Historia Augusta: L. Verus

I. 1 Scio plerosque ita vitam Marci ac Veri litteris atque historiae dedicasse, ut priorem Verum intimandum legentibus darent, non imperandi secutos ordinem sed vivendi : 2 ego vero, quod prior Marcus imperare coepit, dein Verus, qui superstite perit Marco, priorem Marcum, dehinc Verum credidi celebrandum. 3 Igitur Lucius Ceionius Aelius Commodus Verus Antoninus, qui ex Hadriani voluntate Aelius appellatus est, ex Antonini coniunctione Verus et Antoninus, neque inter bonos neque intermalos principes ponitur. 4 Quem constat non inhorruisse vitiis, non abundasse virtutibus, vixisse deinde non in suo libero principatu, sed sub Marco in simili ac paris maiestatis imperio, a cuius secta lascivia morum et vitae licentioris nimietate dissensit.

1. 1 I know that many have so dedicated the life of Marcus and of Verus to letters and to history, that they gave Verus to be intimated first to readers, not having followed the order of ruling but of living: 2 I indeed, since Marcus began to rule earlier, then Verus, who perished with Marcus surviving, have thought that Marcus should be celebrated first, then Verus. 3 Therefore Lucius Ceionius Aelius Commodus Verus Antoninus, who by Hadrian’s will was called Aelius, and from his conjunction with Antoninus [was called] Verus and Antoninus, is placed neither among good nor among bad princes. 4 It is agreed of him that he did not shudder at vices, did not abound in virtues, and then lived not in his own free principate, but under Marcus in a rule similar and of equal majesty, from whose discipline he dissented by the wantonness of his manners and by the excess of a more licentious life.

5 Erat enim morum simplicum et qui adumbrare nihil posset. 6 Huic naturalis pater fuit Lucius Aelius Verus, qui ab Hadriano adoptatus primus Caesar est dictus et in eadem statione constitutus perit. 7 Avi ac proavi et item maiores plurimi consulares.

5 He was, indeed, of simple manners and one who could dissemble nothing. 6 His natural father was Lucius Aelius Verus, who, adopted by Hadrian, was called Caesar and, established in the same station, perished. 7 Grandfathers and great-grandfathers, and likewise very many ancestors, were consular.

8 Natus est Lucius Romae in praetura patris sui XVIII. kal. Ianuariarum die, quo et Nero, qui rerum potitus est.

Lucius was born at Rome, during his father’s praetorship, on the 18th day before the Kalends of January (December 15), on which day also Nero—who came into possession of affairs—was born.

9 Origo eius paterna pleraque ex Etruria fuit, materna ex Faventia.

9 His paternal origin was for the most part from Etruria, his maternal from Faventia.

II. 1 Hac prosapia genitus patre ab Hadriano adoptato in familiam Aeliam devenit mortuoque patre Caesare in Hadriani familia remansit. 2 A quo Aurelio datus est adoptandus, cum sibi ille Pium filium, Marcum nepotem esse voluisset posteritati satis providens, 3 et ea quidem lege, ut filiam Pii Verus acciperet, quae data est Marco idcirco, quia hic adhoc impar videbatur aetate, ut in Marci vita exposuimus. 4 Duxit autem uxorem Marci filiam Lucillam.

2. 1 Born from this stock, with his father adopted by Hadrian, he came into the Aelian family, and, his father, a Caesar, having died, he remained in Hadrian’s family. 2 By whom he was given to Aurelius to be adopted, since that man, sufficiently providing for posterity, had wished to have Pius as a son and Marcus as a grandson, 3 and indeed under this stipulation, that Verus should take the daughter of Pius—who was given to Marcus for this reason, because he still seemed unequal in age—as we have set forth in the life of Marcus. 4 Moreover, he married Marcus’s daughter Lucilla.

Educatus est in domo Tiberiana. 5 Audivit Scaurinum grammaticum Latinum, Scauri filium, qui grammaticus Hadriani fuit, Graecos Telephum atque Hefaestionem, Harpocrationem, rhetores Apollonium, Celerem Caninium et Herodem Atticum, Latinum Cornelium Frontonem, philosophos Apollonium et Sextum. 6 Hos omnes amavit unice, atque ab his in vicem dilectus est, nec tamen ingeniosus ad litteras.

