Ammianus: RES GESTAE A FINE CORNELI TACITI

1 Dum haec in diversa parte terrarum fortunae struunt volubiles casus, Iulianus inter multa, quae per Illyricum agitabat, exta rimabatur adsidue, avesque suspiciens praescire festinabat accidentium finem sed responsis ambiguis et obscuris haerebat futurorum incertus.

1 While, in a different part of the earth, fortunes were contriving rolling chances, Julian, amid many matters which he was managing throughout Illyricum, was assiduously probing the entrails, and, looking up at the birds, was hastening to foresee the end of the accidents; but, with responses ambiguous and obscure, he stuck fast, uncertain of the things to come.

2 Eique tandem aruspicinae peritus Aprunculis Gallus orator, promotus rector postea Narbonensis, nuntiavit eventus inspectu iecoris, ut aiebat ipse, praedoctus quod operimento duplici viderat tectum cumque ille timeret ne cupiditati suae congruentia fingerentur, atque ideo maestus, omen multo praesentius ipse conspexit, quod excessum Constanti clare monstrabat. Eodem enim puncto quo idem obierat in Cilicia, lapso milite qui se insessurum equo dextra manu erexit, humique prostrato exclamavit ilico audientibus multis cecidisse qui eum ad culmen extulerat celsum. Et quamquam haec laetifica sciret, velut fixa tamen firmitate consistens intra terminos Daciae se continebat, sic quoque plurima pertimescens.

2 And to him at last Aprunculis, a Gallic orator skilled in haruspicy, later promoted as rector (governor) of Narbonensis, announced the outcomes from inspection of the liver—so he himself said—fore-instructed because he had seen it covered with a double covering; and since he feared lest things congruent to his own desire were being fabricated, and therefore was downcast, he himself beheld a much more immediate omen, which clearly showed the decease of Constantius. For at the same moment at which that same man had died in Cilicia, when a soldier, having slipped—who, as he was about to mount a horse, braced himself with his right hand—lay prostrate on the ground, he immediately cried out, with many hearing, that he who had raised him to a lofty summit had fallen. And although he knew these things to be gladdening, yet, standing as if fixed in firmness, he kept himself within the borders of Dacia, and even so was very greatly afraid of many things.

nec enim cautum ducebat coniecturis credere forsitan in contrarium erupturis.

for he did not deem it safe to trust conjectures, which perhaps would erupt to the contrary.

Iulianus cognita morte Constantii transcurrit Thracias, et Constantinopolim pacatam intrat, totumque imperium Rom. citra pugnam recipit.

Julian, once the death of Constantius was known, sped through the Thracian provinces and entered Constantinople pacified, and he received back the whole Roman empire without a battle.

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1 Inter quae tam suspensa advenere subito missi ad eum legati Theolaifus atque Aligildus, defunctum Constantium nuntiantes, addentesque quod eum voce suprema successorem suae fecerit potestatis.

1 Amid such suspense, there suddenly arrived legates sent to him, Theolaifus and Aligildus, announcing that Constantius was deceased, and adding that with his last voice he had made him the successor of his power.

2 Qua re cognita post exemptos periculorum aestus et bellicarum sollicitudinum turbas in inmensum elatus, iamque vaticiniis credens et celeritatem negotiis suis aliquotiens profuisse expertus, edixit iter in Thracias, motisque propere signis emensa declivitate Succorum Philippopolim petit, Eumolpiada veterem, alacri gradu, sequentibus quos duxerat cunctis.

2 With this matter known, after the surges of dangers and the tumults of warlike anxieties had been removed, exalted beyond measure, and now believing in vaticinations and having found that celerity had several times profited his affairs, he proclaimed a march into Thrace; and, the standards quickly set in motion, the declivity of the Succi traversed, he made for Philippopolis, the ancient Eumolpiada, at a brisk pace, with all whom he had led following.

3 Advertebant enim imperium, quod ereptum ibant cum ultimorum metu discriminum, praeter spem ordinario iure concessum. Utque solet fama novitates augere, properabat exinde sublimior ut quodam Triptolemi curru, quem ob rapidos circumgressus aeriis serpentibus et pinnigeris fabulosa vetustas inponit: perque terras et maria formidatus, nullis obstantibus muris, Heracleam ingressus est Perinthum.

3 For they perceived that the imperial power, which they were on the point of having snatched away amid the fear of ultimate crises, had, beyond hope, been conceded by ordinary law. And as rumor is wont to amplify novelties, from then on he hastened more exalted, as in a certain chariot of Triptolemus, which, on account of its rapid circuits, fabulous antiquity sets upon airy, wing-bearing serpents: and, feared over lands and seas, with no walls standing in the way, he entered Heraclea, Perinthus.

4 Quo apud Constantinopolim mox conperto effundebatur aetas omnis et sexus tamquam demissum aliquem visura de caelo. Exceptus igitur tertium Iduum Decembrium verecundis senatus officiis et popularium consonis plausibus, stipatusque armatorum et togatorum agminibus, velut acie ducebatur instructa, omnium oculis in eum non modo contuitu destinato sed cum admiratione magna defixis.

4 This being soon learned at Constantinople, every age and sex poured out as if to see someone let down from heaven. Therefore, received on the 3rd day before the Ides of December with the modest courtesies of the senate and the harmonious applauses of the populace, and hedged about by columns of armed men and of the togate, he was led as though in a battle line drawn up, the eyes of all fixed upon him not only with a set gaze but fastened with great admiration.

5 Somnio enim propius videbatur adultum adhuc iuvenem exiguo corpore, factis praestantem ingentibus, post cruentos exitus regum et gentium ab urbe in urbem inopina velocitate transgressum, quaqua incederet accessione opum et virium famae instar cuncta facilius occupasse, principatum denique deferente nutu caelesti absque ulla publicae rei suscepisse iactura.

5 For he appeared nearer to a dream: a youth already adult, of slight body, excelling in immense deeds; after the bloody exits of kings and nations he had passed from city to city with unlooked-for speed, and wherever he advanced, like rumor itself, by an accession of wealth and of forces he more easily occupied all things; finally, with a celestial nod conferring it, he had assumed the principate without any loss to the commonwealth.

Constantiani quidem, pars iure, pars inuria damnantur.

The Constantinians, indeed, are condemned: part by right, part by injustice.

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1 Brevi deinde Secundo Sallustio, promoto praefecto praetorio, summam quaestionum agitandarum ut fido conmisit: Mamertino a et Arbitione et Agilone atque Nevitta adiunctis, itidemque Iovino magistro equitum per Illyricum recens provecto.

1 Shortly thereafter he entrusted to Secundus Sallustius, advanced as praetorian prefect, as to a faithful man, the chief control of the inquiries to be conducted: with Mamertinus a and Arbitio and Agilo and also Nevitta added, and likewise Jovinus, master of cavalry for Illyricum, recently promoted.

2 Qui omnes transgressi Chalcedona, praesentibus Iovianorum Herculianorumque 6 principiis et tribunis, causas vehementius aequo bonoque spectaverunt praeter paucas, in quibus veritas reos nocentissimos offerebat.

2 All of whom, after crossing to Chalcedon, with the six principal officers and tribunes of the Joviani and Herculiani present, scrutinized the cases more vehemently than equity and the good allowed, except for a few in which truth was presenting the defendants as most guilty.

3 Et Palladium primum ex magistro officiorum in Brittannos exterminarunt suspicione tenus insimulatum quaedam in Gallum conposuisse apud Constantium, dum sub eodem Caesare officiorum esset magister.

3 And first they banished Palladius, formerly master of the offices, to the Britons, accused only on suspicion of having composed certain things against Gallus before Constantius, while under that same Caesar he was master of the offices.

4 Dein Taurum ex praefecto praetorio in exilium egere Vercellum, cuius factum apud iudices iustorum iniustorumque distinctores videri potuit veniae plenum. Quid enim deliquit si ortum turbinem veritus ad tutelam principis sui confugit? Et acta super eo gesta non sine magno legebantur horrore, cum id voluminis publici contineret exordium "consulatu Tauri et Florenti inducto sub praeconibus Tauro".

4 Then they drove Taurus, formerly praetorian prefect, into exile to Vercellae, whose deed could seem to the judges, distinguishers of the just and the unjust, full of pardon. For what fault did he commit, if, fearing the whirlwind that had arisen, he fled for the protection of his emperor? And the proceedings conducted concerning him were read not without great horror, since the beginning of that public volume contained this: "in the consulship of Taurus and Florentius, Taurus brought in under the criers."

5 Ad exitium itidem tale Pentadius trahebatur, cui id obiectum est, quod a Constantio missus notis excepit, quae propinquante pernicie super multis interrogatus responderat Gallus. Sed cum se iuste defenderet tandem abiit innoxius.

5 To destruction likewise was Pentadius being dragged, against whom this was alleged: that, sent by Constantius, he took down in notes the things which Gallus, as doom was approaching, when interrogated about many matters, had replied. But since he defended himself justly, at length he departed guiltless.

6 Iniquitate simili Florentius tunc magister officiorum, Nigriniani filius, contrusus est in insulam Delmatiam Boas. Alter enim Florentius, ex praefecto praetorio consul etiam tum, rerum mutatione subita territus cum coniuge periculis exemptus diu delituit, nec redire ante mortem potuit Iuliani, capitis crimine tamen damnatus est absens.

6 By a similar iniquity, Florentius, then master of the offices, son of Nigrinianus, was thrust into exile on the Dalmatian island Boa. For the other Florentius, formerly praetorian prefect and at that time even consul, terrified by the sudden change of affairs, with his wife removed from dangers, lay hidden for a long time, nor could he return before the death of Julian; yet he was condemned on a capital charge in his absence.

7 Pari sorte Evagrius comes rei privatae et Saturninus ex cura palatii et Cyrinus ex notario portati sunt in exilium. Ursuli vero necem largitionum comitis ipsa mihi videtur flesse Iustitia, imperatorem arguens ut ingratum. Cum enim Caesar in partes mitteretur occiduas omni tenacitate stringendus, nullaque potestate militi quicquam donandi delata, ut pateret ad motus asperior exercitus, hic idem Ursulus datis litteris ad eum, qui Gallicanos tuebatur thesauros, quicquid posceret Caesar procul dubio iusserat dari.

7 By an equal lot Evagrius, Count of the Private Estate, and Saturninus from the care of the Palace, and Cyrinus from the Notariate were carried into exile. But the death of Ursulus, Count of the Sacred Largesses, Justice herself seems to me to have wept, accusing the emperor as ungrateful. For when the Caesar was being sent into the western parts to be squeezed by every tenacity, and with no power conferred of giving anything to the soldiery, so that the army might lie open to a harsher upheaval, this same Ursulus, letters having been sent to him who was guarding the Gallic treasuries, had without doubt ordered that whatever the Caesar demanded be given.

8 Quo extincto cum maledicis exsecrationibusque multorum se Iulianus sentiret expositum, inpurgabile crimen excusari posse existimans, absque conscientia sua hominem adfirmabat occisum, praetendens, quod eum militaris ira delevit, memor quae dixerat, ut ante rettulimus, cum Amidam vidisset excisam.

8 After his death, since Julian felt himself exposed to the maledictions and execrations of many, thinking that an unpurgeable crime could be excused, he affirmed that the man had been killed without his knowledge, alleging that military wrath destroyed him, mindful of what he had said, as we have reported above, when he had seen Amida razed.

9 Ideoque timidus videbatur vel parum intellegens quid conveniret, cum Arbitionem semper ambiguum et praetumidum his quaestionibus praefecisset, aliis specie tenus cum principiis legionum praesentibus, quem primum omnium saluti suae norat obiectum, ut decuit victoriarum civilium participern fortem.

9 And therefore he seemed timid or too little intelligent as to what was fitting, since he had put Arbition—always ambiguous and over-swollen—in charge of these inquiries, others in appearance only, with the principals of the legions present, whom before all he knew to have been set against his own safety, as befitted a stout partner in civil victories.

10 Et quamquam haec, quae rettulimus, eius displicuere fautoribus, sequentia tamen severitatis recto vigore sunt gesta. Apodemium enim ex agente in rebus, quem in Silvani necem et Galli effrenatius arsisse docuimus, Paulumque notarium cognomento Catenam, cum multorum gemitu nominandum, vivos exustos qui sperari debuit, oppressit eventus.

10 And although these things which we have recounted displeased his supporters, the subsequent measures of severity, however, were carried out with upright vigor. For Apodemius, formerly an agent in affairs—whom we have shown to have raged more unbridledly in the slaying of Silvanus and of Gallus—and Paul the notary, by the surname “Chain,” a man to be named with the groan of many, were overtaken by the outcome that ought to have been hoped for: they were burned alive.

11 Eusebium super his, cui erat Constantiani thalami cura commissa, alte spirantem et dirum, addixere poenae letali, quem ab ima sorte ad usque iubendum imperatori paene elatum ideoque intolerabilem, humanorum spectatrix Adrastia aurem - quod dicitur - vellens monensque ut castigatius viveret, reluctantem praecipitem tamquam e rupe quadam egit excelsa.

11 Eusebius, over and above these matters, to whom the care of Constantius’s bedchamber had been entrusted, high-breathing and dire, they adjudged to a lethal penalty; who, lifted from the lowest lot to the point of almost giving orders to the emperor—and thus intolerable—Adrastia, the spectator of human affairs, tugging his ear—as the saying goes—and warning him to live with more chastisement, drove headlong, as if from some lofty cliff, as he resisted.

Eunuchos omnes, et tonsores ac coquos palatio expellit Iulianus Aug. et de palatinorum spadorum vitiis et de corrupta disciplina militum.

Julian the Augustus expels all eunuchs, and barbers and cooks, from the palace, and on the vices of the palace eunuchs and on the corrupted discipline of the soldiers.

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1 Conversus post haec princeps ad palatinos omnes omnino qui sunt quique esse possunt, non ut philosophus veritatis indagandae professor.

1 After this the emperor turned to all the Palatines, absolutely all who are and who can be, not as a philosopher, a professor of investigating truth.

2 Laudari enim poterat, si saltem moderatos quosdam licet paucos retinuisset morumque probitate conpertos. namque fatendum est, pleramque eorum partem vitiorum omnium seminarium effusius aluisse ita, ut rem publicam infecerint cupiditatibus pravis, plusque exemplis, quam peccandi licentia laederent multos.

2 For he could have been praised, if at least he had retained some moderate men, though few, and men known for the probity of their morals. For it must be confessed that the greater part of them more profusely fostered a seedbed of all vices, in such wise that they infected the commonwealth with depraved cupidities, and harmed many more by their examples than by the license of sinning.

3 Pasti enim ex his quidam templorum spoliis, et lucra ex omni odorantes occasione, ab egestate infima ad saltum sublati divitiarum ingentium, nec largiendi nec rapiendi nec absumendi tenuere aliquem modum, aliena invadere semper adsuefacti.

3 For some of these were fattened on the spoils of temples, and, scenting lucre from every occasion, were lifted at a bound from the lowest indigence to enormous riches; and they kept no measure either in largessing, in rapine, or in squandering, always habituated to invade what belongs to others.

4 Unde fluxioris vitae initia pullularunt et periuria et nullus existimationis respectus, demensque superbia fidem suam probrosis quaestibus polluebat.

4 Whence the beginnings of a more lax life pullulated, and perjuries, and no regard for estimation; and demented pride was polluting their good faith with disgraceful profits.

5 Inter quae ingluvies et gurgites crevere praerupti conviviorum et pro victorialibus epulares triumphi, ususque abundantes serici et textiles auctae sunt artes et culinarum sollicitior cura, et ambitiosa ornatarum domorum exquisita sunt spatia, quorum mensuram si in agris consul Quinctius possedisset, amiserat etiam post dictaturam gloriam paupertatis.

5 Among these, gluttony and the precipitous whirlpools of banquets grew, and, instead of victorial triumphs, there were feasting triumphs; and the abundant uses of silk and the textile arts were augmented, and a more solicitous care for kitchens; and the ambitious spaces of ornamented houses were made exquisite—whose dimensions, if Consul Quinctius had possessed them in his fields, he would have lost, even after the dictatorship, the glory of poverty.

6 Quibus tam maculosis accessere flagitia disciplinae castrensis, cum miles cantilenas meditaretur pro iubilo molliores: et non saxum erat ut antehac armato cubile, sed pluma et flexiles lectuli et graviora gladiis pocula - testa enim bibere iam pudebat - quaerebantur et aedes marmoreae, cum scriptum sit antiquitatibus Spartanum militem coercitum acriter, quod procinctus tempore ausus sit videri sub tecto.

6 To these so stained there were added the disgraces of camp discipline, when the soldier was rehearsing cantilenas softer than the battle-shout: and it was not a rock, as formerly, that was the bed for the man-at-arms, but feather and pliant little couches, and goblets heavier than swords - for to drink from earthenware now was a shame - were being sought, and marble houses as well, though it is written in the ancient records that a Spartan soldier was sharply restrained, because, at a time of battle-array, he dared to be seen under a roof.

7 Adeo autem ferox erat in suos illis temporibus miles et rapax, ignavus vero in hostes et fractus, ut per ambitiones otiumque opibus partis, auri et lapillorum varietates discerneret scientissime, contra quam recens memoria tradidit.

7 To such a degree, however, was the soldier in those times fierce toward his own and rapacious, but slothful toward enemies and broken, that, through ambitions and leisure, once resources had been acquired, he could most knowledgeably distinguish the varieties of gold and little stones, contrary to what recent memory has handed down.

8 Notum est enim sub Maximiano Caesare vallo regis Persarum direpto gregarium quendam post sacculum Parthicum, in quo erant margaritae, repertum, proiectis imperitia gemmis abisse, pellis nitore solo contentum .

