Historia Augusta: Avidius Cassius

I. 1 Avidius Cassius, ut quidam volunt, ex familia Cassiorum fuisse dicitur per matrem, [homine] novo genitus Avidio Severo, qui ordines duxerat et post ad summas dignitates pervenerat; 2 cuius Quadratus in historiis meminit, et quidemgraviter, cum illum summum virum et necessarium rei p. adserit et apud ipsum Marcum praevalidum; 3 nam iam eo imperante perisse fatali sorte perhibetur. 4 Hic ergo Cassius ex familia, ut diximus, Cassiorum, qui in C. Iulium conspiraverant, oderat tacite principatum nec ferre poterat imperatorium nomen dicebatque nil esse gravius nomine imperii, quod non posset e re p. tolli nisi per alterum imperatorem. 5 Denique temptasse in pueritia dicitur extorquere etiam Pio principatum, sed per patrem, virum sanctum et gravem, adfectationem tyrannidis latuisse, habitum tamen semper ducibus suspectum.

1. 1 Avidius Cassius, as some wish, is said to have been from the family of the Cassii through his mother, born of Avidius Severus, a new [man], who had gone through the ranks and afterward had come to the highest dignities; 2 of whom Quadratus makes mention in his histories, and indeed weightily, since he asserts him a consummate man and necessary to the commonwealth, and very powerful with Marcus himself; 3 for he is reported to have perished by a fated lot already with him ruling. 4 This Cassius therefore, from the family, as we said, of the Cassii, who had conspired against Gaius Julius, secretly hated the principate and could not endure the imperial name, and he used to say that nothing was more grave than the name of empire, which could not be removed from the commonwealth except through another emperor. 5 Finally he is said in boyhood to have attempted even to wrest the principate from Pius, but through his father, a holy and grave man, the aspiration of tyranny lay hidden, yet he was always held suspect by the leaders.

6 Vero autem illum parasse insidias ipsius Veri epistula indicat, quam inserui. 7 Ex epistula Veri: "Avidius Cassius avidus est, quantum et mihi videtur et iam inde sub avo meo, patre tuo, innotuit, imperii: quem velim observari iubeas. 8 Omnia ei nostra displicent, opes non mediocres parat, litteras nostras ridet.

6 In truth, however, that he had prepared plots the epistle of Verus himself indicates, which I have inserted. 7 From a letter of Verus: "Avidius Cassius is avid, as both it seems to me and had already become known back under my grandfather—your father—of imperium; whom I would wish you to order to be kept under observation. 8 Everything of ours displeases him, he is preparing no mediocre wealth, he laughs at our letters."

Te philosopham aniculam, me luxuriosum morionem vocat. Vide quid agendum sit. 9 Ego hominem non odi, sed vide, ne tibi et liberis tuis non bene consulas, cum talem inter praecinctos habeas, qualem milites libenter audiunt, libenter vident."

He calls you a philosopher crone, me a luxurious buffoon.
See what must be done. 9 I do not hate the man, but see to it that you do not take ill counsel for yourself and your children, since you have such a one among the girded men as the soldiers gladly hear, gladly see."

II. 1 Rescriptum Marci de Avidio Cassio: "Epistulam tuam legi, sollicitam potius [quam] imperatoriam et non nostri temporis. 2 Nam si ei divinitus debetur imperium, non poterimus interficere, etiamsi velimus.—Scis enim proavi tui dictum: "successorem suum nullus occidit" —; sin minus, ipse sponte sinenostra crudelitate fatales laqueos inciderit. 3 Adde quod non possumus reum facere, quem et nullus accusat et, ut ipse dicis, milites amant.

II. 1
Rescript of Marcus about Avidius Cassius: "I have read your letter, anxious rather [than] imperial and not of our time. 2 For if rule is owed to him by divinity, we shall not be able to kill him, even if we should wish.—For you know your great-grandfather’s saying: 'no one kills his own successor'—; but if not, he will of his own accord, without our cruelty, fall into the fated nooses. 3 Add that we cannot make a defendant of one whom no one accuses and, as you yourself say, the soldiers love.

4 Deinde in causis maiestatis haec natura est, ut videantur vim pati etiam quibus probatur. 5 Scis enim ipse, quid avus tuus Hadrianus dixerit: "misera conditio imperatorum, quibus de affectata tyrannide nisi occisis non potest credi." 6 Eius autem exemplum ponere [malui] quam Domitiani, qui hoc primus dixisse fertur; tyrannorum enim etiam bona dicta non habent tantum auctoritatis, quantum debent. 7 Sibi ergo habeat suos mores, maxime cum bonus dux sit et severus et fortis et rei p. necessarius.

4 Then, in cases of majesty (treason), this is the nature: that even those to whom it is proved seem to suffer violence. to suffer violence even those to whom it is proved. 5 For you yourself know what your grandfather Hadrian said: "wretched is the condition of emperors, for whom, concerning an attempted tyranny, it cannot be believed unless when the men have been killed." 6 And I preferred to set his example rather than Domitian’s, who is said to have been the first to have said this; for even the good sayings of tyrants do not have as much authority as they ought. 7 So let him keep his own ways to himself, especially since he is a good leader and strict and brave and necessary to the republic.