He was educated in the Tiberian house. 5 He heard Scaurinus, a Latin grammarian, the son of Scaurus, who was Hadrian’s grammarian; the Greeks Telephus and Hephaestion, and Harpocration; the rhetors Apollonius, Celer Caninius, and Herodes Atticus; the Latin Cornelius Fronto; the philosophers Apollonius and Sextus. 6 He uniquely loved all these, and in turn was beloved by them, yet he was not ingenious for letters.

7 Amavit autem in pueritia versus facere, post orationes. Et melior quidem orator fuisse dicitur quam poeta, immo, ut verius dicam, peior poeta quam rhetor. 8 Nec desunt, qui dicant eum adiutum ingenio amicorum atque abaliis ei illa ipsa, qualiacumque sunt, scripta; si quidem multos disertos et eruditos semper secum habuisse dicitur.

7 He loved in boyhood to compose verses, later speeches. And he is said to have been indeed a better orator than a poet—nay rather, to speak more truly, a worse poet than a rhetor. 8 Nor are lacking those who say that he was aided by the genius of friends, and that those very writings, whatever they are, were written for him by others; since indeed he is said always to have had many disert and erudite men with him.

Educatorem habuit Nicomedem. 9 Fuit voluptarius et nimis laetus et omnibus deliciis, ludis, iocis decenter aptissimus. 10 Post septimum annum in familiam Aureliam traductus Marci moribus et auctoritate formatus est.

He had Nicomedes as a tutor. 9 He was a voluptuary and excessively merry, and most suitably apt for all delights, games, and jokes. 10 After the seventh year he was transferred into the Aurelian household and was formed by the morals and authority of Marcus.

Amavit venatus, palaestras et omnia exercitia iuventutis. 11 Fuitque privatus in domo imperatoria viginti et tribus annis.

He loved hunting, the palaestrae, and all the exercises of youth. 11 And he was a private person in the imperial household for 23 years.

III. 1 Qua die togam virilem Verus accepit, Antoninus Pius ea occasione, qua patris templum dedicabat, populo liberalis fuit, 2 mediusque inter Pium et Marcum idem [se] resedit, cum quaestor populo munus daret. 3 Post quaesturam statim consul est factus cum Sextio Laterano.

3. 1 On the day that Verus received the toga virilis, Antoninus Pius, on the occasion on which he was dedicating his father’s temple, was liberal to the people, 2 and the same man seated himself in the middle between Pius and Marcus, when the quaestor was giving a munus to the people. 3 After the quaestorship he was immediately made consul with Sextius Lateranus.

Interiectis annis cum Marco fratre iterum factus est consul. 4 Diu autem et privatus fuit et ea honorificentia caruit, qua Marcus ornabatur. 5 Nam neque in senatu ante quaesturam sedit neque in itinere cum patre, sed cum praefecto praetorii vectus est, nec aliud ei honorificentiae ad nomen adiunctum est quam quod Augusti filius appellatus est.

After an interval of years he was made consul again with his brother Marcus. 4 For a long time, moreover, he was a private person and lacked that honorific distinction with which Marcus was adorned. 5 For he neither sat in the senate before the quaestorship nor traveled on journeys with his father, but rode with the Prefect of the Praetorium, nor was any other honorific added to his name than that he was called the son of Augustus.

6 Fuit studiosus etiam circensium haut aliter quam gladiatorii muneris. hic cum tantis deliciarum et luxuriae quateretur erroribus, ab Antonino videtur ob hoc retentus, quod eum paterita in adoptionem Pii transire iusserat, ut nepotem appellaret. Cui, quantum videtur, fidem exhibuit, non amorem.

6 He was studious also of the circus-games no otherwise than of the gladiatorial munus. As he was being battered by such excesses of delicacies and luxury, he seems to have been retained by Antoninus on this account: because his father had thus ordered him to pass into the adoption of Pius, so that he might call him grandson. To whom, so far as it appears, he exhibited fidelity, not love.

