Ammianus: RES GESTAE A FINE CORNELI TACITI

Iulianus C., after crossing the Rhine, plunders and burns the Alamanni villages; there he restores Trajan’s fortification, and grants ten‑month truces to the barbarians.

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1 Hac rerum, quas iam digessimus, varietate ita conclusa Martius iuvenis Rheno post Argentoratensem pugnam otiose fluente securus, sollicitusque ne dirae volucres consumerent corpora peremptorum, sine discretione cunctos humari mandavit, absolutisque legatis, quos ante certamen superba quaedam portasse praediximus, ad Tres tabernas revertit.

1 With this variety of matters, which we have now set forth, thus concluded, Martius the young man on the Rhine, after the battle at Argentorate with the river flowing idly, secure yet anxious lest the dread birds consume the bodies of the slain, ordered all to be buried without distinction; and, the legates having been dismissed—whom we earlier said had borne a certain arrogance before the contest—he returned to the Three Taverns.

2 Unde cum captivis omnibus praedam Mediomatricos servandam ad reditum usque suum duci praecipit et petiturus ipse Mogontiacum, ut ponte conpacto transgressus in suis requireret barbaros, cum nullum reliquisset in nostris, refragante vetabatur exercitu: verum facundia iucunditateque sermonum allectum in voluntatem traduxerat suam. amor enim post documenta flagrantior sequi libenter hortatus est omnis operae conturmalem, auctoritate magnificum ducem, plus laboris indicere sibi quam militi, sicut perspicue contigit, adsuetum. moxque ad locum praedictum est ventum, flumine pontibus constratis transmisso occupavere terras hostiles.

2 Whence, since he ordered that with all the captives the plunder be kept for the Mediomatrici and be led back to their own return, and himself, intending to seek Mogontiacum so that, the bridge being joined and having crossed, he might look for the barbarians among his men, the army, opposing, forbade (it), because he had left none among our men; but, allured by the eloquence and pleasantness of his speeches, he had brought them over into his will. For love, made more ardent by proof, urged every comrade to follow willingly, to set up by authority a magnificent leader, and he became accustomed to lay more toil upon himself than upon the soldier, as plainly happened. Soon they came to the place aforesaid, and, the river crossed after bridges had been constructed, they occupied the hostile lands.

3 At barbari praestricti negotii magnitudine, qui se in tranquillo positos otio tunc parum inquietari posse sperabant, aliorum exitio quid fortunis suis inmineret anxie cogitantes, simulata pacis petitione, ut primae vertiginis impetum declinarent, misere legatos cum verbis conpositis quae denuntiarent concordem foederum firmitatem; incertumque quo consilio aut instituto mutata voluntate per alios cursu celeri venire conpulsos acerrimum nostris minati sunt bellum, ni eorum regionibus excessissent.

3 But the barbarians, alarmed by the magnitude of the enterprise, who, placed in tranquillity, then hoped that they could be little disturbed in their leisure, anxiously considering what peril to their fortunes might threaten from the destruction of others, with a feigned petition for peace, so as to turn aside the first assault of the onrush, miserably sent envoys with composed words which proclaimed the concordant firmness of their treaties; and, uncertain by what design or ordinance, their will changed and driven by others to come with swift course, they threatened the fiercest war to our men unless they had withdrawn from their regions.

4 Quibus clara fide conpertis Caesar noctis prima quiete navigiis modicis et velocibus octingentos inposuit milites ea re, ut vi ingenti sursum versum decurso egressi quicquid invenire potuerint ferro violarent et flammis.

4 With these men proved of clear fidelity, Caesar, at the first quiet of night, placed eight hundred soldiers on small and swift vessels for this purpose, that, having gone ashore with a great force and rushed forward, they might lay waste whatever they could find with sword and flame.

5 Quo ita disposito solis primo exortu visis per montium vertices barbaris ad celsiora ducebatur alacrior miles nulloque invento — hoc si quidem opinati discessere confestim — eminus ingentia fumi volumina visebantur indicantia nostros perruptas populari terras hostiles.

5 With this thus disposed, at the first rising of the sun, the soldier, having seen the barbarians from the mountain summits, was led more eager to the higher ground; and finding nothing — which, if indeed they had supposed, they at once departed — from afar great volumes of smoke were seen, indicating that our men had burst through into the hostile lands of the people.

6 Quae res Germanorum perculit animos atque desertis insidiis, quas per arta loca et latebrosa struxerant nostris, trans Menum nomine fluvium ad opitulandum suis necessitudinibus avolarunt.

6 This event struck the Germans’ spirits, and with the ambuscades they had set against our men through narrow and secret places abandoned, they fled across the river called the Menus to hasten to relieve their own necessities.

7 Ut enim rebus amat fieri dubiis et turbatis, hinc equitum nostrorum adcursu, inde navigiis vectorum militum impetu repentino perterrefacti evadendi subsidium velox locorum invenere prudentes, quorum digressu miles libere gradiens opulentas pecore villas et frugibus rapiebat nulli parcendo. extractisque captivis domicilia cuncta curatius ritu Romano constructa flammis subditis exurebat.

7 For, as commonly happens when affairs are doubtful and disturbed, with the onset of our horsemen here and the sudden assault of the ships of the transported soldiers there, being terrified they, the prudent, found a swift refuge of places for escape; at their departure the soldier, striding freely, seized opulent villas with their herds and crops, sparing no one. Having dragged out the captives, he burned all dwellings, carefully constructed in the Roman manner, setting them under flames.

8 Emensaque aestimatione decimi lapidis eum prope silvam venisset squalore tenebrarum horrendam, stetit diu cunctando, indicio perfugae doctus per subterranea quaedam occulta fossasque multifidas latere plurimos, ubi habile visum fuerit erupturos.

8 And with the valuation of the tenth stone completed he had come near the wood, dreadful in the squalor of its shadows; he stood long, hesitating, instructed by the deserter’s indication that very many lay concealed in certain subterranean hiding-places and in many-forked ditches, where it seemed fitting to sally forth.

9 Ausi tamen omnes accedere fidentissime, ilicibus incisis et fraxinis roboreque abietum magno semitas invenere constratas. ideoque gradientes cautius retro non nisi per anfractus longos et asperos ultra progredi posse vix indignationem capientibus animis advertebant.

9 Yet all, having dared to approach most confidently, found the paths blocked by cut holm-oaks and by ashes and by the great sturdiness of firs; and so the walkers perceived, scarcely containing minds full of indignation, that they could not advance further except by long and rough windings, and could retreat only with caution.

10 Et quoniam aeris urente saevitia cum discriminibus ultimis laboratur in cassum — aequinoctio quippe autumnali exacto per eos tractus superfusae nives opplevere montes simul et campos — opus arreptum est memorabile.

10 And since, with the fury of the air burning, it labors in vain amid the final perils — for, the autumnal equinox having passed, over those tracts the snows poured and filled mountains and fields alike — a memorable undertaking was seized upon.

11 Et dum nullus obsisteret, munimentum, quod in Alamannorum solo conditum Traianus suo nomine voluit appellari, dudum violentius oppugnatum, tumultuario studio reparatum est; locatisque ibi pro tempore defensoribus, ex barbarorum visceribus alimenta congesta sunt.

11 And while no one resisted, the fortification, which Trajan wished to be called by his name, founded on the soil of the Alamanni, having for some time been more violently attacked, was repaired with tumultuous zeal; and with defenders stationed there for the time, provisions were piled up from the barbarians' viscera.

12 Quae illi maturata ad suam perniciem contemplantes metuque rei peractae volucriter congregati precibus et humilitate suprema petiere missis oratoribus pacem: quam Caesar omni consiliorum via firmata, causatus veri similia plurima, per decem mensuum tribuit intervallum: id nimirum sollerti colligens mente quod castra, supra quam optari potuit occupata sine obstaculo, tormentis muralibus et apparatu deberent valido conmuniri.

12 Those things, seen as ripening to their own ruin, and, seized by fear at the affair accomplished, they willingly gathered and, with prayers and the utmost humility, sought peace by sending envoys: which peace Caesar, confirmed by every device of counsel, and alleging very many reasons like the truth, granted for an interval of ten months: this, namely, gathering with a crafty mind that the camps, occupied to a degree beyond what could be hoped for without obstacle, ought to be strengthened with wall-siege engines and a powerful array of equipment.

13 Hac fiducia tres inmanissimi reges venerunt tandem aliquando iam trepidi, ex his qui misere victis apud Argentoratum auxilia, iurantes conceptis ritu patrio verbis nihil inquietum acturos sed foedera ad praestitutum usque diem, quia id nostris placuerat, cum munimento servaturos intacto frugesque portaturos humeris, si defuisse sibi docuerint defensores. quod utrumque metu perfidiam frenante fecerunt.

13 With this assurance three very savage kings came at last, somewhat trembling; of these were those who brought aid to the miserably vanquished at Argentoratum, swearing with words uttered in the ancestral rite that they would do nothing hostile in deed but would keep treaties until the day appointed, because this had pleased our men, and that they would preserve the fortification intact and carry the crops on their shoulders if the defenders should show that they had failed them. And they did both things, fear restraining treachery.

14 Hoc memorabili bello, conparando quidem Punicis et Teutonicis, sed dispendiis rei Romanae peracto levissimis ut faustus Caesar exultabat et felix: credique obtrectatoribus potuit, ideo fortiter eum ubique fecisse fingentibus, quod oppetere dimicando gloriose magis optabat quam damnatorum sorte, sicut sperabant, ut frater Gallus occidi: ni pari proposito post excessum quoque Constanti actibus mirandis inclaruisset.

14 In this memorable war, comparable indeed to the Punic and Teutonic, but with losses to the Roman state carried out very slight, the auspicious Caesar exulted and was fortunate; and I think to his detractors it could be plausible, they inventing that he had acted bravely everywhere, that he preferred to meet death fighting more gloriously than by the lot of the condemned, as they hoped his brother Gallus had been slain: had not Constans, with the same determination, even after his passing, shone forth by wondrous deeds.

Iulianus Caesar DC Francos, Germaniam II vastantes obsidet, et ad deditionem fame compellit.

Julian Caesar besieges 600 Franks, devastating Germany twice, and forces them to surrender by famine.

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1 Quibus ut in tali re conpositis firmiter, ad sedes revertens hibernas sudorum reliquias repperit tales. Remos Severus magister equitum per Agrippinam petens et Iuliacum Francorum validissimos cuneos in sexcentis velitibus, ut postea claruit, vacua praesidiis loca vastantes offendit: hac opportunitate in scelus audaciam erigente, quod Caesare in Alamannorum secessibus occupato nulloque vetante expleri se posse praedarum opimitate sunt arbitrati. sed metu iam reversi exercitus, munimentis duobus, quae olim exinanita sunt, occupatis se quoad fieri poterat tuebantur.

1 When these things had been settled firmly in such a matter, returning to their winter seats he found the remnants of the camps thus. Severus, master of horse, seeking the Remi through Agrippina and Iuliacum, encountered the very strong wedges of the Franks—six hundred velites, as later became clear—ravaging places empty of garrisons: seizing this opportunity and raising their audacity into crime, they judged that, with the Caesar occupied in the retreats of the Alamanni and no one forbidding, they could fill themselves with the richness of plunder. But the army, already returned in fear, having occupied two fortifications which long ago had been abandoned, defended themselves as far as possible.

2 Hac Iulianus rei novitate perculsus et coniciens quorsum erumperet, si isdem transisset intactis, retento milite circumvallare disposuit castella munita quae Mosa fluvius praeterlambit, et ad usque quartum et quinquagesimum diem, Decembri scilicet et Ianuario mense, obsidionales tractae sunt morae, destinatis barbarorum animis incredibili pertinacia reluctatis.

2 Struck by this novelty of the situation, Julian, pondering whither he should break out if he were to have crossed the same places unscathed, with his soldiers held in place arranged to circumvallate the fortified castella which the river Meuse flows past; and siege delays were protracted up to the fifty-fourth day, namely in the months of December and January, the barbarians’ minds having been set and resisting with incredible pertinacity.

3 Tunc pertimescens sollertissimus Caesar, ne observata nocte inluni barbari gelu vinctum amnem pervaderent, cotidie a sole in vesperam flexo ad usque lucis principium lusoriis navibus discurrere flumen ultro citroque milites ordinavit, ut crustis pruinarum diffractis nullus ad erumpendi copiam facile perveniret. hocque commento, inedia et vigiliis et desperatione postrema lassati sponte se propria dederunt statimque ad comitatum Augusti sunt missi.

3 Then fearing, the most crafty Caesar, lest by the watched night the barbarians should traverse the river bound with frost, ordered daily, from sunrise to evening turning and even to the first light, nimble boats to run up and down the river and soldiers on both banks, so that with the crusts of rime broken no one could easily attain an opportunity to burst through. And with this device, worn out by hunger and watches and by final despair, they voluntarily surrendered themselves, and were at once sent to the comitatus of Augustus.

4 Ad quos eximendos periculo multitudo Francorum egressa, cum captos conperisset et asportatos, nihil amplius ausa repedavit ad sua, hisque perfectis acturus hiemem revertit Parisios Caesar.

4 To relieve them a multitude of Franks went forth into danger; when he had found them captured and carried off, having dared nothing further he retired to his own, and with these things accomplished the Caesar returned to Paris to spend the winter.

Iulianus C. Gallos tributis oppresses levare conatur.

Julianus C. attempts to relieve the Gauls, oppressed by tributes.

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1 Quia igitur plurimae gentes vi maiore conlaturae capita sperabantur, dubia bellorum coniectans sobrius rector magnis curarum molibus stringebatur. dumque per indutias licet negotiosas et breves aerumnosis possessorum damnis mederi posse credebat, tributi ratiocinia dispensavit.

1 Therefore, since very many nations were expected to unite their heads with greater force, the sober ruler, conjecturing uncertain wars, was pressed by great masses of cares. And while he believed that by truces, albeit troublesome, and brief remedies the losses of the dispossessed might be healed, he distributed the reckonings of tribute.

2 Cumque Florentius praefectus praetorio cuncta permensus, ut contendebat, quicquid in capitatione deesset, ex conquisitis se supplere firmaret, talium gnarus, animam prius amittere quam hoc sinere fieri memorabat.

2 And when Florentius, praefectus praetorio, having weighed all things, as he professed, affirmed that whatever was lacking in the capitation would be made up from requisitions, knowing of such measures, he kept in mind that he would rather lose his life than allow this to be done.

3 Norat enim huius modi provisionum, immo eversionum, ut verius dixerim, insanabilia vulnera saepe ad ultimam egestatem provincias contraxisse, quae res, ut docebitur postea, penitus evertit Illyricum.

3 For he knew that provisions of this kind, or rather overturnings, had often contracted incurable wounds to the utmost destitution of the provinces, a thing which, as will be shown later, utterly overthrew Illyricum.