8 For it is known that under Maximian Caesar, when the rampart of the king of the Persians had been plundered, a certain common soldier, found in pursuit of a Parthian pouch, in which there were pearls, went off, having through inexperience thrown away the gems, content with the sheen of the skin alone .

9 Evenerat isdem diebus, ut ad demendum imperatoris capillum tonsor venire praeceptus introiret quidam ambitiose vestitus. Quo viso Iulianus obstupuit "ego" inquit "non rationalem iussi sed tonsorem acciri". Interrogatus tamen ille quid haberet ex arte conpendii, vicenas diurnas respondit annonas totidemque pabula iumentorum, quae vulgo dictitant capita, et annuum stipendium grave absque fructuosis petitionibus multis.

9 It had come to pass in those same days that, for cutting the emperor’s hair, when a barber had been ordered to come, there entered a certain man dressed ambitiously. At the sight of him Julian was astonished: "I," he said, "ordered not a rationalis but a barber to be summoned." Nevertheless, when that man was asked what profit he had from his art, he replied: twenty daily rations and just as many fodders for the beasts of burden, which they commonly call "heads," and a heavy annual stipend, apart from many lucrative petitions.

10 Unde motus omnes huius modi cum cocis similibusque aliis eadem paene accipere consuetos, ut parum sibi necessarios, data quo velint eundi potestate, proiecit.

10 Therefore, being moved, he dismissed all of this sort, together with the cooks and others similar, who were accustomed to receive almost the same, as scarcely necessary to himself, granting them the power to go wherever they wished.

Iulianus A. cultum deorum, antea dissimulatum, palam et libere profitetur, et Christianorum episcopos inter se committit.

Julian Augustus openly and freely professes the cult of the gods, previously dissembled, and sets the bishops of the Christians at odds with one another.

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1 Et quamquam a rudimentis pueritiae primis inclinatior erat erga numinum cultum paulatimque adulescens desiderio rei flagrabat, multa metuens tamen agitabat quaedam ad id pertinentia, quantum fieri poterat, occultissime.

1 And although from the first rudiments of boyhood he was more inclined toward the cult of the divine powers, and little by little as an adolescent he blazed with desire for the matter, yet, fearing many things, he nonetheless carried on certain things pertaining to that, as far as could be done, most secretly.

2 Ubi vero abolitis quae verebatur, adesse sibi liberum tempus faciendi quae vellet advertit, pectoris patefecit arcana et planis absolutisque decretis aperiri templa arisque hostias admovere et reparari deorum statui cultum.

2 But when, the things he had feared having been abolished, he perceived that free time was at hand for him to do what he wished, he laid open the arcana of his breast and, by plain and absolute decrees, ordered the temples to be opened, victims to be brought to the altars, and the cult of the gods to be restored to its former status.

3 Utque dispositorum roboraret effectum, dissidentes Christianorum antistites cum plebe discissa in palatium intromissos monebat civilius, ut discordiis consopitis quisque nullo vetante religioni suae serviret intrepidus.

3 And in order to corroborate the effect of the dispositions, he more civilly admonished the dissenting prelates of the Christians, together with the plebs torn asunder, when they had been admitted into the palace, that, with discords lulled, each might, no one forbidding, serve his own religion intrepidly.

4 Quod agebat ideo obstinate, ut dissensiones augente licentia non timeret unanimantem postea plebem, nullas infestas hominibus bestias, ut sunt sibi ferales plerique Christianorum expertus. Saepeque dictitabat: "Audite me quem Alamanni audierunt et Franci" imitari putans Marci principis veteris dictum. Sed parum advertit hoc ab eo nimium discrepare.

4 What he was doing he did therefore obstinately, so that, with license augmenting the dissensions, he would not fear a populace later becoming unanimous, having found no beasts hostile to men, such as most of the Christians are—deadly to themselves. And he would often keep saying: "Hear me, whom the Alamanni and the Franks have heard," thinking he was imitating the dictum of Marcus, the old emperor. But he paid too little heed that this differed far too much from that man’s.

5 Ille enim cum Palaestinam transiret Aegyptum petens, Iudaeorum faetentium et tumultuantium saepe taedio percitus dolenter dicitur exclamasse "o Marcomanni, o Quadi, o Sarmatae, tandem alios vobis inertiores inveni".

5 For he, when he was crossing Palestine, seeking Egypt, often struck with disgust by the Jews, stinking and tumultuating, is said to have exclaimed sorrowfully, "o Marcomanni, o Quadi, o Sarmatians, at last I have found others more inert than you."

Qua arte complures litigatores Aegyptios, a quibus moleste interpellabatur, domum redire coegit.

By this art he compelled numerous Egyptian litigators, by whom he was annoyingly interpellated, to return home.

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1 Per hoc idem tempus rumoribus exciti variis Aegyptii venere conplures, genus hominum controversum et adsuetudine perplexius litigandi semper laetissimum, maximeque avidum multiplicatum reposcere, si conpulsori quicquam dederit, ut levari debito possit, vel certe commodius per dilationem inferre, quae flagitantur, aut criminis vitandi formidine, divites pecuniarum repetundarum interrogare.

1 At this same time, stirred by various rumors, many Egyptians came, a race of men contentious and by habit more intricately given to litigating, always most delighted, and especially eager to demand back multiplied sums, if one has given anything to a collector so that he may be lightened of a debt, or at least to pay more conveniently, through a postponement, the things demanded; or, from the dread of a charge to be avoided, to arraign the wealthy for moneys to be reclaimed (pecuniae repetundae, i.e., extortion).

2 Hi omnes densati in unum, principem ipsum et praefectos praetorio graculorum more strepentes interpellabant incondite, modo non ante septuagensimum annum extorquentes quae dedisse se iure vel secus plurimis adfirmabant.

2 All these, packed into one mass, were interpellating in a disorderly fashion the prince himself and the praetorian prefects, clattering like grackles, trying to extort back what they affirmed they had given to very many, whether by right or otherwise, almost seventy years earlier.

3 Cumque nihil aliud agi permitterent, edicto proposito universos iussit transire Chalcedona, pollicitus quod ipse quoque protinus veniret, cuncta eorum negotia finiturus.

3 And as they permitted nothing else to be done, with an edict published he ordered all to cross over to Chalcedon, promising that he too would come forthwith, to settle all their cases.

4 Quibus transgressis mandatum est navigiorum magistris ultro citroque discurrentium, nequis transfretare auderet Aegyptium, hocque observato cura perpensiore evanuit pertinax calumniandi propositum, et omnes spe praesumpta frustrati redierunt ad lares.

4 After they had crossed, it was ordered to the masters of the boats plying to and fro that no one should dare to ferry across an Egyptian; and, this being observed, with more well‑weighed care the pertinacious purpose of calumniating vanished, and all, their presumed hope frustrated, returned to their hearths.

5 Unde velut aequitate ipsa dictante lex est promulgata, qua cavetur nullum interpellari suffragatorem super his quae eum recte constiterit accepisse.

5 Whence, as though equity itself dictated, a law was promulgated, by which it is provided that no suffragator be troubled concerning those things which it has been rightly established that he has received.

Iulianus Constantinopoli saepe ius dicit in curia, et dum ibi Thraciarum res ordinat, variis exterarum gentium legationibus aditur.

Julian often administers justice at Constantinople in the curia, and while there he orders the Thracian affairs, he is approached by various legations of foreign peoples.

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1 Adlapso itaque Calendarum Ianuariarum die cum Mamertini et Nevittae nomina suscepissent paginae consulares, humilior princeps visus est, in officio pedibus gradiendo cum honoratis, quod laudabant alii, quidam ut adfectatum et vile carpebant.

1 Accordingly, when the day of the Kalends of January had come, since the consular pages had taken up the names of Mamertinus and Nevitta, the emperor seemed more humble, going on foot in office together with the honored men; which others praised, but some criticized as affected and cheap.

2 Dein Mamertino ludos edente circenses, manu mittendis ex more inductis per admissionum proximum, ipse lege agi dixerat, ut solebat, statimque admonitus iuris dictionem eo die ad alterum pertinere, ut errato obnoxium decem libris auri semet ipse multavit.

2 Then, with Mamertinus putting on the circus games, those to be manumitted, according to custom, having been introduced through the deputy of Admissions, he himself said that the matter was to be proceeded with by law, as he was accustomed; and immediately, being reminded that jurisdiction on that day pertained to another, he fined himself ten pounds of gold as liable for the error.

3 Frequentabat inter haec curiam agendo diversa, quae divisiones multiplices ingerebant. Et cum die quodam ei causas ibi spectanti venisse nuntiatus esset ex Asia philosophus Maximus, exsiluit indecore: et qui esset oblitus, effuso cursu a vestibulo longe progressus exosculatum susceptumque reverenter secum induxit per ostentationem intempestivam nimius captator inanis gloriae visus, praeclarique illius dicti inmemor Tulliani, quo tales notando ita relatum:

3 Meanwhile he frequented the Curia, transacting diverse matters which brought in manifold divisions. And when on a certain day, as he was watching the cases there, it was announced to him that the philosopher Maximus had come from Asia, he leapt up indecorously; and, forgetful of who he was, having advanced far from the vestibule at a headlong run, he brought him in with him, after kissing him profusely and receiving him with reverence, seeming, through untimely ostentation, an excessive captator of empty glory, and unmindful of that celebrated Tullian dictum, in which, in marking such men, it is thus related:

4 "ipsi illi philosophi etiam in his libris, quos de contemnenda gloria scribunt, nomen suum inscribunt ut in eo ipso, quo praedicationem nobilitatemque despiciunt, praedicari de se ac se nominari velint".

4 "those very philosophers, even in those books which they write on contemning glory, inscribe their own names, so that in that very matter in which they despise proclamation and nobility, they wish themselves to be proclaimed and to be named."

5 Haut multo deinceps duo agentes in rebus ex his, qui proiecti sunt, eum adiere fidentius, promittentes latebras monstrare Florentii, si eis gradus militiae redderetur, quos incessens delatoresque adpellans addebat non esse imperatorium, obliquis flecti indiciis ad retrahendum hominem mortis metu absconditum, qui forte non diu latitare citra spem veniae permitteretur.

5 Not much thereafter two agentes in rebus, from among those who had been cast out, approached him more confidently, promising to show the hiding-places of Florentius, if the grades of military service were restored to them; but assailing them and calling them delators, he added that it was not imperial to be swayed by oblique indications to haul back a man concealed for fear of death, who perhaps would not be permitted to lie hidden long without hope of pardon.

6 Aderat his omnibus Praetextatus, praeclarae indolis gravitatisque priscae senator, ex negotio proprio forte repertus apud Constantinopolim, quem arbitrio suo Achaiae proconsulari praefecerat potestate.

6 Present at all these things was Praetextatus, a senator of illustrious disposition and of ancient gravity, found by chance at Constantinople on his own business, whom, by his own discretion, he had appointed to the proconsular authority of Achaia.

7 Nec tamen, cum corrigendis civilibus ita diligenter instaret, omisit castrensia, rectores militibus diu exploratos adponens, urbes quin etiam per Thracias omnes cum munimentis reparans extimis, curansque sollicite, ne arma vel indumenta aut stipendium vel alimenta deessent his quos per supercilia Histri dispersos excursibusque barbarorum oppositos agere vigilanter audiebat et fortiter.

7 Nor yet, while he pressed so diligently for the correction of civil affairs, did he omit camp-matters, appointing to the soldiers commanders long tested, and even restoring through all Thrace the cities with their outermost muniments, and taking careful thought that arms or clothing or stipend or aliments should not be lacking to those whom he heard were operating vigilantly and bravely, scattered along the brows of the Danube and set against the incursions of the barbarians.

8 Quae cum ita divideret nihil segnius agi permittens, suadentibus proximis, ut adgrederetur propinquos Gothos saepe fallaces et perfidos, hostes quaerere se meliores aiebat: illis enim sufficere mercatores Galatas, per quos ubique sine condicionis discrimine venundantur.

8 While he was thus dividing these matters, allowing nothing to be done more sluggishly, though his intimates were urging him to attack the neighboring Goths, often deceitful and perfidious, he said that he was seeking better enemies: for to them Galatian merchants sufficed, through whom people are everywhere put up for sale without distinction of condition.

9 Haec eum curantem et talia commendabat externis nationibus fama ut fortitudine, sobrietate, militaris rei scientia, virtutumque omnium incrementis excelsum, paulatimque progrediens ambitum oppleverat mundi.

9 As he was caring for these things and the like, report was commending him to foreign nations as exalted in fortitude, sobriety, knowledge of military affairs, and the increments of all virtues; and, progressing little by little, it had filled the circuit of the world.

10 Proinde timore eius adventus per finitimos longeque distantes latius explicato legationes undique solito ocius concurrebant: hinc Transtigritanis pacem obsecrantibus et Armeniis, inde nationibus Indicis certatim cum donis optimates mittentibus ante tempus ab usque Divis et Serendivis, ab australi plaga ad famulandum rei Romanae semet offerentibus Mauris, ab aquilone et regionibus solis, per quas in mare Phasis accipitur, Bosporanis aliisque antehac ignotis legationes vehentibus supplices, ut annua conplentes sollemnia intra terrarum genitalium terminos otiose vivere sinerentur.

10 Accordingly, as the fear of his arrival was unfurled more widely among neighbors and those far distant, on every side legations were converging quicker than usual: on the one hand the Trans-Tigrine peoples and the Armenians beseeching peace, on the other the Indian nations, vying to send magnates with gifts, before the season, from as far as the Divi and the Serendivi; from the southern quarter the Moors offering themselves to do service to the Roman state; from the north and the regions of the sun’s rising, through which the Phasis is received into the sea, the Bosporans and others previously unknown conveying legations as suppliants, that, fulfilling the annual solemnities, they might be allowed to live at ease within the boundaries of their native lands.

Descriptio Thraciarum, et sinus Pontici, regionumque ac nationum Ponto adiacentium.

Description of the Thraces, and of the Pontic gulf, and of the regions and nations adjacent to Pontus.

[8]

1 Adpositum est, ut existimo, tempus ad has partes nos occasione magni principis devolutos super Thraciarum extimis situque Pontici sinus visa vel lecta quaedam perspicua fide monstrare.

1 It is, as I think, a fitting time for us, having been brought down to these parts by the occasion of a great emperor, to show concerning the extremities of the Thraces and the situation of the Pontic gulf certain things seen or read, with manifest credibility.

2 Athos in Macedonia mons ille praecelsus navibus quondam Medicis pervius, et Caphareus Euboicus scopulus, ubi Nauplius Palamedis pater classem conlisit Argivam, licet longo spatio controversi a Thessalo mari distinguunt Aegaeum, quod paulatim fusius adulescens, dextra, qua late protenditur, per Sporadas est insulosum atque Cycladas, ideo sic appellatas quod omnes ambiunt Delon partu deorum insignem, laeva Imbrum et Tenedum circumluens et Lemnum et Thasum, quando perflatur, Lesbo inliditur violentius.

2 Athos in Macedonia, that very lofty mountain once passable to the Median ships, and Caphareus, the Euboean crag where Nauplius, father of Palamedes, dashed the Argive fleet, though set opposite to each other at a long interval, mark off the Aegean from the Thessalian sea, which, little by little spreading more broadly, on the right, where it stretches far, is made full of islands by the Sporades and the Cyclades—so called because they all encircle Delos, renowned for the birth of the gods—while on the left, washing around Imbros and Tenedos and Lemnos and Thasos, when it is swept through, it strikes against Lesbos more violently.

3 Unde gurgitibus refluis Apollinis Sminthii templum et Troada perstringit et Ilium heroicis casibus claram, efficitque Melana sinum oppositum Zephyro, cuius apud principium Abdera visitur Protagorae domicilium et Democriti, cruentaeque Diomedis Thracii sedes et convalles, per quas Hebrus sibi miscetur, et Maronea et Aenus, qua diris auspiciis coepta moxque relicta ad Ausoniam veterem ductu numinum properavit Aeneas.

3 Whence, with back-flowing whirlpools, it skims the temple of Apollo Sminthius and the Troad and Ilium, renowned for heroic catastrophes, and it makes the Melas bay opposite to the Zephyr, at the beginning of which Abdera is seen, the domicile of Protagoras and Democritus, and the bloody seats and valleys of Thracian Diomedes, through which the Hebrus mingles itself, and Maronea and Aenus, where, an enterprise begun under dire auspices and soon abandoned, Aeneas hastened to ancient Ausonia under the guidance of the divinities.

4 Hinc gracilescens paulatim et velut naturali quodam commercio ruens in Pontum eiusque partem ad se iungens, in speciem φ litterae formatur, exin Hellespontum a Rhodopa scindens, Cynossema, ubi sepulta creditur Hecuba, et Coelan praeterlabitur et Seston et Callipolin contra per Achillis Aiacisque sepulchra Dardanum contingit et Abydon, unde iunctis pontibus Xerxes maria pedibus peragravit, dein Lampsacum Themistocli dono datam a rege Persarum et Parion, quam condidit Iasionis filius Paris.

4 From here, gradually growing slender and, as it were, by a certain natural commerce rushing into the Pontus and joining to itself a part of it, it is formed into the shape of the letter φ, then, cleaving the Hellespont from Rhodope, it glides past Cynossema, where Hecuba is believed to be buried, and Coela and Sestus and Callipolis; over against, by the tombs of Achilles and Ajax, it touches Dardanus and Abydos, whence, with bridges joined, Xerxes traversed the seas on foot; then Lampsacus, given as a gift to Themistocles by the king of the Persians, and Parion, which Paris, son of Iasion, founded.

5 Unde semiorbe curvescens altrinsecus, lataque aperiens terrarum divortia, circumfluis spatiis Propontidos respergit ex eoo latere Cyzicum et Dindyma, religiosa Matris Magnae delubra, et Apamiam Ciumque, ubi Hylam insecuta rapuit Nympha et Astacum secuto tempore Nicomediam a rege cognominatam, qua in occasum procedit Cherronesum pulsat et Aegospotamus, in quo loco lapides casuros ex caelo praedixit Anaxagoras, et Lysimachiam et civitatem, quam Hercules conditam Perinthi comitis sui memoriae dedicavit.