7 Amavit tamen Antoninus Pius simplicitatem ingenii puritatemque vivendi hortatusque est, ut imitaretur, et fratrem. 8 Defuncto Pio Marcus in eum omnia contulit, participatu etiam imperatoriae potestatis indulto, sibique consortem fecit, cum illi soli senatus detulisset imperium.

7 Nevertheless Antoninus Pius loved the simplicity of his character and the purity of his way of living, and he exhorted him to imitate his brother as well. 8 With Pius deceased, Marcus conferred everything upon him, granting also a participation in imperial power, and made him his partner, although the senate had bestowed the imperium upon him alone.

IV. 1 Dato igitur imperio et indulta tribunicia potestate, post consulatus etiam honorem delatum Verum vocari praecepit, suum in eum transferens nomen, cum ante Commodus vocaretur. 2 Lucius quidem Marco vicem reddens si [quid] susciperet obsecutus ut legatus proconsuli vel praeses imperatori. 3 Iam primum enim Marcus pro ambobus ad milites est locutus, et pro consensu imperii graviter se et ad Marci mores egit.

4. 1 Given therefore the imperial power and the tribunician power granted, and after the honor of the consulship had also been conferred, he ordered that he be called Verus, transferring his own name onto him, whereas previously he was called Commodus. 2 Lucius indeed, repaying Marcus in turn, complied in whatever he undertook, as a legate to a proconsul or a praeses to an emperor. 3 For at the very first Marcus spoke to the soldiers on behalf of both, and, for the concord of the imperium, he conducted himself with gravity and in accordance with Marcus’s ways.

4 Ubi vero in Syriam profectus est, non solum licentia vitae liberioris, sed etiam adulteriis et iuventutis amoribus infamatus est, 5 si quidem tantae luxuriae fuisse dicitur, ut etiam, [postea] quam [postea] de Syria redit, popinam domi instituerit, ad quam post convivium Marci devertebat, ministrantibus sibi omni genere turpium personarum. 6 Fertur et nocte perpeti alea lusisse, cum in Syria concepisset id vitium, atque in tantum vitiorum Gaianorum et Neronianorum ac Vitellianorum fuisse aemulum, ut vagaretur nocte per tabernas ac lupanaria obtecto capite cucullione vulgari viatorio et comisaretur cum triconibus, committeret rixas, dissimulans quis esset, saepeque efflictum livida facie redisse et in tabernis agnitum, cum sese absconderet. 7 Iaciebat et nummos in popinas maximos, quibus calices frangeret.

4 When indeed he set out into Syria, he was defamed not only for the license of a more liberal way of life, but also for adulteries and the amours of youths, 5 since indeed he is said to have been of such luxury that even, [afterwards] when [afterwards] he returned from Syria, he established a popina at home, to which, after Marcus’s banquet, he would turn aside, with persons of every kind of base character ministering to him. 6 He is reported also to have played dice all night long, since in Syria he had conceived that vice, and to have been so much an emulator of the Gaian, Neronian, and Vitellian vices that he would wander by night through taverns and brothels with his head covered by a common traveling cowl, and carouse with dicers, start brawls, dissembling who he was, and often to have returned battered with a livid face, and to have been recognized in taverns when he hid himself. 7 He also used to throw very large coins into taverns, with which he would shatter cups.

8 Amavit et aurigas prasino favens. 9 Gladiatorum etiam frequentius pugnas in convivio habuit trahens cenas in noctem et in toro convivali condormiens, ita ut levatus cum stromatibus in cubiculum perferretur. 10 Somni fuit permodici, digestionis facillimae.

8 He also loved charioteers, favoring the Prasinus (Green) faction. 9 He had bouts of gladiators more frequently at a banquet, dragging dinners into the night and dozing off on the banqueting-couch, so that, lifted together with the bedclothes, he was carried into his bedchamber. 10 He was of very little sleep and of the easiest digestion.

11 Sed Marcus haec omnia [non] nesciens dissimulabat rem pudore illo, ne reprehenderet fratrem.

11 But Marcus, [not] unaware of all these things, dissembled the matter with that modesty, lest he reprehend his brother.