8 Nam quod dicis liberis meis cavendum esse morte illius: plane liberi mei pereant, si magis amari merebitur Avidius quam illi et si rei p. expediet Cassium vivere quam liberos Marci." Haec de Cassio Verus, haec Marcus.

8 For what you say, that precautions must be taken for my children because of that man’s death:
plainly, let my children perish, if Avidius will deserve to be loved more than they, and if
it will be expedient for the commonwealth that Cassius live rather than Marcus’s children." So much on Cassius from Verus,
so much from Marcus.

III. 1 Sed nos hominis naturam et mores breviter explicabimus; neque enim plura de his sciri possunt, quorum vitam et inlustrare nullus audet eorum causa, a quibus oppressi fuerint. 2 Addemus autem, quemadmodum ad imperium venerit et quemadmodum sit occisus et ubi victus.

3. 1 But we will briefly explain the man’s nature and character; for indeed more cannot be known about those whose life no one even dares to illustrate, on account of those by whom they have been oppressed. 2 Moreover, we will add how he came to the imperium and how he was slain and where he was defeated.

3 Proposui enim, Diocletiane Auguste, omnes, qui imperatorium nomen sive [iusta causa sive] iniusta habuerunt, in litteras mittere, ut omnes purpuratos, Auguste, cognosceres. 4 Fuit his moribus, ut nonnumquam trux et asper videretur aliquando mitis et lenis, saepe religiosus, alias contemptor sacrorum, avidus vini item abstinens, cibi adpetens et inediae patiens, Veneris cupidus et castitatis amator. 5 Nec defuerunt qui illum Catilinam vocarent, cum et ipse se ita gauderet appellari, addens futurum se Sergium, si dialogistam occidisset, 6 Antoninum hoc nomine significans, quitantum enituit in philosophia, ut iturus ad bellum Marcomannicum timentibus cunctis, ne quid fatale proveniret, rogatus sit non adulatione sed serio, ut praecepta philosophiae ederet.

3 For I have proposed, Diocletian Augustus, to commit to letters all who have borne the imperial name whether by [just cause or] unjust, so that you might know all the purple-wearers, Augustus. 4 He was of such manners as sometimes to seem grim and harsh, at other times mild and gentle, often religious, at other times a despiser of the sacred, greedy for wine and likewise abstinent, eager for food and patient of fasting, desirous of Venus and a lover of chastity. 5 Nor were there lacking those who called him Catiline, since he himself rejoiced to be called thus, adding that he would be a Sergius if he had killed the dialogist, 6 indicating by this name Antoninus, who shone so greatly in philosophy that, when he was about to go to the Marcomannic war, with all fearing lest anything fateful should come to pass, he was asked, not by adulation but in earnest, to set forth the precepts of philosophy.

7 Nec ille timuit, sed per ordinem paraeneseos—hoc est praeceptionum—per triduum disputavit. 8 Fuit praeterea disciplinae militaris Avidius Cassius tenaxet qui se Marium dici vellet.

7 Nor did he fear, but in order, by way of parenesis—that is, of precepts—he discoursed for three days. 8 Moreover Avidius Cassius was tenacious of military discipline and one who wished to be called Marius.

IV. 1 Quoniam de severitate illius dicere coepimus, multa extant crudelitatis potius quam severitatis eius indicia. 2 Nam primum milites, qui aliquid provincialibus tulissent per vim, in illis ipsis locis, in quibus peccaverant, in crucem sustulit. 3 Primus etiam id supplicii genus invenit, ut stipitem grandem poneret pedum octoginta et centum [id est materiam] et a summo usque ad imum damnatos ligaret et ab imo focum adponeret incensisque aliis alios fumo, cruciatu, timore etiam necaret.

4. 1 Since we have begun to speak about his severity, many indications of his cruelty rather than of his severity stand forth. 2 For first he raised upon the cross the soldiers who had taken anything from the provincials by force in those very places in which they had transgressed. 3 He also first devised that kind of punishment, to set up a great stake of 80 and 100 feet [that is, timber] and to tie the condemned from the top all the way to the bottom, and at the bottom to set a fire, and, with some set ablaze, he would kill others by smoke, by torment, and even by fear.

4 Idem denos catenatos in profluentem mergi iubebat vel in mare. 5 Idem multis desertoribus manus excidit, aliis crura incidit ac poplites dicens maius exemplum esse adviventis miserabiliter criminosi quam occisi. 6 Cum exercitum duceret, et inscio ipso manus auxiliaria centurionibus suis auctoribus tria milia Sarmatarum neglegentius agentum in Danuvii ripis occidissent et cum praeda ingenti ad eum redissent sperantibus centurionibus praemium, quod perparva manu tantum hostium segnius agentibus tribunis et ignorantibus occidissent, rapi eos iussit et in crucem tolli servilique supplicio adfici, quod exemplum non extabat, dicens evenire potuisse, ut essent insidiae ac periret Romani imperii reverentia.

