Historia Augusta: Opellius Macrinus

I. 1 Vitae illorum principum seu tyrannorum sive Caesarum, qui non diu imperarunt, in obscuro latent, idcirco quod neque de privata eorum vita digna sunt, quae dicantur, cum omnino ne scirentur quidem, nisi adspirassent ad imperium, et de imperio, quod non diu tenuerunt, non multa dici possunt: nos tamen ex diversis historicis eruta in lucem proferemus, et ea quidem quae memoratu digna erunt. 2 Non enim est quisquam, [qui] in vita non ad diem quodcumque fecerit. Sed eius qui vitas aliorum scribere orditur, officium est digna cognitione prescribere.

1. 1 The lives of those princes or tyrants or Caesars, who did not rule for long, lie hidden in obscurity, for this reason: that neither about their private life are there things worthy to be said, since they would not even have been known at all unless they had aspired to imperium, and about the imperium which they did not hold for long, not many things can be said; nevertheless we will bring forth into the light things dug out from various historians, and indeed those which will be worthy of remembrance. 2 For there is not anyone [who] in life has not done something for the day. But it is the office of him who begins to write the lives of others to preface matters worthy of cognizance.

3 Et lunio quidem Cordo studium fuit eorum imperatorum vitas edere, quos obscuriores videbat; qui non multum profecit. 4 Nam et pauca repperit et indigna memoratu adserens se minima quaeque persequuturum, quasi vel de Traianoaut Pio aut Marco sciendumsit, quotiens processerit, quando cibos variaverit et quando vestem mutaverit et quos quando promoverit. 5 Quae ille omnia exsequendo libros mythistoriis replevit talia scribendo, cum omnino rerum vilium aut nulla scribenda sint aut nimis pauca, si tamen ex his mores possint animadverti, qui re vera sciendi sunt, ... sed ex parte, ut ex ea cetera colligantur.

3 And indeed for Iunius Cordus there was a zeal to publish the lives of those emperors whom he saw as more obscure; he did not make much progress. 4 For he both found few things and, asserting things unworthy of remembrance, declared that he would pursue every least detail, as though even about Trajan or Pius or Marcus it ought to be known how often he went forth, when he varied his foods and when he changed his clothing, and whom he promoted, and when. 5 By following out all these things he filled his books with myth-histories by writing such stuff, since, of utterly paltry matters, either nothing ought to be written or very little—if nevertheless from these the characters can be observed, which are in truth the things that must be known, ... but only in part, so that from that the rest may be gathered.

II. 1 Occiso ergo Antonino Bassiano Opilius Macrinus, praefectus praetorii eius, qui antea privatas curabat, imperium arripuit, humili natusloco et animi atque oris inverecundi, seque nunc Severum nunc Antoninum, cum in odio esset omnium et hominus et militum, nuncupavit 2 statimque ad bellum Parthicum profectus et iudicandi de semilitibus seu rumoribus, quibus premebatur, adolescendi potestatem demit; 3 quamvis senatus eum imperatorem odio Antonini Bassiani libenter acceperit, cum in senatu omnibus una vox esset : 4 "Quemvis magis quam parricidam, quemvis magis quam incestum, quemvis magis quam inpurum, quemvis magis quam interfectorem et senatus et populi." 5 Et mirum omnibus fortasse videatur, cur Diadumenus filius Macrini Antoninus voluerit nuncupari, [pater] cum auctor necis Antoninianae fuisse dicatur.

2. 1 With Antoninus Bassianus slain, therefore, Opilius Macrinus, his praetorian prefect, who previously took care of his private affairs, seized the imperium, born in a humble place and of a shameless mind and face; and he styled himself now “Severus,” now “Antoninus,” though he was in the hatred of all, both civilians and soldiers. 2 And at once he set out for the Parthian war, and he removed the opportunity for judging about himself either by the soldiers or by the rumors by which he was pressed, to grow. 3 Although the senate, out of hatred for Antoninus Bassianus, gladly accepted him as emperor, since in the senate there was one voice for all: 4 “Anyone rather than a parricide, anyone rather than an incestuous man, anyone rather than an impure man, anyone rather than a killer of both the senate and the people.” 5 And perhaps it may seem marvelous to all why Diadumenus, the son of Macrinus, wished to be named “Antoninus,” [the father] although he is said to have been the author of Antoninus’s slaying.

III. 1 De ipso, quae in annales relata sint, proferam: vates Caelestis apud Carthaginem, quae dea repleta solet vera canere, sub Antonino Pio, cum sciscitanti proconsuli de statu, ut solebat, publico et desuo imperio futura praediceret, ubi ad principes ventum est, clara voce numerari iussit, quotiens diceret Antoninum, tuncque adtonitis omnibus Antonini nomen Augusti octavo edidit. 2 Sed credentibus cunctis, quod octo annis Antoninus Pius imperaturus esset, et ille transcendit hunc annorum numerum, et constitit apud credentes vel tunc vel postea per vatem aliud designatum.

