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JNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA   SAN  DIEC 


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BOflffS  CLASSICAL  LIBRARY, 


AMMIANUS  MARCELLIMS, 


THE 


ROMAN  HISTORY 


OF 


AMMIANUS  MARCELLINUS, 

.  DURING  THE  REIGNS  OF 

THE  EMPERORS  CONSTANTIUS,  JULIAN,  JOVIANUS, 
VALENTINIAN,  AND  VALENS. 


TRANSLATED  BT 

0.  D.  YONGE,   B.A. 


WITH   A   GENEBAL    INDEX. 


LONDON: 

GEORGE  BELL  &  SONS,  YORK  ST.,  COVENT  GARDEN, 

AND  NEW  YORK. 

1894. 


LOKDOB. 

RXi'BINTXD  TEOil  THE  ffrtREOTTPB  PLATFfl  BT  WM.  CLOWES  &  8OS8,  LTV. 
srEirr  AXD  CUAIU&O  caoa*. 


P  B  E  F  A  C  E 


OF  Annnianus  Marcellinus,  the  -writer  of  the  following 
History,  we  know  very  little  more  than  what  can  be  col- 
lected from  that  portion  of  it  which  remains  to  us.  From 
that  source  we  learn  that  he  was  a  native  of  Antioch,  and 
a  soldier ;  being  one  of  the  prefectures  domestici — the  body- 
guard of  the  emperor,  into  which  none  but  men  of  noble  birth 
were  admitted.  He  was  on  the  staff  of  Ursicinus,  whom 
he  attended  in  several  of  his  expeditions ;  and  he  bore  a 
share  in  the  campaigns  which  Julian  made  against  the 
Persians.  After  that  time  he  never  mentions  himself,  and 
we  are  ignorant  when  he  quitted  the  service  and  retired 
to  Home,  in  which  city  he  composed  his  History.  We 
know  not  when  he  was  born,  or  when  he  died,  except  that 
from  one  or  two  incidental  passages  in  his  work  it  is  plain 
that  he  lived  nearly  to  the  end  of  the  fourth  century :  and 
it  is  even  uncertain  whether  he  was  a  Christian  or  a  Pagan ; 
though  the  general  belief  is,  that  he  adhered  to  the  religion 
of  the  ancient  Eomans,  without,  however,  permitting  it  to 
lead  him  even  to  speak  disrespectfully  of  Christians  or 
Christianity. 

His  History,  which  he  divided  into  thirty-one  books  (of 
which  the  first  thirteen  are  lost,  while  the  text  of  those 
which  remain  is  in  some  places  imperfect),  began  with  the 
accession  of  Nerva,  A.D.  96,  where  Tacitus  and  Suetonius 


Vl  PREFACE. 

end,  and  was  continued  to  the  death  of  Valens,  A.D.  378,  a 
period  of  282  years.  And  there  is  probably  no  work  as  to  the 
intrinsic  value  of  which  there  is  so  little  difference  of  opi- 
nion. Gibbon  bears  repeated  testimony  to  his  accuracy, 
fidelity,  and  impartiality,  and  quotes  him  extensively.  In 
losing  his  aid  after  A.D.  378,  he  says,  "  It  is  not  without 
sincere  regret  that  I  must  now  take  leave  of  an  accurate 
and  faithful  guide,  who  has  composed  the  history  of  his 
own  times  without  indulging  the  prejudices  and  passions 
which  usually  affect  the  mind  of  a  contemporary."  Pro- 
fessor Eamsay  (in  Smith's  Dictionary  of  Greek  and  Roman 
Biography)  says,  "  We  are  indebted  to  him  for  a  know- 
ledge of  many  important  facts  not  elsewhere  recorded, 
and  for  much  valuable  insight  into  the  modes  of  thought 
and  the  general  tone  of  public  feeling  prevalent  in  his 
day.  Nearly  all  the  statements  admitted  appear  to  be 
founded  upon  his  own  observations,  or  upon  the  informa- 
tion derived  from  trustworthy  eye-witnesses.  A  consider- 
able number  of  dissertations  and  digressions  are  introduced, 
many  of  them  highly  interesting  and  valuable.  Such  are 
his  notices  of  the  institutions  and  manners  of  the  Saracens 
(xiv.  4),  of  the  Scythians  and  Sarmatians  (xvii.  12),  of  the 
Huns  and  Alani  (xxxi.  2),  of  the  Egyptians  and  their 
country  (xxii.  6,  14-16),  and  his  geographical  discussions 
upon  Gaul  (xv.  9),  the  Pontus  (xxii.  8),  and  Thrace  (xxvii. 
4).  Less  legitimate  and  less  judicious  are  his  geological 
speculations  upon  earthquakes  (xvii.  7),  his  astronomical 
inquiries  into  eclipses  (xx.  3),  comets  (xxv.  10),  and  the 
regulation  of  the  calendar  (xxvi.  1)  ;  his  medical  researches 
into  the  origin  of  epidemics  (xix.  4) ;  his  zoological  theory 
on  the  destruction  of  lions  by  mosquitos  (xviii.  7),  and  his 
horticultural  essay  on  the  impregnation  of  palms  (xxiv.  3). 
In  addition  to  industry  in  research  and  honesty  of  purpose, 
he  was  gifted  with  a  large  measure  of  strong  common  sense, 
which  enabled  him  in  many  points  to  rise  superior  to  the 
prejudices  of  his  day,  and  with  a  clear-sighted  independence 


PREFACE.  VU 

of  spirit  which  prevented  him  from  being  dazzled  or  over- 
awed by  the  brilliancy  and  the  terrors  which  enveloped 
the  imperial  throne.  But  although  sufficiently  acute  in 
detecting  and  exposing  the  follies  of  others,  and  especially 
in  ridiculing  the  absurdities  of  popular  superstition,  Am- 
mianus  did  not  entirely  escape  the  contagion.  The  general 
and  deep-seated  belief  in  magic  spells,  omens,  prodigies, 
and  oracles,  which  appears  to  have  gained  additional 
strength  upon  the  first  introduction  of  Christianity,  evi- 
dentty  exercised  no  small  influence  over  his  mind.  The 
old  legends  and  doctrines  of  the  pagan  creed,  and  the 
subtle  mysticism  which  philosophers  pretended  to  discover 
lurking  below,  when  mixed  up  with  the  pure  and  simple 
but  startling  tenets  of  the  new  faith,  formed  a  confused 
mass  which  few  intellects  could  reduce  to  order  and  har- 
mony." 

The  vices  of  our  author's  style,  and  his  ambitious  affect- 
ation of  ornament,  are  condemned  by  most  critics  ;  but 
some  of  the  points  which  strike  a  modern  reader  as  defects 
evidently  arise  from  the  alteration  which  the  Latin  lan- 
guage had  already  undergone  since  the  days  of  Livy.  His 
great  value,  however,  consists  in  the  facts  he  has  made 
known  to  us,  and  is  quite  independent  of  the  style  or  lan- 
guage in  which  he  has  conveyed  that  knowledge,  of  which 
without  him  we  should  have  been  nearly  destitute. 

The  present  translation  has  been  made  from  Wagner  and 
Erfurdt's  edition,  published  at  Leipzig  in  1808,  and  their 
division  of  chapters  into  short  paragraphs  has  been  fol- 
lowed. 

Feb.  1862. 


THE   HISTOBY   OF  AMMIANUS 
MARCELLINUS. 

THE  FIRST  THIKTEEN  BOOKS  AKE  LOST. 


BOOK   XIV. 

ARGUMENT. 

L  The  cruelty  of  the  Caesar  Gallus. — II.  The  incursions  of  the  Isau- 
riaiis. — III.  The  unsuccessful  plans  of  the  Persians. — IV.  The 
invasion  of  the  Saracens,  and  the  manners  of  that  people. — 
V.  The  punishment  of  the  adherents  of  Magnentius. — VI.  The 
vices  of  the  senate  and  people  of  Rome. — VII.  The  ferocity  and 
inhumanity  of  the  Caesar  Gallus. — VHI.  A  description  of  the  pro- 
vinces of  the  East. — IX.  About  the  Caesar  Constantius  Gallus. — • 
X.  The  Emperor  Constantius  grants  the  Allemanni  peace  at  their 
request. — XL  The  Caesar  Constantius  Gallus  is  sent  for  by  the 
Emperor  Constant! us,  and  beheaded. 

I. 

A.D.  353. 

§  1,  AFTER  the  events  of  an  expedition  full  of  almost  in- 
superable difficulties,  while  the  spirits  of  all  parties  in  the 
state,  broken  by  the  variety  of  their  dangers  and  toils,  were 
still  enfeebled ;  while  the  clang  of  trumpets  was  ringing 
in  men's  ears,  and  the  troops  were  still  distributed  in  their 
winter  quarters,  the  storms  of  angry  fortune  surrounded 
the  commonwealth  with  fresh  dangers  through  the  mani- 
fold and  terrible  atrocities  of  Caesar  Gallus :'  who,  when 
just  entering  into  the  prime  of  life,  having  been  raised  with 

1  Gallus  and  his  brother  Julian  wore  the  nephews  of  the  great  Con- 
stantine,  sons  of  his  brother  Julius.  When  Constantius,  who  succeeded 
Constantino  on  the  throne,  murdered  his  uncles  and  most  of  his  cousins, 
ho  spared  these  two,  probably  on  account  of  their  tender  age. 

s' 


AMMIANDS  MARCELLINUS.  [Bit.  XIV.  On.! 

unexpected  honour  from  the  lowest  depth  of  misery  to  the 
highest  rank,  exceeded  all  the  legitimate  bounds  of  the 
power  conferred  on  him,  and  with  preposterous  violence 
threw  everything  into  confusion.  For  by  his  near  relation- 
ship to  the  royal  family,  and  his  connection  with  the  name 
of  Constantino,  he  was  so  inflated  with  pride,  that  if  he  had 
had  more  power,  he  would,  as  it  seemed,  have  ventured 
to  attack  even  the  author  of  his  prosperity. 

2.  His  wife  added  fuel  to  his  natural  ferocity ;  she  was  a 
woman  immoderately  proud  of  her  sisterly  relationship  to 
Augustus,  and  had  been  formerly  given  in  marriage  by 
the  elder  Constantino  to  King  Hannibalianus,1  his  brother's 
son.     She  was  an'  incarnate  fury  :  never  weary  of  inflam- 
ing  his    savage   temper,    thirsting   for    human   blood    as 
insatiably  as  her  husband.     The  pair,  in  process  of  time, 
becoming  more  skilful  in  the  infliction  of  suffering,  em- 
ployed a  gang  of  underhand  and  crafty  talebearers,  accus- 
tomed in  their  wickedness  to  make  random  additions  to 
their  discoveries,  which  consisted  in  general  of  such  false- 
hoods as  they  themselves  delighted  in  ;  and  these  men  loaded 
the  innocent  with  calumnies,  charging  them  with  aiming  at 
kingly  power,  or  with  practising  infamous  acts  of  magic. 

3.  And  among  his  less  remarkable  atrocities,  when  his 
power  had  gone  beyond  the  bounds  of  moderate  crimes, 
was  conspicuous  the  horrible  and  sudden  death  of  a  certain 
noble    citizen    of   Alexandi-ia,    named    Clematius.       His 
mother-in-law,  having  conceived  a  passion  for  him,  could 
not  prevail  on  him  to  gratify  it  j  and  in  consequence,  as 

1  Hannibalianus  was  another  nephew  of  Constantine.  That  emperor 
raised  his  own  three  sons.  Constantine,  Constantius,  and  Constans,  to 
the  dignity  of  Caesar ;  and  of  his  two  favourite  nephews,  Dalmacius 
and  Hannibalianus,  lie  raised  the  first,  by  the  title  of  Caesar,  to  an 
equality  with  his  cousins ;  "  in  favour  of  the  latter  lie  invented  the 
new  and  singulnr  appellation  of  Fortitissimus,  to  which  lie  annexed 
the  flattering  distinction  of  a  robe  of  purple  and  gold.  But  of  the 
whole  series  of  Roman  princes  in  any  age  of  the  empire  Hannibalianus 
alone  was  distinguished  by  the  title  of  king,  a  name  which  the  subjects 
of  Tiberius  would  have  detested  as  the  profane  and  cruel  insult  of 
capricious  tyranny." — Gibbon,  cxviii.  The  editor  of  Bonn's  edition 
adds  iii  a  note  :  "The  title  given  to  Hannibalianus  did  not  apply  to 
him  as  a  Roman  prince,  but  as  king  of  a  territory  assigned  to  him  in 
A.-iu.  This  territory  consisted  of  Pontus,  Cappadocia,  and  the  lessei 
Armenia,  the  city  of  Cscsarea  being  chosen  for  his  residence." — Gibbon, 
Boliu's  edition,  vol.  ii.  pp.  256,  257. 


A.D.353.J  CRUELTY   OF   GALLUS.  3 

was  reported,  she,  having  obtained  an  introduction  by  a 
secret  door  into  the  palace,  won  over  the  queen  by  the 
present  of  a  costly  necklace,  and  procured  a  fatal  warrant 
to  be  sent  to  Honoratus,  at  that  time  count-governor  of  the 
East,  in  compliance  with  which  Clematius  was  put  to 
death,  a  man  wholly  innocent  of  any  kind  of  wickedness, 
without  being  permitted  to  say  a  word  in  his  defence. 

4.  After  this  iniquitous  transaction,  which  struck  others 
also  with  fear  lest  they  should  meet  with  similar  treat- 
ment, as  if  cruelty  had  now  obtained  a  licence,  many  were 
condemned  on  mere  vague  suspicion  ;  of  whom  some  were 
put  to  death,  others  were  punished  by  the  confiscation  of 
their   property,    and    driven   forth   as   exiles    from  their 
homes,  so  that  having  nothing  left  but  their  tears   and 
complaints,  they  were  reduced  to  live  on  the  contributions 
of  their  friends ;  and  many  opulent  and  famous  houses  were 
shut  up,  the  old  constitutional   and  just  authority  being 
changed  into  a  government  at  the  will  of  a  bloodthirsty 
tyrant. 

5.  Nor  amid  these  manifold  atrocities  was  any  testimony 
of  an  accuser,  not  even  of  a  suborned  one,  sought  for,  in 
order  to  give  at  least  an  appearance  of  these  crimes  being 
committed  according  to  law  and  statute,  as  very  commonly 
even   the  most   cruel   princes  have   done :    but  whatever 
suited  the  implacable  temper  of  Caesar  was  instantly  accom- 
plished  in   haste,  as   if  its   accordance   with  human   and 
divine  law  had  been  well  considered. 

6.  After  these  deeds  a  fresh  device  was  adopted,  and  a 
bod}r  of  obscure  men,  such  as,  by  reason  of  the  meanness 
of  their  condition,  were  little  likely  to  excite  suspicion, 
were  sent  through  all  the  districts  of  Antioch,  to  collect 
reports,  and  to  bring  news  of  whatever  they  might  hear. 
They,  travelling  about,  and  concealing  their  object,  joined 
clandestinely  in  the  conversational  circles  of  honoiirablc 
men,  and  also  in  disguise  obtained  entrance  into  the  houses 
of  the  rich.     AVhen  they  returned  they  were  secretly  ad- 
mitted by  back  doors  into  the  palace,  and  then  reported 
all  that  they  had  been  able  to  hear  or  to  collect ;  taking 
care  with   an   unanimous   kind   of  conspiracy  to   invent 
many  things,  and  to  exaggerate  for  the  worse  all  they  really 
knew  ;  at  the  same  time  suppressing  any  praises  of  Caesar 
which  had  come  to  their  ears,  although  these  were  wrung 


4  AM  MIAN  US    MARCELL1NUS.  [Bt  XIV.  OS.  t 

from  many,  against  their   consciences,   by  the   dread  of 
impending  evils. 

7.  And  it  had  happened  sometimes  that,  if  in  his  secret 
chamber,  when  no  domestic  servant  was  by,  the  master  of 
the  house  had  whispered  anything  into  his  wife's  ear,  the 
very  next  day,  as  if  thos^.e  renowned  seers  of  old,  Amphia- 
raus   or    Marcius,    had   been   at   hand   to   report   it,    the 
emperor  was   informed  of  what  had   been  said ;    so  that 
even  the  walls  of  a  maai's  secret  chamber,  the  only  wit- 
nesses to  his  language,  were  viewed  with  apprehension. 

8.  And  Caesar's  fixed  resolution  to   inquire  into  these 
and  other  similar  occurrences  was  increased  by  the  queen, 
who  constantly  stimulated  his  desire,  and  was  driving  on 
the  fortunes  of  her  husband  to  headlong  destruction,  while 
she  ought  rather,  by  giving  him  useful  advice,  to  have  led 
him  back  into  the  paths  of  truth  and  mercy,  by  feminine 
gentleness,  as,  in  recounting  the  acts  of  the  Gordiani,  we 
have  related  to  have  been  done  by  the  wife  of  that  trucu- 
lent emperor  Maximinus. 

9.  At   last,   by   an    unsurpassed   and    most    pernicious 
baseness,  Gallus  ventured  on  adopting  a  course  of  fearful 
wickedness,  which  indeed  Gallienus,  to  his  own  exceed- 
ing infamy,  is  said  formerly  to  have  tried  at  Rome ;  and, 
taking  with  him  a  few  followers  secretly  armed,  he  used 
to  rove  in  the  evening  through  the  streets  and  among  the 
shops,  making  inquiries  in  the  Greek  language,  in  which 
he  was  well  skilled,  what  were  the  feelings  of  individuals 
towards  Csesar.     And  he  used  to  do  this  boldly  in  the  city, 
where  the  brillancy  of  the  lamps  at  night  often  equalled 
the   light  of  day.      At  last,   being  often  recognized,  and 
considering  that  if  he  went  out  in  this  way  he  should  be 
known,  he  took  care  never  to  go  out  except  openly  in  broad 
dayligUt,  to  transact  whatever  business  which  he  thought 
of  serious  importance.      And   these  things   caused  bitter 
though  secret  lamentation,  and  discontent  to  many. 

10.  But  at  that  time  Thalassius  was  the  present  prefect1 
of  the  palace,  a  man  of  an  arrogant  temper ;  and  he,  per- 

1  "  There  was  among  the  commanders  of  the  soldiery  one  prefect 
who  was  especially  entitled  Prajsens.  or  Pracsentalis,  because  his  office 
was  to  be  always  in  the  court  or  about  the  person  of  the  prince,  i  nd 
because  the  emperor's  body-guard  was  under  his  particular  orders."  — 
11. 


A.D.353.]  REBELLION   OF   THE   ISAURIAXS.  5 

ceiving  that  the  hasty  fury  of  Gallus  gradually  increased 
to  the  danger  of  many  of  the  citizens,  did  not  mollify  it  by 
either  delay  or  wise  counsels,  as  men  in  high  office  have 
very  often  pacified  the  anger  of  their  princes ;  but  by 
untimely  opposition  and  reproof,  did  often  excite  him  the 
more  to  frenzy;  often  also  informing  Augustus  of  his 
actions,  and  that  too  with  exaggeration,  and  taking  care, 
I  know  not  with  what  intention,  that  what  he  did  should 
not  be  unknown  to  the  emperor.  And  at  this  Caesar  soon 
became  more  vehemently  exasperated,  and,  as  if  raising 
more  on  high  than  ever  the  standard  of  his  contumacy, 
without  any  regard  to  the  safety  of  others  or  of  himself,  he 
bore  himself  onwards  like  a  rapid  torrent,  with  an  impe- 
tuosity which  would  listen  to  no  reason,  to  sweep  away  all 
the  obstacles  which  opposed  his  will. 

II. 

§  1.  NOR  indeed  was  the  East  the  only  quarter  which  this 
plague  affected  with  its  various  disasters.  For  the 
Isaurians  also,  a  people  who  were  accustomed  to  frequent 
alternations  of  peace,  and  of  turbulence  which  threw 
everything  into  confusion  with  sudden  outbreaks — impu- 
nity having  fostered  their  growing  audacity  and  encouraged 
it  to  evil — broke  out  in  a  formidable  war.  Being  especially 
excited,  as  they  gave  out  by  this  indignity,  that  some  of 
their  allies,  having  been  taken  prisoners,  were  in  an  unpre- 
cedented manner  exposed  to  wild  beasts,  and  in  the  games 
of  the  amphitheatre,  at  Iconium,  a  town  of  Pisidia. 

2.  And  as  Cicero  l  says,  that  "  even  wild  beasts,  when 
reminded  by  hunger,  generally  return  to  that  place  where 
they  have  been  fed  before."  So  they  all,  descending  like  a 
whirlwind  from  their  high  and  pathless  mountains,  came 
into  the  districts  bordering  on  the  sea :  in  which  hiding 
themselves  in  roads  full  of  lurking-places,  and  in  defiles, 
when  the  long  nights  were  approaching,  the  moon  being  at 
that  time  new,  and  so  not  yet  giving  her  full  light,  they 
lay  wait  for  the  sailors  ;  and  when  they  perceived  that  they 
were  wrapped  in  sleep,  they,  crawling  on  their  hands  and 
feet  along  the  cables  which  held  the  anchors,  and  raising 
themselves  up  by  them,  swung  themselves  into  the  boats, 
1  The  passage  ia  found  in  Cicero  s  Oration  pro  Olucntio,  c.  25. 


6  AMM1ANUS   MARCELL1XU3.  [BK.XIV.CH.il 

and  so  came  upon  the  crews  unexpectedly,  and,  their 
natural  ferocity  being  inflamed  by  covetousness,  they 
spared  not  even  those  who  offered  no  resistance,  but  slew 
them  all,  and  carried  off  a  splendid  booty  with  no  more 
trouble  than  if  it  had  been  valueless. 

3.  This  conduct  did  not  last  long,  for  when  the  deaths 
of    the   crews  thus    plundered   and   slaughtered    became 
known,  no  one  afterwards  brought  a  vessel  to  the  stations 
on  that  coast ;    but,  avoiding  them   as  they  would  have 
avoided  the  deadly  precipices  of  Sciron,'  they  sailed  on, 
without  halting,  to  the  shores  of  Cyprus,  which  lie  oppo- 
site to  the  rocks  of  Isauria. 

4.  Therefore  as  time  went  on,  and  no  foreign  vessels 
went  there  any  more,  they  quitted  the  sea-coast,  and  be- 
took themselves  to  Lycaonia,  a  country  which  lies  on  the 
borders  of  Isauria.     And  there,  occupying  the  roads  with 
thick  barricades,  they  sought  a  living  by  plundering  the 
inhabitants  of  the  district,  as  well  as  travellers.     These 
oxitrages  .aroused  the  soldiers  who  were  dispersed  among 
the  many  municipal  towns   and   forts  which   lie  on   the 
borders.     And  they,  endeavouring  to  the  utmost  of  their 
strength  to  repel  these  banditti,  who  were  spreading  every 
day  more  widely,  sometimes  in  solid  bodies,  at  others  in 
small   straggling  parties,   were  overcome    by   their  vast 
numbers. 

5.  Since  the  Isaurians,  having  been  born  and  brought  up 
amid  the  entangled  defiles  of  lofty  mountains,  could  bound 
over  them  as  over  plain  and  easy  paths,  and  attacked  all 
who  came   in  their  way  with   missiles   from  a  distance, 
terrifying  them  at  the  same  time  with  savage  yells. 

6.  And   very   often    our    infantry   were    compelled    in 
pursuit  of  them  to  climb  lofty  crags,  and,  when  their  feet 
slipped,  to  catch  hold  of  the  shrubs  and  briars  to  raise 
themselves  to  the  summits  ;   without  ever  being  able  to 
deploy  into   battle   array,  by  reason   of  the  narrow  and 
difficult   nature  of  the  ground,  nor  even  to  stand   firm; 
while   their    enemy  running    round    in    every   direction 
hurled  down  upon  them  fragments   of  rock   from   above 
till  they  retired  down  the  declivities  with  great  danger. 

1  Sciron  was  a  pirate  slain  by  Theseus,  v.  Ov.  Metam.  vii.  44,  and 
the  Epistle  of  Ariadne  to  Theseus. 

44  Cum  fuerit  Sciron  lectus,  torvusque  Procrustes." 


A.».  353.J  REBELLION    OF    THE   ISAUKIANS.  7 

Or  else,  sometimes,  in  the  last  necessity  fighting  bravely, 
they  were  overwhelmed  with  fragments  of  immense  bulk 
and  weight. 

7.  On  this  account  they  subsequently  were  forced  to 
observe  more  caution,  and  whenever  the  plunderers  began 
to  retire  to  the  high  ground,  our  soldiers  yielded  to  the 
unfavourable  character  of  the  country  and  retired.     But 
whenever  they  could  be  met  with  in  the  plain,  which  often 
happened,  then  charging  them  without  giving  them  time 
to  combine  their  strength,  or  even  to  brandish  the  javelins 
of  which  the}'  always  carried  two  or  three,  they  slaughtered 
them  like  defenceless  sheep. 

8.  So  that  these  banditti,  conceiving  a  fear  of  Lycaonia, 
which  is  for  the  most  part  a  champaign  country,  since 
they  had  learnt  by  repeated  proofs  that  they  were  unequal 
to  our  troops  in  a  pitched  battle,  betook  themselves  by 
unfrequented  tracks  to  Pamphylia.     This  district  had  long 
been  free  from  the  evils  of  war,  but  nevertheless  had  been 
fortified  in  all  quarters  by  strong  forts  and  garrisons,  from 
the  dread  entertained  by  the  people  of  rapine  and  slaugh- 
ter, since  soldiers  were  scattered  over  all  the  neighbouring 
districts. 

9.  Therefore  hastening  with  all  speed,  in  order  by  their 
exceeding  celerity  of  movement  to  anticipate  all  rumour  of 
their  motions,  trusting  to  their  strength  and  activity  of 
body,  they  travelled  by  winding  roads  until  they  reached 
the  high  ground  on  the  tops  of  the  mountains,  the  steep- 
ness of  which  delayed  their  march  more  than  they  had 
expected.     And  when  at  last,  having  surmounted  all  the 
difficulties  of  the  mountains,  they  came  to  the  precipitous 
banks  of  the  Melas,  a  deep  river  and  one  full  of  dangerous 
currents,  which  winds  round  the  district,  protecting  the 
inhabitants  like  a  wall,  the  night  which  had   overtaken 
them  increased  their  fears,  so  that  they  halted  for  a  while 
awaiting  the  daylight.    For  they  expected  to  be  able  to  cross 
without  hindrance,  and  then,  in  consequence  of  the  sudden- 
ness of  their  inroad,  to  be  able  to  ravage  all  the  country 
around  ;  but  they  had  incurred  great  toil  to  no  purpose. 

10.  For  when  the  sun  rose  they  were  prevented  from 
crossing  by  the  size  of  the  river,  which  though  narrow  was 
very   deep.      And  while   they   were   searching  for  some 
fishing-boats,  or  preparing  to  commit  themselves  to  the 


8  A.MM1AXUS    MARCtLUXUS.  [B*.  XIV.  On.  i; 

stream  on  rafts  hastily  put  together,  the  legions  which  at 
that  time  were  wintering  about  Side,  came  down  upon 
them  with  great  speed  and  impetuosity ;  and  having 
pitched  their  standards  close  to  the  bank  with  a  view  to  an 
immediate  battle,  they  packed  their  shields  together  before 
them  in  a  most  skilful  manner,  and  without  any  difficulty 
slew  some  of  the  banditti,  who  either  trusted  to  their 
swimming,  or  who  tried  to  cross  the  river  unperceived  in 
barks  made  of  the  trunks  of  trees  hollowed  out. 

11.  And  the  Jsaurians   having   tried   many  devices   to 
obtain  success  in  a  regular  battle,  and  having  failed  in 
everything,   being   repulsed   in   great  consternation,   and 
with  great  vigour  on  the  part  of  the  legions,  and  being 
uncertain  which  way  to  go,  came  near  the  town  of  La- 
randa.     And  there,   after  they  had  refreshed  themselves 
with  food  and  rest,  and  recovered  from  their  fears,  they  at- 
tacked several  wealthy  towns ;  but  being  presently  scared 
by  the  support  given  to  the  citizens  by  some  squadrons 
of  horse  which  happened  to  be  at  hand,  and  which  they 
would  not  venture  to  resist  in  the  extensive  plains,  they 
retreated,  and  retracing  their  steps  summoned  all  the  flower 
of  their  youth  which  had  been  left  at  home  to  join  them. 

12.  And  as  they  were  oppressed  with  severe  famine,  they 
made  for  a  place  called  i'alea,  standing  on  the  sea-shore, 
and  fortified  with  a  strong  wall ;  where  even  to  this  day 
supplies  are  usually  kept  in  store,  to  be  distributed  to  the 
armies  which  defend  the  frontier  of  Isauria. 

13.  Therefore  they  encamped  around  this  fortress  for 
three  days  and   three  nights,  and  as  the  steepness  of  the 
ground  on  which  it  stood  prevented  any  attempt  to  storm 
it  without  the  most  deadly  peril,  and  as  it  was  impossible 
to    effect   anything  by   mines,  and  no   other  manoeuvres 
such  as  are  employed    in   sieges  availed  anything,  they 
retired  much  dejected,  being  compelled  by  the  necessities 
of  their  situation  to  undertake  some  enterprise,  even  if  it 
should  be  greater  than  their  strength  was  equal  to. 

14.  Then  giving  way  to  greater  fury  than  ever,  being 
inflamed  both  by  despair  and  hunger,  and  their  strength 
increased  by  their  unrestrainable   ardour,  they  directed 
their  efforts  to  destroy  the  city  of  Seleucia,  the  metropolis 
of  the  province,  which  was  defended  by  Count  Castucius, 
whose  legions  were  inured  to  every  kind  of  military  service. 


AJ>.  353.]  THE  SIEGE   OF   SELEUCIA.  9 

15.  The  commanders  of  the  garrison  being  forewarned 
of  their  approach  by  their  own  trusty  scouts,  having,  ac- 
cording to  custom,  given  out  the  watchword  to  the  troops, 
led  forth  all  their  forces  in  a  rapid  sally,  and  having  with 
great  activity  passed  the  bridge  over  the  river  Calicadnus, 
the  mighty  waters  of  which  wash  the  turrets  of  the  walls, 
they  drew  out  their  men  as  if  prepared  for  battle.     But 
as  yet   no   man  left   the   ranks,  and   the   army  was   not 
allowed  to   engage;    for  the   band  of  the  Isaurians  was 
dreaded,  inasmuch  as  they  were  desperate  with  rage,  and 
superior  in  number,  and  likely  to  rush  upon  the  aims  of 
the  legions  without   any  regard   to   their   lives.     There- 
fore   as    soon   as   the    army   was    beheld   at    a   distance, 
and  the  music  of  the  trumpeters  was  heard,  the  banditti 
halted   and    stood    still    for    a    while,    brandishing    their 
Threatening  swords,  and   after   a  time  they  marched   on 
slowly.     And  when  the  steady  Roman  soldiery  began  to 
deploy,  preparing. to  encounter  them,  beating  their  shields 
with  their  spears   (a  custom  which  rouses  the  fury  of  the 
combatants,  and  strikes  terror  into  their  enemies),  they 
filled  the  front  ranks  of  the  Tsaurians  with  consternation. 
But  as  the  troops  were  pressing  forward  eagerly  to  tho 
combat  their  generals  recalled  them,  thinking  it  inoppor- 
tune to  enter  upon  a  contest  of  doubtful  issue,  when  their 
walls  were  not  far  distant,  under  protection  of  which  the 
safety  of  the  whole   army  could   be   placed   on   a   solid 
foundation. 

16.  Therefore  the  soldiers  were  brought  back  inside  the 
walls  in  accordance  with  this  resolution,  and  all  the  ap- 
proaches and  gates  were  strongly  barred  ;    and  the  men 
were  placed  on  the  battlements  and  bulwarks,  having  vast 
stones  and  weapons  of  all  kinds  piled  close  at  hand,  so  that 
if  any  one  forced  his  way  inside  he  might  be  overwhelmed 
with  a  multitude  of  missiles  and  stones. 

17.  But  those  who  were  shut  up  in  the  walls  were  at 
the    same   time   greatly   afflicted,    because   the   Isaurians 
having  taken  some  vessels  which  were  conveying  grain 
down  the  river,  were  well  provided   with  abundance  of 
food,  while  they  themselves,  having  almost  consumed  the 
usual  stores  of  food,  were  in  a  state  of  alann  dreading  the 
fatal  agonies  of  approaching  famine.     "When  the  news  of 
this    distress   got   abroad,   and  when   repeated   messages 


10  AMMIAMJS    MARCELLIXDS.  [Bt  XIV.  CH.  in. 

to  this  effect  had  moved  Gallus  Cassar,  because  the  master 
of  the  horse  was  kept  away  longer  than  usual  at  that 
season,  Nebridius  the  count  of  the  East  was  ordered  to 
collect  a  military  force  from  all  quarters,  and  hastened 
forward  with  exceeding  zeal  to  deliver  the  city,  so  wealthy 
and  important,  from  such  a  peril.  And  when  this  was 
known  the  banditti  retired,  without  having  performed 
any  memorable  exploit,  and  dispersing,  according  to  their 
wont,  they  sought  the  trackless  recesses  of  the  lofty 
mountains. 

III. 

§  1 .  WHILE  affairs  were  in  this  state  in  Isauria,  and  while  the 
king  of  Persia  was  involved  in  wars  upon  his  frontier, 
repulsing  from  his  borders  a  set  of  ferocious  tribes  which, 
being  full  of  fickleness,  were  continually  either  attacking 
him  in  a  hostile  manner,  or,  as  often  happens,  aiding  him 
when  he  turned  his  arms  against  us,  a  certain  noble,  by  name 
Nohodares,  having  been  appointed  to  invade  Mesopotamia, 
whenever  occasion  might  serve,  was  anxiousl}'  exploring 
our  territories  with  a  view  to  some  sudden  incursion,  if  he 
could  anywhere  find  an  opportunity. 

2.  And  because  since  every  part  of  Mesopotamia  is  accus- 
t  med  to  be  disturbed  continually,  the  lands  were  pro- 
tected by  frequent  barriers,  and  military  stations  in  the  rural 
districts,  Nohodares,  having  directed  his  march  to  the  left, 
had  occupied  the  most  remote  parts  of  the  Osdroene,  having 
devised    a   novel    plan   of    operations   which    had    never 
hitherto  been  tried.     And  if  he  had  succeeded  he  wouln 
have  laid  waste  the  whole  country  like  a  thunderbolt. 

3.  Now  the  plan  which  he  had  conceived  was  of  this  kind. 
There  is  a  town  in  Anthemusia  called  Batne,  built  by  the 
ancient  Macedonians,  a  short  distance  from  the  river  Eu- 
phrates, thickly  peopled  by  wealthy  merchants.     To  this 
city,  about  the  beginning  of  the  month  of  September,  a 
great  multitude  of  all  ranks  throng  to  a  fair,  in  order  to 
buy  the  wares  which  the  Indians  and  Chinese  send  thither, 
and  many  other  articles  which  are  usually  brought  to  this 
fair  by  land  and  sea. 

4.  The  leader  before  named,  preparing  to  invade  this 
district  on  the  days  set  apart  for  this  solemnity,  marching 
through    the  deserts   and  along  the  grassy  banks  of  the 


*.».  363. 1  THE  SARACENS.  11 

river  Aboi-a,  was  betrayed  by  information  given  by  some 
of  his  own  men,  who  being  alarmed  at  the  discovery  of 
certain  crimes  which  they  had  committed,  deserted  to  the 
Roman  garrisons,  and  accordingly  he  retired  again  without 
having  accomplished  anything ;  and  after  that  remained 
quiet  without  undertaking  any  further  enterprise. 

IV. 

§  1.  AT  this  time  also  the  Saracens,  a  race  whom  it  is 
never  desirable  to  have  either  for  friends  or  enemies, 
ranging  up  and  down  the  country,  if  ever  they  found  any- 
thing, plundered  it  in  a  moment,  like  rapacious  hawks 
who,  if  from  on  high  they  behold  any  prey,  carry  it  off 
with  rapid  swoop,  or,  if  they  fail  in  their  attempt,  do  not 
tarry. 

2.  And  although,  in  recounting  the  career  of  the  Prince 
Marcus,    and    once    or   twice   subsequently,    I   remember 
having  discussed  the  manners  of  this  people,  nevertheless 
I  will  now  briefly  enumerate  a  few  more  particulars  con- 
cerning them. 

3.  Among  these  tribes,  whose  primary  origin  is  derived 
/'rom  the  cataracts  of  the  Nile  and  the  borders  of  the  Blein- 
oayge,  all  the  men  are  warriors  of  equal  rank ;  half  naked, 
clad  in  coloured  cloaks  down  to  the  waist,  overrunning 
different  countries,  with  the  aid  of  swift  and  active  horses 
and  speedy  camels,  alike  in  times  of  peace  and  war.     Nor 
does  any  member  of  their  tribes  ever  take  plough  in  hand 
or  cultivate  a  tree,  or  seek  food  by  the  tillage  of  the  land ; 
but   they   are   perpetually    wandering   over  various   and 
extensive   districts,  having   no  home,  no  fixed  abode  or 
laws ;   nor  can  they  endure  to  remain  long  in  the  same 
climate,  no  one  district  or  country  pleasing  them  for  a 
continuance. 

4.  Their  life  is  one  continued  wandering;  their  wives 
are  hired,  on  special  covenant,  for  a  fixed  time ;  and  that 
there  may  be  some  appearance  of  marriage  in  the  business, 
the  intended  wife,  under  the  name  of  a  dowry,  offers  A 
spear  and  a  tent  to  her  husband,  with  a  right  to  quit  him 
after  a  fixed  day,  if  she  should  choose  to  do  so.     And  it  is 
inconceivable  with  what  eagerness  the  individuals  of  botk 
lexes  give  themselves  up  to  matrimonial  pleasures. 


12  AMM1ANUS   MARCELLINUS.  [BK.  XIV.  CH.  T. 

5.  But  as  long  as  they  live  they  wander  about  with  such 
extensive   and   perpetual   migrations,  that  the  woman  is 
married  in  one  place,  brings  forth  her  children  in  another, 
and  rears  them  at  a  distance  from  either  place,  no  oppor- 
tunity of  remaining  quiet  being  ever  granted  to  her. 

6.  They  all  live  on  venison,  and  are  further  supported 
on  a  great  abundance  of  milk,  and  on  many  kinds  of  herbs, 
and  on  whatever  birds  they  can  catch  by  fowling.     And 
we  have  seen  a  great  many  of  them  wholly  ignorant  of  the 
use  of  either  corn  or  wine. 

7.  So  much  for  this  most  mischievous  nation.     Now  let 
us  return  to  the  subject  we  originally  proposed  to  our 
selves. 

V. 

§  1.  WHILE  these  events  were  taking  place  in  the  East,  Con- 
stantius  was  passing  the  winter  at  Aries  ;  and  after  an 
exhibition  of  games  in  the  theatre  and  in  the  circus,  which 
were  displayed  with  most  sumptuous  magnificence,  on  the 
tenth  of  October,  the  day  which  completed  the  thirtieth 
year  of  his  reign,  he  began  to  give  the  reins  more  freely 
to  his  insolence,  believing  every  information  which  was 
laid  before  him  as  proved,  however  doubtful  or  false  it 
might  be ;  and  among  other  acts  of  cruelty,  he  put  Geron- 
tius,  a  count  of  the  party  of  Magnentius,  to  the  torture, 
and  then  condemned  him  to  banishment. 

2.  And  as  the  body  of  a  sick  man  is  apt  to  be  agitated 
by  even  trifling  grievances,  so  his  narrow  and  sensitive 
mind,  thinking  every  sound  that  stirred  something  either 
done   or   planned   to  the  injury  of  his  safety,  made  his 
victory  '  mournful  by  the  slaughter  of  innocent  men. 

3.  For  if  any  one  of  his  military  officers,   or  of  those 
who  had  ever  received  marks  of  honour,  or  if  any  one  of 
high  rank  was  accused,  on  the  barest  rumour,  of  having 
favoured  the  faction  of  his  enemy,  he  was  loaded  with 
chains  and  dragged  about  like  a  beast.     And  whether  any 
enemy  of  the  accused  man  pressed  him  or  not,  as  if  the 

1  His  victory  over  Magnentius,  whom  he  defeated  at  Murea,  on  the 
Doave,  in  the  year  351.  Magnentius  fled  to  Aquileia,  but  was  pursued, 
and  again  defeated  the  next  year,  at  a  place  called  Mons  Seleuci,  in 
the  neighbourhood  of  Gap,  and  threw  himself  on  his  own  sword  to 
avoid  falling  into  the  hands  of  Coiistantius. 


A.D.  353.]  CRUELTY  OF  CONSTANTIUS.  13 

mere  fact  that  his  name  had  been  mentioned  was  sufficient, 
every  one  who  was  informed  against  or  in  any  way  called 
in  question,  was  condemned  either  to  death,  or  to  confis- 
cation of  his  property,  or  to  confinement  in  a  desert 
island. 

4.  For  his  ferocity  was  excited  to  a  still  further  degree 
when  any  mention  was  made  of  treason  or  sedition ;  and 
the   bloodthirsty  insinuations   of  those    around  him,   ex- 
aggerating   everything   that   happened,    and     pretending 
great  concern  at  any  danger  which  might  threaten  the  life 
of  the  emperor,  on  whose   safety,  as   on  a  thread,  they 
hypocritically  exclaimed  the  whole  world  depended,  added 
daily  to  his  suspicions  and  watchful  anger. 

5.  And  therefore   it   is   reported    he  gave  orders   that 
no   one  who  was   at   any  time  sentenced  to   punishment 
for  these  or  similar  offences  should  be  readmitted  to  his 
presence  for  the  purpose  of  offering  the  usual  testimonies 
to  his  character,  a  thing  which  the  most  implacable  princes 
have   been  wont   to  permit.     And   thus   deadly   cruelty, 
which  in  all  other  men  at  times  grows  cool,  in  him  only 
became  more  violent  as  he  advanced  in  years,  because  the 
court  of  flatterers  which  attended  on  him  added  continual 
fuel  to  his  stern  obstinacy, 

6.  Of  this  court  a  most  conspicuous  member  was  Paulus, 
the  secretary,  a  native  of  Spain,  a  man  keeping  his  objects 
hidden  beneath  a  smooth  countenance,  and  acute  beyond 
all  men  in  smelling  out  secret  ways  to  bring  others  into 
danger.     He,  having  been  sent  into  Britain  to  arrest  some 
military  officers  who  had  dared  to  favour  the  conspiracy 
of    Magnentius,    as    they    could    not    resist,    licentiously 
exceeded  his   commands,   and   like   a  flood   poured   with 
sudden   violence   upon  the   fortunes   of  a    great   number 
of  people,  making   his  path  through   manifold  slaughter 
and  destruction,  loading  the  bodies  of  free-born  men  with 
chains,  and  crushing  some  with    fetters,  while  patching 
up    all    kinds    of    accusations     far    removed     from    the 
truth.     And  to  this  man  is  owing  one  especial   atrocity 
which  has  branded  the  time  of  Constantius  with  indelible 
infamy. 

7.  Martinus,  who  at  that  time  governed  these  provinces 
as  deputy,  being  greatly  concerned  for  the  sufferings  in- 
flicted on  innocent  men,  and  making  frequent  entreaties 


14  AMMIANOS   MAUCELL1NUS.  [BK.  XIV.  CH.  ti. 

that  those  who  were  free  from  all  guilt  might  be  spared, 
when  he  found  that  he  could  not  prevail,  threatened  to 
withdraw  from  the  province,  in  the  hope  that  this  male- 
volent inquisitor,  Paulus,  might  be  afraid  of  his  doing  so, 
and  so  give  over  exposing  to  open  danger  men  who  had 
combined  only  in  a  wish  for  tranquillity. 

8.  Paulus,  thinking  that  this  conduct  of  Martinus  was 
a  hindrance  to  his  own  zeal,  being,  as  he  was,  a  formidable 
artist  in  involving  matters,  from  which  people  gave  him 
the  nickname  of  "  the  Chain,"  attacked  the  deputy  him- 
self while  still  engaged  in  defending  the  people  whom  he 
was  set  to  govern,  and  involved  him  in  the  dangers  which 
surrounded  every  one  else,  threatening  that  he  would  carry 
him,  with  his  tribunes  and  many  other  persons,  as  a  pri- 
soner to  the  emperor's  court.     Martinus,  alarmed  at  this 
threat,  and  seeing  the  imminent  danger  in  which  his  life 
was,  drew  his  sword  and  attacked  Paulus.     But  because 
from  want  of  strength  in  his  hand  he  was  unable  to  give 
him  a  mortal  wound,  he  then  plunged  his  drawn  sword 
into  his  own  side.     And  by  this  unseemly  kind  of  death 
that  most  just  man  departed  from  life,  merely  for  having 
dared  to  interpose  some  delay  to  the  miserable  calamities 
of  many  citizens. 

9.  And  when  these  wicked  deeds  had  been  perpetrated, 
Paulus,   covered   with  blood,   returned  to   the   emperor's 
camp,  bringing   with   him   a  crowd   of  prisoners   almost 
covered  with  chains,  in  the  lowest  condition  of  squalor 
and  misery ;  on  whose  arrival  the  racks  were  prepared, 
and  the  executioner  began  to  prepare  his  hooks  and  other 
engines  of  torture.     Of  these  prisoners,  many  of  them  had 
their  property  confiscated,  others  were  sentenced  to  banish- 
ment, some  were   given   over  to  the  sword  of  the  exe- 
cutioner.    Nor  is  it  easy  to  cite  the  acquittal  of    a  single 
person   in   the   time  of  Constantius,  where  the   slightest 
whisper  of  accusation  had  been  brought  against  him. 

VI. 

§  1.  AT  this  time  Orfitus  was  the  governor  of  the  Eternal 
City,  with  the  rank  of  prefect ;  and  he  behaved  with  a 
degree  of  insolence  beyond  the  proper  limits  of  the  dignity 
thus  conferred  upon  him.  A  man  of  prudence  indeed,  and 


A.D.353.]  ORFITUS,   GOVERNOR  OF   BOME.  15 

well  skilled  in  all  the  forensic  business  of  the  city,  but 
less  accomplished  in  general  literature  and  in  the  fine  arts 
than  was  becoming  in  a  nobleman.  Under  his  adminis- 
tration some  very  formidable  seditions  broke  out  in  con- 
sequence of  the  scarcity  of  wine,  as  the  people,  being 
exceedingly  eager  for  an  abundant  use  of  that  article,  were 
easily  excited  to  frequent  and  violent  disorders. 

2.  And  since  I  think  it  likely  that  foreigners  who  may 
read  this  account  (if,  indeed,  any  such  should  meet  with 
it)  are  likely  to  wonder  how  it  is  that,  when  my  history 
has  reached  the  point  of  narrating  what  was  done  at  Rome, 
nothing  is  spoken  of  but  seditions,  and  shops,  and  cheap- 
ness, and  other   similarly  inconsiderable  matters,   I  will 
briefly  touch  upon  the  causes  of  this,  never  intentionally 
departing  from  the  strict  truth. 

3.  At   the   time   when   Rome   first   rose   into   mundane 
brillianey — that  Rome  which  was  fated  to  last  as  long  as 
mankind  shall  endure,  and  to  be  increased  with  a  sublime 
progress   and   growth — virtue    and  fortune,  though  com- 
monly at  variance,  agreed  upon  a  treaty  of  eternal  peace, 
as  far  as  she  was  concerned.     For  if  either  of  them  had 
been  wanting  to  her,  she  wotild  never  have  reached  her 
perfect  and  complete  supremacy. 

4.  Her  people,  from  its  very  earliest  infancy  to  the  latest 
moment  of  its  youth,  a  period  which  extends  over  about 
three  hiindred  years,  carried  on  a  variety  of  wars  with  the 
natives  around  its  walls.     Then,  when  it  arrived  at  its 
full-grown  manhood,  after  many  and  various  labours  in 
war,  it  crossed  the  Alps  and  the  sea,  till,  as  youth  and  man, 
it  had  carried  the  triumphs  of  victory  into  every  country 
in  the  world. 

5.  And  now  that  it  is  declining  into  old  age,  and  often 
owes  its  victories  to  its  mere  name,  it  has  come  to  a  more 
tranquil  time  of  life.     Therefore  the  venerable  city,  after 
having  bowed  down  the  haughty  necks  of  fierce  nations, 
and  given  laws  to  the  world,  to  be  the  foundations  and 
eternal  anchors  of  liberty,  like  a  thrifty  parent,  prudent 
and  rich,  intrusted  to  the  Caesars,  as  to  its  own  children, 
the  right  of  governing  their  ancestral  inheritance. 

6.  And    although    the    tribes   are   indolent,    and    the 
countries  peaceful,  and  although  there  are  no  contests  for 
votes,  but  the  tranquillity  of  the  age  of  Numa  has  returned, 


16  AMMIANUS   MARCELUXUS.  [BK.  XIV.  CH.  n 

nevertheless,  in  every  quarter  of  the  world  Rome  is  still 
looked  up  to  as  the  mistress  and  the  queen  of  the  earth, 
and  the  name  of  the  Roman  people  is  respected  and 
venerated. 

7.  But  this  magnificent  splendour  of  the  assemblies  and 
councils  of  the  Roman  people  is  defaced  by  the  inconside- 
rate levity  of  a  few,  who  never  recollect  where  they  have 
been  born,  but  who  fall  away  into  error  and  licentiousness, 
as  if  a  perfect  impunity  were  granted  to  vice.     For  as  the 
lyric  poet  Simonides  teaches  us,  the  man  who  would  live 
happily  in  accordance  with  perfect  reason,  ought  above  all 
things  to  have  a  glorious  country. 

8.  Of  these  men,  some  thinking  that  they  can  be  handed 
down  to  immortality  by  means   of  statues,  are   eagerly 
desirous  of  them,  as  if  they  would  obtain  a  higher  reward 
from  brazen  figures  unendowed   with  sense  than  from  a 
consciousness  of  upright  and  honourable  actions  ;  and  they 
even  are  anxious  to  have  them  plated  over  with  gold,  a 
thing  which  is  reported  to  have  been  first  done  in  the  in- 
stance of  Acilius  Glabrio,  who  by  his  wisdom  and  valour 
had   subdued  King  Antiochus.     But  how  really  noble  a 
thing  it  is  to  despise  all  these  inconsiderable  and  trifling 
things,  and  to  bend  one's  attention  to  the  long  and  toilsome 
steps  of  true  glory,  as  the  poet  of  Ascrea1  has  sung,  and  Cato 
the  Censor  has  shown  by  his  example.     For  when  he  was 
asked  how  it  was  that  while  many  other  nobles  had  statues 
he  had  none,  replied  :   "  I  had  rather  that  good  men  should 
marvel  how  it  was  that  1  did  not  earn  one,  than  (what 
would  be  a  much  heavier  misfortune)  inquire  how  it  was 
that  I  had  obtained  one." 

9.  Others  place  the  height  ot  glory  in  having  a  coach 
higher  than  usual,  or  splendid  apparel ;    and  so  toil  and 
sweat  Tinder  a  vast  burden  of  cloaks,  which  are  fastened 
to  their  necks  by  many  clasps,  and  blow  about  from  the 
excessive  fineness  of  the  material ;    showing  a  desire,  by 
the  continual  wriggling  of  their  bodies,  and  especially  by 
the  waving  of  the  left  hand,  to  make  their  long  fringes  and 
tunics,  embroidered  in  multiform  figures  of  animals  with 
threads  of  various  colours,  more  conspicuous. 

10.  Others,  with  not  any  one   asking   them,    put  on  a 

1  Hesiotl.    Ammianus  refers  to  the  passage  in  Hesiod's  Op.  et  Di<  a. 
289,  beginning — rrjs  5'  apfrrjs  iSpwra  6tol  vpoird&oiQtv  f6t)ffa.v. 


AJX353.]  ARROGANCE  OF   THE  RICH.  17 

feigned  severity  of  countenance,  and  extol  their  patrimonial 
estates  in  a  boundless  degree,  exaggerating  the  yearly  pro- 
duce of  their  fruitful  fields,  which  they  boast  of  possessing 
in  numbers  from  east  to  west,  being  forsooth  ignorant  that 
their  ancestors,  by  whom  the  greatness  of  Eome  was  so 
widely  extended,  were  not  eminent  for  riches  ;  but  through 
a  course  of  dreadful  wars  overpowered  by  their  valour  all 
who  were  opposed  to  them,  though  differing  but  little  from 
the  common  soldiers  either  in  riches,  or  in  their  mode  of  life, 
or  in  the  costliness  of  their  garments. 

11.  This  is  how  it  happened  that  Valerius  Publicola  was 
buried  by  the  contributions  of  his  friends,   and  that  the 
destitute  wife  of  Eegulus  was,  with  her  children,  supported 
by  the  aid  of  the  friends  of  her  husband,  and  that  the 
daughter  of  Scipio  had  a  dowry  provided  for  her  out  of  the 
public  treasury,  the  other  nobles  being  ashamed  to  see  xlie 
beauty  of  this  full-grown   maiden,  while   her   moneyless 
father  was  so  long  absent  on  the  service  of  his  country. 

12.  But  now  if  you,  as  an  honourable  stranger,  should 
enter  the  house  of  any  one  well  off,  and  on  lhat  account 
full  of  pride,  for  the  purpose  of  saluting   him,  at   first, 
indeed,  you  will  be  hospitably  received,   as   though  your 
presence  had  been  desired ;  and  after  having  had  many 
questions  put  to  you,   and  having  been  forced  to  tell  a 
number  of  lies,  you  will  wonder,  since  the  man  had  never 
seen  you  before,  that  one  of  high  rank  should  pay  such 
attention  to  you  who  are  but  an  unimportant  individual ; 
so  that  by  reason  of  this  as  a  principal  source  of  happiness, 
you  begin  to  repent  of  not  having  come  to  Rome  ten  years 
ago. 

13.  And   when   relying   on  this  affability  you   do  the 
same  thing  the  next  day,  you  will  stand  waiting  as  one 
utterly  unknown  and  unexpected,  while  he  who   yester- 
day encouraged  you  to  repeat  your  visit,  counts  upon  his 
fingers  who    you    can   be,   marvelling,   for  a   long   time, 
whence   you  come,   and  what  you  want.      But  when   at 
length  you  are  recognized  and  admitted  to  his  acquaint- 
ance, if  you  should  devote  yourself   to   the  attention  of 
saluting  him  for  three  years  consecutively,  and  after  this 
intermit  your  visits  for  an  equal  length  of  time,  then  if 
you  return  to  repeat  a  similar  course,  you  will  never  be 
questioned  about  your  absence  any  more  than  if  you  had 

c 


18  AMMIANUS  MARCELLINUS.  [BK.  XIV.  CH.  YS 

been  dead,  and  you  will  waste  your  whole  life  in  submit- 
ting to  court  the  humours  of  this  blockhead. 

14.  But  when  those  long  and  unwholesome  banquets, 
which  are  indulged  in  at  certain  intervals,  begin  to  be  pre- 
pared, or  the  distribution  of  the  usual  dole-baskets  takes 
place,  then  it  is  discussed  with  anxious  deliberation  whether 
when  those  to  whom  a  return  is  due  are  to  be  entertained, 
it  is  proper  to  invite  also  a  stranger;   and  if,  after  the 
matter  has  been  thoroughly  sifted,  it  is  determined  that  it 
may  be  done,  that  person  is  preferred  who  waits  all  night 
before  the  houses  of  charioteers,  or  who  professes  a  skill  in 
dice,  or  pretends  to  be  acquainted  with  some  peculiar  secrets. 

15.  Fur  such  entertainers  avoid  all  learned  and  sober  men 
as  unprofitable  and  useless ;  with  this  addition,  that  the 
nomenclators1  also,  who  are  accustomed  to  make  a  market 
of  these  invitations  and  of  similar  favours,  selling  them  for 
bribes,  do  for  gain  thrust  in  mean  and  obscure  men  at  these 
dinners. 

16.  The  whirlpools  of  banquets,  and  the  various  allure- 
ments of  luxury,  I  omit,  that  I  may  not  be  too  prolix,  and 
with  the  object  of  passing  on  to  this  fact,  that  some  people, 
hastening  on  without  fear  of  danger,  drive  their  horses, 
as  if  they  were  post-horses,  with  a  regular  licence,  as  the 
saying  is,  through  the  wide  streets  of  the  city,  over  the 
roads  paved  with  flint,  dragging  behind  them  large  bodies  of 
slaves  like  bands  of  robbers ;  not  leaving  at  home  even 
Sannio,2  as  the  comic  poet  says. 

17.  And  many  matrons,  imitating  these  men,  gallop  over 
every  quarter  of  the  city  with  their  heads  covered,  and  in  close 
carriages.     And  as  skilful  conductors  of  battles  place  in  the 
van  their  densest  and  strongest  battalions,  then  their  light- 
armed  troops,  behind  them  the  darters,  and  in  the  extreme 
rear  troops  of  reserve,  ready  to  join  in  the  attack  if  necessity 
should  arise  ;  so,  according  to  the  careful  arrangements  of 
the  stewards  of  these  city  households,  who  are  conspicuous 
by  wands  fastened  to  their  right  hands,  as   if  a  regular 
watchword  had  been  issued  from  the  camp,  first  of  all,  near 

1  A  nomenclator  was  a  slave  who  attended  a  great  noble  in  his  walk 
through  the  city  to  remind  him  of  the  names  of  those  whom  he  met. 
See  Cicero  pro  Mursena,  c.  36. 

2  The  name  of  a  slave  in  the  Eunuch,  of  Terence,  who  says,  act.  iy 
«c.  8 — Sannio  alone  stays  at  home. 


A.D.353.]  ARROGANCE  OF   THE   RICH.  19 

the  front  of  the  carriage  march  all  the  slaves  concerned  in 
spinning  and  working  ;  next  to  them  come  the  hlackened 
crew  employed  in  the  kitchen ;  then  the  whole  hody  of 
slaves  promiscuously  mixed  up  with  a  gang  of  idle  plebeians 
from  the  neighbourhood;  last  of  all,  the  multitude  of 
eunuchs,  beginning  with  the  old  men  and  ending  with  the 
boys,  pale  and  unsightly  from  the  distorted  deformity  of 
their  features ;  so  that  whichever  way  any  one  goes,  seeing 
troops  of  mutilated  men,  he  will  detest  the  memory  of 
Semiramis,  that  ancient  queen  who  was  the  first  person  to 
castrate  male  youths  of  tender  age ;  doing  as  it  were  a 
violence  to  nature,  and  forcing  it  back  from  its  appointed 
course,  which  at  the  very  first  beginning  and  birth  of  the 
child,  by  a  kind  of  secret  law  revealing  the  primitive  foun- 
tains of  seed,  points  out  the  way  of  propagating  posterity. 

18.  And  as  this  is  the  case,  those  few  houses  which  were 
formerly  celebrated  for  the  serious  cultivation  of  becoming 
studies,  are  now  filled  with  the  ridiculous  amusements  of 
torpid  indolence,  re-echoing  with  the  sound  of  vocal  music 
and  the  tinkle  of  flutes  and  lyres.    Lastly,  instead  of  a  philo- 
sopher, you  find  a  singer  ;  instead  of  an  orator,  some  teacher 
of  ridiculous  arts  is  summoned  ;  and  the  libraries  closed  for 
ever,  like  so  many  graves  ;  organs  to  be  played  by  water- 
power  are  made  ;  and  lyres  of  so  vast  a  size,  that  they  look 
like  waggons ;  and  flutes,  and  ponderous  machines  suited 
for  the  exhibitions  of  actors. 

19.  Last  of  all,  they  have  arrived  at  such  a  depth  of  un- 
worthiness,  that  when,  no  very  long  time  ago,  on  account 
of  an  apprehended   scarcity  of  food,  the  foreigners  were 
driven  in  haste  from  the  oity ;  those  who  practised  liberal 
accomplishments,   the  number  of  whom  was  exceedingly 
small,  were  expelled  without  a  moment's  breathing-time ; 
yet  the  followers  of  actresses,  and  all  who  at  that  time 
pretended  to  be  of  such  a  class,  were  allowed  to  remain ;  and 
three  thousand  dancing-girls  had  not  even  a  question  put 
to  them,  but  stayed  unmolested  with  the  members  of  their 
choruses,  and  a  corresponding  number  of  dancing  masters. 

20.  And  wherever  you  turn  your  eyes,  you  may  see  a 
multitude  of  women  with  their  hair  curled,  who,  as  far  as 
their  age  goes,  might,  if  they  had  married,  been  by  this 
time  the  mothers  of  three  children,  sweeping  the  pavements 
with  their  feet  till  they  are  weary,  whirling  round  in  rapid 


20  AMMIAXUS   MARCELLINUS.  rBK.XIY.CH.Ti. 

gyrations,    while  representing  innumerable    groups    and 
figures  which  the  theatrical  plays  contain. 

21.  It  is  a  truth  beyond  all  question,  that,  when  at  one 
time  Rome  was  the  altode  of  all  the  virtues,  many  of  the 
nobles,   like    the    Lotophagi,   celebrated  in  Homer,   who 
detained  men  by  the  deliciousness  of  their  fruit,  allured 
foreigners  of  free  birth  by  manifold  attentions  of  courtesy 
and  kindness. 

22.  But  now,  in  their  empty  arrogance,  some  persons 
look  upon  everything  as  worthless  which  is  born  outside  of 
the  walls  of  the  city,  except  only  the  childless  and  the  un- 
married.    Nor  can  it  be  conceived  with  what  a  variety  of 
obsequious  observance  men  without  children  are  courted 
at  Rome. 

23.  And  since  among  them,  as  is  natural  in  a  city  so 
great  as  to  be  the  metropolis  of  the  world,  diseases  attain 
to  such  an  insurmountable  degree  of  violence,  that  all  the 
skill  of  the  physician  is  ineffectual  even  to  mitigate  them ; 
a  certain  assistance  and  means  of  safety  has  been  devised, 
in  the  rule  that  no  one  should  go  to  see  a  friend  in  such  a 
condition,  and  to  a  few  precautionary  measures  a  fuither 
remedy  of  sufficient  potency  has  been  added,  that   men 
should  not  readmit  into  their  houses  servants  who  have 
been  sent  to  inquire  how  a  man's  friends  who  may  have 
been  seized  with  an  illness  of  this  kind  are,  until  they  have 
cleansed  and  purified  their  persons  in  the  bath.     So  that  a 
taint  is  feared,  even  when  it  has  only  been  seen  with  the 
eyes  of  another. 

24.  But  nevertheless,  when  these  rules  are  observed  thus 
stringently,  some  persons,  if  they  be  invited  to  a  wedding, 
though  the  vigour  of  their  limbs  be  much  diminished,  yet, 
when  gold  is  offered1  in  the  hollow  palm  of  the  right  hand, 
will  go  actively  as  far  as  Spoletum.     These  are  the  customs 
of  the  nobles. 

25.  But  of  the  lower  and  most  indigent  class  of  the  popu- 
lace  some    spend   the  whole   night    in   the   wine   shops 
Some  lie  concealed  in  the  shady  arcades  of  the  theatres ; 
which  Catulus  was   in  his  asdileship  the  first  person  to 

1  It  was  customary  on  such  solemnities,  as  also  on  the  occasion  of 
ttssuming  the  toga  virilis,  or  entering  on  any  important  magistracy,  to 
make  small  presents  of  money  to  the  guests  who  were  invited  to  cele- 
brate the  occasion.  Cf.  Flin.  Epist.  x.  117. 


kJ>.353.]  CRUELTY   OF   CALLUS.  21 

raise,  in  imitation  of  the  lascivious  manners  of  Campania,  or 
else  they  play  at  dice  so  eagerly  as  to  quarrel  over  them  ; 
snuffing  up  1heir  nostrils  and  making  unseemly  noises  by 
drawing  back  their  breath  into  their  noses ;  or  (and  this  is 
their  favourite  pursuit  of  all  others)  from  sunrise  to  even- 
ing they  stay  gaping  through  sunshine  or  rain,  examining 
in  the  most  careful  manner  the  most  sterling  good  or 
bad  qualities  of  the  charioteers  and  horses. 

26.  And  it  is  veiy  wonderful  to  see  an  innumerable 
multitude  of  people  with  great  eagerness  of  mind  intent 
upon  the  event  of  the  contests  in  the  chariot  race.  These 
pursuits,  and  others  of  like  character,  prevent  anything 
worth  mentioning  or  important  from  being  done  at  Rome. 
Therefore  we  must  return  to  our  original  subject. 

VII. 

§  1 .  His  licentiousness  having  now  become  more  unbounded, 
the  Cajsar  began  to  be  burdensome  to  all  virtuous  men  ;  and 
discarding  all  moderation,  he  harassed  every  part  of  the 
East,  sparing  neither  those  who  had  received  public 
honours,  nor  the  chief  citizens  of  the  different  cities  ;  nor 
the  common  people. 

2.  At  last  by  one  single  sentence  he  ordered  all  the 
principal  persons  at  Antioch  to  be  put  to  death ;  being 
exasperated    because   when  he  recommended   that   a   low 
price    should  be  established  in  the  market  at  an   unsea- 
sonable time,  when  the  city  was  threatened  with  a  scarcity, 
they    answered   him   with    objections,   urged  with  more 
force  than  he  approved ;   and  they  would  all  have  been 
put  to  death  to  a  man,  if  Honoratus,  who  was  at  that  time 
count  of  the  East,  had  not  resisted  him  with  pertinacious 
constancy. 

3.  This   circumstance    was  also   a  proof,  and   that  no 
doubtful  or   concealed  one,  of  the   cruelty  of  his  nature, 
that  he  took  delight  in  cruel  sports,  and  in  the  circus  he 
would  rejoice  as  if  he  had  made  some  great  gain,  to  see  six 
or  seven  gladiators  killing  one  another  in  combats  which 
have  often  been  forbidden. 

4.  In  addition  to  these  things  a  certain  worthless  woman 
inflamed  his  purpose  of  inflicting  misery ;  for  she,  having 
obtained  admission  to  the  palace,  as  she  had  requested,  gave 


22  AMMIANUS  MARCELLINUS.  [BK.  XIV.  CH.  vn. 

him  information  that  a  plot  was  secretly  laid  against  him 
by  a  few  soldiers  of  the  lowest  rank.  And  Constantina, 
in  her  exultation,  thinking  that  her  husband's  safety  was 
now  fully  secured,  rewarded  and  placed  this  woman,  in  a 
carriage,  and  in  this  way  sent  her  out  into  the  public 
street  through  the  great  gate  of  the  palace,  in  order,  by  such 
a  temptation,  to  allure  others  also  to  give  similar  or  more 
important  information. 

5.  After  these  events,  Gallus  being  about  to  set  out  for 
Hierapolis,  in  order,  as  far  as  appearance  went,  to  take 
part  in  the   expedition,  the   common   people  of   Antioch 
entreated  him  in  a  suppliant  manner  to  remove  their  fear 
of  a  famine  which  for  many  reasons  (some  of  them  difficult 
to  explain)  it  was  believed  was  impending ;  Gallus,  how- 
ever, did  not,  as  is  the  custom  of  princes  whose  power, 
by  the  great  extent  of  country  over  which  it  is  diffused,  is 
able  continually  to  remedy  local  distresses,  order  any  dis- 
tribution of  food  to  be  made,  or  any  supplies  to  be  brought 
from  the  neighbouring  countries ;   but  he  pointed  out  to 
them  a  man   of  consular  rank,   named  Theophilus,  the 
governor  of  Syria,  who  happened  to  be  standing  by,  re- 
plying to  the  repeated  appeals  of  the  multitude,  who  were 
trembling  with  apprehensions  of  the  last  extremities,  that 
no  one  could  possibly  want  food  if  the  governor  were  not 
willing  that  they  should  be  in  want  of  it. 

6.  These  words   increased   the  audacity   of  the  lower 
classes,  and  when  the  scarcity  of  provisions  became  more 
severe,  urged  by  hunger  and  frenzy,  they  set  fire  to  and 
burnt  down  the  splendid  house  of  a  man  of  the  name  of 
Eubulus,   a  man  of   great   reputation  among   his   fellow- 
citizens;    and  they  attacked  the   governor   himself  with 
blows  and  kicks  as  one  especially  made  over  to  them  by 
the  judgment   of  the   emperor,   kicking  him  till  he  was 
half  dead,  and  then  tearing  him  to  pieces  in  a  miserable 
manner.     And  after  his  wretched  death  every  one  saw  in 
the   destruction  of  this  single   individual  a  type  of  the 
danger  to  which  he  was  himself  exposed,  and,  taught  by 
this  recent  example,  feared  a  similar  fate. 

7.  About  the  same  time  Serenianus,  who  had  previously 
been  duke '  of  Phoenicia,  to  whose  inactivity  it  was  owing, 

1  The  Latin  is  Dux.     It  is  about  this  period  that  the  title  Duke  and 
Count,  which  we  have  already  had,  arose,  indicating  however  at  first 


A.D.  353.J  CONSTANT1US   SUMMONS   GALLUS.  23 

as  we  have  already  related,  that  Celse  in  Phoenicia  was 
laid  waste,  was  deservedly  and  legally  accused  of  trea- 
son, and  no  one  saw  how  he  could  possibly  be  acquitted. 
He  was  also  manifestly  proved  to  have  sent  an  intimate 
friend  with  a  cap  (with  which  he  used  to  cover  his  own 
head)  which  had  been  enchanted  by  forbidden  acts  to  the 
temple  of  prophecy,1  on  purpose  to  ask  expressly  whether, 
according  to  his  wish,  a  firm  enjoyment  of  the  whole 
empire  was  portended  for  him. 

8.  And   in   these  days  a  twofold  misfortune  occurred : 
firstj  that  a  heavy  penalty  had  fallen  upon  Theophilus  who 
was  innocent ;  and,  secondly,  that  Serenianus  who  deserved 
universal   execration,  was  acquitted  without  the   general 
feeling  being  able  to  offer  any  effectual  remonstrance. 

9.  Constantius  then  hearing  from  time  to  time  of  these 
transactions,   and  having  been   further  informed  of  some 
particular  occurrences  by  Thalassius,    who  however   had 
now  died  by  the  ordinary  course  of  nature,  wrote  courteous 
letters  to  the  Caesar,  but  at  the  same  time  gradually  with- 
drew from  him  his  support,  pretending  to  be  uneasy,  least 
as  the  leisure  of  soldiers  is  usually  a  disorderly  time,  the 
troops  might  be  conspiring  to  his  injury  :  and  he  desired 
him  to  content  himself  with  the  schools  of  the  Palatine,8 
and  with  those  of  the  Protectors,  with  the  Scutarii,  and 
Gentiles.     And  he  ordered  Domitianus,  who  had  formerly 
been  the  Superintendent  of  the  Treasury,  but  who  was  now 
promoted  to  be  a  prefect,  as  soon  as  he  arrived  in  Syria,  to 
address  Gallus  in  persuasive  and  respectful  language,  ex- 
horting him  to  repair  with  all  speed  to  Italy,  to  which 
province  the  emperor  had  repeatedly  summoned  him. 

not  territorial  possessions,  but  military  commands  ;  and  it  is  worth 
noticing  that  the  rank  of  Count  was  the  higher  of  the  two. 

1  Constantine,  on  his  conversion  to  Christianity,  had  issued  an  edict 
forbidding  the  consultation  of  oracles ;  but  the  practice  was  not  wholly 
abandoned  till  the  time  of  Theodosius. 

2  Schools  was  the  name  given  at  Eome  to  buildings  where  men  were 
wont  to  meet  for  any  purpose,  whether  of  study,  of  traffic,  or  of  the 
practice  of  any  art.     The  schools  of  the  Palatine  were  the  station  of 
the  cohorts  of  the  guard.     The  "  Protectors  or  Guards  "  were  a  body  of 
soldiers  of  higher  rank,  receiving  also  higher  pay  ;  called  also  "  Domes- 
tic! or  household  troops,"  as  especially  set  apart  for  the  protection  of  the 
imperial  palace  and  person.     The  "  Scutarii "  (shield-bearers)  belonged 
to  the  Palatine  schools  ;  and  the  Gentiles  were  troops  enlisted  from 
among  those  nations  which  were  still  accounted  barbarous. 


24  AMMIANUS   MARCELL1NUS.  rBEXlV.CH.vn. 

10.  And  when,  with  this  object,  Domitianus  had  reached 
Antiocb,  having  travelled  express,  he  passed  by  the  gates 
of  the  palace,  in  contempt  of  the  Caesar,  whom,  however, 
he  ought  to  have  visited,  and  proceeded  to  the  general's 
camp  with  ostentatious  pomp,  and  there  pretended  to  bo 
sick  ;  he  neither  visited  the  palace,  nor  ever  appeared  in 
piiblic,  but  keeping  himself  private,  he  devised  many  things 
to  bring  about  the  destruction  of  the  Caesar,  adding  many 
superfluous  circumstances  to  the  relations  which  he  was 
continually  sending  to  the  emperor. 

11.  At  last,  being  expressly  invited  by  the  Caesar,  and 
being  admitted  into  the  prince's  council-chamber,  without 
making  the  slightest  preface  he  began  in  this  inconsiderate 
and  light-minded   manner :   "  Depart,"  said   he,    "  as  you 
have  been  commanded,  0  Caesar,  and  know  this,  that  if  you 
make  any  delay  I  shall  at  once  order  all  the  provisions 
allotted  for  the  support  of  yourself  and  your  court  to  be 
carried  away."     And  then,  having  said  nothing  more  than 
these  insolent  words,  he  departed  with  every  appearance  of 
rage ;    and  would  never  afterwards   come  into   his   sight 
though  frequently  sent  for. 

12.  The  Caesar  being  indignant  at  this,  as  thinking  he 
had  been   unworthily  and   unjustly   treated,   ordered   his 
faithful  protectors  to  take   the  prefect  into  custody;  and 
when  this  became  known,  Montius,  who  at  that  time  was 
quaestor,  a  man  of  deep  craft  indeed,  but  still  inclined  to 
moderate  measures,1  taking  counsel  for  the  common  good, 
sent  for  the  principal  members  of  the  Palatine  schools  and 
addressed  them  in  pacific  words,  pointing  out  that  it  was 
neither  proper  nor  expedient  that  such  things  should  be 
done ;  and  adding  also  in  a  reproving  tone  of  voice,  that  if 
such  conduct  as  fhis  were  approved  of,  then,  after  throwing 
down  the  statues  of  Constantius  the  prefect  would  begin 
to  think  how  he  might  also  with  the  greater  security  take 
his  life  also. 

13.  When  this  was  known  Callus,  like  a  serpent  attacked 
with  stones  or  darts,  being  now  reduced  to  the  extremity 
of  despair,  and  eager  to  insure  his  safety  by  any  possible 

1  Gibbon  here  proposes  for  lenitatem  to  read  letsitatem,  fickleness  ; 
himself  describing  Moutius  as  "  a  statesman  whose  art  and  experience 
were  frequently  betrayed  by  the  levity  of  his  disposition." — Cap.  xix., 
p.  298,  vol.  iii.,  Bohn's  edition. 


A.l>.  353.]  RESISTANCE   OF   GALLUS.  25 

means,  ordered  all  his  troops  to  be  collected  in  arms,  and 
when  they  stood  around  him  in  amazement  he  gnashed  his 
teeth,  and  hissing  with  rage,  said, — 

14.  "Yon  are  present  here  as  brave  men,  come  to  the 
aid  of  me  who  am  in  one  common  danger  with  you.     Mon- 
tius,  with  a  novel  and  unprecedented  arrogance,  accuses  us 
of  rebellion  and  resistance  to  the  majesty  of  the  emperor, 
by  roaring  out  all  these  charges  against  us.     Being  offended 
forsooth  that,  as  a  matter  of  precaution,  I  ordered  a  contu- 
macious prefect,  who  pretended  not  to  know  what  the  state 
of  affairs  required,  to  be  arrested  and  kept  in  custody." 

15.  On  hearing  these  words  the  soldiers  immediately, 
being  always  on  the  watch  to  raise  disturbances,  first  of  all 
attacked  Montius,  who  happened  to  be  living  close  at  hand, 
an  old  man  of  no  great  bodily  strength,  and  enfeebled  by 
disease ;  and  having  bound  his  legs  with  coarse  ropes,  they 
dragged  him  straddling,  without  giving  him  a  moment  to 
take  breath,  as  far  as  the  general's  camp. 

16.  And  with  the  same  violence  they  also  bound  Domitia- 
nus,  dragging  him  head  first  down  the  stairs ;  and  then  having 
fastened  the  two  men  together,  they  dragged  them  through 
all  the  spacious  streets  of  the  city  at  full  speed.     And,  all 
their  limbs  and  joints  being  thus  dislocated,  they  trampled 
on  their  corpses  after  they  were  dead,  and  mutilated  them 
in  the  most  unseemly  manner ;  and  at  last,  having  glutted 
their  rage,  they  threw  them  into  the  river. 

17.  But  there  was  a  certain   man   named  Luscus,  the 
governor  of  the  city,  who,  suddenly  appearing  among  the 
soldiers,  had   inflamed   them,   always  ready  for  mischief, 
to  the  nefarious  actions  which  they  had  thus  committed ; 
exciting  them  with  repeated  cries,  like  the  musician  who 
gives  the  tune  to  the  mourners  at  funerals,  to  finish  what 
they  had  begun :  and  for  this  deed  he  was,  not  long  after, 
burnt  alive. 

18.  And   because  Montius,  when  just  about   to  expire 
under  the  hands  of  those  who  were  tearing  him  to  pieces, 
repeatedly  named  Epigonius  and  Eusebius,  without  indi- 
cating either  their  rank  or  their  profession,  a  great  deal 
of  trouble  was  taken  to  find  out  who  they  were ;  and,  lest 
the  search  should  have  time  to  cool,  they  sent  for  a  philo- 
sopher named  Epigonius,  from  Lycia,  and  for  Eusebius  the 
orator,  surnamed  Pittacos,  from  Emissa ;  though  they  were 


26  AMMIANUS   MARCELUNUS.  |B«.  XIV.  CH.  vn. 

not  those  whom  Montius  had  meant,  but  some  tribunes, 
superintendents  of  the  manufactures  of  arms,  who  had  pro- 
mised him  information  if  they  heard  of  any  revolutionary 
measures  being  agitated. 

19.  About  the  same  time  Apollinaiis,  the  son-in-law  of 
Domitianns,  who  a  short  time  before  had  been  the  chief 
steward  of  the  Caesar's  palace,  being  sent  to  Mesopotamia 
by  his  father-in  law,  took  exceeding  pains  to  inquire  among 
the  soldiers  whether  they  had  received  any  secret   de- 
spatches from  the  Cassar,  indicating  his  having  meditated  any 
deeper  designs  than  usual.    And  as  soon  as  he  heard  of  the 
events  which  had  taken  place  at  Antioch,  he  passed  through 
the  lesser  Armenia  and  took  the  road  to  Constantinople  ; 
but  he  was  seized  on  his  journey  by  the  Protectors,  and 
brought  back  to  Antioch,  and  there  kept  in  close  confine- 
ment. 

20.  And  while  these  things  were  taking  place  there  was 
discovered  at  Tyre  a  royal  robe,  which  had  been  secretly 
made,  though  it  was  quite  uncertain  who  had  placed  it 
where  it  was,  or  for  whose  use  it  had  been  made.     And  on 
that  account  the  governor  of  the  province,  who  was  at  that 
time  the  father  of  Apollinaris,  and  bore  the  same  name, 
was  arrested  as  an  accomplice  in  his  guilt ;  and  great  num- 
bers of  other  persons  were  collected  from  different  cities, 
who  were  all  involved  in  serious  accusations. 

21.  And  now,  when  the  trumpets  of  internal  war  and 
slaughter  began  to  sound,  the  turbulent  disposition  of  the 
Caesar,  indifferent  to  any  consideration  of  the  truth,  began 
also  to  break  forth,  and  that  not  secretly  as  before.     And 
without  making  any  solemn  investigation  into  the  truth  of 
the  charges  brought  against  the  citizens,  and  without  sepa- 
rating the  innocent  from  the  guilty,  he  discarded  all  ideas 
of  right  or  justice,  as  if  they  had  been  expelled  from  the 
seat  of  judgment.     And  while  all  lawful  defence  on  trials 
was  silent,  the  torturer,  and  plunderer,  and  the  executioner, 
and  every  kind  of  confiscation  of  property,  raged  unrestrained 
throughout  the  eastern  provinces  of  the  empire,  which  I 
think  it  now  a  favourable  moment  to  enumerate,  with  the 
exception  of  Mesopotamia,  which  I  have  already  described 
when  I  was  relating  the  Parthian  wars ;  and  also  with  the 
exception  of  Egypt,  which  I  am  forced  to  postpone  to 
another  opportunity. 


A.D.353.]  DESCRIPTION   OF   C1LICIA.  27 


VIII. 

§  1.  AFTER  passing  over  the  summit  of  Mount  Taurus,  which 
towards  the  east  rises  up  to  a  vast  height,  Cilicia  spreads 
itself  out  for  a  very  great  distance — a  land  rich  in  all  valu- 
able productions.  It  is  bordered  on  its  right  by  Isauria, 
which  is  equally  fertile  in  vines  and  in  many  kinds  of 
grain.  The  Calycadnus,  a  navigable  river,  flows  through 
the  middle  of  Isaurus. 

2.  This  province,  besides  other  towns,  is   particularly 
adorned  by  two  cities,  Seleucia,  founded  by  King  Seleucus, 
and  Claudiopolis,  which  the  Emperor  Claudius  Caesar  esta- 
blished as  a  colony.     For  the  city  of  Isauria,  which  was 
formerly  too  powerful,  was  in  ancient  times  overthrown  as 
an  incurable  and  dangerous  rebel,  and  so  completely  de- 
stroyed that  it  is  not  easy  to  discover  any  traces  of  its 
pristine  splendour. 

3.  The  province  of  Cilicia,  which  exults  in  the  river 
Cydnus,  is  ornamented  by  Tarsus,  a  city  of  great  magni- 
ficence.    This  city  is  said  to  have  been  founded  by  Perseus, 
the  son  of  Jupiter  and  Danae  ;  or  else,  and  more  probably, 
by  a  certain  emigrant  who  came  from  Ethiopia,  by  name 
Sandan,  a  man  of  great  wealth  and  of  noble  birth.     It  is 
also  adorned   by  the  city  of  Anazarbus,  which  bears  the 
name  of  its  founder ;  and  by  Mopsuestia,  the  abode  of  the 
celebrated  seer  Mopsus,  who  wandered  from  his  comrades 
the  Argonauts   when  they  were   returning   after   having 
carried  off  the  Golden  Fleece,  and  strayed  to  the  African 
coast,  where  he  died  a  sudden  death.     His  heroic  remains, 
though  covered  by  Punic  turf,  have  ever  since  that  time 
cured  a  great  variety  of  diseases,  and  have  generally  re- 
stored men  to  sound  health. 

4.  These  two  provinces  being  full  of  banditti  were  for- 
merly subdued  by  the  pro-consul  Servilius,  in  a  piratical 
war,  and  were  passed  under  the  yoke,  and  made  tributary 
to  the  empire.     These  districts  being  placed,  as  it  were,  on 
a  prominent  tongue  of  land,  are  cut  off  from  the  main  conti- 
nent by  Mount  Amanus. 

.  5.  The  frontier  of  the  East  stretching  straight  forward 
for  a  great  distance,  reached  from  the  banks  of  the  river 
Euphrates  to  those  of  the  Kile,  being  bounded  on  the 


28  AMMIANUS  MARCELLINUS.  [Bt  XIV.  CH.  vin. 

left  by  the  tribes  of  the  Saracens  and  on  the  right  by  the 
sea. 

6.  Nicator    Seleucus,  after  he   had    occupied   that  dis- 
trict, increased  its  prosperity  to  a  wonderful  degree,  when, 
after  the  death    of  Alexander,   king    of  Macedonia,   he 
took  possession  of  the  kingdom  of  Persia  by  right  of  suc- 
cession ;  being  a  mighty  and  victorious  king,  as  his  sur- 
name indicates.     And  making  free  use  of  his  numerous 
subjects,  whom  he  governed  for  a  long  time  in  tranquil- 
lity, he  changed  groups  of  rustic  habitations  into  regular 
cities,  important  for  their   great  wealth  and   power,  the 
greater  part  of  which  at  the  present  day,  although  they 
are  called  by  Greek  names  which  were  given  them  by 
the   choice   of  their  founder,  have  nevertheless  not  lost 
their  original  appellations  which  the  original  settlers  of 
the  villages  gave  them  in  the  Assyrian  language. 

7.  After  Osdroeno,  which,  as   I  have   already   said,    I 
intend  to  omit  from  this  description,  the  first  province  to 
be    mentioned   is  Commagena,  now   called   Euphratensis, 
which  has  arisen  into  importance  by  slow  degrees,  and  is 
remarkable    for    the    splendid   cities   of  Hierapolis,   the 
ancient  Ninus,  and  Samosata. 

8.  The  next  province  is  Syria,  which  is  spread  over  a 
beautiful  champaign  country.     This  province  is  ennobled 
by  Antioch,  a  city  known  over   the  whole  world,  with 
which  no  other  can  vie  in  respect  of  its  riches,  whether 
imported  or  natural :  and  by  Laodicea  and  Apameia,  and 
also  by  Seleucia,  all  cities  which  have  ever  been  most 
prosperous  from  their  earliest  foundation. 

9.  After  this  comes  Phoenicia,  a  province  lying  under 
Mount  Lebanon,  full  of  beauty  and  elegance,  and  deco- 
rated  with   cities   of   great    size    and   splendour,   among 
which  Tyre  excels  all  in  the  beauty  of  its  situation  and  in 
its  renown.     And  next  come  Sidon  and  Berytus,  and  on  a 
par  with  them  Emissa  and  Damascus,  cities  founded  in 
remote  ages. 

10.  These  provinces,  which  the  river  Orontes  borders, 
a  river  which  passes  by  the  foot  of  the  celebrated  and 
lofty  mountain  Cassius,  and  at  last  falls  into  the  Levant 
near  the  Gulf  of  Issus,  were  added  to  the  Eoman  dominion 
by  Cnaeus  Pompey,  who,  after  he  had  conquered  Tigranes, 
separated  them  from  the  kingdom  of  Armenia. 


tJ>.  353.1  ARABIA.  29 

11.  The  last  province  of  the  Syrias  is  Palestine,  a  dis- 
trict of  great  extent,   abounding   in  well- cultivated  and 
beautiful  land,  and  having  several  magnificent  cities,  all 
of  equal  importance,  and  rivalling  one  another  as  it  were, 
in  parallel  lines.    For  instance,  Caesarea,  which  Herod  built 
in  honour  of  the  Prince  Octavianus,  and  Eleutheropolis, 
and  Neapolis,  and  also  Ascalon,  and  Gaza,  cities  built  in 
bygone  ages. 