4 The same man ordered chained groups of ten to be plunged into the current or into the sea. 5 The same man cut off the hands of many deserters; for others he cut the legs and the hamstrings, saying that a criminal pitiably alive was a greater example than one slain. 6 When he was leading the army, and, without his knowledge, an auxiliary band, with his centurions as instigators, had killed three thousand Sarmatians who were acting more negligently on the banks of the Danube, and had returned to him with immense booty—the centurions hoping for a reward, because with a very small force they had slain so many enemies, the tribunes acting more sluggishly and being unaware—he ordered them to be seized and to be raised on the cross and to be afflicted with a servile punishment, a precedent which did not exist, saying that it could have come to pass that there were ambushes and that the reverence of the Roman empire perish.

7 Et cum ingens seditio in exercitu orta esset, processit nudus campestri solo tectus et ait: "Percutite", inquit, "Me, si audetis et corruptae disciplinae facinus addite." 8 Tunc conquiescentibus cunctis meruit timeri, quia ipse non timuit. 9 Quae res tantum disciplinae Romanis addidit, tantum terroris barbaris iniecit, ut pacem annorum centum ab Antonino absente peterent, si quidem viderant damnatos Romani ducis iudicio etiam eos, qui contra fas vicerant.

7 And when a huge sedition had arisen in the army, he advanced
naked, covered only with a campestris garment, and said: "Strike," he says, "me, if you dare,
and add a crime to your corrupted discipline." 8 Then, as all settled down,
he deserved to be feared, because he himself did not fear. 9 Which thing added so much discipline
to the Romans, and cast so much terror into the barbarians, that they sought a peace of 100 years
from Antoninus, though absent, since indeed they had seen, by the judgment of the Roman leader,
even those condemned who had conquered against right.

V. 1 De hoc multa gravia contra militum licentiam facta inveniuntur apud Aemilium Parthenianum, qui adfectatores tyrannidis iam inde a veteribus historiae tradidit. 2 Nam et virgis caesos in foro et in mediis castris securi percussi qui ita meruerunt, et manus multis amputavit. 3 Et praeter laridum ac buccellatum atque acetum militem in expeditione portare prohibuit et, si aliud quippiam repperit, luxuriem non levi supplicio adfecit.

5. 1 Concerning him many serious
deeds against the license of the soldiers are found in Aemilius Parthenianus, who
has handed down to history, from the ancients onward, the affectators of tyranny. 2 For
those beaten with rods in the forum and, in the midst of the camp, those struck with the axe who had so
deserved, and he cut off the hands of many. 3 And besides lard and hardtack
and vinegar he forbade the soldier on expedition to carry, and, if he found
anything else, he punished luxury with no light punishment.

4 Extat de hoc epistula divi Marci ad praefectum suum talis: 5 "Avidio Cassio legiones Syriacas dedi diffluentes luxuria et Dafnidis moribus agentes, quas totas excaldantes se repperisse Caesonius Vectilianus scripsit. 6 Et puto me non errasse, si quidem et tu notum habeas Cassium, hominem Cassianae severitatis et disciplinae. 7 Neque enim milites regi possunt nisi vetere disciplina.

4 On this matter there exists such an epistle of the deified Marcus to his prefect: 5 "To Avidius Cassius I assigned the Syrian legions, overflowing in luxury and conducting themselves by the manners of Daphne, which Caesonius Vectilianus wrote that he found all in a fever heat. 6 And I think I did not err, since you too know Cassius, a man of Cassian severity and discipline. 7 For soldiers indeed cannot be ruled except by the old discipline.

Scis enim versum a bono poeta dictum et omnibus frequentatum : "Moribus antiquis res stat Romana virisque." 8 Tu tantum fac adsint legionibus abunde commeatus, quos, si bene Avidium novi, scio non perituros." 9 Praefecti ad Marcum: "Recte consuluisti, mi domine, quod Cassium praefecisti Syriacis legionibus. 10 Nihil enim tam expedit quam homo severior Graecanicis militibus. 11 Ille sane omnes excaldationes, omnes flores de capite, collo et sinu militi excutiet.

For you know the verse spoken by a good poet and frequented by all: "By ancient morals and by men the Roman commonwealth stands." 8 Do you only see to it that there be provisions in abundance for the legions, which, if I know Avidius well, I know will not be squandered." 9 The prefects to Marcus: "You have advised rightly, my lord, in that you appointed Cassius over the Syrian legions. 10 For nothing is so expedient as a more severe man for Greek soldiers. 11 He indeed will shake off all hot-bathings, all flowers from the soldier’s head, neck, and bosom.

12 Annona militaris omnis parata est, neque quicquam deest sub bono duce: non enim multum aut quaeritur aut inpenditur."

12 The military provisioning is wholly prepared, nor is anything lacking under a good leader: for not much is either sought or expended."