5 Whence, curving in a semicircle on the other side, and opening wide the partings of the lands, it, with the circumflowing expanses of the Propontis, washes on the eastern side Cyzicus and Dindymus, the sacred shrines of the Magna Mater, and Apamea and Cius, where a Nymph, having pursued, snatched Hylas, and Astacus, later by the king’s name called Nicomedia; where, proceeding into the west, it strikes the Chersonese and Aegospotami, in which place Anaxagoras foretold that stones would fall from heaven, and Lysimachia, and the city which Hercules, having founded, dedicated to the memory of his companion Perinthus.

6 Et ut effectae plenaeque Þ litterae figura servetur, in meditullio ipso rotunditatis Proconesus insula est oblonga et Besbicus.

6 And so that the figure of the completed and full letter Þ be preserved, in the very middle of the roundness lies the island Proconesus, oblong, and Besbicus.

7 Post cuius summitatem in angustias rursus extenuatum Europam et Bithyniam intercurrens, per Chalcedona et Chrysopolim et stationes transit obscuras.

7 After the summit of which, narrowed again into straits as it runs between Europe and Bithynia, it passes by Chalcedon and Chrysopolis and obscure stations.

8 Nam supercilia eius sinistra Athyras portus despectat et Selymbria et Constantinopolis, vetus Byzantium, Atticorum colonia, et promuntorium Ceras praelucentem navibus vehens constructam celsius turrim, quapropter Ceratas adpellatur ventus inde suetus oriri praegelidus.

8 For its left brows overlook the harbor of Athyras and Selymbria and Constantinople, the old Byzantium, a colony of the Attics, and the promontory Ceras, bearing a tower built loftier, giving fore-light to ships; wherefore the wind, rather icy-cold, accustomed to arise from there, is called Ceratas.

9 Hoc modo fractum et participatione maris utriusque finitum iamque mitescens in aequoream panditur faciem. Quantum potest cadere sub aspectum late diffusum et longe.

9 In this way, broken and bounded by the participation of both seas, and now softening, it is spread out into a sea-like face. As far as can fall under sight, widely and far diffused.

10 Omnis autem eius velut insularis circuitus litorea navigatio viginti tribus dimensa milibus stadiorum, ut Eratosthenes adfirmat et Hecataeus et Ptolomaeus aliique huius modi cognitionum minutissimi scitatores, in speciem Scythici arcus nervo coagmentati geographiae totius adsensione formatur.

10 The whole of its, as it were, insular circuit—a littoral navigation—measured at 23,000 stadia, as Eratosthenes affirms, and Hecataeus and Ptolemy, and others of this sort, the most minute investigators of such branches of knowledge, is formed, with the assent of all geography, into the likeness of a Scythian bow joined by its string.

11 Et qua sol oceano exsurgit eoo, paludibus clauditur Maeotidos: qua declinat in vesperum, Romanis provinciis terminatur: unde suspicit sidus arctoum, homines alit linguis et moribus dispares: latus eius austrinum molli devexitate subductum.

11 And where the sun rises from the eastern ocean, it is closed in by the marshes of the Maeotis: where it declines toward the west, it is terminated by the Roman provinces: whence it looks up to the Arctic star, it nourishes men disparate in tongues and customs: its southern flank drawn away with a gentle declivity.

12 Per haec amplissima spatia oppida sunt dispersa Graecorum, quae cuncta aetatibus variis praeter pauca Atheniensium coloni condidere Milesii, inter Ionas alios in Asia per Nileum multo ante locati, Codri illius filium, qui se pro patria bello fertur Dorico devovisse.

12 Through these very ample spaces, towns of the Greeks are scattered, which all, in various ages, the Milesians founded—except a few, colonists of the Athenians—the Milesians having been settled, among the other Ionians in Asia, long before by Neleus, the son of that Codrus, who is said to have devoted himself for his fatherland in the Doric war.

13 Extremitates autem arcus utrimque tenues duo exprimunt Bospori e regione sibi oppositi Thracius et Cimmericus: hac causa Bospori vocitati, quod per eos quondam Inachi filia mutata, ut poetae locuntur, in bovem ad mare Ionium permeavit.

13 But the slender extremities of the arch on either side are marked out by two Bosphori, opposite to each other, the Thracian and the Cimmerian: for this cause they have been called Bosphori, because through them once the daughter of Inachus, transformed, as the poets say, into a cow, made her way to the Ionian Sea.

14 Dextram igitur inflexionem Bospori Thracii excipit Bithyniae litus, quam veteres dixere Mygdoniam, in qua Thynia et Mariandena sunt regiones et Amyci saevitia Bebryces exempti virtute Pollucis, remotaque statio, in qua volitantes minaciter harpyias Phineus vates horrebat; per quae litora in sinus oblongos curvatus Sangarius et Phyllis et Lycus et Rhebas fluvii funduntur in maria, quibus controversae cyaneae sunt Synplegades, gemini scopuli in vertices undique porrecti diruptos, adsueti priscis saeculis obviam sibi cum horrendo fragore conlisis molibus ferri, cedentesque retrorsus acri adsultu ad ea reverti, quae pulsarant. Per has saxorum dehiscentium concursantiumque crebritates si etiam ales intervolasset, nulla celeritate pinnarum eripi poterat quin interiret oppressa.

14 Thus the rightward inflexion of the Thracian Bosporus is succeeded by the shore of Bithynia, which the ancients called Mygdonia, in which Thynia and Mariandena are regions, and the Bebryces were exempted from the savagery of Amycus by the valor of Pollux, and there is the remote anchorage in which the seer Phineus used to shudder at the harpies flying menacingly; along which shores the rivers—the Sangarius, curved into oblong bays, and the Phyllis and the Lycus and the Rhebas—are poured into the seas, over against which are the Cyanean Synplegades, twin crags thrust on all sides into rent peaks, accustomed in former ages to be borne toward each other with horrendous crashing, their masses colliding, and, withdrawing backward, to return with a sharp assault against the very parts they had struck. Through these frequent closings and clashings of gaping rocks, even if a bird had flown between, by no swiftness of its pinions could it be snatched away so as not to perish, crushed.

15 Hi scopuli cum eos Argo prima omnium navis Colchos ad direptionem aurei properans velleris praeterisset innoxia, inmobiles turbine circumfracto stetere concorporati, ut eos aliquando Ivisse diremptos nulli nunc conspicantium credant, nisi super hoc congruerent omnes priscorum carminum cantus.

15 These crags, when the Argo, the first ship of all, hastening to Colchis for the seizure of the Golden Fleece, had passed them by unharmed, stood immobile, their whirl broken, coalesced into one, so that none of those now beholding them believe that they had once, sundered, been in motion—unless upon this point all the songs of the ancients concurred.

16 Post Bithyniae partem provinciae Pontus et Paphlagonia protenduntur, in quibus Heraclea et Sinope et Polemonion, et Amisos amplae sunt civitates et Tios et Amastris, omnes ab auspicio diligentia fundatae Graecorum, et Cerasus, unde advexit huius modi poma Lucullus, insulaeque arduae, et Trapezunta et Pityunta continentis oppida non obscura.

16 After the Bithynian part of the province, Pontus and Paphlagonia are extended, in which Heraclea and Sinope and Polemonion, and Amisos are ample cities, and Tios and Amastris, all founded under the auspice and diligence of the Greeks, and Cerasus, whence Lucullus conveyed fruits of this kind, and the steep islands, and Trapezunta and Pityunta, not obscure towns of the mainland.

17 Ultra haec loca Acherusium specus est, quod accolae μυχοπόντιον adpellant, et portus Acone, fluvii diversi, Acheron, idemque Arcadius, et Iris et Tibris et iuxta Parthenius, omnes in mare ictu rapido decurrentes. Thermodon his est proximus ab Armonio defluens monte et Themiscyraeos interlabens lucos, ad quos Amazonas quondam migrare necessitas subegerat talis.

17 Beyond these places there is the Acherusian cave, which the inhabitants call μυχοπόντιον, and the port Acone, and various rivers, the Acheron, likewise the Arcadius, and the Iris and the Tibris and nearby the Parthenius, all running down into the sea with a rapid rush. The Thermodon is nearest to these, flowing down from Mount Armonius and gliding between the Themiscyran groves, to which the Amazons once a necessity of such a kind had compelled them to migrate.

18 Adtritis damnorum assiduitate finitimis, Amazones veteres, quae eos cruentis populabantur incursibus, altiora spirabant, viresque suas circumspectantes his, quae propinqua saepius adpetebant, validiores, raptae praecipiti cupiditatis ardore, perruptis nationibus plurimis manus Atheniensibus intulerunt, acrique concertatione effuse disiectae omnes nudatis equitatus sui lateribus conruere.

18 With the neighbors worn down by the assiduity of losses, the ancient Amazons, who were ravaging them with bloody incursions, aspired to loftier things; and, surveying their own strengths, stronger than these whom, because they were near, they more often assailed, seized by a headlong ardor of desire, after breaking through very many nations, they laid hands upon the Athenians; and in a fierce contest, all, scattered in disarray, with the flanks of their cavalry laid bare, collapsed.

19 Harum interitu cognito residuae ut imbelles domi relictae, extrema perpessae, vicinitatis eis repensantis similia funestos impetus declinantes, ad pacatiorem sedem transiere Thermodontis, quarum progenies longe deinde propagata per numerosam subolem manu firmissima ad loca reverterat genitalia, secuto tempore populis diversarum originum formidabilis.

19 With the destruction of these made known, the survivors, left at home as unwarlike, having suffered extremities, and the neighborhood paying them back with like treatment, shunning baleful assaults, crossed over to a more peaceable seat on the Thermodon; whose progeny, thereafter far propagated through a numerous offspring, with a very stout band had returned to their natal places, in the time that followed formidable to peoples of diverse origins.

20 Haut procul inde attollitur Carambis placide collis contra [septentrionem] Helicen exsurgens, cuius e regione est Criumetopon, Tauricae promuntorium, duobus milibus et quingentis stadiis disparatum. Hocque ex loco omnis ora maritima, cuius initium Halys est amnis, velut longitudine lineali directa nervi efficit speciem, duabus arcus summitatibus conligati.

20 Not far from there the hill Carambis rises gently, lifting up opposite Helice toward the [North]; over against it is Criumetopon, a promontory of Taurica, separated by 2,500 stadia. And from this spot the whole maritime shore, whose beginning is the river Halys, produces, as by a straight linear length drawn like a bowstring, the appearance of a string bound by the two tips of an arc.

21 His regionibus Dahae confines sunt, acerrimi omnium bellatores, et Chalybes, per quos erutum et domitum est primitus ferrum. Post quos terras patentes Byzares obtinent et Sapires et Tibareni et Mossynoeci et Macrones et Philyres, populi nulla nobis adsuetudine cogniti.

21 In these regions the Dahae are adjacent, the fiercest warriors of all, and the Chalybes, by whom iron was first dug out and tamed. After whom the open lands are held by the Byzares and the Sapires and the Tibareni and the Mossynoeci and the Macrones and the Philyres, peoples known to us by no familiarity.

22 A quibus brevi spatio distant virorum monumenta nobilium, in quibus Sthenelus est humatus et Idmon et Tiphys, primus Herculis socius Amazonico bello letaliter vulneratus, alter augur Argonautarum, tertius eiusdem navis cautissimus rector.

22 At a short distance from them are the monuments of noble men, in which Sthenelus is interred, and Idmon and Tiphys—the first, a companion of Hercules, mortally wounded in the Amazonian war; the second, the augur of the Argonauts; the third, the most cautious helmsman of the same ship.

23 Praetercursis partibus memoratis Aulion antron est, et fluenta Callichori ex facto cognominati, quod superatis post triennium Indicis nationibus, ad eos tractus Liber reversus, circa huius ripas virides et opacas orgia pristina reparavit et choros: trieterica huius modi sacra quidam existimant appellari ...

23 After the parts mentioned have been passed, there is the Aulion cavern, and the streams of Callichorus, surnamed from the deed; for, the Indian nations having been subdued after three years, Liber returned to those tracts and, around its green and shady banks, restored the ancient orgies and choruses: some think that sacred rites of this sort are called trieteric ...

24 Post haec confinia Camaritarum pagi sunt celebres, et Phasis fremebundis cursibus Colchos attingit, Aegyptiorum antiquam subolem, ubi inter civitates alias Phasis est nomine fluvii dictitata, et Dioscurias nunc usque nota, cuius auctores Amphitus et Cercius Spartani traduntur, aurigae Castoris et Pollucis, quibus Heniochorum natio est instituta.

24 After these, the confines of the districts of the Camaritae are renowned, and the Phasis with roaring courses reaches the Colchi, the ancient offspring of the Egyptians, where among other cities Phasis is commonly called by the name of the river, and Dioscurias is known even to the present, whose founders are handed down to have been Amphitus and Cercius, Spartans, the charioteers of Castor and Pollux, by whom the nation of the Heniochi was instituted.

25 Paulum ab his secernuntur Achaei, qui bello anteriore quodam apud Troiam consummato, non cum super Helena certaretur, ut auctores prodidere non nulli, in Pontum reflantibus ventis errore delati cunctisque hostilibus, stabilem domiciliis sedem nusquam reperientes, verticibus montium insedere semper nivalium, et horrore caeli districti, victum etiam sibi cum periculis rapto parare adsuefacti sunt, atque eo ultra omnem deinde ferociam saevierunt. Super Cercetis, qui isdem adnexi sunt, nihil memoratu traditur dignum.

25 A little apart from these are separated the Achaeans, who, when a certain earlier war at Troy had been consummated—not when there was contention over Helen, as some authors have reported—by the winds blowing back into Pontus, having been carried off course by error and with everything hostile, finding nowhere a stable seat for domiciles, settled upon the vertices of mountains ever snow‑clad; and, through the horror of a severe sky, they became accustomed to procure for themselves sustenance by rapine with dangers, and thereafter they raged beyond all ferocity. Concerning the Cercetae, who are annexed to the same, nothing worthy of mention is handed down.

26 Quorum post terga Cimmerici agitant incolae Bospori, ubi Milesiae sunt civitates, harumque velut mater omnium Panticapaeum, quam perstringit Hypanis fluvius genuinis intumescens aquis et externis.

26 Beyond them dwell the inhabitants of the Cimmerian Bosporus, where there are Milesian cities, and of these, as it were the mother of all, is Panticapaeum, which the river Hypanis, swelling with native and foreign waters, skirts.

27 Itineribus hinc extensis Amazones ad usque Caspium mare porrectae circumcolunt Tanain, qui inter Caucasias oriens rupes per sinuosos labitur circumflexus, Asiamque disterminans ab Europa, in stagnis Maeoticis delitescit.

27 With routes extended hence, the Amazons, stretched out right up to the Caspian Sea, dwell around the Tanais, which, rising among the Caucasian crags, glides along in sinuous meanders, and, demarcating Asia from Europe, hides itself in the Maeotic marshes.

28 Huic Ra vicinus est amnis, in cuius superciliis quaedam vegetabilis eiusdem nominis gignitur radix, proficiens ad usus multiplices medelarum.

28 To this the river Ra is adjacent, on whose banks a certain vegetable root of the same name is produced, beneficial for the manifold uses of medicines.

29 Ultra Tanain panduntur in latitudinem Sauromatae, per quos amnes fluvnt perpetui Marabius et Rombitus et Theophanius et Totordanes. Licet alia quoque distans inmanibus intervallis Sauromatarum praetenditur natio litori iuncta, quod Coracen suscipiens fluvium in aequor eiectat extremum.

29 Beyond the Tanais the Sarmatians are spread out in breadth, through whose territories perpetual rivers flow, the Marabius and Rombitus and Theophanius and Totordanes. Moreover, another nation of Sarmatians also, separated by immense intervals, is stretched forth, joined to the shore, which, receiving the river Coracen, casts it forth into the outermost sea.

30 Prope palus est Maeotis amplissimi circumgressus, ex cuius uberrimis venis per Panticapes angustias undarum magnitudo prorumpit in Pontum, cuius in dextro latere insulae sunt Phanagorus et Hermonassa studio constructae Graecorum.

30 Near by is the Maeotic marsh, of a most ample circuit, from whose very abundant veins, through the narrows of the Panticapes, a great magnitude of waters bursts forth into the Pontus, on whose right side are the islands Phanagorus and Hermonassa, constructed by the industry of the Greeks.

31 Circa haec stagna ultima extimaque plures habitant gentes, sermonum institutorumque varietate dispariles, Iaxamatae et Maeotae et Iazyges, Roxolanique et Halani et Melanchlaenae et cum Gelonis Agathyrsi, apud quos adamantis est copia lapidis: aliique ultra latentes, quod sunt omnium penitissimi.

31 Around these ultimate and outermost stagnant waters many nations dwell, dissimilar in the variety of their speeches and institutions: the Iaxamatae and the Maeotae and the Iazyges, and the Roxolani and the Alani and the Melanchlaenae, and, together with the Geloni, the Agathyrsi, among whom there is an abundance of the stone adamant; and others lying latent beyond, since they are the most innermost of all.

32 Sed Maeotidos lateri laevo Cherronesus est propinqua, coloniarum plena Graecarum. Unde quieti sunt homines et sedati, adhibentes vomeri curam et proventibus fructuariis victitantes.

32 But on the left side of Maeotis the Cherronesus is near, full of Greek colonies. Whence the men are quiet and sedate, giving care to the ploughshare and living on fructuary yields.