V. 1 Et notissimum eius quidem fertur tale convivium, in quo primum duodecim accubuisse dicitur, cum sit notissimum dictum de numero convivarum : "Septem convivium, nevem vero convicium;" 2 donatos autem pueros decoros, qui ministrabant, singulis, donatos etiam structores et lances singulis quibusque, donata et viva animalia vel cicurum vel ferarum avium vel quadripedum, quorum cibi adpositi erant, 3 donatos etiam calices singulis per singulas potiones, myrrinos et crystallinos Alexandrinos, quotiens bibitum est; data etiam aurea atque argentea pocula et gemmata, coronas quin etiam datas lemniscis aureis interpositis et alieni temporis floribus, data et vasa aurea cum unguentis ad speciem alabastrorum, 4 data et vehicula cum mulabus ac mulionibus cum iuncturis argenteis, ut ita de convivio redirent. 5 Omne autem convivium aestimatum dicitur sexagies centenis milibus sestertiorum. 6 Hoc convivium posteaquam Marcus audivit, ingemuisse dicitur et doluisse publicum fatum.

5. 1 And indeed his most well-known convivium is reported to have been such, in which first he is said to have reclined twelve, although the well-known saying about the number of guests is this : "Seven, a banquet; nine, rather, a brawl;" 2 moreover, the handsome boys who were serving were given—one to each; the table-setters (structores) too and the platters were given, one to each and every one; living animals also were given, whether of tame or wild creatures, birds or quadrupeds, the foods of which had been set out; 3 goblets, too, were given, one to each for each drink, myrrhine and crystalline Alexandrian, as often as drinking took place; golden and silver cups also, and jewel-studded ones, were given; wreaths too were given, with golden lemnisci interposed and with flowers out of season; golden vessels also were given with unguents, in the fashion of alabaster-vials; 4 vehicles too were given, with she-mules and muleteers, with silver fittings, so that thus they might return from the convivium. 5 The whole convivium, moreover, is said to have been valued at 6,000,000 sesterces. 6 After Marcus later heard of this convivium, he is said to have groaned and to have grieved for the public fate.

7 Post convivium lusum est tesseris usque ad lucem. 8 Et haec quidem post Parthicum bellum, ad quod eum misisse dicitur Marcus, ne vel in urbe ante oculos omnium peccaret, vel ut parsimoniam peregrinatione addisceret, vel ut timore bellico emendatior rediret, vel ut se imperatorem esse cognosceret. 9 Sed quantum profecerit, cum alia vita tum haec, quam narravimus, caena monstrabit.

7 After the banquet, they played with dice until dawn. 8 And these things indeed were after the Parthian war, to which Marcus is said to have sent him, either lest he should sin in the city before the eyes of all, or so that he might learn parsimony by peregrination, or so that, through fear of war, he might return more amended, or so that he might recognize himself to be an emperor. 9 But how much he improved, both his other manner of life and this supper which we have narrated will demonstrate.

VI. 1 Circensium tantam curam habuit, ut frequenter provincia litteras causa circensium et miserit et acceperit. 2 Denique etiam praesens et cum Marco sedens multas a venetianis est passus iniurias, quod turpissime contra eos faveret; 3 nam et Volucri equo prasino aureum simulacrum fecerat, quod secum portabat; 4 cui quidem passas uvas et nucleos in vicem hordei in praesepe ponebat, quem sagis fuco tinctis coopertum in Tiberianam adadduci iubebat, cui mortuo sepulchrum in Vaticano fecit. 5 In huius equi gratiam primum coeperunt equis aurei velbrabia postulari.

6. 1 He had such great care for the circus-games, that he frequently both sent and received letters with the provinces for the sake of the circus-games. 2 Finally, even when present and sitting with Marcus, he endured many insults from the Venetians (the Blues), because he most disgracefully favored against them; 3 for he had made a golden effigy for the Green horse Volucer, which he carried with him; 4 to which indeed he would place raisins and kernels in place of barley in the manger, and he used to order it, covered with cloaks dyed with fucus, to be led into the Tiberianum, and when it died he made a tomb for it on the Vatican. 5 For the sake of this horse, for the first time golden brabeia (prizes) began to be demanded for horses.

