Eutropius: BREVIARIVM HISTORIAE ROMANAE

[1] Post hunc Maximinus ex corpore militari primus ad imperium accessit sola militum voluntate, cum nulla senatus intercessisset auctoritas neque ipse senator esset.Is bello adversus Germanos feliciter gesto cum a militibus imperator esset appellatus, a Pupieno Aquileiae occisus est deserentibus eum militibus suis cum filio adhuc puero, cum quo imperaverat triennio et paucis diebus.

[1] After him Maximinus, from the military body, first acceded to the imperium by the soldiers’ will alone, when no authority of the senate had intervened, nor was he himself a senator.He, the war against the Germans having been successfully waged, when he had been acclaimed emperor by the soldiers, was slain by Pupienus at Aquileia, his own soldiers deserting him, together with his son still a boy, with whom he had ruled for 3 years and a few days.

[2] Postea tres simul Augusti fuerunt, Pupienus, Balbinus, Gordianus, duo superiores obscurissimo genere, Gordianus nobilis, quippe cuius pater, senior Gordianus, consensu militum, cum proconsulatum Africae gereret, Maximino imperante princeps fuisset electus.Itaque cum Romam venissent, Balbinus et Pupienus in Palatio interfecti sunt, soli Gordiano imperium reservatum. Gordianus admodum puer cum Tranquillinam Romae duxisset uxorem, Ianum Geminum aperuit et ad Orientem profectus Parthis bellum intulit, qui iam moliebantur erumpere.

[2] Afterwards there were three Augusti at once, Pupienus, Balbinus, Gordianus, the former two of most obscure stock, Gordian noble, indeed, whose father, the elder Gordian, by the consensus of the soldiers, when he was administering the proconsulate of Africa, with Maximinus ruling, had been elected princeps.And so, when they had come to Rome, Balbinus and Pupienus were slain in the Palatium, the imperium reserved to Gordian alone. Gordian, very much a boy, when he had taken Tranquillina to wife at Rome, opened the Janus Geminus and, having set out to the Orient, brought war upon the Parthians, who were already striving to burst forth.

Quod quidem feliciter gessit proeliisque ingentibus Persas adflixit. Rediens haud longe a Romanis finibus interfectus est fraude Philippi, qui post eum imperavit. Miles ei tumulum vicesimo miliario a Circesio, quod castrum nunc Romanorum est Euphratae inminens, aedificavit, exequias Romam revexit, ipsum Divum appellavit.

He conducted this successfully and, in enormous battles, afflicted the Persians. Returning, not far from the Roman frontiers, he was slain by the fraud of Philip, who ruled after him. The soldiery built him a tumulus at the twentieth milestone from Circesium, which fort is now Roman, overhanging the Euphrates; they carried his exequies back to Rome and styled him Divus.

[3] Philippi duo, filius ac pater, Gordiano occiso imperium invaserunt atque exercitu incolumi reducto ad Italiam ex Syria profecti sunt.His imperantibus millesimus annus Romae urbis ingenti ludorum apparatu spectaculorumque celebratus est. Ambo deinde ab exercitu interfecti sunt, senior Philippus Veronae, Romae iunior.

[3] The two Philippi, son and father, with Gordian slain, seized the imperial power and, with the army brought back intact, set out from Syria to Italy.Under their command the 1000th year of the city of Rome was celebrated with an immense apparatus of games and spectacles. Then both were killed by the army, the elder Philip at Verona, the younger at Rome.

Annis quinque imperaverunt; inter Divos tamen relati sunt.

They ruled for five years; nevertheless they were enrolled among the Divi.

[4] Post hos Decius e Pannonia inferiore Budaliae natus imperium sumpsit.Bellum civile, quod in Gallia motum, fuerat oppressit. Filium suum Caesarem fecit.

[4] After these, Decius, from Lower Pannonia, born at Budalia, assumed the imperium.He suppressed the civil war which had been set in motion in Gaul. He made his son Caesar.

Romae lavacrum aedificavit. Cum imperassent biennio ipse et filius, uterque in Barbarico interfecti sunt. Senior meruit inter Divos referri.

In Rome he built a bath. When he and his son had ruled for a biennium, both were slain in the Barbaric land. The elder deserved to be enrolled among the Divi.