33 A quibus per varia regna diducti itineribus modicis Tauri dissociantur, inter quos inmani diritate terribiles Arichi et Sinchi et Napaei, intendente saevitiam licentia diuturna, indidere mari nomen inhospitali, et a contrario per cavillationem Pontus εὔξεινος appellatur, ut εὐήθη Graeci dicimus stultum et noctem εὐφρόνην, et furias ὐμενίδας.

33 From whom the Tauri are separated, drawn off across various realms by short journeys; among whom, terrible for monstrous ferocity, are the Arichi and the Sinchi and the Napaei, their savagery intensified by long-standing license; they imposed upon the sea the name “Inhospitable,” and, conversely, by scoffing, the Pontus is called εὔξεινος (“Hospitable”), just as we call a fool εὐήθη in Greek, and night εὐφρόνη, and the furies ὐμενίδας.

34 Dis enim hostiis litantes humanis et immolantes advenas Dianae, quae apud eos dicitur Orsiloche, caesorum capita fani parietibus praefigebant, velut fortium perpetua monumenta facinorum.

34 For, sacrificing to the gods with human victims and immolating strangers to Diana, who among them is called Orsiloche, they used to fasten the heads of those slain to the walls of the shrine, as perpetual monuments of brave deeds.

35 In hac Taurica insula Leuce sine habitatoribus ullis Achilli est dedicata. In quam si fuerint quidam forte delati, visis antiquitatis vestigiis temploque et donariis eidem heroi consecratis, vesperi repetunt naves: aiunt enim non sine discrimine vitae illic quemquam pernoctare. Ibi et aquae sunt et candidae aves nascuntur halcyonibus similes, super quarum origine et Hellespontiaci proelii tempore disserebamus.

35 On this Tauric island, Leuce, without any inhabitants, is dedicated to Achilles. Into which, if certain persons have by chance been carried, after the vestiges of antiquity have been seen and the temple and the donaries consecrated to the same hero, in the evening they return to their ships; for they say that no one passes the night there without risk to life. There too are waters, and white birds are born, like halcyons, about the origin of which and about the time of the Hellespontine battle we were discoursing.

36 Sunt autem quaedam per Tauricam civitates, inter quas eminet Eupatoria et Dandace, et Theodosia et minores aliae nullis humanis hostiis inpiatae.

36 However, there are certain cities throughout Taurica, among which stand out Eupatoria and Dandace, and Theodosia, and other smaller ones unpropitiated by any human victims.

37 Hactenus arcus apex protendi existimatur. Eius nunc residua leniter sinuata, subiectaque ursae caelesti ad usque laevum Bospori Thracii latus, ut ordo postulat, exsequemur id admonentes, quod, cum arcus omnium gentium flexis curventur hastilibus, Scythici soli vel Parthici circumductis utrimque introrsus pandis et patulis cornibus effigiem lunae decrescentis ostendunt, medietatem recta et rotunda regula dividente.

37 Up to this point the apex of the bow is thought to extend. Its remaining parts now, gently sinuated, and lying beneath the celestial Bear up to the left side of the Thracian Bosporus, as order requires, we shall set forth, reminding this: that, whereas the bows of all nations are curved with bent staves, those of the Scythian alone or the Parthian, with horns carried round on both sides inward, arched and spread wide, display the effigy of the waning moon, a straight and rounded rule dividing the middle.

38 Ergo in ipso huius conpagis exordio, ubi Riphaei deficiunt montes, habitant Arimphaei iusti homines, placiditateque cogniti, quos amnes Chronius et Visula praeterfluvnt; iuxtaque Massagetae Halani et Sargetae, aliique plures obscuri, quorum nec vocabula nobis sunt nota nec mores.

38 Therefore, at the very beginning of this structure, where the Rhipaean mountains fail, dwell the Arimphaei, just men, known for placidity, past whom the rivers Chronius and Vistula flow; and nearby the Massagetae, the Alans, and the Sargetae, and many others obscure, whose names are not known to us nor their customs.

39 Interiectu deinde non mediocri Carcinites panditur sinus eiusdemque nominis fluvius, et religiosus per eas terras Triviae lucus.

39 Then, after a not inconsiderable interval, the Carcinites bay opens out, and a river of the same name, and through those lands a sacred grove of Trivia.

40 Dein Borysthenes a montibus oriens Nerviorum, primigeniis fontibus copiosus concursuque multorum amnium adulescens, mari praeruptis undarum verticibus intimatur, cuius in marginibus nemorosis Borysthenes est civitas et Cephalonesus, et arae Alexandro Magno Caesarique Augusto sacratae.

40 Then the Borysthenes, rising from the mountains of the Nervii, copious from primeval springs and, maturing by the concourse of many rivers, is emptied into the sea with precipitous whirls of the waves, on whose wooded margins are the city Borysthenes and Cephalonesus, and altars consecrated to Alexander the Great and to Caesar Augustus.

41 Longo exinde intervallo paene est insula, quam incolunt Sindi ignobiles, post heriles in Asia casus coniugiis potiti dominorum et rebus, quibus subiectum gracile litus ᾿αχιλλέως vocant indigenae δρόμον, exercitiis ducis quondam Thessali memorabilem. Eique proxima est civitas. Tyros colonia Phoenicum, quam praestringit fluvius Tyras.

41 From there, after a long interval, there is an almost-island, which the ignoble Sindi inhabit, who, after their masters’ disasters in Asia, gained possession of their lords’ spouses and properties; beneath them lies a slender shore which the natives call Achilles’ racecourse, memorable for the exercises of the Thessalian leader of old. And next to it is a city: Tyros, a colony of the Phoenicians, which the river Tyras skims.

42 In medio autem spatio arcus, quod prolixae rotunditatis esse praediximus, quodque expedito viatori diebus conficitur quindecim, Europaei sunt Halani et Costobocae gentesque Scytharum innumerae, quae porriguntur ad usque terras sine cognito fine distentas, quarum pars exigua frugibus alitur, residuae omnes palantes per solitudines vastas nec stivam aliquando nec sementem expertas, sed squalentes et pruinosas ferarum taetro ritu vescuntur, eisque caritates et habitacula, vilesque suppellectiles plaustris inpositae sunt corticibus tectis, et cum placuerit, sine obstaculo migrant, eodem carpenta quo libuerit convolventes.

42 In the middle space of the arc, which we have predicted to be of long-drawn roundness, and which an unencumbered traveler completes in fifteen days, are the European Halani and the Costoboci and innumerable tribes of the Scythians, who extend to lands stretched out without a known end, of whom a small part is nourished by crops, while all the rest, wandering through vast solitudes and having experienced neither plough-handle nor sowing at any time, but squalid and rimed with frost, feed in the foul rite of wild beasts; and their loved ones and habitations, and their cheap household gear, are placed on carts roofed with bark, and whenever it pleases them they migrate without obstacle, rolling those same wagons wherever they wish.

43 Cum autem ad alium portuosum ambitum fuerit ventum, qui arcus figuram determinat ultimam, Peuce prominet insula, quam circumcolunt Trogodytae et Peucini minoresque aliae gentes, et Histros quondam potentissima civitas, et Tomi et Apollonia et Anchialos et Odissos, aliae praeterea multae, quas litora continent Thraciarum.

43 But when one has come to another harbor-rich sweep, which determines the ultimate outline of the arc, the island Peuce projects, around which dwell the Trogodytae and the Peucini and other lesser peoples, and Histros, once a most powerful city, and Tomi and Apollonia and Anchialos and Odissos, besides many others, which the shores of Thrace contain.

44 Amnis vero Danubius oriens prope Rauracos monte confine limitibus Raeticis per latiorem orbem praetentus ac sexaginta navigabilis paene omnes recipiens fluvios, septem ostiis per hoc Scythicum litus erumpit in mare.

44 But the river Danube, rising near the Rauraci, with a mountain contiguous to the Raetian frontiers, stretched across the broader orb and navigable for sixty days, receiving almost all rivers, bursts into the sea by seven mouths along this Scythian shore.

45 Quorum primum est Peuce insula supra dicta, ut interpretata sunt vocabula Graeco sermone, secundam Naracustoma, tertium Calonstoma, quartum Pseudostoma; nam Borionstoma ac deinde Stenostoma languidiora sunt ceteris; septimum segnius et palustri specie nigrum.

45 Of which the first is the island Peuce, mentioned above, as the names are interpreted in Greek speech, the second, Naracustoma, the third, Calonstoma, the fourth, Pseudostoma; for Borionstoma and then Stenostoma are more languid than the rest; the seventh is slower and black with a marsh-like appearance.

46 Omnis autem circumfluo ambitu Pontus et nebulosus est, et dulcior aequorum ceteris et vadosus, quod et concrescit aer ex umorum spiramine saepe densatus, et inruentium undarum magnitudine temperatur, et consurgit in brevia dorsuosa, limum globosque adgerente multitudine circumvenientium fluentorum.

46 But the Pontus, with an encircling flow all around, is foggy, and sweeter than the other seas, and shallow, because both the air congeals, often densified from the breathing of moistures, and it is tempered by the magnitude of the inrushing waves, and it rises into ridge-like shallows, as the multitude of the surrounding streams piles up mud and lumps.

47 Et constat ab ultimis nostri finibus maris agminatim ad hunc secessum pariendi gratia petere pisces, ut aquarum suavitate salubrius fetus educant in receptaculis cavis - quae sunt ibi densissima- securi voracium beluarum: nihil enim in Ponto huius modi aliquando est visum, praeter innoxios delphinas et paucos.

47 And it is established that from the farthest bounds of our sea the fishes, in shoals, seek this retreat for the sake of bringing forth, so that by the suavity of the waters they may rear their offspring more healthfully in hollow receptacles - which there are most densely - safe from voracious beasts: for nothing of this kind has ever been seen in the Pontus, except harmless dolphins, and few at that.

48 Quicquid autem eiusdem pontici sinus aquilone caeditur et pruinis, ita perstringitur gelu, ut nec amnium cursus subtervolvi credantur nee per infidum et labile solum gressus hominis possit vel iumenti firmari, quod vitium numquam mare sincerum sed permixtum aquis amnicis temptat. - prolati aliquantorsum longius quam sperabamus pergamus ad reliqua.

48 Whatever of that same Pontic bay is struck by the north wind and by hoarfrosts is so constrained by frost that neither are the courses of rivers believed to be flowing beneath, nor can the step of a man or of a beast be made firm upon the treacherous and slippery ground—a defect which never assails the sea when pure, but when intermixed with river waters. - having been carried somewhat farther than we had hoped, let us proceed to the rest.

49 Accesserat aliud ad gaudiorum praesentium cumulum diu quidem speratum, sed dilationum ambage multiplici tractum. nuntiatum est enim per Agilonem et Iovium postea quaestorem Aquileiae defensores longioris obsidii taedio, cognitoque Constanti excessu, patefactis portis egressos auctores prodidisse turbarum, isdemque vivis exustis, ut supra relatum est, omnes concessionem inpetrasse delictorum et veniam.

49 Another item had been added to the cumulus of present joys, long indeed hoped for, but drawn out by the manifold maze of delays. For it was announced through Agilo and Jovius, later quaestor, that at Aquileia the defenders, wearied by a more prolonged siege and, once the decease of Constans was known, with the gates thrown open and having sallied forth, had betrayed the authors of the disturbances; and when these same men had been burned alive, as was reported above, all obtained a concession and pardon of their delicts.

Iulianus A., aucta ornataque Constantinopoli, Antiochiam petit, ac in itinere Nicomediensibus ad reparandas urbis ruinas pecunias tribuit, Ancyrae iuris dictionibus vacat.

Julian Augustus, with Constantinople increased and adorned, makes for Antioch, and on the journey he grants money to the Nicomedians for repairing the city's ruins, at Ancyra he devotes himself to exercises of jurisdiction.

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1 At prosperis Iulianus elatior ultra homines iam spirabat, periculis expertus adsiduis, quod ei orbem Romanum placide iam regenti velut mundanam cornucopiam Fortuna gestans propitia cuncta gloriosa deferebat et prospera, antegressis victoriarum titulis haec quoque adiciens, quod, dum teneret imperium solus, nec motibus internis est concitus nec barbarorum quisquam ultra suos exsiluit fines: populi omnes, aviditate semper insectandi praeterita ut damnosa et noxia, in laudes eius studiis miris accendebantur.

1 But, by prosperities more elated, Julian was already breathing beyond the measure of men, seasoned by continual perils, since to him, now peacefully ruling the Roman world, propitious Fortune, bearing as it were a worldly cornucopia, was delivering all things glorious and prosperous—his titles of victories having gone before—adding this also: that, while he held the imperium alone, he was neither stirred by internal commotions nor did any of the barbarians leap beyond their own borders; all peoples, with the greed ever to assail the past as damaging and noxious, were being inflamed to his praises with wondrous zeal.

2 Omnibus igitur, quae res diversae poscebant et tempora, perpensa deliberatione dispositis, et militibus orationibus crebris stipendioque conpetenti ad expedienda incidentia promptius animatis, cunctorum favore sublimis Antiochiam ire contendens reliquit Constantinopolim incrementis maximis fultam: natus enim illic diligebat eam ut genitalem patriam et colebat.

2 Therefore, with all things which the diverse circumstances and the times demanded having been arranged with weighed deliberation, and the soldiers, by frequent orations and a suitable stipend, more promptly animated to expedite contingencies, exalted by the favor of all and striving to go to Antioch, he left Constantinople supported by the greatest augmentations: for, born there, he loved it as his natal fatherland and cherished it.

3 Transgressus itaque fretum praetercursa Chalcedona et Libyssa, ubi sepultus est Hannibal Poenus, Nicomediam venit urbem antehac inclytam, ita magnis retro principum amplificatam inpensis, ut aedium multitudine privatarum et publicarum recte noscentibus regio quaedam urbis aestimaretur aeternae.

3 Having crossed the strait, with Chalcedon and Libyssa passed by—where Hannibal the Carthaginian is buried—he came to Nicomedia, a city formerly illustrious, so amplified by the great expenditures of earlier princes that, to those who know aright, by the multitude of private and public buildings it was esteemed a certain district of the Eternal City.

4 Cuius moenia cum vidisset in favillas miserabiles concidisse, angorem animi tacitis fletibus indicans pigriore gradu pergebat ad regiam, hoc maxime aerumnis eius inlacrimans, quod ordo squalens occurrit et populus nimium quantum antehac florentissimus; et agnoscebat quosdam ibidem ab Eusebio educatus episcopo, quem genere longius contingebat.

4 When he saw the walls of it collapsed into pitiable cinders, indicating the anguish of his spirit with silent tears, he proceeded to the palace with a slower step, weeping especially at this among its hardships: that a squalid order met him and the people—once in the highest degree flourishing; and he recognized certain persons there, he himself having been educated by Bishop Eusebius, to whom he was connected by lineage at a more distant remove.

5 Hic quoque pari modo ad reparanda, quae terrae subverterat tremor, abunde praestitis plurimis per Nicaeam venit ad Gallograeciae fines, unde dextrorsus itinere declinato Pessinunta convertit, visurus vetusta Matris magnae delubra, a quo oppido bello Punico secundo, carmine Cumano monente per Scipionem Nasicam simulacrum translatum est Romam.

5 Here also, in like manner, for the repairing of what the tremor of the earth had overturned, with very many things abundantly furnished, he came through Nicaea to the borders of Gallo-Greece, whence, his route turning rightward, he directed himself to Pessinus, to see the ancient shrines of the Great Mother, from which town, in the Second Punic War, with the Cumaean song advising, by the agency of Scipio Nasica the image was transferred to Rome.

6 Cuius super adventu in Italiam pauca cum aliis huic materiae congruentibus in actibus Commodi principis digessimus per excessum. Quam autem ob rem hoc nomine oppidum sit appellatum, variant rerum scriptores:

6 Concerning whose advent into Italy we have arranged a few things, together with others congruent to this material, in the acts of the emperor Commodus, by way of a digression. But as to for what reason the town has been appellated by this name, the writers of affairs vary:

7 Quidam enim figmento deae caelitus lapso ἀπὸ τοῦ πεσεῖν, quod cadere nos dicimus, urbem adseruere cognominatam. Alii memorant Ilum, Trois filium Dardaniae regem, locum sic appellasse. Theopompus non Ilum id egisse, sed Midam adfirmat Phrygiae quondam potentissimum regem.

7 Some, indeed, have asserted that, from the goddess’s effigy having fallen from heaven—ἀπὸ τοῦ πεσεῖν, “from the falling,” which we call “to fall”—the city was surnamed. Others relate that Ilus, son of Tros, king of Dardania, so named the place. Theopompus affirms that it was not Ilus who did this, but Midas, once the most powerful king of Phrygia.

8 Venerato igitur numine hostiisque litato et votis Ancyram redit: eumque exinde progredientem ulterius multitudo inquietabat, pars violenter erepta reddi sibi poscentium, alii querentes consortiis se curiarum addictos iniuste, non nulli sine respectu periculi agentes ad usque rabiem, ut adversarios suos laesae maiestatis criminibus inligarent.

8 Therefore, with the numen having been venerated, and propitiation made with victims, and vows fulfilled, he returns to Ancyra: and as he went on from there further, a multitude kept troubling him—some demanding that things violently snatched away be restored to themselves, others complaining that they had been unjustly assigned to the consortia of the curiae, and not a few, acting without regard for danger even to the point of frenzy, so as to entangle their adversaries with charges of lèse‑majesté.

9 Verum ille iudicibus Cassiis tristior et Lycurgis, causarum momenta aequo iure perpendens, suum cuique tribuebat, nusquam a vero abductus, acrius in calumniatores exsurgens, quos oderat, multorum huius modi petulantem saepe dementiam ad usque discrimen expertus dum esset adhuc humilis et privatus.

9 But he, sterner than the Cassian judges and the Lycurgi, weighing the merits of cases with equitable right, rendered to each his own, nowhere led away from the truth, rising more sharply against calumniators, whom he hated, having often experienced, right up to peril, the petulant insanity of many of this sort, while he was still humble and a private man.

