Historia Augusta: Gallieni Duo

I. 1 Capto Valeriano, (enimvero unde incipienda est Gallieni vita, nisi ab eo praecipue malo, quo eius vita depr[a]essa est ?) nutante re. p., cum Odenatus iam orientis cepisset imperium, Gallienus comperta patris captivitate gauderet, vagabantur exercitus, mur --- duces, erat [omnium], --- maeror, [quod] --- imperator --- Roman i Persida serl tenetur --- ior omnium --- quod Gallienus na --- pater facto sic --- moribus re p. --- perdiderat. 2 Gallieno igitur et Volusiano conss. Macrianus et Ballista in unum coeunt, exercitus reliquias convocant et, cum Romanum in oriente nutaret imperium, quem facerent imperatorem, requirunt, Gallieno tam neglegenter se agente, ut eius ne mentio quidem apud exercitum fieret.

1. 1 With Valerian captured (indeed, whence is the life of Gallienus to be begun, unless from that chief evil by which his life was depressed?), with the republic wavering, since Odenathus had already seized the imperium of the East, Gallienus, on learning of his father’s captivity, rejoiced; the armies were wandering, the commanders were murmuring, --- there was [for all], --- grief, [because] --- the Roman emperor was being held in Persia in servile fashion --- the greater for all --- because Gallienus the so---n — the father having been thus by deed — by his morals had ruined the republic. 2 Therefore, with Gallienus and Volusianus consuls, Macrianus and Ballista come together into one, they summon the remnants of the army, and, as the Roman imperium in the East was tottering, they seek whom they should make emperor, Gallienus conducting himself so negligently that not even a mention of him was made among the army.

3 Placuit denique, ut Macrianum cum filiis suis imperatores dicerent ac rem p. defensandam capesseren --- sic igitur --- delatum est --- imperium --- Macriano --- 4 causae Macri<ano> --- imperandi cum filiis haec fuerunt : primum, quod nemo eo tempore sapientior ducum habebatur, nemo ad res regendas aptior; deinde ditissimus et qui privatis posset fortunis publica explere dispendia. 5 Huc accedebat quod liberi eius, fortissimi iuvenes, tota mente in bellum ruebant, ut essent legionibus exemplo ad omnia --- <milit>aria.

3 It pleased, finally, that they should proclaim Macrianus with his sons emperors and should undertake the defense of the commonwealth --- thus therefore --- the imperium --- was conferred --- upon Macrianus --- 4 the causes for Macri<anus> --- for exercising command with his sons were these: first, that at that time no one of the leaders was held wiser, no one more apt for managing affairs; next, he was very wealthy and one who could with private fortunes make good the public deficits. 5 To this there was added that his children, most brave youths, were rushing with their whole mind into war, so that they might be an example to the legions for all things --- <milit>ary.

II. 1 Ergo Ma --- undique auxilia --- petit occupa a se --- partibus, quas ipse --- posuerat ita --- imperium --- hoc bellum instuxit --- cum par esset omni --- quae contra eum poterant cogitari. 2 Idem Macrianus Pisonem, unum ex nobilibus ac principibus senatus, ad Achaiam destinavit ob hoc, ut Valentem, qui illic proconsulari imperio rem p. gubernabat, opprimeret. 3 Sed Valens comperto, quod Piso contra se veniret, sumpsit imperium.

2. 1 Therefore Ma --- sought aids from every side --- with the parts occupied by himself, which he himself --- had posted, in such a way --- the imperium --- he instucted/arrayed this war --- since he was a match for all --- which could be devised against him. 2 The same Macrianus assigned Piso, one of the nobles and leading men of the senate, to Achaia for this purpose: that he might crush Valens, who there was governing the republic with proconsular imperium. 3 But Valens, on learning that Piso was coming against him, assumed the imperium.

Piso igitur in Thessaliam se recepit. 4 Ubi missis a Valente militibus cum plurimis interfectus est, ipse quoque imperator appellatus cognomento Thessalicus. 5 <sed> Macrianus retento in oriente uno ex filiis, pacatis iam rebus Asiam primum venit, Illyricum petit.

Piso therefore withdrew into Thessaly. 4 Where, with soldiers sent by Valens, he was killed along with very many, he too having been called emperor with the by-name Thessalicus. 5 But Macrianus, with one of his sons kept back in the East, with affairs now pacified, first came to Asia, he makes for Illyricum.

6 In Illyrico cum Aureoli imperatoris, qui contra Gallienum imperium sumpserat, duce, Domitiano nomine, manum conseruit, unum ex filiis secum habens et triginta milia militum ducens. 7 Sed victus est Macrianus cum filio Macriano nomine deditusque omnis exercitus Aureolo imperatori.

6 In Illyricum, he joined battle with the general of the emperor Aureolus—who had assumed the imperium against Gallienus—by name Domitianus, having one of his sons with him and leading thirty thousand soldiers. 7 But Macrianus was defeated, together with his son by name Macrianus, and the whole army was surrendered to the emperor Aureolus.

III. 1 Turbata interim re p. toto penitus orbe terrarum, ubi Odenatus comperit Macrianum cum filio interemptum, regnare Aureolum, Gallienum remissius rem gerere, festinavit ad alterum filium Macriani cum exercitu, si hoc daret fortuna, capiendum. 2 Sed hi, qui erant cum filio Macriani, Quieto nomine, consentientis Odenato auctore praefecto Macriani Ballista iuvenem occiderunt missoque per murum corpore Odenato se omnes statim dedidereunt.

3. 1 Meanwhile, the republic being disturbed throughout the whole orb of lands, when Odenatus learned that Macrianus with his son had been slain, that Aureolus was reigning, that Gallienus was managing affairs more remissly, he hastened against the other son of Macrianus with an army, to be taken, if fortune would grant this. 2 But those who were with the son of Macrianus, by name Quietus, with Ballista, the prefect of Macrianus, as instigator, agreeing with Odenatus, killed the youth, and, the body having been sent over the wall, they all at once surrendered themselves to Odenatus.

3 Totius prope igitur orientis factus est Odenatus imperator, cum Illyricum teneret Aureolus, Romam Gallienus. 4 Idem Ballista multos Emisenos, ad quos confugerant Macriani milites, cum Quieto et Thesaurorum custode interfecit, ita ut civitas paene deleretur. 5 Odenatus inter haec, quasi Gallieni partes ageret, cuncta eidem nuntiari ex veritate faciebat.

3 Thus Odenatus became emperor of nearly the whole East, while Aureolus held Illyricum, Gallienus Rome. 4 That same Ballista killed many Emesenes, to whom the soldiers of the Macriani had fled for refuge, along with Quietus and the Keeper of the Treasuries, such that the city was almost obliterated. 5 Odenatus amid these things, as if he were acting on Gallienus’s side, had everything reported to that same man in truth.

6 Sed Gallienus cognito, quod Macrianus cum suis liberis esset occisus, quasi securus rerum ac patre iam recepto, libidini et voluptati se dedidit. 7 Ludos circenses ludosque scaenicos, ludos gymnicos, ludiariam etiam venationem et ludos gladiatorios dedit populumque quasi victorialibus diebus ad festivitatem ac plausum vocavit. 8 Et cum plerique patris eius captivitatem maererent, ille specie decoris, quod pater eius virtutis studio deceptus videretur, supra modum laetatus est.