[5] Mox imperatores creati sunt Gallus Hostilianus et Galli filius Volusianus.Sub his Aemilianus in Moesia res novas molitus est; ad quem opprimendum cum ambo profecti essent, Interamnae interfecti sunt non conpleto biennio. Nihil omnino clarum gesserunt.

[5] Soon Gallus Hostilianus and Volusianus, the son of Gallus, were created emperors.Under them Aemilianus in Moesia contrived a revolution; and when both had set out to crush him, they were killed at Interamna, with not yet a two-year period completed. They accomplished nothing at all illustrious.

Sola pestilentia et morbis atque aegritudinibus notus eorum principatus fuit.

Their principate was known only for pestilence and diseases and illnesses.

[6] Aemilianus obscurissime natus obscurius imperavit ac tertio mense extinctus est.

[6] Aemilianus, born in the utmost obscurity, ruled more obscurely, and in the third month met his end.

[7] Hinc Licinius Valerianus in Raetia et Norico agens ab exercitu imperator et mox Augustus est factus.Gallienus quoque Romae a senatu Caesar est appellatus. Horum imperium Romano nomini perniciosum et paene exitiabile fuit vel infelicitate principum vel ignavia.

[7] Hence Licinius Valerianus, being in Rhaetia and Noricum, was made emperor by the army and soon Augustus.Gallienus likewise at Rome was styled Caesar by the senate. Their rule was pernicious and almost ruinous to the Roman name, either through the ill-fortune of the princes or through sloth.

Germani Ravennam usque venerunt. Valerianus in Mesopotamia bellum gerens a Sapore, Persarum rege, superatus est, mox etiam captus apud Parthos ignobili servitute consenuit.

The Germans came all the way to Ravenna. Valerianus, waging war in Mesopotamia, was overcome by Sapor, king of the Persians, and soon, having also been captured among the Parthians, he grew old in ignoble servitude.

[8] Gallienus, cum adulescens factus esset Augustus, imperium primum feliciter, mox commode, ad ultimum perniciose gessit.Nam iuvenis in Gallia et Illyrico multa strenue fecit occiso apud Mursam Ingenuo, qui purpuram sumpserat, et Trebelliano. Diu placidus et quietus, mox in omnem lasciviam dissolutus, tenendae rei publicae habenas probrosa ignavia et desperatione laxavit.

[8] Gallienus, when as an adolescent he had been made Augustus, exercised the imperium at first felicitously, soon commodiously, at the last perniciously.For as a young man in Gaul and Illyricum he accomplished many things strenuously, with Ingenuus, who had assumed the purple, slain at Mursa, and Trebellianus as well. Long placid and quiet, soon dissolved into every wantonness, he slackened the reins of managing the commonwealth by opprobrious ignavia and by desperation.

Alamanni vastatis Galliis in Italiam penetraverunt. Dacia, quae a Traiano ultra Danubium fuerat adiecta, tum amissa, Graecia, Macedonia, Pontus, Asia vastata est per Gothos, Pannonia a Sarmatis Quadisque populata est, Germani usque ad Hispanias penetraverunt et civitatem nobilem Tarraconem expugnaverunt, Parthi Mesopotamia occupata Syriam sibi coeperant vindicare.

The Alamanni, Gaul having been laid waste, penetrated into Italy. Dacia, which had been added by Trajan beyond the Danube, was then lost; Greece, Macedonia, Pontus, and Asia were laid waste by the Goths; Pannonia was ravaged by the Sarmatians and the Quadi; the Germans penetrated as far as the Spains and took the noble city Tarraco by storm; the Parthians, Mesopotamia having been occupied, had begun to claim Syria for themselves.

[9] Iam desperatis rebus et deleto paene imperio Romano Postumus in Gallia, obscurissime natus, purpuram sumpsit et per annos decem ita imperavit, ut consumptas paene provincias ingenti virtute et moderatione reparaverit.Qui seditione militum interfectus est, quod Mogontiacum civitatem, quae adversus eum rebellaverat Laeliano res novas moliente, diripiendam militibus tradere noluisset. Post eum Marius, vilissimus opifex, purpuram accepit et secundo die interfectus est.