6 In tanto autem equus ille honore fuit, ut ei a populo prasinianorum saepe modius aureorum postularetur. 7 Profectum eum ad Parthicum bellum Marcus Capuam prosecutus est; cumque inde per omnium villas se ingurgitaret, morbo inplicitus apud Canusium aegrotavit. Quo ad eum visendum frater contendit.

6 However, that horse was in so great honor that for him a modius of gold coins was often demanded by the people of the Prasinians (Greens). 7 As he set out to the Parthian war, Marcus escorted him as far as Capua; and as from there he gorged himself at all the villas, being entangled by illness he fell sick at Canusium. Thither his brother hastened to see him.

8 Multa in eius vita ignava et sordida etiam belli tempore deteguntur. 9 Nam cum interfecto legato, caesis legionibus, Syris defectionem cogitantibus oriens vastaretur, ille in Apulia venabaturet apud Corinthum et Athenas inter symfonias et cantica navigabatet per singulas maritimas civitates Asiae, Pamphyliae Ciliciaeque clariores voluptatibus immorabatur.

8 Many ignoble and sordid things in his life are uncovered even in time of war. 9 For when, with the legate slain, the legions cut down, and the Syrians contemplating defection, the Orient was being laid waste, he in Apulia was hunting, and at Corinth and Athens he was sailing amid symphonies and songs, and through each of the maritime cities of Asia, Pamphylia, and Cilicia, more renowned for pleasures, he lingered.

VII. 1 Antiochiam posteaquam venit, ipse quidem se luxuriae dedidit. Duces autem confecerunt Parthicum bellum, Statius Priscus et Avidius Cassius et Martius Verus per quadriennium, ita ut Babylonem et Mediam pervenirent et Armeniam vindicarent.

7. 1 After he came to Antioch, he himself indeed surrendered to luxury. The commanders, however, completed the Parthian war—Statius Priscus and Avidius Cassius and Martius Verus—over a four-year period, in such a way that they reached Babylon and Media and vindicated Armenia.

2 Partumque ipsi nomen est Armenici, Parthici, Medici, quod etiam Marco Romae agenti delatum est. 3 Egit autem per quadriennium Verus hiemem Laodiciae, aestatem apud Daphnen, reliquam partem Antiochiae. 4 Risui fuit omnibus Syris, quorum multa ioca in theatro in eum dicta exstant.

2 And he himself received the title of Armenian, Parthian, and Median, which was also conferred upon Marcus, who was staying at Rome. 3 Moreover, for four years Verus spent the winter at Laodicea, the summer at Daphne, and the remaining part at Antioch. 4 He was a laughing-stock to all the Syrians, many jokes spoken against him in the theater still existing.

5 Vernas in triclinium Saturnalibus et diebus festis semper admisit. 6 Ad Eufraten tamen inpulsu comitum suorum secundo profectus est. 7 Efesum etiam redit, ut Lucillam uxorem missam a patre Marco susciperet, et idcirco maxime, ne Marcus cum ea in Syriam veniret ac flagitia eius adnosceret.

5 He always admitted the homeborn slaves into the triclinium on the Saturnalia and on festal days. 6 To the Euphrates, however, at the impulse of his companions, he set out a second time. 7 He also returned to Ephesus, to receive Lucilla his wife, sent by her father Marcus—and chiefly for this reason, lest Marcus come with her into Syria and come to know of his disgraces.

nam senatui Marcus dixerat se filiam in Syriam deducturum. 8 Confecto sane bello regna regibus, provincias vero comitibus suis regendas dedit. 9 Romam inde ad triumphum invitus, quod Syriam quasi regnum suum relinqueret, redit et pariter cum fratre triumphavit susceptisa senatu nominibus, quae in exercitu acceperat.

for Marcus had told the senate that he would escort his daughter to Syria. 8 With the war indeed finished, he gave kingdoms to kings, but provinces to his own companions to be governed. 9 Thence he returned to Rome for a triumph unwillingly, because he was leaving Syria as if his own kingdom, and he triumphed together with his brother, with the titles, conferred by the senate, which he had gained in the army.

