Eutropius: BREVIARIVM HISTORIAE ROMANAE

[1] His igitur abeuntibus administratione rei publicae Constantius et Galerius Augusti creati sunt divisusque inter eos ita Romanus orbis, ut Galliam, Italiam, Africam Constantius, Illyricum, Asiam, Orientem Galerius obtineret, sumptis duobus Caesaribus.Constantius tamen, contentus dignitate Augusti Italiae atque Africae administrandae sollicitudinem recusavit, vir egregius et praestantissimae civilitatis, divitiis provincialium ac privatorum studens, fisci commoda non admodum adfectans, dicensque melius publicas opes a privatis haberi quam intra unum claustrum reservari, adeo autem cultus modici, ut festis diebus, si amicis numerosioribus esset epulandum, privatorum ei argento ostiatim petito triclinia sternerentur. Hic non modo amabilis, sed etiam venerabilis Gallis fuit, praecipue quod Diocletiani suspectam prudentiam et Maximiani sanguinariam temeritatem imperio eius evaserant.

[1] Therefore, with these men departing from the administration of the republic, Constantius and Galerius were created Augusti, and the Roman world was divided between them so that Constantius should obtain Gaul, Italy, Africa,and Galerius Illyricum, Asia, the Orient, two Caesars having been taken. Constantius, however, content with the dignity of Augustus, refused the solicitude of administering Italy and Africa, a man outstanding and of most excellent civility, caring for the riches of provincials and private persons, not greatly coveting the advantages of the fiscus, and saying that it was better that public wealth be held by private hands than be reserved within one strongroom; and so of modest habit that on festival days, if there were to be a banquet with more numerous friends, couches would be spread for him by private men with their silver openly requested. He was not only lovable but even venerable to the Gauls, especially because under his rule they escaped Diocletian’s suspected prudence and Maximian’s sanguinary temerity.

Obiit in Britannia Eboraci principatus anno tertio decimo atque inter Divos relatus est.

He died at Eboracum in Britain in the 13th year of his principate, and was admitted among the Divi.

[2] Galerius vir et probe moratus et egregius re militari, cum Italiam quoque sinente Constantio administrationi suae accessisse sentiret, Caesares duos creavit, Maximinum, quem Orienti praefecit, et Severum, cui Italiam dedit.Ipse in Illyrico moratus est. Verum Constantio mortuo Constantinus, ex obscuriore matrimonio eius filius, in Britannia creatus est imperator et in locum patris exoptatissimus moderator accessit.

[2] Galerius, a man both of good manners and outstanding in military matters, when he perceived that Constantius, also consenting, had annexed Italy to his administration, created two Caesars: Maximinus, whom he set over the East, and Severus, to whom he gave Italy.He himself remained in Illyricum. But after Constantius died, Constantine, his son by a rather more obscure marriage, was raised to the imperial office in Britain and most eagerly succeeded to his father’s place as ruler.

Romae interea praetoriani excito tumultu Maxentium, Herculii filium, qui haud procul ab urbe in villa publica morabatur, Augustum nuncupaverunt. Quo nuntio Maximianus Herculius ad spem arrectus resumendi fastigii, quod invitus amiserat, Romam advolavit e Lucania, quam sedem privatus elegerat in agris amoenissimis consenescens, Diocletianumque etiam per litteras adhortatus est, ut depositam resumeret potestatem, quas ille irrisas habuit. Sed adversum motum praetorianorum atque Maxentii Severus Caesar Romam missus a Galerio cum exercitu venit obsidensque urbem militum suorum scelere desertus est.

The praetorians at Rome, stirred by an excited tumult, proclaimed Maxentius, the son of Herculius, who was staying not far from the city in a public villa, Augustus. On that news Maximian Herculius, roused to the hope of regaining the apex which he had unwillingly lost, flew to Rome from Lucania, which he had chosen as his private seat, aging in most delightful fields, and even urged Diocletian by letters to resume the power he had laid down — which he treated with ridicule. But opposing the praetorians’ movement, Severus Caesar, sent to Rome by Galerius, arrived with an army and, while besieging the city, was deserted by his soldiers through their wickedness.