3. 1 About him himself, I will bring forth what has been related into the annals: the prophetess of Caelestis at Carthage, who, filled by the goddess, is accustomed to sing true things, under Antoninus Pius, when, to the proconsul inquiring—as she was wont—about the public status and about his own imperium she was foretelling the future; when it came to the emperors, she ordered in a clear voice that it be counted how many times she would say “Antoninus,” and then, with all astonished, she uttered the name “Antoninus Augustus” for the eighth time. 2 But when all were believing that Antoninus Pius would rule for eight years, both he transcended this number of years, and it was established among the believers, either then or afterward, that something else had been designated through the prophetess.

3 Denique adnumeratis omnibus, qui Antonini appellati sunt, is Antoninorum numerus invenitur. 4 Enimvero Pius primus, Marcus secundus, Verus tertius, Commodus quartus, quitus Caracallus, sextus Geta, septimus Diadumenus, octavus Heliogabalus Antonini fuere. 5 Nec inter Antoninos referendi sunt duo Gordiani, aut qui(a) praenomen tantum Antoninorum habuerunt aut etiam Antonii dicti sunt, non Antonini.

3 Finally, with all those who were called Antonini counted up, this is the number of the Antonini found. 4 Indeed, Pius was first, Marcus second, Verus third, Commodus fourth, Caracalla fifth, Geta sixth, Diadumenus seventh, Heliogabalus eighth of the Antonini. 5 Nor are the two Gordiani to be counted among the Antonini, nor those who had only the praenomen of the Antonini, or were even called Antonii, not Antonini.

6 Inde est quod se et Severus Antoninus vocavit et plurimi fuerunt, et Pertinax et Iulianus et idem Macrinus, 7 et ab ipsis Antoninis, qui veri successores Antonini fuerunt, hoc nomen magis quam proprium retentum est. Haec alii. 8 Sed alii idcirco Antoninum Diadumenum a Macrino patre appellatum ferunt, ut suspicio a Macrino interfecti Antonini militibus tolleretur.

6 Hence it is that Severus also called himself Antoninus, and very many did so—Pertinax, Julianus, and likewise Macrinus, 7 and by the Antonini themselves, who were the true successors of Antoninus, this name was retained rather than their proper one. So say some. 8 But others report that for this reason Diadumenus was named Antoninus by his father Macrinus, in order that the suspicion among the soldiers that Antoninus had been slain by Macrinus might be removed.

9 Alii vero tantum desiderium nominis huius fuisse dicunt, ut, nisi populus et milites Antonini nomen audirent, imperatorium non putarent.

Others, however, say that there was such a desire for this name that, unless the people and the soldiers heard the name of Antoninus, they would not deem it imperial.

IV. 1. Et de Macrino quidem in senatu multis, quando nuntiatum est Varium Heliogabalum [factum] imperatorem, cum iam Caesarem Alexandrum senatus dixisset, ea dicta sunt, [ut] appareat ignobilem, sordidum, spurcum fuisse. 2 Verba denique Aurelii Victoris, cui Pinio cognomen erat,haec fuerunt : 3 "Macrinum libretinum, hominem prostibilem, servilibus officiis occupatum in domo imperatoria, venali fide, vita sordida sub Commodo, a Severo remotum etiam a miserrimis officiis relegatumque in Africam, ubi, ut infamiam damnationis tegeret, lectioni operam dedisse, egisse clausulas, declamasse, in [foro] postremo dixisse. 4 Donatum autem anulis aureis, patrocinante sibi conliberto suo Festo, advocatum fisci factum sub Vero Antonino." 5 Sed et haec dubia ponuntur, et alia dicuntur ab aliis, quae ipsa quoque non tacebimus.

4. 1. And indeed, about Macrinus, by many in the senate, when it was announced that Varius Heliogabalus had been [made] emperor, although the senate had already declared Alexander Caesar, such things were said [so that] it might appear that he had been ignoble, squalid, filthy. 2 Finally, the words of Aurelius Victor, whose cognomen was Pinio,haec fuerunt : 3 "Macrinus, a freedman, a contemptible man, occupied with servile duties in the imperial house, with venal fidelity, with a sordid life under Commodus, removed by Severus even from the most wretched offices and relegated to Africa, where, so that he might cover the infamy of his condemnation, he devoted himself to reading, worked at clauses, declaimed, and at last spoke in the [forum]. 4 And, having been presented with golden rings, with his fellow-freedman Festus advocating on his behalf, he was made an advocate of the fisc under Antoninus Verus." 5 But even these things are set forth as doubtful, and other things are said by others, which we too will not be silent about.

nam plerique gladiatoriam pugnam eum exhibuisse dixerunt et accepta rudi ad Africam isse; 6 venatorem primo, post etiam tabellionem fuisse, deinceps advocatum fuisse fisci, ex quo officio ad amplissima quaeque pervenit. 7 Dein cum esset praefectus praetorii collega ablegato, Antoninum Caracallum imperatorem suum interemit tanta factione, ut ab eo non videretur occisus. 8 Nam stratore eius redempto et spe ingenti proposita id egit, ut quasi militaribus insidiis, quod vel ob parricidium vel [ne] incestum displiceret, interemptus diceretur.

