Historia Augusta: Divus Claudius

I. Ventum est ad principem Claudium, qui nobis intuitu Constanti Caesaris cum cura in litteras digerendus est. De quo ego idcirco recusare non potui, quod alios, tumultuarios videlicet imperatores ac regulos, scripseram eo libro, quem te tringinta tyrannis edidi, qui Cleopatranam etiam stirpem Victorianamque nunc detinet; 2 si quidem eo res processit, ut mulierum etiuam vitas scribi Gallieni comparatio effecerit. 3 Neque enim fas erat eum tacere principem, qui tantam generis sui prolem , qui bellum Gothicum s[t]ua virtute confecit, qui manum publicis cladibus victor inposui, qui Gallienum, prodigiosum imperatorem, etiamsi non auctor consilii fuit, tamen ipse imperaturus bono generis humani a gubernaculis publicis depulit qui si diutius in hac esset commoratus re p., Scipiones nobis et Camillos omnesque illos veteres suis viribus, suis consiliis, sua providentia reddidisset.

1. We have come to the princeps Claudius, who, in consideration of Constantius Caesar, must be set down into letters with care. About him I therefore could not refuse, because I had written others—namely, tumultuary emperors and petty kings—in that book which I published to you on the Thirty Tyrants, which now also holds the Cleopatrine stock and the Victorian line; 2 since indeed the situation has advanced to this point, that the comparison with Gallienus has brought it about that even the lives of women are written. 3 For it was not right to keep silence about that princeps, who left behind so great a progeny of his line, who by his own valor brought the Gothic war to a close, who, as victor, laid his hand upon the public calamities, who drove Gallienus, a prodigious emperor—although he was not the author of the plan—yet himself about to rule, from the helm of the state for the good of the human race; who, if he had tarried longer in this commonwealth, would have restored to us the Scipios and the Camilli and all those ancients by his own forces, his own counsels, his own providence.

II. 1 Breve illius, negare non possum, in imperio fuit tempus, sed breve fuisset, etiamsi quantum hominum vita suppetit, tantum vir talis imperare potuisset. 2 Quid enim in illo non mirabile? Quid non conspicuum?

2. 1 Brief, I cannot deny, was his time in the imperium, but it would have been brief even if he could have ruled for as much as a human life affords. 2 For what in him was not marvelous? What not conspicuous?

Quid non triumphalibus vetustissimis praeferendum? 3 In quo Traiani virtus, Antonini pietas, Augusti moderatio et magnorum principum bona sic fuerunt, ut non ille ab aliis exemplum caperet sed, etiamsi illi non fuissent, hic ceteris reliquisset exemplum. 4 Doctissimi mathematicorum centum viginti annos homini ad vivendum datos iudicant neque amplius cuiquam iactitant esse concessos, etiam illud addentes Mosen solum, dei, ut Iudaeorum libri locuntur, familiarem, centum viginti quinque annos vixisse; qui cum quereretur quod iuvenis interiret, responsum ei ab incerto ferunt numine neminem plus esse victurum.

What is there not to be preferred to the most ancient triumphals? 3 In him the virtue of Trajan, the piety of Antoninus, the moderation of Augustus, and the goods of great princes were thus present, that he did not take an example from others, but, even if they had not existed, this man would have left an example to the rest. 4 The most learned among the mathematici judge that 120 years are given to a man for living, and they vaunt that to no one has more been granted, adding also this: that Moses alone, the familiar of God, as the books of the Jews speak, lived 125 years; and when he complained that he was dying a youth, they report that an answer was given to him by some uncertain numen, that no one would live more.

5 Quare etiamsi centum et viginti quinque annos Claudius vixisset, ne necessariam quidem mortem eius expectandam fuisse, ut Tullius de Scipione sic loquitur [pro Milone], stupenda et mirabilis docet vita. 6 Quid enim magnum vir ille domi forisque non habuit? Amavit parentes.

5 Wherefore, even if Claudius had lived 125 years, not even his inevitable death ought to have been awaited, as Tullius thus speaks about Scipio [pro Milone], his life shows itself stupendous and marvelous. 6 For what great thing did that man not possess at home and afield? He loved his parents.

Quid mirum? Amavit et fratres : iam potest dignum esse miraculo. Amavit propinquos : res nostris temporibus comparanda miraculo; invidit nulli, mal;os persecutus est.

What wonder? He loved even his brothers : by now it can be worthy of a miracle. He loved his kinsmen : a thing in our times to be compared to a miracle; he envied no one, he persecuted the wicked.

Fures iudices palam aperteque damnavit, stultis quasi reglegenter indulsit. 7 Leges optimas dedit. 8 Talis in re p. fuit, ut eius stirpem ad imperium summi principes eligeret, emendatior senatus optaret.

He condemned judges who were thieves, openly and plainly; he indulged the foolish, as if negligently. 7 He gave the best laws. 8 Such was he in the commonwealth, that the highest princes would choose his stock for the empire, and a more emended senate would desire it.

III. 1 In gratiam me quispiam putet Constantii Caesaris loqui, sed testis est et tua conscientia et vita mea me nihil umquam cogitasse, fecisse gratiosum. 2 Claudium principem loquor, cuius vita, probitas et omnia, quae in re p. gessit, tantam posteris famam dedere, ut senatus populusque Romanus novis eum honoribus post mortem adfecerit : 3 illi clypeus aureus vel, ut grammatici locuntur, clypeum aureum senatus totius iudicio in Romana curia conlocatum est, ut etiam nunc videtur expressa thorace vultus eius.

3. 1 Someone may think me to be speaking for the favor of Constantius Caesar, but both your conscience and my life are witnesses that I have never ever thought or done anything ingratiating. 2 I speak of Claudius the princeps, whose life, probity, and all the things he did in the republic gave to posterity so great a fame that the Senate and the Roman People honored him after death with new honors : 3 for him a golden shield—or, as the grammarians speak, “clypeum aureum”—by the judgment of the entire senate was placed in the Roman Curia, so that even now his countenance seems to be seen impressed on the cuirass.