Auctae Maxentii opes confirmatumque imperium. Severus fugiens Ravennae interfectus est.

Maxentius's wealth was increased and his rule confirmed. Severus, fleeing Ravenna, was slain.

[3] Herculius tamen Maximianus post haec in contione exercituum filium Maxentium nudare conatus seditionem et convicia militum tulit.Inde ad Gallias profectus est dolo conposito, tamquam a filio esset expulsus, ut Constantino genero iungeretur, moliens tamen Constantinum reperta occasione interficere, qui in Galliis et militum et provincialium ingenti iam favore regnabat caesis Francis atque Alamannis captisque eorum regibus, quos etiam bestiis, cum magnificum spectaculum muneris parasset, obiecit. Detectis igitur insidiis per Faustam filiam, quae dolum viro enuntiaverat, profugit Herculius Massiliaeque oppressus (ex ea enim navigare ad filium praeparabat) poenas dedit iustissimo exitu, vir ad omnem acerbitatem saevitiamque proclivis, infidus, incommodus, civilitatis penitus expers.

[3] Nevertheless Herculius Maximianus, after these things, in the assembly of the armies attempted to strip his son Maxentius, and he suffered the sedition and the insults of the soldiers.Thence he set out for the Gauls with a contrived deceit, as if he had been expelled by his son, that he might be joined to Constantine as son‑in‑law, yet plotting nonetheless to kill Constantine at the discovered opportunity; who in Gaul already reigned in great favour with both soldiers and provincials, the Franks and Alamanni having been slain and their kings captured, whom he even threw to beasts when he had prepared the magnificent spectacle of the munus. Therefore, the plots being revealed by his daughter Fausta, who had announced the deceit to her husband, Herculius fled and, overwhelmed at Massilia (for from there he was preparing to sail to his son), paid the penalty with a most just end — a man prone to every bitterness and savagery, treacherous, troublesome, utterly lacking in civility.

[4] Per hoc tempus a Galerio Licinius imperator est factus, Dacia oriundus, notus ei antiqua consuetudine et in bello, quod adversus Narseum gesserat, strenuis laboribus et officiis acceptus.Mors Galerii confestim secuta. Ita res publica tum a novis quattuor imperatoribus tenebatur, Constantino et Maxentio, filiis Augustorum, Licinio et Maximino, novis hominibus.

[4] In this time Licinius was made emperor by Galerius, a man sprung from Dacia, known to him by ancient acquaintance and in war, which he had waged against Narseus, welcomed for his strenuous labors and services.The death of Galerius immediately followed. Thus the res publica then was held by four new emperors, Constantinus and Maxentius, sons of the Augusti, Licinius and Maximinus, men who were new to power.

Quinto tamen Constantinus imperii sui anno bellum adversum Maxentium civile commovit, copias eius multis proeliis fudit, ipsum postremo Romae adversum nobiles omnibus exitiis saevientem apud pontem Mulvium vicit Italiaque est potitus. Non multo deinceps in Oriente quoque adversum Licinium Maximinus res novas molitus vicinum exitium fortuita apud Tarsum morte praevenit.

In the fifth year of his empire, however, Constantine stirred up a civil war against Maxentius, routed his forces in many battles, and finally at Rome, at the Mulvian Bridge, defeated him—raging against the nobles with every kind of slaughter—and gained possession of Italy. Not long afterwards, in the East as well, Maximin, having devised new plots against Licinius, by a chance death at Tarsus anticipated the neighboring ruin.

[5] Constantinus tamen, vir ingens et omnia efficere nitens, quae animo praeparasset, simul principatum totius orbis adfectans, Licinio bellum intulit, quamquam necessitudo et adfinitas cum eo esset; nam soror Constantia nupta Licinio erat.Ac primo eum in Pannonia secunda ingenti apparatu bellum apud Cibalas instruentem repentinus oppressit omnique Dardania, Moesia, Macedonia potitus numerosas provincias occupavit.