6 But Gallienus, having learned that Macrianus with his sons had been slain, as if secure of affairs and with his father already recovered, gave himself over to libido and pleasure. 7 He gave circus games and scenic games, gymnic games, even a staged venation and gladiatorial games, and he summoned the people, as on days of victory, to festivity and applause. 8 And while very many were mourning his father’s captivity, he, under a show of decorum—because his father seemed to have been deceived by zeal for virtue—rejoiced beyond measure.

9 Constabat autem, censuram parentis eum ferre non potuisse, votivumque illi fuisse, quod inminentem cervicibus suis gravitatem patriam non haberet.

9 But it was agreed that he had been unable to bear the censure of his parent, and that it had been a votive wish for him that he should not have the paternal gravity impending over his neck.

IV. 1 Per idem tempus Aemilianus apud Aegyptum sumpsit imperium occupatisque horreis multa oppida malo famis pr[a]essit. 2 Sed hunc dux Gallieni Theodotus conflictu habito cepit atque imperatori --- u vivum transmisit. Aegypt{enim} --- data est --- (A)emiliano --- a --- strangu --- milites --- vitum est - -- ribus.

4. 1 At the same time Aemilianus near Egypt assumed imperium, and, the granaries having been seized, he pressed many towns with the evil of famine. 2 But Theodotus, a commander of Gallienus, after an engagement had, captured him and sent him alive to the emperor --- u. Aegypt{indeed} --- was given --- to (A)emilianus --- by --- strangu --- the soldiers --- was avoided - -- ribus.

3 Cum Gallienus in luxuria et inprobitate persisteret cumque ludibriis et helluationi vacaret neque aliter rem p. gereret, quam cum pueri fingunt per ludibria potestates, Galli, quibus insitum est leves ac degenerantes a virtute Romana et luxuriosos principes ferre non posse, Postumum ad imperium vocarunt, exercitibus quoque consentientibus, quod occupatum imperatorem libidinus querebantur. 4 Contra hunc <Gallienus> --- exercitum duxit cumque urbem, in qua<m> iverat --- Postumus, obsidere coepisset, <defen>dentibus Gallis, Gallienus muros circumiens sagitta ictus est. 5 Nam per annos septem Postumus imperavit et Gallias ab omnibus circumfluentibus barbaris validissime vindicavit.

3 While Gallienus persisted in luxury and improbity and devoted himself to mockeries and helluation, and managed the republic in no other way than as boys, in mock-play, fashion authorities, the Gauls—into whom it is inborn not to be able to endure princes who are flighty and degenerating from Roman virtue and luxurious—called Postumus to the imperium, with the armies too consenting, because they complained that the emperor was occupied with libidinous pursuits. 4 Against this man --- led an army, and when he had begun to besiege the city into which --- Postumus had gone, with the Gauls ding, Gallienus, going around the walls, was struck by an arrow. 5 For through seven years Postumus held the imperium and most powerfully vindicated the Gauls from all the barbarians overflowing around them.

6 His coactus malis Gallienus pacem cum Aure[li]olo facit oppugnandi Postumi studio longoque bello tracto per diversas obsidiones ac proelia rem modo feliciter modo infeliciter gerit. 7 Accesserat praeterea his malis, quod Scythae Bithyniam invaserant civitatesque deleverant. 8 Denique <Asta>con tum, quae Nicomedia postea dicta est, incensam graviter vastaverunt.

6 Compelled by these evils, Gallienus makes peace with Aureolus; and, in the zeal of assaulting Postumus, with a long war drawn out through various sieges and battles, he conducts the campaign now successfully, now unsuccessfully. 7 Moreover, to these evils there had been added that the Scythians had invaded Bithynia and had destroyed cities. 8 Finally, they burned and grievously laid waste Astacon, which afterward was called Nicomedia.

9 Denique quasi coniuratione totius mundi concussis orbis partibus etiam in Sicilia quasi quoddam servile bellum extitit latronibus evagantibus, qui vix oppressi sunt.

9 Finally, as if by a conjuration of the whole world, with the parts of the orb shaken, even in Sicily there arose, as it were, a certain servile war, with brigands roaming abroad, who were scarcely suppressed.

V. 1 Et haec omnia Gallieni contemptu fiebant; neque enim quicquam est ad audaciam malis, ad splendorem bonis promtius quam cum vel malus timetur vel dissolutus contemnitur imperator. 2 Gallieno et Faustiano conss. inter tot bellicas clades etiam terrae motus gravissimus fuit et tenebrae per multos , 3 auditum praeterea tonitruum terra mugiente, non Iove tonante, quo motu ipsae multae fabricae devoratae sunt cum habitatoribus, multi terrore emortui; quod quidem malum tristius in Asiae urbibus fuit.

5. 1 And all these things were happening through the contempt of Gallienus; for there is nothing more prompt to give audacity to the wicked and splendor to the good than when either a bad emperor is feared or a dissolute one is despised. 2 In the consulship of Gallienus and Faustianus, amid so many warlike disasters there was also a most severe earthquake and darkness for many days, 3 moreover thunder was heard, the earth bellowing—not Jove thundering—by which convulsion many structures themselves were swallowed up with their inhabitants, many expired from terror; and this evil was more grievous in the cities of Asia.

4 Mota est et Roma, mota Libya. Hiatus terrae plurimis in locis fuerunt, cum aqua salsa in fossis appareret. Maria etiam multas urbes occuparunt.

4 Rome too was shaken, Libya was shaken. Hiatuses of the earth were in very many places, when salty water appeared in the ditches. The seas also occupied many cities.

5 Pax igitur deum quaesita inspectis Sibyllae libris factumque Iovi Salutari, ut praeceptum fuerat, sacrificium. Nam et pestilentia tanta extiterat vel Romae vel in Achaicis urbibus, ut uno die quinque milia hominum pari morbo perirent. 6 Saeviente fortuna, cum hinc terrae motus, inde hiatus soli, ex diversis partibus pestilentia orbem Romanum vastaret, capto valeriano, Gallis parte maxima opsessis, cum bellum Odenatus inferret, cum Aureolus perurgeret --- cum Aemiliamus Aegyptum occupasset, Gothoru<m pars> --- a quo dictum est superius, Gothis inditum est, occupatis Thraciis Macedoniam vastaverunt, Thessalonicam obsederunt, neque usquam quies mediocriter sal[u]tem ostentata est.

5 Therefore the peace of the gods was sought, the Sibyl’s books having been inspected, and a sacrifice was made to Jupiter Salutaris, as had been prescribed. For so great a pestilence had arisen both at Rome and in the Achaic cities that in a single day five thousand men perished of the same disease. 6 With Fortune raging—when here earthquakes, there gaping openings of the soil, and pestilence from different quarters were devastating the Roman orb—Valerian having been captured, with Gaul for the most part besieged, while Odenatus was waging war, while Aureolus was pressing hard --- while Aemiliamus had seized Egypt, a part of the Goths — as was said above, the name “Goths” having been bestowed upon the Goths — with Thrace occupied, they laid waste Macedonia, they besieged Thessalonica, nor anywhere did even a moderate respite offer safety.

7 Quae omnia contemptu, ut saepius diximus, Gallieni fiebant, hominis luxuriosissimi et, si esset securus, ad omne dedecus paratissimi.

