Historia Augusta: Severus Alexander

2 et hoc nomen ex annalibus senatus auctoritate erasum est – ad remedium generis humani Aurelius Alexander, urbe Arcena genitus, Varii filius, Variae nepos et consobrinus ipsius Gabali, accepit imperium, cum ante Caesar a senatus esset appellatus, mortuo scilicet Macrino,

2 and this name has been erased from the annals by the authority of the senate – for the remedy of the human race, Aurelius Alexander, born in the city of Arcena, Varius’s son, Varia’s grandson, and cousin of Gabalus himself, received the imperium, although earlier he had been styled Caesar by the senate, Macrinus, of course, having died,

3 Augustumque nomen idem recepit addito eo, ut et patris patriae nomen et ius proconsulare et tribuniciam potestatem et ius quintae relationis deferente s sena utu uno die adsumeret.

3 And he likewise received the name Augustus, with this added, that, with the senaute conferring s, he should assume in a single day also the name Father of the Fatherland, the proconsular right, the tribunician power, and the right of a fifth relatio.

4 et ne praeceps ista honorum continuatio videatur, exponam causas, quibus id et senatus coactus est facere et ille perpeti.

4 and lest this precipitous continuation of honors should seem so, I will set forth the causes, by which both the senate was compelled to do it and he to endure it.

5 non enim aut gravitati senatus congruebat omnia simul deferre aut bono principi raptum ire tot simul dignitates.

5 for it was not congruent with the gravity of the senate to confer everything at once, nor for a good princeps to rush to snatch up so many dignities at once.

6 milites iam insueverant sibi imperatores et tumultuario iudicio facere et item facile mutare, adserentes nonnumquam ad defensionem se idcirco fecisse, quod nescissent senatum principem appellasse.

6 soldiers had already become accustomed to make emperors for themselves and, by tumultuary judgment, and likewise easily to change them, asserting sometimes for their defense that they had therefore done so, because they had not known that the senate had proclaimed a princeps.

7 nam et Pescennium Nigrum et Clodium Nigrum Albinum et Avidium Cassium et antea Lucium Vindicem et L. Antoni num et ipsum Severum, cum senatus iam Iulianum dixisset principem, imperatores fecerant, atque ista res bella civilia severat, quibus necesse fuit militem contra hostem paratum parricidaliter perire.

7 for both Pescennius Niger and Clodius Albinus and Avidius Cassius and earlier Lucius Vindex and L. Antoninus and Severus himself, although the senate had already declared Julianus princeps, they had made emperors; and that matter had sown civil wars, in which it was necessary for the soldier, prepared against the enemy, to perish parricidally.

[II] hac igitur causa festinatum est, ut omnia simul Alexander quasi iam vetus imperator acciperet.

[II] Therefore, for this reason, haste was made, so that Alexander might receive everything at once, as if already a veteran emperor.

2 huc accessit nimia et senatus et populi inclinatio post illam cladem, quae non solum Antoninorum nomen decoloravit, sed etiam Romanum dehonestavit imperium.

2 to this there was added the excessive inclination both of the senate and of the people after that disaster, which not only discolored the name of the Antonines, but even dishonored the Roman empire.

3 certatim denique omnia decreta sunt et nominum genera et potestatum.

3 at length, in emulous rivalry, all things were decreed, both the kinds of names and of powers.

4 primus denique et omnium cuncta insignia et honorificentiae genera simul recepit suffragante sibimet Caesaris nomine, quod iam ante aliquot annos meruerat, et magis suffragante vita et moribus, cum illi magnum conciliasset favorem, quod Heliogabalus occidere conatus est nec potuit et militibus repugnantibus et senatu refragante.

4 finally, he, first of all, received at once all the insignia and kinds of honorific distinction, with the name of Caesar supporting him for himself, which he had already deserved several years earlier, and even more with his life and morals giving suffrage, since it had won him great favor that Heliogabalus had tried to kill him and could not, the soldiers resisting and the senate opposing.

5 atque haec parva sunt, nisi quod dignum se exhibuit, quem senatus servaret, quem salvum milites cuperent, quem omnium bonorum sententia principem diceret.

5 and these are small things, save that he showed himself worthy—one whom the Senate would preserve, whom the soldiers desired safe, whom the sentence of all good men would call emperor.

[III] Alexander igitur, cui Mamaea mater fuit – nam et ita dicitur a plerisque – a prima pueritia artibus bonis inbutus tam civilibus quam militaribus ne unum quidem diem sponte sua transire passus est, quo se non et ad litteras et ad militiam exerceret.

[III] Alexander therefore, whose mother was Mamaea – for so also it is said by many – from his earliest boyhood imbued with good arts both civil and military, did not allow even a single day of his own accord to pass, on which he did not exercise himself both in letters and in soldiery.

2 nam in prima pueritia litteratores habuit Valerium Cordum et Titum Veturium et Aurelium Philippum libertum patris, qui vitam eius postea in litteras misit,

2 for in his earliest boyhood he had grammarians Valerius Cordus and Titus Veturius and Aurelius Philippus, his father's freedman, who later put his life into letters,

3 grammaticum in patria Graecum Nehonem, rhetorem Serapionem, filosophum Stilionem, Romae grammaticos Scaurinum Scaurini filium, doctorem celeberrimum, rhetores Iulium Frontinum eimperatort Baebium Macrianum et Iulium Granianum, cuius hodieque declamatae feruntur.

3 a Greek grammarian in his native land, Nehon; the rhetor Serapion; the philosopher Stilion; at Rome the grammarians Scaurinus, the son of Scaurinus, a most celebrated teacher; the rhetors Julius Frontinus, Baebius Macrianus the emperor, and Julius Granianus, whose declamations are even today circulated.

4 sed in Latinis non multum profecit, ut ex eiusdem orationibus apparet, quas in senatu habuit, vel contionibus, quas apud milites vel apud populum. nec valde amavit Latinam facundiam, sed amavit litteratos homines vehementer, eos etiam reformidans, ne quid de se asperum scriberent.

4 but in Latin matters he did not make much progress, as is apparent from his very speeches, which he delivered in the senate, or from the addresses which he delivered among the soldiers or among the populace. nor did he greatly love Latin eloquence, but he loved lettered men vehemently, those even shrinking from, lest they write anything harsh about him.

5 denique eos, quos dignos ad discendum videbat, singula quaeque, quae publicae privatim agebat, se ipso docente volebat addiscere, si forte ipsi non adfuissent, eaque petebat ut, si vera essent, in litteras mitterent.

5 finally, those whom he judged worthy for learning, each and every thing which he did publicly and privately, he wished to have learn with himself as teacher, if perchance they themselves had not been present; and he requested that, if they were true, they commit them to letters.

[IV] Dominum se appellari vetuit. epistolas ad se quasi ad privatum scribi iussit servato tantum nomine imperatoris.

[4] He forbade that he be called “lord.” He ordered epistles to be written to him as to a private person, with only the name “emperor” preserved.

2 gemmas de calciamentis et vestibus tulit, quibus usus fuerat Heliogabalus. veste, ut et pingitur, alba usus est nec aurata, paenulis togisque communibus.

2 he removed the gems from the footwear and garments which Heliogabalus had used. he wore, as he is also depicted, white clothing and not gilded, with paenula-cloaks and common togas.

3 cum amicis tam familiariter vixit, ut communis esset ei saepe consessus, iret ad convivia eorum, aliquos autem haberet cotidianos etiam non vocatos, salutaretur vero quasi unus e senatoribus patente velo admissionalibus remotis aut solis his, qui ministri ad fores fuerant, relictis, cum ante salutare principes non liceret, quod eos videre non poterant.

3 he lived with friends so familiarly that there was for him often a common sitting; he would go to their banquets, and he had certain people daily, even when not invited; he was greeted, in fact, as if one of the senators, with the curtain open, the admissional attendants removed, or with only those who had been attendants at the doors left, whereas before it had not been permitted to salute the princes, because they could not see them.

4 Et erat eius corporis, ut praeter venustatem ac virilem, quem hodieque et in pictura et in statuis videmus, decorem inesset staturae militaris robur militis, valitudo eius, qui vim sui corporis sciret ac semper curaret.

4 And his bodily make was such that, besides a venusty and a virile decorum, which even today we see both in painting and in statues, there was present a military stature, the robustness of a soldier, a constitution of one who knew the force of his body and always cared for it.

5 erat praeterea cunctis hominibus amabilis et ab aliis pius appellabatur, ab omnibus certe sanctus et utilis rei p.

5 he was, moreover, lovable to all men, and by others was called pious, by all certainly holy and useful to the Republic.

6 huic sors in templo Praenestinae talis extitit, cum illi Heliogabalus insidiaretur: "si qua facta aspera rumpas, tum Marcellus eris."

6 to him such a lot came forth in the Praenestine temple, when Heliogabalus was laying ambushes against him: "if you break through any harsh deeds, then you will be a Marcellus."

[V] Alexandri nomen accepit, quod in templo dicato apud Arcenam urbem Alexandro Magno natus esset, cum casu illuc die festo Alexandri cum uxore pater isset sollemnitatis implendae causa.

[V] He received the name Alexander, because he had been born in a temple dedicated to Alexander the Great at the city of Arcena, when by chance his father had gone thither with his wife on Alexander’s festival day, for the purpose of fulfilling the solemnity.

2 cui rei argumentum est, quod eadem die natalem habet hic Mammaeae Alexander, qua ille Magnus excessit e vita.

2 The evidence for this is that this Alexander, of Mamaea, has his natal day on the same day on which the Great departed from life.

3 delatum sibi Antonini nomen a senatu recusavit, cum hic magis adfinitate Caracalli iungeretur quam ille subditivus,

3 he refused the name Antoninus, conferred upon himself by the senate, since this man was more joined by affinity to Caracalla than that subdititious one,

4 si quidem, ut Marius Maximus dixit in vita Severi, nobilem orientis mulierem Severus, cuius hanc genituram esse conpererat, ut uxor imperatoris esset, adhuc privatus et non magni satis loci duxit uxorem, ex qua adfinitate hic Alexander fuit, cui vere per matrem suam consobrinus Varius Heliogabalus fuit.

4 indeed, as Marius Maximus said in the Life of Severus, Severus took to wife a noble woman of the Orient—of whom he had ascertained that she had this geniture, namely that she would be the wife of an emperor—while still a private person and not yet of station sufficiently great; from which affinity this Alexander arose, to whom truly through his mother Varius Heliogabalus was a first cousin.

5 recusavit et Magni nomen, quod ei quasi Alexandro est oblatum senatus iudicio.

5 he also refused
the name Magnus, which was offered to him, as though to Alexander, by the senate’s judgment.

[VI] Interest relegere orationem, qua nomen Antonini et Magni delatum sibi a senatu recusavit. quam priusquam praebeam, proferam etiam adclamationes senatus, quibus id decretum est.

[6] It is of interest to re-read the oration in which he refused the name of Antoninus and Magnus, offered to him by the senate. Before I present it, I will also bring forth the acclamations of the senate by which that was decreed.

2 ex actis urbis: a. d. pridie nonas Martias cum senatus frequens in curiam (hoc est in aedem Concordiae templumque inauguratum) convenisset rogatusque esset Aurelius Alexander Caesar Augustus, ut consideret, ac primo recusasset, quod sciret de honoribus suis agendum, deinde postea venisset, adclamatum:

2 from
the acts of the city: on the day before the Nones of March, when a full senate had convened into the curia
(that is, into the Temple of Concord, a consecrated temple) and
Aurelius Alexander Caesar Augustus had been asked to be seated, and at first had refused, because he knew that his own honors were to be dealt with, then afterwards
had come, there was an acclamation:

3 "Auguste innocens, di te servent. Alexander imperator, di te servent. di te nobis dederunt, di conservent.

3 "Augustus, innocent, may the gods preserve you. Alexander emperor, may the gods preserve you. the gods have given you to us, may the gods keep you.

di te ex manibus impuri eripuerunt, di te perpetuent.

the gods snatched you from the hands of the impure, may the gods perpetuate you.

4 impurum tyrannum et tu perpessus es, impurum et opscaenum et tu vivere doluisti. di illum eradicarunt, di te servarunt. infamis imperator rite damnatus.

4 an impure tyrant you too have endured, impure and obscene, and you too grieved to live. the gods have eradicated that man, the gods have preserved you. the infamous emperor rightly condemned.

5 felices nos imperio tuo, felicem rem p. infamis imperator iunco tractus est ad exemplum timoris, luxuriosus imperator iure punitus est, contaminator honorum iure punitus est. di inmortales Alexandro vitam. iudicia deorum hinc apparent."

5 happy are we under your imperium, happy the republic. the infamous emperor was dragged with a ihook as an example of fear, the luxurious emperor was punished by right, the defiler of honors was punished by right. may the immortal gods [grant] life to Alexander. from this the judgments of the gods appear."

[VII] Et cum egisset gratias Alexander, adclamatum est: "Antonine Alexander, di te servent. Antonine Aureli, di te servent. Antonine Pie, di te servent.

[7] And when Alexander had given thanks, there was an acclamation: "Antonine Alexander, may the gods preserve you. Antonine Aurelius, may the gods preserve you. Antonine Pius, may the gods preserve you."

Antonini nomen suscipias rogamus.

We ask that you assume the name Antoninus.

2 praesta bonis imperatoribus, ut Antoninus dicaris. nomen Antoninorum tu purifica. quod ille infamavit, tu purifica.

2 Live up to the good emperors, that you may be called Antoninus. The name of the Antonini, you
purify. What that man defamed, you purify.

redde in integrum nomen Antoninorum.

restore to integrity the name of the Antonines.

3 sanguis Antoninorum se cognoscat. iniuriam Marci tu vindica. iniuriam Veri tu vindica.

3 let the blood of the Antonines know itself. you vindicate the injury of Marcus. you vindicate the injury of Verus.

iniuriam Bassiani tu vindica.

the injury of Bassianus you avenge.

4 peior Commodo solus Heliogabalus, nec im(perator) nec Antoninus nec civis nec senator nec nobilis nec Romanus. in te salus, in te vita. ut vivere delectet, Antoninorum Alexandro vitam.

4 worse than Commodus, only Heliogabalus, neither emperor nor an Antoninus nor a citizen nor a senator nor a noble nor a Roman. in you is safety, in you is life. that it may be a delight to live, life to Alexander of the Antonini.

5 ut vivere delectet, et Antoninus vocetur. Antoninorum templa Antoninus dedicet.

5 so that it may be a delight to live, and that he be called Antoninus. Let Antoninus dedicate the temples of the Antonini.

6 Parthos et Persas Antoninus vincat. sacrum nomen sacratus accipiat. sacrum nomen castus accipiat.

6 May Antoninus vanquish the Parthians and the Persians. Let him, consecrated, accept the sacred name. Let him, chaste, accept the sacred name.

Antonini nomen di cognoscant, Antoninorum honorem di conservent. in te omnia, per te omnia. Antonine, haveas."

Let the gods recognize the name of Antoninus, let the gods
preserve the honor of the Antonini. in you everything, through you everything. Antonine, hail."

[VIII] Et post adclamationes Aurelius Alexander Caesar Augustus: "gratias vobis, p. c., non nunc primum sed et de Caesareano nomine et de vita servata et Augusti nomine addito et de pontificatu maximo et de tribunicia potestate et proconsulari imperio, quae omnia novo exemplo uno die in me contulistis."

[8] And after the acclamations, Aurelius Alexander Caesar Augustus: "Thanks to you, Conscript Fathers, not now for the first time but also for the Caesarian name, and for the life preserved, and for the name of Augustus added, and for the supreme pontificate, and for the tribunician power, and for the proconsular imperium, all of which, by a new precedent, you have conferred upon me in one day."

2 et cum diceret, adclamatum: "haec suscepisti, Antonini nomen suscipe. mereatur senatus, Antonini mereantur.

2 and while he was speaking, it was acclaimed: "you have undertaken these things; assume the name of Antoninus. let the senate merit it, let the Antonini merit it.

3 Antonine Auguste, di te servent, di te Antoninum conservent. monetae nomen Antonini reddatur. templa Antoninorum Antoninus consecret."

3 Antonine Augustus, may the gods preserve you, may the gods preserve you, Antoninus. Let the name of Antoninus be restored to the coinage. Let Antoninus consecrate the temples of the Antonini."

4 Aurelius Alexander Augustus: "ne, quaeso, p. c., ne me ad hanc certaminis necessitatem vocetis, ut ego cogar tanto nomini satis facere, cum etiam hoc ipsum nonmen, licet peregrinum, tamen gravare videatur. haec enim nomina insignia onerosa sunt.

4 Aurelius Alexander Augustus: "Do not, I beg, Conscript Fathers, do not summon me to this necessity of contest, that I be forced to satisfy so great a name, since even this very name, though foreign, nevertheless seems to weigh down. For these insignia-names are onerous."

5 quis enim Ciceronem dic erat mutum? quis indoctum Varronem? quis impium Metellum?

5 who, indeed, had decla ered Cicero mute? who had called Varro unlearned? who had called impious Metellus?

et, ut hoc di avertant, quis non aequiperantem nomina ferat degerentem in clarissima specie dignitatum?" item adclamata, quae supra.

and, may the gods avert this, who would not bear names to match, living in the most illustrious appearance of dignities?" likewise acclamations, as above, were shouted.

[IX] Item adclamata quae supra. imperator dixit: "Antoninorum nomen vel iam numen potius quantum fuerit, meminit vestra clementia: si pietatem, quid Pio sanctius? si doctrinam, quid Marco prudentius?

[9] Likewise were shouted the acclamations above. the emperor said: "Your clemency remembers how great the name—or rather now the numen—of the Antonines has been: if it is piety,
what more holy than Pius? if doctrine, what more prudent than Marcus?

si innocentiam, quid Vero simplicius? si fortitudinem, quid Bassiano fortius?

if innocence, what simpler than Verus? if fortitude, what stronger than Bassianus?

2 nam Commodi meminisse nolo, si quidem hoc ipso deterior si fuit, quod cum illis moribus Antonini nomen obtinuit.

2 for I do not wish to remember Commodus, since indeed, if he was worse in any respect, it was in this very thing: that with those mores he obtained the name of Antoninus.

3 Diadumenus autem nec tempus habuit nec aetatem et arte patris hoc nomen incurrit." item adclamatum ut supra.

3 But Diadumenus had neither the time nor the age, and by his father’s art he incurred this name." likewise it was acclaimed as above.

4 item imperator dixit. "nuper certe, p. c., meministis, cum ille omnium non solum bipedum sed etiam quadrupedum spurcissimus Antonini nomen praeferret et in turpitudine atque luxurie Nerones, Vitellios, Commodos vinceret, qui gemitus omnium fuerit, cum per populi et honestorum coronas una vox esset hunc inepte Antoninum dici, per hanc pestem tantum violari nomen."

4 likewise the emperor said. "Quite recently, Conscript Fathers, you remember, when that most filthy of all not only bipeds but even quadrupeds bore the name of Antoninus and, in turpitude and luxury, outdid the Nerones, the Vitellii, the Commodi, what a groan there was from all, when through the circles of the people and of the respectable there was one voice: that this fellow was ineptly called Antoninus, that through this pestilence the name was being so greatly violated."

5 et cum diceret, adclamatum est: "di mala prohibeant. haec te imperante non timemus. de his te duce securi sumus.

5 and while he was speaking, there was an acclaim: "May the gods forbid evils. These things, with you ruling, we do not fear. Concerning these, with you as leader, we are secure."

vicisti vitia, vicisti crimina, vicisti dedecora. Antonini nomen ornabis.

you have conquered vices, you have conquered crimes, you have conquered dishonors. You will adorn the name of Antoninus.

6 tibi certe sumimus, bene praesumimus. nos te et a pueritia probavimus et nunc probamus."