12.  In  these  districts   no  navigable  river  is  seen:    in 
many  places,  too,  waters   naturally  hot   rise   out  of  the 
ground  well  suited  for  the  cure  of  various  diseases.     These 
regions  also  Pompey  formed  into  a  Roman  province  after 
he  had  subdued  the  Jews  and  taken  Jerusalem :   and  he 
made  over  their  government  to  a  local  governor. 

13.  Contiguous  to  Palestine  is  Arabia,  a  country  which 
on  its  other  side  joins  the  Kabathsei — a  land  full  of  the 
most  plenteous  variety  of  merchandize,  and  studded  with 
strong  forts  and  castles,  which  the  watchful  solicitude  of  its 
ancient  inhabitants  has  erected  in  suitable  defiles,  in  order 
to  repress  the  inroads  of  the  neighbouring  nations.     This 
province,   too,  besides   several   towns,    has   some   mighty 
cities,   such  as  Bostra,  Gerasa,  and  Philadelphia,  fortified 
with  very  strong  walls.     It  was  the  Emperor  Trajan  who 
first  gave  this  country  the  name  of  a  Roman  province,  and 
appointed  a  governor  over  it,  and  compelled  it  to  obey  our 
laws,  after  having  by  repeated  victories  crushed  the  arro- 
gance of  the  inhabitants,  when  he  was  carrying  his  glorious 
arms  into  Media  and  Parthia. 

14.  There  is  also  the  island  of  Cyprus,  not  very  far  from 
the  continent,  and  abounding  in  excellent  harbours,  which, 
besides  its  many  municipal  towns,  is  especially  famous  for 
two  renowned  cities,  Salamis  and  Paphos,  the  one  cele- 
brated for  its  temple  of  Jupiter,  the  other  for  its  temple  ot 
Venus.     This  same  Cyprus  is  so  fertile,  and  so  abounding 
in  riches  of  every  kind,  that  without  requiring  any  ex- 
ternal assistance,  it  can  by  its  own  native  resources  build 
a  merchant  ship  from  the  very  foundation  of  the  keel  up  to 
the   top   sails,    and  send  it  to   sea  fully   equipped  with 
stores. 

15.  It  is  not  to  be  denied  that  the  Roman  people  invaded 
this   island   with   more    covetousness   than  justice.      For 
when  Ptolemy,  the  king,  who  was  connected  with  us  by 


30  AMMIANUS   MARCELLINUS.  BK.  XIV.  CH.  IX. 

treaty,  and  was  also  our  ally,  was  without  any  fault  of  his 
own  proscribed,  merely  on  account  of  the  necessities  of  our 
treasury,  and  slew  himself  by  taking  poison,  the  island  was 
made  tributary  to  us,  and  its  spoils  placed  on  board  our 
fleet,  as  if  taken  from  an  enemy,  and  earned  to  Rome 
by  Cato.  We  will  now  return  to  the  actions  of  Constan- 
tius  in  their  due  order. 

IX. 

§  1.  AMID  all  these  various  disasters,  Ursicinus,  who  was 
the  governor  of  Nisibis,  an  officer  to  whom,  the  command 
of  the  emperor  had  particularly  attached  me  as  a  servant, 
was  summoned  from  that  city,  and  in  spite  of  his  reluc- 
tance, and  of  the  opposition  which  he  made  to  the  clamorous 
bands  of  flatterers,  was  forced  to  investigate  the  origin  of 
the  pernicious  strife  which  had  arisen.  He  was  indeed  a 
soldier  of  great  skill  in  war,  and  an  approved  leader  of 
troops  ;  but  a  man  who  had  always  kept  himself  aloof  from 
the  strife  of  the  forum.  He,  alarmed  at  his  own  danger 
when  he  saw  the  corrupt  accusers  and  judges  who  were 
associated  with  him,  all  emerging  out  of  the  same  lurking- 
places,  wrote  secret  letters  to  Constantius  informing  him  of 
what  was  going  on,  both  publicly  and  in  secret ;  and  im- 
ploring such  assistance  as,  by  striking  fear  into  Gallus, 
should  somewhat  curb  his  notorious  arrogance. 

2.  But  through  excessive  caution  he  had  fallen  into  a 
worse  snare,  as  we  shall  relate  hereafter,  since  his  enemies 
got  the  opportunity  of  laying  numerous  snares  for  him,  to 
poison  the  mind  of  Constantius  against  him ;  Constantius, 
in  other  respects  a  prince  of  moderation,  was  severe  and 
implacable  if  any  person,  however  mean  and  unknown, 
whispered  suspicion  of  danger  into  his  ears,  and  in  such 
matters  was  wholly  unlike  himself. 

3.  On  the  day  appointed  for  this  fatal  examination,  the 
master  of  the  horse  took  his  seat  under  the  pretence  of 
being  the  judge  ;  others  being  also  set  as  his  assessors, 
who  were    instructed   beforehand  what  was  to  be  done : 
and  there  were  present  also  notaries  on  each  side  of  him, 
who  kept  the  Caesar  rapidly  and  continually  informed  of  all 
the  questions  which  were  put  and  all  the  answers  which 
were  given  ;  and  by  his  pitiless  orders,  urged  as  he  was  by 


A.D.  353.]  TORTURES   OF   THE  PRISONERS.  3J 

the  persuasions  of  the  queen,  who  kept  her  ear  at  the 
curtain,  many  were  put  to  death  without  being  permitted 
to  soften  the  accusations  brought  against  them,  or  to  say  a 
word  in  their  own  defence. 

4.  The  first  persons  who  were  brought  before  them  were 
Epigonius  and  Eusebius,  who  were  ruined  because  of  the 
similarity  of  their  names  to  those  of  other  people ;  for  we 
have  already  mentioned  that  Montius,  when  just  at  the 
point  of  death,  had  intended  to  inculpate  the  tribunes  of 
manufactures,  who  were  called  by  these  names,  as  men  who 
had  promised  to  be  his  supports  in  some  future  enterprise. 

5.  Epigonius  was  only  a  philosopher  as  far  as  his  dress 
went,   as    was     evident,    when,    having    tried    entreaties 
in  vain,  his  sides  having  been  torn  with   blows,  and  the 
fear  of  instant  death  being  presented  to  him,  he  affirmed 
by  a  base  confession   that   his   companion  was  privy   to 
his  plans,  though  in  fact  he  had  no  plans  ;  nor  had  he 
ever  seen  or  heard  anything,  being   wholly  unconnected 
with  forensic  affairs.     But  Eusebius,  confidently  denying 
what  he  was  accused  of,  continued  firm  in  unshaken  con- 
stancy, loudly  declaring   that  it  was  a  band  of  robbers 
before  whom  he  was  brought,  and  not  a  court  of  justice. 

6.  And  when,  like  a  man  well  acquainted  with  the  law, 
he  demanded  that  his  accuser  should  be   produced,   and 
claimed  the  usual  rights  of  a  prisoner  ;  the  Ciesar,  having 
heard  of  his  conduct,  and  looking  on  his  freedom  as  pride, 
ordered    him   to  be  put  to   the   torture   as   an   audacious 
calumniator ;    and  when  Eusebius  had  been  tortured   so 
severely  that  he  had  no  longer  any  limbs  left  for  torments, 
imploring  heaven  for  justice,  and   still   smiling  disdain- 
fully,  he   remained   immovable,    with   a   firm   heart,  not 
permitting  his  tongue  to  accuse  himself  or  any  one  else. 
And  so  at  length,  without  having  either  made  any  con- 
fession, or  being  convicted  of  anything,  he  was  condemned 
to  death  with  the  spiritless  partner  of  his  sufferings.     He 
was  then  led  away  to  death,  protesting  against  the  ini 
quity  of  the  times  ;    imitating   in   his  conduct  the  cele- 
brated Stoic  of  old,   Zeno,  who,  after  he  had  been  long 
subjected  to  torture  in  order  to  extract  from  him  some 
false  confession,  tore  out  his  tongue  by  the  roots  and  threw 
it,  bloody  as  it  was,  into  the  face  of  the  king  of  Cyprus, 
who  was  examining  him. 


32  AMMIAXUS  MARCELLINUS.  [BK.  XIV.  CH.  X 

7.  After  these  events  the  affair  of  the  royal  robe  was 
examined  into.     And  when  those  who  were  employed  in 
dyeing  purple  had  been  put  to  the  torture,  and  had  con- 
fessed that  they  had  woven  a  short  tunic  to  cover  the 
chest,  without  sleeves,  a  certain  person,  by  name  Maras, 
was    brought   in,  a  deacon,    as   the   Christians  call  him  ; 
letters  from  whom  were  produced,  written  in  the  Greek 
language   *o   the  superintendent   of   the   weaving   manu- 
factory at  Tyre,   which   pressed  him   to  have  the  beau- 
tiful  work  finished   speedily ;    of  which  work,  however, 
these  letters  gave  no  further  description.     And  at  last  this 
man  also  was  tortured,  to  the  danger  of  his  life,  but  could 
not  be  made  to  confess  anything. 

8.  After  the   investigation  had  been  carried   on  with 
the   examination,  under  torture  of  many  persons,   when 
some  things  appeared  doubtful,  and  others   it  was  plain 
were  of  a   very   unimportant   character,    and  after  many 
persons    had   been    put  to    death,  the   two   Apollinares, 
father   and    son,   were    condemned    to    banishment;    and 
when   they   had   come  to   a   place   which   is  called   Cra- 
terse,  a  countiy  house  of  their   own,   which  is  four-and- 
twenty  miles  from  Antioch,  there,  according  to  the  order 
which  had  been  given,  their  legs  were  broken,  and  they 
were  put  to  death. 

9.  After  their  death  Gallus  was  not  at  all  less  ferocious 
than  before,  but  rather  like  a  lion  which  has  once  tasted 
blood,  he  made  many  similar  investigations,  all  of  which 
it  is  not  worth  while  to  relate,  lest  I  should  exceed  the 
bounds  which  I  have  laid  down  for  myself ;  an  error  which 
is  to  be  avoided 

X. 

§  1.  WHILE  the  East  was  thus  for  a  long  time  suffering  under 
these  calamities,  at  the  first  approach  of  open  weather, 
Constantius  being  in  his  seventh  consulship,  and  the  Csesar 
in  his  third,  the  emperor  quitted  Aries  and  went  to 
Valentia,  with  the  intention  of  making  war  upon  the 
brothers  Gundomadus  and  Vadomarius,  chiefs  of  the 
Allemanni ;  by  whose  repeated  inroads  the  territories  of 
the  Gauls,  which  lay  upon  their  frontier,  were  continually 
laid  waste. 

2.  And  while  he  was  staying  in  that  district,  as  he  did 


*J>.353.]  DISCONTENT   OF   THE   SOLDIERS.  S3 

for  some  time  while  waiting  for  supplies,  the  importation 
of  which  from  Aquitania  was  prevented  by  the  spring 
rains,  which  were  this  year  more  severe  than  usual,  so  that 
the  rivers  were  flooded  by  them,  Herculanus  arrived,  a 
principal  officer  of  the  guard,  son  of  Hermogenes,  who  had 
formerly  been  master  of  the  horse  at  Constantinople,  and 
had  been  torn  to  pieces  in  a  popular  tumult  as  we  have 
mentioned  before.  And  as  he  brought  a  faithful  account 
of  what  Gallus  had  done,  the  emperor,  sorrowing  over  the 
miseries  that  were  passed,  and  full  of  anxious  fear  for  the 
future,  for  a  time  stilled  the  grief  of  his  mind  as  well  as 
he  could. 

3.  But  in  the  mean  time  all  the  soldiery  being  assembled 
at  Cabillon,1  began  to  be  impatient  of  delay,  and  to  get 
furious,  being  so  much  the  more  exasperated  because  they 
had  not  sufficient  means  of  living,  the  usual  supplies  not 
yet  having  arrived. 

4.  And  in  consequence  of  this  state  of  things,  Eufinus, 
at  that  time  prefect  of  the  camp,  was  exposed  to  the  most 
imminent  danger.     For  he  himself  was  compelled  to  go 
among  the  soldiers,  whose  natural  ferocity  was  inflamed 
by  their  want  of  food,  and  who  on  other  occasions  are 
by  nature  generally  inclined  to  be  savage  and  bitter  against 
men  of  civil  dignities.      He  was  compelled,  I  say,  to  go 
among  them  to  appease  them  and  explain  on  what  account 
the  amval  of  their  corn  was  delayed. 

5.  And  the  task  thus  imposed  on  him  was  very  cun- 
ningly contrived,  in  order  that  he,  the  uncle   of  Gallus, 
might  perish  in  the  snare  ;  lest  he,  being  a  man  of  great 
power  and  energy,  should  rouse  his  nephew  to  confidence, 
and  lead  him  to  undertake  enterprises  which  might  be  mis- 
chievous.     Great  caution,  however,  was  used   to   escape 
this ;   and,  when  the  danger  was  got  rid  of  for  a  while, 
Eusebius,  the  high  chamberlain,  was  sent  to  Cabillon  with 
a  large  sum  of  money,  which  he  distributed  secretly  among 
the  chief  leaders  of  sedition :    and  so  the  turbulent  and 
arrogant  disposition  of  the  soldiers  was  pacified,  and  the 
safety  of  the  prefect  secured.      Afterwards   food   having 
arrived  in  abundance  tne  camp  was  struck  on  the  day 
appointed. 

6.  After  great  difficulties  had  been  surmounted,  many 

1  Chalons  sur  Saone. 


34  AMMIANUS   MARCELL1NUS.  [En.  XIV.  CH.  X. 

of  the  roads  being  buried  in  snow,  the  army  came  near  to 
Rauracum1  on  the  banks  of  the  Rhine,  where  the  mul- 
titude of  the  Allemanni  offered  great  resistance,  so  that 
by  their  fierceness  the  Romans  were  prevented  from  fixing 
their  bridge  of  boats,  darts  being  poured  upon  them  from 
all  sides  like  hail;  and,  when  it  seemed  impossible  to 
succeed  in  that  attempt,  the  emperor  being  taken  by  sur- 
prise, and  full  of  anxious  thoughts,  began  to  consider  what 
to  do. 

7.  When   suddenly  a  guide  well  acquainted  with  the 
country  arrived,  and  for  a  reward  pointed  out  a  ford  by 
night,  where  the  river  could  be  crossed  ;   and  the  army 
ciossing  at  that  point,  while  the  enemy  had  their  attention 
directed  elsewhere,  roight  without  any  one  expecting  such 
a  step,  have  and  waste  the  whole  country,  if  a  few  men 
of  the  same  nation  to  whom  the  higher  posts  in  the  Roman 
army  were  intrusted  had  not  (as  some  people  believe)  in- 
formed their  fellow-countrymen  of  the  design  by  secret 
messengers. 

8.  The  disgrace  of  this  suspicion  fell  chiefly  on  Latinus, 
a  commander  of  the  domestic  guard,  and  on   Agilo,  an 
equerry,  and  on  Scudilo,  the  commander  of  the  Scutarii, 
men  who  at  that  time  were  looked  up  to  as  those  who  sup- 
ported the  republic  with  their  right  hands. 

9.  But  the  barbarians,  though  taking  instant  counsel 
on  such  an  emergency,  yet  either  because  the   auspices 
turned  out  unfavourable,  or  because  the  authority  of  the 
sacrifices  prohibited  an  instant  engagement,  abated  their 
energy,  and  the  confidence  with  which  they  had  hitherto 
resisted ;  and  sent  some  of  their  chiefs  to  beg  pardon  for 
their  offences,  and  sue  for  peace. 

10  Therefore,  having  detained  for  some  time  the  envoys 
of  both  the  kings,  and  having  long  deliberated  over  the  affair 
in  secret,  the  emperor,  when  he  had  decided  that  it  was  ex- 
pedient to  grant  peace  on  the  terms  proposed,  summoned  his 
army  to  an  assembly  with  the  intention  of  making  them  a 
short  speech,  and  mounting  the  tribunal,  surrounded  with  a 
staff  of  officers  of  high  rank,  spoke  in  the  following  manner : 

11.  "I  hope  no  one  will  wonder,  after  the  long  and 
toilsome  marches  we  have  made,  and  the  vast  supplies 
and  magazines  which  have  been  provided,  from  the  confi- 
1  Near  Basle. 


A.D.  353.J  SPEECH   OF    COXSTANTIUS.  35 

dence  which.  I  felt  in  you,  that  now  although  we  are  close 
to  the  villages  of  the  barbarians,  I  have,  as  if  I  had  sud- 
denly changed  my  plans,  adopted  more  peaceful  counsels. 

12.  "For  if  every  one  of  you,  having  regard  to  his  own 
position  and  his  own  feelings,  considers  the  case,  he  will 
find  this  to  be  the  truth :  that  the  individual  soldier  in  all 
cases,  however  strong  and  vigorous  he  may  be,  regards  and 
defends  nothing  but  himself  and  his  own  life ;  while  the 
general,  looking  on  all  with  impartiality  as  the  guardian 
of  their  general  safety,  is  aware  that  the  common  interest 
of  the  people  cannot  be  separated  from  his  own  safety ; 
and  he  is  bound  to  seize  with  alacrity  every  remedy  of 
which  the  condition  of  affairs  admits,  as  being  put  into  his 
hand  by  the  favour  of  the  gods. 

13.  "  That  therefore  1  may  in  a  few  words  set  before 
you  and  explain  on  what  account  I  wished  all  of   you, 
my  most  faithful  comrades,  to  assemble  here,  I  entreat  you 
to  listen  attentively  to  what  I  will  state  with  all  the'brevity 
possible.     For  the  language  of  truth  is  always  concise  and 
simple. 

14.  "  The  kings  and  people  of  the  Allemanni,  viewing 
with  apprehension  the  lofty  steps  of  your  glory  (which 
fame,  increasing  in  magnificence,  has  diffused  throughout 
the   most  distant   countries),  now   by   their   ambassadors 
humbly  implore  pardon  for  their  past  offences,  and  peace. 
And  this  indulgence  I,  as  a  cautious  and  prudent  adviser 
of  what  is  useful,  think  expedient  to  grant  them,  if  your 
consent  be  not  wanting  :  being  led  to  this  opinion  by  many 
considerations,  in  the  first  place  that  so  we  may  avoid  the 
doubtful  issues  of  war ;  in  the  second  place,  that  instead 
of  enemies  we  may  have  allies,  as  they  promise  we  shall 
find  them ;  further,  that  without  bloodshed  we  may  pacify 
their  haughty   ferocity,    a   feeling   which   is    often    mis- 
chievous  in  our  provinces  ;    and  last  of  all,   recollecting 
that  the  man  who  falls  in  battle,  overwhelmed  by  supe- 
rior weapons  or  strength,  is  not  the  only  enemy  who  has 
to  be  subdued;  and  that  with  much  greater  safety  to  the 
state,  even  while  the  trumpet  of  war  is  silent,  he  is  sub- 
dued who  makes  voluntary  submission,  having  learnt  by 
experience  that  we  lack  neither  courage  against  rebels,  nor 
mercy  towards  suppliants. 

15.  "  To  sum  up,  making  you  as  it  were  the  arbitrators,  I 


36  AMMIANUS  MARCELLIXUS.  [BK.  XIV.  CH  xi. 

wait  to  see  what  you  determine ;  having  no  doubt  myself, 
as  an  emperor  always  desirous  of  peace,  that  it  is  best  to 
employ  moderation  while  prosperity  descends  upon  us. 
For,  believe  me,  this  conduct  which  I  recommend,  and 
which  is  wisely  chosen,  will  not  be  imputed  to  want  of 
courage  on  your  part,  but  to  your  moderation  and  huma- 
nity." 

16.  As  soon  as  he  had  finished  speaking,  the  whole 
assembly  being  ready  to  agree  to  what  the  emperor  de- 
sired, and  praising  his  advice,  gave  their  votes  for  peace ; 
being  principally  influenced  by  this  consideration,  that 
they  had  already  learnt  by  frequent  expeditions  that  the 
fortune  of  the  emperor  was  only  propitious  in  times  of  civil 
troubles ;  but  that  when  foreign  wars  were  undertaken 
they  had  often  proved  disastrous.  On  this,  therefore, 
a  treaty  being  made  according  to  the  customs  of  the 
Allemanni,  and  all  the  solemnities  being  completed,  the 
emperor1  retired  to  Milan  for  the  winter. 

XI. 

§  1.  AT  Milan,  having  discarded  the  weight  of  other  cares, 
the  emperor  took  into  his  consideration  that  most  difficult 
gordian  knot,  how  by  a  mighty  effort  to  uproot  the  Caesar. 
And  while  he  was  deliberating  on  this  matter  with  his 
friends  in  secret  conference  by  night,  and  considering 
what  force,  and  what  contrivances  might  be  employed  for 
the  purpose,  before  Gallus  in  his  audacity  should  more 
resolutely  set  himself  to  plunging  affairs  into  confusion, 
it  seemed  best  that  Gallus  should  be  invited  by  civil  letters, 
under  pretence  of  some  public  affairs  of  an  urgent  nature 
requiring  his  advice,  so  that,  being  deprived  of  all  support, 
he  might  be  put  to  death  without  any  hindrance. 

2.  But  as  several  knots  of  light-minded  flatterers  opposed 
this  opinion,  among  whom  was  Arbetio,  a  man  of  keen 
wit  and  always  inclined  to  treachery,  and  Eusebius,  a  man 
always  disposed  to  mischief,  at  that  time  the  principal 
chamberlain,  they  suggested  that  if  the  Caesar  were  to 
quit  those  countries  it  would  be  dangerous  to  leave 
Ursicinus  in  the  East,  with  no  one  to  check  his  designs,  if 
he  should  cherish  ambitious  notions. 

8.  And  these  counsels  were  supported  by  the  rest  of  the 


A.D.  353.]  JEALOUSY    OF   CONSTANTIUS.  37 

royal  eunuchs,  whose  avarice  and  covetousness  at  that 
period  had  risen  to  excess.  These  men,  while  performing 
their  private  duties  about  the  court,  by  secret  whispers 
supplied  food  for  false  accusations ;  and  by  raising  bitter 
suspicions  of  Ursicinus,  ruined  a  most  gallant  man,  creating 
by  underhand  means  a  belief  that  his  grown-up  sons  began 
to  aim  at  supreme  power ;  intimating  that  they  were 
youths  in  the  flower  of  their  age  and  of  admirable  per- 
sonal beauty,  skilful  in  the  use  of  every  kind  of  weapon, 
well  trained  in  all  athletic  and  military  exercises,  and 
favourably  known  for  prudence  and  wisdom.  They  in- 
sinuated also  that  Gallus  himself,  being  by  nature  fierce 
and  unmanageable,  had  been  excited  to  acts  of  additional 
cruelty  and  ferocity  by  persons  placed  about  him  for  that 
purpose,  to  the  end  that,  when  he  had  brought  upon  him- 
self universal  detestation,  the  ensigns  of  power  might  be 
transferred  to  the  children  of  the  master  of  the  horse. 

4.  When  these   and   similar    suspicions    were    poured 
into  the  ears  of  Constantius,  which  were  always  open 
to  reports  of  this  kind,  the  emperor,  revolving  different 
plans  in  his  mind,  at  last   chose   the   following  as  the 
most  advisable   course.     He   commanded  Ursicinus  in  a 
most   complimentary   manner   to   come   to    him,   on    the 
pretence  that  the  urgent  state  of  certain  affairs  required 
to  be  arranged  by  the  aid  of  his  counsel  and  concurrence, 
and  that  he  had  need  of  such  additional  support  in  order 
to  crush  the  power  of  the  Parthian  tribes,  who   were 
threatening  war. 

5.  And  that  he  who  was  thus  invited  might  not  sus- 
pect anything  unfriendly,  the  Count  Prosper  was  sent  to 
act  as  his  deputy  till  he  returned.      Accordingly,  when 
Ursicinus  had  received  the   letters,  and  had  obtained  a 
sufficient  supply  of  carriages,  and  means  of  travelling,  we1 
hastened  to  Milan  with  all  speed. 

6.  The  next  thing  was  to  contrive  to  summon  the  Caesar, 
and  to  induce  him  to  make  the  like  haste.     And  to  remove 
all  suspicion  in  his  mind,  Constantius  used  many  hypocri- 
tical  endearments  to   persuade   his   own   sister,    Gallus' s 
wife,    whom   he   pretended  he   had   long    been    wishing 
to  see,  to  accompany  him.     And  although  she  hesitated 

1  It  will  be  observed  that  Ammianua  here   speaks  of  iiimself  aa 
in  attendance  upon  Ursicinus. 


38  AMMIANUS    MAKCKLUXCS.  [Bit.  XIV.  CH.  xj. 

from  fear  of  her  brother's  habitual  cruelty,  yet,  from  a 
hope  that,  as  he  was  her  brother,  she  might  be  able  to 
pacify  him,  she  set  out ;  but  when  she  reached  Bithynia, 
at  the  station  named  Ceeni  Gallici,  she  was  seized  with  a 
sudden  fever  and  died.  And  after  her  death,  her  husband, 
considering  that  he  had  lost  his  greatest  security  and  the 
chief  support  on  which  he  relied,  hesitated,  taking  anxious 
thought  what  he  should  do. 

7.  For  amid  the   multiplicity  of  embarrassing*  affairs 
which  distracted  his  attention,  this  point  especially  filled 
his  inind  with  apprehension,  that  Constantius,  determining 
everything  according  to  his  own  sole  judgment,  was  not  a 
man  to  admit  of  any  excuse,  or  to  pardon  any  error;  but 
being,  as  he  was,  more  inclined  to  severity  towards  his 
kinsmen  than  towards  others,  would  be  sure  to  put  him  to 
death  if  he  could  get  him  into  his  power. 

8.  Being  therefore  in  this  critical  situation,  and  feeling 
that  he  had  to  expect  the  worst  unless  he  took  vigilant 
care,  he  embraced   the  idea  of  seizing  on  the  supreme 
power  if  he  could  find  any  opportunity :    but  for  two 
reasons  he  distrusted  the  good  faith  of  his  most  intimate 
councillors ;  both  because  they  dreaded  him  as  at   once 
cruel  and  fickle,  and  also  because  amid  civil  dissensions  they 
looked  with  awe  upon  the  loftier  fortune  of  Constantius. 

9.  While  perplexed  with  these  vast  and  weighty  anxieties 
he  received  continual  letters  from  the  emperor,  advising 
and  entreating  him  to  come  to  him  ;  and  giving  him  hints 
that  the  republic  neither  could  nor  ought  to  be  divided  ; 
but  that  every  one  was  bound  to  the  utmost  of  his  power 
to  bring  aid  to  it  when  it  was  tottering ;  alluding  in  this 
to  the  devastations  of  the  Gauls. 

10.  And  to  this  suggestion  he  added  an  example  of  no 
great  antiquity,  that   in  the  time  of  Diocletian  and  his 
colleague,1  the  Caesars  obeyed  them  as  their  officers,  not 
remaining  stationary,  but  hastening  to  execute  their  orders 
in  every  direction.     And  that  even  Galerius  went  in  his 
purple  robe  on  foot  for  nearly  a  mile  before  the  chariot  of 
Augustus*  when  he  was  offended  with  him. 

11.  After  many  other  messengers  had  been  despatched  to 
him,  Scudilo  the  tribune  of  the  Scutarii  arrived,  a  very  cun- 
ning master  of  persuasion  under  the  cloak  of  a  rude,  blunt 

1  Haximianus  Herculius.  2  Diocletian. 


A.D.  353  J  CALLUS   REACHES    CONSTANTINOPLE.  39 

disposition.  He,  by  mixing  flattering  language  with  his 
serious  conversation,  induced  him  to  proceed,  when  no  one 
else  conld  do  so,  continually  assuring  him,  with  a  hypo- 
critical countenance,  that  his  cousin  was  extremely  desirous 
to  see  him ;  that,  like  a  clement  and  merciful  prince,  he 
would  pardon  whatever  errors  had  been  committed  through 
thoughtlessness  ;  that  he  would  make  him  a  partner  in  hia 
own  royal  rank,  and  take  him  for  his  associate  in  those 
toils  which  the  northern  provinces,  long  in  a  disturbed 
state,  imposed  upon  him. 

12.  And  as  when  the  Fates  lay  their  hand  upon  a  man 
his  senses  are  wont  to  be  blunted  and  dimmed,  so  Gallus, 
being  led  on  by  these  alluring  persuasions  to  the  expectation 
of  a  better  fortune,  quitted  Antioch  under  the  guidance  of 
an  unfriendly  star,  and  hurried,  as  the  old  proverb  has  it, 
out  of  the  smoke   into  the  flame  ;l  and  having  arrived  at 
Constantinople  as  if  in  great  prosperity  and  security,  at 
the  celebration  of  the  equestrian  games,  he  with  his  own 
hand  placed  the  crown  on  the  head  of  the  charioteer  Corax, 
when  he  obtained  the  victory. 

13.  When   Constantius   heard  this  he  became    exaspe- 
rated beyond  all  bounds  of  moderation ;  and  lest  by  any 
chance  Gallus,    feeling    uncertain  of  the  future,    should 
attempt  to  consult  his  safety  by  flight,  all  the  garrisons 
stationed  in  the  towns  which  lay  in  his  road  were  care- 
fully removed. 

14.  And   at  the  same  time  Taurus,  who  was   sent   as 
quaestor  into  Armenia,  passed  by  without  visiting  or  seeing 
him.     Some  persons,  however,   by  the   command  of   1he 
emperor,  arrived  under  the  pretence  of  one  duty  or  another, 
in  order  to  take  care  that  he  should  not  be  able  to  move, 
or  make  any  secret  attempt  of  any  kind.     Among  whom 
was   Leontius,    afterwards   prefect  of  the  city,  who   was 
sent  as  quaestor  ;  and  Lucillianus,  as  count  of  the  domestic 
guards,  and  a  tribune  of  the  Scutarii  named  Bainobaudes. 

15.  Therefore  after  a  long  journey  through   the  level 
country,  when  he  had  reached  Hadrianopolis,  a  city  in  the 
district  of  Mount  Hsemus,  which  had  been  formerly  called 
Uscudama,  where  he  stayed  twelve  days  to  recover  from  his 
fatigue,  he  found  that  the  Theban  legions,  who  were  in 
winter  quarters  in  the  neighbouring  towns  of  those  parts, 

1  As  we  say,  Out  of  the  frying-pan  into  the  fire. 


40  AMMIANDS  MARCELL1NUS.  [Bit.  XIV.  CH.  xt 

had  sent  some  of  their  comrades  to  exhort  him  by  trust- 
worthy and  sure  promises  to  remain  there  relying  upon 
thun,  since  they  were  posted  in  great  force  among  the 
neighbouring  stations  ;  but  those  about  him  watched  him 
with  such  diligent  care  that  he  could  get  no  opportunity  of 
seeing  them,  or  of  hearing  their  message. 

16.  Then,  as  letter  after  letter  from  the  emperor  urged 
him  to  quit  that  city,  he  took  ten  public  carriages,  as  he 
was  desired  to  do,  and  leaving  behind  him  all  his  retinue, 
except  a  few  of  his  chamberlains  and  domestic  officers, 
whom   he  had   brought  with  him,  he  was  in  this   poor 
manner  compelled  to  hasten  his  journey,  his  guards  forcing 
uim  to  use  all  speed ;  while  he  from  time  to  time,  with 
many  regrets,  bewailed  the   rashness   which  had  placed 
him  in  a  mean  and  despised  condition  at  the  mercy  of  men 
of  the  lowest  class. 

17.  And  amid  all  these  circumstances,  in  moments  when 
exhausted  nature  sought  repose  in  sleep,  his  senses  were 
kept  in  a  state  of  agitation  by  dreadful  spectres  making 
unseemly  noises  about  him ;    and  crowds  of  those  whom 
he  had  slain,  led  on  by  Domitianus  and  Montius,  seemed 
to   seize  and  torture  him  with   all  the   torments  of  the 
Furies. 

18.  For  the  mind,  when  freed  by  sleep  frcm   its  con- 
nection with  the  body,  is  nevertheless  active,  and  being 
full  of  the  thoughts  and  anxieties  of  mortal  pursuits,  en- 
genders mighty  visions  which  we  call  phantoms. 

19.  Therefore  his  melancholy  fate,   by   which   it  was 
destined  he  should  be  deprived  of  empire  and  life,  lead- 
ing the  way,  he  proceeded  on  his  journey  by  continual 
relays   of  horses,    till  he   arrived  at  Petobio,1  a  town  in 
Noricum.      Here  all   disguise  was  thrown   off,   and  the 
Count  Barbatio  suddenly  made  his  appearance,   with  Apo- 
demius,  the  secretary  for  the   provinces,   and  an   escort 
of  soldiers  whom   the   emperor  had  picked  out  as  men 
bound  to  him  by  especial  favoui's,  feeling  sure  that  they 
could  not  be  turned  from  their  obedience  either  by  bribes 
or  pity. 

20.  And  now  the  affair  was  conducted  to  its  conclusion 
without  further  disguise  or  deceit,  and  the  whole  portion  of 
the  palace  which  is  outside  the  walls  was  surrounded  by 

1  The  town  of  Pettau,  on  the  Drave. 


A.».  353.]  CALLUS   IS   SENT   INTO   ISTEIA.  41 

armed  men.  Barbatio,  entering  the  palace  before  day- 
break, stripped  the  Caesar  of  his  royal  robes,  and  clothed 
him  with  a  tunic  and  an  ordinary  soldier's  garment, 
assuring  him  with  many  protesta-tions,  as  if  by  the  especial 
command  of  the  emperor,  that  he  should  be  exposed  to  no 
further  suffering ;  and  then  said  to  him,  "  Stand  up  at 
once."  And  having  suddenly  placed  him  in  a  private  car- 
riage, he  conducted  him  into  Istria,  near  to  the  town  of 
Pola,  where  it  is  reported  that  Crispus,  the  son  of  Constan- 
tine,  was  formerly  put  to  death. 

21.  And   while   he   was    there   kept   in   strict   confine- 
ment, being   already   terrified  with   apprehensions  of  his 
approaching  destruction,  Eusebius,  at  that  time  the  high 
chamberlain,  arrived   in   haste,  and  with   him   Pentadins 
the  secretary,  and  Mallobaudes  the  tribune  of  the  guard, 
who  had  the  emperor's  orders  to  compel  him  to  explain, 
case  by  case,  on  what  accounts  he  had  ordered  each  of  the 
individuals  whom  he  had  executed  at  Antioch  to  bf  put  to 
death. 

22.  He   being    struck   with    a   paleness    like    that  of 
Adrastus  '  at  these  questions,  was  only  able  to  reply  that 
he  had  put  most  of  them  to  death  at  the  instigation  of  his 
wife  Constantina  ;  being  forsooth  ignorant  that  when  the 
mother  of  Alexander  the  Great  urged  him  to  put  to  death 
some  one  who  was  innocent,  and  in  the  hope  of  prevailing 
with  him,  repeated  to  him  over  and  over  again  that   she 
had  borne  him  nine  months   in  her  womb,  and  was  his 
mother,  that  emperor  made  her  this  prudent  answer,  "  My 
excellent  mother,  ask  for  some  other  reward ;  for  the  life 
of  a  man  cannot  be  put  in  the  balance  with  any  kind  of 
service." 

23.  When  this  was  known,  the  emperor,  giving  way  to 
unchangeable  indignation  and   anger,  saw  that   his  only 
hope   of  establishing   security   firmly  lay   in  putting  the 
Caesar    to   death.     And   having    sent    Serenianus,    whom 
we    have    already   spoken   of  as  having  been  accused  of 
treason,  but  acquitted  by  intrigue,  and  Pentadiusthe  secre- 
tary, and  Apodemius  the  secretary  for  the  provinces,  he 
commanded    that   they   should   put   him   to    death.     And 

1  A  paleness  such  as  overspread  the  countenance  of  Adrastus  when 
he  saw  his  two  sons-in-law,  Pydeus  and  Polynices,  slain  at  Thebei 
Virgil  speaks  of  Adrasti  pallentis  imago,  -<En.  vi.  480. 


42  AMMIANUS   MARCKLLINUS.  [BE.  XIV.  CH.  XL 

accordingly  his  hands  were  bound  like  those  of  some  con- 
victed thief,  and  he  was  beheaded,  and  his  carcass,  which 
but  a  little  while  ago  had  been  the  object  of  dread  to 
cities  and  provinces,  deprived  of  head  and  defaced :  it  was 
then  left  on  the  ground. 

24.  In  this  the  supervision  of  the  supreme  Deity  mani- 
fested itself  to  be  everywhere  vigilant.     For  not  only  did 
the  cruelties  of  Gallus  bring  about  his  own  destruction,  but 
they  also  who,  by  their  pernicious  flattery  and  instigation, 
and  charges  supported  by  perjury,  had  led  him  to  the 
perpetration  of  many  murders,  not  long  afterwards  died 
miserably.     Scudilo,  being  afflicted  with  a  liver  complaint 
which  penetrated  to  his  lungs,  died  vomiting  ;  while  Bar- 
batio,   who   had  long  busied   himself  in   inventing    false 
accusations  against  Gallus,  was  accused  by  secret  infor- 
mation of  aiming  at  some  post  higher  than  his  command 
of  infantry,  and  being  condemned,  though  unjustly,  was 
put  to  death,  and  so  by  his  melancholy  end  made  atonement 
to  the  shade  of  the  Csesar. 

25.  These,  and  innumerable  other  actions  of  the  same 
kind,  Adrastea,  who  is  also   called  Nemesis,  the  avenger 
of  wicked  and  the  re  warder  of  good  deeds,  is  continually 
bringing  to  pass  :    would  that  she  could  always   do   so ! 
She  is  a  kind  of  sublime  agent  of  the  powerful  Deity, 
dwelling,  according  to  common  belief,  above  the  human 
circle ;  or,  as  others  define  her,  she  is  a  substantial  pro- 
tection, presiding  over  the  particular  destinies  of  indi- 
viduals,  and  feigned  by  the  ancient  theologians   to   be 
the  daughter  of  Justice,   looking  down    from  a  certain 
inscrutable    eternity  upon    all    terrestrial  and  mundane 
affairs. 

26.  She,  as  queen  of  all  causes  of  events,  and  arbitress 
and  umpire  in  all  affairs  of  life,  regulates  the  urn  which 
contains  the  lots  of  men,  and  directs  the  alternations  of 
fortune  which  we  behold  in  the  world,  frequently  bringing 
our  undertakings  to  an  issue  different  from  what  we  in- 
tended, and   involving   and  changing   great   numbers    of 
actions.     She  also,  binding  the  vainly  swelling  pride  of 
mankind  by  the  indissoluble  fetters  of  necessity,  and  sway- 
ing the  inclination  of  progress  and  decay  according  to  her 
will,  sometimes  bows  down  and  enfeebles  the  stiff  neck 
of  arrogance,  and  sometimes  raises  virtuous  men  from  tho 


4.D.  363.J  DEATH    OF   GALLUS.  43 

lowest  depth,  leading  them  to  a  prosperous  and  happy 
life.  And  it  is  on  this  account  that  the  fables  of  antiquity 
have  represented  her  with  wings,  that  she  may  be  sup- 
posed to  be  present  at  all  events  with  prompt  celerity. 
And  they  have  also  placed  a  rudder  in  her  hand  and  given 
her  a  wheel  under  her  feet,  that  mankind  may  be  aware 
that  she  governs  the  universe,  running  at  will  through  all 
the  elements.1 

27.  In  this  untimely  manner  did  the  Caesar,  being  himself 
also  already  weary  of  life,  die,  in  the  twenty-ninth  year  of 
his  age,  having  reigned  four  years.     He  was  born  in  the 
country  of  the   Etrurians,  in  the   district  of  Veternum,2 
being  the  son  of  Constantius,  the  brother  of  the  Emperor 
Constantine ;  his  mother  was  Galla,  the  sister  of  Rufintts 
and  Cerealis,  men  who  had  been  ennobled  by  the  offices  of 
consul  and  prefect. 

28.  He  was  a  man  of  splendid  stature  and  great  beauty 
of  person  and  figure,  with  soft  hair  of  a  golden  colour,  his 
newly  sprouting  beard  covering  his  cheeks  with  a  tender 
down,  and  in  spite  of  his  youth  his  countenance  showed 
dignity  and  authority.     He  differed  as  much  from  the  tem- 
perate habits  of  his  brother  Julian,  as  the  sons  of  Vespasian, 
Domitian  and  Titus,  differed  from  each  other. 

29.  After  he  had   been  taken  by  the  emperor  as  his 
colleague,  and  raised  to  the  highest  eminence  of  power,  he 
experienced  the  fickle  changeableness   of  fortune  which 
mocks  mortality,   sometimes    raising  individuals  to   the 

1  Ammianus  here    confounds   Nemesis  with   Fortuna.      Compare 
Horace's  description  of  the  latter  goddess,  Lib.  i.  Od.  34  : — 

"...  Valet  ima  summis 
Mutare,  et  insignia  attenuat  dens 
Obscura  promens  :  liiiic  apicem  rapax 

Fortuna  cum  stridore  acuto 

Sustulit ;  hie  posuisse  gaudet." 

Or,  as  it  is  translated  by  Dr.  Francis  :  — 

"  The  hand  of  Jove  can  crush  the  proud 
Down  to  the  meanness  of  the  crowd  : 

And  raise  the  lowest  in  his  stead  : 
But  rapid  Fortune  pulls  him  down, 
And  snatches  his  imperial  crown, 

To  place,  not  fix  it,  on  another's  head." 

2  Near  the  modern  citv  of  Sienna. 


44  AMMIANOS   MARCELLINUS.  [Bs.  XIV.  CH.  xi. 

stars,  at  others   sinking   them  to   the   lowest  depths  of 
hell. 

30.  And  though  the  examples  of  such  vicissitudes  are 
beyond  number,  nevertheless  I  will  only  enumerable  a  few 
in  a  cursory  manner.  This  changeable  and  fickle  fortune 
made  Agathocles,  the  Sicilian,  a  king  from  being  a  potter, 
and  reduced  Dionysius,  formerly  the  terror  of  all  nations, 
to  be  the  master  of  a  grammar  school.  This  same  fortune 
emboldened  Andriscus  of  Adramyttinm,  who  had  been  born 
in  a  fuller's  shop,  to  assume  the  name  of  Philip,  and  com- 
pelled the  legitimate  son  of  Perseus1  to  descend  to  the 
trade  of  a  blacksmith  to  obtain  a  livelihood.  Again,  for- 
tune surrendered  Mancinus*  to  the  people  of  Kumantia, 
after  he  had  enjoyed  the  supreme  command,  exposed 
Veturius8  to  the  cruelty  of  the  Samnites,  Claudius4  to 
that  of  the  Corsicans,  and  made  Regulus*  a  victim  to  the 
ferocity  of  the  Carthaginians.  Through  the  injustice  of 
fortune,  Pompey,8  after  he  had  acquired  the  surname  of 
the  Great  by  the  grandeur  of  his  exploits,  was  murdered 
in  ./Egypt  at  the  pleasure  of  some  eunuchs,  while  a  fellow 
named  Eunus,  a  slave  who  had  escaped  from  a  house 
of  correction,  commanded  an  army  of  runaway  slaves  in 
Sicily.  How  many  men  of  the  highest  birth,  through 
the  connivance  of  this  same  fortune,  submitted  to  the 
authority  of  Viriathus  and  of  Spartacus ! 7  How  many 
heads  at  which  nations  once  trembled  have  fallen  under 
the  deadly  hand  of  the  executioner !  One  man  is  thrown 
iato  prison,  another  is  promoted  to  unexpected  power, 

1  See  Plutarch's  Life  of  JEmilius,  c.  37.  The  name  of  the  young 
prince  was  Alexander. 

3  Called  also  Hostilius ;  cf.  Veil.  Paterc.  ii.  1. 

3  Cf.  Liv.  ix.  c.  x. ;  Cicero  de  Offlciis,  iii.  30. 

4  OfVal.  Max.  vi.  3. 

6  Cf.  Horace,  Od.  iv.  ult.  ;  Floras,  ii.  1.  The  story  of  the  cruelties 
inflicted  on  Begulus  is  now,  however,  generally  disbelieved. 

6  The  fate  of  Pompey  served  also  as  an  instance  to  Juvenal  in  his 
satire  on  the  vanity  of  human  wishes. 

Provida  Pompeio  diderat  Campania  febres 

Optandaa,  sed  multse  urbes  et  publica  vota 

Vicerunt ;  igitur  Fortuna  ipsius  et  urbis 

Servatum  victo  caput  abstulit.  Sat.  X.  283,  &c. 

7  Spartacus  was  the  celebrated  leader  of  the  slaves  in  the  Servile 
War. 


A.D  354.J  INDUSTRY    OF   THE   AUTHOR.  45 

a  third  is  Imrled  down  from  the  highest  rank  and  dignity. 
But  he  who  would  endeavour  to  enumerate  all  the  various 
and  frequent  instances  of  the  caprice  of  fortune,  might  as 
well  undertake  to  number  the  sands  or  ascertain  the  weight 
of  mountains. 


BOOK   XV. 

ARGUMENT. 

I.  The  death  of  the  Csesar  Gallus  is  announced  to  the  emperor. — 
II.  Ursicinus,  the  commander  of  the  cavalry  in  the  East ;  Julian, 
the  brother  of  the  Csesar  Gallus ;  and  Gorgonius,  the  high  cham- 
berlain, are  accused  of  treason. — III.  The  adherents  and  servants 
of  the  Csesar  Gallus  are  punished. — IV.  The  Allemanni  of  the 
district  of  Lintz  are  defeated  by  the  Emperor  Constantius  with 
great  loss. — V.  Silvanus,  a  Frank,  the  commander  of  the  infantry  in 
Gaul,  is  saluted  as  emperor  at  Cologne  ;  and  on  the  twenty-eighth 
day  of  his  reign  is  destroyed  by  stratagem. — VI.  The  friends  and 
adherents  of  Silvanus  are  put  to  death. — VII.  Seditions  of  the 
Eoman  people  are  repressed  by  Leontius,  the  prefect  of  the  city; 
Liberius,  the  bishop,  is  driven  from  his  see. — VIII.  Julian,  the 
brother  of  Gallus,  is  created  Csesar  by  the  Emperor  Constantius, 
his  uncle ;  and  is  appointed  to  command. — IX.  On  the  origin  of 
the  Gauls,  and  from  whence  they  derive  the  names  of  Celts  and 
Gauls;  and  of  their  treaties-— X.  Of  the  Gallic  Alps,  and  of 
the  various  passes  over  them. — XI.  A  brief  description  of  Gaul, 
and  of  the  course  of  the  Eiver  Ehone. — XII.  Of  the  manners  of 
the  Gauls.— XIII.  Of  Musonianus,  prefect  of  the  Prsetorium  in 
the  East. 

I. 
A.D.  354. 

§  1.  HAVING  investigated  the  truth  to  the  best  of  our  power 
we  have  hitherto  related  all  the  transactions  which  either 
our  age  permitted  us  to  witness,  or  which  we  could 
learn  from  careful  examination  of  those  who  were  con- 
cerned in  them,  in  the  order  in  which  the  several  events 
took  place.  The  remaining  facts,  which  the  succeeding 
books  will  set  forth,  we  will,  as  far  as  our  talent  permits, 
explain  with  the  greatest  accuracy,  without  fearing  those 
who  may  be  inclined  to  cavil  at  our  work  as  too  long; 


46  AMM1AXUS   MARCELLINUS.  IBs.  XV.  CH.  I 

for  brevity  is  only  to  be  praised  when,  -while  it  puts  an 
end  to  unseasonable  delays,  it  suppresses  nothing  which 
is  well  authenticated. 

2.  Gallus  had  hardly  breathed  his  last  in  Noricum,  when 
Apodemius,  who  as  long  as  he  lived   had    been   a  fiery 
instigator  of  disturbances,  caught  up  his  shoes  and  carried 
them  off,  journeying,   with  frequent  relays  of  horses,  so 
rapidly  as  even  to  kill  some  of  them  by  excess  of  speed, 
and  so  brought  the  first  news  of  what  had  occurred  to 
Milan.     And   having   made   his  way  into  the  palace,  he 
threw  down  the  shoes  before  the  feet  of  Constantius,  as  if 
he  were  bringing  the  spoils  of  a  king  of  the  Parthians 
who  had  been  slain.     And  when  this  sudden  news  arrived 
that  an  affair  so  unexpected  and  difficult  had  been  exe- 
cuted  with  entire  facility  in  complete   accordance  with 
the  wish  of  the  emperor,  the  principal  courtiers,  accord- 
ing   to    their    custom,    exerting   all    their    zeal    in    the 
path   of  flattery,   extolled  to    the   skies   the  virtue   and 
good  fortune   of  the  emperor,  at  whose  nod,   as  if  they 
had  been  mere   common  soldiers,  two  princes  had  thus 
been  deprived   of  their    power,  namely,   Veteranio   and 
Gallus. 

3.  And  Constantius    being  exceedingly  elated   at  the 
exquisite  taste  of  this  adulation,  and  thinking  that  he  him- 
self for  the  future  should  be  free  from  all  the  ordinary 
inconveniences  of  mortality,  now  began  to   depart   from 
the  path  of  justice  so  evidently  that  he  even   at  times 
laid  claim  to  immortality ;  and  in  writing  letters  with  his 
own  hand,  would  style  himself  lord  of  the  whole  world ; 
a   thing   which,   if  others   had   said,    any   one    ought   to 
have  been  indignant  at,  who  laboured  with  proper  dili- 
gence to  form  his  life  and  habits  in  emulation  of  the  con- 
stitutional princes  who  had  preceded  him,  as  he  professed 
to  do. 

4.  For  even  if  he  had  under  his  power  the  infinities  of 
worlds  fancied  by  Democritus,  as  Alexander  the   Great, 
under  the  promptings  of  Anaxarchus,  did  fancy,  yet  either 
by  reading,  or  by  hearing  others  speak,  he  might  have 
considered  that  (as   mathematicians  unanftnously    agree) 
the  circumference  of  the  whole  earth,  immense  as  it  seems 
to  us,  is  nevertheless  not  bigger  than  a  pin's  point  as  com- 
pared with  the  greatness  of  the  universe. 


*J>.354.]  DANGEB  OF   URSICINC3.  47 

II. 

§  1.  AND  now,  after  the  pitiable  death  of  the  Caesar,  the 
trumpet  of  judicial  dangers  sounded  the  alarm,  and  Ursi- 
cinus  was  impeached  of  treason,  envy  gaining  more  and 
more  strength  every  day  to  attack  his  safety ;  envy  which 
is  inimical  to  all  powerful  men. 

2.  For  he  was  overcome  by  this  difficulty,  that,  while 
the  ears  of  the  emperor  were   shut   against  all  defences 
which  were  reasonable  and  easy  of  proof,  they  were  open 
to  all  the  secret  whispers  of  calumniators,  who  pretended 
that  his  name  was  almost  disused  among  all  the  districts  of 
the  East,   and  that  Ursicinus  was   urged  by  them   both 
privately  and  publicly  to  be  their  commander,  as  one  who 
could  be  formidable  to  the  Persian  nation. 

3.  But  this  magnanimous   man   stood   his   ground   im- 
movably against  whatever  might  happen,  only  taking  care 
not   to   throw   himself  away   in   an   abject   manner,   and 
grieving  from  his  heart  that  innocence  had  no  safe  founda- 
tion on  which  to  stand.     And  the  more  sad  also  for  this 
consideration,  that  before  these  events  took  place  many  of 
his  friends  had  gone  over  to  other  more  powerful  persons, 
as  in  cases  of  official  dignity  the  lictors  go  over  to  the 
successors  of  former  officers. 

4.  His  colleague   Arbetio  was  attacking  him  by  cajol- 
ing words  of  feigned  good-will,  often   publicly  speaking 
of  him  as  a  virtuous  and  brave  man ;  Arbetio  being  a  man 
of  great  cunning  in  laying  snares  for  men  of  simple  life, 
and   one   who   at  that  season  enjoyed  too   much   power. 
For  as  a  serpent  that  has  its  hole  underground  and  hidden 
from  the  sight  of  man  observes  the  different  passers-by, 
and  attacks  whom  it  will  with  a  sudden  spring,  so  this  man, 
having  been  raised  from  being  a  common  soldier  of  the 
lowest   class   to   the   highest   military    dignities,  without 
having  received  any  injury  or  any  provocation,  polluted 
his   conscience  from  an   insatiable  desire   of  doing  mis- 
chief. 

5.  Therefore,  having  a  few  partners  in  his  secrets  for 
accomplices,  he  had  secretly  arranged  with  the  emperor 
when  he  asked  his  opinion,  that  on  the  next  night  Ursicinus 
should  be  seized  and  carried  away  from  the  sight  of  the 
soldiers,  and  so  be  put  to  death  uncondemned,  just  as 


48  AMMIANUS   MARCELLINUS.  [B*.  XV.  CH.  i. 

formerly  Domitius  Corbulo,  that  faithful  and  wise  defender 
of  our  provinces,  is  said  to  have  been  slain  in  the  miserable 
period  of  Nero's  cruelty. 

6.  And  after  the  matter  had  been  thus  arranged,  while 
the  men  destined  for  the  service  of  seizing  Ursicinus  were 
waiting  for  the  appointed  time,  the  emperor's  mind  changed 
to  mercy,  and  so  this  impious  deed  was  put  off  for  further 
consideration. 

7.  Then  the  engine  of  calumny  was   directed  against 
Julian,  who  had  lately  been  brought  to  court;  a  prince 
who  afterwards  became  memorable,  but  who  was  now 
attacked  with  a  two-fold  accusation,  as  the  iniquity  of  his 
enemies  thought  requisite.     First,  that  he  had  gone  from 
the   Park  of  Macellum,  which  lies  in  Cappadocia,  into 
Asia,  from  a  desire  of  acquiring  polite  learning.    Secondly, 
that  he  had  seen  his  brother  as  he  passed  through  Con- 
stantinople. 

8.  And  when  he  had  explained  away  the  charges  thus 
brought  against  him,  and  had  proved  that  he  had  not  done 
either  of  these  things  without  being  ordered,    he  would 
still  have  perished  through  the  intrigues  of  the  abandoned 
court  of  flatterers,  if  he  had  not  been  saved  by  the  favour  of 
the  supreme  Deity,  with  the  assistance  of  Queen  Eusebia. 
By  her  intercession  he  obtained  leave  to  be  conducted  to 
the  town  of  Como,  in  the  neighbourhood  of  Milan;   and 
after  he  had  remained  there  a  short  time  he  was  permitted 
to  go  to  Greece  for  the  purpose  of  cultivating  his  literary 
tastes,  as  he  was  very  eager  to  do. 

9.  Nor  were  there  wanting  other  incidents  arising  out  of 
these  occurrences,  which  might  be  looked  upon  as  events 
under  the  direction  of  Providence,  as  some  of  them  were 
rightly   punished,    while    others    failed   of  their   design, 
proving  vain  and  ineffective.  But  it  occasionally  happened 
that  rich  men,  relying  on  the  protection  of  those  in  office, 
and  clinging  to  them  as  the  ivy  clings  to  lofty  trees,  bought 
acquittals  at  immense  prices ;  and  that  poor  men  who  had 
little  or  no  means  of  purchasing  safety  were  condemned  out 
of  hand.     And  therefore  truth  was  overshadowed  by  false- 
hood, and  sometimes  falsehood  obtained  the  authority  of 
truth. 

10.  In  these  days   Gorgonius  also  was  summoned  to 
court,  the  man  who  had  been  the  Csesar's  principal  charn- 


A.D.  354.]         SEVERE   TREATMENT   OF   GALLUS'S   FRIENDS.  49 

berlain.  And  though  it  was  made  plain  by  his  own  con- 
fession that  he  had  been  a  partner  in  his  undertakings, 
and  .sometimes  a  chief  instigator  of  them,  yet  through  the 
conspiracy  of  the  eunuchs  justice  was  overpowered  by 
dexterously  arranged  falsehoods,  and  he  was  acquitted  and 
so  escaped  the  danger. 

III. 

§  1.  WHILE  these  events  were  taking  place  at  Milan,  batta- 
lions of  soldiers  were  brought  from  the  East  to  Aquileia, 
with  a  number  of  members  of  the  court,  who,  being  broken 
in  spirit,  while  their  limbs  were  enfeebled  by  the  weight 
of  their  chains,  cursed  the  protraction  of  their  lives  which 
were  surrounded  with  every  variety  of  misery.  For  they 
were  accused  of  having  been  the  ministers  of  the  ferocity 
of  Gallus,  and  it  was  believed  to  be  owing  to  them  that 
Domitian  had  been  torn  to  pieces,  and  that  Montius  and 
others  had  been  brought  to  destruction. 

2.  Arboreus,  and  Eusebius,  at  that  time  high  chamber- 
lain, both  men  of  insane  arrogance,  and  equally  unjust  and 
cruel,  were  appointed  to  try  these  men.     And  they,  with- 
out any  careful  examination,  or  making   any  distinction 
between  the  innocent  and  the  guilty,  condemned  some  to 
scourgings,  others  to  torture  and  exile,  some  they  adjudged 
to  serve  in  the  lowest  ranks  of  the  army,  and  the  rest  they 
condemned  to  death.     And  when  they  had  thus  filled  the 
sepulchres  with  dead  bodies,  they  returned  as  if  in  triumph, 
and  brought  an  account  of  their  exploits  to  the  emperor, 
who  was  notoriously  severe  and   implacable  against  all 
offences  of  the  kind. 

3.  After  this,  throughout  the   rest  of  his  reign,   Con- 
stantius.  as  if  resolved  to  reverse  the  prescribed  arrangement 
of  the  Fates,  behaved  with  greater  violence  than  ever,  and 
opened  his  heart  to  numbers  of  designing  plotters.     And| 
owing   to   this  conduct,  many   men   arose   who   watched 
for  all  kinds  of  reports,  at  first  attacking,  as  with  the 
appetite  of  wild  beasts,  those  in  the  enjoyment  of  the 
highest  honours  and  rank,  and  afterwards  both  poor  and 
rich  indiscriminately.   Not  like  those  Cibyratae  in  the  time 
of  Verres,1  fawning  on  the  tribunal  of  a  single  lieutenant, 

1  Tlepoleoras  and  Hiero,  whom  Cicero,  Verres  Hi.  11,  calls  Cibyratici 
canes. 

E 


50  AMMIANUS   MARCELL1XUS.  [B*.  XV.  CH.  in. 

"but  harassing  the  limbs  of  the  whole  republic  by  means  of 
all  the  evils  that  arose  anywhere. 

4.  Among  these  men  Paulus  and  Mercurius  were  espe- 
cially conspicuous,  the  first  a  Dacian  born,  the  latter  a 
Persian.     Mercurius  was  a  notary,  and  Paulus  had  been 
promoted  from  being  a  steward  of  the  emperor's  table  to 
a  receivership  in  the  provinces.     Paulus,  as  I  have  already 
mentioned,  had  been  nicknamed  The  Chain,  because  in 
weaving  knots  of  calumnies  he  was  invincible,  scattering 
around   foul   poisons   and    destroying   people   by   various 
means,  as  some  skilful  wrestlers  are  wont  in  their  contests 
to  catch  hold  of  their  antagonists  by  the  heel. 

5.  Mercurius  was  nicknamed  Count  of  Dreams,  because 
(as  a  dog  fond  of  biting  secretly  fawns  and  wags  his  tail 
while  full  of  inward  spite)  he  forced  his  way  into  feasts 
and  companies,  and  if  any  one  in  his  sleep  (when  nature 
roves  about  with  an   extraordinary  degree   of   freedom) 
communicated  to  a  friend  that  he  had  seen  anything,  ex- 
aggerated it,  colouring  it  for  the  most  part  with  envenomed 
arts,  and  bore  it  to  the  open  ears  of  the  emperor.     And  for 
such  speeches  men  were  attacked  with  formidable  accusa- 
tions, as  if  they  had  committed  inexpiable  crimes. 

6.  The  news  of  these  events  having  got  abroad,  men 
were  so  cautious  of  even  relating  nocturnal  dreams,  that, 
in  the  presence  of  a  stranger,    they  would  scarcely  con- 
fess they  had  slept  at  all.     And  some  accomplished  men 
lamented  that  they  had  not  been  born  in  the  country  of 
Mount  Atlas,1  where  it  is  said  that  dreams  never  occur, 
though  what  the  cause  of  such  a  fact  is,  we  must  leave  to 
those  who  are  learned  in  such  matters  to  decide. 

7.  Amid  all  these  terrible   investigations  and   punish- 
ments,  another   disaster  took   place  in  Illyricum,  which 
from  some  empty  words  involved  many  in  danger.     At  an 
entertainment   given   by  Africanus,  the  governor  of  the 
second   Pannonia,  at   Sirmium,  some   men  having  drank 
rather  too  much,  and  thinking  there  was  no  witness  of 
their  proceedings,   spoke  freely  of  the  existing  imperial 
government,  accusing  it  as  most  vexatious  to  the  people. 
And  some  of  them  expressed  a  hope  that  a  change,  such 
as  was  wished  for  by  all,  might  be  at  hand,  affirming  that 

1  Herodotus*  iv.  184,  records  that  in  Africa,  in  the  country  about 
Mount  Atlas,  dreams  are  unknown. 


A.D.354.]         SLVERE   TREATMENT   OF   GALLUs's    FRIENDS.  61 

this  was  portended  by  omens,  while  some,  with  incredible 
rashness,  affirmed  that  the  auguries  of  their  ancestral  house 
promised  the  same  thing. 

8.  Among  those  present  at  the  banquet  was  Gaudentius, 
one  of  the  secretaries,  a  stupid  man,  and  of  a  hasty  disposi- 
tion.    And  he  looking  upon  the  matter  as  serious,  reported 
it  to  Eufinus,  who  was  at  that  time  the  chief  commander 
of  the  guard  of  the  praetorian  prefecture,  a  man  always 
eager  for  the  most  cruel  measures,  and  infamous  for  every 
kind  of  wickedness. 

9.  He  immediately,  as  if  borne  on  wings,  flew  to  the 
court  of  the  emperor,  and  so  bitterly  inflamed  him,  always 
easy  of  access  and  susceptible  of  impressions  from  sus- 
picious circumstances  of  this  kind,  that  without  a  moment's 
deliberation  he  ordered  Africanus  and  all  who  had  been 
partakers  of  his  fatal  banquet  to  be  seized.     And  when 
this  was  done,  the  wicked  informer,  always  fond  of  what- 
ever is  contrary  to  popular  manners,  obtained  what  he  most 
coveted,  a  continuation  of  his  existing  office  for  two  years. 

10.  To  arrest  these  men,  Teutomeres,  the  chief  of  the 
Protectores,  was  sent  with  his  colleague  ;  and  he  loaded 
them  all  with  chains,  and  conducted  them,  as  he  had  been 
ordered,  to  the  emperor's  court.     But  when  they  arrived  at 
Aquileia,  Marinus,   who  from  having  been  a  drillmaster 
had   been  promoted   to   a  tribuneship,  but   who   at  that 
time  had  had  no  particular  duty,  being  a  man  who  had  held 
dangerous  language,  and  who  was  in  other  respects  of  an 
intemperate  disposition,  being  left  in  an  inn  while  things 
necessary  for  the  journey  were  being  prepared,  stabbed 
himself  with  a  knife  which  he  accidentally  found,  and  his 
bowels  gushed  out,  so  that  he  died.     The  rest  were  con- 
ducted to  Milan,  and  subjected  to  torture;    and   having 
been  forced  by  their  agony  to  confess  that  while  at  the 
banquet  they  had  used  some  petulant  expressions,  were 
ordered  to  be  kept  in  penal  confinement,  with  some  hope, 
though  an  uncertain  one,  of  eventual  release.     But  Teuto- 
meres and  his  colleague,  being  accused  of  having  allowed 
Marinus  to  kill  himself,  were  condemned  to  banishment, 
though  they  were  afterwards  pardoned  through  the  inter- 
cession of  Arbetio. 


52  AMMIANUS  MARCELLINUS.  [Bs.  XY.  Our. 

IV. 

§  1.  SOON  after  this  transaction  had  been  thus  terminated, 
war  was  declared  against  the  tribes  of  the  Allemanni 
around  Lentia,1  who  had  often  made  extensive  incursions 
into  the  contiguous  Eoman  territories.  The  emperor  him- 
self set  out  on  the  expedition,  and  went  as  far  as  Rhaetia, 
and  the  district  of  the  Canini.*  And  there,  after  long 
and  careful  deliberation,  it  was  decided  to  be  both  honour- 
able and  expedient  that  Arbetio,  the  master  of  the  horse, 
should  march  with  a  division  of  the  troops,  in  fact  with 
the  greater  part  of  the  army,  along  the  borders  of  the  lake 
of  Brigantia,  with  the  object  of  coming  to  an  immediate 
engagement  with  the  barbarians.  And  I  will  here  describe 
the  character  of  the  ground  briefly,  as  well  as  I  can. 

2.  The  Rhine  rising  among  the  denies  of  lofty  moun- 
tains, and  forcing  its  way  with  immense  violence  through 
steep  rocks,  stretches  its  onward  course  without  receiving 
any  foreign  waters,  in  the  same  manner  as  the  Nile  pours 
down  with  headlong  descent  through  the  cataracts.     And 
it  is  so  abundantly  full  by  its  own  natural  riches  that  it 
would  be  navigable  up  to  its  very  source  were  it  not  like 
a  torrent  rather  than  a  stream. 

3.  And   soon  after  it  has  disentangled   itself  from  its 
defiles,  rolling  onward  between  high  banks,   it  enters  a 
vast  lake  of  circular  form,  which  the  Rhaetian  natives  call 
Brigantia,3   being    four    hundred   and   sixty   furlongs    in 
length,  and  of  nearly  equal  extent  in  breadth,  unapproach- 
able on  account  of  a  vast  mass  of  dark  woods,  except  where 
the  energy  of  the  Romans  has  made  a  wide  road  through 
them,  in  spite  of  the  hostility  of  the  barbarians,  and  the 
unfavourable  character  both  of  the  ground  and  the  climate. 

4.  The  Rhine  forcing  its  way  into  this  pool,  and  roaring 
with  its  foaming  eddies,  pierces  the  sluggish  quiet  of  the 
waters,  and  rushes  through  the  middle  from  one  end  to 
the  other.      And  like  an   element  separated  from  some 
other  element  by  eternal  discord,  without  any  increase  or 
diminution  of  the  volume  of  water  which  it  has  brought 
into  the  lake,  it  comes  forth  from  it  again  with  its  old 

1  Lintz.  -  The  district  around  Bellinzona. 

*  The  Bodensee,  more  generally  known  as  the  Lake  of  Constance : 
at  its  south-eastern  end  is  the  town  of  Bregenz,  the  ancient  Brigantia. 


A.D.  354.]  THE  OUTBREAK   OF   THE  LENTIENSES.  53 

name  and  its  unalloyed  power,  never  having  suffered  fiom 
the  contact,  and  so  proceeds  till  it  mingles  with  the  waves 
of  the  sea. 

5.  And   what  is   exceedingly  strange,  the  lake   is   not 
moved  at  all  by  this  rapid  passage  of  the  river  through 
it,  nor  is  it  affected  by  the  muddy  soil  beneath  the  waters 
of  the  lake ;  the  two  bodies  of  water  being  incapable  of 
mingling  with  each  other.     A  thing  which  would  be  sup- 
posed impossible,  did  not  the  very  sight  of  the  lake  prove 
the  fact. 

6.  In  a  similar  manner,  the  Alpheus,  rising  in  Arcadia, 
being  seized  with  a  love  for  the  fountain  Arethusa,1  passing 
through  the  Ionian  sea,  as  is  related  by  the  poets,  proceeds 
onward  till  it  arrives  at  the  neighbourhood  of  its  beloved 
fountain. 

7.  Arbetio  not  choosing  to  wait  till  messengers  arrived  to 
announce   the   approach  of  the  barbarians,  although  he 
knew  the   fierce  way  in  which  they  begin  their  wars, 
Allowed  himself  to   be  betrayed  into   a  hidden  ambush, 
where  he    stood  without   the   power  of    moving,   being 
bewildered  by  the  suddenness  of  his  disaster. 

8.  In  the  mean  time  the  enemy,  showing  themselves, 
sprang  forth  from  their  hiding-places  and  spared  not  one 
who  came  in  their  way,  but  overwhelmed  them  with  every 
kind  of  weapon.     For  none  of  our  men  could  offer  the 
smallest  resistance,  nor  was  there  any  hope  of  any  of  them 
being  able  to  save  their  lives  except  by  a  speedy  flight. 
Therefore,  being   intent   only   on  avoiding   wounds,    our 
soldiers,  losing  all  order,  ran  almost  at  random  in  every 
direction,  exposing  their  backs  to  the  blows  of  the  enemy. 
Nevertheless  the  greater  part  of  them,  scattering  themselves 
among   narrow   paths,  were   saved   from  danger   by   the 
protecting  darkness  of  the  night,  and  at  the  return  of  day 
recovered  their  courage  and  rejoined  their  different  legions. 
But   still   by   this    sad   and   unexpected   disaster    a   vast 
number  of  common  soldiers  and  ten  tribunes  were  slain. 

9.  The  Allemanni  were  greatly  elated  at  this  event,  and 
advanced  with  increased  boldness,  every  day  coming  up  to 
the  fortifications  of  the  Romans  while  the  morning  mists 
obscured  the  light ;  and  drawing  their  swords  roamed  about 

1  The  Arethusa  is  in  Sinily,  near  Syracuse. 


54  AMM1ANUS  MARCELL1XUS.  [BK.XV.CH.it. 

in  every  direction,  gnashing  their  teeth,  and  threatening 
us  with  haughty  shouts.  Then  with  a  sudden  sally  our 
Scutari i  would  rush  forth,  and  after  being  stopped  for  a 
moment  by  the  resistance  of  the  hostile  squadrons,  would 
call  out  all  their  comrades  to  join  them  in  the  engage- 
ment. 

10.  But  the  greater  part  of  our  men  were  alarmed  by 
the    recollection    of   their    recent  disaster,   and  Arbetio 
hesitated,   thinking    everything    pregnant  with    danger. 
Upon  this  three  tribunes  at  once  sallied  forth,  Arintheus 
who  was   a  lieutenant  commander  of  the  heavy  troops, 
Seniauchus  who  commanded  the  cavalry  of  the  Comites,1 
and  Bappo  who  had  the  command  of  the  Promoti*  and 
of  those  troops  who  had  been  particularly  intrusted  to  his 
charge  by  the  emperor. 

11.  These  men,  looking  on  the  common  cause  as  their 
own,  resolved  to  repel  the  violence  of  the  enemy  according 
to  the  example  of  their  ancient  comrades.     And  pouring 
down  upon  the  foe  like  a  torrent,  not  in  a  regular  line  of 
battle,  but  in  desultory  attacks  like  those  of  banditti,  they 
put  them   all  to  flight  in  a  disgraceful  manner.     Since 
they,  being  in  loose  order  and  straggling,  and  hampered 
by  their  endeavours  to  escape,  exposed  their  unprotected 
bodies  to  our  weapons,  and  were  slain  by  repeated  blows 
of  sword  and  spear. 

12.  Many  too  were  slain  with  their  horses,  and  seemed 
as  they  lay  on  their  backs  to  be  so  entangled  as  still  to  be 
sitting  on  them.     And  when  this  was  seen,  all  our  men 
who  had  previously  hesitated  to  engage  in  battle  with  their 
comrades,  poured  forth  out  of  the  camp ;  and  now,  f.  irget- 
ful  of  all  precautions,  they  drove  before  them  the  mob  of 
barbarians,  except  such  as  flight  had  saved  from  destruction, 
trampling  on  the  heaps  of  slain,  and  covered  with  gore. 

13.  When  the  battle  was  thus  terminated  the  emperor 
in  triumph  and  joy  returned  to  Milan  to  winter  quarters. 

1  The  Comites  were  a  picked  body  of  troops,  divided  into  several 
regiments  distinguished  by  separate  names,  such  as  Seniores,  Juniores, 
Sagittarii,  &c. 

2  The  Promoti  were  also  picked  men,  something  like  the  Comites 
the  French  translator  calls  them  the  Veterans. 


AJ).  365.1  THE   STORY   OF  SILVANUS.  55 

V. 

A.D.  355. 

§  1.  AFTER  these  unhappy  circumstances,  accompanied  as 
they  were  with  equal  calamities  in  the  provinces,  a  whirl- 
wind of  new  misfortunes  arose  which  seemed  likely  to 
destroy  the  whole  state  at  once,  if  Fortune,  which  regu- 
lates the  events  of  human  life,  had  not  terminated  a  slate 
of  affairs  which  all  regarded  with  great  apprehension,  by 
bringing  the  dangers  to  a  speedy  issue. 

2.  From  the  long  neglect  with  which  these  provinces 
had  been  treated,  the  Gatils,  having  no  assistance  on  which 
to  rely,  had  borne  cruel  massacres,  with  plunder  and  con- 
flagration, from   barbarians   who   raged   throughout  their 
land   with   impunity.      Silvanus,    the    commander   of  the 
infantry,  being  a  man  well  suited  to  correct  these  evils, 
went  thither  at  the  command  of  the  emperor,  Arbetio  at 
the  same  time  urging  with  all  his  power  that  this  task 
should  be  xindertaken  without  delay,  with  the   object  of 
imposing  the  dangerous  burden  of  this  duty  on  his  absent 
rival,  whom  he  was  vexed  to  see  still  in  prosperity.     .    .    . 

3.  There  was  a  certain  man  named  Dynamius,  the  super- 
intendent  of  the   emperor's   beasts   of  burden,  who  had 
begged  of  Silvanus  recommendatory  letters  to  his  friends  as 
of  one  who  was  admitted  to  his  most  intimate  friendship. 
Having  obtained  this  favour,  as  Silvanus,  having  no  sus- 
picion of  any  evil  intention,  had  with  great  simplicity 
granted  what  he  was  asked,  Dynamius  kept  the  letters,  in 
order  at  a  future  time  to  plan  something  to  his  injury. 

4.  Therefore,  when  the  aforesaid  commander  had  gone 
to  the  Gauls  in  the  service  of  the  republic,  and  while  he 
was   engaged  in   repelling   the   barbarians,   who  already 
began  to  distrust  their  own  power,  and  to  be  filled  with 
alarm,  Dynamius,  being  restless,  like  a  man  of  cunning  and 
practised    deceitfulness,    devised  a  wicked   plot ;    and  in 
this  it  is  said  he  had  for  his  accomplices  Lampadius,  the 
prefect    of   the    praetorian    guard,     Eusebius,     who     had 
been  the  superintendent  of  the   emperor's   privy  purse, 
and  was  known  by  the  nickname   of  Mattyocopa,'   and 

1  From  K&Trria  to  cut,   and  parrvcs,  any  delicate  food ;   meant   as 
equivalent  to  our  cheeaeparer,  or  skinflint. 


56  AMMIANUS   MARCELLINUS.  [B*.  XV.  CH.  r 


formerly  keeper  of  the  records,  whom  this 
prefect  had  contrived  to  have  elected  consul,  as  being 
his  dearest  friend.  He  then  with  a  sponge  effaced  the 
contents  of  the  letters,  leaving  nothing  but  the  address, 
and  inserted  a  text  materially  differing  from  the  original 
writing,  as  if  Silvanus  had  asked,  by  indirect  hints,  and 
entreated  his  friends  who  were  within  the  palace,  and  those 
who  had  no  office  (among  whom  was  Albinus  of  Etruria, 
and  many  others),  to  aid  him  in  projects  of  loftier  am- 
bition, as  one  who  would  soon  attain  the  imperial  throne. 
This  bundle  of  letters  he  thus  made  up,  inventing  at 
his  leisure,  in  order  with  them  to  endanger  the  life  of  this 
innocent  man. 

5.  Dynamius  was  appointed  to  investigate  these  charges 
on  behalf  of  the  emperor  ;  and  while  he  was  artfully  weaving 
these  and  similar  plans,  he  contrived  to  enter  alone  into 
the  imperial  chamber,  choosing  his  opportunity,  and  hoping 
to  entangle  firmly  in  his  meshes  the  most  vigilant  guardian 
of  the  emperor's  safety.     And  being  full  of  wicked  cun- 
ning, after  he  had  read  the  forged  packet  of  letters  in  the 
council  chamber,  the  tribunes  were  ordered   to   be  com- 
mitted to  custody,  and  also    several  private   individuals 
were   commanded  to   be   arrested  and  brought  up   from 
the    provinces,   whose    names   were   mentioned   in   those 
letters. 

6.  But  presently  Malarichus,  the  commander  of  the  Gen- 
tiles, being  struck  with  the  iniquity  of  the  business,  and 
taking  his  colleagues  to  his  counsel,  spoke  out  loudly  that 
men  devoted  to  the  preservation  of  the  emperor  ought  not  to 
be  circumvented  by  factions  and  treachery.    He  accordingly 
demanded  that  he  himself,  his  nearest  relations  being  left  as 
hostages,  and  Mallobaudes,  the  tribune  of  the  heavy-armed 
soldiers,  giving  bail  that  he  would  return,  might  be  commis- 
sioned to  go  with  speed  to  bring  back  Silvanus,  who  he 
was  certain  had  never  entertained  the  idea  of  any  such 
attempt  as  these  bitter  plotters  had  imputed  to  him.    Or,  as 
an  alternative,  he  entreated  that  he  might  become  security 
for  Mallobaudes,  and  that  their  officers  might  be  permitted 
to  go  and  do  what  he  had  proposed  to  take  upon  himself. 

7.  For  he  affirmed  that  he  knew  beyond  all  question 
that,  if  any  stranger  were  sent,  Silvanus,  who  was  inclined 
to  be  somewhat  apprehensive  of  danger,  even  when  no 


A.o.356.  THE  STORY  OF   SILVANUS.  57 

circumstances  were  really  calculated  to  alarm  him,  would 
very  likely  throw  matters  into  confusion. 

8.  But,  although  the  advice  which  lie  gave  was  useful 
and  necessary,  he  spoke  as  to  the  winds,  to  no  purpose. 
For  by  the  counsels  of  Arbetio,  Apodemius,  who  was  a 
persevering  and  bitter  enemy  to  all  good  men,  was  sent 
with  letters  to  summon  Silvanus  to  the  presence.     When 
he  had  arrived  in  Gaul,  taking  no  heed  of  the  commission 
with  which  he  was  charged,  and  caring  but  little  for  any- 
thing that  might  happen,  he  remained  inactive,  without 
either   seeing   Silvanus,  or   delivering   the  letters  which 
commanded  him  to  appear  at  court.     And  having  taken 
the  receiver  of  the  province  into  his  counsels,  he  began 
with  arrogance  and  malevolence  to  harass  the  clients  and 
servants  of  the  master  of  the  horse,  as  if  that  officer  had 
been  already  condemned  and  was  on  the  point  of  being 
executed. 

9.  In  the  mean  time,  while  the  arrival  of  Silvanus  was 
looked  for,  and  while  Apodemius  was  throwing  everything, 
though  quiet  before,  into  commotion,   Dynamius,  that  he 
might  by  still  more  convincing  proofs  establish  belief  in 
his  wicked  plots,  had  sent  other  forged  letters  (agreeing 
with  the  previous  ones  which  he  had  brought  under  the 
emperor's  notice    by  the  agency  of  the  prefect)  to  the 
tribune  of  the  factory  at  Cremona  :  these  were  written  in 
the   names   of    Silvanus   and  Malarichus,    in   which   the 
tribune,  as  one  privy  to  their  secrets,  was  warned  to  lose 
no  time  in  having  everything  in  readiness. 

10.  But  when  this  tribune  had  read  the  whole  of  the 
letters,  he  was  for  some  time  in  doubt  and  perplexity  as 
to  what  they  could  mean  (for  he  did  not   recollect  that 
those  persons  whose  letters   he  had   thus   received   had 
ever  spoken  with  him  upon  private  transactions  of  any 
kind)  ;  and  accordingly   he  sent  the  letters  themselves, 
by   the  courier   who  had   brought  them,  to  Malarichus, 
sending  a  soldier  also  with  him  ;  and  entreated  Malarichus 
to  explain  in  intelligible  language  what  he  wanted,  and 
not  to  use  such  obscure  terms.     For  he  declared  that  he, 
being  but  a  plain  and  somewhat  rude  man,  had  not  in  the 
least  understood  what  was  intimated  so  obscurely. 

11.  Malarichus  the  moment  he  received  the  letters,  being 
already  in  sorrow  and  anxiety,  and  alarmed  for  his  own 


68  AMMIAXUS   MARCEUJMDS.  [BK.  XV.  CH.  r 

fate  and  that  of  his  countryman  Silvanus,  called  around 
him  the  Franks,  of  whom  at  that  time  there  was  a  great 
multitude  in  the  palace,  and  in  resolute  language  laid 
open  and  proved  the  falsehood  of  the  machinations  l>y 
which  their  lives  were  threatened,  and  was  loud  in  his 
complaints. 

12.  When  these  things  became  known  to  the  emperor, 
he  appointed  the  members  of  his  secret  council  and  the 
chief  officers  of  his  army  to  make  further  investigation  of 
the  matter.     And  when  the  judges  appeared  to  make  light 
of  it,  Florentius  the  son  of  Nigridianus,  who  at  that  time 
filled  the  post  of  master  of  the  offices,'  having  examined 
the  writings  carefully,  and  detecting  beneath  them  some 
vestiges  of  the  tops  of  the  former  words  which  had  been 
effaced,  perceived,  as  was  indeed  the  case,  that  by  inter- 
polations of  the  original  letter,  matters  very  different  from 
any  of  which  Silvanus  was  author  had  been  written  over 
them,   according  to   the   fancy  of  the   contriver   of  this 
forgery. 

13.  On  this  the  cloud  of  treachery  was  dispersed,  and 
the  emperor,  informed  of  the  truth  by  a  faithful  report, 
recalled  the  powers  granted  to  the  prefect,  and  ordered 
him  to  be  submitted  to  an  examination.     Nevertheless 
he  was  acquitted  through  the  active  combination  of  many 
of  his  friends  ;  while  Eusebius,  the  former  treasurer  of  the 
emperor's  secret  purse,  being  put  to  the  torture,  confessed 
that  these  things  had  been  done  with  his  privity. 

14.  JEdesius,  affirming  with  obstinate  denial  that  he 
had  never  known  anything  which  had  been   done  in  the 
matter,  escaped,  being  adjudged  innocent.     And  thus  the 
transaction  was  brought  to  an  end,  and  all  those  who  had 
been  accused  in  the  original  information  were  acquitted ; 
and  Dynamius,  as  a  man  of  exceeding  accomplishments 
and- prudence,  was  appointed  to  govern  Etruria  with  the 
rank  of  corrector. 

15.  While  these  affairs  were  proceeding,  Silvanus  was 
living    at   Agrippina,*   and   having    learnt  by   continual 

1  This  was  a  very  important  post ;  it  seems  to  have  united  the  func- 
tions of  a  modern  chamberlain,  chancellor,  and  secretary  of  state.    The 
master  presented  citizens  to  the  emperor,  received  foreign  ambassadors, 
recommended  men  for   civil  employments,  decided  civil  actions  of 
several  kinds,  aud  superintended  many  of  the  affairs  of  the  post. 

2  Cologne. 


A.D.S55.J  S1LVANUS    ASSUMES   THE   IMPERIAL  DIGNITY.  59 

information  sent  to  him  by  his  friends  what  Apodemius 
was  doing  with  the  hope  of  effecting  his  ruin ;  and 
knowing  also  how  impressible  the  mind  of  the  feeble 
emperor  was  ;  began  to  fear  lest  in  his  absence,  and  without 
being  convicted  of  any  crime,  he  might  still  be  treated  as  a 
criminal.  And  so,  being  placed  in  a  situation  of  the 
greatest  difficulty,  he  began  to  think  of  trusting  himself  to 
the  good  faith  of  the  barbarians. 

16.  But  being  dissuaded  from  this  by  Laniogaisus,  at 
that  time  a  tribune,  whom  we  have  already  spoken  of  as 
the  only  person  who  was  present  with  Constans  when  he 
was  dying,  himself  serving  at  that  time  as  a  volunteer ; 
and   being  assured   by  Laniogaisus  that  the   Franks,  of 
whom  he  himself  was  a  countryman,  would  put  him  to 
death,  or  else  betray  him  for  a  bribe,  he  saw  no  safety 
anywhere  in  the  present  emergency,  and  so  was  driven  to 
extreme  counsels.     And  by  degrees,  having  secretly  con- 
ferred with  the  chiefs  of  the  principal  legions,  and  having 
excited  them  by  the  magnitude  of  promised  rewards,  he 
tore  for  use  on  this  occasion  the  purple  silk  from  the  in- 
signia of  the  dragons '  and  standards,  and  so  assumed  the 
title  of  emperor. 

17.  And  while  these  events  are  passing  in  Gaul,  one  day, 
a  little  before  sunset,  an  unexpected  messenger  arrived  at 
Milan,  relating  fully  that  Silvanus,  being  ambitious  to  rise 
above  his  place  as  commander  of  the  infantry,  had  tampered 
with  the  army,  and  assumed  the  imperial  dignity. 

18.  Constantius,  at  this  amazing  and  unexpected  event, 
seemed  as  if  struck  by  a  thunderbolt  of  fate,  and  having 
at  once  summoned  a  council  to  meet  at  the  second  watch, 
all  the  nobles  hastened  to  the  palace.     No  one  had  either 
mind  to  conceive  or  tongue  to  recommend  what  was  best  to 
be  done;    but    in   suppressed   tones   they  mentioned   the 
name  of  Ursicinus  as  a  man  eminent  for  skill  in  affairs  of 
war,  and  one  who  had  been  undeservedly  exposed  to  most 
injurious  treatment.     He  was  immediately  sent  for  by  the 
principal  chamberlain,  which  is  the  most  honourable  kind 
of  summons,  and  as  soon  as  he  entered  the  council- chamber 
he  was  offered  the  purple  to  salute  much  more  graciously 
than  at  any  former  time.     Diocletian  was  the  first  who  in- 
troduced the  custom  of  offering  reverence  to  the  emperor 

1  The  dragons  were  the  effigies  on  some  of  the  standards. 


60  AMM1ANUS   MARCELLIXUS.  [BK.XV.CH.V. 

after  this  foreign  manner  and  royal  pretension ;  whereas 
all  former  princes,  as  we  read,  had  been  saluted  like  judges. 

19.  And  so  the  man  who  a  little  while  before,  through 
the  malevolent  persecution  of  certain  of  the  courtiers,  had 
been  termed  the  whirlpool  of  the  East,  and  who  had  been 
accused  of  a  design  to  aim  at  the  supreme  power  for  his 
sons,  was  now  recommended  as  one  who  was  a  most  skilful 
general,  who  had  been  the  comrade  of  the  great  Constan- 
tino, and  as  the  only  man  capable  of  extinguishing  the 
threatened   conflagration.      And  though   the   reasons   for 
which  he  was  sent  for  were  honest,  they  were  not  wholly 
free  from   underhand  motives.     For  while  great  anxiety 
was  felt  that  Silvanus  should  be  destroyed  as  a  most  for- 
midable rebel,  yet,  if  that  object  miscarried,  it  was  thought 
that  Ursicinus,  being  damaged  by  the  failure,  would  him- 
self easily  be  ruined ;  so  that  no  scruple,  which  else  was 
to  be  feared,  would  interpose  to  save  him  from  destruction. 