7 All these things, as we have said more often, were happening by the contempt of Gallienus, a most luxurious man and, if he were secure, most prepared for every disgrace.

VI. 1 Pugnatum est in Achaia Marciano duce contra eosdem Gothos, unde victi per Achaeos recesserunt. 2 Scythae autem, hoc est pars Gothorum, Asiam vastabant. Etiam templum Lunae ephesiae dispoliatum et incensum est, cuius operis fama satis nota populos.

6. 1 There was fighting in Achaia, with Marcianus as commander, against those same Goths, whence, defeated by the Achaeans, they withdrew. 2 But the Scythians—that is, a part of the Goths—were devastating Asia. Even the temple of Luna at Ephesus was despoiled and burned, the fame of whose work is quite well known among the peoples.

3 Pudet prodere, inter haec tempora, cum ista gererentur, quae saepe Gallienus malo generis humani quasi per iocum dixerit. 4 Nam cum ei nuntiatum esset Aegyptum descivisse, dixisse fertur : "Quid ? Sine lino Aegyptio esse non possumus ?" 5 Cum autem vastatam Asiam et elementorum concussionibus et Scytharum incursionibus comperisset : "Quid", inquit, "sine afronitris esse non possum ?" 6 Perdita Gallia risisse ac dixisse perhibetur : "Num Atrabaticis sagis tuta res p. est ?" 7 Sic denique de omnibus partibus mundi, cum eas amitteret, quasi detrimentis vilium ministeriorum videretur affici, iocabatur. 8 Ac ne quid mali deesset Gallieni temporibus, Byzantiorum civitas, clara navalibus bellis, claustrum Ponticum, per eiusdem Gallieni milites ita omnis vastata est, ut prorsus nemo superesset.

3 It shames me to disclose, amid these times, while those things were being done, the things which Gallienus often said, to the harm of the human race, as if by way of a joke. 4 For when it was announced to him that Egypt had revolted, he is reported to have said: "What? Can we not be without Egyptian linen?" 5 But when he learned that Asia had been ravaged both by convulsions of the elements and by Scythian incursions: "What," he says, "can I not be without African nitres?" 6 With Gaul lost he is said to have laughed and said: "Is the Republic safe by Atrabatian cloaks?" 7 Thus, finally, concerning all the parts of the world, as he was losing them, he would jest, as though he seemed to be affected by the losses of cheap menial services. 8 And lest anything of evil be lacking to the times of Gallienus, the city of the Byzantines, renowned for naval wars, the Pontic barrier, was by this same Gallienus’s soldiers so utterly ravaged that absolutely no one survived.

9 Denique nulla vetus familia apud Byzantios invenitur, nisi si aliquis peregrinatione vel militia occupatus evasit, qui antiquitatem generis nobilitatemque repraesentet.

9 Finally, no ancient family is found among the Byzantines, unless someone, occupied with peregrination or with military service, escaped, to represent the antiquity of his lineage and nobility.

VII. 1 Contra Postumum igitur Gallienus cum Aureolo et Claudio duce, qui postea imperium optinuit, principe generis Constanti Caesaris nostri, bellum iniit, et cum multis auxiliis Postumus iuvaretur Celticis atque Francicis, in bellum cum Victorino processit, cum quo imperium participaverat. Victrix Gallieni pars fuit pluribus proeliis eventuum variatione decursis.

7. 1 Therefore, against Postumus, Gallienus, with Aureolus and the leader Claudius, who afterwards obtained the imperium, a prince of the lineage of our Caesar Constantius, entered upon war; and since Postumus was aided by many auxiliaries, Celtic and Frankish, he proceeded into war with Victorinus, with whom he had shared the imperium. Gallienus’s side was the victor, after several battles had run their course with a variation of outcomes.

2 Erat in Gallieno subitae virtutis audacia, nam aliquando iniuriis graviter movebatur. Denique ad vindictam Byzantiorum processit et, cum non putaret recipi se posse muris, receptus alia die omnes milites inermes armatorum corona circumdatos interemit fracto foedere, quod promiserat. 3 Per eadem tempora etiam Scythae in Asia Romanorum ducum virtute ac ductu vastati ad propria recesserunt.

2 There was in Gallienus an audacity of sudden virtue, for at times he was gravely moved by injuries. Accordingly he advanced to take vengeance on the Byzantines and, though he did not think he could be received within the walls, having been received on the next day he slew all the soldiers, unarmed and surrounded by a ring of armed men, breaking the pact which he had promised. Through the same period the Scythians too, in Asia, ravaged by the virtue and leadership of the Roman commanders, withdrew to their own homes.

4 Interfectis sane militibus apud Byzantium Gallienus, quasi magnum aliquid gessisset, Romam cursu rapido convolavit convocatisque patribus decennia celebravit novo genere ludorum, nova specie pomparum, exquisito genere voluptatum.

4 With the soldiers indeed slain at Byzantium, Gallienus, as though he had accomplished something great, sped to Rome at a rapid pace; and, the senators having been called together, he celebrated the decennia with a new kind of games, a new species of pomps, and an exquisite kind of pleasures.

VIII. 1 Iam primum inter togatos patres et equestrem ordinem albato[s] milite[s] et omni populo praeeunte, servis etiam prope omnium et mulieribus cum cereis facibus lampadis praecedentibus Capitolium petit. 2 Praecesserunt etiam altrinsecus centeni albi boves cornuis auro iugatis et dorsualibus sericis discoloribus praefulgentes; 3 agnae candentes ab utraque parte ducentae praecesserunt et decem elefanti, qui tunc erant Romae, mille ducenti gladiores pompabiliter ornati cum auratis vestibus matronarum, mansu[a]etae ferae diversi generis ducentae ornatu quam maximo affectae, carpenta cum mimis et omni genere histrionum, pugilles flacculis, non veritate pugillantes.

8. 1 Now first, among the toga-clad fathers and the equestrian order, with white-clad soldiers and all the people leading the way, with even the slaves of almost everyone and women going before with waxen torches, torch-lamps, he made for the Capitol. 2 There also went before, on either side, a hundred white oxen, their horns yoked with gold and gleaming with variegated silk backcloths; 3 dazzling-white ewes, two hundred on each side, went before; and ten elephants, which were then at Rome; one thousand two hundred gladiators, ornamented for pomp; matrons with gilded garments; two hundred tamed wild beasts of different kinds, invested with the greatest adornment; carriages with mimes and every kind of stage-players; boxers with little pads, not boxing in reality.

Cyclopea etiam luserunt omnes apenarii, ita ut miranda quaedam et stupenda monstrarent. 4 Omnes viae ludis strepituque et plausibus personabant. 5 Ipse medius cum picta toga et tunica palmata inter patres, ut diximus, omnibus sacerdotibus praetextatis Capitolium petit.

Cyclopean feats too were played by all the ape-handlers, so that they displayed certain things marvelous and astounding. 4 All the streets resounded with shows and with din and with applause. 5 He himself, in the midst, with a painted toga and a palm-embroidered tunic, among the fathers, as we said, with all the priests wearing the praetexta, makes for the Capitol.

6 Hastae auratae altrinsecus quingenae, vexilla centena praeter ea, quae collegiorum erant, dracones et signa templorum omniumque legionum ibant. 7 Ibant praeterea gentes simulatae, ut Gothi, Sarmatae, Franci, Persae, ita ut non minus quam duceni globis singulis ducerentur.