4 Ob quae praefecto praetorio ferri non posse clamante se repente factum infidum, cui Augustus summam commiserit rerum, Iulianus eum sedatius leniens scrupulose conputando et vere docuit non sufficere solum, verum etiam exuberare capitationis calculum ad commeatuum necessarios apparatus.

4 Because of these things, the praetorian prefect, crying out that he could not endure that a sudden treachery had been done to him—him to whom Augustus had entrusted the supreme charge of affairs—Iulianus, soothing him more gently and easing his mind, by scrupulously computing and truly showed not only that the levy was insufficient, but also that the calculation of the capitation overflowed toward the apparatus necessary for the supplies.

5 Nihilo minus tamen diu postea indictionale augmentum oblatum sibi nec recitare nec subnotare perpessus humi proiecit. litterisque Augusti monitus ex relatione praefecti, non agere ita perplexe ut videretur parum Florentio credi, rescripsit gratandum esse si provincialis hinc inde vastatus saltem sollemnia praebeat, nedum incrementa, quae nulla supplicia egenis possent hominibus extorquere. factumque est tunc et deinde unius animi firmitate, ut praeter solita nemo Gallis quicquam exprimere conaretur . . .

5 Nevertheless, not long after an indictional increase was offered to him, he, unable to endure either to read it aloud or to note it down, threw it to the ground. And, warned by the letters of Augustus from the report of the praefect, so as not to act so perplexedly that he would seem little to be believed by Florentio, he replied in writing that it would be agreeable if the provincial, having been ravaged here and there, at least furnished the customary solemnities, much less augmentations, which no punishments could extort from needy men. And it came to pass then and thereafter by the firmness of one mind that, beyond the usual, no one dared to exact anything from the Gauls . . .

6 Inusitato exemplo id petendo Caesar inpetraverat a praefecto ut secundae Belgicae multiformibus malis oppressae dispositio sibi committeretur ea videlicet lege, ut nec praefectianus nec praesidalis apparitor ad solvendum quemquam urgeret. quo levati solatio cuncti, quos in cura . . . . . . Separat suam, nec interpellati ante praestitutum tempus debita contulerunt.

6 By an unusual precedent in making the request, Caesar had obtained from the praefect that the administration of the Second Belgica, oppressed by manifold ills, be entrusted to him under that very law — namely, that neither the praefectianus nor the praesidalis apparitor should press anyone to pay. Whereby, all those whom he had in his care, relieved by this solace . . . . . . he separates his own, and, not interrupted before the appointed time, they rendered the dues.

Iussu Constantii Aug. obeliscus Romae in Circo Maximo subrectus constituitur; et de obeliscis ac de notis hieorglyphicis.

By the order of Constantine Augustus an obelisk was raised and set up at Rome in the Circus Maximus; and concerning obelisks and about hieroglyphic signs.

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1 Inter haec recreandarum exordia Galliarum administrante secundam adhuc Orfito praefecturam obeliscus Romae in circo erectus est maximo. super quo nunc, quia tempestivum est, pauca discurram.

1 Meanwhile, in these beginnings of the restoration of the Gauls, with Orfitus still administering the second prefecture, an obelisk was erected at Rome in the greatest circus. On that subject now, because it is timely, I will touch on a few points.

2 Urbem priscis saeculis conditam ambitiosa moenium strue et portarum centum aditibus celebrem hecatompylos Thebas institutores ex facto cognominarunt, cuius vocabulo provincia nunc usque Thebais adpellatur.

2 A city founded in ancient ages, with an ambitious fabric of walls and famed for its hundred gates and approaches, the founders from the deed named Hecatompylos Thebes; by whose name the province even now is called Thebais.

3 Hanc inter exordia pandentis se late Carthaginis inproviso excursu duces oppressere Poenorum, posteaque reparatam Persarum rex ille Cambyses quoad vixerat alieni cupidus et inmanis Aegypto perrupta adgressus est, ut opes exinde raperet invidendas, ne deorum quidem donariis parcens.

3 Among these commencements the leaders, spreading themselves widely, were overwhelmed by an unexpected sortie of Carthage; and afterwards that king of the Persians, Cambyses, greedy for another’s wealth and savage, burst into Egypt while he lived, so as to seize thence enviable riches, sparing not even the votive gifts of the gods.

4 Qui dum inter praedatores turbulente concursat, laxitate praepeditus indumentorum concidit pronus ac suomet pugione, quem aptatum femori dextro gestabat, subita vi ruinae nudato vulneratus paene letaliter interisset.

4 Who, while tumultuously running among the plunderers, hindered by the laxity of his garments fell forward prone, and, his very own dagger — which he wore fitted to his right thigh — laid bare by the sudden force of the ruin, wounded (himself) almost lethally, would have perished.

5 Longe autem postea Cornelius Gallus Octaviano res tenente Romanas Aegypti procurator exhausit civitatem plurimis interceptis reversusque cum furtorum arcesseretur et populatae provinciae, metu nobilitatis acriter indignatae, cui negotium spectandum dederat imperator, stricto incubuit ferro. is est, si recte existimo, Gallus poeta, quem flens quodam modo in postrema Bucolicorum parte Vergilius carmine leni decantat.

5 Long afterwards Cornelius Gallus, while Octavian held the affairs of Rome, as procurator of Egypt exhausted the city by very many seizures, and having returned, when he was summoned on account of thefts and of the plundered province, by the fear of the nobility fiercely indignant — to whom the emperor had given the duty of oversight — he fell upon the drawn sword. He is, if I judge rightly, Gallus the poet, whom Vergilius, weeping in a certain manner, in the final part of the Bucolics sings with a gentle song.

6 In hac urbe inter labra ingentia diversasque moles figmenta Aegyptiorum numinum exprimentes obeliscos vidimus plures aliosque iacentes et conminutos, quos antiqui reges bello domitis gentibus aut prosperitatibus summarum rerum elati montium venis vel apud extremos orbis incolas perscrutatis excisos erectosque dis superis in religione dicarunt.

6 In this city, among huge labra and diverse masses, we saw figures expressing the images of the Egyptian numina, many obelisks and others lying and shattered, which the ancient kings, with peoples subdued by war or exalted by the prosperities of highest affairs, having probed the veins of mountains or searched out among the inhabitants at the ends of the world, hewn out and set up, dedicated in religious veneration to the gods above.

7 Est autem obeliscus asperrimus lapis in figuram metae cuiusdam sensim ad proceritatem consurgens excelsam, utque radium imitetur, gracilescens, paulatim specie quadrata in verticem productus angustum, manu levigatus artifici.

7 Moreover an obelisk is a very rugged stone in the shape of a meta, rising gradually to great height, and, as if to imitate a ray, growing slender, little by little transformed from a square aspect into a narrow summit, smoothed by the artisan’s hand.

8 Formarum autem innumeras notas, hieroglyphicas appellatas, quas ei undique videmus incisas, initialis sapientiae vetus insignivit auctoritas.

8 The ancient authority of initial wisdom marked innumerable notes of forms, called hieroglyphic, which we see engraved upon it on every side.

9 Volucrum enim ferarumque, etiam alieni mundi, genera multa sculpentes ad aevi quoque sequentis aetates ut inpetratorum vulgatius perveniret memoria, promissa vel soluta regum vota monstrabant.

9 For sculpting the many kinds of birds and wild beasts, even of an alien world, they displayed the kings’ promises or discharged vows, so that the memory of those obtained might more widely reach into the ages following.

10 Non enim ut nunc litterarum numerus praestitutus et facilis exprimit quicquid humana mens concipere potest, ita prisci quoque scriptitarunt Aegyptii, sed singulae litterae singulis nominibus serviebant et verbis; non numquam significabant integros sensus.

10 Not indeed, as now a number of letters provided and facile expresses whatever the human mind can conceive, did the ancient Egyptians also write; but single letters served single names and words; sometimes they signified whole senses.

11 Cuius rei scientiam his inseram duobus exemplis. per vulturem naturae vocabulum pandunt, quia mares nullos posse inter has alites inveniri rationes memorant physicae, perque speciem apis mella conficientis indicant regem moderatori cum iucunditate aculeos quoque innasci debere his signis ostendentes. et similia plurima.

11 I will insert knowledge of this matter by these two examples. By the vulture they unfold nature’s name, because the physicians report that no males can be found among these birds, and by the appearance of the honey-making bee they indicate to the ruler that a king should be born with pleasantness, also showing by these signs that stings are likewise engendered. And very many similar things.

12 Et quia sufflantes adulatores ex more Constantium id sine modo strepebant quod, cum Octavianus Augustus obeliscos duos ab Heliopolitana civitate transtulisset Aegyptia, quorum unus in Circo maximo, alter in Campo locatus est Martio, hunc recens advectum difficultate magnitudinis territus nec contrectare ausus est nec movere, discant qui ignorant, veterem principem translatis aliquibus hunc intactum ideo praeterisse, quod Deo Soli speciali munere dedicatus fixusque intra ambitiosi templi delubra, quae contingi non poterant, tamquam apex omnium eminebat.

12 And because the blustering flatterers, after the custom of the Constantii, were loudly proclaiming without measure that, when Octavian Augustus had transported two Egyptian obelisks from the city of Heliopolis—one of which was placed in the Circus Maximus, the other in the Field of Mars—this one, newly brought, terrified by the difficulty of its magnitude, neither dared to touch nor to move, let those who are ignorant learn that the original obelisk, some having been transferred, therefore passed by untouched for this reason: because dedicated to the Sun God alone by a special gift and fixed within the shrines of the ambitious temple, which could not be handled, it rose up like the apex of all.

13 Verum Constantinus id parvi ducens, avulsam hanc molem sedibus suis nihilque committere in religionem recte existimans, si ablatum uno templo miraculum Romae sacraret, id est in templo mundi totius, iacere diu perpessus est, dum translationi pararentur utilia. quo convecto per alveum Nili proiectoque Alexandriae, navis amplitudinis antehac inusitatae aedificata est sub trecentis remigibus agitanda.

13 But Constantine, esteeming it of little consequence, rightly thinking that this mass, torn from its seats, ought not to be committed to his own religion — since, if removed from one temple it were to be consecrated at Rome, that is in the temple of the whole world — allowed it to lie long, until things useful for the translation were prepared. When it had been brought along the channel of the Nile and set forth to Alexandria, a ship of a breadth hitherto unusual was built to be propelled by fewer than 300 rowers.

14 Quibus ita provisis digressoque vita principe memorato urgens effectus intepuit, tandemque sero inpositus navi per maria fluentaque Tibridis velut paventis ne, quod paene ignotus miserat Nilus, ipse parum sub meatus sui discrimine moenibus alumnis inferret, defertur in vicum Alexandri, tertio lapide ab urbe seiunctum. unde chamulcis inpositus tractusque lenius per Ostiensem portam piscinamque publicam Circo inlatus est maximo.

14 With these preparations made and the aforesaid prince of the life having departed, the pressing effect grew tepid, and at last, belatedly placed on a ship, he was carried over the seas and the streams of the Tiber as though fearing that that which the Nile had sent, almost unknown, he himself—being but little removed from the bounds of his own course—might introduce into the walls that nourish him; he is borne to the village of Alexander, separated from the city by the third milestone. Whence, set upon litters and drawn more gently, he was conveyed through the Ostian Gate and into the public basin by the Circus Maximus.

15 Sola post haec restabat erectio, quae vix aut ne vix quidem sperabatur posse conpleri: digestisque ad perpendiculum altis trabibus, ut machinarum cerneres nemus, innectuntur vasti funes et longi ad speciem multiplicium liciorum caelum densitate nimia subtexentes. quibus conligatus mons ipse effigiatus scriptilibus elementis, paulatimque in arduum per inane protentus, diu pensilis, hominum milibus multis tamquam molendinarias rotantibus metas, cavea locatur in media eique sphaera superponitur ahenea aureis lamminis nitens, qua confestim vi ignis divini contacta ideoque sublata facis imitamentum infigitur aereum, itidem auro imbracteatum velut abundanti flamma candentis.

15 Only the erection remained after these things, which was scarcely—or hardly at all—hoped to be possible to complete: and with tall beams set up to the plumb, so that you might see a grove of machines, vast and long ropes are woven in, to the appearance of multiple thongs, underwriting the sky with excessive density. With these ropes bound, the very hill itself, fashioned of inscribed blocks, was gradually stretched up into the void, long suspended; with many thousands of men turning the capstans like mill‑wheels, a cage was placed in the middle and upon it a brazen sphere was set, gleaming with thin golden laminæ, by which, immediately touched by the force of the divine fire and therefore raised, a bronze likeness of a torch was fixed—likewise sheathed in gold as if glowing with abundant flame.

16 Secutaeque aetates alios transtulerunt. quorum unus in Vaticano, alter in hortis Sallusti, duo in Augusti monumento erecti sunt.

16 And the ensuing ages transferred others: of whom one was set up in the Vatican, another in the Gardens of Sallust, and two were erected on the monument of Augustus.

17 Qui autem notarum textus obelisco incisus est veteri, quem videmus in Circo, Hermapionis librum secuti interpretatum litteris subiecimus Graecis:

17 But the text of the notae, which is engraved on the ancient obelisk that we see in the Circus, following the book of Hermapion we have rendered and placed below in Greek letters:

ΑΡΧΗΝ ΑΠΟ ΤΟΥ ΝΟΤΙΟΥ ΔΙΕΡΜΗΝΕΥΜΕΝΑ ΕΧΕΙ ΣΤΙΧΟΣ ΠΡΩΤΟΣ ΤΑΔΕ ΛΕΓΕΙ

BEGINNING FROM THE SOUTH, INTERPRETED, THE FIRST LINE SAYS AS FOLLOWS

18 Ἥλιος βασιλεῖ Ῥαμέστῃ· δεδώρημαί σοι ἀνὰ πᾶσαν οἰκουμένην μετὰ χαρᾶς βασιλεύειν, ὃν Ἥλιος φιλεῖ. — καὶ Ἀπόλλων κρατερὸς φιλαλήθης υἱὸς Ἥρωνος, θεογέννητος κτιστὴς τῆς οἰκουμένης, ὃν Ἥλιος προέκρινεν, ἄλκιμος Ἄρεως βασιλεὺς Ῥαμέστης. ᾧ πᾶσα ὑποτέτακται ἡ γῆ μετὰ ἀλκῆς καὶ θάρσους. βασιλεὺς Ῥαμέστης Ἡλίου παῖς αἰωνόβιος.

18 Helios to King Rhamestes: I have given you as a gift to reign over the whole oikoumene with joy, whom Helios loves. — And Apollo, mighty and truth-loving, son of Heron, god-born creator of the oikoumene, whom Helios appointed beforehand, valiant like Ares, King Rhamestes. To whom all the earth is subjected with might and boldness. King Rhamestes, Helios’ son, ever-living.