20.  While  arrangements  were  being  made  for  acclerating 
his  journey,  the  general  was  preparing  to  repel  the  charges 
which  had  been  brought  against  him ;  but  the  emperor 
prevented  him,  forbidding  him  in  conciliatory  language, 
saying  that  this  was  not  an  opportunity  suitable  for  under- 
taking any  controversy  in  defence  of  his  cause,  when  the 
imminent  necessity  of  affairs  rather  prompted  that  no  delay 
should  be  interposed  to  the  restoration  of  parties  to  their 
pristine  concord  before  the  disunion  got  worse. 

21.  Therefore,  after   a  long  deliberation  about  many 
things,  the  first  and  most  important  matter  in  which  con- 
sultation was  held,  was  by  what  means  Silvanus  could  be 
led  to  think   the  emperor  still  ignorant  of  his  conduct. 
And  the  most  likely  manner  to  confirm  him  in  his  con- 
fidence appeared  to  be  that  he  should  be  informed,  in  a 
complimentary  despatch,  that  Ursicinus  was  appointed  his 
successor,  and  that  he  was  invited  to  return  to  court  with 
undiminished  power. 

22.  After  this  affair  was  arranged,  the  officer  who  had 
brought  the  news  to  Milan  was  ordered  to  depart  with 
some  tribunes  and  ten  of  the  Protectores  and  domestic  guard 
as  an  escort,  given  to  him  at  his  own  request,  to  aid  him 
in  the  discharge  of  his  public  duty.     And  of  these  I  myself 
was  one,  with  my  colleague  Verriuianus  ;  and  all  the  rest 
were  either  friends  or  relations  of  mine. 


AJ>.  355.]  URS1CINUS   GOES   TO   COLOGNE.  61 

23.  And  now  all  of  us,   fearing  mainly  for  ourselves, 
accompanied  him  a  long  distance  on  his  journey ;   and 
although  we  seemed  as  exposed  to  danger  as   gladiators 
about  to  fight  with  wild  beasts,  yet  considering  in   our 
minds  that  evils  are  often  the  forerunners   of  good,  we 
recollected  with  admiration  that   expression   of  Cicero's, 
uttered  by  him  in  accordance  with  the  eternal  maxims  of 
truth,  which  runs  in  these  words  :' — "  And  although  it  is  a 
thing  most  desirable  that  one's  fortune  should  always  con- 
tinue in  a  most  flourishing  condition ;  still  that  general 
level  state  of  life  brings  not  so  much  sensation  of  joy  as  we 
feel  when,  after  having  been  surrounded  by  disasters  or  by 
dangers,  fortune  returns  into  a  happier  condition." 

24.  Accordingly  we  hastened  onwards  by  forced  journeys, 
in  order  that  the  master  of  the  horse,  who  was  eager  to 
acquire  the  honour  of  suppressing  the  revolt,  might  make 
his  appearance  in  the  suspected  district  before  any  rumour 
of  the    usurpation   of   Silvanus   had    spread    among    the 
Italians.      But  rapidly  as  we  hastened,   fame,   like  the 
wind,  had  outstripped  us,  and  had  revealed  some  part  of 
the  facts ;    and  when   we    reached  Agrippina    we   found 
matters  quite  out  of  the  reach  of  our  attempts. 

25.  For  a  vast  multitude  of  people,  assembled  from  all 
quarters,    were,    with    a    mixture    of   haste    and    alarm, 
strengthening  the  foundations  of  Silvanus's  enterprise,  and 
a  numerous  military  force  was  collected  ;  so  that  it  seemed 
more  advisable,  on  the  existing  emergency,  for  our  unfor- 
tunate general  to  await  the  intentions  and  pleasure  of  the 
new  emperor,  who  was  assuring  himself  by  ridiculous  omens 
and  signs  that  he  was  gaining  accessions  of  strength.     By 
permitting  his  feelings  of  security  to  increase,  by  different 

1  There  is  no  such  passage  in  any  extant  work  of  Cicero,  but  a  sen- 
tence hi  his  speech  ad  Pontifices  resembles  it :  "  For  although  it  be 
more  desirable  to  end  one's  life  without  pain,  and  without  injury,  still 
it  tends  more  to  an  immortality  of  glory  to  be  regretted  by  one's 
countrymen,  than  to  have  been  always  free  from  injury."  And  a  still 
closer  likeness  to  the  sentiment  is  found  in  his  speech  ad  Quirites  post 
reditum  :  "  Although  there  is  nothing  more  to  be  wished  for  by  man 
than  prosperous,  equal,  continual  good- fortune  in  life,  flowing  on  in  a 
prosperous  course,  without  any  misadventure  ;  still,  if  all  my  life  had 
been  tranquil  and  peaceful,  I  should  have  been  deprived  of  the  in- 
credible and  almost  heavenly  delight  and  happiness  which  I  now 
enjoy  through  your  kindness." — Orations,  v.  2  ;  Bohn,  p.  491-2. 


62  AMMIANUS   MARCELLIXUS.  [Bit.  XV.  CH.  r. 

pretences  of  agreement  and  flattery,  Silvanus,  it  was 
thought,  might  be  relieved  from  all  fear  of  hostility,  and 
so  be  the  more  easily  deceived. 

26.  But  the  accomplishment  of  such  a  design  appeared 
difficult.      For  it  was  necessary   to   use   great   care   and 
watchfulness  to  make  our  desires  subordinate  to  our  oppor- 
tunities, and  to  prevent  their  either  outrunning  them,  or 
falling  behind  them ;  since  if  our  wishes  were  allowed  to 
become  known  unseasonably,  it  was  plain  we  should  all  be 
involved  in  one  sentence  of  death. 

27.  However  our  general  was  kindly  received,  and  (the 
very  business  itself  forcing  us  to  bend  our  necks),  having 
been  compelled  to  prostrate  himself  with  all  solemnity 
before  the    newly   robed    prince,  still   aiming   at  higher 
power,  was  treated  as  a  highly  favoured  and  eminent  friend ; 
having  freedom  of  access  and  the  honour  of  a  seat  at  the 
royal  table  granted  to  him  in  preference  to  every  one  else, 
in  order  that  he  might  be  consulted  with  the  more  secrecy 
about  the  principal  affairs  of  state. 

28.  Silvanus  expressed  his  indignation  that,  while  un- 
worthy persons  had  been  raised  to  the  consulship  and  to 
other  high  dignities,  he  and  Ursicinus  alone,  after  the  fre- 
quent and  great  toils  which  they  had  endured  for  the  sake 
of  the  republic,  had  been  so  despised  that  he  himself  had 
been  accused  of  treason  in  consequence  of  the  examination 
of  some  slaves,  and  had  been  exposed  to  an  ignoble  trial ; 
while  Ursicinus  had  been  brought  over  from  the  East,  and 
placed  at  the   mercy  of  his  enemies;  and  these   were  the 
subjects  of  his  incessant  complaints  both  in  public  and  in 
private. 

29.  While,  however,  he  was  holding  this  kind  of  lan- 
guage, we  were  alarmed  at  the  murmurs  of  our  soldiers 
who   were   now  sufiiering   from   want,    which  surrounded 
us  on  all  sides;  the  troops  showing  every  eagerness  to 
make  a  rapid  march  through  the  defiles  of  the  Cottian 
Alps. 

30.  In  this  state   of  anxiety  and  agitation,  we  occu- 
pied ourselves  in  secretly  deliberating  on  the  means  of 
arriving  at  our  object ;  and  at  length,  after  our  plans  had 
been  repeatedly  changed  out  of  fear,  it  was  determined 
to  use  great  industry  in  seeking  out  prudent  agents,  bind 
ing  them  to  secrecy  by  solemn  oaths,  in  order  to  tamper 


A.D.  355.]  DEATH   OF   SILVANUS.  C3 

with  the  Gallic  soldiers  whom  we  knew  to  be  men  of 
doubtful  fidelity,  and  at  any  time  open  to  change  for  a 
sufficient  reward. 

31.  Therefore,   after  we   had  secured   our  success   by 
the  address  of  some  agents  among  the  common   soldiers, 
men  by  their  very  obscurity  fitted   for  the  accomplish- 
ment  of  such  a  task,  and  now  excited  by  the   expecta- 
tion of  reward,  at  sunrise,  as  soon  as  the  east  began  to 
redden,  a  band  of  armed  men  suddenly  sallied  forth,  and, 
as  is  common  in  critical  moments,  behaving  with  more  than 
usual  audacity.     They  slew  the  sentinels  and  penetrated 
into  the  palace,  and  so  having  dragged  Silvanus  out  of  a 
little  chapel  in  which,  in  his  terror,  he  had  taken  refuge  on 
his  way  to  a  conventicle  devoted  to  the  ceremonies  of  the 
Christian  worship,  they  slew  him  with  repeated  strokes  of 
their  swords. 

32.  In  this  way  did  a  general  of  no  slight  merit  perish, 
through  fear  of  false  accusations  heaped    on   him   in  his 
absence   by   a  faction  of  wicked  men,  and  which   drove 
h  m   to  the  utmost   extremities  in  order  to   preserve  his 
safety. 

33.  For  although  he  had  acquired  strong  claims  on  the 
gratitude  of  Constantius  by  his  seasonable  sally  with  his 
troops  before  the  battle  of  Mursa,  and  although  he  could 
boast  the  valorous  exploits  of  his  father  Bonitus,  a  man 
of  Frankish  extraction,  but  who  had  espoused  the  party  of 
Const antirie,  and    often  in  the  civil  war  had    exhibited 
great    prowess    against   the   troops   of  Licinius,    still   he 
always  feared  him  as  a  prince  of  wavering  and  fickle  cha- 
racter. 

34.  Now  before  any  of  these  events  had  taken  place  in 
Gaul,  it  happened  that  one  day  in  the  Circus  Maximus  at 
Rome,  the  populace  cried  out  with  a  loud  voice,  "  Silvanus 
is  conquered."    Whether  influenced  by  instinct  or  by  some 
prophetic  spirit,  cannot  be  decided. 

35.  Silvanus   having   been    slain,  as  I    have    narrated, 
at  Agrippina,  the  emperor  was  seized  with  inconceivable 
joy  when  he  heard  the  news,  and  gave  way  to  exceeding 
insolence  and  arrogance,  attributing  this  event  also  to  the 
prosperous  course  of  his  good  fortune ;  giving  the  reins  to 
his  habitual  disposition  which  always  led  him  to  hate  men 
of  brave  conduct,  as  Domitian  in  former  times  had  done, 


64  AMMIANOS   MARCELLINUS.  [B*.  XV.  CH.  vt 

and  desiring  at  all  times  to  destroy  them  by  every  act  of 
opposition. 

36.  And  he  was  so  far  from  praising  even  his  act  of 
diligence  and   fidelity,   that  he  recorded   in    writing  a 
charge  that  Ursicinus  had  embezzled  a  part  of  the  Gallic 
treasures,  which  no  one  had  ever  touched.     And  he  ordered 
strict  inquiry  to  be  made  into  the  fact,  by  an  examination 
of  Eemigius,  who  was  at  that  time  accountant-general  to 
Ursicinus  in  his  capacity  of  commander  of  the  heavy  troops. 
And  long  afterwards,  in  the  time  of  Valentinian,  this  Remi- 
gius  hung  himself  on  account  of  the  trouble  into  which  he 
fell  in  the  matter  of  his  appointment  as  legate  in  Tripolis. 

37.  And  after  this  business  was  terminated,  Constan- 
tius,   thinking   his    prosperity  had    now  raised   him  to 
an   equality  with  the   gods,  and  had  bestowed   on  him 
entire   sovereignty  over  human  affairs,  gave  himself  up 
to  elation  at  the  praises  of  his  flatterers,  whom  he  himseli 
encouraged,  despising  and  trampling  under  foot  all  who 
were  unskilled  in  that  kind  of  court.     As  we  read  that 
Croesus,  when  he  was  king,  drove  Solon  headlong  from  his 
court  because  he  would  not  fawn  on  him ;  and  that  Diony- 
sius  threatened  the  poet  Philoxenus  with  death  because, 
when  the  king  recited  his  absurd  and  unrhythmical  verses, 
he  alone  refused  to  fall  into  an  ecstasy  while  all  the  rest  of 
the  courtiers  praised  them. 

38.  And  this  mischievous  taste  is  the  nurse  of  vices  ;  for 
praise  ought  only  to  be  acceptable  in  high  places,  where 
blame  also  is  permitted  when  things  are  not  sufficiently 
performed. 

VI. 

§  1.  AND  now,  after  the  re-establishment  of  security,  inves- 
tigations as  usual  were  set  on  foot,  and  many  persons  were 
put  in  prison  as  guilty.  For  that  infernal  informer  Paulus, 
boiling  over  with  delight,  arose  to  exercise  his  poisonous 
employment  with  increased  freedom,  and  while  the 
members  of  the  emperor's  council  and  the  military  officers 
were  employed  in  the  investigation  of  these  affairs,  as  they 
were  commanded,  Proculus  was  put  to  the  torture,  who 
had  been  a  servant  of  Silvan  us,  a  man  of  weak  body  and 
of  ill  health ;  so  that  every  one  was  afraid  lest  the  exceed- 


A.D.355.]  EXECUTION  OF   SEVERAL   SOBLES.  65 

ing  violense  of  his  torture  should  rrove  too  much  for  his 
feeble  limbs,  so  that  he  would  expose  numbers  to  be  im- 
plicated in  the  accusations  of  atrocious  crimes.  But  the 
result  proved  quite  different  to  what  had  been  expected. 

2.  For  remembering  a  dream  in  which  he  had  been  for- 
bidden, while  asleep,  as  he  affirmed,  to  accuse  any  innocent 
person,  though  he  should  be  tortured  till  he  was  brought  to 
the  very  point  of  death,  he  neither  informed  against,  nor 
even  named  any  one ;  but,  with  reference  to  the  usurpation 
of  Silvanus,  he  invariably  asserted  that  he  had  been  driven 
to  contemplate  that  act,  not  out  of  ambition,  but  from  sheer 
necessity ;  and  he  proved  this  assertion  by  evident  argu- 
ments. 

3.  For  he  adduced  one  important   excuse,  which  was 
established   by  the  testimony  of  many  persons,  that,  five 
days  before  he  assumed  the  ensigns  of  imperial  authority, 
he  addressed  the  soldiers,  while  distributing  their  pay  to 
them,  in  the  name  of  Constantius,  exhorting  them  to  prove 
always  brave  and  loyal.     From  which  it  was  plain  that  if 
he  had  then  been  thinking  of  seizing  on  a  loftier  fortune, 
he  would  have  given  them  this  money  as  if  it  had  pro- 
ceeded from  himself. 

4.  After  Proculus,  Poamenius  was  condemned  and  put 
to  death  ;  he  who,  as  we  have  mentionedbefore,'  when  the 
Treveri  had  shut  their  gates  against  Caesar  Decentius,  was 
chosen  to  defend  that  people.     After  him,  Asclepiodotus, 
and  Luto,  and  Maudio,  all  Counts,  were  put  to  death,  and 
many  others  also,  the  obdurate  cruelty  of  the  times  seeking 
for  these  and  similar  punishments  with  avidity. 

VII. 

§  1.  WHILE  the  fatal  disturbances  of  the  state  multi- 
plied these  general  slaughters,  Leontius,  who  was  the 
governor  of  Rome  itself,  gave  many  proofs  of  his  deserv- 
ing the  character  of  an  admirable  judge  ;  being  prompt  in 
tearing  cases,  rigidly  just  in  deciding  them,  and  merciful 
by  nature,  although,  for  the  sake  of  maintaining  lawful  au- 
thority, he  appeared  to  some  people  to  be  severe.  He  was 
also  of  a  somewhat  amorous  temperament. 

2..  The  first  pretext  for  exciting  any  sedition  against  him 

1  In  one  of  the  lost  books  of  this  history. 

r 


56  AMMIANUS  MARCELL1NUS.  [Bit.  XV.  Ca.  T*. 

was  a  most  slight  and  trumpery  one.  For  when  an  order 
hrtd  been  issued  to  arrest  a  charioteer,  named  Philoromua, 
the  whole  populace  followed  him,  as  if  resolved  to  defend 
something  of  their  own,  and  with  terrible  violence  assailed 
the  prefect,  presuming  him  to  be  timorous.  But  he  re- 
mained unmoved  and  upright,  and  sending  his  officers 
among  the  crowd,  arrested  some  and  punished  them,  and 
then,  without  any  one  venturing  to  oppose  him,  or  even  to 
murmur,  condemned  them  to  banishment. 

3.  A  few  days  later  the  populace  again  became  excited 
to  its  customary  frenzy,  and  alleging  as  a  grievance  the 
scarcity  of  wine,  assembled  at  the  well-known  place  called 
Septemzodium,    where    the    Emperor    Marcus    built  the 
Nymphseum,1  an  edifice  of  great  magnificence.     To  that 
place  the  prefect  went  forthwith,  although  he  was  earnestly 
entreated  by  all  his  household  and  civil   officers  not  to 
trust  himself  among  an  arrogant  and  threatening  multi- 
tude, now  in  a  state  of  fury  equal  to  any  of  their  former 
commotions;    but  he,  unsusceptible   of  fear,  went  right 
onwards,  though  many  of  his  attendants   deserted  him, 
when  they  saw  him  hastening  into  imminent  danger. 

4.  Therefore,  sitting  in  a  carriage,  with  every  appear- 
ance of  confidence,  he  looked  with  fierce  eyes  at  the  coun- 
tenance of  the  tumultuous  mobs  thronging  towards  him 
from  all  quarters,  and  agitating  themselves  like  serpents. 
And  after  suffering  many  bitter  insults,  at  last,  when  be 
had  recognized  one  man  who  was  conspicuous  among  all 
the  rest  by  his  vast  size   and  red  hair,  he  asked  him 
whether  his  name  was  Petrus  Valvomeres,  as  he  had  heard 
it  was ;  and  when  the  man  replied  in  a  defiant  tone  that 
it  was   so,   Leontius,  in  spite  of  the   outcries   of  many 
around,  ordered  him  to  be  seized  as  one  who  had  long 
since  been  a  notorious  ringleader  of  the  disaffected,  and 
having  his  hands  bound  behind  him,  commanded  him  to 
be  suspended  on  a  rack. 

5.  And  when  he  was  seen  in  the  air,  in  vain  imploring 

1  The  Nymphseum  was  a  temple  sacred  to  the  Nymphs,  deriving  its 
name  of  Septemzodium,  or  Septizonium  (which  it  snared  with  more 
than  one  other  building  at  Rome),  from  the  eeven  rows  of  pillars,  one 
above  the  other,  and  each  row  lessening  both  in  circuit  and  in  height, 
with  which  the  exterior  was  embellished.  Another  temple  of  this  kind 
was  built  by  Septimiua  Severus. 


A.B  355.]  CHARACTER   OF   ATHANASIUS.  67 

the  aid  of  his  fellow-tribesmen,  the  whole  mob,  which 
a  little  while  before  was  so  closely  packed,  dispersed  at 
once  over  the  different  quarters  of  the  city,  so  as  to  offer 
no  hindrance  to  the  punishment  of  this  seditious  leader, 
who  after  having  been  thus  tortured — ^with  as  little  resist- 
ance as  if  he  had  been  in  a  secret  dungeon  of  the  court 
— was  transported  to  Picenum,  where,  on  a  subsequent 
occasion,  having  offered  violence  to  a  virgin  of  high  rank, 
he  was  condemned  to  death  by  the  judgment  of  Patruinus, 
a  noble  of  consular  dignity. 

6.  While  Leontius  governed  the  city  in  this  manner, 
Liberius,  a  priest  of  the   Christian  law,  was  ordered  by 
Constantius  to  be  brought  before  the  council,  as  one  who 
had  resisted  the  commands  of  the  emperor,  and  the  decrees 
of  many  of  his  own  colleagues,  in  an  affair  which  1  will 
explain  briefly. 

7.  Athanasius  was  at  that  time  bishop  of  Alexandria ; 
and  as  he  was  a  man  who  sought  to  magnify  himself  above 
his  profession,  and  to  mix  himself  up  with  affairs  which 
did  not  belong  to  his  province,  as  continual  reports  made 
known,  an  assembly  of  many  of   his    sect  met  together 
— a  synod,  as  they  call  it — and  deprived  him  of  the  right  of 
administering  the  sacraments,  which  he  previously  enjoyed. 

8.  For  it  was  said  that  he,  being  very  deeply  skilled  in 
the  arts  of  prophecy  arid  the  interpretation  of  auguries  and 
omens,  had  very  often  predicted  coming  events.     And  to 
these  charges  were  added  others  very  inconsistent  with 
the  laws  of  the  religion  over  which  he  presided. 

9.  So  Liberius,  being  of  the  same  opinion  with  those 
who   condemned   these    practices,    was   ordered,    by   the 
sentence  of   the  emperor,  to  expel  Athanasius   from  his 
priestly  seat ;  but  this  he  firmly  refused  to  do,  reiterat- 
ing the  assertion  that  it  was  the  extremity  of   wicked- 
ness to  condemn  a  man  who  had  neither  been  brought 
before  any  court  nor  been  heard  in  his  defence,  in  this 
openly  resisting  the  commands  of  the  emperor. 

10.  For  that  prince,  being  always  unfavourable  to  Atha- 
nasius, although  he  knew  that  what  he  ordered  had  in 
fact   taken   effect,  yet   was   exceedingly  desiroiis  that  it 
should  be  confirmed  by  that  authority  which  the  bishops 
of  the  Eternal  City  enjoy,  as  being  of  higher  rank.     And 
as  he  did  not  succeed  in  this,  Liberius  was  removed  by 


68  AMMIANUS   MARCELL1NUS.  [BK.  XV.  CH.  Mn. 

night ;  a  measure  which  was  not  effected  without  great 
difficulty,  through  the  fear  which  his  enemies  had  of  the 
people,  among  whom  he  was  exceedingly  popular. 


VIII. 

§  1.  THESE  events,  then,  took  place  at  Eome,  as  I  have 
already  mentioned.  But  Constantius  was  agitated  by 
frequent  intelligence  which  assured  him  that  the  Gauls 
were  in  a  lamentable  condition,  since  no  adequate  resist- 
ance could  be  made  to  the  barbarians  who  were  now 
carrying  their  devastations  with  fire  and  sword  over  the 
whole  country.  And  after  deliberating  a  long  time,  in 
great  anxiety,  what  force  he  could  employ  to  repel  these 
dangers  (himself  remaining  in  Italy,  as  he  thought  it  very 
dangerous  to  remove  into  so  remote  a  country),  he  at  last 
determined  on  a  wise  plan,  which  was  this :  to  associate 
with  himself  in  the  cares  of  the  empire  his  cousin  Julian, 
whom  he  had  some  time  before  summoned  to  court,  and 
who  still  retained  the  robe  he  had  worn  in  the  Greek 
schools. 

2.  And  when,  oppressed  by  the  heavy  weight  of  im- 
pending calamities,  he  had  confessed  to  his  dearest  friends 
that  by  himself  he  was  unequal  to  the  burden  of  such 
weighty  and  numerous  difficulties — a  thing  which  he  had 
never  felt  before — they,  being  trained  to  excessive  flattery, 
tried  to  fill  him  with  foolish  ideas,  affirming  that  there 
was  nothing  in  the  world  so  difficult  but  what  his  pre- 
eminent virtue  and  his  good  fortune,  equal  to  that  of  the 
gods,  would  be  able  to  overcome,  as  it  always  hitherto 
had   done.      And  many   of  them    added    further,    being 
stung  by  their  consciousness  of  guilt,  that  henceforth  he 
ought  to  beware  of  conferring  the  title  of  Caesar  on  any 
one,  enumerating  the  deeds  which  had  been  done  in  the 
tune  of  Gallus. 

3.  They  therefore  opposed  his  design  resolutely,  and  it 
was  supported  by  no  one  but  the  queen,  who,  whether  it 
was  that  she  feared  a  journey  to  a  distant  country,  or  that, 
from  her  own  natural  wisdom,  she  saw  the  best  course  for 
the  common  good,  urged  him  that  a  relation  like  Julian 
ought  to  be  preferred  to  every  one  else.     Accordingly, 


A.D.355.]  PROMOTION   OF   JULIAX.  69 

after  many  undecided  deliberations  and  long  discussions, 
his  resolution  was  at  last  taken  decidedly,  and  having 
discarded  all  further  vain  debate,  he  resolved  on  asso 
ciating  Julian  with  him  in  the  empire. 

4.  He  was  therefore  summoned  ;  and  when  he  had  ar- 
rived, on  a  fixed  day,  the  whole  of  his  fellow- comrades  who 
were  in  the  city  were  ordered  to  attend,  and  a  tribunal 
was   erected  on  a  lofty   scaffolding,    surrounded  by  the 
eagles  and  standards.     And  Augustus,  mounting  it,  and 
holding  Julian  by  the  right  hand,  made  this  conciliatory 
speech: — 

5.  "  We  stand  here  before  you,  most  excellent  defenders 
of  the  republic,  to  avenge  with  one  unanimous  spirit  the 
common  dangers  of  the   state.     And  how   I  propose  to 
provide  for  it  I  will  briefly  explain  to  you,  as  impartial 
judges. 

6.  "  After  'the  death  of  those  rebellious  tyrants  whom 
rage  and  madness  prompted  to  engage  in  the  enterprises 
which  they  undertook,  the  barbarians,  as  if  they  meant 
to  sacrifice  unto  their  wicked  manes  with  Eoman  blood, 
having  violated  the  peace  and  invaded  the  territories  of 
the  Gauls,  are  encouraged  by  this  consideration,  that  our 
empire,  being  spread  over  very  remote  countries,  causes 
us  to  be  beset  with  great  difficulties. 

7.  "  If,  then,  your  decision  and  mine  are  mutual  to  en- 
counter this  evil,  already  progressing  beyond  the  barriers 
which  were  opposed  to  it,  while  there   is  still  time  to 
check  it,  the  necks  of  these  haughty  nations  will  learn  to 
humble  their  pride,  and  the  borders  of  the  empire  will 
remain  inviolate.     It  remains  for  you  to  give,  by  your 
strength,  prosperous  effect  to  the  hopes  which  I  entertain. 

8.  "  You  all  know  my  cousin  Julian,  whom  I  here  present 
to  you ;  a  youth  endeared  to  us  by  his  modesty  as  well  as 
by  his  relationship  ;  a  youth  of  virtue  already  proved,  and 
of  conspicuous  industry  and  energy.     Him  I  have  deter- 
mined  to  raise  to  the  rank  of  Caesar,  and   hope,  if  this 
seems  expedient  to  you,  to  have  my  decision  confirmed  by 
your  consent." 

9.  He  was  proceeding  to  say  more,  but  was  prevented 
by  the  whole  assembly   interrupting  him   with   friendly 
shouts,  declaring  that  his  decision  was  the  judgment  of 
the  Supreme  Deity,  and  not   of  any  human  mind ;  with 


70  AMMIANUS   MARCELLINUS.  '3*..  XV.  CH.  vrn. 

such  certainty  that  one  might  have  thought  them  inspired 
with  the  spirit  of  prophecy. 

10.  The  emperor  stood  without  moving  till  they  re- 
sumed silence,  and  then  with  greater  confidence  proceeded 
to  explain  what  he  had  to  say  further. 

"  Because,  therefore,  your  joyful  acclamations  show  that 
you  look  favourably  on  the  design  I  have  announced,  let 
this  j'outh,  of  tranquil  strength,  whose  temperate  disposi- 
tion it  will  be  better  to  imitate  than  merely  to  praise,  rise 
up  now  to  receive  the  honours  prepared  for  him.  His 
excellent  disposition,  increased  as  it  has  been  by  all  liberal 
accomplishments,  I  will  say  no  more  of  than  is  seen  in 
the  fact  that  I  have  chosen  him.  Therefore,  now,  with 
the  manifest  consent  of  the  Deity,  I  will  clothe  him  with 
the  imperial  robe." 

11.  This  was  his  speech.    And  then,  having  immediately 
clothed  Julian  with  the  purple  robe  of  his  ancestors,  and 
having  pronounced  him  Caesar,  to  the  great  joy  of  the  army, 
ho  thus  addressed  him,  though  Julian  himself  appeared  by 
his  grave  countenance  to  be  somewhat  melancholy. 

12.  "Most  beloved  of  all  my  brothers,   you  thus   in 
early  youth  have  received  the  splendid  honour  belonging 
to  your  birth,  not,  I  confess,  without  some   addition  to 
my  own  glory  ;  who  thus  show  myself  as  just  in  confer- 
ring supreme  power  on  a  noble  character  nearly  related 
to  me,  as  I  appear  also   sublime  by  virtue  of  my  own 
power.      Come   thou,   therefore,   to  be  a  partner  in   my 
labours  and   dangers,  and  undertake  the  defence  of  the 
government  of  the  Gauls,  devoting  thyself  with  all  benefi- 
cence to  alleviate  the  calamities  of  those  afflicted  countries. 

13.  "And  if  it  should  be  necessary  to  engage  with  the 
enemy  in  battle,  do  thou  take  thy  place  steadily  among  the 
standard-bearers  themselves,  as  a  prudent  encourager  of 
daring  at  the  proper  opportunity ;   exciting  the  warriors 
by  leading  them  on  with  caution,  supporting  any  troops 
which  may  be  thrown  into  disorder  by  reserves,  gently 
reproving  those  who  hang  back,  and  being  present  as 
a  trustworthy  witness  of  the  actions  of  all,  whether  brave 
or  timid. 

14.  "  Think  that  a  serious  crisis  is  upon  us,  and  so  show 
yourself  a  great  man,  worthy  to   command  brave  men. 
We  ourselves  will  stand  by  you  in  the  energetic  constancy 


A.I).  355.]  JOY    OF   THE   SOLDIERS.  71 

of  affection,  or  will  join  you  in  the  labours  of  war,  so  that 
we  may  govern  together  the  whole  world  in  peace,  if 
only  God  will  grant  us,  as  we  pray  he  may,  to  govern 
with  equal  moderation  and  piety.  You  will  everywhere 
represent  tue,  and  I  also  will  never  desert  you  in  what- 
ever task  you  may  be  engaged.  To  sum  up :  Go  forth ; 
go  forth  supported  by  the  friendly  prayers  of  men  of  all 
ranks,  to  defend  with  watchful  care  the  station  assigned 
to  you,  it  may  be  said,  by  the  republic  itself." 

15.  After  the  emperor  had  thus  ended  his  speech,  no  one 
held  his  peace,   but  all  the  soldiers,  with  a  tremendous 
crash,  rattled  their  shields  against  their  knees  (which  is 
an  abundant  indication  of  applause  ;  while  on  the  other 
hand  to  strike  the  shield  with  the  spear  is  a  testimony  of 
anger  and  indignation),  and  it  was  marvellous  with  what 
excessive  joy  they  all,  except  a  very  few,  showed  their 
approbation  of  the  judgment  of  Augustus  :  and  they  re- 
ceived the  Caesar  with  well-deserved  admiration,  brilliant 
as  he  was  with  the  splendour  of  the  imperial  purple. 

16.  And  while  they  gazed  earnestly  on  his  eyes,  terrible 
in  their  beauty,  and  his  countenance  more  attractive  than 
ever  by  reason  of  his  present  excitement,  they  augured  from 
his  looks  what  kind  of  ruler  he  was  likely  to  prove,  as  if 
they  had  been  searching  into  those  ancient  volumes  which 
teach  how  to  judge  of  a  man's  moral  disposition  by  the 
external  signs  on  his  person.     And  that  he  might  be  re- 
garded with  the  greater  reverence,  they  neither  praised 
him  above  measure,  nor  yet  below  his  desert.     And  so  the 
voices  raised  in  his  favour  were  looked  upon  as  the  judgr 
ment  of  censors,  not  of  soldiers. 

17.  After  the  ceremony  was  over,  Julian  was  taken  up 
into  the  imperial  chariot  and  received  into  the  palace,  and 
was  heard  to  whisper  to  himself  this  verse  of  Homer — 

"  Now  purple  death  hath  seized  on  me, 
And  powerful  strength  of  destiny." 

These  transactions  took  place  on  the  sixth  of  November, 
in  the  year  of  the  consulship  of  Arbetio  and  Lollianus. 

18.  A  few  days  afterwards,  Helen,  the  maiden  sister  of 
Constantius,  was  also  given  in  marriage  to  the  Caesar.    And 
everything  being  got  ready  which  the  journey  required, 
he  started  on  the  first  of  December  with  a  small  retinue  ; 


72  AMMIANUS   MARCELLINUS.  TBi.  XV.  CH.  ra. 

and  having  been  escorted  on  his  way  by  Augustus  himself 
as  far  as  the  spot,  marked  by  two  pillars,  which  lies 
between  Laumellum  and  Ticinum,  he  proceeded  straight 
on  to  the  coxmtry  of  the  Taurini,  where  he  received  dis- 
astrous intelligence,  which  had  recently  reached  the  em- 
peror's court,  but  still  had  been  intentionally  kept  back,  lest 
all  the  preparations  made  for  his  journey  should  be  wasted. 

19.  And  this  intelligence  was  that  Colonia  Agrippina,1 
a  city  of  great  renown  in  lower  Germany,  had  been 
carried  by  a  vigorous  siege  of  the  barbarians,  who  appeared 
before  it  in  great  force,  and  had  utterly  destroyed  it. 

^0.  Julian  being  greatly  distressed  at  this  news,  looking 
on  it  as  a  kind  of  omen  of  misfortunes  to  come,  was  often 
heard  to  murmur  in  querulous  tones,  "  that  he  had  gained 
nothing  except  the  fate  of  dying  amid  greater  trouble  and 
employment  than  before." 

21.  But  when  he  arrived  at  Vienne,  people  of  every  age 
and  class  went  forth  to  meet  him  on  his  entrance  to  the 
city,  with  a  view  to  do  him  honour  by  their  reception  of  him 
as  one  who  had  been  long  wished  for,  and  was  now  granted 
to  their  prayers.     And  when  he  was  seen  in  the  distance 
the  whole  population  of  the  city  and  of  the  adjacent  neigh- 
bourhood, going  before  his  chariot,  celebrated  his  praises, 
saluting  him  as  Emperor,  clement  and  prosperous,  greet- 
ing with  eager  joy  this  royal  procession  in  honour  of  a 
lawful  prince.     And   they   placed   all   their  hopes   of  a 
remedy  for  the  evils  which  affected  the  whole  province  on 
his  arrival,  thinking  that  now,  when  their  affairs  were  in 
a  most  desperate  condition,  some  friendly  genius  had  come 
to  shine  upon  them. 

22.  And  a  blind  old  woman,  when  in  reply  to  her  ques- 
tion   "  Who    was  entering  the   city  ?"   she  received   for 
answer   "  Julian  the  Caesar,"   cried  out  that  "  He  would 
restore  the  temples  of  the  gods." 

IX. 

§  1.  Now  then,  since,  as  the  sublime  poet  of  Mantua  has 
sung,  "  A  greater  series  of  incident  rises  to  my  view ;  in  a 
more  arduous  task  I  engage," —  I  think  it  a  proper  oppor- 

1  Cologne. 


*.D.  36S.J  DESCRIPTION   OF   CAUL.  73 

tunity  to  describe  the  situation  and  different  countries  of 
the  Gauls,  lest,  among  the  narration  of  fiery  preparations 
and  the  various  chances  of  battles,  I  should  seem,  while 
speaking  of  matters  not  understood  by  every  one,  to 
resemble  those  negligent  sailors,  who,  when  tossed  aboiU 
by  dangerous  waves  and  storms,  begin  to  repair  their 
sails  and  ropes  which  they  might  have  attended  to  in  calm 
weather. 

2.  Ancient  writers,  pursuing  their  investigations  into 
the  earliest  origin  of  the  Gauls,  left  our  knowledge  of  the 
truth  very  imperfect ;  but  at  a  later  period,  Timagenes, 
a  thorough  Greek  both  in  diligence  and  language,  collected 
from  various  writings  facts  which  had  been  long  unknown, 
and  guided  by  his  faithful  statements,  we,  dispelling  all 
obscurity,  will  now  give  a  plain  and  intelligible  relation 
of  them. 

3.  Some  persons  affirm  that  the  first  inhabitants  ever 
seen  in  these  regions  were  called  Celts,  after  the  name  of 
their  king,  who  was  veiy  popular  among  them,  and  some- 
times also  Galatee,  after  the   name   of  his   mother.     For 
Galatea  is  the  Greek  translation  of  the  Roman  term  Galli. 
Others  affirm  that  they  are  Dorians,  who,  following  a  more 
ancient  Hercules,   selected   for   their  home  the   districts 
bordering  on  the  ocean. 

4.  The  Druids  affirm  that  a  portion  of  the  people  was 
really  indigenous  to  the  soil,  but  that  other  inhabitants 
poured  in  from  the  islands  on  the  coast,  and  from  the  dis- 
tricts across  the  Ehine,  having  been   driven  from   their 
former  abodes  by  frequent  wars,  and  sometimes  by  inroads 
of  the  tempestuous  sea. 

5.  Some   again  maintain  that  after  the  destruction  of 
Troy,  a  few  Trojans  fleeing  from  the  Greeks,  who  were 
then  scattered  over  the  whole  world,  occupied  these  dis- 
tricts, which  at  that  time  had  no  inhabitants  at  all. 

6.  But  the  natives  of  these  countries  affirm  this  more 
positively  than  any  other  fact  (and,  indeed,  we  ourselves 
have  read  it  engraved  on  their  monuments),  that  Hercules, 
the   son  of  Amphitryon,  hastening  to  the  destruction  of 
those  cruel  tyrants,  Geryon  and  Tauriscus,  one  of  whom 
was  oppressing  the  Gauls,  and  the  other  Spain,  after  he 
had  conquered  both  of  them,  took  to  wife  some  women  of 
noble  birth  in  those  countries,  and  became  the  father  of 


74  AMMIANUS  MARCELLINUS.  [BK.  XV.  CH.  x. 

many  children ;  and  that  his  sons  called  the  districts  of 
which  they  became  the  kings  after  their  own  names. 

7.  Also  an  Asiatic  tribe  coming  from  Phocaea  in  order  to 
escape  the  cruelty  of  Harpalus,  the  lieutenant  of  Cyrus  the 
king,  sought  to  sail  to  Italy.1     And  a  part  of  them  founded 
Velia,  in  Lucania,  others  settled  a  colony  at  Marseilles,  in 
the  territory  of  Vienne ;    and  then,  in  subsequent  ages, 
these  towns  increasing  in  strength  and  importance,  founded 
other  cities.     But  we  must  avoid  a  variety  of  details  which 
are  commonly  apt  to  weary. 

8.  Throughout  these  provinces,  the   people   gradually 
becoming  civilized,  the  study  of  liberal  accomplishments 
flourished,  having  been  first  introduced  by  the  Bards,  the 
Eubages,2  and  the  Druids.     The  Bards  were  accustomed  to 
employ  themselves  in  celebrating  the  brave  achievements 
of  their  illustrious  men,  in  epic  verse,  accompanied  with 
sweet  airs  on  the  lyre.      The  Eubages  investigated  the 
system  and  sublime  secrets  of  nature,  and  sought  to  explain 
them  to  their  followers.     Between  these  two  came  the 
Druids,    men    of    loftier  genius,   bound   in   brotherhoods 
according  to  the  precepts  and  example  of  Pythagoras ;  and 
their  minds  were  elevated  by  investigations  into  secret 
and  sublime  matters,  and  from  the  contempt  which  they 
entertained  for  human  affairs  they  pronounced  the  soul 
immortal. 

X. 

§  1.  THIS  country  then  of  the  Gauls  was  by  reason  of  its 
lofty  mountain  ranges  perpetually  covered  with  terrible 
snows,  almost  unknown  to  the  inhabitants  of  the  rest  of 
the  world,  except  where  it  borders  on  the  ocean ;  vast 
fortresses  raised  by  nature,  in  the  place  of  art,  surrounding 
it  on  all  sides. 

2.  On  the  southern  side  it  is  washed  by  the  Etruscan 
and  Gallic  sea :  where  it  looks  towards  the  north  it  is 
separated  from  the  tribes  of  the  barbarians  by  the  river 
Khine ;  where  it  is  placed  under  the  western  star  it  is 
bounded  by  the  ocean,  and  the  lofty  chain  of  the  Pyrenees  ; 

1  This  story  of  the  Phocaeenses  is  told  by  Herodotus,  i.  166,  and 
alluded  to  by  Horace,  Epod.  xv.  10. 

2  The  Eubages,  or  Ouarets,  as  Strabo  calls  them,  appear  to  have 
been  a  tribe  of  priests. 


AJ).  365.]  THE   ALPS.  7o 

where  it  has  an  eastern  aspect  it  is  bounded  by  the  Cottian  J 
Alps.  In  these  mountains  King  Cottius.  after  the  Gauls 
had  been  subdued,  lying  by  himself  in  their  denies,  and 
relying  on  the  rugged  and  pathless  character  of  the  country; 
long  maintained  his  independence  ;  though  afterwards  he 
abated  his  pride,  and  was  admitted  to  the  friendship  of  the 
Emperor  Octavianus.  And  subsequently  he  constructed 
immense  works  to  serve  as  a  splendid  gift  to  the  emperor, 
making  roads  over  them,  short,  and  convenient  for 
travellers,  between  other  ancient  passes  of  the  Alps ;  on 
which  subject  we  will  presently  set  forth  what  discoveries 
have  been  made. 

3.  In  these  Cottian  Alps,  which  begin  at  the  town   of 
Susa,  one  vast  ridge  rises  up,  scarcely  passable  by  any  one 
without  danger. 

4.  For  to  travellers  who  reach  it  from  the  side  of  Gaul 
it    descends    with  a  steepness    almost   precipitous,  being 
terrible  to  behold,  in  consequence  of  the  bulk  of  its  over- 
hanging rocks.     In  the  spring,  when  the  ice  is  melting, 
and  the  snow  beginning  to  give  way  from  the  warm  spring 
breezes,  if  any  one  seeks  to   descend  along  the  mountain, 
men  and  beasts  and  wagons  all  fall  together  through  the 
fissures  and  clefts  in  the  rocks,  which  yawn  in  every  direc- 
tion,  though   previously  hidden   by  the  frost.     And   the 
only  remedy  ever  found  to  ward  off  entire  destruction  is  to 
have  many  vehicles  bound  together  with  enormous  ropes, 
with  men  or  oxen  hanging  on  behind,  to  hold  them  back 
with  great  efforts  ;  and  so  with  a  crouching  step  they  get 
down  with  some  degree  of  safety.     And  this,  as  I  have 
said,  is  what  happens  in  the  spring. 

5.  But  in  winter,  the  ground  being  covered  over  with  a 
smooth  crust  of  ice,  and  therefore  slippery  under  foot,  the 
traveller   is   often   plunged   headlong;    and    the    valleys, 
which  seem  to  open  here  and  there  into  wide  plains,  which 
are    merely   a   covering    of    treacherous    ice,    sometimes 
swallow  up  those  who   try  to   pass  over  them.     On   ac- 
count of    which  danger  those  who  are  acquainted  with 
the  country  fix  projecting  wooden   piles  over  the  safest 
spots,   in  order  that  a  series  of  them  may  conduct  the 

1  The  Cottian  Alps  are  Mont  Genevre.   It  is  unnecessary  to  point  out 
how  Amraianus  mistakes  the  true  bearing  of  these  frontiers  of  Gaul. 


76  AMM1A.NUS   MAKCELUXUS.  [Bit.  XV.  CH.  x. 

traveller  unhurt  to  his  destination ;  though  if  these  piles 
get  covered  with  snow  and  hidden,  or  thrown  down  by 
melting  torrents  descending  from  the  mountains,  then  it  is 
difficult  for  any  one  to  pass,  even  if  natives  of  the  district 
lead  the  way. 

6.  But  on  the  summit  of  this  Italian  mountain  there  is  a 
plain,  seven  miles  in  extent,  reaching  as  far  as  the  station 
known  by  the  name  of  Mars ;  and  after  that  comes  another 
ridge,  still  more  steep,  and  scarcely  possible  to  be  climbed, 
which  stretches  on  to  the  summit  of  Mons  Matrona,  named 
so  from  an  event  which  happened  to  a  noble  lady. 

7.  From  this  point  a  path,   steep   indeed,   but  easily 
passable,  leads  to  the  fortress  of  Virgantia.1     The  sepulchre 
of  this  petty  prince  whom  we  have  spoken  of  as  the  maker 
of  these  roads  is  at  Susa,  close  to  the  walls ;  and  his  re- 
mains are  honoured   with    religious  veneration  for  two 
reasons :  first  of  all,  because  he  governed  his  people  with 
equitable  moderation  ;  and  secondly,  because,  by  becoming 
an  ally  of  the  Eoman  republic,  he  procured  lasting  tran- 
quillity for  his  subjects. 

8.  And  although  this  road  which  I  have  been  speaking 
of  runs  through  the  centre  of  the  district,  and  is  shorter 
and  more  frequented  now  than  any  other,  yet  other  roads 
also  were  made  at  much  earlier  periods,  on  different  occa- 
sions. 

9.  The  first  of  them,  near  the  maritime  alps,  was  made 
by  the  Theban   Hercules,  when  he  was  proceeding  in  a 
leisurely  manner  to  destroy  Geryon  and  Tauriscus,  as  has 
already  been  mentioned ;  and  he  it  was  who  gave  to  these 
alps  the  name  of  the  Grecian  Alps.8     In  the  same  way  he 
consecrated  the  citadel  and  port  of  Monaecus  to  keep  alive 
the  recollection  of  his  name  for  ever.     And  this  was  the 
reason  why,  many  ages  afterwards,  those  alps  were  called 
the  Penine  Alps.8 

10.  Publius  Cornelius   Scipio,  the  father  of  the  elder 
Africanus,  when  about  to  go  to  the  assistance  of  the  citizens 

1  Briancon. 

2  The  Graise  Alps  are  the  Little  St.  Bernard  ;  and  it  was  over  them 
that  Hannibal  really  passed,  as  has  been  conclusively  proved  by  Dr.  J. 
A.  Cramer. 

*  From  the  god  Pen,  or  Peninus,  Liv.  xxi.  38.     The  Alpes  Penina 
are  the  Great  St.  Bernard. 


A.D.  355.]  HANNIBAL'S  PASSAGE  OF  THE  ALPS.  77 

of  Saguntum — celebrated  for  the  distresses  which  they 
endured,  and  for  their  loyalty  to  Home,  at  the  thne  when 
they  were  besieged  with  great  resolution  by  the  Cartha- 
ginians— led  to  the  Spanish  coast  a  fleet  Laving  on  board  a 
numerous  array.  But  after  the  city  had  been  destroyed  by 
the  valour  of  the  Carthaginians,  he,  being  unable  to  over- 
take Hannibal,  who  had  crossed  the  Ehone,  and  had 
obtained  three  days'  start  of  him  in  the  march  towards 
Italy,  crossed  the  sea,  which  at  that  point  was  not  wide, 
making  a  rapid  voyage;  and  taking  hia  station  near  Genoa, 
a  town  of  the  Ligures,  awaited  his  descent  from  the  moun- 
tains, so  that,  if  chance  should  aiford  him  an  oppor- 
tunity, he  might  attack  him  in  the  plain  while  still  fatigued 
with  the  rugged  ness  of  the  way  by  which  he  had  come. 

11.  But  still,  having  regard  to  the  interests  of  the 
republic,  he  ordered  Cnastis  Scipio,  his  brother,  to  go  into 
Spain,  to  prevent  Hasdrubal  from  making  a  similar  expedi- 
tion from  that  country.  But  Hannibal,  having  received 
information  of  their  design  by  some  deserters,  being  also 
a  man  of  great  shrewdness  and  readiness  of  resources, 
obtained  some  guides  from  the  Taurini  who  inhabited  those 
districts,  and  passing  through  the  Tricastini  and  through 
the  district  of  the  Yocontii,  he  thus  reached  the  defiles  of 
the  Tricorii.1  Then  starting  from  this  point,  he  made 
another  march  over  a  line  previously  impassable.  And 
having  cut  through  a  rock  of  immense  height,  which  he 
melted  by  means  of  mighty  fires,  and  pouring  over  it  a 
quantity  of  vinegar,  he  proceeded  along  the  Druentia,  a 
river  full  of  danger  from  its  eddies  and  currents,  until  he 
reached  the  district  of  Etruria.  This  is  enough  to  say  of 
the  Alps ;  now  let  us  return  to  our  original  subject. 

XI. 

§  1.  IN  former  times,  when  these  provinces  were  little 
known,  as  being  barbarous,  they  were  considered  to  be 
divided  into  three  races  :*  namely,  the  Celtee,  the  same 

1  Compare  Livy's  account  of  Hannibal's  march,  from  which,  wholly 
erroneous  as  it  is,  this  description  seems  lo  have  been  taken  ;  not  that 
even  Livy  has  made  such  a  gross  mistake  about  the  Dnientia,  or 
Durance,  which  falls  into  the  Rhone. 

2  Csesar's  account  of  his  expedition  begins  with  the  statement  that 
"  Gaul  is  divided  into  three  provinces." 


78  AMMIANUS  MARCELLiNUS.  [Us.  XV.  CH.  XI. 

who  arc  also  called  Galli ;  the  Aquitani,  and  the  Belgse  : 
all  differing  from  each  other  in  language,  manners,  and 
laws. 

2.  The  Galli,  who,  as  I  have  said,  are  the  same  as  the 
Celtee,  are  divided  from  the  Aquitani  by  the  river  Garonne, 
which  rises  in  the  mountains  of  the  Pyrenees ;  and  after 
passing  through  many  towns,  loses  itself  in  the  ocean. 

3.  On  the  other  side  they  are  separated  from  the  Belgians 
by  the  Maine  and  the  Seine,  both  rivers  of  considerable 
size,  which  flowing  through  the  tribe  of  the  Lugdunenses, 
after   surrounding   the   stronghold   of  the   Parisii   named 
Lutetia,  so  as  to  make  an  island  of  it,  proceed  onwards 
together,  and  fall  into   the   sea  near  the  camp   of  Con- 
stantius. 

4.  Of  all  these  people  the  Belgians  are  said  by  ancient 
writers  to  be  the  most  warlike,  because,  being  more  remote 
from  civilization,  and  not  having  been  rendered  effeminate 
by  foreign  luxuries,  they  have  been  engaged  in  continual 
wars  with  the  Germans  on  the  other  side  of  the  Ehine. 

5.  For  the  Aquitanians,  to  whose  shores,  as  being  nearest 
and  also  pacific,  foreign   merchandise  is  abundantly  im- 
ported, were  easily  brought  under  the  dominion    of  the 
Romans,  because  their  character  had  become  enervated. 

6.  But  from  the  time  when  the  Gauls,  after  long  and 
repeated  wars,  submitted  to  the  dictator  Julius,  all  their 
provinces  were  governed  by  Roman  officers,  the  country 
being  divided  into  four  portions ;  one  of  which  was  the 
province  of  Narbonne ;  containing  the  districts  of  Vienne 
and   Lyons :    a   second   province  comprehended   all   the 
tribes   of  the   Aquitani ans ;    upper   and  lower   Germany 
formed  a  third  jurisdiction,  and  the  Belgians  a  fourth  at 
that  period. 

7.  But  now  the  whole  extent  of  the  country  is  portioned 
out  into  many  provinces.    The  second  (or  lower)  Germany 
is  the  first,  if  you  begin  on  the  western  side,  fortified  by 
Cologne   and  Tongres,  both  cities  of  great  wealth  and 
importance. 

8.  Next  comes  the  first  (or  high)  Germany,  in  which, 
besides   other  municipal   towns,  there   is  Mayence,  and 
Worms,  and  Spiers,  and  Strasburg,  a  city  celebrated  for  the 
defeats  sustained  by  the  barbarians  in  its  neighbourhood. 

9.  After  these  the  first  Belgic  province  stretches  as  far 


AJ).  355.]  PROVINCES   OF    GAUL.  79 

as  Metz  and  Treves,  which  city  is  the  splendid  abode  of 
the  chief  governor  of  the  country. 

10.  Next  to  that   conies  the   second  Belgic  province, 
where  we  find  Amiens,  a  city  of  conspicuous  magnificence, 
and  Chalons,1  and  Eheims. 

11.  In   the  province  of  the  Sequani,  the  finest  cities 
are   Besan§on   and  Basle.     The  first  Lyonnese  province 
contains  Lyons,  Chalons,*  Sens,  Bourges,  and  Autun,  the 
walls  of  which  are  very  extensive  and  of  great  antiquity. 

12.  In   the  second   Lyonnese  province  are  Tours,  and 
Eouen,  Evreux,  and  Troyes.     The  Grecian  and  Penine 
Alps  have,  besides  other  towns  of  less  note,  Avenche,  a 
city  which  indeed  is  now  deserted,  but  which  was  formerly 
one  of  no  small  importance,  as  even  now  is  proved  by  its 
half-ruinous  edifices.     These  are  the  most  important  pro- 
vinces, and  most  splendid  cities  of  the  Galli. 

13.  In  Aquitania,  which   looks  towards  the  Pyrenees, 
and  that  part  of  the  ocean  which  belongs  to  the  Spaniards, 
the  first  province  is  Aquitanica,  very  rich  in  large  and 
populous  cities ;  passing  over  others,  I  may  mention  as 
pre-eminent,  Bordeaux,  Clermont,  Saintes,  and  Poictiers. 

14.  The  province  called  the  Nine  Nations  is  enriched 
by  Ausch  and  Bazas.     In  the  province  of  Narbonne,  the 
cities  of  Narbonne,  Buses,  and  Toulouse  are  the  principal 
places  of  importance.     The  Viennese  exults  in  the  magni- 
ficence of  many  cities,  the  chief  of  which  are  Vienne  itself, 
and  Aries,  and  Valence  ;  to  which  may  be  added  Marseilles, 
by  the  alliance  with  and  power  of  which  we  read  that  Rome 
itself  was  more  than  once  suppoiied  in  monents  of  danger. 

15.  And  near  to  these  cities  is  also  Aix,  Nice,  Antibes, 
and  the  islands  of  Hieres. 

16.  And  since  we  have   come  in  the  progress   of  our 
work  to  this  district,  it  would  be  inconsistent  and  absurd  to 
omit  all   mention  of  the  Rhone,  a  river  of  the  greatest 
celebrity.     The    Rhone   rises   in   ihe   Penine  Alps,  from 
sources  of  great  abundance,  and  descending  with  headlong 
impetuosity  into  the  more  champaign   districts,  it  often 
overruns  its  banks  with  its  own  waters,  and  then  plunges 
into   a   lake   called   Lake   Leman,  and   though  it   passes 
through  it,  yet  it  never  mingles  with  any  foreign  waters, 
but,  rushing  over  the  top  of  those  which  flow  with  less 

1  Chalons  sur  Marne.  2  Chalons  sur  Saone. 


80  AMMIANUS   MARCELLINUS.  [B*.  XV.  CH.  xil. 

rapidity,  in  its  search  for  an  exit,  it  forces  its  own  way  by 
the  violence  of  its  stream. 

17.  And  thus  passing  through  that  lake  without  any 
damage,  it  runs  through  Savoy  and  the  district  of  Francho 
Oomt£ ;  and,  after  a  long  course,  it  forms  the  boundary 
between  the  Viennese  on  its  left,  and  the  Lyonnese  on  its 
right.  Then  after  many  windings  it  receives  the  Sa6ne, 
a  river  which  rises  in  the  first  Germany,  and  this  latter 
river  here  merges  its  name  in  the  Rhone.  At  this  point  is 
the  beginning  of  the  Gauls.  And  from  this  spot  the  dis- 
tances are  measured  not  by  miles  but  by  leagues. 

18  From  this  point  also,  the  Rhone,  being  now  enriched 
by  other  rivers,  becomes  navigable  for  large  vessels,  which 
are  often  tossed  about  in  it  by  gales  of  wind  ;  and  at  last, 
having  finished  the  course  which  nature  has  marked  out 
for  it,  foaming  on  it  joins  the  Gallic  Sea  in  the  wide  gulf 
which  they  call  the  Gulf  of  Lyons,  about  eighteen  miles 
from  Aries.  This  is  enough  to  say  of  the  situation  of  the 
province ;  I  will  now  proceed  to  describe  the  appearance 
and  character  of  the  inhabitants. 

XII. 

§  1 .  NEARLY  all  the  Gauls  are  of  a  lofty  stature,  fair,  and 
of  ruddy  complexion ;  terrible  from  the  sternness  of  their 
eyes,  very  quarrelsome,  and  of  great  pride  and  insolence. 
A  whole  troop  of  foreigners  would  not  be  able  to  with- 
stand a  single  Gaul  if  he  called  his  wife  to  his  assistance, 
who  is  usually  very  strong,  and  with  blue  eyes ;  es- 
pecially when,  swelling  her  neck,  gnashing  her  teeth, 
and  brandishing  her  sallow  arms  of  enormous  size,  she 
begins  to  strike  blows  mingled  with  kicks,  as  if  they  were 
so  many  missiles  sent  from  the  string  of  a  catapult. 

2.  The   voices  of  the  generality  are  formidable   and 
threatening,  whether  they  are  in  good  humour  or  angry : 
they  are  all  exceedingly  careful  of  cleanliness  and  neatness, 
nor  in  all  the  country,  and  most  especially  in  Aquitania, 
could  any  man  or  woman,  however  poor,  be  seen  either 
dirty  or  ragged. 

3.  The  men  of  every  age  are  equally  inclined  to  war, 
and  the  old  man  and  the  man  in  the  prime  of  life  answer 
with   equal   zeal  the   call   to   arms,  their    bodies    being 


AJ).  355.]  MANNERS   OF   GAUL.  81 

hardened  by  their  cold  weather  and  by  constant  exercise 
BO  that  they  are  all  inclined  to  despise  dangers  and  terrors. 
Nor  has  any  one  of  this  nation  ever  mutilated  his  thumb 
from  fear  of  the  toils  of  war,  as  men  have  done  in  Italy, 
whom  in  their  district  are  called  Murci. 

4.  The  nation  is  fond  of  wine,  and  of  several  kinds  of 
liquor  which   resemble  wine.     And  many  individuals  of 
the  lower  orders,  whose  senses  have  become  impaired   by 
continual   intoxication,  which   the    apophthegm   of  Cato 
defined  to  be  a  kind  of  voluntary  madness,  run  about  in 
all  directions  at  random  ;'  so  that  there  appears  to  be  some 
point  in  that  saying  which  is  found  in  Cicero's  oration  in 
defence  of  Fonteius,  "that  henceforth  the  Gauls  will  drink 
their   wine  less  strong  than  formerly,"  because  forsooth 
they  thought  there  was  poison  in  it. 

5.  These  countries,  and  especially  such  parts  of  them 
as   border   on    Italy,   fell  gradually  under   the   dominion 
of  the  Romans  without  much  trouble  to  their  conquerors, 
having  been  first  attacked  by  Fulvius,  afterwards  weakened 
in  many  trifling  combats  by  Sextius,  and  at  last  entirely 
subdued  by  Fabius  Maximus ;  who  gained  an  additional 
surname  from  the  complete  accomplishment  of  this  task, 
after  he  had  brought  into  subjection  the  fierce  tribe  of  the 
Allobroges. 

6.  Caesar  finally  subdued  all  the  Gauls,  except  where 
their  country  was  absolutely  inaccessible  from  its  morasses, 
as  we  learn  from  Sallust,  after  a  war  of  ten  years,  in  which 
both  nations  suffered  many  disasters ;  and  at  last  he  united 
them  to  us  in  eternal  alliance  by  formal  treaties.     I  have 
digressed   further  than   I  had  intended,  but  now  I  will 
return  to  my  original  subject. 


XIII. 

§  1.  AFTEK  Domitianus  had  perished  by  a  cruel  death, 
Musonianus  his  successor  governed  the  East  with  the 
rank  of  praetorian  prefect ;  a  man  celebrated  for  his 
eloquence  and  thorough  knowledge  of  both  the  Greek 
and  Latin  languages ;  from  which  he  reaped  a  loftier  glory 
than  he  expected. 

2.  For  when  Constantino  was  desirous  of  obtaining  a 


82  AMMIANUS  MA.RCELLINUS.  [B*.  XV.  CH.  xni 

more  accurate  knowledge  of  the  different  sects  in  the 
empire,  the  Manicheans  and  other  similar  bodies,  and  no 
one  could  be  found  able  sufficiently  to  explain  them, 
Musonianus  was  chosen  for  the  task,  having  been  recom- 
mended as  competent ;  and  when  he  had  discharged  this 
duty  with  skill,  the  emperor  gave  him  the  name  of  Muso- 
nianus,  for  he  had  been  previously  called  Strategius. 
After  that  he  ran  through  many  degrees  of  rank  and 
honour,  and  soon  reached  the  dignity  of  prefect ;  being  in 
other  matters  also  a  man  of  wisdom,  popular  in  the  pro- 
vinces, and  of  a  mild  and  courteous  disposition.  But  at 
the  same  time,  whenever  he  could  find  an  opportunity, 
especially  in  any  controversies  or  lawsuits  (which  is  most 
shameful  and  wicked),  he  was  greatly  devoted  to  sordid 
gain.  Not  to  mention  many  other  instances,  this  was  es- 
pecially exemplified  in  the  investigations  which  were  made 
into  the  death  of  Theophilus,  the  governor  of  Syria,  a  man 
of  consular  rank,  who  gave  information  against  the  Caesar 
Gallus,  and  who  was  torn  to  pieces  in  a  tumult  of  the 
people ;  for  which  several  poor  men  were  condemned, 
who,  it  was  clearly  proved,  were  at  a  distance  at  the  time 
of  the  transaction,  while  certain  rich  men  who  were  the 
real  authors  of  the  crime  were  spared  from  all  punish- 
ment, except  the  confiscation  of  their  property. 

3.  In  this  he  was  equalled   by  Prosper,   at  that  time 
master  of  the  horse  in  Gaul ;  a  man  of  abject  spirit  and 
great  inactivity ;  and,  as  the  comic  poet  has  it,  despising 
the  acts  of  secret  robbing  he  plundered  openly.1 

4.  And,  while  these   two   officers   were   conniving  to- 
gether, and  reciprocally  helping  each  other  to  many  means 
of  acquiring  riches,  the  chiefs  of  the  Persian  nation  who 
lived  nearest  to  the  river,  profiting  by  the  fact  that  the 
king  was  occupied  in  the  most  distant  parts  of  his  do- 
minions, and  that  these  commanders  were  occupied  in 
plundering  the  people  placed  under  their  authority,  began 
to  harass   our  territories  with  predatory  bands,  making 
audacious  inroads,  sometimes  into  Armenia,  often  also  into 
Mesopotamia. 

1  Ammianus  refers  to  Plautus,  Epidicns,  A  ct.  I.,  sc.  i.,  line  10  :— 
The*prio.    I  am  less  of  a  pilferer  now  than  formerly. 
Ep.    How  so  ? 
The*.    I  rob  openly. 


.  356.]  83 


BOOK  XVI. 

ARGUMENT. 

I.  A  panegyric  of  Julian  the  Caesar. — II.  Julian  attacks  and  defeats 
the  Allemanni. — III.  He  recovers  Cologne,  which  had  been  taken 
by  the  Franks,  and  concludes  a  peace  with  the  king  of  the  Franks. 
— IV.  He  is  besieged  in  the  city  of  Sens  by  the  Allemanni. —  V.  His 
virtues. — VI.  The  prosecution  and  acquittal  of  Arbetio. — VII.  The 
Csesar  Julian  is  defended  before  the  emperor  by  his  chamberlain 
Eutherius  against  the  accusations  of  Marcellus. — VIII.  Calumnies 
are  rife  in  the  camp  of  the  Emperor  Constantius,  and  the  courtiers 
are  rapacious. — IX.  The  question  of  peace  with  the  Persians. — 
X. — The  triumphal  entry  of  Constantius  into  Home. — XI.  Julian 
attacks  the  Allemanni  in  the  islands  of  the  Rhine  in  which  they 
had  taken  refuge,  and  repairs  the  fort  of  Saverne. — XII.  He 
attacks  the  kings  of  the  Allemanni  on  the  borders  of  Gaul,  and 
defeats  them  at  Strasburg. 

I. 
A.D.  356. 

§  1.  While  the  chain  of  destiny  was  bringing  these  events 
to  pass  in  the  Eoman  world,  J  ulian,  being  at  Vienne,  was 
taken  by  the  emperor,  then  in  his  own  eighth  consulship, 
as  a  partner  in  that  dignity ;  and,  under  the  promptings  of 
his  own  innate  energy,  dreamt  of  nothing  but  the  crash  of 
battles  and  the  slaughter  of  the  barbarians ;  preparing 
without  delay  to  re-establish  the  province,  and  to  reunite 
the  fragments  that  had  been  broken  from  it,  if  only  fortune 
should  be  favourable  to  him. 

2.  And  because  the  great  achievements  which  by  his 
valour  and  good  fortune  Julian  performed  in  the  Gauls, 
surpass  many  of  the  most  gallant  exploits  of  the  ancients, 
I  will  relate  them  in  order  as  they  occurred,  employing 
all  the  resources  of  my  talents,  moderate  as  they  are,  in 
the  hope  that  they  may  suffice  for  the  narrative. 

3.  But  what  I  am  about  to  relate,  though  not  embla- 
zoned by  craftily  devised  falsehood,  and  being   simply  a 
plain  statement  of  facts,  supported  by  evident  proofs,  will 
have  all  the  effect  of  a  studied  panegyric. 

4.  For  it  would  seem  that  some  principle  of  a  more  than 
commonly  virtuous  life  guided  this  young  prince  from  his 


84  AMMIANUS  MARCELLINUS.  [BK.  XVI.  CH  n. 

very  cradle  to  his  last  breath.  Increasing  rapidly  in  every 
desirable  quality,  he  soon  became  so  conspicuous  both  at 
home  and  abroad,  that  in  respect  to  his  prudence  he  was 
looked  upon  as  a  second  Titus :  in  his  glorious  deeds  of 
war  he  was  accounted  equal  to  Trajan ;  in  mercy  he  was 
the  prototype  of  Antoninus  ;  and  in  the  pursuit  and  disco- 
very of  true  and  perfect  wisdom,  he  resembled  Marcus 
Aurelius,  in  imitation  of  whom  he  formed  all  his  actions 
and  character. 

5.  And  since,  as  we  are  taught  by  Cicero,  that  the  lofti- 
ness of  great  virtues  delights  us,  as  does  that  of  high  trees, 
while  we  are  not  equally  interested  in  the  roots  and 
trunks;  so,  also,  the  first  beginnings  of  his  admirable  dis- 
position were  kept  concealed  by  many  circumstances  which 
threw  a  cloud  over  them ;  though  in  fact  they  ought  to  be 
preferred  to  many  of  his  most  marvellous  actions  of  later 
life,  in  that  he,  who  in  his  early  youth  had  been  brought 
up  like  Erectheus  in  the  retirement  sacred  to  Minerva, 
nevertheless  when  he  was  drawn  forth  from  the  quiet 
shades  of  the  academy  (and  not  from  any  military  tent) 
into  the  labours  of  war,  subdued  Germany,  tranquillized 
the  districts  of  the  frozen  Ehine,  routed  the  barbarian  kings 
breathing  nothing  but  bloodshed  and  slaughter,  and  forced 
them  to  submission. 

II. 

§  1.  THEREFORE  while  passing  a  toilsome  winter  in  the  city 
aforesaid,  he  learnt,  among  the  numerous  reports  which 
were  flying  about,  that  the  ancient  city  of  Autun,  the  walls 
of  which,  though  of  vast  extent,  were  in  a  state  of  great 
decay  from  age,  was  now  besieged  by  the  barbarians,  who 
had  suddenly  appeared  before  it  in  great  force ;  and  while 
the  garrison  remained  panic-stricken  and  inactive,  the 
;town  was  defended  by  a  body  of  veterans  who  were  be- 
having with  great  courage  and  vigilance ;  as  it  often 
happens  that  extreme  despair  repulses  dangers  which 
appear  destructive  of  all  hope  or  safety. 

2.  Therefore,  without  relaxing  his  anxiety  about  other 
matters,  and  putting  aside  all  the  adulation  of  the  courtiers 
with  which  they  sought  to  divert  his  mind  towards  volup- 
tuousness and  luxury,  he  hastened  his  preparations,  and 
when  everything  was  ready  he  set  out,  and  on  the  24th  of 


AX.  386.]        JULIAN  MARCHES   AGAINST  THE  ALLEMANNI.  85 

June  arrived  at  Auttm ;  behaving  like  a  veteran  general 
conspicuous  alike  for  skill  and  prowess,  and  prepared  to 
fall  upon  the  barbarians,  who  were  straggling  in  every 
direction  over  the  country,  the  moment  fortune  afforded 
him  an  opportunity. 

3.  Therefore  having  deliberated  on  his  plans,  and  con- 
sulted those  who  were  acquainted  with  the  country  as  to 
what  would  be  the  safest  line  of  march  for  him  to  adopt, 
after  having  received  much  information  in  favoTtr  of  dif- 
ferent routes,  some  recommending  Arbois,  others  insisting 
on  it  that  the  best  way  was  by  Saulieu  and  Cure. 

4.  But  as  some  persons  affirmed  that  Silvanus,  in  com- 
mand of  a  body  of  infantry,  had,  a  short  time  before,  made 
his  way  with  8,000  men  by  a  road  shorter  than  either,  but 
dangerous  as  lying  through  many  dark  woods  and  defiles 
suitable  for  ambuscades,  Julian  became  exceedingly  eager 
to  imitate  the  audacity  of  this  brave  man. 

5.  And  to  prevent  any  delay,  taking  with  him  only  his 
cuirassiers  and  archers,  who  would  not  have  been  sufficient 
to  defend  his  person  had  he  been  attacked,  he  took  the 
same  route  as  Silvanus  ;  and  so  came  to  Auxerre. 

6.  And  there,  having,  according  to  his  custom,  devoted 
a  short  time  to  rest,  for  the  purpose  of  refreshing  his  men, 
he  proceeded  onwards  towards  Troyes ;  and  strengthened 
his  flanks  that  he  might  with  the  greater  effect  watch  the 
barbarians,  who  attacked  him  in  numerous  bodies,  which  he 
avoided  as  well  as  he  could,  thinking  them  more  numerous 
than  they  really  were.  Presently,  however,  having  occupied 
some  favourable  ground,  he  descended  upon  one  body  of 
them,  and  routed  it,  and  took  some  prisoners  whom  their 
own  fears  delivered  to  him ;  and  then  he  allowed  the  rest, 
who  now  devoted  all  their  energies  to  flying  with  what 
speed  they  could,  to  escape  unattacked,  as  his  men  could 
not  pursue  them  by  reason  of  the  weight  of  their  armour. 

7.  This  occurrence  gave  him  more  hope  of  being  able 
to  resist  any  attack  which  they  might  make,  and  marching 
forwards  with    this   confidence,    after    many   dangers   he 
reached  Troyes  so  unexpectedly,  that  when  he  arrived  at 
the  gates,  the  inhabitants  for  some  time  hesitated  to  give 
him  entrance  into  the  city,  so  great  was  their  fear  of  the 
straggling  multitudes  of  the  barbarians. 

8.  After  a  little  delay,  devoted  to  again  refreshing  his 
weaiy  troops,  thinkinr-  that  there  was  no  time  to  waste,  he 


86  AMMIANUS  MARCELLINUS.  [Bit.  XVI.  CH.  m. 

proceeded  to  the  city  of  Rheims,  where  he  had  ordered 
his  whole"  army,  carrying*.  ...  to  assemble,  and  there  to 
await  his  presence.  The  army  at  Kheims  was  under  the 
command  of  Marcellus,  the  successor  of  Ursicinus  ;  and 
Ursicinus  himself  was  ordered  to  remain  there  till  the 
termination  of  the  expedition. 

9.  Again  Julian  took  counsel,  and  after  many  opinions 
of  different  purport  had  been  delivered,  it  was  determined 
to  attack  the  host  of  the  Allemanni  in  the  neighbourhood 
of  Dieuse  ;  and  to  that  quarter  the  army  now  marched  in 
dense  order,  and  with  more  than  usual  alacrity. 

10.  And  because  the  weather,  being  damp  and  misty,  pre- 
vented even  what  was  near  from  being  seen,  the  enemy, 
availing  themselves  of  their  knowledge  of  the  country, 
came  by  an  oblique   road  upon  the  Caesar's  rear,    and 
attacked  two  legions  while  they  were  piling  their  arms ; 
and  they  would  almost  have  destroyed  them  if  the  uproar 
which  suddenly  arose  had  not  brought  the  auxiliary  troops 
of  the  allies  to  their  support. 

11.  From  this  time  forth  Julian,  thinking  it  impossible 
to  find   any  roads   or  any   rivers   free   from  ambuscades, 
proceeded  with  consummate  prudence  and  caution ;  qua- 
lities which  above  all  others  in  great  generals  usually  bring 
safety  and  success  to  armies. 

12.  Hearing  therefore  that  Strasburg,  Brumat,  Saverne, 
Spiers,  Worms,  and  Mayence,  were  all  in  the  hands  of  the 
barbarians,  who  were  established  in  their  suburbs,  for  the 
barbarians  shunned  fixing  themselves  in  the  towns  them- 
selves,  looking  upon  them  like  graves  surrounded  with 
nets,  he  first  of  all  entered  Brumat,  and  just  as  he  reached 
that  place  he  was  encountered  by  a  body  of  Germans  pre- 
pared for  battle. 

13.  Having  arranged  his  own  army  in   the  form  of  a 
crescent,   the  engagement    began,   and  the  enemy  were 
speedily    surrounded  and   utterly  defeated.     Some  were 
taken  prisoners,   others   were   slain   in  the    heat   of  the 
battle,  the  rest  sought  safety  by  rapid  flight. 

III. 

§  1.  AFTER  this,  meeting  with  no  resistance,  he  determined 
to  proceed  to  recover  Cologne,  which  had  been  destroyed 

*  The  text  is  defective  here,  as  it  is  wherever  these  marks  occur. 


».D.  356.1  JULIAN'S    C'ERATIONS.  87 

before  his  arrival  in  Gaul.  In  that  district  there  is  no  city 
or  fortress  to  be  seen  except  that  near  Confluentes ;  a 
place  so  named  because  there  the  river  Moselle  becomes 
mingled  with  the  Rhine  there  is  also  the  village  of 
Eheinmagen,  and  likewise  a  single  tower  near  Cologne. 

2.  After  having  taken  possession  of  Cologne  he  did  not 
leave  it  till  the  Frank  kings  began,  through  fear  of  him, 
to  abate  of  their  fury,  when  he  contracted  a  peace  with 
them  likely  to  be  of  future  advantage  to  the  republic.     In 
,the  mean  time  he  put  the  whole  city  into  a  state  of  com- 
plete defence. 

3.  Then,  auguring  well  from  these  first-fruits  of  victory, 
he  departed,  passing  through  the  district  of  Treves,  with 
the  intention  of  wintering  at  Sens,  which  was  a  town  very 
suitable  for  that  purpose.     When  bearing,  so  to  say,  the 
weight  of  a  world  of  wars  upon  his  shoulders,  he  was 
occupied  by  perplexities  of  various  kinds,  and  among  them 
how  to  provide  for  establishing  in  places  most  exposed  tc 
danger  the  soldiers  who  had  quitted  their  former  posts ; 
how  to  defeat  the  enemies  who  had  conspired  together  to 
injure  the  Eoman    cause ;    and   further,  how  to   provide 
supplies  for  the  army  while  employed  in  so  many  different 
quarters. 

IV. 

§  1.  WHILE  he  was  anxiously  revolving  these  things  in  his 
mind,  he  was  attacked  by  a  numerous  force  of  the  enemy, 
who  had  conceived  a  hope  of  being  able  to  take  the  town. 
And  they  were  the  more  confident  of  success  because,  from 
the  information  of  deserters,  they  had  learnt  that  he  neither 
had  with  him  his  Scutarii  nor  his  Gentiles,  both  of  which 
bodies  of  troops  had  been  distributed  among  the  different 
municipal  towns  in  order  that  they  might  be  the  more 
easily  supplied  with  provisions. 

2.  Therefore  after  the  gates  of  the  city  had  been  barri- 
caded, and  the  weakest  portions  of  the  walls  carefully 
strengthened,  Julian  was  seen  night  and  day  on  the 
battlements  and  ramparts,  attended  by  a  band  of  armed 
men,  boiling  over  with  anger  and  gnashing  his  teeth, 
because,  often  as  he  wished  to  sally  forth,  he  was  pre- 

1  Coblenz. 


88  AMMIANUS  MAKCELLINUS.  [BK.  XVI.  CH.  Y. 

vented  from  taking  such  a  step  by  the  scantiness  of  the 
force  which  he  had  with  him. 

3.  At   last,  after  thirty  days,  the    barbarians   retired 
disappointed,   murmuring    that  they   had  been    so   vain 
and  weak  as  to  attempt  the  siege  of   such   a   city.      It 
deserves   however  to  be  remarked,  as    a  most  un worthy 
circumstance,  that  when  Julian  was  in    great   personal 
danger,  Marcellus,  the  master  of  the  horse,  who  was  posted 
in  the  immediate  neighbourhood,  omitted  to  bring  him  any 
assistance,  though  the  danger  of  the  city  itself,  even  if  the 
prince  had  not  been  there,  ought  to  have  excited  his  en- 
deavours to  relieve  it  from  the  peril  of  a  siege  by  so  for- 
midable an  enemy. 

4.  Being   now  delivered  from  this  fear,   Julian,  ever 
prudent  and  active,  directed  his  anxious  thoughts  inces- 
santly  to   the   care   of  providing  that,   after  their  long 
labours,   his  soldiers  should  have  rest,  which,  however 
brief,  might  be  sufficient  to  recruit  their  strength.     In 
addition  to  the  exhaustion  consequent  on  their  toils,  they 
were  distressed  by  the  deficiency  of  crops  on  the  land, 
which  through  the  frequent  devastations  to  which   they 
had  been  exposed  afforded  but  little  suitable  for  human  food. 

5.  But  these  difficulties  he  likewise  surmounted  by  his 
ever  wakeful  diligence,  and   a  more    confident  hope  of 
future  success  opening  itself  to  his  mind,  he  rose  with 
higher  spirits  to  accomplish  his  other  designs. 

V. 

§  1.  IN  the  first  place  (and  this  is  a  most  difficult  task 
for  every  one),  he  imposed  on  himself  a  rigid  temperance, 
and  maintained  it  as  if  he  had  been  living  under  the 
obligation  of  the  sumptuary  laws.  These  were  originally 
brought  to  Rome  from  the  edicts  of  Lycurgus  and  the 
tables  of  laws  compiled  by  Solon,  and  were  for  a  long 
time  strictly  observed.  When  they  had  become  some- 
what obsolete,  they  were  re-established  by  Sylla,  who, 
guided  by  the  apophthegms  of  Democritus,  agreed  with 
him  that  it  is  Fortune  which  spreads  an  ambitious  table, 
but  that  Virtue  is  content  with  a  sparing  one. 

2.  And  likewise  Cato  of  Tusculum,  who  from  his  pure 
and  temperate  way  of  life  obtained  the  surname  of  the 


AJ).  366.]  INDUSTRY    CF   JULIAN.  89 

Censor,  said  with  profound  wisdom  on  the  same  subject, 
"  When  there  is  great  care  about  food,  there  is  very  little 
care  about  virtue." 

3.  Lastly,  though  he  was  continually  reading  the  little 
treatise  which  Constantius,  when  sending  him  as  his  step- 
son to  prosecute  his  studies,  had  written  for  him  with  his 
own  hand,  in  which  he  made  extravagant  provision  for  the 
dinner-expenses  of  the  C«esar,  Julian  now  forbade  phea- 
sants, or  sausages,  or  even  sow's  udder  to  be  served  up  to 
him,  contenting  himself  with  the  cheap  and  ordinary  food 
of  the  common  soldiers. 

4.  Hereupon   arose  his  custom  of  dividing  his   nights 
into  three  portions,  one  of  which  he  allotted  to  rest,  one  to 
the  affairs  of  the  state,  and  one  to  the  study  of  literature ; 
and  we  read  that  Alexander  the  Great  had  been  accus- 
tomed to  do  the  same,  though  he  practised  the  rule  with 
less  self-reliance.     For  Alexander,  having  placed  a  brazen 
shell  on  the   ground  beneath  him,  used  to  hold  a  silver 
ball  in  his  hand,  which  he  kept  stretched  outside  his  bed, 
so  that  when  sleep  pervading  his  whole  body  had  relaxed 
the  rigour  of  his  muscles,  the  rattling  of  the  ball  falling 
might  banish  slumber  from  his  eyes. 

5.  But  Julian,  without  any  instrument,  awoke  whenever 
he  pleased ;  and  always  rising  when  the  night  was  but  half 
spent,  and  that  not  from  a  bed  of  feathers,  or  silken  cover- 
lets  shining  with  varied   brilliancy,    but  from   a   rough 
blanket  or  rug,  would  secretly  offer  his  supplications  to 
Mercury,  who,  as  the  theological  lessons  which  he  had  re- 
ceived had  taught  him,  was  the  swift  intelligence  of  the 
world,  exciting  the  different  emotions  of  the  mind.     And 
thus  removed  from  all  external  circumstances  calculated  to 
distract  his  attention,  he  gave  his  whole  attention  to  the 
affairs  of  the  republic. 

6.  Then,  after  having  ended  this  arduous  and  important 
business,  he  turned  and  applied  himself  to  the  cultivation 
of  his  intellect.     And  it  was  marvellous  with  what  exces- 
sive ardour  he  investigated  and  attained  to  the  sublime 
knowledge  of  the  loftiest  matters,  and  how,  seeking  as  it 
were  some  food  for  his  mind  which  might  give  it  strength 
to   climb    up   to   the   sublimest  truths,    he    ran   through 
every  branch  of  philosophy  in  profound  and  subtle  discus- 
sions. 


90  AMMIANUS  MARCELLINUS.  [BK.  XVX  Cii.  v. 

7.  Nevertheless,  while  engaged  in  amassing  knowledge 
of  this  kind  in  all  its  fullness  and   power,  he  did  not 
despise  the  humbler  accomplishments.     He  was  tolerably 
fond  of  poetry  and  rhetoric,  as  is  shown  by  the   invari- 
able and  pure  elegance,  mingled  with  dignity,  of  all  his 
speeches  and  letters.     And  he  likewise  studied  the  varied 
history  of  our  own  state  and  of  foreign  countries.     To  all 
these  accomplishments  was  added  a  very  tolerable  degree 
of  eloquence  in  the  Latin  language. 

8.  Therefore,  if  it  be  true,  as  many  writers  affirm,  that 
Cyrus  the  king,  and  8'tnonides  the  lyric  poet,  and  Hippias 
of  Elis,  the  most  acuu,  of  the  Sophists,  excelled  as  they  did 
in  memory  because  they  had  obtained  that  faculty  through 
drinking  a  particular  medicine,  we  must  also  believe  that 
Julian  in  his  early  manhood  had  drunk  the  whole  cask 
of  memory,  if  such  a  thing  could  ever  be  found.   And  these 
are  the  nocturnal  signs  of  his  chastity  and  virtue. 

9.  But  as  for  the  manner  in  which  he  passed  his  days, 
whether  in  conversing  with  eloquence   and   wit,   or   in 
making  preparations  for  war,  or  in  actual  conflict  of  battle, 
or  in  his  administration  of  affairs  of  the   state,  correct- 
ing  all  defects   with  magnanimity  and   liberality,   these 
things  shall  all  be  set  forth  in  their  proper  place. 

10.  When  he  was  compelled,  as  being  a  prince,  to  apply 
himself  to  the  study  of  military  discipline,  having  been 
previously  confined  to  lessons  of  philosophy,  and  when  he 
was  learning  the  art  of  marching  in  time  while  the  pipes 
were  playing  the  Pyrrhic  air,  he  often,  calling  upon  the 
name  of  Plato,  ironically  quoted  that  old  proverb,  "  A  pack- 
saddle  is  placed  on  an  ox ;  this  is  clearly  a  burden  which 
does  not  belong  to  me." 

11.  On  one  occasion,  when  some  secretaries  were  intro- 
duced into  the  council-chamber,  with  solemn  ceremony,  to 
receive  some  gold,  one  of  their  company  did  not,  as  is  the 
usual  custom,  open  his  robe  to  receive  it,  but  took  it  in  the 
hollow  of  both  his  hands  joined  together  ;  on  which  Julian 
said,  secretaries  only  know  how  to  seize  things,  not  how  to 
accept  them. 

12.  Having  been  approached  by  the  parents  of  a  virgin 
who  had  been  ravished,  seeking  for  justice,  he  gave  sen- 
tence that  the  ravisher,  on  conviction,  should  be  banished ; 
and  when  the  parents  complained  of  this  sentence  as  un- 


A.D.356.]  JULIAN'S  MODERATION.  91 

equal  to  the  crime,  because  the  criminal  had  not  been 
condemned  to  death,  he  replied,  "  Let  the  laws  blame  my 
clemency ;  but  it  is  fitting  that  an  emperor  of  a  most 
merciful  disposition  should  be  superior  to  all  other  laws." 

13.  Once  when  he  was  about  to  set  forth  on  an  expedi- 
tion, he  was  interrupted  by  several  people  complaining  of 
injuries  which  they  had  received,  whom  he  referred  for 
a  hearing  to  the  governors  of  their  respective  provinces. 
And  after  he  had  returned,  he  inquired  what  had  been 
done  in  each  case,  and  with  genuine  clemency  mitigated 
the  punishments  which  had  been  assigned  to  the  offences. 

14.  Last  of  all,  without  here  making  any  mention  of  the 
victories  in  which  he  repeatedly  defeated  the  barbarians, 
and  the  vigilance  with  which  he  protected  his  army  from 
all  harm,  the  benefits  which  he  conferred  on  the  Galli,  pre- 
viously exhausted  by  extreme  want,  are  most  especially 
evident   from   this  fact,    that  when   he  first   entered  the 
country  he  found  that  four-and-twenty  pieces  of  gold  were 
exacted,  under  the  name  of  tribute,  in  the  way  of  poll-tax, 
from  each  individual.     But  when  he  quitted  the  country 
seven  pieces  only  were  required,  which  made  up  all  the 
payments  due  from  them  to  the  state.     On  which  account 
they  rejoiced  with  festivals  and  dances,  looking  upon  him 
as  a  serene  sun  which  had  shone  upon  them  after  melan- 
choly darkness. 

15.  Moreover  we  know  that  up  to  the  very  end  of  his 
reign  and  of  his  life,  he  carefully  and  with  great  benefit 
observed  this  rule,  not  to  remit  the  arrears  of  tribute  by 
edicts  which  they  call  indulgences.     For  he  knew  that  by 
such  conduct  he  should  be  giving  something  to  the  rich, 
whilst  it  is  notorious  everywhere  that,  the  moment  that 
taxes  are  imposed,  the  poor  are  compelled  to  pay  them  all 
at  once  without  any  relief. 

