Historia Augusta: Gordiani Tres

I. 1 Fuerat quidem consilium, venerabilis Auguste, ut singulos quosque imperatores exemplo multorum libris singulis ad tuam clementiam destinarem. 2 Nam id multos fecisse vel ipse videram vel lectione conceperant. 3 Sed inprobum visum est vel pietatem tuam tuam multitudine distinere librorum vel meum laborem plurimis voluminibus occupare.

I. 1 It had indeed been a counsel, Venerable Augustus, that I should dedicate to your clemency single books for each and every emperor, after the example of many. 2 For I had either myself seen that many had done this, or had gathered it from reading. 3 But it seemed improper either to distract your piety by the multitude of books or to occupy my labor with very many volumes.

4 Quare tres Gordianos hoc libro conexui, consulens et meo labori et lectioni tuae, ne cogeneris plurimos codices volvendo unam tamen paene historiam lectitare. 5 Sed ne ego, qui longitudinem librorum fugi multitudinemque verborum, in eam incurrisse videar, quam me urbane declinare confingo, iam rem adgrediar.

4 Therefore I have connected the three Gordians in this book, consulting both my labor and your reading, lest you be compelled, by rolling through very many codices, to be reading almost one and the same history. 5 But lest I, who have fled the length of books and the multitude of words, should seem to have run into that which I urbanely pretend to decline, I will now set upon the matter.

II. 1 Gordiani non, ut quidam inperiti scriptores locuntur, duo sed tres fuerunt, idque docente Arriano, scriptore Graecae historiae, docente item Dexippo, Graeco auctore, potuerunt addiscere, qui etiamsi breviter, ad finem tamen omnia persecuti sunt. 2 Horum Gordianus senior, id est primus, natus est patre Maecio Marullo, matre Ulpia Gordiana, originem paternam ex Gracchorum genere habuit, maternam ex Traiani imperatoris, patre, avo, proavo consulibus, socero, prosocero et item alio prosocero et duobus absoceris consulibus, 3 ipse consul ditissimus ac potentissimus, Romae Pompeianam domum possidens, in provinciis tantum terrarum habens quantum nemo privatus. 4 Is post consulatum, quem egerat cum Alexandro, ad proconsulatum Africae missus est ex senatus consulto.

2. 1 The Gordians were not, as certain unskilled writers say, two but three; and those who could learn had it taught by Arrian, a writer of Greek history, and likewise by Dexippus, a Greek author, who, although briefly, nevertheless pursued everything to the end. 2 Of these, Gordian the elder, that is, the first, was born of a father Maecius Marullus and a mother Ulpia Gordiana; he had paternal origin from the stock of the Gracchi, maternal from the emperor Trajan; his father, grandfather, and great‑grandfather were consuls, and his father‑in‑law, his grandfather‑in‑law, likewise another grandfather‑in‑law, and two great‑grandfathers‑in‑law were consuls. 3 He himself, a consul, most wealthy and most powerful, possessing the Pompeian house at Rome, had in the provinces as much land as no private man. 4 He, after the consulship which he had held with Alexander, was sent by decree of the senate to the proconsulship of Africa.

III. 1 Sed priusquam de imperio eius loquar, dicam pauca de moribus: 2 adulescens cum esset Gordianus, de quo sermo est, poemata scripsit, quae omnia extant, et quidem cuncta illa quae Cicero, et de Mario et Arathum et Halcyonas et Uxorium et Nilum. Quae quidem ad hoc scripsit, ut Ciceronis poemata nimis antiqua viderentur.

3. 1 But before I speak about his rule, I will say a few things about his morals: 2 when Gordian—of whom the discourse is—was an adolescent, he wrote poems, all of which are extant, and indeed every one of those which Cicero [composed], both the On Marius and the Aratus and the Halcyons and the Uxorium and the Nile. Which indeed he wrote to this end, that Cicero’s poems might seem too ancient.

3 Scripsit praeterea, quemadmodum Vergilius Aeneidos et Statius Achilleidos et multi alii Alexandridos, ita etiam ille Antoniniados, hoc est Antoninum Pium et Antoninum Marcum, versibus disertissimis libris triginta vitam illorum et bella et publice privatimque gesta perscribens. 4 Et haec quidem puerulus. postea vero ubi adolevit, in Athenaeo controversias declamavit, audientibus etiam imperatoribus suis.

3 He wrote besides, just as Vergil the Aeneid and Statius the Achilleid and many others the Alexandriad, so he too Antoniniads—that is, on Antoninus Pius and Antoninus Marcus—in the most eloquent verses, in 30 books, writing out in full their life and wars and the deeds done publicly and privately. 4 And this indeed as a little boy. But afterward, when he had grown up, he declaimed controversies in the Athenaeum, with even his own emperors listening.

5 Quaesturam magnificientissimam gessit. Aedilitatis suae tempore duodecim populo Romano munera, id est per singulos menses singula de suo exhibuit, ita ut gladiatorum nonnumquam quingena paria exhiberet, numquam minus centenis quinquagenis. 6 Feras Libycas una die centum exhibuit, ursos una mille.

5 He held a most magnificent quaestorship. During his aedileship he exhibited to the Roman people twelve munera—namely, one each month—at his own expense, such that he sometimes put on 500 pairs of gladiators, and never fewer than 150. 6 He exhibited 100 Libyan beasts in a single day, and on one day 1,000 bears.

Extat silva eius memorabilis, quae picta est in domo rostrata Cn. Pompei, quae ipsius et patris eius et proavi fuit, quam Philippi temporibus vester fiscus invasit. 7 In qua pictura etiam nunc continentur cervi palmati ducenti mixtis Brittannis, equi feri triginta, oves ferae centum, alces decem, tauri Cypriaci centum, strutiones Mauri miniati trecenti, onagri triginta, apri centum quinquaginta, ibices ducenti, dammae ducenti. 8 Haec autem omnia populo rapienda concessit die muneris, quod sextum edebat.

There exists his memorable woodland, which is painted in the rostrate house of Cn. Pompeius, which belonged to himself and to his father and great‑grandfather, which your fisc seized in the times of Philip. 7 In which painting even now are contained 200 palmated stags with Britons intermingled, 30 wild horses, 100 wild sheep, 10 elks, 100 Cyprian bulls, 300 Moorish ostriches, miniated, 30 onagers, 150 boars, 200 ibexes, 200 fallow‑deer. 8 Moreover, he granted all these to the people to be snatched as plunder on the day of the munus, which he was producing for the 6th time.

IV. 1 Praeturam nobilem gessit. Post iuris dictionem consulatum primum iniit cum Antonino Caracallo, secundum cum Alexandro. 2 Filios duos habuit, illum consularem, qui cum ipso Augustus appellatus est, qui iuxta Carthaginem in Africa bello absumptus est, et filiam Maeciam Faustinam, quae nupta est Iunio Balbo, consulari viro.

4. 1 He held a noble praetorship. After administering jurisdiction, he entered upon his first consulship with Antoninus Caracalla, the second with Alexander. 2 He had two sons, the one of consular rank, who was called Augustus together with himself—who, near Carthage in Africa, perished in war—and a daughter, Maecia Faustina, who was married to Junius Balbus, a consular man.

3 In consulatibus clarior fuit sui temporis consulibus, ita ut ei Antoninus invideret, modo praetextas eius, modo latum clavum, modo circenses ultra imperatorium mirans modum. 4 Palmatam tunicam et togam pictam primus Romanorum privatus suam propriam habuit, cum ante imperatores etiam vel de Capitolio acciperent vel de Palatio. 5 Equos Siculos centum, Cappadoces centum permittentibus imperatoribus factionibus divisit, et per haec populo satis carus, qui semper talibus commovetur.

3 In his consulships he was more illustrious than the consuls of his own time, so that Antoninus envied him, now marveling at his praetextae, now at his broad clavus, now at his circus-games beyond the imperial measure. 4 A palmate (palm-embroidered) tunic and a toga picta he, the first Roman private citizen, had as his own, whereas before even emperors used to receive them either from the Capitol or from the Palace. 5 One hundred Sicilian horses, one hundred Cappadocian, with the emperors permitting, he apportioned to the racing factions; and through these things he was quite dear to the people, who are always stirred by such things.

6 Cordus sicit in omnibus civitatibus Campaniae, Etruriae et Umbriae, Flaminiae, Piceni de proprio illum per quadriduum ludos scaenicos et iuvenalia edidisse. 7 Scripsit et laudes soluta oratione omnium Antoninorum, qui ante eum fuerunt. Tantum autem Antoninos dilexit, ut sibi quoque, ut multi dicunt, Antonini, ut plerique autem adserunt, Antonii nomen adscripserit.

6 Cordus thus says that in all the cities of Campania, Etruria and Umbria, the Flaminia, and Picenum, he produced at his own expense for a span of four days scenic games and the Juvenalia. 7 He also wrote, in prose, lauds of all the Antonini who were before him. And he loved the Antonini so much that he even, as many say, appended to his own name Antoninus; but, as most assert, Antonius.

8 Iam illud satis constat, quod filium, Gordianum nomine, Antonini signo inlustraverit, cum apud praefectum aerarii more Romano professus filium publicis actis eius nomen insereret.

8 Now this is well established, that he distinguished his son, by name Gordianus, with the sign of Antoninus, when, before the Prefect of the Treasury, in the Roman manner, having professed his son, he inserted that name into the public acts.

V. 1 Post consulatum proconsul Africae factus est adnitentibus cunctis, qui Alexandri imperium etiam in Africa clarum per proconsulis dignitatem haberi atque esse voluerunt. 2 Extat epistola ipsius Alexandri, qua senatui gratias agit, quod Gordianum ad Africam proconsulem destinaverit. 3 Cuius hoc exemplum est : "Neque gratius nihi quicquam, p. c., neque dulcius potuistis efficere, quam ut Antoninum Gordianum proconsulum ad Africam mitteretis, virum nobilem, magnanimum, disertum, iustum,continentem, bonum" et reliqua.

5. 1 After his consulship he was made proconsul of Africa by the efforts of all who wished Alexander’s imperium also in Africa to be held and to be illustrious through the dignity of a proconsul. 2 There exists an epistle of Alexander himself, in which he gives thanks to the senate because it had designated Gordian as proconsul to Africa. 3 Of which this is the exemplar : "Nor could you have brought about anything more gratifying to me, p. c., nor sweeter, than that you should send Antoninus Gordian as proconsul to Africa—a noble man, magnanimous, eloquent, just, self-restrained, good," and the rest.