[5] Constantine, however, a man vast and striving to effect all that he had prepared in his mind, and at the same time coveting the principate of the whole world, made war on Licinius, although kinship and affinity were with him; for his sister Constantia was married to Licinius.And at first he suddenly surprised him while he was marshaling a war with great array at Cibalae in Pannonia Secunda, and, having gained possession of Dardania, Moesia, and Macedonia, occupied numerous provinces.

[6] Varia deinceps inter eos bella gesta et pax reconciliata ruptaque est.Postremo Licinius navali et terrestri proelio victus apud Nicomediam se dedidit et contra religionem sacramenti Thessalonicae privatus occisus est. Eo tempore res Romana sub uno Augusto et tribus Caesaribus, quod numquam alias, fuit, cum liberi Constantini Galliae, Orienti Italiaeque praeessent.

[6] Various wars afterwards were waged between them, and peace was reconciled and then broken.Finally Licinius, defeated in naval and land engagement, surrendered at Nicomedia and, contrary to the religion of the Thessalonican sacrament, was dispossessed and slain. At that time the Roman res was under one Augustus and three Caesars, which had never before been the case, when the children of Constantine presided over Gaul, the East, and Italy.

Verum insolentia rerum secundarum aliquantum Constantinus ex illa favorabili animi docilitate mutavit. Primum necessitudines persecutus egregium virum filium et sororis filium, commodae indolis iuvenem, interfecit, mox uxorem, post numerosos amicos.

But the insolence of prosperous things somewhat changed Constantine from that favorable docility of mind. First, pursuing ties of kinship, he killed an outstanding man, his son, and his sister’s son, a youth of promising disposition; next his wife; afterward numerous friends.

[7] Vir primo imperii tempore optimis principibus, ultimo mediis conparandus.Innumerae in eo animi corporisque virtutes claruerunt. Militaris gloriae adpetentissimus, fortuna in bellis prospera fuit, verum ita, ut non superaret industriam.

[7] A man in the first time of his empire to be compared with the best princes, in the last with the middling.Countless virtues of mind and body shone forth in him. Most eager for military glory, fortune in wars was prosperous for him, yet so that it did not outstrip his industry.

Nam etiam Gothos post civile bellum varie profligavit pace his ad postremum data, ingentemque apud barbaras gentes memoriae gratiam conlocavit. Civilibus artibus et studiis liberalibus deditus, adfectator iusti amoris, quem ab omnibus sibi et liberalitate et docilitate quaesivit, sicut in nonnullos amicos dubius, ita in reliquos egregius, nihil occasionum praetermittens, quo opulentiores eos clarioresque praestaret.

For he likewise routed the Goths in various ways after the civil war, at last granting them peace, and thereby placed a vast grace of memory among the barbarian peoples. Given to the civil arts and liberal studies, an aspirant of just affection, which he sought from all by both liberality and docility, as in some friends doubtful, so in the rest outstanding, leaving no opportunity unpursued whereby he might make them more opulent and more illustrious.

[8] Multas leges rogavit, quasdam ex bono et aequo, plerasque superfluas, nonnullas severas, primusque urbem nominis sui ad tantum fastigium evehere molitus est, ut Romae aemulam faceret.Bellum adversus Parthos moliens, qui iam Mesopotamiam fatigabant, uno et tricesimo anno imperii, aetatis sexto et sexagesimo, Nicomediae in villa publica obiit. Denuntiata mors eius est etiam per crinitam stellam, quae inusitatae magnitudinis aliquamdiu fulsit; eam Graeci cometen vocant.

[8] He proposed many laws, some founded on the good and the equitable, very many superfluous, some severe; and he was the first to strive to elevate the city of his name to so great a summit that it might become a rival to Rome.Preparing war against the Parthians, who were already harrying Mesopotamia, in the 31st year of his reign, in the 66th year of his age, he died at Nicomedia in the public villa. His death was also announced by a long‑haired star, which for some time shone of unusual magnitude; the Greeks call it a comet (comēten).