16.  But  while  he  was  thus  regulating  and  governing  the 
country  in  a  manner  deserving  the  imitation  of  all  virtuous 
princes,  the  rage  of  the  barbarians  again  broke  out  more 
violently  than  ever. 

17.  And  as  wild  beasts,  which,  owing  to  the  carelessness 
of  the  shepherds,  have  been  wont  to  plunder  their  flocks, 
even  when  these  careless  keepers  are  exchanged  for  more 
watchful  ones,  still  cling  to  their  habit,  and  being  furious 
with  hunger,  will,  without  any  regard  for  their  own  safety, 


92  AMMIANUS  MARCELL1NUS.  [BK.XVLCH.vn 

again  attack  the  flocks  and  herds ;  so  also  the  barbarians, 
having  consumed  all  their  plunder,  continued,  under  the 
pressure  of  hunger,  repeatedly  to  make  inroads  for  the 
sake  of  booty,  though  sometimes  they  died  of  want  before 
they  could  obtain  any. 

VI. 

§  1.  These  were  the  events  which  took  place  in  Gaul 
during  this  year ;  at  first  of  doubtful  issue,  but  in  the  end 
successful.  Meanwhile  in  the  emperor's  court  envy  con- 
stantly assailed  Arbetio,  accusing  him  of  having  already 
assumed  the  ensigns  of  imperial  rank,  as  if  designing  soon 
to  attain  the  supreme  dignity  itself.  And  especially  was 
he  attacked  by  a  count  named  Verissimus,  who  with  great 
vehemence  brought  forth  terrible  charges  against  him, 
openly  alleging  that  although  he  had  been  raised  from 
the  rank  of  a  common  soldier  to  high  military  office,  he 
•was  not  contented,  thinking  little  of  what  he  had  obtained, 
and  aiming  at  the  highest  place. 

2.  And  he  was  also  vigorously  attacked  by  a  man  named 
Dorus,  who  had  formerly  been  surgeon  of  the  Scutarii,  and 
of  whom  we  have  spoken,  when  promoted  in  the  time  of 
Magnentius  to  be  inspector  of  the  works  of  art  at  Eome,  as 
having  brought  accusations  against  Adelphius,  the  prefect 
of  the  city,  as  forming  ambitious  designs. 

3.  And  when  the  matter  was  brought  forward  for  judi- 
cial inquiry,  and  all  preliminary  arrangements  were  made, 
proof  of  the  accusations  which  had  been  confidently  looked 
for  was  still  delayed ;  when  suddenly,  as  if  the  business 
had  been  meant  as  a  satire  on  the  administration  of  justice, 
through  the  interposition  of  the  chamberlains,  as  rumour 
affirmed,  the  persons  who  had  been  imprisoned  as  accom- 
plices were  released  from  their  confinement :  Dorus  disap- 
peared, and  Verissimus  kept  silence  for  the  future,  as  if  the 
curtain  had  dropped  and  the  scene  had  been  suddenly 
changed. 

VII. 

§  1.  ABOUT  the  same  time,  Constantius  having  learnt,  from 
common  report,  that  Marcellus  had  omitted  to  carry  assist- 
ance to  the  Caesar  when  he  was  besieged  at  Sens,  cashiered 
him,  and  ordered  him  to  retire  to  his  own  house.  And  he, 


A.D.  356.J  MARCELLUS   PLOTS   AGAINST   JULIAW.  93 

as  if  he  had  received  a  great  injury,  hegan  to  plot  against 
Julian,  relying  upon  the  disposition  of  the  emperor  to  open 
his  ears  to  every  accusation. 

2.  Therefore,  when  he   departed,  Eutherius,  the  chief 
chamberlain,  was  immediately  sent  after  him,  that  he  might 
convict  him  before  the  emperor  if  he  propagated  any  false- 
hoods.    But  Marcellus,  unaware   of  this,   as  soon   as   he 
arrived  at  Milan,  began  talking   loudly,  and   seeking   to 
create  alarm,  like  a  vain  chatterer  half  mad  as  he  was. 
And  when  he  was  admitted  into  the  council-chamber,  he 
began  to  accuse  Julian  of  being  insolent,  and  of  preparing 
for  himself  stronger  wings  in  order  to  soar  to  a  greater 
height.    For  this  was  his  expression,  agitating  his  body 
violently  as  he  uttered  it. 

3.  While  he  was  thus  uttering  his  imaginary  charges  with 
great  freedom,  Eutherius  being,  at  his  own  request,  intro- 
duced into  the  presence,  and  being  commanded  to  say  what 
he  wished,  speaking  with  great  respect  and  moderation 
showed  the  emperor  that  the  truth  was  being  overlaid  with 
falsehood.     For  that,  while  the  commander  of  the  heavy- 
armed  troops  had,  as  it  was  believed,  held  back  on  purpose, 
the  Caesar  having  been  long  besieged  at  Sens,  had  by  his 
vigilance  and   energy   repelled  the   barbarians.     And  he 
pledged  his  own  life  that  the  Caesar  would,  as  long  as  he 
lived,  be  faithful  to  the  author  of  his  greatness. 

4.  The  opportunity  reminds  me  here  to  mention  a  few 
facts  concerning  this  same  Eutherius,  which  perhaps  will 
hardly  be  believed ;  because  if  Numa  Pompilius  or  Socrates 
were  to  say  anything  good  of  a  eunuch,  and  were  to  con- 
firm what  they  said  by  an  oath,  they  would  be  accused  of 
having  departed  from  the  truth.   But  roses  grow  up  among 
thorns,  and  among  wild  beasts  some  are  of  gentle  disposi- 
tion.    And  therefore  I  will  briefly  mention  a  few  of  his 
most  important  acts  which  are  well  ascertained. 

5.  He  was  born  in  Armenia,  of  a  respectable  family,  and 
having  while  a  very  little  child  been  taken  prisoner  by  the 
enemies  on  the  border,  he  was  castrated  and  sold  to  some 
Eoman  merchants,  and  by  them  conducted  to  the  palace  of 
Constantine,  where,  while  growing  up   to  manhood,   he 
began  to  display  good  principles  and  good  talents,  becom- 
ing accomplished  in  literature  to  a  degree  quite  sufficient 
for  his  fortune,  displaying  extraordinary  acuteness  in  dis- 


94  AMM1AXUS   MARCELLIXCS.  [BK.  XVI.  CH.  Vtt 

covering  matters  of  a  doubtful  and  difficiilt  complexion ; 
being  remarkable  also  for  a  marvellous  memory,  always 
eager  to  do  good,  and  full  of  wise  and  honest  counsel.  A 
man,  in  short,  who,  if  the  Emperor  Constantius  had  listened 
to  his  advice,  which,  whether  he  gave  it  in  youth  or  man- 
hood, was  always  honourable  and  upright,  would  have 
been  prevented  from  committing  any  errors,  or  at  least  any 
that  were  not  pardonable. 

6.  When  he  became  high  chamberlain  he  sometimes 
also  found  fault  even  with  Julian,  who,  as  being  tainted 
with  Asiatic  manners,  was  apt  to  be  capricious.     Finally, 
when  lie  quitted  office  for  private  life,  and  again  when  he 
was  recalled  to  court,  he  was  always  sober  and  consistent, 
cultivating  those  excellent  virtues  of  good  faith  and  con- 
stancy to  such  a  degree  that  he  never  betrayed  any  secret, 
except  for  the  purpose  of  securing  another's  safety ;  nor 
was  he  ever  accused  of  covetous  or  grasping  conduct,  as 
the  other  courtiers  were. 

7.  From  which  it  arose  that,  when  at  a  late  period  he 
retired  to  Koine,  and  fixed  there  the  abode  of  his  old  age, 
bearing  with  him  the  company  of  a  good  conscience,  he 
was  loved  and  respected  by  men  of  all  ranks,  though  men 
of  that   class  generally,   after  having  amassed  riches  by 
iniquity,  love  to  seek  secret  places  of  retirement,  just  as 
owls  or  moths,  and  avoid  the  sight  of  the  multitude  whom 
they  have  injured. 

8.  Though  I  have  often  ransacked  the  accounts  of  anti- 
quity, I  do  not  find  any  ancient  eunuch  to  whom  I  can 
compare  him.     There   were  indeed  among  the  ancients 
some,  though  very  few,  faithful  and  economical,  but  still 
they  were  stained  by  some  vice  or  other ;  and  among  the 
chief  faults  which  they  had  either  by  nature  or  habit,  they 
were  apt  to  be  either  rapacious  or  else  boorish,  and  on  that 
account  contemptible  ;  or  else  ill-natured  and  mischievous ; 
or  fawning  too  much  on  the  powerful ;  or  too  elated  with 
power,  and  therefore  arrogant.     But  of  any  one  so  univer- 
sally accomplished  and  prudent,  I  confess  I  have  neither 
ever  read  nor  heard,  relying  for  the  truth  of  this  judgment 
on  the  general  testimony  of  the  age. 

9.  But  if  any  careful  reader  of  ancient  histories  should 
oppose  to  us  Menophilus,  the  eunuch  of  King  Mithridates, 
I  would  warn  him  to  recollect  that  nothing  is  really  known 


A.U.  356.]  ACCUSATIONS  OF  SORCERY.  95 

of  him  except  this  single  fact,  that  he  behaved  gloriously 
in  a  moment  of  extreme  danger. 

10.  AVhen  the  king  above  mentioned,  having  been 
defeated  by  the  Romans  under  the  command  of  Pompey, 
and  fleeing  to  his  kingdom  of  Colchis,  left  a  grown-up 
daughter,  named  Drypetina,  who  at  the  time  was  danger- 
ously ill,  in  the  castle  of  Synhorium,  under  the  care  of  this 
Menophilus,  he  completely  cured  the  maiden  by  a  variety 
of  remedies,  and  preserved  her  in  safety  for  her  father ;  and 
when  the  fortress  in  which  they  were  enclosed  began  to  be 
besieged  by  Manlius  Priscus,  the  lieutenant  of  the  general, 
and  when  he  became  aware  that  the  garrison  were  pro- 
posing to  surrender,  he,  fearing  that,  to  the  dishonour  of 
her  father,  this  noble  damsel  might  be  made  a  prisoner  and 
be  ravished,  slew  her,  and  then  fell  upon  his  sword  himself. 
Now  I  will  return  to  the  point  from  which  I  digressed. 

VIII. 

§  1.  AFTER  Marcellus  had  been  foiled,  as  I  have  men- 
tioned, and  had  returned  to  Serdica,  which  was  his  native 
place,  many  great  crimes  were  perpetrated  in  the  camp  of 
Augustus,  under  pretence  of  upholding  the  majesty  of  the 
emperor. 

2.  For  if  any  one  had  consulted  any  cunning  soothsayer 
about  the  squeak  of  a  mouse,  or  the  appearance  of  a  weasel, 
or  any  other  similar  portent,  or  had  used  any  old  woman's 
chants  to  assuage  any  pain — a  practice  which  the  autho- 
rity of  medicine  does  not  always  prohibit — such  a  man  was 
at  once  informed  against,  without  being  able  to  conceive 
by  whom,  and  was  brought  before  a  court  of  law,  and  at 
once  condemned  to  death. 

3.  About  the  same  time  an  individual  named  Damej 
was  accused  by  his  wife  of  certain  trifling  acts,  of  which, 
whether  he  was  innocent  or  not  is  uncertain  ;  but  Eufinus 
was  his  enemy,  who,  as  we  have  mentioned,  had  given  in- 
formation of  some  matters  which  had  been  communicated 
to  him  by  Gaudentius,  the  emperor's  secretary,  causing 
Africanus,  then  governing  Pannonia  with  the  rank  of  a 
consul,  to  be  put  to   death,  with  all   his  friends.     This 
Eufinus  was  now,  for  his  devotion  to  the  interests  of  the 
emperor,  the  chief  commander  of  the  praetorian  guard. 


90  AMMIANUS    MAKCELLIXUS.  [Bs.  XVI.  CH  vm 

4.  He,   being  given  to  talking  in  a  boastful   manner, 
after  having  seduced  that  easily  deluded  woman  (the  wife 
of  Dames)  into  an  illicit  connection  with  him,  allured  her 
into  a  perilous  fraud,  and  persuaded  her  by  an  accumu- 
lation of  lies  to  accuse  her  innocent  husband  of  treason, 
and  to  invent  a  story  that  he  had  stolen  a  purple  garment 
from  the   sepulchre  of  Diocletian,   and,   by  the   help  of 
some  accomplices,  still  kept  it  concealed. 

5.  When  this  story  had  been  thus  devised  in  a  way  to 
cause  the  destruction  of  many  persons,   Eufinus  himself, 
full  of  hopes  of  some  advantage,  hastened  to  the  camp  of 
the  emperor,   to  spread  his  customary  calumnies.      And 
when  the  transaction  had  been  divulged,  Manlius,  at  that 
time  the  commander  of  the  praitorian  camp,  a  man  of  ad- 
mirable integrity,  received  orders  to  make  a  strict  inquiry 
into  the  charge,  having  united  to  him,  as  a  colleague  in  the 
examination,  Ursulus,  the  chief  paymaster,  a  man  likewise 
of  praiseworthy  equity  and  strictness. 

0.  There,  after  the  matter  had  been  rigorously  inves- 
tigated according  to  the  fashion  of  that  period,  and  when, 
after  many  persons  had  been  put  to  the  torture,  nothing 
was  found  out,  and  the  judges  were  in  doubt  and  per- 
plexity ;  at  length  truth,  long  suppressed,  found  a  respite, 
and,  under  the  compulsion  of  a  rigorous  examination, 
the  woman  confessed  that  Kufinus  was  the  author  of 
the  whole  plot,  nor  did  she  even  conceal  the  fact  of  her 
adultery  with  him.  Eeference  was  immediately  made  to 
the  law,  and  as  order  and  justice  required,  the  judges  con- 
demned them  both  to  death. 

7.  But  as  soon  as  this  was  known,  Constantius  became 
greatly  enraged,  and  lamenting  Eufinus  as  if  the  champion 
of  his   safety  had  been  destroyed,  he  sent  couriers   on 
horseback   express,  with  threatening   orders   to  Ursulus, 
commanding  him  to  return  to  court.     Ursulus,  disregard- 
ing the  remonstrances  of  those  who  advised  him  to  dis- 
obey, hastened  fearlessly   to   the  presence;   and  having 
entered  the  emperor's  council-chambers,  with  undaunted 
heart  and  voice  related  the  whole  transaction ;  and  this 
confident  behaviour  of  his  shut  the  mouths  of  the  flatterers, 
and  delivered  both  the  prefect  and  himself  from  serious 
danger. 

8.  It  was  at  this  time  also  that  an  event  took  place  in  Aqui- 


AJX  356."  INFLUENCE   OF    INFORMERS.  97 

tania  which  was  more  extensively  talked  about.  A  certain 
cunning  person  being  invited  to  a  splendid  and  sumptuous 
banquet,  which  are  frequent  in  that  province,  having  seen 
»  pair  of  coverlets,  with  two  purple  borders  of  such  width, 
that  Vy  the  skill  of  those  who  waited  they  seemed  to  be 
but  one ;  and  beholding  the  table  also  covered  with  a 
similar  cloth,  he  took  up  one  in  each  hand,  and  arranged 
them  so  as  to  resemble  the  front  of  a  cloak,  representing  them 
as  having  formed  the  ornament  of  the  imperial  robe  ;  and 
then  searching  over  the  whole  house  in  order  to  find  the 
robe  which  he  affirmed  must  be  hidden  there,  he  thus 
caused  the  ruin  of  a  wealthy  estate. 

9.  With  similar  malignity,  a  certain  secretary  in  Spain, 
who  was  likewise  invited  to  a  supper,  hearing  the  servants, 
while  bringing  in  the  evening  candles,  cry  "  let  us  con- 
quer," affixing  a  malignant  interpretation  to  that  common 
exclamation,  in  like  manner  ruined  a  noble  family. 

10.  These  and  other  evils  increasing  more  and  more, 
because  Constantius,  being  a  man  of  a  very  timorous  dis- 
position, was  always  thinking  that  blows  were  being  aimed 
at  him,  like  the  celebrated  tyrant  of  Sicily,  Dionysius, 
who,  because  of  this  vice  of  his,  taught  his  daughters  to 
shave  him,  in  order  that  he  might  not  have  to  put  his  face 
in  a  stranger's  power ;  and  surrounded  the  small  chamber 
in  which  he  was  accustomed  to  sleep  with  a  deep  ditch, 
so  placed  that  it  could  only  be  entered  by  a  drawbridge  ; 
the  loose  beams  and  axles  of  which  when  he  went  to  bed 
he  removed  into  his  own  chamber,  replacing  them  when 
about  to  go  forth  at  daybreak. 

11.  Moreover,  those  who  had  influence  in  the  court  pro- 
moted the  spread  of  these  evils,  with  the  hope  of  joining 
to  their  own  estates  the  forfeited  possessions  of  those  who 
should  be  condemned  ;  and  thus  becoming  rich  by  the  ruin 
of  their  neighbours. 

12.  For,  as  clear  evidence  has  shown,  if  Constantino 
was  the  first  to  excite  the  appetites  of  his  followers,  Con- 
stantius was  the  prince  who  fattened  them  on  the  marrow 
of  the  provinces. 

13.  For  under  him  the  principal  persons  of  every  rank 
burnt   with   an  insatiable  desire   of  riches,  without   any 
regard  for  justice   or   right.      And  among  the   ordinary 
judges,  Kufinus,  the  chief  prefect  of  the  praetorium,  was 

H 


98  AMMIANUS  MARCELLINUS.  [BK.  XYI.  CH.  tt. 

conspicuous  for  this  avarice.  And  among  the  military 
officers  Arbetio,  the  master  of  the  horse,  and  Eusebius, 
the  high  chamberlain,  .  .  .  Ard  .  .  .  anus,  the 
quaestor,  and  in  the  city,  the  two  Anicii,  whose  posterity, 
treading  in  the  steps  of  their  fathers,  could  not  be  satisfied 
even  with  possessions  much  larger  than  they  themselves 
had  enjoyed. 

IX. 

§  1.  BUT  in  the  East,  tlie  Persians  now  practising  pre- 
datory inroads  and  forays,  in  preference  to  engaging  in 
pitched  battles,  as  they  had  been  wont  to  do  before,  carried 
off  continually  great  numbers  of  men  and  cattle  :  some- 
times making  great  booty,  owing  to  the  unexpectedness  of 
their  incursions,  but  at  other  times  being  overpowered  by 
superior  numbers,  they  suffered  losses.  Sometimes,  also, 
the  inhabitants  of  the  districts  which  they  had  invaded  had 
removed  everything  which  could  be  carried  off. 

2.  But  Musonianus,  the  prefect  of  the  praetorium,  a  man, 
as  we  have  already  said,  of  many  liberal  accomplishments 
but  corrupt,  and  a  person  easily  turned  from  the  truth  by 
a  bribe,  acquired,  by  means  of  some  emissaries  who  were 
skilful  in  deceiving  and  obtaining  information,  a  know- 
ledge of  the  plans  of  the  Persians  ;  taking  to  his  counsels 
on  this  subject  Cassianus,  duke  of  Mesopotamia,  a  veteran 
who  had  served  many  campaigns,  and  had  become  hard- 
ened by  all  kinds  of  dangers. 

3.  And  when,  by  the  concurrent  report  of  spies,  these 
officers  had  become  certain  that  Sapor  was  occupied  in  the 
most  remote  frontier  of  his  kingdom  in  repelling  the  hos- 
tilities of  the  bordering  tribes,  which  he  could  not  accom- 
plish without  great  difficulty  and  bloodshed,  they  sought 
to  tamper  with  Tamsapor,  the  general  in  command  in  the 
district  nearest  our  border.     Accordingly  they  sent  soldiers 
of  no  renown  to  confer  with  him  secretly,  to  engage  him,  if 
opportunity  served,  to  write  to  the  king  to  persuade  him  to 
make  peace  with  the  Roman  emperor ;  whereby  he,  being 
then  secure  on  every  side,  might  be  the  better  able  to 
subdue  the  rebels  who  were  never  weary  of  exciting  dis- 
turbances. 

4.  Tamsapor   coincided  with  these  wishes,    and,  trust- 
ing  to   them,    reported   to   the    king   that    Constantius, 


AJ>.  356.]  WEAKNESS   OF  CONSTANT1U3.  99 

being  involved  in  very  formidable  wars,  was  a  suppliant 
for  peace.  But  it  took  a  long  time  for  these  letters  to 
reach  the  country  of  the  Chionites  and  the  Euseni,  on 
whose  borders  Sapor  had  taken  up  his  winter  quarters. 

X. 

§  1.  WHILE  matters  were  thus  proceeding  in  the  eastern 
regions  and  in  the  Gauls,  Constantius,  as  if  the  temple  of 
Janus  were  now  shut  and  hostilities  everywhere  at  an  end, 
became  desirous  of  visiting  Eome,  with  the  intention  of 
celebrating  his  triumph  over  Magnentius,  to  which  he 
could  give  no  name,  since  the  blood  that  he  had  spilt  was 
that  of  Eoman  foes. 

2.  For  indeed,  neither  by  his   own  exertions,  nor  by 
those  of  his  generals  did  he  ever  conquer  any  nation  that 
made  war  upon  him ;  nor  did  he  make  any  additions  to 
the  empire  ;  nor  at  critical  moments  was  he  ever  seen  to 
be  the  foremost  or  even  among  the  foremost ;  but  still  he 
was  eager  to  exhibit  to  the  people,  now  in  the  enjoyment 
of  peace,  a  vast  procession,  and  standards  heavy  with  gold, 
and  a  splendid  train  of  guards  and  followers,  though  the 
citizens  themselves  neither  expected  nor  desired  any  such 
spectacle. 

3.  He  was  ignorant,  probably,  that  some  of  the  ancient 
emperors  were,  in  time  of  peace,  contented  with   their 
lictors,  and  that  when  the  ardour  of  war  forbade  all  in- 
activity, one,1  in  a  violent  storm,  had  trusted  himself  to  a 
fisherman's  boat ;  another,*  following  the  example  of  the 
Decii,  had  sacrificed  his  life  for  the  safety  of  the  republic  ; 
another 3  had  by  himself,   accompanied  by  only  a  few 
soldiers  of  the  lowest  rank,  gone  as  a  spy  into  the  camp  of 
the  enemy :   in  short,  that  many  of  them  had  rendered 
themselves   illustrious  by  splendid  exploits,  in   order  to 
hand  down  to  posterity  a  glorious  memory  of  themselves, 
earned  by  their  achievements. 

1  Julius  Caesar:   the  story  of  the  frightened  fisherman  being  en- 
couraged by  the  assurance  that  he  was  carrying  "  Csesar  and  his  for- 
tunes "  is  universally  known. 

2  Claudius,  who  devoted  himself  in  the  Gothic  war. 

3  Galerius  Maximianus,  who  reconnoitred  in  person  the  cainp  of  the 
kinpr  of  Persia. 


100  AMMIANUS   MARCELLINUS.  [Rt  XVI.  Gf.  X. 

4.  Accordingly,  after  long  and  sumptuous  preparation, 
.     .     .     in  the  second  prefecture  of  Orfitus,  Constantius, 
elated  with  his  great  honours,  and  escorted  by  a  formidable 
array  of  troops,  marching  in  order  of  battle,  passed  through 
Ocricoli,  attracting  towards  himself  the    astonished  gaze 
of  all  the  citizens. 

5.  And  when  he  drew  near  to  the  city,  contemplating 
the  salutations  offered  him  by  the  senators,  and  the  whole 
body  of  fathers  venerable  from  their  likeness  to  their 
ancestors,  he  thought,  not  like  Cineas,  the  ambassador  of 
Pyrrhus,  that  a  multitude  of  kings  was  here  assembled 
together,  but  that  the  city  was  the  asylum  of  the  whole 
world. 

6.  And  when  from  them  he  had  turned  his  eyes  upon 
the  citizens,  he  marvelled  to  think  with  what  rapidity  the 
whole   race  of  mankind   upon   earth   had  come  from  all 
quarters  to  Eome ;  and,  as  if  he  would  have  terrified  the 
Euphrates  or  the  Ehine  with  a  show  of  armed  men,  he 
himself  came  on,  preceded  by  standards  on  both  sides,  sit 
ting  alone  in  a  golden  chariot,  shining  with  all  kinds  of 
brilliant  precious  stones,  which  seemed  to  spread  a  flicker- 
ing light  all  around. 

7.  Numbers  also  of  the  chief  officers  who  went  before 
him  were  surrounded  by  dragons  embroidered  on  various 
kinds  of  tissue,  fastened  to  the  golden  or  jewelled  points  of 
spears,  the  mouths  of  the  dragons  being  open   so  as  to 
catch  the  wind,  which  made  them  hiss  as  though  they 
were  inflamed  with  anger ;  while  the  coils  of  their  tails 
were  also  contrived  to  be  agitated  by  the  breeze. 

8.  After  these  marched  a  double  row  of  heavy-armed 
soldiers,  with  shields  and  crested  helmets,  glittering  with 
brilliant   light,  and   clad   in   radiant    breast-plates ;    and 
among  these  were  scattered  cavalry  with  cuirasses,  whom 
the  Persians  call  Clibanarii,1  protected  by  coverings  of 
iron  breast-plates,  and  girdled  with  belts  of  iron,  so  that 
you  would  fancy  them  statues  polished  by  the  hand  of 
Praxiteles,  rather  than  men.    And  the  light  circular  plates 
of  iron  which  surrounded  their  bodies,  and  covered  all 
their  limbs,  were  so  well  fitted  to  all  their  motions,  that 
in  whatever  direction  they  had  occasion  to  move,  the  joints 

1  The  word  is  derived  from  K\I&O.VOV,  an  oven,  and  seems  to  mean 
entirely  clothed  in  iron. 


A.D.  356.]  ARROGANCE  OF  CONSTANTIUS.  101 

of  their  iron  clothing  adapted  themselves  equally  to  any 
position. 

9.  The  emperor  as  he  proceeded  was  saluted  as  Augustus 
by  voices  of  good  omen,  the  mountains  and  shores  re-echo- 
ing the  shouts  of  the  people,  amid  which  he  preserved  the 
same  immovable  countenance  which  he  was  accustomed  tc 
display  in  his  provinces. 

10.  For  though  he  was  very  short,  yet  he  bowed  down 
when  entering  high  gates,  and  looking  straight  before  him, 
as  though  he  had  had  his  neck  in  a  vice,  he  turned  his 
eyes  neither  to  the  right  nor  to  the  left,  as  If  he  had  been 
a  statue  :  nor  when  the  carriage  shook  him  did  he  nod  his 
head,  or  spit,  or  rub  his  face  or  his  nose ;  nor  was  he  ever 
seen  even  to  move  a  hand. 

11.  And  although  this  calmness  was  affectation,  yet  these 
and  other  portions  of  his  inner  life  were  indicative  of  a 
most  extraordinary  patience,  as  it  may  be  thought,  granted 
to  him  alone. 

1 2.  I  pass  over  the  circumstance  that  during  the  whole 
of  his  reign  he  never  either  took  up  any  one  to  sit  with 
him  in  his  chariot,  or  admitted  any  private  person  to  be 
his  partner  in  the  consulship,  as  other  emperors  had  done ; 
also  many  other  things  which  he,  being  filled  with  elation 
and  pride,  prescribed  to  himself  as  the  justest  of  all  rules 
of  conduct,  recollecting  that  I  mentioned  those  facts  before, 
as  occasion  served. 

13.  As  he  went  on,  having  entered  Eome,  that  home  of 
sovereignty  and  of  all  virtues,  when  he  arrived  at  the 
rostra,  he  gazed  with  amazed  awe  on  the  Forum,  the  most 
renowned  monument  of  ancient  power ;    and,  being  be- 
wildered with  the  number  of  wonders  on  every  side  to 
which  he  turned  his  eyes,  having  addressed  the  nobles  in 
the  senate-house,    and  harangued  the  populace  from  the 
tribune,   he  retired,  with  the  good-will   of  all,  into  his 
palace,  where  he  enjoyed  the  luxury  he  had  wished  for. 
And  often,  when  celebrating  the  equestrian  games,  was  he 
delighted  with  the  talkativeness  of  the  common  people, 
who  were  neither  proud,  nor,  on  the  other  hand,  inclined 
to  become  rebellious  from  too  much  liberty,  while  he  him- 
self also  reverently  observed  a  proper  moderation. 

14.  For  he  did  not,  as  was  usually  done  in  other  cities, 
allow  the  length  of  the  gladiatorial  contests  to  depend  on 


102  AMMIANUS  MARCELLINUS.  [BK.  XVI.  CH.  «. 

his  caprice  ;  but  left  it  to  be  decided  by  various  occurrences. 
Then,  traversing  the  summits  of  the  seven  hills,  and  the 
different  quarters  of  the  city,  whether  placed  on  the  slopes 
of  the  hills  or  on  the  level  ground,  and  visiting,  too,  the 
suburban  divisions,  he  was  so  delighted  that  whatever  he 
saw  first  he  thought  the  most  excellent  of  all.  Admiring  the 
temple  of  the  Tarpeian  Jupiter,  which  is  as  much  superior 
to  other  temples  as  divine  things  are  superior  to  those  of 
men  ;  and  the  baths  of  the  size  of  provinces ;  and  the 
vast  mass  of  the  amphitheatre,  so  solidly  erected  of  Tiber- 
tine  stone,  to  the  top  of  which  human  vision  can  scarcely 
reach ;  and  the  Pantheon  with  its  vast  extent,  its  imposing 
height,  and  the  solid  magnificence  of  its  arches,  and  the 
lofty  niches  lising  one  above  another  like  stairs,  adorned 
with  the  images  of  former  emperors ;  and  the  temple  of 
the  city,  and  the  forum  of  peace,  and  the  theatre  of 
Pompey,  and  the  odeum,  and  the  racecourse,  and  the  other 
ornaments  of  the  Eternal  City. 

15.  But  when  he  came  to  the  forum  of  Trajan,  the  most 
exquisite  structure,  in  my  opinion,  under  the  canopy  of 
heaven,  and  admired  even  by  the  deities  themselves,  he 
stood  transfixed  with  wonder,  casting  his  mind  over  the 
gigantic  proportions  of  the  place,  beyond  the  power  of 
mortal  to  describe,  and  beyond  the  reasonable  desire  of 
mortals  to  rival.    Therefore  giving  up  all  hopes  of  attempt- 
ing anything  of  this  kind,  he  contented  himself  with  say- 
ing that  he  should  wish  to  imitate,  and  could  imitate  the 
horse  of  Trajan,  which  stands  by  itself  in  the  middle  of 
the  hall,  bearing  the  emperor  himself  on  his  back. 

16.  And  the  royal  prince  Hormisda,  whose  departure 
from  Persia  we  have   already  mentioned,    standing    by 
answered,  with  the  refinement  of  his  nature,  "  But  first,  O 
emperor,  command  such  a  stable  to  be  built  for  him,  if  you 
can,  that  the  horse  which  you  purpose  to  make  may  have 
as  fair  a  domain  as  this  which  we  see."   And  when  he  was 
asked  what  he  thought  of  Rome,  he  said  that  "  he  was 
particularly  delighted  with  it  because  he  had  learnt  that 
men  died  also  there." 

1 7.  Now  after  he  had  beheld  all  these  various  objects 
with  awful  admiration,  the  emperor  complained  of  tame, 
as   either  deficient  in  power,   or  else  spiteful,   because, 
though   it  usually  exaggerates   everything,  it  fell  very 


*.».  3M.1  PLOTS  OF  EUSEBIA.  103 

short  in  its  praises  cf  the  things  which  are  at  Rome  ;  and 
having  deliberated  for  some  time  what  he  should  do,  he 
determined  to  add  to  the  ornaments  of  the  city  by  erecting 
an  obelisk  in  the  Circus  Maximus,  the  origin  and  form 
of  which  I  will  describe  when  I  come  to  the  proper 
place. 

18.  At  this  time  Eusebia,  the  queen,  who  herself  was 
barren  all  her  life,  began  to  plot  against  Helena,  the  sister 
of  Constantius,  and  wife  of  the  Caesar  Julian,  whom  she 
had  induced  to  come  to  Rome  under  a  pretence  of  affection, 
and  by  wicked  machinations  she  induced  her  to  drink  a 
poison  which  she  had  procured,  which  should  have  the 
effect,  whenever  Helena  conceived,  of  producing  abortion. 

19.  For  already,  when  in  Gaul,  she  had  borne  a  male 
child,  but  that  also  had  been  dishonestly  destroyed  because 
the  midwife,  having  been  bribed,  killed  it  as  soon  as  it  was 
born,  by   cutting   through   the   navel-string   too   deeply  ; 
such  exceeding  care  was  taken  that  this  most  gallant  man 
should  have  no  offspring. 

20.  But  the  emperor,  while  wishing  to  remain  longer  in 
this  most  august  spot  of  the  whole  world,  in  order  to  enjoy 
a  purer  tranquillity  and  higher  degree  of  pleasure,  was 
alarmed  by  repeated  intelligence  on  which  he  could  rely, 
which   informed   him  that  the  Suevi  were   invading   the 
Tyrol,  that  the  Quadi  were  ravaging  Valeria,1  and  that  the 
Sarmatians,  a  tribe  most  skilful  in  plunder,  were  laying 
waste  the  upper  Mcesia,  and  the  second  Pannonia.     And 
roused  by  these  news,  on  the  thirtieth  day  after  he  had 
entered  Rome,  he  again  quitted  it,  leaving  it  on  the  29th 
of  May,  and  passing  through  Trent  he  proceeded  with  all 
haste  towards  Illyricum. 

21.  And  from  that  city  he  sent  Severus    to   succeed 
Marcellus,  a  man  of  great  experience  and  ripe  skill  in  war, 
and  summoned  Ursicinus  to  himself.     He,  having  gladly 
received  the  letter  of  summons,  came  to  Sirmium,  with  a 
large  retinue,  and  after  a  long  deliberation  on  the  peace 
which  Musonianus  had  reported  as  possible  to  be  made 
with  the  Persians,  he  was  sent  back  to  the  East  with  the 
authority  of  command er-in-chief,  and  the  older  officers  of 
our  company  having  been  promoted  to  commands  over  the 

1  Valeria  was  a  division  of  Pannonia,  so  called  from  Valeria,  the 
daughter  of  Diocletian,  and  the  wife  of  Galeriug. 


104  AMMIANUS    MARCELLIXUS.  [BK.  XVI.  Cu.  XL 

soldiers,  we  younger  men  were  ordered  to  follow  him  to 
perform  whatever  he  commanded  us  for  the  service  of  the 
republic. 

XI. 
A.D.  357. 

§  1.  BUT  Julian,  having  passed  his  winter  at  Sens,  amid 
continual  disturbance,  in  the  ninth  consulship  of  the  em- 
peror, and  his  own  second,  while  the  threats  of  the 
Germans  were  raging  on  all  sides,  being  roused  by  favour- 
able omens,  marched  with  speed  to  Rheims,  with  the 
greater  alacrity  and  joy  because  Severus  was  in  command 
of  the  army  there  ;  a  man  inclined  to  agree  with  him, 
void  of  arrogance,  but  of  proved  propriety  of  conduct  and 
experience  in  war,  and  likely  to  follow  his  lawful  au- 
thority, obeying  his  general  like  a  well-disciplined  sol- 
dier. 

2.  In  another  quarter,  Barbatio,  who  after  the  death  of 
Silvanus  had  been  promoted  to  the  command  of  the  in- 
fantry, came  from  Italy  by  the  emperor's  orders,  to  Augst, 
with  25,000  heavy-armed  soldiers. 

3.  For  the  plan  proposed  and  very  anxiously  prepared 
was,  that  the  Allemanni,  who  were  in  a  state  of  greater 
rage  than  ever,  and  were  extending  their  incursions  more 
widely,  should  be  caught  between  our  two  armies,  as  if 
between  the  arms  of  a  pair  of  pincers,  and  so  driven  into 
a  corner  and  destroyed. 

4.  But  while    these    well-devised    plans    were    being 
pressed  forward,  the  barbarians,  in  joy  at  some  success 
which  they  had  obtained,  and  skilful   in   seizing   every 
opportunity  for  plunder,  passed  secretly  between  the  camps 
of  the  armies,  and  attacked  Lyons  unexpectedly.      And 
having  plundered  the  district  around,   they  would    have 
stormed  and  burnt  the  city  itself,  if  they  had  not  found 
the  gates  so  strongly  defended  that  they  were  repulsed ;  so 
that  they  only  destroyed  all  they  could  find  outside  the 
city. 

5.  When  this  disaster  was  known,  Caesar,  with  great 
alacrity,   despatched  three  squadrons  of  light  cavalry,  of 
approved  valour,  to  watch  three  lines  of  road,  knowing 
that  beyond  all  question  the  invaders  must  quit  the  district 
by  one  of  them. 


AJy.357.]  PLOTS    AGAINST   JULIAN.  105 

6.  K  or  was  lie  mistaken ;   for  all  who  came  by  these 
roads  were  slaughtered  by  our  men,  and  the  whole  of  the 
booty  which  they  were  carrying  off  was  recovered  unhurt. 
Those  alone  escaped  in  safety  who  passed  by  the  camp  of 
Barbatio,  who  were  suffered  to  escape  in  that  direction 
because  Bainobaudes  the  tribune,  and  Valentinian  (after 
wards  emperor),  who  had  been  appointed  to  watch  that 
pass  with  the  squadrons  of  cavalry  under  their  orders,  were 
forbidden  by  Cella  (the  tribune  of  the  Sctitarii,  who  had 
been  sent  as  colleague  to  Barbatio)  to  occupy  that  road, 
though  they  were  sure  that  by  that  the  Germans  would 
return  to  their  own  country. 

7.  The  cowardly  master  of    the  horse,  being  also  an 
obstinate  enemy  to  the  glory  of  Julian,  was  not  contented 
with  this,  but  being  conscioiis  that  he  had  given  orders 
inconsistent  with  the  interests  of  Eome  (for  when  he  was 
accused  of  it  Cella  confessed  what  he  had  done),  he  made 
a  false  report  to  Constantius,  and  told  him  that  these  same 
tribunes  had,  under  a  pretence  of  the  business  of  the  state, 
came   thither   for    the    purpose   of    tampering   with   the 
soldiers  whom  he  commanded.     And  owing  to  this  state- 
ment they  were  deprived  of  their  commands,  and  returned 
home  as  private  individuals. 

8.  In  these  days,  also,  the  barbarians,  alarmed  at  the 
approach  of  our  armies,  which  had  established  their  sta- 
tions on  the  left  bank  of  the  Khine,  employed  some  part 
of  their  force  in  skilfully  barricading  the  roads,  naturally 
difficult  of  access,  and  full  of  hills,  by  abattis  constructed 
of  large  trees  cut  down ;  others  occupied  the  numerous 
islands  scattered  up  and  down  the  Rhone,  and  with  horrid 
howls  poured  forth  constant  reproaches  against  the  Eomans 
and  the  Caesar ;  who,  being  now  more  than  ever  resolved  to 
crush  some  of  their  armies,  demanded  from  Barbatio  seven 
of  those  boats  which  he  had  collected,  for  the  purpose  of 
constructing  a  bridge  with  them,  with  the  intention  of 
crossing  the  river.     But  Barbatio,  determined  that  no  as- 
sistance should  be  got  from  him,  burnt  them  all. 

9.  Julian,   therefore,  having  learnt  from  the  report  of 
some  spies  whom  he  had  lately  taken  prisoners,  that,  when 
the  drought  of  summer  arrived,  the  river  was  fordable, 
addressed  a  speech  of  encouragement  to  his  light-armed 
auxiliary  troops,  and  sent  them  forward  with  Bainobaudes, 


100  AMMIANUS   MARCELLINUS.  [BE.  XVI.  CB.  XL. 

the  tribune  of  the  Cornuti,  to  try  and  perform  some  gallant 
exploit,  if  they  could  find  an  opportunity.  And  they, 
entering  the  shallow  of  the  river,  and  sometimes,  when 
there  was  occasion  for  swimming,  putting  their  shields 
under  them  like  canoes,  reached  a  neighbouring  island, 
and  having  landed,  killed  every  one  they  found  on  it,  men 
and  women,  without  distinction  of  age,  like  so  many  sheep. 
And  having  found  some  empty  boats,  though  they  were 
not  very  safe,  they  crossed  in  them,  forcing  their  way  into 
many  places  of  the  same  land.  When  they  were  weary  of 
slaughter,  and  loaded  with  a  rich  booty,  some  of  which, 
however,  they  lost  through  the  violence  of  the  river,  they 
returned  back  to  the  camp  without  losing  a  man. 

10.  And  when  this  was  known,  the  rest  of  the  Germans, 
•.hinking  they  could  no  longer  trust  the  garrisons  left  in 
the  islands,  removed  their  relations,  and  their  magazines, 
and  their  barbaric  treasures,  into  the  inland  parts. 

11.  After  this  Julian  turned  his  attention  to  repair  the 
fortress  known  by  the  name  of  Saverne,  which  had  a  little 
time  before   been  destroyed  by  a  violent  attack  of  the 
enemy,  but  which,  while  it  stood,  manifestly  prevented 
the  Germans  from  forcing  their  way  into  the  interior  of 
the  Gauls,  as  they  had  been  accustomed  to  do ;  and  he 
executed  this  work  with  greater  rapidity  than  he  expected, 
and  he  laid  up  for  the  garrison  which  he  intended  to  post 
there  sufficient  magazines  for  a  whole  year's  consump- 
tion,  which  his  army  collected  from   the  crops   of  the 
barbarians,    not    without    occasional    contests    with    the 
owners. 

12.  Nor  indeed  was  he  contented  with  this,  but  he  also 
collected  provisions  for  himself  and  his  army  sufficient  for 
twenty  days.     For  the  soldiers  delighted  in   using  the 
food  which  they  had  won  with  their  own  right  hands, 
being  especially  indignant  because,  out  of  all  the  supplies 
which  had  been  recently  sent  them,  they  were  not  able  to 
obtain  anything,  inasmuch  as  Barbatio,  when  they  were 
passing  near  his  camp,  had  with  great  insolence  seized  on 
a  portion  of  them,  and  had  collected  all  the  rest  into  a 
heap  and  burnt  them.     Whether  he  acted  thus  out  of  his 
own  vanity  and  insane  folly,  or  whether  others  were  really 
the  authors  of  this  wickedness,  relying  on  the  command  of 
the  emperor  himself,  has  never  been  known. 


A J).  357.1  PRUDENCE  OF  JULUW.  107 

13.  However,  as  far  as  report  went,  the  story  commonly 
was,  that  Julian  had  been  elected  Caesar,  not  for  the  object 
of  relieving  the  distresses  of  the  Gauls,  but  rather  of  being 
himself  destroyed  by  the  formidable  wars  in  which  he  was 
sure  to  be  involved ;  being  at  that  time,  as  was  supposed, 
inexperienced  in  war,  and  not  likely  to  endure  even  the 
sound  of  arms. 

14.  While  the  works  of  the  camp  were  steadily  rising, 
and  while  a  portion  of  the  army  was  being  distributed 
among  the  stations  in  the  country  districts,  Julian  occu- 
pied himself  in  other  quarters  with  collecting  supplies, 
operating  with  great  caution,  from  the  fear  of  ambuscades. 
And  in  the  mean  time,  a  vast  host  of  the  barbarians,  out- 
stripping all  report  of  their  approach  by  the  celerity  of 
their  movements,  came  down  with  a  sudden  attack  upon 
Barbatio,  and  the   army  which  (as  I  have  already  men- 
tioned) he  had  under  his  command,  separated  from  the 
Gallic  army  of  Severus  only  by  a  rampart ;  and  having 
put  him  to  flight,  pursued  him  as  far  as  Augst,  and  beyond 
that  town  too,  as  far  as  they  could ;  and,  having  made  booty 
of  the  greater  part  of  his  baggage  and  beasts  of  burden, 
and  having  carried  off  many  of  the  sutlers  as  prisoners, 
they  returned  to  their  main  army. 

15.  And  Barbatio,  as  if  he  had  brought  his  expectations 
to  a  prosperous  issue,  now  distributed   his  soldiers  into 
winter  quarters,  and  returned  to  the  emperor's  court,  to 
forge  new  accusations  against  the  Ceesar,  according  to  his 
custom. 

XII. 

§  1.  WHEN  this  disgraceful  disaster  had  become  known, 
Chnodomarius  and  Vestralpus,  the  kings  of  the  Allemanni, 
and  Urius  and  Ursicinus,  with  Serapion,  and  Suomarius, 
and  Hortarius,  having  collected  all  their  forces  into  one 
body,  encamped  near  the  city  of  Strasburg,  thinking  that 
the  Caesar,  from  fear  of  imminent  danger,  had  retreated 
at  the  very  time  that  he  was  wholly  occupied  with  com- 
pleting a  fortress  to  enable  him  to  make  a  permanent 
stand. 

2.  Their  confidence  and  assurance  of  success  was  in- 
creased by  one  of  the  Scutarii  who  deserted  to  them,  who, 


108  AMMIANUS   MAUCELLINUS.  [Bit.  XVI.  CH.  xil 

fearing  punishment  for  some  offence  which  he  had  com- 
mitted, crossed  over  to  them  after  the  departure  of  Bar- 
batio,  and  assured  them  that  Julian  had  now  only  13,000 
men  remaining  with  him.  For  that  was  the  number  of 
troops  that  he  had  now  with  him,  while  the  ferocious 
barbarians  were  stirring  up  attacks  upon  him  from  all 
sides. 

3.  And  as  he  constantly  adhered  to  the  same  story,  they 
were  excited  to  more  haughty  attempts  by  the  confidence 
with  which  he  inspired  them,  and  sent  ambassadors  in  an 
imperious  tone  to  Ceesar,  demanding  that  he  should  retire 
from  the  territory  which  they  had  acquired  by  their  own 
valour  in  arms.     But  he,  a  stranger  to  fear,  and  not  liable 
to  be  swayed  either  by  anger  or  by  disappointment,  de- 
spised the  arrogance  of  the  barbarians,  and  detaining  the 
ambassadors  till  he  had  completed  the  works  of  his  camp, 
remained  immovable  on  his  ground  with  admirable  con- 
stancy. 

4.  But  King  Chnodomarius,  moving  about  in  every  direc- 
tion, and  being  always  the  first  to  undertake  dangerous 
enterprises,  kept  everything  in  continual  agitation  and 
confusion,  being  full  of  arrogance  and  pride,  as  one  whose 
head  was  turned  by  repeated  success. 

5.  For  he  had  defeated  the  Caesar  Decentius  in  a  pitched 
battle,  and  he  had  plundered  and  destroyed  many  wealthy 
cities,   and  he  had  long  ravaged  all  Gaul  at  his  own 
pleasure  without  meeting  with  any  resistance.     And  his 
confidence  was  now  increased  by  the  recent  retreat  of  a 
general  superior  to  him  in  the  number  and  strength  of  his 
forces. 

6.  For  the  Allemanni,  beholding  the  emblems  on  their 
shields,  saw  that  a  few  predatory  bands  of  their  men  had 
wrested  those  districts  from  those  soldiers  whom  they  had 
formerly  never  engaged  but  with  fear,  and  by  whom  they 
had  often  been  routed  with  much  loss.     And  these  cir- 
cumstances made  Julian  very  anxious,  because,  after  the 
defection  of  Barbatio,  he  himself  under  the  pressure  of 
absolute  necessity  was  compelled  to  encounter  very  popu- 
lous tribes,  with  but  very  few,  though  brave  troops. 

7.  And  now,  the  sun  being  fully  risen,  the  trumpets 
sounded,  and  the  infantry  were  led  forth  from  the  camp  in 
slow   march,    and    on    their    flanks  were    arrayed    the 


Aj>.35T.]  JULIAN'S  SPEECH  TO  HIS  SOLDIERS.  109 

squadrons  of  cavalry,  among  which  were  both  the  cui- 
rassiers and  the  archers,  troops  whose  equipment  was  very 
formidable. 

8.  And   since  from   the   spot  from   which   the   Eoman 
standards  had  first  advanced  to  the  rampart  of  the  bar- 
barian camp  were  fourteen  leagues,  that  is  to  say  one-and- 
twenty  miles,  Caesar,  carefully  providing  for  the  advantage 
and  safety  of  his  army,  called  in  the  skirmishers  who  had 
gone  out  in  front,  and  having  ordered  silence  in  his  usual 
voice,   while   they  all  stood  in   battalions  around  him, 
addressed  them  in  his  natural  tranquillity  of  voice. 

9.  "  The  necessity  of  providing  for  our  common  safety, 
to  say  the  least  of  it,  compels  me,  and  I  am  no  prince  of 
abject  spirit,  to  exhort  you,  my  comrades,  to  rely  so  much 
on  your  own  mature   and  vigorous  valour,  as  to  follow 
my  counsels  in  adopting  a  prudent  manner  of  enduring  or 
repelling  the  evils  which  we  anticipate,  rather  than  resort 
to  au  overhasty  mode  of  action  which  must  be  doubtful  in 
its  issue. 

10.  "  For  though  amid  dangers  youth  ought  to  be  ener- 
getic  and  bold,    so  also   in   cases  of  necessity  it  should 
show  itself  manageable  and  prudent.     Now  what  I  think 
best  to  be  done,  if  your  opinion  accords  with  mine,  and 
if  your  just   indignation   will   endure   it,   I  will   briefly 
explain. 

11.  "  Already  noon  is  approaching,  we  are  weary  with 
our  march,  and  if  we  advance  we  shall  enter  upon  rugged 
]>aths  where  we  can  hardly  see  our  way.     As  the  moon  is 
waning  the  night  will  not  be  lighted  tip  by  any  stars. 
The  earth  is  burnt  up  with  the  heat,  and  will  afford  us  no 
supplies  of  water.     And  even  if  by  any  contrivance  we 
could  get  over  these  difficulties  comfortably,  still,  when 
the  swarms  of  the  enemy  fall  upon  us,  refreshed  as  they 
will   be  with   rest,  meat,    and  drink,   what  will  become 
of  us  ?     \Yhat  strength  will  there  be  in  our  weary  limbs, 
exhausted  as  we  shall  be  with  hunger,  thirst,  and  toil,  to 
encounter  them  ? 

12.  "  Therefore,  since  the  most  critical  difficulties  are 
often  overcome  by  skilful  arrangements,  and  since,  after 
good  counsel  has  been  taken  in  good  part,  divine-looking 
remedies  have  often  re-established  affairs  which  seemed  to 
be  tottering;  I  entreat  you  to  let  us  here,  surrounded  as 


110  AMMIAXUS   MARCELL1NUS.  [BK.  XVI.  CK  x» 

we  are  with  fosse  and  rampart,  take  our  repose,  after  first 
parcelling  out  our  regular  watches,  and  then,  having 
refreshed  ourselves  with  sleep  and  food  as  well  as  the  time 
will  allow,  let  us,  under  the  protection  of  God,  with  the 
earliest  dawn  move  forth  our  conquering  eagles  and 
standards  to  reap  a  certain  triumph." 

13.  The  soldiers  would  hardly  allow  him  to  finish  his 
speech,  gnashing  their  teeth,  and  showing  their  eagerness 
for  combat  by  beating  their  shields  with  their  spears ;  and 
entreating  at  once  to  be  led  against  the  enemy  already  in 
their  sight,  relying  on  the  favour  of  the  God  of  heaven,  and 
on  their  own  valour,  and  on  the  proved  courage  of  their 
fortunate  general.     And,  as  the  result  proved,  it  was  a 
certain  kind  genius   that  was  present  with   them   thus 
prompting  them  to  fight  while  still  under  his  inspiration. 

14.  And  this  eagerness  of  theirs  was  further  stimulated 
by  the  full   approval  of  the  officers  of  high  rank,   and 
especially  of  Florentius  the  prefect  of  the  praetorian  guard, 
who  openly  gave  his  opinion  for  fighting  at  once,  while 
the  enemy  were  in  the  solid  mass  in  which  they  were  now 
arranged ;  admitting  the  danger  indeed,  but  still  thinking 
it  the  wisest  plan,  because,  if  the  enemy  once  dispersed, 
it  would  be  impossible  to  restrain  the  soldiers,  at  all  times 
inclined  by  their  natural  vehemence  of  disposition  towards 
sedition  ;  and  they  were  likely  to  be,  as  he  thought,  so  in- 
dignant at  being  denied  the  victory  they  sought,  as  to  be 
easily  tempted  to  the  most  lawless  violence. 

15.  Two   other  considerations   also  added  to  the  con- 
fidence of  our  men.     First,  because  they  recollected  that 
in  the  previous  year,  when  the  Eomans  spread  themselves 
in  every  direction  over  the  countries  on  the  other  side  of 
the  Rhine,  not  one  of  the  barbarians  stood  to  defend  his 
home,  nor  ventured  to  encounter  them ;  but  they  contented 
themselves  with  blockading  the  roads  in  every  direction 
with  vast  abattis,  throughout  the  whole  winter  retiring  into 
the  remote  districts,  and  willingly  endured  the  greatest 
hardships  rather  than  fight;  recollecting  also  that,  after 
the  emperor  actually  invaded  their  territories,  the  barba- 
rians neither  ventured  to  make  any  resistance,  nor  even 
to  show  themselves  at  all,  but  implored  peace  in  the  most 
suppliant  manner,  till  they  obtained  it. 

16.  But  no  one  considered  that  the  times  were  changed, 


4J>.  357.J          EAGERNESS   OF   THE   ROMANS   FOR    BATTLE.  112 

because  the  barbarians  were  at  that  time  pressed  with  a 
threefold  danger.  The  emperor  hastening  against  them 
through  the  Tyrol,  the  Caesar  who  was  actually  in  their 
country  cutting  off  all  possibility  of  retreat,  while  the 
neighbouring  tribes,  whom  recent  quarrels  had  converted 
into  enemies,  were  all  but  treading  on  their  heels ;  and 
thus  they  were  surrounded  on  all  sides.  But  since  that 
time  the  emperor,  having  granted  them  peace,  had  returned 
to  Italy,  and  the  neighbouring  tribes,  having  all  cause  of 
quarrel  removed,  were  again  in  alliance  with  them ;  and 
the  disgraceful  retreat  of  one  of  the  Eoman  generals  had 
increased  their  natural  confidence  and  boldness. 

17.  Moreover  there  was  another  circumstance  which  at 
this  crisis  added  weight  to  the  difficulties  which  pressed 
upon  the   Bomans.     The  two  royal   brothers,   who  had 
obtained  peace  from  Constantius  in  the   preceding  year, 
being  bound  by   the   obligations   of  that  treaty,   neither 
ventured  to  raise  any  disturbance,  nor  indeed  to  put  them- 
selves in  motion  at  all.     But  a  little  after  the  conclusion 
of  that  peace  one  of  them  whose  name  was  Gundomadus, 
and  who  was  the  most  loyal  and  the  most  faithful  to  his 
word,  was  slain  by  treachery,  and  then  all  his  tribe  joined 
our  enemies ;  and  on  this  the  tribe  of  Vadomarius  also, 
against  his  will,  as  he  affirmed,  ranged  itself  on  the  side  of 
the  barbarians  who  were  arming  for  war. 

18.  Therefore,  since  all  the  soldiers  of  every  rank,  from 
the  highest  to  the  lowest,  approved  of  engaging  instantly, 
and  would  not  relax  the  least  from  the  rigour  of  their 
determination,   on  a  sudden  the  standard-bearer  shouted 
out,  "Go  forth,  O  Caesar,  most  fortiinate  of  all  princes. 
Go  whither  thy  better  fortune  leads  thee.     At  least  we 
have  learnt  by  your  example  the  power  of  valotir  and 
military  skill.     Go  on  and  lead  us,  as  a  fortunate  and 
gallant  champion.     You  shall  see  what  a  soldier  under  the 
eye  of  a  warlike  general,  a  witness  of  the  exploits  of  each 
individual,  can  do,  and  how  little,  with  the  favour  of  the 
Deity,  any  obstacle  can  avail  against  him." 

19.  When  these  words  were  heard,  without  a  moment's 
delay,  the  whole  army  advanced  and  approached  a  hill 
of  moderate  height,  covered  with  ripe  corn,  at  no  great 
distance  from  the  banks  of  the  Rhine.     On  its  summit 
were  posted  three  cavalry  soldiers  of  the  enemy  as  scouts, 


112  AMMIANDS  MARCELLJXPS.  IB*.  XVI.  CH.  xn. 

who  at  once  hastened  back  to  their  comrades  to  announce 
that  the  Roman  army  was  at  hand ;  but  one  infantry 
soldier  who  was  with  them,  not  being  able  to  keep  up 
with  them,  was  taken  prisoner  by  the  activity  of  some  of 
our  soldiers,  and  informed  us  that  the  Germans  had  been 
passing  over  the  river  for  three  days  and  three  nights. 

20.  And  when  our  generals  beheld  them  now  at  no 
great  distance  forming  their  men  into  solid  columns,  they 
halted,  and  formed  all  the  first  ranks  of  their  troops  into 
a  similarly  solid  body,  and  with  equal  caution  the  enemy 
likewise  halted. 

21.  And  when  in  consequence  of  this  halt,  the  enemy 
saw  (as  the  deserter  I   mentioned  above  had  informed 
them)  that  all  our  cavalry  was  ranged  against  them  in 
our  right  wing,  then  they  posted  all  their  own  cavalry  in 
close  order   on   their   left  wing.      And  with   them   they 
mingled  every  here  and  there  a  few  infantry,  skirmishers 
and  light-armed  soldiers,  which  indeed  was  a  very  wise 
manoeuvre. 

22.  For  they  knew  that  a  cavalry  soldier,  however  skilful, 
if  fighting  with  one  of  our  men  in  complete  armour,  while 
his  hands  were  occupied  with  shield  and  bridle,  so  that  he 
could  use  no  offensive  weapon  but  the  spear  which  he 
brandished  in  his  right  hand,  could  never  injure  an  enemy 
wholly  covered  with    iron  mail ;     but  that  an   infantry 
soldier,  amid   the  actual   struggles  of  personal  conflict, 
when  nothing  is  usually  guarded  against  by  a  combatant 
except   that   which    is   straight    before   him,   may   crawl 
unperceivedly  along  the  ground,  and  piercing  the  side  of 
the  Roman  soldier's  horse,  throw  the  rider  down  headlong, 
rendering  him  thus  an  easy  victim. 

23.  When  these  dispositions  had  been  thus  made,  the 
barbarians  also  protected  their  right  flank   with  secret 
ambuscades  and  snares.     Now  the  whole  of  these  warlike 
and  savage  tribes  were  on  this  day  under  the  command  of 
Chnodomarius  and  Serapio,  monarchs  of  more  power  than 
any  of  their  former  kings. 

24.  Chnodomarius  was  indeed  the  wicked  instigator  of 
the  whole  war,  and  bearing  on  his  head  a  helmet  blazing 
like  fire,  he  led   on  the  left  wing  with  great  boldness, 
confiding  much  on  his  vast  personal  strength.     And  now 
with  great  eagerness  for  the  impending  battle  he  mounted 


A.D.  357-1  THE    BATI^E   OF   STRASBURG.  113 

a  spirited  horse,  that  by  the  increased  height  he  might  bo 
riore  conspicuous,  leaning  upon  a  spear  of  most  formidable 
size,  and  remarkable  for  the  splendour  of  his  arms.  Being 
indeed  a  prince  who  had  on  former  occasions  shown  him- 
self brave  as  a  warrior  and  a  general,  eminent  for  skill 
above  his  fellows. 

25.  The  right  wing  was  led  by  Serapio,  a  youth  whose 
beard  had  hardly  grown,  but  who  was  beyond  his  years 
in  courage  and  strength.     He  was  the  son  of  Mederichus 
the  brother  of  Chnodomarius,  a  man  throughout  his  whole 
life  of  the  greatest  perfidy  ;  and  he  had  received  the  name 
of  Serapio   because   his  father,  having   been  given   as  a 
hostage,  had  been  -detained  in  Gaul  for  a  long  time,  and 
had  there  learnt  some  of  the  mysteries  of  the  Greeks,  in 
consequence  of  which  he  had  changed  the  name  of  hig  son, 
who  at  his  birth  was  named   Agenarichus,   into  that  of 
Serapio. 

26.  These   two   leaders   were    followed   by   five    other 
kings  who  were  but  little  inferior  in  power  to  themselves, 
by  ten  petty  princes,  a  vast  number  of  nobles,  and  thirty- 
five  thousand  armed  men,  collected  from  various  nations 
partly  by  pay,  and  partly  by  a  promise  of  requiting  their 
service  by  similar  assistance  on  a  future  day. 

27.  The   trumpets   now  gave   forth   a   terrible   sound ; 
Severus,  the  Eoman  general  in  command  of  the  left  wing, 
when  he  came  near  the  ditches  filled  with  armed  men, 
from  which  the  enemy  had  arranged  that  those  who  were 
there  concealed  should  suddenly  rise  up,  and  throw  the 
Eoman  line  into  confusion,  halted  boldly,  and  suspecting 
some  yet  hidden  ambuscade,  neither  attempted  to  retreat 
nor  advance. 

'  28.  Seeing  this,  Julian,  always  full  of  courage  at  the 
moment  of  the  greatest  difficulty,  galloped  with  an  escort 
of  two  hundred  cavalry  through  the  ranks  of  the  infantry 
at  full  speed,  addressing  them  with  words  of  encourage- 
ment, as  the  critical  circumstances  in  which  they  were 
placed  required. 

29.  And  as  the  extent  of  the  space  over  which  they  were 
spread  and  the  denseness  of  the  multitude  thus  collected 
into  one  body,  would  not  allow  him  to  address  the  whole 
army  (and  also  because  on  other  accounts  he  wished  to 
avoid  exposing  himself  to  malice  and  envy,  as  well  as  not 

i 


114  AMMIAXUS   MARCELLINUS.  [Bu.  XVI.  CH.  Mr. 

to  affect  that  which  Augustus  thought  belonged  exclusively 
to  himself),  he,  while  taking  care  of  himself  as  he  passed 
within  reach  of  the  darts  of  the  enemy,  encouraged  all 
whom  his  voice  could  reach,  whether  known  or  unknown 
to  him,  to  fight  bravely,  with  these  and  similar  words : — 

30.  "  Now,  my  comrades,  the  fit  time  for  fighting  has 
arrived ;  the  time  which  I,  as  well  as  you,  have  long  de- 
sired, and  which  you  just  now  invited  when,  with  gestures 
of  impatience,  you  demanded  to  be  led  on."     Again,  when 
he  came  to  those   in  the  rear  rank,  who  were  posted  in 
reserve  :    "  Behold,"  said  he,    "  my  comrades,  the  long- 
wished-for  day  is  at  hand,  which  incites  us  all  to  wash  out 
former  stains,  and  to  restore  to  its  proper  brightness  the 
lioman  majesty.     These  men  before  you  are  barbarians, 
whom  their  own  rage  and  intemperate  madness  have  urged 
forward  to  meet  with  the  destruction  of  their  fortunes,  de- 
feated as  they  will  now  be  by  our  might." 

31.  Presently,  when  making  better  dispositions  for  the 
array  of  some  troops  who,  by  long  experience  in  war,  had 
attained  to  greater  skill,  he  aided  his  arrangements  by 
these  exhortations.     "  Let  us  rise  up  like  brave  men ;  let 
us  by  our  native  valour  repel  the  disgrace  which  has  at 
one  time  been  brought  upon  our  arms,  from  contemplating 
which  it  was  that  after  much  delay  I  consented  to  take  the 
name  of  Caesar." 

32.  But  to  any  whom  he  saw  inconsiderately  demanding 
the  signal  to  be  given  for  instant  battle,  and  likely  by  their 
rash  movements  to  be  inattentive  to  orders,  he  said,  "  I 
entreat  you  not  to  be  too  eager  in  your  pursuit  of  the 
flying  enemy,  so  as  to  risk  losing  the  glory  of  the  victory 
which  awaits  us,  and  also  never  to  retreat,  except  under 
the  last  necessity. 

33.  "  For  I  shall  certainly  take  no  care  of  those  who  flee. 
But  among  those  who  press  on  to  the  slaughter  of  the 
enemy  I  shall  be  present,  and  share  with  you  indiscrimi- 
nately,  provided  only  that  your  charge  be  made   with 
moderation  and  prudence." 

34.  While  repeatedly  addressing  these  and  similar  ex- 
hortations to  the  troops,  he  drew  up  the  principal  part  of 
his  army  opposite  to  the  front  rank  of  the  barbarians.    And 
suddenly  there  arose  from  the  Allemanni  a  great,  shout, 
mingled  with  indignant  cries,  all  exclaiming  with   one 


A.D.  357."1.          THE  BATTLE  CF  STRASBDRO.  115 

voice  that  the  princes  ought  to  leave  their  horses  and 
fight  in  the  ranks  on  equal  terms  with  their  men.  lest  if 
any  mischance  should  occur  they  should  avail  themselves 
of  the  facility  of  escaping,  and  leave  the  mass  of  the  army 
in  miserable  plight. 

35.  When  this  was  known,  Chnodomarius  immediately 
leapt  down  from  his  horse,  and  the  rest  of  the  princes  fol- 
lowed his  example  without  hesitation.    For  indeed  none  of 
them  doubted  but  that  their  side  would  be  victorious. 

36.  Then  the  signal  for  battle  being  given  as  usual  by 
the  sound  of  trumpets,  the  armies  rushed  to  the  combat 
with  all  their  force.     First  of  all  javelins  were  hurled,  and 
the  Germans,  hastening  on  with  the  utmost  impetuosity, 
brandishing  their  javelins  in  their  right   hands,  dashed 
among  the  squadrons  of  our  cavalry,  uttering  fearful  cries. 
They  had  excited  themselves  to  more  than  usual  rage ; 
their  flowing  hair  bristling  with  their  eagerness,  and  fury 
biasing  from  their  eyes.     While  in  opposition  to  them  our 
soldiers,  standing  steadily,  protecting  their  heads  with  the 
bulwark  of  their  shields,    and   drawing  their  swords  or 
brandishing   their  javelins,  equally   threatened  death  to 
their  assailants. 

37.  And  while  in  the  very  conflict  of  battle,  the  cavalry 
kept  their  gallant  squadrons  in  close  order,  and  the  in- 
fantry   strengthened   their   flanks,    standing   shoulder   to 
shoulder  with  closely-locked  shields,  clouds  of  thick  dust 
arose,  and  the  battle  rocked  to  and  fro,  our  men  some- 
times advancing,  sometimes  receding.     Some  of  the  most 
powerful  warriors  among  the  barbarians  pressed  upon  their 
antagonists  with  their  knees,  trying  to  throw  them  down ; 
and  in  the  general  excitement  men  fought  hand  to  hand, 
shield  pressing  upon  shield ;  while  the  heaven  resounded 
with  the  loud  cries  of  the  conquerors  and  of  the  dying. 
Presently,   when  our  left  wing,  advancing   forward,  had 
driven   back  with   superior   strength   the   vast  bands   of 
German  assailants,   and  was   itself  advancing  with  loud 
cries  against  the  enemy,  our  cavalry  on  the  right  wing 
unexpectedly  retreated  in  disorder  ;  but  when  the  leading 
fugitives  came  upon  those  in  the  rear,  they  halted,  perceiving 
themselves  covered  by  the  legions,  and  renewed  the  battle. 

38.  This  disaster  had  arisen  from  the  cuirassiers  see  ng 
their   commander    slightly  wounded,   and   one    of   theii 


116  AMMIANUS  MARCELLINUS.  [BK.  XVI.  CH.  xn 

comrades  crushed  tinder  the  weight  of  his  own  arms, 
and  of  his  horse,  which  fell  upon  him  while  they  were 
changing  their  position,  on  which  they  all  fled  as  each 
could,  and  would  have  trampled  down  the  infantry,  and 
thrown  everything  into  confusion,  if  the  infantry  had  not 
steadily  kept  their  ranks  and  stood  immovable,  supporting 
each  other.  Julian,  when  from  a  distance  he  saw  his 
cavalry  thus  seeking  safety  in  flight,  spurred  his  horse 
towards  them,  and  himself  stopped  them  like  a  barrier. 

39.  For  as  he  was  at  once  recognized  by  his  purple 
standard  of  the  dragon,  which  was  fixed  to  the  top  of  a  long 
spear,  waving  its  fringe  as  a  real  dragon  sheds  its  skin, 
the  tribune  of  one  squadron  halted,  and  turning  pale  with 
alarm,  hastened  back  to  renew  the  battle. 

40.  Then,  as  is  customary  in  critical  moments,  Julian 
gently  reproached  his  men  :  "  Whither,"  said  he,  "  gallant 
comrades,  are  ye  retreating?    Are  ye  ignorant  that  flight, 
vhiuh  never  insures  safety,  proves  the  folly   of  having 
made  a  vain  attempt  ?     Let  us  return  to  our  army,  to  be 
partakers  of  their  glory,  and  not  rashly  desert  those  who 
are  fighting  for  the  republic." 

41.  Saying  these  words  in  a  dignified  tone,  he  led  them 
all  back  to  discharge  their  duties  in  the  fight,  imitating 
in  this  the  ancient  hero  Sylla,  if  we  make  allowances  for 
the  difference  of  situation.     For  when  Sylla,  having  led 
his  army  against  Archelaus,  the  general  of  Mithridates, 
became  exhausted  by  the  violence  of  the  conflict,  and  was 
deserted  by  all  his  soldiers,  he  ran  to  the  foremost  rank, 
and  seizing  a  standard  he  turned  it  against  the  enemy,  ex- 
claiming, "  Go  !  ye  once  chosen  companions  of  my  dangers  ; 
and  when  you  are  asked  where  I,  your  general,  was  left, 
tell  them  this  truth, — alone  in  Boeotia,  fighting  for  us  all, 
to  his  own  destruction." 

42.  The  Allemanni,  when  our  cavalry  had  been  thus 
driven  back  and  thrown  into  confusion,  attacked  the  first 
line  of  our  infantry,  expecting  to  find  their  spirit  abated, 
and  to  be  able  to  rout  them  without  much  resistance. 

43.  But  when  they  came  to  close  quarters  with  them, 
they  found  they  had  met  an  equal  match.     The  conflict 
lasted  long;    for  the  Cornuti  and  Braccati,1  veterans  of 

1  Troops  named  from  the  fashion  of  their  arms  ;  the  Cornuti  having 
projections  like  horns  on  their  helmets,  the  Braccati  wearing  drawers. 


A.D.  357-1  THE   BATTLE   OF   STRASBurtCt.  117 

great  experience  in  war,  frightening  even  by  their  ges- 
tures, shouted  their  battle  cry,  and  the  uproar,  through 
the  heat  of  the  conflict,  rising  up  from  a  gentle  murmur, 
and  becoming  gradually  louder  and  louder,  grew  fierce  as 
that  of  waves  dashing  against  the  rocks ;  the  javelins 
hissed  as  they  flew  hither  and  thither  through  the  air  ;  the 
dust  rose  to  the  sky  in  one  vast  cloud,  preventing  all 
possibility  of  seeing,  and  causing  arms  to  fall  upon  arms, 
man  upon  man. 

44.  But  the  barbarians,  in  their  undisciplined  anger  and 
fury,  raged  like  the  flames ;  and  with  ceaseless  blows  of 
their  swords  sought  to  pierce  through  the  compact  mass  of 
the  shields  with  which  our  soldiers  defended  themselves, 
as  with  the  testudo.1 

45.  And  when  this  was  seen,  the  Batavi,  with  the  royal 
legion,  hastened  to  the  support  of  their  comrades,  a  for- 
midable band,  well  able,  if  fortune  aided  them,  to  save 
even  those  who  were  in  the  extremest  danger.     And  amid 
the  fierce  notes  of  their  trumpets,  the  battle  again  raged 
with  undiminished  ferocity. 

46.  But  the  Allemanni,  still  charging  forward  impetu- 
ously, strove  more  arid  more  vigorously,  hoping  to  bear 
down  all  opposition  by  the  violence  of  their  fury.     Darts, 
spears,  and  javelins  never  ceased ;  arrows   pointed  with 
iron  were  shot ;  while  at  the  same  time,  in  hand-to-hand 
conflict,  sword  struck  sword,  breastplates  were  cloven,  and 
even  the  wounded,   if  not  quite  exhausted   with  loss  of 
blood,  rose  up  still  to  deeds  of  greater  daring. 

47.  In  some  sense  it  may  be  said  that  the  combatants 
were  equal.     The  Allemanni  were  the  stronger  and  the 
taller  men ;  our  soldiers  by  great  practice  were  the  more 
skilful.     The  one  were  fierce  and  savage,  the  others  com- 
posed and  wary ;   the  one   trusted  to   their  courage,  the 
others  to  their  physical  strength. 

48.  Often,  indeed,  the  Roman  soldier  was  beaten  down 
by  the  weight  of  his  enemy's  arms,  but  he  constantly  rose 
again  ;  and  then,  on  the  other  hand,  the  barbarian,  finding 
his  knees  fail  under  him  with  fatigue,  would  rest  his  left 

1  The  testudo  was  properly  applied  to  the  manner  in  which  they 
locked  their  shields  over  their  heads  while  advancing  to  storm  a  walled 
town. 


118  AMMIANUS  MARCELLIXUS.  [B*.  XVI.  CH.  xn 

knee  on  the  ground,  and  even  in  that  position  attack  his 
enemy,  an  act  of  extreme  obstinacy. 

49.  Presently  there  sprang  forward  with  sudden  vigour 
a  fiery  band  of  nobles,  among  whom  also  were  the  princes  of 
the  petty  tribes,  and,  as  the  common  soldiers   followed 
them  in  great  numbers,  they  burst  through  our  lines,  and 
foi-ced  a  path  for  themselves  up  to  the  principal  legion  of 
the  reserve,  which  was  stationed  in  the  centre,  in  a  posi- 
tion called  the  praetorian  camp ;  and  there  the  soldiery, 
being  in  closer  array,  and  in  densely  serried  ranks,  stood 
firm  as  so  many  towers,  and   renewed   the   battle  with 
increased  spirit.     And  intent  upon  parrying  the  blows  of 
the  enemy,  and  covering  themselves  with  their  shields  as 
the   Mirmillos 1   do,    with   their  drawn   swords   wounded 
their  antagonists  in  the  sides,  which  their  too  vehement 
impetuosity  left  unprotected. 

50.  And  thus  the  barbarians  threw  away  their  lives  in 
their   struggles  for  victory,   while  toiling   to   break   the 
compact  array  of  our  battalions.     But  still,  in   spite  of 
the  ceaseless  slaughter  made  among  them  by  the  Eomans, 
whose  courage  rose  with  their  success,  fresh  barbarians 
succeeded  those  who  fell ;  and  as  the  frequent  groans  of 
the  dying  were  heard,  many  became  panic-stricken,  and 
lost  all  strength. 

51.  At  last,  exhausted  by  their  losses,  and  having  no 
strength  for  anything  but  flight,  they  sought  to  escape 
with  all  speed  by  different  roads,  like   as  sailors   and 
traders,  when  the  sea  rages  in  a  storm,  are  glad  to  flee 
wherever  the  wind  carries   them.      But  any  one    then 
present  will  confess  that  escape  was  a  matter  rather  to  be 
wished  than  hoped  for. 

52.  And  the  merciful  protection  of  a  favourable  deity 
was  present  on  our  side,  so  that  our  soldiers,  now  slashing 
at  the  backs  of  the  fugitives,  and  finding  their  swords  so 
battered  that  they  were  insufficient  to  wound,  used  the 
enemy's  own  javelins,  and  so  slew  them.     Nor  could  any 
one   of  the   pursuers   satiate   himself  enough  with  their 
blood,  nor  allow  his  hand  to  weary  with  slaughter,  nor  did 
any  one  spare  a  suppliant  out  of  pity. 

53.  Numbers,   therefore,   lay   on  the   ground,   mortally 

1  The  Mirmillo  was  a  gladiator  opposed  to  a  Ketiarius,  prf  tecting 
himself  by  his  oblong  shield  against  the  net  of  the  latter. 


A.D.357.]  DEFEAT   OF   THE   ALLEMANNI.  119 

wounded,  imploring  instant  death  as  a  relief;  others,  half 
dead,  with  failing  breath  turned  their  dying  eyes  to  the 
last  enjoyment  of  the  light.  Of  some  the  heads  were 
almost  cut  off  by  the  huge  weapons,  and  merely  hung  by 
small  strips  to  their  necks;  others,  again,  who  had  fallen 
because  the  ground  had  been  rendered  slippery  by  the 
blood  of  their  comrades,  without  themselves  receiving  any 
wound,  were  killed  by  being  smothered  in  the  mass  of 
those  who  fell  over  them. 

54.  While  these  events  were  proceeding  thus  prosper- 
ously for  us,  the  conquerors  pressed  on  vigorously,  though 
the  edges  of  their  weapons  were  blunted  by  frequent  use, 
and  shining  helmets  and  shields  were  trampled  under  foot. 
At  last,  in  the  extremity  of  their  distress,  the  barbarians, 
finding  the  heaps  of  corpses  block  up  all  the  paths,  sought 
the  aid  of  the  river,  which  was  the  only  hope  left  to  them, 
and  which  they  had  now  reached. 

55.  And  because   our   soldiers   unweariedly   and   with 
great  speed  pressed,  with  arms  in  their  hands,  upon  the 
fleeing  bands,  many,  hoping  to  be  able  to  deliver  them- 
selves from  danger  by  their  skill  in  swimming,  trusted 
their  lives  to  the  waves.     And  Julian,  with  prompt  appre- 
hension, seeing  what  would  be  the  result,  strictly  forbade 
the  tribunes  and  captains   to   allow  any  of  our  men  to 
pursue  them  so  eagerly  as  to  trust  themselves  to  the  dan- 
gerous currents  of  the  river. 

56.  In  consequence  of  which  order  they  halted  on  the 
brink,  and  from  it  wounded  the  Germans  with  every  kind 
of  missile  ;  while,  if  any  of  them  escaped  from  death  of 
that  kind  by  the  celerity  of  their  movements,  they  still 
sunk  to  the  bottom  from  the  weight  of  their  own  arms. 

57.  And  as  sometimes  in  a  theatrical  spectacle  the  cur- 
tain exhibits  marvellous  figures,   so  here  one   could  see 
many  strange  things  in  that  danger ;  some  unconsciously 
clinging   to   others    who   were    good    swimmers,   others 
who  were  floating  were  pushed  off"  by  those  less  encum- 
bered as  so  many  logs,  others  again,  as  if  the  violence  of 
the  stream  itself  fought  against  them,  were  swallowed  up 
in  the  eddies.    Some  supported  themselves  on  their  shields, 
avoiding  the  heaviest  attacks  of  the  opposing  waves  by 
crossing  them  in  an  oblique  direction,  and  so,  after  many 
dangers,  reached  the  opposite  brink,  till  at  last  the  foaming 


120  AMMIAMJS   MARCELLINUS.  [BK.  XVI.  CH.  xn. 

river,  discoloured  with  barbarian  blood,  was  itself  amazed 
at  the  unusual  increase  it  had  received. 

58.  And  while  this  was  going  on,  Chnodomarius,  the 
king,  finding  an  opportunity  of  escaping,  making  his  way 
over  the  heaps  of  dead  with  a  small  escort,  hastened  with 
exceeding  speed  towards  the  camp  which  he  had  made 
near  the  two  Roman  fortresses  of  Alstatt  and  Lauterbourg,  in 
the  country  of  the  Tribocci,  that  he  might  embark  in  some 
boats  which  had  already  been  prepared  in  case   of  any 
emergency,  and  so  escape  to  some  secret  hiding-place  in 
which  he  might  conceal  himself. 

59.  And  because  it  was  impossible  for  him  to  reach  his 
camp  without  crossing  the  Rhine,  he  hid  his  face  that  he 
might  not  be  recognized,  and  after  that  retreated  slowly. 
And  when  he  got  near  the  bank  of  the  river,  as  he  was 
feeling  his  way  round  a  marsh,  partly  overflowed,  seeking 
some  path  by  which  to  cross  it,  his  horse  suddenly  stumbled 
in  some  soft  and  sticky  place,  and  he  was  thrown  down, 
but  though  he  was  fat  and  heavy,  he  without  delay  reached 
the  shelter  of  a  hill  in  the  neighbourhood ;  there  he  was 
recognized  (for  indeed  he  could  not  conceal  who  he  was, 
being  betrayed  by  the  greatness  of  his  former  fortune)  :  and 
immediately  a  squadron  of  cavalry  came  up  at  full  gallop 
with  its  tribune,  and  cautiously  surrounded  the  wooded 
mound ;  though  they  feared  to  enter  the  thicket  lest  they 
should  fall  into  any  ambuscade  concealed  among  the  trees. 

60.  But  when  he  saw  them  he  was  seized  with  extreme 
terror,  and  of  his  own  accord  came  forth  by  himself  and 
surrendered ;  and  his  companions,  two  hundred  in  number, 
and  his  three  most  intimate  friends,  thinking  it  would  be  a 
crime  in  them  to  survive  their  king,  or  not  to  die  for  him 
if  occasion  required,  gave  themselves  up  also  as  prisoners. 

61.  And,   as  barbarians  are  naturally  low  spirited   in 
adverse  fortune,  and  very  much  the  reverse  in  moments  of 
prosperity,  so  now  that  he  was  in  the  power  of  another  he 
became  pale  and  confused,  his  consciousness  of  guilt  closing 
his  mouth  ;  widely  different  from  him  who  lately,  insulting 
the   ashes   of  the  Gauls   with   ferocious   and   lamentable 
violence,  poured  forth  savage  threats   against  the  whole 
empire. 

62.  Now  after  these  affairs  were  thus  by  the  favour  of 
the  deity  brought  to  an  end,  the  victorious  soldiers  were 


A.D.  357.]  DEATH    OF   CHNODOMARIUS.  121 

recalled  at  the  close  of  the  day  to  their  camp  by  the 
signal  of  the  trumpeter,  and  marched  towards  the  bank  of 
the  Rhine,  and  there  erecting  a  rampart  of  shields  piled 
together  in  several  rows,  they  refreshed  themselves  with 
food  and  sleep. 

63.  There  fell  in  this  battle,  of  Eomans  243,  and  four 
generals :  Bainobaudes,  the  tribune  of  the  Cornuti,  and  with 
him  Laipso,  and  Innocentius,  who  commanded  the  cuiras- 
siers, and  one  tribune  who  had  no  particular  command, 
and  whose  name  I  forget.     But  of  the  Allemanni,  there 
were  found  6000  corpses  on  the  field,  and  incalculable  num- 
bers were  carried  down  by  the  waves  of  the  river. 

64.  Then  Julian,  as  one  who  was  now  manifestly  ap- 
proved by  fortune,  and  was  also  greater  in  his  merit  than 
even  in  his  authority,  was  by  unanimous  acclamation  hailed 
as  Augustus  by  the  soldiers  ;  but  he  sharply  reproved  them 
for  so  doing,  affirming  with  an  oath  that  he  neither  wished 
for  such  an  honour,  nor  would  accept  it. 

65.  In  order  to  increase  the  joy  at  his  recent  success, 
Julian  ordered  Chnodomarius  to  be  brought  before  him  at 
his  council ;  who  at  first  bowing,  and  then  like  a  sup- 
pliant, prostrating  himself  on   the  ground,  and  imploring 
pardon   with  entreaties   framed   after  the   fashion  of  his 
nation,  was  bidden  to  take  courage. 

66.  A  few  days  afterwards  he  was  conducted  to  the  court 
of  the  emperor,  and  thence  he  was  sent  to  Rome,  where  he 
died  of  a  lethargy  in  the  foreign  camp  which  is  stationed  on 
Mons  Caslius. 

67.  Notwithstanding  that  these  numerous  and  important 
events  were  brought  to  so  happy  an  issue,  some  persons  in 
the  palace  of  Constantius,  disparaging  Julian  in  order  to 
give  pleasure  to  the  emperor,  in  a  tone  of  derision  called 
him  Victorinus,  because   he,  modestly  relating  how  often 
he  had  been  employed  in  leading  the  army,  at  the  same 
time  related  that  the  Germans  had  received  many  defeats. 

68.  They  at  the  same  time,  by  loading  the  emperor  with 
empty  praises,  of  which  the  extravagance  was  glaringly 
conspicuous,  so  inflated  an  inherent  pride,  already  beyond 
all  natural  bounds,  that  he  was  led  to  believe  that,  what- 
ever took  place  in  the  whole  circumference  of  the  earth 
was  owing  to  his  fortunate  auspices. 

69.  So  that,  being  inflated  by  the  pompous  language  ot 


122  AMMIANUS   MARCELLINUS.  [BK.  XV].  CH.  m 

his  flatterers,  he  then,  and  at  all  subsequent  periods,  be- 
came accustomed  in  all  the  edicts  which  he  published  to 
advance  many  unfounded  statements ;  assuming,  that  he 
by  himself  had  fought  and  conquered,  when  in  fact  he  had 
not  been  present  at  anything  that  had  happened;  often 
also  asserting  that  he  had  raised  up  the  suppliant  kings  of 
conquered  nations.  For  instance,  if  while  he  was  still  in 
Italy  any  of  his  generals  had  fought  a  brilliant  campaign 
against  the  Persians,  the  emperor  would  write  triumphant 
letters  to  the  provinces  without  the  slightest  mention  of 
the  general  throughout  its  whole  length,  relating  with 
odious  self-praise  how  he  himself  had  fought  in  the  front 
ranks. 

70.  Lastly,  edicts  of  his  are  still  extant,  laid  up  among 
the  public  records  of  the  empire  ....  relating  .  .  .  .* 
and  extolling  himself  to  the  skies.  A  letter  also  is  to 
be  found,  though  he  was  forty  days'  journey  from  Stras- 
burg  when  the  battle  was  fought,  describing  the  engage- 
ment, saying  that  he  marshalled  the  army,  stood  among 
the  standard-bearers,  and  put  the  barbarians  to  the  rout ; 
and  with  amazing  falsehood  asserting  that  Chnodomarius 
was  brought  before  him,  without  (oh  shameful  indignity!) 
saying  a  single  word  about  the  exploits  of  Julian ;  which 
he  would  have  utterly  buried  in  oblivion  if  fame  had  not 
refused  to  let  great  deeds  die,  however  many  people  may 
try  to  keep  them  in  the  shade. 

*  The  text  is  mutilated  here,  as  in  many  other  passages  similarly 
marked. 


AX.  3M.1  123 


BOOK    XVII. 


ARGUMENT. 