VI. 1 Nec fefellit de se iudicium habitum. Nam statim et ad signa edici iussit et programma in parietibus fixit, ut, si quis cinctus inveniretur apud Dafnen, discinctus rediret. 2 Arma militum septima die semper respexit, vestimenta etiam et calciamenta et ocreas, delicias omnes de castris summovit iussitque eos hiemem sub pellibus agere, nisi corrigerent suos mores; et egissent, nisi honestius vixissent.

6. 1 Nor did the judgment held about him prove false. For at once he both ordered an edict to be issued at the standards and fixed a programma on the walls, that, if anyone were found girded at Daphne, he should return ungirded. 2 He always inspected the soldiers’ arms on the seventh day, and also their clothing, footwear, and greaves; he removed all luxuries from the camp and ordered them to pass the winter under hides, unless they should correct their morals; and they would have done so, unless they had lived more honorably.

3 Exercitium septimi diei fuit omnium militum, ita ut et sagittas mitterent et armis luderent. 4 Dicebat enim miserum esse, cum exercerentur athletae, venatores et gladiatores, non exerceri milites; quibus minor esset futurus labor, si consuetus esset. 5 Ergo correcta disciplina et in Armenia et in Arabia et in Aegyptores optime gessit amatusque est ab omnibus orientalibus et speciatim ab Antiochensibus, 6 qui etiam imperio eius consenserunt, ut docet Marius Maximus in vita divi Marci.

3 The exercise of the seventh day was for all the soldiers, in such a way
that they both shot arrows and played at arms. 4 For he said it was miserable,
when athletes, hunters, and gladiators were exercised, that the soldiers were not exercised;
for whom the toil would be lighter, if it were customary. 5 Therefore, with discipline corrected,
both in Armenia and in Arabia and in Egypt he conducted affairs most excellently,
and he was loved by all the Orientals and especially by the Antiochenes, 6
who even consented to his imperium, as Marius Maximus teaches in the life of the deified
Marcus.

7 Nam cum et Bucolici milites per Aegyptum gravia multa facerent, ab hoc retunsi sunt, ut idem Marius Maximus refert in eo libro, quem secundum de vita Marci [et] Antonini edidit.

7 For when even the Bucolic soldiers were doing many grave things throughout Egypt, they were checked by this man, as the same Marius Maximus reports in that book which he published as the second on the life of Marcus [and] Antoninus.

VII. 1 Hic imperatorem se in oriente appellavit, ut quidam dicunt, Faustina volente, quae valetudini Marci iam diffidebat et timebat ne infantes filios tueri sola non posset atque aliquis existeret, qui capta statione regia infantes de medio tolleret. 2 Alii autem dicunt hanc artem adhibuisse militibus et provincialibus Cassium contra Marci amorem, ut sibi posset consentiri, quod diceret Marcum diem suum obisse.

7. 1 He called himself emperor
in the East, as some say, with Faustina willing, who
was already losing confidence in Marcus’s valetudine and feared that she alone could not protect her infant sons,
and that someone might arise who, having seized the royal station, would take the infants out of the midst.
2 Others, however, say that Cassius employed this artifice upon the soldiers and the provincials against the love for Marcus, so that assent might be given to himself,
on the ground that he said Marcus had finished his day (had died).

3 Nam et divum eum appellasse dicitur, ut desiderium illius leniret. 4 Imperatorio animo cum processisset, eum, qui sibi aptaverat ornamenta regia, statim praefectum praetorii fecit; qui et ipse occisus est Antonino invito ab exercitu, qui et Maecianum, cui erat commissa Alexandria quique consenserat spe participatus Cassio, invito atque ignorante Antonino interemit. 5 Nec tamen Antoninus graviter est iratus rebellione cognita nec in eius liberos aut affectus saevit.

3 For it is said that he even called him a god, in order to soothe the longing for him. 4 When he had advanced with an imperatorial spirit, he immediately made Prefect of the Praetorium the man who had fitted the royal ornaments for him; and this man too was slain by the army, Marcus Antoninus being unwilling, and they likewise slew Maecianus— to whom Alexandria had been entrusted and who had consented, in hope of being made a participant with Cassius— Marcus Antoninus being both unwilling and unaware. 5 Nor, however, was Antoninus gravely angered when the rebellion became known, nor did he rage against his children or his favorites.

6 Senatus illum hostem appellavit bonaque eius proscripsit. Quae Antoninus in privatum aerarium congeri noluit, quare senatu praecipiente in aerarium publicum sunt relata. 7 Nec Romae terror defuit, cum quidam Avidium Cassium dicerent absente Antonino, qui nisi a voluptariis unice amabatur, Romam esse venturum atque urbem tyrannice direpturum, maxime senatorum causa.

6 The senate declared him an enemy and proscribed his goods. Which Antoninus did not wish to be collected into the private treasury; therefore, at the senate’s direction, they were transferred into the public treasury. 7 Nor was terror lacking at Rome, since some said that Avidius Cassius, with Antoninus absent—who was loved uniquely only by the voluptuaries—would come to Rome and tyrannically sack the city, chiefly on account of the senators.