Atque inter Divos meruit referri

And he deserved to be reckoned among the Gods

[9] Is successores filios tres reliquit atque unum fratris filium.Verum Dalmatius Caesar prosperrima indole neque patruo absimilis haud multo post oppressus est factione militari et Constantio, patrueli suo, sinente potius quam iubente. Constantinum porro bellum fratri inferentem et apud Aquileiam inconsultius proelium adgressum Constantis duces interemerunt.

[9] He left as successors three sons and one nephew, a son of his brother.But Dalmatius Caesar, of most prosperous disposition and not much unlike his uncle, was soon after overwhelmed by a military faction, with Constantius, his patruelis, rather permitting than ordering it. Moreover, the commanders of Constans put to death Constantine, who, making war upon his brother and rashly engaging in battle near Aquileia, had attacked without counsel.

Ita res publica ad duos Augustos redacta. Constantis imperium strenuum aliquamdiu et iustum fuit. Mox cum et valetudine inprospera et amicis pravioribus uteretur, ad gravia vitia conversus, cum intolerabilis provincialibus, militi iniucundus esset, factione Magnentii occisus est.

Thus the res publica was reduced to two Augusti. Constans’ imperium was vigorous and just for some time. Soon, when he was afflicted by unlucky health and made use of more depraved friends, having turned to grave vices—being intolerable to the provincials and disagreeable to the soldiery—he was slain by the faction of Magnentius.

Obiit haud longe ab Hispaniis in castro, cui Helenae nomen est, anno imperii septimo decimo, aetatis tricesimo, rebus tamen plurimis strenue in militia gestis exercituique per omne vitae tempus sine gravi crudelitate terribilis.

He died not far from Spain in a fort called Helena, in the 17th year of his reign, at the age of 30; yet having vigorously performed very many deeds in military service, and formidable to the army throughout his life, he was not given to grave cruelty.

[10] Diversa Constantii fortuna fuit.A Persis enim multa et gravia perpessus saepe captis oppidis, obsessis urbibus, caesis exercitibus, nullumque ei contra Saporem prosperum proelium fuit, nisi quod apud Singara haud dubiam victoriam ferocia militum amisit, qui pugnam seditiose et stolide contra rationem belli die iam praecipiti poposcerunt. Post Constantis necem Magnentio Italiam, Africam, Gallias obtinente etiam Illyricum res novas habuit, Vetranione ad imperium consensu militum electo.

[10] The fortune of Constantius was different.For he suffered many and grievous things from the Persians: towns often taken, cities besieged, armies cut down, and there was no prosperous battle for him against Sapor, except that at Singara he lost a clear victory through the ferocity of the soldiers, who seditiously and foolishly demanded battle against the plan of war on a day already perilous. After Constantius’ death, with Magnentius holding Italy, Africa, and the Gauls, new troubles arose even in Illyricum, Vetranius being chosen to the imperial power by the consent of the soldiers.

Quem grandaevum iam et cunctis amabilem diuturnitate et felicitate militiae ad tuendum Illyricum principem creaverunt, virum probum et morum veterum ac iucundae civilitatis, sed omnium liberalium artium expertem adeo, ut ne elementa quidem prima litterarum nisi grandaevus et iam imperator acceperit.

Whom, already aged and beloved by all for the long duration and good fortune of his military service, they appointed princeps to defend Illyricum — a man upright and of old-fashioned morals and pleasing civility, but so devoid of all the liberal arts that he had not taken up even the very first rudiments of letters until he was advanced in years and already emperor.

[11] Sed a Constantio, qui ad ultionem fraternae necis bellum civile commoverat, abrogatum est Vetranioni imperium; novo inusitatoque more consensu militum deponere insigne conpulsus.Romae quoque tumultus fuit Nepotiano, Constantini sororis filio, per gladiatoriam manum imperium vindicante, qui saevis exordiis dignum exitium nanctus est. Vicesimo enim atque octavo die a Magnentianis ducibus oppressus poenas dedit.