10 Exemplumque patientiae eius in tali negotio, licet sint alia plurima, id unum sufficiet poni. Inimicum quidam suum, cum quo discordabat asperrime, commisisse in maiestatem turbulentius deferebat, imperatoreque dissimulante eadem diebus continuis replicans, interrogatus ad ultimum, qui esset quem argueret, respondit, municipem locupletem. Quo audito princeps renidens "quibus indiciis" ait "ad hoc pervenisti?".

10 And an example of his patience in such a matter—although there are very many others—this one will suffice to be set down. A certain man was reporting somewhat turbulently that his enemy, with whom he was at the bitterest variance, had committed lèse‑majesté; and with the emperor dissembling, he kept reiterating the same charges on successive days. Questioned at last as to who it was that he was accusing, he replied, “a wealthy townsman.” On hearing this, the princeps, beaming, said, “by what indications have you come to this?”

11 Et ille "purpureum sibi" inquit "indumentum ex serico pallio parat" iussusque post haec ut vilis arduae rei vilem incusans abire tacitus sed innoxius, nihilo minus instabat. Quo taedio Iulianus defatigatus ad largitionum comitem visum propius "iube" inquit "periculoso garrulo pedum tegmina dari purpurea ad adversarium perferenda, quem, ut datur intellegi, chlamydem huius coloris memorat sibi consarcinasse, ut sciri possit sine viribus maximis quid pannuli proficiant leves".

11 And he said, “he is preparing for himself a purple garment out of a silken pallium,” and after this he was ordered, as a paltry accuser in a lofty matter, indicting a paltry one, to go away silent but unharmed; nonetheless he kept pressing. Worn out by this tedium, Julian, having come nearer in person to the Count of the Largesses, said: “Order that purple coverings for the feet be given to the dangerous chatterer, to be carried to his adversary—who, as it is allowed to be understood, reports that he has stitched together for himself a cloak of this color—so that it may be known what light little raglets accomplish without the very greatest powers.”

12 Sed ut haec laudanda et bonis moderatoribus aemulanda, ita illud amarum et notabile fuit, quod aegre sub eo a curialibus quisquam adpetitus, licet privilegiis et stipendiorum numero et originis penitus alienae firmitudine communitus, obtinebat aequissimum, adeo ut plerique territi emercarentur molestias pretiis clandestinis . . .

12 But while these things are to be praised and emulated by good moderators, yet this was bitter and notable: that anyone targeted by the curiales under him, although fortified by privileges and by the number of stipends and by the firmness of an origin wholly alien, obtained what was most equitable only with difficulty, to such a degree that many, terrified, bought off annoyances with clandestine prices . . .

13 Itineribus itaque emensis cum ad Pylas venisset, qui locus Cappadocas discernit et Cilicas, osculo susceptum rectorem provinciae nomine Celsum, iam inde a studiis cognitum Atticis, adscitumque in consessum vehiculi Tarsum secum induxit.

13 Therefore, the journeys having been traversed, when he had come to Pylae, which place demarcates the Cappadocians and the Cilicians, he received with a kiss the governor of the province, by name Celsus, already known to him from Attic studies, and, having been admitted to a seat in the carriage, he led him along with him to Tarsus.

14 At hinc videre properans Antiochiam, orientis apicem pulcrum, usus itineribus solitis venit, urbique propinquans in speciem alicuius numinis votis excipitur publicis, mi ratus voces multitudinis magnae, salutare sidus inluxisse eois partibus adclamantis.

14 But from here, hastening to see Antioch, the fair apex of the Orient, he came by the accustomed routes; and as he drew near the city he was received with public vows, as in the semblance of some divinity, marveling at the voices of a great multitude acclaiming that a salutary star had shone upon the eastern parts.

15 Evenerat autem isdem diebus annuo cursu conpleto Adonea ritu veteri celebrari, amato Veneris, ut fabulae fingunt, apri dente ferali deleto, quod in adulto flore sectarum est indicium frugum et visum est triste quod amplam urbem principumque domicilium introeunte imperatore nunc primum, ululabiles undique planctus et lugubres sonus audiebantur.

15 It had come to pass, moreover, in those same days, with the annual course completed, that the Adonea were being celebrated according to an ancient rite, the lover of Venus, as the fables feign, having been destroyed by a baleful boar’s tusk—which is a token of fruits cut in their full bloom—and it seemed a sad thing that, as the emperor was now for the first time entering the spacious city and the domicile of princes, ululant wailings and lugubrious sounds were heard on every side.

16hic patientiae eius et lenitudinis documentum leve quidem apparuit sed mirandum. Thalassium quendam ex proximo libellorum, insidiatorem fratris oderat Galli, quo adorare adesseque officio inter honoratos prohibito adversarii, cum quibus litigabat in foro, postridie turba congregata superflua, adito imperatore "Thalassius" clamitabant "inimicus pietatis tuae nostra violenter eripuit".

16here a proof of his patience and lenity appeared, slight indeed but to be wondered at. He hated a certain Thalassius from the nearby office of petitions, an insidiator against his brother Gallus; this man, having been forbidden to perform adoration and to be present at the levee among the honored, his adversaries, with whom he was litigating in the forum, on the next day, with an excessive crowd assembled, when the emperor was approached, kept shouting: “Thalassius, an enemy of your Piety, has violently snatched away our property.”

10 Et ille hac occasione hominem opprimi posse coniciens "agnosco" respondit "quem dicitis offendisse me iusta de causa, sed silere vos interim consentaneum est, dum mihi inimico potiori faciat satis". Mandavitque adsidenti praefecto ne audiretur eorum negotium, antequam ipse cum Thalassio rediret in gratiam, quod brevi evenit.

10 And he, surmising that on this occasion a man could be oppressed, replied: "I recognize the one whom you say has offended me for a just cause; but it is fitting that you keep silent meanwhile, until he makes satisfaction to me, the more powerful enemy." And he ordered the prefect sitting beside him that their case not be heard before he himself should return into favor with Thalassius, which shortly came to pass.

Antiochiae hiemans Iulianus iura reddit, nec quemquam propter religionem gravat.

Wintering at Antioch, Julian dispenses justice, and burdens no one on account of religion.

1 Ibi hiemans ex sententia nullis interim voluptatis rapiebatur inlecebris, quibus abundant Syriae omnes, verum per speciem quietis iudicialibus causis intentus non minus arduis quam bellicis distrahebatur multiformibus curis, exquisita docilitate librans, quibus modis suum cuique tribueret: iustisque sententiis et inprobi modicis coercerentur suppliciis, et innocentes fortunis defenderentur intactis.

1 Wintering there to his satisfaction, he was meanwhile carried off by no allurements of voluptuousness, with which all the Syrias abound; but, under the semblance of quiet, intent on judicial causes no less arduous than military ones, he was distracted by multiform cares, balancing with exquisite docility by what modes he might render to each his own: and by just sentences the wicked were restrained with moderate punishments, and the innocent were defended with their fortunes untouched.

2 Et quamquam in disceptando aliquotiens erat intempestivus, quid quisque iurgantium coleret tempore alieno interrogans, tamen nulla eius definitio litis a vero dissonans reperitur, nec argui umquam potuit ob religionem vel quodcumque aliud ab aequitatis recto tramite deviasse.

2 And although in adjudicating he was sometimes inopportune, asking at an improper time what each of the litigants was pursuing, nevertheless no decision of his in a suit is found dissonant from the truth, nor could he ever be accused, on account of religion or whatever else, of having strayed from the straight track of equity.

3 Iudicium enim hoc est optandum et rectum, ubi per varia negotiorum examina iustum id est et iniustum, a quo ille ne aberraret, tamquam scopulos cavebat abruptos. Hoc autem ideo adsequi potuit, quod levitatem agnoscens commotioris ingenii sui praefectis proximisque permittebat, ut fidenter impetus suos aliorsum tendentes, ad quae decebat, monitu oportuno frenarent: monstrabatque subinde se dolere delictis et gaudere correctione.

3 For the sort of judgment to be desired and straight is that wherein, through the various examinations of affairs, the just and the unjust are weighed; from which he, lest he should stray, he used to beware as of abrupt cliffs. And this he was able to achieve for the reason that, recognizing the levity of his rather more excitable temperament, he permitted the prefects and his nearest associates to bridle, with timely admonition, his impulses tending elsewhere, confidently redirecting them to what was fitting: and he would show from time to time that he sorrowed at delicts and rejoiced in correction.

4 Cumque eum defensores causarum ut conscium rationis perfectae plausibus maximis celebrarent, fertur id dixisse permotus "gaudebam plane prae meque ferebam si ab his laudarer, quos et vituperare posse adverterem, siquid factum sit secus aut dictum".

4 And when the advocates of causes celebrated him as cognizant of perfected reason with the greatest applause, he is said, being moved, to have said this: "I was plainly rejoicing and carried it openly if I were praised by those whom I also observed to be able to vituperate, if anything has been done or said amiss."

5 Sufficiet autem pro multis, quae clementer egit in litibus cognoscendis, hoc unum ponere nec abhorrens a proposito, nec absurdum. Inducta in iudicium femina quaedam cum palatinum adversarium suum e numero proiectorum cinctum praeter spem conspexisset, hoc factum insolens tumultuando querebatur, et imperator "prosequere" ait "mulier, siquid te laesam existimas: hic enim sic cinctus est ut expeditius per lutum incedat: parum nocere tuis partibus potest".

5 It will suffice, however, in place of the many things which he did clemently in the cognizing of lawsuits, to set forth this one, neither deviating from the purpose nor absurd. When a certain woman had been brought into court, and, beyond expectation, had caught sight of her adversary, a Palatine, girt as one from the number of the projectores, she complained with tumult about this unusual proceeding; and the emperor said, "Proceed, woman, if you think yourself injured: for he is girt thus so that he may go more expeditiously through the mud: he can do little harm to your side."

6 Et aestimabatur per haec et similia, ut ipse dicebat adsidue, vetus illa Iustitia, quam offensam vitiis hominum Aratus extollit in caelum, imperante eo reversa ad terras, ni quaedam suo ageret, non legum arbitrio, erransque aliquotiens obnubilaret gloriarum multiplices cursus.

6 And it was estimated by these things and the like, as he himself used to say assiduously, that that ancient Justice, whom Aratus, offended by the vices of men, exalts to heaven, had, under his rule, returned to earth—save that she would at times conduct certain matters by her own authority, not by the arbitration of the laws, and, erring occasionally, would obscure the manifold courses of glories.

7 Post multa enim etiam iura quaedam correxit in melius, ambagibus circumcisis, indicantia liquide quid iuberent fieri vel vetarent. Illud autem erat inclemens, obruendum perenni silentio, quod arcebat docere magistros rhetoricos et grammaticos ritus christiani cultores.

7 For after many things he also corrected certain laws for the better, the circumlocutions cut away, indicating plainly what they commanded to be done or forbade. But this was inclement, to be buried in perennial silence: that it barred from teaching the masters of rhetoric and grammar who were worshipers of the Christian rite.

Georgius, Alexandriae episcopus ab ethnicis Alexandrinis cum duobus aliis per vicos trahitur, discerpiturque ac crematur impune.

George, bishop of Alexandria, is dragged through the streets by the pagan Alexandrians together with two others, and is torn apart and burned with impunity.

[11]

1 Isdem diebus notarius ille Gaudentius, quem opponendum per Africam missum supra diximus a Constantio, Iulianus quin etiam ex vicario earundem partium nimius fautor retracti sub vinculis, morte periere poenali.

1 In those same days that notary Gaudentius—whom we said above was sent by Constantius through Africa to be set in opposition—and Julianus, indeed an over-zealous supporter from the vicarius of those same parts, dragged back in chains, perished by a penal death.

2 Tunc et Artemius ex duce Aegypti Alexandrinis urgentibus atrocium criminum mole supplicio capitali multatus est. Post quem Marcelli ex magistro equitum et peditum filius ut iniectans imperio manus publica deletus est morte. Romanus quin etiam et Vincentius, Scutariorum scholae primae secundaeque tribuni, agitasse convicti quaedam suis viribus altiora, acti sunt in exilium.

2 Then also Artemius, formerly dux of Egypt, with the Alexandrians pressing and under the weight of atrocious charges, was punished with capital punishment. After him, the son of Marcellus, formerly Master of Horse and Foot, as one who laid hands upon the imperial power, was eliminated by public death. Romanus moreover and Vincentius, tribunes of the first and second schola of the Scutarii, convicted of having agitated certain aims loftier than their own powers, were driven into exile.

3 Cumque tempus interstetisset exiguum, Alexandrini Artemii conperto interitu, quem verebantur, ne cum potestate reversus - id enim minatus est - multos laederet ut offensus, iram in Georgium verterunt episcopum, vipereis, ut ita dixerim, morsibus ab eo saepius adpetiti.

3 And when a small interval had intervened, the Alexandrians, upon learning of the death of Artemius—whom they feared lest, returning with authority (for he had threatened this), he would, as one offended, injure many—turned their anger upon George the bishop, having been often assailed by him with, so to speak, viperine bites.

4 In fullonio natus, ut ferebatur, apud Epiphaniam Ciliciae oppidum, auctusque in damna conplurium contra utilitatem suam reique communis episcopus Alexandriae est ordinatus, in civitate quae suopte motu, et ubi causae non suppetunt, seditionibus crebris agitatur et turbulentis, ut oraculorum quoque loquitur fides.

4 Born in a fullery, as it was reported, at Epiphaneia, a town of Cilicia, and promoted—to the harm of many, against his own advantage and that of the commonwealth—he was ordained bishop of Alexandria, in a city which by its own motion, and even where causes do not suffice, is agitated by frequent and turbulent seditions, as even the testimony of the oracles declares.

5 His efferatis hominum mentibus Georgius quoque ipse grave accesserat incentivum, apud patulas aures Constantii multos exinde incusans ut eius recalcitrantes imperiis, professionisque suae oblitus, quae nihil nisi iustum suadet et lene, ad delatorum ausa feralia desciscebat.

5 With the minds of men thus brutalized, George himself too had become a grave incentive, thereupon accusing many before the open ears of Constantius as recalcitrant to his commands; and, forgetful of his own profession, which urges nothing except what is just and gentle, he was defecting to the deathly ventures of informers.

6 Et inter cetera dicebatur id quoque maligne docuisse Constantium, quod in urbe praedicta aedificia cuncta solo cohaerentia, a conditore Alexandro magnitudine inpensarum publicarum exstructa, emolumentis aerarii proficere debent ex iure.

6 And among the rest it was said that he had also maliciously taught Constantius this: that in the aforesaid city all buildings adhering to the soil, erected by the founder Alexander with the magnitude of public expenditures, ought by right to accrue to the emoluments of the treasury.

7 Ad haec mala id quoque addiderat, unde paulo post actus est in exitium praeceps. Reversus ex comitatu principis cum transiret per speciosum Genii templum, multitudine stipatus ex more, flexis ad aedem ipsam luminibus "quam diu" inquit "sepulcrum hoc stabit?". Quo audito velut fulmine multi perculsi, metuentesque ne illud quoque temptaret evertere, quicquid poterant in eius perniciem clandestinis insidiis concitabant.

7 To these evils he had added this as well, from which a little later he was driven headlong into destruction. Returning from the prince’s retinue, as he was passing through the splendid Temple of the Genius, thronged by a multitude as was the custom, with his eyes bent toward the shrine itself, "how long," he said, "will this tomb stand?" On hearing this, many were struck as if by a thunderbolt, and, fearing lest he might attempt to overthrow that as well, they were stirring up whatever they could by clandestine plots for his ruin.

8 Ecce autem repente perlato laetabili nuntio indicante extinctum Artemium, plebs omnis elata gaudio insperato, vocibus horrendis infrendens Georgium petit raptumque diversis mulcandi generibus proterens et conculcans divaricatis pedibus.

8 Lo, however, suddenly, with a gladdening message having been brought indicating Artemius extinguished, all the plebs, uplifted by unhoped-for joy, snarling with horrendous cries, makes for George; and, having seized him, with various kinds of mauling, they trample down and tread him underfoot with feet spread apart.

9 Cumque eo Dracontius monetae praepositus et Diodorus quidam, veluti comes, iniectis per crura funibus simul exanimati sunt; ille quod aram in moneta, quam regebat, recens locatam evertit; alter quod dum aedificandae praeesset ecclesiae, cirros puerorum licentius detondebat, id quoque ad deorum cultum existimans pertinere.

9 And together with him Dracontius, overseer of the mint, and a certain Diodorus, as it were a companion, with ropes thrown about their legs, were at the same time rendered lifeless; the former because he overturned an altar, recently set up in the mint which he administered; the latter because, while he was presiding over the building of a church, he was too licentiously shearing boys’ curls, thinking that too to pertain to the cult of the gods.

10 Quo non contenta multitudo inmanis dilaniata cadavera peremptorum camelis inposita vexit ad litus isdemque subdito igne crematis cineres proiecit in mare id metuens, ut clamabat, ne collectis supremis aedes illis exstruerentur ut reliquis, qui deviare a religione conpulsi pertulere cruciabiles poenas, ad usque gloriosam mortem intemerata fide progressi, et nunc martyres appellantur. Poterantque miserandi homines ad crudele supplicium ducti christianorum adiumento defendi, ni Georgii odio omnes indiscrete flagrabant.

10 Not content with this, the monstrous multitude carried the torn-asunder corpses of the slain, placed upon camels, to the shore; and when fire had been set beneath those same and they had been cremated, they cast the ashes into the sea, fearing this, as it cried out, lest, once the final remains were collected, shrines should be constructed for them, as for the others who, compelled to deviate from their religion, endured excruciating punishments, advancing with unsullied faith even to a glorious death, and are now called martyrs. And the pitiable men, led to a cruel execution, could have been defended by the aid of the Christians, had not all without distinction been blazing with hatred of George.

