Paulus Diaconus: HISTORIA ROMANA

Hucusque historiam Eutropius composuit, cui tamen aliqua Paulus diaconus addidit, iuuente domna Adelperga christianissima Beneuenti ductrice, coniuge domni Arichis sapientissimi et catholici principis; deinceps quae secuntur idem Paulus ex diuersis auctoribus proprio stilo contexuit.

Up to this point Eutropius composed the history, to which nevertheless some things Paulus the Deacon added, with the aid of Lady Adelperga, most-Christian duchess of Benevento, wife of Lord Arichis, most wise and Catholic prince; thereafter the things that follow the same Paulus wove together from diverse authors in his own style.

INCIPIT LIBER VNDECIMVS

HERE BEGINS BOOK 11

1 Anno ab Vrbe condita millesimo centesimo octauo decimo Valentinianus tricesimus octauus, e Pannonia Ciualensi editus, cum esset tribunus scutariorum, apud Niceam Augustus appellatus fratrem Valentem Constantinopolim in communionem regni adsumpsit. Huius pater Gratianus, mediocri stirpe ortus apud Cibalas, funarius appellatus est, eo quod uenalicium funem portanti quinque milites nequierint extorquere; eo merito adscitus in militiam usque ad praefecturae praetorianae potentiam conscendit; ob cuius apud milites commendationem Valentiniano imperium resistenti inlatum est. Qui cum sub Iuliano Augusto christianitatis integram fidem gereret, cum, ut dictum est, scutariorum tribunus esset, iussus ab imperatore sacrilego aut immolare idolis aut militia excedere sponte discessit; nec mora Iuliano interfecto Iouianoque mortuo, qui pro nomine Christi amiserat tribunatum, in locum persecutoris sui accepit imperium.

1 In the year from the founding of the City 1188, Valentinian the 38th, born in Pannonia Civalensis, having been tribune of the scutarii, was proclaimed Augustus at Nicaea and took his brother Valens into the communion of the kingdom at Constantinople. His father Gratian, sprung from a humble line at Cibalae, was called Funarius, because, while vending a rope, five soldiers could not extort payment from him; for that reason he was admitted into the soldiery and rose to the power of the praetorian prefecture; by whose commendation among the soldiers the imperial power was conferred on Valentinian, who resisted it. He, while under the reign of Julian Augustus, upheld the intact faith of Christianity; and since, as has been said, he was tribune of the scutarii, when ordered by the sacrilegious emperor either to immolate to idols or to quit the military, he voluntarily withdrew; nor long after, Julian being slain and Jovian dead — who, for the name of Christ, had lost his tribunate — did he accept the empire in the place of his persecutor.

Qui cum iam anno tertio imperii cum Valente fratre ageret, Gratianum filium necdum bene puberem oratu socrus et uxoris Augustum creauit.

Who, when he was already in the third year of his reign with his brother Valens, made Gratian his son—not yet fully of age—Augustus at the request of his mother-in-law and of his wife.

2 Eodem anno apud Atrebatas uera lana de nubibus pluuiae mixta defluxit. Constantinopolim grande mirae magnitudinis decidens nonnullos hominum extinxit. His diebus Procopius apud Constantinopolim tyrannidem inuadens apud Frigiam Salutarem extinctus est plurimique eius partis caesi atque proscripti sunt.

2 In the same year, among the Atrebates true wool, mingled with rain, descended from the clouds. A great thing of wondrous magnitude fell upon Constantinople and extinguished several men. In these days Procopius, having made an assault upon the tyranny at Constantinople, was killed at Phrygia Salutaris, and very many of his party were slain and proscribed.

Circa haec tempora terraemotu per totum orbem facto ita mare litus egressum est ut Siciliae multarumque insularum urbes concussae et subrutae innumerabiles populos ruinis oppresserint.

Around these times, an earthquake having occurred throughout the whole orb, the sea advanced onto the shore so that the cities of Sicily and of many islands, shaken and swept away, and innumerable peoples were crushed beneath the ruins.