4 Illi, quod nulli antea, populus Romanus sumptu suo in Capitolio ante Iovis Optimi Maximi templum statuam auream decem pedem conlocavit. 5 Illi totius orbis iudicio in rostris posita est columna palmata statua superfixa librarum argenti mille quingentarum. 6 Ille, velut futurorum memor, gentes Flavias, quae Vespasiani quoque et Titi, noo autem dicere Domitiani fuerant, propagavit.

4 To him, what to no one before, the Roman people, at its own expense, on the Capitol before the temple of Jupiter Best and Greatest, set up a golden statue ten feet tall. 5 To him, by the judgment of the whole world, there was placed on the Rostra a palm-adorned column, with a statue affixed atop, of one thousand five hundred pounds of silver. 6 He, as though mindful of future things, propagated the Flavian lines, which had been of Vespasian and of Titus as well, not, however, to say of Domitian.

Ille bellum Gothicum brevi tempore inplvit. 7 Adulator igitur senatus, adulator populus R., adulatrices exterae gentes, adultatrices provinciae, si quidem omnes ordines, omnis aetas, omnis civitas statuis, vexillis, coronis, fanis, arcubus bonum principem [aris ac templis] honoraverit.

He completed the Gothic war in a short time. 7 Therefore a flatterer the senate, a flatterer the Roman people, flattering the foreign nations, flattering the provinces, since indeed all orders, every age, every city has honored the good princeps with statues, vexilla, crowns, fanes, arches, [altars and temples].

IV. 1 Interest et eorum, qui bonos imitantur principes, et totius orbis humani cognoscere, quae de illo viro senatus consulta sint condita, ut omnes iudicium publicae mentis adnoscant : 2 nam cum esset nuntiatum VIIII. kal. Aprilis ipso in sacrario Matris sanguinis die Clauddium imperatorem factum neque cogi sanatus sacrorum celebrandorum causa posset, sumptis togis itum est ad Apollinis templum ac lectis litteris Claudii principis haec in Claudium dicta sunt : 3 "Auguste Claudi, dii te praestent." Dictum sexagies.

4. 1 It matters both for those who imitate good princes and for the whole human orb to know what senate-decrees were enacted about that man, so that all may acknowledge the judgment of the public mind : 2 for when it had been announced on the 9th day before the Kalends of April, on the very Day of Blood in the shrine of the Mother, that Claudius had been made emperor, and the senate could not be convened for the sake of celebrating the sacred rites, with togas assumed they went to the temple of Apollo, and, the letters of Claudius the princeps having been read, these words were said about Claudius : 3 "Augustus Claudius, may the gods preserve you." Said sixty times.

"Claudi Auguste, <te> principem aut qualis tu est, semper optavimus." Dictum quadragies. "Claudi Auguste, te res p. requirebat." Dictum quadragies. "Claudi Auguste, tu frater, tu pater, tu amicus, tu bonus senator, tu vere princeps." Dictum octogies.

"Claudius Augustus, <te> as prince, or one such as you are, we have always desired." Said 40 times. "Claudius Augustus, the commonwealth required you." Said 40 times. "Claudius Augustus, you are brother, you are father, you are friend, you are a good senator, you are truly a prince." Said 80 times.

4 "Claudi Auguste, tu nos ab Aureolo vindica." Dictum quinquies. "Claudi Auguste, tu nos a Palmyrenis vindica." Dictum quinquies. "Claudi Auguste, tu nos a Zenobia et a Vitruvia libera." Dictum septies.

4 "Claudius Augustus, deliver us from Aureolus." Said five times. "Claudius Augustus, deliver us from the Palmyrenes." Said five times. "Claudius Augustus, free us from Zenobia and from Vitruvia." Said seven times.

"Claudi Auguste, Tetricus nihil fecit." Dictum septies.

"Claudius Augustus, Tetricus did nothing." Said seven times.

V. 1 Qui primum, ut factus est imperator, Aureolum, qui gravior rei p. fuerat, quod Gallieno multum placebat, conflictu habito a rei p. gubernaculis depulit tyrannumque missis ad populum edictis, datis etiam ad senatum orationibus iudicavit. 2 His accepit quod regantem Aureolum et foedus petentem imperator gravis et serius non audivit, responso tali repudiatum : "Haec a Gallieno petenda fuerant; qui consentiret moribus, poterat et timere". 3 Denique iudicio suorum militum apud Mediolanium Aureolum dignum exitum vita ac moribus suis habuit, et hunc tamen quidam historici laudare conati sunt, et ridicule quidem. 4 Nam Gallus Antipater, ancilla honorum et historicorum dehonestamentum, principium de Aureolo habuit : "Venimus ad imperatorem nominis sui." 5 Magna videlicet virtus ab auro nomen accipere.

5. 1 He, who first, as soon as he became emperor, after an engagement had, drove Aureolus—who had been the heavier burden upon the republic, because he greatly pleased Gallienus—from the helm of the republic, and he judged him a tyrant, edicts having been sent to the people and speeches also delivered to the senate. 2 From this one gathers that the emperor, weighty and rather deliberate, did not listen to Aureolus, who was holding sway and seeking a treaty, having been rejected with such an answer: "These things ought to have been sought from Gallienus; one who would agree with his morals could also fear." 3 Finally, by the judgment of his own soldiers at Mediolanum, Aureolus had an end worthy of his life and his character; and yet certain historians tried to praise this man—and ridiculously, at that. 4 For Gallus Antipater, a handmaid of honors and a disgrace of historians, had this as his beginning about Aureolus: "We have come to an emperor of his name." 5 A great virtue, forsooth, to receive a name from gold.

At ego scio saepius inter gladiatores bonis propugnatoribus hoc nomen adpositum. Habuit proxime tuus libellus munerarius hoc nomen in indice ludiorum.