6 Gilded spears, five hundred on either side; a hundred vexilla, in addition to those which belonged to the collegia; dragon-standards and the ensigns of the temples and of all the legions, went. 7 Moreover there went peoples in imitation, such as Goths, Sarmatians, Franks, Persians, so that not less than two hundred were led in each company.

IX. 1 Hac pompa homo ineptus eludere se credidit populum Romanum, sed, ut sunt Romanorum facetiae, alius Postumo favebat, alius Regiliano, alius Aureolo aut Aemiliano, alius Saturnino, nam et ipse iam imperare dicebatur. 2 Inter haec ingens querella de patre, quem inultum filius liquerat, et quem externi utcumque vindicaverant. 3 Nec tamen Gallienus ad talia movebatur obstupefacto voluptatibus corde sed ab his, qui circum eum erant, requirebat : "Ecquid habemus in prandio ? Ecquae voluptates paratae sunt?

9. 1 With this pomp the inept man believed he was making sport of the Roman people, but, as are the witticisms of the Romans, one favored Postumus, another Regalianus, another Aureolus or Aemilianus, another Saturninus, for he too was already said to be ruling. 2 Meanwhile there was a huge querella about the father, whom the son had left unavenged, and whom outsiders had avenged somehow. 3 Nor, however, was Gallienus moved by such things, his heart stupified by pleasures, but he was asking of those who were around him: "Have we anything for luncheon? What pleasures are prepared?"

Et qualis cras erit scaena qualesque circenses ?" 4 Sic confecto itinere celebratisque hecatombiis ad domum regiam redit conviviisque et epulis decursis alios dies voluptatibus publicis deputabat. 5 Praetereundum non est haud ignobile facetiarum genus. Nam cum grex Persarum quasi captivorum per pompam - rem ridiculam - duceretur, quidam scurrae miscuerunt se Persis, diligentissime scrutantes omnia atque unius cuiusque vultum mira inhiatione rimantes.

"And what kind of stage will there be tomorrow, and what kind of circus-games ?" 4 Thus, the journey having been completed and the hecatombs celebrated, he returns to the royal house, and when the banquets and feasts had run their course, he would assign other days to public pleasures. 5 A not undistinguished kind of witticisms is not to be passed over. For when a troupe of Persians, as if captives, was being led through the procession - a ridiculous thing - certain buffoons mingled themselves with the Persians, most diligently scrutinizing everything and prying into each and every man’s face with marvelous gaping.

6 A quibus cum quaereretur, quidnam ageret illa insolentia, illi responderunt : "Patrem principis quaerimus." 7 Quod cum ad Gallienum pervenisset, non pudore, non maerore, non pietate commotus est scurrasque iussit vivos exuri. 8 Quod populus factum tristius, quam quisquam aestimat, tulit, milites vero ita doluerunt, ut non multo post vicem redderent.

6 When it was asked of them what that insolence was doing, they answered : "We are seeking the emperor’s father." 7 When this had reached Gallienus, he was moved neither by shame, nor by mourning, nor by piety, and he ordered the jesters to be burned alive. 8 The people endured the deed more sadly than anyone estimates, and the soldiers, indeed, were so pained that not long afterward they requited it in kind.

X. 1 Gallieno et Saturnino conss. Odenatus rex Palmyrenorum optinuit totius orientis imperium, idcirco praecipue, quod se fortibus factis dignum tantae maiestatis infulis declaravit, Gellieno aut nullas aut luxuriosas aut ineptas res agente. 2 Denique statim bellum Persis in vindictam Valeriani, quam eius filius neglegebat, indixit.

10. 1 In the consulship of Gallienus and Saturninus, Odenatus, king of the Palmyrenes, obtained the imperium of the whole Orient, chiefly for this reason: that by brave deeds he declared himself worthy of the insignia of so great majesty, while Gallienus was doing either nothing, or else things luxurious or inept. 2 Finally, he immediately declared war on the Persians in vindication of Valerian, which his son was neglecting.

3 Nisibin et Carras statim occupat tradentibus sese Nisibenis atque Carrenis et increpantibus Gallienum. 4 Nec defuit tamen reverentia Odenati circa Gallienum; nam captos satrapas insultandi prope gratia et ostentandi sui ad eum misit. 5 Qui cum Romam deducti essent, vincente Odenato triumphavit Gallienus nulla mentione patris facta, quem ne inter deos quidem nisi coactus rettulit, cum mortuum audisset, sed adhuc viventem, nam de illius morte falso compererat.

3 He immediately seizes Nisibis and Carrhae, the Nisibenes and the Carrhenes surrendering themselves and reproaching Gallienus. 4 Nor, however, was reverence on the part of Odenatus toward Gallienus lacking; for he sent the captured satraps to him almost for the sake of insulting and of his own ostentation. 5 And when they had been led to Rome, with Odenatus the victor, Gallienus celebrated a triumph, with no mention made of his father, whom he did not even enroll among the gods except when compelled—when he had heard that he was dead, though he was still living—for he had learned falsely about his death.

6 Odenatus autem Ctesifontem Parthorum multitudinem obsedit vastatisque circum omnibus locis innumeros homines interemit. 7 Sed cum satrapae omnes ex omnibus regionibus illuc defensionis communis gratia convolassent, fuerunt longa et varia proelia, longior tamen Romana victoria. 8 Et cum nihil aliud ageret nisi ut Valerianum Odenatus liberaret, instabat cottidie, ac locorum difficultatibus in alieno solo imperator optimus laborabat.

6 Odenatus, moreover, besieged Ctesiphon, the multitude of the Parthians, and with all the places around laid waste he slew innumerable men. 7 But when all the satraps from all the regions had flocked there for the sake of common defense, there were long and varied battles, yet the Roman victory was more prolonged. 8 And as he did nothing else except that Odenatus might free Valerian, he pressed on daily, and on alien soil, amid the difficulties of the places, the best commander labored.

XI. 1 Dum haec apud Persas geruntur, Scythae in Cappadociam pervaserunt. Illic captis bello etiam vario diu acto se ad Bithyniam contulerunt. 2 Quare milites iterum de novo imperatore faciendo cogitarunt.

11. 1 While these things are being done among the Persians, the Scythians penetrated into Cappadocia. There, having taken captives in war, and after a campaign also of varied character waged for a long time, they betook themselves to Bithynia. 2 Therefore the soldiers again considered the making of a new emperor.

Quos omnes Gallienus more suo, cum placare atque ad gratiam suam reducere non posset, occidit. 3 Cum tamen sibi milites dignum principem quaererent, Gallienus apud Athenas archon erat, id est summus magistratus, vanitate illa, qua et civis adscribi desiderabat et sacris omnibus interesse. 4 Quod neque Hadrianus in summa felicitate neque Antoninus in adulta fecerat pace, cum tanto studio Graecarum ducti sint litterarum, ut raro aliquibus doctissimis magnorum arbitrio cesserint virorum.

All of whom Gallienus, in his customary manner, when he could not appease them and bring them back into his favor, killed. 3 Yet while the soldiers were seeking for themselves a prince worthy of the principate, Gallienus was at Athens archon, that is, the highest magistrate, with that vanity by which he also desired to be enrolled as a citizen and to take part in all the sacred rites. 4 Which neither Hadrian, in the height of felicity, nor Antoninus, in mature peace, had done, though they were led by so great a zeal for Greek letters that, in the judgment of great men, they would rarely have yielded to any most learned men.

