Paulus Diaconus: HISTORIA ROMANA

1 Anno Vrbis septingentesimo fere ac nono interfecto Caesare ciuilia bella reparata sunt. Percussoribus enim Caesaris senatus fauebat. Antonius consul partium Caesaris ciuilibus bellis obprimere eos conabatur.

1 In the year of the City seven hundred and nine (709), with the Caesar slain, civil wars were renewed. For the Caesar’s slayers were favored by the senate. Antony, consul of Caesar’s party, strove in the civil wars to crush them.

Ergo turbata re publica multa Antonius scelera committens a senatu hostis iudicatus. Missi ad eum persequendum duo consules Pansa et Hyrtius et Octauianus adulescens annos xvii natus, patre Octauio senatore genitus, maternum genus ab Aenea per Iuliam familiam sortitus, Caesaris nepos, quem ille testamento heredem reliquerat et nomen suum ferre iusserat. Hic est qui postea Augustus est dictus et rerum potitus.

Therefore, with the res publica disturbed by many crimes committed by Antonius, he was by the senate judged a public enemy. Sent to pursue him were the two consuls Pansa and Hyrtius and Octavian, a youth of 17 years, born of the senator Octavius, who derived his maternal stock from Aeneas through the Julian family, Caesar’s nephew, whom he by testament had left as heir and had ordered to bear his name. This is he who was afterwards called Augustus and became master of affairs.

Quare profecti contra Antonium tres duces uicerunt eum apud Mutinam. Euenit tamen ut uictores consules ambo morerentur. Quare tres exercitus uni Caesari Augusto paruerunt.

Therefore, having set out against Antony, three leaders defeated him at Mutina. It happened, however, that the victorious consuls both died. Wherefore three armies obeyed one Caesar, Augustus.

2 Fugatus Antonius amisso exercitu confugit ad Lepidum, qui Caesaris magister equitum fuerat et tum militum copias grandes habebat. A quo susceptus est. Mox Lepido operam dante Caesar pacem cum Antonio fecit et quasi uindicaturus patris sui mortem, a quo per testamentum fuerat adoptatus, Romam cum exercitu profectus, extorsit ut sibi uicesimo anno consulatus daretur, senatum proscripsit, cum Antonio ac Lepido rem publicam armis tenere coepit.

2 Put to flight, Antonius, his army having been lost, fled for refuge to Lepidus, who had been Caesar’s master of the horse and then held large forces of soldiers. He was received by him. Soon, Lepidus assisting, Caesar made peace with Antonius and, as one avenging the death of his father by whom he had been adopted in a testament, set out for Rome with the army, extorted that the consulship be granted to him for the twentieth year, proscribed the senate, and, with Antonius and Lepidus, began to hold the republic by force of arms.

Per hos etiam Cicero orator occisus est multique alii nobiles.

By these men Cicero, the orator, was also slain, and many other nobles.

3 Interea Brutus et Cassius interfectores Caesaris ingens bellum mouerunt. Erant enim per Macedoniam et Orientem multi exercitus, quos occupauerant. Profecti sunt igitur contra eos Caesar Octauianus Augustus et Marcus Antonius; remanserat enim ad defendendam Italiam Lepidus; apud Philippos, Macedoniae urbem, contra eos pugnauerunt.

3 Meanwhile Brutus and Cassius, the murderers of Caesar, raised a mighty war. For there were many armies throughout Macedonia and the Orient which they had occupied. Therefore Caesar Octavianus Augustus and Marcus Antonius set out against them; for Lepidus had remained to defend Italy; they fought against them at Philippi, a city of Macedonia.

Primo proelio uicti sunt Antonius et Caesar, periit tamen dux nobilitatis Cassius, secundo Brutum et infinitam nobililatem, quod cum illis bellum gesserat, uictam interfecerunt. Ac sic inter eos diuisa est res publica, ut Augustus Hispanias, Gallias et Italiam teneret, Antonius Asiam, Pontum, Orientem. Sed in Italia L. Antonius consul bellum ciuile commouit, frater eius qui cum Caesare contra Brutum et Cassium dimicauerat.

In the first battle Antony and Caesar were defeated; yet the leader of the nobility, Cassius, perished. In the second they put Brutus and an innumerable body of the nobility to death, for he had waged war with them and the vanquished they killed. And thus the res publica was divided between them, so that Augustus held the Hispanias, Gallias, and Italy, Antony Asia, Pontus, and the Orient. But in Italy L. Antonius, consul, stirred up a civil war — his brother, who had fought with Caesar against Brutus and Cassius.

Is apud Perusium, Tusciae ciuitatem, uictus et captus est, neque occisus.

He was defeated and captured at Perusia, a city of Tuscia, and not killed.

4 Interim a Sexto Pompeio, Gnei Pompei filio, ingens bellum in Sicilia commmotum est, his qui superfuerant ex partibus Bruti Cassiique ad eum confluentibus. Bellatum per Caesarem Augustum Octauianum et Marcum Antonium aduersus Sextum Pompeium est. Pax postremo conuenit.

4 Meanwhile a great war was raised in Sicily by Sextus Pompeius, son of Gnaeus Pompeius, with those who had survived from the parties of Brutus and Cassius flocking to him. It was waged by Caesar Augustus Octavian and Marcus Antonius against Sextus Pompeius. At last peace was concluded.

5 Eo tempore Marcus Agrippa in Aquitania rem prospere gessit. Et Lucius Bentilius Bassus inrumpentes in Syriam Persas tribus proeliis uicit. Pastorum, regis Orodis filium, interfecit eo ipso die quo olim Orodis Persarum rex per ducem Surenam Crassum occiderat.