Qui eum hostem iudicaverant bonis proscriptis. 8 Et amor Antonini hoc maxime enituit, quod consensu omnium praeter Antiochenses Avidius interemptus est; 9 quem quidem occidi non iussit sed passus est, cum apud cunctos clarum esset, si potestatis suae fuisset, parsurum illi fuisse.

Those who had judged him an enemy proscribed his goods. 8 And the love for Antoninus shone forth most especially in this, that by the consensus of all except the Antiochenes Avidius was slain; 9 whom indeed he did not order to be killed but allowed it, since it was clear to all that, if it had been of his own power, he would have spared him.

VIII. 1 Caput eius ad Antoninum cum delatum esset, ille non exultavit, non elatus est, sed etiam doluit ereptam sibi esse occasionem misericordiae, cum diceret se vivum illum voluisse capere, ut illi exprobraret beneficia sua eumque servaret. 2 Denique cum quidam diceret reprehendendum Antoninum, quod tam mitis esset inhostem suum eiusque liberos et adfectus atque omnes, quos conscios tyrannidis repperisset, addente illo qui reprehendebat "quid si ille vicisset?", dixisse dicitur: "non sic deos coluimus nec sic vivimus, ut ille nos vinceret." 3 Enumeravit deinde omnes principes, qui occisi essent, habuisse causas, quibus mererentur occidi nec quemquam facile bonum vel victum a tyranno vel occisum, 4 dicens meruisse Neronem, debuisse Caligulam, Othonem et Vitellium nec imperare voluisse.

8. 1 When his head had been brought to Antoninus, he did not exult, was not elated, but even grieved that the occasion of mercy had been snatched from him, since he said that he had wished to capture him alive, so that he might upbraid him with his benefactions and preserve him. 2 Finally, when a certain man said that Antoninus was to be reprehended because he was so mild toward his enemy and his children and kinsfolk and all whom he had found accomplices in the tyranny, with the critic adding, "what if he had won?", he is said to have replied: "Not thus have we honored the gods nor thus do we live, that he should conquer us." 3 Then he enumerated all the princes who had been slain, [saying that they] had had causes whereby they deserved to be slain, and that scarcely anyone good had either been conquered by a tyrant or killed, 4 saying that Nero had deserved it, that Caligula had owed it, and that Otho and Vitellius had not even wished to rule.

5 Nam de Pertinace et Galba paria sentiebat, cum diceret in imperatore avaritiam esse acerbissimum malum. 6 Denique non Augustum, non Traianum, non Hadrianum, non patrem suum a rebellibus potuisse superari, cum et multi fuerint et ipsis vel invitis vel insciis extincti. 7 Ipse autem Antoninus a senatu petit, ne graviter in conscios defectionis animadverteretur, eo ipse tempore, quo rogavit, ne quis senator temporibus suis capitali supplicio adficeretur, quod illi maximum amorem conciliavit; 8 denique paucissimis centurionibus punitis deportatos revocari iussit.

5 For concerning Pertinax and Galba he felt equally, since he used to say that in an emperor avarice is the most acrid evil. 6 Finally, that neither Augustus, nor Trajan, nor Hadrian, nor his own father could have been overcome by rebels, although both there had been many and they were extinguished, whether with their will or against it or without their knowing. 7 He himself, however, Antoninus, asked from the senate that there be no severe action taken against those privy to the defection, at that very time when he asked that no senator in his times be afflicted with a capital punishment, which won for him the greatest love; 8 and finally, with a very few centurions punished, he ordered those who had been deported to be recalled.

IX. 1 Antiochensis, qui Avidio Cassio consenserant, [non punivit], sed et his et aliis civitatibus, quae illum iuverant, ignovit, cum primo Antiochensibus graviter iratus esset hisque spectacula sustulisset et multa alia civitatis ornamenta, quae postea reddidit. 2 Filios Avidii Cassii Antoninus parte media paterni patrimonii donavit, ita ut filias eius auro, argento et gemmis cohonestaret. 3 Nam et Alexandriae, filiae Cassii, et genero Druentiano liberam evagandi, ubi vellent, potestatem dedit.

9. 1 The Antiochenes, who had consented to Avidius Cassius, [he did not punish], but both to them and to the other cities which had aided him, he pardoned, although at first he had been grievously angry with the Antiochenes and had removed from them the spectacles and many other ornaments of the city, which afterward he restored. 2 The sons of Avidius Cassius Antoninus endowed with half of their father’s patrimony, in such a way that he adorned his daughters with gold, silver, and gems. 3 For both to Alexandria, Cassius’s daughter, and to his son-in-law Druentianus he gave free permission to roam wherever they wished.

4 Vixeruntque non quasi tyranni pignora, sed quasi senatorii ordinis in summa securitate, cum illis etiam in lite obici fortunam propriae vetuisset domus, damnatis aliquibus iniuriarum, qui in eos petulantes fuissent. Quos quidem amitae suae marito commendavit. 5 Si quis autem omnem hanc historiam scire desiderat, legat Mari Maximi secundum librum de vita Marci, in quo ille ea dicit, quae solus Marcus mortuo iam Vero egit.