I.  Julian  crosses  the  Rhine  and  plunders  and  burns  the  towns  of  the 
Allemanni,  repairs  the  fortress  of  Trajan,  and  grants  the  barbarians 
a  truce  for  ten  months. — II.  He  hems  in  six  hundred  Franks 
who  are  devastating  the  second  Germania,  and  starves  them  into 
surrender. — III.  He  endeavours  to  relieve  the  Gauls  from  some 
of  the  tribute  which  weighs  them  down. — IV.  By  order  of  the 
Emperor  Constantius  an  obelisk  is  erected  at  Rome  in  the  Circus 
Maximus  ; — some  observations  on  obelisks  and  on  hieroglyphics. — 

V.  Constantius  and  Sapor,  king  of  the   Persians,  by  means  of 
ambassadors  and  letters,  enter  into  a  vain  negotiation  for  peace. — 

VI.  The  Nethargi,  an  Alleman  tribe,  are  defeated  in  the  Tyrol, 
which  they  were  laying  waste. — VII.  Nicomedia  is  destroyed  by 
an  earthquake ;  some  observations  on  earthquakes — VIII.  Julian 
receives  the  surrender  of  the  Salii,  a  Prankish  tribe.     He  defeats 
one  body  of  the  Chamari,  takes  another  body  prisoners,  and  grants 
peace  to  the  rest. — IX.  He  repairs  three  forts  on  the  Mouse  that 
had  been  destroyed  by  the  barbarians.    His  soldiers  suffer  from 
want,  and  become  discontented  and  reproachful. — X.  Surmarius 
and  Hortarius,  kings  of .  the  Allemanni,  surrender  their  prisoners 
and  obtain  peace  from  Julian. — XI.  Julian,  after  his  successes  in 
Gaul,  is  disparaged  at  the  court  of  Constantius  by  enviers  of  his 
fame,  and  is  spoken  of  as  inactive  and  cowardly. — XII.   The 
Emperor  Constantius  compels  the  Sarmatians  to  give  hostage,  and 
to  restore  their  prisoners ;  and  imposes  a  king  on  tlte  Samiatian 
exiles,  whom  he  restores  to  their  country  and  to  freedom.— XIII.  He 
compels  the  Limigantes,  after  defeating  them  with  great  slaughter, 
to  emigrate,  and  harangues  his  own  soldiers. — XIV.  The  Roman 
ambassadors,  who  had  been  sent  to  treat  for  peace,  return  from 
Persia  ;  and  Sapor  returns  into  Armenia  and  Mesopotamia. 

I. 

A.D.  357. 

§  1.  AFTER  the  various  affairs  which  we  have  described 
were  brought  to  a  conclusion,  the  warlike  young  prince, 
now  that  the  battle  of  Strasburg  had  secured  him  the  na- 
vigation of  the  Ehine,  felt  anxious  that  the  ill-omened 


124  AMMIANDS  MARCELLINUS.  [Bit.  XVIL  CH.  I 

birds  should  not  feed  on  the  corpses  of  the  slain,  and  so 
ordered  them  all  to  be  buried  without  distinction.  And 
having  dismissed  the  ambassadors  whom  we  have  men- 
tioned as  having  come  with  some  arrogant  messages  before 
the  battle,  he  returned  to  Saverne. 

2.  From   this  place  he  ordered  all  the  booty  and  the 
prisoners  to  be  brought  to  Metz,  to  be  left  there  till  his 
return.    Then  departing  for  Mayence,  to  lay  down  a  bridge 
at  that  city  and  to  seek  the  barbarians  in  their  own  terri- 
tories, since  he  had  left  none  of  them  in  arms,  he  was  at 
first  met  by  great  opposition  on  the  part  of  his  army ;  but 
addressing  them  with  eloquence  and  persuasion  he  soon 
won  them  to  his  opinion.     For  their  affection  for  him,  be- 
coming strengthened  by  repeated  experience,  induced  them 
to  follow  one  who  shared  in  all  their  toils,  and  who,  while 
never  surrendering  his  authority,  was  still  accustomed,  as 
every  one  saw,  to  impose  more  labour  on  himself  than  on 
his  men.     They  soon  arrived  at  the  appointed  spot,  and, 
crossing  the  river  by  a  bridge  they  laid  down,  occupied 
the  territory  of  the  enemy. 

3.  The  barbarians,  amazed  at  the  greatness  of  his  enter- 
prise, inasmuch  as  they  had  fancied  they  were  situated  in 
a  position  in  which  they  could  hardly  be  disturbed,  were 
now  led  by  the  destruction  of  their  countrymen  to  think 
anxiously  of  their  own  future  fate,  and  accordingly,  pre- 
tending to  implore  peace  that  they  might  escape  from  the 
violence  of  his  first  invasion,  they  sent  ambassadors  to  him 
with  a  set  message,  offering  a  lasting  treaty  of  agreement; 
but  (though  it  is  not  known  what  design  or  change  of 
circumstances   altered   their    purpose)   they   immediately 
afterwards  sent  off  some  others  with  all  speed,  to  threaten 
our  troops  with  implacable  war  if  they  did  not  at  once  quit 
their  territories. 

4.  And  when  this  was  known,  the  Caesar,  as  soon  as  all 
was  quiet,  at  the  beginning  of  night  embarked  800  men  in 
some  small  swift  boats,  with  the  intention  that  they  should 
row  with  all  their  strength  up  stream  for  some  distance, 
and  then  land  and  destroy  all  they  could  find  with  fire 
and  sword. 

5.  After  he  had  made  this  arrangement,  the  barbarians 
were  seen  at  daybreak  on  the  tops  of  the  mountains,  on 


«.D.  357.J  JULIAN   PURSUES   THE   ALLEMANNI.  125 

which  our  soldiers  were  led  with  speed  to  the  higher 
ground ;  and  when  no  enemy  was  found  there  (since  the 
barbarians,  divining  their  plan,  immediately  retreated  to 
a  distance),  presently  large  volumes  of  smoke  were  seen, 
which  indicated  that  our  men  had  broken  into  the  enemy's 
territory,  and  were  laying  it  waste. 

6.  This  event  broke  the  spirit  of  the  Germans,  who,  de- 
serting the  ambuscades  which  they  had  laid  for  our  men 
in  narrow  defiles  full  of  lurking-places,  they  fled  across 
the  river  Maine  to  carry  aid  to  their  countrymen. 

7.  For,  as  is  often  the  case  in  times  of  uncertainty  and 
difficulty,  they  were  panic-stricken  by  the  incursion  of  our 
cavalry  on  the  one  side,  and  the  sudden  attacks  of  our 
infantry,  conveyed  in  boats,  on  the  other ;  and  therefore, 
relying  on  their  knowledge  of  the  country;  they  sought 
safety  in  the  rapidity  of  their  flight ;  and,  as  their  retreat 
left   the   motions  of  our  troops   free,  we   plundered   the 
wealthy  farms  of  their  crops  and  their  cattle,  sparing  no 
one.     And  having  carried  off  a  number  of  prisoners,  we 
set  fire  to,  and  burnt  to  the  ground  all  their  houses,  which 
in  that  district  were  built  more  carefully  than  usual,  in 
the  Eoman  fashion. 

-  8.  And  when  we  had  penetrated  a  distance  of  ten  miles, 
till  we  came  near  a  wood  terrible  from  the  denseness  of  its 
shade,  our  army  halted  for  a  while,  and  stayed  its  advance, 
having  learnt  from  information  given  by  a  deserter  that 
a  number  of  enemies  were  concealed  in  some  subterranean 
passages  and  caverns  with  many  entrances  in  the  neigh- 
bourhood, ready  to  sally  forth  when  a  favourable  oppor- 
tunity should  appear. 

9.  Nevertheless  our  men  presently  ventured  to  advance 
in  full  confidence,  and  found  the  roads  blockaded  by  oaks, 
ashes,  and  pines,  of  great  size,  cut  down  and  laid  together. 
And  so  they  retreated  with  caution,  perceiving  that  it  was 
impossible  to  advance  except  by  long  and  rugged  defiles  ; 
though  they  could   hardly  restrain  their  indignation  at 
being  compelled  to  do  so. 

10.  The  weather  too  became  very  sever  e,  so  that  they 
were  enveloped  in  all  kinds  of  toil  and  danger  to  no  pur- 
pose (forasmuch  as  it  was  now  past  the  autumnal  equinox, 
and  the  snow,  which  had  already  fallen  in  those  regions, 
covered  the  mountains  and  the  plains),  and  so,  instead  of 


126  AMMIANUS   MARCELLIXUS.  [BK.  XVII.  Cn.  i. 

proceeding,   Julian   undertook  a  work  worthy  of  being 
related. 

11.  He  repaired  with  great  expedition,  while  there  was 
no  one  to  hinder  him,  the  fortress  which  Trajan  had  con- 
gtructed  in  the  territory  of  the  Allemanni,  and  to  which 
he  had  given  his  own  name,  and  which  had  lately  been 
attacked  with  great  violence  and  almost  destroyed.     And 
he  placed  there  a  temporary  garrison,  and  also  some  maga- 
zines, which  he  had  collected  from  the  barbarians. 

12.  But  when  the  Allemanni  saw  these  preparations 
made  for  their  destruction,  they  assembled  rapidly  in  great 
consternation  at  what  had  already  been  done,  and   sent 
ambassadors   to   implore  peace,  with  prayers  of  extreme 
humility.     And  the  Caesar,  now  that  he  had  fully  matured 
and  secured  the  success  of  all  his  designs,  taking  into  con- 
sideration all  probabilities,  granted  them  a  truce  for  ten 
months.     In  reality  he  was  especially  influenced  by  this 
prudent  consideration,  that  the  camp  which  he  had  thus 
occupied  without  hindrance,  in  a  way  that  could  hardly 
have  been  hoped  for,  required,  nevertheless,  to  be  fortified 
with  mural  engines  and  other  adequate  equipments. 

13.  Trusting  to  this  truce,  three  of  the  most  ferocious 
of   those  kings   who   had   sent  reinforcements   to    their 
countrymen  when  defeated   at   Strasburg,  came  to  him, 
though  still  in  some  degree  of  alarm,  and  took  the  oaths 
according  to  the  formula  in  use  in  their  country,  that  they 
would  create  no  further  disturbance,  but  that  they  would 
keep  the  truce  faithfully  up  to  the  appointed  day,  because 
that  had  been  the  decision  of  our  generals  ;  and  that  they 
would  not  attack  the  fortress ;  and  that  they  would  even 
bring   supplies  to   it  on  their  shoulders    if  the  garrison 
informed  them  that  they  were  in  want;  all  which  they 
promised,  because  their  fear  bridled  their  treachery. 

14.  In  this  memorable  war,  which  deserves  to  be  com- 
pared with  those  against  the  Carthaginians  or  the  Gauls, 
yet  was  accompanied  with  very  little  loss  to  the  republic, 
Julian    triumphed   as  a  fortunate   and   successful   leader. 
The  very  smallness  of  his  losses  might  have  given  some 
colour  to  the  assertions  of  his  detractors,  who  declared 
that  he  had  only  fought  bravely  on  all  occasions,  because 
he  preferred  dying  gloriously  to  being  put  to  death  like 
his  brother  Gallus,  as  a  condemned  malefactor,  as  they  had 


A.D.  357.]  JULIAN'S  OPERATIONS.  127 

expected  he  would  be,  if  he  had  not,  after  the  death  of 
Constautius,  continued  to  distinguish  himself  equally  by 
splendid  exploits. 

II. 

§  1.  Now  when  everything  was  settled  in  that  country  as 
fairly  as  the  case  permitted,  Julian,  returning  to  his  winter 
quarters,  found  some  trouble  still  left  for  him.  Severus, 
the  master  of  the  horse,  being  on  the  way  to  Bheirns  through 
Cologne  and  Juliers,  fell  in  with  some  strong  battalions  of 
Franks,  consisting  of  six  hundred  light-armed  soldiers,  who 
were  laying  waste  those  places  which  were  not  defended 
by  garrisons.  They  had  been  encouraged  to  this  audacious 
wickedness  by  the  opportunity  afforded  them  when  the 
Caesar  was  occupied  in  the  remote  districts  of  the  Alle- 
manni,  thinking  to  obtain  a  rich  booty  without  any  hin- 
drance. But  in  fear  of  the  army  which  had  now  returned, 
they  occupied  two  fortresses  which  had  been  abandoned 
for  some  time,  and  defended  themselves  there  as  long  as 
they  could. 

2.  Julian,  amazed  at  the  novelty  of  such  an  attempt,  and 
thinking  it  impossible  to  say  how  far  such  a  spirit  would 
spread  if  he  allowed  it  to  pass  without  a  check,  halted 
his  soldiers,  and  gave  orders  to  blockade  the  forts.     .     .     . 
The  Meuse  passes  beneath  them ;  and  the  blockade  was 
protracted  for  fifty -four  days,  through  nearly  the  entire 
months  of  December  and  January,  the  barbarians  resisting 
with  incredible  obstinacy  and  courage. 

3.  Then  the  Ceesar,  like  an  experienced  general,  fearing 
that  the  barbarians  might  take  advantage  of  some  moonless 
night  to  cross  over  the  river,  which  was  now  thoroughly 
frozen,  ordered  soldiers  to  go  up  and  down  the   stream 
every  day  in  light  boats,  from  sunset  till  daybreak,  so  as  to 
break  the  crust  of  ice  and  prevent  any  one  from  escaping 
in  that  manner.     Owing  to  this  manoeuvre,  the  barbarians 
were  so  exhausted  by  hunger,  watching,  and  the  extremity 
of  despair,  that  at  last  they  voluntarily  surrendered,  and 
were  immediately  sent  to  the  court  of  the  emperor. 

4.  And  a  vast  multitude  of  Franks,  who  had  come  to 
their  assistance,  hearing  that  they  were  taken  prisoners  and 
sent  off,  would  not  venture  on  any  further  enterprise,  but 
returned  to  their   own   countiy.     And  when  this   afla.it 


128  AMMIANUS   MARCELLINUS.  [b*.  XVII.  CH.  r.\ 

was  finished,  the  Caesar  retired  to  Paris  to  pa>e  the  winter 
there. 

III. 

§  1 .  IT  was  now  expected  that  a  number  of  tribes  would 
unite  in  greater  force,  and  therefore  the  prudent  Julian, 
bearing  in  mind  the  uncertainties  of  war,  became  very 
anxious  and  full  of  care.  And  as  he  thought  that  the 
truce  lately  made,  though  not  free  from  trouble,  and  not 
of  long  duration,  still  gave  him  opportunity  to  remedy 
some  things  which  were  faulty,  he  began  to  remodel  the 
arrangements  about  tribute. 

2.  And  when  Florentius,  the  prefect  of  the  praetorium, 
having   taken   an   estimate   of  everything,    affirmed   that 
whatever  deficiency  there  might  be  in  the  produce  of  a 
capitation  tax  he  should  be  able  to  make  good  from  what 
he   could   levy  by  force,  Julian,   deprecating   this  prac- 
tice, determined  to  lose  his  own  life  rather  than  permit 
it. 

3.  For  he  knew  that  the  wounds  inflicted  by  such  ex- 
tortions, or,  as  I  should  rather  call  them,  confiscations,  are 
incurable,  and  have  often  reduced  provinces  to  extreme 
destitution.     Indeed,  such  conduct,  as  will  be  related  here- 
after, utterly  lost  us  lllyricum. 

4.  And    when,    owing   to   this    resolution   of    his,   the 
praetorian  prefect  exclaimed  that  it  could  not  be  endured 
that  he,  to   whom  the    emperor  had  intrusted  the   chief 
authority  in  this  matter,  should  be  thus  distrusted,  Julian 
attempted  to  appease  him,  showing  by  exact  and  accurate 
calculations  that  the  capitation  tax  was  not  only  enough, 
but  more    than   enough    to    provide    all    the    necessary 
supplies. 

5.  And  when   some   time    afterwards  an    edict   for  a 
supplementary  tax  was  nevertheless  presented  to  him  by 
Florentius,  he  refused  to  sign  or  even  to  read  it ;    and 
threw  it  on   the   ground  ;    and  when   warned   by  letters 
from    the    emperor  (written  on  receiving  the   prefect's 
report)  not  to  act  in  so  embarrassing  a  manner,  lest  he 
should  seem  to  be  diminishing  the  authority  of  Florentius, 
Julian   wrote   in  answer,    that    it  was    a  matter  to   be 
thankful  for,  if  a  province   that  had   been  devastated  in 
every  direction  could  still  pay  its  regular  taxes,  without 


AJ>.  as:.1,  JULIAN'S  MEASURES  i.v  GAUL.  129 

demanding  from  it  any  extraordinary  contributions,  which 
indeed  no  punishments  could  extort  from  men  in  a  state  of 
destitution  :  and  then,  and  from  that  time  forward,  owing 
to  the  firmness  of  one  man,  no  one  ever  attempted  to  extort 
anything  illegal  in  Gaul  beyond  the  regular  taxes. 

0.  The  Caesar  had  also  in  another  affair  set  an  example 
wholly  unprecedented,  entreating  the  prefect  to  intrust 
to  him  the  government  of  the  second  Belgic  province, 
which  was  oppressed  by  manifold  evils  ;  on  the  especial 
and  single  condition  that  no  officer,  either  belonging  to  the 
prefect  or  to  the  garrison,  should  force  any  one  to  pay 
anything.  And  the  whole  people  whom  he  thus  took 
under  his  care,  comforted  and  relieved  by  this  mildness, 
paid  all  the  taxes  due  from  them  before  the  appointed  day, 
without  any  demand  being  made  upon  them. 

IV. 

§  1.  WHILK  Julian  was  thus  beginning  to  put  Gaul  into 
a  better  condition,  and  while  Orfitus  was  still  governor  of 
the  second  province,  an  obelisk  was  erected  at  Eome,  in 
the  Circus  Maximus,  concerning  which,  as  this  seems  a 
convenient  opportunity,  I  will  mention  a  few  particulars. 

2.  The  city  of  Thebes,  in  Egypt,  built  in  remote  ages, 
with  enormous  walls,  and  celebrated  also  for  entrances  by 
a  hundred  gates,  was  from  this  circumstance  called  by  its 
founders  Iraro^TriAoe  (Hecatompylos) ;  and  from  the  name  of 
this  city  the  whole  district  is  known  as  Thebais. 

3.  When  Carthage  began  to  rise  in  greatness,  the  Cartha- 
ginian generals  conquered  and  destro}Ted   Thebes  by  a 
sudden  attack.     And  after  it  was  rebuilt,  Cambyses,  the 
celebrated  king  of  Persia,  who  throughout  his  whole  life 
was    covetous  and   ferocious,   overran    Egypt,   and   again 
attacked  this  city  that  he  might  plunder  it  of  its  wealth, 
which  was  enough  to  excite  his  envy ;  and  he  spared  not 
even  the  offerings  which  had  been  made  to  the  gods. 

4.  And  while  he  was  in  his  savage  manner  moving  to 
and  fro  among  his  plunderers,  he  got  entangled  in  his  own 
flowing  robes,  and  fell  on  his  face,  and  by  the  fall  his 
dagger,  which  he  wore  close  to  his  thigh,  got  loose  from 
the  scabbard,  and  he  was  mortally  wounded  and  died. 

5.  And  long  afterwards,  Cornelius  Gallus,  who  was  gover 

K 


130  AMMIAXUS  MARCEl.LINUS.  [BK.  XVII.  CH.  IT. 

nor  of  Egypt  at  the  time  when  Octavianus  was  emperor  of 
Rome,  impoverished  the  city  by  plundering  it  of  most  of 
its  treasuries  ;  and  returning  to  Rome  on  being  accused  of 
theft  and  of  laying  waste  the  province,  he,  from  fear  of  the 
nobles,  who  were  bitterly  indignant  against  him,  as  one  to 
whom  the  emperor  had  committed  a  most  honourable  task, 
fell  on  his  own  sword  and  so  died.  If  I  mistake  not,  he  is 
the  same  person  as  Gallus  the  poet,  whose  loss  Virgil  de- 
plores at  the  end  of  his  Bucolics,  celebrating  his  memory 
in  sweet  verses. 

6.  In  this  city  of  Thebes,  among  many  works  of  art  and 
different  structures   recording  the   tales  relating  to  the 
Egyptian  deities,  we  saw  several  obelisks  in  their  places, 
and  others  which  had  been  thrown   down  and  broken; 
which  the  ancient  kings,  when  elated  at  some  victory  or 
at  the  general  prosperity  of  their  affairs,  had  caused  to  be 
hewn  out  of  mountains  in  distant  parts  of  the  world,  and 
erected  in  honour  of  the  gods,  to  whom  they  solemnly 
consecrated  them. 

7.  Now  an  obelisk  is  a  rough  stone,  rising  to  a  great 
height,  shaped  like  a  pillar  in  the  stadium  ;  and  it  tapers 
upwards  in  imitation  of  a  sunbeam,  keeping  its  quadri- 
lateral shape,  till  it  rises  almost  to  a  point,  being  made 
smooth  by  the  hand  of  a  sculptor 

8.  On  these  obelisks  the  ancient  authority  of  elementary 
wisdom  has  caused  innumerable  marks  of  strange  forms 
all  over  them,  which  are  called  hieroglyphics. 

9.  For  the  workmen,   carving  many  kinds  of  birds  and 
beasts,  some  even  such  as  must  belong  to  another  world,  in 
order  that  the  recollection  of  the  exploits  which  the  obelisk 
was  designed  to  commemorate  might  reach  to  subsequent 
ages,  showed  by  them  the  accomplishment  of  vows  which 
the  kings  had  made. 

10.  For  it  was  not  the  case  then  as  it  is  now,  that  the 
established  number  of  letters  can  distinctly  express  what- 
ever the  human  mind  conceives ;  nor  did  the  ancient  Egyp- 
tians write  in  such  a  manner ;  but  each  separate  character 
served  for  a  separate  noun  or  verb,  and  sometimes  even 
for  an  entire  sense. 

11.  Of  which  fact  the  two  following  may  for  the  present 
be  sufficient  instances :  by  the  figure  of  a  vulture  they 
indicate  the  name  of  nature ;  because  naturalists  declaie 


A.D.  357.]  EGYPTIAN   OBELISKS.  131 

that  no  males  are  found  in  this  class  of  bird.  And  by  the 
figure  of  a  bee  making  honey  they  indicate  a  king ;  show- 
ing by  such  a  sign  that  stings  as  well  as  sweetness  are 
the  characteristics  of  a  ruler  ;  and  there  are  many  similar 
emblems. 

12.  And  because  the  flatterers,  who  were  continually 
whispering  into  the  ear  of  Constantius,  kept  always  affirm- 
ing that  when  Augustus  Octavianus  had  brought  two  obe- 
lisks from  Heliopolis,  a  city  of  Egypt,  one  of  which  was 
placed  in  the  Circus  Maximus,  and  the  other  in  the  Campus 
Martius,  he  yet  did  not  venture  to  touch  or  move  this 
one  which  has  just  been  brought  to  Rome,  being  alarmed 
at  the  greatness  of  such  a  task ;  I  would  have  those,  who 
do  not  know  the  truth,  learn  that  the  ancient  emperor, 
though  he  moved  several  obelisks,  left  this  one  untouched, 
because  it  was  especially  dedicated  to  the  Sun-god,  and 
was  set  up  within  the  precincts  of  his  magnificent  temple, 
which  it  was  impious  to  profane ;  and  of  which  it  was  the 
most  conspicuous  ornament. 

13.  But  Constantine  deeming  that  a  consideration  of  no 
importance,  had  it  torn  up  from  its  place,  and    thinking 
rightly  that  he  should  not  be  offering  any  insult  to  religion 
if  he  removed  a  splendid  work  from  some  other  temple  to 
dedicate  it  to  the  gods  at  Rome,  which  is  the  temple  of  the 
whole  world,  let  it  lie  on  the  ground  for  some  time  while 
arrangements  for  its  removal  were  being  prepared.     And 
when  it  had  been  carried  down  the  Kile,  and  landed  at 
Alexandria,  a  ship  of  a  burden  hitherto  unexampled,  re- 
quiring three  hundred  rowers  to  propel  it,  was  built  to 
receive  it. 

14.  And  when  these  preparations  were  made,  and  after 
the  aforenamed  emperor  had  died,  the  enterprise  began 
to  cool.     However,  after  a  time  it  was  at  last  put  on  board 
ship,  and  conveyed  over  sea,  and  up  the  stream  of  the 
Tiber,  which  seemed  as  it  were  frightened,  lest  its  own 
winding  waters   should  hardly  be  equal  to  conveying  a 
present  from  the  almost  unknown  Nile  to  the  walls  which 
itself  cherished.     At  last  the  obelisk  reached  the  village 
of  Alexandria,  three  miles  from  the  city ;  and  then  it  was 
placed  in  a  cradle,   and  drawn  slowly  on,  and  brought 
through  the  Ostran  gate  and  the  public  fish-market  to  the 
Circus  Maximus. 


132  AMMIANU3   MARCELLINUS.  fBt  XVIL  CH.  IT. 

1 5.  The  only  work  remaining  to  be  done  was  to  raise  it, 
which  was  generally  believed  to  be  hardly,  if  at  all,  practi- 
cable. And  vast  beams  having  been  raised  on  end  in  a 
most  dangerous  manner,  so  that  they  looked  like  a  grove 
of  machines,  long  ropes  of  huge  size  were  fastened  to 
them,  darkening  the  very  sky  with  their  density,  as  they 
formed  a  web  of  innumerable  threads  ;  and  into  them  the 
great  stone  itself,  covered  over  as  it  was  with  elements  of 
writing,  was  bound,  and  gradually  raised  into  the  empty 
air,  and  long  suspended,  many  thousands  of  men  turning  it 
round  and  round  like  a  millstone,  till  it  was  at  last  placed 
in  the  middle  of  the  square ;  and  on  it  was  placed  a 
brazen  sphere,  made  brighter  with  plates  of  gold  :  and  as 
that  was  immediately  afterwards  struck  by  lightning,  and 
destroyed,  a  brazen  figure  like  a  torch  was  placed  on  it, 
also  plated  with  gold — to  look  as  if  the  torch  were  fully 
alight. 

1  fi.  Subsequent  ages  also  removed  other  obelisks ;  one 
of  which  is  in  the  Vatican,  a  second  in  the  garden  of 
Sallust :  and  two  in  the  monument  of  Augustus. 

17.  But  the  writing    which   is   engraven   on  the   old 
obelisk  in  the  Circus,  we  have  set  forth  below  in  Greek 
characters,  following  in  this  the  work  of  Hermapion : — 

APXHN  AHO  TON  NOTION  AIEPMHNEYMENA 

EXEI 
2TIXO2  HPQTO2  TAAE. 

18.  The  first  line,  beginning  on  the  south  side,  bpars 
this  interpretation — "  The   Sun  to  Bamestes  the  king — I 
have  given  to  thee  to   reign  with  joy  over  the  whole 
earth  ;  to  thee  whom  the  Sun  and  Apollo  love — to  thee,  the 
mighty  truth-loving  son  of  Heron — the  god-born  ruler  of 
the  habitable  earth  ;  whom  the  Sun  has  chosen  above  all 
men,  the  valiant  warlike  King  Eamestes.     Under  whose 
power,  by  his  valour  and  might,  the  whole  world  is  placed. 
The  King  Eamestes,  the  immortal  son  of  the  Sun." 

19.  The  second  line    is — "  The   mighty  Apollo,   who 
takes  his  stand  upon  truth,  the  lord  of  the  diadem,  he  who 
has   honoured   Egypt   by  becoming  its  master,  adorning 
Heliopolis,  and  having  created  the  rest  of  the  world,  and 
having  greatly  honoured  the  gods  who  have  their  shrinea 
in  the  city  of  the  Sun ;  whom  the  son  loves." 


4D.  3S8.n  INSCRIPTIONS  ON   THE  OBELISKS.  133 

20.  The  third    line—"  The    mighty   Apollo,   the    all- 
brilliant  son  of  the  Sun,  whom  the  Sun  chose  above  all 
others,  and  to  whom  the  valiant  Mars  gave  gifts.     Thou 
whose    good    fortune    abideth    for    ever.       Thou    whom 
Ammon  loves.     Thou  who  hast  filled  the  temple  of  the 
Phoenix  with  good  things.     Thou  to  whom  the  gods  have 
given  long  life.    Apollo  the  mighty  son  of  Heron,  Ramestes 
the  king  of  the  world.     Who  has  defended  Egypt,  having 
subdued  the  foreign  enemy.     Whom  the  Sun  loves.     To 
whom  the  gods  have  given  long  life — the  master  of  the 
world — the  immortal  Ramestes." 

21.  Another  second   line — "  The  Sun,  the  great   God, 
the  master  of  heaven.     I  have  given  unto  thee  a  life  free 
from  satiety.     Apollo,  the  mighty  master  of  the  diadem ; 
to  whom  nothing  is  comparable.     To  whom  the  lord  of 
Egypt  has  erected  many  statues  in  this  kingdom.     And 
has  made  the  city  of  Heliopolis  as  brilliant  as  the  Sun  him- 
self, the  master  of  heaven.     The  son  of  the  Sun,  the  king 
living  for  ever,  has  co-operated  in  the  completion  of  this 
work." 

22.  A  third  line — "  I,  the  Sun,  the  god,  the  master  of 
heaven,   have  given  to  Ramestes   the   king    might    and 
authority  over  all.      Whom  Apollo   the   truth-lover,   the 
master  of  time,  and  Vulcan  the  father  of  the  gods  hath 
chosen  above  others  by  reason  of  his  courage.     The  all- 
rejoicing  king,  the  son  of  the  Sun,  and  beloved  by  the 
Sun." 

23.  The  first  line,  looking  towards  the  east — "  The  great 
God  of  Heliopolis,  the  mighty  Apollo  who   dwelleth  in 
Heaven,  the  son  of  Heron  whom  the  Sun  hath  guided. 
Whom  the  gods  have  honoured.     He  who  ruleth  over  all 
the  earth  :    whom  the  Sun  has  chosen  before  all  others. 
The  king  valiant  by  the  favour  of  Mars.     Whom    Ammon 
loveth,  and  the  all-shining  god,  who  hath  chosen  him  as  a 
king  for  everlasting."     And  so  on. 

V. 

A.D.  358. 

§  1.  IN  the  consulship  of  Datianus  and  Cerealis,  when  all 
arrangements  in  Gaul  were  made  with  more  careful  zeal 
than  before,  and  while  the  terror  caused  by  past  events 


134  AMMIANUS   MARCELLINUS.  [Bit.  XVII.  OB.  T 

still  cl.ecked  the  outbreaks  of  the  barbarians,  the  king  of 
the  Persians,  being  still  on  the  frontiers  of  those  nations 
which  border  on  his  dominions,  and  having  made  a  treaty 
of  alliance  with  the  Chionitae  and  the  Gelani,  the  most 
warlike  and  indefatigable  of  all  tribes,  being  about  to 
return  to  his  own  country,  received  the  letters  of  Tamsapor 
which  announced  to  him  that  the  Roman  emperor  was  a 
suppliant  for  peace. 

2.  And  he,   suspecting  that  Constantius  would  never 
have  done  so  if  the  empire  had  not  been  weakened  all  over, 
raised  his  own  pretensions,  and  embracing  the  name  indeed 
of  peace,  offered  very  unwelcome  conditions.     And  having 
sent  a  man  of  the  name  of  N arses  as  ambassador  with  many 
presents,  he  gave  him  letters  to  Constantius,  in  which  he  in 
no  respect  abated  of  his  natural  pride.     The  purport  of 
these  letters  we  have  understood  to  be  this  : — 

3.  "  I,  Sapor,  king  of  kings,  partner  of  the  stars,  brother 
of  the  sun  and  moon,  to  Constantius  Csesar  my  brother  send 
much  greeting.      I  am  glad  and  am  well  pleased  that  at 
last  thou  hast  returned  to  the  right  way,  and  hast  acknow- 
ledged the  incorruptible  decree  of  equity,  having  gained 
experience  by  facts,  and  having  learnt  what  disasters  an 
obstinate  covetousness  of  the  property  of  others  has  often 
caused. 

4.  "  Because  therefore  the  language  of  truth  ought  to  be 
unrestrained  and  free,   and  because  men  in  the  highest 
rank  ought  only  to  say  what  they  mean,  I  will  reduce  my 
propositions  into  a  few  words ;  remembering  that  I  have 
already  often  repeated  what  I  am  now  about  to  say. 

5.  "  Even  your  own  ancient  records  bear  witness  that 
my  ancestors  possessed  all  the  countiy  up  to  the  Strymon 
and  the  frontier  of  Macedonia.      And  these   lands  it   is 
fitting  that  I  who  (not  to  speak  arrogantly)  am  superior 
to  those  ancient  kings  in  magnificence,  and  in  all  eminent 
virtues,   should  now  reclaim.      But  I  am    at  all  times 
thoughtful  to  remember  that,  from  my  earliest  yoTith,  I 
have  never  done  anything  to  repent  of. 

6.  "  And   therefore   it    is    a  duty   in    me  to    recover 
Armenia  and  Mesopotamia,  which  were  wrested  from  my 
ancestor  by  deliberate   treachery.       That  principle  was 
never  admitted  by  us  which  you  with  exultation  assert, 
that  all  successes   in  war  deserve  praise,  without  con- 


AJJ.358.]  SAPOR'S   LETTER.  135 

eidering  whether  they  were   achieved  by  valour  or  by 
treachery. 

7.  "  Lastly,  if  you  are  willing  to  be  guided  by  one  who 
gives  you  good  advice,  I  would  bid  you  despise  a  small 
part    of  your    dominions   which  is   ever   the    parent    of 
sorrow  and  bloodshed,  in  order  to  reign  in  safety  over  the 
rest.     \Visely  -considering  that  physicians  also  sometimes 
apply  cautery  or  amputation,  and  cut  off  portions  of  the 
body  that  the  patient  may  have  good  use  of  the  rest  of 
his  limbs.      Kay,  that  even   beasts  do   the   same :   since 
when  they  observe  on  what  account  they  are  most  espe- 
cially hunted,  they  will  of  their  own  accord  deprive  them- 
selves of  that,  in  order  henceforth  to  be  able  to  live  in 
security. 

8.  "This,  in  short,  I  declare,  that  should  my  present 
embassy  return  without  having  succeeded  in  its  object, 
after  giving  the  winter  season  to  rest  I  will  gird  myself  up 
with  all  my  strength,  and  while  fortune  and  justice  give 
me  a  well-founded  hope  of  ultimate  success,  I  will  hasten 
my  march  as  much  as  Providence  will  permit." 

9.  Having  given  long  consideration  to  this  letter,  the 
emperor  with  upright  and  wise  heart,  as  the  saying  is, 
made  answer  in  this  manner : — 

10.  "  Constantius,  always  august,  conqueror  by  land  and 
sea,  to  my  brother  Sapor  much  health.      I  congratulate 
thee  on  thy  safety,  as  one  who  is  willing  to  be  a  friend  to 
thee  if  thou  wilt.     But  I  greatly  blame  thy  insatiable 
covetousness,  now  more  grasping  than  ever. 

11.  "  Thou  demandest  Mesopotamia  as  thine  own,  and 
then  Armenia.     And  thou  biddest  me  cut  off  some  members 
from  my  sound  body  in  order  to  place  its  health  on  a 
sound  footing :  a  demand  which  is  to  be  rejected  at  once 
rather  than  to  be  encouraged  by  any  consent.     Receive 
therefore  the  truth,  not  covered  with  any  pretences,  but 
clear,  and  not  to  be  shaken  by  any  threats. 

12.  "  The  prefect  of  my  praetorian  guard,  thinking  to 
undertake  an  affair  which  might  be  beneficial  to  the  state, 
without  my  knowledge  discoursed  about  peace  with  thy 
generals,  by  the  agency  of  some  low  persons.     Peace  we 
should  neither  regret  nor  refuse — let  it  only  come  with 
credit  and  honour,  in  such  a  way  as  to  impair  neither  our 
self-respect  nor  our  dignity. 


136  AMMIANUS  MAllCELUNUS.  [Bn.  XVII. CH.  n. 

13.  "  For   it   would   be  an   unbecoming   and  shameful 
thing  when  all  men's  ears  are  filled  with  our  exploits, 
so  as  to  have  shut  even  the  mouth  of  envy ;  when  after 
the  destruction  of  tyrants  the  whole  Eoman  world  obeys 
us,  to  give  up  those  territories  which  even  when  limited 
to  the  narrow  boundaries  of  the  east  we  preserved  un- 
diminished. 

14.  "  But  I  pray  thee  make  an  end  of  the  threats  which 
thou  utterest  against   me,   in   obedience  to  thy  national 
habit,  when  it   cannot   be   doubted   that   it   is   not   from 
inactivity,  but  from    moderation,  that  we   have  at  times 
endured  attacks  instead  of  being  the  assailants  ourselves : 
and  know  that,  whenever  we  are  attacked,  we  defend  our 
own  with  bravery  and  good  will :  being  assured  both  by 
thy  reading  and  thy  personal  experience  that  in  battle  it 
has  been  rare  for  Romans  to  meet  with  disaster ;  and  that 
in  the  final  issue  of  a  war  we  have  never  come  off  the 
worst." 

15.  The  embassy  was  therefore  dismissed  without  gaining 
any  of  its  objects ;    and  indeed  no  other  reply  could  be 
given  to  the  unbridled  covetousness  of  the  king.     And  a 
few  days  afterwards,  Count  Prosper  followed,  and  Spectatus 
the  tribune  and  secretary ;  and  also,  by  the  suggestion  of 
Musonianus,  Eustathius  the  philosopher,  as  one  sskilful  in 
persuading,  bearing    a    letter    from    the    emperor,   and 
presents,  with  a  view  to  induce  Sapor  to  suspend  his  pre- 
parations, so  that  all  our  attention  might   be  turned  to 
fortifying  the  northern  provinces  in  the  most  effective 
manner. 


§  1.  Now  while  these  affairs,  of  so  doubtful  a  complexion, 
were  proceeding,  that  portion  of  the  Allemanni  which 
borders  on  the  regions  of  Italy,  forgetful  of  the  peace  and 
of  the  treaties  which  they  only  obtained  by  abject  entreaty, 
laid  waste  the  Tyrol  with  such  fury  that  they  even 
went  beyond  their  usual  habit  in  undertaking  the  siege  of 
some  walled  towns. 

2.  And  when  a  strong  force  had  been  sent  to  repel  them 
under  the  command  of  Barbatio,  who  had  been  promoted 
to  the  command  of  the  infantry  in  the  room  of  Silvanrs, 


A.D.358.]  EARTHQUAKES    IN    ASIA.  137 

a  man  of  not  much  activity,  but  a  fluent  talker,  he,  as  his 
troops  were  in  a  high  state  of  indignation  at  the  invaders, 
gave  them  so  terrible  a  defeat,  that  only  a  very  few,  who 
took  to  flight  in  their  panic,  escaped  to  earcy  back  their 
tears  and  lamentations  to  their  homes. 

3.  In  this  battle  Kevita,  who  afterwards  became  consul, 
was  present  as  commander  of  a  squadron  of  cavalry,  and 
displayed  great  gallantry. 

VII. 

§  1.  THIS  year  also  some  terrible  earthquakes  took  place  in 
Macedonia,  Asia  Minor,  and  Pontus,  and  their  repeated 
shocks  overthrew  many  towns,  and  even  mountains.  But 
the  most  remarkable  of  all  the  manifold  disasters  which 
they  caused  was  the  entire  ruin  of  Kicomedia,  the  metro- 
polis of  Bithynia ;  which  I  will  here  relate  with  truth  and 
brevity. 

2.  On  the  23rd  of  August,  at  daybreak,  some  heavy  black 
clouds  suddenly  obscured  the  sky,  which  just  before  was 
quite  fair.     And  the  sun  was  so  wholly  concealed  that  it 
was  impossible  to  see  what  was  near  or  even  quite  close, 
so  completely  did  a  thick   lurid  darkness  settle   on  the 
ground,  preventing  the  least  use  of  the  eyes. 

3.  Presently,    as   if    the    supreme    deity   were   himself 
letting  loose  his  fatal  wrath,  and  stirring  up  the  winds 
from  their  hinges,  a  violent  raging  storm  descended,  by 
the  fury  of  which  the  groaning  mountains  were  struck, 
and  the  crash  of  the  waves  on  the  shore  was  heard  to  a 
vast  distance.    And  then  followed  typhoons  and  whirlwinds 
with  a   horrid  trembling   of  the   earth,   throwing   down 
the  whole  city  and  its  suburbs. 

4.  And  as  most  of  the  houses  were  built  on  the  slopes  of 
the  hills,  they  now  fell  down  one  over  the  other,  while  all 
around  resounded  with  the  vast  crash  of  their  fall.     In 
the  mean  time  the  tops  of  the  hills  re-echoed  all  sorts  of 
noises,  as  well  as  outcries  of  men  seeking  their  wives  and 
children,  and  other  relations. 

5.  At  last,  after  two  hours,  or  at  least  within  three, 
the   air  became   again    clear  and    serene,  and   disclosed 
the    destruction    which    till   then   was    unseen.       Some, 
overwhelmed  by  the  enormous  masses  of  ruins  which  had 
fallen   upon  them,  were  crushed   to  death.     Some  were 


138  AMMIANUS  MARCELLINUS.  [BK.  XVII.  CH.  vn. 

buried  up  to  the  neck,  and  might  have  been  saved  if  there 
had  been  any  timely  help  at  hand,  but  perished  for  want  of 
assistance  ;  others  were  transfixed  by  the  points  of  beams 
projecting  forth,  on  which  they  hung  suspended. 

6.  Here  was  seen  a  crowd  of  persons  slain  by  one  blow ; 
there  a  promiscuous  heap  of  corpses  piled  in  various  ways 
— some  were  buried  beneath  the  roofs  of  falling  houses, 
which  leant  over  so  as  to  protect  them  from  any  actual 
blows,  but  reserved  them  for  an  agonizing  death  by  starva- 
tion.     Among   whom    was   Aristsenetus,  who,   with  the 
authority  of  deputy,  governed  Bithynia,  which  had  been 
recently  erected  into  a  province ;  and  to  which  Constantius 
had  given  the  name  of  Piety,  in  honour  of  his  wife  Eusebia, 
(a  Greek  word,  equivalent  to  Pietas  in  Latin) ;  and  he 
perished  thus  by  a  lingering  death. 

7.  Others  who  were  overwhelmed  by  the  sudden  fall  of 
vast  buildings,  are  still  lying  entombed  beneath  the  im- 
movable masses.      Some  with  their  skulls  fractured,   or 
their  shoulders  or  legs  cut  through,  lay  between  life  and 
death,  imploring  aid  from  others  suffering  equally  with 
themselves ;    but  in  spite  of  their  entreaties  they  were 
abandoned. 

8.  Not  but  what  the  greater  part  of  the  temples  and 
buildings  and  of  the   citizens  also  would   have   escaped 
unhurt,   if  a  fire  had  not   suddenly  broken  out,  which 
raged  with  great  violence  for  fifty  days  and  nights,  and 
destroyed  all  that  remained. 

9.  I  think  this  a  good  opportunity  to  enumerate  a  few  of 
the  conjectures  which  the  ancients  have  formed  about 
earthquakes.     For  as  to  any  accurate  knowledge  of  their 
causes,   not  only  has  that  never  been  attained  by  the 
ignorance  of  the  common  people,  but  they  have  equally 
eluded  the  long  lucubrations  and    subtle  researches    of 
natural  philosophers. 

10.  And  on  this  account  in  all  priestly   ceremonies, 
whether   ritual  or  pontifical,  care  is  taken  not  at  such 
times   to  name  one  god  more  than  another,  for  fear  of 
impiety,  since  it  is  quite  uncertain  which  god  causes  these 
visitations. 

1 1 .  But  as  the  various  opinions,  among  which  Aristotle 
wavers  and  hesitates,  suggest,  earthquakes  are  engendered 
either  in  small  caverns  under  the  earth,  which  the  Greeks 


A.D.  358.]  CAUSES  OP   EARTHQUAKES.  139 

call  ffwpiyyec,  because  of  the  waters  pouring  through  them 
with  a  more  rapid  motion  than  usual,  or,  as  Anaxagoras 
affirms,  they  arise  from  the  force  of  the  wind  penetrating 
the  lower  parts  of  the  earth,  which,  when  they  have  got 
down  to  the  encrusted  solid  mass,  finding  no  vent-holes, 
shake  those  portions  in  their  solid  state,  into  which  they 
have  got  entrance  when  in  a  state  of  solution.  And  this 
is  corroborated  by  the  observation  that  at  such  times  no 
breezes  of  wind  are  felt  by  us  above  ground,  because  the 
winds  are  occupied  in  the  lowest  recesses  of  the  earth. 

12.  Anaxiinander  says  that  the  earth  when  burnt  up  by 
excessive  heat  and  drought,  and  also  after  excessive  rains, 
opens  larger  fissures  than  usual,  which  the  upper  air  pene- 
trates with  great  force  and  in  excessive  quantities,  and  the 
earth,  shaken  by  the  furious  blasts  which  penetrate  those 
fissures,  is  disturbed  to  its  very  foundations ;    for  which 
reason  these  fearful  events  occur  either  at  times  of  great 
evaporation  or  else  at  those  of  an  extravagant  fall  of  rain 
from  heaven.     And  therefore  the  ancient  poets  and  theo- 
logians gave  Neptune  the  name  of  Earthshaker,1  as  being 
the  power  of  moist  substance. 

13.  Now  earthquakes    take    place    in    four    manners : 
either  they  are  brasmatice,*  which  raise  up  the  ground  in  a 
terrible  manner,  and  throw  vast  masses  up  to  the  surface, 
as  in  Asia,  Delos  arose,  and  Hiera ;  and  also  Anaphe  and 
Ehodes,  which  has  at  different  times  been  called  Ophiusa 
and   Pelagia,    and   was   once  watered  with   a   shower   of 
gold ; 3  and  Eleusis  in  Boeotia,  and  the  Hellenian  islands  in 
the  Tyrrhenian  sea,  and  many  other  islands.     Or  they  are 
climatice*  which,  with  a  slanting  and  oblique  blow,  level 
cities,  edifices,  and  mountains.     Or  chasmatice^  which  sud- 
denly, by  a  violent  motion,  open  huge  mouths,  and  so 
swallow  up  portions  of  the  earth,  as  in  the  Atlantic  sea, 

1  'Evoffix6a>v,  2et<rfx"«*'»  "Ewofflytaios,  from  tv6du  and  ffdw,  to  shake, 
and  •)($«•*  an(i  7««a»  the  earth. 

2  From  £paC«,  to  boil  over. 

1  Strabo  gives  Ophiusa  as  one  of  the  names  of  Khodes,  and  Homer 
mentions  the  golden  shower : — 

Kai  fftyiv  Qtffiffffiov  ir\ovrov  KaTf\fVf  Kpoviuv. — II.  $.  vi.  70. 

^.s  also  does  Pindar,  Ol.  vii.  63. 
4  From  K\lvw,  to  lay  down. 
6  From  x<*0"Ma>  a  chasm,  derived  from  x«^»>  to  gape. 


140  AMMIANUS   MARCELL1NUS.  [BK.  XVII.  CH.  vnt 

on  the  coast  of  Europe,  a  large  island '  was  swallowed 
up,  and  in  the  Crissaean  Gulf,  Helice  and  Bura,*  and  in 
Italy,  in  the  Ciminian  district,  the  town  of  Saccumum3  was 
swallowed  up  in  a  deep  gulf  and  hidden  in  everlasting 
darkness.  And  among  these  three  kinds  of  earthquakes, 
mycemotioe*  are  heard  with  a  threatening  roar,  when  the 
elements  either  spring  apart,  their  joints  being  hroken,  or 
again  resettle  in  their  former  places,  when  the  earth  also 
settles  back ;  for  then  it  cannot  be  but  that  crashes  and 
roars  of  the  earth  should  resound  with  bull-like  bellowings. 
Let  us  now  return  to  our  original  subject. 

VIII. 

§  1.  C.ESAR,  passing  his  winter  among  the  Parisii,  was 
eagerly  preparing  to  anticipate  the  Allemanni,  who  were 
not  yet  assembled  in  one  body,  but  who,  since  the  battle 
of  Strasburg,  were  working  themselves  up  to  a  pitch  of 
insane  audacity  and  ferocity.  And  he  was  waiting  with 
great  impatience  for  the  month  of  July,  when  the  Gallic 
campaigns  usually  begin.  For  indeed  he  could  not  march 
before  the  summer  had  banished  the  frost  and  cold,  and 
allowed  him  to  receive  supplies  from  Aquitania. 

2.  But  as  diligence  overcomes  almost  all  difficulties,  he, 
revolving  many  plans  of  all  kinds  in  his  mind,  at  last  con- 
ceived the  idea  of  not  waiting  till  the  crops  were  ripe, 
but  falling  on  the  barbarians  before  they  expected  him. 
And  having  resolved  on  that  plan,  he  caused  his  men  to 
take  corn  for  twenty  days'  consumption  from  what  they 
had  in  store,  and  to  make  it  into  biscuit,  so  that  it  might 
keep  longer  ;   and  this  enabled  the  soldiers  to  carry  it, 
which  they  did  willingly.     And  relying  on  this  provision, 
and  setting  out   as   before,  with  favourable   auspices,   he 
reckoned  that  in  the  course  of  five  or  six  months  he  might 
finish  two  urgent  and  indispensable  expeditions. 

3.  And  when  all  his  preparations  were  made,  he  first 

1  This  is  a  tale  told  by  Plato  in  the  Timseus  (which  is  believed  to 
have  no  foundation). 

2  The  destruction  of  Helice  is  related  in  Diodorus  Sic.  xiv.  48 ;  cf. 
Ov.  Met.  xv.  290. 

3  The  lake  Ciminus  was  near  Centumcellse,  cf.  Virg.  JF,n.  vii.  697. 
The  town  of  Saccumum  is  not  mentioned  by  any  other  writer. 

*  From  /xw»c(£u>,  to  roar  like  a  bull. 


A.D.  358.]  VIGOUR   OF   JULIAN.  141 

marched  against  the  Franks,  that  is  against  that  tribe  of 
them  usually  called  Salii,  who  some  time  before  had 
ventured  with  great  boldness  to  fix  their  habitations  on  the 
Eoman  soil  near  Toxandria.1  But  when  he  had  reached 
Tongres,  he  was  met  by  an  embassy  from  this  tribe,  who 
expected  still  to  find  him  in  his  winter  quarters,  offering 
him  peace  on  condition  of  his  leaving  them  unattacked  and 
unmolested,  as  if  the  ground  they  had  seized  were  right- 
fully their  own.  Julian  comprehended  the  whole  afl'air, 
and  having  given  the  ambassadors  an  ambiguous  reply, 
and  also  some  presents,  sent  them  back  again,  leaving 
them  to  suppose  he  would  remain  in  the  same  place  till 
they  returned. 

4.  But  the    moment  they   had   departed   he  followed 
them,  sending  Severus  along  the  bank  of  the  river,  and 
suddenly  came  upon  the  whole  settlement  like  a  thunder- 
bolt ;  and  availing  himself  of  his  victory  to  make  a  reason- 
able exhibition  of  clemency,  as  indeed  they  met  him  with 
entreaties  rather  than  with  resistance,   he  received  the 
submission  of  them  and  their  children. 

5.  He  then  attacked  the  Chamavi,2  who  had  been  guilty 
of  similar  audacity,  and  through  the  same  celerity  of  move- 
ment he  slew  one  portion  of  them,  and  another  who  made 
a  vigorous  resistance  he  took  prisoners,  while  others  who 
fled   precipitately  he  allowed   to  escape  unhurt  to  their 
own   territories,  to  avoid  exhausting  his  soldiers  with  a 
long  campaign.     And  when  ambassadors  were  afterwards 
sent  by  them  to  implore  his  pardon,  and  generally  to  do 
what  they  could  for  them,  when  they  prostrated    them- 
selves before  him,  he  granted  them  peace  on  condition  of 
retiring  to  their  own  districts  without  doing  any  mischief. 

IX. 

§  1.  EVERYTHING  thus  succeeding  according  to  his  wish, 
Julian,  always  on  the  watch  to  establish  by  every  means 
in  his  power  the  security  of  the  provinces  on  a  solid  foun- 
dation, determined  to  put  in  as  good  repair  as  the  time 
permitted  those  fortresses  erected  in  a  line  on  the  banks  oi 
the  Meuse,  which  some  time  before  had  been  destroyed  by 

1  Toxandria  was  in  Belgium,  on  the  Scheldt. 

1  The  Chamari  were  a  tribe  at  the  mouth  of  the  Rhine. 


142  AMMIANU3  MARCELLIXDS.  [Bt  XVII.  Cn.  ix 

an  attack  of  the  barbarians.     And  accordingly  he  desisted 
for  a  while  from  all  other  operations,  and  restored  them. 

2.  And  that  he  might  by  a  prudent  rapidity  insure 
their  safety,  he  took  a  part  of  the  seventeen  days'  pro- 
visions, which  troops,  when  going  on  an  expedition,  carry 
on  their  backs,  and  stored  in  those  forts,  hoping  to  replace 
what  he  thus  took  from  the  soldiers  by  seizing  the  crops 
of  the  Chamavi. 

3.  But  he  was  greatly  disappointed.     For  as  the  crops 
were  not  yet  ripe,  the  soldiers  when  they  had  consumed 
what  they  had  with  them  were  unable  to  find  food,  and 
began  to  utter  violent  threats  against  Julian,  mingled  with 
fierce  cries  and  reproaches,  calling  him  Asiatic,  Greek,  a 
cheat,  and  a  fool  pretending  to  be  wise.     And  as  it  is  com- 
monly the  case  among  soldiers  that  some  men  are  found  of 
remarkable  fluency  of   speech,   they  poured  forth  such 
harangues  as  this  : — 

4.  "  Whither  are  we  being  dragged,  having  lost  all  hope 
of  good  fortune  ?     We  formerly,  indeed,  suffered  terrible 
hardships  in  the  snow,  and  cruel  biting  frost ;  but  now 
(oh,  shame  !),  when  we  have  the  fate  of  the  enemy  in  our 
hands,  we  are  wasting  away  with  famine,  the  most  miser- 
able of  all  deaths.   Let  no  one  think  that  we  are  stirrers  up 
of  tumults ;  we  declare  that  we  are  speaking  for  our  very 
lives.     We  do  not  ask  for  gold  or  silver,  which  it  is  long 
since  we  have  touched  or  seen,  and  which  are  as  much 
denied  to  us  as  if  we  had  been  convicted  of  having  en- 
countered all  our  toils  and  perils  in  the  service  of  the 
enemies  of  the  republic." 

5.  And  their  complaints  were  just.     For  after  all  his 
gallant  exploits  and  all  his  doubtful  changes  and  dangers, 
the  soldiers  were  exhausted  by  his  Gallic  campaigns,  with- 
out even  receiving  either  donation  or  pay  from  the  time  that 
Julian  was  sent  to  take  the  command ;  because  he  himself 
had  nothing  to  give,  nor  would  Constantius  permit  any- 
thing to  be  drawn  for  that  purpose  from  the  treasury,  as 
had  been  the  custom. 

6.  And  at  a  later  period  it  was  manifest  that  this  was 
owing  more  to  ill-will  than  to  parsimony,  because  when 
Julian  had  given  s«  me  small  coin  to  one  of  the  common 
soldiers,  who,  as  was  the  custom,  had  asked  for  some  to  get 
shaved  with,  he  was  attacked  for  it  with  most  insulting 


AJX358.]  SUBMISSION    OF    SURMARIUS.  143 

calumnies  by  Gaudentius,  the  secretary,  who  had  long 
remained  in  Gaul  as  a  spy  upon  his  actions,  and  whom  he 
himself  subsequently  ordered  to  be  put  to  death,  as  will  be 
related  in  its  fitting  place. 

X. 

§  1.  WHEN  at  leugth  their  discontent  was  appeased  by 
various  kinds  of  caresses,  and  when  the  Rhine  had  been 
crossed  by  a  bridge  of  boats,  which  was  thrown  over  it, 
Severus,  the  master  of  the  horse,  up  to  that  time  a  brave 
and  energetic  soldier,  suddenly  lost  all  his  vigour. 

2.  And  he  who  had  frequently  been  used  to  exhort  the 
troops,  both  in  bodies  and  as  individuals,  to  gallant  acts, 
now  seemed  a  base  and  timid  skulker  from  battle,  as  if  he 
feared  the  approach  of  death.     As  we  read  in  the  books  of 
Tages  l  that  those  who  are  fated  to  be  soon  struck  by  light- 
ning, so  lose  their  senses  that  they  cannot  hear  thunder, 
or  even  greater  noises.    And  he  marched  on  in  a  lazy  way, 
not  natural  to  him,  and  even  threatened  with  death  the 
guides,  who  were  leading  on  the  army  with  a  brisk  step,  if 
they  would  not  agree  to  c-ay  that  they  were  wholly  igno- 
rant of  the  road  any  further.     So  they,  fearing  his  power, 
and  being  forbidden  to  show  the  way  any  more,  advanced 
no  further. 

3.  But  amid  this  delay,  Suomarius,  king  of  the  Alle- 
manni,  arrived  unexpectedly  with  his  suite  ;   and  he  who 
had  formerly  been  fierce  and  eager  for  any  injury  to  the 
Romans,  was  now  inclined  to  regard  it  as  an  unexpected 
gain  to  be  permitted  to  retain  his  former  possessions.    And 
because  his  looks  and  his  gait  showed  him  to  be  a  sup- 
pliant,  he  was  received  as  a  friend,  and  desired  to  be  of 
good  cheer.     But  still  he  submitted   himself  to  Julian's 
discretion,  and  implored  peace  on  his  bended  knees.     And 
peace  was  granted  him,  with  pardon  for  the  past,  on  con- 
dition  of  giving  up  our  prisoners  and   of  supplying  our 
soldiers  with  food,  whenever  it  was  required,  receiving, 
like  any  ordinary  purveyor,  security  for  payment  of  what 

1  Tages  was  an  Etruscan,  the  son,  it  is  said,  of  a  genius,  Jovialis,  and 
grandson  of  Jupiter,  who  rose  out  of  the  ground  as  a  man  named 
Tarchon  was  ploughing  near  Tarquinii,  and  instructed  the  auspices  in 
divination.  Cf.  Cic.  Div.  11.  23. 


144  AMMJANUS   MAKCELLIJJUS.  [B*.  XVIL  CH.  x 

he  provided.  But  he  was  at  the  same  time  warned,  that  if 
he  did  not  furnish  the  required  supplies  in  time  he  would 
be  liable  to  be  called  in  question  for  his  former  hostility. 

5.  And  that  which  had  been  discreetly  planned  was  car- 
ried out  without  hindrance.     Julian  desiring  to  reach  a 
town  belonging  to  another  chieftain,  named  Hortarius,  to- 
wards which  object  nothing  seemed  wanting  but  guides, 
gave  orders  to  Kestica,  a  tribune  of  the  Scutarii,  and  to  Cha- 
riettoa,  a  man  of  marvellous  courage,  to  take  great  pains 
to  capture  a  prisoner  and  to  bring  him  to  him.     A  youth 
of  the  Allemanni  was  speedily  caught  and  brought  before 
him,  who,  on   condition   of  obtaining  his  freedom,  pro- 
mised to  show  the  road.     The  army,  following  him  as  its 
guide,  was  soon  obstructed  by  an  abattis  of  lofty  trees, 
which  had  been  cut  down ;  but  by  taking  long  and  cir- 
cuitous paths,  they  at  last  came  to  the  desired  spot,  and 
the  soldiers  in  their  rage  laid  waste  the  fields  with  fire, 
carried  otf  the  cattle  and  the  inhabitants,  and  slew  all  who 
resisted  without  mercy. 

6.  The  king,  bewildered  at  this  disaster,  seeing  the  nume- 
rous legions,  and  the  remains  of  his  burnt  villages,  and  look- 
ing upon  the  last  calamities  of  fortune  as  impending  over 
him,  of  his  own  accord  implored  pardon,  promising  to  do  all 
that  should  be  commanded  him,  and  binding  himself  on 
oath  to  restore  all  his  prisoners.     For  that  was  the  object 
about  which  Julian  was  the  most  anxious.     But  still  he 
restored  only  a  few,  and  detained  the  greater  part  of  them. 

7.  When  Julian  knew  this,  he  was  filled  with  just  indig- 
nation, and  when  the  king  came  to  receive  the  customary 
presents,  the  Caesar  refused  to  release  his  four  companions, 
on  whose  support  and  fidelity  the  king  principally  relied, 
till  all  the  prisoners  were  restored. 

8.  But  when  the  king  was  summoned  by  the  Caesar  to  a 
conference,  looking  up  at  him  with  trembling  eyes,  he  was 
overcome  by  the  aspect  of  the  conqueror,  and  overwhelmed 
by  a  sense  of  his  own  embarrassing  condition,  and  especially 
by  the  compulsion  under  which  he  was  now  (since  it  was 
reasonable  that  after  so  many  successes  of  the  Komans  that 
the  cities  which  had  been  destroyed  by  the  violence  of  the 
barbarians    should    be   rebuilt)   to   supply   waggons    and 
materials  from  his  own  stores  and  those  of  his  subjects. 

9.  And  after  he  had  promised  to  do  so,  and  had  bound  him- 


A.D.  368.]  MALICE   TOWARDS   JULIAN.  145 

self  with  an  oath  to  consent  to  die  if  he  were  guilty  of  any 
treachery,  he  was  permitted  to  return  to  his  own  country. 
For  he  could  not  be  compelled  to  furnish  provisions  like 
Suomarius,  because  his  land  had  been  so  utterly  laid  waste 
that  nothing  could  be  found  on  it  for  him  to  give. 

10.  Thus  those  kings  who  were  formerly  so  proud  and 
accustomed  to  grow  rich  by  the  plunder  of  our  citizens, 
were  now  brought  under  the  Eoman  yoke  ;  and  as  if  they 
had  been  born  and  brought  up  among  our  tributaries,  they 
submitted  to  our  commands,  though  with  reluctance.  And 
when  these  events  were  thus  brought  to  a  conclusion,  the 
Caesar  distributed  his  army  among  its  usual  stations,  and 
returned  to  his  winter  quarters. 

XI. 

§  1.  WHEN  these  transactions  presently  became  known  in 
the  court  of  Constantius — for  the  knowledge  of  them  could 
not  be  concealed,  since  the  Csesar,  as  if  he  had  been 
merely  an  officer  of  the  emperor's,  referred  to  him  on  all 
occasions — those  who  had  the  greatest  influence  in  the 
palace,  being  skilful  professors  of  flattery,  turned  all  Julian's 
well-arranged  plans  and  their  successful  accomplishment 
into  ridicule ;  continually  uttering  such  malicious  sayings 
as  this,  "  We  have  had  enough  of  the  goat  and  his  victo- 
ries ;"  sneering  at  Julian  because  of  his  beard,  and  calling 
him  a  chattering  mole,  a  purple-robed  ape,  and  a  Greek 
pedant.  And  pouring  forth  numbers  of  sneers  of  the  same 
kind,  acceptable  to  the  emperor,  who  liked  to  hear  them, 
they  endeavoured  with  shameless  speeches  to  overwhelm 
Julian's  virtues,  slandering  him  as  a  lazy,  timid,  carpet- 
knight,  and  one  whose  chief  care  was  to  set  off  his  exploits 
by  fine  descriptions ;  it  not  being  the  first  time  that  such 
a  thing  had  been  done. 

2.  For  the  greatest  glory  is  always  exposed  to  envy. 
So  we  read  in  respect  of  the  illustrious  generals  of  old, 
that,  though  no  fault  could  be  found  in  them,  still  the 
malignity  which  found  offence  in  their  greatest  actions  was 
constantly  inventing  false  charges  and  accusations  against 
them. 

3.  In  the  same  manner  Cimon  the  son  of  Miltiades,  who 
destroyed  a  vast  host  of  the  Persians  on  the  Eurymedon,  a 

L 


146  AMMIANUS  MARCELLINUS.  [B*.  X VII.  CH.  xn. 

river  iu  Pamphylia,  and  compelled  a  nation  always  insolent 
and  arrogant  to  beg  for  peace  most  humbly,  was  accused 
of  intemperance;  and  again  Scipio  ^Emilianus,  by  whose 
indomitable  vigilance  two1  most  powerful  cities,  which  had 
made  great  efforts  to  injure  Rome,  were  both  destroyed, 
was  disparaged  as  a  mere  drone. 

4.  Moreover,   wicked  detractors,  scrutinizing  the  cha 
racter  of  Pompey,  when  no  pretext  for  finding  fault  with 
him  could  be  discovered,  remarked  two  qualities  in  which 
they  could  raise  a  laugh  against  him ;  one  that  he  had  a 
sort  of  natural   trick  of  scratching  his  head  with  one 
finger :  another  that  for  the  purpose  of  concealing  an  un- 
sightly sore,  he  used  to  bind  one  of  his  legs  with  a  white 
bandage.     Of  which  habits,  the  first  they  said  showed  a 
dissolute   man ;   the   second,   one  eager  for  a  change   of 
government ;  contending,  with  a  somewhat  meagre  argu- 
ment, that  it  did  not  signify  what  part  of  his  body  he 
clothed  with  a  badge   of  royal  dignity  ;   so  snarling  at 
that  man  of  whom  the  most  glorious  proofs  show  that  no 
braver  and  truer  patriot  ever  lived. 

5.  During  these  transactions,  Artemius,  the  deputy  go- 
vernor of  Rome,  succeeded  Bassus  in  the  prefecture  also ; 
for  Bassus,  who  had  lately  been  promoted  to  be  prefect  of 
the  city,  had  since  died.     His  administration   had  been 
marked  by  turbulent  sedition,  but  by  no  other  events  suffi- 
ciently  memorable  to  deserve  mention. 

XII. 

§  1.  IN  the  mean  time,  while  the  emperor  was  passing  the 
winter  quietly  at  Sirmium,  he  received  frequent  and  trust- 
worthy intelligence  that  the  Sarmatians  and  the  Quadi, 
two  tribes  contiguous  to  each  other,  and  similar  in  man- 
ners and  mode  of  warfare,  were  conjointly  overrunning 
Pannonia  and  the  second  province  of  Moasia,  in  straggling 
detachments. 

2.  These  tribes  are  more  suited  to  predatory  incur- 
sions than  to  regular  war ;  they  carry  long  spears,  and  wear 
breastplates  made  of  horn  scraped  and  polished,  let  into 
linen  jackets,  so  that  the  layers  of  horn  are  like  the  feathers 

1  Carthage  and  Nurnantia. 


A.D.35S.]  HE   DEFEATS    THK   SARMATIANS.  117 

of  a  bird.  Their  horses  are  chiefly  geldings,  lest  at  the 
sight  of  mares  they  should  be  excited  and  run  away,  or, 
when  held  back  in  reserve,  should  betray  their  riders  by 
their  fierce  neighing. 

3.  They  cover  vast  spaces  in  their  movements,  whether 
in  pursuit  or  in  retreat,  their  horses  being  swift  and  very 
manageable ;  and  they  lead  with  them  one  or  sometimes 
two  spare  chargers  apiece,  in  order  that  the  change  may 
keep  up  the  strength  of  their  cattle,  and  that  their  vigour 
may  be  preserved  by  alternations  of  rest. 

4.  Therefore,  after  the  vernal   equinox  was  past,  the 
emperor,   having    collected    a    strong   body   of    soldiers, 
marched  forth  under  the  guidance  of  propitious  fortune. 
Having  arrived  at  a  suitable  place,  he  crossed  the  Danube, 
which  was  now  flooded  from  the  melting  of  the  snow,  by 
a   bridge   of  boats,  and   descended   on  the   lands   of  the 
barbarians,  which  he  began  to   lay  waste.     They,  being 
taken  by  surprise  through  the  rapidity  of  his  march,  and 
seeing   that  the   battalions  of  his  warlike  army  were  at 
their  throats,  when  they  had  not  supposed  it  possible  that 
such  a  force  could  be  collected  for  a  year,  had  no  courage 
to  make  a  stand,  but,  as  the  only  means  of  escaping  un- 
expected destruction,  took  to  flight. 

5.  When   many  had    been    slain,   fear  fettering  their 
steps,  those  whose  speed  had  saved  them  from  death  hid 
themselves  among  the  secret  defiles  of  the  mountains,  and 
from  thence  beheld  their  country  destroyed  by  the  sword, 
which  they  might  have  delivered  if  they  had  resisted  with 
as  much  vigour  as  they  fled. 

6.  These  events  took  place  in  that  part  of  Sarmatia 
which  looks  towards  the  second  Pannonia.     Another  mili- 
tary expedition,   conducted  with  equal   courage,  routed 
the  troops  of  the  barbarians  in  Valeria,  who  were  plunder- 
ing and  destroying  everything  within  their  reach. 

7.  Terrified  at  the  greatness  of  this  disaster,  the  Sar- 
matians,   under   pretext   of  imploring  peace,   planned  to 
divide  their  force  into  three  bodies,  and  to  attack  our 
army  while  in  a  state  of  fancied  security ;  so  that  they 
should  neither  be   able   to  prepare   their  weapons,   nor 
avoid  wounds,  nor  (which  is  the  last  resource  in  a  despe- 
rate case)  take  to  flight. 

8.  Thera  were   with  the  Sarmatians  likewise  on   this 


148  AMMIASUS  MARCELLINUS.  [BK.  XVIL  CH.  xn. 

occasion,  as  partners  in  their  danger,  the  Quadi,1  who 
had  often  before  taken  part  in  the  injuries  inflicted  on  us ; 
but  their  prompt  boldness  did  not  help  them  on  this 
occasion,  rushing  as  they  did  into  open  danger. 

9.  For   many  of  them   were   slain,  and   the   survivors 
escaped  among  the  hills,  with  which  they  were  familiar. 
And  as  this  event  raised  the  spirits  and  courage  of  our 
army,  they  united   in  solid  columns,  and  marched  with 
speed   into  the   territories  of  the   Quadi ;    who,   having 
learnt  by  the  past  to  dread  the  evils  which  impended  over 
them,  came  boldly  into  the  emperor's  presence  to  implore 
peace  as  suppliants,  since  he  was  inclined  to  be  merciful 
in  such  cases.     On  the   day   appointed  for  settling  the 
conditions,  one  of  their  princes  named  Zizais,  a  young  man 
of  great  stature,  marshalled  the  ranks  of  the  Sarmatians  to 
offer  their  entreaties  of  peace  in  the  fashion  of  an  army  ; 
and  as  soon  as  they  came  within  sight,  he  threw  away  his 
arias,  and  fell  like  one  dead,  prostrating  himself  on  his 
breast  before   the   emperor ;    his    very  voice    from  fear 
refusing  its  office,  when  he  ought  to  have  uttered  his  en- 
treaties, he  awakened  the  more  pity,  making  many  attempts, 
and  being  scarcely  able  from  the  violence  of  his  sobs  to 
give  utterance  to  his  wishes. 

10.  At  last,  having  recovered  himself,  and  being  bidden 
to  rise  up,  he  knelt,  and  having  regained  the  use  of  his 
tongue,  he  implored  pardon  for  his  offences.     His  followers 
also,  whose  mouths  had  been  closed  by  fear  while  the  fate 
of  their  leader  was  still  doubtful,  were  admitted  to  offer 
the  same  petition,  and  when  he,  being  commanded  to  rise, 
gave  them  the  signal  which  they  had  been  long  expecting, 
to  present  their  petition,  they  all  threw  away  their  javelins 
and  their  shields,  and  held  out  their  hands  in  an  attitude 
of  supplication,  striving  to  surpass  their  prince   in  the 
humility  of  their  entreaties. 

11.  Among  the  other  Sarmatians  the  prince  had  brought 
with  him  three  chiefs  of  tribes,  Eumo,  Zinafer,  and  Fragi- 
ledus,  and  many  nobles  who  came  to  offer  the  same  petition 
with  earnest  hope  of  success.     And  they,  being  elated  at 
the  promise  of  safety,  undertook  to  make  amends  for  their 
former  deeds  of  hostility  by  performing  the  conditions  now 
imposed  on  them ;    giving  up  willingly  into  the  power 

1  The  Quadi  occupied  a  part  of  Hungary. 


JU>.  358.]  SUBMISSION   OF   OTHER   CHIEFS.  149 

of  the  Romans  themselves,  their  wives  and  children,  and 
all  their  possessions.  The  kindness  of  the  emperor,  united 
with  justice,  subdued  them;  and  he  bidding  them  be  of 
good  cheer  and  return  to  their  homes,  they  restored 
our  prisoners.  They  also  brought  the  hostages  who  were 
demanded  of  them,  and  promised  prompt  obedience  to  all 
the  emperor's  commands. 

12.  Then,  encouraged  by  this  example,  of  our  clemency, 
other  chieftains  came  with  all  their  tribe,  by  name  Ara- 
harius  and  Usafer,  men  of  distinction  among  the  nobles, 
and    at    the    head   of   a   great    force   of    their    country- 
men ;  one  of  them  being  chief  of  a  portion  of  the  Quadi 
who  dwelt   beyond  the   mountains,   and   the  other   of  a 
division  of  the  Sarmatians  :  the  two  being  united  by  the 
proximity  of  their  territories,  and  their  natural  ferocity. 
But  the  emperor,  fearing  the  number  of  their  followers, 
lest,  while  pretending  to  make  a  treaty,  they  should  sud- 
denly rise   up  in  arms,  separated  them;    ordering  those 
who  were  acting  for  the  Sarmatians  to  retire  for  a  while, 
while  he  was  examining  into  the  affairs  of  Araharius  and 
the  Quadi. 

13.  And  when  they  presented  themselves  before  him, 
bowing  according  to  their  national  custom,  as  they  were 
not  able  to  clear  themselves  of  heavy  charges,  so,  fearing 
extreme  punishment,  they  gave  the  hostages  which  were 
demanded,  though  they  had  never  before  been  compelled 
to  give  pledges  for  their  fidelity. 

14.  These  matters  being  thus  equitably  and  successfully 
settled,  Usafer  was  admitted  to  offer  his  petition,  though 
Araharius  loudly  protested  against  this,  and   maintained 
that  the  peace  ratified   with   him  ought   to  comprehend 
Usafer  also,  as  an  ally  of  his  though  of  inferior  rank,  and 
subject  to  his  command. 

15.  But   when  the  question  was  discussed,  the  Sarma- 
tians were  pronounced  independent  of  any  other  power, 
as  having  been  always  vassals  of  the  Roman  empire  ;  and 
they  willingly  embraced  the  proposal  of  giving  hostages  as 
a  pledge  of  the  maintenance  of  tranquillity. 

.  16.  After  this  there  came  a  vast  number  of  nations 
and  princes,  flocking  in  crowds,  when  they  heard  that 
Araharius  had  been  allowed  to  depart  in  safety,  imploring 
us  to  withdraw  the  sword  which  was  at  their  throats ;  and 


150  AMMIANUS   MARCELLINUS.  [Bs.  XVII.  CH.  xn. 

they  also  obtained  the  peace  which  they  requested  en 
similar  terms,  and  without  any  delay  gave  as  hostages  the 
sons  of  their  nobles  whom  they  brought  from  the  interior 
of  the  country  ;  and  they  also  surrendered,  as  we  insisted, 
all  their  prisoners,  from  whom  they  parted  as  unwillingly 
as  from  their  own  relations. 

17.  When    these  arrangements    were    completed,   the 
emperor's  anxiety  was  transferred  to  the  Sarmatians,  who 
were  objects  of  pity  rather  than  of  anger.     It  is  incredible 
how  much  prosperity  our  connection  with  their  affairs  had 
brought  them,  so  as  to  give  grounds  for  really  believing, 
what  some  persons  do  imagine,  that  Fate  may  be  either 
overcome  or  created  at  the  will  of  the  emperor. 

18.  There  were  formerly  many  natives  of  this  kingdom, 
of  high  birth  and  great  power,  but  a  secret  conspiracy 
armed  their  slaves  against  them ;  and  as  among  barbarians 
all  right  consists  in  might,  they,  as  they  were  equal  to 
their  masters  in  ferocity,  and  superior  in  number,  com- 
pletely overcame  them. 

19.  And  these  native  chiefs,  losing  all  their  wisdom  in 
their  fear,  fled  to  the  Victohali,1  whose  settlements  were 
at  a  great  distance,  thinking  it  better  in  the  choice  of 
evils  to  become  subject  to  their  protectors  than  slaves  to 
their  own  slaves.     But  afterwards,  when  they  had  obtained 
pardon  from  us,  and  had  been  received  as  faithful  allies, 
they  deplored  their  hard  fate,  and  invoked  our  direct  pro- 
tection.    Moved  by  the  undeserved  hardship  of  their  lot, 
the  emperor,  when  they  were  assembled  before  him,  ad- 
dressed them  with  kind  words  in  the  presence  of  his  army, 
and  commanded  them  for  the  future  to  own  no  master  but 
himself  and  the  Eoman  generals. 

20.  And  that  the  restoration  of  their  liberty  might  carry 
with  it  additional  dignity,  he  made  Zizais  their  king,  a 
man,  as  the  event  proved,  deserving  the  rewards  of  eminent 
fortune,  and  faithful.     After  these  glorious  transactions, 
none  of  the  Sarmatians  were  allowed  to  depart  till  all  our 
prisoners  had  returned,  as  we  had  before  insisted. 

21.  When  these   matters  had  been   concluded  in  the 
territories   of  the   barbarians,   the  camp  was  moved  to 
Szoeni,8  that  there  also  the  emperor  might,  by  subjugation 

1  The  Victohali  were  a  tribe  of  Goths. 

s  Szoeni,  called  by  Ammianus  Bregetio,  is  near  Connom. 


AJ>.368.]         ADVANCE  OF  THK  ROMAN  ARMY.  151 

or  slaughter,  terminate  the  war  with  the  Quadi,  who  were 
keeping  that  district  in  a  state  of  agitation.  Their  prince 
Vitrodorus,  the  son  of  king  Viduarius,  and  Agiliinundus, 
an  inferior  chieftain,  with  the  other  nobles  and  judges  who 
governed  the  different  tribes,  as  soon  as  they  saw  the  im- 
perial army  in  the  bosom  of  their  kingdom  and  of  their 
native  land,  threw  themselves  at  the  feet  of  the  soldiers, 
and  having  obtained  pardon,  promised  obedience  ;  and  gave 
their  children  as  hostages  for  the  performance  of  the  con- 
ditions imposed  upon  them  ;  and  drawing  their  swords, 
which  they  worship  as  deities,  they  swore  to  remain 
faithful. 

XIII. 

§  1.  These  matters  then,  as  has  been  related,  having  been 
thus  successfully  terminated,  the  public  interests  required 
that  the  army  should  at  once  march  against  the  Limigantes, 
the  revolted  slaves  of  the  Sarmatians,  who  had  perpetrated 
many  atrocities  with  impunity.  For,  as  soon  as  the 
countrymen  of  free  blood  had  attacked  us,  they  also,  forget- 
ful of  their  former  condition,  thinking  to  take  advantage 
of  a  favourable  opportunity,  burst  through  the  Eoman 
frontier,  in  this  wickedness  alone  agreeing  with  their 
masters  and  enemies. 

2.  But  on  deliberation  we  determined  that  their  offence 
also  should  be  punished   with  more  moderation  than  its 
greatness  deserved ;  and  that  vengeance  should  limit  itself 
to  removing  them  to  a  distance  where  they  could  no  longer 
harass  our  territories.     The  consciousness  of  a  long  series 
of  crimes  made  them  fearful  of  danger. 

3.  And  therefore,  suspecting  that  the  weight  of  war  was 
about  to  fall  upon  them,  they  were  prepared,  as  exigency 
might  require,  to  resort  to  stratagem,  arms,  or  entreaties. 
But  at  the  first  sight  of  our  army  they  became  as  it  were 
panic-stricken ;  and  being  reduced  to  despair,  they  begged 
their  lives,  offering  a  yearly  tribute,  and  a  body  of  their 
chosen  youths  for  our  army,  and  promising  perpetual  obedi- 
ence.     But  they  were  prepared  to  refuse  if  they  were 
ordered  to  emigrate  (as  they  showed  by  their  gestures  and 
countenances),  trusting  to  the  strength  of  the  place  where, 
after  they  had  expelled  their  masters,  they  had  fixed  the'r 
abode. 


152  AMMIANUS   MARCELLJNUS.  [Be.  XVII.  CH.  xm 

4.  For  the  Parthiscus1  waters  this  land,  proceeding  with 
oblique  windings  till  it  falls  into  the  Danube.     But  while  it 
flows  unmixed,  it  passes  through  a  vast  extent  of  country, 
which,  near  its  junction  with  the  Danube,  it  narrows  into 
a  very  small  corner,  so  that  over  on  the  side  of  the  Danube 
those   who  live  in  that  district  are   protected  from  the 
attack  of  the  Romans,  and  on  the  side  of  the  Parthiscus 
they  are  secured  from  any  irruptions  of  the  barbarians. 
Since  along  its  course  the  greater  part  of  the  ground  is 
frequently  under  water  from  the  floods,  and  always  swampy 
and  full  of  osiers,  so  as  to  be  quite  impassable  to  strangers ; 
and  besides  the  mainland  there  is  an  island  close  to  the 
mouth  of  the  river,  which  the  stream  itself  seems  to  have 
separated  into  its  present  state. 

5.  Accordingly,  at  the  desire  of  the  emperor,  they  came 
with  native  arrogance  to  our  bank  of  the  river,  not,  as  the 
result  showed,  with  the  intention  of  obeying  his  commands, 
but  that  they  might  not  seem  alarmed  at  the  presence  of 
his  soldiers.     And  there  they  stood,  stubbornly  showing 
that  they  had  come  bent  on  resistance. 

6.  And  as  the  emperor  had  foreseen  that  this  might 
happen,  he  secretly  divided  his  army  into  several  squadrons, 
and  by  the  rapidity  of  their  movements   hemmed  in  the 
barbarians  between  his  own  lines.     And  then,  standing  on 
a  mound,  with  a  few  of  his  officers  and  a  small  body-guard, 
he  gently  admonished  them  not  to  give  way  to  ferocity. 

7.  But  they,  wavering  and  in  doubt,  were  agitated  by 
various  feelings,  and  mingling  craft  with  their  fury,  they 
had  recourse  to  arms  and  to  prayers  at  the  same  time. 
And  meditating  to  make  a  sudden  attack  on  those  of  our 
men  who  were  nearest,  they  threw  their  shields  some 
distance   before   them,  with   the   intent   that  while   they 
made  some  steps  forward  to  recover  them,  they  might  thus 
steal  a  little  ground  without  giving  any  indication  of  their 
purpose. 

&.  And  as  it  was  now  nearly  evening,  and  the  departing 
light  warned  us  to  avoid  further  delay,  our  soldiers  raised 
their  standards  and  fell  upon  them  with  a  fiery  onset 
And  they,  in  close  order,  directed  all  their  force  against 
the  mound  on  which  (as  has  been  already  said)  the  em- 

1  The  Theiss. 


AJ>.  368.]  DEFEAT   OF   THE   LIMIGANTES.  153 

peror  himself  was  standing,  fixing  their  eyes  on  him,  and 
uttering  fierce  outcries  against  him. 

9.  Our  army  was  indignant  at  such  insane  audacity,  and 
forming  into  a  triangle,  to  which  military  simplicity  has 
given  the  name  of  "  the  boar's  head,"  with  a  violent  charge 
they  scattered   the   barbarians   now   pressing   vigorously 
upon  the  emperor ;  on  the  right  our  infantry  slew  their 
infantry,  and  on  the  left  our  cavalry  dashed  among  their 
squadrons  of  light  horsemen. 

10.  The  praetorian  cohort,   carefully  guarding  the  em- 
peror, spared  neither  the  breasts  of  those  who  attacked  nor 
the  backs  of  those  who  fled,  and  the  barbarians,  yielding 
in   their   stubbornness   to  death  alone,   showed   by  their 
horrid  cries  that  they  grieved  not  so  much  at  their  own 
death  as  at  the  triumph  of  our  army.      And,  beside  the 
dead,  many  lay  with  their  legs  cut  off,  and  so  deprived  of 
the  resource  of  flight,  others  had  lost  their  hands ;  some 
who  had  received  no  wound  were  crushed  by  the  weight 
of  those  who  fell  upon  them,  and  bore  their  torments  in 
profound  silence. 

11.  Nor,  amid  all  their  sufferings,  did  any  one  of  them 
ask   for  mercy,   or  throw  away  his  sword,  or  implore  a 
speedy  death,   but    clinging    resolutely    to   their    arms, 
wounded  as  they  were,  they  thought  it  a  lesser  evil  to 
be  subdued  by  the  strength  of  another  than  by  their  own 
consciences,  and  at  times  they  were  heard  to  grumble  that 
what  had  happened  was  the  work  of  fortune,  not  of  their 
deserts.     And  so  this  whole  battle  was  brought  to  an  end 
in  half  an  hour,  in  which  such  numbers  of  barbarians  fell 
that  nothing  but  the  fact  of  our  victory  proved  that  there 
had  been  any  battle  at  all. 

12.  Those  in  arms  had  scarcely  been  routed  when  the 
relations  of  the  dead,  of  every  age  and  sex,  were  brought 
forward  in  crowds,  having  been  dragged  from  their  humble 
dwellings.     And  all  their  former  pride  being  now  gone, 
they  descended  to  the  lowest  depths  of  servile  obedience, 
and  after  a  very  short  time  nothing  but  barrows  of  the 
dead  and  bands  of  captives  were  beheld. 

13.  So,  the  heat  of  strife  and  the  excitement  of  victory 
stimulating  our  men,  they  rose  up  to  destroy  all  who  had 
escaped  the  battle,  or  who  were  lying   hidden  in  their 
dwellings.     And  when,  eager  for  the  blood  of  the   bar- 


154  AMMIANUS  MARCELLINUS.  [BK.  XVII.  CH.  jun 

barians,  our  soldiers  had  reached  the  spot,  they  tore  to 
pieces  the  slight  straw-thatched  huts  ;  nor  could  even  the 
strongest-built  cottages,  or  the  stoutest  beams  save  any 
one  from  death, 

14.  At  last,  when  everything  was  set  on  fire,  and  when 
no  one  could  be  concealed  any  longer,  since  every  protec- 
tion for  their  lives  was  destroyed,  they  either  perished 
obstinately  in  the  flames,  or  else,  if  they  avoided  the  fire 
and  sallied  out,  they  only  escaped  that  destruction  to  fall 
beneath  the  sword  of  their  enemies. 

15.  Some,  however,  did  escape  from  the  weapons  of  the 
enemy  and  from  the  spreading  flames,   and  committed 
themselves  to  the  stream,  trusting  to  their  skill  in  swim- 
ming to  enable  them  to  reach  the  further  bank ;  but  many 
of  them  were  drowned,  and  others  were  transfixed  by  our 
javelins,  so  that  the  winding  stream  of  the  vast  river  was 
discoloured  with  blood,  and  thus,  by  the  agency  of  both 
elements,  did  the  indignation  and  valour  of  the  conquerors 
destroy  the  Sarmatians. 

16.  After  these    events   it  was    determined    to  leave 
the  barbarians  no  hope  nor  comfort  of  life ;   and  after 
burning  their  houses  and  carrying  off  their  families,  an 
order  was   given  to  collect  boats  in   order  to  hunt  out 
those  who,  being  on  the  opposite  bank  of  the  river,  had 
escaped  the  attack  of  our  men. 