11 Hoc comperto imperator ad vindicandum facinus nefandum erectus, iamque expetiturus poenas a noxiis ultimas, mitigatus est lenientibus proximis, missoque edicto acri oratione scelus detestabatur admissum, minatus extrema, si deinde temptatum fuerit aliquid quod iustitia vetet et leges.

11 On learning this, the emperor, aroused to avenge the nefarious crime and now about to exact from the guilty the ultimate penalties, was softened by his lenient intimates; and, an edict having been issued, with a sharp oration he detested the crime committed, threatening the extreme penalties if thereafter anything should be attempted which justice and the laws forbid.

Expeditionem Iulianus parat in Persas, et ad praenoscendum belli eventum oracula consulit, victimasque innumerabiles caedit, totus haruspicinae et auguriis addictus.

Julian prepares an expedition against the Persians, and, to foreknow the event of the war, he consults oracles, and he cuts down innumerable victims, wholly addicted to haruspicy and auguries.

[12]

1 Inter haec expeditionem parans in Persas, quam dudum animi robore conceperat celso, ad ultionem praeteritorum vehementer elatus est, sciens et audiens gentem asperrimam per sexaginta ferme annos inussisse orienti caedum et direptionum monumenta saevissima, ad internecionem exercitibus nostris saepe deletis.

1 Amid these things, preparing an expedition against the Persians, which he had long since conceived by the lofty vigor of his spirit, he was vehemently borne on to the vengeance of past wrongs, knowing and hearing that a very harsh nation for almost sixty years had branded upon the Orient the most savage monuments of slaughters and depredations, our armies often having been destroyed to extermination.

2 Urebatur autem bellandi gemino desiderio, primo quod inpatiens otii lituos somniabat et proelia, dein quod in aetatis flore primaevo obiectus efferatarum gentium armis, recalentibus etiam tum regum precibus et regalium, qui vinci magis posse quam supplices manus tendere credebantur, ornamentis inlustrium gloriarum inserere Parthici cognomentum ardebat.

2 Moreover, he was inflamed by a twin desire of warring: first, because, impatient of leisure, he dreamed of trumpets and battles; then, because, in the prime bloom of his age, set against the arms of savage nations, with the prayers of kings and of royals still glowing—who were believed to be able rather to be conquered than to stretch forth suppliant hands—he burned to insert among the ornaments of illustrious glories the cognomen Parthicus.

3 Quae maximis molibus festinari cernentes obtrectatores desides et maligni, unius corporis permutatione tot cieri turbas intempestivas, indignum et perniciosum esse strepebant, studium omne in differendo procinctu ponentes. Et dictitabant his praesentibus, quos audita referre ad imperatorem posse rebantur, eum, ni sedatius ageret, inmodica rerum secundarum prosperitate, velut luxuriantes ubertate nimia fruges, bonis suis protinus occasurum.

3 Seeing that these matters were being hastened with the greatest exertions, the idle and malign detractors were clamoring that, by the permutation of a single person, so many untimely disturbances were being stirred up—that this was unworthy and pernicious—putting all zeal into deferring the battle-line. And they kept saying, in the presence of those whom they supposed could report what was heard to the emperor, that he, unless he acted more sedately, through an immoderate prosperity of favorable things, like crops luxuriating in excessive abundance, would straightway fall by his own blessings.

4 Et haec diu multumque agitantes frustra virum circumlatrabant inmobilem occultis iniuriis, ut Pygmaei vel Thiodamas agrestis homo Lindius Herculem.

4 And, agitating these matters long and much, they were vainly barking around the man, immovable, with covert affronts, as the Pygmies or Thiodamas, a rustic Lindian, at Hercules.

5 Ille tamen ut maioris praeter ceteros spiritus, nihilo lentius magnitudinem expeditionis secum commentans in praeparandis congruis operam navabat enixam.

5 He, however, as being of a spirit greater than the rest, was none the slower; pondering with himself the magnitude of the expedition, he devoted strenuous effort to the congruous preparations.

6 Hostiarum tamen sanguine plurimo aras crebritate nimia perfundebat, tauros aliquotiens inmolando centenos et innumeros varii pecoris greges avesque candidas terra quaesitas et mari, adeo ut in dies paene singulos milites carnis distentiore sagina victitantes incultius, potusque aviditate corrupti, umeris inpositi transeuntium per plateas ex publicis aedibus, ubi vindicandis potius quam concedendis conviviis indulgebant, ad sua diversoria portarentur, Petulantes ante omnes et Celtae, quorum ea tempestate confidentia creverat ultra modum.

6 Nevertheless with the blood of victims in very great quantity he drenched the altars with excessive frequency, immolating bulls by the hundred several times, and innumerable herds of various cattle and white birds sought on land and sea, to such a degree that on almost single days the soldiers, subsisting on a more belly‑distending fattening of flesh, more unkemptly, and corrupted by avidity for drink, being set upon the shoulders of passers‑by, were carried through the streets from public buildings—where they were indulging in banquets to be exacted rather than conceded—to their lodgings, the Petulantes before all and the Celts, whose bold confidence had at that time grown beyond measure.

7 Augebantur autem caerimoniarum ritus inmodice cum inpensarum amplitudine antehac inusitata et gravi: et quisque, cum inpraepedite liceret, scientiam vaticinandi professus, iuxta imperitus et docilis, sine fine vel praestitutis ordinibus, oraculorum permittebantur scitari responsa, et extispicia non numquam futura pandentia, oscinumque et auguriorum et ominum fides, si reperiri usquam posset, affectata varietate quaerebatur.

7 But the rites of the ceremonies were being increased immoderately, with a magnitude of expenses hitherto unwonted and grievous: and everyone, since it was permitted without impediment, professing the science of vaticination, the unskilled and the docile alike, without end or prescribed orders, were allowed to inquire into the responses of oracles, and extispicies, sometimes laying open things to come; and the credit of the oscines and of auguries and of omens, if it could anywhere be found, was sought with affected variety.

8 Haecque dum ita procedunt more pacis, multorum curiosior Iulianus novam consilii viam ingressus est, venas fatidicas Castalii recludere cogitans fontis, quem obstruxisse Caesar dicitur Hadrianus mole saxorum ingenti, veritus ne, ut ipse praecinentibus aquis capessendam rem publicam conperit, etiam alii similia docerentur: ac statim circumhumata corpora statuit exinde transferri eo ritu, quo Athenienses insulam purgaverant Delon.

8 And while these things were thus proceeding in the manner of peace, Julian, more curious than many, entered upon a new path of counsel, thinking to reopen the fatidic veins of the Castalian spring, which Hadrian the Caesar is said to have blocked with an enormous mass of rocks, fearing lest, as he himself learned from the waters fore-singing that the commonwealth was to be taken up, others also should be taught similar things: and immediately he decreed that the bodies interred round about be from there transferred, by the rite with which the Athenians had purified the island of Delos.

Templi Apollinis Daphnaei incendium Iulianus A. immerito imputat Christianis, et maiorem Antiochiae ecclesiam claudi iubet.

Julian Augustus unjustly imputes to the Christians the conflagration of the temple of Daphnean Apollo, and orders the Greater Church of Antioch to be closed.

[13]

1 Eodem tempore diem undecimum kalendarum Novembrium amplissimum Daphnaei Apollinis fanum, quod Epiphanes Antiochus rex ille condidit iracundus et saevus, et simulacrum in eo Olympiaci Iovis imitamenti aequiperans magnitudinem, subita vi flammarum exustum est.

1 At the same time, on the eleventh day before the Kalends of November, the most ample fane of Daphnean Apollo, which that king Antiochus Epiphanes, irascible and savage, founded, and the simulacrum in it—an imitation of Olympian Jove equalling in magnitude—was consumed by the sudden force of flames.

2 Quo tam atroci casu repente consumpto ad id usque imperatorem ira provexit, ut quaestiones agitari iuberet solito acriores et maiorem ecclesiam Antiochiae claudi. Suspicabatur enim id christianos egisse stimulatos invidia, quod idem templum inviti videbant ambitioso circumdari peristylio.

2 When, after so atrocious a disaster, it had been suddenly consumed, anger drove the emperor to such a point that he ordered inquisitions to be conducted more severe than customary, and that the greater church in Antioch be closed. For he suspected that the Christians had done this, goaded by envy, because they, unwilling, saw that the same temple was being encircled with an ambitious peristyle.

3 Ferebatur autem licet rumore levissimo hac ex causa conflagrasse delubrum, quod Asclepiades philosophus, cuius in actibus Magnenti meminimus, cum visendi gratia Iuliani peregre ad id suburbanum venisset, deae caelestis argenteum breve figmentum, quocumque ibat secum solitus efferre, ante pedes statuit simulacri sublimes, accensisque cereis ex usu cessit, unde medietate noctis emensa cum nec adesse quisquam potuit nec iuvare, volitantes scintillae adhaesere materiis vetustissimis, ignesque aridis nutrimentis erecti omne quicquid contingi potuit, licet ardua discretum celsitudine concremarunt.

3 It was reported, albeit on the slightest rumor, that the sanctuary had burned for this cause: that Asclepiades the philosopher, whom we have mentioned in the acts of Magnentius, when for the sake of visiting Julian he had come as a traveler to that suburban place, set before the lofty feet of the statue a small silver effigy of the Celestial Goddess, which he was accustomed to carry out with him wherever he went; and, the candles lit according to custom, he withdrew—whence, with half the night elapsed, when no one could either be present or render aid, the fluttering sparks clung to the very ancient materials, and the fires, raised up by dry nourishments, burned whatever could be touched, even though separated by lofty elevation.

4 Eo anno sidere etiam tum instante brumali quarum incessit inopia metuenda, ut et rivi cassescerent quidam et fontes antehac aquarum copiosis pulsibus abundantes, sed in integrum postea restituti sunt.

4 In that year, with the brumal sidereal influence still pressing, a fearsome scarcity of waters set in, so that even some streams failed and springs, which previously had abounded with copious pulses of waters, yet afterward were restored in full.

5 Et quartum nonas Decembres, vergente in vesperam die, reliqua Nicomedia conlapsa est terrae motu, itidemque Nicaeae portio non mediocris.

5 And on the fourth day before the Nones of December, as the day was turning toward evening, the remaining part of Nicomedia collapsed by an earthquake, and likewise no small portion of Nicaea.

Iulianus A. in monte Casio Iovi sacra facit; cur Antiochensibus iratus Misopogonem scripserit.

Julian the Augustus performs sacred rites to Jove on Mount Casius; why, angry at the Antiochenes, he wrote the Misopogon.

[14]

1 Quae tametsi maestitiam sollicito incuterent principi, residua tamen non contemnebat urgentia, dum pugnandi tempus ei veniret optatum. Inter praecipua tamen et seria illud agere superfluvm videbatur, quod, nulla probabili ratione suscepta, popularitatis amore vilitati studebat venalium rerum, quae non numquam secus quam convenit ordinata inopiam gignere solet et famem.

1 Although these things were striking sadness into the anxious emperor, yet he did not scorn the residual urgencies, until the wished-for time for fighting should come to him. Among the chief and serious matters, however, to do this seemed superfluous: that, with no plausible rationale adopted, out of love of popularity he was striving for the cheapness of commodities, which, when regulated otherwise than is fitting, is wont sometimes to beget scarcity and famine.

2 Et Antiochensi ordine id tunc fieri, cum ille iuberet, non posse aperte monstrante nusquam a proposito declinabat, Galli similis fratris licet incruentus. Quocirca in eos deinceps saeviens ut obtrectatores et contumaces volumen conposuit invectivum, quod Antiochense vel Misopogonem appellavit, probra civitatis infensa mente dinumerans addensque veritati conplura: post quae multa in se facete dicta conperiens, coactus dissimulare pro tempore, ira sufflabatur interna.

2 And with the Antiochene order openly showing that it could not be done then, when he commanded, he nowhere turned aside from his purpose, similar to his brother Gallus, though bloodless. Wherefore, thereafter raging against them as detractors and contumacious, he composed an invective volume, which he called either the Antiochene or the Misopogon, enumerating the city’s reproaches with a hostile mind and adding many things to the truth: after which, learning that many witty sayings had been spoken against himself, compelled to dissimulate for the time, he was being fanned by internal ire.

3 Ridebatur enim ut Cercops, homo brevis, humeros extentans angustos et barbam prae se ferens hircinam, grandiaque incedens tamquam Oti frater et Ephialtis, quorum proceritatem Homerus in inmensum tollit, itidemque victimarius pro sacricola dicebatur ad crebritatem hostiarum alludentibus multis, et culpabatur hinc oportune, cum ostentationis gratia vehens licenter pro sacerdotibus sacra, stipatusque mulierculis litabat. Et quamquam his paribusque de causis indignaretur, tacens tamen motumque in animi retinens potestate sollemnia celebrabat.

3 For indeed he was laughed at as a Cercops, a short man, stretching out his narrow shoulders and bearing before him a hircine beard, and striding grandly as though a brother of Otus and Ephialtes, whose tallness Homer extols to the immense; likewise he was called a victimarius instead of a sacricola by many alluding to the frequency of the victims, and he was on this account rightly blamed, since, for the sake of ostentation, carrying unrestrainedly the sacred things in place of the priests, and hemmed in by womenfolk, he used to sacrifice. And although he was indignant at these and similar causes, keeping silence nevertheless and holding his emotion in the power of his mind, he celebrated the solemnities.

4 Denique praestituto feriarum die Casium montem ascendit nemorosum et tereti ambitu in sublime porrectum, unde secundis galliciniis videtur primo solis exortus. Cumque Iovi faceret rem divinam, repente conspexit quendam humi prostratum, supplici voce vitam precantem et veniam. Interrogantique ei, qui esset, responsum est praesidalem esse Theodotum Hierapolitanum, qui profectum a civitate sua Constantium inter honoratos deducens adulando deformiter tamquam futurum sine dubietate victorem, orabat lacrimas fingens et gemitum ut Iuliani ad eos mitteret caput perduellis ingrati, specie illa, qua Magnenti circumlatum meminerat membrum.

4 Finally, on the day appointed for the holidays he ascended Mount Casius, wooded and stretched aloft with a terete circuit, whence at the second cockcrow the first rising of the sun is seen. And while he was performing a divine rite to Jupiter, he suddenly caught sight of a certain man prostrate on the ground, with a suppliant voice begging for life and pardon. And to him asking who he was, it was answered that he was Theodotus the Hierapolitan, a praesidialis, who, having set out from his own city, while escorting Constantius among the honored, with deformed adulation, as though he would without doubt be the future victor, was beseeching—feigning tears and groaning—that he send to them Julian’s head, that of an ungrateful public enemy, in that same guise in which he remembered the limb of Magnentius had been carried around.

5 Quibus auditis "accepi" inquit, "olim hoc dictum" imperator "relatione multorum, sed abi securus ad lares, exutus omni metu clementia principis, qui ut prudens definivit inimicorum minuere numerum augereque amicorum sponte sua contendit ac libens".

5 Upon hearing these things, “I have received,” said he, “long ago this dictum,” the emperor, “by the report of many; but go secure to your Lares, stripped of all fear by the clemency of the princeps, who, as a prudent man has defined, strives of his own accord and gladly to diminish the number of enemies and to increase that of friends.”

6 Exin sacrorum perfecto ritu digresso offeruntur rectoris Aegypti scripta, Apim bovem operosa quaesitum industria tamen post tempus inveniri potuisse firmantis, quod ut earum regionum existimant incolae faustum et ubertatem frugum diversaque indicat bona.

6 Then, with the rite of the sacrifices completed and he having withdrawn, the writings of the governor of Egypt are presented, affirming that the Apis bull, sought with painstaking industry, nevertheless could be found after some time; which, as the inhabitants of those regions reckon, is auspicious and indicates abundance of crops and diverse other goods.

7 Super qua re pauca conveniet expediri. Inter animalia antiquis observationibus consecrata Mnevis et Apis sunt notiora: Mnevis Soli sacratur, super quo nihil dicitur memorabile; sequens Lunae. Est enim Apis bos diversis genitalium notarum figuris expressus, maximeque omnium corniculantis lunae specie latere dextro insignis, qui cum post vivendi spatium praestitutum sacro fonte inmersus e vita abierit - nec enim ultra eum trahere licet aetatem quam secreta librorum praescribit auctoritas mysticorum - necatur choragio pari bos femina, quae ei inventa cum notis certis offertur, quo perempto alter cum publico quaeritur luctu, et si omnibus signis consummatus reperiri potuerit, ducitur Memphim, urbem frequentem praesentiaque numinis Aesculapii claram.

7 On which matter it will be fitting to set forth a few things. Among the animals consecrated by ancient observations, Mnevis and Apis are more well-known: Mnevis is consecrated to the Sun, about which nothing memorable is said; the following to the Moon. For Apis is a bull marked by various figures of natal signs, and above all marked on the right flank with the appearance of a horned (crescent) moon, who, when after the appointed span of living he has been immersed in the sacred font and has departed from life - for it is not permitted to prolong his age beyond what the authority of the secret books of the mystics prescribes - a female cow is killed with equal pageantry, which, found for him with certain marks, is offered; when this one has been slain, another is sought with public mourning, and if one perfected with all the signs can be found, he is led to Memphis, a populous city renowned for the presence of the numen of Aesculapius.

8 Cumque initiante antistitum numero centum, inductus in thalamum esse coeperit sacer, coniecturis apertis signa rerum futurarum dicitur demonstrare et adeuntes quosdam indiciis averti videtur obliquis, ut offerentem cibum aliquando Germanicum Caesarem, sicut lectum est, aversatus portenderat paulo post eventura.

