Historia Augusta: Pescennius Niger

I. 1 Rarum atque difficile est, ut, quos tyrannos aliorum victoria fecerit, bene mittantur in litteras, atque ideo vix omnia de his plene in monumentis atque annalibus habentur. 2 Primum enim, quae magna sunt in eorum honorem, ab sriptoribus depravantur; deinde alia supprimuntur, postremo non magna diligentia in eorum genere av cita requiretur, cum satis sit audacium eorum et bellum, in quo victi fuerint, ac poenam proferre. 3 Pescennius Niger, ut alii tradunt, modicis parentibus, ut alii, nobilibus fuisse dicitur, patre Annio Fusco, matre Lampridia, avo curatore Aquini, ex qua familia originem ducebat; quod quidem dubium etiam nunc habetur.

I. 1 It is rare and difficult that those whom the victory of others has made “tyrants” are well consigned to letters, and therefore scarcely everything about them is fully preserved in monuments and annals. 2 For, first, the things that are great to their honor are perverted by writers; then other things are suppressed; finally, no great diligence is expended in seeking out their stock and ancestral line, since it is enough to bring forward their audacity, and the war in which they were defeated, and the penalty. 3 Pescennius Niger is said, as some hand down, to have been of modest parents—as others, of noble ones—his father Annius Fuscus, his mother Lampridia, his grandfather curator at Aquinum, from which family he traced his origin; which indeed is held doubtful even now.

4 Hic eruditus mediocriter litteris, moribus ferox, divitiis inmodicus, vita parcus, libidinis effrenatae ad omne genus cupiditatum, 5 ordines diu duxit multisque ducatibus pervenit, ut exercitus Syriacos, iussu Commodi regert, suffragio maxime athletae qui Commodum strangulavit, ut omnia tunc fiebant.

4 This man, moderately erudite in letters, fierce in morals, immoderate in riches, sparing in life, of unbridled libido toward every kind of cupidity, 5 he long held ranks and came to many commands, so that he might rule the Syrian armies by the order of Commodus, chiefly by the suffrage of the athlete who strangled Commodus, as all things then were done.

II. 1 Is postquam comperit occisum Commodum, Iulianum imperatorem appellatum eundemque iussu Severi et senatus occisum, Albinum etiam in Gallia sumpsisse nomen [eius] imperatoris, ab exercitibus Syriacis, quos regebat, appellatus est imperator, ut quidam dicunt, magis in Iuliani odium quam in aemulationem Severi. 2 Huic ob detestationem Iuliani primis imperii diebus ita Romae fautum est, a senatoribus dum taxat, qui et Severum oderant, ut inter lapidationes exsecrationesque omnium illi feliciter optaretur, "Illum principem superi et illum Augustum" populus adclamaret. 3 Iulianum autem oderant populares, quod Pertinacem milites occidisset et illum imperatorem adversa populi voluntate appellassent.

2. 1 After he learned that Commodus had been slain, that Julianus had been acclaimed emperor and the same had been slain by order of Severus and the senate, that Albinus also in Gaul had assumed the name of emperor, he was acclaimed emperor by the Syrian armies which he commanded, as some say, more out of hatred for Julianus than out of emulation of Severus. 2 To him, on account of the detestation of Julianus, in the first days of his rule, such favor was shown at Rome—by the senators at any rate, who also hated Severus—that amid the lapidations and execrations of all it was wished him “happily,” and the people shouted, “May the gods above make him princeps, and him Augustus.” 3 But the populace hated Julianus, because the soldiers had killed Pertinax and had acclaimed that man emperor against the will of the people.

Denique ingentes ob hoc seditiones fuerunt. 4 Ad occidendum autem Nigrum primipilarem Iulianus miserat, stulte ad eum qui haberet exercitus, se tueri posset, proinde quasi qualis libet imperator a primipilario posset occidi. 5 Eadem autem dementia etiam Severo iam principi Iulianus successorem miserat.

Finally, on account of this there were huge seditions. 4 And moreover, to kill Niger, Julian had sent a primipilary (chief centurion), foolishly against one who had armies and could defend himself, just as though any emperor whatsoever could be killed by a primipilary. 5 And with the same dementia, Julian had even sent a successor to Severus, already princeps.

6 Denique etiam Aquilium centurionem notum caedibus ducum miserat <quasi imperat> ob tantus a centurione posset occidi. 7 Par denique insania fuit, quod cum Severo ex interdicto de imperio egisse fertur, ut iure videretur principatum praevenisse.