10 Fertur praeterea ad amicae vulgaris arbitrium in Syria posuisse barbam. Unde in eum a Syris multa sunt dicta.

10 It is further reported that, at the will of a common mistress, he laid aside his beard in Syria. Whence many things were said against him by the Syrians.

VIII. 1 Fuit eius fati, ut in eas provincias, per quas redit, Romam usque luem secum deferre videretur. 2 Et nata fertur pestilentia in Babylonia, ubi de templo Apollinis ex arcula aurea, quam miles forte inciderat, spiritus pestilens evasit, atque inde Parthos orbemque complesse, 3 et hoc non Lucii Veri vitio sed Cassii, a quo contra fidem Seleucia, quae ut amicos milites nostros receperat, expugnata est.

8. 1 It was of his fate, that into those provinces, through which he returned, even to Rome, he seemed to carry a plague with him. 2 And a pestilence is said to have arisen in Babylonia, where from the temple of Apollo, out of a little golden casket, which a soldier had chanced upon, a pestilential spirit escaped, and from there it filled the Parthians and the world, 3 and this was not by the fault of Lucius Verus but of Cassius, by whom, in violation of good faith, Seleucia, which had received our soldiers as friends, was taken by storm.

4 Quod quidem inter ceteros etiam Quadratus, belli Parthici scriptor, incusatis Seleucenis, qui fidem primi ruperant, pugat. 5 Habuit hanc reverentiam Marci Verus, ut nomina, quae sibi delata fuerant, cum fratre communicaret die triumphi, quem pariter celebrarunt. 6 Reversus e Parthico bello minore circa fratrem cultu fuit Verus; nam et libertis inhonestius indulsit et multa sine fratre disposuit.

4 Which, indeed, among others even Quadratus, the writer of the Parthian war, contends, with the Seleucenians arraigned, who were the first to break faith. 5 Verus had this reverence for Marcus, that the names which had been conferred upon himself he shared with his brother on the day of the triumph, which they celebrated together. 6 Having returned from the Parthian war, Verus showed less deference toward his brother; for he indulged his freedmen more dishonorably, and arranged many matters without his brother.

7 His accessit, quod, quasi reges aliquos ad triumphum adduceret, sic histriones eduxit e Syria, quorum praecipuus fuit Maximinus, quem Paridis nomine nuncupavit. 8 Villam praeterea extruxit in via Clodia famosissimam, in qua permultos dies et ipse ingenti luxuria debacchatus est cum libertis suis et amicis Paridis, quorum praesentia Nulla inerat reverentia, 9 et Marcum rogavit, qui venit, ut fratri venerabilem morum suorum et imitandam ostenderet sanctitudinem, et quinque diebus ineadem villa residens cognitionibus continuis operam dedit, aut convivante fratre aut convivia comparante. 10 Habuit et Agrippum histrionem, cui cognomentum erat Memfi, quem et ipsum e Syria velut tropaeum Parthicum adduxerat, quem Apolaustum nominavit.

7 To these there was added this: as though he were leading some kings to a triumph, so he led out histrions (actors) from Syria, the chief of whom was Maximinus, whom he styled by the name Paris. 8 Moreover, he constructed a most famous villa on the Via Clodia, in which for very many days he himself caroused in immense luxury with his freedmen and the friends of Paris, in whose presence no reverence was in place; 9 and he asked Marcus—who came—that he might show to his brother the venerable and imitable sanctity of his morals; and, staying for five days in the same villa, he devoted himself to continuous judicial inquiries, while his brother was either feasting or getting up banquets. 10 He also had a histrion (actor) Agrippus, whose cognomen was Memphi, whom likewise he had brought from Syria as though a Parthian trophy, and whom he named Apolaustus.

11 Adduxerat secum et fidicinas et tibicines et histriones scurrasque mimarios et praestigiatores et omnia mancipiorum genera, quorum Syria et Alexandria pascitur voluptate, prorsus ut videretur bellum non Parthicum sed histrionicum confecisse.