But I know that very often among the gladiators this name has been appended to good champions. Most recently your booklet of the munera had this name in the index of the games.

VI. 1 Sed redeamus ad Claudium. Nam, ut superius diximus [triginta], illi Gothi, qui evaserant eo tempore, quo illos Marcianus est persecutus, quosque Claudius emiti non siverat, ne [qu]id fieret, quod effectum est, omnes gentes suorum ad Romanas incitaverant praedas. 2 Denique Scytharum diversi populi, Peuci, Grutungi Austrogoti, Tervingi, Visi, Gipedes, Celtae etiam et Eruli, praedae cupiditate in Romanum solum inrup[uen]erunt atque illic pleraque vastarunt, dum aliis occupatus est Claudius dumque se ad id bellum, quod confecit, imperatorie instruit, ut videantur fata Romana boni principis occupatione lentata, 3 sed credo, ut Claudii gloria adcresceret eiusque fieret gloriosior toto penitus orbe victoria.

6. 1 But let us return to Claudius. For, as we said above [thirty], those Goths who had escaped at that time when Marcianus pursued them, and whom Claudius had not allowed to be bought off, lest anything be done which in fact was done, had incited all the nations of their kinsfolk to Roman plunder-raids. 2 Accordingly, diverse peoples of the Scythians—the Peuci, the Grutungi, the Ostrogoths, the Tervingi, the Visigoths, the Gepids, even the Celts and the Heruli—out of desire for booty broke into Roman soil and there laid waste very many things, while Claudius was occupied with other matters and while he was equipping himself imperially for that war which he brought to completion, so that the Roman fates seem to have been slowed by the occupation of a good princeps, 3 but, I believe, in order that Claudius’s glory might increase and that his victory might become more glorious throughout the whole world.

4 Armatorum denique gentium trecenta viginti milia tunc fuere. 5 Dicat nunc, qui nos adulationis accusat, Claudium minus esse amabilem. Armatorum trecenda viginti milia : quis tandem Xerxes hoc habuit?

4 Finally, the armed men of the nations were then three hundred and twenty thousand. 5 Let him now say—he who accuses us of adulation—that Claudius is less lovable. Three hundred and twenty thousand armed men : who, then, did Xerxes ever have this?

Quae fabella istum numerum adfinxit? Quis poeta conposuit? Trecenda viginti milia armatorum fuerunt.

What little fable has forged that number? Which poet composed it? Three hundred and twenty thousand armed men there were.

6 Adde servos, adde familias, adde carraginem et epotata flumina consumptasque silvas, laborasse denique terram ipsam, quae tantum barbarici tumoris excepit.

6 Add the slaves, add the households, add the baggage-train, and the rivers drunk up and the forests consumed—finally, that the earth itself labored, which received so great a swelling of barbaric force.

VII. 1 Extat ipsius epistola missa ad senatum legenda ad populum, qua indicat de numero barbarorum, quae talis est : 2 "Senatui populoque Romano Claudius princeps." (Hanc autem ipse dictasse perhibetur, ego verba magistri memoriae non requiro.) 3"p. c., mirantes audite quod verum est. Trecenta viginti milia barbarorum in Romanorum solum armati venerunt : haec si vicero, vos vicem reddite meritis; si non vicero, scitote me post Gallienum velle pugnare.

7. 1 There exists his own epistle, sent to the senate to be read to the people, in which he indicates the number of the barbarians, which is as follows : 2 "To the Senate and People of Rome, Claudius the prince." (He himself, moreover, is said to have dictated this; I do not seek the words of the master of memory.) 3"Conscript Fathers, as you marvel, hear what is true. Three hundred and twenty thousand barbarians, armed, have come onto Roman soil: if I conquer these, render a return to my merits; if I do not conquer, know that I wish to fight after Gallienus.

4 Fatigata est tota res p. pugnamus post Valerianum, post Ingenuum, post Regilianum, post Lollianum, post Postumum, post Celsum, post mille alios, qui contemptu <G>al<l>i<en>i principis a re p. defecerunt. 5 Non scuta, non spathae, non pila iam supersunt. Gallias et Hispanias, vires rei p., Tetricus tenet, et omnes sagittarios, quod pudet dicere, Zenobia possidet.

4 The whole republic is wearied; we are fighting after Valerian, after Ingenuus, after Regalianus, after Lollianus, after Postumus, after Celsus, after a thousand others, who, out of contempt for the emperor Gallienus, defected from the republic. 5 No shields, no spathae, no pila now remain. The Gauls and the Spains, the strength of the republic, Tetricus holds, and all the archers—shameful to say—Zenobia possesses.

Quicquid fecerimus, satis grande est." 6 Hos igitur Claudius ingenita illa virtute superavit, hos brevi tempore adtrivit, de his vix aliquos ad patrium solum redire permisit. Rogo, quantum petium est clypeus in curia tantae victoriae? Quantum una aurea statua?

"Whatever we may have done, it is great enough." 6 Therefore Claudius overcame these men with that inborn virtue, he ground these down in a short time, of these he permitted scarcely any to return to their native soil. I ask, how much is the price of a shield in the curia for so great a victory? How much a single golden statue?

7 Dicit Ennius de Scipione : "Quantam statuam faciet populus R., quantam columnam, quae res tuas gestas loquatur?" 8 Possumus dicere Flavium Claudium, unicum in terris principem, non columnis, non statuis, sed famae viribus adiuvari.

7 Ennius says about Scipio : "How great a statue will the Roman people make, how great a column, which may speak of your accomplished deeds?" 8 We can say that Flavius Claudius, the unique prince on earth, is aided not by columns, not by statues, but by the forces of fame.

VIII. 1 Habuerunt praeterea duo milia navium, duplicem scilicet numerum quam illum, quo tota pariter Graecia omnisque Thessalia urbes Asiae quondam expugnare conata est. Sed illud poeticus stilus fingit, hoc vera continet historia.