4
And they lived not as hostages of a tyrant, but as of the senatorial order in
highest security, since he had even forbidden in litigation that the fortune of their own
house be objected against them, some being condemned for injuries, who had been insolent
toward them. He indeed commended them to the husband of his aunt. 5 But if anyone
desires to know this whole history, let him read the second book of Marius Maximus on the
life of Marcus, in which he relates those things which Marcus alone did, with Verus already dead.

6 Tunc enim Cassius rebellavit, ut probat epistula missa ad Faustinam, cuius hoc exemplum est: 7 "Verus mihi de Avidio verum scripserat, quod cuperet imperare. Audisse enim te arbitror, quod Veri statores de eo nuntiarent. 8 Veni igitur in Albanum, uttractemus omnia dis volentibus.nil timeas." 9 Hinc autem apparet Faustinam ista nescisse, cum dicat Marius infamari eam cupiens, quod ea conscia Cassius imperium sumpsisset.

6 Then indeed Cassius rebelled, as a letter sent to Faustina proves, of which this is the example: 7 "Verus had written the truth to me about Avidius, that he desired to rule. For I suppose you have heard what Verus’s orderlies were reporting about him. 8 Come therefore to Albanum, that we may discuss everything, the gods willing.fear nothing." 9 From this, however, it appears that Faustina did not know these things, since Marius, wishing to defame her, says that Cassius took up the imperium with her privy to it.

10 Nam et ipsius epistula extat ad virum, qua urget Marcum, ut in eum graviter vindicet. 11 Exemplum epistulae Faustinae ad Marcum: "Ipsa in Albanumcras, ut iubes, mox veniam: tamen iam hortor, ut, si amas liberos tuos, istos rebelliones acerrime persequaris. 12 Male enim adsuevereunt et duces [et] milites, qui nisi opprimuntur, oppriment."

10 For even her own epistle to her husband exists, in which she urges Marcus, to exact stern vengeance upon him. 11 Example of Faustina’s epistle to Marcus: "I myself to Albanum tomorrow, as you order, will soon come; nevertheless I already urge that, if you love your children, you pursue those rebels most keenly. 12 For both the leaders [and] the soldiers have grown ill-accustomed, who, unless they are crushed, will crush."

X. 1 Item alia epistula eiusdem Faustinae ad Marcum: "Mater mea Faustina patrem tuum Pium in defectione Celsi si hortata est, ut pietatem primum circa suos servaret, sic circa alienos. 2 Non enim pius est imperator, qui non cogitat uxorem et filios. 3 Commodus noster vides in qua aetate sit.

10. 1 Likewise another letter of the same Faustina to Marcus: "My mother Faustina, at the defection of Celsus, urged your father Pius that he should preserve pietas first toward his own, thus toward outsiders. 2 For a pious emperor is not he who does not think of his wife and children. 3 Our Commodus—you see in what age he is."

Pompeianus generet senior est et peregrinus. 4 Vide, quid agas de Avidio Cassio et de eius consciis. 5 Noli parcere hominibus, qui tibi non pepercerunt et nec mihi nec filiis nostris parcerent, si vicissent.

Pompeianus is a son-in-law, and he is elderly and a foreigner. 4 See what you do about Avidius
Cassius and about his accomplices. 5 Do not spare the men who did not spare you, and who would spare neither me nor our sons, if they had won.

6 Ipsa iter tuum mox consequor: quia Fadilla nostra aegrotabat, in Formianum venire non potui. 7 Sed si te Formis invenire non potuero, adsequar Capuam, quae civitas et meam et filiorum nostrum aegritudinem poterit adiuvare. 8 Soteridam medicum in Formianum ut dimittas, rogo.

6
I myself will soon follow your journey: because our Fadilla was ailing, I was not able to come to the Formianum. 7 But if I cannot find you at Formiae,
I will catch up at Capua, which city will be able to aid both my illness and that of our sons. 8 I ask that you dispatch Soteridas the physician to the Formianum.

Ego autem Pisitheo nihil credo, qui puellae virgini curationem nescit adhibere. 9 Signatas mihi litteras Calpurnius dedit: ad quas rescribam, si tardavero, per Caecilium senem spadonem, hominem, ut scis, fidelem. 10 Cui verbo mandabo, quid uxor Avidii Cassii et filii et gener de te iactare dicantur."

I, however, put no trust in Pisitheus, who does not know how to apply a cure to a virgin girl.
9 Calpurnius gave me sealed letters: to which I will write back,
if I am delayed, by Caecilius, an old eunuch, a man, as you know, faithful. 10
To whom I will entrust by word of mouth what the wife of Avidius Cassius and the sons and the son-in-law are said to vaunt
about you."

XI. 1 Ex his litteris intellegitur Cassio Faustinam consciam non fuisse quin etiam supplicium eius graviter exegisse, siquidem Antoninum quiescentem et clementiora cogitantem ad vindictae necessitatem impulit. 2 Cui Antoninus quid rescripserit, subdita epistula perdocebit: 3 "Tu quidem, mea Faustina, religiose pro marito et pro nostris liberis agis. nam relegi epistulam tuam in Formiano, qua me hortaris, ut in Avidii conscios vindicem.