[9] Now, with affairs despaired of and the Roman empire almost wiped out, Postumus in Gaul, of the most obscure birth, took up the purple and for 10 years so ruled that he restored provinces almost consumed, with immense virtue and moderation.He was killed by a sedition of the soldiers, because he had been unwilling to hand over to the soldiers for plundering Mogontiacum, the city which had rebelled against him, Laelianus contriving revolution. After him Marius, a most wretched artisan, received the purple and was killed on the second day.

Victorinus postea Galliarum accepit imperium, vir strenuissimus, sed cum nimiae libidinis esset et matrimonia aliena corrumperet, Agrippinae occisus est actuario quodam dolum machinante, imperii sui anno secundo.

Afterwards Victorinus received the empire of the Gauls, a most strenuous man; but since he was of excessive libido and was corrupting others’ marriages, he was killed at Agrippina, with a certain actuary contriving the stratagem, in the second year of his rule.

[10] Huic successit Tetricus senator, qui Aquitaniam honore praesidis administrans absens a militibus imperator electus est et apud Burdigalam purpuram sumpsit.Seditiones multas militum pertulit. Sed dum haec in Gallia geruntur, in Oriente per Odenathum Persae victi sunt.

[10] His successor was Senator Tetricus, who, administering Aquitania with the rank of praeses, was chosen emperor by the soldiers in his absence and at Burdigala took up the purple.He endured many mutinies of the soldiers. But while these things were being transacted in Gaul, in the East the Persians were defeated through Odenathus.

Defensa Syria, recepta Mesopotamia usque ad Ctesiphontem Odenathus penetravit.

With Syria defended, with Mesopotamia recovered, Odenathus penetrated as far as Ctesiphon.

[11] Ita Gallieno rem publicam deserente Romanum imperium in Occidente per Postumum, per Odenathum in Oriente servatum est.Gallienus interea Mediolani cum Valeriano fratre occisus est imperii anno nono Claudiusque ei successit a militibus electus, a senatu appellatus Augustus. Hic Gothos Illyricum Macedoniamque vastantes ingenti proelio vicit.

[11] Thus, with Gallienus deserting the republic, the Roman imperium was preserved in the West through Postumus, through Odenathus in the East.Meanwhile Gallienus was slain at Milan with his brother Valerian, in the ninth year of his rule, and Claudius succeeded him, chosen by the soldiers, styled Augustus by the senate. He defeated the Goths, who were devastating Illyricum and Macedonia, in a massive battle.

Parcus vir ac modestus et iusti tenax ac rei publicae gerendae idoneus, qui tamen intra imperii biennium morbo interiit. Divus appellatus est. Senatus eum ingenti honore decoravit, scilicet ut in curia clipeus ipsi aureus, item in Capitolio statua aurea poneretur.

A frugal man and modest, and tenacious of justice, and suitable for managing the commonwealth, who nevertheless within a two-year span of his rule perished of illness. He was called Divus. The Senate adorned him with immense honor, namely, that in the Curia a golden shield for him, and likewise on the Capitol a golden statue, should be set up.

[12] Quintillus post eum, Claudii frater, consensu militum imperator electus est, unicae moderationis vir et civilitatis, aequandus fratri vel praeponendus.Consensu senatus appellatus Augustus septimo decimo imperii die occisus est.

[12] Quintillus after him, the brother of Claudius, was elected emperor by the consent of the soldiers, a man of unique moderation and civility, to be equalled to his brother or even set before him.By the consent of the senate he was called Augustus; on the seventeenth day of his reign he was slain.

[13] Post eum Aurelianus suscepit imperium, Dacia Ripensi oriundus, vir in bello potens, animi tamen inmodici et ad crudelitatem propensioris.Is quoque Gothos strenuissime vicit. Romanam dicionem ad fines pristinos varia bellorum felicitate revocavit.

[13] After him Aurelian undertook the imperial power, originating from Dacia Ripensis, a man potent in war, yet of an immoderate spirit and more inclined to cruelty.He too most strenuously defeated the Goths. He restored the Roman dominion to its former frontiers by varied fortune in wars.