ΣΤΙΧΟΣ ΔΕΥΤΕΡΟΣ

VERSE TWO

19 Ἀπόλλων κρατερός, ὁ ἑστὼς ἐπ᾽ ἀληθείας, δεσπότης διαδήματος, τὴν Αἴγυπτον δοξάσας κεκτημένος, ὁ ἀγλαοποιήσας Ἡλίου πόλιν, καὶ κτίσας τὴν λοιπὴν οἰκουμένην, καὶ πολυτιμήσας τοὺς ἐν Ἡλίου πόλει θεοὺς ἀνιδρυμένους, ὃν Ἥλιος φιλεῖ.

19 Apollo the mighty, he who stands upon truth, master of the diadem, having glorified and taken possession of Egypt, who beautified Helios’ city, and built the remaining oikumene, and who highly honored the gods dwelling in the city of Helios, not previously established, whom Helios loves.

ΤΡΙΤΟΣ ΣΤΙΧΟΣ

THIRD LINE

20 Ἀπόλλων κρατερὸς Ἡλίου παῖς παμφεγγὴς, ὃν Ἥλιος προέκρινεν καὶ Ἄρης ἄλκιμος ἐδωρήσατο. οὗ τὰ ἀγαθὰ ἐν παντὶ διαμένει καιρῷ. ὃν Ἄμμων ἀγαπᾷ, πληρώσας τὸν νέων τοῦ φοίνικος ἀγαθῶν. ᾧ οἱ θεοὶ ζωῆς χρόνον ἐδωρήσαντο. Ἀπόλλων κρατερὸς υἰὸς Ἥρωνος βασιλεὺς οἰκουμένης Ῥαμέστης, ὃς ἐφύλαξεν Αἴγυπτον τοὺς ἀλλοεθνεῖς νικήσας, ὃν Ἥλιος φιλεῖ, ᾧ πολὺν χρόνον ζωῆς ἐδωρήσαντο θεοὶ. δεσπότης οἰκουμένης Ῥαμέστης αἰωνόβιος.

20 Apollo mighty, Helios’ son, all-bright, whom Helios chose beforehand and whom Ares the valiant endowed. In him good things abide in every season. Whom Ammon loves, having filled the youth with the phoenix’s goods. To whom the gods granted a span of life. Apollo mighty, son of Hērōn, king of the inhabited world Rameses, who guarded Egypt, having vanquished the foreign peoples, whom Helios loves, to whom the gods granted a long time of life. Lord of the inhabited world of Rameses, age-long.

ΛΙΒΟΣ ΣΤΙΧΟΣ ΔΕΥΤΕΡΟΣ

LIBOS STICHOS SECOND

21 Ἥλιος θεὸς μέγας δεσπότης οὑρανοῦ. δεδώρημαί σοι βίον ἀπρόσκοπον. Ἀπόλλων κρατερὸς κύριος διαδήματος ἀνείκαστος, ὃς τῶν θεῶν ἀνδριάντας ἀνέθηκεν ἐν τῇδε τῇ βασιλείᾳ, δεσπότης Αἰγύπτου, καὶ ἐκόσμησεν Ἡλίου πόλιν ὁμοίως καὶ αὐτὸν Ἥλιον δεσπότην οὑρανοῦ. συνετελεύτησεν ἔργον ἀγαθὸν Ἡλίου παῖς βασιλεὺς αἰωνόβιος.

21 Helios, great god, despot of the heavens. I grant to you a life untroubled. Apollo the mighty, lord of the diadem, peerless, who dedicated the statues of the gods in this kingdom, despot of Egypt, and adorned the city of Helios likewise and him, Helios, despot of the heavens. He brought to completion a good work — the son of Helios, an age-long king.

ΤΡΙΤΟΣ ΣΤΙΧΟΣ

THIRD STANZA

22 Ἥλιος θεὸς δεσπότης οὑρανοῦ Ῥαμέστῃ βασιλεῖ. δεδώρημαι τὸ κράτος καὶ τὴν κατὰ πάντων ἐξουσίαν. ὃν Ἀπόλλων φιλαλήθης δεσπότης χρόνων καὶ Ἥφαιστος ὁ τῶν θεῶν πατὴρ προέκρινεν διὰ τὸν Ἄρεα. βασιλεὺς παγχαρὴς Ἡλίου παῖς, καὶ ὑπὸ Ἡλίου φιλούμενος.

22 Helios, god, despot of the heaven, to King Ramesses. I have been gifted the kratos and authority over all. Whom Apollo, the truth-loving despot of the years, and Hephaestus, the father of the gods, preferred on account of Ares. A king exultant in all, son of Helios, and loved by Helios.

ΑΦΗΛΙΟΩΤΗΣ. ΠΡΩΤΟΣ ΣΤΙΧΟΣ

APHELIOOTES. FIRST LINE

23 Ὁ ἀφ᾽ Ἠλίου πόλεως μέγας θεὸς ἐνουράνιος Ἀπόλλων κρατερός, Ἥρωνος υἱὸς, ὃν Ἥλιος ἠγάπησεν, ὃν οἱ θεοὶ ἐτίμησαν, ὁ πάσης γῆς βασιλεύων, ὃν Ἥλιος προέκρινεν, ὁ ἄλκιμος διὰ τὸν Ἄρεα βασιλεύς, ὃν Ἄμμων φιλεῖ. καὶ ὁ παμφεγγὴς συγκρίνας αἰώνιον βασιλέα et reliqua.

23 The great god from the city of Helios, the heavenly Apollo the mighty, son of Heron, whom Helios loved, whom the gods honored, who is king over all the earth, whom Helios chose beforehand, the valiant king through Ares, whom Ammon loves. And the all‑shining one, compared to the eternal king, and the rest.

Constantius Aug. et Sapor Persarum rex frustra de pace per litteras et legatos agunt.

Constantius Augustus and Sapor, king of the Persians, negotiate in vain for peace by letters and legates.

[5]

1 Datiano et Cereali consulibus cum universa per Gallias studio cautiore disponerentur formidoque praeteritorum barbaricos hebetaret excursus, rex Persarum in confiniis agens adhuc gentium extimarum, iamque cum Chionitis et Gelanis omnium acerrimis bellatoribus pignore icto societatis rediturus ad sua, Tamsaporis scripta suscepit, pacem Romanum principem nuntiantis poscere precativam 2 Ideoque non nisi infirmato imperii robore temptari talia suspicatus latius semet extentans pacis amplectitur nomen et condiciones proposuit graves, missoque cum muneribus Narseo quodam legato litteras ad Constantium dedit nusquam a genuino fastu declinans, quarum hunc fuisse accepimus sensum: 3 "Rex regum Sapor, particeps siderum, frater Solis et I,unae, Constantio Caesari fratri meo salutem plurimam dico. Gaudeo tandemque mihi placet ad optimam viam te revertisse et incorruptum aequitatis agnovisse suffragium rebus ipsis expertum, pertinax alieni cupiditas quas aliquotiens ediderit strages.

1 In the consulship of Datianus and Cerialis, when all the Gallic provinces were being arranged with more careful zeal and the fear of past barbarian incursions had dulled farther excursions, the king of the Persians, acting on the borders of still-feared peoples, and now about to return to his own with Chionites and Gelani, the fiercest warriors of all, as surety of the alliance, received writings from Tamsapor, announcing that he begged peace from the Roman prince as a petitioner 2 And therefore, suspecting that such things should be attempted only if the strength of the empire were enfeebled, and stretching himself out more broadly than was fitting, he embraced the name of peace and proposed harsh conditions; and having sent with gifts a certain legate named Narses he gave letters to Constantius, nowhere declining from genuine pride, the sense of which we have received to be this: 3 "Sapor, king of kings, sharer of the stars, brother of the Sun and Moon, to Constantius Caesar, my brother, I send very great greeting. I rejoice and at last it pleases me that you have returned to the best path and have recognized the incorrupt testimony of equity proved by the facts themselves, — the persistent cupidity of others, which at times has produced massacres."

4 Quia igitur veritatis oratio soluta esse debet et libera et celsiores fortunas idem loqui decet atque sentire, propositum meum in pauca conferam, reminiscens haec quae dicturus sum me saepius replicasse.

4 Therefore, since the discourse of truth ought to be free and unbound, and loftier fortunes ought to speak and feel the same, I will set forth my purpose in few words, recalling that I have often repeated these things which I am about to say.

5 Ad usque Strymona flumen et Macedonicos fines tenuisse maiores meos, antiquitates quoque vestrae testantur: haec me convenit flagitare — ne sit adrogans, quod adfirmo — splendore virtutumque insignium serie vetustis regibus antistantem, sed ubique mihi cordi est recta ratio, cui coalitus ab adulescentia prima nihil umquam paenitendum admisi.

5 As far as the river Strymon and the Macedonian borders my ancestors held sway, your antiquities also testify: these things it is fitting that I demand — lest I be arrogant, which I assert — standing before the ancient kings in a succession of splendor and of conspicuous virtues; yet everywhere the straight course is dear to me, to which, allied from earliest youth, I have never admitted anything to be regretted.

6 Ideoque Armeniam recuperare cum Mesopotamia debeo, avo meo conposita fraude praereptam. Illud apud nos numquam in acceptum feretur, quod adseritis vos exsultantes nullo discrimine virtutis ac doli prosperos omnes laudari debere bellorum eventus.

6 And therefore I must recover Armenia together with Mesopotamia, wrested away by a fraud contrived against my grandfather. That will never be received as acceptable among us: that which you, exulting, assert — namely that, without any distinction between virtue and guile, all who prosper should be praised for the events of wars.

7 Postremo si morem gerere suadenti volueris recte, contemne partem exiguam semper luctificam et cruentam, ut cetera regas securus, prudenter reputans medellarum quoque artifices urere non numquam et secare et partes corporum amputare, ut reliquis uti liceat integris; hocque bestias factitare: quae cum advertant cur maximo opere capiantur, illud propria sponte amittunt ut vivere deinde possint inpavidae.

7 Finally, if you wish to counsel observing custom rightly, scorn the small part that is always mournful and bloodstained, so that you may rule the rest securely, prudently reckoning that even the artisans of remedies sometimes burn and cut and amputate parts of bodies, so that the remaining parts may be used whole; and practise this on beasts: which, when they perceive why they are seized with the greatest violence, voluntarily lose that part so that they may thereafter live fearless.

8 Id sane pronuntio quod, si haec mea legatio redierit inrita, post tempus hiemalis quietis exemptum, viribus totis accinctus, fortuna condicionumque aequitate spem successus secundi fundante venire, quoad ratio siverit, festinabo".

8 This I plainly declare: if this my legation returns void, after the interval of winter’s repose has passed, girded with all my strength, hope of a second success founded by fortune and the equity of conditions coming to hand, I will hasten, so far as reason allows."

9 His litteris diu libratis recto pectore, quod dicitur, considerateque responsum est hoc modo:

9 These letters long weighed, with an upright heart, as they say, and having been pondered, the response was made in this manner:

10 "Victor terra marique Constantius semper Augustus fratri meo Sapori regi salutem plurimam dico. Sospitati quidem tuae gratulor ut futurus, si velis, amicus, cupiditatem vero semper indeflexam fusiusque vagantem vehementer insimulo.

10 "Victor on land and sea, Constantius always Augustus, sends very many greetings to my brother Sapor the king. I indeed congratulate your safety, as one who will be, if you will, a friend; but I vigorously instill an ever-unbending and more widely roaming desire."

11 Mesopotamiam poscis ut tuam perindeque Armeniam et suades integro corpori adimere membra quaedam, ut salus eius deinceps locetur in solido, quod infringendum est potius quam ulla consensione firmandum. accipe igitur veritatem non obtectam praestigiis sed perspicuam nullisque minis inanibus perterrendam.

11 You demand Mesopotamia as yours and likewise Armenia, and you counsel that from an intact body certain limbs be taken away, so that his safety henceforth may be set on a solid foundation — which ought to be broken rather than by any concord made firm. Receive therefore the truth, not hidden by sleights but clear, and not to be terrified by any empty threats.

12 Praefectus praetorio meus opinatus adgredi negotium publicae utilitati conducens cum duce tuo per quosdam ignobiles, me inconsulto, sermones conseruit super pace. non refutamus hanc nec repellimus: adsit modo cum decore et honestate nihil pudori nostro pra ereptura vel maiestati.

12 My praetorian prefect, thinking to undertake a business conducive to the public utility, has, without consulting me, entered into parleys about peace with your duke through certain ignoble men. We do not refuse nor repel this: let it be present only with decorum and honesty, so that it will snatch nothing from our modesty (pudor) or from majesty.

13 Est enim absonum et insipiens cum gestarum rerum ordine placatae sint aurae invidiae, quae nobis multipliciter inluserunt, cum deletis tyrannis totus orbis Romanus nobis obtemperat, ea prodere, quae contrusi in orientales angustias diu servavimus inlibata.

13 For it is absurd and unwise that the airs of envy should be said to be placated by the course of events — airs which have mocked us in many ways — and, tyrants having been destroyed and the whole Roman orb obeying us, to betray those things which we have long kept locked up in the eastern straits, unspoiled.

14 Cessent autem quaeso formidines quae nobis intentantur ex more, eum ambigi nequeat non inertia nos sed modestia pugnas interdum excepisse potius quam intulisse et nostra, quotiens lacessimur, fortissimo benevolentiae spiritu defensare, id experiendo legendoque scientes in proeliis quibusdam raro rem titubasse Romanam, in summa vero bellorum numquam ad deteriora prolapsam".

14 I beg that the fears which are customarily directed against us cease; let there be no doubt that it was not inertia but modesty that sometimes received combats rather than provoked them, and that we, whenever we are provoked, defend with the very bravest spirit of benevolence — knowing this by experience and by reading, that in certain engagements the Roman cause has rarely faltered, and in the whole of wars has never fallen back into worse."

15 Hanc legationem nullo inpetrato remissam — nec enim effrenatae regis cupiditati responderi amplius quicquam potuit — post paucissimos dies secutus est Prosper comes et Spectatus tribunus et notarius itemque Eustathius Musoniano suggerente philosophus, ut opifex suadendi: imperatoris scripta perferentes et munera, enisuri apparatum interim Saporis arte quadam suspendere, ut supra humanum modum provinciae munirentur arctoae.

15 This embassy, sent back having obtained nothing — for nothing further could be granted to the unbridled king’s cupidity — was, after very few days, followed by Prosper the count and Spectatus the tribune and the notary likewise, and Eustathius the philosopher with Musonianus advising, as a craftsman of persuasion: bearing the emperor’s letters and gifts, and intent meanwhile by a certain art to suspend Sapor’s preparations, that the Arctoae provinces might be fortified beyond human measure.