5 Areopagitarum praeterea cupiebat ingeri numero contempta prope re p. 6 Fuit enim Gallienus, quod negari non potest, oratione, poemate atque omnibus artibus clarus. 7 Huius illud est epitalamion, quod inter centum poetas praecipuum fuit. Nam cum fratrum suorum filios iungeret <et> omnes poetes Graeci Latinique epithalamia dixissent, idque per dies plurimos, ille, cum manus sponsorum teneret, ut quidam dicunt, saepius ita dixisse fertur :

5 Besides, he desired to insert himself into the number of the Areopagites, with the commonwealth almost despised. 6 For Gallienus was, which cannot be denied, renowned in oratory, in poem, and in all the arts. 7 That epithalamion is his which was preeminent among a hundred poets. For when he was joining in marriage the sons of his brothers, and <et> all the Greek and Latin poets had spoken epithalamia, and that for very many days, he, while he held the hands of the betrothed, as some say, is reported to have said more than once thus:

8 Ite, agite, o pueri, pariter sudate medullis
omnibus inter vos, non mumura vestra columbae,
brachia non hederae, non vincant oscula conchae.

8 Go, come on, O boys, sweat together to the marrow among yourselves;
let not the murmurs of your dove,
nor the arms of ivy, nor the kisses of the shell, vanquish your own.

9 Longum est eius versus orationesque conectere, quibus suo tempore tam inter poetas quam inter rhetores emicuit. Sed aliud in imperatore quaeritur, aliud in oratore vel poeta flagitatur.

9 It is a long task to string together his verses and orations, by which in his time he shone forth both among poets and among rhetoricians. But one thing is sought in an emperor, another is demanded in an orator or a poet.

XII. 1 Laudatur sqane eius optimum factum; nam consulatu Valeriani fratris sui et Lucilli propinqui ubi comperit ab Odenato Persas vastatos, redactam Nisibin et Carras in potestatem Romanam, omnem Mesopotamiam nostram, denique Ctesifontem esse perventum, fugisse regem, captos satrapas, plurimos Persarum occisos, Odenatum participato imperio Augustum vocavit eiusque monetam, qua Persas captos traheret, cudi iussit. Quod et senatus et urbs et omnis aetas gratanter accepit.

12. 1 His best deed is indeed praised; for, in the consulship of Valerian his brother and of Lucillus his kinsman, when he learned that by Odenatus the Persians had been laid waste, that Nisibis and Carrhae had been brought back into Roman power, that all our Mesopotamia, finally that Ctesiphon had been reached, that the king had fled, the satraps were captured, very many of the Persians slain, he styled Odenatus Augustus, with the imperium shared, and ordered his coinage, on which he would drag the captured Persians, to be struck. Which both the senate and the city and every age received gladly.

2 Fuit praeterea idem ingeniosissimus, cuius ostendendi acumin[h]is scilicet pauca libet ponere : 3 nam cum taurum ingentem in harenam misisset exissetque ad eum feriendum venator neque productum decies potuisset occidere, coronam venatori misit, 4 mussantibusque cunctis, quid rei esset, quod homo ineptissimus coronaretur, ille per curionem dici iussit : 5 "Taurum totiens non ferire difficile est." Idem, cum quidam gemmas vitreas pro v[it]eris vendidisset eius uxori atque illa re prodita vindicari vellet, subripi quasi ad leonem venditorem iuissit, deinde e cavea caponem emitti, mirantibusque cunctis rem tam ridiculam per curionem dici iussit : "Inposturam fecit et passus est." Deinde negotiatorem demisit. 6 Occupato tamen Odenato bello Persico, Gallieno rebus ineptissimis, ut solebat, incubante Scythae navibus factis Heracleam pervenerunt atque inde cxum praeda in solum proprium reverterunt, quamvis multi naufragio perierint navali bello superati [sint].

2 Moreover, he was likewise most ingenious, of whose display of acumen, to be sure, I am pleased to set down a few things: 3 for when he had sent a huge bull into the arena, and a huntsman had gone out to strike it and, though it was produced ten times, had not been able to kill it, he sent a crown to the huntsman, 4 and as all were muttering, what the matter was, that a most inept man was being crowned, he ordered it to be announced by the curator: 5 "To fail to strike the bull so many times is difficult." The same man, when someone had sold glass gems as if genuine to his wife, and when the matter having been discovered she wished to exact vengeance, ordered the seller to be snatched away as if to the lion, then ordered a capon to be let out from the cage; and as all were marveling at so ridiculous a thing, he ordered it to be said by the curator: "He played an imposture and has suffered one." Then he dismissed the dealer. 6 However, with Odaenathus occupied in the Persian war, while Gallienus, as he was wont, was brooding over most inept affairs, the Scythians, ships having been made, reached Heraclea and from there returned into their own soil with booty, although many perished by shipwreck, having been overcome in a naval battle.

XIII. 1 Per idem tempus Odenatus insidiis consobrini sui interemptus est cum filio Herode, quem et ipsum imperatorem appellaverat. 2 Cum Zenobia, uxor eius, quod parvuli essent filii eius, qui supererant, Herennianus et Timolaus, ipsa suscepit imperium diuque rexit, non muliebriter neque more femineo, 3 sed non solum Gallieno, quo quae virgo melius imperare potuisset, verum etiam multis imperatoribus fortius atque solertius.

13. 1 At the same time Odenatus was slain by the ambushes of his cousin, together with his son Herodes, whom he too had called emperor. 2 Then Zenobia, his wife, because his sons who survived, Herennianus and Timolaus, were little children, herself took up the imperium and for a long time ruled, not womanishly nor in a feminine manner, 3 but more bravely and more adroitly not only than Gallienus—under whom even a maiden could have ruled better—but indeed than many emperors.

4 Gallienus sanme, ubi ei nuntiatum Odenatum interemptum, bellum Persis ad seram nimis vindictam patris paravit collectisque per Heraclianum ducem militibus sollertis principis rem gerebat. 5 Qui tamen Heraclianus, cum contra Persas profectus esset, a Palmyrenis victus omnes, quos paraverat, milites perdidit, Zenobia Palmyrenis et orientalibus plerisque viriliter imperante. 6 Inter haec Scythae per Euxinum navigantes Histrum ingressi multa gravia in solo Romano fecerunt.

4 Gallienus, indeed, when it was announced to him that Odenatus had been slain, prepared war against the Persians for a vengeance upon his father that was far too late; and, with troops gathered by the general Heraclianus, he was conducting the affair as a shrewd prince. 5 This same Heraclianus, however, when he had set out against the Persians, being defeated by the Palmyrenes, lost all the soldiers whom he had mustered, Zenobia manfully commanding the Palmyrenes and most of the Orientals. 6 Meanwhile the Scythians, sailing through the Euxine, having entered the Danube, wrought many grievous things on Roman soil.

Quibus compertis Gallienus Cleodamum et Athenaeum Byzantios instaurandis urbibus muniendisque praefecit, pugnatumque est circa Pontum, et a Byzantiis ducibus victi sunt barbari. 7 Veneriano item duce navali bello Gothi superati sunt, cum ipse Veneriaqnus militari perit morte. 8 Atque inde Cyzicum et Asiam, deinceps Achaiam omnem vastarunt et ab Atheniensibus duce Dexippo, scriptore horum temporum, victi sunt.