4 Ex quo apparet, quantus vir eo tempore Gordianus fuerit. 5 Amatus est ab Afris ita, ut nemo antea proconsulum, ita ut eum alii Scipionem, Catonem alii, multi Mucium ac Rutilium aut Laelium dicerent. 6 Extat eorum adclamatio, quae a Iunio in litteras relata est.

4 From this it appears how great a man Gordian was at that time. 5 He was loved by the Africans to such a degree as no proconsul before, to such a degree that some called him a Scipio, others a Cato, many a Mucius and a Rutilius or a Laelius. 6 Their acclamation exists, which was put into writing by Junius.

7 Nam cum quadam die factum imperatorium legeret atque a proconsulibus Scipionibus coepisset, adclatum est : "Novo Scipioni, vero Scipioni, Gordiano proconsuli." Haec et alia frequenter audivit.

7 For when on a certain day he was reading an imperial act and had begun with the proconsuls, the Scipios, there was an acclamation: "To the new Scipio, the true Scipio, to Gordian the proconsul." These and other things he heard frequently.

VI. 1 Et erat quidem longitudine Romana, canitie decora et pompali vultu, ruber magis quam candidus, facie bene lata, oculis, ore, fronte verendus, corporis qualitate subcrassulus, 2 moribus ita moderatus, ut nihil possis dicere, quod ille aut cupide aut immodeste aut nimie fecerit. 3 Affectus suos unice dilexit, filium et nepotem ultra morem, filium et nepotem religiose. 4 Socero suo Annio Severo tantum detulit, ut in familiam eius quasi filium migrasse se crederet, numquam cum eo laverit, numquam illo praesente sederit ante praeturam.

6. 1 And he was indeed of Roman stature, with becoming grayness and a countenance suited to pomp, more ruddy than fair, with a well-broad face, awe-inspiring in eye, mouth, and brow, by the quality of his body somewhat stout, 2 so moderate in morals that you could say nothing which he did either greedily or immoderately or excessively. 3 He singularly cherished his dear ones: his son and grandson beyond the custom, his son and grandson religiously. 4 To his father-in-law Annius Severus he deferred so greatly that he believed himself to have migrated into his household as if a son; he never bathed with him, he never sat in his presence before the praetorship.

5 Consul cum esset, aut in domo eius semper mansit aut, si in Pompeiana domo, ad illum vel mane vel sero processit. 6 Vini parcus, cibi parcissimus, vestitu nitidus, lavandi cupidus, ita ut et quarto et quinto in die lavaret aestate, hieme secundo. 7 Somni plurimi, ita ut in tricliniis, si forte apud amicos ederet, etiam sine pudore dormiret.

5 When he was consul, he either always stayed in his house, or, if in the Pompeian house, he went out to him either in the morning or late. 6 Sparing of wine, most sparing of food, neat in dress, desirous of bathing, such that in summer he would bathe even a fourth and a fifth time in the day, in winter a second time. 7 Of very much sleep, such that on the dining-couches (triclinia), if by chance he were dining at friends’, he would even sleep without shame.

Quod videbatur facere per naturam, non per ebrietatem atque luxuriem.

which he seemed to do by nature, not through ebriety and luxury.

VII. 1 Sed boni mores nihil ei profuerunt. Hac enim vita[e] venerabilis, cum Platone semper, cum Aristotele, cum Tullio, cum Vergilio ceterisque veteribus agens alium quam exitum passus est.

7. 1 But good morals profited him nothing. For, with this venerable way of life, ever spending time with Plato, with Aristotle, with Tullius, with Vergil, and with the other ancients, he met with a different end.

2 Nam cum temporibus Maximini, hominis saevi atque truculenti, pro consule Africam regeret, iam ex consulibus filio sibimet legato a senatu dato, cumque quidam rationalis acrius contra plurimos Afrorum saeviret quam Maximinus ipse pateretur, proscribens plurimos, interficiens multos et sdibi ultra procuratorem omnia vindicans, retunsus deinde a proconsule atque legato nobilibus et consularibus viris ipsis minaretur excidium, Afri tam insolentes iniurias ferre nequiverunt et primum ipsum rationalem adiunctis sibi plerique militibus occiderunt. 3 Occiso deinde eo, cum iam orbis terrarum odio contra Maximinum arderet, coeperunt cogitare, quemadmodum seditio inter Maximinianos et rusticos vel Afros orta placaretur. 4 Tunc quidam Mauricius nomine, potens apud Afros decurio, iuxta Tysdrum nobilissima posthac oratione apud plebem vel urbanam vel rusticanam in agro suo velut contionabundus est locutus :

2 For when, in the times of Maximinus, a savage and truculent man, he was governing Africa as proconsul, with his son, already from among the ex-consuls, given to himself by the senate as legate; and when a certain rationalis raged more fiercely against very many of the Africans than Maximinus himself would tolerate, proscribing very many, killing many, and claiming everything to himself beyond a procurator, then, checked by the proconsul and the legate, he threatened destruction to the noble and consular men themselves; the Africans could not bear such insolent injuries, and first, with many soldiers joined to them, they killed that rationalis himself. 3 With him slain thereafter, since now the circle of lands was burning with hatred against Maximinus, they began to consider how the sedition that had arisen between the Maximinian partisans and the rustics or Africans might be appeased. 4 Then a certain man by name Mauricius, a decurio powerful among the Africans, near Thysdrus, with an oration most noble thereafter, spoke among the populace, both urban and rustic, on his own land, as though haranguing:

VIII. 1 "Gratias diis immortalibus, cives, quod occasionem dederunt, et quidem necesseriam, providendi nobis contra hominem furiosissimum Maximinum. 2 Nos enim, qui procuratorem eius moribus et vitae consimilem occidimus, nisi facto imperatore salvi esse non possumus.

CHAPTER 8. 1 "Thanks to the immortal gods, citizens, for they have given an occasion—and indeed a necessary one—for providing for ourselves against the most furious man, Maximinus. 2 For we, who have killed his procurator, similar to him in morals and in life, cannot be safe unless an emperor is made."

3 Quodcirca, si placet, quoniam non longe est nobilissimus vir pro consule cum filio, consulari legato, quorum utrique mortem pestis illa est minata, sublata de vexillis purpura imperatores eos dicemus adhibitisque insignibus Romano iure firmabimus". 4 Tunc adclamatum est: "Aequum est, iustum est. Giordane Auguste, di te servent. feliciter imperator es, cum filio imperes." 5 His actis propere ventum est ad oppidum Tysdrum, inventusque senex venerabilis post iuris doctiorem iacens un lectulo, qui circumfusus purpura humi se abiecit ac retrectans elevatus est.

3 Wherefore, if it pleases, since the most noble man the proconsul is not far off with his son, the consular legate, both of whom that pestilence has threatened with death, the purple taken up from the standards we will proclaim them emperors, and, the insignia applied, we shall confirm it by Roman law." 4 Then there was an acclamation: "It is equitable, it is just. Giordane Augustus, may the gods preserve you. Happily you are emperor; may you rule with your son." 5 With these things done, they came quickly to the town of Tysdrus, and there was found a venerable old man, a most learned jurisconsult, lying on a little couch, who, with the purple poured around him, cast himself to the ground and, shrinking back, was lifted up.

6 Et cum aliud facere nihil posset, evitandi periculi gratia, quod (a) Maximinianis <dubie, a> fautoribus <necessario> imminebat, imperatorem se appellari senex passus est.

6 And since he could do nothing else, for the sake of avoiding the danger which (a) was impending from the Maximinian supporters <dubie, a> <necessario>, the old man allowed himself to be called emperor.

IX. 1 Erat autem iam octogenarius et plurimis provinciis, ut diximus, ante praefuerat; populo Romano ita commendatus suis actibus erat, ut toto dignus videretur imperio. 2 ali[i] quidem occiso Gordianus ante nescierat. sed ubi rem conperit, iam mortis vicinus et filio magis tiomens, maluit honestas causas habere moriendi quam dedi vinculis e[s]t carceri Maximini.

9. 1 He was, moreover, already an octogenarian, and, as we have said, had previously presided over very many provinces; to the Roman people he was so commended by his own acts that he seemed worthy of the whole empire. 2 As to the rationalis indeed having been slain, Gordian had not known before; but when he learned the matter, now near to death and fearing more for his son, he preferred to have honorable causes for dying rather than to be given to the chains and prison of Maximinus.

3 Appellato igitur Gordiano imperatore iuvenes, qui auctores huius facinoris erant, statuas Maximini deiecerunt, imagines perfregerunt, nomen publicitus eraserunt, ipsum etiam Gordianum Africanum appellaverunt. 4 Addunt quidam Africani cognomentum Gordiano idcirco inditum, non quod in Africa impoerare coepisset, sed quod de Scipionum familia originem traheret. 5 In plurimis autem libris invenio et hunc Gordianum et filium eius pariter imperatores appellatos et Antoninos cognominatos, alii vero Antonios.

3 With Gordian therefore having been proclaimed emperor, the young men, who were the authors of this deed, cast down the statues of Maximinus, smashed the images, erased his name publicly, and even called Gordian himself “Africanus.” 4 Some add that the cognomen “Africanus” was for this reason bestowed upon Gordian, not because he had begun to rule in Africa, but because he drew his origin from the family of the Scipios. 5 Moreover, in very many books I find both this Gordian and his son alike appellated emperors and cognominated “Antonini,” while others “Antonii.”

6 Post hoc Carthaginem ventum cum pompa regali et fascibus laureatis, filiusque legatus patris, exemplo Scipionum, ut Dexippus Graecae historiae <scriptor> auctor est, pari potestate succinctus est. 7 Missa deinceps legatio Romam est cum litteris Gordianorum haec, quae gesta fuerant in Africa, indicans, quae per Valerianum, principem senatus, qui postea imperavit, gratanter accepta est. 8 Missae sunt et ad amicos nobiles litterae, ut amines potentes et rem probarent et amiciores fierent ex amicis.

6 After this, there was arrival at Carthage with royal pomp and laurel-wreathed fasces, and the son, legate of his father, after the example of the Scipios, as Dexippus, author of a Greek history, <scriptor> is authority, was girded with equal power. 7 Next a legation was sent to Rome with letters of the Gordiani indicating these things which had been done in Africa, which, through Valerian, princeps of the senate, who afterwards reigned, was gladly received. 8 Letters also were sent to noble friends, so that powerful friends might both approve the affair and become more friendly from being friends.

X. 1 Sed tanta gratulationes factos contra Maximinum imperatores senatus accepit, ut non solum gesta haec probarent sed etiam vigintiviros eligerent, inter quos erat Maximinus sive Puppienus et Clodius Balbinus. Qui ambo imperatores sunt creati, posteaquam Gordiani duo in Africa interempti sunt. 2 Illos sane viginti senatus ad hoc creaverat, ut divideret his Italicas regiones contra Maximinum pro Gordianis tuendas.