5 At that time Marcus Agrippa conducted the affair prosperously in Aquitania. And Lucius Bentilius Bassus, breaking into Syria, defeated the Persians in three battles. He killed Pastorum, son of King Orodes, on that very day on which formerly Orodes, king of the Persians, had slain Crassus through the commander Surena.

Hic primus de Parthis iustissimum triumphum Romae egit.

He was the first to celebrate in Rome the most just triumph over the Parthians.

6 Interim Pompeius pacem rupit et nauali proelio uictus fugiens ad Asiam interfectus est. Antonius, qui Asiam et Orientem tenebat, repudiata sorore Caesaris Augusti Octauiani, Cleopatram reginam Aegypti duxit uxorem. Contra Persas etiam ipse pugnauit.

6 Meanwhile Pompey broke the peace and, defeated in a naval battle, fleeing to Asia was killed. Antonius, who held Asia and the Orient, having repudiated the sister of Caesar Augustus Octavianus, took Cleopatra, queen of Egypt, as his wife. He also fought against the Persians.

Primis eos proeliis uicit, regrediens tamen fame et pestilentia laborauit et, cum instarent Parthi fugienti, ipse pro uicto recessit.

He defeated them in the first battles, yet on his return he suffered from famine and pestilence, and when the Parthians pressed the fugitive, he himself withdrew as if vanquished.

7 Hic quoque ingens bellum ciuile commouit cogente uxore Cleopatra regina Aegypti, dum cupiditate muliebri optat etiam in Vrbe regnare. Victus est ab Augusto nauali pugna clara et inlustri apud Actium, qui locus in Epyro est, ex qua fugit in Aegyptum, et desperatis rebus, cum omnes ad Augustum transirent, ipse se interemit. Cleopatra exornata diuersis ornamentis ad Caesarem uenit sperans eum, ut coeteros, sua specie ad libidinem inlicere; sed ille se intra pudicitiam coartans, ad eius concupiscentiam minime inflexus, eam mox custodiri mandauit; quae custodia elapsa in pretioso sepulchro iuxta Antonium suum se conlocans, sibi aspidem admisit et ueneno eius extincta est.

7 Here likewise an immense civil war was stirred up by his wife Cleopatra, queen of Egypt, urging him on, while by a woman’s desire he even wished to reign in the City. He was defeated by Augustus in a famous and illustrious naval battle at Actium, which place is in Epirus; from there he fled into Egypt, and, with matters desperate, when all were passing over to Augustus, he killed himself. Cleopatra, adorned with various ornaments, came to Caesar hoping to lure him, as the others, by her appearance into lust; but he, restraining himself within chastity and not at all yielding to her desire, soon ordered her to be kept under guard; she, having escaped that custody, placing herself in a costly tomb beside her Antony, admitted to herself an asp and, by its venom, was put to death.

Aegyptus per Octauianum Augustum imperio Romano adiecta est praepositusque ei Gneus Cornelius Gallus. Hunc primum Aegyptus Romanum iudicem habuit.

Egypt was added to the Roman empire by Octavian Augustus, and Gnaeus Cornelius Gallus was set over it. Egypt had him as its first Roman judge/governor.

8 Ita bellis toto orbe confectis Octauianus Augustus Romam rediit duodecimo anno quam consul fuerat. Ex eo rem publicam per quadraginta et quattuor annos solus obtinuit, ante enim duodecim annis cum Antonio et Lepido tenuerat. Denique cum de Oriente uictor reuersus esset Vrbemque triplici triumpho ingressus esset, tunc primum Augustus, eo quod rem publicam auxerit, consalutatus est atque ex tunc summam rerum potestatem, quam Greci monarchiam uocant, adeptus est.

8 Thus, the wars having been completed throughout the whole world, Octavianus Augustus returned to Rome in the 12th year after he had been consul. From that time he alone held the republic for 44 years; before, for 12 years, he had held it together with Antony and Lepidus. Finally, when he had returned victorious from the East and had entered the City with a triple triumph, then for the first time Augustus, because he had augmented the res publica, was hailed as consul and from that time obtained the supreme power of things, which the Greeks call monarchy.

His diebus trans Tiberim de taberna meritoria fons olei e terra exundauit ac per totum diem largissimo riuo fluxit significans ex gentibus gratiam Christi. Tunc etiam circulus ad speciem caelestis arcus circa solem apparuit. Igitur cum quadragesimo secundo anno firmissimam uerissimamque pacem Caesar composuisset, Christus dominus in Bethleem natus est, cuius aduentui pax ista famulata est.

Across the Tiber, from the soldiers' pay-house, a spring of oil burst forth from the earth and flowed all day in a most copious stream, signifying that the grace of Christ would come from the Gentiles. Then also a circle, like a heavenly arc, appeared around the sun. Therefore, when in the 42nd year Caesar had established a most firm and true peace, Christ the Lord was born in Bethlehem, to whose coming that peace ministered.

9 Non ullo tempore ante Caesarem magis Romana res floruit. Nam exceptis ciuilibus bellis, in quibus inuictus fuit, Romano adiecit imperio Aegyptum, Cantabriam, Delmatiam saepe ante uictam sed penitus tunc subactam, Pannoniam, Aquitaniam, Illyricum, Retiam, Vindilicos et Talassos in Alpibus, omnes Ponti maritimas ciuitates, in his nobilissimas Bosforum et Ponticappadocem. Vicit autem proeliis Dagos.