8. 1 They had, moreover, two thousand ships, namely a double number than that with which all Greece together and all Thessaly once attempted to storm the cities of Asia. But that a poetic style fashions; this a true history contains.

2 Claudio igitur scriptores adulamur, qui duo milia navium barbararum et trecenta viginti milia armatorum delevit, oppressit, adtrivit, qui carraginem tantam, quantam numerus hic armatorum sibimet aptare potuit et parare, nunc incendi fecit, nunc cum omnibus familiis Romano servitio deputavit, 3 ut docetur eiusdem epistola, quam ad Iunium Brocchum scripsit Illyricum tuentem : 4 "Claudius Broccho. delevimus trecenta viginti milia Gothorum, duo milia navigium mersimus. 5 Tecta sunt flumina scutis, spatis et lanceolis omnia litora operiuntur.

2 Therefore we writers fawn upon Claudius, who destroyed, crushed, ground down 2,000 barbarian ships and 320,000 armed men; who caused so great a wagon-fort (carrago)—as great as this number of armed men could fit to themselves and prepare—now to be burned, now to be assigned with all their households to Roman servitude, 3 as is shown by that same epistle which he wrote to Junius Brocchus while he was guarding Illyricum: 4 "Claudius to Brocchus. We have annihilated 320,000 Goths, we have sunk 2,000 vessels. 5 The rivers are covered with shields, all the shores are covered with broadswords and little lances."

Campi ossibus latent tecti, nullum iter purum est, ingens carrago deserta est. 6 Tantum mulierum cepimus, ut binas et ternas mulieres victor si<bi> miles possit adiungere.

The fields lie hidden under bones, no road is clean, a huge wagon-train has been deserted. 6 So many women did we capture that a victorious soldier can adjoin to himself two and even three women.

IX. 1 Et utinam Gallienum non esset passa res p.! Utinam sescentos tyrannos non pertulisset! Savis militibus quos varia proelia sustulerunt, salvis legionibus, quas Gallienus male victor occidit, quantum esset additum rei p.! 2 Si quidem nunc membra naufragii publici colligit nostra diligentia ad Romanae rei p. . 3 Pugnatum est enim apud Moesos et multa proelia fuerunt apud Marcianopolim. 4 Multi naufragio perierunt, plerique capti reges, captae diversarum gentium nobiles feminae, inpletae barbaris servis Scythicisque cultoribus Romanae provinciae.

9. 1 And would that the commonwealth had not suffered Gallienus! Would that it had not endured six hundred tyrants! With the soldiers safe—whom various battles have removed—and the legions safe—whom Gallienus, a bad victor, killed—how much would have been added to the commonwealth! 2 Since indeed now our diligence gathers the limbs of the public shipwreck to the body of the Roman commonwealth . 3 For there was fighting among the Moesians, and many battles were at Marcianopolis. 4 Many perished by shipwreck, very many kings were captured, noble women of diverse peoples captured, the Roman provinces filled with barbarian slaves and Scythian cultivators.

Factus limitis barbari colonus e Gotho. 5 Nec ulla fuit regio, quae Gothum servum triumphali quodm servitio non haberet. 6 Quid boum barbarorum nostri videre maiores?

From a Goth there was made a colonist of the barbarian frontier. 5 Nor was there any region which did not have a Goth as a slave in a certain triumphal servitude. 6 What a quantity of the barbarians’ cattle did our ancestors see?

Quid ovium? Quid equarum, quas fama nobilitat, Celticarum? Hoc totum ad Claudii gloriam pertinet.

What of the sheep? What of the Celtic mares, which fame ennobles? All this pertains to the glory of Claudius.

Claudius et securitate rem p. et opulentiae nimietate donavit. Pugnatum praeterea est apud Byzantios, ipsis, qui superfuerant, Byzantinis fortiter facientibus. 8 Pugnatum apud Thessalonicenses, quos Claudio absente obsederant barbari.

Claudius endowed the commonwealth both with security and with a nimiety of opulence. There was fighting moreover among the Byzantines, the Byzantines themselves who had survived acting bravely. 8 There was fighting among the Thessalonians, whom the barbarians had besieged while Claudius was absent.

9 Pugnatum in diversis regionibus et ubique auspiciis Claudianis victi sunt Gothi, prorsus ut iam tunc Constantio Caesari nepoti futuro videretur Claudius securam parare rem p.

9 It was fought in diverse regions, and everywhere under Claudian auspices the Goths were defeated, precisely so that already then it seemed to Constantius Caesar, the future grandson, that Claudius was making the commonwealth secure.

X. 1 Et bene venit in mentem : exprimenda est sors, quae Claudio data esse perhibetur Commagenis, ut intellegant omnes genus Claudii ad felicitatem rei p. divinitus constitutum. 2 Nam cum consuleret factus imperator, quamdiu imperaturus esset, sors talis emersit :

10. 1 And it comes well to mind : the lot is to be expressed, which is asserted to have been given to Claudius at Commagene, so that all may understand that the lineage of Claudius has been divinely established for the felicity of the Republic. 2 For when, having been made emperor, he consulted how long he would be going to rule, such a lot emerged :

3 Tu, qui nunc patrias gubernas oras
et mundum regis, arbiter deorum,
tu <vinces> veteres tuis novellis;
regnabunt etenim <tui> minores
et reges facient suos minores.

You, who now govern your fatherland’s shores
and rule the world, arbiter of the gods,
you <will conquer> the ancients with your new men;
for <your> descendants will reign,
and they will make their own descendants kings.

4 Item cum in Appennino de se consuleret, responsum huius modi accepit :

4 Likewise, when in the Apennines he consulted about himself, he received a response of this kind :

Tertia dum Latio regnantem viderit aestas.

when the third summer shall have seen him reigning over Latium.

5 Item cum de posteris suis :

5 Likewise, when about his descendants:

His ego nec metas rerum nec tempora ponam.

For these I will set neither bounds of things nor times.