6 Finally he had even sent Aquilius, a centurion known for the slayings of leaders, <as if he were emperor>, on the notion that so great a man could be killed by a centurion. 7 Equal, in fine, was the insanity, that he is reported to have proceeded against Severus by an interdict concerning the empire, so that by law he might seem to have forestalled the principate.

III. 1 Et de Pescennio Nigro iudicium populi ex eo apparuit, quod cum Iudos circenses Iulianus Romae daret, et indiscrete [se] subsellia circi maximi repleta essent ingentique iniuria populus adfectus esset, per omnes uno consensu Pescennius Niger ad tutelam urbis est expetitus, odio, ut diximus, Iuliani et amore occisi Pertinacis; 2 cum quidem Iulianus dixisse fertur neque sibi neque Pescennio longum imperium deberi, sed Severo, qui magis esset odio habendus a senatoribus, militibus, provincialibus, popularibus. Quod probavit.

3. 1 And the judgment of the populace concerning Pescennius Niger appeared from this: that when Julianus was giving the circus games at Rome, and the benches of the Circus Maximus were indiscriminately filled and the populace had been affected with a great injustice, by all with one consensus Pescennius Niger was sought for the tutelage of the city, from hatred, as we have said, of Julianus and from love of the slain Pertinax; 2 while indeed Julianus is reported to have said that neither to himself nor to Pescennius was a long imperium owed, but to Severus, who rather was to be held in hatred by the senators, the soldiers, the provincials, the populace. Which the event proved.

3 Et Pescennius quidem Severo eo tempore, quo Lugdunensem provinciam regebat, amicissimus fuit; 4 nam ipse missus erat ad comprehendendos desertores, qui innumeri Gallias tunc vexabant. 5 In quo officio quod se honeste gessit, iucundissimum fuit Severo, ita ut de eo ad Commodum Septimius referret adserens necessarium rei p. virum. Et revera in re militari vehemens fuit.

3 And Pescennius indeed was most friendly to Severus at the time when he was ruling the Lugdunensian province; 4 for he himself had been sent to apprehend deserters, who in countless numbers were then vexing the Gauls. 5 In which office, since he conducted himself honorably, he was most pleasing to Severus, to such a degree that Septimius reported about him to Commodus, asserting him to be a man necessary to the commonwealth. And in truth, in military affairs he was vehement.

6 Numquam sub eo miles provinciali lignum, oleum, operam extorsit. 7 Ipse a milite nihil accepit. Cum tribunatus ageret, nihil accipi passus est.

6 Never under him did a soldier extort from a provincial wood, oil, or labor. 7 He himself received nothing from the soldier. When he was conducting a tribunate, he allowed nothing to be accepted.

8 Nam et imperator iam tribunos duos, quos constitit stellaturas accepisse, lapidibus obtrui ab auxiliaribus iussit. 9 Extat epistula Severi, qua scribit ad Ragonium Celsum Gallias regentem : "Miserum est, ut imitari eius disciplinam militarem non possimus, quem bello vicimus : 10 milites tui vagabtur tribuni medio die lavant, pro tricliniis popinas habent, pro cubuculis meritoria : saltant, bibunt, cantant et mensuras conviviorum vocant [cum] hoc sine mensura potare. 11 Haec, si ulla vena paternae disciplinae viveret, fierent ? Emenda igitur primum tribunos, deinde militem.

8 For even the emperor at that time ordered two tribunes, whom it was established had accepted “stellatures” (appointment-bribes), to be crushed with stones by the auxiliaries. 9 There exists a letter of Severus, in which he writes to Ragonius Celsus, governing the Gauls : "It is a miserable thing, that we cannot imitate the military discipline of him whom we conquered in war: 10 your soldiers wander, the tribunes bathe at midday, instead of dining-rooms they have taverns, instead of bedchambers lodging-houses: they dance, they drink, they sing, and they call ‘measures’ of banquets [cum] this is to drink without measure. 11 Would these things happen, if any vein of paternal discipline were alive? Therefore correct first the tribunes, then the soldier."

Quem, quamdiu timuerit, tamdiu tenebis. 12 Sed scias idque de Nigro militem timere non posse, nisi integri fuerint tribuni et duces militum".