He had brought with him also fidicinae and tibicines and histriones, scurras mimarios and praestigiatores, and all kinds of mancipia, upon whose pleasures Syria and Alexandria are fed, plainly so that he seemed to have finished not a Parthian war but a histrionic one.

IX. 1 Et haec vitae diversitas atque alia multa inter Marcum ac Verum simultates fecisse non aperta veritas indicabat, sed occultus rumor inseverat; 2 verum illud praecipuum quod, cum Libonem quendam patruelem suum Marcus legatum in Syriam misisset, atque ille se insolentius quam verecundus senator efferret dicens ad fratres suos scripturum esse, si quid forte dubitaret, nec Verus praesens pati posset, subitoque morbo notis prope veneni exsistentibus interisset, visum est nonnullis, non tamen Marco, quod eius fraude putaretur occisus. quae res simultatum auxit rumorem. 3 Liberti multum potuerunt apud Verum ut in vita Marci diximus, Geminus et Agaclytus, cui dedit invito M[arco] Libonis uxorem; 4 denique nuptiis a Vero celebratis Marcus convivio non interfuit.

CHAPTER 9. 1 And this diversity of life and many other things between Marcus and Verus the open truth did not indicate had produced hostilities, but a hidden rumor had sown; 2 but this was the principal point: when Marcus had sent a certain cousin, Libo, as legate into Syria, and he carried himself more insolently than a modest senator, saying that he would write to his brothers if he should perhaps be in doubt about anything, and Verus, being present, could not endure it, and he perished by a sudden illness, the marks almost of poison being apparent, it seemed to some—though not to Marcus—that he had been slain by his treachery. This matter increased the rumor of rivalries. 3 The freedmen had much power with Verus, as we have said in the life of Marcus, Geminus and Agaclytus, to whom he gave, Marcus being unwilling, Libo’s wife; 4 finally, when the nuptials were celebrated by Verus, Marcus did not take part in the banquet.

5 Habuit et alios libertos Verus improbos, Coeden et Eclectum ceterosque. 6 Quos omnes Marcus post mortem Veri specie honoris abiecit Eclecto retento, qui postea Commodum filium eius occidit. 7 Ad bellum Germanicum, Marcus quod nollet Lucium sine se vel ad bellum mittere vel in urbe dimittere causa luxuriae, simul profecti sunt atque Aquileiam venerunt invitoque Lucio Alpes transgressi, 8 cum Verus apud Aquileiam tantum venatus convivatusque esset, Marcus autem omnia prospexisset.

5 Verus also had other depraved freedmen, Coeden and Eclectus and the rest. 6 All of whom Marcus, after the death of Verus, cast off under a pretext of honor, Eclectus being retained, who later killed his son Commodus. 7 For the Germanic war, because Marcus did not wish, for reason of his luxury, either to send Lucius to the war without himself or to let him be left in the city, they set out together and came to Aquileia, and, with Lucius unwilling, they crossed the Alps, 8 while Verus at Aquileia had only hunted and feasted, whereas Marcus had looked after everything.

9 De quo bello - quiddam per legatos barbarorum pacem petentium, partim per duces nostros gestum est - in Marci vita plenissime disputatum est. 10 Conposito autem bello in Pannonia urgente Lucio Aquileiam rediere, quodque urbanas desiderabat Lucius voluptates, in urbem festinatum est. 11 Sed non longe ab Altino subito in vehiculo morbo, quem apoplexin vocant, correptus Lucius depositus e vehiculode tracto sanguine Altinum perductus, cum triduo mutus vixisset, apud Altinum perit.

9 About which war - some of it was carried on through envoys of the barbarians seeking peace, partly through our own commanders - it has been most fully discussed in the Life of Marcus. 10 When the war had been composed in Pannonia, with Lucius urging, they returned to Aquileia, and because Lucius desired urban pleasures, there was a hasty move to the city. 11 But not far from Altinum, Lucius, suddenly in a carriage, was seized by an illness which they call apoplexy; taken down from the vehicle, with blood drawn, he was conveyed to Altinum, and, though he lived mute for three days, he perished at Altinum.