6 Item cum de fratre Quintillo, quem consortem habere volebat imperii, responsum est :

6 Likewise, when concerning his brother Quintillus, whom he wished to have as a consort of the empire, it was answered :

Ostendent terris hunc tantum fata.

The fates will show this one only to the lands.

7 Quae idcirco posui ut sit omnibus clarum Constantium divini generis virum, sanctissimum Caesarem et Augustae ipsum familiae esse et Augustos multos de se daturum, salvis Diocletiano et Maximiano Augustis et eius fratre Galerio.

7 Which things I have set forth for this reason, that it may be clear to all that Constantius is a man of divine lineage, a most holy Caesar and himself of the Augustan family, and that he will give many Augusti from his own line, with Diocletian and Maximian the Augusti and his brother Galerius being safe.

XI. 1 Sed dum haec a divo Claudio aguntur, Palmyreni ducibus Saba et Timagene contra Aegyptios bellum summunt atque ab his Aegyptia pervicaria et indefessa pugnandi continuatione vincuntur. 2 Dux tamen Aegyptiorum Probatus Timagenis insidiis interemptus est. Aegyptii vero omnes se Romano imperatori dederunt in absentis Claudii verba iurantes.

11. 1 But while these things are being conducted by the deified Claudius, the Palmyrenes, with Saba and Timagenes as their leaders, take up war against the Egyptians, and are overcome by them, by the Egyptian stubborn and indefatigable continuation of fighting. 2 However, the leader of the Egyptians, Probatus, was slain through the ambushes of Timagenes. But all the Egyptians surrendered themselves to the Roman emperor, swearing the oath to Claudius in his absence.

3 Atticiano et Orfito conss. Auspicia Claudiana favor divinus adiuvit. Nam cum se Haemimontum multitudo barbararum gentium, quae superfuerant, contulisset, illic ita fame ac pestilentia laboravit, ut iam Claudius dedignaretur et vincere.

3 In the consulship of Atticianus and Orfitus the divine favor aided the Claudian auspices. For when the multitude of barbarian peoples who had survived had betaken themselves to Haemimontus, there they suffered so from famine and pestilence that Claudius now disdained even to conquer.

4 Denique finitum est asperrimum bellum, terroresque Romani nominis sunt depulsi. 5 Vera dici fides cogit, simul ut sciant hi, qui adulatores nos aestimari cupiunt, id, quod historia dici postulat, <nos> non tacere : 6 eo tempore, quo parta est plena victoria, plerique milites Claudii secundis rebus elati, quae sapientium quoque animos fatigant, ita in praedam versi sunt, ut non cogitarent a paucissimis se posse fu[ti]gari, dum occupati animo atque corporibus avertendis praedis inserviunt. 7 Denique in ipsa victoria prope duo milia a paucis barbaris et his, qui fugerant, interempta sunt.

4 Finally, the most harsh war was finished, and the terrors of the Roman name were driven off. 5 Good faith compels that truth be spoken, at the same time that those who wish us to be esteemed flatterers may know that, that which history demands to be said, <we> do not keep silent: 6 at that time, when a full victory was secured, very many of Claudius’s soldiers, carried away by favorable circumstances—things which fatigue even the minds of the wise—were so turned to plunder that they did not consider that they could be pu[t] to flight by a very few, while, occupied in mind and bodies in carrying off booty, they devoted themselves to diverting the spoils. 7 Finally, in the very victory nearly two thousand were slain by a few barbarians and by those who had fled.

8 Sed ubi hoc comperit Claudius, omnes, qui rebelles animos extulerant, conducto exercitu rapit atque in vincla Romam etiam mittit ludo publico deputandos. Ita id, quod vel fortuna vel milites egerat, virtute boni principis antiquatum est. Nec sola de hoste victoria, sed etiam vindicta praesumpta est.

8 But when Claudius learned this, he seizes all who had lifted up rebellious spirits, with the army assembled, and even sends them in chains to Rome, to be deputed to the public show. Thus that which either Fortune or the soldiers had done was set aside by the virtue of a good prince; nor was there victory over the enemy alone, but even retribution was anticipated.

9 In quo bello, quod (a Claudio) gestum est, equitum Dalmatarum in gens extitit virtus, quod originem ex ea provincia Claudius videbatur ostendere quamvis alii Dardanum et ab Ilo Traianorum <auctore> atque ab ipso Dardano sanguinem dicerent trahere.

9 In which war, which was waged (by Claudius), the great prowess of the Dalmatian horsemen stood forth, because Claudius seemed to display his origin from that province, although others said that he drew his blood from the Dardanian line, from Ilus, the of the Trojans, and indeed from Dardanus himself.

XII. 1 Fuerunt per ea tempora et apud Cretam Scythae et Cyprum vastare temptarunt, sed ubique morbo atque exercitu laborante superati sunt. 2 Finito sane bello Gothico gravissimus morbus increbruit, tunc cum etiam Claudius adfectus morbo mortalis reliquit et familiare virtutibus suis petit caelum.

12. 1 There were in those times also Scythians in Crete, and they tried to devastate Cyprus, but everywhere, while their army was suffering from disease and, they were overcome. 2 With the Gothic war indeed finished, a very grievous plague became rife, at which time even Claudius, affected by disease, left mortal life and, befitting his virtues, made for heaven.

3 Quo ad deos atque ad sidera demigrante Quintillus frater eiusdem, vir sanctus et sui fratris, ut vere dixerim, frater, delatum sibi omnium iudicio suscepit imperium, non hereditarium sed merito virtutum, qui factus esset imperator, etiamsi frater Claudii principis non fuisset. 4 Sub hoc barbari, qui superfuerant, Anchialon vastare conati sunt, Nicopolim etiam optinere. Sed illi provincialium virtute obtriti sunt.

3 With him departing to the gods and to the stars, Quintillus, his brother—a saintly man and, to speak truly, a brother to his brother—accepted the imperium, conferred upon him by the judgment of all, not as hereditary but by the merit of his virtues, a man who would have been made emperor even if he had not been the brother of Emperor Claudius. 4 Under him the barbarians who had survived tried to devastate Anchialus and to obtain Nicopolis as well; but they were crushed by the valor of the provincials.