Whom, for as long as he shall have feared, for so long you will hold. 12 But know this too: that, as to Niger, the soldier cannot be made to fear, unless the tribunes and the leaders of the soldiers are upright".

IV. 1 Haec de Pescennio Severus Augustus, adhuc milite Marcus Antoninus ad Cornelium Balbum : "Pescennium mihi laudas : agnosco; nam et decessor tuus eum manu strenuum, vita gravem et iam tum plus quam militem dixit. 2 Itaque misi litteras recitandas ad signa, quibus eum trecentis Armenicis et centum Sarmatis et mille nostris praesse iussi. 3 Tuum est ostendere hominem non ambitione, quod nostris non convenit moribus, sed virtute venisse ad eum locum, quem avus meus Hadrianus, quem Trainus proavus non nisi exploratissimis dabat". 4 De hoc eodem Commodus : "Pescennium fortem virum novi et ei tribunatus iam duos dedi : ducatum mox dabo, ubi per senectutem Aelius Corduenus rem p. recusaverit". Haec de eo iudicia omium fuerunt.

4. 1 These things about Pescennius, Severus Augustus, while still a soldier, Marcus Antoninus to Cornelius Balbus : "You praise Pescennius to me : I acknowledge; for your predecessor too said him to be vigorous in hand, grave in life, and even then more than a soldier. 2 Therefore I have sent letters to be recited at the standards, by which I ordered him to be in command over three hundred Armenians and one hundred Sarmatians and one thousand of our own. 3 It is yours to show that the man has come to that place not by ambition, which does not agree with our mores, but by virtue, a place which my grandfather Hadrian, which my great‑grandfather Trajan gave only to the most thoroughly proven." 4 About this same man Commodus : "I know Pescennius, a brave man, and I have already given him two tribunates : I shall soon give him a command, when, on account of old age, Aelius Corduenus shall have declined the republic." These were the judgments of all about him.

5 Severus ipse saepe dixit ignoturum se Pescennio, nisi perseveraret. 6 A Commodo denique Pescennius consul declaratus Severo praepositus est, et quidem irato, quod primipilaribus commendantibus consulatum Niger mereretur. 7 In vita sua Severis dicit se, priusquam filii sui id aetatis haberent, ut imperare possent, aegrotantem id in animo habuisse, ut, si quid forte sibi accidisset, Niger Pescennius eodem et Claudius Albinus succederent, qui ambo Severo gravissimi hostes extiterunt.

5 Severus himself often said that he would ignore Pescennius, unless he persevered. 6 By Commodus at last Pescennius, declared consul, was set over Severus—and indeed with him angered, because, on the recommendation of the primipilares, Niger was earning the consulship. 7 In his own Life Severus says that, before his sons had that age so as to be able to command, while ill he had this in mind: that, if perchance anything should happen to him, Pescennius Niger likewise and Claudius Albinus should succeed to the same position—both of whom proved the most serious enemies to Severus.

8 Unde apparet, quod etiam Severi de Pescennio iudicium fuerit.

8 From which it appears what even Severus’s judgment about Pescennius was.

V. 1 Si Severo credimus, fuit gloriae cupidus Niger, vita fictus moribus turpis, aetatis provectae, cum in imperium invasit—ex quo cupiditates eius incusat -, proinde quasi Severus minor ad imperium venerit, qui annos suos contrahit, cum decem octo annis imperavit et octogesimo nono periit. 2 Sane Severus Heraclitum ad optinendam Bithyniam misit, Fulvium autem ad occupandos adultos Nigri filios. 3 Nec tamen in senatu quicquam de Nigro Severus dixit, cum iam audisset de eius imperio, ipse autem profisceretur ad conponendum orientis statum.

5. 1 If we believe Severus, Niger was eager for glory, counterfeit in life, base in morals, of advanced age when he invaded the imperium — from which he indicts his desires -, just as though Severus had come younger to the imperium, he who contracts his own years, since he ruled for 18 years and died in his 89th. 2 Indeed, Severus sent Heraclitus to obtain Bithynia, and Fulvius to seize Niger’s grown sons. 3 Nor yet did Severus say anything about Niger in the senate, when he had already heard about his imperium, and he himself was setting out to set in order the condition of the East.

4 Sane illud fecit profiscens, ut legiones ad Africam mitteret, ne eam Pescennius occcuparet et fame populum Romanum perurgueret. 5 Et videbatur autem id facere posse per Libyam Aegyptumque vicinas Africae, difficili licet itinere ac navigatione. 6 Et Pescennius quidem veniente ad orientem Severo Graeciam, Thracias, Macedoniam interfectis multis inlustirbus viris tenebat, ad participatum imperii Severum vocans.