On learning these things, Gallienus put Cleodamus and Athenæus, Byzantines, in charge of restoring and fortifying the cities, and there was fighting around the Pontus, and the barbarians were defeated by the Byzantine leaders. 7 Likewise, with Venerianus as commander, in a naval war the Goths were overcome, although Venerianus himself perished by a soldier’s death. 8 And from there they laid waste Cyzicus and Asia, then all Achaia, and were defeated by the Athenians under the leader Dexippus, a writer of these times.

Unde pulsi per Epirum, Macedoniam, Moesiam pervagati sunt. 9 Gallienus interea vix excitatus publicis malis Gothis vagantibus per Illyricum occurrit et fortuito plurimos interemit. Quo comperto Scyhtae facta carragine per montem Gessacem fugere sunt conati.

Whence driven back, they ranged through Epirus, Macedonia, and Moesia. 9 Gallienus meanwhile, scarcely roused by the public calamities, with the Goths wandering through Illyricum, met them and in a fortuitous encounter slew very many. When this was learned, the Scythians, having made a wagon-fort, tried to flee over Mount Gessacus.

10 Omnes inde Scythas Marcianus varia bellorum fortuna --- quae omnes Scythas ad rebellionem excitarunt.

10 From there Marcianus, with the varied fortune of wars, --- which things excited all the Scythians to rebellion.

XIV. 1 Et haec quidem Heracliani ducis erga rem p. devotio fuit. Verum cum Gallieni tantam improbitatem ferre non possent, consilium inierunt Marcianus et Heraclianus, ut alter eorum imperium caperet --- 2 et Claudius quidem, ut suo dicemus loco, vir omnium optimum, electus est, qui consilio non adfuerat, eaqu[a]e apud cunctos reverentia, ut iuste dignus videretur imperio, quemadmodum postea conprobatum est.

14. 1 And this indeed was the devotion of the general Heraclianus toward the commonwealth. But when they could not endure such improbity of Gallienus, Marcianus and Heraclianus formed a plan that one of them should seize the imperium --- 2 and Claudius indeed, as we shall say in his proper place, the best man of all, was chosen, who had not been present at the council, and had among all such reverence that he seemed justly worthy of the imperium, as afterward was proven.

3 Is enim est Claudius, a quo Constantius, vigilissimus Caesar, originem ducit. 4 Fuit isdem socius in appetendo imperio quidam Ceronius sive Cecropius, dux Dalmatarum, qui eos et urbanissime et prudentissime adiuvit. 5 Sed cum imperium capere vivo Gallieno non possent, huius modi eum insidiis adpetendum esse duxerunt, ut labem inprobissimam malis fessa re p. a gubernaculis humani generis dimoverent, ne diutius theatro et circo addicta res p. per voluptatum deperiret inlecebras.

3 For this is Claudius, from whom Constantius, a most vigilant Caesar, derives his origin. 4 There was likewise as an associate in aiming at the imperial power a certain Ceronius or Cecropius, leader of the Dalmatians, who aided them with the utmost urbanity and with the utmost prudence. 5 But since they could not seize the imperial power while Gallienus lived, they judged that he must be assailed by ambushes of this sort, so that they might remove from the helm of the human race the most depraved blot, the commonwealth wearied by evils, lest the commonwealth, addicted to the theater and the circus, should any longer perish through the enticements of pleasures.

6 Insidiarum genus fuit tale : Gallienus ab Aureolo, qui principatum invaserat, dissidebat, sperans cotidie gravem et intolerabilem tumultuarii imperatoris adventum. 7 Hoc scientes Marcianus et Cecropius subito Gallieno iusserant nutiari Aureolum iam venire. 8 Ille igitur militibus cogitatis quasi certumprocessit ad proelium atque ita missis percussoribus interemptus est.

6 The kind of ambush was such : Gallienus was at odds with Aureolus, who had invaded the principate, expecting daily the grave and intolerable arrival of the tumultuary emperor. 7 Knowing this, Marcianus and Cecropius suddenly had it announced to Gallienus that Aureolus was already coming. 8 He therefore, with the soldiers having been gathered, advanced to battle as if for a sure fight, and thus, assassins having been sent, was slain.

9 Et quidem Cecropii Dalmatarum ducis <gladio> Gallienus dicitur esse percussus, ut quidam ferunt, circa Mediolanium, ubi continuo et frater eius Vlaerianus est interemptus, quem multi Augustum, multi Caesarem, multi neutrum fuisse dicunt. 10 Quod veri simile non est, si quidem capto iam Valeriano scriptum invenimus in fastis : "Valeriano imperatore consule". Quis igitur alius potuit esse Valerianus nisi Gallieni frater ? 11 Constat de genere, non satis tamen cosntat de dignitate vel, ut coeperunt alii loqui, de maiestate.

9 And indeed Gallienus is said to have been struck by the <gladio> of Cecropius, commander of the Dalmatians, as some report, around Mediolanum, where immediately also his brother Valerianus was slain, whom many say was an Augustus, many a Caesar, many say neither. 10 Which is not very likely, since, with Valerian already captured, we find written in the fasti : "Valerianus, emperor, consul." Who, then, could Valerianus have been other than the brother of Gallienus? 11 It is agreed about the lineage, yet it is not sufficiently agreed about the dignity, or, as others have begun to speak, about the majesty.

XV. 1 Occiso igitur Gallieno seditio ingens militum fuit, cum spe praedae ac publicae vastationis imperatorem sibi utilem, necessarium, fortem, efficacem ad invidiam faciendam dicerent raptum. 2 Quare consilium principum fuit, ut milites eius quo solent placari genere sedarentur. Promissis itaque per Marciuanum aureis vicenis et acceptis - nam praesto erat thesaurorum copia - Gallienum tyrannum militari iudicio in fastos publicos rettulerunt.

15. 1 With Gallienus slain, therefore, there was a huge sedition of the soldiers, since, with hope of booty and of public devastation, they said that an emperor useful and necessary to themselves, brave, effective—so as to create invidia—had been snatched away. 2 Wherefore the counsel of the chiefs was that his soldiers should be quieted by the kind of thing by which they are accustomed to be appeased. And so, with twenty aurei apiece promised by Marcianus and received—for a supply of treasuries was at hand—they entered Gallienus as a tyrant, by military judgment, into the public fasti.

3 Sic militibus sedatis Claudius, vir sanctus ac iure venerabilis et bonis omnibus carus, amicus patriae, amicus legibus, accpetus senatui, populo bene cognitus accepit imperium.

3 Thus, the soldiers having been calmed, Claudius, a holy man and by right venerable and dear to all good men, a friend to the fatherland, a friend to the laws, acceptable to the senate, well known to the people, received the imperial power.

XVI. 1 Haec vita Gallieni fuit, breviter a me litteris intimata, qui natus abdomini et voluptatibus dies ac noctes vino et stupris perdidit, orbem terrarum viginti prope tyrannos vastari fecit, ita ut etiam mulieres illo melius imperarent. 2 Ac ne eius praetereatur miseranda solertia, veris tempore cubicula de rosis fecit.