8 And when, with the number of priests—a hundred—initiating, the sacred bull has begun to be led into the bridal chamber, with conjectures laid open he is said to display signs of things to come, and he seems to turn away certain who approach by oblique indications, as, when he once turned away Germanicus Caesar as he was offering food, as has been read, he portended what was about to happen shortly thereafter.

Descriptio rerum Aegyptiarum; et de Nilo, de crocodilo, de ibi, ac de pyramidibus.

Description of Egyptian things; and about the Nile, the crocodile, the ibis, and the pyramids.

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1 Strictim itaque, quoniam tempus videtur hoc flagitare, res Aegyptiacae tangantur, quarum notitiam in actibus Hadriani et Severi principum digessimus late visa pleraque narrantes.

1 Briefly, therefore, since the time seems to demand this, let Egyptian affairs be touched upon, the knowledge of which we have digested in the acts of the emperors Hadrian and Severus, narrating at large most things that were seen.

2 Aegyptiam gentem omnium vetustissimam, nisi quod super antiquitate certat cum Scythis, a meridiali latere Syrtes maiores et Phycus promuntorium et Borion et Garamantes nationesque variae claudunt, qua orientem e regione prospicit, Elephantinen et Meroen urbes Aethiopum et Catadupos rubrumque pelagus et Scenitas praetenditur Arabas, quos Sarracenos nunc appellamus, septentrioni supposita terrarum situ cohaeret inmenso, unde exordium Asia Syriarumque provinciae sumunt, a vespera Issiaco disiungitur mari, quod quidam nominavere Parthenium.

2 The Egyptian nation, the most ancient of all—unless that, concerning antiquity, it vies with the Scythians—is enclosed on its southern side by the Greater Syrtes and the promontory of Phycus and Borion and the Garamantes and various nations; where it looks full toward the east, there are set before it Elephantine and Meroë, cities of the Ethiopians, and the Catadupi (the Cataracts) and the Red Sea and the Scenite Arabs, whom we now call Saracens; on the north, being situated beneath that quarter, it is contiguous with an immense expanse of lands, whence Asia and the provinces of Syria take their commencement; from the west it is separated by the Issiac sea, which some have named the Parthenium.

3 Pauca itaque super [benivolo omnium flumine] Nilo, quem Aegyptum Homerus appellat, praestringi conveniet, mox ostendendis aliis, quae sunt in his regionibus admiranda.

3 Therefore it will be fitting that a few things about the Nile [the benevolent river of all], which Homer calls Aegyptus, be briefly sketched, and soon others be set forth which in these regions are to be wondered at.

4 Origines fontium Nili, ut mihi quidem videri solet, sicut adhuc factum est, posterae quoque ignorabunt aetates. Verum quoniam fabulantes poetae variantesque geographi in diversa latentem notitiam scindunt, opiniones eorum veritati confines, ut arbitror, expediam paucis.

4 The origins of the springs of the Nile, as it is wont to seem to me, just as has been the case up to now, will also be unknown to succeeding ages. But since story‑telling poets and varying geographers tear the hidden knowledge in different directions, I will set forth, in a few words, those of their opinions which, as I judge, are contiguous to the truth.

5 Adfirmant aliqui physicorum in subiectis septentrioni spatiis, cum hiemes frigidae cuncta constringunt, magnitudines nivium congelascere, easque postea vi flagrantis sideris resolutas, fluxis umoribus nubes efficere gravidas, quae in meridianam plagam etesiis flantibus pulsae, expressaeque tepore nimio incrementa ubertim suggerere Nilo creduntur.

5 Some of the natural philosophers affirm that in the regions lying under the north, when cold winters constrict all things, great masses of snow congeal; and that these afterward, melted by the force of the blazing star, with their fluid moisture form clouds heavy with water, which, driven into the southern quarter by the Etesian winds blowing, and squeezed out by excessive warmth, are believed to supply increases to the Nile in abundance.

6 Ex Aethiopicis imbribus, qui abundantes in tractibus illis per aestus torridos cadere memorantur, exundationes eius erigi anni temporibus adserunt alii praestitutis: quod utrumque dissonare videtur a veritate. Imbres enim apud Aethiopas aut numquam aut per intervalla temporum longa cadere memorantur.

6 From Ethiopian rains, which are reported to fall abundantly in those tracts during torrid heats, others assert that its inundations are raised at appointed seasons of the year: but both points seem to be dissonant from the truth. For rains among the Ethiopians are reported either never to fall, or to fall at long intervals of time.

7 Opinio est celebrior alia, quod spirantibus prodromis, perque dies quadraginta et quinque etesiarum continuis flatibus repellentibus eius meatum, velocitate cohibita, superfusis fluctibus intumescit: et reluctante spiritu controverso adulescens in maius, hinc vi reverberante ventorum, inde urgente cursu venarum perennium, progrediens in sublime tegit omnia, et humo suppressa per supina camporum speciem exhibet maris.

7 There is another more celebrated opinion, that, with the forerunners blowing, and through forty-five days the continuous blasts of the Etesians repelling its course, its velocity being restrained, it swells with waves superfused: and with the breath opposing in counter-contest, growing greater, on this side by the reverberating force of the winds, on that by the urging course of the perennial veins, advancing aloft it covers everything, and, the soil suppressed, over the supine stretches of the plains it exhibits the appearance of the sea.

8 Rex autem Iuba Punicorum confisus textu librorum a monte quodam oriri eum exponit, qui situs in Mauritania despectat oceanum, hisque indiciis hoc proditum ait, quod pisces et herbae et beluae similes per eas paludes gignuntur.

8 But King Juba, trusting in the texture of Punic books, expounds that it rises from a certain mountain, which, situated in Mauretania, looks down upon the Ocean; and by these indications he says this has been revealed: that fishes and herbs and beasts of like kind are begotten throughout those marshes.

9 Aethiopiae autem partes praetermeans Nilus nominum diversitate decursa, quae ei orbem peragranti nationes indidere conplures, aestuans inundatione ditissima ad cataractas id est praeruptos scopulos venit, e quibus praecipitans ruit potius quam fluit: unde Atos olim accolas usu aurium fragore adsiduo deminuto necessitas vertere solum ad quietiora coegit.

9 But, passing by the parts of Ethiopia, the Nile, having run through a diversity of names which many nations, as it traverses the world, have bestowed upon it, seething with a most rich inundation, comes to the cataracts—that is, precipitous crags—from which, plunging headlong, it rushes rather than flows: whence at Athos in former times necessity compelled the inhabitants, their use of hearing diminished by the continual crash, to change their abode to quieter places.

10 Exinde lenius means per ostia septem, quorum singula perpetuorum amnium usum et faciem praebent, nullis per Aegyptum aquis externis adiutus eiectatur. Et praeter amnis plurimos ex alveo derivatos auctore, cadentesque in suppares eius, septem navigabiles sunt et undosi, quibus subiecta vocabula veteres indiderunt: Heracleoticus, Sebennyticus, Bolbiticus, Pathmiticus, Mendesius, Taniticus et Pelusiacus.

10 Thence, moving more gently through seven mouths, each of which offers the use and appearance of perpetual rivers, it is discharged, aided by no external waters throughout Egypt. And besides the very many streams of the river drawn off from its bed by human contrivance and falling into its peer branches, the seven are navigable and wave‑abounding, to which the ancients assigned the names set below: Heracleoticus, Sebennyticus, Bolbiticus, Pathmiticus, Mendesius, Taniticus, and Pelusiacus.

11 Oriens autem inde, ut dictum est, propellitur e paludibus ad usque cataractas insulasque efficit plures, quarum aliquae ita porrectis aquis dicuntur extentae ut singulas aegre tertio die relinquat.

11 But rising from there, as has been said, it is driven out of the marshes all the way to the cataracts and makes many islands, some of which are said to be so extended by the outstretched waters that it scarcely leaves each even on the third day.

12 Inter quas duae sunt clarae Meroe et Delta, a triquetrae litterae forma hoc vocabulo signatius appellata. Cum autem sol per Cancri sidus coeperit vehi, augescens ad usque transitum eius in Libram, diebusque centum sublatius fluens minuitur postea et mitigatis ponderibus aquarum navibus antea pervios equitabiles campos ostendit.

12 Among which two are renowned, Meroe and the Delta, the latter more expressly called by this name from the shape of the three-cornered letter. But when the sun begins to travel through the constellation of Cancer, increasing until its passage into Libra, and for one hundred days flowing at a higher level, it is afterward diminished, and, the weights of the waters mitigated, it reveals fields rideable by horse that earlier were passable by ships.

13 Abunde itaque luxurians ita est noxius, ut infructuosus, si venerit parcior: gurgitum enim nimietate umectans diutius terras culturas moratur agrorum, parvitate autem minatur steriles segetes. Eumque nemo aliquando extolli cubitis altius sedecim possessor optavit. Et si inciderit moderatius, aliquotiens iactae sementes in liquore pinguis cespitis cum augmento fere septuagesimo renascuntur: solusque fluminum auras nullas inspirat.

13 Therefore, luxuriating in abundance, it is harmful; if it comes more sparingly, it is unfruitful: for by the excess of its whirlpools, wetting, it delays too long the lands, the cultivations of the fields; but by smallness it threatens barren crops. And no possessor has ever wished it to be raised higher than 16 cubits. And if it falls more moderately, the seeds sometimes cast into the liquid of the rich turf are reborn with an increase of nearly seventyfold: and it alone of rivers inspires no breezes.

14 Exuberat Aegyptus etiam pecudibus multis, inter quas terrestres sunt et aquatiles. Aliae quae humi et in humoribus vivunt unde amphibioi nominantur. Et in aridis quidem capreoli vescuntur et bubali et spinturnicia omni deformitate ridicula, aliaque monstra quae enumerare non refert.

14 Egypt is exuberant also with many herd-animals, among which there are terrestrial and aquatic. Others live on the ground and in watery places, whence they are named amphibioi. And indeed in the dry regions there feed roe-deer, and bubali, and spinturnicia, ridiculous in every deformity, and other monsters which it is not worth enumerating.

15 Inter aquatiles autem bestias crocodilus ubique per eos tractus abundat, exitiale quadrupes malum, adsuetum elementis ambobus, lingua carens, maxillam superiorem commovens solum, ordine dentium pectinato, perniciosis morsibus quicquid contigerit pertinaciter petens, per ova edens fetus anserinis similia.

15 Among the aquatic beasts, moreover, the crocodile abounds everywhere through those tracts, a deadly evil quadruped, accustomed to both elements, lacking a tongue, moving the upper jaw only, with a pectinated order of teeth, with pernicious bites persistently assailing whatever it happens to touch, producing its young by eggs, similar to those of geese.

16 Utque armatus est unguibus, si haberet etiam pollices, ad evertendas quoque naves sufficeret viribus magnis: ad cubitorum enim longitudinem octodecim interdum extentus, noctibus quiescens per undas, diebus humi versatur confidentia cutis, quam ita validam gerit, ut eius terga cataphracta vix tormentorum ictibus perforentur.

16 And as he is armed with claws, if he had thumbs as well, he would, with great strength, even suffice to overturn ships: for, when stretched out, he sometimes reaches a length of eighteen cubits; at night he rests amid the waves, by day he moves about on the ground in the confidence of his hide, which he bears so strong that his cataphracted back is scarcely perforated by the blows of engines.

17 Et saevientes semper eaedem ferae quasi pacto foedere quodam castrensi per septem caerimoniosos dies mitescunt ab omni saevitia desciscentes, quibus sacerdotes Memphi natales celebrant Nili.

17 And the same wild beasts, always raging, as if by some camp-compact treaty, for seven ceremonious days grow mild, defecting from all savagery, during which the priests at Memphis celebrate the natal days of the Nile.

18 Praeter eos autem, qui fortuita pereunt morte, alii dirumpuntur suffossis alvis mollibus serratis ferarum dorsualibus cristis, quas delphinis similes nutrit fluvius ante dictus, alii exitio intereunt tali.

18 Besides those, moreover, who perish by a fortuitous death, others are torn apart, their bellies gouged by the soft, serrated dorsal crests of beasts, which, similar to dolphins, the aforesaid river nourishes; others perish by such a destruction.

19 Trochilus avicula brevis dum escarum minutias captat, circa cubantem feram volitans blande, genasque eius inritatius titillando pervenit ad usque ipsam viciniam gutturis. Quod factum contuens enhydrus ichneumonis genus oris aditum penetrat alite praevia patefactum et populato ventre, vitalibus dilancinatis erumpit.

19 The trochilus, a short little bird, while snatching tiny morsels of food, flitting charmingly around the reclining beast, by tickling its cheeks more provokingly reaches right up to the very vicinity of the throat. Beholding this act, the enhydrus, a kind of ichneumon, penetrates the entrance of the mouth, opened with the winged creature going on ahead, and, the belly ravaged and the vitals torn to pieces, bursts out.

20 Audax tamen crocodilus monstrum fugacibus; ubi audacem senserit, timidissimum, et in terra acutius cernens, per quattuor menses hibernos nullo vesci dicitur cibo.

20 Audacious, however, the crocodile is a monster to the timorous; whenever it has sensed a bold one, it is most timid, and, perceiving more acutely on land, it is said to feed on no food for four hibernal months.

21 Hippopotami quoque generantur in illis partibus ultra animalia cuncta ratione carentia sagacissimi, ad speciem equorum bifidas habentes ungulas caudasque breves, quorum sollertiae duo interim ostendere documenta sufficiet.

21 Hippopotami likewise are generated in those parts, most sagacious beyond all animals lacking reason, having cloven hooves after the likeness of horses and short tails, of whose cleverness it will for the moment suffice to exhibit two proofs.

22 Inter arundines celsas et squalentes nimia densitate haec belua cubilibus positis, otium pervigili studio circumspectat, laxataque copia ad segetes depascendas egreditur. Cumque iam coeperit redire distenta, aversis vestigiis distinguit tramites multos, ne unius plani itineris lineas insidiatores secuti repertum sine difficultate confodiant.

22 Among reeds tall and squalid from excessive density, this beast, having set its lairs, keeps watch over its leisure with ever-wakeful diligence, and, opportunity unbarred, goes out to graze upon the crops. And when it has begun to return stuffed, by reversed footprints it marks out many bypaths, lest ambushers, following the lines of a single level route, find it and run it through without difficulty.

23 Item cum aviditate nimia extuberato ventre pigrescit, super calamos recens exsectos femora convolvit et crura, ut pedibus vulneratis cruor egestus sagina distentum faciat levem: et partes saucias caeno oblinit quam diu in cicatrices conveniant plagae.

23 Likewise, when through excessive avidity it grows torpid, its belly having swollen out, it rolls its thighs and legs over reeds freshly cut, so that, with the feet wounded, the gore driven out may make light what has been distended by fattening: and it daubs the wounded parts with mud as long as until the wounds come together into cicatrices.

24 Has monstruosas antehac raritates in beluis in aedilitate Scauri vidit Romanus populus primitus, patris illius Scauri, quem defendens Tullius imperat Sardis, ut de familia nobili ipsi quoque cum orbis terrarum auctoritate sentirent, et per aetates exinde plures saepe huc ducti nunc inveniri nusquam possunt, ut coniectantes regionum incolae dicunt, insectantis multitudinis taedio ad Blemmyas migrasse conpulsi.

24 These monstrous rarities among beasts the Roman people saw for the first time in the aedileship of Scaurus—the father of that Scaurus, whom, while defending, Tullius commands the Sardians that they too should acknowledge, with the authority of the whole world, the noble family—and thereafter, through many ages, though often led hither, now they can be found nowhere, as the inhabitants of the regions, conjecturing, say, compelled by weariness at the harrying multitude to have migrated to the Blemmyas.

25 Inter Aegyptias alites, quarum varietas nullo conprehendi numero potest, ibis sacra est et amabilis et innocua ideo, quod nidulis suis ad cibum suggerens ova serpentum, efficit ut rarescant mortiferae pestes absumptae.

25 Among the Egyptian birds, whose variety can be comprehended by no number, the ibis is sacred and amiable and innocuous for this reason: because, supplying to its nestlings as food the eggs of serpents, it brings it about that deadly plagues, being consumed, grow rare.

26 Occurrunt eaedem volucres pinnatis agminibus anguium, qui ex Arabicis emergunt paludibus venena malignantes, eosque, antequam finibus suis excedunt, proeliis superatos aeriis vorant, quas aves per rostra edere fetus accepimus.

26 The same birds meet the serpents with winged battalions, those who emerge from the Arabian marshes, maligning poisons, and them, before they cross beyond their own borders, they devour, conquered in aerial battles; and we have received that these birds bring forth their offspring through their beaks.

27 Serpentes quoque Aegyptus alit innumeras, ultra omnem perniciem saevientes: basiliscos et amphisbaenas et scytalas et acontias et dipsadas et viperas aliasque conplures, quas omnes magnitudine et decore aspis facile supereminens, numquam sponte sua fluenta egreditur Nili.

27 Egypt also nourishes innumerable serpents, raging beyond every deadly peril: basilisks and amphisbaenas and scytales and acontias and dipsades and vipers and many others besides, over all of which the asp, easily supereminent in magnitude and in comeliness, never of its own accord goes forth from the streams of the Nile.

28 Multa in illis tractibus pretium est operae maximum cernere. E quibus pauca conveniet explicari. Templa ubique molibus magnis exstructa.

28 Many things in those tracts are most worth the effort to behold. Of which it will be fitting to explain a few. Temples everywhere, constructed with great masses.

Pyramides ad miracula septem provectae, quarum diuturnas surgendi difficultates scriptor Herodotus docet, ultra omnem omnino altitudinem, quae humana manu confici potest, erectae sunt turres, ab imo latissimae in summitates acutissimas desinentes.

Pyramids, ranked among the seven wonders, whose long-lasting difficulties of erection the writer Herodotus relates, are towers raised beyond every height whatsoever that can be accomplished by the human hand, very broad from the base, ending in the sharpest summits.