4 Indeed he did this as he set out: to send legions to Africa, lest Pescennius occupy it and press the Roman people hard with famine. 5 And it seemed, moreover, that he could do this through Libya and Egypt, neighbors to Africa, though the route and the navigation were difficult. 6 And Pescennius indeed, with Severus coming toward the East, was holding Greece, Thrace, and Macedonia, many illustrious men having been killed, calling Severus to a sharing of the imperium.

7 A quo causa eorum, quos occiderat, cum Aemiliano hostis est appellatus. Dein a ducibus Severi per Aemilianum pugnans victus est. 8 Et cum illi tutum exilium promitteret, si ab armis recederet, persistens iterum pugnavit et victus est atque Cyzicum circa paludem fugiens sauciatus et sic ad Severum adductus atque statim mortuus.

7 On this account, for the sake of those whom he had killed, he was, together with Aemilianus, declared an enemy. Then, fighting, he was defeated by Severus’s commanders through Aemilianus. 8 And although safe exile was promised to him if he would withdraw from arms, persisting he fought again and was defeated, and, fleeing wounded to Cyzicus near the marsh, he was thus brought to Severus and immediately died.

VI. 1 Huius caput circumlatum pilo Romam missum, filii occisi necat uxor, patrimonium publicatum, familia omnia extincta. 2 Sed haec omnia, postquam de Albini rebellione cognitum est, facta sunt; nam prius et filios Nigri et matrem in exilium miserat. 3 Sed exarsit secundo civili bello, immo iam tertio et factus est durior, 4 tunc cum innumeros senatores interemit Severus et ab aliis Syllae Punici, ab aliis Marii nomen accepit.

6. 1 His head, carried around on a pike, was sent to Rome; his sons were slain, his wife killed, his patrimony confiscated, his entire household extinguished. 2 But all these things were done after it was learned of Albinus’s rebellion; for earlier he had sent both Niger’s sons and their mother into exile. 3 But he flared up in the second civil war—nay, now the third—and became harsher, 4 then, when Severus slew innumerable senators, and from some he received the name of a Punic Sulla, from others that of a Marius.

5 Fuit statura prolixa, forma decorus, capillo in verticem ad gratiam reflexo, vocis raucae sed canorae, ita ut in campo loquens per mille passus audiretur, nisi ventus adversaretur, oris verecundi et semper rubudi, cervice adeo nigra, ut, quemadmodum multi dicunt, ab ea Nigri nomen acceperit, 6 cetera corporis parte candidus et magis pinguis, vini avidus, cibi parcus, rei veneriae nisi ad creandos liberos prorsus ignarus. 7 Denique etiam sacra quaedam in Gallia, quae castissimis decernunt, consensu publico celebranda suscepit. 8 Hunc in Commodianis hortis in porticu curva pictum de musio inter Commodi amicissimos videmus sacra Isidis ferentem; 9 quibus Commodus adeo deditus fuit, ut et caput raderet et Anubim portaret et omnis pausas expleret.

5 He was of elongated stature, comely in form, with hair bent back toward the crown for grace, of a voice hoarse but canorous, such that, speaking in the field, he could be heard for a thousand paces, unless the wind opposed; of a modest countenance and always ruddy, with a neck so black that, as many say, from it he received the name Niger, 6 in the rest of his body fair and rather fat, avid for wine, sparing of food, wholly ignorant of the venereal matter except for the begetting of children. 7 Finally, he even undertook certain rites in Gaul, which they assign to the most chaste, to be celebrated by public consensus. 8 We see him in the Commodian Gardens, in a curved portico, depicted in mosaic among the very dearest friends of Commodus, bearing the sacred emblems of Isis; 9 to which rites Commodus was so devoted that he both shaved his head and carried Anubis and fulfilled all the abstinences.

10 Fuit ergo miles optimus, tribunus singularis, dux praecipuus, legatus severissimus, consul insignis, vir domi forisque conspicuus, imperator infelix; usui denique rei p. sub Severo homine tetrico, esse potuisset, si cum eo esse voluisset.

10 Therefore he was an excellent soldier, a singular tribune, a preeminent leader, a most severe legate, a distinguished consul, a man conspicuous at home and abroad, an unlucky emperor; finally, he could have been of use to the republic under Severus, a grim man, if he had been willing to be with him.