10. 1 But the senate received such congratulations at emperors having been made against Maximinus, that they not only approved these deeds but even chose twenty men, among whom was Maximinus, or Pupienus, and Clodius Balbinus. These two were both created emperors, after the two Gordians were slain in Africa. 2 Those twenty, to be sure, the senate had created for this: that it might divide to them the Italian regions to be defended against Maximinus on behalf of the Gordians.

3 Tunc legationes a Maximino Romam venerunt abolitionem praeteritorum spondentes. 4 Sed vicit Gordianorum legatio, quae bona omnia pollicabatur, ita ut eidem crederetur et ingens militibus stipendium et populo agros atque congiara promittenti. 5 Usque adeo autem magis Gordianis quam Maximinis est creditum, ut Vitalianus quidam, qui praetorianis militibus praeerat, per audacissimos quaestorem et milites iussu senatus occideretur, quod se antea crudeliter egerat, et tunc eius magis inmanitas timebatur, amica et familiaris moribus Maximini.

3 Then legations from Maximinus came to Rome, promising an abolition of past offences.
4 But the legation of the Gordians prevailed, which was promising all good things, such that credence was given to that same party as it promised an enormous stipend to the soldiers and, to the people, fields and congiaria.
5 And so much more was trust placed in the Gordians than in Maximinus, that a certain Vitalianus, who was in command of the praetorian soldiers, by means of the very bold quaestor and soldiers, by order of the senate, was slain, because he had previously conducted himself cruelly, and then his savagery was more feared, being friendly and familiar to the manners of Maximinus.

6 De cuius morte haec fabella fertur. fictae sunt litterae Maximini, signatae quasi eiusdem anulo, et missi cum quaetore milites, qui eas ferrent, addentes quaedam praeter litteras secreto esse dicenda. 7 Longam igitur porticum petiverunt, et cum ille ea, quae sibi erant secreto dicenda, perquireret, hortantibus, ut prius signum inspiceret epistolae, dum considerat, interemptus est.

6 About whose death this little tale is told. Forged letters of Maximinus were produced, sealed as if with his ring, and soldiers were sent with the quaestor to carry them, adding that certain things beyond the letters were to be said in secret. 7 Accordingly they sought a long portico, and when he was inquiring about the things that were to be said to him in secret, with them urging that he first inspect the seal of the epistle, while he was examining it, he was slain.

8 Persuasum deinde est militibus iussu[m] Maximini Vitalianum interemptum. peractisque rebus in castris Gordianorum et littrerae et vultus sunt propositi.

8 Then the soldiers were convinced that Vitalianus had been slain by order of Maximinus. and, with the affairs completed in the camp of the Gordiani, both the letters and the portraits were displayed.

XI. 1 Interest, ut senatus consultum, quo Gordiani imperatores appelati sunt et Maximinus hostis, litteris propagetur : 2 non legitimo sed indicto senatus die consul iam domi conventus cum praetoribus, aedilibus et tribunis plebis venit in curiam. 3 Praefectus urbi, cui nescio qui redoluerat et qui publicas litteras non acceperat, a conventu se abstinuit. sed profuit, nam consul ante solitas adclamationes, priusquam aliquid in Maximinum feliciter diceretur, ait : 4 "P. c., Gordiani duo, pater et filius, ambo ex consulibus, unus vester pro consule, alter vester legatus, magno Afrorum consilio imperatores sunt appellati.

11. 1 It is of concern that the senatorial decree, by which the Gordians were called emperors and Maximinus an enemy, be propagated by letters : 2 not on a lawful but on a proclaimed day of the senate, the consul, already convened at home with the praetors, aediles, and tribunes of the plebs, came into the Curia. 3 The prefect of the city, to whom I know not what had given off a suspicious scent and who had not received the public letters, kept himself away from the meeting. But it was to advantage, for the consul, before the usual acclamations, before anything was said felicitously about Maximinus, said: 4 "Conscript Fathers, the two Gordians, father and son, both from among the consuls, the one your proconsul, the other your legate, by the great counsel of the Africans have been entitled emperors.

5 Gratias igitur agamus Tysdritanae iuventuti, gratias Carthaginensi populo semper devoto : ad inmani nos belua, ab illa fera vindicaverunt. 6 Quid timide auditis? Quid circumspicitis?

5 Therefore let us give thanks to the Thysdritan youth, let us give thanks to the Carthaginian people, ever devoted: they have rescued us from the enormous beast, from that wild creature. 6 Why do you listen timidly? Why do you look around?

Quid cunctamini? Hoc est quod semper optastis. 7 Hostis est Maximinus : dii facient, ut esse iam desinat, et Gordiani senis felicitatem atque prudentiam, iuvenis virtutem atque constantiam laeti experiamur." 8 Post haec litteras legit Gordianorum ad senatum et ad semissas.

Why do you delay? This is what you have always wished. 7 Maximinus is an enemy : the gods will bring it about that he now cease to be, and the felicity and prudence of the elder Gordian, the virtue and constancy of the younger, let us gladly experience." 8 After these things he read the letters of the Gordiani to the senate and those sent to himself.

9 Tunc adclamavit senatus : "Dii vobis gratias. Liberati ab hostibus sumus : sic penitus liberemur. Maximinum hostem omnes iudicamus.

9 Then the senate acclaimed : "Gods, thanks to you. We have been freed from enemies : thus may we be utterly freed. We all judge Maximinus an enemy."

Maximinum cum filio dis inferis devovemus. 10 Gordianos Augustos appellamus. Gordianos principes agnoscimus.

We devote Maximinus, with his son, to the infernal gods. 10 We call the Gordians Augusti. We acknowledge the Gordians as princes.

Imperatores de senatu dii conservent, imperatores nobiles victores videamus, imperatores nostros Roma videat. Hostes publicos qui occiderit, praemium meretur."

May the gods preserve emperors from the senate, let us behold noble victorious emperors, let Rome behold our emperors. Whoever shall have slain public enemies, merits a reward."

XII. 1 Dicit Iunius Cordus istud senatus consultum tacitum fuisse. Quod quale sit aut quare sic appellatum, brevi exponam : 2 omnino exemplum senatus consulti taciti non aliud est hodie, quam quo vestra clementia convocatis ad interiora maioribus ea disponit, quae non sunt omnibus publicanda; de quibus adiurare etiam soletis, ne quis ante rem conpletam quicquam vel audiat vel intellegat.

12. 1 Junius Cordus says that that senatorial decree was tacit. What its nature is, or why it is so named, I will set forth briefly : 2 in general, an example of a tacit senatorial decree today is nothing other than that by which Your Clemency, having summoned the elders to the inner chambers, arranges those matters which are not to be published to all; concerning which you are even wont to adjure, that no one, before the matter is completed, may either hear anything or understand it.

3 Hunc autem morem apud veteres necessitates publicae reppererunt, ut, si forte aliqua vis ab hostibus immineret, quae cogeret vel humilia captare consilia vel aliqua constituere, quae non prius oporteret dici quam effici, vel si nollent ad amicos aliqua permanare, senatus consultum tacitum fieret, ita ut non scribae, non servi publici, non censuales illis actibus interessent, senatores exciperent, senatores omnium officia censualium scribarumque conplerent, ne quid forte proderetur. 4 Factum est ergo senatus consultum tacitum, ne res ad Maximinum perveniret.

3 But public necessities discovered among the ancients this custom: that, if by chance some force were impending from enemies, which compelled either to pursue lowly counsels or to establish certain things which ought not to be said before they were effected, or if they should not wish certain matters to reach even their friends, a tacit decree of the senate should be made, such that neither the scribes, nor the public slaves, nor the census-clerks should take part in those proceedings; the senators themselves should take down the notes, the senators should fulfill all the offices of the census-clerks and scribes, lest perchance anything be betrayed. 4 Therefore a tacit decree of the senate was made, lest the matter should come to Maximinus.

XIII. 1 Sed statim illa, ut se habent hominum mentes, eorum dumtaxat qui erubescunt per se ea nonagnosci, quae sciunt, et humiles se putant, si commissa non prodant, omnia comperit Maximinus, ita ut exemplum senatus consulti taciti acciperet, quod numquam antea fuerat factitatum. 2 Extat denique eius epistola ad praefectum urbi talis : "Senatus consultum tacitrum nostrorum illorum principum legi, quod tu, praefectus urbi, factum esse fortasse non nostri, nam nec interfuisti.

13. 1 But straightway, as the minds of men are, at least of those who blush that the things which they know are not acknowledged through themselves, and think themselves base if they do not betray what has been entrusted, Maximinus found out everything, to such a degree that he received a copy of the tacit senatorial decree, which had never before been customarily done. 2 There exists, finally, his letter to the prefect of the city of such a sort: "I have read the tacit senatorial decree of those our emperors, which you, prefect of the city, perhaps did not know to have been done, for you were not even present."

Cuius exemplum ad te misi, ut scires, quomodo Romanam rem p. regeres." 3 Enarrari autem non potest, quae commotio fuerit Maximini, cum audivit contra se Africam descivisse. 4 Nam senatus auctoritate percepta incurrere in parietes, vestem scindere, gladium arripere, quasi omnes posset occidere, prorsus fuere videbatur. 5 Praefectus urbi acceptis litteris acrioribus populum et milites adlocutus est, dicens Maximinum iam occisum.

"Of which I sent you a copy, that you might know how to govern the Roman republic." 3 Moreover, it cannot be told what commotion there was of Maximinus, when he heard that Africa had seceded against him. 4 For, the authority of the senate having been perceived, to dash against the walls, to tear his garment, to snatch up a sword, as if he could kill everyone, he seemed absolutely to be raving. 5 The prefect of the city, upon receiving more urgent letters, addressed the people and the soldiers, saying that Maximinus had already been slain.

6 Ex quo gaudium maius fuit, statimque deiectae sunt statuae atque imagines eius, qui hostis fuerat iudicatus. 7 Usus est sane senatus pendente bello potestate, qua debuit. Nam delatores, calumniatores, procuratores et omnem illam faecem Maximinianae tyrannidis occidi iussit.

6 From this there was greater joy, and immediately his statues and images were cast down, he who had been judged an enemy. 7 Indeed the senate, while the war was pending, used the power which it ought. For it ordered the delators (informers), calumniators (calumniators/slanderers), procurators, and all that dregs of the Maximinian tyranny to be killed.