5 Quintillus autem ob brevitatem temporis nihil dignum imperio gerere potuit, nam septima decima die, quod se gravem et serium contra milites ostenderat ac verum principem pollicebatur, eo genere, quo Galba, quo Pertinax interemptus est. 6 Et Dexippus quidem Claudium non dicit occisum, sed tantum mortuum, nec tamen addit morbo, ut dubium sentire videatur.

5 But Quintillus, on account of the brevity of the time, was able to do nothing worthy of the empire, for on the seventeenth day, because he had shown himself grave and serious toward the soldiers and was promising a true emperor, he was slain in the same manner in which Galba and Pertinax were put to death. 6 And Dexippus indeed does not say that Claudius was killed, but only that he died, nor, however, does he add “by disease,” so that he seems to feel doubt.

XIII. 1 Quoniam res bellicas diximus, de Claudii genere et familia saltim pauca dicenda sunt, ne ea, quae scienda sunt, praeterisse videamur : 2 Claudius, Quintillus et Crispus fratres fuerunt. Crispi f[am]ilia Claudia; ex ea et Eutropio, nobilissimo gentis Dardanae viro, Constantius Caesar est genitus.

13. 1 Since we have spoken of military matters, about the lineage and family of Claudius at least a few things must be said, lest we seem to have passed over those things which must be known : 2 Claudius, Quintillus, and Crispus were brothers. The daughter of Crispus was Claudia; from her and Eutropius, a most noble man of the Dardanian gens, Constantius Caesar was begotten.

3 Fuerunt etiam sorores, quarum una, Constantina nomine nupta tribuno Assyriorum, in primis annis defecit. 4 De avis nobis parum cognitum. Varia enim plerique prodiderunt.

3 There were also sisters, of whom one, by the name Constantina, married to a tribune of the Assyrians, died in her earliest years. 4 About the grandfathers, little is known to us; for most have transmitted various accounts.

5 Ipse Claudius insignis morum gravitate, insignis vita singulari et unica castimonia, vini parcus, ad cibum promptus, statura procerus, oculis ardentibus, lato et pleno vultu, digitis usque adeo fortibus, ut saepe equis et multis ictu pugni dentes excusserit. 6 Fecerat hoc etiam adulescens in militia, cum ludicro Martiali in campo luctamen inter fortissimos quosque monstraret. 7 Nam iratus ei, qui non bateum sed genitalia sibi contorserat, omnes dentes uno pugno excussit.

5 Claudius himself, distinguished for the gravity of his morals, distinguished for a life of singular and unique chastity, sparing of wine, ready for food, tall in stature, with burning eyes, with a broad and full countenance, with fingers so strong that he often knocked out the teeth of horses and of many men with a blow of his fist. 6 He had done this also as a youth in military service, when at the Martial spectacle in the field he displayed a wrestling bout among the very bravest. 7 For, angered at the man who had twisted, not his belt, but his genitals, he knocked out all his teeth with a single fist.

Quae res indulgentiam meruit pudoris vindictae; 8 si quidem tunc Decius imperator, quo praesente fuerat perpetrarum, et virtutem et verecundiam Claudii publice praedicavit donatumque armillis et torquibus a militum congressu facessere praecepit, ne quid atrocius, quam luctamen exigit, faceret. 9 Ipsi Claudio liberi nulli fuerunt, Quintillus duos reliquit, Crispus, ut diximus, filiam.

This circumstance merited indulgence for the revenge of modesty; 8 for indeed at that time the emperor Decius, in whose presence it had been carried out, publicly proclaimed both the valor and the modesty of Claudius, and, having bestowed armlets and torques, ordered him to withdraw from the soldiers’ contest, lest he do anything more atrocious than a wrestling-bout requires. 9 Claudius himself had no children; Quintillus left two; Crispus, as we have said, a daughter.

XIV. 1 Nunc ad iudicia principum veniamus, quae illo a diversis edita sunt, et eatenus quidem ut appareret quandocumque Claudium imperatorem futurum. 2 Epistola Valeriani ad Zosimionem, procuratorem Syriae : "Claudium, Illyricianae gentis virum, tribunum Martiae quintae legioni fortissimae ac devotissimae dedimus, virum devotissimis quibusque ac fortissimis veterum praeferendum.

14. 1 Now let us come to the judgments of the emperors, which about him were issued by diverse persons, and to this extent at least, that it might appear that Claudius would be emperor some day. 2 A letter of Valerian to Zosimion, procurator of Syria : "We have assigned Claudius, a man of the Illyrician nation, as tribune to the Fifth Martian Legion, most brave and most devoted, a man to be preferred to the most devoted and the bravest of the ancients.

3 Huic salarium de nostro privato aerario dabis annuos frumenti modois tria milia, hordei sex milia, laridi libras duo milia, vini veteris sextarios tria milia quingentos, olei boni sextarios centum quinquaginta, olei secundi sextarios sescentos, salis modios viginti, cerae pondo centum quinquaginta, feni, paleae, aceti, holeris, herbarum quantum satis est, pellium tentoriarum decurias tringinta, mulos annuos sex, equos annuos tres, camelas annuas decem, mulas annuas novem, argenti in opere annua pondo quinquaginta. Filippeos nostri vultus annuos centum quinquaginta et in sternis quadraginta septem et trientes centum sexaginta. 4 [Item in cauco scyfo pondo undecim]. Item in cauco et scyfo et zuma pondo undecim.