16. 1 Such was the life of Gallienus, briefly intimated by me in writing, who, born for his abdomen and pleasures, wasted days and nights on wine and debaucheries, caused the orb of the lands to be laid waste by nearly twenty tyrants, such that even women ruled better than he. 2 And lest his pitiable cleverness be passed over, in the time of spring he made bedchambers out of roses.

Hieme summa melones exhibuit. Mustum quem ad modum toto anno haberetur, docuit. Ficos virides et poma ex arboribus recentia semper alienis mensibus praebuit.

In the dead of winter he exhibited melons. He taught how must could be kept through the whole year. He provided green figs and fruits fresh from the trees always in months not their own.

3 Mantelibus aureis semper stravit. Gemmata vasa fecit eademque aurea. 4 Crinibus suis auri scobem aspersit.

3 He always spread with golden tablecloths. He made gemmed vessels, and these same were of gold. 4 He sprinkled his own hair with filings of gold.

Radiatussaepe processit. Cum clamyde purpurea gemmatisque fibulis et aureis Romae visus est, ubi semper togati principes videbantur. Purpuream tunicam auratamque virilem eandemque manicatam habuit.

He often went forth radiate. He was seen at Rome with a purple chlamys and gem-studded and golden fibulae, where princes were always seen toga-clad. He had a purple tunic and a gilded tunic of the virile kind, and that same garment sleeved.

Gemmato balt[h]eo usus est. Corrigias gemmeas adnexuit, cum campagos reticulos appellaret. 5 Convivatus in publico est.

He used a gemmed baldric. He annexed gemmed straps, as he called the campagi “little nets.” 5 He feasted in public.

6 Congiariis populum mollivit. Senatui sportulam sedens erogavit. Matronas ad consilium suum rogavit isdemque manum sibi osculantibus quaternos aureos sui nominis dedit.

6 He softened the people with congiaries. To the senate he distributed the sportula while seated. He invited the matrons to his council, and as these same kissed his hand he gave to each four aurei of his own name.

XVII. 1 Ubi de Valeriano patre comperit quod captus esset, id quod philosophorum optimus de filio amisso, dixisse fertur : "Sciebam me genuisse mortalem". [Nec defuit an ille sic dixit : "Sciebam patrem meum esse mortalem".] 2 Nec defuit Annius Cornicula, qui eum quasi constantem principem falsus sua voce laudaret. [Peior tamen ille qui credidit.] 3 Saepe ad tibicinem processit, ad organum se recepit, cum processui et recessui cani iuberet.

17. 1 When he learned about his father Valerian that he had been captured, he is said to have spoken that which the best of the philosophers said about a son lost : "I knew that I had begotten a mortal." [Nor was the report lacking that he said thus : "I knew that my father was mortal."] 2 Nor was Annius Cornicula lacking, who with his own lying voice would laud him as though a constant princeps. [Worse, however, was he who believed.] 3 Often he proceeded to the piper, he retired to the organ, when he ordered for his procession and recession to be played.

4 Lavit ad diem septimo aestate vel sexto, hieme secundo vel tertio. 5 Bibit in aureis semper poculis aspernatus vitrum, ita ut diceret nil esse communius. 6 Semper vina variavit neque umquam in uno convivio ex uno vino duo pocula bibit.

4 He bathed by day at the seventh hour in summer or the sixth, in winter at the second or third. 5 He drank always in golden cups, spurning glass, to such an extent that he said nothing was more common. 6 He always varied the wines, and never in a single banquet did he drink two cups from one wine.

7 Concubinae in eius tricliniis saepe accubuerunt. Mensam secundam scurrarum et mimorum semper prope habuit. 8 Cum iret ad hortos nominis sui, omnia palatina officia sequebantur.

7 Concubines often reclined in his dining rooms. He always had a second table for buffoons and mimes close by. 8 When he went to the gardens bearing his name, all the palatine offices followed.

Ibant et praefecti et magistri officiorum omnium adhibebanturque conviviis et natationibus lavabant simul cum principe. 9 Admittebantur saepe etiam mulieres, cum ipso pulchrae puellae, cum illis anus deformes. Et iocari se dicebat, cum orbem terrarum undique perdidisset.

Both the prefects went, and the masters of all the offices were invited to banquets and to swimming, and they bathed together with the princeps. 9 Women too were often admitted, with himself comely girls, with them misshapen old women. And he used to say that he was joking, since he had lost the whole world on every side.

XVIII. 1 Fuit tamen nimiae crudelitatis in milites, nam et terna milia et quaterna militum singulis diebus occidit. 2 Statuam sibi maiorem colosso fieri praecepit Solis habitu, sed ea inperfecta perit.

18. 1 He was, however, of excessive cruelty toward the soldiers, for on certain days he killed three thousand and on others four thousand soldiers. 2 He ordered a statue of himself to be made greater than the Colossus, in the guise of the Sun, but it perished unfinished.

Tam magna denique coeperat fieri, ut duplex ad colossum videretur. 3 Poni autem illam voluerat in summo Esquiliarum monte, ita ut hastam teneret, per cuius scapum infans ad summum posset ascendere. 4 Sed et Claudio et Aureliano deinceps stulta res vita est, si quidem etiam equos et currum fieri iusserat pro qualitate statuae atque in altissima base poni.

So great, finally, had it begun to be made, that in relation to the Colossus it seemed double. 3 Moreover, he had wanted it to be set on the top of the Esquiline Hill, in such a way that it would hold a spear, along whose shaft a child could climb to the very top. 4 But both to Claudius and thereafter to Aurelian the thing seemed foolish, since indeed he had even ordered horses and a chariot to be made proportionate to the statue and to be placed on a most lofty base.

5 Porticum Flam[m]iniam usque ad pontem Molvium et ipse paraverat ducere, ita ut tetratichae fierent, ut autem alii dicunt, pentastichae, ita ut primus ordo pilas haberet et ante se columnas cum statuis, secundus et tertius et deinceps ®dia tessarov¯ columnas. 6 Longum est eius cuncta in litteras mittere, quae qui volet scire, legat Palfurium Suram, qui ephemeridas eius vitae composuit. Nos ad Saloninum revertamur.

5 He himself had prepared to extend the Flaminian Portico as far as the Milvian Bridge, so that they would be tetrastichs—as others say, pentastichs—so that the first rank would have piers and, before it, columns with statues; the second and the third and thereafter columns by fours. 6 It is a long matter to consign all his doings to letters; whoever wishes to know them, let him read Palfurius Sura, who composed the ephemerides of his life. Let us return to Saloninus.

SALONINUS GALLIENUS

XIX. 1 Hic Gallieni filius fuit, nepos Valeriani, de quo quidem prope nihil est [quod] dignum in litteras mittatur, nisi quod nobiliter natus, educatus regie, occisus deinde non sua sed patris causa. 2 De huius nomine magna est ambiguitas.

19. 1 He was the son of Gallienus, the grandson of Valerian, about whom indeed there is almost nothing [which] worthy might be put into writing, except that, nobly born, reared regally, he was then slain not on his own account but for his father’s cause. 2 About his name there is great ambiguity.