8 Atque parum fuit quod senatus iudicaverat, illud populi iudicium fuit, quod occisi tracti sunt et in cloacam missi. 9 Tunc est paefectus urbi Sabinus, consularis iam vir, fuste percussus occisus et in publico derelictus est.

8 And what the senate had judged was too little; that was the people’s judgment—namely, that the slain were dragged and sent into the sewer. 9 Then the prefect of the city, Sabinus, already a consular man, was struck with a cudgel, killed, and left in public.

XIV. 1 Haec ubi comperit Maximinus, statim cohortatus est milites hoc genere contionis : "Sacrati conmilitones, immo etiam mi consecranei et quorum mecum plerique vere militatis, dum nos a Germania Romanam defendimus maiestatem, dum nos Illyricum a barbaris vindicamus, Afri Punicam praestiterunt. 2 Nam duos nobis Gordianos, quorum alter senio ita fractus est, ut non possit adsurgere, alter ita luxurie perditus, ut debilitatem habeat pro senectute, imperatores fecerunt.

14. 1 When Maximinus learned these things, he immediately encouraged the soldiers with an address of this kind : "Consecrated fellow-soldiers, nay even my fellow-consecrants, and most of you who truly soldier with me, while we defend the Roman majesty from Germany, while we vindicate Illyricum from the barbarians, the Africans have displayed Punic treachery. 2 For they have made two Gordians emperors for us, of whom the one is so broken by senility that he cannot rise, the other so ruined by luxury that he has debility in place of senescence.

3 Et ne hoc parum es[t]set, factum Afrorum nobilis ille senatus agnovit, et pro quorum liberis arma portamus, hi contra nos viginti viros statuerunt et omnes velut contra hostes sententias protulerunt. 4 Quin immo agite, ut viros decet: properandum est ad urbem. Nam et viginti viri consulares contra nos lecti sunt, quibusque resistendum est nobis fortiter agentibus, vobis feleciter dimicantibus." 5 Lentas militum mentes et non alacres animos hac contione et Maximinus ipse cognovit.

3 And as if this were not enough, that noble Senate acknowledged the deed of the Africans, and those for whose children we bear arms have set up twenty men against us and have delivered all their votes as though against enemies. 4 Nay rather, come, as befits men: we must make haste to the City. For even twenty consular men have been chosen against us, and to them resistance must be made, we acting bravely, you fighting with good fortune." 5 Maximinus himself recognized by this address the soldiers’ minds to be sluggish and their spirits not eager.

6 Denique statim ad filium scripsit. qui longe post sequebatur, ut adceleraret, ne quid contra eum se absente milites cogitarent. 7 Litterarum exemplum tale Iunius Cordus edidit: "Refert ad te stipator meus Tynchanius, quae gesta cognovi vel in Africa vel Romae, refert, quae sint militum mentes.

6 Finally he immediately wrote to his son, who was following far behind, to accelerate, lest the soldiers, with him absent, might think anything against him. 7 Junius Cordus published such an example of the letter: "My bodyguard Tynchanius reports back to you the deeds which I have learned were done either in Africa or at Rome; he reports what the soldiers’ minds are."

8 Quaeso, quantum potes, prosperes, ne quid, ut solet, militaris turba plus faciat. Quid verear, ex eo audies, quem ad te misi."

8 I beg, as much as you can, speed things along, lest, as it is wont, the military crowd do more than it should. What I fear, you will hear from him whom I have sent to you."

XV. 1 Dum haec aguntur, in Africa contra duos Gordianos Capelianus quidam, Gordiano et in privata vita semper adversus et ab ipso imperatore iam, cum Mauros Maximini iussu regeret veteranus, dimissus, conlectis Mauris et tumultuaria manu accpeto a Gordiano successore Carthaginem petit, ad quem omnis fide Punica Carthaginiensium populus inclinavit. 2 Gordianus tamen fortunam belli experiri cupiens filium suum iam natu grandiorem, quadraginta et sex annos agentem, quem tunc legati loco, ut diximus, habuerat, contra Capelianum et Maximinianos misit, virum de cuius moribus suo loco dicemus. 3 Sed cum in re militari et Capelianus esset audacior et Gordianus iunior non tam exercitatus, quippe qui nobilitatis deliciis tardaretur, pugna commissa vincitur et in eodem bello interficitur.

15. 1 While these things are being done, in Africa against the two Gordians a certain Capelianus—always opposed to Gordian even in private life and already dismissed by the emperor himself, when, as a veteran, he was ruling the Moors by Maximinus’s order—having gathered Moors and an improvised band, with a successor received from Gordian, made for Carthage, towards whom the whole populace of the Carthaginians inclined with Punic faith. 2 Gordian, however, wishing to experience the fortune of war, sent his son, already older in years, forty-six years of age, whom at that time, as we have said, he had held in the place of a legate, against Capelianus and the Maximinian party—a man about whose morals we will speak in his proper place. 3 But since in military affairs Capelianus was the more audacious and the younger Gordian not so exercised, inasmuch as he was delayed by the delights of nobility, once the battle was joined he was conquered and in the same war was slain.

XVI. 1 Fertur autem tanta multitudino Gordiani partium in bello cecidisse, ut, cum diu quaesitum sit corpus Gordiani iunioris, non potuerit inveniri. 2 Fuit praeterea ingens, quae raro in Africa est, tempestas, quae Gordiani exercitum ante bellum ita dissipavit, ut minus idonei milites proelio fierent, atque ita facilis esset Capeliani victoria.

16. 1 It is reported, moreover, that so great a multitude of the party of Gordian fell in the war that, although the body of the younger Gordian was long sought, it could not be found. 2 There was, besides, a huge storm—which is rare in Africa—which so scattered Gordian’s army before the battle that the soldiers became less fit for the combat, and thus Capelianus’s victory was easy.

3 Haec ubi comperrit senior Gordianus, cum in Africa nihil praesidii et a Maximino multum timoris et fides Punica perurgueret, et acerrime Capelianus instaret, luctus deinde mentem atque animum fatigaret, laqueo vitam finivit. 4 Hic exitus duorum Gordianorum fuit, quos ambos senatus Augustos appellavit et postea inter divos rettulit.

3 When the elder Gordian learned these things—since in Africa there was no protection and much fear from Maximinus, and Punic faith pressed hard, and Capelianus was pressing most keenly—then, as grief wore out his mind and spirit, he ended his life by a noose. 4 This was the end of the two Gordians, both of whom the senate styled Augusti and afterward enrolled among the gods.

GORDIANUS IUNIOR

GORDIAN THE YOUNGER

XVII. 1 Hic Gordiani senis, proconsulis Africae, filius, qui cum patre et ab Afris et a senatu Augustus appellatus est, litteris et moribus clarus fuit praeter nobilitatem , ut nonnulli, ab Antoninis, ut plurimi, ab Antoniis duxit. 2 Si quidem argumento ad probandam generis qualitatem alii hoc esse edisserant, quod Africanus Gordianus senior appellatus est cognomine Scipionum, quod domum Pompeianum in urbe habuit, quod Antoninorum cognomine semper est nuncupatus, quod Antonium filium suum ipse significari voluit in senatu : quae singulas videntur familias designare.

17. 1 This one, the son of Gordian the elder, proconsul of Africa, who together with his father was styled Augustus both by the Africans and by the senate, was renowned in letters and morals, besides the nobility which, as some say, he drew from the Antonines, but as very many, from the Antonii. 2 Indeed, as an argument to prove the quality of his lineage, some expound this: that Gordian the elder was called “Africanus” by the cognomen of the Scipios, that he had a Pompeian house in the city, that he was always called by the cognomen of the Antonini, that he himself wished his son to be designated in the senate as “Antonius”: which seem to designate individual families.

3 Sed ego Iunium Cordum sequor, qui dicit ex omnibus his familiis Gordianorum coaluisse nobilitatem. 4 Idem igitur natus patri primus ex Fabia Orestila, Antonini pronepote, unde Caesarum quoque familiam contingere videbatur. 5 Et primis diebus sui natalis Antoninus est appellatus, mox in senatu Antonii nomen est editum, vulgo deinde Gordianus haberi coeptus.

3 But I follow Junius Cordus, who says that the nobility of the Gordians coalesced from all these families. 4 The same, therefore, was born as his father’s first by Fabia Orestila, the great-granddaughter of Antoninus, whence he also seemed to touch the family of the Caesars. 5 And in the first days after his birth he was called Antoninus; soon in the senate the name Antonius was issued; thereafter he began to be commonly held as Gordianus.

XVIII. 1 In studiis gravissimae opinionis fuit, forma conspicuus, memoriae singularis, bonitatis insignis, adeo ut semper in scolis, si qui puerorum verberaretur, ille lacrimas non teneret. 2 Sereno Sammonico, qui patris eius amicissimus, sibi autem praeceptor fuit, nimis acceptus et carus, usque adeo ut omnes libros Sereni Sammonici patris sui, qui censebantur as sexaginta et duo milia, [qui] Gordiano minori moriens ille relinqueret.

18. 1 In studies he was of the gravest repute, conspicuous in form, of singular memory, remarkable for goodness, to such a degree that always in the schools, if any of the boys was being beaten, he did not hold back tears. 2 To Serenus Sammonicus—who was his father’s very close friend, and his own preceptor—he was exceedingly acceptable and dear, to such an extent that all the books of Serenus Sammonicus his father, which were reckoned at 62,000, [which] he, dying, left to Gordian the younger.

3 Quod eum ad caelum tulit, si quidem tantae bibliothecae copia <et> splendore donatus in famam hominum litterarum decore pervenit. 4 Quaesturam Heliogabalo auctore promeruit, idcirco quod luxurioso imperatori lascivia iuvenis, non tamen luxuriosa neque infamis, praedicata est. 5 Praeturam Alexandro auctore urbanam tenuit, in qua tantus iurus dictionis gratia fuit, ut statim consulatum, quem pater sero acceperat, mereretur.

3 Which raised him to the sky, since, having been endowed with the abundance of so great a library and with its splendor <and> he came into the fame of men by the ornament of letters. 4 He earned the quaestorship with Heliogabalus as sponsor, for this reason: because to the luxurious emperor the youthful wantonness of a young man—yet not debauched nor disgraceful—was extolled. 5 He held the Urban Praetorship with Alexander as sponsor, in which he had such grace in the pronouncement of law that he at once deserved the consulship, which his father had received late.

6 Maximini seu eiusdem Alexandri temporibus ad proconsulatum patris missus legatus est a senatu atque illic ea, quae superius dicta sunt, contigerunt.

6 In the times of Maximinus or of that same Alexander, he was sent by the Senate as legate to his father’s proconsulate, and there the things which were said above befell.