6 to you
surely we take confidence, we presume well. we have approved you both from boyhood and now
we approve."

7 item imperator: "neque ego, p. c., idcirco timeo istud venerabile omnibus nomen accipere, quod verear, ne in haec vitia delabatur vita, aut nos nominis pudeat, sed primum displicet alienae familiae nomen adsumere, deinde quod gravari me credo." et cum diceret, adclamatum est ut supra.

7 likewise the emperor: "nor do I, Conscript Fathers, for that reason fear to accept that name venerable to all, because I would fear lest life slip down into these vices, or that we be ashamed of the name; but first it displeases me to assume the name of another family, then because I believe that I would be burdened." and while he was speaking, there were acclamations as above.

[X] Item dixit:

[10] Likewise he said:

2 "si enim Antonini nomen accipio, possum et Traiani, possum et Titi, possum et Vespasiani."

2 "for if I accept the name of Antoninus, I can also [accept] that of Trajan, I can also [accept] that of Titus, I can also [accept] that of Vespasian."

3 et cum diceret, adclamatum est: "quomodo Augustus, sic et Antoninus." et imperator: "video, patres conscripti, quid vos moveat ad hoc nobis nomen addendum.

3 and while he was speaking, it was acclaimed: "just as Augustus, so also Antoninus." and the emperor: "I see, Conscript Fathers, what moves you to add this name to us.

4 Augustus primus primus est huius auctor imperii, et in eius nomen omnes velut quadam adoptione aut iure hereditario succedimus; Antonini ipsi Augusti sunt dicti.

4 Augustus, the first the first is the author of this empire, and into his name we all, as if by a kind of adoption or by hereditary right, succeed; the Antonines themselves are called Augusti.

5 Antonini ipsi Augusti dicti sunt. Antoninus item primus Pius Marcum et item Verum iure adoptionis vocavit, Commodo autem hereditarium fuit, susceptum Diadumeno, adfectatum in Bassiano, ridiculum in Varelio."

5 The Antonini themselves were called Augusti. Antoninus likewise, the first—the Pius—called Marcus, and likewise Verus, by the right of adoption; but in Commodus it was hereditary; assumed in Diadumenus; affected in Bassianus; ridiculous in Varelius."

6 et cum diceret, adclamatum est: "Alexander Auguste, di te servent. di faveant verecundiae tuae, prudentiae tuae, innocentiae tuae, castitati tuae. hinc intellegimus, qualis futurus sis, hinc probamus.

6 and while he was speaking, there was an acclamation : "Alexander Augustus, may the gods preserve you. may the gods favor your modesty, your prudence, your innocence, your chastity. from this we understand, what sort you will be; from this we approve.

7 tu facies, ut senatus bene principes eligat. tu facies optimum esse iudicium senatus. Alexander Auguste, di te servent.

7 you will bring it about that the senate choose emperors well. you will make the judgment of the senate the best. Alexander Augustus, may the gods preserve you.

templa Antoninorum Alexander Augustus dedicet. Caesar noster, Augustus noster, imperator noster, di te servent. vincas, valeas, multis annis imperes."

let Alexander Augustus dedicate the temples of the Antonines. our Caesar, our Augustus, our Emperor, may the gods preserve you. may you conquer, may you be well, may you rule for many years."

[XI] Alexander imperator dixit: "intellego, p. c., me optinuisse, quod volui, et in acceptum refero, plurimas gratias et agens et habens senisurus, ut et hoc nomen, quod in imperium detulimus, tales sit, ut et ab aliis desideretur et bonis vestrae pietatis iudiciis offeratur."

[11] Alexander the emperor said: "I understand, Conscript Fathers, that I have obtained what
I wished, and I set it down as received, giving and having very many thanks,
being about to grow old, so that this name, which we have brought into the imperium, may be such that it
is both desired by others and offered by the good judgments of your piety."

2 post haec adclamatum est: "Magne Alexander, di te servent. si Antonini nomen repudiasti, Magni praenomen suscipe. Magne Alexander, di te servent."

2 after this it was acclaimed: "Great Alexander, may the gods keep you. if you have repudiated the Antonine name, take up the praenomen Magnus. Great Alexander, may the gods keep you."

3 et cum saepius dicerent, Alexander Augustus: "facilius fuit, p. c., ut Antoninorum nomen acciperem, aliquid enim vel adfinitati deferrem vel consortioni nominis imperialis.

3 and when they said it more often, Alexander Augustus: "it would have been easier, conscript fathers, for me to accept the name of the Antonini; for I would be deferring something either to affinity or to the consortium of the imperial name."

4 Magni vero nomen cur accipiam? quid enim iam magnum feci? cum id Alexander post magna gesta, Pompeius vero post magnos triumphos acceperit.

4 But why should I accept the name “Great”? For what great thing have I already done? since Alexander received it after great deeds, but Pompey indeed after great triumphs.

quiescite igitur, venerandi patres, et vos ipsi magnifici unum me de vobis esse censete, quam Magni nomen ingerite."

"Be at rest, then, venerable fathers, and do you yourselves, Magnifici, reckon me to be one of you, rather than thrust upon me the name of ‘Magnus.’"

[XII] Post haec adclamatum est: "Aureli Alexander Auguste, di te servent." et reliqua ex more.

[12] After this there was an acclamation: "Aurelius Alexander Augustus, may the gods preserve you." and the rest according to custom.

2 Dimisso senatu, cum et alia multa eo die essent acta, quasi triumphans domum se recepit.

2 With the senate dismissed, when also many other things had been transacted that day, as if triumphing, he returned home.

3 multo clarior visus est alienis nominibus non receptis quam si recepisset; atque ex eo constantiae ac plenae gravitatis famam obtinuit, si quidem uni iuveni vel adulescenti potius senatus totus persuadere non potuit.

3 much more illustrious did he seem with alien names not received than if he had received them; and from this he obtained the fame of constancy and full gravity, since indeed the whole senate was not able to persuade one youth—or rather an adolescent.

4 sed quamvis senatu rogante non potuerit persuaderi, ut vel Antonini vel Magni nomina susciperet, tamen ob ingentem vigorem animi et mirandam singularemque constantiam contra militum insolentiam Severi nomen a militibus eidem inditum est.

4 but although with the senate urging he could not be persuaded to accept either the name of Antoninus or of Magnus, nevertheless on account of his immense vigor of spirit and admirable and singular constancy against the insolence of the soldiers, the name Severus was by the soldiers upon that same man bestowed.

5 quod illi ingentem in praesentia reverentiam, magnam apud posteros gloriam peperit, cum eo accessisset, ut de animi virtute nomen acceperit, si quidem solus inventus sit, qui tumultuantes legiones exauctoraverit, ut suo loco ostendetur, in milites autem gravissime animadverterit, qui forte incurrerunt aliquid, quod videretur iniustum, ut et ipsum locis suis declarabimus.

5 which brought to him immense reverence in the present, great glory among posterity, since it even went so far that he received a name from strength of spirit, seeing that he alone was found who cashiered the tumultuating legions, as will be shown in its place, and upon soldiers he animadverted most gravely, who by chance incurred something that seemed unjust, as we too will declare in their proper places.

[XIII] Omina imperii haec habuit: primum quod ea die natus est, qua defunctus vita Magnus Alexander dicitur, deinde quod in templo eius mater enixa est, tertio quod ipsius nomen accepit, tum praeterea quod ovium purpurei e coloris eadem die natum, qua ille natus est, palumbinum anicula quaedam matri eius obtulit;

[XIII] He had these omens of rule: first, that he was born on the day on which Alexander the Great is said to have departed from life; then, that his mother brought forth in his temple; third, that he received his very name; then, moreover, that on the same day on which he was born, a certain little old woman offered to his mother a pigeon’s egg, ovium purpurei e coloris;

2 ex quo quidem haruspices dixerunt imperatorem quidem illum, sed non diu futurum et cito ad imperium perventurum. tum praeterea, quod tabula Traiani imperatoris, quae geniali lecto patris imminebat, dum illa in templo pareret, in lectum eius decidit.

2 from which, indeed, the haruspices said that he would be emperor, but not for long, and that he would quickly attain to the imperium. Then moreover, that the panel of the emperor Trajan, which was overhanging his father’s nuptial bed, while she was giving birth in the temple, fell down onto his bed.

3 his accessit quo quod nutrix ei Olympias data est, quo nomine mater Alexandri appellata est.

3 to these there was added quo that a nurse, Olympias, was given to him, by which name the mother of Alexander was called.

4 nutritor Philippus provenit casu unus ex rusticis, quod nomen patri Alexandri Magni fuit.

4 the nurturer Philip came forth by chance, one of the rustics, which name was that of the father of Alexander the Great.

5 fertur die prima natalis toto die apud Arcam Caesaream stella primae magnitudinis visa et sol circa domum patris eius fulgido ambitu coronatus.

5 it is reported that on the first day of his birth, throughout the whole day at Arca Caesarea a star of the first magnitude was seen, and the sun around the house of his father was crowned with a gleaming encirclement.

6 cum eius natalem aruspices commentarent, dixerunt eum summam rerum tenturum, idcirco quod hostiae de ea villa, quae esset Severi imperatoris, adductae essent et quas in illius honorem coloni parassent.

6 when the haruspices were interpreting his birthday, they said that he would attempt the supreme power, for the reason that victims had been brought in from that villa which was of the emperor Severus, and which the coloni had prepared in his honor.

7 nata in domo laurus iuxta persici arborem intra unum annum persici arborem vicit. unde etiam coniectores dixerunt Persas ab eo esse vincendos.

7 born in the house, a laurel next to a Persian (peach) tree, within one year it surpassed the Persian tree. whence even the conjecturers said that the Persians were to be conquered by him.

[XIV] Mater eius pridie quam pareret somniavit se purpureum dracunculum parere.

[14] His mother, the day before she gave birth, dreamed that she was giving birth to a little purple dragon.

2 pater eadem nocte in somnis vidit talis se Romanae Victoriae, quae in senatu, ad caelum vehi.

2 the father on the same night saw in a dream that he was being carried to heaven by the Roman Victory, the one which is in the Senate.

3 ipse cum vatem consuleret de futuris, hos accepisse dicitur versus adhuc parvulus et primum quidem sortibus:

3 he himself, when he consulted a seer about future things, is said to have received these verses while still a very little child, and at first indeed by lots:

4 "te manet imperium caeli terraeque" intellectum est, quod inter divos etiam referetur. "te manet imperium, quod tenet imperium," ex quo intellectum est Romani illum imperii principem futurum; nam ubi est imperium nisi apud Romanos, quod tenet imperium? et haec quidem de Graecis versibus sunt prodita.

4 "the empire of heaven and earth awaits you" it was understood that he would be enrolled even among the gods. "the empire awaits you, which holds the empire," from which it was understood that he would be the leader of the Roman empire; for where is the empire if not among the Romans, that holds the empire? and these indeed have been handed down from Greek verses.

5 ipse autem, cum parentis hortatu animum a filosophia et musicaqua ad alias artes traduceretur, Vergilii sortibus huius modi inlustratus est:

5 he himself, however, when at his parent’s urging his mind was being led away from philosophy and music to other arts, was illustrated by the Sortes of Vergil in this way:

Excudent alii spirantia mollius aera,
credo equidem vivos ducent de marmore vultus,
orabunt causas melius caelique meatus
describent radio et surgentia sidera dicent;
tu regere imperio populos, Romane, memento.
hae tibi erunt artes pacisque imponere morem,
parcere subiectis et debellare superbos.

Others will hammer out breathing bronzes more softly,
I truly believe they will draw forth living faces from marble,
they will plead causes better and the courses of the sky
will delineate with the radius, and will tell the rising stars;
you, Roman, remember to rule peoples by imperium.
these shall be your arts: to impose the custom of peace,
to spare the subjected and to subdue the proud.

6 fuerunt multa alia signa, quibus principem humani generis esse constaret. Nimius ardor oculorum et diutius intuentibus gravis, divinatio mentis frequentissima, rerum memoria singularis quam mnemonico Acholius ferebat adiutam.

6 there were many other signs, by which it was established that he was the prince of the human race. An excessive ardor of the eyes, oppressive to those looking on for a longer time, a most frequent divination of mind, a singular memory of things, which Acholius the mnemonist maintained had been assisted.

7 et cum puer ad imperium pervenisset, fecit cuncta cum matre, ut et illa videretur pariter imperare, mulier sancta sed avara et auri atque argenti cupida.

7 and when, a boy,
he had come to imperial power, he did everything with his mother, so that she too seemed to rule equally— a woman holy but avaricious and desirous of gold and silver.

[XV] Ubi ergo Augustum agere coepit, primum removit omnes iudices a rei p. et a ministeriis atque muneribus, quos inpurus ille ex genere hominum turpissimo provexerat; deinde senatum et equestrem ordinem purgavit.

[15] Therefore when he began to act as Augustus, first he removed all judges from the commonwealth and from the ministries and offices, whom that impure man had advanced from the most shameful class of men; then he purged the Senate and the equestrian order.

2 ipsas deinde tribus et eos, qui militaribus nituntur praerogativis, purgavit et Palatium suum comitatumque omnem abiectis ex aulico ministerio cunctis obscenis et infamibus nec quemquam passus est esse in Palatinis non necessarium hominem.

2 then he purged the tribes themselves and those who rely on military prerogatives, and his Palace and his whole retinue, with all the obscene and infamous cast out from courtly service, and he suffered no one to be among the Palatine offices a man not necessary.

3 iure iurando deinde se constrinxit, ne quem adscriptum, id est vacantivum, haberet, ne annonis rem p. gravaret, dicens malum publicum esse imperatorem, qui ex visceribus provincialium homines non necessarios nec rei p. utiles pasceret.

3 then he bound himself by oath that he would have no adscript, that is, a vacantivus, that he would not burden the commonwealth with rations, saying that an emperor is a public evil who feeds, from the viscera of the provincials, men not necessary nor useful to the commonwealth.

4 fures iudiciales iussit in civitatibus ullis numquam videri et, si essent visi, deportari per rectores provinciarum.

4 judicial thieves he ordered never to be seen in any cities; and, if they were seen, to be deported by the rectors of the provinces.

5 annonam militum diligenter inspexit. tribunos, qui per stellaturas militibus aliquid tulissent, capitali poena adfecit.

5 he diligently inspected the soldiers’ ration‑supply. He subjected to capital punishment the tribunes who had taken anything from the soldiers by way of “stellatures.”

6 negotia et causas prius a scriniorum principibus et doctissimis iuris peritis et sibi fidelibus, quorum primus tunc Ulpianus fuit, tractari ordinarique atque ita referri ad se praecepit.

6 he ordered that business and causes be first handled by the chiefs of the bureaus and the most learned experts of law and by those faithful to himself, the first among whom then was Ulpian, to be dealt with and arranged, and thus to be referred to himself.

[XVI] Leges de iure populi et fisci moderatas et infinitas sanxit neque ullam constitutionem sacravit sine viginti iuris peritis et doctissimis ac sapientibus viris isdemque disertissimis non minus quinquaginta, ut non minus in consilio essent sententiae, quam senatus consultum conficerent,

[16] He sanctioned laws concerning the law of the people and of the fisc, tempered and innumerable, and he consecrated no constitution without twenty jurists and not fewer than fifty men most learned and wise—and those same men most eloquent—so that there might be no fewer opinions in council than those by which a senatus-consultum is carried,

2 et id quidem ita ut iretur per sententias singulorum ac scriberetur, quid quisque dixisset, dato tamen spatio ad disquirendum cogitandumque, priusquam dicerent, ne incogitati dicere cogerentur de rebus ingentibus.

2 and indeed in such a way that they proceeded through the opinions of each individual and it was written down what each had said, with time, however, given for disquisition and cogitation, before they spoke, lest, unconsidered, they be compelled to speak about immense matters.

3 fuit praeterea illi consuetudo, ut, si de iure aut de negotiis tractaret, solos doctos et disertos adhiberet, si vero de re militari, militares veteres et senes bene meritos et locorum peritos ac bellorum et castrorum et omnes litteratos et maxime eos, qui historiam norant, requirens, quid in talibus causis, quales in disceptatione versabantur, veteres imperatores vel Romani vel exterarum gentium fecissent.

3 it was, moreover, his custom, that, if he were treating of law or of business, he would admit only the learned and the eloquent; but if of military matter, veteran military men and elders well-deserving and those skilled in locales and of wars and of encampments, and all lettered men and especially those who knew history, inquiring what, in such cases as were being debated, the old commanders, whether Roman or of foreign nations, had done.

[XVII] Referebat Encolpius, quo ille familiarissimo usus est, illum, si umquam furem iudicem vidisset, paratum habuisse digitum, ut illi oculum erueret: tantum odium eum tenebat eorum, de quibus apud se probatum, quod fures fuissent.

[17] Encolpius, whom he employed as his most familiar intimate, used to report that, if ever he had seen a thief as judge, he kept a finger ready to gouge out that man’s eye: so great a hatred possessed him against those about whom it had been proven in his presence that they had been thieves.

2 addit Septiminus, qui vitam eius non mediocriter exsequutus est, tanti sthomachi fuisse Alexandrum in eos iudices, qui furtorum fama laborassent, etiamsi damnati non essent, ut, si eos casu aliquo videret, commotione animi stomachi choleram evomeret toto vultu ininardescente, ita ut nihil loqui posset.

2 Septiminus adds, who has followed out his life not moderately, that Alexander was of such a stomach (anger) toward those judges who had labored under the fame of thefts, even if they had not been condemned, that, if he should see them by some chance, by a commotion of mind he would vomit forth choler, his whole face kindling, so that he could speak nothing.

3 nam cum quidam Septimius Arabianus, famosus crimine furtorum et sub Heliogabalo iam liberatus, inter senatores principem salutatum venisset, exclamavit:

3 for when a certain Septimius Arabianus, notorious for the charge of thefts and already acquitted under Heliogabalus, had come among the senators to salute the princeps, he exclaimed:

4 "o Marna, o Iuppiter, o di inmortales, Arabianus non solum vivit, verum etiam in senatum venit, fortassis etiam de me sperat: tam fatuum, tam stultum esse me iudicat". Salutabatur autem nomine, hoc est "have, Alexander".

4 "O Marna, O Jupiter, O immortal gods, Arabianus not only lives, but even comes into the senate, perhaps he even hopes something from me: he judges me to be so fatuous, so stupid." He was greeted, moreover, by name, that is, "hail, Alexander."

[XVIII] Si quis caput flexisset aut blandius aliquid dixisset, ut adulator vel abiciebatur, si loci eius qualitas pateretur, vel ridebatur ingenti cachinno, si eius dignitas graviori subiacere non posset iniuriae.

[18] If anyone had bowed his head or had said something rather more flattering, as an adulator he was either cast off, if the quality of his place allowed, or he was laughed at with an immense cachinnation, if his dignity could not be subjected to a graver injury.

2 salutatus consessum obtulit omnibus senatoribus atque adeo nisi honestos et bonae famae homines ad salutationem non admisit iussitque (quem ad modum in Eleusinis sacris dicitur, ut nemo ingrediatur, nisi qui se innocentem novit) per praeconem edici, ut nemo salutaret principem, qui se furem esse nosset, ne aliquando detectus capitali supplicio subderetur.

2 after being saluted, he offered a session to all the senators, and indeed he did not admit to the salutation any except honest men and of good repute; and he ordered (just as in the Eleusinian sacred rites it is said, that no one should enter unless he knows himself innocent) to be proclaimed by a herald as an edict, that no one should salute the princeps who knew himself to be a thief, lest at some time, once detected, he be subjected to capital punishment.

3 idem adorari se vetuit, cum iam coepisset Heliogabalus adorari regum more Persarum.

3 the same forbade himself to be adored, since Heliogabalus had already begun to be adored in the manner of the kings of the Persians.