for very many said that he had exhibited a gladiatorial contest and, after receiving the rudis, had gone off to Africa; 6 that he was a venator (beast‑fighter) at first, afterward even a tabellion, next an advocate of the fisc, from which office he arrived at the most ample posts. 7 Then, when he was Praetorian Prefect, his colleague having been sent away, he murdered his emperor Antoninus Caracalla with such a contrivance that Caracalla did not seem to have been killed by him. 8 For, having bought off his strator (equerry) and with a vast hope set before him, he contrived that it should be said he was slain as if by military ambushes, either because of the parricide or [lest] the incest be displeasing.

V. 1 Statim denique arripuit imperium filio Diadumeno in participatum adscito, quem continuo, ut diximus, Antoninum appellari a militibus iussit. 2 Dein corpus Antonini Romam remisit sepulchris maiorum inferendum. 3 Mandavit collegae dudum suo praetorio, ut munus suum curaret ac praecipue Antoninum honorabiliter sepeliret ducto funere regio, quod sciebat ob vestimenta populo congiaria data multum Antoninum a plebe dilectum.

5. 1 Straightway, in fine, he seized the imperium, with his son Diadumenus called into a share, whom at once, as we have said, he ordered to be called Antoninus by the soldiers. 2 Then he sent the body of Antoninus back to Rome to be brought into the sepulchres of his ancestors. 3 He instructed his former praetorian colleague to look to his office and especially to bury Antoninus honorably, with a royal funeral conducted, because he knew that, on account of garments given to the people as congiaria, Antoninus was much beloved by the plebs.

4 Adcedebat etiam illud, quod militarem motum timebat, ne eo interveniente suum inpediretur imperium, quod raptum ierat, sed quasi invitus acceperat: 5 ut sunt homines, qui ad ea se cogi dicunt, quae vel sceleribus comparant. Timuit autem etiam collegam, ne et ipse imperare cuperret, sperantibus cunctis, quod, si unius numeri concessus accederet neque ille recusaret, et omnes cupidissime id facerent odio Macrini vel propter vitam probram vel propter ignobilitatem, 6 cum omnes superiores nobiles fuissent imperatores. 7 Infulsit praeterea in nomen Severi, cum illius nulla cognatione tangeretur.

4 There was added also this, that he feared a military tumult, lest, with it intervening, his imperium be impeded—an imperium which had been snatched, but which he had accepted as if unwilling: 5 as there are men who say that they are compelled to those things which they even procure by crimes. He also feared his colleague, lest he too should desire to rule, with all hoping that, if the concession of a single numerus were to be added and he did not refuse, then all would most eagerly do this in hatred of Macrinus, either on account of his disgraceful life or because of his ignobility, 6 since all the former emperors had been noble-born. 7 Moreover, he decked himself in the name of Severus, though he was touched by no kinship with that man.

Unde iocus extitit: "Sic Macrinus est Severus, quo modo Diadumenus Antoninus". Statim tamen ad delendum militum motum stipendium et legionariis et praetorianis dedit solito uberius, 8 utpote qui extenuare cuperet imperatoris occisi crimen. Profuitque pecunia, ut solet, cui innocentia prodesse non poterat; retentus est enim aliquanto tempore in imperio homo vitiorum omnium. 9 Ad senatum dein litteras misit de morte Antonini divum illum appellans excusansque se et iurans, quod de caede illius nescierit.ita sceleri suo more hominum perditorum iunxit periurium, a quoincipere decuit hominem improbum, cum ad senatum scriberet.

Whence a jest arose: "Thus Macrinus is a Severus, in the same way that Diadumenus is an Antoninus." Immediately, however, to blot out the soldiers’ mutiny he gave pay to both the legionaries and the Praetorians more lavish than usual, 8 inasmuch as he wished to extenuate the crime of the emperor who had been slain. And money, as it is wont, proved useful where innocence could not be of use; for a man of all vices was kept for some time in power. 9 Then he sent letters to the senate about the death of Antoninus, calling him divine and excusing himself and swearing that he had not known about his murder. Thus to his crime, after the fashion of men undone, he joined perjury, with which it was fitting for a wicked man to begin, when he wrote to the senate.

VI. 1 Interest scire, cuiusmodi oratio fuerit, qua se excusavit, ut etinpudentia hominis noscatur et sacrilegium, a quo initium sumpsitimprobus imperator. 2 Capita ex oratione Macrini et Diadumeni imperatorum: "Vellemus, p.c., et incolomi Antonino nostro et revecti cum triumpho vestram clementiam videre. Tunc demum enim florente re p. et omnes felices essemus, et sub eo principe viveremus, quem nobis Antoninorum loco didederant.