XIX. 1 Fuit vini cupidior, semper tamen undecumque conditi, nunc rosa, nunc mastice, nunc absentio ceterisque rebus, quibus gula maxime delectatur. 2 Cibi parcus, ita ut intra punctum temporis vel prandium si pranderet, vel cenam finiret.

19. 1 He was more desirous of wine, yet always of whatever sort seasoned: now with rose, now with mastic, now with absinth, and with the other things with which the palate is most delighted. 2 Sparing of food, such that within a point of time he would finish either his luncheon, if he lunched, or his dinner.

3 Mulierum cupidissimus; habuisse enim decretas sibi concubinas viginti et duas fertur, ex quibus omnibus ternos et quaternos filios dereliquit. 4 Appellatus est sui temporis Priamus, quem vulgo iocantes, quod esset natura propensior, Priapum, non Priamum, saepe vocitarunt. 5 Vixit in deliciis, in hortis, in balneis, in amoenissimis nemoribus, nec pater aspernatus est, sapessime dicens illum quandocumque in summa claritate cito esse moriturum.

3 Most desirous of women; for he is said to have had for himself twenty-two concubines assigned, from all of whom he left behind sons in threes and fours. 4 He was called the Priam of his time; whom, joking in common talk, because he was by nature more prone, they often called Priapus, not Priam. 5 He lived in delights, in gardens, in baths, in the most pleasant groves; nor did his father disdain it, very often saying that he would, whenever at the summit of renown, quickly die.

6 Nec tamen <in> vita sua fortitudine bonis umquam degeneravit, semperque inter inlustrissimos fuit cives nec rei p. ad consultationem defuit. 7 Denique etiam senatus libentissime illum Augustum appellavit atque in eo spem publicam posuit. Vestitu cultissimus, servis et omnibus suis carus.

6 Nor yet in his life did he ever degenerate from the fortitude of the good, and he was always among the most illustrious citizens, nor did he fail the republic in consultation. 7 Finally, even the senate most willingly called him Augustus and placed the public hope in him. Most cultivated in dress, dear to his slaves and to all his own.

8 Cordus dicit uxorem eum numquam habere voluisse. 9 Contra Dexippus putat eius filium esse Gordiamum tertium, qui post hoc cum Balbino et Puppieno sive Maximo puerulus est adeptus imperium.

8 Cordus says that he never wished to have a wife. 9 Conversely, Dexippus thinks that Gordian the Third was his son, who after this, together with Balbinus and Pupienus, i.e., Maximus, as a little boy obtained the imperial power.

XX. 1 Cum senior Gordianus mathematicum aliquando consuleret de genitura huius, respondisse ille dicitur hunc et filium imperatoris et patrem ipsum imperatorem futurum. 2 Et cum senior Gordianus rideret, ostendisse constellationem mathematicum ferunt et de libris veteribus dictasse, ita ut probaret se vera dixisse. 3 Qui quidem et seni et iuveni et diem et genus mortis et loca, quibus essent perituri, opstinata constantia e veritae praedixit.

20. 1 When the elder Gordian at some time consulted a mathematician about this one’s geniture, he is said to have replied that this man would be both the son of an emperor and a father—and himself would be emperor. 2 And when the elder Gordian laughed, they report that the mathematician showed the constellation and dictated from ancient books, so that he proved he had spoken truths. 3 He indeed, with obstinate constancy, foretold to both the elder and the younger both the day and the kind of death and the places in which they were to perish, in verity.

4 Quae omnia postea Gordiano senior in Africa, iam imperator et quando nihil timebat, narasse perhibetur, de morte quin etiam sua filiique et de genere mortis dixisse. 5 Cantabat praeterea versus senex, cum Gordianum filium vidisset, hos saepissime :

4 All these things afterwards the elder Gordian, in Africa, now emperor and when he feared nothing, is reported to have related, and even to have spoken of his own death and his son’s, and of the kind of death. 5 Moreover, the old man used to chant verses, when he had seen his son Gordian, these very often :

Ostendent terris <hunc> tantum {hunc} fata neque ultra
esse sinent. Nimium vobis Romana propago
visa potens, superi, propria haec si dona fuissent.

They will show to the lands <this one> only {this one}; the Fates will not allow him to be beyond.
Too mighty to you the Roman stock seemed, O supernal ones,
if these gifts had been proper to them.

6 Extant dicta et soluta oratione et versibus Gordiani iunioris, quae hodie ab eius adfinibus frequentantur, non magna, non minima sed media et quae appareat hominis esse ingeniosi sed luxuriantis et suum deserentis ingenium.

6 There exist sayings both in prose (soluta oratione) and in verses of Gordian the Younger, which today are commonly repeated by his relations by marriage—neither great, nor least, but middling—and which would appear to be of an ingenious man, yet one luxuriating and abandoning his own talent.

XXI. 1 Pomorum et olerum avidissimus fuit, in reliquo ciborum genere parcissimus, semper pomorum aliquid recentium devoraret. 2 Frigidarum percupidus nec facile per aestatem nisi frigidas et quam plurimas bibit.

21. 1 He was most avid for fruits and vegetables, but in the remaining kinds of foods he was most sparing, so that he would always devour some fresh fruit. 2 He was exceedingly desirous of cold drinks, and hardly in the summertime did he drink anything except cold ones, and as many as possible.

Et erat corporis vasti, quare magis ad frigidas urguebatur. 3 Haec de Gordiano iuniore digna memoratu comperimus : non enim nobis talia dicenda sunt, quae Iunius Cordus ridicule ac stulte composuit de voluptatibus domesticis ceterisque infirmis rebus. 4 Quare qui velit scire, ipsum legat Cordum, qui dicit, et quos servos habuerit unusquisque principum et quos amicos et quot paenulas quotve clamydes, quorum etiam scientia nulli rei prodest, si quidem ea debeant in historia poni ab historiografis, quae aut fugienda sint aut sequenda.

And he was of a vast body, wherefore he was the more urged toward cold drinks. 3 We have discovered these matters about Gordian the Younger worthy of remembrance : for it is not for us to say such things as Junius Cordus ridiculously and foolishly composed about domestic pleasures and other feeble matters. 4 Therefore, whoever wishes to know, let him read Cordus himself, who tells both what slaves each of the princes had and what friends, and how many paenulas and how many chlamydes, the knowledge of which also profits no matter, since indeed those things ought to be set in history by historiographers which are either to be shunned or to be followed.

5 Sane quod praetermitttnedum esse non censui, quia mirabile visum est, lectum apud Vulcatium Terentianum, qui et ipse historiam sui temporis scripsit, in litteras misi Gordianum seniorem Augusti vultum sic repraesentasse, ut et vocem et morem et staturam eiusdem ostentare videretur, filium vero Pompeio simillimum visum, quamvis Pompeius obesi corporis fuisse denegetur, nepotem autem, cuius etiam nunc imagines videmus, Scipionis Asiatici faciem rettulisse. Quod pro sui admiratione tacendum esse non credidi.

5 Indeed, that which I did not judge ought to be passed over, because it seemed marvelous, having read it in Vulcatius Terentianus, who also wrote a history of his own time, I have committed to letters: that the elder Gordian so reproduced the countenance of Augustus that he seemed to display even his voice, his manner, and his stature; but the son was seen to be most similar to Pompey, although Pompey is denied to have been of an obese body; and the grandson, whose images we even now see, was said to have borne the face of Scipio Asiaticus. Which, for its own admirableness, I did not believe ought to be kept silent.

GORDIANUS TERTIUS

GORDIAN THE THIRD

XXII. 1 Post mortem duorum Gordianorum senatus trepidus et Maximinum vehementius timens ex viginti viris, quos ad rem p. tuendam delegerat. Puppienum sive Maximum et Clodium Balbinum Augustos appellavit, ambos ex consulibus.

22. 1 After the death of the two Gordians, the senate, anxious and fearing Maximinus more vehemently, from the twenty men whom it had chosen to safeguard the state, named Pupienus, or Maximus, and Clodius Balbinus as Augusti, both former consuls.

2 Tunc populus et milites Gordianum parvulumn annos agentem, ut plerique adserunt, undecim, ut nonnulli, tredecim, ut Iunius Cordus dicit, sedecim - nam vicesimo et secundo anno eum perisse adserit - petiverunt, ut Caesar appellaretur; 3 raptusque ad senatum atque inde in contione positus indumento imperatorio tectus Caesar est nuncupatus. 4 Hic natus est, ut plures adserunt, ex filia Gordiani, ut unus aut duo - nam amplius invenire non potui - ex filio, qui in Africa perit. 5 Gordianus scilicet Caesar factus quod apud matrem educatus est et, cum extinctis Maximinis Maximus etiam et Balbinus militari seditione interempti essent, qui biennio imperaverant, Gordianus adulescens, qui Caesar eatenus fuerat, et a militibus et populo et a senatu et ab omnibus gentibus ingenti amore, ingenti studio et gratia Augustus est appellatus.

2 Then the people and the soldiers requested that Gordian, a very little boy, being of years— as most assert, 11; as some, 13; as Junius Cordus says, 16 (for he asserts that he died in his 22nd year) — should be called Caesar; 3 and, snatched up to the senate and then set in the public assembly, covered with the imperial vesture, he was proclaimed Caesar. 4 He was born, as more assert, from the daughter of Gordian; as one or two — for I could find no more — [say], from the son who perished in Africa. 5 Gordian, namely, was made Caesar because he was reared at his mother’s, and when, the Maximins having been extinguished, Maximus also and Balbinus were slain in a military sedition (they had ruled for 2 years), the youthful Gordian, who up to that point had been Caesar, by the soldiers and the people and the senate and by all nations, with immense love, immense zeal, and favor, was entitled Augustus.

6 Amabatur autem merito avi et avunculi sive patris, qui ambo pro senatu et pro p. R. contra Maximinum arma sumpserunt et militari vel morte vel necessitate perierunt. 7 Post hoc veterani ad curiam venerunt, ut discerent, quid actum esset. 8 Ex quibus duo ingressi Capitolium, cum illic senatus ageretur, ante ipsam aram a Gallicano ex consulibus et Maecena ex ducibus interempti sunt, 9 atque bellum intestinum ortum est, cum esset armati etiam senatores, ignorantibus veteranis, quod Gordianus adulescens solus teneret imperium.

6 He was loved, moreover, on account of the merit of his grandfather and of his uncle or father, who both took up arms for the senate and for the Roman People against Maximinus and perished either by military death or by necessity. 7 After this the veterans came to the Curia, to learn what had been done. 8 Two of them, having entered the Capitol, while the senate was being held there, were slain before the very altar by Gallicanus, one of the ex-consuls, and Maecenas, one of the generals, 9 and an intestine war arose, since even the senators were armed, the veterans being unaware that the young Gordian held the imperium alone.