9 At no time before did the Roman res flourish more under Caesar. For, apart from the civil wars in which he was unconquered, he added to the Roman imperium Egypt, Cantabria, Dalmatia—often formerly conquered but then thoroughly subdued—Pannonia, Aquitania, Illyricum, Raetia, the Vindelici and the Talassos in the Alps, all the maritime cities of Pontus, among them the most noble Bosporus and Pontic Cappadocia. Moreover he defeated Dagos in battle.

Germanorum ingentes copias cecidit, ipsos quoque trans Aluem fluuium summouit, qui in barbarico longe ultra Renum est. Hoc tamen bellum per Drusum priuignum suum administrauit, sicut per Tyberium, priuignum alterum, Pannonicum, quo bello cccc captiuorum milia ex Germania transtulit et supra ripam Reni in Gallia conlocauit. Armeniam a Parthis recepit.

He felled vast forces of the Germans, and even drove away the people across the river Alue, who dwell in the barbaricum far beyond the Rhine. Yet he conducted this war through Drusus, his stepson, just as he administered the Pannonian through Tiberius, another stepson; in that war he transported 400,000 captive thousands (i.e., 400,000 captives) from Germania and settled them above the bank of the Rhine in Gaul. He recovered Armenia from the Parthians.

Obsides, quod nulli antea, Persae ei dederunt. Reddiderunt etiam signa Romana, quae Crasso uicto ademerant.

The Persians gave him hostages, which to no one before had they given. They also restored the Roman standards, which they had taken from Crassus when he was defeated.

10 Scythae et Indi, quibus antea Romanorum nomen incognitum fuerat, munera et legatos ad eum miserunt. Galatia quoque sub hoc prouincia facta est, cum antea regnum fuisset, primusque eam Marcus Lollius pro praetore administrauit. Tanto autem amore etiam apud barbaros fuit, ut reges populi Romani amici in honorem eius conderent ciuitates, quas Caesareas nominarent, sicut in Mauritania a rege Iuua et in Palaestina, quae nunc urbs est clarissima.

10 The Scythians and Indians, to whom formerly the name of the Romans had been unknown, sent gifts and legates to him. Galatia too was made a province under this man, when before it had been a kingdom, and Marcus Lollius first administered it as pro-praetor. He was held in so great affection even among the barbarians that kings, friends of the Roman people, founded cities in his honour which they called Caesarea, as in Mauretania by King Juba and in Palestine, which is now a very renowned city.

Multi autem reges ex regnis suis uenerunt, ut ei obsequerentur, et habitu Romano togati scilicet ad uehiculum uel equum ipsius cucurrerunt.

Many, moreover, kings came from their kingdoms to pay him obeisance, and clad in Roman habit—togati, that is—they ran to his vehiculum or to his very horse.

Adeo denique turbas, bella, simultates execratus est, ut nisi iustis de causis numquam genti cuiquam bellum indixerit, iactantisque esse ingenii et leuissimi dicebat ardore triumphandi et ob lauream coronam, id est folia infructuosa, in discrimen per incertos euentus certaminum securitatem ciuium praecipitare, neque imperatori bono quicquam minus quam temeritatem congruere, satis celeriter fieri quicquid commode gereretur, armaque nisi maioris emolumenti spe nequaquam mouenda esse, ne compendio tenui, iactura graui, petita uictoria similis sit hamo aureo piscantibus, cuius abrupti amissique detrimentum nullo capturae lucro pensari potest. Auunculi quoque inuentum uehementer arguebat, qui milites commilitones nouo blandoque more appellans, dum adfectat carior fieri, auctoritatem principis emolliuerat. Denique erga ciues clementissime uersatus est, in amicos fidus extitit, quorum praecipui erant ob taciturnitatem Mecenas, ob patientiam laboris modestiamque Agrippa; diligebat praeterea Virgilium Flaccumque poetas.

He execrated crowds, wars, and rivalries so thoroughly that he would never declare war on any nation except for just causes, and he called those of fickle spirit and most light of mind who vaunted themselves as burning to triumph and for the laurel crown — that is, barren leaves — and who would hurl the safety of citizens into peril over the uncertain outcomes of contests; and that nothing could be less fitting for a good commander than rashness. Whatever could be done conveniently should be done quickly enough, and arms should by no means be moved except with the hope of greater advantage, lest a sought victory, slight in gain and grievous in loss, be like a golden hook to fishermen, whose rupture and loss no catch’s profit can make good. He vehemently blamed also an uncle he had found, who, calling soldiers “comrades-in-arms” in a new flattering manner, while aiming to become dearer, had weakened the authority of the prince. Finally he behaved most mercifully toward the citizens, proved faithful to friends, the chief of whom were Maecenas for his taciturnity and Agrippa for his endurance of toil and modesty; he also cherished the poets Vergil and Flaccus.

Rarus quidem ad recipiendas amicitias, ad retinendas constantissimus. Liberalibus studiis praesertim eloquentiae intantum incumbens, ut nullus, ne in procinctu quidem, laberetur dies, quin legeret, scriberet, declamaret.

Rare indeed in accepting friendships, most steadfast in retaining them. Especially given over to liberal studies, above all to eloquence, so much that not a day, not even when in full kit/on campaign, would slip by without his reading, writing, and declaiming.