Iuthungi, gens Alamannica, in Raetiis quas populabantur, a Romanis caesi fugatique.

[6]

1 Inter quae ita ambigua Iuthungi Alamannorum pars Italicis conterminans tractibus obliti pacis et foederum, quae adepti sunt obsecrando, Raetias turbulente vastabant, adeo ut etiam oppidorum temptarent obsidia praeter solitum.

1 Among these things, in so ambiguous a fashion a part of the Juthungi of the Alamanni, bordering the Italian tracts, forgetting the peace and the foedera which they had gained by beseeching, were tumultuously devastating the Raetias, to such a degree that they even attempted sieges of towns beyond the usual.

2 Ad quos repellendos cum valida manu missus Barbatio in locum Silvani peditum promotus magister, ignavus sed verbis effusior, alacritate militum vehementer erecta prostravit acerrime multos, ita ut exigua portio, quae periculi metu se dedit in fugam, aegre dilapsa lares suos non sine lacrimis reviseret et lamentis.

2 Against whom, to repel them, Barbatio being sent with a strong hand advanced into Silvanus’s place, promoted as magister of the infantry, lazy but more profuse in words, and, with the soldiers’ alacrity violently aroused, struck down very many most fiercely, so that a small portion, which through fear of danger gave itself to flight, having with difficulty slipped away, would scarcely revisit their homes without tears and lamentations.

3 Huic pugnae Nevitta, postea consul, equestris praepositus turmae, et adfuisse et fortiter fecisse firmatur.

3 Nevitta, later consul, an equestrian praepositus of a turma, is affirmed both to have been present at this battle and to have acted bravely.

Nicomedia terrae motu prostrata; et quot modis terra quatiatur.

Nicomedia, prostrated by an earthquake; and in how many modes the earth is shaken.

[7]

1 Isdem diebus terrae motus horrendi per Macedoniam Asiamque et Pontum adsiduis pulsibus oppida multa concusserunt et montes. inter monumenta tamen multiformium aerumnarum eminuere Nicomediae clades, Bithyniae urbium matris, cuius ruinarum eventum vere breviterque absolvam.

1 In the same days dreadful earthquakes through Macedonia and Asia and Pontus, with continuous shocks, shook many towns and mountains. Among the monuments, however, of manifold calamities the disaster of Nicomedia, mother of the Bithynian cities, stood forth, whose event of ruin I will truly and briefly recount.

2 Primo lucis exortu diem nonum kal. Septembrium concreti nubium globi nigrantium laetam paulo ante caeli speciem confuderunt et amendato solis splendore nec contigua vel adposita cernebantur: ita oculorum obtutu praestricto humo involutus crassae caliginis squalor insedit.

2 At the first breaking of light on the 9th day before the Kalends of September, compacted spheres of darkening clouds obscured the sky’s aspect that had been cheerful a little before, and with the sun’s splendour diminished neither things contiguous nor nearby could be seen: thus, with the sight of the eyes shut off, a squalor of thick gloom, wrapped in dust upon the ground, settled.

3 Dein velut numine summo fatales contorquente manubias ventosque ab ipsis excitante cardinibus magnitudo furentium incubuit procellarum, cuius inpetu pulsorum auditus est montium gemitus et elisi litoris fragor, haecque secuti typhones atque presteres cum horrifico tremore terrarum civitatem et suburbana funditus everterunt.

3 Then, as if by the supreme numen twisting the hinges and the winds themselves rousing the pivots, the magnitude of the raging storms fell upon them; at whose onslaught of blows there was heard the groaning of mountains and the crash of the shattered shore, and these, followed by typhones and presteres, with a horrific trembling of the lands utterly overthrew the city and its suburban districts to their foundations.

4 Et quoniam adclivitate collium aedes pleraeque devehebantur, aliae super alias concidebant reclangentibus cunctis sonitu ruinarum inmenso. inter quae clamoribus variis celsa culmina resultabant quaeritantium coniugium liberosque et siquid necessitudines artae constringunt.

4 And since most houses were borne down the hillsides, some fell one upon another with all the rafters collapsing, and with the immense sound of wreckage. Among these the lofty roofs rang with various cries of those seeking their spouse and children and whatever close ties bind relatives.

5 Post horam denique secundam, multo ante tertiam, aer iam sudus et liquidus latentes retexit funereas strages. non nulli enim superruentium ruderum vi nimia constipati sub ipsis interiere ponderibus. quidam collo tenus aggeribus obruti cum superesse possent siqui iuvissent, auxiliorum inopia necabantur.

5 After the second hour at last, long before the third, the air, now dewy and clear, laid bare the hidden funeral slaughters. For many, pressed together by the excessive force of falling ruins, perished beneath the very weights. Some, buried up to the neck by heaps of rubble, though they could have lived had anyone helped, were killed by the lack of aid.

alii lignorum exstantium acuminibus fixi pendebant.

others, fixed on the points of projecting timbers, hung.

6 Uno ictu caesi conplures, paulo ante homines, tunc promiscuae strages cadaverum cernebantur. quosdam domorum inclinata fastigia intrinsecus serabant intactos, angore et inedia consumendos. inter quos Aristaenetus affectatam recens dioecensin curans vicaria potestate, quam Constantius ad honorem uxoris Eusebiae Pietatem cognominarat, animam hoc casu cruciatam diutius exhalavit.

6 By a single blow many were cut down—men a little while before, then a promiscuous slaughter of corpses was seen. Some were kept intact within houses whose tilted roofs had fallen in, to be consumed by anguish and starvation. Among these Aristaenetus, caring for a recently sought diocese with vicarial power, which Constantius had surnamed Piety in honour of his wife Eusebia, gave up his soul, tortured by this calamity, after prolonged suffering.

7 Alii subita ruinae magnitudine oppressi, isdem adhuc molibus conteguntur. conlisis quidam capitibus vel umeris praesectis aut cruribus inter vitae mortisque confinia aliorum adiumenta paria perferentium inplorantes cum obtestatione magna deserebantur.

7 Others, crushed by the sudden magnitude of the ruin, were still covered by those same masses. Some, with skulls crushed or shoulders lopped off or legs severed, lying between the confines of life and death as equal supports borne by others, were abandoned while imploring with great entreaty.

8 Et superesse potuit aedium sacrarum et privatarum hominumque pars maior, ni palantes abrupte flammarum ardores per quinque dies et noctes quicquid consumi poterat exussissent.

8 And the greater part of the sacred and private houses, and of the people, could have survived, if the wandering flames had not suddenly, for five days and nights, burned up whatever could be consumed.

9 Adesse tempus existimo pauca dicere, quae de terrae pulsibus coniectura veteres conlegerunt. ad ipsius enim veritatis arcana non modo haec nostra vulgaris inscitia, sed ne sempiterna quidem lucubrationibus longis nondum exhausta physicorum iurgia penetrarunt.

9 I think the time has come to say a few things which the ancients, by conjecture, collected about the shocks of the earth. For into the arcana of that very truth not only has our common ignorance, but not even the long-unexhausted lucubrations and disputations of the physicists penetrated.

10 Unde et in ritualibus et pontificiis obtemperantibus sacerdotiis cavetur, ne alio deo pro alio nominato, cum, qui eorum terram concutiat sit in abstruso, piacula committantur.

10 Wherefore in the ritual and pontifical priesthoods that observe rites it is guarded, lest to one god named in place of another — since he who shakes their land is in the hidden — expiatory offerings be committed.

11 Accidunt autem, ut opiniones aestimant, inter quas Aristoteles aestuat et laborat, aut in cavernis minutis terrarum, quas Graece syriggas appellamus, inpulsu crebriore aquis undabundis: aut certe, ut Anaxagoras adfirmat, ventorum vi subeuntium ima terrarum: qui cum soliditatibus concrustatis inciderint, eruptiones nullas reperientes, eas partes soli convibrant, quas subrepserint umidi. unde plerumque observatur terra tremente ventorum apud nos spiramina nulla sentiri, quod in ultimis eius secessibus occupantur.

11 It happens, however, as opinions hold, among which Aristoteles seethes and labors, either in minute caverns of the earth, which in Greek we call syriggas, driven by the more frequent impulse of undulating waters; or certainly, as Anaxagoras affirms, in the lowest parts of the earth by the force of winds entering beneath: which, when they have struck against concretioned solidities and found no eruptions, shake together those parts of the soil which dampness has crept under. Whence it is commonly observed that on trembling ground no vents of the winds are felt among us, because they are occupied in its remotest recesses.

12 Anaximander ait arescentem nimia aestuum siccitate aut post madores imbrium terram rimas pandere grandiores, quas penetrat supernus aer violentus et nimius, ac per eas vehementi spiritu quassatam cieri propriis sedibus. qua de causa terrores huius modi vaporatis temporibus aut nimia aquarum caelestium superfusione contingunt. ideoque Neptunum umentis substantiae potestatem Ennosigaeon et Sisichthona poetae veteres et theologi nuncuparunt.

12 Anaximander says that the earth, drying from excessive heats or after the dampness of rains, opens larger fissures, which the violent and excessive upper air penetrates, and through which, with vehement breath, the shaken ground is driven up from its proper seats. For this reason such terrors occur in vaporous seasons or at an excessive overflowing of celestial waters. And therefore the ancients — poets and theologians — called Neptune, the power of moist substance, Ennosigaeon and Sisichthon.

13 Fiunt autem terrarum motus modis quattuor. aut enim brasmatiae sunt, qui humum intus suscitantes sursum propellunt inmanissimas moles, ut in Asia Delos emersit et Hiera et Anaphe et Rhodus, Ophiusa et Pelagia prioribus saeculis dictitata, aureo quondam imbri perfusa, et Eleusina in Boeotia et apud Tyrrenos Vulcanus insulaeque plures; aut climatiae qui limes ruentes et obliqui urbes aedificia montesque conplanant; aut chasmatiae qui grandiore motu patefactis subito voratrinis terrarum partes absorbent, ut in Atlantico mari Europaeo orbe spatiosior insula s et in Crisaeo sinu Helice et Bura et in Ciminia Italiae parte oppidum Saccumum ad Erebi profundos hiatus abactae aeternis tenebris occultantur.

13 Earthquakes occur, moreover, in four modes. For either they are brasmatiae, which, stirring up the ground within, thrust up enormously huge masses, as in Asia Delos rose and Hiera and Anaphe and Rhodes, Ophiussa and Pelagia—named in former ages, once drenched in a golden rain—and Eleusina in Boeotia and Vulcan among the Tyrrhenians and several islands; or climatia, which, their boundaries collapsing and oblique, level cities, buildings, and mountains; or chasmatiae, which with a greater motion, chasms suddenly opened, swallow parts of the lands, so that in the Atlantic sea of the European orb the more spacious islands, and in the Crisaean gulf Helice and Bura, and in the Ciminian part of Italy the town Saccumum, driven down into the deep abysses of Erebus, are hidden in eternal darkness.

14 Inter haec tria genera terrae motuum mycematiae sonitu audiuntur minaci cum dissolutis elementa conpagibus ultro adsiliunt vel relabuntur concidentibus terris. tunc enim necesse est velut taurinis reboare mugitibus fragores fremitusque terrenos. sed hinc ad exorsa.

14 Among these three kinds of motions of the earth the mycematiae are heard with a menacing sound, when, their elements loosened at the compages, they rush upon one another of their own accord or slide back as the lands collapse. For then it is necessary that the crashes, the tremors, and the earthborn bellowings roar forth like bull-like lowings. But now to the beginnings.

Iulianus C. Salios, gentem Francicam, in deditionem accipit; Chamavorum alios caedit, alios capit, reliquis pacem tribuit.

Julianus C. Salios receives the Frankish people into surrender; of the Chamavi he slays some, takes others captive, and grants peace to the rest.

[8]

1 At Caesar hiemem apud Parisios agens Alamannos praevenire studio maturabat ingenti, nondum in unum coactos sed in insaniam post Argentoratum audaces omnes et saevos, operiensque Iulium mensem, unde sumunt Gallicani procinctus exordia, diutius angebatur. nec enim egredi poterat antequam ex Aquitania aestatis remissione solutis frigoribus et pruinis veheretur annona.

1 While Caesar, passing the winter among the Parisians, was hastening with great zeal to preempt the Alamanni, not yet gathered into one body but after Argentoratum all daring and fierce in madness, and the month of Julius approaching, from which the Gallic levies take their outset, he was detained longer. For he could not set out before the annona (grain‑supply) could be transported from Aquitaine, the cold and frosts having been loosened by the remission of summer.

2 Sed ut est difficultatum paene omnium diligens ratio victrix, multa mente versans et varia id tandem repperit solum, ut anni maturitate non exspectata barbaris occurreret insperatus firmatoque consilio XX dierum frumentum ex eo, quod erat in sedibus consumendum, ad usus diuturnitatem excoctum bucellatum, ut vulgo appellant, umeris inposuit libentium militum, hocque subsidio fretus secundis, ut ante, auspiciis profectus est, intra mensem quintum vel sextum duas expeditiones consummari posse urgentes et necessarias arbitratus.

2 But as diligent reason, the conqueror of almost all difficulties, turning over many things in his mind and considering various courses, at last found one, namely that, without waiting for the ripeness of the year, he should unexpectedly meet the barbarians and, his plan fixed, have twenty days’ grain from that which was to be consumed in the dwellings prepared and, baked for long use into bucellatum as they commonly call it, placed on the shoulders of willing soldiers; and relying on this supply and on favorable auspices, as before he set out, judging that within the fifth or sixth month two expeditions, urgent and necessary, could be brought to completion.

3 Quibus paratis petit primos omnium Francos, eos videlicet quos consuetudo Salios appellavit, ausos olim in Romano solo apud Toxandriam locum habitacula sibi figere praelicenter. cui cum Tungros venisset, occurrit legatio praedictorum, opinantium reperiri imperatorem etiam tum in hibernis, pacem sub hac lege praetendens ut quiescentes eos tamquam in suis nec lacesseret quisquam nec vexaret. hos legatos negotio plene digesto oppositaque condicionum perplexitate ut in isdem tractibus moraturus, dum redeunt, muneratos absolvit.

3 With these things prepared he sought the foremost of all the Franks, namely those whom custom called the Salians, who once had dared to set up dwellings for themselves insolently on Roman soil at a place called Toxandria. When he had come to the Tungri, a delegation of the aforesaid met him, supposing that they would find the emperor even then in his winter-quarters, and pretending peace under this law — that, while they rested as if among their own, no one should molest or harry them. He dismissed these envoys with gifts, the business fully settled and the perplexity of the conditions put aside, as one who meant to remain on the same routes while they returned.