CHAPTER 11. 1 From these letters it is understood that Faustina was not privy to Cassius, nay even that she gravely exacted his punishment, since indeed she impelled Antoninus, being quiet and considering more clement measures, to the necessity of vengeance. 2 What Antoninus wrote back to her, the subjoined epistle will teach most thoroughly: 3 "You indeed, my Faustina, act religiously for your husband and for our children. For I reread your letter at the Formianum, in which you exhort me to avenge myself upon the accomplices of Avidius.

4 Ego vero et eius liberis parcam et genero et uxori et ad senatum scribam, ne aut proscriptio gravior sit aut poena crudelior. 5 Non enim quicquam est, quod imperatorem Romanum melius commendet gentibus quam clementia. 6 Haec Caesarem deum fecit, haec Augustum consecravit, haec patrem tuum specialiter Pii nomine ornavit.

4 But indeed I will spare his children and his son-in-law and his wife, and I will write to the senate, lest either the proscription be more severe or the punishment more cruel. 5 For there is nothing that commends the Roman emperor to the nations better than clemency. 6 This made Caesar a god, this consecrated Augustus, this especially adorned your father with the name Pius.

7 Denique si ex mea sententia de bello iudicatum esset, nec Avidius esset occisus. 8 Esto igitur secura: "Di me tuentur, dis pietas mea—cordi es[t]." Pompeianum nostrum in annum sequentem consulem dixi." Haec Antoninus ad coniugem.

7 Finally if, according to my judgment, there had been an adjudication concerning the war, Avidius would not have been slain. 8 Therefore be secure: "The gods protect me; to the gods my piety is dear." I have declared our Pompeianus consul for the following year." These things Antoninus to his wife.

XII. 1 Ad senatum autem qualem orationem miserit, interest scire. 2 Ex oratione Marci Antonini: "Habetis igitur, p. c., pro gratulatione victoriae generum meum consulem, Pompeianum dico, cuius aetas olim remuneranda fuerat consulatu, nisi viri fortes intervenissent, quibus reddi debuit, quod a re p. debebatur.

12. 1 To the senate, moreover, what sort of oration he sent, it is of interest to know. 2 From the oration of Marcus Antoninus: "You have therefore, Conscript Fathers, as a congratulation for the victory, my son-in-law as consul, I mean Pompeianus, whose age once ought to have been rewarded with the consulship, had not brave men intervened, to whom there had to be restored what was owed by the republic.

3 Nunc quod ad defectionem Cassianam pertineret, vos oro atque obsecro, p.c., ut censura vestra deposita meam pietatem clematiamque servetis, immo vestram neque quemquam ullum senatus occidat. 4 Nemo senatorum puniatur, nullius fundatur viri nobilis sanguis, deportati redeant, proscripti bona recipiant. 5 Utinam possem multos etiam ab inferis ecxitare ! non enim umquam placet in imperatore vindicta sui doloris, quaesi iustior fuerit, acrior videtur.

3 Now, as to what pertained to the Cassian defection, I beg and beseech you, Conscript Fathers, that, your censure laid aside, you preserve my piety and clemency—nay, your own—and that the senate kill no one. 4 Let none of the senators be punished, let the blood of no noble man be shed, let the deported return, let the proscribed receive back their goods. 5 Would that I could even rouse many from the dead! for the revenge of his own grief never pleases in an emperor; if it be more just, it seems the more harsh.

6 Quare filiis Avidii Cassii et genero et uxori veniam dabitis. Et quid dico veniam, cum illi nihil fecerint. 7 Vivant igitur securi scientes sub Marco vivere.

6 Why, you will grant pardon to the sons of Avidius Cassius and to his son-in-law and wife. And what do I say “pardon,” since they have done nothing? 7 Let them therefore live secure, knowing that they live under Marcus.

Vivant in patrimonio parentum pro parte donato, auro, argento, vestibus fruantur. sint divites, sint securi, sint vagi et liberi et per ora omnium ubique populorum circumferant meae, circumferant vestrae pietatis exemplum. 8 Nec magna haec est, p.c., clementia, veniam proscriptorum liberis et coniugibus dari: 9 ego vero a vobis peto, ut conscios senatorii ordinis et equestris a caede, a proscriptione, a timore, ab infamia, ab invidia et postremo abomni vindicetis iniuria detisque hoc meis temporibus, 10 ut in causa tyrannidis, qui in tumultu c[a]ecidit, probetur occisus."

Let them live on the patrimony of their parents, with a share granted, let them enjoy gold,
silver, garments. Let them be wealthy, let them be secure, let them be roaming and free,
and let them carry around everywhere, upon the lips of all peoples, the example of my piety, let them carry around the example of your
piety. 8 Nor is this, Conscript Fathers, a great clemency, that pardon be given to the children and wives of the proscribed: 9 I indeed ask from you, that
the accomplices of the senatorial order and the equestrian be vindicated from slaughter, from proscription, from
fear, from infamy, from envy, and finally from every injury, and that you grant this to my times, 10 that, in a case of tyranny,
he who fell in the tumult be approved as having been slain."