Superavit in Gallia Tetricum apud Catalaunos ipso Tetrico prodente exercitum suum, cuius adsiduas seditiones ferre non poterat. Quin etiam per litteras occultas Aurelianum ita fuerat deprecatus, ut inter alia versu Vergiliano uteretur: "Eripe me his, invicte, malis". Zenobiam quoque, quae occiso Odenatho marito Orientem tenebat, haud longe ab Antiochia sine gravi proelio cepit, ingressusque Romam nobilem triumphum quasi receptor Orientis Occidentisque egit praecedentibus currum Tetrico et Zenobia. Qui quidem Tetricus corrector Lucaniae postea fuit ac privatus diutissime vixit; Zenobia autem posteros, qui adhuc manent, Romae reliquit.

He overcame in Gaul Tetricus at the Catalauni, Tetricus himself betraying his army, whose continual seditions he could not bear. Nay rather, by secret letters he had so beseeched Aurelian that among other things he used a Vergilian verse: "Snatch me from these evils, unconquered one." Zenobia too, who, her husband Odenathus having been slain, held the East, he captured not far from Antioch without a serious battle; and having entered Rome he celebrated a noble triumph as though the restorer of East and West, with Tetricus and Zenobia going before the chariot. Indeed that same Tetricus was afterward corrector of Lucania and, as a private man, lived for a very long time; Zenobia, moreover, left descendants in Rome, who remain even now.

[14] Hoc imperante etiam in urbe monetarii rebellaverunt vitiatis pecuniis et Felicissimo rationali interfecto.Quos Aurelianus victos ultima crudelitate conpescuit. Plurimos nobiles capite damnavit.

[14] During his reign, even in the city the moneyers rebelled, with the coinage debased and Felicissimus the rationalis killed.Whom Aurelian, once they were defeated, suppressed with utmost cruelty. He condemned very many nobles to capital punishment.

Saevus et sanguinarius ac necessarius magis in quibusdam quam in ullo amabilis imperator. Trux omni tempore, etiam filii sororis interfector, disciplinae tamen militaris et morum dissolutorum magna ex parte corrector.

A savage and sanguinary emperor, and in certain matters more necessary than in any way lovable. Grim at all times, even the slayer of his sister’s son, yet in great part a corrector of military discipline and of dissolute morals.

[15] Urbem Romam muris firmioribus cinxit.Templum Soli aedificavit, in quo infinitum auri gemmarumque constituit. Provinciam Daciam, quam Traianus ultra Danubium fecerat, intermisit, vastato omni Illyrico et Moesia, desperans eam posse retinere, abductosque Romanos ex urbibus et agris Daciae in media Moesia collocavit appellavitque eam Daciam, quae nunc duas Moesias dividit et est in dextra Danubio in mare fluenti, cum antea fuerit in laeva.

[15] He encircled the city of Rome with stronger walls.He built a Temple to Sol, in which he established a boundless amount of gold and gems. He abandoned the province of Dacia, which Trajan had made beyond the Danube, with all Illyricum and Moesia ravaged, despairing that he could retain it; and he settled the Romans, led away from the cities and fields of Dacia, in central Moesia, and he called it Dacia, which now divides the two Moesias and is on the right as the Danube flows into the sea, whereas before it had been on the left.

Occiditur servi sui fraude, qui ad quosdam militares viros, amicos ipsius, nomina pertulit adnotata, falso manum eius imitatus, tamquam Aurelianus ipsos pararet occidere; itaque ut praeveniretur, ab isdem interfectus est in itineris medio, quod inter Constantinopolim et Heracleam est stratae veteris; locus Caenophrurium appellatur. Mors tamen eius inulta non fuit. Meruit quoque inter Divos referri.

He was slain by the fraud of his own slave, who carried to certain military men, his friends, names annotated, falsely imitating his hand, as though Aurelian were preparing to kill them; and so, in order that it might be forestalled, he was killed by these same men in the middle of the journey—on the old paved road between Constantinople and Heraclea; the place is called Caenophrurium. Nevertheless his death was not unavenged. He also deserved to be enrolled among the Divi.

[16] Tacitus post hunc suscepit imperium, vir egregie moratus et rei publicae gerendae idoneus.Nihil tamen clarum potuit ostendere intra sextum mensem imperii morte praeventus. Florianus, qui Tacito successerat, duobus mensibus et diebus XX in imperio fuit neque quicquam dignum memoria egit.