4 Dictoque citius secutus profectos Severo duce misso per ripam subito cunctos adgressus tamquam fulminis turbo perculsit iamque precantes potius quam resistentes in oportunam clementiae partem effectu victoriae flexo dedentes se cum opibus liberisque suscepit.

4 And quicker to the word, with Severus sent as leader he followed; advancing along the bank he suddenly fell upon them all and struck them as with a whirlwind of lightning, and now, the beseeching rather than the resisting, by the effect of victory turned into a favorable mood of clemency, he received them as they yielded, together with their wealth and children.

5 Chamavos itidem ausos similia adortus eadem celeritate partim cecidit partim acriter repugnantes vivosque captos conpegit in vincula, alios praecipiti fuga trepidantes ad sua, ne militem spatio longo defatigaret, abire interim permisit innocuos, quorum legatis paulo postea missis precatum consultumque rebus suis humi prostratis sub obtutibus eius pacem hoc tribuit pacto ut ad sua redirent incolumes.

5 Likewise, he assailed the Chamavi, who had dared similar things, with the same celerity: some he cut down, others, fiercely resisting, he bound and, taken alive, fastened in chains; others, trembling in headlong flight to their homes, he meanwhile permitted to depart unharmed, lest he weary his soldiery by long delay; to their envoys, sent a little later, with their affairs prostrate on the ground and pleading under his gaze, he granted peace on this condition, that they return to their homes incolumes.

Iulianus C. tria munimenta ad Mosam eversa a barbaris instaurat, et a milite famem patiente probris ac minis incessitur.

Iulianus C. restores three fortifications at the Meuse, overturned by the barbarians, and by a soldier suffering hunger is assailed with reproaches and threats.

[9]

1 Cunctis igitur ex voto currentibus studio pervigili properans modis omnibus utilitatem fundare provinciarum, munimenta tria recta serie superciliis inposita fluminis Mosae, subversa dudum obstinatione barbarica reparare pro tempore cogitabat, et ilico sunt instaurata procinctu paulisper omisso.

1 Therefore, hastening with vigilant zeal, fulfilling the vows of all who were running, striving by every means to establish the usefulness of the provinces, he contemplated repairing for the time being three fortifications set in a straight series on the ridges above the river Mosa, long since overturned by barbarian obstinacy; and forthwith they were restored, the armament for a little while being laid aside.

2 Atque ut consilium prudens celeritas faceret tutum, ex annona decem dierum et septem, quam in expeditionem pergens vehebat cervicibus miles, portionem subtractam in isdem condidit castris sperans ex Chamavorum segetibus id suppleri posse quod ablatum est.

2 And that prudent celerity might make the plan secure, from the annona of seventeen days — which the soldier, proceeding on the expedition, carried on his neck — he withdrew a portion and laid it up in the same camps, hoping that what had been taken away could be supplied from the Chamavorum crops.

3 Longe autem aliter accidit. frugibus enim nondum etiam maturis miles, expensis quae portabat, nusquam reperiens victus, extrema minitans Iulianum conpellationibus incessebat et probris, Asianum appellans Graeculum et fallacem et specie sapientiae stolidum. utque inveniri solent quidam inter armatos verborum volubilitate conspicui, haec et similia multa strepebant:

3 But it turned out very differently. For the soldier, with the crops not yet even ripe and finding nowhere the victuals to cover the expenses he carried, assailed Julian with extreme threats and reproaches, calling him an Asiatic, a Greekling, deceitful, and foolish in the guise of wisdom. And as some among the armed, conspicuous for the volubility of their words, are wont to be, many such things and similar clamoured aloud:

4 "Quo trahimur spe meliorum abolita, olim quidem dura et perpessu asperrima per nives tolerantes et acumina crudelium pruinarum? sed nunc — pro nefas — cum ultimis hostium fatis instamus, fame, ignavissimo mortis genere tabescentes.

4 "Whither are we dragged, our hope of better things abolished, once indeed hard and most bitter by enduring, bearing through snows and the points of cruel frosts? but now — for shame — when we press upon the ultimate fates of the enemies, we waste away with hunger, decaying by the most ignoble kind of death."

5 Et nequi nos turbarum existimet concitores, pro vita loqui sola testamur, non aurum neque argentum petentes, quae olim nec contrectare potuimus nec videre, ita nobis negata velut contra rem publicam tot suscepisse labores et pericula confutatis".

5 And lest the agitators judge us worthless, we solemnly testify that we speak only for life, seeking neither gold nor silver, which formerly we could neither touch nor see, thus denied to us — as if against the res publica — that we had undertaken so many labors and dangers, their charges having been refuted.

6 Et erat ratio iusta querellarum. inter tot enim rerum probabilium cursus articulosque necessitatum ancipites sudoribus Gallicanis miles exhaustus nec donativum meruit nec stipendium iam inde ut Iulianus illo est missus, ea re quod nec ipsi quod daret suppetere poterat usquam nec Constantius erogari more solito permittebat.

6 And there was a just cause of the complaints. For among so many probable matters, in the courses and articulations of necessities, on uncertain hinges, the soldier, exhausted by Gallic sweats, neither deserved a donative nor any pay thenceforth, Julian having been sent away for that reason; by that circumstance neither could anything to give be found anywhere for him, nor would Constantius permit it to be disbursed in the accustomed manner.

7 Hocque exinde claruit fraude potius quam tenacitate committi quod, cum idem Caesar petenti ex usu gregario cuidam ut barbas detonderet, dedisset aliquid vile, contumeliosis calumniis adpetitus est a Gaudentio tunc notario ad explorandos eius actus diu morato per Gallias, quem postea ipse interfici iussit, ut loco monstrabitur conpetenti.

7 And from that time it was made clear that it was effected by fraud rather than by tenacity, for when the same Caesar, to a petitioner of the common soldiery asking that he shave his beard, had given some worthless thing, he was assailed with insulting calumnies by Gaudentius, then a notary, who had been long delayed through Gaul to investigate his deeds, whom afterwards he himself ordered to be slain, as will be shown in the proper place.

Suomarius et Hortarius, Alamannorum reges, captivis redditis, ab Iuliano Caes. pacem impetrant.

Suomarius and Hortarius, kings of the Alamanni, with the captives returned, obtain peace from Julian the Caesar.

[10]

1 Lenito tandem tumultu non sine blanditiarum genere vario contextoque navali ponte Rheno transito terris Alamannorum calcatis Severus magister equitum bellicosus ante haec et industrius repente conmarcuit.

1 With the tumult at last calmed, not without a kind of flattering arts variously woven and a naval bridge constructed, the Rhine crossed and the lands of the Alamanni trodden underfoot, Severus, magister equitum, warlike and industrious before these events, suddenly wasted away.

2 Et qui saepe universos ad fortiter faciendum hortabatur et singulos, tunc dissuasor pugnandi contemptus videbatur et timidus mortem fortasse metuens adventantem, ut in Tageticis libris legitur et Vegonicis fulmine mox tangendos adeo hebetari ut nec tonitrum nec maiores aliquos possint audire fragores. et iter ignaviter egerat praeter solitum, ut ductores viarum praeeuntes alacri gradu ultima minitando terreret, ni omnes conspirantes in unum se loca penitus ignorare firmarent. qui interdicti metuentes auctoritatem nusquam deinde sunt progressi.

2 And he who often exhorted everyone to do bravely, and each man singly, then as a dissuader of fighting appeared contemptible and timid, perhaps fearing death approaching; as is read in the Tagetic books and the Vegonic ones, those soon to be struck by lightning are so shortly stupefied that they can neither hear thunder nor any greater crashes. And he had undertaken the march more cowardly than usual, so that the leaders of the roads, going forward with brisk step, terrorized the rear by menacing the last; had not all conspiring together affirmed that they utterly did not know the places. Those, fearing the interdicted authority, afterwards advanced nowhere.

3 Inter has tamen moras Alamannorum rex Suomarius ultro cum suis inprovisus occurrit, ferox ante saeviensque in damna Romana sed tum lucrum existimans insperatum, si propria retinere permitteretur. et quia vultus incessusque supplicem indicabat, susceptus bonoque animo esse iussus et placido, nihil arbitrio suo relinquens pacem genibus curvatis oravit.

3 During these delays, however, the king of the Alamanni, Suomarius, of his own accord unexpectedly met them with his men, fierce and raging beforehand to the detriment of the Romans, but then reckoning an unexpected profit if he were permitted to retain his own possessions. And because his countenance and gait betrayed supplication, he was received and commanded to be of good and placid disposition, leaving nothing to his own will he begged for peace with bowed knees.

4 Et eam cum concessione praeteritorum sub hac meruit lege, ut captivos redderet nostros et, quotiens sit necesse, militibus alimenta praeberet, susceptorum vilium more securitates accipiens pro inlatis: quas si non ostendisset in tempore, sciret se rursus eadem fatigandum.

4 And she, with the concession of the past, by this law merited that she should restore our captives and, whenever it was necessary, furnish provisions to the soldiers, accepting securities in the manner of worthless sureties for the things brought in: which, if she had not shown in time, she would know that she would again be troubled by the same.

5 Quod ita recte dispositum est impraepedite conpletum. Hortari nomine petendus erat regis alterius pagus et quia nihil videbatur deesse praeter ductores, Nesticae tribuno Scutariorum et Chariettoni viro fortitudinis mirae imperaverat Caesar, ut magna quaesitum industria conprehensumque offerrent sibi captivum, et correptus velociter adulescens ducitur Alamannus pacto obtinendae salutis pollicitus itinera se monstraturum.

5 Which thus rightly disposed was completed without hindrance. A people of another king had to be sought in the king’s name by urging, and because nothing seemed wanting except leaders, Caesar commanded Nestica, tribune of the Scutarii, and Charietto, a man of wondrous fortitude, that with great industry they should seek out, seize, and present to him a captive; and the youth, swiftly seized, is led off — an Alamann — having promised by pact to show the routes whereby safety might be obtained.

6 Hoc progresso secutus exercitus celsarum arborum obsistente concaede ire protinus vetabatur. Verum per circuitus longos et flexuosos ventum est tandem ad loca; et ira quisque percitus armatorum urebat agros, pecora diripiebat et homines, resistentesque sine ulla parsimonia contruncabat.

6 With this advance the army followed, and, a felled trunk of tall trees blocking the way, they were straightaway forbidden to proceed. But by long and winding circuits they at last came to the places; and each man, smitten by the anger of the armed, burned the fields, plundered the flocks and people, and hewed down those resisting without any mercy.

7 His malis perculsus rex cum multiplices legiones, vicorumque reliquias cerneret exustorum, ultimas fortunarum iacturas adesse iam contemplatus oravit ipse quoque veniam, facturum se imperanda iurandi exsecratione restituere universos promisit: id enim cura agebatur inpensiore: detentisque plurimis reddidit paucos.

7 Struck by these evils, the king, when he saw numerous legions and the remnants of villages burned, and perceived that the last tosses of fortune were now at hand, begged for mercy himself as well; he promised that he would restore everyone by the commands of an oath to be sworn—for this was pursued with the greatest care—and, though he detained very many, he returned few.

8 Quo cognito ad indignationem iustam Iulianus erectus, cum munerandus venisset ex more, quattuor comites eius, quorum ope et fide maxime nitebatur, non ante absolvit, dum omnes rediere captivi.

8 When this was known, Julianus, roused to a just indignation, having arisen, and when he had come to be honoured according to custom, did not dismiss his four comites, on whose ope and fidelity he most relied, until all the captives had returned.

9 Ad colloquium tandem accitus a Caesare trementibus oculis adorato victorisque superatus aspectu condicione difficili premebatur, hac scilicet ut, quoniam consentaneum erat post tot secundos eventus civitates quoque reparari vi barbarorum excisas, carpenta et materias ex opibus suis suorumque praeberet: et haec pollicitus inprecatusque si perfidum quicquam egisset, luenda sibi cruore supplicia, ad propria remeare permissus est. annonam enim transferre, ita ut Suomarius, ea re conpelli non potuit, quod ad internicionem regione eius vastata nihil inveniri poterat quod daretur.

9 Finally summoned to a colloquy by the Caesar, with trembling eyes worshipful and overcome by the victor’s aspect, he was pressed by a harsh condition, namely that, since it was fitting after so many successful events that the cities also be restored which had been cut down by the force of the barbarians, he should furnish carpenta and timbers from his own resources and those of his people; and having promised and invoked that if he had done any perfidy the punishments should be paid with his blood, he was permitted to return to his own. For to transfer the grain he could not be compelled — Suomarius could not be forced by that demand — because, his region laid waste to destruction, nothing could be found there that could be given.

10 Ita reges illi tumentes quondam inmaniter rapinisque ditescere adsueti nostrorum Romanae potentiae iugo subdidere colla iam domita et velut inter tributarios nati et educati obsecundabant imperiis ingravate. quibus hoc modo peractis disperso per stationes milite consuetas ad hiberna regressus est Caesar.

10 Thus those kings, once swelling with savage plunder and wont to grow rich by rapine, bowed their necks to the yoke of our Roman power, now tamed and, as if born and bred among tributaries, yielding to commands with reluctance. When these matters had been carried out and the soldiery dispersed through their stations, the Caesar returned to the winter-quarters.

Iulianus Caes., post res in Gallia bene gestas, in aula Constantii Aug. ab invidis deridetur, segnisque et timidus appellatur.

Julianus Caesar, after affairs in Gaul had been well conducted, was mocked in the court of Constantius Augustus by the envious, and was called sluggish and timid.

[11]

1 Haec cum in comitatu Constantii subinde noscerentur — erat enim necesse tamquam apparitorem Caesarem super omnibus gestis ad Augusti referre scientiam — omnes qui plus poterant in palatio, adulandi professores iam docti recte consulta prospereque conpleta vertebant in deridiculum: talia sine modo strepentes insulse "in odium venit cum victoriis suis capella, non homo" ut hirsutum Iulianum carpentes appellantesque loquacem talpam et purpuratam simiam et litterionem Graecum: et his congruentia plurima aeque ut tintinnabula principi resonantes, audire haec taliaque gestienti, virtutes eius obruere verbis inpudentibus conabantur ut segnem incessentes et timidum et umbratilem gestaque secus verbis comptioribus exornantem: quod non tunc primitus accidit.

1 When these things were repeatedly learned in the retinue of Constantius — for it was necessary, as the Caesar’s attendant, to report knowledge of all deeds to the Augustus — all who had more influence in the palace, being now learned professors of adulation, turned counsels rightly and prosperously completed into mockery: shouting such things immoderately and foolishly, "with his victories a she-goat, not a man, comes into hatred," while carping at the shaggy Julianus and calling him a loquacious mole and a purplish ape and a Greek littérateur; and very many other remarks concordant with these, like little bells ringing to the prince, strove, in making a noise to hear such and the like, to overwhelm his virtues with impudent words as they crowded around him and to portray him as slow‑moving, timid, and shade‑loving, and to embellish his deeds with more elegant words that misrepresented them — which had not happened at first.