17.  And  immediately,  that  the  alacrity  of  our  warriors 
might  have  no  time  to  cool,  some  light-armed  troops  were 
embarked  in  boats,  and  led  by  secret  paths  to  occupy  the 
retreats  of  the  Sarmatians.     The  barbarians  at  first  were 
deceived  by  seeing  only  the  boats  of  their  own  country, 
and  crews  with  whom  they  were  acquainted. 

18.  But  when  the  weapons  glittered  in  the  distance, 
and  they  perceived  that  what  they  feared  was  upon  them, 
they  sought  refuge  in  their  accustomed  marshes.     And  our 
soldiers  pursuing  them  with  great  animosity,  slew  numbers 
of  them,  and  gained  a  victory  in  a  place  where  it  had  not 
been  supposed  that  any  soldier  could  find  a  footing,  much 
less  do  any  bold  action. 

19.  After  the  Anicenses l  had  thus  been  routed  and 
almost  destroyed,  we   proceeded  at   once  to  attack  the 
Picenses,  who  are  so  called  from  the  regions  which  they 

1  The  Anicenses  and  Picenses  were  Dacian  tribes. 


AJ>.358.]  SUBMISSION    OF   THE   LIMIGAKTES.  155 

inhabit,  which  border  on  one  another ;  and  these  tribes  had 
fancied  themselves  the  more  secure  from  the  disasters  of 
their  allies,  which  they  had  heard  of  by  frequent  rumours. 
To  crush  them  (for  it  was  an  arduous  task  for  those  who 
did  not  know  the  country  to  follow  men  scattered  in 
many  directions  as  they  were)  the  aid  of  Taifali '  and  of 
the  free-born  Sarmatians  was  sought. 

20.  And   as   the  nature   of  the   ground  separated  the 
auxiliary  battalions  from  each  other,  our  own  troops  took 
the  ground  nearest  Mcesia,  the  Taifali  that  nearest  to  their 
own  settlements,  while  the  free  Sarmatians  occupied  that  in 
front  of  their  original  position. 

21.  The  Limigantes,  alarmed  at  the  still  fresh  examples 
of  nations  subdued  and  crushed  by  us,  for  a  long  time 
hesitated  and  wavered  whether  they  should  attack  us  or  ask 
for  peace,  having  arguments  of  no  small  weight  for  either 
line  of  conduct.     But  at  last,  through  the  influence  of  the 
council  of  the  elders,  the  idea  of  surrender  prevailed ;  and 
the  submission  also  of  those  who  had  dared  to  attack  their 
free-born  masters  was  added  to  our  numerous  victories ; 
and  the  rest  of  them,  who  had  previously  despised  their 
masters,  thinking  them  unwarlike   and  easily  subdued, 
now  finding  them  stronger  than  themselves,  submitted  to 
them. 

22.  Accordingly,  having  received  pledges  of  their  safety, 
and  having  quitted  the  defence  of  their  mountains,  the 
greater  portion  of  them  came  with  speed  to  the  Eoman 
camp,   and   they  spread   over   a  vast   extent   of  ground, 
bringing  with  them  their  parents,  their  children,  their 
wives,  and  all  the  movable  treasures  which  their  rapid 
motions  had  allowed  them  to  carry  off. 

23.  And  those  who  it  had  been  supposed  would  rather 
lose  their  lives  than  quit  their  country,  while  they  mistook 
their   mad   licentiousness   for   liberty,  now  submitted   to 
obey  our  orders,  and  to  take  up  another  abode  in  peace 
and  good  faith,  so  as  to  be  undisturbed  for  the  future  by 
wars  or  seditions.     And  having   been   thus   accepted   as 
subjects,   in   accordance  with  their  own  wish  as  it   was 
believed,  they  remained  quiet  for  a  time  ;  but  afterwards 
they  broke   out   in   destructive   wickedness,  as  shall  be 
related  at  the  proper  time. 

1  The  Taifali  were  a  tribe  of  the  Western  Goths. 


156  AMMIANUS   MAIICEL-.JSUS.  [B*.  XVII.Ca.  xirt 

24.  While  our  affairs  were  thus  prospering,  Illyricum 
was  put  in  a  state  of  twofold  security,  since  the  emperor, 
in  endeavouring  by  two  means  to  accomplish  this  object, 
succeeded  in  both.     He  brought  back  and  established  in 
their  ancient  homes  the  people  who  had  been  banished, 
whom,  although  they  were  objects  of  suspicion  from  their 
natural  fickleness,  he  believed  would  go  on  more  mode- 
rately than  of  old.     And  to  crown  this  kindness,  he  set 
over  them   as  a   king,   not    one  of  low  birth,   but  the 
very  man  whom  they  themselves  had  formerly  chosen,  as 
eminent  for  all  the  virtues  of  mind  and  body. 

25.  After  such  a  wise  action,  Constantius,  being  now 
raised  above  all  fear,  and  having  received  from  the  una- 
nimous consent  of  his  soldiers  the  title  of  Sarmaticus,  from 
the  name  of  the  nation  which  he  had  subdued ;  and  being 
now  about  to  leave  the  army,  summoned  all  his  cohorts 
and  centuries  and  maniples,  and  mounting  the  tribune, 
surrounded  by  the  standards  and  eagles,  and  by  a  great 
number  of  soldiers  of  all  ranks,  he  addressed  the  troops  in 
these  words,  choosing  his  topics  as  usual  so  as  to  gain 
the  favour  of  all. 

26.  "The  recollection  of    our    glorious    exploits,   the 
dearest  of  all  feelings  to  brave  men,  encourages  me  to 
repeat,  though  with  great  moderation,  what,  in  our  heaven- 
granted  victories,  and  before  battle,  and  in  the  very  heat 
of  the  strife,  we,  the  most  faithful  champions  of  the  Roman 
state,  have  conducted  to  a  deservedly  prosperous  issue. 
For  what  can  be  so  honourable  or  so  justly  worthy  to  be 
handed  down  to  the  recollection  of  posterity  as  the  exult- 
ation of  the  soldier  in  his  brave  deeds,  and  of  the  general 
in  his  wise  plans  ? 

27.  "  The  rage  of  our  enemies,  in  their  arrogant  pride 
thinking  to  profit  by  our  absence,  while   we  were  pro- 
tecting Italy  and  Gaul,  was  overrunning  Illyricum,  and 
with  continual  sallies  they  were  ravaging  even  the  districts 
beyond  our  frontiers ;   crossing  the  rivers,  sometimes  in 
boats  made  of  hollow  trees,  sometimes  on  foot ;  not  relying 
on  combats,  nor  on  their  arms  and  strength,  but  being 
accustomed  to  secret  forays,  and  having  been   from   the 
very  earliest  era  of  their  nation  an  .object  of  fear  to  our 
ancestors,   from  their  cunning   and  the  variety  of  their 
manoeuvres,  which  we  indeed,  being  at  a  great  distance, 


A.D.358.T  SPEECH    OF   COXSTANTIUS.  157 

bore  as  long  as  we  could,  thinking  that  the  vigour  of  OUT 
generals  would  be  able  to  protect  us  from  even  slight 
injury. 

28.  "  But  when  their   licentiousness   led   them   on    to 
bolder  attempts,  and  to  inflict  great  and  frequent  injury 
on  our  provinces,  we,  having  first  fortified  the  passes  of 
the  Tyrol,  and  having  secured  the  safety  of  the  Gauls  by 
watchful  care,  leaving  no  danger  behind  us,  have  marched 
into  Pannonia,  in  order,  with  the  favour  of  the  everlasting 
deity,  to  strengthen  our  tottering  interests  in  that  country. 
And  after  everything  was  prepared,  we  set  forth,  as  you 
know,  at  the  end  of  the  spring,   and  undertook  a  great 
enterprise ;  first  of  all  taking  care  that  the  countless  darts 
of  the  enemy  should  not  prevent  us  from  making  a  bridge. 
And   when,    with   no   great  trouble,   this   had   been    ac- 
complished, after  we  had  set  our  foot  upon  the  enemy's 
territories,  we  defeated,  with  very  little  loss  to  ourselves, 
the  Sarmatians,  who  with  obstinate  courage  set  themselves 
to  resist  us  to  the  death.     And  we  also  crushed  the  Quadi, 
who  were  bringing  reinforcements  to  the  Saimatians,  and 
who  with  similar  courage  attacked  our  noble  legions. 

29.  "  These  tribes,  after  heavy  losses  sustained  in  their 
attacks,  and  their  stubborn  and  toilsome  resistance,  have 
at  length  learnt  the  power  of  our  valour,  and  throwing 
away  their  arms,  have  allowed  their  hands,  prepared  for 
fighting,  to  be  bound  behind  their  backs  ;  and  seeing  that 
their  only  hope  of  safety  is  in  prayer,  have  fallen  at  the 
feet  of  your  merciful   emperor,   whose   wars  they  found 
are  usually  successful.    Having  got  rid   of  these  enemies, 
we  with  equal  courage  defeated  the  Limigantes,  and  after 
we  had  put  numbers  of  them  to  the  sword,  the  rest  found 
their  only  means  of  escaping  danger  lay  in  fleeing  to  their 
hiding-places  in  the  marshes. 

30.  "  And  when  these   things  were   successfully   ter- 
minated,   it   seemed   to  be   a   seasonable   opportunity  for 
mercy.     So  we  compelled  the  Limigantes  to  remove  to 
very  distant  lands,  that  they  might  not  be  able  any  more 
to  move  to  our  injury  ;  and  we  spared  the  greatest  part  of 
them.     And  we  made  Zizais  king  over  the  free-born  por- 
tion of  them,  sure  that  he  would  be  faithful  to  us,  and 
thinking  it  more  honour  to  create  a  king  for  the  barbarians 
than  to  take  one  from  them,  the  dignity  being  increased  by 


158  AMMIANUS  MARCELLINUS.  [Bt  XVII.  CH.  XH 

this  honourable  consideration,  that  the  ruler  whom  we 
thus  gave  them  had  before  been  elected  and  accepted  by 
them. 

31.  "So   we  and  the  republic  have  in  one  campaign 
obtained  a  fourfold  reward  :  first,  vengence  on  our  guilty 
assailants ;  next,   abundance  of  captive   slaves   from  the 
enemy,  for  valour  is  entitled  to  those  rewards  which  it  haa 
earned  with  its  toil  and  prowess. 

32.  "  Thirdly,   we    have    ample    resources    and    great 
treasures  of  wealth ;  our  labour  and  courage  having  pre- 
served the  patrimony  of  each  of  us  undiminished.     This, 
in  the  mind  of  a  good  sovereign,  is  the  best  fruit  of  pros- 
perity. 

33.  "  Lastly,   I  myself  have   the  well- won  spoil  of  a 
surname  derived  from  the  enemy — the  title  of  Sarmaticus 
— which  you  unanimously  have  (if  I  may  say  so  without 
arrogance)  deservedly  conferred  on  me." 

34.  After  he  had  made  an  end  of  speaking,  the  whole 
assembly,  with  more  alacrity  than  usual,  since  its  hope  of 
booty*  and  gain  was  increased,  rose  up  with  joyful  voices 
in  praise  of  the  emperor ;  and,  as  usual,  calling  God  to 
witness  that  Constantius  was  invincible,  returned  with  joy 
to  their  tents.     And  the  emperor  was  conducted  back  to 
his  palace,   and  having  rested  two  days,  re-entered  Sir- 
mium  with  a  triumphal  procession ;  and   the  troops  re- 
turned to  their  appointed  stations. 


XIV. 

§  1.  ABOUT  this  time  Prosper  and  Spectatus  and  Eus- 
tathius,  who,  as  has  been  mentioned  above,  had  been  sent 
as  ambassadors  to  the  Persians,  found  the  Persian  king  at 
Ctesiphon,  on  his  return  from  his  campaign,  and  they 
delivered  the  emperor's  letters  and  presents,  and  requested 
peace  while  affairs  were  still  in  their  existing  state.  And 
mindful  of  what  had  been  enjoined  them,  they  never 
forgot  the  interests  nor  the  dignity  of  the  Eoman  empire, 
maintaining  that  the  peace  ought  to  be  made  on  the  con- 
dition that  no  alteration  should  be  made  in  the  state  of 
Armenia  or  Mesopotamia. 

2.  And  having  remained  for  some  time,  when  they  saw 


AJJ.368.]  MISSION   OF   PROCOPIUS.  159 

that  the  king  was  obstinate,  and  resolute  not  to  admit  of 
peace  unless  the  absolute  dominion  of  those  regions  was 
assigned  to  him,  they  returned  without  having  completed 
their  business. 

3.  After  which,  Lucillianus,  a  count,  and  Procopius,  at 
that  time  secretary,  were  sent  to  obtain  the  same  condi- 
tions, with  equal  powers.  Procopius  being  the  same  man 
who  afterwards,  under  the  pressure  of  violent  necessity, 
committed  himself  to  a  revolutionary  movement. 


BOOK   XVIII. 

ARGUMENT. 

I.  The  Csesar  Julian  consults  the  welfare  of  the  Gauls,  and  provides 
for  the  general  observance  of  justice. — II.  He  repairs  the  walls  of 
the  castles  on  the  Rhine  which  he  had  recovered ;  crosses  the 
Rhine,  and  having  conquered  those  of  the  Alemanni  who  remained 
hostile,  he  compels  their  kings  to  sue  for  peace,  and  to  restore 
their  prisoners.  —  III.  Why  Barbatio,  the  commander  of  the 
infantry,  and  his  wife,  were  beheaded  by  command  of  Constantius. 
— FV.  Sapor,  king  of  Persia,  prepares  to  attack  the  Romans  with 
all  his  power. — V.  Antoninus,  the  protector,  deserts  to  Sapor, 
with  all  his  men ;  and  increases  his  eagerness  to  engage  in  war 
with  the  Romans.- — VI.  Ursicinus,  the  commander  of  the  legions, 
being  summoned  from  the  East,  when  he  had  reached  Thrace  was 
sent  back  to  Mesopotamia,  and  having  arrived  there  he  hears  from 
Marcellinus  of  Sapor's  approach. — VII.  Sapor,  with  the  kings  of 
the  ChionitaB  and  Albani,  invades  Mesopotamia — The  Romans  of 
their  own  accord  lay  waste  their  lands  with  fire ;  compelled  the 
countrymen  to  come  into  the  towns,  and  fortify  the  western  bank 
of  the  Euphrates  with  castles  and  garrisons. — VOL  Seven  hundred 
Illyrian  cavalry  are  surprised  by  the  Persians,  and  put  to  flight — 
Ursicinus  escapes  in  one  direction,  and  Marcellinus  in  another. — 
IX.  A  description  of  Amida ;  and  how  many  legions  and  squadrons 
were  there  in  garrison. — X.  Sapor  receives  the  surrender  of  two 
Roman  fortresses. 

I. 

A.D.  359. 

§  1.  THESE  events  took  place  in  the  different  parts  of  the 
world  in  one  and  the  same  year.  But  while  the  affairs  in 
Gaul  were  in  a  better  state ;  and  while  titles  of  consul 


160  AMMIANUS   MARCELLINUS.  [Us:  XVIII:  CH:  tt 

were  ennobling  the  brothers  Eusebius  and  Hypatius, 
Julian,  illustrious  for  his  uninterrupted  successes,  now 
in  his  winter  quarters,  being  relieved  for  a  while  from 
his  warlike  anxieties,  was  devoting  equal  care  to  many 
points  connected  with  the  welfare  of  the  provinces. 
Taking  anxious  care  that  no  one  should  be  oppressed  by 
the  burden  of  taxation  ;  that  the  power  of  the  officers 
should  not  be  stretched  into  extortion;  that  those  who 
increase  their  property  by  the  public  distresses,  should 
have  no  sanction,  and  that  no  judge  should  violate  justice 
with  impunity. 

2.  And  he  found  it  easy  to  correct  what  was  wrong 
on  this  head,  because  he  himself  decided  all   causes  in 
which  the  persons  concerned  were  of  any  great  importance  ; 
and  showed  himself  a  most  impartial  discerner  of  right 
and  wrong. 

3.  And  although  there  are  many  acts  of  his  in  deciding 
these  disputes  worthy  of  praise,  it  will  be  sufficient  to 
mention  one,  on  the  model  of  which  all  his  other  words 
and  actions  were  framed. 

4.  Numerius,  a  native  of  Narbonne,  had  a  little  time 
before  been  accused  before  the  governor  as  a  thief,  and 
Julian,  by  an  unusual  exercise  of  the  censor's  power,  heard 
his   cause   in   public ;    admitting  into  the   court  all  who 
sought  entrance.     And  when  Numerius  denied  all  that  was 
charged  against  him,  and  could  not  be  convicted  on  any 
point,  Delphidius  the  orator,  who  was  assailing  him  with 
great  bitterness,  being  enraged  at  the  failure  of  his  charges, 
exclaimed,  "  But,  great  Csesar,  will  any  one  ever  be  found 
guilty  if  it  be  enough  to  deny  the  charge  ?"     To  whom 
Julian,  with  seasonable  wisdom,  replied,  "  Can  any  one  be 
judged  innocent  if  it  be  enough  to  make  a  charge  ?"     And 
he  did  many  similar  actions  in  his  civil  capacity. 

II. 

§  1.  BUT  when  he  was  about  to  set  out  on  an  important 
expedition  against  some  tribes  of  the  Allemanni  whom  he 
considered  hostile,  and  likely  to  proceed  to  acts  of  atrocious 
daring  if  they  were  not  defeated  in  a  way  to  be  an  example 
to  the  rest,  he  hesitated  in  great  anxiety,  since  a  report 
of  his  intentions  had  gone  before  him,  what  force  he  could 


A-n.359.]  ADVANCE  OF  JULIAN.  161 

employ,  and  how  he  could  be  quick  enough  to  lake  them 
by  surprise  the  first  moment  that  circumstances  should 
afford  him  an  opportunity. 

2.  But  after  he  had  meditated  on  many  different  plans, 
he  decided  on  trying  one,  which  the  result  proved  to  be 
good,  without  any  one  being  aware  of  it.     He  had  sent 
Hariobaudes,  a  tribune  who  at  that  time  had  no  particular 
command,  a  man  of  honour,  loyalty,  and  courage,   under 
pretext  of  an  embassy,  to  Hortarius  the  king  who  was  now 
in  a  state  of  friendship  with  us  ;  in  order  that  from  his 
court  Hariobaudes  might  easily  proceed  to  the  frontiers  of 
the  enemy  whom  he  was   proposing  to   attack  ;    and  so 
ascertain  what  they  were  about,  being  thoroughly  skilled 
in  the  language  of  the  barbarians. 

3.  And  when  he  had  gone  boldly  on  this  commission, 
Julian  himself,  as  it  was  now  a  favourable  time  of  the  year, 
assembled  his  soldiers  from  all  quarters  for  the  expedition, 
and  set  out ;  thinking  it  above  all  things  desirable,  before 
the  war  had  got  warm,  to  effect  his  entrance  into  the  cities 
which  had  been  destroyed  some  time  before,  and  having 
recovered  them  to  put  them  in  a  state  of  defence ;   and 
also  to  establish  granaries  in  the  place  of  those  which  had 
been  burnt,  in  which  to  store  the  corn  usually  imported 
from  Britain. 

4.  Both  these  objects  were  accomplished,  and  that  more 
speedily  than  could  have  been  looked  for.     For  the  store- 
houses were  rapidly  built,  and  abundance  of  provisions 
laid  up  in  them ;  and  seven  cities  were  occupied.     The 
camp  of  Hercules,  Quadriburgium,1  Kellen,  Kuys,  Bonn, 
Andernach,  and  Bin  gen.   At  which  last  city,  by  exceedingly 
good   fortune,   Florentius  the   prefect   also   ai-rived  unex- 
pectedly, bringing  with  him  a  division  of  soldiers,  and  a 
supply  of  provisions  sufficient  to  last  a  long  time. 

5.  After  this,  the  next  measure  of  urgent  necessity  was 
to  repair  the  walls  of  the  recovered  cities,  while  as  yet  no 
one  raised  any  hindrance  ;  and  it  is  abundantly  plain  that 
at  that  time  the  barbarians  did  out  of  fear  what  was  com- 
manded them  for  the  public  interests,  while  the  Romans 
did  it  for  love  of  their  ruler. 

6.  According  to  the  treaty  made  in  the  preceding  year, 

1  It  is  not  known  what  towns  are  meant  by  Castra  Herculis  and 
Quadriburgium. 


162  AMMIANUS  MARCELLINDS.  [BK.  XVIU.  CH.  a 

the  kings  sent  their  own  waggons  with  many  articles 
useful  for  building.  And  the  auxiliary  soldiers  whu 
always  hold  themselves  above  employments  of  this  kind, 
being  won  over  by  Julian's  caresses  to  diligent  obedience, 
now  carried  beams  fifty  feet  long  and  more  on  their 
shoulders,  and  gave  the  greatest  aid  to  the  labours  of  the 
architect. 

7.  And  while  all  this  was  being  done  with  diligence  and 
speed,  Hariobaudes,  having  learnt  all  he  wanted,  returned 
and  related  what   he  had   ascertained.      And   after  his 
arrival  the  army  marched  with  all  speed,  and  soon  reached 
Mayence,  where,  though  Florentius  and  Lupicinus,  who 
succeeded  Severus,  insisted  vehemently  that  they  might 
cross  by  the  bridge  laid  down  at  that  town,  the  Csesar 
strenuously  objected,  maintaining  that  it  was  not  well  to 
trample  on  the  lands  of  those  who  were  brought  into  a 
state  of  tranquillity  and  friendship  ;  lest  the  treaty  made 
with  them  should  be  brought  to  an  abrupt  end,  as  had 
often  happened  through  the  discourtesy  of  the  spldiers  ra- 
vaging everything  that  came  in  their  way. 

8.  But  all  the  Allemanni  who  were  the  objects  of  our 
attack,  seeing  the  danger  now  on  their  borders,  with  many 
threats  urged  Surmarius  their  king,  who  by  a  previous 
treaty  was  on  friendly  terms  with  us,  to  prevent  the 
Romans  from  crossing  the  river.     For  their  villages  were 
on  the  eastern  bank  of  the  Ehine.     But  when  Surmarius 
affirmed  that  he  by  himself  was  unable  to  offer  effectual 
resistance,  the  barbarian  host  assembled  in  a  body,  and 
came  up  to  Mayence,  intending  by  main  force  to  prevent 
our  army  from  crossing  the  river. 

9.  So  that  Caesar's  advice  now  seemed  best  in  two  points, 
both  not  to  ravage  the  lands  of  our  friends  ;  and  also,  not 
in  the  teeth  of  the  opposition  of  a  most  warlike  people,  to 
risk  the  loss  of  many  lives  in  order  to  make  a  bridge,  even 
in  a  spot  the  most  favourable  for  such  a  work. 

1 0.  And  the  enemy,  watching  his  movements  with  great 
skill,  marched  slowly  along  the  opposite  bank,  and  when 
they  saw  our  men  pitching  their  tents  at  a  distance,  they 
still  watched  all  night,  exerting  the  most  sleepless  vigi- 
lance  to  prevent  the   passage   of  the  river  from   being 
attempted. 

11.  But  when  our  men  reached  the  spot  intended,  they 


*.J>.  369.]  HE   CROSSES   THE   RHINE.  163 

surrounded  their  camp  with  a  rampart  and  ditch,  and  took 
their  rest ;  and  the  Caesar,  having  taken  counsel  with 
Lupicimis,  ordered  some  of  the  tribunes  to  get  ready  three 
hundred  light-armed  soldiers  with  stakes,  without  letting 
them  know  what  was  to  be  done,  or  whither  they  were  going. 

12.  They  being   collected,   when  the   night   was   well 
advanced,  and  being  all  embarked  on  board  of  forty  light 
boats,  which  were  all  that  were  at  hand,  were  ordered  to 
go  down  the  stream  so  silently  as  not  to  use  even  their 
oars,   lest  the    noise    should   rouse   the  barbarians,   and 
then  using  all  activity  both  of  mind  and  body,  to  force  a 
landing  on  the  opposite  bank,  within  the  frontier  of  the 
enemy,  while  they  were  still  watching  the  camp-fires  of 
our  men. 

13.  While  these  orders  were  being  performed  with  great 
promptness,  King   Hortarius,  who   had   been   previously 
bound  to  us  by  treaties,  and  was  without  any  intention  of 
revolting,  kept  on  friendly  terms  with  the  bordering  tribes, 
having  invited  all  their  kings,  princes,  and  chieftains  to  a 
banquet,  detained  them  to  the  third  watch,  the  banquet 
being  prolonged   so  late  according  to  the  custom  of  his 
nation.     And  as  they  were  departing,  our  men  chanced  to 
come  upon   them   suddenly,  but  could   neither   stay  nor 
capture  any  of  them  owing  to  the  darkness  of  the  night 
and  the  fleetness  of  their  horses,  on  which  they  fled  at 
random  in  all  directions.     A  number  of  sutlers  and  slaves, 
however,  who  were  following  them  on  foot,  our  men  slew  ; 
the  few  who  escaped  being  likewise  protected  by  the  dark- 
ness of  the  hour. 

14.  AY  hen  it    became  known    that    the    Eomans    had 
crossed  the  river  (and  they  then  as  well  as  in  all  former 

xpeditions  accounted  it  a  great  relief  to  their  labours 
when  they  could  find  the  enemy),  the  kings  and  their 
people,  who  were  watching  zealously  to  prevent  the 
>ridge  from  being  made,  were  alarmed,  and  being  panic- 
stricken  fled  in  all  directions,  and  their  violent  fury  being 
:hus  cooled,  they  hastened  to  remove  their  relations  and  their 
treasures  to  a  distance.  And  as  all  difficulties  were  now 
surmounted,  the  bridge  was  at  once  made,  and  before  the 
iarbarians  could  expect  it,  the  Roman  army  appeared  in 
heir  territories,  and  passed  through  the  dominions  of 
Hortarius  without  doing  any  injury. 


164  AMMIAN'US  MARCELLINDS.         [BK.XVULCH.II. 

!  5.  But  when  they  reached  the  lands  of  those  kings  who 
were  still  hostile,  they  went  on  invincibly  through  the 
midst  of  their  rebellious  country,  laying  waste  with  fire 
and  sword,  and  plundering  everything.  And  after  their 
frail  houses  were  destroyed  by  fire,  and  a  vast  number  of 
men  had  been  slain,  and  the  army,  having  nothing  to 
face  but  corpses  and  suppliants,  had  arrived  in  the  region 
called  Capellatum,  or  Palas,  where  there  are  boundary 
stones  marking  the  frontiers  of  the  Allemanni  and  the 
Burgundians;  the  army  pitched  its  camp,  in  order  that 
Macrianus  and  Hariobaudus,  brothers,  and  both  kings,  might 
be  received  by  us,  and  delivered  from  their  fears.  Since 
they,  thinking  their  destruction  imminent,  were  coming 
with  great  anxiety  to  sue  for  peace. 

16.  And  immediately  after  them  King  Vadomarius  also 
came,  whose  abode  was  opposite  Augst :  and  having  pro- 
duced some  letters  of  the  Emperor  Constantius,  in  which 
he  was  strictly  recommended  to   the   protection   of  the 
Romans,  he  was  courteously  received,  as  became  one  who 
had  been   admitted  by  the  emperor  as  a  client  of  the 
Roman  empire. 

17.  And   Macrianus  and  his  brother,   being    admitted 
among  our  eagles  and  standards,  marvelled  at  the  imposing 
appearance  of  our  arms,  and  various  resources  which  they 
had  never  seen  before.     And  they  offered  up  petitions  on 
behalf  of  their  people.     But  Vadomarius,  who  had  met  us 
before,  since  he  was  close  to  our  frontier,  admired  indeed 
the  appointments  of  our  daring  expedition,  but  remembered ' 
that  he  had  often  seen  such  before,  ever  since  his  child- 
hood. 

1 8.  At  last,  after  long  deliberation,  with  the  unanimous 
consent  of  all,  peace  was  granted  to  Macrianus  and  Hario-j 
baudus ;  but  an-  answer  could  not  be  given  to  Vadomarius,  \ 
who  had  come  to  secure  his  own  safety,  and  also  as  an  j 
ambassador  to  intercede  for  the  kings  Urius,  Ursicinus, 
and  Vestralpus,  imploring  peace  for  them  also ;  lest,  as  the  j 
barbarians  are  men  of  wavering  faith,  they  might  recover  \ 
their  spirits  when  our  army  was  withdrawn,  and  refuse  ; 
adherence    to    conditions    procured     by   the    agency    of; 
others. 

19.  But  when  they  also,  after  their  crops  and  houses 
had  been  burnt,  and  many  of  their  soldiers  had  been  slain  *. 


AD.  359.]  CONDUCT    OF    BARBATIO.  165 

or  taken  prisoners,  sent  ambassadors  of  their  own,  and 
sued  for  mercy  as  if  they  had  been  guilty  of  similar  vio- 
lence to  our  subjects,  they  obtained  peace  on  similar  terms ; 
of  which  that  most  rigorously  insisted  on  was  that  tkey 
should  restore  all  the  prisoners  which  they  had  taken  in 
their  frequent  incursions. 

III. 

§  1.  WHILE  the  god-like  wisdom  of  the  Caesar  was  thus 
successful  in  Gaul,  great  disturbances  arose  in  the  court  of 
the  emperor,  which  from  slight  beginnings  increased  to 
grief  and  lamentations.  Some  bees  swarmed  on  the  house 
of  Barbatio,  at  that  time  the  commander  of  the  infantry. 
And  when  he  consulted  the  interpreters  of  prodigies  on 
this  event,  he  received  for  an  answer,  that  it  was  an  omen 
of  great  danger ;  the  answer  being  founded  on  the  idea 
that  these  animals,  after  they  have  fixed  their  abode,  and 
laid  up  their  stores,  are  usually  expelled  by  smoke  and 
the  noisy  din  of  cymbals. 

2.  Barbatio 's  wife  was  a  woman  called  Assyria,  neither 
silent  nor  prudent.     And  when  he  had  gone  on  an  expe- 
dition which  caused  her  much  alarm,  she,  because  of  the 
predictions   which   she   recollected   to   have   been   given 
her,  and  being  full  of  female  vanity,  having  summoned  a 
handmaid  who  was  skilful  in  writing,  and  of  whom  she 
had   become   possessed    by   inheritance  from    her  father 
Silvanus,  sent  an  unseasonable  letter  to  her  husband,  full 
of  lamentations,  and  of  entreaties  that  after  the  approach- 
ing death  of  Constantius,  if  he  himself,  as  she  hoped,  was 
admitted  to  a  share  in  the  empire,  he  would  not  despise 
her,  and  prefer  to  marry  Eusebia,  who  was  Constantius's 
empress,  and    who   was  of  a  beauty  equalled    by  few 
women. 

3.  She  sent  this  letter  as  secretly  as  she  could ;  but  the 
maid,  when  the  troops  had  returned  from  their  expedition 
at  the  beginning  of  the  night,  took  a  copy  of  the  letter 
which  she  had  written  at  the  dictation  of  her  mistress,  to 
Arbetio,  and  being  eagerly  admitted  by  him,  she  gave  him 
the  paper. 

4.  He,  relying  on  this  evidence,  being  at  all  times  a  man 
eager  to  bring  forward  accusations,  conveyed  it  to  the 


166  AMMIANUS   MARCELL1NOS.  [BK.  XVIll.  CH.  IIL 

emperor.  As  was  usual,  no  delay  was  allowed,  and  Bar- 
batio,  who  confessed  that  he  had  received  the  letter,  and 
his  wife,  who  was  distinctly  proved  to  have  written  it, 
were  both  beheaded. 

5.  After    this    execution,   investigations    were   carried 
further,  and  many  persons,  innocent  as  well  as  guilty,  were 
brought   into   question1.     Among   whom   was    Valentinus, 
who  having  lately  been  an  officer  of  the  pro  tec  tores,  had 
been  promoted  to  be  a  tribune ;  and  he  with  many  others 
was  put  to  the  torture  as  having  been  privy  to  the  affair, 
though  he  was  wholly  ignorant  of  it.     But  he  survived  his 
sufferings ;  and  as  some  compensation  for  the  injury  done 
to  him,  and  for  his  danger,  he  received  the  rank  of  duke  of 
Illyricum. 

6.  This  same  Barbatio  was  -a  man  of  rude  and  arrogant 
manners,  and  very  unpopular,  because  while  captain  of  the 
protectores  of  the  household,  in  the  time  of  Gallus  Caesar, 
he  was  a  false  and  treacherous  man ;  and  after  he  had 
attained  the  higher  rank  he  became  so  elated  that  he 
invented  calumnies  against  the  Caesar  Julian,  and,  though 
all  good  men  hated  him,  whispered  many  wicked  lies  into 
the  ever-ready  ears  of  the  emperor. 

7.  Being  forsooth   ignorant  of  the  wise  old  saying  of 
Aristotle,  who  when  he  sent  Callisthenes,  his  pupil  and 
relation,  to  the  king  Alexander,  warned  him  to  say  as 
little  as  he  could,  and  that  only  of  a  pleasant  kind,  before 
a  man  who  carried  the  power  of  life  and  death  on  the  tip 
of  his  tongue. 

8.  We  should  not  wonder  that  mankind,  whose  minds 
we  look  upon  as  akin  to  those  of  the  gods,  can  sometimes 
discern  what  is  likely  to  be  beneficial  or  hurtful  to  them, 
when  even  animals  devoid  of  reason  sometimes  secure 
their  own  safety  by  profound  silence,  of  which  the  follow- 
ing is  a  notorious  instance  : — 

9.  When  the  wild  geese  leave  the  East  because  of  the 
heat,  and  seek  a  western  climate,  as  soon  as  they  reach 
Mount  Taurus,  which  is  full  of  eagles,  fearing  those  war- 
like birds,  they  stop  up  their  own  beaks  with  stones,  that 
not  even  the  hardest  necessity  may  draw  a  cry  from  them  ; 
they  fly  more  rapidly  than  usual  across  that  range,  and 
when  they  have  passed  it  they  throw  away  the  stones,  and 
then  proceed  more  securely. 


AJ>.  3W.]  DESIGNS  OF  SAPOR. 


IV. 

§  1.  WHILE  these  investigations  were  being  carried  01* 
with  great  diligence  at  Sirmium,  the  fortune  of  the  East 
sounded  the  terrible  trumpet  of  danger.  For  the  king  of 
Persia,  being  strengthened  by  the  aid  of  the  fierce  nations 
whom  he  had  lately  subdued,  and  being  above  all  men 
ambitious  of  extending  his  territories,  began  to  prepare 
men  and  arms  and  supplies,  mingling  hellish  wisdom 
with  his  human  counsels,  and  consulting  all  kinds  of 
soothsayers  about  futurity.  And  when  he  had  collected 
everything,  he  proposed  to  invade  our  territories  at  the 
first  opening  of  the  spring. 

2.  And  when  the  emperor  learnt  this,  at  first  by  report, 
but   subsequently  by  certain  intelligence,  and   while  all 
were  in  suspense  from  dread  of  the  impending  danger,  the 
dependents  of  the  court,  hammering  on  the  same  anvil  day 
and   night  (as   the   saying  is),  at  the  prompting  of  the 
eunuchs,  held  up  TJrsicinus  as  a  Gorgon's  head  before  the 
suspicious  and  timid  emperor,  continually  repeating  that, 
because  on  the  death  of  Silvanus,  in  a  dearth  of  better  men, 
he  had  been  sent  to  defend  the  eastern  districts,  he  had 
become  ambitious  of  still  greater  power. 

3.  And  by  this  base  compliance  many  tried  to  purchase 
the  favour  of  Eusebius,  at  that  time  the  principal  chamber- 
lain, with   whom  (if  we  are  to  say  the  real  truth)  Con- 
stantius  had  great  influence,  and  who  was  now  a  bitter 
enemy  of  the  safety  of  the  master  of  the  horse,  Ursicinus, 
on  two  accounts ;    first,  because  he  was  the  only  person 
who  did  not  need  his  assistance,  as  others  did  ;  and  secondly, 
because  he  would  not  give  up  his  house  at  Antioch,  which 
Eusebius  greatly  coveted. 

4.  So  this  latter,  like  a  snake  abounding  in  poison,  and 
exciting  its  offsping  as  soon  as  they  can  crawl  to  do  mis- 
chief, stirred  up  the  other  chamberlains,  that  they,  while 
performing  their  more  private  duties  about  the  prince's 
person,  with  their  thin  and  boyish  voices,  might  damage 
the  reputation  of  a  brave  man  by  pouring  into  the  too 
open  ears  of  the  emperor  accusations  of  great  odium.     And 
they  soon  did  what  they  were  commanded. 

5.  Disgust  at  this  and  similar  events  leads  one  to  praise 


168  AMMIANUS  MARCELLIXDS.  [Bit.  XVIII.  CH.  v. 

Domitian,  who  although,  by  the  unalterable  detestation  ha 
incurred,  has  ever  stained  the  memory  of  his  father  and 
his  brother,1  still  deserved  credit  for  a  most  excellent  law, 
by  which  he  forbade  with  severe  threats  any  one  to  castrate 
any  boy  within  the  limits  of  the  Roman  jurisdiction.  For 
if  there  were  no  such  edict,  who  could  endure  the  swarms  of 
such  creatures  as  would  exist,  when  it  is  so  difficult  to  bear 
even  a  few  of  them  ? 

6.  However,   they  proceeded    with    caution,   lest,   as 
Eusebius  suggested,  if  Ursicinus  were  again  sent  for,  he 
should  take  alarm  and  throw  everything  into  confusion ; 
but  it  was  proposed  that  on  the  first  casual  opportunity 
he  should  be  put  to  death. 

7.  While  they  were  waiting  for  this  chance,  and  full  of 
doubt  and  anxiety ;  and  while  we*  were  tarrying  a  short 
time  at  Samosata,  the  greatest  city  of  what  had  formerly 
been  the  kingdom  of  Commagene,  we  suddenly  received 
frequent  and  consistent  reports  of  some  new  commotions, 
which  I  will  now  proceed  to  relate. 

V. 

§  1.  A  CERTAIN  man  named  Antoninus,  who  from  having 
been  a  wealthy  merchant  had  become  superintendent  of 
the  accounts  of  the  duke  of  Mesopotamia,  and  after  that 
entered  the  corps  of  the  protectores,  a  man  of  experience 
and  wisdom,  and  very  well  known  in  all  that  country. 
Being  through  the  avarice  of  certain  persons  involved  in 
heavy  losses,  and  perceiving  that  while  defending  actions 
against  men  of  influence  he  was  being  sunk  lower  and 
lower  through  injustice,  since  the  judges  who  had  to  decide 
on  his  affairs  sought  to  gratify  people  in  power,  he,  not 
wishing  to  kick  against  the  pricks,  bent  himself  to  ob- 
sequious caresses ;  and  confessing  that  he  owed  what 
was  claimed  of  him,  the  claim,  by  collusion,  was  trans- 
ferred to  the  treasury.  He  now,  having  resolved  on  a 
flagitious  plan,  began  secretly  to  look  into  the  secrets  of 
the  whole  republic;  and  being  acquainted  with  both 
languages,  he  devoted  his  attention  to  the  accounts ;  re- 

1  Vespasian  and  Titus. 

2  Ainmianus  was  still  in  attendance  on  Ursicinus. 


A.D.  359.]  'iKEACHERY  OF  ANTONINUS.  169 

marking  the  amount,  quality,  and  situation  of  the  different 
tin  isions  of  the  army,  and  the  employment  of  them  on  any 
expeditions ;  inquiring  also  with  unwearied  diligence  into 
the  extent  of  the  supplies  of  arms  and.  provisions,  and 
other  things  likely  to  be  needful  in  war. 

2.  And  when  he  had  made  himself  acquainted  with  all 
the  internal  circumstances  of  the  East,  and  had  learnt  that 
a  great  portion  of  the  troops  and  of  the  money  for  their 
pay  was  distributed  in  Illyricum,  where  the  emperor  him- 
self was  detained  by  serious  business  ;  as  the  day  was  now 
approaching  which  had  been  fixed  for  the  payment  of  the 
money  for  which  he  had  been  constrained  by  fear  to  give 
an  acknowledgment  of  his  bond ;  and  as  he  saw  that  he 
must  be  overwhelmed  by  disasters  on  all  sides,  since  the 
chief  treasurer  was  devoted  to  the  interests  of  his  adversary  ; 
he  conceived  the  audacious  design  of  crossing  over  to  the 
Persians  with  his  wife  and  children,  and  his  whole  nume- 
rous family  of  relations. 

3.  And  to  elude  the  observation  of  the  soldiers  at.  their 
different   stations,   he  bought   for  a   small  price   a   farm 
in  Hiaspis,  a  district  on  the  banks  of  the  Tigris.     And, 
relying  on  this  pretext,  since  no  one  would  venture  to  ask 
why  a  landed  proprietor  should  go  to  the  extreme  frontier 
of  the  Eoman  territory,  as  many  others  did  the  same,  by 
the   agency   of    some    trusty   friends    who   were    skilful 
swimmers,  he  carried  on  frequent  secret  negotiations  with 
Tamsapor,  who  was  at  that  time  governing  the  country  on 
the  other  side  of  the  river  with  the  rank  of  duke,  and  with 
whom  he  was  already  acquainted.     And  at  last,  having 
received  from  the  Persian  camp  an  escort  of  well-mounted 
men,  he  embarked  in  some  boats,  and  crossed  over  at  night 
with  all  his  family,  in  the  same  manner  as  Zopyrus,  the 
betrayer  of  Babylon,   had  formerly  done,  only  with  an 
opposite  object. 

4.  While  affairs  in  Mesopotamia  were  in  this  state,  the 
hangers-on  of  the  palace,  always  singing  the  same  song 
for  our  destruction,  at  last  found  a  handle  to  injure  the 
gallant  Ursicinus ;  the   gang  of  eunuchs   being  still   the 
contrivers   and   promoters   of    the  plot;    since   they   are 
always  sour  tempered  and  savage,  and  having  no  relations, 
cling  to  riches  as  their  dearest  kindred. 

5.  The  design  now  adopted  was  to  send  Sabinianus,  a 
withered  old  man  of  great  wealth,  but  infirm  and  timid, 


170  AMMIAXUS   MARCELL1XUS.  «**.  XV11I.  CH.  T. 

and  from  the  lowness  of  his  birth  far  removed  from  any 
office  of  command,  to  govern  the  districts  of  the  East ; 
while  Ursicinus  should  be  recalled  to  court,  to  command 
the  infantry,  as  successor  to  Barbatio.  And  then  he,  this 
greedy  promoter  of  revolution,  as  they  called  him,  being 
within  their  reach,  could  easily  be  attacked  by  his  bitter 
and  formidable  enemies. 

6.  While  these  things    were   going    on   in    the  camp 
of  Constantius,  as  at  a  festival  or  a  theatre,  and  while 
the  dispensers  of  rank  which  was  bought  and  sold  were 
distributing  the  price  agreed  upon  among  the  influential 
houses,  Antoninus,  having  reached  Sapor's  winter  quarters, 
was  received  with  gladness ;  and  being  ennobled  by  the 
grant  of  a  turban,  an  honour  which  gives  admission  to  the 
royal  table,  and  also  that  of  assisting  at  and  delivering 
one's  opinion  in  the  councils  of  the  Persians,  went  onwards, 
not  with  a  punt  pole  or  a  tar  rope,  as   the   proverb  is 
(that  is  to  say,  not  by  any  tedious  or  circuitous  path),  but 
with  flowing  sails  into  the  conduct  of  state  affairs,  and 
stirring  up  Sapor,  as  formerly  Maharbal  roused  the  sluggish 
Hannibal,  was  always  telling  him  that  he  knew  how  to 
conquer,  but  not  how  to  use  a  victory. 

7.  For  having  been  bred  up  in  active  life,  and  being  a 
thorough  man  of  business,  he  got  possession  of  the  feelings 
of  his  hearers,  who  like  what  tickles  their  ears,  and  who 
do  not  utter  their  praises  aloud,  but,  like  the  Phaeacians 
in   Homer,  admire  in  silence,'   while   he  recounted  the 
events  of  the  last  forty  years ;  urging  that,  after  all  these 
continual  wars,  and  especially  the  battles  of  Hileia  and 
Singara,2  where  that  fierce  combat  by  night  took  place,  in 
which  we  lost  a  vast  number  of  our  men,  as  if  some  fecial 
had  interposed  to  stop  them,  the  Persians,  though  victo- 
rious, had  never  advanced  as  far  as  Edessa  or  the  bridges 
over  the  Euphrates.     Though  with  their  warlike  power 

1  Homer,  Od.  xiii.  1 ;  translated  by  Pope— 

"  He  ceased,  but  left,  so  pleasing  oil  their  ear, 

His  voice,  that  listening  still  they  seemed  to  hear." 
And  imitated  by  Milton,  Paradise  Lost,  ix.  1 — 
"  The  angel  ended,  and  in  Adam's  ear 
So  pleasing  left  his  voice  that  he  awhile 
Thought  him  still  speaking,  still  stood  fixed  to  hear." 

2  The  battle  of  Hileia  took  place  A.D.  348 ;  that  of  Singara  three 
years  earlier. 


A.D.  359.]  URSICINUS   IS   SENT   Fl'H.  171 

and  splendid  success,  they  might  have  pushed  their  advan- 
tages, especially  at  that  moment,  when  in  consequence  of 
the  protracted  troubles  of  their  civil  wars  the  blood  of  the 
Komans  was  being  poured  out  on  all  sides. 

8.  By  these  and  similar  speeches  the  deserter,  pre- 
serving his  sobriety  at  the  banqxiets,  where,  after  the 
fashion  of  the  ancient  Greeks,  the  Persians  deliberate  on 
war  and  other  important  affairs,  stimulated  the  fiery 
monarch,  and  persuaded  him  to  rely  upon  the  greatness  of 
his  fortune,  and  to  take  up  arms  the  moment  that  the 
winter  was  over,  and  he  himself  boldly  promised  his  assist- 
ance in  many  important  matters. 

VI. 

§  1.  ABOUT  this  time  Sabinianus,  being  elated  at  the 
power  which  he  had  suddenly  acquired,  and  having  arrived 
in  Cilicia,  gaVe  his  predecessor  letters  from  the  emperor, 
desiring  him  to  hasten  to  court  to  be  invested  with  higher 
dignities.  In  fact  the  affairs  of  Asia  were  in  such  a 
state  that,  even  if  Ursicinus  had  been  at  Ultima  Thule 
their  urgency  would  have  required  him  to  be  summoned 
thence  to  set  them  right,  since  he  was  a  man  of  the 
ancient  discipline,  and  from  long  experience  especially 
skilful  in  the  Persian  manner  of  conducting  war. 

2.  But  when  the  report  of  this  reached  the  provinces, 
all  ranks  of  the  citizens  and  agricultural  population,  by 
formal  edicts   and   by   unanimous   outcries,    endeavoured 
to  detain  him,  almost  forcibly,  as  the  public  defender  oi 
their   country,    remembering  that   though   for  ten    years 
he  had  been  left  to  his  own  resources  with  a  scanty  and 
unwarlike  force,  he  had  yet  incurred  no  loss  ;  and  fearing 
for   their   safety  if  at   so   critical   a   time   he   should   be 
removed  and  a  man  of  utter  inactivity  assume  the  rule  in 
his  stead. 

3.  We  believe,  and  indeed  there  is  no  doubt  of  it,  that  fame 
flies  on  wings  through  the  paths  of  the  air  ;  and  she  it  was 
who  now  gave  information  of  these  events  to  the  Persians 
while  deliberating  on  the  entire  aspect  of  affairs.     At  last, 
after  many  arguments  pro  and  con,  they  determined,  on 
the  advice  of  Antoninus,  that  as  Ursicinus  was  removed, 
and  as  the  new  governor  was  contemptible,   they  might 


172  AMMIANUS  MARCELLINUS.  [BK.XVJU.Cn.vz. 

venture  to  neglect  laying  siege  to  cities,  an  operation 
which  would  cause  a  mischievous  loss  of  time,  and  at  once 
cross  the  Euphrates,  and  advance  further,  in  order,  out- 
stripping all  rumour  of  their  march,  to  occupy  those  pro- 
vinces which,  throughout  all  our  wars,  had  always  been 
safe  (except  in  the  time  of  Gallienus),  and  which,  from 
their  long  enjoyment  of  peace,  were  very  wealthy.  And 
in  this  enterprise,  with  the  favour  of  God,  Antoninus  of- 
fered himself  as  a  most  desirable  guide. 

4.  His  advice,  therefore,  being  unanimously  praised  and 
adopted,   and   the  attention   of  the  whole  nation  being 
directed  to  the  speedy  collection  of  those  things  which 
were  required,  supplies,  soldiers,  arms,  and  equipments, 
the  preparation  of  everything  for  the  coming  campaign 
was  continued  the  whole  winter. 

5.  In  the  mean  time,  we,  hastening  at  the  emperor's  com- 
mand towards  Italy,  after  having  been  detained  a  short 
time  on  the  western  side  of  Mount  Taurus,  'reached  the 
river  Hebrus,  which  descends  from  the  mountains  of  the 
Odrysaa ',  and  there  we  received  letters  from  the  emperor, 
ordering  us,  without  the  least  delay,  to  return  to  Meso- 
potamia, without  any  officers,  and  having,  indeed,  no  im- 
portant duty  to  discharge,  since  all  the  power  had  been 
transferred  to  another. 

6.  And  this  had  been  arranged  by  those  mischievous 
meddlers  in  the  government,  in  order  that  if  the  Persians 
failed  and  returned  to  their  own   country,  our  success 
might  be  attributed  to  the  valour  of  the  new  governor; 
while,  if  our  affairs  turned  out  ill,  Ursicinus  might  be 
impeached  as  a  traitor  to  the  republic. 

7.  Accordingly   we,  being  tossed   about  without    any 
reason,  after  much  time  had  been  lost,  returned,  and  found 
Sabinianus,  a  man  full  of  pride,  of  small  stature,  and  of  a 
petty   and   nnrrow   mind,   scarcely  able   without  fear   to 
encounter  the  slight  noise  of  a  beast,  much  less  to  face  the 
crash  of  battle. 

8.  Nevertheless,  since  our  spies  brought  positive   and 
consistent  intelligence  that  all  kind  of  preparations  were 
going  on  among  the  enemy,  and  since  their  report  was 
confirmed    by  that  of  the  deserters,  while  this  manikin 
was  in  a  state  of  perplexity,  we  hastened  to  Nisibis  to 

1  The  Maritza,  rising  in  Mount  Hsemus,  now  the  Balkan. 


A.D.  359.]  STATE    OF   NISIB1S.  ITS 

make  such  preparation  as  seemed  requisite,  lest  the  Persians, 
while  concealing  their  intention  to  besiege  it,  should  come 
upon  it  by  surprise. 

9.  And  while  all  things  necessary  were  being  pressed 
forward  within  the  walls,  continued  fires  and  columns  of 
smoke  being  seen  on  the  other  side  of  the  Tigris,  near 
the  town  called  the  Camp  of  the  Moors,  and  Sisara,  and 
the  other  districts  on  the  Persian  frontier,  and  spreading  up 
to  the  city  itself,  showed  that  the  predatory  bands  of  the 
enemy  had  crossed  the  river,  and  entered  our  territories. 

10.  And  therefore  we  hastened  forwards  with  a  forced 
march,  to  prevent  the  roads  from  being  occupied ;    and 
when  we  had  advanced  two  miles,  we  saw  a  fine  boy  of 
about  eight  years  old,  as  we  guessed,  wearing  a  necklace,  of 
noble  appearance,  standing  on  the  top  of  a  small  hillock, 
and  crying  out,  stating  himself  to  be  the  son  of  a  man  of 
noble  birth,  whom  his  mother,  while  fleeing  in  her  alarm 
at  the  approach  of  the  enemy,   had  left  in  her  panic  in 
order  to  be  less  encumbered.     We  pitied  him,  and  at  the 
command  of  our  general,  I  put  him  on  my  horse,  in  front 
of  me,  and  took  him  back  to  the  city,  while  the  predatory 
bands   of  the   enemy,   having  blockaded   the   city,   were 
ravaging  all  around. 

11.  And  because  I  was  alarmed  at  the  difficulties  in 
which  we  should  be  placed  by  a  blockade,  I  put  the  child 
in  at  a  half-open  postern  gate,  and  hastened  back   with 
all  speed  to  my  troop.     And   I    was  very  nearly   taken 
prisoner ;    for  a   tribune   named  Abdigidus,  accompanied 
by   a    groom,   was    fleeing,    pursued    by   a   squadron   of 
cavalry,  and  though  the  master  escaped  the  servant  was 
taken.     And  as  I  was  passing  by  rapidly,  they,  examining 
the  servant,  inquired  of  him  who  was  the  chief  who  had 
advanced  against  them ;  and  when  they  heard  that  Ursi- 
cinus  had  a  little  while  before  entered  the  city,  and  was 
on  his  way  to  Mount  Izala,  they  put  their  informant  to 
death,  and  then,  forming  into  one  body,  pursued  us  with 
ceaseless  speed. 

12.  But  I  outstripped  them  by  the  speed  of  my  horse, 
and  finding  my  comrades  reposing  securely  under  the  walls 
of  a  slight  fort,  called  Amudis,  with  their  horses  dispersed 
over  the  grass,  I  waved  my  hand,  and  raising  the  hem  of 
my  cloak :   by  this  usual   signal  I  gave  notice  that  the 


174  AMMIAXUS  MARCKLLINUS.  l^n.  XVIII.  CH.  vi. 

enemy  was  at  hand,  and  then  joining  them  we  retreated 
together,  though  my  horse  was  greatly  fatigued. 

13.  Our  alarm  was  increased  by  the  brightness  of  the 
night,  as  the  moon  was  full,  and  by  the  even  level  of  the 
plain,  which,  if  our  danger  should  become  woise,  afforded 
no   possible  hiding-place,   as   having  neither  trees,    nor 
bushes,  nor  anything  but  low  herbage. 

14.  Accordingly  we  adopted  the  following  plan  :  we  lit 
a   lamp   and   fastened   it   tightly  on  a  horse,  which  we 
turned  loose  without  a  rider,  and  let  go  where  it  pleased 
to  our  left,  while  we  marched  towards  the  high  ground  on 
our  right,  in  order  that  the  Persians  might  fancy  the  light 
a  torch  held  before  the  general  as  he  proceeded  slowly 
forwards,  and  so  keep  on  in  that  direction.     And  unless 
we  had  adopted  this  precaution  we  should  have  been  cir- 
cumvented, and  have  fallen  as  prisoners  into  the  power  of 
the  enemy. 

15.  Being  delivered  from  this  danger,  when  we  had 
come   to  a  woody  spot,  full  of  vines   and  fruit-bearing 
trees,   called   Meiacarire,  a  name  derived  from  the  cool 
springs  found  there,  we  found  that  the  inhabitants  had  all 
fled,  and  there  was  only  a  single  soldier  remaining  behind, 
concealed  in  a  remote  corner.     And  when  he  was  brought 
before  our  general,  and   through   fear  told  all  kinds   of 
different  stories,  and  so  became  an  object  of  suspicion ;  at 
last,  under  the  compulsion  of  our  threats,  he  told  the  real 
truth,  that  he  was  a  native  of  Gaul,  and  had  been  born 
among  the  Parisii,  that  he  had  served  in  our  cavalry,  but 
that  fearing  punishment  for  some  offence  he  had  deserted 
to  the  Persians ;  that  he  had  since  married  a  wife  of  ex- 
cellent character,  and  had  a  family,  and  that  having  been 
frequently  sent  as  a  spy  to  our  camp,   he   had  always 
brought  the  Persians   true   intelligence.       And   now  he 
said    he    had  been   sent  by  the   nobles   Tamsapor    and 
Nohodares,  who  were  in  command  of  the  predatory  bands, 
to  bring  them  such  intelligence  as  he  could  collect.     After 
telling  us  this,  and  also  that  he  knew  of  the  operations 
of  the  enemy,  he  was  put  to  death. 

16.  Afterwards,  as  our  anxiety  increased,  we  proceeded 
from  thence   with  as  much   speed  as  we  could   make   to 
Amida,  a  city  celebrated  at  a  later  period  for  the  disaster 
which  befel  it.    And  when  our  scouts  had  rejoined  us  there 


AJ».  359.'  MESSAGE    FROM    PROCOPIUS.  175 

we  found  in  one  of  their  scabbards  a  scrap  of  parchment 
written  in  cipher,  which  they  had  been  ordered  to  convey 
to  us  by  Procopitis,  whom  I  have  already  spoken  of  as 
ambassador  to  the  Persians  with  the  Count  Lucillianus ; 
its  terms  were  purposely  obscure,  lest  if  the  bearers  should 
be  taken  prisoners,  and  the  sense  of  the  writing  under- 
stood, materials  should  be  found  for  fatal  mischief. 

17.  The  purport  was,   "  The  ambassadors  of  the  Greeks, 
having  been  rejected,  and  being  perhaps  to  be  put  to  death, 
the  aged  king,  not  contented   with  the  Hellespont,    will 
throw  bridges  over  the  Granicus  and  the  Rhyndacus,  and 
invade  Asia  Minor  with  a  numerous  host,  being  by  his  own 
natural  disposition  irritable  and  fierce ;    and  being  now 
prompted  and  inflamed  by  him  who  was  formerly  the  suc- 
cessor of  the  Roman  emperor  Hadrian.1  it  is  all  over  with 
the  Greeks  if  they  do  not  take  care." 

18.  The  meaning  of  this  was  that   the   Persian   king, 
having   crossed   the   rivers    Anzaba   and    Tigris,    at    the 
prompting  of  Antoninus  was  aiming  at  the  sovereignty  of 
the  entire  East.     When  it  had  been  interpreted  with  diffi- 
culty, from  its  great  obscurity,  a  wise  plan  was  decided 
on. 

19.  The  satrap  of  Corduena,  a  province  under  the  au- 
thority of  the  Persians,  was  a  man  named  Jovinianus,  who 
had  grown  up  to  manhood  in  the  Roman  territories,  and 
was  secretly  friendly  to  us,  because  he  had  been  detained 
as  a  hostage  in  Syria,  and  being  now  allured  by  the  love  of 
liberal   studies,   he  was   exceedingly   desirous   to   return 
among  us. 

20.  To  this  man  I,  being  sent  with  a  faithful  centurion, 
for  the  purpose  of  learning  with  greater  certainty  what  was 
being   done,    reached    him    by   travelling    over   pathless 
mountains,  and  dangerous  defiles.     And  when  he  saw  and 
recognized  me,  he  received  me  courteously,  and  I  avowed 
to  him  alone  the  reason  of  my  coming ;  and  having  received 
from  him  a  silent  guide,  well  acquainted  with  the  country, 
I  was  sent  to  some  lofty  rocks  at  a  distance,  from  which, 
if  one's  eyes  did  not  fail,  one  could  see  even  the  most 
minute  object  fifty  miles  off. 

21.  There  we  remained  two  whole  days ;    and  on  the 
morning  of  the  third  day  we  saw  all  the  circuit  of  the 

1  Antoninus  is  meant,  as  Hadrian  was  succeeded  by  Antoninus  Piug 


176  AMMIAXUS   MARCELLIXUS.  [BK.XVIJI.CH.vu 

earth,  which  we  call  the  horizon,  filled  with  countless  hosts 
of  men,  and  the  king  marching  before  them  glittering  with 
the  brilliancy  of  his  robes.  And  next  to  him  on  his  left 
hand  marched  Grumbates,  king  of  the  Chionitse,  a  man  of 
middle  age,  and  wrinkled  limbs,  but  of  a  grand  spirit, 
and  already  distinguished  for  many  victories.  On  his 
right  hand  was  the  king  of  the  Albani,  of  equal  rank  and 
ependour.  After  them  came  various  generals,  renowned 
for  their  rank  and  power,  who  were  followed  by  a  multi- 
tude of  all  classes,  picked  from  the  flower  of  the  neighbour- 
ing nations,  and  trained  by  long  hardship  to  endure  any 
toil  or  danger. 

22.  How  long,  0  mendacious  Greece,  wilt  thou  tell  us 
of  Doriscus,1  the  Thracian  town,  and  of  the  army  counted 
there  in  battalions  in  a  fenced  space,  when  we  careful,  or 
to  speak  more  truly,  cautious  historians,  exaggerate  nothing, 
and  merely  record  what  is  established  by  evidence  neither 
doubtful  nor  uncertain ! 

VII. 

§  1.  AFTER  the  kings  had  passed  by  Nineveh,  an  important 
city  of  the  province  of  Adiabena,  they  offered  a  sacrifice 
in  the  middle  of  the  bridge  over  the  Anzaba,  and  as  the 
omens  were  favourable,  they  advanced  with  great  joy ; 
while  we,  calculating  that  the  rest  of  their  host  could 
hardly  pass  over  in  three  days,  returned  with  speed  to 
the  satrap,  and  rested,  refreshing  ourselves  by  his  hospi- 
table kindness. 

2.  And  returning  from  thence  through  a  deserted  and 
solitary  country,  under  the  pressure  of  great  necessity,  and 
reaching  our  army  more  rapidly  than  could  have   been 
expected,  we  brought  to  those  who  were  hesitating  the 
certain  intelligence  that  the  kings  had  crossed  over  the 
river  by  a  bridge  of  boats,  and  were  marching  straight 
towards  us. 

3.  Without  delay,  therefore,  horsemen  with  horses  of 
picked  speed  were  sent  to  Cassianus,  duke  of  Mesopotamia, 
and   to   Euphronius,   at   that   time   the   governor   of    the 
province,  to  compel  the  residents  in  the  country  to  retire 

1  Doriscus  was  the  town  where  Xerxes  reviewed  and  counted  hia 
army,  as  is  related  by  Herodotus,  vii.  60. 


A.D.  359.]  WILD    BKASTS   IN   MESOPOTAMIA.  177 

with  their  families  and  all  their  flocks  to  a  safer  place  ;  and 
to  quit  at  once  the  town  of  Came,  which  was  defended 
by  very  slight  walls ;  and  further,  to  burn  all  the  stand 
ing  crops,  that  the  enemy  might  get  no  supplies  from  the 
land. 

4.  And  when  these  orders  had  been  executed,  as  they 
were  without  delay,  and  when  the  fire  was  kindled,  the 
violence  of  the  raging  element  so  completely  destroyed  all 
the  corn,1  which  was  just   beginning  to  swell  and   turn 
yellow,  and  all  the  young  herbage,  that  from  the  Euphrates 
to  the  Tigris  nothing  green  was  to  be  seen.     And  many 
wild  beasts  were  burnt,  and  especially  lions,  who  infest 
these  districts  terribly,  but  who  are  often  destroyed  or 
blinded  in  this  manner. 

5.  They  wander  in  countless  droves  among  the  beds  of 
rushes  on  the  banks  of  the  rivers  of  Mesopotamia,  and  in 
the  jungles;  and  lie  quiet  all  the  winter,  which  is  very 
mild  in   that    country.       But  when  the  warm  weather 
returns,  as  these  regions  are  exposed  to  great  heat,  they 
are  forced   out  by  the  vapours,  and  by  the  size  of  the 
gnats,  with  swarms  of  which  every  part  of  that  country 
is  filled.     And  these  winged  insects  attack  the  eyes,  as 
being  both  moist  and  sparkling,  sitting  on  and  biting  the 
eyelids ;  the  lions,  unable  to  bear  the  torture,  are  either 
drowned  in  the  rivers,  to  which  they  flee  for  refuge,  or 
eke  by  frequent  scratchings  tear  their  eyes  out  themselves 
with  their  claws,  and  then  become  mad.     And  if  this  did 

1  "  Ammianus  has  marked  the  chronology  of  this  year  by  three 
signs  which  do  not  perfectly  coincide  with  each  other,  or  with  the 
series  of  the  history : — 1.  The  corn  was  ripe  when  Sapor  invaded 
Mesopotamia,  'cum  jura  stipuia.  flavente  turgerent' — a  circumstance 
which,  in  the  latitude  of  Aleppo,  would  naturally  refer  us  to  the 
month  of  April  or  May.  2.  The  progress  of  Sapor  was  checked  by  the 
overflowing  of  the  Euphrates,  which  generally  happens  in  July  and 
August.  3.  When  Sapor  had  taken  Amida,  after  a  siege  of  seventy- 
three  days,  the  autumn  was  far  advanced.  'Autumno  praecipiti  hsedo- 
rumque  improbo  sidere  exorto.'  To  reconcile  these  apparent  contra- 
dictions, we  must  allow  for  some  delay  in  the  Persian  king,  some 
inaccuracy  in  the  historian,  and  some  disorder  in  the  seasons." — Gibbon, 
cap.  xix. ;  ed.  Bohn,  vol.  ii.  320.  "  Clinton,  F.  R.,  i.  442,  sees  no  such 
difficulty  as  Gibbon  has  here  supposed ;  he  makes  Sapor  to  have  passed 
the  Tigris  in  May,  reached  the  Euphrates  July  8th,  arrived  before 
Artida  July  27th,  and  stormed  the  place  October  7th." — Editor  of 
Bohn's  ed. 

N 


178  AMMIANUS  MARCELLINUS.          [B*.  XVIII.  CK.  vn, 

not  happen  the  whole  of  the  East  would  be  overrun  with 
beasts  of  this  kind. 

6.  While  the  plains  were  thus  being  laid  waste  by  fire, 
as  I  have  described,  tne  tribunes,  who  were  sent  with  a 
body  of  protectores,  fortified  all  the  western  bank  of  the 
Euphrates  with   castles  and   sharp   palisades   and   every 
kind   of  defence,   fixing   also   large   engines  for   hurling 
missiles  on  those  spots  where  the  more  tranquil  condition 
of  the  river  made  it  likely  that  the  enemy  might  attempt 
to  cross. 

7.  While  these  things  were  being  expeditiously  done, 
Sabinianus,    chosen  in   the  hurried  moment  of  general 
danger  as  the  fittest  conductor  of  an  internecine  war,  was 
living  luxuriously,  according  to  his  custom,  at  the  tombs  of 
Edessa,1  as  if  he  had  established  peace  with  the  dead, 
and  had  nothing  to  fear :  and  he  took  especial  pleasure 
in  breaking  the  silence  of  the  place  with  the  sounding 
measures  of  the  martial  pyathicari,  instead  of  the  usual 
theatrical  exhibitions  ;  a  fancy,  considering  the  place,  preg- 
nant with  omens.     Since  these  and  similar  gloomy  scenes 
foreshow  future  commotions,  as  we  learn  in  the  progress 
of  time,  all  good  men  ought  to  avoid  them. 

8.  In  the  mean  time,  passing  by  Nisibis  as  of  no  import- 
ance, while  the  conflagration  increased  through  the  dry- 
ness  of  the  crops,  the  kings,  dreading  a  scarcity  of  food, 
marched  through  the   grassy  valleys  at  the  foot  of  the 
mountains. 

9.  When   they  had    arrived  at  a   small    place    called 
Bebase  (from  which  place   to  the  town  of  Constantina, 
which  is  one  hundred  miles  distant,  the  whole  country  is 
an  arid  desert,  except  where  a  little  water  is  found  in 
some  wells),  they  hesitated  for  some  time,  doubting  what 
to  do ;  and  at  last  resolving  to  proceed  in  reliance  on  the 
endurance  of  their  men,  they  learnt  from  a  trusty  spy  that 
the  Euphrates  was  swollen  by  the  melting  of  the  snow,  and 
was  now  extensively  inundating  the  adjacent  lands,  and 
so  could  not  possibly  be  forded. 

10.  Therefore   they  turned  to  see  what  opportunities 
chance  might  afford  them,  being  now  cut  off  unexpectedly 
from  the  hope  which  they  had  conceived.     And  in  the 

1  That  is,  in  the  suburbs  of  Edessa,  aa  cemeteries  in  ancient  times 
were  usually  outside  the  walls  of  cities. 


4.D.  369  THE    ARMY    MARCHES   TO    SAMOSATA.  179 

present  emergency  a  council  was  held,  at  which  Antoninus 
was  requested  to  give  his  advice  :  and  he  counselled  them 
to  direct  their  march  to  the  right,  so  that  by  a  longer  circuit 
they  might  reach  the  two  strong  forts  of  Barzala  and  Lau- 
dias,  to  which  he  could  guide  them  through  a  region  fertile 
in  everything,  and  still  undestroyed,  since  the  march  of  the 
army  was  expected  to.  be  made  in  a  straight  line.  And 
the  only  river  on  their  road  was  one  small  and  narrow,  to 
be  passed  near  its  source,  before  it  was  increased  by  any 
other  streams,  and  easily  fordable. 

11.  When  they  had  heard  this,  they  praised  their 
adviser,  and  bidding  him  lead  the  way,  the  whole  army 
turned  from  its  previously  appointed  line,  and  followed  his 
guidance. 

VIII. 

§  1.  WHEN  our  generals  received  intelligence  of  this  from 
their  spies,  we  settled  to  march  in  haste  to  Samosata,  in 
order  to  cross  the  river  at  that  point,  and  destroying  the 
bridges  at  Zeugma  and  Capersana,  to  check  the  invasion  of 
the  enemy  if  we  could  find  a  favourable  chance  for  attack- 
ing them. 

2.  But  we  met  with  a  sad  disaster,  worthy  to  be  buried 
in  profound  silence.      For  two  squadrons  of  cavalry,   of 
about  seven  hundred  men,  who  had  just  been  sent  from 
lllyricum  to  Mesopotamia  as   a   reinforcement,  and  who 
were  guarding  the  passes,  becoming  enervated  and  timid, 
and  fearing  a  surprise  by  night,  withdrew  from  the  public 
causeways  in  the  evening,  a  time  above  all  others  when 
they  most  required  watching. 

3.  And  when  it  was  remarked  that  they  were  all  sunk  in 
wine  and  sleep,  about  twenty  thousand  Persians,  under  the 
command  of  Tamsapor  and  Kohodares,  passed  without  any 
one  perceiving  them,  and  fully  armed  as  they  were,  con- 
cealed themselves  behind  the  high  ground  in  the  neigh- 
bourhood of  Amida. 

4.  Presently,  when  (as  has  been  said)  we  started  before 
daybreak  on  our  march  to  Samosata,  our  advanced  guard, 
on  reaching  a  high  spot  which  commanded  a  more  distant 
view,    was   suddenly  alarmed   by  the   glitter   of  shining 
arms ;  and  cried  out  in  a  hurried  manner  that  the  enemy 


180  AMMUNUS  MARCELLINUS.         [BK.XVlII.C0.vm. 

were  at  hand.  Upon  this  the  signal  for  battle  was  given, 
and  we  halted  in  a  solid  column,  never  thinking  of 
fleeing,  since,  indeed,  those  who  would  have  pursued  VLB 
were  in  sight ;  nor  to  engage  in  battle  with  an  enemy 
superior  to  us  in  numbers,  and  especially  in  cavalry  ;  but 
seeing  the  necessity  for  caution  in  the  danger  of  certain 
death  which  lay  before  us. 

5.  At  last,  when  it  seemed  clear  that  a  battle  could  not 
be  avoided,  and  while  we  were  still  hesitating  what  to  do, 
some  of  our  men  rashly  advanced  as  skirmishers,  and  were 
slain.    And  then,  as  each  side  pressed  onwards,  Antoninus, 
ambitiously  marching  in  front  of  the  enemy,  was  recognized 
by  Ursicinus,  and  addressed  by  him  in  a  tone  of  reproach, 
and  called  a  traitor  and  a  scoundrel ;  till  at  last,  taking  off 
the  tiara  which  he  wore  on  his  head  as  a  badge  of  honour, 
he  dismounted  from  his  horse,  and  bending  down  till  his 
face  nearly  touched  the  ground,  he   saluted  the   Roman 
general,  calling  him  patron  and  master ;  and  holding  his 
hands  behind  his  back,  which  among  the  Assyrians  is  a 
gesture  of  supplication,  he  said,  "  Pardon  me,  most  noble 
count,  who  have  been  driven  to  this  guilt  by  necessity, 
iiot  by  my  own  will.     My  creditors,  as  you  know,  drove 
me  headlong  into  it :  men  whose  avarice  even  your  high 
authority,  which  tried  to  support  me  in  my  distress,  could 
not  overcome."     Having  said  this,  he  withdrew  without 
turning  his  back  upon  him,  but  retiring  backwards  in  a 
respectful  manner,  with  his  face  towards  him. 

6.  And  while  this  was  taking  place,   which  did  not 
occupy  above    half    an    hour,   our    second  rank,  which 
occupied  the  higher  ground,  cried  out  that  another  body  of 
cuirassiers  appeared  behind,  and  was  coming  on  with  great 
speed. 

7.  And  then,  as  is  often  the  case  at  critical  moments, 
doubting  which  enemy  we  ought,  or  even  could  resist,  and 
being  pressed  on  all  sides  by  an  overwhelming  mass,  we 
dispersed  in  every  direction,  each  fleeing  where  he  could. 
And  while  every  one  was  trying  to  extricate  himself  from 
the  danger,  we  were  brought,  without  any  order,  face  to 
face  with  the  enemy. 

8.  And  so  struggling  vigorously   while  giving  up   all 
desire  of  saving  our  lives,  we  were  driven  back  to  the 
high  banks  of  the  Tigris.     Some  of  our  men,  driven  into 


A.».  359.J  PERSONAL   DANGER   OF   AMMIANUS.  181 

the  water  where  it  was  shallow,  locked  their  arms,  and  so 
made  a  stand  ;  others  were  carried  off  by  the  current  and 
drowned ;  some,  still  fighting  with  the  enemy,  met  with 
various  fortune,  or,  panic-stricken  at  the  numbers  of  the 
barbarians,  sought  the  nearest  defiles  of  Mount  Taurus. 
Among  these  was  the  general  himself,  who  was  recognized 
and  surrounded  by  a  vast  body  of  the  enemy ;  but  he 
escaped  with  the  tribune  Aiadalthes  and  one  groom,  being 
saved  by  the  swiftness  of  his  horse. 

9.  I   myself  was    separated   from  my  comrades,  and 
while  looking  round  to  see  what  to  do,  I  met  with  one 
of  the  protectores  named  Verennianus,  whose  thigh  was 
pierced  through  by  an  arrow,  and  while  at  his  entreaty  I 
was  trying  to  pull  it  out,  I  found  myself  surrounded  on  all 
sides  by  Persians,  some  of  whom  had  passed  beyond  me.    I 
therefore  hastened  back  with  all  speed  towards  the  city, 
which,  being  placed  on   high  ground,  is   only  accessible 
by  one  very  narrow  path  on  the  side  on  which  we  were 
attacked  ;  and  that  path  is  made  narrower  still  by  escarp- 
ments of  the  rocks,  and  barriers  built  on  purpose  to  make 
the  approach  more  difficult. 

10.  Here  we  became  mingled  with  the  Persians,  who  were 
hastening  with  a  run,  racing  with  us,  to  make  themselves 
masters  of  the  higher  ground :  and  till  the  dawn  of  the 
next  day  we  stood  without  moving,  so  closely  packed,  that 
the  bodies  of  those  who  were  slain  were  so  propped  up 
by  the  mass  that  they  could  not  find  room  to  fall  to  the 
ground  ;    and  a  soldier  in  front  of  me,  whose  head  was 
cloven  asunder  into  equal  portions  by  a   mighty  sword- 
blow,  still  stood  upright  like  a  log,  being  pressed  upon  all 
sides. 

1 1 .  And  although  javelins  were  incessantly  hurled  from 
the  battlements  by  every  kind  of  engine,  yet  we  were  pro- 
tected from  that  danger  by  the  proximity  of  the  walls. 
And  at  last  I  got  in  at  the  postern  gate,  which  I  found 
thronged  by  a  multitude  of  both  sexes  flocking  in  from  the 
neighbouring  districts.      For  it  happened   by  chance  cti 
these  very  days  that  it  was  the  time  of  a  great  annual  fair 
which  was  held  in  the  suburbs,  and  which  was  visited  by 
multitudes  of  the  country  people. 

12.  In  the  mean  time  all  was  in  disorder  with  every 
kind  of  noise;  some  bewailing  those  whom  they  had  lost; 


182  AMMIANUS   MARCKLL1NUS.  [BK.  XV111  Cii.  IX. 

others  being  mortally  wounded  ;  and  many  calling  on  their 
different  relations  whom  the  crowd  prevented  them  from 
discovering. 

IX. 

§  1.  THIS  city  had  formerly  been  a  very  small  one,  till 
Constantius  while  Caesar,  at  the  same  time  that  he  built 
another  town  called  Antinopolis,  surrounded  Amida  also 
with  strong  towers  ar»d  stout  walls,  that  the  people  in  the 
neighbourhood  might  have  a  safe  place  of  refuge.  And 
he  placed  there  a  store  of  mural  engines,  making  it  for- 
midable to  the  enemy,  as  he  wished  it  to  be  called  by  his 
own  name. 

2.  On  the   southern  side  it  is  watered  by  the  Tigris, 
which  passes  close  to  it,  making  a  kind  of  elbow :  on  the 
east  it  looks  towards  the  plains  of  Mesopotamia,  on  the 
north  it  is  close  to  the  river  Nymphaeus,  and  is  over- 
shadowed  by  the  chain  of  Mount  Taurus,   which  sepa- 
rates the   nations  on  the   other  side  of  the  Tigris  frum 
Armenia.       On  the  west   it  borders  on  the  province   of 
Gumathena,  a  fertile  and  well-cultivated  district,  in  which 
is  a  village  known  as  Abarne,  celebrated  for  the  healing 
properties  of  its  hot  springs.     But  in  the  very  centre  of 
Amida,  under  the  citadel,  there  rises  a  rich  spring  of  water, 
drinkable  indeed,  but  often  tainted  with  hot  vapours. 

3.  In  the  garrison  of  this  town,  the  fifth  or  Parthian 
legion  was  always  located  with  a  considerable  squadron 
of  native  cavalry.     But  at  that  time  six  legions,  by  forced 
marches,  had  outstripped  the  Persian  host  iu  its  advance, 
and   greatly  strengthened   the    garrison :   they  were   the 
Magnentian  and  Decentian  legions  whom,  after  the  end  of 
the  civil  war,  the  emperor  had  sent  as  mutinous  and  dis- 
contented to  the  East,  since  there  the  only  danger  was 
from  foreign  wars :   the  tenth,  and  the  thirteenth  legion 
called  the  Fretensian :'  and  two  legions  of  light  infantry 
called  prseventores  and  superventores,*  with  -(Elian,  who 
was  now  a  count.    Of  these  latter,  when  only  new  recruits, 

1  It  is  not  known  what  this  name  is  derived  from :  some  read 
Fortensis,  instead  of  Fretensis,  and  those  who  prefer  this  reading  derive 
it  either  from  Fortis,  brave ;  or  from  Fortia,  a  small  town  of  Asiatic 
Sarmatia. 

3  Praeventores,  or  "  going  before ;"  superventores,  "  coming  after," 
as  a  reserve. 


A.D.359.]  SURRENDER  OF  ROMAN   FORTS.  183 

we  have  already1  spoken,  as  sallying  out  from  Singara  at 
the  instigation  of  this  same  ^Elian,  then  only  one  of  the 
guard,  and  slaying  a  great  number  of  Persians  whom  they 
had  surprised  in  their  sleep. 

4.  There  was  also  the  greater  part  of  the  force  called 
companion  archers,  being  squadrons  of  cavalry  so  named, 
in  which  all  the  freeborn  barbarians  serve,  and  who  are 
conspicuous  among  all  others  for  the  splendour  of  their 
arms  and  for  their  prowess. 

X. 

§  1.  WHILE  the  first  onset  of  the  Persians  was  by  its  unex- 
pected vehemence  throwing  these  troops  into  disorder, 
the  king,  with  his  native  and  foreign  troops,  having  after 
leaving  Bebase  turned  his  march  to  the  right,  according  to 
tne  advice  of  Antoninus,  passed  by  Horre  and  Meiacarire 
and  Charcha,  as  if  he  meant  also  to  pass  by  Ainida.  And 
when  he  had  come  near  the  Eoman  forts,  one  of  which  is 
called  Eeman,  and  the  other  Busan,  he  learnt  from  some 
deserters  that  many  persons  had  removed  their  treasures 
there  for  protection,  trusting  to  their  lofty  and  strong 
walls ;  and  it  was  also  added  that  there  was  there,  with  a 
great  many  valuables,  a  woman  of  exquisite  beauty,  the 
wife  of  a  citizen  of  Nisibis  named  Craugasius,  of  great  con- 
sideration by  birth,  character,  and  influence  ;  with  her  little 
daughter. 

2.  Sapor,  eager    to    seize  what    belonged  to    another, 
hastened  on,  and  attacked  the  castle  with  force ;  and  the 
garrison,  being  seized  with  a  sudden  panic  at  the  variety  of 
arms  of  the  assailants,  surrendered  themselves,  and  all  who 
had  fled  to  them  for  protection ;  and  at  the  first  summons 
gave  up  the  keys  of  the  gates.     Possession  being  taken,  all 
that  was  stored  there  was  ransacked ;  women  bewildered 
with  fear  were  dragged  forth ;   and  children  clinging  to 
their  mothers  were  taught  bitter   suffering   at  the  very 
beginning  of  their  infancy. 

3.  And  when  Sapor,  by  asking  each  whose  wife  she  was, 
had   found   that   of    Craugasius   trembling   with   fear    of 
violence,  he  allowed  her  to  come  in  safety  to  him,  and 
when   he  saw  her,  veiled  as  she  was  with  a  black  veil 
to  her  lips,  he  kindly  encouraged  her  with  a  promise  that 

1  la  one  of  the  earlier  books  which  has  been  lost. 


184  AMMIANUS   MARCELLINUS.  [Bs.  XIX. 

she  should  recover  her  husband,  and  that  her  honour 
should  be  preserved  inviolate.  For  hearing  that  her 
husband  was  exceedingly  devoted  to  her,  he  thought  that 
by  this  bribe  he  might  win  him  over  to  betray  Nisibis. 

4.  And  he  also  extended  his  protection  to  other  virgins 
who,  according  to  Christian  rites,  had  been  formally  con- 
secrated to  the  service  of  God,  ordering  that  they  should 
be  kept  uninjured,  and  be  allowed  to  perform  the  offices  of 
religion  as  they  had  been  accustomed.  Affecting  clemency 
for  a  time,  in  order  that  those  who  were  alarmed  at  his 
former  ferocity  and  cruelty  might  now  discard  their  fears, 
and  come  to  him  of  their  own  accord,  learning  from  these 
recent  examples  that  he  tempered  the  greatness  of  his  suc- 
cess with  humanity  and  courtesy. 


BOOK   XIX. 


ARGUMENT. 

I.  Sapor,  while  exhorting  the  citizens  of  Amida  to  surrender,  is  assailed 
with  arrows  and  javelins  by  the  garrison — And  when  king  Grum- 
bates  makes  a  similar  attempt,  his  son  is  slain. — II.  Amida  is 
blockaded,  and  within  two  days  is  twice  assaulted  by  the  Persians. 
— III.  Ursicinua  makes  a  vain  proposal  to  sally  out  by  night,  and 
surprise  the  besiegers,  being  resisted  by  Sabinianus,  the  com- 
mander of  the  forces.— IV.  A  pestilence,  which  breaks  out  in 
Amida,  is  checked  within  ten  days  by  a  little  rain — A  discussion 
of  the  causes,  and  different  kinds  of  pestilences. — V.  Amida, 
betrayed  by  a  deserter,  is  assailed  both  by  assaults  on  the  walla 
and  by  underground  mines. — VI.  A  sally  of  the  Gallic  legions 
does  great  harm  to  the  Persians. — VII.  Towers  and  other  engines 
are  brought  close  to  the  walk  of  the  city,  but  they  are  burnt  by 
the  Romans. — VIII.  Attempts  are  made  to  raise  lofty  mounds 
close  to  the  walls  of  Amida,  and  by  these  means  it  is  entered — 
After  the  fall  of  the  city,  Marcellinus  escapes  by  night,  and  fleea 
to  Antioch. — IX.  Of  the  Roman  generals  at  Amida,  some  are  put 
to  death,  and  others  are  kept  as  prisoners — Craugasius  of  Nisibis 
deserts  to  the  Persians  from  love  of  his  wife,  who  is  their  prisoner. 
— X.  The  people  of  Rome,  fearing  a  scarcity,  become  seditious. — 
XI.  The  Limigantes  of  Sarmatia,  under  pretence  of  suing  for 
peace,  attack  Constantius,  who  is  doceived  by  their  trick ;  but  are 
driven  back  with  heavy  loss.  —  XII.  Many  are  prosecuted  for 
treason,  and  condemned.  —  XIII.  Lauricius,  of  the  Isaurians, 
checks  the  hordes  of  banditti. 


A.B  369.]  SAPOR   SUMMONS   AMIDA   TO   SURRENDER.  185 


I. 

§  1.  THE  king,  rejoicing  at  this  our  disaster  and  captivity, 
and  expecting  other  successes,  advanced  from  this  castle, 
and  marching  slowly,  on  the  third  day  came  to  Amida. 

2.  And  at  daybreak,  everything,  as  far  as  we  could  see, 
glittered  with  shining  arms  ;  and  an  iron  cavalry  filled  the 
plains  and  the  hills. 

3.  And  he   himself,  mounted  on  his  charger,  and  being 
taller  than  the  rest,  led  his  whole  army,  wearing  instead 
of  a  crown  a  golden  figure  of  a  ram's  head  inlaid  with 
jewels ;  being  also  splendid  from  the  retinue  of  men  of  high 
rank  and  of  different  nations  which  followed  him.     And  it 
was  evident  that  his  purpose  was  merely  to  try  the  garrison 
of  the  walls  with  a  parley,  as,  in  following  out  the  counsel 
of  Antoninus,  he  was  hastening  to  another  quarter. 

4.  But  the  deity  of  heaven,  mercifully  limiting  the  dis- 
asters of  the  empire  within  the  compass  of  one  region,  led 
on  this  king  to  such  an  extravagant  degree  of  elation,  that 
he  seemed  to  believe  that  the  moment  he  made  his  appear- 
ance the  besieged  would  be  suddenly  panic-stricken,  and 
have  recourse  to  supplication  and  entreaty. 

5.  He  rode  up  to  the  gates,  escorted  by  the  cohort  of 
his  royal  guard ;  and  while  pushing  on  more  boldly,  so 
that  his  very  features  might  be   plainly   recognized,  his 
ornaments  made  him  such  a  mark  for  arrows  and  other 
missiles,  that  he  would  have  been  slain,  if  the  dust  had  not 
hindered  the  sight  of  those  who  were  shooting  at  him ;  so 
that  after  a  part  of  his  robe  had  been  cut  off  by  a  blow  of 
a  javelin,  he  escaped  to  cause  vast  slaughter  at  a  future 
time. 

