forth, and assail the hostile rampart with sudden slaughter, so that those attempting it might lie hidden, promising that they would provide in advance.

8. quibus religione firmatis egressi, biduumque ad deliberandum, quid capessere debeant, sibi concedi clausos petisse adseverantes, in desidiam obsessores traduxerunt et vigiliis, quibus ob securitatem altiore stertitur somno, civitatis aditu reserato iuventus exiluit velox, passibusque insonis expeditis mucronibus repens, cum castra nihil metuentium invasissent, iacentes multos nullis resistentibus trucidarunt.

8. having been confirmed by these religious observances, they went forth, and after two days for deliberation, asserting that it had been granted to them to be shut in, they led the besieged into sloth; and while by the watches—by which, for security, the city sleeps the deeper sleep— the city's approach having been opened, the youth leapt forth swift, and with the steps of the sleeper made brisk and blades drawn they crept; when they had fallen upon the camp of those fearing nothing, they slaughtered many lying down with no resistance.

9. haec inopina defectio necesque insperatae Persarum, inter nos et Saporem discordiarum excitavere causas inmanes, illo etiam accedente, quod Arsacis filium Papam suadente matre cum paucis e munimento digressum, susceptumque imperator Valens apud Neocaesaream morari praecepit, urbem Polemoniaci ponti notissimam, liberali victu curandum et cultu. Qua humanitate Cylaces et Artabannes illecti, missis oratoribus ad Valentem, auxilium eundemque Papam sibi regem tribui poposcerunt.

9. this unforeseen defection, and the exigency of the unexpected Persians, excited monstrous causes of discord between us and Sapor, there being added also that Papas, son of Arsaces, at his mother's urging, had departed from the fort with a few men, and that Emperor Valens ordered the received man to be detained at Neocaesarea, the city most well-known in the Pontus of Polemon, to be tended with liberal victuals and cultus. By this humanity Cylaces and Artabannes, enticed, having sent envoys to Valens, demanded aid and that the same Papas be granted to them as king.

10. sed pro tempore adiumentis negatis, per Terentium ducem Papa reducitur in Armeniam, recturus interim sine ullis insignibus gentem, quod ratione iusta est observatum ne fracti foederis nos argueremur et pacis.

10. but, aid having been denied for the time, the Pope is brought back into Armenia by Duke Terentius, to govern in the meantime the people without any insignia — which was observed for a just reason, that we might not be accused of having broken the treaty and of disturbing the peace.

11. Hoc conperto textu gestorum Sapor ultra hominem efferatus, concitis maioribus copiis Armenias aperta praedatione vastabat. cuius adventu territus Papa itidemque Cylaces et Artabannes, nulla circumspectantes auxilia, celsorum montium petivere secessus, limites nostros disterminantes et Lazicam, ubi per silvarum profunda et flexuosos colles mensibus quinque delitescentes regis multiformes lusere conatus.

11. With this text of deeds discovered, Sapor, enraged beyond human measure, with greater forces set in motion, was devastating the Armenias with open predation. At his coming, Papa likewise, and Cylaces and Artabannes, terrified, and looking to no auxiliaries, sought the retreats of the lofty mountains, cutting off our frontiers and Lazica; there, lurking for five months in the depths of the woods and the winding hills, they foiled the king’s manifold attempts.

12. qui operam teri frustra contemplans, sidere flagrante brumali, pomiferis exustis arboribus castellisque munitis et castris, quae ceperat superata, vel prodita cum omni pondere multitudinis Artogerassam circumsaeptam et post varios certaminum casus lassatis defensoribus patefactam incendit: Arsacis uxorem erutam inde cum thesauris abduxit.

12. who, seeing his labour wasted in vain, with the wintry star blazing, after the fruit-bearing trees had been burned and the castles and camps — which he had taken, having been overcome or betrayed — with the whole weight of the multitude, set fire to Artogerassa, ringed round, and afterward laid open, its defenders exhausted by the various vicissitudes of battles: thence he carried off Arsaces’ wife, torn away, together with the treasures.