2 Namque ut solet amplissima quaeque gloria obiecta esse semper invidiae, legimus in veteres quoque magnificos duces vitia criminaque, etiam si inveniri non poterant, finxisse malignitatem spectatissimis actibus eorum offensam.

2 For, as is usual, the most ample glories have ever been the object of envy; we read that malice, offended by their most conspicuous acts, fabricated vices and crimes even in the ancient distinguished leaders, even when they could not be discovered.

3 Ut Cimonem Miltiadis filium insimulatum intemperantiae, qui saepe ante et prope Eurymedonta Pamphylium flumen Persarum populum delevit innumerum coegitque gentem insolentia semper elatam obsecrare suppliciter pacem: Aemilianum itidem Scipionem ut somniculosum aemulorum incusari malivolentia, cuius inpetrabili vigilantia obstinatae in perniciem Romae duae sunt potentissimae urbes excisae.

3 As Cimon, son of Miltiades, was slandered for intemperance — he who often, before and near the Eurymedon, the Pamphylian river, destroyed countless Persian folk and by an insolence ever exalted compelled the nation to supplicate peace — so likewise Aemilian Scipio was charged by the malice of rivals as drowsy; by whose unrelenting vigilance two very powerful cities, obstinately hostile to Rome, were razed to ruin.

4 Nec non etiam in Pompeium obtrectatores iniqui multa scrutantes cum nihil unde vituperari deberet inveniretur, duo haec observarunt ludibriosa et inrita: quod genuino quodam more caput digito uno scalpebat, quodque aliquandiu tegendi ulceris causa deformis fasciola candida crus colligabat: quorum alterum factitare ut dissolutum, alterum ut novarum rerum cupidum adserebant: nihil interesse oblatrantes argumento subfrigido quam partem corporis redimiret regiae maiestatis insigni: eum virum, quo nec fortior nec cautior quisquam patriae fuit, ut documenta praeclara testantur.

4 Nor yet, against Pompey, did iniquitous detractors, searching eagerly and when nothing remained from which he ought to be blamed, find these two things to note, ludicrous and trivial: that, in a certain genuino custom, he scraped his head with a single finger, and that for a while, for the sake of covering an ulcer, a deformed white bandage bound his leg: one of which they feigned as looseness, the other they asserted as eagerness for new things; the slanderers reckoned it of no colder argument which part of the body the ornament of royal majesty encircled. That man, than whom no one was braver nor more cautious for the fatherland, as illustrious testimonies attest.

5 Dum haec ita aguntur, Romae Artemius curans vicariam praefecturam pro Basso quoque agebat, qui recens promotus urbi praefectus fatali decesserat sorte. cuius administratio seditiones perpessa est turbulentas nec memorabile quicquam habuit quod narrari sit dignum.

5 While these matters were thus carried on, Artemius, attending to the vicarius prefecture at Rome, also acted on behalf of Bassus, who, newly promoted, had died as urban prefect by a fatal lot. His administration endured turbulent seditions and contained nothing memorable that is worthy of being told.

Constantius Aug. Sarmatas dominos olim, tum exules, et Quados, Pannoniarum et Moesiae vastatores, ad obsides dandos et captivos reddendos compellit; atque exulibus Sarmatis, in libertatem avitasque sedes restitutis, regem imposuit.

Constantius Aug. compels the Sarmatians—once lords, then exiles—and the Quadi, devastators of Pannonia and Moesia, to give hostages and to restore captives; and with the Sarmatian exiles restored to freedom and to their ancestral seats, he set a king over them.

[12]

1 Augusto inter haec quiescenti per hiemem apud Sirmium indicabant nuntii graves et crebri permixtos Sarmatas et Quados vicinitate et similitudine morum armaturaeque concordes Pannonias Moesiarumque alteram cuneis incursare dispersis.

1 To Augustus, meanwhile, resting at Sirmium during the winter, serious and frequent reports were brought: Sarmatians and Quadi, intermixed and concordant in proximity and in the similarity of their manners and armature, were making incursions into Pannonia and one of the Moesias in dispersed wedges.

2 Quibus ad latrocinia magis quam aperto habilibus Marti hastae sunt longiores et loricae ex cornibus rasis et laevigatis, plumarum specie linteis indumentis innexae: equorumque plurimi ex usu castrati, ne aut feminarum visu exagitati raptentur aut in subsidiis ferocientes prodant hinnitu densiore vectores.

2 To these, fit more for brigandage than for open Mars, the spears are longer and the cuirasses made of horns shaved and smoothed, fastened on with linen garments in the manner of plumes: and very many of the horses are castrated by use, lest either, stirred by the sight of women, they be carried off, or, raging among the reserves, betray their riders by a louder neighing.

3 Et per spatia discurrunt amplissima sequentes alios vel ipsi terga vertentes, insidendo velocibus equis et morigeris trahentesque singulos, interdum et binos, uti permutatio vires foveat iumentorum vigorque otio integretur alterno.

3 And they run about through very ample spaces, following others or themselves turning their backs, lying in ambush on swift and well-trained horses and dragging off individuals, sometimes even pairs, so that the alternation may foster the strength of the pack-animals and their vigor be restored by alternate rest.

4 Aequinoctio itaque temporis verni confecto imperator coacta militum valida manu, ductu laetioris fortunae profectus cum ad locum aptissimum pervenisset, flumen Histrum exundantem, pruinarum iam resoluta congerie, super navium foros ponte contexto transgressus populandis barbarorum incubuit terris. qui itinere festinato praeventi catervasque bellatoris exercitus iugulis suis inminere cernentes, quem nondum per anni tempus colligi posse rebantur, nec spirare ausi nec stare, sed vitantes exitium insperatum semet omnes effuderunt in fugam.

4 Therefore, the equinox of the spring season having been completed, the emperor, compelled by the strong hand of the soldiers, set out under the guidance of a more joyful fortuna; when he had reached a most suitable place, the overflowing river Ister, the mass of frosts now dissolved, he crossed over the ship-boards by a bridge woven together and fell upon the lands of the barbarians for plundering. Who, surprised by the hurried march and seeing the bands of the warlike army looming at their throats, whom they thought could not yet be gathered in the season of the year, dared neither breathe nor stand, but, avoiding the unexpected destruction, all poured themselves forth in flight.

5 Stratisque plurimis, quorum gressus vinxerat timor, hi, quos exemit celeritas morti, inter latebrosas convalles montium occultati videbant patriam ferro pereuntem, quam vindicassent profecto, si vigore, quo discesserant, restitissent.

5 And among very many scattered ones, whose steps fear had fettered, these, whom swiftness had snatched from death, hidden among the secret valleys of the mountains, saw their fatherland perishing by the sword — which they would assuredly have avenged, had they returned with the vigour with which they had departed.

6 Gerebantur haec in ea parte Sarmatiae, quae secundam prospectat Pannoniam, parique fortitudine contra Valeriam opes barbaras urendo rapiendoque occurrentia militaris turbo vastabat.

6 These things were occurring in that part of Sarmatia which looks toward the other Pannonia, and with equal fortitude, against Valeria, a military whirlwind—burning, seizing, and plundering the barbarian opes it encountered—was devastating the land.

7 Cuius cladis inmensitate permoti posthabito latendi consilio Sarmatae petendae specie pacis agmine tripertito agentes securius nostros adgredi cogitarunt: ut nec expedire tela nec vim vulnerum declinare, nec, quod est in rebus artissimis ultimum, verti possent in fugam.

7 Moved by the immensity of that calamity, and having put aside the plan of concealment, they thought to approach our men more securely by the guise of seeking the Sarmatae, acting in a threefold column: so that they could neither deploy their weapons nor ward off the force of wounds, nor, which in the most close affairs is the last resort, be turned to flight.

8 Aderant autem ilico Sarmatis periculorum Quadi participes, qui noxarum saepe socii fuerant indiscreti: sed ne eos quidem prompta iuvit audacia in discrimina ruentes aperta.

8 Moreover immediately present with the Sarmatians as sharers of dangers were the Quadi, who had often been indiscreet companions in offenses; but not even their ready audacity availed them, as they rushed into open perils.

9 Caesis enim conpluribus pars, quae potuit superesse, per notos calles evasit: quo eventu vires et animos incitante iunctis densius cuneis ad Quadorum regna properabat exercitus, qui ex praeterito casu inpendentia formidantes rogaturi suppliciter pacem, fidentes ad principis venere conspectum erga haec et similia lenioris, dictoque die statuendis condicionibus, [modo] Zizais quoque etiam tum regalis, haud parvi corporis iuvenis ordines Sarmatarum more certaminis instruxit ad preces; visoque imperatore abiectis armis pectore toto procubuit exanimis stratus. et amisso vocis officio prae timore, tum cum orare deberet maiorem misericordiam movit conatus aliquotiens parumque inpediente singultu permissus explicare quae poscebat.

9 For with very many cut down the portion that could survive slipped away through well-known streets: by this event the army, with strength and spirits stirred and wedges joined more closely, hastened toward the realms of the Quadi, who, fearing reprisals from the former disaster, were to supplicate for peace, trusting to come into the prince’s sight as one milder toward such and similar things, and with the day appointed for fixing conditions having been named, [modo] Zizais also then royal, a young man of no small body marshaled the ranks of the Sarmatians in the manner of contest for petitions; and when he saw the emperor he threw down his arms and fell forward, breathless, prostrate with his whole breast. And having lost the use of his voice through terror, then when he ought to have prayed he attempted several times, with a sob scarcely hindering him, to move greater mercy and was allowed to explain what he asked.

10 Recreatus denique tandem iussusque exsurgere, genibus nixus, usu linguae recuperato concessionem delictorum sibi tribui supplicavit et veniam, eoque ad precandum admissa multitudo, cuius ora formido muta claudebat, periculo adhuc praestantioris ambiguo, ubi ille solo iussus attolli orandi signum exspectantibus diu monstravit, omnes clipeis telisque proiectis manus precibus dederunt plura excogitantes ut vincerent humilitate supplicandi regalem.

10 At last refreshed and commanded to rise, leaning on his knees, his tongue restored to use, he begged that a concession for his delicts be granted to him and pardon; and the multitude admitted to pray, whose mouths fear had shut dumb, with the danger of an as-yet even greater uncertainty—when he alone, having been ordered to be raised, for a long time showed to those awaiting a token for prayer—all, their shields and weapons cast aside, gave their hands in entreaty, contriving more means to overcome the royal (mind) by the humility of supplicating.

11 Duxerat potior cum ceteris Sarmatis etiam Rumonem et Zinafrum et Fragiledum subregulos plurimosque optimates cum inpetrandi spe similia petituros. qui, licet elati gaudio salutis indultae, condicionum sarcina conpensare inimice facta pollicebantur seque cum facultatibus et liberis et coniugibus terrarumque suarum ambitu Romanae potentiae libenter offerebant, praevaluit tamen aequitati iuncta benignitas iussique obtinere sedes inpavidi nostros reddidere captivos. duxeruntque obsides postulatos et oboedire praeceptis deinde promptissime spoponderunt.

11 They had brought with the other Sarmatians also Rumonem and Zinafrum and Fragiledum, many sub‑kings and leading optimates, with the hope of obtaining like concessions. These, although elated by the joy of safety granted, promised — made in a hostile manner to compensate for the burden of the conditions — and offered themselves, with their resources and with their children and wives and the ambit of their lands, willingly to Roman potency; yet equity combined with kindness prevailed, and they were ordered to receive settlements and gave back our fearless men as captives. And they led the hostages demanded and then very promptly pledged to obey the commands.

12 Hortante hoc exemplo clementiae advolarunt regales cum suis omnibus Araharius et Vsafer inter optimates excellentes, agminum gentilium duces, quorum alter Transiugitanorum Quadorumque parti, alter quibusdam Sarmatis praeerat locorum confiniis et feritate iunctissimis: quorum plebem arcuit imperator, ne ferire foedera simulans in arma repente consurgeret; discreto consortio pro Sarmatis obsecrantes iussit paulisper abscedere dum Araharii et Quadorum negotium spectaretur.

12 Encouraged by this example of clemency, the royals Araharius and Vsafer flew in with all their retinues, outstanding among the optimates, leaders of the tribal hosts, of whom one presided over part of the Transiugitani and the Quadi, the other over certain Sarmatians at borders most closely joined in locality and ferocity: whose plebs the emperor restrained, lest, feigning to break the foedera, it suddenly rise in arms; with the consortio separated and them entreating on behalf of the Sarmatians, he ordered them to withdraw for a short while while the business of Araharius and the Quadi was examined.

13 Qui cum reorum ritu oblati, stantes curvatis corporibus facinora gravia purgare non possent, ultimae sortis infortunia metuentes dederunt obsides imperatos, numquam antea pignora foederis exhibere conpulsi.

13 Who, when presented in the rite of the guilty, standing with bent bodies and unable to cleanse themselves of heavy crimes, fearing the misfortunes of the last lot, delivered the hostages demanded, never before forced to exhibit pledges of the treaty.

14 His ex aequo bonoque conpositis Vsafer in preces admissus est Arahario pertinaciter obstrepente firmanteque pacem, quam ipse meruit, ei quoque debere proficere ut participi licet inferiori et obtemperare suis imperiis consueto.

14 These matters being settled alike and in good faith, Vsafer was admitted to make his entreaties, Araharius stubbornly clamoring and affirming that the peace which he himself had earned ought likewise to avail him — that it should profit even to a fellow, though the lesser, and that he should obey his accustomed commands.

15 Verum quaestione discussa, aliena potestate eripi Sarmatae iussi ut semper Romanorum clientes offerre obsides quietis vincula conservandae gratanter amplexi sunt.

15 But, the question having been decided, they were ordered to be torn from alien power; the Sarmatians, commanded to offer hostages as ever the clients of the Romans, gladly embraced the bonds for conserving the peace.

16 Ingerebat autem se post haec maximus numerus catervarum confluentium nationum et regum, suspendi a iugulis suis gladios obsecrantium postquam Araharium inpune conpererant abscessisse: et pari modo ipsi quoque adepti pacem, quam poscebant, accitos ex intimis regnis procerum filios obsidatus sorte opinione celerius obtulerunt itidemque captivos, ut placuerat, nostros, quos haut minore gemitu perdidere quam suos.

16 A very great number of catervae of converging nations and kings pressed in after this, hanging swords at the throats of those who supplicated, since they had discovered that Araharius had departed unpunished; and likewise they themselves, having obtained the peace they demanded, having summoned by lot and by expectation the sons of chiefs from the innermost realms as hostages, offered them more quickly, and likewise our captives, as had pleased, whom they lost with no less lament than their own.