VII. 1 Sed deceptus est consiliis scaevis Aureliani, qui filias suas eius filiis despondens persistere eum fecit in imperio. 2 His tantae fuit auctoritatis, ut ad Marcum primum deinde as Commodum scriberet, cum videret provincias facili administrationum mutatione subverti, primum ut nulli ante quinquennium succederetur provinciae praesidi vel legato vel proconsuli, quod prius deponerent potestatem quam scirent administrare.

7. 1 But he was deceived by the sinister counsels of Aurelian, who, by betrothing his own daughters to his (the emperor’s) sons, made him persist in the imperium. 2 By this he had such authority that he wrote to Marcus first and then also to Commodus, when he saw the provinces being subverted by the easy change of administrations, first, that no one should succeed a provincial governor—whether a praeses or a legate or a proconsul—before a five-year term, because they would lay down power before they knew how to administer.

3 Deinde ne novi ad regendam rem p. accederet praeter militares administrationes, intimavit, ut assessores, in quibus provinciis adsedissent, in his administrarent. 4 Quod postea Severus et deinceps multi tenuerunt, ut probant Pauli et Ulpiani praefecturae, qui Papiniano in consilio fuerunt ac postea, cum unus ad memoriam, alter ad libellos paruisset, statim praefecti facti sunt. 5 Huius etiam illud fuit, ut nemo adsideret in sua provincia, nemo administraret, nisi Romae Romanus, hoc est oriundus urbe.

3 Then, lest newcomers should approach the governing of the commonwealth except through military administrations, he intimated that assessors should administer in those provinces in which they had sat. 4 This was afterwards maintained by Severus and, thereafter, by many, as the prefectures of Paulus and Ulpian prove, who had been on Papinian’s council and afterwards, when the one had served in the bureau of Memoranda (ad memoriam) and the other in Petitions (ad libellos), were immediately made prefects. 5 This also was his: that no one should sit as assessor in his own province, no one should administer, unless at Rome a Roman—that is, one sprung from the City.

6 Addidit praeterea consiliaris salaria, ne eos gravarent, quibus adsidebant, dicens iudicem nec dare debere nec accipere. 7 Hic erga milites tanta fuit censura, ut, cum apud Aegyptum ab eo limitanei vinum peterent, responderit : "Nilum habetis et vinum quaeritis?", si quidem tanta illius fluminis dulcitudo, ut accolae vina non quaerant. 8 Idem tumultuantibus his, qui a Saracenis victi fuerant, et dicentibus : "Vinum non accepimus, pugnare non possumus", "Erubescite", inquit, "illi, qui vos vincunt, aquam bibunt". 9 Idem Palaestinis rogantibus, ut eorum censitio levaretur, idcirco quod esset gravata, respondit : "Vos terras vestras levari censitione vultis : ergo vero etiam aerem vestrum censere vellem".

6 He added moreover counsellors’ salaries, lest they burden those with whom they sat, saying that a judge ought neither to give nor to receive. 7 He had such censure toward the soldiers that, when near Egypt the limitanei asked him for wine, he replied : "You have the Nile and you seek wine?", since indeed so great is the sweetness of that river that the dwellers do not seek wines. 8 Likewise, when those who had been defeated by the Saracens were making a tumult and saying : "We did not receive wine; we cannot fight", "Be ashamed", he said, "those who conquer you drink water". 9 Likewise, when the Palestinians were asking that their assessment be lightened, because it was burdensome, he replied : "You want your lands to be lightened in assessment : therefore indeed I would wish even to assess your air".

VIII. 1 Denique Delfici Apollinis vates in motu rei p. maximo, cum nuntiaretur tres esse imperatores, Severum Septimium, Pescennium Nigrum, Clodium Albinum, consultus quem expediret rei publicae imperare, versum Graecum huius modi fudisse dicitur :

8. 1 Finally, the vates of Delphic Apollo, in the greatest upheaval of the republic, when it was being announced that there were three emperors—Septimius Severus, Pescennius Niger, Clodius Albinus—having been consulted as to whom it would be expedient should rule the republic, is said to have poured forth a Greek verse of this kind :

Optimus est Fuscus, bonus Afer, pessimus Albus.

Fuscus is best, Afer is good, Albus is worst.