Auxit ornauitque Romam aedificiis multis isto glorians dicto: «Vrbem latericiam repperi, relinquo marmoream». Fuit mitis, gratus, ciuilis animi et lepidi, corpore toto pulcher, sed oculis magis, quorum aciem clarissimorum siderum modo uibrans libenter accipiebat cedi ab intendentibus tamquam solis radiis aspectui suo; a cuius facie dum quidam miles oculos auerteret et interrogaretur ab eo cur ita faceret, respondit: «Quia fulmen oculorum tuorum ferre non possum». Nec tamen uir tantus uitiis caruit; fuit enim paululum inpatiens, leniter iracundus, occulte inuidus, palam factiosus, porro autem dominandi supra quam aestimari potest cupidissimus, studiosus aleae lusor; cumque esset cibi ac uini multum, aliquatenus uero somni abstinens, seruiebat tamen libidini usque ad probrum uulgaris famae; nam inter duodecim catamitos totidemque puellas accubare solitus erat. Abiecta quoque uxore Scribonia, amore alienae coniugis possessus, Liuiam quasi marito concedente sibi coniunxit; cuius Liuiae iam erant filii Tiberius et Drusus. Cumque esset luxuriae seruiens, erat tamen eiusdem uitii seuerissimus ultor, more hominum qui in ulciscendis uitiis, quibus ipsi uehementer indulgent, acres sunt.

He enlarged and adorned Rome with many buildings, boasting with that saying: “I found a city of brick; I leave it a city of marble.” He was gentle, agreeable, of civil temperament and charming, handsome in his whole body, but more so in his eyes, whose keen brightness, vibrating like the clearest stars, gladly accepted to be yielded to those gazing upon them as if to the sun’s rays; when from whose face a certain soldier was turning his eyes away and was asked by him why he did so, he answered: “Because I cannot bear the lightning of your eyes.” Yet the man was not without faults; for he was somewhat impatient, mildly irascible, secretly envious, openly factious, moreover most eager for domination beyond what can be estimated, a lover of gambling; and although he used much food and wine and abstained somewhat from sleep, he nevertheless served his lust to the point of scandal of common fame; for among twelve catamites and as many girls he was accustomed to recline. After casting off his wife Scribonia, seized by the love of another’s wife, he joined Livia as if with the husband’s consent; Livia already had sons, Tiberius and Drusus. And although he was a slave to luxury, he was nonetheless the most severe avenger of that same vice, like men who, in avenging vices to which they themselves are vehemently indulgent, are fierce.

Annos septem et septuaginta ingressus Nolae morbo interiit, quamquam alii scribant dolo Liuiae extinctum, metuentis ne, quia priuignae filium Agrippam, quem odio nouercali in insulam religauerat, reduci compererat, eo summam rerum adepto, poenas daret. Igitur mortuum seu necatum multis nouisque honoribus senatus censuit decorandum; nam, praeter id quod antea patrem patriae dixerat, templa tam Romae quam per urbes celeberrimas ei consecrauit cunctis uulgo iactantibus: «Vtinam aut non nasceretur aut non moreretur!» Vir qui non inmerito ex maxima parte deo similis est putatus; neque enim facile ullus eo aut in bellis felicior fuit aut in pace moderatior. Quadraginta quattuor annis, quibus solus gessit imperium, ciuilissime uixit, in cunctos liberalissimus, in amicos fidelissimus, quos tantis euexit honoribus ut paene aequaret fastigio suo.

Having reached his 77th year, he died at Nola of disease, although others write that he was put to death by Livia’s treachery, she fearing that, since she had learned that her stepdaughter’s son Agrippa, whom in a stepmother’s hatred she had confined to an island, was to be brought back, with him come to the summit of affairs she would exact punishment. Therefore the senate decreed that the dead—or slain—man be decorated with many and novel honors; for, besides that which it had formerly called him, Father of the Country, it consecrated temples to him both at Rome and throughout the most celebrated cities, all the populace vociferating: “Would that he had either never been born or had not died!” A man who, not undeservedly in the main, was thought to be like a god; for scarcely was any man either more fortunate in war or more moderate in peace. In the 44 years during which he alone bore the imperium, he lived most civilly, was most liberal toward all, most faithful to friends, whom he exalted with such great honors that he almost equalled them to his own summit.

Imperauit annos quinquaginta et sex, duodecim cum Antonio, quadraginta uero et quattuor solus; qui certe numquam aut rei publicae ad se potentiam traxisset aut tam diu ea potiretur, nisi magnis naturae et studiorum bonis abundasset. Rem publicam beatissimam Tiberio successori reliquid, qui priuignus ei, mox gener, postremo adoptatione filius fuerat.

He ruled for 56 years, twelve with Antonius, and truly 44 alone; who certainly never would have either drawn the power of the republic to himself or held it so long, if he had not abounded in great goods of nature and of studies. He left the republic most blessed to his successor Tiberius, who had been his stepson, shortly thereafter son‑in‑law, and at last by adoption his son.

11 Iste quia Claudius Tiberius Nero dicebatur, eleganter a iocularibus Caldius Biberius Mero ob uinolentiam nominatus est. Satis prudens in armis satisque fortunatus ante sumptum imperium sub Augusto fuit, ut non inmerito rei publicae dominatus ei committeretur. Inerat ei scientia litterarum multa, eloquio clarior, sed ingenio pessimo, truci, auaro, insidioso, simulans ea se uelle quae nollet, his quasi infensus quibus consultum cupiebat, his uero quos oderat quasi beniuolus apparens, repentinis responsionibus aut consiliis melior quam meditatis.

11 This man, since he was called Claudius Tiberius Nero, was wittily styled by the jesters Caldius Biberius Mero on account of his wine‑drunkenness. He had been sufficiently prudent in arms and sufficiently fortunate before the assumption of the empire under Augustus, so that the dominion of the republic was committed to him not undeservedly. He had much scientia of letters, was more notable for eloquence, but of the worst ingenium — fierce, avaricious, treacherous — feigning to will those things which he did not will, as if hostile to those from whom he sought counsel, yet appearing kindly to those whom he hated, better in sudden responses or counsels than in those long meditated.