29 Quae figura apud geometras ideo sic appellatur quod ad ignis speciem, τοῦ πυρὸς, ut nos dicimus, extenuatur in conum. Quarum magnitudo quoniam in celsitudinem nimiam scandens gracilescit paulatim, umbras quoque mechanica ratione consumit.

29 Which figure among geometers is therefore called thus because, to the appearance of fire—“of the fire” (τοῦ πυρὸς), as we say—it is thinned down into a cone. The magnitude of which, since in climbing to excessive height it gradually grows slender, also consumes shadows by a mechanical rationale.

30 Sunt et syringes subterranei quidam et flexuosi secessus, quos, ut fertur, periti rituum vetustorum adventare diluvium praescii, metuentesque, ne caerimoniarum oblitteraretur memoria, penitus operosis digestos fodinis per loca diversa struxerunt, et excisis parietibus volucrum ferarumque genera multa sculpserunt, et animalium species innumeras multas, quas hierographicas litteras appellarunt . . .

30 There are also syringes, certain subterranean and flexuous recesses, which, as it is said, experts in ancient rites, foreknowing that a deluge was approaching and fearing lest the memory of the ceremonies be obliterated, constructed deep within, thoroughly arranged in toilsome mines through diverse places; and, the walls having been cut away, they carved many kinds of birds and wild beasts, and very many innumerable forms of animals, which they called hierographic letters . . .

31 Dein Syene, in qua solstitii tempore, quo sol aestivum cursum extendit, recta omnia ambientes radii excedere ipsis corporibus umbras non sinunt. Inde si stipitem quisquam fixerit rectum vel hominem aut arborem viderit stantem, circa lineamentorum ipsas extremitates contemplabitur umbras absumi, sicut apud Meroen Aethiopiae partem aequinoctiali circulo proximam dicitur evenire, ubi per nonaginta dies umbrae nostris in contrarium cadunt, unde Antiscios eius incolas vocant.

31 Then Syene, in which, at the time of the solstice, when the sun extends his estival course, the rays surrounding all straight things do not allow the shadows to go beyond the bodies themselves. Thence, if anyone has fixed an upright stake or has seen a man or a tree standing, he will behold the shadows being consumed around the very extremities of their lineaments, just as it is said to happen at Meroë, a part of Ethiopia near the equinoctial circle, where for 90 days the shadows fall contrary to ours, whence they call its inhabitants Antiscii.

32 Quae quoniam miracula multa sunt opusculi nostri propositum excedentia, ad ingenia celsa paramus, pauca super provinciis narraturi.

32 Since these miracles are many and exceed the purpose of our little opusculum, we prepare them for lofty intellects, being about to narrate a few things moreover about the provinces.

De quinque Aegypti provinciis, deque claris eorum urbibus.

On the five provinces of Egypt, and on their illustrious cities.

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1 Tres provincias Aegyptus fertur habuisse temporibus priscis, Aegyptum ipsam et Thebaidem et Libyam, quibus duas adiecit posteritas, ab Aegypto Augustamnicam et Pentapolim a Libya sicciore disparatam.

1 Egypt is said to have had three provinces in ancient times, Egypt itself and the Thebaid and Libya, to which posterity added two, from Egypt Augustamnica, and the Pentapolis, set apart from the drier Libya.

2 Igitur Thebais multas inter urbes clariores aliis Hermopolim habet et Copton et Antinou, quam Hadrianus in honorem Antinoi ephebi condidit sui: hecatompylos enim Thebas nemo ignorat.

2 Therefore the Thebaid, among many cities more illustrious than the others, has Hermopolis and Coptos and Antinoe, which Hadrian founded in honor of his ephebe Antinous: for no one is ignorant of Thebes, the hundred-gated.

3 In Augustamnica Pelusium est oppidum nobile, quod Peleus Achillis pater dicitur condidisse, lustrari deorum monitu iussus in lacu, qui eiusdem civitatis adluit moenia, cum post interfectum fratrem nomine Phocum horrendis furiarum imaginibus raptaretur, et Cassium, ubi Pompei sepulcrum est Magni, et Ostracine et Rhinocorura.

3 In Augustamnica there is Pelusium, a noble town, which Peleus, the father of Achilles, is said to have founded, being ordered by the monition of the gods to be purified in the lake which laves the walls of that same city, when, after killing his brother named Phocus, he was being harried by the horrid images of the Furies; and Cassium, where the tomb of Pompey the Great is, and Ostracine and Rhinocorura.

4 In Pentapoli Libya Cyrene est posita, urbs antiqua sed deserta, quam Spartanus condidit Battus, et Ptolomais et Arsinoe eademque Teuchira et Darnis et Berenice, quas Hesperidas appellant.

4 In the Pentapolis of Libya Cyrene is situated, an ancient but deserted city, which the Spartan Battus founded, and Ptolemais and Arsinoe, and likewise Teuchira and Darnis and Berenice, which they call the Hesperides.

5 In sicciore vero Libya Paraetonion et Chaerecla et Neapolis inter municipia pauca et brevia.

5 In the drier Libya, indeed, Paraetonion and Chaerecla and Neapolis are among the few and small municipalities.

6 Aegyptus ipsa, quae iam inde, uti Romano imperio iuncta est regitur a praefectis, exceptis minoribus multis, Athribi et Oxyryncho et Thmui et Memphi maximis urbibus nitet.

6 Egypt itself, which ever since it was joined to the Roman empire is governed by prefects, many smaller ones excepted, shines with its greatest cities Athribis, Oxyrhynchus, Thmuis, and Memphis.

7 Alexandria enim vertex omnium est civitatum, quam multa nobilitant et magnificentia conditoris altissimi et architecti sollertia Dinocratis, qui cum ampla moenia fundaret et pulchra paenuria calcis ad momentum parum repertae omnes ambitus lineales farina respersit, quod civitatem post haec alimentorum uberi copia circumfluere fortuito monstravit.

7 For Alexandria is the vertex of all cities, which many things make noble—both the magnificence of its most exalted founder and the architect’s ingenuity of Dinocrates, who, when he was founding ample and fair walls, a penury of lime for the moment having been found, sprinkled all the linear circuits with flour, which fortuitously demonstrated that thereafter the city would be surrounded with a rich abundance of provisions.

8 Inibi aurae salubriter spirantes, aer tranquillus et clemens atque, ut periculum docuit per varias collectum aetates, nullo paene die incolentes hanc civitatem solem serenum non vident.

8 There the breezes blow healthfully, the air is tranquil and clement, and, as experience collected through various ages has taught, on scarcely any day do those inhabiting this city fail to see the serene sun.

9 Hoc litus cum fallacibus et insidiosis accessibus adfligeret antehac navigantes discriminibus plurimis, excogitavit in portu Cleopatra turrim excelsam, quae Pharos a loco ipso cognominatur, praelucendi navibus nocturna suggerens ministeria, cum quondam ex Parthenio pelago venientes vel Libyco, per pandas oras et patulas, montium nullas speculas vel collium signa cernentes, harenarum inlisae glutinosae mollitiae frangerentur.

9 Since this shore, with fallacious and insidious approaches, used formerly to afflict those sailing with very many perils, Cleopatra devised in the port a lofty tower, which from the place itself is cognominated Pharos, supplying to ships the nocturnal service of giving light beforehand, since at times those coming from the Parthenian sea or the Libyan, along spread and spacious shores, perceiving no lookouts of mountains nor signs of hills, when dashed upon the glutinous softness of the sands, would be broken.

10 Haec eadem regina heptastadium sicut vix credenda celeritate ita magnitudine mira construxit ob causam notam et necessariam. Insula Pharos, ubi Protea cum phocarum gregibus diversatum Homerus fabulatur inflatius, a civitatis litore mille passibus disparata Rhodiorum erat obnoxia vectigali.

10 This same queen constructed the heptastadium with a speed scarcely to be believed and with a marvelous magnitude, for a cause known and necessary. The island Pharos, where Homer more inflatedly fables that Proteus sojourned with herds of seals, was separated by a thousand paces from the city’s shore and was subject to the tribute of the Rhodians.

11 Quod cum in die quodam nimium quantum petituri venissent, femina callida semper in fraudes, sollemnium specie feriarum isdem publicanis secum ad suburbana perductis, opus iusserat inrequietis laboribus consummari, et septem diebus totidem stadia molibus iactis in mare, solo propinquanti terrae sunt vindicata. Quo cum vehiculo ingressa errare ait Rhodios insularum non continentis portorium flagitantes.

11 When on a certain day they had come intending to exact an excessive amount, the woman—clever and ever prone to frauds—under the guise of festival solemnities, having led those same publicans with her to the suburbs, had ordered the work to be consummated by unremitting labors; and in seven days, with as many stadia of moles cast into the sea, the ground was vindicated to the soil as it approached the mainland. Entering upon this causeway, she declared that the Rhodians were in error, demanding a customs-duty of islands, not of the continent.

12 His accedunt altis sufflata fastigiis templa. Inter quae eminet Serapeum, quod licet minuatur exilitate verborum, atriis tamen columnariis amplissimis et spirantibus signorum figmentis et reliqua operum multitudine ita est exornatum, ut post Capitolium, quo se venerabilis Roma in aeternum attollit, nihil orbis terrarum ambitiosius cernat.

12 To these are added temples swelled with lofty pediments. Among them the Serapeum stands out, which, though it may be diminished by the slenderness of words, is nonetheless so adorned with the most ample colonnaded atria, with breathing figments of statues, and with the remaining multitude of works, that after the Capitol, by which venerable Rome exalts itself for eternity, the whole world beholds nothing more ambitious.

13 In quo bybliothecae fuerunt inaestimabiles: et loquitur monumentorum veterum concinens fides septingenta voluminum milia, Ptolomaeis regibus vigiliis intentis conposita bello Alexandrino, dum diripitur civitas sub dictatore Caesare, conflagrasse.

13 In which there were inestimable libraries: and the concurring testimony of ancient monuments/records says that seven hundred thousand volumes, composed by the Ptolemaic kings with vigilant labors, in the Alexandrine war, while the city was being plundered under the Dictator Caesar, were consumed by fire.

14 Canopus inde duodecimo disiungitur lapide, quem, ut priscae memoriae tradunt, Menelai gubernator sepultus ibi cognominavit. Amoenus inpendio locus fanis et diversoriis laetis exstructus, auris et salutari temperamento perflabilis, ita ut extra mundum nostrum morari se quisquam arbitretur in illis tractibus agens, cum saepe aprico spiritu inmurmurantes audierit ventos.

14 Canopus thence is separated by the twelfth milestone, which, as the memory of former times hands down, Menelaus’s helmsman, buried there, named after himself. A place exceedingly delightful, built up with fanes and cheerful hostelries, swept through by breezes and by a salutary tempering of the air, so that anyone dwelling in those tracts would judge himself to abide outside our world, since he has often heard the winds murmuring with a sunny breath.

15 Sed Alexandria ipsa non sensim, ut aliae urbes, sed inter initia prima aucta per spatiosos ambitus, internisque seditionibus diu aspere fatigata, ad ultimum multis post annis Aureliano imperium agente, civilibus iurgiis ad certamina interneciva prolapsis dirutisque moenibus amisit regionis maximam partem, quae Bruchion appellabatur, diuturnum praestantium hominum domicilium.

15 But Alexandria itself, not by degrees, as other cities, but from its very beginnings augmented in spacious circuits, and long harshly wearied by internal seditions, at last, many years afterward, with Aurelian exercising the imperial power, as civil wranglings slipped into internecine combats and the walls were torn down, lost the greatest part of the region which was called the Bruchion, a long-standing domicile of outstanding men.

16 Unde Aristarchus grammaticae rei doctrinis excellens, et Herodianus artium minutissimus sciscitator, et Saccas Ammonius Plotini magister, aliique plurimi scriptores multorum in litteris nobilium studiorum, inter quos Chalcenterus eminuit Didymus, multiplicis scientiae copia memorabilis, qui in illis sex libris ubi non numquam inperfecte Tullium reprehendit sillographos imitatus scriptores maledicos, iudicio doctarum aurium incusatur, ut inmania frementem leonem putredulis vocibus canis catulus longius circumlatrans.

16 Whence Aristarchus, excelling in the doctrines of the grammatical discipline, and Herodian, the most minute investigator of the arts, and Ammonius Saccas, the teacher of Plotinus, and many other writers of many noble studies in letters, among whom Didymus Chalcenterus stood out, memorable for an abundance of manifold science—who, in those six books where he sometimes imperfectly censures Tullius, imitating the silliographers, abusive writers—is accused by the judgment of learned ears, like a puppy-dog barking from farther off round about, with putrid little voices, at a huge roaring lion.

17 Et quamquam veteres cum his quorum memini floruere conplures, tamen ne nunc quidem in eadem urbe doctrinae variae silent; nam et disciplinarum magistri quodam modo spirant et nudatur ibi geometrico radio quicquid reconditum latet, nondumque apud eos penitus exaruit musica, nec harmonica conticuit, et recalet apud quosdam adhuc licet raros consideratio mundani motus et siderum, doctique sunt numeros haut pauci, super his scientiam callent quae fatorum vias ostendit.

17 And although many ancients flourished together with those whom I have recalled, yet not even now in the same city do the various doctrines fall silent; for the masters of the disciplines in a certain manner still breathe, and there whatever lies hidden and recondite is laid bare by the geometric radius; nor has music as yet utterly dried up among them, nor has harmonics fallen silent, and among some—though still rare—the consideration of the motion of the world and of the stars grows warm again; and not a few are learned in numbers, and beyond these they are skilled in the science which shows the paths of the fates.

18 Medicinae autem, cuius in hac vita nostra nec parca nec sobria desiderantur adminicula crebra, ita studia augentur in dies ut, licet opus ipsum redoleat, pro omni tamen experimento sufficiat medico ad commendandam artis auctoritatem, si Alexandriae se dixerit eruditum.

18 But as for Medicine, whose frequent aids, neither parsimonious nor sober, are desired in this our life, its studies are augmented day by day, such that, though the work itself is redolent, yet, in lieu of any and all experiment, it suffices a physician, for commending the authority of the art, if he should say that he was educated at Alexandria.

19 Et haec quidem hactenus. Sed si intellegendi divini aditionem multiplicem et praesensionum originem mente vegeta quisquam voluerit replicare, per mundum omnem inveniet mathemata huius modi ab Aegypto circumlata.

19 And so much for these matters. But if anyone with a lively mind should wish to unfold the manifold approach to understanding the divine and the origin of presentiments, he will find through the whole world mathematic doctrines of this kind circulated from Egypt.

20 Hic primum homines longe ante alios ad varia religionum incunabula, ut dicitur, pervenerunt et initia prima sacrorum caute tuentur condita scriptis arcanis.

20 Here first men, long before others, arrived, as it is said, at the various cradles of religions, and they carefully safeguard the very first beginnings of sacred rites, having been set down in arcane writings.

21 Hac institutus prudentia Pythagoras colens secretius deos, quicquid dixit aut voluit auctoritatem esse instituit ratam, et femur suum aureum apud Olympiam saepe monstrabat, et cum aquila conloquens subinde visebatur.

21 Trained by this prudence, Pythagoras, worshiping the gods more secretly, instituted that whatever he said or wished should be held as ratified authority, and he often displayed his golden thigh at Olympia, and was seen from time to time conversing with an eagle.

22 Hinc Anaxagoras lapides e caelo lapsuros et putealem limum contrectans tremores futuros praedixerat terrae. Et Solon sententiis adiutus Aegypti sacerdotum, latis iusto moderamine legibus, Romano quoque iuri maximum addidit firmamentum. Ex his fontibus per sublimia gradiens sermonum amplitudine Iovis aemulus Platon visa Aegypto militavit sapientia gloriosa.

22 From here Anaxagoras had foretold that stones would fall from heaven, and, handling well-silt, had predicted future tremors of the earth. And Solon, aided by the opinions of the priests of Egypt, by establishing laws with just moderation, added a very great reinforcement to Roman law as well. From these fountains, advancing through the sublime, Plato, a rival of Jove by the amplitude of his discourses, after Egypt had been seen, campaigned with glorious wisdom.

23 Homines autem Aegyptii plerique subfusculi sunt et atrati magis quam maesti oris, gracilenti et aridi, ad singulos motus excandescentes, controversi et reposcones acerrimi. Erubescit apud eos siqui non infitiando tributa plurimas in corpore vibices ostendat. Et nulla tormentorum vis inveniri adhuc potuit, quae obdurato illius tractus latroni invito elicere potuit, ut nomen proprium dicat.

23 But the Egyptians, for the most part, are dusky and more blackened than melancholy of countenance, gracile and arid, flaring up at every slightest provocation, contentious and the sharpest exactors of repayment. Among them a man blushes if he does not, by denying the tribute, display very many weals on his body. And no force of torments has yet been found which could, from a hard‑bitten bandit of that tract, unwilling, elicit that he tell his proper name.

24 Id autem notum est, ut annales veteres monstrant, quod Aegyptus omnis sub amicis erat antea regibus, sed superatis apud Actium bello navali Antonio et Cleopatra, provinciae nomen accepit ab Octaviano Augusto possessa. Aridiorem Libyam supremo Apionos regis consecuti sumus arbitrio, Cyrenas cum residuis civitatibus Libyae Pentapoleos Ptolomaei liberalitate suscepimus. Evectus longius ad ordinem remeabo coeptorum.

24 It is, moreover, known, as the ancient annals show, that all Egypt was formerly under friendly kings; but when Antony and Cleopatra were overcome at Actium in a naval war, it received the name of province, once it was possessed by Octavian Augustus. The more arid Libya we obtained by the final will of King Apion, and Cyrene, together with the remaining cities of the Libyan Pentapolis, we received by Ptolemy’s liberality. Carried farther than was meet, I shall return to the order of my undertakings.