17 Quibus ordinatis translata est in Sarmatas cura miseratione dignos potius quam simultate: quibus incredibile quantum prosperitatis haec attulit causa: ut verum illud aestimaretur, quod opimantur quidam, fatum vinci principis potestate vel fieri.

17 With these things arranged, care was transferred to the Sarmatians, who were worthy of pity rather than of rivalry: to whom this cause brought an incredible amount of prosperity; so that that saying was judged true, which some boast, that fate is overcome by a prince’s power, or even made.

18 Potentes olim ac mobiles erant huius indigenae regni, sed coniuratio clandestina servos armavit in facinus. atque ut barbaris esse omne ius in viribus adsuevit, vicerunt dominos ferocia pares sed numero praeminentes.

18 Once powerful and mobile were the indigenous people of this kingdom, but a clandestine conspiracy armed the servants for crime. And since it had become customary among the barbarians that all right rests in strength, they conquered their masters—equal in ferocity but surpassing them in number.

19 Qui confundente metu consilia ad Victohalos discretos longius confugerunt, obsequi defensoribus ut in malis optabile quam servire suis mancipiis arbitrati: quae deplorantes post impetratam veniam recepti in fidem poscebant praesidia libertati eosque iniquitate rei permotus inspectante omni exercitu convocatos adlocutus verbis mollioribus imperator nulli nisi sibi ducibusque Romanis parere praecepit.

19 Those who, their counsels confounded by fear, fled farther apart to the Victohali, thinking it preferable to yield to their defenders in miseries than to serve their own mancipia; lamenting these things, after pardon obtained and received into the faith they demanded garrisons for their liberty; and the emperor, moved by the injustice of the affair and having inspected the whole army, summoned them and, addressing them with milder words, ordered that none should obey save himself and the Roman commanders.

20 Atque ut restitutio libertatis haberet dignitatis augmentum, Zizaim regem isdem praefecit, conspicuae fortunae tum insignibus aptum profecto, ut res docuit, et fidelem, nec discedere quisquam post haec gloriose gesta permissus est antequam, ut placuerat, remearent nostri captivi.

20 And that the restoration of liberty might have an increase of dignity, he appointed Zizaim king over the same people, a man clearly fit indeed for the insignia of conspicuous fortune, as the affair showed, and faithful; nor was anyone permitted to depart after these deeds gloriously accomplished before, until, as had been agreed, our captives should return.

21 His in barbarico gestis Bregetionem castra commota sunt, ut etiam ibi belli Quadorum reliquias circa illos agitantium tractus lacrimae vel sanguis extingueret. quorum regalis Vitrodorus Viduari filius regis et Agilimundus subregulus aliique optimates et iudices variis populis praesidentes viso exercitu in gremio regni solique genitalis sub gressibus iacuere militum et adepti veniam iussa fecerunt, sobolemque suam obsidatus pignore ut obsecuturi condicionibus inpositis tradiderunt eductisque mucronibus, quos pro numinibus colunt, iuravere se permansuros in fide.

21 When these things were done in the barbarian fashion the camp was moved to Bregetio, that there even the traces of the Quadi war about those stirring the districts might be put out by tears or blood. Of these, the royal Vitrodorus, Viduari the king’s son, and Agilimundus the sub-king, and other optimates and judges presiding over diverse peoples, when they saw the army in the bosom of the kingdom and the sole born heir lying under the feet of the soldiers, having obtained pardon obeyed the commands; and, their offspring delivered as hostages as a pledge that they would keep the imposed conditions, and with the blades drawn forth which they worship as numina, they swore that they would remain in fidelity.

Constantius Aug. Limigantes Sarmatas servos, post magnam ipsorum caedem factam, cogit sedibus suis emigrare, ac milites suos alloquitur.

Constantius Augustus forces the Limigantes, Sarmatian serfs, after a great slaughter of them had been made, to emigrate from their dwellings, and addresses his soldiers.

[13]

1 His, ut narratum est, secundo finitis eventu ad Limigantes Sarmatas servos ocius signa transferri utilitas publica flagitabat, quos erat admodum nefas inpune multa et nefaria perpetrasse. nam velut obliti priorum tunc erumpentibus Liberis ipsi quoque tempus aptissimum nancti limitem perrupere Romanum, ad hanc solam fraudem dominis suis hostibusque concordes.

1 These men, as has been related, after the second outcome was completed, the public utility urgently demanded that the standards be transferred without delay to the Limigantes, Sarmatian slaves, who had indeed committed many nefarious deeds with impunity; for, as if forgetful of earlier matters, when the Liberi then burst forth, they themselves also, having obtained the most opportune time, broke through the Roman frontier, concordant in this single fraud with their masters and with the enemies.

2 Deliberatum est tamen id quoque lenius vindicari quam criminum magnitudo poscebat, hactenus ultione porrecta, ut ad longinqua translati amitterent copiam nostra vexandi, quos pericula formidare monebat scelerum conscientia diutius conmissorum.

2 It was nevertheless decided that this too should be avenged more leniently than the magnitude of the crimes demanded, punishment having been extended thus far, so that, sent away to distant places, they might lose the opportunity of vexing us — those whom the conscience of their long-committed crimes warned to fear dangers.

3 Ideoque in se pugnae molem suspicati vertendam dolos parabant et ferrum et preces. verum aspectu primo exercitus tamquam fulminis ictu perculsi ultimaque cogitantes, vitam precati, tributum annuum delectumque validae iuventutis et servitium spoponderunt, abnuere parati si iuberentur aliorsum migrare ut gestibus indicabant et vultibus, locorum confisi praesidio, ubi lares post exactos dominos fixere securi.

3 Therefore, suspecting that the weight of battle would be turned against them, they prepared deceits and both sword and prayers. But at the first sight, as if struck by a thunderbolt, the soldiers, thinking on their last things, having entreated life, promised an annual tribute and a levy of vigorous youth and servitude; yet ready to refuse if they were ordered to migrate elsewhere, as they indicated by gestures and faces, trusting in the protection of the places where, after their masters had been expelled, they had fixed the lares with the axe.

4 Has enim terras Parthiscus inruens obliquatis meatibus Histro miscetur. sed dum solus licentius fluit, spatia longa et lata sensim praeterlabens et ea coartans prope exitum in angustias, accolas ab impetu Romanorum alveo Danubii defendit, a barbaricis vero excursibus suo tutos praestat obstaculo, ubi pleraque umidioris soli natura et incrementis fluminum redundantia stagnosa sunt et referta salicibus ideoque invia nisi perquam gnaris: et super his insularem anfractum aditu Parthisci paene contiguum amnis potior ambiens terrae consortio separavit.

4 For the Parthiscus, rushing in with oblique channels, mingles these lands with the Hister. But while it alone flows more freely, gliding slowly along long and broad stretches and constricting these near its mouth into narrowness, it defends the inhabitants from the onslaught of the Romans by the channel of the Danube, and from barbarian excursions it affords them safety by its obstacle, where for the most part the nature of the more moist soil and the overflowing increases of the rivers are stagnant and full of willows and therefore impassable except to the very knowing; and above these an insular meander, almost contiguous to the Parthiscus’ approach, the river, superior in command, separated from the mainland by encompassing it.

5 Hortante igitur principe cum genuino fastu ad citeriorem venere fluminis ripam, ut exitus docuit, non iussa facturi sed ne viderentur militis praesentiam formidasse, stabantque contumaciter, ideoque propinquasse monstrantes ut iubenda repudiarent.

5 Therefore, urged by their prince and with genuine arrogance they came to the nearer bank of the river, as the channel showed, not to execute orders but so that they might not be seen to have feared the presence of a soldier; and they stood obstinately, and so by showing that they had drawn near they meant to repudiate the commands.

6 Quae imperator accidere posse contemplans in agmina plurima clam distributo exercitu celeritate volucri migrantes intra suorum acies clausit. stansque in aggere celsiore cum paucis et stipatorum praesidio tectus eos, ne ferocirent, lenius admonebat.

6 Which the emperor, contemplating that it might occur, having secretly distributed his army into many columns, with birdlike swiftness shut those fleeing within the lines of his own troops. And standing on the higher rampart with a few and sheltered by the protection of his attendants, he admonished them more gently, lest they grow more fierce.

7 Sed fluctuantes ambiguitate mentium in diversa rapiebantur et furori mixta versutia temptabant cum precibus proelium vicinumque sibi in nostros parantes excursum proiecere consulto longius scuta, ut ad ea recuperanda sensim progressi sine ullo fraudis indicio spatia furarentur.

7 But, fluctuating and being swept into diverse directions by the ambiguity of their minds, and with cunning mixed with fury they made trial; with prayers they threw forward a battle and a sortie prepared by them against our men nearby; deliberately they cast their shields farther off, so that, having advanced slowly to recover them, they might filch spaces without any sign of treachery.

8 Iamque vergente in vesperum die cum moras rumpere lux moneret excedens, erectis vexillis in eos igneo miles impetu ferebatur. qui conferti acieque densiore contracta adversus ipsum principem stantem, ut dictum est, altius omnem impetum contulerunt eum oculis incessentes et vocibus truculentis.

8 And now, the day leaning into evening, when the light warned to break delays and depart, with standards raised the soldier was borne upon them with a fiery assault. They, crowded and with the battle‑line drawn denser against the prince himself standing, as has been said, directed every attack more fiercely at him, assailing him with their eyes and with truculent voices.

9 Cuius furoris amentiam exercitus ira ferre non potuit eosque imperatori, ut dictum est, acriter imminentes desinente in angustum fronte, quem habitum caput porci simplicitas militaris appellat, impetu disiecit ardenti, et dextra pedites catervas peditum obtruncabant, equites laeva equitum se turmis agilibus infuderunt.

9 The army could not endure the frenzy of his fury; and those men, fiercely pressing upon the emperor, as has been said, their fronts narrowing into a snout — an aspect the military simplicity calls the “pig’s head” — he scattered by a burning onset; and on the right the infantry cut down bands of footsoldiers, while the horsemen on the left poured themselves into the cavalry in agile squadrons.

10 Cohors praetoria ex adverso Augustum cautius stipans resistentium pectora moxque terga fugientium incidebat et cadentes insuperabili contumacia barbari non tam mortem dolere quam nostrorum laetitiam horrendo stridore monstrabant, et iacentes absque mortuis plurimi succisis poplitibus ideoque adempto fugiendi subsidio, alii dexteris amputatis, non nulli ferro quidem intacti sed superruentium conlisi ponderibus cruciatus alto silentio perferebant.

10 The praetorian cohort, from opposite, surrounding Augustus with caution, cut into the breasts of those resisting and soon the backs of those fleeing, and the barbarians, with an insuperable contumacy, showed by a horrid shriek not so much grief for death as delight at the slaughter of our men; and many, lying though not dead, with their knees cut through — and thus deprived of the aid to flee — others with their right hands amputated, some indeed untouched by iron but crushed beneath the falling weights of those toppling upon them, endured torments in profound silence.

11 Nec eorum quisquam inter diversa supplicia veniam petit aut ferrum proiecit aut exoravit celerem mortem, sed arma iugiter retinentes licet adflicti minus criminis aestimabant alienis viribus potius quam conscientiae suae iudicio vinci: mussantesque audiebantur interdum, fortunae non meriti fuisse quod evenit. ita in semihorae curriculo discrimine proeliorum emenso tot procubuere subito barbari ut pugnam fuisse sola victoria declararet.

11 Nor did any of them, amid the diverse sufferings, beg for mercy or cast away his sword or entreat a swift death; but continually holding fast to their arms, though distressed they judged their lesser guilt to be owing to another’s strength rather than by the judgment of their own conscience: and murmuring they were heard at times that it was fortune, not merit, that had brought about what happened. Thus, in the course of half an hour’s running through the crisis of the battles, so many suddenly fell that the barbarians would have declared the fight itself to have been victory alone.

12 Vix dum populis hostilibus stratis gregatim peremptorum necessitudines ducebantur humilibus extractae tuguriis aetatis sexusque promiscui et fastu vitae prioris abolito ad infimitatem obsequiorum venere servilium, et exiguo temporis intervallo decurso caesorum aggeres et captivorum agmina cernebantur.

12 Hardly, while the kinships of those slain in ranks by hostile peoples were being led away, from humble huts were drawn out men and women of mixed age and sex, and with the pride of their former life abolished they came to the lowliness of servile submission; and after a short interval of time had run, heaps of the slain and bands of captives were perceived.

13 Incitante itaque fervore certaminum fructuque vincendi consurrectum est in perniciem eorum, qui deseruere proelia, vel in tuguriis latitantes occultabantur. hos, cum ad loca venisset avidus barbarici sanguinis miles, disiectis culmis levibus obtruncabat nec quemquam casa vel trabibus conpacta firmissimis periculo mortis extraxit.

1313. Therefore, urged on by the fervor of contests and by the fruit of winning, he rose up for the ruin of those who had deserted the battles, or who were hiding, lurking in huts. These, when the soldier eager for barbaric blood had come to the places, with the light thatch torn apart he cut down, nor did he draw anyone out of a casa or from beams compacted most firmly from the peril of death.

14 Denique cum inflammarentur omnia nullusque latere iam posset, cunctis vitae praesidiis circumcisis, aut obstinate igni peribat absumptus, aut incendium vitans egressusque uno supplicio declinato ferro sternebatur hostili.

14 Finally, when everything was set aflame and no one could any longer hide, with all the safeguards of life cut off, either he perished, stubbornly consumed by the fire, or, avoiding the blaze and having gone forth with that one death averted, he was struck down by the hostile sword.

15 Fugientes tamen aliqui tela incendiorumque magnitudinem amnis vicini se conmisere gurgitibus, peritia nandi ripas ulteriores occupare posse sperantes, quorum plerique summersi necati sunt, alii iaculis periere confixi adeo ut abunde cruore diffuso meatus fluminis spumaret immensi: ita per elementum utrumque Sarmatas vincentium ira virtusque delevit.

15 Some, however, fleeing, committed themselves to the eddies of a nearby river, trusting that by skill in swimming they could reach the farther banks; most of these were drowned and killed, others perished transfixed by javelins so that, with blood poured out abundantly, the channel of the immense river foamed: thus by the element on both accounts the wrath and the virtue of the conquering Sarmatians destroyed them.

16 Placuerat igitur post hunc rerum ordinem cunctis adimi spem omnem vitaeque solacium. et post lares incensos raptasque familias navigia iussa sunt colligi ad indagandos, quos a nostrorum acie ulterior discreverat ripa.

16 It had therefore been decreed, after this order of events, that all hope and solace of life be taken from everyone. And after the household shrines had been burned and the families carried off, ships were ordered to be gathered to search for those whom the far bank had separated from our battle-line.