2 Ex quo intellectum Fuscum Nigrum appellatum vaticinatione, Severum Afrum, Album vero Albinum dictum. 3 Nec defuit alia curiositas, qua requisitum est, qui esset obtenturus rem publicam. Ad quod ille respondit alium versum talem :

2 From which it was understood that by the vaticination Fuscus was appellated Niger, Severus Afer, but Albus indeed was said Albinus. 3 Nor was there lacking another curiosity, by which it was inquired who would be about to obtain the commonwealth. To which he responded another verse of such a kind :

Fundetur sanguis albi nigrique animantis
imperium mundi Poena reget urbe profectus.

The blood of a white and of a black living being will be poured out
the imperium of the world a Punic man, having set out from the city, will rule.

4 Item cum quaesitum esset, quis illi successurus esset, respondisse itidem Graeco verso dicitur :

4 Likewise, when it was asked who would succeed him, he is said to have answered likewise in a Greek verse:

Cui dederint superi nomen habere Pii.

to whom the gods above will have granted to bear the name Pius.

5 Quod omnino intellectum non est, nisi cum Bassianus Antonini, quod verum signum Pii fuit, nomen accepit. 6 Item cum quaereretur quamdiu imperaturus esset, respondisse Graece dicitur :

5 Which was not understood at all, until Bassianus received the name of Antoninus, which was the true sign of “Pius.” 6 Likewise, when it was asked how long he was going to rule, he is said to have answered in Greek:

Bis denis Italum conscendit navibus aequor
si tamen una ratis transiliet pelagus.

He will embark upon the Italian sea with twenty ships
if, however, a single raft will leap across the pelagic deep.

Ex quo intellectum Severum viginti annos expleturum.

From which it was understood that Severus would complete twenty years.

IX. 1 Haec sunt, Diocletiane maxime Augustorum, quae de Pescennio didicimuus ex pluribus libris. Non enim facile, ut in principes in re p. non fuerunt aut a senatu, appellati non sunt imperatores, aut occisi citius ad famam venire nequiverunt. 2 Inde quod latet Vindex, quod Piso nescitur, quod omnes illi, qui aut tantum adoptati sunt aut a militibus imperatores appellati, ut sub Domitiano Antonius, aut cito interempti vitam cum imperii usurpatione posuerunt.

9. 1 These are the things, Diocletian, greatest of the Augusti, which we have learned about Pescennius from several books. For it is not easy for those who were not principes in the republic, or were not called emperors by the senate, or, being killed too quickly, could not come to fame. 2 Hence it is that Vindex lies hidden, that Piso is unknown, that all those who either were only adopted, or were hailed by the soldiers as emperors, as under Domitian Antonius, or, quickly slain, laid down their life together with the usurpation of the imperium.

3 Sequitur nunc, ut de Clodio Albino dicam, qui quasi socius huius habetur, quod et pariter contra Severum rebellarunt et ab eodem victi atque occisi sunt. 4 De quo ipso neque satis clara extant, quia eadem fortuna illius fuit quae Pescennii, etiamsi vita satis dispar. 5 Ac quid ex his, quae ad Pescennium pertinent, praeterisse videamur, licet aliis libris cognosci possint, de hoc Severo Septimio vates dixerunt, qud neque vivus neque mortuus in potestatem Severi venturus esset, sed iuxta aquas illi pereundum esset.

3 It follows now that I should speak about Clodius Albinus, who is held as a sort of associate of this man, because both together rebelled against Severus and were by the same conquered and slain. 4 Concerning this very man not sufficiently clear accounts stand forth, because his fortune was the same as Pescennius’s, although his life was quite dissimilar. 5 And as to anything among those matters which pertain to Pescennius that we may seem to have passed over—though they can be learned from other books—the seers said to this Septimius Severus that he would come into Severus’s power neither alive nor dead, but that he would have to perish near waters.

6 Quod quidam dicunt ipsum Severum de mathesi, qua callebat, dixisse. Nec abfuit responsis veritas, cum ille inventus sit iuxta paludem semivivus.

6 Which some say Severus himself declared on the basis of mathesis, in which he was skilled. Nor was truth absent from the responses, since he was found next to a marsh half-alive.

X. 1 Hic tantae fuit severitatis, ut, cum milites quosdam in cauco argenteo expeditionis tempore bibere vidissat iussit omne argentum summoveri de usu expeditionali, addito eo ut ligneis vasis uturentur. Quod quidem illi odium militare concitavit. 2 Dicebat enim posse fieri, ut sarcinae militares in potestatem hostium venirent, nec se barbarae nationes argento nostro gloriosiores facerent, cum alia minus apta hosticam viderentur ad gloriam.