4 erat praeterea haec illius sententia solos fures de paupertate conqueri, dum volunt scelera vitae suae tegere.

4 there was, moreover, this sentiment of his: that only thieves complain about poverty, while they wish to cover the crimes of their life.

5 idem addebat sententiam de furibus notam et Graece quidem, quae Latine hoc significat: "qui multa rapuerit, pauca suffragatoribus dederit, salvus erit", quae Graece talis est:

5 the same man would add a well-known sententia about thieves, and indeed in Greek, which in Latin signifies this: "he who has snatched many things, and has given a few to his suffragators, will be safe," which in Greek is as follows:

Ὁ πολλὰ κλέψας ὀλίγα δοὺς ἐκφεύξενται.

He who has stolen many things, having given few, will escape.

[XIX] Praefectum praetorii sibi ex senatus auctoritate constituit. praef. urbi a senatu accepit.

[19] He appointed a Praetorian Prefect for himself by the authority of the senate. He received the Prefecture of the City from the senate.

alterum praef. praet. fecit.

He made another praetorian prefect.

qui ne fieret, etiam fugerat, dicens invitos, non ambientes in re p. conlocandos.

who, so that it might not be done, had even fled, saying that the unwilling, not the canvassers, ought to be placed in the republic.

2 senatorem numquam sine omnium senatorum, qui aderant, consilio fecit, ita ut per sententias omnium crearetur, testimonia dicerent summi viri ac, si fefellissent vel testes vel hi, qui sententias dicebant, postea in ultimum reicerentur locum civium in condemnatione adhibita, quasi falsi rei adprobati sine ullius indulgentiae proposito.

2 he never made a senator without the counsel of all the senators who were present, such that he was appointed by the votes of all; the most eminent men would give testimony, and, if either the witnesses or those who were giving the opinions had deceived, thereafter they were cast back into the lowest rank of citizens in condemnation applied, as approved as guilty of falsity, with no proffering of anyone’s indulgence.

3 idem senatores non nisi ad summorum in Palatio virorum suffragium fecit, dicens magnum virum esse oportere, qui faceret senatorem.

3 the same man did not make senators except with the suffrage of the highest men in the Palace, saying that a great man ought to be the one who made a senator.

4 idem libertinos numquam in equestrem locum redegit adserens seminarium senatorum equestrem locum esse.

4 the same never enrolled freedmen into the equestrian order, asserting that the equestrian order is the seminary of senators.

[XX] Moderationis tantae fuit, ut nemo umquam ab eius latere summoveretur, ut omnibus se blandum adfabilemque praeberet, ut amicos non solum primi aut secundi loci sed etiam inferiores aegrotantes viseret, ut sibi ab omnibus libere quod sentiebant, dici cuperet et, cum dictum esset, audiret et, cum audisset, ita ut res poscebat, emendaret atque corrigeret,

[20] He was of such moderation that no one was ever removed from his side, that he presented himself to all as gracious and affable, that he visited friends not only of the first or second place but even those of lower place when they were sick, that he desired that from all what they felt should be said to him freely and, when it had been said, he would listen and, when he had listened, he would amend and correct it as the matter required,

2 sin minus bene factum esset aliquid, etiam ipse convinceret, idque sine fastu et sine amaritudine pectoris, consessum omnibus semper offerret praeter eos, quos furtorum densior fama perstrinxerat, de absentibus semper requireret.

2 but if something had been done less well, he himself would even demonstrate it, and that without haughtiness and without bitterness of heart, he would always offer a session to all except those whom a thicker rumor of thefts had branded, about the absent he would always inquire.

3 denique cum ei ob nimiam civilitatem et Mammaea mater et uxor Memmia, Sulpicii consularis viri filia, Catuli neptis, saepe dicerent: "molliorem tibi potestatem et contemptibiliorem imperii fecisti", ille respondit: "sed securiorem atque diuturniorem."

3 finally, when on account of
excessive civility both his mother Mammaea and his wife Memmia, the daughter of Sulpicius, a consular
man, the granddaughter of Catulus, would often say to him: "you have made your power softer and
the empire more contemptible," he replied: "but safer
and more long-lasting."

4 dies denique numquam transiit, quando non aliquid mansuetum, civile, pium fecit, sed ita ut aerarium non everteret.

4 finally, a day never passed when he did not do something gentle, civil, pious, yet in such a way as not to overturn the treasury.

[XXI] Condemnationes et raras esse iussit et, quae factae fuerant, non indulsit. vectigalia civitatibus ad proprias fabricas deputavit.

[21] He ordered condemnations to be rare, and he did not grant indulgence to those that had been passed. taxes he assigned to the cities for their own public works.

2 fenus publicum trientarium exercuit, ita ut pauperibus plerisque sine usuris pecunias dederit ad agros emendos, reddendas de fructibus.

2 he operated a public loan at the one‑third rate, in such a way that to very many of the poor
he gave money without usury to buy fields, to be repaid out of the
fruits.

3 Praef. praetorii suis senatoriam addidit dignitatem, ut viri clarissimi et essent et dicerentur;

3 To his praetorian prefects he added senatorial dignity, so that they both might be and be called most illustrious men;

4 quod antea vel raro fuerat vel omnino diu non fuerat, eo usque ut, si quis imperatorum successorem praef. praet. dare vellet, laticlaviam eidem per libertum summitteret, ut in multorum vita Marius Maximus dixit.

4 which before had either been rare or had not been at all for a long time, to the point that, if any of the emperors wished to give a successor to the praetorian prefect, he would send down to that same man the laticlave through a freedman, as Marius Maximus said in the lives of many.

5 Alexander autem idcirco senatores esse voluit praef. praet., ne quis non senator de Romano senatore iudicaret.

5 However, Alexander for this reason wanted the praetorian prefects to be senators, lest anyone not a senator judge a Roman senator.

6 milites suos sic ubique scivit, ut in cubiculo haberet breves et numerum et tempora militantum semperque, cum solus esset, et rationes eorum et numerum et dignitates et stipendia recenseret, ut esset ad omnia instructissimus.

6 he knew his soldiers everywhere so well that he kept in his cubiculum briefs and the number and the terms of those serving in the military, and he would always, when he was alone, review their accounts and their number and their dignities and stipends, so that he might be most fully instructed for everything.

7 denique cum inter militares aliquid ageretur, multorum dicebat et nomina.

7 finally, when among the military something was being transacted, he would even speak the names of many.

8 de provehendis etiam sibi adnotabat et perlegebat cuncta pittacia et sic faciebat diebus etiam pariter adnotatis et quis quo esset insinuante promotus.

8 on promotions he also annotated for himself and read through all the slips, and thus he did this with the days likewise noted, and with an entry indicating who had been promoted to what.

9 Commeatum populi Romani sic adiuvit, ut, cum frumenta Heliogabalus evertisset, hic empta de propria pecunia loco suo reponeret.

9 He thus aided the provisioning of the Roman people,
that, when Heliogabalus had destroyed the grain supplies, he replaced them—purchased with his own money—in their proper place.

[XXII] Negotiatoribus, ut Romam volentes concurrerent, maximam inmunitatem dedit.

[22] To merchants, so that, being willing, they might converge upon Rome, he granted a very great immunity.

2 oleum, quod Severus populo dederat quodque Heliogabalus inminuerat turpissimis hominibus praefecturam annonae tribuendo, integrum restituit.

2 he restored intact the oil which Severus had given to the people and which Heliogabalus had diminished by assigning the Prefecture of the Annona to the most shameful men.

3 ius confarre rationis, quod inpurus ille sustulerat, hic omnibus reddidit.

3 the right of confarreate marriage, which that impure man had taken away, this man restored to all.

4 mechanica opera Romae plurima instituit. Iudaeis privilegia reservavit. Christianos esse passus est.

4 mechanical works at Rome he instituted very many. He reserved privileges for the Jews. He permitted Christians to be.

5 pontificibus tantum detulit et quindecim viris atque auguribus, ut quasdam causas sacrorum a se finitas iterari et aliter discingi pateretur.

5 he deferred only to the pontiffs and to the Fifteen Men and to the augurs, so that certain cases of sacred rites, decided by himself, might be repeated and adjudged otherwise.

6 praesides provinciarum, quos vere, non factionibus laudari comperit, et itineribus secum semper in vehiculo habuit et muneribus adiuvit, dicens et fures a re publica pellendos ac pauperandos et integros esse retinendos atque ditandos.

6 the governors of the provinces, whom he discovered to be praised truly, not by factions, and on journeys he always kept with him in his vehicle and aided with gifts, saying that thieves are to be driven out from the republic and impoverished, and the upright to be retained and enriched.

7 cum vilitatem populus Romanus ab eo peteret, interrogavit per curionem, quam speciem caram putarent. illi continuo exclamaverunt carnem bubulam atque porcinam.

7 when the Roman people were asking cheapness from him, he asked through the curion what species they thought dear. they immediately exclaimed beef and pork.

8 tunc ille non quidem vilitatem proposuit, sed iussit, ne quis suminatam occideret, ne quis lactantem, ne quis vaccam, ne quis damalionem, tantumque intra biennium vel prope annum porcinae carnis fuit et bubulae, ut, cum fuisset octominutalis libra, ad duos unum quemque utriusque carnis libra redigeretur.

8 then he did not, indeed, propose cheapness, but ordered that no one should slaughter a brood-sow, nor a suckling, nor a cow, nor a heifer; and there was so much pork and beef within two years, or almost within a year, that, whereas a pound had been at eight minutae, each pound of either kind of meat was reduced to two.

[XXIII] Causas militum contra tribunos sic audivit, ut, si aliquem repperisset tribunorum in crimine, pro facti qualitate sine indulgentiae proposito puniret.

[23] He heard the causes of the soldiers against the tribunes in such a way that, if he had found any of the tribunes in a crime, he would punish, in proportion to the quality of the deed, without any intention of indulgence.

2 de omnibus hominibus per fideles homines suos semper quaesivit et per eos, quos nemo nosset hoc ageret, cum diceret omnes praeda corrumpi posse.

2 concerning all men he always inquired through his faithful men and through those whom no one knew he would do this, since he said that all could be corrupted by booty.

3 servos suos semper cum servili veste habuit, libertos cum ingenuorum.

3 he always kept his slaves in servile dress, his freedmen in that of the freeborn.

4 eunuchos de ministerio suo abiecit et uxori ut servos servire iussit.

4 he cast out the eunuchs from his service and ordered them to serve his wife as slaves.

5 et cum Heliogabalus mancipium eunuchorum fuisset, ad certum numerum eos redegit nec quicquam in Palatio curare fecit nisi balneas feminarum.

5 and since Heliogabalus had been a slave to the eunuchs, he reduced them to a fixed number and made them attend to nothing in the Palace except the women’s baths.

6 cum plerosque eunuchos rationibus et procurationibus praeposuisset Heliogabalus, hic illis et veteres sustulit dignitates.

6 when Heliogabalus had put most of the eunuchs in charge of the accounts and procurations, this man removed from them even their former dignities.

7 idem tertium genus hominum eunuchos esse dicebat nec videndum nec in usu habendum a viris, sed vix a feminis nobilibus.

7 the same man used to say that eunuchs were a third genus of human beings, neither to be seen nor to be held in use by men, but scarcely by noble women.

8 qui de eo fumos vendiderat et a quodam militari centum aureos acceperat, in crucem tolli iussit per eam viam, qua esset servis suis ad suburbana imperatoria i nter frequentissimum.

8 the man who had peddled “smoke” about him and had received a hundred aurei from a certain soldier, he ordered to be lifted onto a cross along that road which was among the most frequented by his slaves on the way to the imperial suburban estates.

[XXIV] Provincias legatorias praesidales plurimas fecit, proconsulares ex senatus voluntate ordinavit.

[24] He made very many provinces legatorial and praesidial, and he ordained the proconsular (ones) by the will of the senate.

2 Balnea mixta Romae exhiberi prohibuit, quod quidem iam ante prohibitum Heliogabalus fieri permiserat.

2 He forbade mixed baths to be exhibited in Rome, which indeed, though previously prohibited, Heliogabalus had permitted to be done.

3 lenonum vectigal et meretricum et exsoletorum in sacrum aerarium inferri vetuit, sed sumptibus publicis ad instaurationem theatri, circi, amphitheatri, stadii deputavit.

3 He forbade the tax of pimps and of prostitutes and of male prostitutes to be brought into the sacred treasury, but assigned it, as public expenditure, to the instauration of the theatre, the circus, the amphitheatre, and the stadium.

4 habuit in animo, ut exsoletos vetaret, quod postea Filippus fecit, sed veritus est, ne prohibens publicum dedecus in privatas cupiditates converteret, cum homines inlicita magis prohibita poscant furore iactati.

4 he had in mind to forbid male prostitutes, which Philip later did, but he feared that, by prohibiting a public disgrace, he would convert it into private cupidities, since men, tossed by frenzy, demand illicit things the more when they are prohibited.

5 bracariorum, linteonum, vitrariorum, pellionum, claustrariorum, argentariorum, aurificum et ceterarum artium vectigal pulcherrimum instituit ex eoque iussit thermas et quas ipse fundaverat et superiores populi usibus exhiberi; silvas etiam thermis publicis deputavit.

5 of the bracarii (brewers/maltsters), linen-workers, glass-workers, furriers, locksmiths, money-changers, goldsmiths, and of the other arts, he instituted a most splendid impost, and from it he ordered the baths—both those which he himself had founded and the earlier ones—to be furnished for the people’s use; he also assigned forests to the public baths.

6 addidit et oleum luminibus thermarum, cum antea et ad nonam paterent et ante solis occasum clauderentur.

6 he also added oil for the lamps of the baths, since previously they were open until the 9th hour and were closed before the sun’s setting.

[XXV] Huius imperium incruentum quidam litteris tradiderunt, quod contra est.

[25] Some have transmitted in their writings that his imperial rule was bloodless; the contrary is the case.

2 nam et Severus est appellatus a militibus ob austeritatem et in animadversibus asperior in quibusdam fuit.

2 for he was also called Severus by the soldiers on account of his austerity, and in punishments he was harsher in certain respects.

3 Opera veterum principum instauravit, ipse nova multa constituit, in his thermas nominis sui iuxta eas, quae Neronianae fuerunt, aqua inducta, quae Alexandriana nunc dicitur.

3 He restored the works of the ancient princes; he himself constituted many new ones, among these the baths of his own name next to those which were Neronian, with water brought in, which is now called the Alexandrian.

4 nemus thermis suis de privatis aedibus suis, quas emerat, dirutis aedificiis fecit.

4 he made a grove for his baths from his own private houses, which he had bought, the edifices having been razed.

5 Oceani solium primus imperator appellavit, cum Traianus id non fecisset, sed diebus solia deputasset.

5 He, as the first emperor, called it the basin of Oceanus, whereas Trajan had not done this, but had assigned the basins to the days.

6 Antonini Caracalli thermas additis porticibus per fecit et ornavit.

6 He completed and adorned the Baths of Antoninus Caracalla, with porticoes added.

7 Alexandrinum opus marmoris de duobus marmoribus, hoc est porfyretico et Lacedaemonio, primus instituit in Palatio plateis exornatis hoc genere marmorandi.

7 He first instituted the Alexandrian work of marble from two marbles, that is, porphyritic and Lacedaemonian, in the Palace, the pavements adorned with this kind of marbling.

8 statuas colossas in urbe multas locavit artificibus undique conquisitis.

8 he placed many colossal statues in the city, with artificers gathered from everywhere.

9 Alexandri habitu nummos plurimos figuravit, et quidem electros aliquantos, sed plurimos tamen aureos.

9 In the guise of Alexander he fashioned very many coins, indeed some electrum ones, but nevertheless far more gold ones.

10 a mulieribus famosis matrem et uxorem suam salutari vetuit.

10 he forbade his mother and his wife to be greeted by infamous women.

11 contiones in urbe multas habuit more veterum tribunorum et consulum.

11 he held many public assemblies in the city in the manner of the ancient tribunes and consuls.

[XXVI] Congiarium populo ter dedit, donativum {militibus} ter, carnem populo addidit.

[26] He gave a congiary to the people three times, a donative {to the soldiers} three times, he added meat to the people.

2 usuras feneratorum contraxit ad trientes pensiones, etiam pauperibus consulens.

2 he contracted the interest of the moneylenders to one‑third instalments, also taking thought for the poor.

3 senatores, si fenerarentur, usuras accipere primo vetuit, nisi aliquid muneris causa acciperent; postea tamen iussit, ut semisses acciperent, donum munus tamen sustulit.

3 senators, if they engaged in moneylending, he at first forbade them to receive interest, unless they received something by way of a gift; later, however, he ordered that they should receive half-rates, yet he abolished the donum, the gift.

4 statuas summorum virorum in foro Traiani conlocavit undique translatas.

4 he placed the statues of the greatest men in Trajan’s Forum, transferred from everywhere.

5 Paulum et Ulpianum in magno honore habuit, quos praefectos ab Heliogabalo alii dicunt factos, alii ab ipso –

5 He held Paulus and Ulpian in great honor, whom some say were made prefects by Heliogabalus, others by himself –

6 nam et consiliarius Alexandri et magister scrinii Ulpianus fuisse perhibetur – qui tamen ambo assessores Papiniani fuisse dicuntur.

6 for Ulpian is reported to have been both counselor of Alexander and master of the scrinium – who nevertheless both of Papinian are said to have been assessors.

7 basilicam Alexandrinam instituerat inter campum Martium et saepta Agrippiana in lato pedum centum in longo pedum mille, ita ut tota columnis penderet. quam efficere non potuit morte praeventus.

7 he had instituted a basilica of Alexander between the Campus Martius and the Saepta Agrippiana, one hundred feet in breadth and one thousand feet in length, such that the whole would be suspended on columns. This he could not effect, forestalled by death.

8 Isium et Serapium decenter ornavit additis signis et Deliacis et omnimodis mysticis.

8 He adorned the Iseum and the Serapeum becomingly, adding statues, Delian and of every sort of mystic kind.

9 in matrem Mammaeam unice pius fuit, ita ut Romae in Palatio faceret diaetas nominis Mammaeae, quas inperitum vulgus hodie "ad Mammam" vocat, et in Baiano palatium cum stagno, quod Mammaeae nomine hodieque censetur.

9 toward his mother Mamaea he was uniquely pious, so that in Rome in the Palatine Palace he made apartments bearing the name of Mamaea, which the unlearned common crowd today call "ad Mammam," and at Baiae a palace with a pool, which even today is reckoned by the name of Mamaea.

10 fecit et alia in Baiano opera magnifica in honorem adfinium suorum et stagna stupenda admisso mari.

10 he also made other magnificent works at Baiae in honor of his in-laws and stupendous pools with the sea admitted.

11 pontes, quos Traianus fecerat, instauravit paene in omnibus locis, aliquos etiam novos fecit, sed instauratis nomen Traiani reservavit.

11 the bridges which Trajan had made, he restored in almost all places, he also made some new ones, but for the restored ones he reserved Trajan’s name.

[XXVII] In animo habuit omnibus officiis genus vestium proprium dare et omnibus dignitatibus, ut a vestitu dinoscerentur, et omnibus servis, ut in populo possent agnosci, ne quis seditiosus esset, simul ne servi ingenuis miscerentur.

[27] He had in mind to give to all offices a proper kind of vesture and to all dignities, so that they might be distinguished by their dress, and to all slaves, so that in the populace they could be recognized, lest anyone be seditious, and at the same time lest slaves be mingled with the freeborn.

2 sed hoc Ulpiano Pauloque displicuit dicentibus plurimum rixarum fore, si quidem faciles essent homines ad iniurias.

2 but this displeased Ulpian and Paulus saying that there would be very many quarrels, if indeed men are readily given to inflicting injuries.