Nusquam ipse pugnauit, bella per legatos gessit suos. Quosdam reges ad se per blanditias euocatos numquam remisit, in quibus Archelaum Cappadocem, cuius etiam regnum in prouinciae formam redegit et maximum ciuitatem appellari nomine suo iussit, quae nunc Caesarea dicitur, cum Mazaga antea diceretur. Hic tertio et uicesimo imperii anno, aetatis septuagesimo octauo, cum inmani furore insontes, noxios, suos pariter externosque puniret, resolutis militiae artibus, Armenia per Parthos, Moesia a Dacis, Pannonia a Sarmatis, Gallia a finitimis gentibus direptae sunt.

He himself fought nowhere; he waged wars through his own legates. He never sent back certain kings summoned to him by blandishments, among whom Archelaus the Cappadocian, whose kingdom he reduced into the form of a province and ordered the greatest city to be called by his own name, which is now called Caesarea, though formerly it was called Mazaca. In the 33rd year of his reign, in the 78th year of his age, when with monstrous fury he punished the innocent and the guilty alike, both his own and foreigners, and with the arts of the military undone, Armenia was plundered by the Parthians, Moesia by the Dacians, Pannonia by the Sarmatians, Gaul by neighboring peoples.

Ipse ingenti omnium gaudio mortuus est in Campania. Huius imperii quinto decimo anno dominus Iesus Christus praedicationis suae sumpsit initium, octauo quoque et decimo eiusdem anno Iesus Christus filius Dei pro nobis sese morti offerens crucifixus est.

He himself died to the immense joy of all in Campania. In the 15th year of this reign the Lord Jesus Christ took up the beginning of his preaching, and in the 18th year of the same reign Jesus Christ, the Son of God, offering himself to death for us, was crucified.

12 Successit Tiberio Gaius Caesar cognomento Galicula, Drusi priuigni Augusti et ipsius Tiberii nepos, sceleratissimus et qui etiam Tiberii dedecora purgauerit. Bellum contra Germanos suscepit et ingressus Suauiam nihil strenue fecit. Stupra sororibus intulit, ex una etiam natam filiam cognouit.

12 Gaius Caesar, surnamed Galicula, succeeded Tiberius, a privignus of Drusus and the grandson of Tiberius himself, most wicked and one who even purged/cleansed Tiberius’s disgraces. He undertook a war against the Germans, and having entered Suevia did nothing with vigor. He inflicted sexual crimes upon his sisters; from one he even acknowledged a daughter born.

Cum aduersum cunctos ingenti auaritia, libidine, crudelitate saeuiret, interfectus in palatio est anno aetatis suae xxxix, imperii tertio, mense decimo dieque octauo.

When he raged against all with immense avarice, lust, and cruelty, he was slain in the palace in the 39th year of his age, in the 3rd year of his reign, in the tenth month and on the eighth day.

13 Post hunc Claudius fuit, patruus Galiculae, Drusi qui apud Moguntiacum monumentum habet filius, cuius Galicula nepus erat. Hic medie imperauit, multa gerens tranquille atque moderate, quaedam crudeliter et insulse. Brittanis intulit bellum, quo nullus Romanorum post Gaium Caesarem attigerat, eaque deuicta per Gneum Sentium et Aulum Plautium, inlustres et nobiles uiros, triumphum celebrem egit.

13 After him was Claudius, the paternal uncle of Galicula, the son of Drusus who has a monument at Moguntiacum, of whom Galicula was nephew. He ruled moderately in the middle, doing many things tranquilly and moderately, some cruelly and senselessly. He brought war upon the Britons, which none of the Romans had reached after Gaius Caesar, and with that conquered by Gnaeus Sentius and Aulus Plautius, illustrious and noble men, he celebrated a celebrated triumph.

Quasdam insulas etiam ultra Brittanias in Oceano positas imperio Romano addidit, quae appellantur Orcades, filio autem suo Brittanici nomen inposuit. Tam ciuilis autem circa quosdam amicos extitit, ut etiam Plautum nobilem uirum, qui expeditione Brittanica multa egregie fecerat, triumphantem ipse prosequeretur et conscendenti Capitolium leuus incederet. Vixit annos iiii et lx, imperauit xiiii.

He added to the Roman empire certain islands set beyond Britain in the Ocean, which are called the Orcades, and he gave the name Brittanicus to his son. He was so civil toward certain friends that he himself escorted Plautus, a noble man who had done many excellent things in the British expedition, in his triumph, and walked with a light step as he ascended the Capitol. He lived 64 years and ruled 14.

Post mortem consecratus est diuusque appellatus.

After death he was consecrated and called divus (deified).

14 Successit huic Nero, Galiculae auunculo suo simillimus, qui Romanum imperium et deformauit et minuit, inusitatae luxuriae sumptuumque, ut qui exemplo Gai Galiculae in calidis et frigidis lauaret unguentis, retibus aureis piscaretur, quae blattinis funibus extrahebat. Infinitam senatus partem interfecit; bonis omnibus hostis fuit. Ad postremum se tanto dedecore prostituit, ut et saltaret et cantaret in scaena cytharedico habitu uel tragico.