XXIII. 1 Dexippus quidem adseverat ex filio Gordiani tertium Gordianum esse natum. Et posteaquam constitit apud veteranos quoque solum Gordianum imperare, inter populum et milites ac veteranos pax roborata est, et hic finis belli intestini fuit, cum esset delatus Gordiano puero consulatus.

23. 1 Dexippus indeed avers that from Gordian’s son the third Gordian was born. And after it was established among the veterans as well that Gordian alone was ruling, peace was strengthened between the people and the soldiers and the veterans, and this was the end of the civil war, when the consulship was conferred upon the boy Gordian.

2 Sed indicium non diu imperaturi Gordiani hoc fuit, quod eclipsis solis facta est, ut nos crederetur neque sine luminibus accensis quicquam agi posset. 3 Post haec tamen voluptatibus et deliciis populus Romanus vacavit, ut ea, quae fuerant aspere gesta mitigaret. 4 Venusto et Sabino conss.

2 But this was the indication that Gordian would not rule for long: an eclipse of the sun occurred, so that, as was believed among us, nothing could be done without lights having been kindled. 3 After these things, however, the Roman people gave themselves over to pleasures and delights, in order to soften those deeds which had been carried out harshly. 4 Venustus and Sabinus, consuls.

inita est factio in Africa contra Gordianum tertium duce Sabiniano; quem Gordianus per praesidem Mauretaniae obsessis coniuratis ita oppressit, ut ad eum tradendum Carthaginem omnes venirent et crimina confidenes et veniam sceleribus postulantes. 5 Finita igitur sollicitudine in Africa Gordiano iam iterum et Pompeiano conss. bellum Persicum natum est.

a faction was initiated in Africa against Gordian the third, with Sabinianus as leader; whom Gordian, through the governor of Mauretania, crushed with the conspirators besieged in such a way that they all came to Carthage to hand him over, confessing the crimes and requesting pardon for their misdeeds. 5 Therefore, the anxiety in Africa having been ended, with Gordian now again and Pompeianus, consuls, a Persian war arose.

6 Quando et adulescens Gordianus, priusquam ad bellum profisceretur, [et] duxit uxorem filiam Misithei, doctissimi viri, quem causa eloquentiae dignum parentela sua putavit et praefectum statim fecit. 7 Post quod non puerile iam et contemptibile videbatur imperium, si quidem et optimi soceri consiliis adiuvaretur et ipse pro pietate aliquantulum saperet nec per spadones ac ministros aulicos matris vel ignorantia <vel> coniventia venderetur.

6 When also the adolescent Gordian, before he set out to the war, [and] took a wife, the daughter of Misitheus, a most learned man, whom, on account of eloquence, he deemed worthy of his kinship and immediately made prefect. 7 After which the imperial rule no longer seemed puerile and contemptible, since indeed it was aided by the counsels of an excellent father-in-law, and he himself, for piety’s sake, had some small measure of sense, nor was he being sold by the eunuchs and the mother’s court ministers either through ignorance <or> by connivance.

XXIV. 1 Extat denique et soceri eius ad eum epistolo et ipsius Gordiani ad socerum, qua intellegitur eius saeculum emendatius ac diligentius socero adiuvante perfectum. 2 Quarum exemplum hoc est : "Domino filio et Augusto Misitheus socer et praefectus.

24. 1 There exists, finally, both a letter of his father-in-law to him and one of Gordian himself to his father-in-law, from which it is understood that his age was corrected and more diligently perfected with the father-in-law assisting. 2 Of which the example is this : "To the lord son and Augustus, Misitheus, father-in-law and prefect."

Evasisse nos gravem temporum maculam, qua per spadones et per illos, qui amici tibi videbantur - erant autem vehementes inimici - omnia vendebantur, voluptati est eo magis, quo tibi gratior emendatio est, ut, si qua vitia fuerunt, tua non fuisse satis constet, mi fili venerabilis. 3 Neque enim quisquam ferre potuit datas eunuchis suffragantibus militum praeposituras, negatum laboribus praemium, aut interemptos aut liberatos pro libidine atque mercede, quos non decebat, vacuatum aerarium, per eos, qui cottidie <te> insidiosissime frequentabant, initas factiones, ut tu deciperis, cum inter se de bonis pessimi quique haberent ante consilia tibimet suggerenda, bonos pellerent, detestandos insinuarent, omnes postremo tuas fabulas venderent. 4 Diis igitur gratias, quod volente te ipso emendanta res p. est.

That we have escaped the heavy blot of the times, wherein through eunuchs and through those who seemed to be your friends — but were in fact vehement enemies — everything was being sold, is a pleasure all the more, in proportion as the emendation is more welcome to you, so that, if there were any vices, it is sufficiently established that they were not yours, my venerable son. 3 For no one could bear that appointments to the command of soldiers were given with eunuchs suffraging as backers, that reward was denied to labors, that those whom it did not befit were either slain or released according to lust and for a bribe, that the treasury was emptied, that factions were entered into through those who every day most insidiously thronged about you, so that you were deceived, when the very worst would among themselves have beforehand the counsels to be suggested to you about good men, would drive out the good, insinuate the detestable, and, finally, sell all your tales. 4 Thanks therefore to the gods, because, with you yourself willing, the commonwealth has been emended.

5 Delectat sane boni esse principis socerum et eius, qui omnia requirat et omnia velit scire et qui pepulerit homines, per quos antea velut in auctione positus nundinatus est".

5 It is indeed a delight to be the father-in-law of a good prince, and of one who inquires into everything and wishes to know everything, and who has driven away the men through whom previously, as if set at auction, he was peddled".

XXV. 1 Item Gordiani ad ipsum : "Imperator Gordianus Augustus Misitheo patri et praefecto. Nisi dii omnipotentes Romanum tuerentur imperium, etiam nunc per emptos spadones velut in hasta positi venderemur.

25. 1 Likewise, of Gordian to him : "Emperor Gordian Augustus to Misitheus, father and prefect. Unless the omnipotent gods were guarding the Roman imperium, even now through purchased eunuchs, as if set up at auction, we would be sold.

2 Denique nunc demum intellego neque Feliciones praetorianis cohortibus praeponi debuisse, neque Serapammoni quartam legionem credendam fuisse, et, ut omnia dinumerare m<ittam>, multa non esse facienda quae feci; sed diis gratias, quod te insinuante, qui nihil vendis, didici ea, quae inclusus scire non poteram. 3 Quid enim facerem, quod et mater nos venderet et consilio cum Gaudiano et Reverendo et Montano habito vel laudaret aliquos vel vituperaret, et illorum consensu quasi etiam, quod dixerat, adprobarem? 4 Mi pater, verum audias velim : miser est imperator, apud quem vera reticentur, qui cum ipse publice ambulare non possit, necesse est, ut audiat et vel audita vel a plurimis roborata confirmet". 5 His epistolis intellectum est adulescentem soceri consiliis emendatum atque correctum.

2 Finally now at last I understand that neither the Felicios ought to have been set over the praetorian cohorts, nor the Fourth Legion to have been entrusted to Serapammon, and, so that I may omit to enumerate everything, that many things which I did ought not to have been done; but thanks to the gods, that, by your insinuation, you who sell nothing, I learned those things which, being shut in, I could not know. 3 For what was I to do, seeing that my mother was selling us and, having held a council with Gaudianus and Reverendus and Montanus, would either praise some or censure, and by their consensus I, as it were, would also approve what she had said? 4 My father, I would have you hear the truth: wretched is the emperor in whose presence truths are kept back; since he himself cannot walk in public, it is necessary that he listen and confirm either things heard or those strengthened by very many." 5 From these letters it was understood that the youth had been amended and corrected by his father-in-law’s counsels.

6 Et Misithei quidem epistolam Graecam quidam fuisse dicunt, sed in hanc sententiam. 7 Tantum autem valuit eius gravitas et sanctimonia, ut ex obscurissimo praeter nobilitatem gestis etiam Gordianum clarum principem fecerit.

6 And some indeed say that Misitheus’s letter was Greek, but to this sense. 7 But so greatly did his gravitas and sanctimony prevail, that—from one most obscure in achievements, apart from his nobility—he even made Gordian a renowned princeps.

XXVI. 1 Fuit terrae motus eo usque gravis imperante Gordiano, ut civitates etiam terrae hiatu cum populis deperirent. Ob quae sacrificia per totam urbem totumque orbem terrarum ingentia celebrata sunt.

26. 1 There was an earthquake so grievous under the rule of Gordian that even cities, with their peoples, perished by a yawning of the earth. For which cause immense sacrifices were celebrated throughout the whole city and the whole orb of the lands.

Et Cordus quidem dicit inspectis libris Sibyllinis celebratisque omnibus, quae illic iussa videbantur, mundanum malum esse sedatum. 3 Sedato terrae motu Praetextato et Attico conss. Gordianus aperto Iano gemino, quod signum erat indicti belli, profectus est contra Persas cum exercitu ingenti et tanto auro, ut vel vexiliis vel militibus facile Persas evinceret.

And Cordus indeed says that, the Sibylline Books having been inspected and all the things celebrated which there seemed to be ordered there, the world-wide ill was allayed. 3 With the earthquake stilled, in the consulship of Praetextatus and Atticus, Gordian, Janus Geminus having been opened, which was a sign of declared war, set out against the Persians with a huge army and with so much gold that either by the banners or by the soldiers he might easily overcome the Persians.

4 Fecit iter <in> Moesiam atque in ipso procinctu, quidquid hostium in Thraciis fuit, delevit, fugavit, expulit atque summovit. 5 Inde per Syriam Antiochiam veni, quae a Persis iam tenebatur. Illic frequentibus proeliis pugnavit et vicit 6 ac Sapore Persarum rege post Artaxerxen summoto, et Antiochiam recepit et Carras et Nisibin, quae omnia sub Persarum imperio erant.

4 He made a march into Moesia, and in the very battle array he destroyed, routed, expelled, and removed whatever enemies there were in Thrace. 5 Thence through Syria he came to Antioch, which was already held by the Persians. There, in frequent battles, he fought and won, 6 and, with Shapur, king of the Persians after Artaxerxes, driven off, he recovered Antioch and Carrhae and Nisibis, all of which were under the dominion of the Persians.

XXVII. 1 Rex sane Persarum tantum Gordianum principem timuit, ut, cum instructus esset et suis copiis et nostris, tamen civitatibus ipse praesidia sponte deduceret easque integras suis civibus redderet, ita ut nihil, quod ad eorum fortunas pertineret, adtaminaret. 2 Sed haec omnia per Misetheum, socerum Gordiani eundemque praefectum, gesta sunt.