3 tum satis esse constituit, ut equites Romani a senatoribus clavi qualitate discernerentur.

3 then he determined that it was sufficient that Roman equites be distinguished from senators by the quality of the stripe.

4 paenulis intra urbem frigoris causa ut senes uterentur, permisit, cum id vestimenti genus semper itinerarium aut pluviale fuisset. matronas tamen intra urbem paenulis uti vetuit, itinere permisit.

4 he permitted that elders might use paenulae within the city for the sake of cold, although that kind of garment had always been traveling or pluvial. he nevertheless forbade matrons to use paenulae within the city; he permitted it on a journey.

5 Facundiae Graecae magis quam Latinae nec versu invenustus et ad musicam pronus, matheseos peritus, et ita quidem ut ex eius iussu mathematici publice proposuerint Romae ac sint professi, ut docerent.

5 Of Greek eloquence rather than Latin,
and not ungraceful in verse and inclined to music, skilled in mathematics,
and indeed to such a degree that, by his order, mathematicians publicly posted at Rome and professed themselves, to teach.

6 haruspicinae quoque peritissimus fuit, orneoscopos magnus, ut et Vascones Hispanorum et Pannoniorum augures vicerit.

6 He was also most skilled in haruspicy, a great ornithoscopist, to the point that he defeated both the Vascones among the Spaniards and the augurs of the Pannonians.

7 geometriam fecit. pinxit mire, cantavit nobiliter, sed numquam alio conscio nisi pueris suis testibus.

7 He did geometry. He painted wondrously, he sang nobly, but never with any other privy, except his own boys as witnesses.

8 vitas principum bonorum versibus scripsit.

8 he wrote the lives of good princes in verses.

9 lyra, tibia, organo cecinit, tuba etiam, quod quidem imperator numquam ostendit. palaestes primus fuit.

9 lyre,
pipe, organ he performed, even trumpet, which indeed an emperor never
displayed. he was a first-rate palaestes (wrestler).

10 in armis magnus, adeo ut multa bella et gloriose gesserit.

10 in arms great, to such an extent that he waged many wars and did so gloriously.

[XXVIII] Consulatum ter iniit tantum ordinarium ac primo nundinio sibi alios semper suffecit.

[28] He entered upon the consulship three times, only as ordinary, and after the first nundinium he always installed others as suffects for himself.

2 severissimus iudex contra fures appellans eosdem cottidianorum scelerum reos et damnans acerrime ac solos hostes inimicosque rei p. vocans.

2 a most severe judge against
thieves, declaring them guilty of daily crimes and condemning them most fiercely, and calling them the sole enemies and adversaries of the Republic.

3 eum notarium, qui falsum causae brevem in consilio imperatorio rettulisset, incisis digitorum nervis, ita ut numquam posset scribere, deportavit.

3 he deported the notary, who had submitted a false brief of the case in the imperial council, with the sinews of his fingers cut, such that he could never write again.

4 cum quidam ex honoratis vitae sordidae et aliquando furtorum reus per ambitionem nimiam ad militiam adspirasset, idcirco quod per reges amicos ambierat, admissus statim in furto praesentibus patronis detectus est iussusque a regibus audiri damnatus est re probata.

4 when a certain man from among the honorati,
of a sordid life and at one time defendant for thefts, through excessive ambition had aspired to
military service, for the reason that he had canvassed through friendly kings, admitted,
immediately in a theft—with his patrons present—he was detected, and, ordered by the kings
to be heard, he was condemned, the case having been proved.

5 et cum quaereretur a regibus, quid apud eos paterentur fures, illi responderunt: "crucem". ad eorum responsum in crucem sublatus est. ita et patronis auctoribus damnatus ambitor est et Alexandri, quam praecipue tuebatur, servata clementia est.

5 and when it was asked of the kings what thieves suffered among them, they answered: "the cross." At their reply he was lifted onto the cross. Thus with the patrons as authors the ambitious canvasser was condemned, and the clemency of Alexander, which he especially upheld, was preserved.

6 Statuas colossas vel pedestres nudas vel equestres divis imperatoribus in foro divi Nervae, quod Transitorium dicitur, locavit omnibus cum titulis et columnis aereis, quae gestorum ordinem continerent, exemplo Augusti, qui summorum virorum statuas in foro suo e marmore collocavit additis gestis.

6 He placed colossal statues, either on foot nude or equestrian, of the deified emperors in the Forum of the deified Nerva, which is called the Transitorium, together with all inscriptions and bronze columns which contained the sequence of the deeds, after the example of Augustus, who in his own forum placed statues of the highest men out of marble with the deeds added.

7 volebat videri originem de Romanorum gente trahere, quia eum pudebat Syrum dici, maxime quod quodam tempore frustra, ut solent Antiochenses, Aegyptii, Alexandrini, lacessiverant conviciolis, et Syrum archisynagogum eum vocantes et archiereum.

7 he wanted to seem to draw his origin from the race of the Romans, because it shamed him to be called a Syrian, especially because at a certain time, in vain, as the Antiochenes, Egyptians, Alexandrians are wont, they had provoked with little taunts, calling him a Syrian archisynagogue and archiereus.

[XXIX] Antequam de bellis eius et expeditionibus et victoriis loquar, de vita cottidiana et domestica pauca disseram.

[29] Before I speak about his wars and expeditions and victories, I will discuss a few things about his quotidian and domestic life.

2 usus vivendi eidem hic fuit: primum ut, si facultas esset, id est si non cum uxore cubuisset, matutinis horis in larario suo, in quo et divos principes sed optimos electos et animas sanctiores, in quis Apollonium et, quantum scriptor suorum temporum dicit, Christum, Abraham et Orfeum et huiusmodi ceteros habebat ac maiorum effigies, rem divinam faciebat.

2 his manner of living was this: first, that, if there were the opportunity, that is, if he had not lain with his wife, in the morning hours in his lararium, in which he had both deified emperors—but the best, selected—and holier souls, among whom Apollonius and, as the writer of his own times says, Christ, Abraham and Orpheus, and the rest of that sort, and the effigies of his ancestors, he performed a divine rite.

3 si id non poterat, pro loci qualitate vel vectabatur vel piscabatur vel deambulabat vel venabatur.

3 if he could not do that, according to the quality of the place he either rode, or fished, or strolled, or hunted.

4 dehinc si hora permitteret, actibus publicis post . . . non multam operam dabat, idcirco quod et res bellicae et res civiles, ut superius dictum est, per amicos tractabantur, sed sanctos et fidelis et numquam venales, et tractatae firmabantur, nisi quid novi s etiam ipsi placeret.

4 thereafter, if the hour permitted, to public business after . . . he gave not much effort, for this reason that both military affairs and civil affairs, as was said above, were handled through friends—holy and faithful and never venal—and the matters handled were confirmed, unless anything news also would please himself.

5 sane si necessitas cogeret, ante lucem actibus operam dabat et in longam horam producebat neque unquam taediavit aut morosus aut iratus resedit, fronte semper pari et laetus ad omnia.

5 indeed, if necessity compelled, before daybreak he gave attention to affairs and extended it into a long hour, nor did he ever grow weary or sit down peevish or angry, his countenance always the same and cheerful for everything.

6 erat enim ingentis prudentiae et cui nemo posset inponere et quem si aliquis urbane temptare voluit, intellectus tulit poenas.

6 for he was
of immense prudence, and one upon whom no one could impose; and if anyone
wished to test him urbanely, once detected he paid the penalties.

[XXX] Post actus publicos seu bellicos seu civiles lectioni Graecae operam maiorem dabat de re p(ublica) libros Platonis legens.

[30] After public activities, whether military or civil, he devoted greater effort to Greek reading, reading Plato’s books On the Republic.

2 Latina cum legeret, non alia magis legebat quam de officiis Ciceronis et de re publica, nonnumquam et orationes et poetas, in quis Serenum Sammonicum, quem ipse noverat et dilexerat, et Horatium.

2 When he read Latin, he read nothing more than Cicero’s On Duties and On the Republic, and sometimes also orations and poets, among whom Serenus Sammonicus, whom he himself had known and loved, and Horace.

3 legit et vitam Alexandri, quem praecipue imitatus est, etsi in eo condemnabat ebrietatem et crudelitatem in amicos, quamvis utrumque defendatur a bonis scriptoribus, quibus saepius ille credebat.

3 he also read the Life of Alexander, whom he chiefly imitated, although in him he condemned ebriety and cruelty toward friends, although both are defended by good writers, to whom he more often gave credence.

4 post lectionem operam palaestrae aut sfaeristerio aut cursui aut luctaminibus mollioribus dabat atque inde unctus lavabatur, ita ut caldaria vel numquam vel raro, piscina semper uteretur in eaque una hora prope maneret, biberet etiam frigidam Claudiam ieiunus ad unum prope sextarium.

4 after reading he gave attention to the palaestra or the sphaeristerium or running or gentler bouts, and then, anointed, he bathed, in such a way that he used the caldaria either never or rarely, but the piscina always, and in it he would remain for nearly one hour; fasting, he would also drink cold Claudia up to almost one sextarius.

5 egressus balneas multum lactis et panis sumebat, ova, deinde mulsum atque his refectus aliquando prandium inibat, aliquando cibum usque ad cenam differebat, prandit tamen saepius.

5 upon leaving the baths he would take much milk and bread, eggs, then honey-wine and, refreshed by these, sometimes he would begin lunch, sometimes he would defer food all the way until dinner, yet he lunched more often.

6 ususque est Hadriani tetrafarmaco frequenter, de quo in libris suis Marius Maximus loquitur, cum Hadriani disserit vitam.

6 and also he made frequent use of Hadrian’s tetrapharmacon, about which in his books Marius Maximus speaks, when he discusses Hadrian’s life.

[XXXI] Postmeridianas horas subscriptioni et lectioni epistularum semper dedit, ita ut ab epistolis, a libellis et a memoria semper adsisterent, nonnumquam etiam si stare per valetudinem non possent, sederent relegentibus cuncta librariis et his, qui scrinium gerebant, ita ut Alexander sua manu adderet, si quid esset addendum, sed ex eius sententia, quid dis sertior habebatur.

[31] He always devoted the afternoon hours to subscribing and to the reading of letters, such that those from letters, from libelli, and from memoria were always in attendance; sometimes, even if they could not stand by reason of health, they would sit, while the clerks reread everything, and those who bore the document-case, so that Alexander would add with his own hand, if there were anything to be added, but according to the judgment of him who was held to bedissertior.

2 post epistolas omnes amicos simul admisit, cum omnibus pariter est locutus neque numquam solum quemquam nisi praefectum suum vidit, et quidem Ulpianum, ex assessore s semper suo, causa iustitiae singularis.

2 after the epistles he admitted all his friends at the same time, he spoke with all equally and never saw anyone alone except his prefect, and indeed Ulpian, ever in the role of his assessor s always, for the cause of singular justice.

3 cum autem alterum adhibuit, et Ulpianum rogari iussit.

3 when, however, he admitted another, he also ordered that Ulpian be asked.

4 Vergilium autem Platonem poetarum vocabat eiusque imaginem cum Ciceronis simulacro in secundo larario habuit, ubi et Achillis et magnorum virorum.

4 He used to call Vergil the Plato of poets, and his image he had together with Cicero’s simulacrum in the second lararium, where also were those of Achilles and of great men.

5 Alexandrum vero Magnum inter optimos et divos in larario maiore consecravit.

5 But Alexander the Great he consecrated among the best and the deified in the greater lararium.

[XXXII] Iniuriam nulli umquam amicorum comitumve fecit nec magistris quidem aut principibus officiorum.

[32] He never inflicted injury on any of his friends or companions, nor even on the masters or the principals of the offices.

2 praefectis autem semper detulit adserens eum, qui mereatur iniuriam pati ab imperatore, damnandum esse, non dimittendum.

2 to the prefects,
however, he always deferred, asserting that he who merits to suffer an injury from
the emperor ought to be condemned, not dismissed.

3 si umquam alicui praesentium successorem dedit, semper illud addidit: "gratias tibi agit res p."; eumque muneratus est, ita ut privatus pro loco suo posset honeste vivere, his quidem muneribus: agris, bubus, equis, frumento, ferro, inpendiis ad faciendam domum, marmoribus ad ornandam et operis, quas ratio fabricae requirebat.

3 if ever he gave to any of those present a successor, he always added this: "the Republic gives you thanks"; and he rewarded him, in such a way that, as a private citizen, he could live honorably in accordance with his station, with these gifts: fields, oxen, horses, grain, iron, expenses for making a house, marbles for adornment and for the works which the plan of construction required.

4 aurum et argentum raro cuiquam nisi militi divisit, nefas esse dicens, ut dispensator publicus in delectationes suas et suorum converteret id, quod provinciales dedissent.

4 he rarely distributed gold and silver to anyone except to a soldier, saying it was a sacrilege that a public steward should convert to his own delectations and those of his own what the provincials had given.

5 aurum negotiatorium et coronarium Romae remisit.

5 he remitted at Rome the commercial gold and the crown-gold.

[XXXIII] Fecit Romae curatores urbis quattuordecim, sed ex consulibus viros, quos audire negotia urbana cum praefecto urbis iussit, ita ut omnes aut magna pars adessent, cum acta fierent.

[33] He appointed at Rome fourteen curators of the city, but men of consular rank, whom he ordered to hear the urban business with the prefect of the city, such that all, or a great part, should be present when the proceedings were conducted.

2 corpora omnium constituit vinariorum, lupinariorum, caligariorum et omnino omnium artium hisque ex sese defensores dedit et iussit, qui ad quos iudices pertinerent.

2 he constituted the bodies of all the wine-dealers, lupine-dealers, bootmakers, and, in general, of all arts, and to these he gave defenders from among themselves and ordered to which judges they should pertain.

3 Scenicis numquam aurum, numquam argentum, vix pecuniam donavit. pretiosas vestes, quas Heliogabalus dederat, sustulit et milites, quos ostensionales vocant, non pretiosis sed speciosis claris vestibus ornabat nec multum in signa aut ad apparatum regium auri et serici deputabat dicens imperium in virtute esse, non in decore.

3 He never bestowed gold upon scenic performers, never
silver, and hardly money. He removed the precious garments,
which Heliogabalus had given, and the soldiers,
whom they call ostensionales, he adorned not with precious but
with showy, bright garments; nor did he allot much gold and silk to the standards or to the imperial
apparatus, saying that sovereignty is in virtue, not in
decor.

4 clamides hirtas Severi et tunicas asemas vel macrocheras et pallia coccina purpureaque non magna ad usum revocavit suum.

4 he recalled for his own use the rough chlamydes of Severus and tunics unfigured (asemas) or long‑sleeved (macrocheres), and scarlet (coccine) and purple mantles in no great quantity.

[XXXIV] In convivio aurum nescivit, pocula mediocria sed nitida semper habuit. ducentarum librarum argenti pondus ministerium eius numquam transit.

[34] At banquets he knew no gold; he always had cups of moderate size but polished. he always had. The weight of 200 pounds of silver his service never exceeded.

2 nanos et nanas et moriones et vocales exsoletos et omnia acroamata et pantomimos populo donavit; qui autem usui non erant, singulis civitatibus putavit alendos singulos, ne gravarentur specie mendicorum.

2 he gave to the people dwarfs, both male and female, and buffoons, and obsolete vocalists, and all the acroamata, and pantomimes; but those who were of no use, he judged should be maintained—one apiece—by individual cities, lest they be burdened with the semblance of beggars.

3 eunuchos, quos Heliogabalus et in consiliis turpibus habebat et promovebat, donavit amicis addito elogio, ut, si non redissent ad bonos mores, eosdem liceret occidi sine auctoritate iudicii.

3 the eunuchs, whom Heliogabalus both kept in shameful councils and promoted, he bestowed upon friends with an added stipulation, that, if they had not returned to good morals, it might be permitted to have the same killed without the authority of judgment.

4 mulieres infames, quarum infinitum numerum depr aehenderat, publicari iussit, exsoletis omnibus deportatis, aliquibus etiam naufragio mersis, cum quibus illa clades consuetudinem habuerat funestissimam.

4 infamous women, of whom he had apprehended an infinite number, he ordered to be made public property, with all the exsoleti deported, some even drowned by shipwreck, with whom that disaster had had a most deadly intimacy.

5 auratam vestem ministrorum vel in publico convivio nullus habuit.

5 No one wore the golden garment of the attendants, even at a public banquet.

6 cum inter suos convivaretur, aut Ulpianum aut doctos homines adhibebat, ut haberet fabulas litteratas, quibus se recreari dicebat et pasci.

6 when he dined among his own, he would invite either Ulpian or learned men, so that he might have literary conversations, by which he said he was refreshed and fed.

7 habebat, cum privatim convivaretur, et librum in mensa et legebat, sed Graece magis. Latinos autem poetas lectitabat.

7 he used to have, when he dined in private, a book on the table and he would read, but more in Greek. Latin poets, however, he would often read.

8 publica convivia ea simplicitate egit, qua privata, nisi quod numerus accubitionum crescebat et multitudo convivarum, qua ille offendebatur, dicens se in theatro et circo manducare.

8 he conducted public banquets with the same simplicity as the private ones, except that the number of reclining-couches increased and the multitude of dinner-guests, at which he was offended, saying that he was eating in the theater and the circus.

[XXXV] Oratores et poetas non sibi panegyricos dicentes, quod exemplo Nigri Pescennii stultum ducebat, sed aut orationes recitantes aut facta veterum canentes libenter audivit, libentius tamen, si quis ei recitavit Alexandri Magni laudes aut item bonorum retro principum aut magnorum urbis Romae virorum.

[35] He listened gladly to orators and poets not delivering panegyrics for him—since by the example of Pescennius Niger he deemed that foolish—but either reciting orations or singing the deeds of the ancients,
more gladly, however, if anyone recited to him the praises of Alexander the Great,
or likewise of good former princes (emperors), or of great men of the city of Rome.

2 ad Athenaeum audiendorum et Graecorum et Latinorum rhetorum vel poetarum causa frequenter processit.

2 to the Athenaeum for the purpose of hearing both
Greek and Latin rhetors or poets
he frequently proceeded.

3 audivit autem etiam forenses oratores causas recitantes, quas vel apud ipsum vel apud praefectos urbis egerant.

3 moreover he also heard forensic orators reciting causes, which they had conducted either before himself or before the prefects of the city.

4 agoni praesedit et maxime Herculeo in honorem Magni Alexandri.

4 he presided at the agon, and especially at the Herculean, in honor of Alexander the Great.

5 solos post meridiem vel matutinis horis idcirco numquam aliquos videbat, quod ementitos de se multa cognoverat, speciatim Verconium Turinum.

5 only a few
after midday or in the morning hours for this reason he would never see anyone, because
he had come to know that many things had been fabricated about him, especially by Verconius Turinus.

6 quem cum familiarem habuisset, ille omnia vel fingendo sic vendiderat, ut Alexandri, quasi stulti hominis et quem ille in potestate haberet et cui multa persuaderet, infamaret imperium; sicque omnibus persuaserat, quod ad nutum suum omnia faceret.

6 whom, though he had had as a familiar, that man had so peddled everything, even by feigning things, that he defamed Alexander’s imperium as that of a foolish man, one whom he held in his power and whom he persuaded to many things; and thus he had persuaded everyone that he did everything at his nod.