[11] But from Constantius, who had stirred civil war for the vengeance of his brother’s death, the rule was taken away from Vetranio; compelled by the soldiers’ consent in a new and unusual fashion to lay down his insignia.There was also a tumult at Rome for Nepotianus, the son of Constantius’s sister, who claimed power by a band of gladiators, and met a death worthy of his savage beginnings. For on the 28th day he was crushed by Magnentian commanders and paid the penalty.

Caput eius pilo per urbem circumlatum est, gravissimaeque proscriptiones et nobilium caedes fuerunt.

His head was borne about the city on a pike, and there were most severe proscriptions and the slaughter of nobles.

[12] Non multo post Magnentius apud Mursam profligatus acie est ac paene captus.Ingentes Romani imperii vires ea dimicatione consumptae sunt, ad quaelibet bella externa idoneae, quae multum triumphorum possent securitatisque conferre. Orienti mox a Constantio Caesar est datus patrui filius Gallus, Magnentiusque diversis proeliis victus vim vitae suae apud Lugdunum attulit imperii anno tertio, mense septimo, frater quoque eius Decentius Senonibus, quem ad tuendas Gallias Caesarem miserat.

[12] Not long after, Magnentius was routed at Mursa in battle and was almost captured.By that fighting the enormous forces of the Roman empire were exhausted, forces fit for any foreign wars, which might have brought many triumphs and much security. To the East soon a Caesar was given by Constantius: Gallus, the son of his patruus; and Magnentius, defeated in various engagements, put an end to his life at Lugdunum in the 3rd year of the empire, in the 7th month; his brother Decentius also fell among the Senones, whom he had sent as Caesar to defend the Gauls.

[13] Per haec tempora etiam a Constantio multis incivilibus gestis Gallus Caesar occisus est, vim natura ferus et ad tyrannidem pronior, si suo iure imperare licuisset.Silvanus quoque in Gallia res novas molitus ante diem tricesimum extinctus est, solusque imperio Romano eo tempore Constantius princeps et Augustus fuit.

[13] In those times also Gallus Caesar was slain by Constantius for many uncivil acts, a man by nature fierce and more prone to tyranny, had he been allowed to rule by his own right.Silvanus likewise, having plotted new disturbances in Gaul, was put to death before the 30th day, and Constantius alone was prince and Augustus of the Roman Empire at that time.

[14] Mox Iulianum Caesarem ad Gallias misit, patruelem suum, Galli fratrem, tradita ei in matrimonium sorore, cum multa oppida barbari expugnassent, alia obsiderent, ubique foeda vastitas esset Romanumque imperium non dubia iam calamitate nutaret.A quo modicis copiis apud Argentoratum, Galliae urbem, ingentes Alamannorum copiae extinctae sunt, rex nobilissimus captus, Galliae restitutae. Multa postea per eundem Iulianum egregia adversum barbaros gesta sunt summotique ultra Rhenum Germani et finibus suis Romanum imperium restitutum.

[14] Soon he sent the Caesar Julian into the Gauls, his cousin, brother of Gallus, with his sister delivered to him in marriage, when many towns the barbarians had stormed, others they besieged, everywhere was foul devastation and the Roman empire now shook with no small calamity.By him, with modest forces at Argentoratum, a city of Gaul, great hostages of the Alamanni were destroyed, the most noble king taken captive, and Gaul restored. Many excellent deeds against the barbarians were afterwards performed by that same Julian, the Germans being driven back beyond the Rhine and the Roman empire restored to its frontiers.