6. 1 It is of interest to know what sort of speech it was by which he excused himself, so that both the impudence of the man may be known and the sacrilege, from which the shameless emperor took his beginning. 2 The chief points from the speech of the emperors Macrinus and Diadumenus: "We would have wished, Conscript Fathers, both with our Antoninus unharmed and we ourselves brought back with a triumph, to behold your clemency. Then at last indeed, with the republic flourishing, both we all would be happy, and we would live under that prince under whom we would live, whom they had given to us in the place of the Antonini."

3 Verum quia id evenire per tumultum militarem non potuit, nuntiamus primum, quid de nobis exercitus fecerit, 4 dein honores divinos, quod primum faciendum est, decernimus ei viro, in cuius verba iuravimus, cum exercitus ultorem caedis Bassiani neminem digniorem praefecto eius putavit, cui et ipse utique vindicandam factionem mandasset, si vivus deprehendere potuisset." 5 Et infra: "Detulerunt ad me imperium, cuius ego, p.c., interim tutelam recepi, tenebo regimen, si et vobis placuerit, quod militibus placuit, quibus iam et stipendium dedi et omnia imperatorio more iussi." 6 Item infra : "Diadumenum filium meum vobis notum et imperio miles donavit et nomine, Antoninum videlicet appellans, ut cohoneste turprius nomine, sic etiam regni honore. 7 Quod vos, p.c., bono faustoque omine adprobetis petimus, ne vobis desit Antoninorum nomen, quod maxime diligitis." 8 Item infra : "Antonino autem divinos honores et miles decrevit, et nos decernimus et vos, p.c., ut decernatis, cum possimus imperatorio iure praecipere, tamen rogamus dicantes ei duas statuas equestres, pedestres duas habitu militari, sedentes civili habitu duas, item divo Severo duas triumphales. 9 Quae omnia, p.c., vos impleri iubebitis nobis religiose pro prioribus ambientibus."

3 But since that could not come to pass through a military tumult, we announce first what the army has done concerning us, 4 then we decree divine honors, which must first be done, for that man to whose words we swore, since the army judged no one more worthy than his prefect as avenger of the slaughter of Bassianus, to whom he himself would surely have entrusted the faction to be punished, if he had been able to seize him alive." 5 And below: "They have conferred upon me the imperium, the guardianship of which I, Conscript Fathers, have meanwhile accepted; I shall hold the governance, if it shall also have pleased you, that which pleased the soldiers, to whom I have already given stipend and have ordered everything in imperial fashion." 6 Likewise below : "The soldiery has bestowed upon my son Diadumenus, known to you, both the imperium and a name, calling him, namely, Antoninus, so as to grace him with a more honorable name, so also with the honor of rule. 7 Which we ask that you, Conscript Fathers, approve with a good and favorable omen, lest the name of the Antonini, which you most love, be lacking to you." 8 Likewise below : "For Antoninus, moreover, the soldiery has decreed divine honors, and we decree them, and you, Conscript Fathers, that you decree them; although we can command by imperial right, yet we ask, dedicating to him two equestrian statues, two standing in military dress, two seated in civil dress, likewise to the deified Severus two triumphal ones. 9 All which things, Conscript Fathers, you will order to be fulfilled for us religiously, we pressing our suit in rivalry with former petitioners."

VII. 1 Lectis igitur in senatu litteris contra opinionem omnium et mortem Antonini senatus gratanter accepit et Opilium Macrinum libertatem publicam curaturum sperans primum in praticios allegit, novum hominem et qui paulo ante procurator privatae fuisset. 2 Eundem, cum scriba pontificis esset, quos hodie pontifices minores vocant, pontificem maximum appellavit Pii nomine decreto.

7. 1 Therefore, once the letters had been read in the senate, contrary to the expectation of all, the senate gladly received the death of Antoninus, and, hoping that Opilius Macrinus would take care for the public liberty, first enrolled him among the patricians, a new man and one who a little before had been procurator of the Private estate. 2 The same man—since he was a scribe of a pontiff, whom today they call the lesser pontiffs—they styled Pontifex Maximus by a decree in the name of Pius.

3 Diu tamen lectis litteris, cum omnino nemo crederet de Antonini morte, silentium fuit. 4 Sed posteaquam constitit occisum, senatus in eum velut in tyrannum invectus est. Denique statim Macrino et proconsulare imperium et potestatem tribuniciam detulerunt.

3 For a long time, however, after the letters were read, since absolutely no one believed in the death of Antoninus, there was silence. 4 But after it was established that he had been slain, the senate inveighed against him as against a tyrant. Finally, immediately they conferred upon Macrinus both the proconsular imperium and the tribunician power.