[XXXVI] Denique hac illum arte deprehendit, ut quendam inmitteret, qui a se quiddam publice peteret, ab illo autem occulte quasi praesidium postularet, ut pro eo Alexandro secreto suggereret;

[36] Finally, he apprehended him by this artifice, namely, that he should send in a certain man, who would publicly request something from himself, but occultly would ask from that fellow, as for protection, that he secretly suggest to Alexander on his behalf;

2 quod cum factum esset, ac Turinus suffragium promisisset dixissetque se quaedam imperatori dixisse, cum nihil dixisset, sed in eo pendere, ut adhuc inpetraret, eventum vendens, cumque iterum iussisset Alexander interpellari et Turinus quasi aliud agens nutibus adnuisset neque tamen intus quicquam dixisset, impetratum autem esset, quod petebatur, Turinusque ab illo, qui meruerat, fumis venditis ingentia praemia percepisset; accusari eum Alexander iussit probatisque per testes omnibus, et quibus praesentibus quid accepisset et quibus audientibus quid promisisset, in foro Transitorio ad stipitem illum adligari praecepit et fumo adposito, quem ex stipulis atque umidis lignis fieri iusserat, necavit praecone dicente: "fumo punitur, qui vendidit fumum."

2 when this had been done, and Turinus had promised his suffrage and had said that he had told certain things to the emperor, though he had said nothing, but that it hung on this, that he should still obtain it, selling the outcome; and when Alexander had ordered that he be petitioned again, and Turinus, as if doing something else, had nodded assent with nods and yet had said nothing inside, but what was being sought had been obtained, and Turinus from the man who had earned it, with smoke sold, had received huge rewards; Alexander ordered him to be accused, and with all things proved through witnesses—both in whose presence he had received what and in whose hearing he had promised what—he ordered him to be bound to that stake in the Forum Transitorium, and, smoke being applied, which he had ordered to be made from straw and damp woods, he killed him, the herald saying: "by smoke is punished the one who sold smoke."

3 ac ne in una tantum causa videretur crudelior fuisse, quaesivit diligentissime, antequam eum damnaret, et invenit Turinum saepe et in causis ab utraque parte accepisse, cum eventus venderet, et ab omnibus, qui aut praeposituras aut provincias acceperant.

3 and, lest he might seem to have been more cruel in only one case, he inquired most diligently before he condemned him, and he found that Turinus had often, even in cases, taken from both sides, since he was selling the outcome, and from all who had received either prepositures or provinces.

[XXXVII] Spectacula frequentavit cum summa donandi parsimonia, dicens et scenicos et venatores et aurigas sic alendos quasi servos nostros aut venatores aut muliones aut voluptarios.

[37] He attended the spectacles with the utmost parsimony in giving, saying that the scenic performers and the beast-hunters and the charioteers ought thus to be maintained as our slaves, whether huntsmen or muleteers or voluptuaries.

2 convivium neque opiparum neque nimis parcum sed nitoris summi fuit, ita tamen, ut pura mantelia mitterentur, saepius cocco clavata, aurata vero numquam, cum haec habere Heliogabalus iam coepisset, et ante, ut quidam praedicant, Hadrianus habuisset.

2 the banquet was neither opulent nor overly parsimonious but of the highest elegance, yet such that clean tablecloths were sent in, more often striped with scarlet, but never gilded, although Heliogabalus had already begun to have these, and earlier, as some proclaim, Hadrian had had them.

3 usus convivii diurnus hic fuit: vini ad totum diem sextarii triginta, panis mundi pondo triginta, panis sequentis ad donandum pondo quinquaginta.

3 This was the daytime allowance of the banquet: of wine for the whole day 30 sextarii, of clean bread 30 pounds, of second-grade bread for giving away 50 pounds.

4 nam semper de manu sua ministris convivii et panem et partes aut holerum aut carnis aut leguminum dabat, senili prorsus maturitate patrem familias agens.

4 for he always from his own hand gave to the attendants of the banquet both bread and portions either of vegetables or of meat or of legumes, acting the paterfamilias with utterly senile maturity.

5 erant decreta et carnis diversae pondo triginta, erant et gallinaci duo.

5 there were prescribed also thirty pounds of diverse kinds of meat, there were also two chickens.

6 adhibebatur anser diebus festis, kalendis autem Ianuariis et Hilariis matri is deum et ludis Apollinaribus et Iovis epulo et Saturnalibus et huius modi festis diebus fasianus, ita ut aliquando et duo ponerentur additis gallinaciis duobus.

6 a goose was served on feast days, on the Kalends of January and at the Hilaria of the Mother is of the gods and at the Apollinarian games and
at Jupiter’s banquet and at the Saturnalia and on feast days of this sort, a pheasant, such that
sometimes even two were set out, with two cockerels added.

7 leporem cottidie habuit, venationem frequentem, sed eam cum amicis dividebat et his maxime, quos sciebat per se non habere.

7 he had hare every day, frequent hunting; but he shared it with his friends, and especially with those whom he knew did not have it for themselves.

8 nec divitibus quicquam talium munerum misit, sed ab his semper accepit.

8 he sent nothing of such gifts to the rich, but from them he always received.

9 habuit cottidie et mulsi sine pipere sextarios quattuor, cum pipere duo, et, ne longum sit omnia inserere, quae Gargilius eius temporis scriptor singillatim persecutus est, omnia et ad modum et ad rationem illi sunt praebita.

9 he had daily also of mulsum
without pepper four sextarii, with pepper two; and, lest it be long to insert everything,
which Gargilius, a writer of that time, has pursued item by item,
all things both according to measure and to reason were furnished to him.

10 pomis vehementer indulsit, it aut secunda mensa illi saepius ponerentur. unde etiam iocus extitit non secundam mensam Alexandrum habere sed fecundam.

10 he indulged vehemently in fruits, so that the second course was more often set for him. whence also a joke arose that Alexander did not have a “second” course but a “fecund” one.

11 ipse cibo plurimo referciebatur, vino neque parce neque copiose, adfatim tamen.

11 he himself was crammed with very abundant food, with wine neither sparingly nor copiously, yet to sufficiency.

12 frigida semper pura usus, et aestate cum vino rosa condito; quod quidem solum ex diverso genere condito Heliogabali tenuerat.

12 he always made use of cold water pure, and in summer with wine condited with rose; which indeed alone out of the diverse kind of condited wines of Heliogabalus he had kept.

[XXXVIII] Et quoniam de lepusculis facta est mentio, quod ille leporem cottidie haberet, iocus poeticus emersit, idcirco quod multi septem diebus pulchros esse dicunt eos, qui leporem comederint, ut Martialis etiam epigramma significat, quod contra quandam Gelliam scripsit huius modi:

[38] And since mention was made of little hares, because that man had a hare every day, a poetic jest emerged, for the reason that many say that those who have eaten hare are handsome for seven days, as even Martial’s epigram signifies, which he wrote against a certain Gellia, of this kind:

2 "cum leporem mittis, semper mihi, Gellia, mandas: 'septem formosus, Marce, diebus eris.' si verum dicis, si verum, Gellia, mandas, edisti numquam, Gellia, tu leporem. "

2 "when you send a hare, you always command me, Gellia:
'for seven days, Marcus, you will be handsome.' if you tell the truth, if you tell the truth, Gellia,
you have never eaten a hare, Gellia. "

3 sed hos versus Martialis in eam, quae deformis esset, composuit, poeta vero temporum Alexandri haec in eum dixit:

3 but Martial composed these verses against her who was deformed; indeed, a poet of the times of Alexander said these things against him:

4 "pulchrum quod vides esse nostrum regem, quem Syrum tetulit propago, . . . venatus facit et lepus comesus, dede quo continuum capit leporem. "

4 "that the king of ours whom you see is handsome, whom Syrian progeny has borne forth, . . . hunting makes it so and a hare consumed; give it, by which he continually gets a hare."

5 hos versus cum ad eum quidam ex amicis detulisset, respondisse ille dicitur Graecis versibus in hanc sententiam:

5 when a certain one of his friends had brought these verses to him, he is said to have responded in Greek verses to this sense:

6 "pulchrum quod putas esse vestrum regem vulgari, miserande, de fabella, si verum putas esse, non irascor. tantum tu comedas velim lepusclos, ut fias animi malis repulsis pulchris, ne invideas livore mentis."

6 "A fine thing, that you think your king ought to be vulgarized, you pitiable one, from a little fable; if you think it true, I am not angered. Only you I would wish to eat little hares, so that, the evils of the mind repelled, you may become beautiful, lest you envy with the lividness of your mind."

[XXXIX] Cum amicos militares habuisset, ut usum Traiani, quem ille post secundam mensam potandi, usque ad quinque pocula, instituerat, reservaret, unum tantum poculum amicis exhibebat in honorem Alexandri Magni, id dans brevius, nisi si quis, quod licebat, maius libere postulasset.

[39] Although he had had military friends, in order that he might preserve the usage of Trajan, which he had instituted after the second course for drinking, up to five cups, he would present to his friends only one cup in honor of Alexander the Great, giving that one smaller, unless someone, as was permitted, had freely requested a larger one.

2 usus Veneris in eo moderatus fuit, exsoletorum ita expers, ut, quemadmodum supra diximus, legem de his auferendis ferre voluerit.

2 his use of Venus in this matter was moderate, so devoid of catamites that, as we said above, he wished to bring a law for their removal.

3 Horrea in omnibus regionibus publica fecit, ad quae conferrent bona hi, qui privatas custodias non haberent.

3 He made public storehouses in all regions, to which those who did not have private safekeeping might bring their goods.

4 balnea omnibus regionibus addidit, quae forte non habebant. nam hodieque multa dicuntur Alexandri.

4 he added baths in all the regions
which perhaps did not have them. For even today many are called Alexander’s.

5 fecit et domos pulcherrimas easdemque amicis suis maxime integris viris donavit.

5 he also made the most beautiful houses, and these same he donated to his friends, men of the utmost integrity.

6 vectigalia publica in id contraxit, ut qui decem aureos sub Heliogabalo praestiterant, tertiam partem aurei praestarent, hoc est tricensimam partem.

6 he reduced the public taxes to this, that those who had paid ten aurei under Heliogabalus should pay a third part of an aureus, that is, the thirtieth part.

7 tuncque primum semisses aureorum formati sunt, tunc etiam, cum ad tertiam aurei partem vectigal desidisset, tremisses, dicente Alexandro etiam quartarios futuros, quod minus non posset.

7 then for the first time half-pieces of aurei were formed, then also, when the tax had settled at a third of an aureus, third-pieces (tremisses), Alexander saying that there would also be quarter-pieces, since anything smaller could not be.

8 quos quidem iam formatos in moneta detinuit expectans, ut, si vectigal contrahere potuisset, et eosdem ederet, sed cum non potuisset per publicas necessitates, conflari eos iussit et tremisses tantum solidosque formari.

8 which indeed, already formed in the mint, he held back waiting, so that, if he had been able to contract the tax, he might also issue those same; but since he was not able because of public necessities, he ordered them to be melted down and only tremisses and solidi to be formed.

9 formas binarias, ternarias et quaternarias et denarias etiam atque amplius usque ad libriles quoque et centenarias, quas Heliogabalus invenerat, resolvi praecepit neque in usu cuiusquam versari;

9 the binary, ternary and quaternary forms and the denary as well, and further, even up to libral and centenarial pieces, which Heliogabalus had invented, he ordered to be melted down and not to be in anyone’s use;

10 atque ex eo his materiae nomen inditum est, cum diceret plus largiendi hanc esse imperatori causam, si, cum multos solidos minores dare possit dans decem vel amplius una forma, triginta et quinquaginta et centum dare cogeretur.

10 and from that the name “materials” was assigned to these, since he said that this was a greater reason for largesse for the emperor, if, although he could give many smaller solidi, giving ten or more with one form, he was being compelled to give thirty and fifty and a hundred.

[XL] Vestes sericas ipse raras habuit; olosericam numquam induit, subsericam numquam donavit.

[40] He himself had few silk garments; he never donned an all-silk garment, he never gave a sub-silk one.

2 divitiis nullius invidit. pauperes iuvit. honoratos, quos pauperes vere, non per luxuriam aut simulationem vidit, semper multis commodis auxit, agris, servis, animalibus, gregibus, ferramentis rusticis.

2 he envied no one's wealth. he helped the poor. the honored men, whom he saw to be poor truly, not through luxury or simulation, he always augmented with many benefits, with fields, slaves, animals, flocks, rustic implements.

3 in thesauris vestem numquam nisi annum esse passus est eamque m statim expendi iussit. omnem vestem, quam donavit, ipse perspexit.

3 in the treasuries he never allowed clothing to be for more than a year, and he ordered it m to be expended immediately. every garment which he gave, he himself inspected.

4 omne aurum, omne argentum idque frequenter adpendit.

4 all the gold, all the silver, and he frequently weighed it.

5 donavit et ocreas et bracas et calciamenta inter vestimenta militaria.

5 he donated also greaves and breeches and footwear among the military vestments.

6 purpurae clarissimae non ad usum suum sed ad matronarum, si quae aut possent aut vellent, certe ad vendendum gravissimus exactor fuit, ita ut Alexandriana purpura hodieque dicatur, quae vulgo Probiana dicitur, idcirco quod Aurelius Probus bafiis praepositus id genus muricis repperisset. usus est ipse clamide saepe coccinea.

6 he was the most severe exactor of the brightest purple, not for his own use but for that of matrons—if there were any who either could or would—certainly for sale, so that the Alexandrian purple is even today so called, which is commonly called Probian, for this reason: that Aurelius Probus, put in charge of the dye‑works, had discovered that kind of murex. he himself often used a scarlet chlamys.

7 in urbe tamen semper togatus fuit et in Italiae urbibus.

7 however, in the city he was always wearing the toga, and in the cities of Italy.

8 praetextam et pictam togam numquam nisi consul accepit, et eam quidem, quam de Iovis templo sumptam alii quoque accipiebant aut praetores aut consules.

8 he never received the praetexta and the toga picta except as consul, and indeed the one which, taken from the temple of Jupiter, others also received, either praetors or consuls.

9 accepit praetextam etiam, cum sacra faceret, sed loco pontificis maximi, non imperatoris.

9 he received the praetexta also, when he performed the sacred rites, but in the place of the pontifex maximus, not of the imperator.

10 boni linteaminis adpetitor fuit, et quidem puri, dicens: "si lineae idcirco sunt, ut nihil asperum habeant, quid opus est purpura in linea?"

10 he was a seeker after good linen, and indeed of pure (undyed) linen, saying: "if linens are for this very reason, that they have nothing harsh, what need is there of purple in linen?"

11 aurum autem immitti et dementiam iudicabat, cum ad asperitatem adderetur rigor. fasceis semper usus est. bracas albas habuit, non coccineas, ut prius solebant.

11 but he judged it madness for gold to be inserted, since to roughness there was added rigidity. he always used wrappings. he had white breeches, not scarlet, as formerly they were wont.

[XLI] Gemmarum quod fuit, vendidit et aurum in aerarium contulit dicens gemmas viris usui non esse, matronas autem regias contentas esse debere uno reticulo atque inauribus et bacato monili et corona, cum qua sacrificium facerent, et unico pallio auro sparso et cyclade, quae sex uncias auri plus non haberet.

[41] Whatever there was of gems, he sold, and he carried the gold into the aerarium, saying that gems are of no use to men, but that royal matrons ought to be content with a single reticulum and earrings and a bead-set monile and a corona, with which they might perform sacrifice, and with a single pallium sprinkled with gold and a cyclas, which should not have more than six ounces of gold.

2 prorsus censuram suis temporibus de propriis moribus gessit. imitati sunt eum magni viri et uxorem eius matronae pernobiles.

2 altogether he exercised a censorship, in his own times, over his own morals. great men imitated him, and very-noble matrons his wife.

3 aulicum ministerium in id contraxit, ut essent tot homines in singulis officiis, quot necessitas postularet, ita ut annonas, non dignitatem acciperent fullones et vestitores et pistores et pincernae et omnes castrenses ministri, quemammodum pestis illa instituerat, sed annonas singulas, vix binas.

3 he contracted the courtly ministry to this, that there should be as many men in individual offices as necessity demanded, in such a way that fullers and wardrobe-keepers and bakers and cupbearers and all the camp-servants received rations, not a dignity, as that plague had instituted, but single rations, scarcely double.

4 et cum argentum in ministerio plus ducentis libris non haberet nec plures ministros, argentum et ministros et mantelia quando pascebat, accipiebat ab amicis; quod hodieque fit, si praescatur a praefectis absente imperatore.

4 and since he did not have more than 200 pounds of silver in the ministry nor more ministers, the silver, the ministers, and the table-linens, whenever he gave a banquet, he used to receive from friends; which even today is done, if it is prescribed by the prefects with the emperor absent.

5 voluptates scaenicas in convivio numquam habuit, sed summa illi oblectatio fuit, ut aut catuli cum porcellulis luderent aut perdices inter se pugnarent aut graculae parvolae sursum et deorsum volitarent.

5 he never had scenic pleasures at a banquet, but his greatest delectation was that
either puppies would play with little piglets, or partridges would fight among themselves, or
little jackdaws would flit up and down.

6 habuit sane in Palatio unum genus voluptatis, quo maxime delectatus est et quo sollicitudines publicas sublevabat.

6 he did indeed have in the Palace one kind of pleasure, by which he was most delighted and by which he lightened public cares.

7 nam aviaria instituerat pavonum, fasianorum, gallinaceorum, anatum, perdicum etiam, hisque vehementer oblectabatur, maxime palumborum, quos habuisse usque ad XX milia dicitur, et ne eorum pastus gravaret annonam, servos habuit vectigales, qui eos ex ovis ac pullicenis ac pipionibus alerent.

7 for he had established aviaries of peacocks, pheasants, gallinaceous fowl, ducks, partridges
as well, and he was greatly delighted by these, especially by wood-pigeons, of which he is said to have had
up to 20 thousand; and lest their feeding burden the grain-supply, he had rent-paying slaves,
who would rear them from eggs and from chicks and from squabs.

[XLII] Thermis et suis et veterum frequenter cum populo usus est et aestate maxime, balneari veste ad Palatium revertens, hoc solum imperatorium habens, quod lacernam cocceam accipiebat.

[42] He frequently made use of the baths, both his own and those of the ancients, together with the populace, and especially in summer, returning to the Palatium in balneary garb, having this alone as imperial: that he accepted a scarlet lacerna.

2 cursorem numquam nisi servum suum, dicens ingenuum currere nisi in sacro certamine non debere, cocos, pistores, fullones et balneatores non nisi servos suos habuit, ita ut, si quis deesset, emeret.

2 he never had a runner except his own slave, saying that a freeborn man ought not to run unless in a sacred contest; cooks, bakers, fullers, and bath-attendants he had only as his own slaves, such that, if any were lacking, he would buy one.

3 medicus sub eo unus palatinus salarium accepit, ceterique omnes, qui usque ad sex fuerunt, qui annonas binas aut ternas accipiebant, ita ut mundas singulas consequerentur, alias aliter.

3 one Palatine physician under him received a salary, and all the others, who were up to six, received two or three annonae, in such a way that they obtained one clean apiece, the others otherwise.

4 iudices cum promoveret, exemplo veterum, ut et Cicero docet, et argento et necessariis instruebat, ita ut praesides provinciarum acciperent argenti pondo vicena. mulas senas, mulos binos, equos binos, vestes forenses binas, domesticas binas, balneares singulas, aureos centenos, cocos singulos, muliones singulos et, si uxores non haberent, singulas concubinas, quod sine his esse non possent, reddituri deposita administratione mulas, mulos, equos, muliones et cocos, cetera sibi habituri,

4 judges when he promoted them, by the example of the ancients, as even Cicero teaches, he would furnish with silver and necessaries, so that the governors of the provinces received of silver twenty pounds. six she‑mules, two mules, two horses, forensic garments two each, domestic two each, bathing garments single each, a hundred gold‑pieces, cooks one each, muleteers one each and, if they did not have wives, one concubine each, since they could not be without these, to return, when the administration was laid down, the she‑mules, mules, horses, muleteers and cooks, the rest to keep for themselves,

5 si bene egissent, in quadruplum reddituri, si male, praeter condemnationem aut peculatus aut repetundarum.