[16] After him Tacitus assumed the imperial power, a man of outstanding character and suitable for administering the republic.Nevertheless, he was able to display nothing illustrious within the sixth month of his rule, forestalled by death. Florianus, who had succeeded Tacitus, was in power for two months and 20 days, and he did nothing worthy of memory.

[17] Post hunc Probus, vir inlustris gloria militari, ad administrationem rei publicae accessit.Gallias a barbaris occupatas ingenti proeliorum felicitate restituit. Quosdam imperium usurpare conatos, scilicet Saturninum in Oriente, Proculum et Bonosum Agrippinae, certaminibus oppressit.

[17] After him Probus, a man illustrious in military glory, came to the administration of the republic.He restored the Gauls, occupied by barbarians, with immense success in battles. Certain men who had attempted to usurp the imperium—namely Saturninus in the East, Proculus and Bonosus at Agrippina—he crushed in engagements.

Vineas Gallos et Pannonios habere permisit, opere militari Almam montem apud Sirmium et Aureum apud Moesiam superiorem vineis conseruit et provincialibus colendos dedit. Hic cum bella innumera gessisset, pace parata dixit brevi milites necessarios non futuros. Vir acer, strenuus, iustus et qui Aurelianum aequaret gloria militari, morum autem civilitate superaret.

He permitted the Gauls and the Pannonians to have vineyards; by military work he planted with vines Mount Alma near Sirmium and Mount Aureus by Upper Moesia, and he gave them to the provincials to be cultivated. When he had waged innumerable wars, with peace secured he said that soon soldiers would not be necessary. A keen, strenuous, just man, who equaled Aurelian in military glory, but surpassed him in the civility of his manners.

Interfectus tamen est Sirmii tumultu militari in turri ferrata.

Nevertheless he was slain at Sirmium by a military tumult in an iron-clad tower.

[18] Post hunc Carus est factus Augustus, Narbone natus in Gallia.Is confestim Carinum et Numerianum filios Caesares fecit. Sed dum bellum adversus Sarmatas gerit, nuntiato Persarum tumultu ad Orientem profectus res contra Persas nobiles gessit.

[18] After him Carus was made Augustus, born at Narbo in Gaul.He immediately made his sons Carinus and Numerian Caesars. But while he was waging war against the Sarmatians, with a tumult of the Persians reported, he set out for the East and accomplished notable deeds against the Persians.

Ipsos proelio fudit, Cochen et Ctesiphontem, urbes nobilissimas, cepit. Et cum castra super Tigridem haberet, vi divini fulminis periit. Numerianus quoque, filius eius, quem secum Caesarem ad Persas duxerat, adulescens egregiae indolis, cum oculorum dolore correptus in lecticula veheretur, inpulsore Apro, qui socer eius erat, per insidias occisus est.

He routed them in battle, and took Coche and Ctesiphon, most noble cities. And when he had his camp over the Tigris, he perished by the force of a divine lightning-bolt. Numerian also, his son, whom he had led with him as Caesar against the Persians, a youth of excellent natural disposition, while, seized with pain of the eyes, he was being carried in a little litter, at the instigation of Aper, who was his father-in-law, was slain by treachery.

Et cum dolo occultaretur ipsius mors, quousque Aper invadere posset imperium, foetore cadaveris prodita est. Milites enim, qui eum sequebantur, putore commoti deductis lecticulae palliis post aliquot dies mortem eius notam habere potuerunt.

And when by deceit his death was being concealed, until Aper could seize the imperial power, it was betrayed by the stench of the corpse. For the soldiers who were following him, stirred by the stench, with the curtains of the litter drawn down, after several days were able to ascertain his death.

[19] Interea Carinus, quem Caesarem ad Parthos proficiscens Carus in Illyrico, Gallia, Italia reliquerat, omnibus se sceleribus inquinavit.Plurimos innoxios fictis criminibus occidit, matrimonia nobilia corrupit, condiscipulis quoque, qui eum in auditorio vel levi fatigatione taxaverant, perniciosus fuit. Ob quae omnibus hominibus invisus non multo post poenas dedit.

[19] Meanwhile Carinus, whom Carus, setting out against the Parthians, had left as Caesar in Illyricum, Gaul, and Italy, polluted himself with every crime.He killed very many innocents on fabricated charges, he corrupted noble marriages, and he was pernicious even to his fellow-students, who had taxed him in the lecture-hall with even slight chiding. For which things, hated by all men, not long after he paid the penalties.