[15] Neque multo post, cum Germaniciani exercitus a Galliarum praesidio tollerentur, consensu militum Iulianus factus Augustus est, interiectoque anno ad Illyricum obtinendum profectus Constantio Parthicis proeliis occupato.Qui rebus cognitis ad bellum civile conversus in itinere obiit inter Ciliciam Cappadociamque anno imperii octavo et tricesimo, aetatis quinto et quadragesimo, meruitque inter Divos referri, vir egregiae tranquillitatis, placidus, nimium amicis et familiaribus credens, mox etiam uxoribus deditior, qui tamen primis imperii annis ingenti se modestia egerit, familiarium etiam locupletator neque inhonoros sinens, quorum laboriosa expertus fuisset officia, ad severitatem tum propensior, si suspicio imperii moveretur, mitis alias, et cuius in civilibus magis quam in externis bellis sit laudanda fortuna.

[15] Not long after, when the Germanician army was withdrawn from the garrison of the Gauls, by the consent of the soldiers Iulian was made Augustus, and, with a year interposed, set out to obtain Illyricum, Constantius being occupied with Parthian battles.Who, the matters having been turned to civil war, died on the march between Cilicia and Cappadocia in the 38th year of his reign and the 45th year of his age, and deserved to be reckoned among the Dii; a man of singular tranquillity, placid, too trusting of friends and household, soon also more given to wives, who nevertheless in the first years of his rule behaved with great modesty, enriching his familiars and not suffering dishonourable men, whose toils he had tested by experience, then more inclined to severity if the suspicion of imperial power were aroused, otherwise mild, and whose good fortune is to be praised more in civil than in foreign wars.

[16] Hinc Iulianus rerum potitus est ingentique apparatu Parthis intulit bellum, cui expeditioni ego quoque interfui.Aliquot oppida et castella Persarum in deditionem accepit vel vi expugnavit Assyriamque populatus castra apud Ctesiphontem stativa aliquamdiu habuit. Remeansque victor, dum se inconsultius proeliis inserit, hostili manu interfectus est VI Kal.

[16] From there Iulianus got possession of affairs and, with immense preparation, brought war upon the Parthians, an expedition to which I also was present.He received into surrender or stormed by force several towns and fortresses of the Persians, and, having laid waste Assyria, he for a time held a stationary camp near Ctesiphon. And returning victorious, while he rashly threw himself into battles, he was struck down by a hostile hand on the 6th day before the Kalends.

Iul., imperii anno septimo, aetatis altero et tricesimo, atque inter Divos relatus est, vir egregius et rem publicam insigniter moderaturus, si per fata licuisset. Liberalibus disciplinis adprime eruditus, Graecis doctior atque adeo, ut Latina eruditio nequaquam cum Graeca scientia conveniret, facundia ingenti et prompta, memoriae tenacissimae, in quibusdam philosopho propior. In amicos liberalis, sed minus diligens quam tantum principem decuit.

Iulianus, in the seventh year of his imperial power, in the thirty-second year of his age, and was numbered among the Dii, a man outstanding and about to govern the res publica notably, if by the Fata it had been allowed. Very learned in the liberal disciplines, more learned in the Graeca and indeed so much that Latina eruditio in no way agreed with Graeca scientia, with a great and ready facundia, of most tenacious memoria, in some respects nearer to a philosopho. Generous to amici, but less diligens than such a princeps ought to have been.

Fuerunt enim nonnulli, qui vulnera gloriae eius inferrent. In provinciales iustissimus et tributorum, quatenus fieri posset, repressor. Civilis in cunctos, mediocrem habens aerarii curam, gloriae avidus ac per eam animi plerumque inmodici, religionis Christianae nimius insectator, perinde tamen, ut cruore abstineret, M. Antonino non absimilis, quem etiam aemulari studebat.

For there were some who would inflict wounds upon his glory. Most just toward provincials, and a restrainer of tributes, as far as it was possible to be. Civil toward all, having a moderate care for the aerarium, eager for glory and thereby often intemperate of mind, an excessive persecutor of the Christian religion, yet in that he refrained from blood not dissimilar to M. Antoninus, whom he also strove to emulate.