5 Filium sane suum, cum ipse Felicis nomen recepisset, ut suspicionem occisi a se Antonini removeret, Antoninum vocavit, Diadumenum antea dictum. 6 Quod quidem nomen etiam Varius Heliogabalus, qui se Bassiani filium diceret, homo sordissimus et ex meretrice conceptus, idem postea nomen accepit. 7 Denique versus extant cuiusdam poetae, quibus ostenditur Antonini nomen coepisse a Pio et paulatim per Antoninos usque ad sordes ultimas pervenisse, si quidem solus Marcus nomen illud sanctum vitae genere auxisse videatur, Verus autem degenerasse, Commodus vero etiam polluisse sacrati nominis reverentiam.

5 He indeed called his own son Antoninus, previously called Diadumenus, since he himself had received the name Felix, in order to remove the suspicion that Antoninus had been slain by himself. 6 Which name, in fact, even Varius Heliogabalus, who claimed himself to be the son of Bassianus—a most sordid man and conceived from a meretrix—afterwards received, the same name. 7 Finally, there are extant the verses of a certain poet, by which it is shown that the name of Antoninus began from Pius and gradually, through the Antonini, arrived at the ultimate sordidness—since indeed Marcus alone seems to have augmented that sacred name by the manner of his life, but Verus degenerated, and Commodus even polluted the reverence of the consecrated name.

8 Iam quid de Caracallo Antonino, quidve de hoc potest dici ? Postremo etiam quid de Helio gabalo, qui Antoninorum ultimus in summa inpuritate vixisse memoratur?

8 Now what about Caracallus Antoninus, or what can be said about this man ? Finally too, what about Heliogabalus, who, the last of the Antonines, is remembered to have lived in the highest impurity ?

VIII. 1 Appellatus igitur imperator suscepto [bello] contra Parthos profectus est magno apparatu, studens sordes generis et prioris vitae infamiam victoriae magnitudine abolere. 2 Sed conflictu habito contra Parthos defectu legionum, quae ad Varium Heliogabalum confugerant, interemptus est.

8. 1 Therefore, having been hailed emperor, with the [war] undertaken he set out against the Parthians with great apparatus, striving to abolish by the magnitude of victory the sordidness of his lineage and the infamy of his prior life. 2 But, after a conflict was had against the Parthians, through the defection of the legions, which had taken refuge with Varius Heliogabalus, he was slain.

Sed anno amplius imperavit. 3 Sane cum esset inferior in eo bello, quod Antoninus gesserat, Artabane graviter necem suorum civium vindicante, primo Macrinusre pugnavit; postea vero missis legatis petit pacem, quam libenti animo interfecto Antonino Parthus concessit. 4 Inde cum se Antiochiam recepisset ac luxuriae operam daret, iustam causam interficiendi sui praebuit exercitui ac Bassiani, ut putabatur, filium sequendi, id est Heliogabalum Bassianum Varium, qui postea est et Bassianus et Antoninus [et Antoninus] appellatus.

But he ruled for more than a year. 3 Indeed, since he was inferior in that war which Antoninus had waged, with Artabanus gravely avenging the slaying of his fellow-citizens, at first Macrinus fought; afterwards, however, having sent envoys, he sought peace, which the Parthian, with a willing spirit, granted after Antoninus had been killed. 4 Then, when he had withdrawn to Antioch and was giving himself to luxury, he afforded the army a just cause for killing him and for following the son of Bassianus, as it was supposed—that is, Heliogabalus Bassianus Varius—who afterward was called both Bassianus and Antoninus [and Antoninus].

IX. 1 Fuit aliqua mulier Maesa sive Varia ex Emisena urbe, soror Iuliae uxoris Severi Pertinacis Afri, quae post mortem Antonini Bassiani ex aulica domo fuerat expulsa per Macrini superbiam; cui quidem omnia concessit Macrinus, quae diu illa collegerat. 2 Huic erant duae filiae, Symiamira et Mamaea, quarum maiori filius erat Heliogabalus [et Bassiani et Antonini nomen accepit.] Nam Heliogabalum Foenices vocant solem. 3 Sed Heliogabalus pulchritudine ac statura et sacerdotio conspicuus erat ac notus omnibus hominibus, qui ad templum veniebant, militibus praecipue.

9. 1 There was a certain woman Maesa, or Varia, from the Emesene city, sister of Julia, wife of Severus Pertinax the African, who after the death of Antoninus Bassianus had been expelled from the courtly house through the arrogance of Macrinus; to whom indeed Macrinus conceded all the things which she had long gathered. 2 To this woman there were two daughters, Symiamira and Mamaea, of whom the elder had a son Heliogabalus [and he received both the name Bassianus and Antoninus.] For the Phoenicians call the sun Heliogabalus. 3 But Heliogabalus was conspicuous for beauty and stature and for his priesthood, and was known to all men who came to the temple, especially to the soldiers.

4 His Maesa sive Varia dixit Bassianum filium esse Antonini, quod paulatim omnibus militibus innotuit. 5 Erat praeterea Maesa ipsa ditissima (ex quo etiam Heliogabalus luxuriosissimus), qua promittente militibus legiones abductae sunt a Macrino. 6 Suscepta enim illa noctu in oppidum cum suis nepos eius Antoninus est appellatus imperii delatis insignibus.