Nam de Perside victor exercitus rediens, cum Carum Augustum fulmine, Numerianum Caesarem insidiis perdidisset, Diocletianum imperatorem creavit, Dalmatia oriundum, virum obscurissime natum, adeo ut a plerisque scribae filius, a nonnullis Anullini senatoris libertinus fuisse credatur.

For the army, returning victorious from Persia, when it had lost Carus Augustus by a lightning bolt and Numerian Caesar by treachery, created Diocletian emperor, sprung from Dalmatia, a man most obscurely born, to such a degree that by many he is believed to have been the son of a scribe, by some a freedman of the senator Anullinus.

[20] Is prima militum contione iuravit Numerianum nullo suo dolo interfectum, et cum iuxta eum Aper, qui Numeriano insidias fecerat, constitisset, in conspectu exercitus manu Diocletiani percussus est.Postea Carinum omnium odio et detestatione viventem apud Margum ingenti proelio vicit, proditum ab exercitu suo, quem fortiorem habebat, aut certe desertum, inter Viminacium atque Aureum montem. Ita rerum Romanarum potitus cum tumultum rusticani in Gallia concitassent et factioni suae Bacaudarum nomen inponerent, duces autem haberent Amandum et Aelianum, ad subigendos eos Maximianum Herculium Caesarem misit, qui levibus proeliis agrestes domuit et pacem Galliae reformavit.

[20] He, at the first assembly of the soldiers, swore that Numerian had been killed by no deceit of his own; and when beside him had taken his stand Aper, who had laid ambushes for Numerian, he was struck down by Diocletian’s hand in the sight of the army.Afterwards he defeated Carinus—living in the hatred and detestation of all—at Margus in a mighty battle, he having been betrayed by his own army, which he held the stronger, or at any rate deserted, between Viminacium and the Golden Mountain. Thus, having gotten possession of Roman affairs, when the rustics had stirred up a tumult in Gaul and were imposing the name of the Bacaudae upon their faction, and had Amandus and Aelianus as leaders, he sent Maximian Herculius as Caesar to subdue them, who with light skirmishes tamed the rustics and restored the peace of Gaul.

[21] Per haec tempora etiam Carausius qui vilissime natus strenuae militiae ordine famam egregiam fuerat consecutus, cum apud Bononiam per tractum Belgicae et Armorici pacandum mare accepisset, quod Franci et Saxones infestabant.Multis barbaris saepe captis nec praeda integra aut provincialibus reddita aut imperatoribus missa cum suspicio esse coepisset consulto ab eo admitti barbaros, ut transeuntes cum praeda exciperet atque hac se occasione ditaret, a Maximiano iussus occidi purpuram sumpsit et Britannias occupavit.

[21] About these times also Carausius, who, though most basely born, had attained outstanding renown through the rank of strenuous soldiery, when at Bononia he had received the task of pacifying the sea along the tract of Belgica and Armorica, which the Franks and Saxons were infesting.With many barbarians often captured, and the booty not delivered intact either to the provincials or sent to the emperors, when a suspicion had begun that the barbarians were being admitted by him deliberately, so that, intercepting them as they crossed with booty, he might enrich himself by this opportunity, being ordered by Maximian to be killed he took up the purple and occupied the Britains.

[22] Ita cum per omnem orbem terrarum res turbatae essent, Carausius in Britanniis rebellaret, Achilleus in Aegypto, Africam Quinquegentiani infestarent, Narseus Orienti bellum inferret, Diocletianus Maximianum Herculium ex Caesare fecit Augustum, Constantium et Maximianum Caesares, quorum Constantius per filiam nepos Claudii traditur, Maximianus Galerius in Dacia haud longe a Serdica natus.Atque ut eos etiam adfinitate coniungeret, Constantius privignam Herculii Theodoram accepit, ex qua postea sex liberos, Constantini fratres, habuit, Galerius filiam Diocletiani Valeriam, ambo uxores, quas habuerant, repudiare conpulsi. Cum Carausio tamen, cum bella frustra temptata essent contra virum rei militaris peritissimum, ad postremum pax convenit.