13. Quas ob causas ad eas regiones Arintheus cum exercitu mittitur comes, suppetias laturus Armeniis, si eos exagitare procinctu gemino temptaverint Persae.

13. For these causes Arintheus is sent with an army as comes to those regions, to bring succor to the Armenians, if the Persians have attempted to harry them with a double array of readiness.

14. Inter quae Sapor inmensum quantum astutus et, cum sibi conduceret, humilis aut elatus, societatis futurae specie Papam ut incuriosum sui per latentes nuntios increpabat quod maiestatis regiae velamento Cylaci serviret et Artabanni, quos ille praeceps blanditiarum inlecebris interfecit, capitaque caesorum ad Saporem ut ei morigerus misit.

14. Among these things Sapor showed how immensely astute he was and, when it served him, humble or haughty; under the semblance of a future society he reproached the Pope as careless of him by secret messengers, because he sheltered Cylax and Artabannes under the veil of royal majesty — men whom that one, headlong into the blandishments of flattery, put to death — and sent the heads of the slain to Sapor as if dutiful to him.

15. Hac clade late diffusa, Armenia omnis perisset ni propugnatoris Arinthei adventu territi Persae eam incursare denuo distulissent, hoc solo contenti quod ad imperatorem misere legatos petentes nationem eandem, ut sibi et Ioviano placuerat, non defendi.

15. With this calamity spread far and wide, all Armenia would have perished had not the Persians, terrified by the arrival of the defender Arintheus, put off assailing it again, content with this alone — that, by miserably sending envoys to the emperor entreating aid, the same nation was not defended, as had pleased them and Jovian.

16. quibus repudiatis Sauromaces pulsus, ut ante diximus, Hiberiae regno, cum duodecim legionibus et Terentio remittitur, et eum amni Cyro iam proximum Aspacures oravit ut socia potestate consobrini regnarent, causatus ideo se nec cedere nec ad partes posse transire Romanas, quod Vltra eius filius obsidis lege tenebatur adhuc apud Persas.

16. Sauromaces being repudiated and driven out, as we said above, from the kingdom of Iberia, is sent back with twelve legions and Terentius, and Aspacures entreated Cyrus, already near the river, that the cousins might reign with joint authority; he therefore pleaded that he could neither yield nor cross over to the Roman side, because Ultra, his son, was still held among the Persians by law as a hostage.

17. Quae imperator doctus, ut concitandas ex hoc quoque negotio turbas consilio prudentiaque molliret, divisioni adquievit Hiberiae, ut eam medius dirimeret Cyrus, et Sauromaces Armeniis finitima retineret et Lazis, Aspacures Albaniae Persisque contigua.

17. The experienced emperor, that he might by counsel and prudence also soften the tumults likely to be stirred by this affair, acceded to a division of Iberia, so that Cyrus might cut it through the middle, and Sauromaces might retain the part bordering on the Armenians and the Lazes, Aspacures that of Albania contiguous to the Persians.

18. His percitus Sapor, pati se exclamans indigna, quod contra foederum textum iuvarentur Armenii, et evanuit legatio, quam super hoc miserat corrigendo, quodque se non adsentiente nec conscio dividi placuit Hiberiae regnum: velut obseratis amicitiae foribus, vicinarum gentium auxilia conquirebat, suumque parabat exercitum, ut reserata caeli temperie subverteret omnia, quae ex re sua struxere Romani.

18. Thereupon Sapor, struck by these things, crying that he was suffering indignities because the Armenians were aiding contrary to the text of the treaties, and the legation which he had sent about this to correct vanished, and because it seemed good to divide the kingdom of Iberia without his assent or consciousness: as if the doors of friendship were shut, he sought the auxiliaries of neighboring peoples and prepared his own army, that, with the sky’s temperate weather opened, he might overturn all things which the Romans had built out of his domain.