6.  After  this,  raging  as  if  against  sacrilegious  men  who 
had  violated  a  temple,  he  cried  out  that  the  lord  of  so  many 
monarchs  and  nations  had  been  insulted,  and  resolved  to 
use  all  his  efforts  to  destroy  the  city.     But  at  the  entreaty 
of  his  choicest  generals  not  to  break  the  example  of  mercy 
which  he  had  so  gloriously  set,  by  indulging  in  anger,  he 
was  pacified,  and  the  next  day  ordered  the  garrison  to  be 
summoned  to  surrender. 

7.  Therefore,  at  daybreak,  Grumbates,  king  of  the  Chi- 
onitae,  went  boldly  up  to  the  walls  to  effect  that  object, 


186  AMMIANUS   MAKCELLINUS.  [Bit.  XlX.Cii.  n. 

with  a  brave  body  of  guards  ;  and  when  a  skilful  recon- 
noitrer  had  noticed  him  coming  within  shot,  he  let  fly  his 
balista,  and  struck  down  his  son  in  the  flower  of  his  youth, 
who  was  at  his  father's  side,  piercing  through  his  breast- 
plate, breast  and  all ;  and  he  was  a  prince  who  in  stature 
and  beauty  was  superior  to  all  his  comrades. 

8.  At  his  death  all  his  countrymen  took  to  flight,  but 
presently  returning  in  order  to  prevent  his  body  from  being 
carried  off,  and  having  roused  with  their  dissonant  cla- 
mours various  tribes  to  their  aid,  a  stern  conflict  arose,  the 
arrows  flying  on  both  sides  like  hail. 

9.  The  deadly  struggle  having  been  continued  till  the 
close  of  day,  it  was  nightfall  before  the  corpse  of  the 
young  prince,  which  had  been  so  stubbornly  defended,  was 
extricated  from  the  heap  of  dead  and  streams  of  blood, 
amid  the  thick  darkness  ;  as  formerly  at  Troy,  the  armies 
fought  in  furious  combat  for  the  comrade  of  the  Thessalian 
chieftain.1 

10.  At  his  death  the  count  was  sad,  and  all  the  nobles  as 
well  as  his  father  were  distressed  at  his  sudden  loss ;  and 
a  cessation  of  arms  having  been  ordered,  the  youth,  so 
noble  and  beloved,  was  mourned  after  the  fashion  of  his 
nation.     He  was  carried  out  in  the  arms  he  was  wont  to 
wear,  and  placed  on  a  spacious  and  lofty  pile ;  around  him 
ten  couches  were  dressed,  bearing  effigies  of  dead  men,  so 
carefully  laid  out,   that  they  resembled  corpses  already 
buried ;  and  for  seven  days  all  the  men  in  the  companies 
and  battalions  celebrated  a  funeral  feast,  dancing,  and  sing- 
ing melancholy  kinds  of  dirges  in  lamentation  for  the  royal 
youth. 

11.  And  the  women,  with  pitiable  wailing,  deplored  with 
their  customary  weepings  the  hope  of  their  nation  thus  cut 
off  in  the  early  bloom  of  youth ;   as  the  worshippers  of 
Venus  are  often  seen  to  do  in  the  solemn  festival  of  Adonis, 
which  the  mystical  doctrines  of  religion  show  to  be  some 
sort  of  image  of  the  ripened  fruits  of  the  earth. 

II. 

§  1.  WHEN  the  body  was  burnt  and  the  bones  collected  in 

a  silver  urn,  which  his  father  had  ordered  to  be  carried 

1  Patroclus,  the  companion  of  Achilles. 


A.I).  359.1  BLOCKADE   OF   AMIDA.  187 

back  to  his  native  land,  to  be  there  buried  beneath  the 
earth,  Sapor,  after  taking  counsel,  determined  to  propitiate 
the  shade  of  the  deceased  prince  by  making  the  destroyed 
city  of  Amida  his  monument.  Nor  indeed  was  Grumbates 
willing  to  move  onward  while  the  shade  of  his  only  son 
remained  unavenged. 

2.  And   having  given  two  days  to  rest,   and  sent  out 
large  bodies  of  troops  to    ravage   the    fertile  and    well- 
cultivated  fields  which  were  as  heavy  with  crops  as  in  the 
time  of  peace,  the  enemy  surrounded  the  city  with  a  line 
of  heavy-armed   soldiers   five   deep ;    and   at   the   begin- 
ning of  the  third  day  the  brilliant  squadrons  filled  every 
spot  as  far  as  the  eye  could  see  in  every  direction,  and  the 
ranks  marching  slowly,  took  up  the  positions  appointed  to 
each  by  lot. 

3.  All  the  Persians  were  employed  in  surrounding  the 
walls ;  that  part  which  looked  eastward,  where  that  youth 
so  fatal  to  us  was  slain,  fell  to  the  Chionitoe.     The  Vertae 
were  appointed  to  the   south ;   the  Albani  watched  the 
north  ;  while  opposite  to  the  western  gate  were  posted  the 
Segestani,  the  fiercest  warriors  of  all,  with  whom  were 
trains  of  tall  elephants,  horrid  with  their  wrinkled  skins, 
which  marched  on  slowly,  loaded  with  armed  men,  terrible 
beyond  the  savageness  of  any  other  frightful  sight,  as  we 
have  often  said. 

4.  When  we  saw  these  countless  hosts  thus  deliberately 
collected  for  the  conflagration  of  the  Roman  world,  and 
directed  to  our  own  immediate  destruction,  we  despaired 
of  safety,  and  sought  only  how  to  end  our  lives  gloriously, 
as  we  all  desired. 

5.  From  the  rising  of  the  sun  to  its  setting,  the  enemy's 
lines  stood  immovable,  as  if  rooted  to  the  ground,  without 
changing  a  step  or  uttering  a  sound ;  nor  was  even  the 
neigh  of  a  horse  heard  ;  and  the  men  having  withdrawn  in 
the   same   order  as   they  had   advanced,  after  refreshing 
themselves  with  food  and  sleep,  even  before  the   dawn, 
returned,  led  by  the  clang  of  brazen  trumpets,  to  surround 
the  city,  as  if  fated  to  fall  with  their  terrible  ring. 

(j.  And  scarcely  had  Grumbates,  like  a  Eoman  fecial, 
hurled  at  us  a  spear  stained  with  blood,  according  to  his 
native  fashion,  than  the  whole  anny,  rattling  their  arms, 
mounted  up  to  the  walls,  and  instantly  the  tumult  of 


188  AMMIANUS   MARCELLINUS.  [B*.  XIX.  CH.  n. 

war  grew  fierce,  while  all  the  squadrons  hastened  with 
speed  and  alacrity  to  the  attack,  and  our  men  on  their 
Bide  opposed  them  with  equal  fierceness  and  resolution. 

7.  Soon  many  of  the  enemy  fell  with  their  heads  crushed 
by  vast  stones  hurled  from  scorpions,  some  were  pierced 
with    arrows,   others  were   transfixed   with  javelins,    and 
strewed  the  ground  with  their  bodies ;  others,  wounded, 
fled  back  in  haste  to  their  comrades. 

8.  Nor  was  there  less  grief  or  less  slaughter  in  the  city, 
where  the  cloud  of  arrows  obscured  the  air,  and  the  vast 
engines,  of  which  the  Persians  had  got  possession  when 
they  took  Singara,  scattered  wounds  everywhere. 

9.  For  the  garrison,  collecting  all  their  forces,  returning 
in  constant  reliefs  to  the  combat,  in   their  eagerness  to 
defend  the  city,  fell  wounded,  to  the  hindrance  of  their 
comrades,  or,  being  sadly  torn  as  they  fell,  threw  down 
those  who  stood  near  them,  or  if  still  alive,  sought  the 
aid  of  those  skilful  in  extracting  darts  which  had  become 
fixed  in  their  bodies. 

10.  So  slaughter  was  met  by  slaughter,  and  lasted  till 
the  close  of  day,  being  scarcely  stopped  by  the  darkness  of 
evening,  so  great  was  the  obstinacy  with  which  both  sides 
fought. 

11.  And  the  watches  of  the  night  were  passed  tinder 
arms,  and  the  hills  resounded  with  the  shouts  raised  on  both 
sides,  while  our  men  extolled  the  valour  of  Constantius 
Caesar  as  lord  of  the  empire  and  of  the  world,   and  the 
Persians  styled  Sapor  Saansas  and  Pyroses,  which  appella- 
tions mean  king  of  kings,  and  conqueror  in  wars. 

12.  The  next  morning,  before  daybreak,  the   trumpet 
gave  the   signal,  and   countless   numbers  from   all    sides 
Hocked  like  birds  to  a  contest  of  similar  violence  ;  and  in 
overy  direction,  as  far  as  the  eye    could  reach,  nothing 
could  be  seen  in  the  plains  and  valleys  but  the  glittering 
arms  of  these  savage  nations. 

13.  And  presently  a  shout  was  raised,  and  as  the  enemy 
rushed  forward  all  at  once,   they  were  met  by  a  dense 
shower  of  missiles  from  the  walls ;  and  as  may  be  con- 
jectured, none  were  hurled  in  vain,   falling  as  they  did 
among  so  dense  a  crowd.     For  while  so  many  evils  sur- 
rounded us,  we  fought  as  I  have  said  before,  with  the  hope, 
not  of  procuring  safety,  but  of  dying  bravely ;  and  from 


A.D.  359.]  VIGILANCE   OF   AMMIAXUS.  189 

dawn  to  eventide  the  battle  was  evenly  balanced,  both 
fighting  with  more  ferocity  than  method,  and  there  arose 
the  shouts  of  men  striking  and  falling,  so  that  from  the 
eagerness  of  both  parties  there  was  scarcely  any  one  who 
did  not  give  or  receive  wounds. 

14.  At  last,  night  put  an  end  to  the  slaughter,  and  the 
losses  on  both  sides  caused  a  longer  truce.     For  when  the 
time  intended  for  rest  was  allowed  to  us,  continual  sleep- 
less toil  still  exhausted  our  little  remaining  strength,  in 
spite  of  the  dread  caused  by  the  bloodshed  and  the  pallid 
faces  of  the  dying,  whom  the   scantiness  of  our  room  did 
not  permit  us  even  the  last  solace  of  burying ;  since  with- 
in the  circuit  of  a  moderate  city  there  were  seven  legions, 
and  a  vast  promiscuous  multitude  of  citizens  and  strangers 
of  both  sexes,  and  other  soldiers,  so  that  at  least  twenty 
thousand  men  were  shut  up  within  the  walls. 

15.  So  each  attended  to  his  own  wounds  as  well  as  he 
could,  availing  himself  of  whatever  assistance  or  remedies 
came  in  his  way.     While  some,  being  severely  wounded, 
died  of  loss  of  blood  ;  and  some,  pierced  through  by  swords, 
lay  on  the  ground,  and  breathed  their  last  in  the  open  air  ; 
others  who  were  pierced  through  and  through  the  skilful 
refused  to  touch,  in  order  not  to  pain  them  further  by 
inflicting  useless  sufferings ;    some,    seeking  the   doubtful 
remedy  of  extracting   the  arrows,  only  incurred  agonies 
worse  than  death. 

m. 

§  1.  WHILE  the  war  was  going  on  in  this  manner  around 
Amida,  Ursicinus,  vexed  at  being  dependent  on  the  v/ill 
of  another,  gave  continual  warning  to  Sabinianus,  who 
had  superior  authority  over  the  soldiers,  and  who  still 
remained  in  the  quarter  of  the  tombs,  to  collect  all  iiis 
light-armed  troops,  and  hasten  by  secret  paths  alonj;  the 
foot  of  the  mountain  chain,  with  the  idea  that  by  the  aid 
of  this  light  force,  if  chance  should  aid  them,  they  might 
surprise  some  of  the  enemy's  outposts,  and  attack  with  suc- 
cess the  night  watches  of  the  army,  which,  with  its  vast  cir- 
cuit, was  surrounding  the  walls,  or  else  by  incessant  attacks 
might  harass  those  who  clung  resolutely  to  the  blockade. 
2.  But  Sabinianus  rejected  this  proposal  as  mischievous, 


190  AMMIANUS   MARCELUNUS.  [BK.Xl3.Cu.iv. 

and  produced  some  letters  from  the  emperor,  expressly 
enjoining  that  all  that  could  be  done  was  to  be  done  with- 
out exposing  the  troops  to  any  danger;  but  his  own  secret 
motive  he  kept  in  his  own  bosom,  namely,  that  he  had  been 
constantly  recommended  while  at  court  to  refuse  his  pre- 
decessor, who  was  very  eager  for  glory,  every  opportunity 
of  acquiring  renown,  however  much  it  might  be  for  tile 
interest  of  the  republic. 

3.  Extreme  pains  were  taken,  even  to  the  ruin  of  tbo 
provinces,  to  prevent  the  gallant  Ursicinus  from  being 
spoken  of  as  the  author  of  or  partner  in  any  memorable 
exploit.  Therefore,  bewildered  with  these  misfortunes, 
Ursicinus,  seeing  that,  though  constantly  sending  spies  to 
us  (although  from  the  strict  watch  that  was  set  it  was  not 
easy  for  any  one  to  enter  the  city),  and  proposing  many 
advantageous  plans,  he  did  no  good,  seemed  like  a  lion, 
terrible  for  his  size  and  fierceness,  but  with  his  claws  cut 
and  his  teeth  drawn,  so  that  he  could  not  dare  to  save  from 
danger  his  cubs  entangled  in  the  nets  of  the  hunters. 

IV. 

§  1.  BUT  in  the  city,  where  the  number  of  the  corpses 
which  lay  scattered  over  the  streets  was  too  great  for  any 
one  to  perform  the  funeral  rites  over  them,  a  pestilence 
was  soon  added  to  the  other  calamities  of  the  citizens  ;  ihe 
carcases  becoming  full  of  worms  and  corruption,  from  the 
evaporation  caused  by  the  heat,  and  the  various  diseases  of 
the  people  ;  and  here  I  will  briefly  explain  whence  diseases 
of  this  kind  arise. 

2.  Both  philosophers  and  skilful  physicians  agree  that 
excess  of  cold,  or  of  heat,  or  of  moisture,  or  of  drought, 
all  cause  pestilences ;  on  which  account  those  who  dwell 
in  marshy  or  wet  districts  are  subject  to  coughs  and  com- 
plaints in  the  eyes,  and  other  similar  maladies  :  on  the 
other  hand,  those  who  dwell  in  hot  climates  are  liable  to 
fevers  and  inflammations.    But  since  fire  is  the  most  power- 
ful of  all  elements,  so  drought  is  the  quickest  at  killing. 

3.  On  this  account  it  is  that  when  the  Greeks  were 
toiling  at  the  ten  years'  war,1  to  prevent  a  foreigner  from 

1  The  Trojan  war.      See  the  account  of  the  pestilence,  Hom« 
H.  i.  50. 


A.B.  359]  PESTILEXCE   IN    A.WIDA.  191 

profiting  by  his  violation  of  a  royal  marriage,  «  pestilence 
broke  out  among  them,  and  numbers  died  by  the  darts  of 
Apollo,  who  is  the  same  as  the  Sun. 

4.  Again,  as  Thucydides  relates,  that  pestilence  which 
at  the  beginning  of  the  Peloponnesian  war  harassed  the 
Athenians  with  a  most  cruel  kind  of  sickness,  came  by 
slow  steps  from  the  burning  plains  of  Ethiopia  to  Attica. 

5.  Others  maintain  that  the  air  and  the  water,  becoming 
tainted  by  the  smell  of  corpses,  and  similar  things,  takes 
away  the  healthiness  of  a  place,  or  at  all  events  that  the 
sudden  change  of  temperature  brings  forth  slighter  sick- 
nesses. 

6.  Some  again  affirm  that  the  air  becomes  heavier  by 
emanations  from  the  earth,  and  kills  some  individuals  by 
checking  the  perspiration  of  the  body,  for  which   reason 
we  learn  from  Homer,  that,  besides  men,  the  other  living 
creatures  also  died  ;  and  we  know  by  many  instances,  that 
in  such  plagues  this  does  occur. 

7.  Now  the  first  species  of  pestilence  is  called  pandemic ; 
this  causes  those  who  live  in  dry  places  to  be  attacked  by 
frequent  heats.     The  second  is  called  epidemic,    which 
gets  gradually  more  violent,  dims  the  sight  of  the  eyes, 
and  awakens  dangerous    humours.      The   third   is   called 
loemodes,1  which  is  also  temporary,   but  still  often  kills 
with  great  rapidity. 

8.  We  were  attacked  by  this  deadly  pestilence  from  the 
excessive  heat,  which  our  numbers  aggravated,  though  but 
few  died :   and  at  last,  on  the  night  after  the  tenth  day 
from  the  first  attack,  the  heavy  and  dense  air  was  softened 
by  a  little  rain,  and  the  health  of  the  garrison  was  restored 
and  preserved. 

V. 

§  1.  IN  the  mean  time  the  restless  Persians  were  sur- 
rounding the  city  with  a  fence  of  wicker-work,  and 
mounds  were  commenced ;  lofty  towers  also  were  con- 
structed with  iron  fronts,  in  the  top  of  each  of  which 
a  balista  was  placed,  in  order  to  drive  down  the  garri- 

1  i.  e.,  Xotju<£8ijy,  from  Xoi/ubs,  pestilence.  Pandemic  means  "  attack- 
ing the  whole  people."  Epidemic,  "spreading  from  individual  t* 
individual." 


192  AMMIANUS   MA&CELIIKUS.  [BK.  XIX.  Cn.  Y. 

son  from  the  battlements  ;  but  during  the  whole  time  the 
shower  of  missiles  from  the  archers  and  slingers  never 
ceased  for  a  moment. 

2.  We  had  with  us  two  of  the  legions  which  had  served 
under  Magnentius,  and  which,  as  we  have  said,  had  lately 
been  brought  from  Gaul,  composed  of  brave  and  active 
men  well  adapted  for  conflicts  in  the  plain  ;  but  not  only 
useless  for  such  a  kind  of  war  as  that  by  which  we  were 
now  pressed,  but  actually  in  the  way.     For  as  they  had  no 
skill  either  in  working  the  engines,  or  in  constructing 
works,  but  were  continually  making  foolish  sallies,  and 
fighting  bravely,  they  always  returned  with  diminished 
numbers ;  doing  just  as  much  good,  as  the  saying  is,  as  a 
bucket  of  water  brought  by  a  single  hand  to  a  general 
conflagration. 

3.  At  last,  when  the  gates  were  completely  blocked,  and 
they  were  utterly  unable  to  get  out,  in  spite  of  the  entrea- 
ties of  their  tribunes,  they  became  furious  as  wild  beasts. 
But  on  subsequent  occasions  their  services  became  con- 
spicuous, as  we  shall  show. 

4.  In  a  remote  part  of  the  walls  on  the  southern  side, 
which  looks  down  on  the  Tigris,  there  was  a  high  tower, 
below  which  yawned  an  abrupt  precipice,    which  it  was 
impossible   to  look  over  without  giddiness.     From  this 
by  a  hollow  subterranean  passage  along  the  foot  of  the 
mountain  some  steps  were  cut  with  great  skill,  which  led 
up  to  the  level  of  the  city,  by  which  water  was  secretly 
obtained  from  the  river,  as  we  have  seen  to  be  the  case 
in  all  the  fortresses  in  that  district  which  are  situated  on 
any  river. 

5.  This  passage  was  dark,  and  because  of  the  precipitous 
character  of  the  rock  was  neglected  by  the  besiegers,  till, 
under  the  guidance  of  a  deserter  who  went  over  to  them, 
seventy  Persian  archers  of  the  royal  battalion,  men  of  emi- 
nent skill  and  courage,  being  protected  by  the  remoteness 
of  the  spot  which  prevented  their  being  heard,  climbed  up 
by  the  steps  one  by  one  at  midnight,  and  reached  the  third 
story  of  the  tower.     There  they  concealed  themselves  till 
daybreak,  when  they  held  out  a  scarlet  cloak  as  a  signal  for 
commencing  an  assault,  when  they  saw  that  the  city  was 
entirely  surrounded  by  the  multitude  of  their  comrades  ; 
and  then  they  emptied  their  quivers  and  threw  them  down 


AJK359.J  VIGOUR   OF   THE   ENEMY.  193 

at  their  feet,  and  with  loud  cries  shot  their  arrows  among 
the  citizens  with  prodigious  skill. 

6.  And  presently  the  whole  of  the  mighty  host  of  the 
enemy  assaulted  the  city  with  more  ferocity  than  ever. 
And  while  we  stood   hesitating  and   perplexed  to  know 
which  danger  to  oppose  first,  whether  to  make  head  against 
the    foe   above   us,    or   against  the   multitude  who   were 
scaling    the   battlements   with    ladders,    our    force    was 
divided ;    and  five   of  the   lighter   balistee  were   brought 
round  and  placed  so  as  to   attack  our  tower.     They  shot 
out  heavy  wooden  javelins  with  great  rapidity,  sometimes 
transfixing  two  of  our  men  at  one  blow,  so  that   many 
of  them  fell  to  the  ground  severely  wounded,  and  some 
jumped  down  in  haste  from  fear  of  the  creaking  engines, 
and  being  terribly  lacerated  by  the  fall,  died. 

7.  But   by  measures  promptly  taken,  the  walls  were 
again  secured  on  that  side,  and  the  engines  replaced  in 
their  former  situation. 

8.  And  since  the  crime  of  desertion  had  increased  the 
labours  of  our  soldiers,  they,  full  of  indignation,  moved 
along  the  battlements    as  if  on    level    ground,    hurling 
missiles  of  all  kinds,  and  exerting  themselves  so  strenu- 
ously that  the  Virtse,  who  were  attacking  on  the  south 
side,  were   repulsed  covered  by  wounds,  and   retired   in 
consternation  to  their  tents,  having  to  lament  the  fall  ot 
many  of  their  number. 

VI. 

§  1.  THUS  fortune  showed  us  a  ray  of  safety,  granting  us 
one  day  in  which  we  suffered  but  little,  while  the  enemy 
sustained  a  heavy  loss ;  the  remainder  of  the  day  was  given 
to  rest  in  order  to  recruit  our  strength  ;  and  at  the  dawn  of 
the  next  morning  we  saw  from  the  citadel  an  innumera- 
ble multitude,  which,  after  the  capture  of  the  fort  called 
Ziata,  was  being  led  to  ^he  enemy's  camp.  For  a  promis- 
cuous multitude  had  taken  refuge  in  Ziata  on  account  of 
its  size  and  strength  ;  it  being  a  place  ten  furlongs  in  cir- 
cumference. 

2.  In  those  days  many  other  fortresses  also  were  stormed 
and  burnt,  and  many  thousands  of  men  and  women  carried 
off  from  them  into  slavery ;  among  whom  were  many  men 

o 


194  AMMIANUS  MARCELLINUS.  [Bs.  XIX.  QL  Tfc 

and  women,  enfeebled  by  age,  wbo,  fainting  from  different 
causes,  broke  down  under  the  length  of  the  journey,  gave 
up  all  desire  of  life,  and  were  hamstrung  and  left  behind. 

3.  The  Gallic  soldiers  beholding  these  wretched  crowds, 
demanded  by  a  natural  but  unseasonable  impulse  to  be  led 
against  the  forces  of  the  enemy,  threatening  their  tribunes 
and  principal  centurions  with  death  if  they  refused  them 
leave. 

4.  And  as  wild  beasts  kept  in  cages,  being  rendered 
more  savage  by  the  smell  of  blood,  dash  themselves  against 
their  movable  bars  in  the  hope  of  escaping,  so  these  men 
smote  the  gates,  which  we  have  already  spoken  of  as  being 
blockaded,  with  their  swords ;  being  very  anxious  not  to 
be  involved  in  the  destruction  of  the  city  till  they  had 
done  some  gallant  exploit ;  or,   if  they  ultimately  escaped 
from  their  dangers,  not  to  be  spoken  of  as  having  done 
nothing  worth  speaking  of,   or   worthy  of    their  Gallic 
courage.     Although  when  they  had  sallied  out  before,  as 
they  had  often  done,  and  had  inflicted  some  loss  on  the 
raisers  of  the  mounds,  they  had  always  experienced  equal 
loss  themselves. 

5.  We,  at  a  loss  what  to  do,  and  not  knowing  what 
resistance  to  oppose  to  these  furious  men,  at  length,  having 
with  some  difficulty  won  their  consent  thereto,  decided, 
since  the  evil  could  be  endured  no  longer,  to  allow  them  to 
attack  the  Persian  advanced  guard,  which  was  not  much 
beyond  bow-shot ;  and  then,  if  they  could  force  their  line, 
they  might  push  their  advance  further.    For  it  was  plain 
that  if  they  succeeded  in  this,  they  would  cause  a  great 
slaughter  of  the  enemy. 

6.  And   while   the    preparations    for  this    sally  were 
being  made,  the  walls  were  still  gallantly  defended  with 
unmitigated  labour  and  watching,  and  planting  engines 
for  shooting  stones  and  darts  in  every  direction.      But 
two  high  mounds  had  been    raised  by  the  Persian    in- 
fantry, and  the   blockade  of  the    city  was  still   pressed 
forward  by  gradual  operations ;  against  which  our  men, 
exerting  themselves  still  more  vigorously,  raised  -also  im- 
mense structures,  topping  the  highest  works  of  the  enemy  ; 
and  sufficiently  strong  to  support  the  immense  weight  of 
their  defenders. 

7.  In  the  mean  time  the  Gallic  troops,  impatient  of  delay. 


4J>.  359.]  COURAGE   OK   THE   GARRISON.  195 

armed  with  their  axe»  and  swords,  went  forth  from  the 
open  postern  gate,  taking  advantage  of  a  dark  and  moonless 
night.  And  imploring  the  Deity  to  be  propitious,  and 
repressing  even  their  breath  when  they  got  near  the 
enemy,  they  advanced  with  quick  step  and  in  close  order, 
slew  some  of  the  watch  at  the  outposts,  and  the  outer 
sentinels  of  the  camp  ^who  were  asleep,  fearing  no  such 
event),  and  entertained  secret  hopes  of  penetrating  even  to 
the  king's  tent  if  fortune  assisted  them. 

8.  But  some  noise,  though  slight,  was  made  by  them  in 
their  march,  and  the  groans  of  the  slain  aroused  many  from 
sleep  ;  and  while  each  separately  raised  the  cry  "  to  arms," 
our  soldiers  halted  and  stood  firm,  not  venturing  to  move 
any  further  forward.     For  it  would  not  have  been  prudent, 
now    that    those    whom    they    sought   to   surprise   were 
awakened,  to   hasten  into  open  danger,  while  the  bands 
of  Persians  were  now  heard  to  be  flocking  to  battle  from  all 
quarters. 

9.  Nevertheless  the   Gallic  troops,  with  undiminished 
strength  and  boldness,  continued  to  hew  down  their  foes 
with  their  swords,  though  some  of  their  own  men  were  also 
slain,  pierced  by  the  arrows  which  were  filing  from  all 
quarters ;  and  they  still  stood  firm,  when  they  saw  the  whole 
danger  collected  into  one  point,  and  the  bands  of  the  enemy 
coming  on  with  speed ;  yet  no  one  turned  his  back :  and 
they  withdrew,  retiring  slowly  as  if  in  time  to  music,  and 
gradually  fell  behind  the  pales  of  the  camp,  being  unable 
to  sustain  the  weight  of  the  battalions  pressing  close  iipon 
them,   and  being  deafened  by  the  clang  of  the  Persian 
trumpets. 

10.  And  while  many  trumpets  in  turn  poured  out  their 
clang  from  the  city,  the  gates  were  opened  to  receive  our 
men,  if  they  should  be  able  to  reach  them  :  and  the  engines 
for  missiles  creaked,  though  no  javelins  were  shot  from 
them,  in  order  that  the  captains  of  the  advanced  guard  of 
the  Persians,  ignorant  of  the  slaughter  of  their  comrades, 
might  be  terrified  by  the  noise  into  falling  back,  and  BO 
allowing  our  gallant  troops  to  be  admitted  in  safety. 

11.  And  owing  to  this  manoeuvre,  the  Gauls  about  day- 
break entered  the  gate  although  with  diminished  numbers ; 
many   of  them   severely   and    others    slightly    wounded. 
They  lost  four  hundred  men  this  night,  when  if  they  had 


196  AMMIAXUS   MARCELLINUS.  [Bs.  XIX.  CH.  VB 

not  been  hindered  by  more  formidable  obstacles,  they  would 
have  slain  in  his  very  tent  not  Rhesus  nor  Thracians  sleep- 
ing before  the  walls  of  Troy,  but  the  king  of  Persia,  sur- 
rounded by  one  hundred  thousand  armed  men. 

12.  To  their  leaders,  as  champions  of  valiant  actions,  the 
emperor,    after   the   fall   of  the  city,   ordered   statues   in 
armour  to  be  erected  at  Edessa  in  a  frequented  spot.     And 
those  statues  are  preserved  up  to  the  present  time  unhurt. 

13.  When  the  next  day  showed  the  slaughter  which  had 
been  made,  nobles  and  satraps  were  found  lying  amongst 
the  corpses,  and  all  kinds  of  dissonant  cries  and  tears  indi- 
cated the  changed  posture  of  the  Persian  host :  everywhere 
was  heard  wailing  ;  and  great  indignation  was  expressed  by 
the  princes,  who  thought  that  the  Romans  had  forced  their 
way  through  the  sentries  in  front  of  the  walls.    A  truce  was 
made  for  three  days  by  the  common  consent  of  both  armies, 
and  we  gladly  accepted  a  little  respite  in  which  to  take 
breath. 

VII. 

§  1.  Now  the  nations  of  the  barbarians,  being  amazed  at  the 
novelty  of  this  attempt,  and  rendered  by  it  more  savage 
than  ever,  discarding  all  delay,  determined  to  proceed  with 
their  works,  since  open  assaults  availed  them  but  little. 
And  with  extreme  warlike  eagerness  they  all  now  hastened 
to  die  gloriously,  or  else  to  propitiate  the  souls  of  the  dead 
by  the  ruin  of  the  city. 

2.  And  now,   the  necessary  preparations  having  been 
completed  by  the  universal  alacrity,  at  the  rising  of  the 
day-star   all   kinds   of    structures   and   iron   towers   were 
brought  up  to  the  walls ;  on  the  lofty  summits  of  which 
balistse  were  fitted,  which  beat  down  the  garrison  who  were 
placed  on  lower  ground. 

3.  And  when  day  broke  the  iron  coverings  of  the  bodies 
of  the  foe  darkened  the  whole  heaven,  and  the  dense  lines 
advanced  without  any  skirmishers  in  front,  and  not  in  an 
irregular  manner  as  before,  but  to  the  regular  and  soft 
music  of  trumpets ;  protected  by  the  roofs  of  the  engines, 
and  holding  before  them  wicker  shields. 

4.  And  when  they  came  within  reach  of  our  missiles,  the 

1  Ammian  alludes  to  the  expedition  of  Ulysses  and  Diomed.  related 
by  Homer,  II.  viii. 


AJ>  359.]  DANGER  OP   THE  GARRISON.  197 

Persian  infantry,  holding  their  shields  in  front  of  them,  and 
even  then  having  difficulty  in  avoiding  the  arrows  which 
were  shot  from  the  engines  on  the  walls,  for  scarcely  any 
kind  of  weapon  found  an  empty  space,  they  broke  their 
line  a  little ;  and  even  the  euirassiers  were  checked  and 
began  to  retreat,  which  raised  the  spirits  of  our  men. 

5.  Still  the  balistse  of  the  enemy,  placed  on  their  iron 
towers,  and  pouring  down  missiles  with  great  power  from 
their  high  ground  on  those  in  a  lower  position,  spread  a 
great  deal  of  slaughter  in  our  ranks.   At  last,  when  evening 
came  on,  both  sides  retired  to  rest,  and  the  greater  part  of 
the  night  was  spent  by  us  in  considering  what  device  could 
be  adopted  to  resist  the  formidable  engines  of  the  enemy. 

6.  At  length,  after  we  had  considered  many  plans,  we 
determined  on  one  which  the  rapidity  with  which  it  could 
be  executed  made  the  safest — to  oppose  four  scorpions  to  the 
four  baliste  ;  which  were  carefully  moved  (a  very  difficult 
operation)  from  the  place  in  which  they  were ;  but  before 
this  work  was  finished,  day  arrived,  bringing  us  a  mournful 
sight,  inasmuch-  as  it  showed  us  the  formidable  battalions 
of  the  Persians,  with  their  trains  of  elephants,  the  noise  and 
size  of  which  animals  are  such  that  nothing  more  terrible 
can  be  presented  to  the  mind  of  man. 

7.  And  while  we  were  pressed  on  all  sides  with  the  vast 
masses  of  arms,  and  works,  and  beasts,  still  our  scorpions 
were  kept  at  work  with  their  iron  slings,  hurling  huge 
round  stones  from  the  battlements,  by  which  the  towers  of 
the  enemy  were  crushed  and  the  balistse  and  those  who 
worked  them  were  dashed  to  the  ground,  so  that  many  were 
desperately  injured,  and  many  crushed  by  the  weight  of  the 
falling  structures.     And  the  elephants  were  driven  back 
with  violence,  and  surrounded  by  the  flames  which  we 
poured  forth  against  them,   the  moment  that  they  were 
wounded  retired,  and  could   not  be   restrained  by  their 
riders.     The  works  were  all  burnt,  but  still  there  was  no 
cessation  from  the  conflict. 

8.  For  the  king  of  the  Persians  himself,  who  is  never  ex- 
pected to  mingle  in  the  fight,  being  indignant  at  these  dis- 
asters, adopting  a  new  and  unprecedented  mode  of  action, 
sprang  forth  like  a  common  soldier  among  his  own  dense 
columns ;  and  as  the  very  number  of  his  guards  made  him 
the  more  conspicuous  to  us  who  looked  from  afar  on  the 


198  AMMIANUS   MARCELL1NUS.          [BK.  XIX.  CH.  vtu. 

scene,  he  was  assailed  by  numerous  missiles,  and  was  forced 
to  retire  after  he  had  lost  many  of  his  escort,  while  his  troops 
fell  back  by  echellons ;  and  at  the  end  of  the  day,  though 
frightened  neither  by  the  sad  sight  of  the  slaughter  nor  of 
the  wounds,  he  at  length  allowed  a  short  period  to  be  given 
to  rest. 

VIII. 

§  1.  Night  had  put  an  end  to  the  combat ;  and  when  a 
slight  rest  had  been  procured  from  sleep,  the  moment  that 
the  dawn,  looked  for  as  the  harbinger  of  better  fortune, 
appeared.  Sapor,  full  of  rage  and  indignation,  and  per- 
fectly reckless,  called  forth  his  people  to  attack  us.  And 
as  his  works  were  all  burnt,  as  we  have  related,  and  the 
attack  had  to  be  conducted  by  means  of  their  lofty  mounds 
raised  close  to  our  walls,  we  also  from  mounds  within 
the  walls,  as  fast  as  we  could  raise  them,  struggled  in 
spite  of  all  our  difficulties,  with  all  our  might,  and  with 
equal  courage,  against  our  assailants. 

2.  And  long  did  the  bloody  conflict  last,  nor  was  any  one 
of  the  garrison  driven  by  fear  of  death  from  his  resolution 
to  defend  the  city.    The  conflict  was  prolonged,  till  at  last, 
while  the  fortune  of  the  two  sides  was  still  undecided,  the 
structure  raised  by  our  men,  having  been  long  assailed  and 
shaken,  at  last  fell,  as  if  by  an  earthquake. 

3.  And  the  whole  space  which  was  between  the  wall 
and  the  external  mound  being  made  level  as  if  by  a  cause- 
way or  a  bridge,  opened  a  passage  to  the  enemy,  which 
was  no  longer  embarrassed  by  any  obstacles ;  and  numbers 
of  our  men,  being  crushed  or  enfeebled  by  their  wounds, 
gave  up  the  struggle.     Still  men  flocked  from  all  quarters 
to  repel  so  imminent  a  danger,  but  from  their  eager  haste 
they  got  in  one  another's  way,  while  the  boldness  of  the 
enemy  increased  with  their  success. 

4.  By  the  command  of  the  king  all  his  troops  now  has- 
tened into  action,  and  a  hand-to-hand  engagement  ensued. 
Blood  ran  down  from  the  vast  slaughter  on  both  sides  :  the 
ditches  were  filled  with  corpses,  and  thus  a  wider  path  was 
opened  for  the  besiegers.     And  the  city,  being  now  filled 
with  the  eager  crowd  which  forced  its  way  in,  all  hope  of 
defence  or  of  escape  was  cut  off,  and  armed  and  unarmed 


A.D.359.]  ESCAPE   OF   AMMIANUS.  199 

without  any  distinction  of  age  or  sex  were  slaughtered  like 
sheep. 

5.  It  was  full  evening,  when,  though  fortune  had  proved 
adverse,  the  bulk  of  our  troops  was  still  fighting  in  good 
order;    and    I,  having   concealed    myself  with  two  com- 
panions in  an  obscure  corner  of  the  city,  now  under  cover 
of  darkness,  made   my  escape  by  a  postern    gate  where 
there  was  no  guard ;  and  aided  by  my  own  knowledge  of 
the  country  and  by  the  speed  of  my  companions,  I  at  last 
reached  the  tenth  milestone  from  the  city. 

6.  Here,  having    lightly  refreshed  ourselves,  I  tried  to 
proceed,  but  found  myself,  as  a  noble  unaccustomed  to 
such  toil,  overcome  by  fatigue  of  the  march.     I  happened 
to  fall  in,  however,  with  what,  though  a  most  unsightly 
object,  was  to  me,  completely  tired  out,  a  most  seasonable 
relief. 

7.  A  groom  riding  a  runaway  horse,   barebacked  and 
without    a   bridle,   in  order  to  prevent  his  falling  had 
knotted  the  halter  by  which  he  was  guiding  him  tightly 
to  his  left  hand,  and  presently,  being  thrown,  and  unable 
to   break  the   knot,  he   was   torn  to   pieces  as  he   was 
dragged  over  the  rough  ground  and  through  the  bushes, 
till  at  last  the  weight  of  his  dead  body  stopped  the  tired 
beast ;  I  caught  him,  and  mounting  him,  availed  myself  of 
his  services  at  a  most  seasonable  moment,  and  after  much 
suffering  arrived  with   my  companions  at  some  sulphur- 
ous springs  of  naturally  hot  water. 

8.  On  account  of  the  heat  we  had  suffered  greatly  from 
thirst,   and   had   been   crawling   about   for   gome  time  in 
search  of  water ;  and  now  when  we  came  to  this  well  it 
was  so  deep  that  .we  could  not  descend  into  it,  nor  had 
we  any  ropes ;  but,  taught  by  extreme  necessity,  we  tore  up 
the  linen  clothes  which  we  wore  into  long  rags,  which  we 
made  into  one  great  rope,  and  fastened  to  the  end  of  it  a 
cap  which  one  of  us  wore  beneath  his  helmet ;  and  letting 
that  down  by  the  rope,  and  drawing  up  water  in  it  like 
a  sponge,  we  easily  quenched  our  thirst. 

9.  From  hence  we  proceeded  rapidly  to  the  Euphrates, 
intending  to  cross  to  the  other  side  in  the  boat  which 
long  custom  had  stationed  in  that  quarter,  to  convey  men 
and  cattle  across. 

10.  When  lo !  we  see  at  a  distance  a  Roman  lorce  with 


200  AMMIAXUS  MARCELLIXUS.  jfBK.  XIX.  CH  a. 

cavalry  standards,  scattered  and  pursued  by  a  division  of 
Persians,  though  we  did  not  know  from  what  quarter  it 
had  come  so  suddenly  on  them  in  their  march. 

11.  This   example   showed   us  that  what  men  call  in- 
digenous  people   are  not  sprung  from  the  bowels  of  the 
earth,  but  merely  appear  unexpectedly  by  reason  of  the 
speed  of  their  movements :    and  because  they  were  seen 
unexpectedly  in   various   places,    they   got   the   name   of 
Sparti, '  and  were  believed  to  have  sprung  from  the  ground, 
antiquity  exaggerating  their  renown  in  a  fabulous  manner, 
as  it  does  that  of  other  things. 

12.  Roused  by  this  sight,  since  our  only  hope  of  safety 
lay  in  our  speed,  we  drew  off  through  the  thickets  and 
woods  to  the  high  mountains  ;    and  from  thence  we  went 
to  Melitina,  a  town  of  the  Lesser  Armenia,  where  we  found 
our  chief  just  on  the  point  of  setting  off,  in  whose  company 
we  went  on  to  Antioch. 

IX. 

§  1.  IN  the  mean  time  Sapor  and  the  Persians  began  to 
think  of  returning  home,  because  they  feared  to  penetrate 
more  inland  with  their  prisoners  and  booty,  now  that  the 
autumn  was  nearly  over,  and  the  unhealthy  star  of  the 
Kids  had  arisen. 

2.  But  amid  the  massacres  and  plunder  of  the  destroyed 
city,  ./Elian  the  count,  and  the  tribunes  by  whose  vigour 
the  walls  of  Amida  had  been  defended,  and  the  losses  of 
the  Persians  multiplied,  were   wickedly   crucified ;    and 
Jacobus  and  Csesias,  the  treasurers  of  the  commander  of 
the  cavalry,  and  others  of  the  band  of  protectores,  were  led 
as  prisoners,  with  their  hands  bound  behind  their  backs  ; 
and  the  people  of  the  district  beyond  the  Tigris,  who  were 
diligently  sought  for,  were  all  slain  without  distinction  of 
rank  or  dignity. 

3.  But  the   wife  of  Cratigasius,   who,    preserving   her 
chastity  inviolate,  was  treated  with  the  respect  due  to  a 
high-born   matron,    was   mourning  as   if  she  were  to  be 
carried  to  another  world  without  her  husband,  although 

1  Ammianus  is  wrong  here  ;  it  was  only  the  Thebans  who  were  called 
Siraprol,  from  ffirfipu,  to  sow,  because  of  the  fable  of  the  dragon's  teeth 
sown  by  Cadmus ;  the  Athenians,  who  claimed  to  be  earthborn,  not 
called  ~S.ira.proi,  but  a.lr6-)(6ovfs. 


A.D.359]  STORY   OF   THE   WIFE   OF   CRAUGAS1US.  201 

she  had  indications  afforded  her  that  she  might  hope  for  a 
higher  future. 

4.  Therefore,  thinking  of  her  own  interests,  and  having 
a  wise  forecast  of  the  future,  she  was  torn  with  a  twofold 
anxiety,  loathing  both  widowhood  and  the  marriage  she 
saw  before   her.     Accordingly,    she   secretly  sent  off  a 
friend  of  sure  fidelity,  and  well  acquainted  with  Mesopo-r 
tamia,  to  pass  by  Mount  Izala,    between   the  two  forts 
called  Maride  and  Lome,  and  so  to  effect  his  entrance  into 
IsLsibis,  calling  upon  her  husband,  with  urgent  entreaties 
and  the  revelation  of  many  secrets  of  her  own   private 
condition,   after  hearing  what  the    messenger  could  tell 
him,  to  come  to  Persia  and  live  happily  with  her  there. 

5.  The  messenger,  travelling  with  great  speed  through 
jungle  roads  and  thickets,  reached  ftisibis,  pretending  that 
he  had  never  seen  his  mistress,  and  that,  as  in  all  likeli- 
hood she  was  slain,  he  had  availed  himself  of  an  accidental 
opportunity  to  make  his  escape  from  the  enemy's  camp. 
And  so,  being  neglected  as  one  of  no  importance,  he  got 
access  to  Craugasius,  and  told  him  what  had  happened. 
And  having  received  from  him  an  assurance  that,  as  soon 
as  he  could  do  so  with  safety,  he  would  gladly  rejoin  his 
wife,  he  departed,  bearing  the  wished-for  intelligence  to 
the  lady.     She,  when  she  received  it,  addressed  herself, 
through  the  medium  of  Tamsapor,  to  the  king,  entreating 
him  that,  if  the  opportunity  offered  before  he  quitted  the 
Roman  territories,   he  would   order  her  husband  to  be 
restored  to  her. 

6.  But  the  fact  of  this  stranger  having  departed  thus 
unexpectedly,    without   any  one   suspecting  it,  after   his 
secret  return,  raised  suspicions  in  the  mind  of  Duke  Cas- 
sianus  and  the  other  nobles  who  had  authority  in  the  city, 
who  addressed  severe  menaces   to   Craugasius,    insisting 
that  the  man  could  neither  have  come  nor  have  gone  with- 
out his  privity. 

7.  And  he,  fearing  the  charge  of  treason,  and  being  very 
anxious  lest  the  flight  of  the  deserter  should  cause  a  sus- 
picion that  his  wife  was  still  alive  and  was  well  treated  by 
the   enemy,    feigned   to   court   a  marriage   with   another 
virgin   of  high   rank.     And   having  gone  out  to  a  villa 
which  he  had  eight  miles  from  the  city,  as  if  with  the 
object  of  making  the  necessary  preparations  for  the  wed- 


202  AMMIANUS   MARCELLIXUS.  [B*.  XIX.  CH.  X, 

ding  feast,  he  mounted  a  horse,  and  fled  at  full  speed  to  a 
predatory  troop  of  Persians  which  he  had  learnt  was  in 
the  neighbourhood,  and  being  cordially  received,  when  it 
was  seen  from  what  he  said  who  he  was,  he  was  delivered 
over  to  Tamsapor  on  the  fifth  day,  and  by  him  he  was 
introduced  to  the  king,  and  recovered  not  only  his  wife, 
but  his  family  and  all  his  treasures,  though  he  lost  his 
wife  only  a  few  months  afterwards.  And  he  was  esteemed 
only  second  to  Antoninus,  though  as  a  great  poet  has  said, 
"  Longo  proximus  intervallo.'' ' 

8.  For  Antoninus  was   eminent  both  for  genius  and 
experience  in  affairs,  and  had  useful  counsels  for  every 
enterprise  that  could  be  proposed,  while  Craugasius  was 
of  a  less  subtle  nature,  though  also  very  celebrated.     And 
all  these  events  took  place  within  a  short  time  after  the 
fall  of  Amida. 

9.  But  the  king,  though  showing  no  marks  of  anxiety 
on  his  countenance,  and  though  he  appeared  full  of  exult- 
ation at  the  fall  of  the  city,  still  in  the  depths  of  his  heart 
was  greatly  perplexed,  recollecting  that  in  the  siege  he 
had  frequently  sustained  severe  losses,  and  that  he  had  lost 
more  men,  and  those  too  of  more  importance  than  any 
prisoners  whom  he  had  taken  from  us,  or  than  we  had  lost 
in  all  the  battles  that  had  taken  place ;  as  indeed  had  also 
been  the  case  at  Singara,  and  at  Kisibis.     In  the  seventy- 
three  days  during  which  he  had  been  blockading  Amida, 
he  had  lost  thirty  thousand  soldiers,  as  was  reckoned  a  few 
days  later  by  Discenes,  a  tribune  and  secretary ;  the  cal- 
culation being  the  more  easily  made  because  the  corpses 
of  our  men  very  soon  shrink  and  lose  their  colour,  so  that 
their  faces  can  never  be  recognized  after  four  days ;  but  the 
bodies  of  the  Persians  dry  up  like  the  trunks  of  trees,  so 
that  nothing  exudes  from  them,  nor  do  they  suffer  from  any 
suffusion  of  blood,  which  is  caused  by  their  more  sparing 
diet,  and  by  the  dryness  and  heat  of  their  native  land. 

X. 

§  1.  WHILE  these  events  and  troubles  were  proceeding 
rapidly  in  the  remote  districts  of  the  East,  the  Eternal 

1  A  quotation  from  the  description  of  the  foot-race  in  Virgil,  /En. 
v.  820. 


A.D.359.J  SCARCITY    AT   ROME.  203 

City  was  fearing  distress  from  an  impending  scarcity  of 
corn  ;  and  the  violence  of  the  common  people,  infuriated 
by  the  expectation  of  that  worst  of  all  evils,  was  vented 
upon  Tertullus,  who  at  that  time  was  prefect  of  the  city. 
This  was  unreasonable,  since  it  did  not  depend  upon 
him  that  the  provisions  were  embarked  in  a  stormy  season 
in  ships  which,  through  the  unusually  tempestuous  state 
of  the  sea,  and  the  violence  of  contrary  winds,  were 
driven  into  any  ports  they  could  make,  and  were  unable 
to  reach  the  port  of  Augustus,  from  the  greatness  of  the 
dangers  which  threatened  them. 

2.  Nevertheless,  Tertullus  was  continually  troubled  by 
the  seditious  movements  of  the  people,  who  worked  them- 
selves up  to  great  rage,  being    excited  by  the  imminent 
danger  of  a  famine ;  till,  having  no  hope  of  preserving  his 
own  safety,  he  wisely  brought  his  little  boys  out  to  the 
people,  who,  though  in  a  state  of  tumultuous  disorder,  were 
often  influenced  by  sudden  accidents,  and  with  tears  ad- 
dressed them  thus : — 

3.  "Behold  your  fellow-citizens,  who  (may  the   gods 
avert  the  omen),  unless  fortune  should  take  a  more  favour- 
able turn,  will  be  exposed  to  the  same  sufferings  as  your- 
selves.    If  then  you  think  that  by  destroying  them  you 
will  be  saved  from  all  suffering,  they  are  in  your  power." 
The  people,  of  their  own  nature  inclined  to  mercy,  were 
propitiated  by  this  sad  address,  and  made  no  answer,  but 
awaited  their  impending  fate  with  resignation. 

4.  And   soon,    by   the   favour   of    the    deity   who   has 
watched  over  the  growth  of  Eome  from  its  first  origin, 
and  who  promised  that  it   should  last  for  ever,  while 
Tertullus  was  at  Ostia,  sacrificing  in  the  temple  of  Castor 
and  Pollux,  the  sea  became  calm,  the  wind  changed  to  a 
gentle  south-east  breeze,  and  the  ships  in  full  sail  entered 
the  port,  laden  with  corn  to  fill  the  granaries. 

XI. 

§  1.  WHILE  these  perplexing  transactions  were  taking  place, 
intelligence  full  of  importance  and  danger  reached  Constan- 
tius  who  was  reposing  in  winter  quarters  at  Sirmium,  in- 
forming him  (as  he  had  already  greatly  feared)  that  the 
Sannatian  Limigantes,  who,  as  we  have  before  related,  had 


204  AMMIANUS   MARCELLINUS.  [BK.  XIX.  CH.  xi. 

expelled  their  masters  from  their  hereditary  homes,  had 
learnt  to  despise  the  lands  which  had  been  generously  al- 
lotted to  them  in  the  preceding  year,  in  order  to  prevent  so 
fickle  a  class  from  undertaking  any  mischievous  enterprise, 
and  had  seized  on  the  districts  over  the  border ;  that  they 
were  straggling,  accoixling  to  their  national  custom,  with 
great  licence  over  the  whole  country,  and  would  throw 
everything  into  disorder  if  they  were  not  put  down. 

2.  The  emperor,  judging  that  any  delay  would  increase 
their  insolence,  collected  from  all  quarters  a  strong  force 
of  veteran  soldiers,  and  before  the  spring  was  much  ad- 
vanced, set  forth  on  an  expedition  against  them,    being 
urged   to   greater  activity  by   two   considerations ;    first, 
because  the  army,  having  acquired  great  buoty  during  the 
last  summer,  was  likely  to  be  encouraged  to  successful 
exertion  in   the  hope  of  similar  reward  ;  and   secondly, 
because,  as  Anatolius  was  at  that  time  prefect  of  Illyricum, 
everything   necessary  for  such    an  expedition  could  be 
readily  provided  without  recourse  to  any  stringent  measures. 

3.  For  under  no  other  prefect's  government  (as  is  agreed 
by  all),  up  to  the  present  time,  had  the  northern  provinces 
ever  been  so  flourishing  in  every  point  of  view ;  all  abuses 
being  corrected  with  a  kind  and  prudent  hand,  while  the 
people  were  relieved  from  the  burden  of  transporting  the 
public  stores  (which  often  caused  such  losses  as  to  ruin 
many  families),  and  also  from  the  heavy  income  tax.    So 
that  the  natives  of  those  districts  would  have  been  free 
from  all  damage  and  cause  of  complaint,  if  at  a  later  period 
some   detestable   collectors  had  not   come  among  them, 
extorting  money,  and  exaggerating  accusations,  in  order  to 
build  up   wealth   and   influence    for  themselves,   and   to 
procure  their  own  safety  and   prosperity  by  draining  the 
natives ;    carrying  their  severities  to  the  proscription  and 
even  execution  of  many  of  them. 

4.  To  apply  a  remedy  to  this  insurrection,  the  emperor 
set  out,  as  1  have  said,  with  a  splendid  staff,  and  reached 
Valeria,  which  was  formerly  a  part  of  Pannonia,  but  which 
had  been  established  as  a  separate  province,  and  received 
its  new  name  in  honour  of  Valeria,  the  daughter  of  Dio- 
cletian.    And  having  encamped  his  army  on  the  banks  of 
the  Danube,  he  watched  the  movements  of  the  barbarians, 
who,  before  his  arrival,  had  been  proposing,  under  friendly 


A.D.  359.]  TREACHERY  OF  THE  UHIGAXTES.  205 

pretences,  to  enter  Pannonia,  meaning  to  lay  it  waste 
during  the  severity  of  the  winter  season,  before  the  snow 
had  been  melted  by  the  warmth  of  spring  and  the  river 
had  become  passable,  and  while  our  people  were  unable 
from  the  cold  to  bear  bivouacking  in  the  open  air. 

5.  He   at  once  therefore   sent  two   tribunes,   each  ac- 
companied by  an  interpreter,  to  the  Limigantes,  to  inquire 
mildly  why  they  had  quitted  the  homes  which  at  theii 
own  request  had  been  assigned  to  them  after  the  conclusion 
of  the  treaty  of  peace,  and  why  they  were  now  straggling 
in  various  directions,  and  passing  their  boundaries  in  con- 
tempt of  his  prohibitions. 

6.  They  made  vain  and  frivolous  excuses,  fear  compelling 
them  to  have  recourse  to  lies,  and  implored  the  emperor's 
pardon,  beseeching  him  to  discard  his  displeasure,  and  to 
allow  them  to  cross  the  river  and  come  to  him  to  explain 
the  hardships  under  which  they  were  labouring  ;  alleging 
their  willingness,  if  required,  to  retire  to  remoter  lands, 
only  within  the  Roman  frontier,  where,  enjoying  lasting 
peace  and  worshipping  tranquillity  as  their  tutelary  deity, 
they  would  submit  to  the  name  and  discharge  the  duties  of 
tributary  subjects. 

7.  When  the  tribunes  returned    and  related  this,    the 
emperor,   exulting  that  an  affair  which  appeared  full  of 
inextricable  difficulties  was  likely  to  be  brought  to  a  con- 
clusion without  any  trouble,  and  being  eager  to  add  to  his 
acquisitions,  admitted  them  all  to  his  presence.     His  eager- 
ness for  acquiring  territory  was  fanned  by  a  swarm   of 
flatterers,    who   were   incessantly   saying    that   when   all 
distant  districts  were  at  peace,  and  when  tranquillity  was 
established  everywhere,  he  would  gain  many  subjects,  and 
would  be  able  to  enlist  powerful  bodies  of  recruits,  thereby 
relieving  the  provinces,   which  would  often  rather   give 
money  than  personal  service  (though  this  expectation  has 
more  than  once  proved  very  mischievous  to  the  state). 

8.  Presently  he  pitched  his  camp  near  Acimincum,1  where 
a   lofty  mound   was   raised  to  serve  for  a  tribune;  and 
some  boats,  loaded  with  soldiers  of  the  legions,  without 
their  baggage,  under  command  of  Innocentius,  an  engineer 
who  had  suggested  the  measure,  were  sent  to  watch  the 

1  Salankemen,  in  Hungary 


206  AMMIANUS   MAKCKLL1NUS.  [BK.  XIX.  CH.  xr. 

channel  of  the  river,  keeping  close  under  the  bank ;  so 
that,  if  they  perceived  the  barbarians  in  disorder,  they 
might  come  upon  them  and  surprise  their  rear,  while 
their  attention  was  directed  elsewhere. 

9.  The  Limigantes  became  aware  of  the  measures  thus 
promptly  taken,  but  still  employed  no  other  means  of 
defence  than  humility  and  entreaty  ;  though  secretly  they 
cherished  designs  very  different  from  those  indicated  by 
their  words  and  gestures. 

10.  But  when  they  saw  the  emperor  on  his  high  mound 
preparing  a  mild  harangue,  and  about  to  address  them  as 
men  who  would  prove  obedient  in  future,  one  of  them, 
seized  with  a  sudden  fury,  hurled  his  shoe  at  the  tribune, 
and  cried  out,  "Marha,  Marha!"  which  in  their  language 
is  a  signal  of  war ;  and  a  disorderly  mob  following  him, 
suddenly  raised  their  barbaric  standard,  and  with  fierce 
howls  rushed  upon  the  emperor  himself. 

11.  And  when  he,  looking  down  from  his  high  position, 
saw  the  whole  place  filled  with  thousands  of  men  running 
to  and  fro,  and  their  drawn  swords  and  rapiers  threatening 
him  with  immediate  destruction,  he  descended,  and  min- 
gling both  with  the  barbarians  and  his  own  men,  without 
any  one  perceiving  him  or  knowing  whether  he  was  an 
officer  or  a  common  soldier  ;  and  since  there  was  no  time 
for  delay  or  inaction,  he  mounted  a  speedy  horse,  and 
galloped  away,  and  so  escaped. 

12.  But  his  few  guards,  while   endeavouring  to  keep 
back  the  mutineers,  who  rushed  on  with  the  fierceness  of 
fire,   were   all    killed,   either    by   wounds,   or  by  being 
crushed  beneath  the  weight  of  others  who  fell  upon  them ; 
and  the  royal  throne,  with  its  golden  cushion,  was  torn  to 
pieces  without  any  one  making  an  effort  to  save  it. 

13.  But  presen  tly,  when  it  became  known  that  the  emperor, 
after  having  been  in  the  most  imminent  danger  of  his  life, 
was  still  in  peril,  the   army,  feeling  it  to  be  the  most 
important  of  all  objects  to  assist  him,  for  they  did  not  yet 
think  him  safe,  and  confiding  in  their  prowess,  though  from 
the  suddenness  of  the  attack  they  were  only  half  formed, 
threw  themselves,  with  loud  and  warlike  cries  upon  tho 
bands  of  the  barbarians,  fearlessly  braving  death. 

14.  And  because  in  their   fiery  valour  our  men  were 
resolved  to  wipe  out  disgrace  by  glory,  and  were  full  o 


A.D.359.]  PROSECUTIONS   FOR   TREASON.  207 

anger  at  the  treachery  of  the  foe,  they  slew  every  one 
whom  they  met  without  mercy,  trampling  all  under  foot, 
living,  wounded,  and  dead  alike ;  so  that  heaps  of  dead 
were  piled  up  before  their  hands  were  weary  of  the 
slaughter.  For  the  rebels  were  completely  overwhelmed, 
some  being  slain,  and  others  fleeing  in  fear,  many  of 
whom  implored  their  lives  with  various  entreaties,  but 
were  slaughtered  with  repeated  wounds.  And  when,  after 
they  were  all  destroyed,  the  trumpets  sounded  a  retreat, 
it  was  found  that  only  a  very  few  of  our  men  were  killed, 
and  these  had  either  been  trampled  down  at  first,  or  had 
perished  from  the  insufficiency  of  their  armour  to  resist 
the  violence  of  tho  enemy. 

15.  But  the  most  glorious  death  was  that  of  Cella,  the 
tribune   of  the    Scutarii,    who   at   the   beginning   of  the 
uproar  set  the  example  of  plunging  first  into  the  middle  of 
the  Sarmatian  host. 

16.  After   these  blood-stained  transactions,  Constantius 
took  what  precautions  prudence  suggested  for  the  security 
of  his   frontiers,    and  then  returned  to  Sirmium,  having 
avenged  himself  on  the  perfidity  of  his  enemies.     And 
having  there  settled  everything  which  the    occasion   re- 
quired, he  quitted  Sirmium  and  went  to  Constantinople, 
that  by  being  nearer  to  the  East,   he  might  remedy  the 
disasters  which  had  been  sustained  at  Amida,  and  having 
reinforced  his  army  with  new  levies,  he  might  check  the 
attempts  of  the  king  of  Persia  with  equal  vigour;  as  it 
was  clear  that  Sapor,  if  Providence  and  some  more  pressing 
occupation  did  not  prevent  him,  would  leave  Mesopotamia 
and  bring  the  war  over  the  plains  on  this   side  of  that 
country. 

XII. 

§  I.  BUT  amid  these  causes  of  anxiety,  as  if  in  accordance 
with  old-established  custom,  instead  of  the  signal  for  civil 
war,  the  trumpet  sounded  groundless  charges  of  treason, 
and  a  secretary,  whom  we  shall  often  have  to  speak  of, 
named  Paulus,  was  sent  to  inquire  into  these  charges.  He 
was  a  man  skilful  in  all  the  contrivances  of  cruelty,  making 
gain  and  profit  of  tortures  and  executions,  as  a  master  of 
gladiators  does  of  his  fatal  games. 

2.  For  as  he  was  firm  and  resolute  in  his  purpose  of 


208  AMMIANUS   MAKCELL1NUS.  [Bs.  XIX.  CH.  ill 

injuring  people,  he  did  not  abstain  even  from  theft,  and 
invented  all  kinds  of  causes  for  the  destruction  of  innocent 
men,  while  engaged  in  this  miserable  campaign. 

3.  A  slight   and   trivial  circumstance   afforded  infinite 
material  for  extending  his  investigations.     There  is  a  town 
called  Abydum  in  the  most  remote  corner  of  the  Egyptian 
Thebais,  where  an  oracle  of  the  god,  known  in  that  region 
by  the  name  of  Besa,  had  formerly  enjoyed  some  celebrity 
for  its  prophecies,  and  had  sacred  rites  performed  at   it 
with  all  the   ceremonies  anciently  in  use   in  the  neigh- 
bouring districts. 

4.  Some  used  to  go  themselves  to  consult  this  oracle, 
some  to  send  by  others  documents  containing  their  wishes, 
and  with  prayers  couched  in  explicit  language  inquired 
the  will  of  the  deities ;  and  the  paper  or  parchment  on 
which  their  wants  were  written,  after  the  answer  had  been 
given,  was  sometimes  left  in  the  temple. 

5.  Some  of  these  were  spitefully  sent  to  the  emperor, 
and  he,  narrow  minded  as  he  was,  though  often  deaf  to 
other  matters  of  serious  consequence,  had,  as  the  proverb 
says,  a  soft  place  in  his  ear  for  this  kind  of  information  ;  and 
being  of  a  suspicious  and  petty  temper,  became  full  of  gall 
and  fury  ;  and  immediately  ordered  Paulus  to  repair  with 
all  speed  to  the  East,  giving  him  authority,  as  to  a  chief  of 
great  eminence  and  experience,  to  try  all  the  causes  as  he 
pleased. 

6.  And  Modestus  also,  at  that  time  count  of  the  East,  a 
man  well  suited  for  such  a  business,  was  joined  with  him 
in  this  commission.     For  Hermogenes  of  Pontua,  at  that 
time  prefect  of  the  prsetorium,  was  passed  over  as  of  too 
gentle  a  disposition. 

7.  Paulus  proceeded,  as  he  was  ordered,  full   of  deadly 
eagerness  and   rage ;  inviting  all  kinds  of  calumnies,  so 
that  numbers  from  every  part  of  the  empire  were  brought 
before  him,  noble  and  low  born  alike ;  some  of  whom  were 
condemned  to  imprisonment,  others  to  instant  death. 

8.  The  city  which  was  chosen   to  witness   these  fatal 
scenes  was  Scythopolis  in  Palestine,  which  for  two  reasons 
seemed  the  most  suitable  of  all  places ;  first,  because  it 
was  little  frequented  and  secondly,  because  it  was  half- 
way between  Antioch  and  Alexandria,  from  which  city 
many  of  those  brought  befogs  this  tribunal  came. 


AJ).  359.]  NUMEROUS    EXECUTIONS.  209 

9.  One  of  the  first  persons  accused  was  Simplicius,  the 
son  of  Philip ;  a  man  who,  after  having  been  prefect  and 
consul,  was  now  impeached  on  the  ground   that  he  was 
said  to  have  consulted  the  oracle  how  to  obtain  the  empire. 
He  was  sentenced  to  the  torture  by  the  express  command 
of  the  emperor,  who  in  these  cases  never  erred  on  the  side 
of  mercy  ;  but  by  some  special  fate  he  was  saved  from  it, 
and  with  uninjured  body  was  condemned  to  distant  banish- 
ment. 

10.  The  next  victim  was  Parnasius,  who  had  been  pre- 
fect of  Egypt,  a  man  of  simple  manners,  but  now  in  danger 
of  being   condemned   to  death,  and   glad  to  escape  with 
exile :   because  lojig  ago  he  had  been  heard  to  say  that 
when  he  left  Patrse  in  Achaia,  the  place  of  his  birth,  with 
the  view  of  procuring  some  high  office,  he  had  in  a  dream 
seen  himself  conducted  on  his  road  by  several  figures  in 
tragic  robes. 

11.  The  next  was  Andronicus,  subsequently  celebrated 
for  his  liberal  accomplishments  and  his  poetry ;   he  was 
brought  before  the  court  without  having  given  any  real 
ground  for  suspicion  of  any  kind,  and  defended  himself  so 
vigorously  that  he  was  acquitted. 

12.  There   was   also   Demetrius,  surnamed   Chytras,    a 
philosopher,  of  great  age,  but  still  firm  in  mind  and  body  ; 
he,  when  charged  with  having  frequently  offered  sacrifices 
in  the  temple  of  his  oracle,  could  not  deny  it ;  but  affirmed 
thai,  for  the  sake  of  propitiating  the  deity,  he  had  con- 
stantly done  so  from  his  early  youth,  and  not  with  any 
idea  of  aiming  at  any  higher  fortune  by  his  questions ;  nor 
had  he  known   any  one  who  had  aimed   at   such.     And 
though  he  was  long  on  the  rack  he  supported  it  with  great 
constancy,  never  varying  in  his  statement,  till  at  length 
he  was  acquitted  and  allowed  to  retire  to  Alexandria,  where 
he  was  bom. 

13.  These  and  a  few  others,  justice,  coming  to  the  aid  of 
truth,   delivered   from   their   imminent  dangers.     But   as 
occupations    extended    more   widely,    involving    numbers 
without   end  in   their  snares,  many  perished ;  some  with 
their  bodies  mangled  on  the  rack ;  others  were  condemned 
to  death  and  confiscation  of  their  goods  ;  while  Paulus  kept 
on  inventing  groundless  accusations,  as  if  he  had  a  store 
of  lies  on  which  to  draw,  and  suggesting  various  pretences 

p 


210  AMMIANUS   MARCELLJXUS.  [Ite.  XIX.  C».  xn. 

for  injuring  people,   so  that  on  his  nod,  it  may  be  said, 
the  safety  of  every  one  in  the  place  depended. 

14.  For  if  any  one  wore  on  his  neck  a  charm  against  the 
quartan  ague  or  any  other  disease,  or  if  by  any  information 
laid  by  his  ill-wishers  he  was  accused  of  having  passed  by 
a  sepulchre  at  nightfall,  and  therefore  of  being  a  sorcerer, 
and  one  who  dealt  in  the  horrors  of  tombs  and  the  vaiu 
mockeries  of  the  shades  which  haunt  them,  he  was  found 
guilty  and  condemned  to  death. 

15.  And  the  affairs  went  on  as  if  people  had  been  con- 
sulting Glares,  or  the  oaks  at   Dodona^  or  the  Delphic 
oracles  of  old  fame,  with  a  view  to  the  destruction  of  the 
emperor. 

16.  Meantime,  the  crowd  of  courtiers,  inventing  every 
kind  of  deceitful  flattery,  affirmed  that  he  would  be  free  from 
all  common  misfortunes,  asserting  that  his  fate  had  always 
shone  forth  with  vigour  and  power  in  destroying  all  who 
attempted  anything  injurious  to  him. 

17.  That  indeed  strict  investigation  should  be  made  into 
such  matters,  no  one  in  his  senses  will  deny ;  nor  do  we 
question  that  the  safety  of  our  lawful  prince,  the  cham- 
pion and  defender  of  the  good,  and  on  whom  the  safety  of 
all  other  people  depends,  ought  to  be  watched  over  by  the 
combined  zeal  of  all  men  ;  and  for  the  sake  of  insuring  this 
more  completely,  when  any  treasonable  enterprise  is  dis- 
covered, the  Cornelian  laws  have  provided  that  no  rank 
.shall  be  exempted  even  from  torture  if  necessary  for  the 
investigation. 

18.  B\it  it   is   not  decent  to  exult  unrestrainedly   in 
melancholy  events,  lest  the  subjects  should  seem  to  be 
governed  by  tyranny,  not  by  authority.     It  is  better  to 
imitate  Cicero,  who,  when  he  had  it  in  his  power  either  to 
spare  or  to  strike,  preferred,  as  he  tells  us  himself,  to  seek 
occasions  for  pardoning  rather  than  for  punishing,  which 
is  characteristic  of  a  prudent  and  wise  judge. 

19.  At  that  time  a  monster,  horrible  both  to  see  and  to 
describe,  was  produced  at  Daphne,  a  beautiful  and  cele- 
brated   suburb  of  Antioch ;  namely,  an  infant  with  two 
months,  two  sets  of  teeth,  two  heads,  four  eyes,  and  only 
two  very  short  ears.     And  such  a  mis-shapen  offspring  was 
an  omen  that  the  republic  would  become  defonned. 

20.  Prodigies  of  this  kind  are  often  produced,  presaging 


».D.  359.]  AFKAIRS   OF   THE   1SAUIUAXS.  211 

events  of  various  kinds  ;  but  as  they  are  not  now  publicly 
expiated,  as  they  were  among  the  ancients,  they  are  -un- 
heard of  and  unknown  to  people  in  general. 

XIII. 

§  1.  DURING  this  period  the  Isaurians,  who  had  been  tran- 
quil for  some  time  after  the  transactions  already  mentioned, 
and  the  attempt  to  take  the  city  of  Seleucia,  gradually 
reviving,  as  serpents  come  out  of  their  holes  in  the 
warmth  of  spring,  descended  from  their  rocky  and  path- 
less jungles,  and  forming  into  large  troops,  harassed  their 
neighbours  with  predatory  incursions  ;  escaping,  from  their 
activity  as  mountaineers,  all  attempts  of  the  soldiers  to 
take  them,  and  from  long  use  moving  easily  over  rocks  and 
through  thickets. 

2.  So  Lauricius  was  sent  among  them  as  governor,  with 
the  additional  title  of  count,  to  reduce  them  to  order 
by  fair  means  or  foul.  He  was  a  man  of  sound  civil 
wisdom,  correcting  things  in  general  by  threats  rather 
than  by  severity,  so  that  while  he  governed  the  province, 
which  he  did  for  some  time,  nothing  happened  deserving 
of  particular  notice. 


BOOK    XX. 


ARGUMENT. 

I.  Lupicinus  is  sent  as  Commander-in-chief  into  Britain  with  an  army 
to  check  the  incursions  of  the  Picts  and  Scots. — II.  Ursicinus, 
commander  of  the  infantry,  is  attacked  by  calumnies,  and  dis- 
missed.— III.  An  eclipse  of  the  sun — A  discussion  on  the  two 
suns,  and  on  the  causes  of  solar  and  lunar  eclipses,  and  the  various 
changes  and  shapes  of  the  moon. — IV.  The  Csesar  Julian,  against 
his  will,  is  saluted  as  emperor  at  Paris,  where  he  was  wintering, 
by  his  Gallican  soldiers,  whom  Constantius  had  ordered  to  be 
taken  from  him,  and  sent  to  the  East  to  act  against  the  Persians. 
—V.  He  harangues  his  soldiers. — VI.  Singara  is  besieged  and 
taken  by  Sapor  :  the  citizens,  with  the  auxiliary  cavalry  and  two 
legions  in  garrison,  are  carried  off  to  Persia — The  town  is  razed  to 
the  ground.— VII.  Sapor  storms  the  town  of  Bezabde,  which  ia 


212  AMMIANUS    MARCKLLINUS.  [fas.  XX.  CH.  I. 

defended  by  three  legions ;  repairs  it,  and  places  in  it  a  garrison 
and  magazines ;  he  also  attacks  the  fortress  of  Virtu,  without 
success. — VIII.  Julian  writes  to  Constantius  to  inform  him  of 
what  had  taken  place  at  Paris. — IX.  Constantius  desires  Julian 
to  be  content  with  the  title  of  Caesar ;  but  the  Gallican  legions 
unanimously  refuse  to  allow  him  to  be  so.  —  X.  The  Emperor 
Julian  unexpectedly  attacks  a  Frank  tribe,  known  as  the  Attuarii, 
on  the  other  side  of  the  Rhine ;  slays  some,  takes  others  prisoners, 
and  grants  peace  to  the  rest,  on  their  petition. — XI.  Constantius 
attacks  Bezabde  with  his  whole  force,  but  fails — A  discussion  on 
the  rainbow. 

I. 

A.D.  360. 

§  1 .  THESE  were  the  events  which  took  place  in  Illyricum  and 
in  the  East.  But  the  next  year,  that  of  Constantius' s  tenth 
and  Julian's  third  consulship,  the  affairs  of  Britain  became 
troubled,  in  consequence  of  the  incursions  of  the  savage 
nations  of  Picts  and  Scots,  who  breaking  the  peace  to  which 
they  had  agreed,  were  plundering  the  districts  on  their 
borders,  and  keeping  in  constant  alarm  the  provinces  ex- 
hausted by  former  disasters,  Csesar,  who  was  wintering  at 
Paris,  having  his  mind  divided  by  various  cares,  feared  to 
go  to  the  aid  of  his  subjects  across  the  channel  (as  we 
have  related  Constans  to  have  done),  lest  he  should  leave 
the  Gauls  without  a  governor,  while  the  Allemanni  were 
still  full  of  fierce  and  warlike  inclinations. 

2.  Therefore,  to  tranquillize  these  districts  by  reason  or 
by  force,  it  was  decided  to  send  Lupicinus,  who  was  at  that 
time  commander  of  the  forces  ;  a  man  of  talent  in  war,  and 
especially  skilful  in  all  that  related  to  camps,  but  very 
haughty,  and  smelling,  as  one  may  say,  of  the  tragic  bus- 
kin, while  parts  of  his  conduct  made  it  a  question  which 
predominated — his  avarice  or  his  cruelty. 

3.  Accordingly,  an  auxiliary  force  of  light-armed  troops, 
Heruli  and  Batavi,  with  two  legions  from  Moesia,    were 
in  the  very  depth  of  winter  put  under  the  command  of  this 
general,  with  which  he  marched  to  Boulogne,  and  having 
procured  some  vessels  and  embarked  his  soldiers  on  them, 
he  sailed  with  a  fair  wind,  and  reached  Eichborough  on  the 
opposite  coast,  from  which  place  he  proceeded  to  London, 
tluit  he  might  there  deliberate  on  the  aspect  of  affairs,  and 
take  immediate  measures  for  his  campaign. 


A.B.  360.]  CHARGES   AGAINST   URSICINUS.  213 


II. 

§  1.  IN  the  mean  time,  after  the  fall  of  Amida,  and  after 
Ursicinus  had  returned  as  commander  of  the  infantry  to 
the  emperor's  camp  (for  we  have  already  mentioned  that 
he  had  been  appointed  to  succeed  Barbatio),  he  was  at 
once  attacked  by  slanderers,  who  at  first  tried  to  whisper 
his  character  away,  but  presently  openly  brought  forward 
false  charges  against  him. 

2.  And  the  emperor,  listening  to  them,  since  he  com- 
monly formed  his  opinions  on  vain  conjecture,  and  was 
always  ready  to  yield   his  judgment  to    crafty   persons, 
appointed  Arbetio   and  Florentius,  the  chief  steward,  as 
judges  to  inquire  how  it  was  that  the  town  was  destroyed. 
They  rejected  the  plain  and  easily  proved  causes  of  the 
disaster,  fearing  that  Eusebius,  at  that  time  high  cham- 
berlain, would  be  offended  if  they  admitted  proofs  which 
showed  undeniably  that  what  had  happened  was  owing  to 
the  obstinate  inactivity  of  Sabinianus ;  and  so  distorting 
the  truth,  they  examined  only  some  points  of  no  conse- 
quence, and  having  no  bearing  on  the  transaction. 

3.  Ursicinus  felt  the  iniquity  of  this  proceeding;  and 
said,  "  Although  the  emperor  despises  me,  still  the  import- 
ance of  this  aifair  is  such  that  it  cannot  be  judged  of  and 
punished  by  any  decision  lower  than  that  of  the  emperor. 
Nevertheless,  let  him  know  what  I  venture  to  prophesy, 
that  while  he  is  concerning  himself  about  this  disaster  at 
Amida,  of  which  he  has  received  a  faithful  account ;  and 
while  he  gives  himself  up  to  the  influence  of  the  eunuchs, 
he   will  not  in  the  ensuing  spring,1   even   if  he   himself 
should  come  with  the  entire  strength  of  his  army,  be  able 
to   prevent  the  dismemberment  of  Mesopotamia."     This 
speech  having   been  related  to  the   emperor   with  many 
additions,    and    a   malignant    interpretation,    Constantius 
became  enraged  beyond  measure ;    and  without  allowing 

1  "  The  minute  interval  which  may  be  interposed  between  the  hyeme 
adultd  and  the  primo  vere  of  Ammianus,  instead  of  allowing  a  sufficient 
space  for  a  march  of  three  thousand  miles,  would  render  the  orders  of 
Constantius  as  extravagant  as  they  were  unjust ;  the  troops  of  Gaul 
could  not  have  reached  Syria  till  the  end  of  autumn.  The  memory  of 
Ammianus  must  have  been  inaccurate,  and  his  language  incorrect. ' — 
Gibbon,  c.  xxii. 


214  AMMIAXUS   MARCKUJNUS.  LBlc-  * X.  CH.  in 

the  affair  to  be  discussed,  or  those  things  to  be  explained  to 
him  of  which  he  was  ignorant,  he  believed  all  the  calum- 
nies against  Ursicinus,  and  deposing  him  from  his  office, 
ordered  him  into  retirement;  promoting  Agilo,  by  a  vast 
leap,  to  take  his  place,  he  having  been  before  only  a  tribune 
of  a  native  troop  of  Scutarii. 

III. 

§  1.  AT  the  same  time  one  day  the  sky  in  the  east  was 
perceived  to  be  covered  with  a  thick  darkness,  and  from 
daybreak  to  noon  the  stars  were  visible  throughout ;  and, 
as  an  addition  to  these  terrors,  while  the  light  of  heaven 
was  thus  withdrawn,  and  the  world  almost  buried  in 
clouds,  men,  from  the  length  of  the  eclipse,  began  to 
believe  that  the  sun  had  wholly  disappeared.  Presently, 
however,  it  was  seen  again  like  a  new  moon,  then  like  a 
half-moon,  and  at  last  it  was  restored  entire. 

2.  A  thing  which  on  other  occasions  did  not  happen  so 
visibly  except  when  after  several  unequal  revolutions,  the 
moon  returns  to  exactly  the  same  point  at  fixed  intervals ; 
that  is  to  say,  when  the  moon  is  found  in  the  same  sign  of 
the  zodiac,  exactly  opposite  to  the  rays  of  the  sun,  and  stops 
there  a  few  minutes,  which  in  geometry  are  called  parts  of 
parts. 

3.  And  although  the  changes  and  motions  of  both  sun 
and  moon,  as  the  inquiries  into  intelligible  causes  have 
remarked,  perpetually  return  to  1he  same  conjunction  at 
the  end  of  each  lunar  month,  still  the  sun  is  not  always 
eclipsed  on  these  occasions,  but  only  when  the  moon,  as  by 
a  kind  of  balance,  is  in  the  exact  centre  between  the  sun 
and  our  sight. 

4.  In   short,   the   sun   is   eclipsed,    and    his    brilliancy 
removed  from  our  sight,  when  lie  and  the  moon,  which  of 
all  the  constellations  of  heaven  is  the  lowest,  proceeding 
with  equal  pace  in  their  orbits,  are  placed  in  conjunction 
in  spite  of  the  height  which  separates  them  (as  Ptolemy 
learnedly  explains  it),  and  afterwards  return  to  the  dimen- 
sions which  are  called  ascending  or  descending  points  of  the 
ecliptic  conjunctions  :  or,  as  the  Greeks  call  them,  defective 
conjunctions.  And  if  these  great  lights  find  themselves  in  the 
neighbourhood  of  these  points  or  knots,  the  eclipse  is  small. 


A.r    360.]  CAUSES  OF   ECLIPSES.  215 

5.  But  if  they  are  exactly  in  the  knots   which  form  tha 
points  of  intersection  between  the  ascending  and  descending 
path  of  the  moon,  then  the  sky  will  be  covered  with  denser 
darkness,  and  the  whole  atmosphere  becomes  so  thick  that 
we  cannot  see  what  is  close  to  us. 

6.  Again,  the  sun  is  conceived  to  appear  double  when  a 
cloud  is  raised  higher  than  usual,  which  from  its  proximity 
to  the  eternal  fires,  shines  in  such  a  manner  that  it  forms 
the  brightness  of  a  second  orb  as  from  a  purer  mirror. 

7.  Now  let  us  come  to  the  moon.     The  moon  sustains  a 
clear  and  visible  eclipse  when,  being  at  the  full,  and  exactly 
opposite  to  the  sun,  she  is  distant  from  his  orb  one  hundred 
and  eighty  degrees,  that  is,  is  in  the  seventh  sign  ;  and 
although  this  happens  at  every  full  moon,  still  there  is  not 
always  one  eclipse. 

8.  But  since  she  is  always  nearest  to  the  earth  as  it  re- 
volves, and  the  most  distant  from  the  rest  of  the  other  stars-, 
and  sometimes  exposes  itself  to  the  light  which  strikes  it, 
and  sometimes  also  is  partially  obscured  by  the  interven- 
tion of  the  shade  of  night,  which  comes  over  it  in  the 
form  of  a  cone  ;  and  then  she  is  involved  in  thick  dark- 
ness, when  the  sun,  being  surrounded  by  the  centre  of  the 
lowest  sphere,  cannot  illuminate  her  with  his  rays,  because 
the  mass  of  the  earth  is  in  the  way ;  for  opinions  agree 
that  the  moon  has  no  light  of  her  own. 

9.  And  when  she  returns  to  the  same  sign  of  the  zodiac 
which  the  sun  occupies,  she  is  obscured  (as  has  been  said), 
her  brightness  being  wholly  dimmed,  and  this  is  called  a 
conjunction  of  the  moon. 

10.  Again  the  moon  is  said  to  be  new  when  she  has  the 
sun  above  her  with  a  slight  variation  from  the  perpendi- 
cular, and   then  she  appears  very  thin  to   mankind,  even 
when  leaving  the  sun  she  reaches  the  second  sign.     Then, 
when  she  has  advanced  further,  and  shines  brilliantly  with 
a  sort  of  horned  figure,  she  is  said  to  be  crescent  shaped  ; 
but  when  she  begins  to  be  a  long  way  distant,  from  the  sun, 
and  reaches  the  fourth  sign,  she  gets  a  greater  light,  the 
sun's  rays  being  turned  upon  her,  and  then  she  is  of  the 
shape  of  a  semicircle. 

11.  As  she  goes  on  still  further,  and  reaches  the  fifth 
sign,  she  assumes  a  convex  shape,  a  sort  of  hump  appear- 
ing from  each  side.     And  when  she  is  exactly  opposite  the 


216  AMMIAXU'S    MAKCKLL1NUS.  [BK. XX. CH.  rv 

sun,  she  shines  with  a  full  light,  having  arrived  at  the 
seventh  sign  ;  and  even  while  she  is  there,  having  advanced 
but  a  very  little  further,  she  begins  to  diminish,  which  we 
call  waning ;  and  as  she  gets  older,  she  resumes  the  same 
shapes  that  she  had  while  increasing.  But  it  is  established 
by  unanimous  consent  that  she  is  never  seen  to  be  eclipsed 
except  in  the  middle  of  her  course. 

12.  But  when  we  said  that  the  sun  moves  sometimes  in 
the  ether,  sometimes  in  the  lower  world,  it  must  be  under- 
stood that  the  starry  bodies,  considered  in  relation  to  the 
universe,  neither  set  nor  rise  ;  but  only  appear  to  do  so  to 
our  sight  on  earth,  which  is  suspended  by  the  motion  of 
some  interior  spirit,  and  compared  with  the  immensity  of 
things  is  but  a  little  point,  which  causes  the  stars  in  their 
eternal  order  to  appear  sometimes  fixed  in  heaven,  and  at 
others,  from  the  imperfection  of  human  vision,  moving  from 
their  places.  Let  us  now  return  to  our  original  subject. 

IV. 

§1.  EVEN  while  he  was  hastening  to  lead  succours  to  the 
East,  which,  as  the  concurrent  testimony  of  both  spies  and 
deserters  assured  him,  was  on  the  point  of  being  invaded 
by  the  Persians,  Constant  ius  was  greatly  disturbed  by  the 
virtues  of  Julian,  which  were  now  becoming  renowned 
among  all  nations,  so  highly  did  fame  extol  his  great 
labours,  achievements,  and  victories,  in  having  conquered 
several  kingdoms  of  the  Allemanni,  and  recovered  several 
towns  in  Gaul  which  had  been  plundered  and  destroyed  by 
the  barbarians,  and  having  compelled  the  barbarians  them- 
selves to  become  subjects  and  tributaries  of  the  empire. 

2.  Influenced  by  these  considerations,  and  fearing  lest 
Julian's  influence  should  become  greater,  at  the  instigation, 
as  it  is  said,  of  the  prefect  Florentius,  he  sent  Decentius, 
the  tribune  and  secretary,  to  bring  away  at  once  the 
auxiliary  troops  of  the  Heruli  and  Batavi,  and  the  Celtae, 
and  the  legion  called  Petulantes,'  and  three  hundred 
picked  men  from  the  other  forces ;  enjoining  him  to  make  all 
speed  on  the  plea  that  their  presence  was  required  with  the 

1  According  to  Erdfurt,  this  legion  was  so  named  from  its  contu- 
macious and  mutinous  disposition. 


A.D.  ren.j  r-nuuKNCE  OF  JULIAN.  217 

army  which  it  was  intended  to  march  at  the  beginning  of 
spring  against  the  Parthians. 

o.  Also,  Lupicinus  was  directed  to  come  as  commander 
of  these  auxiliary  troops  with  the  three  hundred  picked 
men,  and  to  lose  no  time,  as  it  was  not  known  that  he  had 
crossed  over  to  Britain  ;  and  Sintula,  at  that  time  the 
superintendent  of  Julian's  stables,  was  ordered  to  select  the 
best  men  of  the  Scutarii  and  Gentiles,1  and  to  bring  them 
also  to  join  the  emperor. 