Nam multi eum Gallienum, multi Saloninum historiae prodiderunt. 3 Et qui Saloninum, idcirco quod apud Salonas natus esset, cognominatum ferunt, qui autem Gallienum, patris nomine cognominatum et avi Gallieni, summi quondam in re p. viri. 4 Fuit denique hactenus statua in pede monti[ci]s Romulei, hoc est sacram viasm, inter templum Faustinae ac Vestam ad arcum Fabianum, quae haberet inscriptum "Gallieno iuniori", "Salonino" additum; ex quo eius nomen intellegi poterit.

For many histories have handed him down as Gallienus, many as Saloninus. 3 And those who [call him] Saloninus report him cognominated on the ground that he had been born at Salona; but those [who call him] Gallienus [say he was] cognominated by the name of his father and of his grandfather Gallienus, once a most eminent man in the republic. 4 Finally, there was up to now a statue at the foot of the Romulean little hill, that is, on the Sacred Way, between the temple of Faustina and Vesta, by the Fabian Arch, which had inscribed "To Gallienus the Younger," "Saloninus" added; from which his name can be understood.

5 Transisse decennium imperii Gallienum satis clarum est. Quod idcirco addidi, quia multi eum imperii sui anno <nono> perisse dixerunt. 6 Fuisse autem et alios rebelliones sub eodem proprio dicemus loco, si quidem placuit viginti tyrannos uno volumine includere, idcirco quod nec multa de his dici possunt et in Gallieni vita pleraque iam dicta sunt.

5 It is quite clear that Gallienus passed a decade of imperial rule. I have added this for the reason that many have said he perished in the year of his reign. 6 Moreover, that there were also other rebels under the same man we shall state in the proper place, since indeed it has pleased us to include twenty tyrants in one volume, for the reason that neither can many things be said about them, and in the Life of Gallienus most things have already been said.

7 Et haec quidem de Gallieno hoc interim libro dixisse sufficiet. Nam et multa iam in Valeriani vita dicta sunt, <multa> in libro, qui de triginta tyrannis inscribendus est, iam loquemur, quae iterari ac saepius dici minus utile videbatur. 8 Huc accedit quod quaedam etiam studiose praetermisi, ne eius posteri multis rebus editis laederentur.

7 And indeed to have said this about Gallienus in this book for the present will suffice. For many things have already been said in the Life of Valerian, and <many> we shall speak in the book which is to be entitled On the Thirty Tyrants, which it seemed less useful to repeat and to say more often. 8 To this is added that I have also deliberately omitted certain matters, lest his descendants be harmed by many things being published.

XX. 1 Scis enim ipse, quales homines cum his, qui aliqua de maioribus eorum scripserint, quantum gerant bellum, nec ignota esse arbitror, quae dixit Marcus Tullius in Hortensio, quem ad exemplum protreptici scripsit. 2 Unum tamen ponam, quod iucunditatem quandam sed vulgarem habuit, morem tamen novum fecit. 3 Nam cum cingula sua plerique militantium, qui ad convivium venerant, ponerent hora convivii, Saloninus puer sive Gallienus his auratos costilatosque balteos rapuisse perhibetur, et, cum esset difficile in aula Palatina requirere quod perisset ac tacitis vultibus viri detrimenta pertulissent, postea rogati ad convivium cincti adcubuerunt.

20. 1 You yourself know what sort of men, with those who have written anything about their ancestors, wage so great a war; nor do I think unknown what Marcus Tullius said in the Hortensius, which he wrote as a model of a protreptic. 2 I will, however, set down one thing, which had a certain but common pleasantness, yet made a new custom. 3 For when, at the hour of the banquet, most of the soldiers who had come to the feast were laying down their belts, either the boy Saloninus or Gallienus is said to have snatched from them these gilded and ribbed baldrics; and since in the Palatine palace it was difficult to seek what had been lost, and the men with silent faces had borne the losses, thereafter, when invited to the banquet, they reclined girt.

4 Cumque ab his quaereretur, cur non solverent cingulum, respondisse dicuntur : "Salonino deferimus", atque hinc tractum morem, ut deinceps cum imperatore cincti discumberent. 5 Negare non possum aliunde plerisque videri huius rei ortum esse morem : dicunt militare prandium, quod dictum est parandium ab eo, quod ad bellum milites paret, a cinctis initum; cui rei argumentum est, quod a discinctis etiam cum imperatore cenatur. Quae idcirco posui, quia digna et memoratu videbantur et cognitu.

4 And when they were asked by them why they did not loosen the belt, they are said to have responded : "We defer to Saloninus", and hence the custom was derived, that thereafter they would recline with the emperor girded. 5 I cannot deny that to many the origin of this custom seems to have been otherwise : they say the military prandium, which is said to be “parandium” from the fact that it prepares (paret) soldiers for war, was begun by those girded; an argument for which matter is that dinner is taken even with the emperor by those ungirded. Which things I have therefore set down, because they seemed worthy both of being remembered and of being known.

XXI. 1 Nunc transeamus ad viginti tyrannos, qui Gallieni temporibus contemptu mali principis extiterunt. De quibus breviter et pauca dicenda sunt; 2 neque enim digni sunt eorum plerique, ut volumen talium hominumsaltim nominibus occupetur, quamvis aliqui non parum in se virtutis habuisse videantur, multum etiam rei p. profuisse.

21. 1 Now let us pass on to the twenty tyrants, who in the times of Gallienus arose through contempt for a bad emperor. About whom only brief and few things are to be said; 2 for most of them are not worthy that a volume be occupied even with the names of such men, although some seem to have had no small amount of virtue in themselves, and to have benefited the republic greatly.

3 Tam variae item opiniones sunt de Salonini nomine, ut, qui se verius putet dicere, a matre sua Salonina appellatum esse --- quamvis perdite dilexit, Piparam nomine, barbaram regis filiam --- 4 Gallienus cum suis semper flavo crinem condit. 5 De annis autem Gallieni et Valeriani ad imperium pertinentibus adeo incerta traduntur, ut, cum quindecim annos eosdem imperasse constet, id est Gallienus usque ad quintum decimum pervenisset, Valerianus vero sexto sit captus, alii novem annis, vix decem alii etiam Gallienum imperasse in litteras mittant, cum constet et decennalia Gothos ab eo victos, cum Odenato pacem factam, cum Aureolo initam esse concordiam, pugnatum contra Postumum, contra Lollianum, multae etiam ab eo gesta, quae ad virtutem, plura tamen, quae ad dedecus pertinebant; 6 nam et semper noctibus popinas dicitur frequentasse et cum lenonibus, mimis scurrisque vixisse.

3 Likewise there are such varied opinions about the name of Saloninus that whoever thinks he speaks more truly says that he was named after his mother Salonina --- although he loved to perdition one named Pipara, a barbarian, the daughter of a king --- 4 Gallienus with his circle always dyes his hair blond. 5 As to the years of Gallienus and Valerian pertaining to the imperium, such uncertain reports are handed down that, although it is agreed that they ruled the same for 15 years, that is, Gallienus reached up to the 15th, while Valerian was captured in the 6th, some put into writing that Gallienus ruled for 9 years, others scarcely 10, although it is established both that at the ten-year celebrations the Goths were defeated by him, that peace was made with Odaenathus, that concord was entered into with Aureolus, that there was fighting against Postumus and against Lollianus, and also many deeds were done by him which pertained to virtue, yet more which pertained to disgrace; 6 for he is said both always by night to have frequented cookshops and to have lived with panders, mimes, and buffoons.