3 To this man you will give, from our private treasury, a salary yearly: of grain, modii three thousand; of barley, six thousand; of lard/bacon, pounds two thousand; of old wine, sextarii three thousand five hundred; of good oil, sextarii one hundred fifty; of second-quality oil, sextarii six hundred; of salt, modii twenty; of wax, by weight one hundred fifty pounds; of hay, chaff, vinegar, vegetables, and herbs, as much as is sufficient; of tent-leather hides, decuries thirty; annual mules six, annual horses three, annual camels ten, annual she-mules nine; of worked silver yearly, by weight fifty pounds. Philippei of our visage yearly one hundred fifty, and in sternae forty-seven and trientes one hundred sixty. 4 [Likewise in a caucus and a scyphus, by weight eleven pounds.] Likewise in a caucus and a scyphus and a zuma, by weight eleven pounds.

5 Tunicas russas militares annuas duas, sagoclamydes annuas duas, fibulas argenteas inauratas duas, fibulam auream cum acu Cyprea unam. Balteum argenteum inauratum unum, anulum bigemmem unum uncialem, brachialem unam unciarum septem, torquem libralem unum, cassidem inauratam unam, scuta chrysografata duo, loricam unam, quam refundat. 6 Lanceas Herculianas duas, aclydes duas, falces duas, falces fenarias quattuor.

5 Two red military tunics annually, two sago-chlamydes annually, two gilded silver brooches, one golden brooch with a Cyprian pin. One gilded silver belt, one two-gemmed ring of an ounce, one armlet of seven ounces, one libral torque, one gilded helmet, two chrysographed shields, one cuirass, which he shall return.
6 Two Herculean lances, two aklyses, two sickles, four hay-sickles.

7 Cocum, quem refundat, unum, mulionem, quem refundat, unum. 8 Mulieres speciosas ex captivis duas. Albam subsericam unam cum purpura Girbitana, subarmalem unum cum purpura Maura.

7 One cook, whom he shall return, one, a muleteer, whom he shall return, one. 8 Two beautiful women from among the captives. One white subseric garment with Girbitan purple, one subarmal with Moorish purple.

9 Notarium, quem refundat, unum, structorem, quem refundat, unum. 10 Accubitalium Cypriorum paria duo, interulas puras duas, fascias viriles duas, togam, quam refundat, unam, latum clavum, quem refundat, unum. 11 Venatores, qui obsequantur, duo, carpentarium unum, curam praetorii unum, aquarium unum, piscatorem unum, ducliarium unum.

9 A notary, to be returned, one, a structor (table-arranger), to be returned, one. 10 Two pairs of Cyprian couch-bolsters, two pure under-tunics, two men’s fasciae, one toga, to be returned, one, one broad clavus, to be returned, one. 11 Hunters, to attend, two, one cartwright, one steward of the praetorium, one water-carrier, one fisherman, one confectioner.

12 Ligni cotidiari pondo mille, si est copia, sin minus, quantum fuerit et ubi fuerit; coctilium cotidiana vatilla quattuor. 13 Balneatorem unum et ad balneas ligna, sin minus, lavetur in publico. 14 Iam cetera, quae propter minutias suas scribi nequeunt, pro moderatione praestabis, sed ita ut nihil adaeret, et si alicubi aliquid defuerit, noin praestetur nec in nummo exigatur.

12 Of wood for the quotidian use, one thousand pounds, if there is supply; if not, as much as there shall have been and where it shall have been; of cooked provisions daily, four little pans. 13 One bath-attendant and wood for the baths; if not, let him bathe in public. 14 Now the rest, which on account of their minutiae cannot be written down, you will furnish with moderation, but in such a way that nothing be tacked on; and if anywhere something shall have been lacking, let it not be furnished nor exacted in coin.

15 Haec autem omnia idcirco specialiter non quasi tribuno sed quasi duci detuli, quia vir talis est, ut ei plura etiam deferenda sint."

15 But all these things I have therefore submitted specifically not as for a tribune but as for a commander, because he is such a man that more ought even to be entrusted to him."

XV. 1 Item ex epistola eiusdem alia inter cetera ad Ablavium Murenam praef. Praetori : "Desine autem conqueri, quod adhuc Claudius est tribunus nec exercitus ducis loco accipit, unde etiam senatum et populum conqueri iactabas. 2 Dux factus est et dux totius Illyrici.

15. 1 Likewise, from a letter of the same man, another item among other things to Ablavius Murena, Praetorian Prefect : "But cease to complain that Claudius is still a tribune and that the army does not receive him in the place of a general, on account of which you were even boasting that the senate and the people complain. 2 He has been made a general, and a general of all Illyricum.

Habet in potestatem Thracios, Moesos, Dalmatas, Pannonios, Dacos exercitus. 3 Vir ille summus nostro quoque iudicio speret consulatum e[s]t, si eius animo commodum est, quando voluerit, [accipiat] praetorianam accipiat praefecturam. 4 Sane scias tantum ei a nobis decretum salarii, quantum habet Aegypti praefectura, tantum vestium, quantum proconsulatui Africano detulimus, tantum argenti, quantum accipit curator Illyrici metallarius, tantum ministeriorum, quantum nos ipsi nobnis per singulas quasque decernimus civitates, ut intellegant omnes, quae sit nostra de viro tali sententia".

He has in his power the Thracian, Moesian, Dalmatian, Pannonian, Dacian armies. 3 That foremost man, also in our judgment, may hope for the consulship, and, if it is suitable to his mind, whenever he wishes, let him accept the Praetorian Prefecture. 4 Be it known to you that so much salary has been decreed by us for him as the Prefecture of Egypt has; as much clothing as we have conferred upon the African Proconsulate; as much silver-plate as the Curator of the Illyricum mines receives; as many services/attendants as we ourselves decree for ourselves for each and every city, so that all may understand what our opinion is concerning such a man.

XVI. 1 Item epistola Decii de eodem Claudio. "Decius Messalae praesidi Archaiae salutem." Inter cetera : "Tribunum vero nostrum Claudium, optimum iuvenem, fortissimum militem, constantissimum civem, castris, senatui et rei p. necessarium, in Thermopylas ire praecipimus mandata eidem cura Peloponnensium, scientes neminem melius omnia, quae iniungimus, esse curaturum.