3 Valens interea ab Eodoxio Arrianae hereseos episcopo baptizatus in saeuissimam heresim dilapsus est conatusque catholicos persequi fratris auctoritate conpressus est. Ea tempestate Athanaricus rex Gothorum Christianos in gente sua crudelissime persecutus ad coronam martyrii sublimauit.

3 Valens meanwhile, having been baptized by Eodoxius, bishop of the Arian heresy, lapsed into the most savage heresy, and his attempt to persecute the Catholics was checked by the authority of his brother. At that time Athanaric, king of the Goths, most cruelly persecuted Christians among his people and exalted them to the crown of martyrdom.

4 Valentinianus Saxones, gentem in Oceani litoribus et paludibus inuiis sitam, uirtute atque agilitate terribilem, Romanis finibus eruptionem meditantem, in Francorum finibus oppressit. Burgundionum quoque plus quam octoginta milia armatorum ripae Reni fluminis insederunt, qui tamen non multo post tempore Christiani effecti sunt. Valentinus inter haec in Brittania, antequam tyrannidem inuaderet, oppressus est.

4 Valentinian subdued the Saxons, a people dwelling on the shores of the Ocean and in impassable marshes, formidable in courage and agility, meditating an incursion into the Roman frontiers, within the borders of the Franks. More than eighty thousand armed Burgundians likewise settled upon the banks of the river Rhine, who, however, not long afterwards became Christians. Valentinian meanwhile, in these events, was overthrown in Britain before he could invade the tyranny.

5 Valentinianus uero anno imperii sui undecimo, cum Sarmatae sese per Pannonias diffudissent easque uastarent, bellum in eos parans, dum apud Brigitionem oppidum Quadorum legationi responderet, anno aeui quinto et quinquagesimo subita effusione sanguinis, quae Grece apoplexis uocatur, uoce amissa sensu integer expirauit. Quod quidem intemperantia cibi ac securitate, qua artus diffuderat, accedisse plures retulere.

5 Valentinian, however, in the 11th year of his reign, when the Sarmatians had spread themselves through the Pannonias and were devastating them, preparing war against them, while at Brigitionem, a town of the Quadi, he was replying to a legation, by a sudden effusion of blood, which in Greek is called apoplexy, with his voice gone, expired with his senses intact. Many indeed reported that this had been brought on by intemperance of food and by the security with which he had relaxed his limbs.

6 Fuit autem imperator egregius, uultu decens, sollers ingenio, animo grauis, moribus Aureliano similis, sermone cultissimus, quamquam esset ad loquendum parcus, seuerus, uehemens, infestus uitiis maximeque auaritiae. Seueritatem tamen eius nimiam et parcitatem quidam crudelitatem et auaritiam interpretabantur; acer in his quae memoratus sum Adrianoque proximus, pingere uenustissime, meminisse, noua arma meditari, fingere cera seu limo simulacra, prudenter uti locis, temporibus, sermone; atque, ut breuiter concludam, si ei foedis hominibus, quibus sese quasi fidissimis prudentissimisque dederat, carere aut probatis uti licuisset, perfectus haut dubie princeps enituisset.

6 There was moreover an eminent emperor, comely in countenance, clever in genius, grave in spirit, in manners like Aurelian, most cultivated in speech, although he was sparing in speaking, severe, vehement, hostile to vices and above all to avarice. Yet some interpreted his excessive severity and parsimony as cruelty and greed; keen in those things which I have recounted and close to Hadrian, to paint most charmingly, to remember, to devise new arms, to fashion likenesses in wax or clay, to use prudently places, times, and speech; and, to conclude briefly, if it had been permitted him to be free of foul men, to whom he had entrusted himself as if most faithful and most prudent, or to employ approved men, he would doubtless have striven to be a perfect prince.

7 Anno ab Vrbe condita millesimo centesimo uicesimo octauo Valens tricesimus nonus imperium Orientis quattuor annis Valentiniano mortuo tenuit, Gratiano Valentiniani filio in Occidentali parte regnante, qui sibi Valentinianum fratrem paruulum admodum socium creauit imperii. Hic enim Valentinianus de Iustina secunda Valentiniani uxore natus erat; nam Valentinianus senior dudum laudante uxore sua pulchritudinem Iustinae sibi eam sociauit in matrimonio legesque propter illam concessit, ut omnes, qui uoluissent, inpune bina matrimonia susciperent; nam ideo populosas fore gentes, quia hoc apud eas sollemne est. Accepta ergo, ut diximus, Valentinianus Iustina edidit ex ipsa quattuor filios, Valentinianum, quem sibi, ut praemisimus, Gratianus sociauit in regno, et Gratam Iustamque et Gallam.