10. 1 He was of such great severity that, when he had seen certain soldiers drinking from a silver bowl at the time of campaign, he ordered all silver to be removed from expeditionary use, adding this besides, that they should use wooden vessels. This indeed stirred up military hatred against him. 2 For he would say that it could come to pass that the military baggage come into the power of the enemy, and that the barbarian nations should not make themselves more glorious by our silver, since other things would seem less apt for hostile glory.

3 Idem iussit vinum in expeditione neminem bibere, sed aceto universos esse contentos. 4 Idem pistores sequi expeditionem prohibuit, bucellato iubens milites et omnes contentos esse. 5 Idem ob unius gallinacei direptionem decem commanipulones, qui raptum ab uno comederant, securi percuti iussit, et fecisset, nisi ab omni exercitu prope usque ad metum seditionis esset rogatus.

3 The same man ordered that in campaign no one drink wine, but that all be content with vinegar. 4 The same man forbade bakers to follow the campaign, ordering that the soldiers and everyone be content with bucellatum (hardtack). 5 The same man, on account of the plundering of a single rooster, ordered ten fellow squad-mates, who had eaten what had been snatched by one, to be struck by the axe (beheaded); and he would have done it, had he not been entreated by the whole army almost to the point of fear of sedition.

6 Et cum perpecisset, iussit, ut denorum gallinaceorum pretia provinciali redderent decem, qui simul furto convixerant, addito eo ut tota in expeditione in commannipulatione nemo focum faceret, ne umquam recens coctum cibum sumerent, sed pane ac frigida vescerentur, adpositis speculatoribus, qui id curarent. 7 Idem iussit, ne zona milites ad bellum ituri aureos vel argenteos nummos portarent, sed publice commandarent, recepturi post proelia quod dederant, addens liberis eorum et uxoribus, heredibus certe reddendum, quibus obvenisset, ne ad hostes aliquid praedae perveniret, si quid forte adversi fortuna fecisset. 8 Sed haec omnia, ut se habuerat Commodi temporum dissolutio, adversa eidem fuere.

6 And when he had been prevailed upon, he ordered that the prices of ten roosters be repaid to the provincial by the ten who had together feasted on the theft, with this added: that throughout the whole expedition no one in the maniple should make a fire, lest they ever take freshly cooked food, but should feed on bread and cold fare, inspectors being posted to see to it. 7 He likewise ordered that soldiers going to war should not carry gold or silver coins in their belt, but should entrust them officially, to receive back after the battles what they had given, adding that it must certainly be rendered to their children and wives, to their heirs, to whom it should fall, lest anything of booty should come to the enemy, if by chance fortune had done something adverse. 8 But all these measures, as the dissolution of the times of Commodus stood, turned out to be adverse to him.

9 Denique etiamsi nemo fuit, qui suis temporibus dux severior videretur, perniciem illi magis ista quam—mortuo, ubi et invidia et odium deposita erant, talia exempla valuerunt.

Finally, even if there was no one who in his own times seemed a more severe leader, those measures were more a perdition to him than—once he was dead, when both envy and hatred had been laid aside—such examples prevailed.

XI. 1 Idem in omni expeditione ante omnes militarem cibum sumpsit ante papilionem nec sibi umquam vel contra solem vel contra imbres quaesivit tecti suffragium, si miles non habuit. 2 Tantum denique belli tempore ratione militibus demonstrata sibi et servis suis vel contubernalibus portavit, quantum a militibus ferebatur, cum servos suos annona oneraret, ne illi securi ambularent et onusti milites idque ab exercitu cum suspirio videretur. 3 Idem in contione iuravit se, quamdiu in expeditionibus fuisset essetque adhuc futurus, non aliter egisse acturumque esse quam militem, Marium ante oculos habentem et duces tales.

11. 1 The same man on every expedition took the military food before all, before the pavilion, nor did he ever seek for himself the succor of cover either against the sun or against the rains, if the soldier did not have it. 2 Finally, in time of war, with the rationale shown to the soldiers, he thought that just as much ought to be carried by himself and by his slaves or tent-mates as was borne by the soldiers, when he burdened his slaves with the ration, lest they walk carefree while the soldiers were laden; and this was seen by the army with a sigh. 3 The same man swore in assembly that, so long as he had been on expeditions and would yet be, he had acted and would act no otherwise than as a soldier, having Marius before his eyes and leaders of such a sort.