[22] Thus, when affairs were disturbed through the whole orb of lands, Carausius was rebelling in the Britains, Achilleus in Egypt, Africa the Quinquegentiani were infesting, Narseus was bringing war upon the East, Diocletian made Maximian Herculius from Caesar into Augustus, Constantius and Maximian as Caesars—of whom Constantius is reported, through a daughter, to be the grandson of Claudius, Maximian Galerius born in Dacia not far from Serdica.And that he might also bind them by affinity, Constantius took Theodora, the stepdaughter of Herculius, from whom afterward he had six children, brothers of Constantine; Galerius (took) Valeria, the daughter of Diocletian; both were compelled to repudiate the wives which they had had. However, with Carausius, since wars had been attempted in vain against a man most expert in military matters, at last peace was agreed.

Eum post septennium Allectus, socius eius, occidit atque ipse post eum Britannias triennio tenuit. Qui ductu Asclepiodoti, praefecti praetorio, oppressus est. Ita Britanniae decimo anno receptae.

After seven years, Allectus, his associate, killed him, and he himself thereafter held Britain for three years. He was overpowered under the leadership of Asclepiodotus, praetorian prefect. Thus Britain was recovered in the tenth year.

[23] Per idem tempus a Constantio Caesare in Gallia bene pugnatum est.Circa Lingonas die una adversam et secundam fortunam expertus est. Nam cum repente barbaris ingruentibus intra civitatem esset coactus tam praecipiti necessitate, ut clausis portis in murum funibus tolleretur, vix quinque horis mediis adventante exercitu sexaginta fere milia Alamannorum cecidit.

[23] At the same time there was good fighting in Gaul by Constantius Caesar.Around the Lingones he experienced both adverse and favorable fortune in a single day. For when, as the barbarians suddenly pressed on, he had been forced within the city by so headlong a necessity that, with the gates shut, he was hoisted by ropes onto the wall, with the army arriving about midday, in scarcely five hours he cut down almost 60,000 Alamanni.

Maximianus quoque Augustus bellum in Africa profligavit domitis Quinquegentianis et ad pacem redactis. Diocletianus obsessum Alexandriae Achilleum octavo fere mense superavit eumque interfecit. Victoria acerbe usus est; totam Aegyptum gravibus proscriptionibus caedibusque foedavit.

Maximian also, the Augustus, crushed the war in Africa, the Quinquegentiani being tamed and reduced to peace. Diocletian overcame Achilleus, besieged at Alexandria, after nearly eight months, and slew him. He used victory bitterly; he defiled all Egypt with grievous proscriptions and slaughters.

Ea tamen occasione ordinavit provide multa et disposuit, quae ad nostram aetatem manent.

Yet on that occasion he prudently ordained many things and disposed matters which remain down to our age.

[24] Galerius Maximianus primum adversus Narseum proelium insecundum habuit inter Callinicum Carrasque congressus, cum inconsulte magis quam ignave dimicasset; admodum enim parva manu cum copiosissimo hoste commisit.Pulsus igitur et ad Diocletianum profectus cum ei in itinere occurrisset, tanta insolentia a Diocletiano fertur exceptus, ut per aliquot passuum milia purpuratus tradatur ad vehiculum cucurrisse.

[24] Galerius Maximianus at first had an unfavorable battle against Narseus, having met him between Callinicum and Carrhae, since he had fought rashly rather than cowardly; for with a very small band he engaged a most copious enemy.Driven back, therefore, and having set out to Diocletian, when he encountered him on the journey, he is said to have been received by Diocletian with such insolence that, though purple-clad, he is reported to have run for several miles to the vehicle.

[25] Mox tamen per Illyricum Moesiamque contractis copiis rursus cum Narseo, Hormisdae et Saporis avo, in Armenia maiore pugnavit successu ingenti nec minore consilio, simul fortitudine, quippe qui etiam speculatoris munus cum altero aut tertio equite susceperit.Pulso Narseo castra eius diripuit; uxores, sorores, liberos cepit, infinitam extrinsecus Persarum nobilitatem, gazam Persicam copiosissimam. Ipsum in ultimas regni solitudines egit.