7 In the year from the founding of the City 1128 Valens, the twenty‑ninth, held the empire of the East for four years after Valentinian’s death, Gratian ruling on the Western side, who made Valentinianus, his very little brother, an associate of the empire. For this Valentinianus was born of Iustina the second, Valentinian’s wife; for the elder Valentinianus, long praising the beauty of Iustina to himself, allied her to him in marriage and granted laws on her account, so that all who wished might, with impunity, undertake two marriages; for he thought peoples would be populous, because this among them is customary. Therefore, as we have said, Valentinianus begot from Iustina herself four children: Valentinianus, whom, as we prefaced, Gratian made his colleague in the rule, and Grata and Iusta and Galla.

8 Valens igitur impietatem, quam dudum meditatus fuerat, operibus explens, lege data ut monachi militarent, nolentes per tribunos et milites fustibus iussit interfici; quorum innumera multitudo per uastas tunc Aegypti solitudines effusa praecipueque apud Nitriam martyrii consecuta est palmam. Ac per singulas ubique prouincias aduersus catholicas ecclesias et rectae fidei populos diuersa sunt inlata incommoda.

8 Valens therefore, having fulfilled the impiety which he long had meditated by deeds, — by a law promulgated that monks should serve as soldiers — ordered the unwilling to be put to death with cudgels by tribunes and soldiers; whose innumerable multitude, poured forth through the vast deserts of Egypt at that time, and especially at Nitria, attained the palm of martyrdom. And throughout every province various hardships were everywhere inflicted against the catholic churches and the peoples of the right faith.

9 Interea in Africae partibus Firmus sese excitatis Maurorum gentibus regem constituens, Africam Mauritaniamque uastauit. Contra quem Theodosius, Theodosii qui post imperio praefuit pater, a Valentiniano missus effusas Maurorum gentes multis proeliis fregit, ipsum Firmum afflictum et oppressum ad mortem coegit; qui postquam experientissima prouidentia Africam composuisset, stimulante inuidia iussus a Valente interfici, apud Carthaginem baptizari in remissionem peccatorum praeoptauit ac demum gloriosa morte occumbens percussori iugulum ultro praebuit.

9 Meanwhile in the regions of Africa Firmus, raising up the Moorish peoples and setting himself up as king, ravaged Africa and Mauretania. Against him Theodosius — Theodosius, the father who afterwards presided over the empire — sent by Valentinian, shattered the dispersed Moorish hosts in many battles, and forced Firmus himself, bruised and pressed to death; who, after with most experienced providence he had settled Africa, being by envy urged and ordered to be put to death by Valens, chose to be baptized at Carthage for the remission of sins, and at last, falling by a glorious death, voluntarily offered his throat to the executioner.

10 Ea tempestate gens Hunnorum, diu inaccessis seclausa montibus, repentina rabie percita exarsit in Gothos eosque conturbatos ab antiquis sedibus expulit. Gothi transito Danubio fugientes a Valente sine ulla foederis pactione suscepti sunt. Deinde propter intolerabilem auaritiam Maximi ducis fame conpulsi in arma surgentes, uicto Valentis exercitu, sese per Trachias infudere, omnia caedibus incendiisque uastantes.

10 At that time the nation of the Huns, long shut up in inaccessible mountains, kindled with sudden fury and burst upon the Goths, throwing them into confusion and driving them from their ancestral seats. The Goths, crossing the Danube in flight, were received by Valens without any treaty of foedus. Then, driven by the intolerable avarice of the duke Maximus and by famine to take up arms, and with Valens’s army having been vanquished, they poured themselves through Trachias, devastating all things with slaughter and fire.