4 To these, Maesa, or Varia, said that Bassianus was the son of Antoninus, which little by little became known to all the soldiers. 5 Moreover, Maesa herself was most wealthy (whence also Heliogabalus was most luxurious), and with her promising to the soldiers, the legions were led away from Macrinus. 6 For, after that woman had been received by night into the town with her own, her grandson Antoninus was acclaimed emperor, the insignia of empire having been delivered.

X. 1 Haec ubi sunt Macrino apud Antiochiam posito nuntiata, miratus audaciam muliebrem, simul etiam contemnens, Iulianum praefectum ad obsidendos eos cum legionibus misit. 2 Quibus cum Antoninus ostenderetur, miro amore in eum omnibus inclinatis occiso Iuliano praefecto ad eum omnes transierunt. 3 Dein parte exercitus coniuncta venit contra Macrinum Antoninus contra se festinantem, commissoque proelio Macrinus est victus proditione militum eius et amore Antonini.

10. 1 When these things were reported to Macrinus, stationed at Antioch, marveling at a womanly audacity and at the same time contemning it, he sent the prefect Julianus with the legions to besiege them. 2 When Antoninus was shown to them, with all inclined toward him in wondrous love, the prefect Julianus having been slain, all crossed over to him. 3 Then, with a part of the army joined to him, Antoninus came against Macrinus, who was hastening against him; and, battle having been joined, Macrinus was conquered by the treachery of his soldiers and by the love for Antoninus.

Fugiens sane Macrinus cum paucis et filio in vico quodam Bithyniae occisus est cum Diadumeno, ablatumque eius caput est et ad Antoninum perlatum. 4 Sciendum praeterea, quod Caesar fuisse dicitur, non Augustus Diadumenus puer, quem plerique pari fuisse cum patris imperio tradiderunt. 5 Occisus est etiam filius, cui hoc solum attulit imperium, ut interficeretur a milite.

Fleeing indeed, Macrinus with a few and with his son was killed, along with Diadumenus, in a certain village of Bithynia, and his head was taken away and carried to Antoninus. 4 It should be known besides that the boy Diadumenus is said to have been Caesar, not Augustus, whom many have handed down to have been equal with his father in imperium. 5 The son also was slain, for whom the imperium brought this one thing only: that he was killed by a soldier.

6 Non enim aliquid dignum in eius vita erit, quod dicatur, praeter hoc quod Antoninorum nomini est velut nothus adpositus.

6 For indeed there will be nothing worthy in his life that might be said, except this: that to the name of the Antonini he is, as it were, appended as a bastard.

XI. 1 Fuit tamen in vita imperatoria paulo rigidior et austerior sperans se ante acta omnia posse oblivioni dare, cum ipsa severitas illius occasionem reprehendendi et lacerandi eius aperiret. 2 Nam et Severum se et Pertinacem voluerat nuncupari, quae duo illi asperitatis nomina videbantur. Et cum illum senatus Pium ac Felicem nuncupasset, Felicis nomen recepit, Pii habere noluit.

11. 1 He was, however, in his imperial life a little more rigid and austere, hoping that he could consign all prior acts to oblivion, while that very severity of his opened an occasion for reprehending and lacerating him. 2 For he had wished to be styled both Severus and Pertinax, which two seemed to him names of asperity. And when the senate had styled him Pius and Felix, he accepted the name Felix, he did not wish to have Pius.

3 Unde in eum epigramma non infacetum Graeci cuiusdam poetae videtur extare, quod Latine hac sententia continetur :

3 Whence there seems to be extant upon him an epigram, not un-witty, of a certain Greek poet, which in Latin is contained in this sentence :

4 Histrio iam senior turpis, gravis, asper, iniquus,
impius et felix sic simul esse cupit,
ut nolit pius esse, velit tamen esse beatus,
quod natura negat nec recipit ratio.
Nam pius et felix poterat dicique viderique :
impius, infelix est, [et] erit ille sibi.

4 A histrion now older, foul, grave, harsh, iniquitous,
impious and fortunate he thus desires to be at once,
so that he is unwilling to be pious, yet wishes to be blessed,
which nature denies and reason does not receive.
For he could both be called and seem pious and fortunate:
he is impious, unfortunate, [and] he will be such for himself.

5 Hos versus qui de Latinis iuxta eos, qui Graeci erant propositi, in foro posuit. quibus acceptis Macrinus his versibus respondisse fertur:

5 A certain one of the Latins placed these verses in the forum beside those which had been proposed in Greek. These having been received, Macrinus is said to have responded with these verses:

6 Si talem Graium tetulissent fata poetam,
qualis Latinus gabalus iste fuit,
nil populus nosset curia, mango
nullus scripsisset carmina tetra mihi.

6 If the Fates had borne such a Greek poet,
as this Latin lout was,
the people would have known nothing, nor the Curia;
no huckster would have written grim songs against me.