27. 1 The king of the Persians indeed so feared the emperor Gordian that, although both his own forces and ours were drawn up, nevertheless he himself would of his own accord withdraw the garrisons from the cities and would return them intact to their citizens, such that he would not in any way contaminate anything that pertained to their fortunes. 2 But all these things were accomplished through Misitheus, the father-in-law of Gordian and likewise prefect.

3 Effectum denique est, ut Persae, qui iam in Italia timebantur, in regnum suum pugnante Gordiano redirent totumque orientem Romana res p. detineret. 4 Extat oratio Gordiani ad senatum, qua de rebus gestis suis scribens Misitheo praefecto uso et socero ingentes gratias agit. Cuis partem indidi, ut ex eo vera cognosceres : 5 "Post haec, p.c., quae, dum iter agimus, gesta sunt quaeque ubique singulis triumphis digna sunt actitata, etiam Persas, ut brevi multa conectam, ab Antiochensium cervicibus, quas iam nexas Persico ferro gerebant, et reges Persarum, et leges amovimus.

3 At length it was brought about that the Persians, who were already feared in Italy, returned into their own kingdom while Gordian was fighting, and that the Roman commonwealth held the whole Orient. 4 There exists a speech of Gordian to the Senate, in which, writing about his achievements, he gives enormous thanks to Misitheus, the prefect whom he employed and his father‑in‑law. Of which I have inserted a part, that from it you might learn the true facts : 5 "After these things, Conscript Fathers, the things which, while we are on the march, have been done, and which everywhere have been carried out as worthy of individual triumphs, even the Persians—to connect many things briefly—we removed from the necks of the Antiochenes, which they were already wearing bound with Persian iron; and we removed both the kings of the Persians and their laws.

6 Carras deinde ceterasque urbes imperio Romano reddidimus. Nisibin usque pervenimus et, si dii faverint, Ctesifonta usque veniemus. 7 Valeat tantum Misitheus praefectus et parens noster, cuius ductu et dispositione et haec transegimus et reliqua transigemus.

6 Then we restored Carrhae and the other cities to the Roman imperium. We reached as far as Nisibis, and, if the gods favor, we shall come even to Ctesiphon. 7 Only let Misitheus, our prefect and parent, be well, by whose leadership and disposition we have accomplished these things and shall accomplish the rest.

8 Vestrum est igitur supplicationes decernere, nos diis commendare, Misitheo gratias agere". 9 His in senatu lectis quadrigae elefantorum Gordiano decretae sunt, utpote qui Persas vicisset, ut triumpho Persico triumpharet, Misitheo autem quadrigae sex equorum et triumphalis currus et titulus huismodi : 10 "Misitheo eminenti viro, parenti principum, prae<torii> praefec>to, totius orbis tutori, <restitutori> rei p. senatus populusque Romanus vicem reddidit".

8 It is therefore yours to decree supplications, to commend us to the gods, to give thanks to Misitheus." 9 When these things had been read in the senate, a chariot drawn by four elephants was decreed to Gordian, as one who had conquered the Persians, that he might triumph with a Persian triumph; but to Misitheus, a six-horse team and a triumphal car and an inscription of this sort: 10 "To Misitheus, an eminent man, parent of the princes, prae<torian> pre<fect>, guardian of the whole world, <restorer> of the commonwealth, the senate and Roman people rendered recompense."

XXVIII. 1 Sed ista felicitas longior esse non potuit. Nam Misitheus, quantum plerique dicunt, artibus Philippi, qui post eum praefectus praetorii est factus, ut alii, morbo extinctus est herede Romana re p., ut quicquid eius fuerat, vectigalibus urbis accederet.

28. 1 But that felicity could not be longer. For Misitheus, as many say, by the arts of Philip, who after him was made prefect of the praetorium, as others say, was carried off by disease, with the Roman commonwealth as heir, so that whatever had been his would be added to the city’s tax-revenues.

Cuis viri tanta in re p. dispositio fuit, ut nulla esset umquam civitas limitanea potior et quae posset exercitum p. R. ac principem ferre, quae totius anni in aceto, frumento et larido atque hordeo et paleis condita non haberet, minores vero urbes aliae triginta dierum, aliae quadraginta, nonnullae duum mensium, quae minimum, quindecim dierum. 3 Idem cum esset praefectus, arma militum semper inspexit. Nullum senem militare passus est, nullum puerum annonas accipere.

Of this man, so great was the organization in the commonwealth that there was never any frontier city more capable and able to sustain the army of the Roman People and the princeps which did not have stores laid in for an entire year in vinegar, grain, and bacon, and in barley and straw; but the smaller towns—some for thirty days, others for forty, some for two months, and those with the least, for fifteen days. 3 The same man, when he was prefect, always inspected the soldiers’ arms. He allowed no old man to serve as a soldier, no boy to receive rations.

Castra omnia et fossatorum circumibat, noctibus etiam plerumque vigilias frequentabat. 4 Amabaturque ab omnibus, quod sic et rem p. amaret et principem. Tribuni eum et duces usque adeo timuerunt et amarunt, ut neque vellent peccare neque ulla ex parte peccarent.

He made the rounds of all the camps and of the ditch-diggers’ works, and by night too he for the most part frequented the watches. 4 And he was loved by all, because he so loved both the Republic and the emperor. The tribunes and the leaders feared and loved him to such a degree that they neither wished to do wrong nor in any respect did they do wrong.

5 Philippus eum propter pleraque vehementer timuisse fertur atque ob hoc per medicos insidias eius vitae parasse, et quidem hoc genere; 6 nam cum effusione alvi Misitheus laboraret atque a medicis sistendi ventris gratia poculorum iuberetur accipere, mutatis, quae fuerunt parata, id fertur datum, quo magis solveretur. Atque ita examinatus est.

5 Philip is said to have feared him vehemently on several counts and, on this account, to have laid ambushes against his life through physicians, and indeed of this kind; 6 for when Misitheus was suffering from a flux of the belly and was ordered by the physicians, for the sake of checking the stomach, to take draughts, the preparations that had been made having been altered, it is reported that there was given that by which he was loosened the more. And thus he was killed.

XXIX. 1 Quo mortuo Arriano et Papo conss. in eius locum praefectus praetorii factus est Philippus Arabs, humili genere natus, sed superbus, qui se in novitate atque enormitate fortunae non tenuit, ita ut statim Gordiano, qui eum in locum parentis adsciverat, insidias per milites faceret, quae tales fuerunt.

29. 1 When he had died, with Arianus and Papus consuls, Philip the Arab was made praetorian prefect in his place—born of humble stock, but arrogant—who in the novelty and enormity of his fortune did not restrain himself, to such a degree that immediately he laid plots through the soldiers against Gordian, who had adopted him into the place of a parent; which were as follows.

2 Misitheus tantum ubique, quantum diximus, habuerat conditorum, ut vacillare dispositio Romana non posset; verum artibus Philippi primum naves frumentariae sunt aversae, deinde in ea loca deducti sunt milites, in quibus annonari non posset. 3 Hinc Gordiano infestos milites statim reddidit, non intellegentes artibus Philippi iuvenem esse deceptum. 4 Sed Philippus etiam hoc addidit, ut rumorem per milites spargeret adulescentem esse Gordianum, imperium non posse regere, melius esse illum imperare, qui militem gubernaret, qui rem publicam sciret.

2 Misitheus had had so many depots everywhere, as we have said, that the Roman disposition could not waver; but by the arts of Philip, first the grain-ships were turned away, then the soldiers were led into those places in which it was not possible to be provisioned. 3 Hence he at once rendered the soldiers hostile to Gordian, not understanding that by Philip’s arts the youth had been deceived. 4 But Philip added this also, that he should spread through the soldiers the rumor that Gordian was an adolescent, not able to rule the imperium, that it were better for him to command who would govern the soldiery, who knew the commonwealth.

5 Corrupit praeterea etiam principes, effectumque, ut palam Philippus ad imperium posceretur. 6 Amici Gordiani primo vehementissime resistebamt, sed cum milites fame vincerentur, imperium Philippo mandatum est, iussumque a militibus, ut quasi tutor eius Philippus cum eodem Gordiano pariter imperaret.

5 He further corrupted even the principal men, and it was brought about that Philippus was openly demanded to the imperial power. 6 The friends of Gordian at first resisted most vehemently, but when the soldiers were overcome by hunger, the imperium was entrusted to Philippus, and it was ordered by the soldiers that Philippus, as if his guardian (tutor), should rule equally together with that same Gordian.

XXX. 1 Suscepto igitur imperio, cum et Philippus se contra Gordianum superbissime ageret et ille se imperatorum prolem et virum nobilissimae familiae recognosceret nec ferre posset inprobitatem hominis ignobilis, apud duces et milites adstante praefecto Maecio Gordiano, adfini suo, in tribunali conquestus est, sperans posse imperium Philippo abrogari. 2 Sed hac conquestione nihil egit, cum illum incusasset, quod immemor beneficiorum eius sibi minus gratus exsisteret.

30. 1 Therefore, the imperium having been assumed, since Philip was conducting himself most arrogantly against Gordian and he, recognizing himself as the offspring of emperors and a man of a most noble family, could not bear the improbity of an ignoble man, he lodged a complaint before the commanders and the soldiers, with the prefect Maecius Gordianus, his affine, standing by, on the tribunal, hoping that the imperium might be abrogated from Philip. 2 But by this complaint he accomplished nothing, though he had accused him of being forgetful of his benefactions and of showing himself less than grateful to him.

3 Et cum milites rogasset, cum aperte duces ambisset, factione Philippi minor apud omnes fuit. 4 Denique cum se videret minorem haberi, petit, ut aequale saltem inter eos esset imperium, nec impetravit. 5 Dehinc petit, ut loco Caesaris haberetur, neque id optinuit.

3 And when he had asked the soldiers, and had openly canvassed the leaders, owing to Philip’s faction he was the lesser in everyone’s estimation. 4 Finally, when he saw himself being held as the inferior, he petitioned that at least equal imperial power should be between them, and he did not obtain it. 5 Thereafter he petitioned to be held in the place of Caesar, nor did he secure that.

6 Petit etiam, ut praefecti loco esset Philippo, quod et ipsum negatum est. 7 Ultimae preces fuerunt, ut eum Philippus pro duce haberet et pateretur vivere. Ad quod quidem paene consenserat Philippus, ipse tacitus sed omnia per amicos agens nutibus atque consiliis.