[25] Soon, however, after forces had been gathered through Illyricum and Moesia, he fought again with Narseus, the grandfather of Hormisda and Sapor, in Armenia the Greater, with immense success and with no less counsel, together with bravery—for indeed he even undertook the duty of a speculator (scout) with one or two cavalrymen.Narseus having been routed, he plundered his camp; he seized wives, sisters, children, a boundless nobility of the Persians from outside, the most copious Persian treasure. He drove him himself into the farthest solitudes of his kingdom.

Quare a Diocletiano in Mesopotamia cum praesidiis tum morante ovans regressus ingenti honore susceptus est. Varia deinceps et simul et viritim bella gesserunt Carpis et Basternis subactis, Sarmatis victis, quarum nationum ingentes captivorum copias in Romanis finibus locaverunt.

Wherefore, with Diocletian lingering in Mesopotamia along with the garrisons, he returned in an ovation and was received with immense honor. Thereafter they waged various wars, both simultaneously and severally, the Carpi and the Bastarnae being subjugated, the Sarmatians defeated, and of these nations they settled vast numbers of captives within Roman borders.

[26] Diocletianus moratus callide fuit, sagax praeterea et admodum subtilis ingenii, et qui severitatem suam aliena invidia vellet explere.Diligentissimus tamen et sollertissimus princeps et qui imperio Romano primus regiae consuetudinis formam magis quam Romanae libertatis invexerit adorarique se iussit, cum ante eum cuncti salutarentur. Ornamenta gemmarum vestibus calciamentisque indidit.

[26] Diocletian was of crafty conduct, moreover sagacious and of a very subtle intellect, and one who wished to satisfy his own severity by others’ ill-will.Nevertheless a most diligent and most skillful princeps, and the first who imported into the Roman imperium the form of royal custom rather than of Roman liberty, and he ordered himself to be adored, whereas before him all were greeted. He set ornaments of gems upon garments and footwear.

Nam prius imperii insigne in chlamyde purpurea tantum erat, reliqua communia.

For previously the emblem of the empire was only in the purple chlamys, the rest were common.

[27] Herculius autem propalam ferus et incivilis ingenii, asperitatem suam etiam vultus horrore significans.Hic naturae suae indulgens Diocletiano in omnibus est saevioribus consiliis obsecutus. Cum tamen ingravescente aevo parum se idoneum Diocletianus moderando imperio esse sentiret, auctor Herculio fuit, ut in vitam privatam concederent et stationem tuendae rei publicae viridioribus iunioribusque mandarent.

[27] Herculius, moreover, openly of a savage and uncivil disposition, signifying his asperity even by the grimness of his countenance.This man, indulging his nature, complied with Diocletian in all the more savage counsels. Yet when, as his age grew heavier, Diocletian felt himself little fit for managing the empire, he was an adviser to Herculius that they should retire into private life and commit the station of defending the commonwealth to greener and younger men.

Cui aegre collega obtemperavit. Tamen uterque uno die privato habitu imperii insigne mutavit, Nicomediae Diocletianus, Herculius Mediolani, post triumphum inclitum, quem Romae ex numerosis gentibus egerant, pompa ferculorum inlustri, qua Narsei coniuges sororesque et liberi ante currum ducti sunt. Concesserunt tamen Salonas unus, alter in Lucaniam.

His colleague obeyed him with difficulty. Yet each on a single day exchanged the imperial insignia for a private habit, Diocletian at Nicomedia, Herculius at Milan, after the renowned triumph which they had held at Rome over numerous nations, with an illustrious pomp of floats, in which the wives and sisters and children of Narseus were led before the chariot. They withdrew, however, the one to Salona, the other into Lucania.

[28] Diocletianus privatus in villa, quae haud procul a Salonis est, praeclaro otio consenuit, inusitata virtute usus, ut solus omnium post conditum Romanum imperium ex tanto fastigio sponte ad privatae vitae statum civilitatemque remearet.Contigit igitur ei, quod nulli post natos homines, ut cum privatus obisset, inter Divos tamen referretur.

[28] Diocletian, as a private man, in a villa which is not far from Salona, grew old in illustrious leisure, exercising an unusual virtue, that he alone of all, after the Roman empire was founded, from so great a pinnacle voluntarily returned to the condition of private life and to civic status.It befell him, therefore, a thing which to no one since men were born: that, although he had died a private man, nevertheless he was enrolled among the Divi.