14 Nero succeeded him, most like his grandfather Gallicus, who both disfigured and diminished the Roman empire by unprecedented luxury and expenditures, so that, following the example of Gaius Gallicus, he bathed in hot and cold waters with unguents, and fished with golden nets which he drew up with blattine ropes. He put to death an innumerable part of the senate; he was an enemy to all good men. At last he prostituted himself with such disgrace that he both danced and sang on the stage in citharoedic attire or tragic.

Parricidia multa commisit, fratre, uxore, matre interfectis. Vrbem Romam incendit, ut spectaculi eius imaginem cerneret quale olim Troia capta arserat. In re militari nihil omnino ausus, Britanniam paene amisit.

He committed many parricides, his brother, wife, and mother having been killed. He set the city of Rome on fire, that he might behold the image of that spectacle — how once captured Troy had burned. In military affairs he dared nothing at all; he nearly lost Britain.

Nam duo sub eo nobilissima oppida capta illic atque euersa sunt. Armeniam Parthi sustulerunt legionesque Romanas sub iugum miserunt. Duae tamen sub eo prouinciae factae sunt, Pontus Polemoniacus concedente rege Polemone et Alpes Cottio rege defuncto.

For under him two very noble towns were captured there and razed. The Parthians seized Armenia and sent the Roman legions under the yoke. Yet two provinces were formed under him: Pontus Polemoniacus, King Polemon conceding, and the Alpes, King Cottius being dead.

15 Per haec Romanae urbi execrabilis ab omnibus simul destitutus et a senatu hostis iudicatus; cum quaereretur ad poenam, quae poena erat talis, ut nudus per publicum ductus furca capite eius inserta uirgis usque ad mortem caederetur atque ita praecipitaretur saxo, e palatio fugit et in suburbano se liberti sui, quod est inter Salariam et Nomentanam uiam ad quartum Vrbis miliarium, interfecit. Aedificauit Romae termas, quae ante Neronianae dictae, nunc Alexandrinae appellantur. Obiit xxxi aetatis anno, imperii quarto decimo, atque in eo omnis Augusti familia consumpta est.

15 By these deeds he was execrable to the Roman city, abandoned by all at once and declared an enemy by the senate; when inquiry was made as to the punishment — which punishment was such that, naked, led through the public, with a fork inserted in his head he should be beaten with rods to death and thus hurled upon a rock — he fled from the palace and in the suburb caused himself to be killed by his freedman, which lies between the Salarian and Nomentan ways at the fourth mile of the City. He built baths at Rome, which before were called the Neronian, now the Alexandrian. He died in the 31st year of his age, in the 14th year of his reign, and in him the whole family of Augustus was extinguished.

Denique omnibus flagitiis suis etiam hoc addidit, quod sanctos Dei apostolos Petrum Paulumque trucidauit.

Finally, to all his misdeeds he added even this, that he put to death the holy apostles of God, Peter and Paul.

16 Huic Seruius Galba successit antiquissimae nobilitatis senator, cum septuagesimum et tertium annum ageret aetatis, ab Hispanis et Gallis imperator electus, mox ab uniuerso exercitu libenter acceptus. Nam priuata eius uita insignis fuerat militaribus et ciuilibus rebus. Saepe consul, saepe pro consule, frequenter dux grauissimis bellis.

16 To him succeeded Servius Galba, a senator of the most ancient nobility, who was passing his seventy-third year of age, elected emperor by the Spaniards and the Gauls, and soon willingly accepted by the whole army. For his private life had been distinguished in military and civil affairs. Often consul, often proconsul, frequently a leader in very grave wars.

Huius breue imperium et quod bona haberet exordia, nisi ad seueritatem propensior uideretur. Insidiis Othonis occisus est imperii mense septimo. Iugulatus in foro Romae sepultusque in hortis suis, qui sunt Aurelia uia non longe ab urbe Roma.

His rule was brief, and the good beginnings he had would have lasted, had he not seemed rather inclined to severity. By the plots of Otho he was slain in the seventh month of his reign. He was cut down in the forum of Rome and buried in his gardens, which lie on the Via Aurelia not far from the city of Rome.

17 Lucius Otho, occiso Galba, inuasit imperium, materno genere nobilior quam paterno, neutro tamen obscuro. In priuata uita mollis et Neronis familiaris, in imperio documentum sui non potuit ostendere. Nam, cum hisdem temporibus quibus Otho Galbam occiderat, etiam Vitellius factus esset a Germanicianis exercitibus imperator, bellum contra eum suscepto cum apud Betriacum in Italia leui proelio uictus esset, ingentes tamen copias ad bellum haberet, sponte semet occidit Petentibus militibus ne tam cito de belli desperaret euentu, cum tanti se non esse dixisset ut propter eum bellum ciuile oriretur, uoluntaria morte obiit tricesimo et octauo aetatis anno, nonagesimo et quinto imperii die.

17 Lucius Otho, Galba having been slain, seized the empire, nobler by maternal than by paternal stock, yet neither obscure; in private life soft and intimate with Nero, in the emperorship he could not show a proof of himself. For, in the same times in which Otho had killed Galba, Vitellius had also been made emperor by the Germanian armies; war being undertaken against him, when he was defeated near Bedriacum in Italy in a light engagement, yet he had vast forces for war; he put an end to his life of his own accord, the soldiers begging that so they might not so soon despair of the event of the war, since he had said that he was not of such worth that a civil war should arise on his account; he died by voluntary death in the 38th year of his age, on the 95th day of his reign.

18 Dein Vitellius imperio potitus est, familia honorata magis quam nobili. Nam pater eius non admodum clare natus tres tamen ordinarios gesserat consulatus. Hic cum multo dedecore imperauit et graui saeuitia notabilis, praecipue ingluuie et uoracitate, quippe cum de die saepe quarto uel quinto feratur epulatus.