Quibus cognitis Valens Antiochia egressus, cum aduersus Gothos exercitum aptaret, sera peccati paenitentia stimulatus episcopos ceterosque sanctos reuocare de exiliis imperauit.

When these things were learned Valens, having departed Antioch, while he fitted out an army against the Goths, stirred by a late penitence for his sin, commanded that the bishops and the other saints be recalled from their exiles.

10 Denique lacrimabili cum Gothis bello commisso ad primum Gothorum impetum perturbatae Romanorum equitum turmae nudatos pedes deseruere. Qui mox equitatu hostium septi ac sagittarum nubibus obruti, cum amentes metu huc illucque fugitarent, funditus interiere. Ipse imperator cum, sagitta saucius uersusque in fugam, ob dolorem nimium saepe equo laberetur atque in uilissimam casulam deportatus esset, superuenientibus Gothis ignique supposito concrematus est.

10 Finally, when a doleful war had been joined with the Goths, at the first onset of the Goths the disordered squadrons of Roman horse deserted their mounts and fled naked‑foot. Those men were soon, hemmed in by the enemy’s cavalry and buried under clouds of arrows, overwhelmed and, maddened by fear as they fled here and there, utterly perished. The emperor himself, having been wounded by an arrow and put to flight, because of excessive pain often slipped from his horse and was carried into a most wretched hut; the Goths coming upon him and setting fire beneath it, he was burned to death.

Denique petentibus Gothis, ut eis episcopos mitteret, a quibus fidei rudimenta susciperent, Valens doctores ad eos Arriani dogmatis misit, sicque uniuersa illa gens Arriana effecta est. Iusto itaque Dei iudicio ab illis igne crematus est, quos ipse perfidiae succenderat igni. Gothi uero imperatore occiso iam securi ad urbem properant Constantinopolitanam, ubi tunc Dominica Augusta Valentis uxor multa pecunia plebi largita ab urbis uastatione hostem submouit, regnum cognatis fideliter uiriliterqne seruauit.

Finally, when the Goths requested that he send them bishops from whom they might receive the rudiments of the faith, Valens sent to them teachers of the Arian dogma, and so that whole people was made Arian. Therefore, by the just judgment of God he was burned by them with fire — those whom he himself had kindled with the fire of perfidy. The Goths, however, the emperor having been slain, now with the axe hastened to the city Constantinople, where then the Lady Augusta, Valens’ wife, having bestowed much money on the populace, drove off the enemy from the devastation of the city, and faithfully and manfully preserved the realm for her kinsmen.

12 Anno ab Vrbe condita millesimo centesimo tricesimo secundo Gratianus quadragesimus ab Augusto post mortem Valentis sex annis imperium tenuit, quamuis iamdudum antea cum patruo Valente et cum Valentiniano fratre regnaret. Igitur Gratianus admodum iuuenis cum inaestimabilem multitudinem hostium Romanis infusam finibus cerneret, fretus Christi potentia longe inpari militum numero sese in hostem dedit et continuo apud Argentariam oppidum Galliarum formidolosissimum bellum incredibili felicitate confecit; nam plus quam triginta milia Alamannorum minimo Romanorum detrimento in eo proelio interfecta narrantur.

12 In the year from the founding of the City 1132 Gratian, the fortieth since Augustus, held the empire for six years after the death of Valens, although long before he had reigned with his uncle Valens and with his brother Valentinian. Therefore Gratian, very young, when he saw an inestimable multitude of foes poured into Roman borders, relying on the power of Christ, far unequal in the number of soldiers, threw himself against the enemy and straightaway at Argentaria, a most fearsome town of the Gauls, brought the battle to an end with incredible good fortune; for more than 30,000 Alamanni are said to have been killed in that engagement with the Romans suffering minimal loss.

13 Hoc denique ei recta fidei cultura contribuit; nam cum usque ad id tempus Italia Arrianae perfidiae morbo langueret, post Auxentii seram mortem cum Ambrosius ex pagano iudice subito apud Mediolanum diuino nutu episcopus a cunctis fuisset electus moxque catholico baptismate tinctus praesul esset ordinatus, cumque pro fide catholica libros Gratiano imperatori porrexisset ac ueneratione, qua debuerat, susceptus esset, uniuersa statim ad rectam fidem Italia repedauit. Eo tempore in Galliis apud Turonos multis beatissimus Martinus lampabat uirtutibus totoque orbi doctrinis et scientia clarus apud Bethleem ciuitatem Palaestinae situs radiabat Hieronimus.