5 if they had acted well, they were to render in quadruple; if badly, in addition to condemnation either for peculation or for extortion (repetundae).

[XLIII] Leges innumeras sanxit. carrucas Romae et redas senatoribus omnibus ut argentatas haberent, permisit, interesse Romanae dignitatis putans, ut his tantae urbis senatores uterentur.

[43] He sanctioned innumerable laws. carriages at Rome and redae for all the senators, so that they might have them silvered, he permitted, thinking it to pertain to Roman dignity that the senators of so great a city should use these.

2 consules quoscumque vel ordinarios vel suffectos creavit, ex senatus sententia nominavit, sumptum eorum contrahens, et nundinia vetere ex ordine instituit.

2 the consuls whomever, whether ordinary or suffect, he created, he nominated in accordance with the senate’s judgment, contracting their expense, and he established the consular terms in the old order.

3 quaestores candidatos ex sua pecunia iussit munera populo dare, sed i cta ut post quaesturam praeturas acciperent et deinde provincias regerent.

3 he ordered the candidates for the quaestorship to give largesses to the people from their own money, but i cta that after the quaestorship they should receive praetorships and then govern provinces.

4 arcarios vero instituit, qui de arca fisci ederent munera eademque parciora. habuit in animo, ut munera per totum annum dispergeret, ut per XXX dies munus populo daretur, sed cur id non fecerit in occulto habetur.

4 he established treasury cashiers, who from the chest of the fisc would pay out gifts, and the same more sparingly. He had in mind to disperse the gifts through the whole year, that for 30 days a gift might be given to the people, but why he did not do this is held in secrecy.

5 Capitolium septimo quoque die, cum in urbe esset, ascendit, templa frequentavit.

5 He ascended the Capitol every seventh day, whenever he was in the city; he frequented the temples.

6 Christo templum facere voluit eumque inter deos recipere. quod et Hadrianus cogitasse fertur, qui templa in omnibus civitatibus sine simulacris iusserat fieri, quae hodieque idcirco, quia non habent numina, dicuntur Hadriani, quae ille ad hoc parasse dicebatur;

6 He wished to make a temple to Christ and to receive him among the gods. which also Hadrian is reported to have contemplated, who had ordered temples in all cities to be made without images, which even today, for this reason, because they do not have divinities, are called Hadrian’s, which he was said to have prepared for this purpose;

6 sed prohibitus est ab his, qui consulentes sacra reppererant omnes Christianos futuros, si id fecisset, et templa reliqua deserenda.

6 but he was prohibited by those who, consulting the sacred rites, had discovered that all would be Christians, if he had done this, and that the remaining temples were to be deserted.

[XLIV] In iocis dulcissimus fuit, in fabulis amabilis, in conviviis comis, ita ut quisque posceret quod vellet.

[44] In jests he was most delightful, in tales amiable, in banquets courteous, such that each person might ask for whatever he wished.

2 ad aurum colligendum attentus, ad servandum cautus, ad inveniendum sollicitus, sed sine cuiusquam excidio.

2 attentive to collecting gold, cautious in preserving it, solicitous in discovering
it, but without anyone’s destruction.

3 Syrum se dici nolebat, sed a maioribus Romanum et stemma generis depinxerat, quo ostendebatur genus eius a Metellis descendere.

3 He was unwilling to be called a Syrian, but from his forefathers a Roman, and he had painted a stemma of his lineage, by which it was shown that his line descended from the Metelli.

4 Rhethoribus, grammaticis, medicis, haruspicibus, mathematicis, mechanicis, architectis salaria instituit et auditoria decrevit et discipulos cum annonis pauperum filios modo ingenuos dari iussit.

4 To rhetors, grammarians, physicians, haruspices, mathematicians, mechanics, architects he instituted salaries and decreed auditoria and ordered that students with rations, the sons of the poor, only if freeborn, be given.

5 etiam in provinciis oratoribus forensibus multum detulit, plerisque etiam annonas dedit, quos constitisset gratis agere.

5 he also showed great favor to forensic orators in the provinces, and to many he likewise gave grain-rations, those whom it had been determined were pleading gratis.

6 leges antiquas ac novas firmavit easque etiam ipse diligentissime servavit.

6 he confirmed the ancient and the new laws, and he himself also observed them most diligently.

7 theatralia spectacula saepe obiit. theatrum Marcelli reficere voluit.

7 theatrical spectacles he often attended. he wished to restore the Theatre of Marcellus.

8 multis civitatibus, quae post terrae motus deformes erant, sumptus ad instaurationem operum et publicorum et privatorum pecuniam ex vectigalibus dedit.

8 to many cities, which were deformed after earthquakes, he gave funds for the instauration of works, both public and private, and money from the tax revenues.

9 in templis sane numquam praeter quattuor aut quinque argenti libras, auri ne guttulam quidem aut bratteolam posuit, susurrans versum Flacci Persi: "in sanctis quid facit aurum?"

9 in the temples indeed he never placed more than four or five pounds of silver; of gold not even a drop nor a gold leaf did he set, whispering a verse of Persius Flaccus: "what does gold do in holy places?"

[XLV] Expeditiones bellicas habuit, de quibus ordine suo edisseram. primum tamen eius consuetudinem dicam de rebus vel tacendis vel prodendis.

[45] He had military expeditions, about which I have expounded in their own order. first, however, I will speak of his custom concerning matters either to be kept silent or to be disclosed.

2 tacebantur secreta bellorum, itinerum autem dies publice proponebantur, ita ut edictum penderet ante menses duos, in quo scriptum esset: "illa die, illa hora ab urbe sum exiturus et, si di voluerint, in prima mansione mansurus", deinde per ordinem mansiones, deinde stativae, deinde ubi annona esset accipienda, et id quidem eo usque quamdiu ad fines barbaricos veniretur.

2 the secrets of campaigns were kept quiet, but the days of the journeys were publicly posted, such that an edict would hang up two months beforehand, in which it was written: "on that day, at that hour I am going to depart from the city and, if the gods will, I shall stay in the first mansio", then, in order, the mansiones, then the stativae, then where the annona (grain-supply) was to be received—and this indeed up to the point that the barbarian frontiers were reached.

3 iam enim inde tacebatur, et omnes ambulabant incerti, ne dispositionem Romanam barbari scirent.

3 for from that point on it was kept silent, and all walked uncertain, lest the barbarians should know the Roman disposition.

4 certum est autem eum numquam id, quod proposuerat, fefellisse, cum diceret nolle ab aulicis suas vendi dispositiones, quod factum fuerat sub Heliogabalo, cum ab eunuchis omnia venderentur.

4 but it is certain that he never failed in that which he had proposed, since he said he did not wish his own dispositions to be sold by courtiers, which had been done under Heliogabalus, when everything was being sold by eunuchs.

5 quod genus hominum idcirco secreta omnia in aula esse cupiunt, ut soli aliquid scire videantur et habeant, unde vel gratiam vel pecuniam requirant.

5 which sort of men for that reason desire that all things be secret in the court, so that they alone may seem to know something and may have a source whence to demand either favor or money.

6 Et quia de publicandis dispositionibus mentio contigit: ubi aliquos voluisset vel rectores provinciis dare vel praepositos facere vel procuratores, id est rationales, ordinare, nomina eorum proponebat hortans populum, ut si quis quid haberet criminis, probaret manifestis rebus, si non probasset, subiret poenam capitis;

6 And because mention occurred about the dispositions being made public: whenever he wished either to give certain men as governors to the provinces or to make praepositi or to appoint procurators, that is, rationales, he would post their names, exhorting the people that, if anyone had any criminal charge, he should prove it by manifest facts; if he should not have proved it, he would undergo the penalty of death;

7 dicebatque grave esse, cum id Christiani et Iudaei facerent in praedicandis sacerdotibus, qui ordinandi sunt, non fieri in provinciarum rectoribus, quibus et fortunae hominum committerentur et capita.

7 and he would say that it was a grave thing, that, while Christians and Jews do this in proclaiming the priests who are to be ordained, it is not done in the case of the rectors of the provinces, to whom both the fortunes of men and their lives are entrusted.

[XLVI] Adsessoribus salaria instituit, quamvis saepe dixerit eos esse promovendos, qui per se rem p. gerere possent, non per assessores, addens militares habere suas administrationes, habere litteratos, et ideo unumquemque hoc agere debere, quod nosset.

[46] He instituted salaries for assessors, although he often said that those ought to be promoted who could manage the commonwealth by themselves, not through assessors, adding that military men have their own administrations, have literati, and therefore each person ought to do that which he knew.

2 thesauros reppertos his, qui reppererant, donavit et, si multi essent, addidit his eos, quos in suis habebat officiis.

2 he bestowed the treasures discovered upon those who had discovered them, and, if they were many, he added to these those whom he had in his own offices.

3 cogitabat secum et descriptum habebat, cui quid praestitisset, et si quos sciret vel nihil petisse vel non multum, unde sumptus suos augerent, vocabat eos et dicebat: "quid est, cur nihil petis? an me tibi vis fieri debitorem? pete, ne privatus de me queraris."

3 he would think to himself and had a written record of to whom he had furnished what; and if he knew any who had either asked nothing or not much, whereby they might augment their means to meet their expenses, he would call them and say: "What is it, why do you ask nothing? Or do you wish me to become your debtor? Ask, lest as a private citizen you complain about me."

4 dabat autem haec in beneficiis, quae famam eius non laederent, bona punitorum, sed numquam cum auro, argento vel gemmis – nam id omne in aerarium reponebat – , dabat praeposituras locorum civilium, non militum, dabat eas administrationes, quae ad procurationes pertinerent.

4 moreover he used to give these things among his benefactions, which would not injure his reputation, the goods of the punished, but never with gold, silver, or gems – for all that he deposited into the treasury – , he gave prefectures of civil places, not of soldiers, he gave those administrations which pertained to procurations.

5 rationales cito mutabat, ita ut nemo nisi annum conplerent, eosque, etsi boni essent, oderat, malum necessarium vocans. praesides vero proconsules et legatos numquam fecit ad beneficium, sed ad iudicium vel suum vel senatus.

5 rationales he quickly changed, so that no one completed more than a year; and them, even if they were good, he hated, calling them a necessary evil. but the praesides, proconsuls, and legates he never appointed as a favor, but by judgment either his own or the senate’s.

[XLVII] Milites expeditionis tempore sic disposuit, ut in mansionibus annonas acciperent nec portarent cibaria decem et septem, ut solent, dierum nisi in barbarico, quamvis et illic mulis eosdem atque camelis adiuverit dicens milites se magis servare quam se ipsum, quod salus publica in his esset.

[47] He arranged the soldiers in time of expedition in such a way that at the posting-stations they received rations and did not carry provisions for seventeen days, as they are accustomed, except in barbarian territory, although even there he helped them with mules and camels, saying that he preserved the soldiers more than himself, because the public safety was in them.

2 aegrotantes ipse visitavit per tentoria milites etiam ultimos et carpentis vexit et omnibus necessariis adiuvit.

2 he himself visited the sick soldiers through the tents,
even the most humble, and conveyed them in wagons and aided them with all necessities.

3 et si forte gravius laborarent, per civitates et agros patribus familias honestioribus et sanctioribus matronis eos distribuebat reddens inpendia quae fecissent, sive convaluissent illi seu perissent.

3 and if by chance they were laboring more gravely, through the cities and fields he would distribute them to fathers of families more honorable and to more holy matrons, repaying the expenditures which they had made, whether they had recovered or had perished.

[XLVIII] Cum quidam Ovinius Camillus senator antiquae familiae delicatissimus rebellare voluisset tyrannidem adfectans eique nuntiatum esset ac statim probatum, ad Palatium eum rogavit eique gratias egit, quod curam rei p., quae recusantibus bonis inponeretur, sponte reciperet;

[48] When a certain Ovinius Camillus, a senator of an ancient family, most delicate, had wished to rebel, aiming at tyranny, and this had been reported to him and immediately verified, he summoned him to the Palatium and gave him thanks, because he was of his own accord taking up the care of the commonwealth, which, when the good refused, would be imposed upon them;

2 deinde ad senatum processit et timentem ac tantae conscientiae tabe confectum participem imperii appellavit, in Palatium recepit, convivio adhibuit, ornamentis imperialibus et melioribus, quam ipse utebatur, adfecit.

2 then to the senate he proceeded, and, the man fearing and consumed by the taint of so great a conscience, he called partner in the imperium, received him into the Palatium, admitted him to a banquet, and endowed him with imperial ornaments, better than those which he himself used.

3 et cum expeditio barbarica esset nuntiata, vel ipsum, si vellet, ire vel ut secum proficisceretur, hortatus est.

3 and when a barbarian expedition had been announced, he urged either that he himself, if he wished, go, or that he set out with him.

4 et cum ipse pedes iter faceret, illum invitavit ad laborem; quem post quinque milia cunctantem equo sedere iussit, cumque post duas mansiones equo etiam fatigatus esset, carpento inposuit.

4 and when he himself was making the journey on foot, he invited him to the labor; when he hesitated after five miles, he ordered him to sit on a horse, and when after two way-stations he was even wearied by the horse, he placed him in a carriage.

5 hoc quoque seu timore seu vere respuentem, abdicantem quin etiam imperium et mori paratum dimisit commendatumque militibus, a quibus Alexander unice amabatur, tutum ad villas suas irae praecepit, in quibus diu vixit.

5 this man also, whether from fear or truly, refusing—abdicating even the imperium and prepared to die—he dismissed, and, having commended him to the soldiers, by whom Alexander was uniquely beloved, he ordered that he, safe from wrath, be conducted to his own villas, in which he lived for a long time.

6 sed post iussu imperatoris Maximini occisus est, quod et ille militaris esset et Alexander a militibus occisus esset. scio vulgum hanc rem, quam contexui, Traiani putare, sed neque in vita eius id Marius Maximus ita exposuit neque Fabius Marcellinus neque Aurelius Verus neque Statius Valens, qui omnem eius vitam in litteras miserunt.

6 but afterward by order of the emperor Maximinus he was slain, because he too was a military man and Alexander had been slain by the soldiers. I know the vulgus thinks this matter, which I have woven together, to be of Trajan, but neither in his Life did Marius Maximus set it forth thus, nor did Fabius Marcellinus, nor Aurelius Verus, nor Statius Valens, who consigned his whole life to letters.

7 contra autem et Septiminus et Acholius et Encolpius vitae scriptores ceterique de hoc talia praedicarunt.

7 On the contrary, however, both Septiminus and Acholius and Encolpius, writers of the life, and the rest, proclaimed such things about this.

8 quod ideo addidi, ne quis vulgi magis famam sequeretur quam historiam, quae rumore utique vulgi verior repperitur.

8 which I added for this reason, lest anyone follow the report of the crowd rather than history, which is assuredly found truer than the rumor of the crowd.

[XLIX] Honores iuris gladii numquam vendi passus est dicens: "necesse est, ut qui emit et vendat. ego non patior mercatores potestatum et eos, quos, si pariant, damnare non possim. erubesco enim punire illum hominem, qui emit et vendidit."

[49] He never allowed the honors of the ius gladii to be sold, saying: "It is necessary that he who buys also sell. I do not tolerate merchants of powers and those whom, if they yield a return, I cannot condemn. For I blush to punish that man who bought and sold."

2 pontificatus et quindecimviratus et auguratus codicillares fecit, ita ut in senatu allegarentur.

2 he made the pontificate and
the quindecimvirate and the augurate codicillary (by codicils), such that in the senate
they were adduced.

3 Dexippus dixit uxorem eum cuiusdam Macriani filiam duxisse eundemque ab eo Caesarem nuncupatum.

3 Dexippus said that he had married the daughter of a certain Macrianus, and that the same had been nominated Caesar by him.

4 verum cum vellet insidiis occidere Alexandrum Macrianus, detecta factione et ipsum interemptum et uxorem abiectam.

4 but when Macrianus wished to kill Alexander by ambush, the faction having been detected, both he himself was slain and his wife was cast off.

5 idem dicit patruum fuisse Antoninum Heliogabalum Alexandri, non sororis eiusdem matris filium.

5 the same says that Antoninus Heliogabalus
was the paternal uncle of Alexander, not the son of the sister of the same mother’s
son.

6 cum Christiani s quendam locum, qui publicus fuerat, occupassent, contra popinarii dicerent sibi eum deberi, rescripsit melius esse, ut quemammodumcumque illic deus colatur, quam popinariis dedatur.

6 when the Christians s had occupied a certain place, which had been public, while on the contrary the tavern-keepers said that it was owed to themselves, he replied by rescript that it was better that, in whatever manner whatsoever, God be worshiped there, than that it be given over to tavern-keepers.

[L] Cum igitur tantus ac talis imperator domi ac foris esset, iniit Parthicam expeditionem, quam tanta disciplina, tanta reverentia sui egit, ut non milites sed senatores transire diceres.

[L] Since therefore so great and such a kind of emperor was at home and abroad, he entered upon the Parthian expedition, which he conducted with such discipline, such reverence for himself, that you would say not soldiers but senators were passing by.

2 quacumque iter legiones faciebant, tribuni taciti, centuriones verecundi, milites amabiles erant, ipsum vero ob haec tot et tanta bona provinciales ut deum suspiciebant.

2 wherever the legions made their march, the tribunes were tacit, the centurions modest, the soldiers amiable; and him indeed, on account of these so many and so great goods, the provincials looked up to as a god.

3 iam vero ipsi milites iuvenem imperatorem sic amabant ut fratrem ut filium ut parentem, vestiti honeste, calciati etiam ad decorem, armati nobiliter, equis etiam instructi et efippiis ac frenis decentibus, prorsus ut Romanam rem p. intellegerent, quicumque Alexandri vidisset exercitum.

3 now indeed the soldiers themselves so loved the young emperor as a brother, as a son, as a parent, decently attired, shod also for decorum, nobly armed, also furnished with horses and with saddles and fitting bridles, altogether such that whoever had seen Alexander’s army would understand the Roman Republic.

4 elaborabat denique, ut dignus illo nomine videretur, immo ut Macedonem illum vinceret, dicebatque inter Romanum Alexandrum et Macedonem multum interesse debere.

4 he strove, finally, to seem worthy of that name—nay rather, to surpass that Macedonian—and he used to say that there ought to be much difference between the Roman Alexander and the Macedonian.

5 fecerat denique sibi argyroaspidas et chrysoaspidas, fecerat et falangem triginta milium hominum, quos falangarios vocari iusserat et cum quibus multum fecit in terra Perside; quae quidem erat ex sex legionibus similium armorum, stipendiorum vero post bellum Persicum maiorum.

5 he had, finally, made for himself Argyroaspids and Chrysoaspids, he had also made a phalanx of thirty thousand men, whom he had ordered to be called Phalangarians, and with whom he did much in the land of Persia; which indeed consisted of six legions of similar armament, and whose stipends, moreover, after the Persian war, were greater.

[LI] Dona regia in templis posuit; gemmas sibi oblatas vendidit muliebre esse aestimans gemmas possidere, quae neque militi dari possint neque a viro haberi.

[51] He placed the regal gifts in temples; he sold the gems offered to himself, esteeming it womanly to possess gems, which can neither be given to a soldier nor held by a man.

2 cum quidam legatus uniones duos uxori eius per ipsum obtulisset magni ponderis et inusitatae mensurae, vendi eos iussit.

2 when a certain legate had offered two pearls to his wife through him, of great weight and unusual measure, he ordered them to be sold.

3 cum pretium non invenirent, ne exemplum malum a regina nasceretur, si eo uteretur, quod emi non posset, inauribus Veneris eos dicavit.

3 when they did not find a price, lest a bad example arise from the queen, if she should use that which could not be bought, he dedicated them to the earrings of Venus.