18 Then Vitellius obtained the empire, of a family more honored than noble. For his father, not born of very clear distinction, had nevertheless borne three ordinary consulships. He ruled with great dishonor and was notable for severe cruelty, especially for ingluvies (gluttony) and voracity, since he is reported to have feasted often from the fourth or fifth hour of the day.

Notissima certe cena memoriae mandata est, quam ei Vitellius frater exhibuit, in qua super ceteros sumptus duo milia piscium, septem milia auium adposita traduntur. Hic cum Neroni similis esse uelit atque id adeo prae se ferret, ut etiam exsequias Neronis, quae humiliter sepultae fuerant, honoraret, a Vespasiani ducibus occisus est, interfecto in Vrbe prius Sabino Vespasiani imperatoris fratre, quem cum Capitolio incendit. Interfectus autem est magno dedecore: tractus per urbem Romam publice nudus, erecta coma et capite ei subiecto ad mentum gladio stercore inuoluto et pectus ab omnibus obuiis appetitus, postremo iugulatus et in Tyberim deiectus etiam communi caruit sepultura.

A most notorious banquet was certainly committed to memory, which his brother Vitellius provided for him, in which, beyond all other expenses, two thousand fish and seven thousand birds are reported to have been set before them. He, since he wished to be like Nero and so openly displayed that desire that he even honored Nero’s funerary rites, which had been buried modestly, was killed by the followers of Vespasian — Sabinus, Vespasian’s brother, having first been slain in the City, he having set the Capitol on fire. He was put to death with great disgrace: dragged publicly through the city of Rome naked, his hair bristling and his head held up to his chin wrapped in filth with a sword, his chest assailed by every passerby, and finally his throat was cut and he was thrown into the Tiber, even denied a common burial.

Periit autem aetatis anno septimo et quinquagesimo, imperii mense octauo et die uno.

He died, however, in the fifty-seventh year of his age, in the eighth month and on the first day of his reign.

19 Vespasianus huic successit, factus apud Palestinam imperator, princeps obscure quidem natus, sed optimis comparandus, priuata uita inlustris, ut qui a Claudio in Germaniam et deinde in Brittaniam missus tricies et bis cum hoste conflixerit, duas ualidissimas gentes, uiginti oppida, insulam Vectam Brittaniae proximam imperio Romano adiecerit. Romae se in imperio moderatissime gessit. Pecuniae tantum auidior fuit, ita ut eam nullis iniuste auferret.

19 Vespasian succeeded him, made imperator while in Palestine, a princeps indeed of obscure birth but to be compared with the best, illustrious in private life; for he, having been sent by Claudius into Germany and then into Britain thirty-two times and having clashed with the enemy, added two very powerful peoples, twenty towns, and the island Vectis, nearest Britain, to the Roman dominion. At Rome he carried himself most moderately in the exercise of power. He was only too eager for money, so that he would not suffer it to be taken from him unjustly by anyone.

Quam cum omni diligentiae prouisione colligeret, tamen studiosissime largiebatur, praecipue indigentibus. Nec facile ante eum cuiusquam principis uel maior est liberalitas conperta uel iustior. Placidissimae lenitatis, ut qui maiestatis quoque contra se reos non facile punierit ultra exilii poenam.

Although he gathered it with every provision of diligence, he nevertheless distributed it most zealously, especially to the indigent. Nor was the liberality of any prince before him found either greater or more just. Of the most placid lenity he was, insofar as he did not readily punish those accused even of offences against majesty with more than the penalty of exile.

Sub hoc Iudaea Romano accessit imperio et Hierosolyma, quae fuit urbs nobilissima Palestinae. Achaiam, Liciam, Rodum, Bizantium, Samum, quae liberae ante id tempus fuerant, item Trachiam, Ciliciam, Commaginem, quae sub regibus amicis egerant, in prouinciarum formam redegit.

Under him Judaea came into the Roman empire and Hierosolyma, which was the most noble city of Palestine. He reduced Achaia, Lycia, Rhodes, Byzantium, Samos, which had been free until that time, and likewise Thrace, Cilicia, Commagene, which had been governed by friendly kings, to the form of provinces.

20 Offensarum et inimicitiarum inmemor fuit, conuicia a causidicis et philosophis in se dicta leuiter tulit, diligens tamen coercitor disciplinae militaris. Hic cum filio Tito de Hierosolymis triumphauit. Per haec cum senatui, populo, postremo cunctis amabilis ac iocundus esset, profluuio uentris extinctus est in uilla propria circa Sabinos, annum agens aetatis sexagesimum nonum, imperii nonum et diem septimum, atque inter diuos relatus est.

20 He was forgetful of offenses and enmities, bore lightly the insults spoken against him by advocates and philosophers, yet was a diligent enforcer of military discipline. With his son Titus he celebrated a triumph over Jerusalem. Through these deeds he was amiable and pleasant to the senate, the people, and ultimately to all; he was cut off by a flux of the belly in his own villa near the Sabines, passing his 69th year of age, the 9th year of his reign and the 7th day, and was carried among the gods.

Genituram filiorum ita cognitam habuit, ut cum multae contra eum coniurationes fierent, quas patefactas ingenti dissimulatione contempsit, in senatu dixit aut filios sibi successuros aut neminem.

He had the succession of his sons so acknowledged that, when many conspiracies were made against him, which, when laid open, he contemned with great dissimulation, he declared in the senate that either his sons would succeed him or no one.