X. 1 Fuit sermo, quod et socrum Faustinam incestasset. et dicitur Faustinae socrus dolo aspersis ostreis veneno extinctus esse, idcirco quod consuetudinem, quam cum matre habuerat, filiae prodidisset. 2 Quamvis et illa fabula, quae in Marci vita posita est, abhorrens a talis viri vita sit exorta, 3 cum multi etiam uxori eius flagitium mortis adsignent et idcirco, quod Fabiae nimium indulserat Verus, cuius potentiam uxor Lucilla ferre non posset.

10. 1 There was talk that he had also committed incest with his mother-in-law Faustina. And it is said that Faustina’s mother-in-law was done away by a trick, poison having been sprinkled on oysters, for this reason: because she had betrayed to the daughter the intimacy which he had had with the mother. 2 Although even that tale which is set in the Life of Marcus has arisen as abhorrent to the life of such a man, 3 since many also assign to his wife the crime of his death—and for this reason, that Verus had indulged Fabia too much, whose power his wife Lucilla could not bear.

3 Tanta sane familiaritas inter Lucium et Fabiam sororem fuit, uti hoc quoque usurpaverit rumor, quod inierint consilium ad Marcum e vita tollendum. 5 Idque cum esset per Agaclytum libertum proditum Marco, anteventum Lucium Faustina, ne praeveniret. 6 Fuit decorus corpore, vultu geniatus, barba prope barbarice demissa, procerus et fronte in supercilia adductiore venerabilis.

3 So great indeed was the familiarity between Lucius and his sister Fabia, that rumor has also asserted this: that they entered into a counsel for Marcus to be removed from life. 5 And when this had been disclosed to Marcus through the freedman Agaclytus, Faustina forestalled Lucius, lest he should forestall. 6 He was handsome in body, with a genial countenance, his beard worn down almost in barbarian fashion, tall, and with a brow more drawn down into the eyebrows, venerable.

7 Dicitur sane tantam habuisse curam flaventium capillorum, ut capiti auri ramenta respergeret, quo magis coma inluminata flavesceret. 8 Lingua impeditior fuit, aleae cupidissimus, vitae semper luxuriosae atque in pluribus Nero praeter crudelitatem et ludibria. 9 Habuit inter alium luxuriae apparatum calicem crystallinum nomine Volucrem ex eius equi nomine, quem dilexit, humanae positionis modum supergressum.

7 He is said indeed to have had such care for yellow-blond hair, that he would sprinkle filings of gold upon his head, so that his hair, illuminated, might grow more golden. 8 He was rather impeded of tongue, most desirous of dice, always of a luxurious life, and in many respects a Nero, apart from cruelty and mockeries. 9 Among other apparatus of luxury he had a crystal chalice by the name Volucris, from the name of his horse, whom he loved beyond the measure of human propriety.

XI. 1 Vixit annis quadraginta duobus. Imperavit cum fratre annis undecim. Inlatumque eius corpus est Hadriani sepulchro, in quo et Caesar pater eius naturalis sepultus est.

11. 1 He lived forty-two years. He ruled with his brother for eleven years. And his body was borne into Hadrian’s sepulcher, in which also Caesar, his natural father, was buried.

2 Nota est fabula, quam Marci non capit vita, quod partem vulvae veneno inlitam, cum eam exsecuisset cultro una parte venenato, Marcus Vero porrexerit. 3 Sed hoc nefas est de Marco putari, quamvis Veri et cogitata et facta mereantur. 4 Quod nos non in medio relinquemus, sed totum purgatum confutatumque respuimus, cum adhuc post Marcum praeter vestram clementiam, Diocletiane Auguste, imperatorem talem nec adulatio videatur potuisse confingere.

2 The fable is known, which Marcus’s life does not admit: that a portion of a womb, smeared with poison, after he had cut it out with a knife poisoned on one side, Marcus is said to have proffered to Verus. 3 But it is an impiety to be thought about Marcus, although the things both conceived and done by Verus deserve it. 4 Which we will not leave undecided, but, wholly purged and confuted, we reject, since to this day, after Marcus, apart from your Clemency, Diocletian Augustus, even flattery would not seem to have been able to fabricate such an emperor.