4 Ulpianum pro tutore habuit, primum repugnante matre, deinde gratias agente, quem saepe a militum ira obiectu purpurae suae defendit, atque ideo summus imperator fuit, quod eius praecipue consiliis rem p. rexit.

4 He had Ulpian as tutor, his mother at first resisting and then giving thanks, whom she often defended from the soldiers’ wrath by the interposition of her own purple; and therefore he was a supreme emperor, because he ruled the republic chiefly by his counsels.

5 in procinctu atque in expeditionibus apertis papilionibus prandit atque cenavit, cum militarem cibum cunctis videntibus atque gaudentibus sumeret, circumiret prope tota tentoria, a signis abesse neminem pateretur.

5 in battle array and on expeditions he lunched and dined with the pavilions open, as, with all looking on and rejoicing, he took military food, he went around almost all the tents, and he allowed no one to be absent from the standards.

6 si quis de via in alicuius possessionem deflexisset, pro qualitate loci aut fustibus subiciebatur in conspectu eius aut virgis aut condemnationi aut, si haec omnia transiret dignitas hominis, gravissimis contumeliis, cum diceret: "visne hoc in agro tuo fieri quod tu alteri facis?"

6 if anyone had turned off the road into someone’s possession, according to the quality of the place he was subjected in his sight either to cudgels or to rods or to condemnation, or, if the dignity of the man surpassed all these, to most grave contumelies, as he would say: "Do you want this to be done in your field, what you are doing to another?"

7 clamabatque saepius, quod a quibusdam sive Iudaeis sive Christianis audierat et tenebat, idque per praeconem, cum aliquem emendaret, dici iubebat:

7 and he would cry out quite often what he had heard from certain persons, whether Jews or Christians, and maintained; and he would order this to be said by a praeco, when he corrected someone:

8 "quod tibi fieri non vis, alteri ne feceris." quam sententiam usque adeo dilexit, ut et in Palatio et in publicis operibus perscribi iuberet.

8 "what you do not wish to be done to you, do not do to another." which maxim he loved to such a degree that he ordered it to be inscribed both in the Palace and on public works.

[LII] Idem cum quandam aniculam adfectam iniuriis a milite audisset, exauctoratum eum militia servum ei dedit, quod artifex carpentarius esset, ut eam pasceret; et cum dolerent hoc milites factum, persuasit omnibus, ut modeste ferrent, et eos terruit.

[52] The same man, when he had heard that a certain little old woman had been afflicted with wrongs by a soldier, cashiered him from the military service and gave him to her as a slave, because he was an artificer, a carpenter, to support her; and when the soldiers were pained that this had been done, he persuaded them all to bear it with moderation, and he frightened them.

2 ἀναίματον imperium eius, cum fuerit durus et tetricus, idcirco vocatum est, quod senatorem nullum occiderit, ut Herodianus Graecus scriptor refert in libris temporum suorum.

2 his "bloodless" imperium, although he was hard and grim, was so called because he put no senator to death, as Herodian, a Greek writer, relates in the books of his own times.

3 severitatis autem tantae fuit in milites, ut saepe legiones integras exauctoraverit ex militibus Quirites appellans nec exercitum umquam timuerit, idcirco quod in vitam suam dici nihil posset, quod umquam tribuni vel duces de stipendiis militum quicquam accepissent, dicens: "miles non timetur, si vestitus, armatus, calciatus et satur et habens aliquid in zonula", idcirco quod mendicitas militaris ad omnem desperationem vocaret armatum.

3 he was, moreover, of such severity toward the soldiers that he often cashiered entire legions,
calling them Quirites instead of soldiers, and he never feared the army, for this reason
that nothing could be said against his way of life, to the effect that ever tribunes or duces (commanders) had taken anything from
the soldiers’ stipends, saying: "a soldier is not feared, if he is clothed, armed, shod, and full, and has something in his little belt,"
for this reason, that military beggary summons an armed man to every desperation.

4 apparitores denique nullos esse passus est tribunis aut ducibus nisi milites iussitque, ut ante tribunum quattuor milites ambularent, ante ducem sex, ante legatum decem, hique ad domos suos reciperent.

4 finally, he allowed no apparitors for tribunes or dukes except soldiers, and he ordered that before a tribune four soldiers should walk, before a duke six, before a legate ten, and that these should escort them to their homes.

[LIII] Et ut severitas eius agnosci posset, unam contionem militarem indendam putavi, quae illius in rem militarem mores ostenderet.

[LIII] And, that his severity might be recognized, I thought a single military assembly should be set down, which would show his character in military matters.

2 nam cum Antiochiam venisset ac milites lavacris, mulieribus et deliciis vacarent eique nuntiatum esset, omnes eos conprehendi iussit et in vincla conici.

2 for when he had come to Antioch and the soldiers were at leisure for baths, women, and delights, and it had been announced to him, he ordered all of them to be apprehended and to be cast into chains.

3 quod ubi conpertum est, mota seditio est a legione, cuius socii erant in vincla coniecti.

3 when this was ascertained, a sedition was set in motion by the legion, whose comrades had been cast into chains.

4 tum ille tribunal ascendit vinctisque omnibus ad tribunal adductis, circumstantibus etiam militibus et quidem armatis ita coepit:

4 then he ascended the tribunal
and, with all the bound men led to the tribunal, the soldiers also standing around—indeed armed—he thus began:

5 "commilitones, si tamen ista vobis, quae a vestris facta sunt, displicent, disciplina maiorum rem p. tenet; quae si dilabitur, et nomen Romanum et imperium amittemus;

5 "fellow-soldiers, if however those things which have been done by your fellows displease you, the discipline of the ancestors upholds the Republic; which, if it slips away, both the Roman name and the empire we shall lose;

6 neque enim sub nobis ista facienda sunt, quae sub inpura illa bestia nuper facta sunt.

6 for indeed under us those things are not to be done which were recently done under that impure beast.

7 milites Romani, vestri socii, mei contubernales et commilitones amant, potant, lavant Graecorum more et ad luxuriam quidem se instituunt. hoc ego diutius feram? et non eos capitali dedam supplicio?"

7 Roman soldiers, your allies, my tentmates and fellow-soldiers, love, drink, bathe in the Greek fashion, and indeed they are training themselves for luxury. Shall I endure this longer? And shall I not deliver them to capital punishment?"

8 tumultus post hoc ortus est. atque iterum: "quin continuistis vocem, in bello contra hostem, non contra imperatorem vestrum necessariam?

8 a tumult arose after this. and again: "why did you not restrain your voice, necessary in war against
the enemy, not against your emperor?"

9 certe campidoctores vestri hanc vos docuerunt contra Sarmatas et Germanos ac Persas emittere, non contra eum, qui acceptam a provincialibus annonam, qui vestem, qui stipendia vobis adtribuit.

9 Surely your camp-instructors taught you to let this shout fly against the Sarmatians and the Germans and the Persians, not against him who allots to you the ration received from the provincials, the clothing, and the stipends.

10 continete igitur vocem truculentam et campo ac bellis necessariam, ne vos hodie omnes uno ore atque una voce Quirites dimittam, et incertum an Quirites.

10 therefore restrain the truculent voice, necessary for the field and for wars, lest today I dismiss you all with one mouth and one voice as Quirites, and it is uncertain whether as Quirites.

11 non enim digni estis, qui vel Romanae plebis sitis, si ius Romanum non agnoscitis."

11 for you are not worthy to be even of the Roman plebs, if you do not acknowledge Roman law."

[LIV] Et cum vehementius fremerent ac ferro quoque minarentur: "deponite", inquit, "dexteras contra hostem erigendas, si fortes sitis, me enim ista non terrent.

[54] And when they roared more vehemently and even threatened with steel:
"put down," he says, "the right hands to be raised against the enemy, if you are brave,
for these things do not terrify me.

2 si enim unum hominem occideritis, non vobis deerit res p., non senatus, non p. R., qui me de vobis vindicet."

2 for if you kill a single man, the Republic will not be lacking to you, nor the Senate, nor the Roman People, who will avenge me upon you."

3 cum nihilo minus post ista fremerent, exclamavit: "Quirites, discedite atque arma deponite."

3 when nonetheless they were roaring no less after these things, he exclaimed: "Quirites, depart and lay down your arms."

4 mirando exemplo depositis armis, depositis etiam sagulis militaribus omnes non ad castra, sed ad devorsoria varia recesserunt.

4 by a wondrous example, with their arms laid down, with their military cloaks also laid aside, all withdrew not to the camp, but to various lodgings.

5 tuncque primum intellectum est, quantum eius severitas posset.

5 and then for the first time it was understood how far his severity could prevail.

6 denique etiam signa stipatores et hi, qui imperatorem circumdederant in castra rettulerunt, arma collecta populus ad Palatium tulit.

6 finally even the bodyguards and those who had surrounded the emperor carried the standards back into the camp, the people carried the collected arms to the Palatine.

7 eam tamen legionem, quam exauctoravit, rogatus post dies XXX, priusquam ad expeditionem Persicam proficisceretur, loco suo restituit eaque pugnante maxime vicit, cum tamen tribunos eius capitali adfecit supplicio, quod per neglegentiam illorum milites apud Dafnem luxuriati essent vel per coniventiam seditionem fecisset exercitus.

7 nevertheless that legion, which he had cashiered, when petitioned after 30 days, before he set out to the Persian expedition, he restored to its place; and, with it fighting, he conquered most notably; yet he subjected its tribunes to capital punishment, because through their negligence the soldiers had luxuriated at Daphne, or through their connivance the army had made a sedition.

[LV] Magno igitur apparatu inde in Persas profectus Artaxerxen regem potentissimum vicit, cum ipse cornua obiret, milites admoneret, subiectus tutelis versaretur, manu plurimum faceret, singulos quosque milites a ud laudem verbis adduceret.

[55] Therefore, with great array, he set out thence against the Persians and defeated Artaxerxes, a most powerful king, since he himself visited the wings, admonished the soldiers, moved about under protection, accomplished very much with his own hand, and by words led each and every soldier to glory.

2 fuso denique fugatoque tanto rege, qui cum septingentis elefantis falcatisque mille et octingentis curribus ad bellum venerat, equitum multis milibus, statim Anthiochiam redit et de praeda, quam Persis diripuit, suum ditavit exercitum, cum et tribunos ea, quae per vicos diripuerant, et duces et ipsos milites habere iussisset.

2 having at last routed and put to flight so great a king, who had come to the war with 700 elephants and with 1,800 scythed chariots, with many thousands of cavalry, he immediately returns to Antioch and, from the booty which he had despoiled from the Persians, enriched his army, since he had ordered that the tribunes, and the leaders, and the soldiers themselves keep the things which they had plundered through the villages.

3 tuncque primum servi Persae apud Romanos fuerunt, quos quidem, quia indigne ferunt Persarum reges quempiam suorum alicubi servire, acceptis praetiis reddidit pretiumque vel his, qui manu ceperant servos, dedit vel in aerarium contulit.

3 and then
for the first time Persian slaves were among the Romans, whom indeed, because the kings of the Persians bear it indignantly that any of their own serve anywhere, he returned upon receiving the prices; and he either gave the price to those who had captured the slaves by hand, or he contributed it to the treasury.

[LVI] Post hoc Romam venit triumphoque pulcherrimo acto apud senatum primum haec verba habuit.

[56] After this he came to Rome, and, with a most splendid triumph celebrated, he first delivered these words before the senate.

2 Ex actis senatus die VII. kl. Octob.: "Persas, p. c., vicimus. longae eloquentiae opus non est, tantum scire debetis, quae illorum arma fuerint, qui apparatus.

2 From the acts of the senate on the 7th day before the Kalends of October:
"Persians, Conscript Fathers, we have conquered. there is no need of long eloquence,
you ought only to know what their arms were, what apparatus."

3 iam primum elefanti septingenti idemque turriti cum sagittariis et onere sagittarum. ex his triginta cepimus, ducenti interfecti iacent, decem et octo perduximus. falcati currus mille DCCC.

3 now first of all: elephants seven hundred, likewise towered with archers and a load of arrows. Of these we captured 30, 200 lie slain, 18 we led away. Scythed chariots 1,800.

4 adducere interfectorum animalium currus ducentos potuimus, sed id, quia et fingi poterat, facere supersedimus.

4 we were able to bring in two hundred wagons of slaughtered animals, but we refrained from doing that, because it too could be fabricated.

5 centum et viginti milia equitum eorum fudimus, catafractarios, quos illi clibanarios vocant, decem milia in bello interemimus, eorum armis nostros armavimus. multos Persarum cepimus eosdemque vendidimus.

5 we routed 120,000 of their cavalry, cataphracts, whom they call clibanarii, 10,000 we slew in battle, with their arms we armed our men. many of the Persians we captured and the same we sold.

6 terras interamnanas, Mesopotamiae scilicet, neclectas ab inpura illa belua recepimus.

6 we recovered the interamnine lands, namely of Mesopotamia, neglected by that impure beast.

7 Artaxerxen, potentissimum regem tam iure quam nomine, fusum fugavimus, ita ut eum terra Persarum fugientem videret, et qua ducta fuerant quondam signa nostrorum, ea rex ipse signis effugit relictis. haec sunt, p. c., gesta.

7 Artaxerxes, the most powerful king both by right and by name, we routed and put to flight, so that the land of the Persians saw him fleeing and where once the standards of our men had been borne, there the king himself fled, his standards left behind. These, Conscript Fathers, are the deeds.

8 eloquentia opus non est: milites divites redeunt, laborem in victoria nemo sentit.

8 eloquence is not needed: the soldiers return rich, no one feels labor in victory.

9 vestrum est supplicationem decernere, ne dis videamur ingrati." adclamatio senatus: "Alexander Auguste, di te servent. Persice maxime, di te servent. vere Parthicus, vere Persicus.

9 it is yours to decree a supplication, lest we seem ungrateful to the gods." acclamation of the senate: "Alexander Augustus, may the gods preserve you. O greatest Persic, may the gods preserve you. truly Parthic, truly Persic.

trophaea tua et nos videmus, victorias et nos videmus.

your trophies we too see, and your victories we too see.

10 iuveni imperatori, patri patriae, pontifici maximo. per te victoriam {de Germanis speramus. per te victoriam} undique praesumimus.

10 to the youthful emperor, father of the fatherland, pontifex maximus. through you we hope for victory {over the Germans. through you we anticipate victory} on all sides.

ille vincit, qui militem regit. dives senatus, dives miles, dives p. R."

he conquers, who rules the soldier. rich the senate, rich the soldier, rich the Roman People."

[LVII] Dimisso senatu Capitolium ascendit atque inde re divina facta et tunicis Persicis in templo locatis contionem huius modi habuit: "Quirites, vicimus Persas. milites divites reduximus. vobis congiarium pollicemur, cras ludos circenses Persicos dabimus."

[57] After dismissing the senate he ascended the Capitol, and from there, with the divine rite performed and Persian tunics placed in the temple, he held an assembly of this sort: "Quirites, we have conquered the Persians. we have brought back the soldiers rich. we promise you a congiary, tomorrow we shall give Persian circus games."

2 haec nos et in annalibus et apud multos repperimus. sed quidam dicunt a servo suo eum proditum non vicisse regem, sed, ne vinceretur, fugisse.

2 we have found these things both in the annals and among many. but
certain say that he, betrayed by his own slave, did not conquer the king, but, lest he be conquered, fled.

3 quod contra multorum opinionem dici non dubium est his, qui plurimos legerint. nam et amisisse illum exercitum dicunt fame, frigore ac morbo, ut Herodianus auctor est contra multorum opinionem.

3 which, contrary to the opinion of many, is not doubtful to those who have read very many writers. For they also say that he lost that army by famine, cold, and disease, as Herodian is an authority against the opinion of many.

4 post hoc cum ingenti gloria comitante senatu equestri ordine atque omni populo circumfusisque undique mulieribus et infantibus, maxime militum coniugibus, pedes Palatium conscendit, cum retro currus triumphalis a quattuor elefantis traheretur.

4 after this with immense glory, the senate, the equestrian order, and all the people accompanying, and with women and infants surrounding on all sides, especially the wives of the soldiers, he ascended the Palatine on foot, while behind a triumphal chariot was being drawn by four elephants.

5 levabatur manibus hominum Alexander, vixque illi per horas quattuor ambulare permissum est, undique omnibus clamantibus: "salva Roma, salva res p., quia salvus est Alexander."

5 Alexander was lifted by the hands of the people, and scarcely for four hours was he allowed to walk, with everyone on all sides shouting: "Rome is safe, the Republic is safe, because Alexander is safe."

6 alia die actis circensibus et item ludis scenicis deinceps congiarium populo Romano dedit.

6 on another day
the Circensian games having been held and likewise the scenic games, thereafter he gave a congiary to the Roman
people.

7 puellas et pueros, quemammodum Antoninus Faustinianas instituerat, Mammaeanas et Mammaeanos instituit.

7 girls and boys, just as Antoninus had instituted Faustinian girls, he instituted Mammaean girls and Mammaean boys.

[LVIII] Actae sunt res feliciter et in Mauretania Tingitana per Furium Celsum et in Illyrico per Varium Macrinum adfinem eius et in Armenia per Iunium Palmatum, atque ex omnibus locis ei tabellae laureatae sunt delatae. quibus in senatu et apud populum lectis vario tempore, cum etiam de Isauria optatae venissent, omnibus nominibus est ornatus.

[58] Affairs were conducted felicitously also in Mauretania Tingitana by Furius Celsus, and in Illyricum by Varius Macrinus, his in‑law, and in Armenia by Junius Palmatus, and from all places laurelled dispatches were brought to him. When these had been read in the senate and before the people at various times, when even welcome ones had come from Isauria, he was adorned with every title.

2 his vero, qui rem p. bene gesserant, consularia ornamenta decreta sunt, additiis etiam sacerdotiis et agrorum possessionibus his, qui erant pauperes et aevo iam graves.

2 but to those who had managed the republic well,
consular ornaments were decreed, with priesthoods also added,
and possessions of fields to those who were poor and now weighed down by age.

3 captivos diversarum nationum amicis donavit, si aetas puerilis aut iuvenalis permisit, si qui tamen regii aut nobiliores fuerunt, eos militiae, non tamen magnae deputavit.

3 he donated captives of diverse nations to friends, if a boyish or youthful age permitted; if any, however, were regal or nobler, he deputed them to military service, yet not to high command.

4 sola, quae de hostibus capta sunt, limitaneis ducibus et militibus donavit, ita ut eorum essent, si heredes eorum militarent, nec umquam ad privatos pertinerent, dicens attentius eos militaturos, si etiam sua rura defenderent.

4 only the things which were taken from the enemies he bestowed upon the frontier leaders and soldiers, so that they should be theirs, if their heirs served in the army, and that they should never pertain to private persons, saying that they would soldier more attentively, if they also defended their own fields.

5 addidit sane his et animalia et servos, ut possent colere, quod acceperant, ne per inopiam hominum vel per senectutem possidentium desererentur rura vicina barbariae, quod turpissimum ille ducebat.

5 he indeed added to these both animals and slaves, so that they might be able to cultivate what they had received, lest through want of men or through the senectitude of the possessors the farmlands neighboring barbarism be deserted, which he considered most disgraceful.

[LIX] Post haec cum ingenti amore apud populum et senatum viveret, et sperantibus victoriam cunctis et invitis eum dimittentibus ad Germanicum bellum profectus est, deducentibus cunctis per centum et centum quinquaginta milia.

[59] After these things, since he lived with immense love among the people and the senate, and with all hoping for victory and unwillingly sending him off, he set out for the Germanic war, with all escorting him, to the number of 100,000 and 150,000.

2 erat autem gravissimum rei p. atque ipsi, quod Germanorum vastationibus Gallia diripiebatur.

2 but the most grave thing for the Republic and for himself was that Gaul was being despoiled by the devastations of the Germans.