6 He also petitioned to be in the place of prefect under Philip, which likewise was denied. 7 His final entreaties were that Philip would hold him as a general and allow him to live. To which, indeed, Philip had almost consented, himself silent but doing everything through friends by nods and counsels.

8 Verum cum secum ipse cogitaret amore populi R. et senatus circa Gordianum et totius Africae ac Syriae totiusque orbis Romani, cum et nobilis esset et nepos ac filius imperatorum et bellis gravibus totam re p. liberasset, posse fieri, ut ficta quandocumque militum voluntate Gordiano redderetur imperium, re recenti cum in Gordianum irae militum famis causa vehementes essent, clamantem e conspectu duci iussit ac dispoliari et occidi. 9 Quod cum primo dilatum esset, post, ut iussit, impletum est. Ita Philippus impie, non iure optinuit imperium.

8 But when he considered with himself the love of the Roman people and of the senate toward Gordian, and of all Africa and of Syria and of the whole Roman world—since he was both noble and the grandson and son of emperors and had freed the whole republic from grave wars—that it could come to pass that, with the will of the soldiers feigned at any time, the imperium would be returned to Gordian, while the affair was still fresh, since the soldiers’ angers, on account of hunger, were vehement against Gordian, he ordered him, crying out, to be led away from sight and to be despoiled and killed. 9 Although this was at first deferred, afterwards, as he ordered, it was fulfilled. Thus Philip impiously, not by right, obtained the imperium.

XXXI. 1 Imperavit Gordianus annis sex. Asiae dum haec agerentur Argum Scytharum rex finitimorum regan vastabat, maxime quod conpererat Misitheum perisse, cuius consilio res p. fuerat gubernata.

31. 1 Gordian ruled for six years. In Asia, while these things were being transacted, Argum, king of the Scythians, was devastating the realms of the neighbors, especially because he had learned that Misitheus had perished, by whose counsel the republic had been governed.

2 Philippus autem, ne a crudelitate nancisci videretur imperium, Romam litteras misit, quibus scripsit Gordianum morbo perisse seque a cunctis militibus electum. Nec defuit, ut senatus de his rebus, quas non noverat, falleretur. 3 Appellato igitur pricipe Philippo et Augusto nuncupato Gordianum adulescentem inter deos rettulit.

2 Philip, moreover, lest he seem to obtain the imperium by cruelty, sent letters to Rome, in which he wrote that Gordian had perished by disease and that he himself had been elected by all the soldiers. Nor did it fail to happen that the senate was deceived about these matters which it did not know. 3 Therefore, Philip having been called princeps and named Augustus, he enrolled the adolescent Gordian among the gods.

4 Fuit iuvenis laetus, pulcher, amabilis, gratus omnibus, in vita iocundus, in litteris nobilis, prorsus ut nihil preter aetatem deesset imperio. 5 Amatus est a populo et senatu et militibus ante Philippi factionem ita ut nemo principum. 6 Cordus dicit omnes milites eum filium appellasse, ab omni senatu filium dictum, omnem populum delicias suas Gordianum dixisse.

4 He was a cheerful youth, handsome, amiable, pleasing to all, delightful in life, noble in letters, altogether such that nothing except age was lacking to the imperial office. 5 He was loved by the people and the senate and the soldiers, before Philip’s faction, as no one of the emperors. 6 Cordus says that all the soldiers called him “son,” that by the whole senate he was called “son,” that all the people called Gordian their “darling.”

7 Denique Philippus, cum eum interfecisset, neque imagines eius tollere neque statuas deponere neque nomen abradere, sed divum semper appellans etiam apud ipsos milites, cum quibus factionem fecerat, serio animo et peregrina calliditate veneratus est.

7 Finally Philip, when he had killed him, neither removed his images nor took down his statues nor scraped off his name, but, always calling him divine, even among the soldiers themselves with whom he had made the faction, he venerated him with a serious mind and with foreign craftiness.

XXXII. 1 Domus Gordianorum etiam nunc extat, quam iste Gordianus pulcherrime exornavit. 2 Est villa eorum via Praenestina ducentas columnas in trastylo habens, quarum quinquaginta Carysteae Claudianae, quinquaginta Synnades, quinquaginta Numidicae pari mensura sunt.

32. 1 The house of the Gordians still stands even now, which this Gordian adorned most beautifully. 2 There is their villa on the Via Praenestina, having two hundred columns in a trastylo, of which fifty are Carystean, Claudian, fifty Synnadic, fifty Numidian, equal in measure.

3 In qua basilicae centenariae tres, cetera huic operi convenientia et thermae, quales praeter urbem, ut tunc, nusquam in urbe terrarum. 4 Familiae Gordiani hoc senatus decrevit, ut a tutelis atque a legationibus et a publicis necessitatibus, nisi si vellent, posteri eius semper vacarent. 5 Opera Gordiani Romae nulla extant, praeter quaedam nymfia et balneas.

3 In which three centenary basilicas, the other things fitting to this work, and baths such as, apart from the City, as things then stood, nowhere in any city of the earth. 4 For the family of Gordian the senate decreed this, that from guardianships and embassies and public burdens, unless they wished, his descendants should always be exempt. 5 No works of Gordian at Rome are extant, except certain nymphaea and bathhouses.

Sed balneae privatis hominibus fuerunt et ab eo in usum privatum exornatae sunt. 6 Instituerat porticum in campo Martio sub colle pedum mille, ita ut ab altera parte aeque mille pedum porticus fieret atque inter virdaria essent, lauro, myrto et buxo frequentata, medium vero lithostrotum brevibus columnis altrinsecus positis et sigillis per pedes mille, quod esset deambulatorium, ita ut in capite basilica esset pedum quingentorum. 7 Cogitaverat praeterea cum Misitheo, ut post basilicam thermas aestivas sui nominis faceret, ita ut hiemales in principio porticum poneret, <ne> sine usu essent vel virdiaria vel porticus.

But the baths belonged to private individuals and were adorned by him for private use. 6 He had planned a portico in the Campus Martius below the hill, a thousand feet long, such that on the other side likewise a portico of a thousand feet might be made, and that between them there should be viridaria, crowded with laurel, myrtle, and boxwood; and the middle, indeed, a lithostrotum, with short columns set on either side and with statuettes for a thousand feet, to serve as an ambulatory, such that at the head there should be a basilica of five hundred feet. 7 He had further contemplated, together with Misitheus, that after the basilica he would make summer baths bearing his own name, such that he would place the winter ones at the beginning of the porticoes, <ne> either the viridaria or the porticoes be without use.

8 Sed haec omnia hunc privatorum et possessionibus et hortis et aedificiis occupata sunt.

8 But all this site has been occupied by the possessions, gardens, and edifices of private persons.

XXXIII. 1 Fuerunt sub Gordiano Romae elefanti triginta et duo, quorum ipse duodecim miserat, Alexander decem, alces decem, tigres decem, leones mansueti sexaginta, leopardi mansueti triginta, belbi, id es yaenae, decem, gladiatorum fiscalium paria mille, hippopotami sex, rinoceros unus, arcoleontes decem, camelopardali decem, onagri viginti, equi feri quadraginta et cetera huius modi animalia innumera et diversa, quae omnia Philippus ludis saecularibus vel dedit vel occidit; 2 has autem omnes feras mansuetas et praeterea efferatas parabat ad triumphum Persicum. 3 Quod votum publicum nihil valuit.

33. 1 Under Gordian there were at Rome thirty-two elephants, of which he himself had sent twelve, Alexander ten, ten elks, ten tigers, sixty tame lions, thirty tame leopards, belbi, that is, hyenas, ten, one thousand pairs of fiscal gladiators, six hippopotami, one rhinoceros, ten arcoleons, ten camelopards, twenty onagers, forty wild horses, and other animals of this sort, numberless and diverse, all of which Philip at the Secular Games either presented or killed; 2 but he was preparing all these tame beasts and, besides, the wild ones for a Persian triumph. 3 Which public vow was of no effect.

Nam omnia haec Philippus exhibuit saecularibus ludis et muneribus atque circensibus, cum millesimum annum a condita urbe in consulatu suo et filii sui celebravit. 4 Quod de C. Caesare memoriae traditum est, hoc etiam de Gordiano Cordus evenisse perscribit; nam omnes, quicumque illum gladio adpetiverunt (qui novem fuisse dicuntur), postea interemptis [a] Philippis <se> sua manu suisque gladiis et isdem, quibus illum percusserant, interemisse dicuntur.

For Philip exhibited all these in the secular games and the munera and the circus-games, when he celebrated the 1,000th year from the founding of the city in his own consulship and that of his son. 4 What has been handed down to memory about Gaius Caesar, this too Cordus writes happened concerning Gordian; for all, whoever attacked him with a sword (who are said to have been nine), afterwards at Philippi are said to have slain themselves by their own hand with their own swords, and with the very same with which they had struck him.

XXXIV. 1 Trium igitur Gordianorum haec fuit vita, qui omnes Augusti appellati sunt. 2 Gordiano sepulchrum milites apud Circesium castrum fecerunt in finibus Persidis, titulum huius modi addentes et Graecis et Latinis et persicis et Iudaicis et Aegyptiacis litteris, ut ab omnibus legerentur : 3 "Divo Gordiano victori Persarum, victori Gothorum, victori Sarmatarum, depulsori Romanarum seditionum, victori Germanorum, sed non victori Philipporum". 4 Quod ideo videbatur additum, quia in campis Philippis ab Alanis tumultuario proelio victus abscesserat, simul etiam quod a Philippis videbatur occisus.

34. 1 Therefore, such was the life of the three Gordians, who were all called Augusti. 2 The soldiers made a tomb for Gordian at the fort of Circesium on the borders of Persia, adding a title of this sort in Greek and Latin and Persic and Judaic and Egyptian letters, so that it might be read by all : 3 "To the Divine Gordian, victor over the Persians, victor over the Goths, victor over the Sarmatians, repeller of Roman seditions, victor over the Germans, but not victor over the Philips." 4 This seemed to have been added for the reason that on the fields of Philippi he had withdrawn defeated by the Alans in a makeshift battle, and at the same time also because he seemed to have been slain by the Philips.

5 Quem titulum evertisse Licinius dicitur eo tempore, quo est nanctus imperium, cum se vellet videri a Philippis originem trahere. 6 Quae omnia, Constantine maxime, idcirco sum persecutus, ne quis tuae cognitioni deesset, quod dignum scientia videretur.

5 That inscription Licinius is said to have overturned at the time when he had obtained the imperium, since he wished to seem to draw his origin from the Philips. 6 All these things, most great Constantine, I have therefore pursued, lest anything be lacking to your cognizance which might appear worthy of knowledge.