17 Statimque ne alacritas intepesceret pugnatorum, inpositi lintribus per abdita ducti velites expediti occuparunt latibula Sarmatarum, quos repentinus fefellit aspectus, gentiles lembos et nota remigia conspicantes.

17 And immediately, lest the ardor of the fighters grow cold, the velites — placed into lembos and led through hidden ways — disembarked, unencumbered, and seized the Sarmatians’ lairs; the sudden sight deceived them, beholding native lembos and familiar oars.

18 Ubi vero procul micantibus telis, quod verebantur propinquare senserunt, ad suffugia locorum palustrium se contulerunt eosque secutus infestius miles caesis plurimis ibi victoriam repperit, ubi nec caute posse consistere nec audere aliquid credebatur.

18 When, however, they perceived from afar by the flashing weapons that those they feared were drawing near, they betook themselves to the refuges of the marshy places, and the soldier, following them more fiercely, with very many having been slaughtered there found a victory — in a place where it was thought that they could neither stand securely nor venture any boldness.

19 Post absumptos paene diffusosque Amicenses petiti sunt sine mora Picenses, ita ex regionibus appellati conterminis: quos tutiores fecere sociorum aerumnae rumorum adsiduitate conpertae. ad quos opprimendos — erat enim arduum sequi per diversa conspersos inprudentia viarum arcente — Taifalorum auxilium et Liberorum adaeque Sarmatarum adsumptum est.

19 After the Amicenses had been almost consumed and scattered, the Picenses were sought without delay, so named from adjoining regions: it was discovered by the constant succession of the allies’ hardships that they were the safer; to overwhelm them — for it was arduous to follow those dispersed through the imprudence of the roads — aid of the Taifali and of the Liberi and likewise of the Sarmatians was enlisted.

20 Cumque auxiliorum agmina locorum ratio separaret, tractus contiguos Moesiae sibi miles elegit, Taifali proxima suis sedibus obtinebant, Liberi terras occupaverant e regione sibi oppositas.

20 And when the disposition of the columns of auxiliaries divided the places, the soldier chose for himself the contiguous tracts of Moesia; the Taifali held the districts nearest their dwellings; the Liberi had seized the lands lying opposite them from the neighboring region.

21 Limigantes territi subactorum exemplis et prostratorum diu haesitabant ambiguis mentibus, utrum oppeterent an rogarent, cum utriusque rei suppeterent documenta non levia. vicit tamen ad ultimum coetu seniorum urgente dedendi se consilium. variaeque palmae victoriarum accessit eorum quoque supplicatio, qui armis libertatem invaserant, et reliqui eorum cum precibus, ut superatos et inbelles dominos aspernati fortioribus visis inclinavere cervices.

21 The Limigantes, terrified by the examples of the subdued and the prostrated, long hesitated with ambiguous minds whether they should perish or beg, since there existed not slight precedents for either course. Yet at last the counsel to give themselves up, urged by the assembly of elders, prevailed. And various palms of victory were added even to the supplication of those who by arms had attempted liberty, and the rest of them with prayers, having scorned their masters as conquered and unwarlike, bent their necks when they saw stronger men.

22 Accepta itaque publica fide, deserto montium propugnaculo ad castra Romana convolavit eorum pars maior diffusa per spatia ampla camporum cum parentibus et natis atque coniugibus opumque vilitate, quam eis celeritatis ratio furari permisit.

22 Having accepted the public pledge, the greater part, the mountain stronghold abandoned, rushed to the Roman camp, dispersed across the wide spaces of the plains with parents and children and wives and with the poverty of their goods, which the rapidity of their flight permitted them to purloin.

23 Et qui animas amittere potius quam cogi solum vertere putabantur, dum licentem amentiam libertatem existimarent, parere imperiis et sedes alias suscipere sunt adsensi tranquillas et fidas, ut nec bellis vexari nec mutari seditionibus possint. isdemque ex sententia, ut credebatur, acceptis quievere paulisper, post feritate nativa in exitiale scelus erecti, ut congruo docebitur textu.

23 And those who were thought rather to lose their lives than to be forced to change their custom alone, while they took licentious madness for freedom, consented to obey commands and to take up other dwellings, tranquil and secure, so that they might be neither harried by wars nor overturned by seditions. And, it was believed, they rested for a little while on the same resolve, having accepted [these terms], afterwards raised by their native ferity into a deadly crime, as the fitting text will relate.

24 Hoc rerum prospero currente successu tutela Illyrico conpetens gemina est ratione firmata, cuius negotii duplicem magnitudinem imperator adgressus utramque perfecit. infidis . . . Exules populos licet mobilitate suppares, acturos tamen paulo verecundius, tandem reductos in avitis sedibus conlocavit. isdemque ad gratiae cumulum non ignobilem quempiam regem sed quem ipsi antea sibi praefecere, regalem inposuit, bonis animi corporisque praestantem.

24 With affairs running prosperously, the guardianship proper to Illyricum was established on a twin plan, whose business, of double magnitude, the emperor undertook and accomplished both parts. To the unfaithful... Exiles—though the peoples were equal in agility—he nevertheless treated with a little more modesty, and at last restored and settled the returned in their ancestral seats. And to the same, as a not ignoble accumulation of favor, he set over them a certain king—one whom they themselves had earlier appointed to rule them—royal, outstanding in the virtues of mind and body.

25 Tali textu recte factorum Constantius iam metuente sublimior militarique consensu secundo Sarmaticus appellatus ex vocabulo subactorum, iamque discessurus convocatis cohortibus et centuriis et manipulis omnibus tribunal insistens signisque ambitus et aquilis et agmine multiplicium potestatum his exercitum adlocutus est, ore omnium favorabilis, ut solebat:

25 By such a narrative of righteous deeds Constantius, now by his loftier bearing and with the soldiers’ favorable assent called Sarmaticus from the word subactorum, and now about to depart, having summoned all cohorts and centuries and all maniples, standing on the tribunal and with the ensigns of command — standards and eagles and the column of manifold powers — addressed this army, his mouth pleasing to all, as he was wont:

26 "Hortatur recordatio rerum gloriose gestarum omni iucunditate viris fortibus gratior admodum verecunde replicare, quae divinitus delata sorte vincendi et ante proelia et in ipso correximus fervore pugnarum, Romanae rei fidissimi defensores. quid enim tam pulchrum tamque posteritatis memoriae iusta ratione mandandum quam ut miles strenue factis, ductor prudenter consultis exultet?

26 "The recollection of things gloriously done urges one to repeat them with every pleasure; it is all the more pleasing and somewhat modest to brave men to relate those deeds which by a divinely bestowed lot of victory we achieved both before the battles and in the very heat of the combats, most faithful defenders of the Roman thing. For what indeed is so fair and so rightly to be entrusted to the memory of posterity as that the soldier exult in his deeds done with vigor, the leader in his prudently counseled plans?

27 Persultabat Illyricum furor hostilis, absentiam nostram inanitate tumenti despiciens, dum Italos tueremur et Gallos, variisque discursibus vastabat extima limitum, nunc cavatis roboribus, aliquotiens peragrans pedibus flumina, non congressibus nec armis fretus aut viribus sed latrociniis adsuetus occultis, astu et ludificandi varietate iam inde ab instituta gente nostris quoque maioribus formidatus: quae longius disparati, qua ferri poterant, tulimus, leviores iacturas efficacia ducum vetari posse sperantes.

27 The hostile fury ravaged Illyricum, despising our absence as mere boastful emptiness, while we guarded the Italians and the Gauls, and with various sorties wasted the outermost bounds of the frontiers, now with hollowed timbers, sometimes fording rivers on foot, relying not on engagements nor on arms or strength but accustomed to secret brigandage, feared from that time by our forebears as a people schooled in guile and the variety of deceiving: which, dispersed far and wide, we carried off as far as they could be borne, hoping that lighter losses might be prevented by the effectiveness of our commanders.

28 Ubi vero per licentiam scandens in maius ad funestas provinciarum clades erepsit et crebras, communitis aditibus Raeticis tutelaque pervigili Galliarum securitate fundata, terrore nullo relicto post terga venimus in Pannonias, ut placuit numini sempiterno, labentia firmaturi: cunctisque paratis, ut nostis, vere adulto egressi arripuimus negotiorum maximas moles: primum ne struendo textis conpagibus ponti telorum officeret multitudo, quo opera levi perfecto visis terris hostilibus et calcatis, obstinatis ad mortem animis conatos resistere Sarmatas absque nostrorum dispendio stravimus, parique petulantia ruentes in agmina nobilium legionum Quados Sarmatis adiumenta ferentes adtrivimus. qui post aerumnosa dispendia inter discursus et repugnandi minaces anhelitus, quid nostra valeat virtus experti, manus ad dimicandum aptatas armorum abiecto munimine pone terga vinxerunt restareque solam salutem contemplantes in precibus, adfusi sunt vestigiis Augusti clementis, cuius proelia saepe conpererant exitus habuisse felices.

28 When, however, by mounting in greater license he had crept into the fatal calamities of the provinces and, with frequent passages joined through the Raetian approaches and a protection founded on the vigilant security of the Gauls, leaving no terror behind, we came into Pannonia, as pleased the eternal numen, to steady what was slipping: with everything prepared, as you know, in the vernal season grown, we seized upon the greatest burdens of affairs. First, lest the multitude obstruct the woven joints of the bridge by building, by that light work finished and hostile lands seen and trodden, we routed the Sarmatians—who, steadfast to death, had attempted to resist—without loss to our men; and with like audacity we crushed the Quadi, rushing into the ranks and bearing aid to the Sarmatians. They, after wearisome losses amid routs and threatening gasps of resistance, having proved what our valour could do, their hands fitted for fighting and, their armour cast off, bound their backs and, contemplating only salvation in prayers, were touched by the footsteps of the clement Augustus, whose battles had often been found to have happy outcomes.

29 His sequestratis Limigantes quoque fortitudine superavimus pari, interfectisque pluribus alios periculi declinatio adegit suffugia petere latebrarum palustrium.

29 With these things seized aside, we likewise overcame the Limigantes with equal fortitude; and with many slain, the flight from danger drove the others to seek refuge in the marshy lairs far and wide.

30 Hisque secundo finitis eventu lenitatis tempus aderat tempestivae. Limigantes ad loca migrare conpulimus longe discreta, ne in perniciem nostrorum se commovere possent ulterius, et pepercimus plurimis et Zizaim praefecimus Liberis, dicatum nobis futurum et fidum, plus aestimantes creare quam auferre barbaris regem, hoc decore augente sollemnitatem quod isdem quoque rector tributus antehac electus est et acceptus.

30 And with these matters at a second outcome ended, the season for timely leniency had arrived. We compelled the Limigantes to migrate to places widely separated, lest they be able to move further into the destruction of our men, and we spared very many and put Zizaim over the Liberi, a man to be dedicated to us and faithful, esteeming it more to create than to remove a king from the barbarians—this honour augmenting the solemnity because the same ruler had formerly been appointed, elected, and accepted.

31 Quadruplex igitur praemium, quod unus procinctus absolvit, nos quaesivimus et res publica, primo ultione parta de grassatoribus noxiis, deinde quod vobis abunde sufficient ex hostibus captivi. his enim virtutem oportet esse contentam, quae sudore quaesivit et dexteris.

31 Therefore a fourfold reward, which one armed man fulfilled, we and the res publica sought: first, vengeance achieved on the harmful plunderers; then captives taken from the enemies, more than sufficient for you. For to these things virtue ought to be content which it has sought by sweat and by skillful hands.

32 Nobis amplae facultates opumque sunt magni thesauri: integra omnium patrimonia nostri labores et fortitudo servarint. hoc enim boni principis menti, hoc successibus congruit prosperis.

32 We have ample means and resources and a great treasury: the intact inheritances of all have been preserved by our labors and fortitude. For this befits the mind of a good prince, and this accords with prosperous successes.

33 Postremo ego quoque hostilis vocabuli spolium prae me fero, secundum Sarmatici cognomentum, quod vos unum idemque sentientes mihi — ne sit adrogans dicere — merito tribuistis". Post hunc dicendi finem contio omnis alacrior solito, aucta spe potiorum et lucri, vocibus festis in laudes imperatoris adsurgens deumque ex usu testata non posse Constantium vinci, tentoria repetit laeta. et reductus imperator ad regiam otioque bidui recreatus Sirmium cum pompa triumphali regressus est et militares numeri destinatas remearunt sedes.

33 Finally I also carry before me the spoil of a hostile epithet, the cognomen Sarmaticus, which you, thinking one and the same, have rightly bestowed on me — not to seem arrogant to say it. After this end of speaking the whole assembly was more lively than usual, hope of booty and profit increased, rising with festive voices to the praises of the emperor and, testifying from experience that the Constantius cannot be defeated, happily returned to their tents. And the emperor, led back to the palace and refreshed by two days’ rest, returned to Sirmium with triumphal pomp, and the military ranks went back to their appointed quarters.

Romani legati de pace, re infecta revertuntur ex Perside, Sapore Armeniam et Mesopotamiam repetente.

The Roman envoys for peace, the affair having failed, return from Persia, Sapor attempting to recover Armenia and Mesopotamia.

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1 Hisce isdem diebus Prosper et Spectatus atque Eustathius legati ad Persas, ut supra docuimus, missi Ctesiphonta reversum regem adiere, litteras perferentes imperatoris et munera, poscebantque rebus integris pacem et mandatorum memores nusquam ab utilitate Romanae rei maiestateque discedebant, amicitiae foedus sub hac lege firmari debere adseverantes, ne super turbando Armeniae vel Mesopotamiae statu quicquam moveretur.

1 In those same days Prosper and Spectatus and Eustathius, envoys to the Persians, as we have related above, having been sent, on returning to Ctesiphon went to the king, bearing the emperor’s letters and gifts, and they demanded that, with matters left intact, peace be made; and, mindful of the mandates, they should in no way depart from the advantage and majesty of the Roman state, asserting that the treaty of friendship ought to be confirmed under this condition, lest by disturbing the status of Armenia or Mesopotamia anything be moved.

2 Diu igitur ibi morati cum obstinatissimum regem nisi harum regionum dominio sibi adiudicata obdurescentem ad suscipiendam cernerent pacem, negotio redierunt infecto.

2 Therefore having remained there for a long time, when they perceived the most obstinate king hardening himself against receiving peace unless the dominion of these regions were adjudicated to him, they returned with the negotiation unfinished.

3 Post quod id ipsum condicionum robore pari inpetraturi Lucillianus missus est comes et Procopius tunc notarius, qui postea nodo quodam violentae necessitatis adstrictus ad res consurrexit novas.

3 After this, to obtain that very thing by an equal firmness of the conditions, Lucillianus was sent as comes (count) and Procopius then as notary; who afterwards, bound by a certain knot of violent necessity, rose up to new affairs.