[17] Post hunc Iovianus, qui tunc domesticus militabat, ad obtinendum imperium consensu exercitus lectus est, commendatione patris militibus quam sua notior.Qui iam turbatis rebus exercitu quoque inopia laborante uno a Persis atque altero proelio victus pacem cum Sapore, necessariam quidem, sed ignobilem, fecit, multatus finibus ac nonnulla imperii Romani parte tradita. Quod ante eum annis mille centum et duobus de viginti fere, ex quo Romanum imperium conditum erat, numquam accidit.

[17] After him Iovianus, who at that time served as a domestic officer, was chosen to obtain the imperial power by the consent of the army, by the recommendation of his father to the soldiers, which was better known than his own.He, already with affairs in disorder and the army also suffering from want, having been defeated in one battle by the Persians and in another, made peace with Shapur, necessary indeed but ignoble, with borders fined and some part of the Roman empire delivered over. Which before him in about 1,122 years since the Roman empire was founded never occurred.

Quin etiam legiones nostrae ita et apud Caudium per Pontium Telesinum et in Hispania apud Numantiam et in Numidia sub iugum missae sunt, ut nihil tamen finium traderetur. Ea pacis conditio non penitus reprehendenda foret, si foederis necessitatem tum cum integrum fuit mutare voluisset, sicut a Romanis omnibus his bellis, quae commemoravi, factum est. Nam et Samnitibus et Numantinis et Numidis confestim bella inlata sunt neque pax rata fuit.

Indeed our legions were thus sent under the yoke both at Caudium by Pontius Telesinus and in Hispania at Numantia and in Numidia, yet in no case were any territories surrendered. The condition of that peace would not be wholly reproachable, if he had wished, while the treaty stood intact, to alter the necessity of the alliance, as the Romans did in all those wars I have recounted. For war was forthwith brought against the Samnites and the Numantines and the Numidians, and the peace stood not firm.

Sed dum aemulum imperii veretur, intra Orientem residens gloriae parum consuluit. Itaque iter ingressus atque Illyricum petens in Galatiae finibus repentina morte obiit, vir alias neque iners neque inprudens.

But while he feared a rival to the empire, residing in the East he gave little heed to glory. Thus, having undertaken a journey and seeking Illyricum, he died a sudden death within the borders of Galatia, a man otherwise neither inert nor imprudent.

[18] Multi exanimatum opinantur nimia cruditate (inter cenandum enim epulis indulserat), alii odore cubiculi, quod ex recenti tectorio calcis grave quiescentibus erat, quidam nimietate prunarum, quas gravi frigore adoleri multas iusserat.Decessit imperii mense septimo, tertio decimo Kal. Mart., aetatis, ut qui plurimum vel minimum tradunt, tertio et tricesimo anno, ac benignitate principum, qui ei successerunt, inter Divos relatus est.

[18] Many judge him to have been struck down by excessive crudity (for he had indulged in feasts while dining), others by the odor of the chamber, which from the recent whitewash of the ceiling was oppressive to those sleeping, and some by an excess of plums, which he had ordered many to be warmed because of severe cold.He died in the seventh month of his reign, on the 13th day before the Kalends of March, in the thirty-third year of his age, according to those who give the largest or the smallest figures, and by the kindness of the princes who succeeded him he was raised among the Divi.

Nam et civilitati propior et natura admodum liberalis fuit. Is status erat Romanae rei Ioviano eodem et Varroniano consulibus anno urbis conditae millesimo centesimo et octavo decimo. Quia autem ad inclitos principes venerandosque perventum est, interim operi modum dabimus.

For he was both nearer to civility and by nature thoroughly liberal. Such was the state of the Roman commonwealth in the year of the city's founding 1118, when Jovian and Varronian were consuls together. But because we have come to illustrious and venerable princes, meanwhile we will put a limit upon the work.

Nam reliqua stilo maiore dicenda sunt. Quae nunc non tam praetermittimus, quam ad maiorem scribendi diligentiam reservamus.

For the remaining matters must be said in a greater style. Which we now not so much pass over as reserve for a greater diligence of writing.