4 Nec alias fabulas umquam habuit nisi <de> Annibale ceterisque talibus. 5 Denique cum imperatori facto quidam panegyricum recitare vellet, dixit ei : "Scribe laudes Marii vel Annibalis <vel ali>cuius ducis optimi vita functi et dic, quid ille fecerit, ut eum nos imitemur. 6 Nam viventes laudare inrisio est, maxime imperatores, a quibus speratur, qui timentur, qui praestare publice possunt, qui possunt necare, qui proscribere". Se autem vivum placere velle, mortuum etiam laudari.

4 And he never had other tales except about Hannibal and others of that kind. 5 Finally, when, after he had been made emperor, someone wished to recite a panegyric, he said to him : "Write the praises of Marius or of Hannibal or of some most excellent leader who has finished his life, and say what that man did, that we may imitate him. 6 For to praise the living is a mockery—especially emperors, from whom things are hoped, who are feared, who can bestow publicly, who can kill, who can proscribe." But as for himself, he wished to please while alive, and also to be praised when dead.

XII. 1 Amavit de principibus Augustum Vespasianum, Titum, Trainum, Pium, Marcum, reliquos feneos vel veneratos vocans; maxime tamen [in] historiis Marium et Camillum et Quinctium [et] Marcium Coriolanum dilexit. 2 Interrogatus autem, quid de Scipionibus sentiret, dixisse fertur felices illos fuisse magis quam fortes; isque probare domesticam vitam et iuventutem, quae in utroque minus speciosa domi fuisset.

12. 1 He loved, among princes, Augustus, Vespasian, Titus, Trajan, Pius, Marcus, calling the rest hay-like or venerated; but most of all [in] histories he cherished Marius and Camillus and Quinctius [and] Marcius Coriolanus. 2 And when asked what he thought about the Scipios, he is said to have declared that they had been more fortunate than strong; and that he approved their domestic life and youth, which in both had been less showy at home.

3 Apud omnes constat, quod si rerum potitus fuisset, omnia correcturus fuerit, quae Severus vel non potuit emendare vel noluit, et quidem sine crudelitate, immo etiam cum lenitate, sed militari, non remissa et inepta atque ridicula. 4 Domus eius hodie Romae visitur in campo Iovis, quae appellatur Pescenniana, in qua simulacrum eius in trichoro constitutum post annum ex Thebaico marmore, quod ille ad similitudinem sui factum a rege Thebaeorum acceperat. 5 Extat etiam epigramma Graecum, quod Latine hanc habet sententiam :

3 It is agreed among all that, if he had obtained control of affairs, he would have corrected everything which Severus either could not amend or would not, and indeed without cruelty, nay even with lenity—yet of a military sort, not remiss and inept and ridiculous. 4 His house is seen today at Rome on the Field of Jupiter, which is called the Pescennian, in which a simulacrum of him, set up in a trichorum, after a year, of Thebaic marble, which he had received from the king of the Thebans, made to his likeness. 5 There also exists a Greek epigram, which in Latin has this meaning :

6 Terror Aegyptiaci Niger astat militis ingens,
Thebaidos socius, aurea saecla volens.
Hunc reges, hunc gentes amant, hunc aurea Roma.
hic Antoninus carus [et] imperio.
Nigrum nomen habet, nigrum formavimmus ipsi,
ut consentiret forma, metalle,tibi.

Niger, the terror of the Egyptian soldier, stands immense,
ally of the Thebaid, wishing the golden ages.
Him kings love, him nations, him golden Rome.
here an Antoninus, dear [and] to the empire.
He has the black name; black we ourselves have formed,
so that the form might agree, in the metal, with you.

7 Quos quidem versus Severus eradi noluit, cum hoc ei et praefecti suggererent et officiorum magistri, addens : 8 "Si talis fuit, sciant omnes, qualem vicerimus; si talis non fuit, putent omnes nos talem vicisse : immo sic sit, quia fuit talis".

7 These verses indeed Severus did not wish to have erased, although both the prefects and the masters of the offices were suggesting this to him, adding : 8 "If he was such, let all know what sort we have conquered; if he was not such, let all think that we have conquered such a one : nay, let it be so, because he was such."