7 His versibus Macrinus longe peioribus, quam illi Latini sunt, respondisse se credidit, sed non minus risui est habitus quam poeta ille, qui de Graeco Latine coactus est scribere.

7 With these verses Macrinus believed that he had responded in lines far worse than those Latin ones, but he was held no less to ridicule than that poet who was forced to write in Latin from Greek.

XII. 1 Fuit igitur superbus et sanguinarius et volens militariter imperare, incusans quin etiam superiorum temporum disciplinam ac solum Severumprae ceteris laudans. 2 Nam et in crucem milites tulit et servilibus suppliccis semper adfecit et, cum seditiones militares pateretur, milites saepius decumavit, aliquando etiam centesimavit, quodverbum propriumipsius est, cum se clementem diceret, quando eos centesimaret, qui digni essent decimatione atque vicensimatione.

12. 1 He was therefore proud and sanguinary and willing to command in a military manner, even accusing the discipline of earlier times and praising Severus alone above the rest. 2 For he even crucified soldiers and always afflicted them with servile punishments, and, when he was suffering military seditions, he often decimated the soldiers, sometimes even “centesimated” them—a word peculiar to himself—since he would call himself clement when he “centesimated” those who were worthy of decimation and vicensimation (twentieth-ing).

3 Longum est eius crudelitates omnes asperire, attamen unam ostendamnon magnam, ut ipse credebat, sed omnibus tyrannicis inmanitatibus tristiorem. 4 Cum quidam milites ancillam hospitis iam diu pravi pudoris affectassent atque per quendam frumentarium ille didicisset, adduci eos iussit interrogavitque, utrum esset factum. 5 Quod cum constitisset, duos boves mirae magnitudinis vivos subito aperiri iussit atque his singulos milites inseri capitibus, ut secum conloqui possent, exertis; itaque poena eos affecit, cum ne adulteris quidem talia apud maiores vel sui temporis essent constituta supplicia.

3 It would be long to lay bare all his cruelties; nevertheless I will show one—not great, as he himself believed, but sadder than all tyrannical inhumanities. 4 When certain soldiers had for a long time been making a depraved attempt upon a host’s maidservant, and he learned it through a certain frumentary, he ordered them to be brought in and asked whether it had been done. 5 When this had been established, he ordered two oxen of wondrous size to be suddenly opened alive, and into these he ordered the soldiers to be inserted one by one, with their heads protruding, so that they could converse with one another; and thus he punished them, when not even for adulterers had such punishments been established among the ancestors or in his own time.

6 Pugnavit tamen et contra Parthos et contra Armenios et contra Arabas, quos Eudaemones vocant, non minus fortiter quam feliciter. 7 Tribunum, qui excubias deseri passus est, carpento rotali subteradnexum per totum iter vivum atque examinem traxit. 8 Reddidit etiam Mezentii supplicium, quod ille vivos mortuis inligabat et ad mortem cogebat longa tabe confectos.

6 He fought, however, both against the Parthians and against the Armenians and against the Arabs, whom they call the Eudaemones (the Fortunate), no less bravely than successfully. 7 A tribune who allowed the watches to be deserted he dragged, fastened beneath a wheeled carriage, alive and then lifeless, through the whole journey. 8 He also revived the punishment of Mezentius, in that he bound the living to the dead and drove them to death, worn out by a long wasting.

9 Unde etiam in circo, cum favor publicus in Diadumenum se proseruisset, adclamatum:

9 Whence also in the circus, when the public favor had declared itself for Diadumenus, there was an acclamation:

Egregius forma iuvenis,
cui pater haud Mezentius esset.

A distinguished youth in form,
whose father would by no means be Mezentius.

10 Vivos etiam homines parietibus inclusit et struxit. Adulterii reos semper vivos simul incendit iunctis corporibus. Servos, qui dominis fugissent, reppertos ad gladium ludi deputavit.

10 He even enclosed living humans within walls and built them in. He always burned alive those guilty of adultery, with their bodies joined together. Slaves who had fled from their masters, when found, he assigned to the sword of the games.

11 Delatores, si non probarent, capite affecit; si probarent, delato pecuniae praemio infames dimisit.

11 Informers, if they did not prove their case, he inflicted capital punishment; if they did prove it, after a pecuniary reward had been given, he dismissed them as infamous.

XIII. 1 Fuit in iure non incallidus, adeo ut statuisset omnia rescripta veterum principum tollere, ut iure, non rescriptis ageretur, nefas esse dicens leges videri Commodi et Caracalli et hominium inperitorum voluntates, cum Traianus numquam libellis responderit, ne ad alias causas facta praeferrentur, quae ad gratiam composita viderentur. 2 In annonis tribuendis largissimus fuit, in auro parcissimus, 3 in verberandis [vel] aulicis tam inpius, tam pertinax, tam asper, ut servi illum sui non Macrinum dicerent, sed Macellinum, quod macelli specie domus eius cruentaretur sanguine vernularum.