3 pudoremque augebat, quod victis iam Parthis ea natio inminebat rei publicae cervicibus, quae semper etiam minusculis imperatoribus subiecta videbatur.

3 and it increased the shame, that, with the Parthians now vanquished, that nation was looming at the throat of the Republic, which had always seemed subject even to very minor emperors.

4 magnis igitur itineribus, laetis militibus contendit. sed cum ibi quoque seditiosas legiones conperisset, abici eas praecepit.

4 therefore by great marches, with the soldiers glad he pressed on. but when there too he had discovered seditious legions, he ordered them to be cashiered.

5 verum Gallicanae mentes, ut sese habent durae ac retorridae et saepe imperatoribus graves, severitatem hominis nimiam, et longe maiorem post Heliogabalum non tulerunt.

5 but indeed the Gallic minds, as they are hard and stubborn and often burdensome to emperors, did not endure the man’s excessive severity, and far greater after Heliogabalus.

6 denique agentem eum cum paucis in Brittannia, ut alii volunt in Gallia, in vico cui Sicilia nomen est, non ex omnium sententia, sed latrocinantium modo quidam milites et hi praecipue, qui Heliogabali praemiis effloruerunt, cum severum principem pati non possent, occiderunt.

6 finally, while he was conducting operations
with a few in Britain, as others would have it, in Gaul, in a village whose name is Sicily
its name is, not by everyone's judgment, but
in the manner of brigands certain soldiers, and these especially, who of Heliogabalus
had flourished by the rewards, since they could not endure a severe prince,
killed him.

7 multi dicunt a Maximino inmissos tirones, qui ei ad exercendum dati fuerant, eum occidisse, multi aliter;

7 many say that recruits sent in by Maximinus, who had been assigned to him for training, killed him; many otherwise;

8 a militibus tamen constat, cum iniuriose quasi in puerum eundem et matrem eius avaram et cupidam multa dixissent.

8 nevertheless, it is established by the soldiers, that, when they had said many insulting things against him as if he were a boy, and against his mother, greedy and covetous.

[LX] Imperavit annis XIII diebus VIIII. vixit annis XXVIIII mensibus III diebus VII.

[60] He ruled for 13 years, 9 days. He lived for 29 years, 3 months 7 days.

2 egit omnia ex consilio matris, cum qua occisus est.

2 he carried out everything by the counsel of his mother, with whom he was slain.

3 Omina mortis haec fuerunt: cum natalem diem commendaret, hostia cruenta effugit et, ut se civiliter generebat ac permixtus populo erat, albam eius vestem, cum qua constiterat, cruentavit.

3 These were the omens of death: when
he was commending his natal day, the bloody victim escaped and, as he was comporting himself civilly and was mingled with the people, it bloodied his white garment, with which he had taken his stand.

4 laurus in palatio eius civitatis, a qua proficiscebatur ad bellum, ingens et antiqua tota subito decidit.

4 the laurel in the palace of that city, from which he was setting out to war, huge and ancient, suddenly fell down entirely.

5 arbores fici tres quae ficus eas ferrent, quibus Alexandrianarum nomen est, subito ante illius tentorium deciderunt, cum tentoria imperatoria his adnexa essent.

5 three fig trees which bore figs on them
which are called 'Alexandrian', suddenly before his tent
fell down, while the imperial tents were fastened to them.

6 mulier Dryas eunti exclamavit Gallico sermone: "vadas nec victoriam speres nec te militi tuo credas."

6 the woman Dryas, as he was going, exclaimed in the Gallic tongue: "go, nor hope for victory nor trust yourself to your soldiery."

7 ut tribunal ascendit, ut contionaretur et faustum aliquid diceret, ita coepit: "occiso imperatore Heliogabalo."

7 as he ascended the tribunal, to address the assembly and say something auspicious, thus he began: "with the emperor Heliogabalus slain."

8 hoc tamen nomini fuit, quod iturus ad bellum milites adloqui minus fausta oratione coeptaverat.

8 this, however was to his discredit, that when he was about to go to war he had begun to address the soldiers with a less auspicious oration.

[LXI] Sed haec omnia vehementissime contempsit profectusque ad bellum in loco supra dicto ita occisus est:

[61] But he most vehemently contemned all these things and, having set out to war, in the place aforesaid he was thus slain:

2 pranderat forte publico, ut solebat, convivio, id est apertis papilionibus cibo militari accepto, neque enim aliud a discutientibus militibus in tentoriis est repertum.

2 he had by chance lunched at a public banquet, as he was accustomed, that is, with the pavilions open, having received military rations, for nothing else was found by the soldiers rummaging in the tents.

3 et cum quiesceret post convivium, hora diei ferme septima unus ex Germanis, qui scutarium officium sustinebat, ingressus dormientibus cunctis, solo tamen imperatore intervigilante visus est;

3 and when he was resting after the banquet, at about the seventh hour of the day, one of the Germans, who was sustaining the office of shield‑bearer,
having entered while all were sleeping, with the emperor alone, however, keeping intermittent watch,
was seen;

4 cui Alexander "quid ist hic", inquit, "contubernalis? num aliquid de hostibus nuntias?"

4 to whom Alexander said, "what is this here, tentmate? surely you are not announcing anything about the enemy?"

5 at ille metu perterritus et sperans non posse se evadere, quod in tentorium principis inruisset, ad contubernales suos venit eosque ad durum principem interimendum cohortatus est.

5 but he, terrified with fear and hoping that he could not escape, because he had rushed into the emperor’s tent, came to his tent-mates and exhorted them to put the harsh emperor to death.

6 qui subito plures armatique ingressi inermes et obsistentes contruncarunt, ipsum plurimis ictibus confoderunt.

6 who suddenly, entering in greater numbers and armed, cut down the unarmed and those opposing, and pierced him with very many blows.

7 aliqui dicunt omnino nihil dictum, sed tantum a militibus clamatum "exi, recede"; atque ita obtruncatum iuvenem optimum . . . . .

7 some say that nothing at all was said, but only that by the soldiers it was shouted "come out, withdraw"; and thus the excellent young man was cut down . . . . .

8 sed omnis apparatus militaris, qui postea est ductus in Germaniam a Maximino, Alexandri fuit et potentissimus quidem per Armenios et Osdroenos et Parthos et omnis generis homines.

8 but all the military apparatus, which afterward was led into Germany by Maximinus, belonged to Alexander, and was indeed most powerful through the Armenians and Osroenians and Parthians and men of every kind.

[LXII] Contempsisse Alexandrum mortem cum ferocitas mentis, qua militem semper adtrivit, tum etiam illa declarant:

[62] That Alexander contemned death both the ferocity of mind, by which he always wore down the soldiery, and moreover those things as well declare:

2 Thrasybulus mathematicus illi amicissimus fuit; qui cum ei dixisset necessitatem esse, ut gladio barbarico periret, primo laetatus est, quod sibi mortem bellicam et imperatoriam crederet inminere;

2 Thrasybulus the mathematician, his most intimate friend, was to him; who, when he had said to him
that there was a necessity that he would perish by a barbarian sword, at first he rejoiced, because
he believed that a warlike and imperatorial death was impending for him;

3 deinde disputavit ostenditque optimos quosque violenta morte consumptos, cum diceret ipsum Alexandrum, cuius nomen teneret, Pompeium, Caesarem, Demosthenem, Tullium et ceteros insignes viros, qui non quieta morte oppetissent;

3 then he argued and showed that all the very best had been consumed by a violent death, when he said that Alexander himself, whose name he bore, Pompey, Caesar, Demosthenes, Tullius, and the other distinguished men had not met a quiet death;

4 tantumque animi habuit, ut putaret se diis conparandum, si in bello periret.

4 and he had so much spirit that he thought himself comparable to the gods, if he were to perish in war.

5 sed res eum fefellit: nam et gladio barbarico et scutari barbari manu, verum non in bello sed belli tempore, perit.

5 but the outcome deceived him: for he perished both by a barbaric sword and by the hand of a barbarian shield-bearer,
indeed not in war but in wartime.

[LXIII] Mortem eius milites et qui exauctorati ab eo quondam fuerant, gravissime tulerunt atque auctores caedis trucidarunt.

[63] His death the soldiers, and those who had once been exauctorated by him, bore most grievously, and they butchered the authors of the killing.

2 populus vero Romanus senatusque omnis cum provincialibus cunctis neque tristius umquam neque asperius acceperunt, simul quod successoris asperitas atque rusticitas Maximini, utpote hominis militaris, cui cum filio post eum imperium delatum est, graviorem fati necessitatem videbatur ostendere. senatus eum in deos rettulit.

2 but the Roman people and the whole senate, together with all the provincials, never received it more sadly nor more harshly, at the same time because the asperity and rusticity of his successor Maximinus, inasmuch as he was a military man, to whom, along with his son, the imperium was conferred after him, seemed to show a graver necessity of fate. The senate enrolled him among the gods.

3 cenotafium in Gallia, Romae sepulchrum amplissimum meruit.

3 He earned a cenotaph in Gaul, and at Rome a most ample sepulcher.

4 dati sunt et sodales, qui Alexandriani appellati sunt; addita et festivitas matris nomine atque ipsius, quae hodieque Romae religiosissime celebratur natali eius die.

4 there were also given sodales, who were appellated the Alexandriani; and a festivity was added in the name of his mother and of himself, which even today at Rome is most religiously celebrated on his natal day.

5 Causa occidendi eius ab aliis haec fuisse perhibetur, quod mater eius relicto bello Germanico orientem ad iactantiam sui vellet redire atque ob hoc esset iratus exercitus.

5 The cause of his killing is held by others to have been this: that his mother, the Germanic war having been left, wanted to return to the Orient for the jactancy of herself, and on account of this the army was angry.

6 sed haec ab amatoribus Maximini ficta sunt, qui videri noluerunt imperatorem optimum ab amico suo interfectum contra iura humana atque divina.

6 but these things were fabricated by the admirers of Maximinus, who did not wish it to seem that the best emperor had been slain by his own friend, against human and divine laws.

[LXIV] Hactenus imperium p. R. eum principem habuit, qui diutius imperaret, post eum certatim inruentibus et aliis semenstribus, aliis annuis, plerisque per biennium, ad summum per triennium imperantibus usque ad eos principes, qui latius imperium tetenderunt, Aurelianum dico et deinceps.

[64] Thus far the empire of the Roman People had as princeps the one who ruled longer; after him, with rivals rushing in in emulation, some ruling for six months, others for a year, most for a biennium, at the utmost for a triennium, down to those emperors who extended the empire more broadly—I mean Aurelian and thereafter.

2 de quibus, si vita subpeditaverit, ea, quae conperta fuerint, publicabimus.

2 concerning which, if life shall have permitted, those things which shall have been ascertained we will publish.

3 Reprehensa sunt in Alexandro haec: quod Syrus esse nolebat, quod aurum amabat, quod suspiciosissimus erat, quod vectigalia multa inveniebat, quod se Magnum Alexandrum videri volebat, quod nimis severus in milites erat, quod curas de privatis agebat. quae omnia in re p. instituerat.

3 These things were criticized in Alexander: that he did not wish to be a Syrian, that he loved gold, that he was most suspicious, that he kept devising many taxes, that he wished to seem Alexander the Great, that he was too severe toward the soldiers, that he took up concerns about private matters. All of which he had established in the commonwealth.

4 Scio sane plerosque negare hunc a senatu Caesarem appellatum esse, sed a militibus – qui verum prorsus ignorant – , dicere praeterea non hunc fuisse consobrinum Heliogabali.

4 I certainly know that many deny that he was called Caesar by the senate, but [say he was] by the soldiers—who are utterly ignorant of the truth—; they say, moreover, that he was not the cousin of Heliogabalus.

5 qui, ut nos sequantur, historicos eius temporis legant et maxime Acholium, qui et itinera huius principis scripsit.

5 let them, so that they may follow us, read the historians of that time, and especially Acholius, who also wrote the itineraries of this prince.

[LXV] Soles quaerere, Constantine maxime, quid sit, quod hominem Syrum et alienigenam talem principem fecerit, cum tot Romani generis, tot aliarum provinciarum repperiantur improbi, impuri, crudeles, abiecti, iniusti, libidinosi.

[LXV] You are accustomed to inquire, most great Constantine, what it is that has made a Syrian man and an alien-born such an emperor, when so many of Roman stock, so many of other provinces, are found depraved, impure, cruel, abject, unjust, libidinous.

2 iam primum possum de bonorum virorum respondere sententia potuisse natura, quae ubique una mater est, bonum principem nasci, deinde timore, quod pessimus esset occisus, hunc optimum factum.

2 First of all, I can answer, according to the judgment of good men, that nature, which everywhere is one mother, could have caused a good prince to be born; then, through fear, because the worst had been slain, this one was made the best.

3 sed quia verum est suggerendum clementiae ac pietati tuae, lecta reservabo.

3 but because the truth is to be suggested to your clemency and piety, I will reserve the chosen matters.

4 notum est illud pietati tuae, quod in Mario Maximo legisti, meliorem esse rem p. et prope tutiorem, in qua princeps malus est, ea, in qua sunt amici principis mali, si quidem unus malus potest a plurimis bonis corrigi, multi autem mali non possunt ab uno quamvis bono ulla ratione superari.

4 that is known to your piety, which you have read in Marius Maximus: that the republic is better and almost safer in which the emperor is evil than that in which there are friends of an evil emperor; since indeed one evil man can be corrected by very many good men, whereas many evil men cannot by one, however good, be overcome by any means.

5 et id quidem ab Homullo ipsi Traiano dictum est, cum ille diceret Domitianum pessimum fuisse, amicos autem bonos habuisse, atque ideo Claudium magis odio fuisse, qui rem p. temperandam vitiosissimis libertis concesserit, illo, quia melius est unum malum pati quam multos.

5 and that, indeed, was said by Homullus to Trajan himself, when he was saying that Domitian had been the worst, but had had good friends, and that for that reason Claudius was more odious, because he had conceded the commonwealth to be administered by the most vicious freedmen, than that man, since it is better to suffer one evil than many.

[LXVI] Set ut ad rem redeam, Alexander quidem et ipse optimus fuit . . . – nam hoc nemo vult nisi bonus – et optimae matris consiliis usus est.

[66] But, to return to the matter, Alexander indeed was himself best . . . – for no one wants this unless he is good – and he made use of the counsels of his best mother.

2 at tamen amicos sanctos et venerabiles habuit, non malitiosos, non furaces, non factiosos, non callidos, non ad malum consentientes, non bonorum inimicos, non libidinosos, non crudeles, non circumventores sui, non inrisores, non qui si illum quasi fatuum circumducerent, sed sanctos, venerabiles, continentes, religiosos, amantes principis sui et qui de illo nec in ipsi riderent nec risui esse vellent, qui nihil venderent, nihil mentirentur, nihil fingerent, numquam deciperent existimationem principis sui, sed amarent.

2 but nevertheless he had friends holy and venerable, not malicious, not thievish, not factious, not cunning, not consenting to evil, not enemies of good men, not lustful, not cruel, not circumventers of him, not mockers, not such as would lead him about as if a fool, but holy, venerable, continent, religious, lovers of their prince, and who neither would laugh at him nor would wish to be for laughter, who would sell nothing, tell no lies, feign nothing, would never deceive the judgment of their prince, but would love him.

3 huc accedit quod eunuchos nec in consiliis nec in ministeriis habuit, qui soli principes perdunt, dum eos more gentium aut regum Persarum volunt vivere, , qui eos a populo et amicis s[im]ummovent; qui internuntii sunt aliud quam respondetur saepe referentes, claudentes principem suum et agentes ante omnia, ne quid sciat. qui cum empti sint et pueri servi fuerint, quid tandem possunt boni sapere?

3 to this is added the fact that he had eunuchs neither in counsels nor in
ministries, who alone destroy princes, while they want them to live in the manner of the nations or
of the kings of the Persians, , who remove them from the people and from friends;
who are go-betweens, often reporting something other than what is answered,
shutting up their prince and acting before all else that he may know nothing. who, since they have been bought and have been boy slaves, what, pray,
good can they possibly know?

4 erat denique eius ipsius sententia: "ego de praefectorum et consulum et senatorum capitibus mancipia aere empta iudicare non patior."

4 it was, finally, his own sentiment: "I do not allow slaves bought for coin to judge concerning the heads (i.e., lives) of prefects and consuls and senators."

[LXVII] Scio, imperator, quod periculo ista dicantur apud imperatorem, qui talibus serviit, sed salva re p. posteaquam intellegisti, quid mali clades istae habeant et quemammodum principes circumveniant, et tu eos eo loci habes, ut nec clamide uti iusseris, sed de necessitatibus domesticis delegaris.

[67] I know, emperor, that these things are spoken with peril before an emperor who was in servitude to such men; but with the commonwealth safe, after you understood what evil these disasters contain and how they circumvent princes, you too hold them in such a position that you have not ordered them to wear the chlamys, but that they be assigned to domestic necessities.

2 iam illud insigne, quod solum intra Palatium praeter praefectum, et Ulpianum quidem, neminem vidit nec dedit alicui facultatem vel fumorum vendendorum de se vel sibi de aliis male loquendi maxime occiso Thrurino, qui illum quasi fatuum et vecordem saepe vendiderat.

2 now that notable mark, that alone within the Palace, except for the prefect—and Ulpian, indeed—he saw no one, nor did he give to anyone the faculty either of “selling smokes” about himself or to himself of speaking ill about others, especially after Thrurinus was slain, who had often “sold” him as though a fool and witless.

3 his accessit, quod amicos et parentes Alexander si malos repperit, aut punivit aut, si vetus vel amicitia vel necessitudo non sivit puniri, dimisit a se dicens: "his carior est mihi tota res p."

3 To these there was added this, that if Alexander found friends and relatives to be bad, he either punished them or, if old friendship or connection did not allow them to be punished, he dismissed them from himself, saying: "the whole commonwealth is dearer to me than these."

[LXVIII] Et ut scias, qui viri in eius consilio fuerint: Fabius Sabinus, Sabini insignis viri filius, Cato temporis sui, Domitius Ulpianus, iuris peritissimus, Aelius Gordianus, Gordiani imperatoris . . . ipsa res, viri insignis; Iulius Paulus, iuris peritissimus; Claudius Venacus, orator amplissimus; Catilius Severus, cognatus eius, vir omnium doctissimus; Aelius Serenianus, omnium vir sanctissimus; Quintilius Marcellus, quo meliorem ne historiae quidem continent.

[68] And so that you may know what men were in his council: Fabius Sabinus, the son of Sabinus, a distinguished man, a Cato of his time; Domitius Ulpian, most skilled in law; Aelius Gordianus, of the emperor Gordian . . . the very fact speaks, a distinguished man; Julius Paulus, most skilled in law; Claudius Venacus, a most eminent orator; Catilius Severus, his kinsman, a man most learned of all; Aelius Serenianus, a man most holy of all; Quintilius Marcellus, than whom not even the histories contain a better.

2 his tot atque aliis talibus viris quid mali potuit cogitari vel fieri, cum ad bonum consentirent?

2 with these so many men and with other such men, what evil could have been conceived or done, since they were consenting to the good?

3 et hos quidem malorum cohors depulerat, quae circumvenerat Alexandrum primis diebus, sed prudentia iuvenis occisis atque depulsis et amicitia ista sancta convaluit.

3 and indeed a cohort of the wicked, which had encircled Alexander in the first days, had driven off these men, but the prudence of the young man, with them having been slain and driven off, and that sacred friendship, convalesced.

4 hi sunt, qui bonum principem Surum fecerunt, et item amici mali, qui Romanos pessimos etiam posteris tradiderunt suis vitiis laborantes. conspectus retro porro.

4 these are those who made Surus a good prince, and likewise the evil friends, who handed down the Romans as most wicked even to posterity, laboring under their own vices. a survey backward forward.