XIII. 1 Hanc eius clementiam senatus his adclamationibus prosecutus est: 2 "Antonine pie, di te servent. Antonine clemens, di te servent.

13. 1 The senate accompanied this clemency of his with these acclamations: 2 "Pious Antoninus, may the gods preserve you. Clement Antoninus, may the gods preserve you.

Antonine clemens, di te servent.] tu voluisti quod licebat, nos fecimus quod decebat. 3 Commodo imperium iustum rogamus. Progeniem tua robora.

Antonine clement, may the gods preserve you.] you
willed what was licit, we did what was becoming. 3 We ask for a just rule for Commodus.
Strengthen your progeny.

Fac securi sint liberi nostri. 4 Bonum imperium nulla vis laedit. Commodo Antonino tribuniciam potestatem rogamus, praesentiam tuam rogamus.

See to it that our children are secure. 4 A good imperium is harmed by no force. For Commodus Antoninus we ask the tribunician power; we ask your presence.

5 Philosophiae tuae, patientiae tuae, doctrinae tuae, nobilitati tuae, innocentiae tuae. vincis inimicos, hostes exuperas, di te tuentur." Et reliqua. 6 Vixerunt igitur posteri Avidii Cassii securi et ad honores admissi sunt.

5 To your philosophy, to your patience,
to your doctrine, to your nobility, to your innocence. you conquer enemies, you overcome foes,
the gods protect you." And the rest. 6 Therefore the descendants of Avidius
Cassius lived secure and were admitted to honors.

7 Sed eos Commodus Antoninus post excessum divi patris sui omnes vivos incendi iussit, quasi in factione deprehensos. 8 Haec sunt quaede Cassio Avidio conperimus. 9 Cuius ipsius mores, ut supra diximus, varii semper fuerunt, sed ad censuram crudelitatemque propensiores.

7 But Commodus Antoninus, after the decease of his deified father, ordered them all to be burned alive, as if caught in a faction. 8 These are the things which we have discovered about Avidius Cassius. 9 His own character, as we said above, was always various, but more inclined toward censure and cruelty.

10 Qui si optinuisset imperium, fuisset non modo clemens sed bonus, sed utilis et optimus imperator.

10 He, if he had obtained the imperium, would have been not only clement but good, but a useful and most excellent emperor.

XIV. 1 Nam extat epistola eius ad generum suum iam imperatoris huiusmodi: 2 "Misera res publica, quae istos divitiarum cupidos et divites patitur. 3 Miser Marcus, homo sane optimus, qui, dum clemens dici cupit, eos patitur vivere, quorum ipse non probat vitam.

14. 1 For there exists a letter of his to his son-in-law, now emperor, of this sort: 2 "Wretched Republic, which endures those greedy for riches and the wealthy. 3 Wretched Marcus, a man truly most excellent, who, while he desires to be called clement, suffers those to live, whose life he himself does not approve.

4 Ubi Lucius Cassius, cuius nos frustra tenet nomen? Ubi Marcus ille Cato Censorius? Ubi omnis disciplina maiorum?

4 Where is Lucius Cassius, whose name holds us in vain? Where is that Marcus Cato the Censor? Where is all the discipline of the ancestors?

Quae olim quidem intercidit, nunc vero nec quaeritur. 5 Marcus Antoninus philosophatur et quaerit de elementis et de animis et de honesto et iusto necsentit pro re p. 6 Vides multis opus esse gladiis, multis elogiis, ut in antiquum statum publica forma reddatur. 7 Ego vero istis praesidibus provinciarum—an ego proconsules, an ego praesides putem, qui ob hoc sibi a senatu et ab Antonino provincias datas credunt, ut luxurientur, ut divites fiant?

What once indeed has perished is now in truth not even sought.
5 Marcus Antoninus philosophizes and inquires about the elements and about souls and about the honorable and the just, and he has no feeling for the Republic. 6 You see that there is need of many swords, many epitaphs, so that the public form may be restored to its ancient state. 7 As for those provincial presidents—am I to think them proconsuls, am I to think them presidents—who believe that provinces were given to them by the senate and by Antoninus for this purpose, that they may luxuriate, that they may become rich?

8 Audisti praef. praetorii nostri philosophi ante triduum quam fieret mendicum et pauperem, sed subito divitem factum. Unde, quaeso, nisi devisceribus rei p. provincialiumque fortunis?

You have heard that the praetorian prefect of our philosopher, three days before he was made, was a beggar and poor, but suddenly became rich. Whence, I pray, unless from the entrails of the republic and the fortunes of the provincials?

Sint sane divites, sint locupletes: aerarium publicum refercient; tantum difaveant bonis partibus: reddent Cassiani rei p. principatum." Haec epistola eius indicat, quam severus et quam tristis futurus fuerit imperator.

Let them indeed be rich, let them be opulent: the public aerarium
they will refill; only let them be unfavorable to the good party: they will restore the principate of the Cassian commonwealth." This letter of his indicates how severe and how grim he would have been as emperor.