13 This indeed contributed to him the cultivation of right faith; for when Italy had long languished with the malady of Arian perfidy up to that time, after the late death of Auxentius, Ambrose—suddenly, from a lay judge, by a divine nod, chosen bishop at Milan by all, and soon after dipped in catholic baptism and ordained as prelate—having presented books for the catholic faith to Emperor Gratian and having been received with the veneration due, all Italy at once returned to the right faith. At that time in Gaul at Tours the most blessed Martin shone with many virtues, and Jerome, situated in the city of Bethlehem in Palestine, radiated famous throughout the whole world in doctrine and learning.

14 Porro Gratianus cum animaduertisset Traciam Daciamque tamquam genitales terras possidentibus Gothis Taifalisque atque omni pernicie atrocioribus Hunnis et Alanis extremum Romano nomini periculum instare, eadem prouisione qua quondam legerat Nerua Hispanum uirum Traianum, per quem res publica reparata est, accitum et ipse nihilominus aeque ab Hispania Theodosium fauentibus cunctis apud Syrmium purpuram induit aetatis annum tertium tricesimumque agentem, Orientisque et Traciae simul imperio praefecit.

14 Moreover, when Gratian, perceiving that Thrace and Dacia, as ancestral lands, were held by the Goths and Taifali and that the Huns and Alans, more ruinous than all, threatened the Roman name with the utmost peril, by the same provision by which once Nerva chose the Spaniard Trajan, through whom the res publica was restored, likewise summoned Theodosius from Spain and, with all favoring him, clothed him in the purple at Sirmium, he being in the thirty-third year of his age, and set him over the rule of the East and of Thrace together.

15 Itaque Theodosius afflictam rem publicam ira Dei reparandam credidit misericordia Dei; omnem fiduciam sui ad opem Christi conferens, maximas illas Scithicas gentes formidatasque cunctis maioribus, Alexandro quoque illi Magno euitatas, ac tunc extincto Romano exercitu Romanis equis armisque structissimas, hoc est Alanos, Hunnos et Gothos, incunctanter adgressus magnis multisque proeliis uicit. Vrbem Constantinopolim uictor intrauit et ne paruam ipsam Romani exercitus manum assidue bellando deterreret, foedus cum Athanarico rege Gothorum percussit. Athanaricus Constantinopolim ad Theodosium uenit, quem ille mira animi iocunditate et affectione suscepit.

15 Therefore Theodosius, believing the afflicted res publica to be to be restored by the wrath of God and by the mercy of God, committing all trust of himself to the aid of Christ, attacked without hesitation those greatest Scythian peoples, dreaded by all elders and avoided even by that Alexander the Great, and, the Roman army then destroyed, those most formidable to the Romans in horses and arms — namely the Alans, Huns, and Goths — and conquered them in many and great battles. He entered the city of Constantinople as victor, and lest the small remnant of the Roman army continually deter him by fighting, he struck a treaty with Athanaric, king of the Goths. Athanaric came to Constantinople to Theodosius, whom he received with wondrous cheer of mind and affection.

Denique cum urbem Athanaricus intrasset et tam aedificia ciuitatis quamque exornati quasi ad diem festum populi frequentiam cerneret ac per singula mente inhaereret, cumque deinceps imperatoris regiam ingressus obsequia officiaque diuersa conspiceret: «Sine dubio», inquid, «deus terrenus est imperator, contra quem quicunque manum leuare nisus fuerit, ipse sui sanguinis reus existit». Nec mora tamen superueniente ualitudine rebus excessit humanis; cuius exequias imperator ipse praecedens dignae eum tradidit sepulturae. At uniuersae Gothorum gentes rege defuncto aspicientes uirtutem benignitatemqne Theodosii Romano sese imperio dederunt. In hisdem etiam diebus Parthi coeteraeque barbarae nationes Romano prius nomini inimicae ultro Constantinopolim ad Theodosium misere legatos pacemque supplices poposcerunt iunctumque cum eis foedus est.