CHAPTER 13. 1 He was not un-uncunning in law, to such a degree that he had resolved to abolish all the rescripts of the former emperors, so that matters might be conducted by law, not by rescripts, saying it was an impiety that what passed for laws were the wills of Commodus and Caracalla and of unskilled men, since Trajan had never answered petitions, lest acts which seemed composed for favor be preferred to other causes. 2 In distributing the grain-rations he was most lavish, in gold most sparing, 3 in the flogging of courtiers [or] so impious, so pertinacious, so harsh, that his own slaves called him not Macrinus but Macellinus, because in the likeness of a meat-market his house was drenched with the blood of homeborn slaves.

4 Vini cibusque avidissimus, nonnumquam usque ad ebrietatem, sed vespertinis horis. Nam si prandisset vel privatim, parcissimus, in cena effusissimus. 5 Adhibuit convivio litteratos, ut loquens de studiis liberalibus necessario abstemius.

4 Most avid for wine and food, sometimes even to drunkenness, but in the evening hours. For if he lunched, even in private, he was very sparing; at dinner, most lavish. 5 He brought men of letters to the banquet, so that, speaking about liberal studies, he was of necessity abstemious.

XIV. 1 Sed cum eius viliatem homines antiquam cogitarent, crudelitatem morum viderent, hominem putidulum in imperio ferre non possent, et maxime milites, qui multa eius meminerant funestissima et aliquando turpissima, inita factione illum occiderunt cum puero filio Diadumeno, scilicet Antonino cognomine, de quo dictum est, quod in somnis Antoninus fuisset. 2 Unde etiam versus extant huiusmodi :

14. 1 But when men considered his ancient vileness, saw the cruelty of his manners, could not bear a somewhat putrid little man in the imperial power, and especially the soldiers, who remembered many things of his most deadly and at times most disgraceful conduct, having entered into a faction they killed him together with the boy, his son Diadumenus, namely with the cognomen Antoninus, about whom it was said that in dreams he had been Antoninus. 2 Whence also verses exist of the following kind:

Vidimus in somnis, cives, nisi fallor, et istud:
Antoninorum nomen puer ille gerebat,
qui patre venali genitus sed matre pudica,
centum nam moechos passa est centumque rogavit.
Ipse etiam calvus moechus fuit, inde maritus :
en Pius, en Marcus, Verus nam non fuit ille.

We saw in dreams, citizens, unless I am mistaken, this too:
that boy bore the name of the Antonines,
who was begotten by a venal father but by a modest mother,
for she suffered a hundred adulterers and solicited a hundred.
He himself too was a bald adulterer, thereafter a husband:
lo, a Pius, lo, a Marcus, for he was not a Verus.

3 Et isti versus ex Graeco [ex] translati sunt in Latine, nam Graece sunt disertissimi, videntur autem mihi ab aliquo poeta vulgari translati esse. 4 Quod Macrinus audisset, fecit iambos, qui non extant; iucundissimi autem fuisse dicuntur. 5 Qui quidem perierunt in eo tumultu, in quo ipse occisus est, quando et omnia eius a militibus pervastata sunt.

3 And these verses were translated from Greek [ex] into Latin, for in Greek they are most disert, yet they seem to me to have been translated by some vulgar poet. 4 When Macrinus had heard this, he made iambics, which are not extant; nevertheless they are said to have been most delightful. 5 These indeed perished in that tumult, in which he himself was slain, when also all his things were devastated by the soldiers.

XV. 1 Genus mortis, ut diximus, tale fuit: cum in Antoninum Heliogabalum exercitus inclinasset, ille fugit belloque victus est et occisus in suburbano Bithyniae suis partim deditis, partim occisis, partim fugatis. 2 Ita Heliogabalus clarus creditus est, quod videretur patris vindicasse mortem, atque inde in imperium venit, quod dedecoravit vitiis ingentibus, luxurie, turpitudine, abligurritione, superbia, inmanitate. qui et ipse similem exitum vitae suae sortitus est.

15. 1 The kind of death, as we have said, was such: when the army had inclined to Antoninus Heliogabalus, he fled and, defeated in war, was killed in a suburban estate of Bithynia, with his own men partly surrendering, partly slain, partly routed. 2 Thus Heliogabalus was accounted illustrious, because he seemed to have avenged his father’s death, and thence he came into the imperium, which he disgraced with enormous vices—luxury, turpitude, abligurition, pride, inhumanity. He too was allotted a similar end of his life.

3 Haec de Macrino nobis sunt cognita multis aliqua variantibus, ut se habet omnis historia. 4 Quae de plurimis collecta serenitatI tuae, Diocletiane Auguste, detulimus, quia te cupidum veterum imperatorum esse perspeximus.

3 These things about Macrinus have become known to us, with many particulars varying somewhat, as all history stands. 4 Which, gathered from very many sources, we have presented to your Serenity, Diocletian Augustus, because we have perceived you to be eager for the ancient emperors.