21 Huic Titus filius successit, qui et ipse Vespasianus est dictus, uir omnium uiriutum genere mirabilis, adeo ut amor et deliciae humani generis diceretur, facundissimus, bellicosissimus, moderatissimus. Causas Latine egit, poemata et tragoedias Grece conposuit. In oppugnatione Hierosolymorum sub patre militans duodecim propugnatores duodecim sagittarum ictibus confixit.

21 To him succeeded his son Titus, who is also called Vespasianus, a man marvelous in every virtue of his kind, so much that he was said to be the love and delight of the human race, most eloquent, most warlike, most moderate. He pleaded causes in Latin, and composed poems and tragedies in Greek. In the assault on Jerusalem, serving under his father, he pierced twelve defenders with the strokes of twelve arrows.

Romae tantae ciuilitatis in imperio fuit, ut nullum omnino puniret, conuictos aduersum se coniurationis dimisit et in eadem familiaritate quam antea habuerit. Facilitatis et liberalitatis tantae fuit, ut cum nulli quicquam negaret et ab amicis reprehenderetur, responderit nullum tristem debere ab imperatore discedere; praeterea cum quadam die in cena recordatus fuisset nulli se illo die quicquam praestitisse, dixerit: «Amici, hodie diem perdidi». Hic Romae amphitheatrum aedificauit et quinque milia ferarum in dedicatione eius occidit. Per haec inusitato fauore dilectus, morbo periit in ea, qua pater, uilla post biennium et menses octo, dies uiginti, quam imperator erat factus, aetatis anno altero et quadragesimo.

In Rome he was of so great a civility in his rule that he punished absolutely no one, he dismissed those convicted of conspiracy against him and kept them in the same familiarity as before. He was of so great facility and liberality that, when he denied nothing to anyone and was reproved by friends, he replied that no one ought to leave the emperor sad; moreover, when one day at dinner he remembered that he had conferred nothing that day, he said, “Friends, I have lost the day.” He built the amphitheatre at Rome and slew 5,000 beasts at its dedication. Through these things beloved with unusual favour, he died of disease in the same villa as his father, after 2 years, 8 months, 20 days from when he had been made emperor, in the 42nd year of his age.

Tantus luctus eo mortuo publicus fuit, ut omnes tamquam in propria doluerint orbitate. Senatus, obitu ipsius circa uesperam nuntiato, nocte inrupit in curiam et tantas ei mortuo laudes gratiasque congessit, quantas nec uiuo umquam egerat nec praesenti. Inter diuos relatus est.

So great was the public grief at his death, that all mourned as if for their own bereavement. The Senate, the report of his death having been announced about evening, burst into the curia by night and heaped upon him, now dead, such praises and thanksgivings as he had never received while living nor in the presence of others. He was numbered among the gods.

22 Domitianus mox accepit imperium, frater ipsius iunior, Neroni aut Galiculae aut Tyberio similior quam patri aut fratri suo. Primis tamen annis moderatus in imperio fuit, mox ad ingentia uitia progressus libidinis, iracundiae, crudelitatis, auaritiae tantum in se odii concitauit, ut merita et patris et fratris aboleret: interfecit nobilissimos e senatu, dominum se et deum primus appellari iussit, nullam sibi nisi auream aut argenteam statuam in Capitolio passus est poni, consobrinos suos interfecit. Superbia quoque in eo execrabilis fuit.

22 Domitian soon received the imperium; the younger brother, he was more like Nero or Gallicus or Tiberius than like his father or his brother. In the first years, however, he was moderate in rule, but soon advancing into vast vices of libidinousness, irascibility, cruelty, and avarice he stirred up so much hatred in himself that he obliterated the merits of both father and brother: he killed the most noble men of the senate, ordered that he alone be called lord and god first, allowed no statue of himself to stand on the Capitol unless gold or silver, and put to death his own cousins. Pride also in him was execrable.

Expeditiones quattuor habuit, unam aduersus Sarmatas, alteram aduersus Catthos, duas aduersus Dacos. De Dacis Catthisque duplicem triumphum egit, de Sarmatis solam lauream usurpauit. Multas tamen calamitates isdem bellis passus est; nam in Sarmatia legio eius cum duce interfecta est et a Dacis Oppius Sabinus consularis et Cornelius Furcus praefectus praetorio cum magnis exercitibus occisi sunt.

He held four expeditions: one against the Sarmatians, another against the Catthi, and two against the Dacians. He celebrated a double triumph over the Dacians and Catthi, and from the Sarmatians he took only a single laurel. Yet he suffered many calamities in those same wars; for in Sarmatia his legion with its commander was slain, and Oppius Sabinus the consular and Cornelius Furcus the praetorian prefect were killed with large forces.

Romae quoque multa opera fecit, in his Capitolium et Forum transitorium, Diuorum Porticus, Isium ac Serapeum et Stadium. Verum cum ob scelera uniuersis exosus esse coepisset, interfectus est suorum coniuratione in palatio, anno aetatis tricesimo quinto, imperii quinto decimo. Funus eius ingenti dedecore per bispelliones exportatum et ignobiliter est sepultum.

At Rome he also undertook many works, among them the Capitol and the Transitional Forum, the Portico of the Divine, the temples of Isis and Serapis, and a Stadium. But when he began to be hated by all on account of his crimes, he was slain by a conspiracy of his own in the palace, in the 35th year of his age, the 15th of his reign. His funeral was carried out with great disgrace by the bispelliones and he was ignobly buried.

EXPLICIT HISTORIAE ROMANAE LIBER SEPTIMVS

HERE ENDS ROMAN HISTORY, BOOK SEVEN