Finally, when Athanaric had entered the city and beheld both the buildings of the city and its ornaments as if prepared for a festival, the populace thronging and he lingering over each thing in his mind, and when afterwards, having entered the imperial palace, he observed the diverse courtesies and honors of the emperor, “Without doubt,” he said, “the emperor is an earthly god; against whomsoever should attempt to lift a hand, he himself becomes guilty of his blood.” Nor yet delaying, with an illness supervening he withdrew from human affairs; whose funeral rites the emperor himself, going before, committed to a burial worthy of him. But all the Gothic peoples, seeing their king dead and noting the virtue and benignity of Theodosius, voluntarily submitted themselves to the Roman imperium. In those same days the Parthians and the other barbarian nations, formerly hostile to the Roman name, of their own accord sent envoys to Constantinople to Theodosius and suppliantly sought peace, and a treaty was concluded with them.

16 Interea cum Theodosius in Oriente subactis barbarorum gentibus Trachias tandem liberas ab hoste reddidisset et Archadium filium suum consortem fecisset imperii, Maximus uir quidem strenuus et probus atque Augusto dignus, nisi contra sacramenti fidem per tyrannidem emersisset, in Brittania inuitus ab exercitu imperator creatus in Galliam transiit. At uero Gratianus dum exercitum neglegeret et paucos ex Alanis, quos ingenti auro ad se transtulerat, ueteri ac Romano militi anteferret adeoque barbarorum comitatu et prope amicitia capi, ut nonnumquam eodem habitu iter faceret, odia contra se militum excitauit. Maximus ergo ab infensis Gratiano legionibus exceptus eundem subita incursione perterritum atque in Italiam transire meditantem dolis circumuentum interfecit aetatis nouem et uiginti annos habentem fratremque eius Valentinianum Augustum Italia expulit.

16 Meanwhile, when Theodosius in the East, after subduing the barbarian peoples, at last restored Trachia free from the enemy and made his son Archadius partner of the empire, Maximus—a man indeed valiant and upright and worthy of Augustus, had he not risen by tyranny against the oath of his sacrament—was, unwillingly chosen emperor by the army in Britain, crossed into Gaul. But indeed Gratian, while he neglected the army and preferred a few Alans, whom he had transferred to himself with great gold, to the old and Roman soldiery, and thus was captured by the company and near-friendship of barbarians so that he sometimes travelled in the same dress, stirred up the hatred of the troops against himself. Therefore Maximus, received by the legions hostile to Gratian, killed him—struck down by a sudden attack, terrified and plotting to pass into Italy and surrounded by deceit—and expelled his brother Valentinian the Augustus from Italy; he was twenty-nine years of age.

Valentinianus in Orientem refugiens a Theodosio paterna pietate susceptus mox etiam imperio restitutus est.

Valentinian, fleeing into the East from Theodosius, was received by paternal piety and soon even restored to the empire.

17 Fuit autem Gratianus litteris haud mediocriter institutus, carmen facere, ornate loqui, explicare controuersias rhetorum more, nihil aliud die noctuque agere quam spiculis meditari summaeque uoluptatis diuinaeque artis credere destinata ferire, parcus cibi somnique ac libidinis uictor, cunctisque esset plenus bonis, si ad cognoscendam rei publicae gerendae scientiam animum intendisset, a qua prope alienus non modo uoluntate sed etiam exercitio fuit.

17 Moreover Gratian was by no means ill instructed in letters: to compose a carmen, to speak ornately, to explain controversies in the manner of rhetors; he did nothing day and night except meditate upon subtil points and aim to strike at what was held destined to be the summa of voluptuousness and of divine art. He was sparing of food, sleep, and the conquest of lust, and would have been full of all goods, had he but turned his mind to the knowledge and science of governing the res publica; from which he was almost alien, not only in will but also in practice.

EXPLICIT HISTORIAE ROMANAE LIBER VNDECIMVS

HERE ENDS THE ROMAN HISTORY, BOOK ELEVENTH