16. 1 Likewise an epistle of Decius about the same Claudius. "Decius to Messala, governor of Achaia, greeting." Among other things: "Our tribune Claudius, an excellent youth, a most valiant soldier, a most steadfast citizen, necessary to the camp, to the senate, and to the republic, we order to go to Thermopylae, entrusting to the same the care of the Peloponnesians, knowing that no one will better take care of all the things which we enjoin."

2 Huic ex regione Dardanica dabis milites ducentos, ex catafractariis centum, ex equitibnus sexginta, ex sagittariis Creticis sexaginta, ex tyronibus bene armatos mille. 3 Nam bene illi novi creduntur exercitus; neque enim illo quisquam devotior, fortior, gravior invenitur."

2 To him from the Dardanian region you will give two hundred soldiers, one hundred from the cataphracts, sixty from the horsemen, sixty from the Cretan archers, one thousand well-armed from the tyros. 3 For the new armies are well entrusted to that man; for no one is found more devoted, braver, more grave than he."

XVII. 1 Item epistola Gallieni, cum nuntiatum esset per frumentarios Claudium irasci, quod ille mollius viverete : 2 "Nihil me gravius accepit, quam quod notaria tua intimasti Claudium, parentem amicumque nostrum, insinuatis sibi falsis plerisque graviter irasci. 3 Quaeso igitur, mi Venuste, si mihi fidem exhibes, ut eum facias a Grato et Herenniano placari, nescientibus hoc militibus Dascianis, qui iam saeviunt, ne graviter rem ferant.

17. 1 Likewise a letter of Gallienus, when it had been reported through the frumentarii that Claudius was angry, because he was living more softly: 2 "Nothing has come upon me more grievously than what you intimated in your notarial note, that Claudius, our parent and friend, with many falsehoods insinuated to him, is grievously angry. 3 I therefore beg, my Venustus, if you show me fidelity, that you have him appeased by Gratus and Herennianus, with the Dacian soldiers not knowing this, who are already raging, lest they take the matter hard."

4 Ipse ad eum dona misi, quae ut libenter acipiat, tu facies. Curandum praeterea est, ne me hoc scire intellegat ac sibi suscensere iudicet et pro necessitate ultimum consilium capiat. 5 Misi autem ad eum pateras gemmatas trilibres duas, scyphos aureos gemmatos trilibres duos, discum corymbiatum argenteum librarum viginti, lancem argenteam pampinatam librarum triginta, paternam argenteam hederaciam librarum viginti et trium, boletar alieuticum argenteum librarum viginti, urceos duos auro inclusos, argenteos librarum sex et in vasis minoribus argenti libras viginti quinque, calices Aegyptios operisque diversi decem, 6 clamydes veri luminis limbatas duas, veste diversas sedecim, albam subsericam, paragaudem triuncem unam, zancas de nostris Parthicas paria tria, singiliones Dalmatenses decem, clamydem Dardanicam mantuelem unam, paenulam Illyricianam unam, bardocucullum unum, cucutia villosa duo, 7 oraria Sarabdena quattuor, aureos Valerianos centum quinquaginta, trientes Saloninianos trecentos."

4 I myself have sent gifts to him, which you will make sure that he receives gladly. It must further be taken care that he not realize that I know this and judge that I am incensed at him, and, from necessity, take a last counsel. 5 Moreover I sent to him two gemmed trilibral libation-bowls, two golden gemmed cups of three pounds each, a silver dish with corymbiate ornament of twenty pounds, a silver platter vine-tendril-adorned of thirty pounds, a silver patera with ivy-work of twenty-three pounds, a silver boletarium halieuticum of twenty pounds, two pitchers banded with gold, of silver, of six pounds, and in smaller vessels twenty-five pounds of silver; ten Egyptian cups and of diverse workmanship; 6 two cloaks of true luster with borders, sixteen garments of various kinds, a white sub-silk, one paragauda of three ounces, three pairs of our Parthian zancae, ten Dalmatian singiliones, one Dardanian chlamys with mantle, one Illyrian paenula, one bardocucullus, two shaggy cucutiae; 7 four Sarabdenian handkerchiefs, one hundred fifty Valerian aurei, three hundred Salonninian trientes.

XVIII. 1 Habuit et senatus iudicia, priusquam ad imperium perveniret, ingentia. Nam cum esset nuntiatum illum cum Marciano fortiter contra gentes in Illyrico dimicasse, adclamavit senatus : 2 "Claudi, dux fortissime, haveas!

18. 1 He also had the judgments of the senate, before he reached the imperium, immense. For when it was announced that he had fought bravely with Marcianus against the nations in Illyricum, the senate acclaimed : 2 "Claudius, most brave leader, hail!"

Virtutibus tuis, devotioni tuae! Claudio statuam omnes dicamus. Claudium consulem omnes cupimus.

To your virtues, to your devotion! Let us all decree a statue to Claudius. We all desire Claudius as consul.

3 Qui amat rem p., sic agit, qui amat principes, sic agit, antiqui milites sic egerunt. Felicem te, Claudi, iudicio principum, felicem te virtutibus tuis, consulem te, praefectum te. Vivas Valeri et ameris a principe." 4 Longum est tam multa, quam meruit vir ille, perscribere; unum tamen tacere non debeo, quod illum et senatus et populus et ante imperium et in imperio et post imperium sic dilexit, ut satis constet neque Traianum neque Antoninos neque quemquam alium principem sic amatum.

3 He who loves the republic, thus acts; he who loves princes, thus acts; the ancient soldiers acted thus. Fortunate you, Claudi, by the judgment of the princes; fortunate you by your virtues; you as consul, you as prefect. Live, Valeri, and be loved by the prince. 4 It is a long task to write out in full so many things as that man deserved; one thing, however, I ought not to keep silent: that both the senate and the people, both before the imperial power and in the imperial power and after the imperial power, loved him thus, so that it is well established that neither Trajan nor the Antonines nor any other prince was so loved.