4.  Julian    made   no    remonstrance,    but   obeyed    these 
orders,  yielding  in  all  respects  to  the  will  of  the  emperor. 
But  on  one  point  he  could  not  conceal  his  feelings  nor  keep 
silence :  but  enti-eated  that  those  men  might  be  spared  from 
this  hardship  who  had  left  their  homes  on  the  other  side  of 
the  Ehine,  and  had  joined  his  army  on  condition  of  never 
being  moved  into  any  country  beyond  the  Alps,  urging  that 
if  this  were  known,  it  might  be  feared  that  other  volunteers 
of  the  barbarian  nations,  who  had  often  enlisted  in  our  ser- 
vice on  similar  conditions,  would  be  prevented  from  doing 
so  in  future.     But  he  argued  in  vain. 

5.  For  the  tribune,  disregaiding  his  complaints,  carried 
out  the  commands  of  1  lie  emperor,  and  having  chosen  out  a 
band  suited  for  forced  marches,  of  pie- eminent  vigour  and 
activity,  set  out  with  them  full  of  hope  of  promotion. 

6.  And  as  Julian,  being  in  doubt  what  to  do  about  the 
rest  of  the  troops  whom  he  was  ordered  to  send,  and  revolv- 
ing all   kinds  of  plans  in  his  mind,  considered   that  the 
matter  ousht  to  be  managed  with  great  care,  as  there  was 
on  one  side  the  fierceness  of  the  barbarians,  and  on  the 
other  the  authority  of  the  orders  he  had  received  (his  per- 
plexity being  further  increased  by  the  absence  of  the  com- 
mander of  the  cavalry),  he  urged  the  prefect,  who  had  gone 
some  time  before  to  Yienne  under  the  pretence  of  procuring 
corn,  but  in   reality  to  escape  from  military  troubles,  to 
return  to  him. 

7.  For  the  prefect  bore  in  mind  the  substance  of  a  report 
which  he  was  suspected  to  have  sent  some  time  before,  and 
which  recommended  the  withdrawing  from  the  defence  of 
Gaul  those  troops  so  renowned  for  their  valour,  and  already 
objects  of  dread  to  the  barbarians. 

1  The  Gentiles  were  body-guards  of  the  emperor,  or  of  the  Caesar,  of 
barbarian  extraction,  whether  Scythians,  Goths,  Franks,  Germans,  &c. 


218  AMMIA.NUS  MARCELLIXUS.  [BtXX.Cn.  IT. 

8.  The   prefect,   as  soon   as  he  had   received  Julian's 
letters,  informing  him  of  what  had  happened,  and  entreat- 
ing him  to  come  speedily  to  him  to  aid  the  republic  with 
his    counsels,  positively  refused,  being    alarmed,   because 
the  letters  expressly  declared  that  in  any  crisis  of  danger 
the   prefect  ought  never  to  be   absent  from  the  general. 
And   it  was   added  that  if  he  declined  to  give  his  aid, 
Julian  himself  worild,  of  his  own  accord,   renounce  the 
emblems  of  authority,  thinking  it  better  to  die,  if  so  it  was 
fated,  than  to  have  the  ruin  of  the  provinces  attributed  to 
him.     But  the  obstinacy  of  the  prefect  prevailed,  and  he 
resolutely  refused  to  comply  with  the  wishes  thus  reason- 
ably expressed  and  enforced. 

9.  But  during  the  delay  which  arose  from  the  absence  of 
Lupicinus  and  of  any  military  movement  on  the  part  of  the 
alarmed  prefect,  Julian,  deprived  of  all  assistance  in  the 
way  of  advice,  and  being  greatly  perplexed,  thought  it  best 
to  hasten  the  departure  of  all  his  troops  from  the  stations 
in  which  they  were  passing  the  winter,  and  to  let  them 
begin  their  march. 

1 0.  When  this  was  known,  some  one  privily  threw  down 
a  bitter  libel  near  the  standard  of  the  Petulantes  legion, 
which,  among  other  things,  contained  these  words, — "  We 
are  being  driven  to  the  farthest  parts  of  the  earth  like  con- 
demned criminals,  and  our  relations  will  become  slaves  to 
the  Allemanni  after  we  have  delivered  them  from  that  first 
captivity  by  desperate  battles." 

11.  When  this  writing  was  taken  to  head-quarters  and 
read,  Julian,  considering  the  reasonableness  of  the  com- 
plaint, ordered  that  their  families  should  go  to  the  East 
with  them,  and  allowed  them  the  use  of  the  public  wagons 
for  the  purpose  of  moving  them.     And  as  it  was  for  some 
time  doubted  which  road  they  should    take,  he  decided, 
at  the  suggestion   of  the  secretary  Decentius,  that  they 
should  go  by  Paris,  where  he  himself  still  was,  not  having 
moved. 

12.  And  so  it  was  done.     And  when  they  arrived  in  the 
suburbs,  the  prince,  according  to  his   custom,  met  them, 
praising  those  whom  he  recognized,  and  reminding  indi- 
viduals of  their  gallant  deeds,  he  congratulated  them  with 
courteous  words,  encouraging  them  to  go  cheerfully  to  join 
the  emperor,  as  they  would  reap  the  most  worthy  rewards 


A.».  360.]  THE  SOLDIERS   SALUTE  JULIAN   EMPEROR.  219 

of  their  exertions  where  power  was  the  greatest  and  most 
extensive. 

13.  And  to   do  them  the  more  honour,  as  they  were 
going  to  a  great  distance,  he  invited   their   chiefs   to  a 
tmpper,  when  he  bade  them  ask   whatever  they  desired. 
And  they,  having  been  treated  with  such  liberality,  de- 
parted, anxious  and  sorrowful  on  two  accounts,  because 
cruel  fortune  was  separating  them  at  once  from  so  kind  a 
ruler  and  from  their  native  land.     And  with  this  sorrowful 
feeling  they  retired  to  their  camp. 

14.  But  when  night  came  on  they  broke  out  into  open 
discontent,  and  their  minds  being  excited,  as  his  own  griefs 
pressed  upon  each  individual,  they  had  recourse  to  force, 
and  took  up  arms,  and  with  a  great  outcry  thronged  to  the 
palace,  and  surrounding  it  so  as  to  prevent,  an}7  one  from 
escaping,  they  saluted  Julian  as  emperor  with  loud  vocife- 
rations, insisting  vehemently  on  his  coming  forth  to  them  ; 
and  though  they  were  compelled  to  wait  till  daylight,  still, 
as  they  would  not  depart,  at  last  he  did  come  forth.     And 
when    he  appeared,   they  saluted  him   emperor  with  re- 
doubled and  unanimous  cheers. 

15.  But  he  steadily  resisted  them  individually  and  col- 
lectively, at  one  time  showing  himself  indignant,  at  another 
holding  out  his  hands  and  entreating  and  beseeching  them 
not  to  sully  their  numerous  victories  with  anything  un- 
becoming, and  not  to  let,  unseasonable  rashness  and  pre- 
cipitation awaken  materials  for  discord.  At,  last  he  appeased 
them,  and  having  addressed  them  mildly,  he  added — 

16.  "I  beseech  you  let  your  anger  depart  for  a  while  : 
without  any  dissension  or  attempt,  at  revolution  what  you 
wish  will  easily  be  obtained.     Since  you  are  so  strongly 
bound  by  love  of  your  country,  and  fear  strange  lands  to 
which  you  are  Tinaccustomed,  return  now  to  your  homes, 
certain  that  you  shall  not  cross  the  Alps,  since  you  dislike 
it.     And  I  will  explain  the  matter  to  the  full  satisfaction 
of  the  emperor,  who  is  a  man  of  great  wisdom,  and  will 
listen  to  reason." 

17.  Nevertheless,  after  his  speech  was  ended,  the  cries 
were  repeated  with  as  much  vigour  and  unanimity  as  ever ; 
and  so  vehement  was  the  uproar  and  zeal,  which  did  not 
even  spare  reproaches  and  threats,  that  Julian  was  c<  im- 
pelled to  consent.     And  being  lifted  up  on  the  shield  of  an 


220  AMMIAXUS   MARCELLINUS.  [Bs.  XX.  CH.  rr. 

infantr}'  soldier,  and  raised  up  in  sight  of  all,  he  was 
saluted  as  Augustus  with  one  universal  acclamation,  and 
was  ordered  to  produce  a  diadem.  And  when  he  said  that 
he  had  never  had  one,  his  wife's  coronet  or  necklace  was 
demanded. 

18.  And  when  he  protested  that  it  was  not  fitting  for 
him  at  his  first  accession  to  be  adorned  with  female  orna- 
ments, the  frontlet  of  a  horse  was  sought  for,  so  that  being 
crowned  therewith,  he  might  have  some  badge,  however  ob- 
scure, of  supreme  power.     But  when  he  insisted  that  that 
also  would  be  unbecoming,  a  man  named  Maurus,  after- 
wards a  count,  the  same  who  was  defeated  in  the  defile 
or  the  Succi,  but  who  was  then  only  one  of  the  front- 
rank  men  of  the  Petulantes.  tore  a  chain  off  his  own  neck, 
which  he  wore  in  his  qualitj*  of  standard-bearer,  and  placed 
it  boldly  on  Julian's  head,  who,  being  thus  brought  under 
extreme  compulsion,  and  seeing  that  he  could  not  escape 
the  most  imminent  danger  to  his  life  if  he  persisted  in 
his  resistance,  consented  to  their  wishes,  and  promised  a 
largesse  of  five  pieces  of  gold  and  a  pound  of  silver  to 
every  man. 

19.  After  this  Julian  felt  more  anxiety  than  ever ;  and 
keenly  alive  to  the  future  consequences,  neither  wore  his 
diadem  or  appeared  in  public,  nor  would  he  even  transact 
the   serious   business  which  pressed   upon   his  attention, 
but  sought  retirement,  being  full  of  consternation  at  the 
strangeness  of  the  recent  events.     This  continued  till  one 
of  the  decurions  of  the  palace  (which  is  an  office  of  dig- 
nity) came  in  great  haste  to  the  standards  of  the  Petulant es 
and  of  the  Celtic  legion,  and  in  a  violent  manner  exclaimed 
that  it  was  a  monstrous  thing  that  he  who  had  the  day 
before  been  by  their  will  declared  emperor  should  have 
been  privily  assassinated. 

20.  When  this  was  heard,  the  soldier,  as  readily  excited 
by  what  they  did  not  know  as  by  what  they  did,  began 
to   brandish  their  javelins,  and   draw  their   swords,  and 
(as  is  usual  at  times  of  sudden  tumult)  to  flock  from  every 
quarter  in  haste  and  disorder  to  the  palace.     The  sei-tinels 
were  alarmed  at  the  uproar,  as  were  the  tribunes  and  the 
captain  of  the  guard,  and  suspecting  some  treachery  from 
the  fickle  soldiery,  they  fled,  fearing  sudden  death  to  them- 
selves. 


AJ>.  360.]  THE   TliOOPS    RETURN    TO   PARIS.  221 

21.  When  all  before  them  seemed  tranquil,  the  soldiers 
stood  quietly  awhile ;  and  on  being  asked  what  was  the 
cause  of  their  sudden  and  precipitate  movement,  they  at 
first  hesitated,  and  then  avowing  their  alarm  for  the  safety 
of  the  emperor,  declared  they  would  not  retire  till  they 
had  been  admitted  into  the  council- chamber,  and  had  seen 
him  safe  in  his  imperial  robes. 

V. 

§  1.  WHEN  the  news  of  these  events  reached  the  troops, 
whom  we  have  spoken  of  as  having  already  marched  under 
the  command  of  Sintula,  they  returred  with  him  quietly  to 
Paris.  And  an  order  having  been  issited  that  the  next 
morning  they  should  all  assemble  in  the  open  space  in 
front  of  the  camp,  Julian  advanced  among  them,  and 
ascended  a  tribunal  more  splendid  than  usual,  surrounded 
with  the  eagles,  standards,  and  banners,  and.  guarded  by  a 
strong  band  of  armed  soldiers. 

2.  And  after  a  moment's  quiet,  while  he  looked  down 
from  his  height  on  the  countenances  of  those  before  him, 
and  saw  them  all  full  of  joy  and  alacrity,  he  kindled  their 
loyalty  with  a  few  simple  words,  as  with  a  trumpet. 

3.  "  The  difficulty  of  my  situation,  O  brave  and  faithful 
champions  of  myself  and  of  the  republic,  who  have  ofien 
with  me  exposed  your  lives  for  the  welfare  of  the  pro- 
vinces, requires  that,  since  you  have  now  by  your  resolute 
decision  raised  me,  your  Caesar,  to  the  highest  of  all  dignities, 
I  should  briefly  set  before  you  the  state  of  affairs,  in  order 
that  safe  and  prudent  remedies  for  their  new  condition  may 
be  devised. 

4.  "  While  little  more  than  a  youth,  as  you  well  know,  I 
was  for  form's  sake  invested  with  the  purple,  and  by  the 
decision  of  the  emperor  was  intrusted  to  your  protection. 
Since  that  time  I  have  never  forgotten  my  resolution  of  a 
virtuous  life  :  I  have  been  seen  with  you  as  the  partner  of 
all  your  labours,  when,  in  consequence  of  the  diminution  of 
the  confidence  felt  in  us  by  the  barbarians,  terrible  disas- 
ters fell  upon  the  empire,  our  cities  being  stormed,  and 
countless  thousands  of  men  being  slain,  and  even  the  little 
that  was  left  to  us  being  in  a  very  tottering  condition.     I 
think  it  superfluous  to  recapitulate  how  often,  in  the  depth 


222  AMMIANUS   MAIICKLLINUS.  [BK.  XX.  CH.  v 

of  winter,  beneath  a  frozen  sky,  at  a  season  when  there  is 
usually  a  cessation  from  war  both  by  land  and  sea,  we 
have  defeated  with  heavy  loss  the  Allemanni,  previously 
unconquered. 

5.  "  One  circumstance  may  neither  be  passed  over  nor 
suppressed.     On  that  glorious  day  which  we  saw  at  Stras- 
bui-g,  which  brought  perpetual  liberty  to  Gaul,  we  together, 
I  throwing  myself  among  the  thickly  falling  darts,  and  you 
Deing  invincible  by  your  vigour  and  experience,  repelled 
the  enemy  who  poured  upon  us  like  a  torrent ;    slaying 
them  as  we  did  with  the  sword,  or  driving  them  to  be 
Irowned  in  the  river,  with  very  little  loss  of  our  own  men, 
whose  funerals  wo   celebrated  with   glorious   panegyrics 
rather  than  with  mourning. 

6.  "  It  is  my  belief  that  after  such  mighty  achievements 
posterity  will  not  be  silent  respecting  your  services  to  the 
republic,   in  every  country,  if  you  now,  in  case  of  any 
danger  or  misfortune,  vigorously  support  with  your  valour 
and  resolution  me  whom  you  have  raised  to  the  lofty  dig- 
nity of  emperor. 

7.  "  But  to  maintain  things  in  their  due  order,  so  as  to 
preserve   to   brave   men  their  well-merited  rewards  and 
prevent  underhand  ambition  from  forestalling  your  honours, 
1  make  this  rule  in  the  honourable  presence  of  your  counsel, 
That  no  civil  or  military  officer  shall  be  promoted  from  any 
other  consideration  than  that  of  his  own  merits  ;  and  he 
shall  be  disgraced  who  solicits  promotion  for  any  one  on 
any  other  ground." 

8.  The  lower  class  of  soldiers,  who  had  long  been  de- 
prived of  rank  or  reward,  were  encouraged  by  this  speech 
to  entertain  better  hopes,  and  now  rising  up  with  a  great 
noise,  and  beating  their  shields   with  their  spears,  they 
with  unanimous  shouts  showed   their  approbation  of  his 
language  and  purpose. 

9.  And  that  no  opportunity,  however  brief,  might  be 
afforded    ro    disturb    so  wise   an  arrangement,   the  Petu- 
lantes  and  Celtic   legion   immediately  besought  him,   on 
behalf  of  their  commissaries,  to   give  them  the  govern- 
ment of  any  provinces  he  pleased,  and  when  he  refused 
them,  they  retired  without  being  either  offended  or  out  of 
humour. 

10.  But  the  very  night  before  the  day  on  which  he  wa« 


A.n.  360.]  ADVANCE   OF    THE    KING    OF   PERSIA.  223 

llius  proclaimed  emperor,  Julian  had  mentioned  to  his 
most  intimate  friends  that  during  his  slumbers  some  one 
had  appeared  to  him  in  a  dream,  in  the  form  and  habit  of 
the  genius  of  the  empire,  who  uttered  these  words  in  a 
tone  of  reproach:  "For  some  time,  Julian,  have  I  been 
secretly  watching  the  door  of  thy  palace,  wishing  to  in- 
crease thy  dignity,  and  I  have  often  retired  as  one  rejected  ; 
but  if  I  am  not  now  admitted,  when  the  opinion  of  the 
many  is  unanimous,  I  shall  retire  discouraged  and  sorrow- 
ful. But  lay  this  up  in  the  depth  of  thy  heait,  that  I  will 
dwell  with  thee  no  longer." 

VI. 

§  1.  WHILE  these  transactions  were  proceeding  in  Gaul, 
to  the  great  anxiety  of  many,  the  fierce  king  of  i'ersia  (the 
advice  of  Antoninus  being  now  seconded  by  the  arrival 
of  Craugasius),  burning  with  eagerness  to  obtain  Meso- 
potamia, while  Constantius  with  his  army  was  at  a  dis- 
tance, crossed  the  Tigris  in  due  form  with  a  vast  army, 
and  laid  siege  to  Singara  with  a  thoionghly  equipped  force, 
sufficient  for  the  siege  of  a  town  which,  in  the  opinion  of 
the  chief  commanders  of  those  regions,  was  abundantly 
fortified  and  supplied. 

2.  The  garrison,  as  soon  as  they  saw  the  enemy,  while 
still  at  a  distance,  at  once  closed  their  gates,  and  with 
great  spirit  thronged  to  the  towers  and  battlements,  collect- 
ing on  them  stones  and  warlike  engines.   And  then,  having 
made  all  their  preparations,  they  stood  prepared  to  repel 
the  advancing  host  if  they  should  venture  to  approach  the 
walls. 

3.  Therefore  the  king,  when  he  arrived  and  found  that, 
though  they  would  admit  some  of  his  nobles  near  enough 
to  confer  with  them,  he  could  not,  by  any  conciliatory  lan- 
guage, bend  the  garrison  to  his  wishes,  he  gave  one  entire 
day  to  rest,  and  then,  at  daybreak,  on  a  signal  made  by  the 
jaising  of  a  scarlet  flag,  the  whole  city  was  surrounded  by 
men  carrying  ladders,  while  others  began  to  raise  engines ; 
all  being  protected  by  fences  and  penthouses  while  seeking 
a  way  to  assail  the  foundation  of  the  walls. 

4.  Against  these  attempts  the  citizens,  standing  on  the 
lofty  battlements,  drove  back  with  stones  and  every  kind 


324  AMMIAXUS  MARCELUNUS.  [BK.  XX.  CH.  YI 

of  missile   the   assailants  who  were  seeking   with  great 
ferocity  to  find  an  entrance. 

5.  For  many  days  the  struggle  continued  without  any 
decided  result,  many  being  wounded  and  killed  on  both 
Hides.     At  last,  the  struggle  growing  fiercer,  one  day  on 
the  approach  of  evening  a  very  heavy  battering-ram  was 
brought  forward  among  other  engines,  which  battered  a 
round  tower  with  repeated  blows,   at  a  point  where  we 
mentioned  that  the  city  had  been  laid  open  in  a  former 
siege. 

6.  The  citizens  at  once  repaired  to  this  point,  and  a 
violent  conflict  arose  in  this  small  space ;  torches  and  fire- 
brands were  brought  from  all  quarters  to  consume  this 
formidable  engine,  while  arrows  and  bullets  were  showered 
down  without  cessation  on  the  assailants.     But  the  keen- 
ness of  the  ram  prevailed  over  every  means  of  defence, 
digging  through  the  mortar  of  the  recently  cemented  stones, 
which  was  still  moist  and  unsettled. 

7.  And  while  the  contest  was  thus  proceeding  with  fire 
and  sword,  the  tower  fell,  and  a  path  was  opened  into  the 
city,  the  place  being  stripped  of  its  defenders,  whom  the 
magnitude  of  the  danger  had  scattered.    The  Persian  bands 
raised  a  wild  shout,  and  without  hindrance  filled   every 
quarter  of  the  city.     A  very  few  of  the  inhabitants  were 
slain,  and  all  the  rest,  by  command  of  Sapor,  were  taken 
alive  and  transported  to  the  most  distant  regions  of  Persia. 

8.  There  had  been  assigned  for  the  protection  of  this  city 
two  legions,  the  first  Flavian  and  the  first  Parthian,  and  a 
great  body  of  native  troops,  as  well  as  a  division  of  auxi- 
liary cavalry  which  had  been  shut  up  in  it  through  the 
suddenness  of  the  attack  made  upon  it.     All  of  these,  as  I 
have  said,  were  taken  prisoners,  without  receiving  any 
assi  tance  from  our  armies. 

9.  For  the  greater  part  of  our  army  was  in  tents  taking 
care  of  Nisibis,  which  was  at  a  considerable  distance.     But 
even  if  it  had  not  been  so,  no  one  even  in  ancient  times 
could  easily  bring  aid  to  Singara  when  in  danger,  since  the 
whole  country  around  laboured  under  a  scarcity  of  water. 
And  although  a  former  generation  had  placed  this  fort  very 
advisedly,  to  check  sudden  movements  of  hostility,  yet  it 
\vas  a  great  burden  to  the  state,  having  been  several  times 
taken,  and  always  involving  the  loss  of  its  garrison 


SAPOR   ADVANCES.  225 


VII. 

§  1.  AFTER  Singara  had  fallen,  Sapor  prudently  avoided 
Nisibis,  recollecting  the  losses  which  he  had  several  times 
sustained  before  it,  and  turned  to  the  right  by  a  circuitous 
path,  hoping  either  to  subdue  by  force  or  to  win  by  bribes 
the  garrison  of  Bezabde,  which  its  founders  also  called 
Phoenice,  and  to  make  himself  master  of  that  town,  which 
is  an  exceedingly  strong  fortress,  placed  on  a  hill  of 
moderate  height,  and  close  to  the  banks  of  the  Tigris, 
having  a  double  wall,  as  many  places  have  which  from  their 
situation  are  thought  to  be  especially  exposed.  For  its  de- 
fence three  legions  had  been  assigned  ;  the  second  Flavian, 
the  second  Armenian,  and  the  second  Parthian,  with  a 
large  body  of  archers  of  the  Zabdiceni,  a  tribe  subject  to 
us,  in  whose  territory  this  town  was  situated. 

2.  At   the   beginning   of  the   siege,  the  king,  with  an 
escort  of  glittering  cuirassiers,  himself  taller  than  any  of 
them,  rode  entirely  round  the  camp,  coming  up  boldly  to 
the  very  edge  of  the  fosse,  where  he  was  at  once  a  mark  for 
the  unerring  bullets  of  the  balista?,  and  arrows  ;  but  he  was 
so  completely  covered   with  thick  scale  armour  that  he 
retired  unhurt. 

3.  Then  laying  aside  his  anger,  he  sent  some  heralds 
with  all  due  solemnity,  courteously  inviting  the  besieged 
to  consult  the  safety  of  their  lives,  and  seeing  the  despe- 
rateness  of  their  situation,  to  put  an  end  to  the  siege  by  a 
timely  surrender ;  to  open  their  gates  and  come  forth,  pre- 
senting themselves  as  suppliants  before  the  conqueror  of 
nations. 

4.  When  these  messengers  approached  the  walls,  the  garri- 
son spared  them  because  they  had  with  them  some  men  of 
noble  birth,  who  had  been  made  prisoners  at  Singara,  and 
were  well  known  to  the  citizens ;  and  out  of  pity  to  them  no 
one  shot  an  arrow,  though  they  would  give  no  reply  to  the 
proposal  of  peace. 

5.  Then  a  truce  being  made  for  a  day  and  night,  before 
dawn  on  the  second  day  the  entire  force  of  the  Persians 
attacked  the   palisade   with  ferocious  threats   and   cries, 
coming  up  boldly  to  the  walls,  where   a  fierce   contest 
ensued,  the  citizens  resisting  with  great  vigour. 

Q 


226  AMMIANUS   MARCELUNU3.  [tot.  XX.  CH.  rn. 

6.  So   that  many  of    the   Parthians l   were   wounded, 
because  some  of  them  carrying  ladders,  and  others  wicker 
screens,  advanced  as  it  were  blindfold,  and  were  not  spared 
by   our  men.      For   the   clouds  of  arrows   flew  thickly, 
piercing  the  enemy  packed  in  close  order.     At  last,  after 
sunset  the  two  sides  separated,  having  suffered  about  equal 
loss :  and  the  next  day  before  dawn  the  combat  was  re- 
newed with  greater  vehemence  than  before,  the  trumpets 
cheering  the  men   on   both   sides,   and    aga:n   a   terrible 
slaughter  of  each  took  place,  both  armies  struggling  with 
the  most  determined  obstinacy. 

7.  But  on  the  following  day  both  armies  by  common 
consent  rested  from  their  terrible  exertions,  the  defenders 
of  the  walls  and  the  Persians   being   equally  dismayed. 
When  a  Christian  priest  made  sign  by  gestures  that  he 
desired  to  go  forth,  and  having  received  a  promise  that  he 
should  be  allowed  to  return  in  safety,  he  advanced  to  the 
king's  tent. 

8.  When  he  was  permitted  to  speak,  he,  with  gentle 
language,  urged  the  Persians  to  depart  to  their  own  country, 
affirming  that  after  the  losses  each  side  had  sustained  they 
had  reason  perhaps  to  fear  even  greater  disasters  in  future. 
But  these  and  other  similar  arguments  were  uttered  to  no 
purpose.     The  fierce  madness  of  the  king  robbing  them  of 
their  effect,  as  Sapor  swore  positively  that  he  would  never 
retire  till  he  had  destroyed  our  camp. 

9.  Nevertheless  a  groundless  suspicion  was  whispered 
against  the  bishop,  wholly  false  in  my  opinion,  though 
supported  by  the  assertions  of  many,  that  he  had  secretly 
informed  Sapor  what  part  of  the  wall  to  attack,  as  being 
internally  slight  and  weak.     Though  the  suspicion  derived 
some    corroboration    from  the  fact  that    afterwards   the 
engines  of  the  enemy  were  carefully  and  with  great  ex- 
ultation directed  against  the  places  which  were  weakest, 
or  most  decayed,  as  if  those  who  worked  them  were  ac- . 
quainted  with  what  parts  were  most  easily  penetrable. 

10.  And  although  the  narrowness  of  the  causeway  made 
the  approach  to  the  walls  hard,  and  though  the  battering- 
rams  when  equipped  were   brought  forward  with   great 
difficulty,  from  fear  of  the  stones  and  arrows  hurled  upon 

1  It  maybe  remarked  that  Ammianus  continually  uses  the  words  Per- 
•ian  and  Parthian  as  synonymous. 


«J».  360.]  SIEGE   OF    BEZABDE.  227 

the  assailants  by  the  besieged,  still  neither  the  balistae  nor 
the  scorpions  rested  a  moment,  the  first  shooting  javelins, 
and  the  latter  hurling  showers  of  stones,  and  baskets  on 
fire,  smeared  with  pitch  and  tar ;  and  as  these  were  per- 
petually rolled  down,  the  engines  halted  as  if  rooted  to 
the  ground,  and  fiery  darts  and  firebrands  well-aimed  set 
them  on  fire. 

11.  Still  while  this  was  going  on,  and  numbers  were 
falling  on  both  sides,  the  besiegers  were  the  more  eager  to 
destroy  a  town,  strong  both  by  its  natural  situation  and  its 
powerful  defences,  before  the  arrival  of  winter,  thinking  it 
impossible  to  appease  the  fury  of  their  king  if  they  should 
fail.     Therefore  neither  abundant  bloodshed  nor  the  sight 
of  numbers  of  their  comrades  pierced  with  deadly  wounds 
could  deter  the  rest  from  similar  audacity. 

12.  But  for  a  long  time,  fighting  with  absolute  desperation, 
they  exposed  themselves  to  imminent  danger ;  while  those 
who  worked  the  battering-rams  were  prevented  from  ad- 
vancing by  the  vast  weight  of  millstones,  and  all  kinds  of 
fiery  missiles  hurled  against  them. 

13.  One  battering-ram  was  higher  than  the  rest,  and  was 
covered  with  bull's  hides  wetted,  and  being  therefore  safer 
from   any   accident   of  fire,  or   from   lighted  javelins,  it 
led  the  way  in  the  attacks  on  the  wall  with  mighty  blows, 
and  with  its  terrible  point  it  dug  into  the  joints  of  the 
stones  till  it  overthrew  the  tower.     The  tower  fell  with  a 
mighty  crash,  and  those  in  it  were  thrown  down  with  a 
sudden  jerk,  and  breaking  their  limbs,  or  being  buried 
beneath  the  ruins,  perished  by  various  and   unexpected 
kinds  of  death ;  then,  a  safer  entrance  having  been  thus 
found,  the  multitude  of  the  enemy  poured  in  with  their 
arms. 

14.  While  the  war-cry  of  the  Persians  sounded  in  the 
trembling  ears  of  the  defeated  garrison,  a  fierce  battl,- 
within  the  narrower  bounds  raged  within  the  walls,  while 
bands  of  our  men  and  of  the  enemy  fought  hand  to  hand, 
being  jammed  together,  with  swords  drawn  on  both  sides, 
and  no  quarter  given. 

15.  At  last  the  besieged,  after  making  head  with  mighty 
exertion    against    the    destruction    which    long    seemed 
doubtful,    were    overwhelmed   with    the   weight    of    the 
countless  host  which  pressed  upon  them.     And  the  swords 


228  AMMIANUS   MARCELLINUS.  [BK.  XX.  CH.  vra. 

of  the  furious  foe  cut  down  all  they  could  find ;  children 
were  torn  from  their  mother's  bosom,  and  the  mothers 
were  slain,  no  one  regarding  what  he  did.  Among  these 
mournful  scenes  the  Persians,  devoted  to  plunder,  loaded 
with  every  kind  of  booty,  and  driving  before  them  a 
vast  multitude  of  prisoners,  returned  in  triumph  to  their 
tents. 

16.  But  the  king,  elated  with  insolence  and  triumph, 
having  long  been  desirous  to  obtain  possession  of  Phcenice, 
as  a  most  important  fortress,  did  not  retire  till  he  had  re- 
paired in  the  strongest  manner  that  portion  of  the  walls 
which  had  been  shaken,  and  till  he  had  stocked  it  with 
ample  magazines  of  provisions,  and  placed  in  it  a  garrison 
of  men  noble  by  birth  and  eminent  for  their  skill  in  war. 
For  he  feared  (what  indeed  happened)  that  the  Eomans, 
being  indignant  at  the  loss  of  this  their  grand  camp,  would 
exert  themselves  with  all  their  might  to  recover  it. 

17.  Then,   being    full    of    exultation,    and    cherishing 
greater  hopes  than  ever  of  gaining  whatever  he  desired, 
after  taking  a  few  forts  of  small  importance,  he  prepared  to 
attack  Victa,  a  very  ancient  fortress,  believed  to  have  been 
founded  by  Alexander,  the  Macedonian,  situated  on  the 
most  distant  border  of  Mesopotamia,  and  surrounded  with 
winding  walls  full  of  projecting  angles,  and  so  well  fur- 
nished at  all  points  as  to  be  almost  unassailable. 

18.  And  when  he  had  tried  every  expedient  against  it, 
at  one  time  trying  to  bribe  the  garrison  with  promises,  at 
another  to  terrify  them  with  threats  of  torture,  and  em- 
ploying all  kinds  of  engines  such  as  are  used  in  sieges, 
after  sustaining  more  injury  than  he  inflicted,  he  at  last 
retired  from  his  unsuccessful  enterprise. 

vm. 

§  1.  THESE  were  the  events  of  this  year  between  the  Tigris 
and  the  Euphrates.  And  when  frequent  intelligence  of 
them  had  reached  Constantius,  who  was  in  continual  dread 
of  Parthian  expeditions,  and  was  passing  the  winter  at 
Constantinople,  he  devoted  greater  care  than  ever  to 
strengthening  his  frontiers  with  every  kind  of  warlike 
equipment.  He  collected  veterans,  and  enlisted  recruits, 
and  increased  the  legions  with  reinforcements  of  vigorous 


A.D.360.]  JULIAN    WINTERS   AT   PARIS.  229 

youths,  who  had  already  repeatedly  signalized  their  valour 
in  the  battles  of  the  eastern  campaigns :  and  beside  these 
he  collected  auxiliary  forces  from  among  the  Scythians  by 
argent  requests  and  promises  of  pay,  in  order  to  set  out 
from  Thrace  in  the  spring,  and  at  once  march  to  the  dis- 
turbed provinces. 

2.  During  the  same  time  Julian,  who  was  wintering  at 
Paris,  alarmed  at  the  prospect  of  the  ultimate  issue  of  the 
events  in  that  district,  became  full  of  anxiety,  feeling  sure, 
after  deep  consideration,  that  Constantius   would   never 
give  his  consent  to  what  had  been  done  in  his  case,  since 
he  had  always  disdained  him  as  a  person  of  no  importance. 

3.  Therefore,  after  much  reflection  on  the   somewhat 
disturbed    beginning  which  the  present  novel  state   of 
affairs  showed,  he  determined  to  send  envoys  to  him  to 
relate  all  that  had  taken  place ;  and  he  gave  them  letters 
setting  forth  fully  what  had  been  done,  and  what  ought  to 
be  done  next,  supporting  his  recommendations  by  proofs. 

4.  Although  in   reality  he   believed  that  the  emperor 
was  already  informed  of  all,  from  the  report  of  Decentius, 
who  had  returned  to  him  some  time  before ;  and  of  the 
chamberlains  who   had   recently  gone   back   from    Gaul, 
after    having    brought  him    some   formal    orders.       And 
all  hough  he  was  not  in  reality  vexed  at  his  promotion, 
still  he  avoided  all  arrogant  language  in  his  letters,  that  he 
might  not  appear  to  have  suddenly  shaken  off  his  authority. 
Now  the  following  was  the  purport  of  his  letters. 

5.  "I  have  at  all  times  been  of  the  same  mind,  and 
have  adhered  to  my  original  intentions,  not  less  by  my 
conduct  than  by  my  promises,  as  far  as  lay  in  my  power, 
as  has  been  abundantly  plain  from  repeated  actions  of 
mine. 

6.  "  And  up  to  this  time,  since  you  created  me  Csesar, 
and  exposed  me  to  the  din  of  war,  contenled  with  the 
power  you  conferred  on  me,  as  a  faithful  officer  I  have 
sent  you  continued  intelligence  of  all  your  affairs  proceed- 
ing according  to  your  wishes  ;  never  speaking  of  my  own 
dangers ;  though  it  can  easily  be  proved,  that,  while  the 
Germans  have  been   routed   in   every   direction,   I  have 
always  been  the  first  in  all  toils  and  the  last  to  allow 
myself  any  rest. 

7.  "  But  allow  me  to  say,  that  if  any  violent  change  has 


230  AMMIANUS  MARCELLIXUS.  [B*.  XX.  CH.  vm. 

taken  place,  as  you  think,  the  soldier  who  has  been  passing 
his  life  in  many  terrible  wars  without  reward,  has  only 
completed  what  he  has  long  had  under  consideration, 
being  indignant  and  impatient  at  being  only  under  a  chief 
of  the  second  class,  as  knowing  that  from  a  Caesar  no 
adequate  reward  for  his  continued  exertions  and  frequent 
victories  could  possibly  be  procured. 

8.  "  And   while   angry   at  the   feeling  that  he    could 
neither  expect  promotion  nor  annual  pay,  he   had  this 
sudden  aggravation  to  his  discontent,  that  he,  a  man  used 
to  cold  climates,  was  ordered  to  march  to  the  most  remote 
districts  of  the  East,  to  be  separated  from  his  wife  and 
children,  and  to  be  dragged  away  in  want  and  nakedness. 
This  made  him  fiercer  than  usual ;  and  so  the  troops  one 
night  collected   and   laid    siege   to   the   palace,   saluting 
with  loud  and  incessant  outcries  Julian  as  emperor. 

9.  "  I    shuddered    at    their    boldness,   I    confess,   and 
withdrew  myself.     And  retiring  while  I  could,  I  sought 
safety  in  concealment  and  disguise — and  as  they  would  not 
desist,  armed,  so  to  say,  with  the  shield  of  my  own  free 
heart,  I  came  out  before  them  all,  thinking  that  the  tumult 
might  be  appeased  by  authority,  or  by  conciliatory  language. 

10.  "  They  became  wonderfully  excited,  and  proceeded 
to   such   lengths  that,  when  I  endeavoured  to  overcome 
their  pertinacity  with  my  entreaties,  they  came  close  up 
to  me,  threatening  me  with  instant  death.     At  last  I  was 
overcome,  and  arguing  with  myself  that  if  I  were  mur- 
dered by  them  some  one  else  would  willingly  accept  the 
dignity  of  emperor,  I  consented,  hoping  thus  to  pacify 
their  armed  violence. 

11.  "  This  is  the  plain  account  of  what  has  been  done ; 
and  I  entreat  you  to  listen  to  it  with  mildness.     Do  not 
believe  that  anything  else  is  the  truth  ;  and  do  not  listen  to 
malignant  men  who  deal  in  mischievous  whispers,  always 
eager  to  seek  their  own  gain  by  causing  ill  will  between 
princes.     Banish  flattery,  which  is  the  nurse  of  vice,  and 
listen  to  the  voice  of  that  most  excellent  of  all  virtues, 
justice.     And  receive  with  good  faith  the  equitable  con- 
dition which  I  propose,   considering  in  your  mind  that 
such  things  are  for  the  interest  of  the  Roman  state,  and  of 
us  also  who  are  united  by  affection  of  blood,  and  by  an 
equality  of  superior  fortune. 


i.D.  3*0.]  LETTER   OF   JULIAN.  231 

12.  "  And  pardon  me.    These  reasonable  requests  of  mine 
I  am  not  so  anxious  to  see  carried  out,  as  to  see  them 
approved  by  you  as  expedient  and  proper ;    and  I  shall 
with  eagerness  follow  all  your  instructions. 

13.  "  What  requires  to  be  done  I  will  briefly  explain. 
I  will  provide  you  some  Spanish  draught  horses,  and  some 
youths  to  mingle  with  the  Gentiles  and  Scutarii  of  the 
Letian  tribe,  a  race  of  barbarians  on  the  side  of  the  Rhine ; 
or  else   of  those    people    which   have  come  over  to   our 
side.     And    I   promise  till  the  end  of  my  life  to  do  all 
I  can  to   assist  you,   not   only  with  gratitude,  but  with 
eagerness. 

14.  "  Your  clemency  will  appoint  us  prefects  for  our 
praetorium  of  known  equity  and  virtue :  the  appointment 
of  the  ordinary  judges,  and  the  promotion  of  the  military 
officers  it  is  fair  should  be  left  to  me  ;  as  also  the  selection 
of  my  guard.     For  it  would  be  unreasonable,  when  it  is 
possible  to  be  guarded  against,  that  those  persons  should 
be  placed  about  an  emperor  of  whose  manners  and  in- 
clinations he  is  ignorant. 

15.  "  These  things  I  can  further  assure  you  of  positively. 
The  Gauls  will  neither  of  their  own  accord,  nor  by  any 
amount   of  compulsion,  be   brought   to   send  recruits  to 
foreign  and  distant  countries,  since  they  have  been  long 
harassed  by  protracted  annoyances   and  heavy  disasters, 
lest  the  youth  of  the  nation  should  be  destroyed,  and  the 
whole    people,   while    recollecting   their   past    sufferings, 
.  hould  abandon  themselves  to  despair  for  the  future. 

16.  "  Nor  is  it  fit  to  seek  from  hence  assistance  against 
the  Parthians,  when  even  now  the  attempts  of  the  bar- 
barians against  this  land  are  not  brought  to  an  end,  and 
while,  if  you  will  suffer  me  to  tell  the  truth,  these  pro- 
vinces are  still  exposed  to  continual  dangers  on  being  de- 
prived of  all  foreign  or  adequate  assistance. 

17.  "  In  speaking  thus,  I  do  think  I  have  written  to  you 
in  a  manner  suited  to  the  interests  of  the  state,  both  in  my 
demands  and  my  entreaties.     For  I  well   know,  not   to 
speak  in  a  lofty  tone,  though  such  might  not  misbecome  an 
emperor,  what  wretched  states  of  affairs,  even  when  utterly 
desperate  and  given  up,  have  been  before  now  retrieved 
and   re-established   by   the    agreement    of    princes,    each 
yielding  reciprocally  to   one   another.      While  it  is  also 


232  AMMIAXUS   MARCELLINUS.  [Bs.  XX.  CH.  vm. 

plain  from  the  example  of  our  ancestors,  that  rulers  who 
acknowledge  and  act  upon  such  principles  do  somehow 
ever  find  the  means  of  living  prosperously  and  happily,  and 
leave  behind  them  to  the  latest  posterity  an  enviable 
fame." 

18.  To  these  letters  he  added  others  of  a  more  secret 
purport,  to  be  given  privily  to  Constantius,  in  which  he 
blamed  and  reproached  him  ;  though  their  exact  tenor  was 
not  fit  to  be  known,  nor  if  known,  fit  to  be  divulged  to  the 
public. 

19.  For  the  office  of  delivering  these   letters,  men  of 
great  dignity  were  chosen ;  namely,  Pentadius,  the  master 
of  the  ceremonies,  and  Eutherius,  at  that  time  the  principal 
chamberlain  ;  who  were  charged,  after  they  had  delivered 
the  letters,  to  relate  what  they  had  seen,  without  suppress- 
ing anything ;  and  to  take  their  own  measures  boldly  on 
all  future  emergencies  which  might  arise. 

20.  In  the  mean  time  the  flight  of  Florentius,  the  pre- 
fect, aggravated  the  envy  with  which  these  circumstances 
were  regarded.     For  he,  as  if  he  foresaw  the  commotion 
likely  to  arise,  as  might  be  gathered  from  general  conver- 
sation, from  the  act  of  sending  for  the  troops,  had  departed 
for  Vienne  (being  also  desirous  to  get  out  of  the  way  of 
Julian,  whom  he  had  often  slandered),  pretending  to  be 
compelled  to  this  journey  for  the  sake  of  providing  supplies 
for  the  army. 

21.  Afterwards,  when  he  had  heard  of  Julian's  being 
raised  to  the  dignity  of  emperor,  being  greatly  alarmed, 
and  giving  up  almost  all  hope  of  saving  his  life,  he  availed 
himself  of  his  distance  from  Julian  to  escape  from  the 
evils  which  he  suspected  ;  and  leaving  behind  him  all  his 
family,  he  proceeded  by  slow  journeys  to  Constantius ;  and 
to  prove   his  own  innocence  he  brought  forward  many 
charges  of  rebellion  against  Julian. 

22.  And  after  his  departure,  Julian,  adopting  wise  mea- 
sures, and  wishing  it  to  be  known  that,   even  if  he  had 
him  in  his  power,  he  would  have  spared  him,  allowed  his 
relations  to  take  with  them  all  their  property,  and  even 
granted  them  the  use  of  the  public  conveyances  to  retire 
with  safety  to  the  East. 


A.0.360.]  DISPLEASURE   OF   CONSTANTIUS.  233 


IX. 

§  1.  THE  envoys  whom  I  have  mentioned  took  equal  care 
to  discharge  their  orders  ;  but  while  eager  to  pursue  their 
journey  they  were  imjustly  detained  by  some  of  the 
superior  magistrates  on  their  road ;  and  having  been  long 
and  vexatiously  delayed  in  Italy  and  lllyricum,  they  at 
last  passed  the  Bosphorus,  and  advancing  by  slow  journeys, 
they  found  Constantius  still  staying  at  Caesarea  in  Cappa- 
docia,  a  town  formerly  known  as  Mazaca,  admirably  situ- 
ated at  the  foot  of  Mount  Argaaus,  and  of  high  reputation. 

2.  Being  admitted  to  the  presence,  they  received  permis- 
sion to  present  their  letters ;  but  when  they  were  read  the 
emperor  became  immoderately  angry,  and  looking  askance 
at  them  so  as  to  make  them  fear  for  their  lives,  he  ordered 
them  to  be  gone  without  asking  them   any  questions  or 
permitting  them  to  speak. 

3.  But  in  spite  of  his  anger  he  was  greatly  perplexed 
to  decide  whether  to  move  those  troops  whom  he  could 
trust  against  the  Persians,  or  against  Julian ;  and  while 
he  was  hesitating,  and  long   balancing  between  the  two 
plans,   he   yielded  to   the  useful   advice  of   some  of  his 
counsellors,  and  ordered  the  army  to  march  to  the  East. 

4.  Immediately  also  he  dismissed  the  envoys,  and  ordered 
his  quaestor  Leonas  to  go  with  all  speed  with  letters  from 
him  to  Julian  ;  in  which  he  asserted  that  he  himself  would 
permit  no  innovators,  and  recommended  Julian,  if  he  had 
any  regard  for  his  own  safety  or  that  of  his   relations,  to 
lay  aside  his  arrogance,  and  resume  the  rank  of  Caesar. 

5.  And,  in  order  to  alarm  him  by  the  magnitude  of  his 
preparations,  as  if  he  really  was  possessed  of  great  power, 
he  appointed   Nebridius,  who  was   at  that  time  Julian's 
qusestor,  to  succeed  Florentius  as  prefect  of  the  praetorium, 
and  made  Felix  the  secretary,  master  of  the  ceremonies, 
with  several  other  appointments.     Gurnoharius,  the  com- 
mander of  the  heavy  infantry,  he  had  already  appointed 
to  succeed  Lupicinus,  before  any  of  these   events  were 
known. 

6.  Accordingly  Leonas  reached  Paris,  and   was  there 
received  as  an  honourable  and  discreet  man  ;  and  the  next 
day,  when  Julian  had  proceeded  into  the  plain  in  front  of 


234  AMMIAN'US   MARCELLINUS.  [B*.  XX.  CH.  x. 

the  camp  with  a  great  multitude  of  soldiers  and  common 
people,  which  he  had  ordered  to  assemble  on  purpose,  he 
mounted  a  tribune,  in  order  from  that  high  position  to  be 
more  conspicuous,  and  desired  Leonas  to  present  his 
letters ;  and  when  he  had  opened  the  edict  which  had 
been  sent,  and  began  to  read  it,  as  soon  as  he  arrived  at 
the  passage  that  Constantius  disapproved  of  all  that  had 
been  done,  and  desired  Julian  to  be  content  with  the 
power  of  a  Caesar,  a  terrible  shout  was  raised  on  all  sides, 

7.  "  Julian  emperor,  as  has  been  decreed  by  the  autho- 
rity of  the  province,  of  the  army,   and  of  the  republic, 
which  is  indeed  re-established,  but  which  still  dreads  the 
renewed  attacks  of  the  barbarians." 

8.  Leonas  heard  this,  and,  after  receiving  letters  from 
Julian,    stating   what    had    occurred,    was    dismissed    in 
safety :  the  only  one  of  the  emperor's  appointments  which 
was  allowed  to  take  effect  was  that  of  Nebridius,  which 
Julian  in  his  letters  had  plainly  said  would  be  in  accord- 
ance with   his  wishes.      For  he  himself  had  some  time 
before  appointed  Anatolius  to  be  master  of  the  ceremonies, 
having  been  formerly  his  private  secretary  ;  and  he  had 
also  made  such  other  appointments  as  seemed  useful  and 
safe. 

9.  And   since,   while  matters  were  going  on  in   this 
matter,  Lupicinus,  as  being  a  proud  and  arrogant  man, 
was  an  object  of  fear,  though  absent  and  still  in  Britain ; 
and  since  there  was  a  suspicion  that  if  he  heard  of  these 
occurrences  while  on  the  other  side  of  the  channel,  he 
might  cause  disorders  in  the  island,  a  secretary  was  sent 
to  Boulogne  to  take  care  that  no  one  should  be  allowed  to 
cross  ;  and  as  that  was  contrived,  Lnpicinus  returned  with- 
out hearing  of  any  of  these  matters,  and  so  had  no  oppor- 
tunity of  giving  trouble. 

X. 

§  1.  BUT  Julian,  being  gratified  at  his  increase  of  rank, 
and  at  the  confidence  of  the  soldiers  in  him,  not  to  let 
his  good  fortune  cool,  or  to  give  any  colour  for  charging 
him  with  inactivity  or  indolence,  after  he  had  sent  his 
envoys  to  Constantius,  marched  to  the  frontier  of  the  pro- 
vince of  lower  Germany ;  and  having  with  him  all  the  force 


»J>.  360.]  JULIAN   CROSSES   THE   RHINE.  235 

which  the  business  in  hand  demanded,  he  approached  the 
town  of  Santon.1 

2.  Then  crossing  the  Rhine,  he  suddenly  entered  the 
district  belonging  to   a  Frank  tribe,  called  the  Attuarii, 
men  of  a  turbulent  character,  who  at  that  veiy  moment 
were  licentiously  plundering  the  districts  of  Gaul.     He 
attacked  them  unexpectedly  while  they  were  apprehensive 
of  no  hostile  measures,  but  were  reposing  in  fancied  se- 
curity, relying  on    the   mggedness   and  difficulty  of  the 
roads  which  led  into  their  country,  and  which  no  prince 
within  their  recollection  had  ever  penetrated.     He,  how- 
ever, easily  surmounted   all   difficulties,  and  having   put 
many  to  the  sword  and  taken  many  prisoners,  he  granted 
the  survivors,  peace  at  their  request,  thinking  such  a  course 
best  for  their  neighbours. 

3.  Then  with  equal  celerity  he  repassed  the  river,  and 
examining  carefully  the  state  of  the  garrisons  on  the  fron- 
tier, and   putting  them   in   a   proper  state,   he   marched 
towards  Basle  ;  and  having  recovered  the  places  which  the 
barbarians  had  taken  and  still  retained  in  their  hands,  and 
having  carefully  strengthened  them,  he  went  to  Vienne, 
passing  through  Besa^on,  and  there  took  up  his  winter 
quarters. 

XL 

§  1.  THESK  were  the  events  which  took  place  in  Gaul,  and 
while  they  were  thus  conducted  with  prudence  and  good 
fortune,  Constantius,  having  summoned  Arsaces,  king  of 
Armenia,  and  having  received  him  with  great  courtesy, 
advised  and  exhorted  him  to  continue  friendly  and  faithful 
to  us. 

2.  For  he  had  heard  that  the  king  of  Persia  had  often 
tried  by  deceits  and  threats,  and  all  kinds  of  stratagems, 
to  induce  him  to  forsake  the  Roman  alliance  and  join  his 
party. 

3.  But  he,  vowing  with  many  oaths  that  he  would  rather 
lose  his  life  than  change  his  opinion,  received  ample  rewards, 
and  returned  to  his  kingdom  with  the  retinue  which  he 
brought  with  him  ;  and  never  ventured  at  any  subsequent 
time  to  break  any  of  his  promises,  being  bound  by 

1  Santon  is  near  Cleves. 


236  AMMIANUS   MARCELLINUS.  [Bit.  XX.  CH.  n. 

ties  of  gratitude  to  Constantius.  The  strongest  tie  of  all 
being  that  the  emperor  had  given  him  for  a  wife,  Olympias, 
the  daughter  of  Abladius,  formerly  prefect  of  the  prse- 
torium,  who  had  once  been  betrothed  to  his  own  brother 
Constans. 

4.  And  when  Arsaces  had  been  dismissed,  Constantius 
left  Cappadocia,  and  going  by  Melitina,  a  town    of  the 
lesser  Armenia,  and  Lacotene,  and  Samosata,  he  crossed 
the  Euphrates  and  arrived  at  Edessa.     Stopping  some  time 
in  each  town,  while  waiting  for  divisions  of  soldiers  who 
were  flocking  in  from  all  quarters,  and  for  sufficient  sup- 
plies of  provisions.     And  after  the  autumnal  equinox,  he 
proceeded  onwards  on  his  way  to  Amida. 

5.  When  he  approached  the  walls  of  that  town,  and  saw 
everything  buried  in  ashes,  he  groaned  and  wept,  recollect- 
ing what  sufferings  the  wretched  city  had  suffered.     And 
Ursulus,  the  treasurer,  who  happened  to  be  present,  was 
moved  with  indignation,   and    exclaimed,   "  Behold    the 
courage  with  which  cities  are  defended  by  our  soldiers ; 
men  for  whose  pay  the  whole  wealth  of  the  empire  is 
exhausted."     This  bitter  speech  the  crowd  of  soldiers  after- 
wards recollected  at  Chalcedon,  when  they  rose  up  and 
destroyed  him. 

6.  Then  proceeding  onward  in  close  column,  he  reached 
Bezabde,  and  having  fixed  his  camp  there,  and  fortified  it 
with  a  rampart  and  a  deep  fosse,  as  he  took  a  long  ride 
round  the  camp,  he  satisfied  himself,  by  the  account  which 
he  received  from  several  persons,  that  those  places  in  the 
walls  which  the  carelessness  of  ancient  times  had  allowed 
to  become  decayed,  had  been  repaired  so  as  to  be  stronger 
than  ever. 

7.  And,  not  to  omit  anything  which  was  necessary  to 
do  before  the  heat  of  the  contest  was  renewed,  he  sent 
prudent  men  to  the  garrison  to  offer  them  two  conditions  ; 
either  to  withdraw  to  their  own  country,  giving  up  what 
did  not  belong  to  them,  without  causing  bloodshed  by 
resistance,  or  else  to  become  subjects  of  the  Romans,  in 
which  case  they  should  receive  rank  and  rewards.     But 
when  they,  with  native  obstinacy,  resisted  the  demands  as 
became  men  of  noble  birth,  who  had  been  hardened  by 
dangers  and  labours,   everything  was  prepared  for  the 
siege. 


A.D.  360.]  SIEGE   OF    BEZABDE.  237 

8.  Therefore  ihe  soldiers  with  alacrity,  in  dense  order, 
and  cheered  by  the  sound  of  trumpet!*,  attacked  every  side 
of  the  town ;  and  the  legions,  heing  protected  by  various 
kinds  of  defences,  advanced  in  safety,  endeavouring  by  slow 
degrees  to  overthrow  the  walls ;  and  because  all  kinds  of 
missiles  were  poured  down  upon  them,  which  disjoined  the 
union  of  their  shields,  they  fell  back,   the   signal  for  a 
retreat  being  given. 

9.  Then  a  truce  was  agreed  upon  for  one  day ;  but  the 
day  after,  having  protected  themselves  more  skilfully,  they 
again  raised  their  war-cry,  and  tried  on  every  side  to  scale  the 
walls.     And  although  the  garrison,  having  stretched  cloths 
before  them  not  to  be  distinguished,  lay  concealed  within 
the  walls ;  still,  as  often  as  necessity  required,  they  boldly 
put  out  their  arms  and  hurled  down  stones  and  javelins  on 
their  assailants  below. 

10.  And  while  the  wicker  penthouses  were  advanced 
boldly  and  brought  close  to  the  walls,  the  besieged  dropped 
upon  them  heavy  casks  and  millstones,  and  fragments  of 
pillars,  by  the  overpowering  weight  of  which  the  assailants 
were  crushed,  their  defences  torn  to  pieces,  and  wide  open- 
ings made  in  them,  so  that  they  incurred  terrible  dangers, 
and  were  again  forced  to  retreat. 

11.  Therefore,  on  the  tenth  day  from  the  beginning  of 
the  siege,  when  the  confidence  of  our  men  began  to  fill  the 
town  with  alarm,  we  determined  on  bringing  up  a  vast 
battering-ram,  which,  after  having  destroyed  Antioch  with 
it  sometime  before,  the  Persians  had  left  at  Carrhae ;  and 
as  soon  as  that  appeared,  and  was  begun  to  be  skilfully 
set  up,  it  cowed  the  spirits  of  the  besieged,  so  that  they 
were  almost  on  the  point  of  surrendering,  when  they  again 
plucked  up  courage  and  prepared  means  for  resisting  this 
engine. 

12.  From  this  time  neither  their  courage  nor  their  inge- 
nuity failed  ;  for  as  the  ram  was  old,  and  it  had  been  taken 
to  pieces  for  the  facility  of  transporting  it,  so  while  it  was 
being  put  together  again,  it  was  attacked  with  great  exer- 
tions and  vigour  by  the  garrison,  and  defended  with  equal 
valour  and  firmness  by  the  besiegers ;  and  engines  hurling 
showers  of  stones,  and  slings,  and  missiles  of  all  sorts,  slew 
numbers  on  each  side.     Meantime,  high  mounds  rose  up 
with  speedy  growth ;  and  the  siege  grew  fiercer  and  sterner 


238  AMMIANUS   MARCELLINUS.  [BK.  XX.  CH.  xi 

daily ;  many  of  our  men  being  slain  because,  fighting  as 
they  were  under  the  eye  of  the  emperor,  and  eager  for 
reward,  they  took  off  their  helmets  in  order  to  be  the 
more  easily  recognized,  and  so  with  bare  heads,  were  an 
easy  mark  for  the  skilful  archers  of  the  enemy. 

13.  The  days  and  nights  being  alike  spent  in  watching, 
made  each  side  the  more  careful ;  and  the  Persians,  being 
alarmed  at  the  vast  height  to  which  the  mounds  were  now 
carried,  and  at  the  enormous  ram,  which  was  accompanied 
by  others  of  smaller  size,  made  great  exertions  to  burn 
them,  and  kept  continually  shooting  firebrands  and  incen- 
diary missiles  at  them ;  but  their  labour  was  vain,  because 
the  chief  part  of  them  was  covered  with  wet  skins  and 
cloths,  and  some  parts  also  had  been  steeped  in  alum,  so 
that  the  fire  might  fall  harmless  upon  them. 

14.  But  the  Komans,  driving  these  rams  on  with  great 
courage,  although  they  had  difficulty  in  defending  them- 
selves, disregarded  danger,  however  imminent,  in  the  hope 
of  making  themselves  masters  of  the  town. 

15.  And  on  the  other  hand,  when  the  enormous  ram  was 
brought  against  the  tower  to  which  it  was  applied,  as  if  it 
could  at  once  throw  it  down,  the  garrison,  by  a  clever 
contrivance,  entangled  its  projecting  iron  head,  which  in 
shape  was  like  that  of  a  ram,  with  long  cords  on  both 
sides,  to  prevent  its  being  drawn  back  and  then  driven  for- 
ward with  great  force,  and  to  hinder  it  from  making  any 
serious  impression  on  the  walls  by  repeated  blows ;  and 
meanwhile  they  poured  on  it  burning  pitch,  and  for  a  long 
time  these  engines  were  fixed  at  the  point  to  which  they 
had  been  advanced,    and   exposed   to   all  the  stones  and 
javelins  which  were  hurled  fiom  the  walls. 

16.  By  this  time  the  mounds  were  raised  to  a  consider- 
able height,  and  the  garrison,  thinking  that  unless  they 
used  extraordinary  vigilance  their  destniction  must  be  at 
hand,  resorted  to  extreme  audacity ;  and  making  an  un- 
expected sally  from  the  gates,  they  attacked  our  front  rank, 
and  with  all  their  might  hurled  firebrands  and  iron  braziers 
loaded  with  fire  against  the  rams. 

17.  But  after  a  fierce  but  undecided  conflict,  the  bulk  of 
them  were  driven  within  the  walls,  without  having  suc- 
ceeded in  their  attempt;  and  presently  the  battlements 
were  attacked  from  the  mounds  which  the  Eomans  had 


AJX360.]  SIEGE   OF    BEZABDE.  239 

raised,  with  arrows  and  slings  and  lighted  javelins,  which 
flew  over  the  roofs  of  the  towers,  but  did  no  harm,  means 
having  been  prepared  to  extinguish  any  flames. 

18.  Ajid  as  the  ranks  on  both  sides  became  thinner,  and 
the    Persians   were    now   reduced   to    extremities   unless 
some  aid  could  be   found,  they  prepared  with  redoubled 
energy  a   fresh  sally  from  the  camp  :   accordingly,  they 
made  a  sudden  sally,  supported  by  increased  numbers,  and 
among  the  armed  men  were  many  bearing  torches,  and 
iron  baskets  full  of  fire,  and  faggots  ;  and  all  kinds  of  things 
best  adapted  for  setting  fire  to  the  works  of  the  besiegers 
were  hurled  against  them. 

19.  And  because  the  dense  clouds  of  smoke  obscured  the 
ight,  when  the  trumpet  gave   the  signal  for  battle,  the 

legions  came  up  with  quick  step ;  and  as  the  eagerness  of 
the  conflict  grew  hotter,  after  they  had  engaged,  suddenly 
all  the  engines,  except  the  great  ram,  caught  fire  from  the 
flames  which  were  hurled  at  them ;  but  the  ropes  which 
held  the  chief  ram  were  broken  asunder,  and  that  the 
vigorous  efforts  of  some  gallant  men  saved  when  it  was 
half  burnt. 

20.  When  the  darkness  of  night  terminated  the  combat, 
only  a  short  time  was  allowed  to  the  soldiers  for  rest;  but 
when  they  had  been  refreshed  by  a  little  food  and  sleep, 
they  were  awakened  by  their  captains,  and  ordered  to  re- 
move their  works  away  from  the  walls  of  the  town,  and 
prepare  to  fight  at  closer  quarters  from  the  lofty  mounds 
which  were  untouched  by  the  flames,  and  now  commanded 
the  walls.      And  to  drive  the  defenders  from  the  walls,  on 
the  summit  of  the  mounds  they  stationed  two  balistae,  in 
fear  of  which  they  thought  that  none  of  the  enemy  would 
venture  even  to  look  out. 

21.  After   having   taken  these   efficacious   measures,    a 
triple  line  of  our  men,  having  a  more  threatening  aspect 
than  usual  from  the  nodding  cones  of  their  helmets  (many 
of  them  also  bearing  ladders),  attempted  about  twilight  to 
scale  the  walls.     Arms  clashed  and  trumpets  sounded,  and 
both  sides  fought  with  equal  boldness  and  ardour.     The 
Komans,  extending  their  lines  more  widely,  when  they  saw 
the  Persians  hiding  from  fear  of  the  engines  which  had  been 
stationed  on  the  mounds,  battered  the  wall  with  their  ram, 
and  with  spades,  and  axes,  and  levers,  and  ladders,  pressed 


240  AMMIANUS   MARCELL1XUS.  [BK.  XX.  CH.  xi. 

fiercely   on,  while  missiles  from  each  side  flew  without 
ceasing. 

22.  But  the  Persians  were  especially  pressed  by  the 
various  missiles  shot  from  the  balistae,  which,  from  the 
artificial  mounds,  came  down  upon  them  in  torrents ;  and 
having    become  desperate,   they   rushed    on,   fearless    of 
death,  and  distributing  their  force  as  if  at  the  last  ex- 
tremity,  they  left  some   to  guard   the  walls,  while  the 
rest,  secretly  opening  a  postern   gate,   rushed   forth  va- 
liantly with  drawn  swords,  followed  by  others  who  carried 
concealed  fire. 

23.  And  while  the  Romans  at  one  moment  were  pressing 
on  those  who  retreated,  at  another  receiving  the  assault  of 
those  who  attacked  them,  those  who  carried  the  fire  crept 
round  by  a  circuitous  path,  and  pushed  the  burning  coals 
in  among  the  interstices  of  one  of  the  mounds,  which  was 
made  up  of  branches  of  trees,  and  rushes,  and  bundles  of 
reeds.     This  soon  caught  fire  and  was  utterly  destroyed, 
the  soldiers  themselves  having  great  difficulty  in  escaping 
and  saving  their  engines. 

24.  But  when  the  approach  of  evening  broke  off  the 
conflict,  and   the   two   sides  separated  to  snatch  a  brief 
repose,  the  emperor,  after  due  reflection,  resolved  to  change 
his  plans.    Although  many  reasons  of  great  urgency  pressed 
him  to  force  on  the  destruction  of  Phoenice,  as  of  a  fortress 
which  would  prove  an  impregnable  barrier  to  the  inroads 
of  the  enemy,  yet  the  lateness  of  the  season  was  an  objec- 
tion to  persevering  any  longer.     He  determined,  therefore, 
while  he  preserved  his  position,  to  carry  on  the  siege  for 
the  future  by  slight  skirmishes,  thinking  that  the  Persians 
would   be  forced  to   surrender  from  want  of  provisions, 
which,  however,  turned  out  very  different. 

25.  For    while    the  conflict    was    proceeding   sharply, 
the  heavens  became  moist,  and  watery  clouds  appeared 
with  threatening  darkness ;  and  presently  the  ground  got 
so  wet  from  continual  rain,  that  the  whole  country  was 
changed  into  an  adhesive  mud  (for  the  soil  is  naturally 
rich),  and  every  plan  was  thrown  into  confusion ;  mean- 
time, thunder  with  incessant  crashes  and  ceaseless  light- 
ning filled  men's  minds  with  fear. 

26.  To  these  portents  were  added  continual  rainbows. 
A  short  explanation  will  serve  to  show  how  these  appear- 


AJ>.  360.]  NATURE   OF   THE  RAIXBOW.  241 

ances  are  formed.  The  vapours  of  the  earth  becoming 
warmer,  and  the  watery  particles  gathering  in  clouds,  and 
thence  being  dispersed  in  spray,  and  made  brilliant  by  the 
fusion  of  rays,  turn  upwards  towards  the  fiery  orb  of  the 
sun,  and  form  a  rainbow,  which  sweeps  round  with  a  large 
curve  because  it  is  spread  over  our  world,  which  physical 
investigations  place  on  the  moiety  of  a  sphere. 

27.  Its  appearance,  as  far  as  mortal  sight  can  discern,  is, 
in  the  first  line  yellow,  in  the  second  tawny,  in  the  third 
scarlet,  in  the  fourth  purple,  and  in  the  last  a  mixture  of 
blue  and  green. 

28.  And  it  is  so  tempered  with  this  mixed  beauty,  ass 
mankind  believe,  because  its  first  portion  is  discerned  in 
a  thin  diluted  state,  of  the  same  colour  as  the  air  which 
surrounds  it;  the  next  line  is  tawny,  that  is  a  somewhat 
richer  colour  than  yellow ;  the  third  is  scarlet,  because  it 
is  opposite  to  the  bright  rays  of  the  sun,  and  so  pumps  up 
and  appropriates,  if  one  may  so  say,  the  most  subtle  portion 
of  its  beams ;  the  fourth  is  purple,  because  the  density  of 
the  spray  by  which  the   splendour  of  the  sun's  rays  is 
quenched  shines  between,  and  so  it  assumes  a  colour  near 
that  of  flame  ;    and  as  that  colour  is  the  more  diffused,  it 
shades  otf  into  blue  and  green. 

29.  Others  think  that  the  rainbow  is  caused  by  the  rays 
of  the  sun  becoming  infused  into  some  dense  cloud,  and 
pouring  into  it  a  liquid   light,  which,  as  it  can  find  no 
exit,  falls  back  upon  itself,  and  shines  the  more  brilliantly 
because  of  a  kind  of  attrition ;   and  receives  those  hues 
which  are  most  akin  to  white  from  the    sun  above ;    its 
green  hues  from  the  cloud  under  which  it  lies,  as  often 
happens  in  the  sea,  where  the  waters  which  beat  upon  tlie 
shore  are  white,  and  those  farther  from  the  land,  which, 
as  being  so,  are  more  free  from  any  admixture,  are  bine. 

30.  And  since  it  is  an  indication  of  a  change  in  the 
atmosphere  (as  we  have  already  said),  when  in  a  clear  sky 
sudden  masses  of  clouds  appear,  or  on  the  other  hand,  when 
the  sky  changed  from  a  gloomy  look  to  a  joyful  serenity, 
therefore  we  often  read  in  the  poets  that  Iris  is  sent,  from 
heaven  when  a  change  is  required  in  the  condition  of  any 
present  affairs.     There  are  various  other  opinions  which  it 
would  be  superfluous  now  to  enumerate,  since  my  narration 
must  hasten  back  to  the  point  from  which  it  digressed. 


242  AMMIANUS  MARCELLINUS.  [BK.  XXI. 

3 1 .  By  these  and  similar  events  the  emperor  was  kept 
wavering    between    hope   and    fear,   as    the    severity   of 
winter  was  increasing,  and  he  suspected  ambuscades  in  the 
country,  which  was  destitute  of  roads ;  fearing  also,  among 
other  things,  the  discontent  of  the   exasperated  soldiers. 
And  it  further  goaded  his  unquiet  spirit  to  return  balked 
of  his  purpose,  after,  as  it  were,  the  door  of  the  rich  mansion 
was  opened  to  him. 

32.  However,  giving  up  his  enterprise  as  fruitless,  he 
returned  into  the  unwelcome  Syria,  to  winter  at  Antioch, 
after  having  suffered  a  succession  of  melancholy  disasters. 
For,   as    if   some    unfriendly    constellation   so    governed 
events,  Constantius  himself,  while  warring  with  the  Per- 
sians, was  always  attended  by  adverse  fortune ;  on  which 
account  he  hoped  at    least  to  gain  victories   by  means 
of  his  generals ;  and  this,  as  we  remember,  usually  hap- 
pened. 


BOOK   XXL 


ARGUMENT. 

I ,  The  Emperor  Julian  at  Vienne  learns  that  Constantins  is  about  to 
die — How  he  knew  it — An  essay  on  the  different  arts  of  learning 
the  future. — II.  Julian  at  Vienne  feigns  to  be  a  Christian  in  order 
to  conciliate  the  multitude,  and  on  a  day  of  festival  worships  God 
among  the  Christians. — III.  Vadomarius,  king  of  the  Allemanni, 
breaking  his  treaty,  lays  waste  our  frontier,  and  slays  Count 
Libino,  with  a  few  of  his  men. — IV.  Julian  having  intercepted 
letters  of  Vadomarius  to  the  Emperor  Constantius,  contrives  to 
have  him  seized  at  a  banquet ;  and  having  slain  some  of  the  Alle- 
manni, and  compelled  others  to  surrender,  grants  the  rest  peace 
at  their  entreaty. — Julian  harangues  his  soldiers,  and  makes  them 
all  promise  obedience  to  him,  intending  to  make  war  upon  the 
Emperor  Constantius. — VI.  Constantius  marries  Faustina — In- 
creases his  army  by  fresh  levies ;  gains  over  the  kings  of  Armenia 
and  Hiberia  by  gifts. — VII.  Constantius,  at  that  time  at  Antioch, 
retains  Africa  in  his  power  by  means  of  his  secretary  Gaudentius ; 
crosses  the  Euphrates,  and  moves  with  his  army  upon  Edessa. — 
VIII.  After  settling  the  affairs  of  Gaul,  Julian  marches  to  the 
Danube,  sending  on  before  a  part  of  his  army  through  Italy  and 


*.D.3«0.]  PLANS  OF  JULIAN.  243 

the  Tyrol. — IX.  Taurus  and  Florentius,  consuls,  and  prefects  of 
the  praetoriurn,  fly  at  the  approach  of  Julian,  the  one  through 
Illyrieum,  the  other  through  Italy  —  Lucillianus,  the  com- 
mander of  the  cavalry,  who  was  preparing  to  resist  Julian,  is 
crushed  by  him. — X.  Julian  receives  the  allegiance  of  Sirmium, 
the  capital  of  Western  Illyrieum,  and  of  its  garrison — Occupies 
the  country  of  the  Sacci,  and  writes  to  the  senate  letters  of  com- 
plaint against  Constantius. — XI.  Two  of  the  legions  of  Constantius 
which  at  Sirmium  had  passed  over  to  Julian  are  sent  hy  him  into 
Gaul,  and  occupy  Aquileia,  with  the  consent  of  the  citizens, 
who,  however,  shut  their  gates  against  the  troops  of  Julian. — 

XII.  Aquileia  takes  the  part  of  Constantius,  and  is  besieged,  but 
presently,  when  news  of  his  death  arrives,  surrenders  to  Julian. — 

XIII.  Sapor  leads  back  his  army  home,  because  the  auspices  forbid 
war — Constantius,  intending  to  march  against  Julian,  harangues 
his    soldiers.  —  XIV.   Omens    of   the    death   of   Constantius.  — 
XV.  Constantius  dies  at  Mopsucrenaa  in  Cilicia. — XVI.  His  vir- 
tues and  vices. 

I. 

A.D.  360. 

§  1.  WHILE  Constantius  was  detained  "by  this  perplexing 
war  beyond  the  Euphrates,  Julian  at  Vienne  devoted  his 
days  and  nights  to  forming  plans  for  the  future,  as  far  as 
his  limited  resources  would  allow  ;  being  in  great  suspense, 
and  continually  doubting  whether  to  try  every  expedient 
to  win  Constantius  over  to  friendship,  or  to  anticipate  his 
attack,  with  the  view  of  alarming  him. 

2.  And  while  anxiously  considering  these  points  he 
feared  him,  as  likely  to  be  in  the  one  case  a  cruel  friend, 
while  in  the  other  case  he  recollected  that  he  had  always 
been  successful  in  civil  disturbances.  Above  all  things 
his  anxiety  was  increased  by  the  example  of  his  brother 
Gallus,  who  had  been  betrayed  by  his  own  want  of  caution 
and  the  perjured  deceit  of  certain  individuals. 

ii.  Nevertheless  he  often  raised  himself  to  ideas  of 
energetic  action,  thinking  it  safest  to  show  himself  as  an 
avowed  enemy  to  him  whose  movements  he  could,  as  a  pru- 
dent man,  judge  of  only  from  his  past  actions,  in  order  not 
to  be  entrapped  by  secret  snares  founded  on  pretended 
friendship. 

4.  Therefore,  paying  little  attention  to  the  letters  which 
Constantius  had  sent  by  Leonas,  and  admitting  none  of  his 
appointments  with  the  exception  of  that  of  Isebridius,  he 


244  AMMIAXUS   MARCELLINUS.  [BK.  XXI.  CE.  I. 

now  celebrated  the  Quinquennalia1  as  emperor,  and  wore  a 
isplendid  diadem  inlaid  with  precious  stones,  though  when 
first  entering  on  that  power  he  had  worn  but  a  paltry- 
looking  crown  like  that  of  a  president  of  the  public 
games. 

o.  At  this  time  also  he  sent  the  body  of  his  wife  Helen, 
recently  deceased,  to  Eome,  to  be  buried  in  the  suburb  on 
the  road  to  Nomentum,  where  also  Constantina,  his  sister- 
in-law,  the  wife  of  Callus,  had  been  buried. 

6.  His  desire  to  march  against  Constantius,  now  that 
Gaul  was  tranquillized,  was  inflamed  by  the  belief  which 
he  had  adopted  from  many  omens  (in  the  interpretation  of 
which   he   had   great    skill),  and  from   dreams   that   the 
emperor  would  soon  die. 

7.  And  since  malignant  people  have  attributed  to  this 
prince,  so  erudite  and  so  eager  to  acquire  all  knowledge, 
wicked  practices  for  the  purpose  of  learning  future  events, 
we  may  here  briefly  point  out  how  this  important  branch 
of  learning  may  be  acquired  by  a  wise  man. 

8.  The  spirit  which  directs  all  the  elements,  and  which 
at  all  times  and  throughout  all  places  exercises  its  activity 
by  the  movement  of  these  eternal  bodies,  can  communicate 
to  us  the  capacity  of  foreseeing  the  future  by  the  sciences 
v/hich  we  attain  through  various  kinds  of  discipline.     And 
ihe  ruling  powers,  when   properly   propitiated,    as   from 
everlasting  springs,  supply  mankind  with  words  of  pro- 
phecy, over  which  the  deity  of  Themis  is  said  to  preside, 
and  which,  because  she  teaches  men  to  know  what  has  been 
settled  for  the  future  by  the  law  of  Fate,  has  received  that 
name  from  the  Greek  word  rtOeiplva  ("fixed"),  and  has 
been  placed  by  ancient  theologians  in  the  bed  and  on  the 
throne  of  Jupiter,  who  gives  life  to  all  the  world. 

9.  Auguries  and  auspices  are  not  collected  from  the  will 
of  birds   who  are  themselves  ignorant  of  the  future  (for 
there  is  no  one  so  silly  as  to  say  they  understand  it)  ;  but 
God  directs  the  flight  of  birds,  so  that  the  sound  of  their 
beaks,  or  the  motion  of  their  feathers,  whether  quiet  or 
disturbed,  indicates  the  character  of  the  future.     For  the 

1  The  Quinquennalia  (games  under  which  title  had  been  previously 
instituted  in  honour  of  Julius  Cresar  and  Augustus)  were  revived  by 
Nero,  A.D.  60,  again  fell  into  disuse,  and  were  again  revived  by  Do- 
mitian.— Of.  Tacit.  An.  xiv.  20. 


*.».  360.]  .      MODES   OF   AUGURY.  245 

kindness  of  the  deity,  whether  it  be  that  men  deserve  it, 
or  that  he  is  touched  by  affection  for  them,  likes  by  these 
acts  to  give  information  of  what  is  impending. 

10.  Again,  those  who  attend  to  the  prophetic  entrails  of 
cattle,  which  often  take  all  kinds  of  shapes,  learn  from 
them  what  happens.     Of  this  practice  a  man  called  Tages 
was  the  inventor,  who,  as  is  reported,  was  certainly  seen 
to  rise  up  out  of  the  earth  in  the  district  of  Etruria. 

11.  Men  too,  when  their  hearts  are  in  a  state  of  excite- 
ment, foretell  the  future,  but  then  they  are  speaking  under 
divine    inspiration.     For   the   sun,   which   is,  as   natural 
philosophers  say,  the  mind  of  the  world,  and  which  scatters 
our  minds  among  us  as  sparks  proceeding  from  itself,  when 
it  has  inflamed  them  with  more  than  usual  vehemence, 
renders  them  conscious  of  the  future.     From  which  the 
Sibyls   often   say  they  are  burning   and  fired  by  a  vast 
power  of  flames  ;  and  with  reference  to  these  cases  the  sound 
of  voices,  various  signs,  thunder,  lightning,  thunderbolts, 
and  fall  ing- stars,  have  a  great  significance. 

12.  But  the  belief  in  dreams  would  be  strong  and  un- 
doubted if  the  interpreters  of  them  were  never  deceived  ; 
and  sometimes,  as  Aristotle  asserts,  they  are  fixed   and 
stable  when  the  eye  of  the  person,  being  soundly  asleep, 
turns  neither  way,  but  looks  straight  forward. 

13.  And  because  the  ignorance  of  the  vulgar  often  talks 
loudly,  though  ignorantly,  against  these  ideas,  asking  why, 
if  there  were  any  faculty  of  foreseeing  the  future,  one  man 
should  be  ignorant  that  he  would  be  killed  in  battle,  or 
another  that  he  would  meet  with  some  misfortune,  and  so 
on;  it  will  be  enough  to  reply  that  sometimes  a  gram- 
marian has  spoken  incorrectly,  or  a  musician  has  sung  out 
of  tune,  or  a  physician  been  ignorant  of  the  proper  remedy 
for  a  disease  ;  but  these  facts  do  not  disprove  the  existence 
of  the  sciences  of  grammar,  music,  or  medicine. 

14.  So  that  Tully  is  right  in  this  as  well  as  other  sayings 
of  his,  when  he  says,  "  Signs  of  future  events  are  shown 
by   the   gods ;   if  any  one   mistakes   them   he   errs,    not 
because  of  the  nature  of  the  gods,  but  because  of  the  con- 
jectures of  men."     But  lest  this  discussion,  running  on  this 
point  beyond  the  goal,  as  the  proverb  is,  should  disgust 
the  reader,  we  will  now  return  to  relate  what  follows. 


246  AMMIANUS  MARCELLIXUS.  [Bt  XXI.  CE.  ra. 

II. 

§  1.  WHILE  Julian,  still  with  the  rank  of  Caesar  only,  was 
at  Paris  one  day,  exercising  himself  in  the  camp-field,  and 
moving  his  shield  in  various  directions,  the  joints  by  which 
it  was  fastened  gave  way,  and  the  handle  alone  remained 
in  his  hand,  which  he  still  held  firmly,  and  when  those 
present  were  alarmed,  thinking  it  a  bad  omen,  he  said, 
"  Let  no  one  be  alarmed,  I  still  hold  firmly  what  I  had 
before." 

2.  And  again,  when  one  day  after  a  slight  dinner,  he 
was  sleeping  at  Vienne,  in  the  middle  of  the  darkness  of 
the  night  a  figure  of  unusual  splendour  appeared  to  him, 
and  when  he  was  all  but  awake,  repeated  to  him  the  follow- 
ing heroic  verses,  reciting  them  over  and  over  again  ; 
which  he  believed,  so  that  he  felt  sure  that  no  ill  fortune 
remained  for  him  : — 

"  When  Jove  has  passed  the  water-carrier's  sign, 
And  Saturn's  light,  for  five-and-twenty  days 
Has  Lightened  up  the  maid  ;  the  king  divine 
Of  Asia's  land  shall  enter  on  the  ways 
That  painful  lead  to  death  and  Styx's  gloomy  maze." 

3.  Therefore  in  the  mean  time  he  made  no  change  in  the 
existing  condition  of  affairs,  but  arranged  everything  that 
occurred  with  a  quiet  and  easy  mind,  gradually  strengthen- 
ing himself,  in  order  to  make  the  increase  of  his  power 
correspond  with  the  increase  of  his  dignity. 

4.  And  in  order,  without  any  hindrance,  to  conciliate  the 
goodwill  of  all  men,  he  pretended  to  adhere  to  the  Christian 
religion,  which  in  fact  he  had  long  since  secretly  aban- 
doned, though  very  few  were  aware  of  his  private  opinions, 
giving  up  his  whole  attention  to  soothsaying  and  divina- 
tion, and  the  other  arts  which  have  always  been  practised 
by  the  worshippers  of  the  gods. 

5.  But  to  conceal  this  for  a  while,  on  the  day  of  the 
festival  at  the  beginning  of  January,  which  the  Christians 
call   Epiphany,  he   went   into   their  church,  and  offered 
solemn  public  prayer  to  their  God. 

IIL 

§  1.  WHILE  these  evants  were  proceeding,  and  spring  was 
coming  on,  Julian  was  suddenly  smitten  with  grief  and 
sorrow  by  unexpected  intelligence.  For  he  learnt  that 


A.D.  360.]  MKASURES   OF    JUL1AX.  247 

the  Allemanni  had  poured  forth  from  the  district  of  Vado- 
marius, in  which  quarter,  after  the  treaty  which  had  been 
made  with  him,  no  troubles  had  been  anticipated,  and  were 
laying  waste  the  borders  of  the  Tyrol,  pouring  their  pre- 
datory bands  over  the  whole  frontier,  and  leaving  nothing 
unravaged. 

2.  He  feared  that  if  this  were  passed  over  it  might 
rekindle  the  flames  of  war ;  and  so  at  once  sent  a  count 
named   Libino,  with   the  Celtic  and    Petulantes   legions, 
who  were  in  winter  quarters  with  him,  to  put  a  decided  and 
immediate  end  to  this  affair. 

3.  Libino  marched  with  speed,  and  arrived  at  Seckingen  ; 
but  was  seen  while  at  a  distance  by  the  barbarians,  who 
had  already  hidden  themselves  in  the  valleys  with  the 
intention  of  giving  him  battle.     His  soldiers  were  inferior 
in  number,   but  very   eager  for  battle ;     and  he,   after 
haranguing  them,  rashly  attacked  the  Germans,  and  at  the 
very  beginning  of  the  fight  was  slain  among  the  first.     At 
his  death  the  confidence  of  the  barbarians  increased,  while 
the  Eomans  were  excited  to  avenge  their  general ;  and  so 
the  conflict  proceeded  with  great  obstinacy,  but  our  men 
were  overpowered  by  numbers,  though  their  loss  in  killed 
and  wounded  was  but  small. 

4.  Constantius,  as  has  been  related,  had  made  peace 
with  this  Vadomarius,  and  his  brother  Gundomadus,  who 
was  also  a  king.     And  when  afterwards  Gundomadus  died, 
thinking  that  Vadomarius  would  be  faithful  to  him,  and  a 
silent  and  vigorous  executor  of  his  secret  orders  (if  one 
may  believe  what  is  only  report),  he  gave  him  directions 
by  letter  to  harass  the  countries  on  his  borders,  as  if  he 
had  broken  off  the  treaty  of  peace,  in  order  to  keep  Julian, 
through  his  fears  of  him,  from  ever  abandoning  the  protec- 
tion of  Gaul. 

5.  In  obedience  to  these  directions,  it  is  fair  to  believe 
that  Vadomarius  committed  this  and  other  similar  actions  ; 
being  a  man  from  his  earliest  youth  marvellously  skilled 
in  artifice  and  deceit,  as  he  afterwards  showed  when  he 
enjoyed  the  dukedom  of  Phcenice.1 

6.  But  now,  being  discovered,  he  desisted  from  his  hos- 
tilities.    For  one  of  his  secretaries,  whom  he  had  sent  to 
Constantius,  was  taken  prisoner  by  Julian's  outposts,  and 

1  V.  infra,  Leo  xxvi.  c.  8. 


248  AMMIANUS   MARCELLINUS.  [En.  XXI.  CH.  IT. 

when  he  was  searched  to  see  if  he  was  the  bearer  of  any- 
thing, a  letter  was  found  on  him,  which  contained  these 
words  among  others,  "  Your  Caesar  is  not  submissive." 
But  when  he  wrote  to  Julian  he  always  addressed  him  as 
lord,  and  emperor,  and  god. 

IV. 

§  1.  THESE  affairs  were  full  of  danger  and  doubt ;  and  Julian 
considering  them  likely  to  lead  to  absolute  destruction, 
bent  all  his  mind  to  the  one  object  of  seizing  Vadomarius 
unawares,  through  the  rapidity  of  his  movements,  in  order 
to  secure  his  own  safety  and  that  of  the  provinces.  And 
the  plan  which  he  decided  on  was  this. 

2.  He   sent  to  those    districts   Philagrius,  one   of  his 
secretaries,  afterwards  count  of  the  East,  in  whose  proved 
prudence   and    fidelity  he   could    thoroughly   rely;    and 
besides  a  general  authority  to  act  as  he  could  upon  emer- 
gencies, he  gave  him  also  a  paper  signed  by  himself,  which 
he  bade  him  not  to  open  nor  read  unless  Vadomarius 
appeared  on  the  western  side  of  the  Rhine. 

3.  Philagrius  went  as  he  was  ordered,  and  while  he  was 
in  that  district  busying  himself  with  various  arrangements, 
Vadomarius  crossed  the  river,  as  if  he  had  nothing  to  fear, 
in  a  time  of  profound  peace,  and  pretending  to  know  of 
nothing  having  been  done  contrary  to  treaty,  when  he  saw 
the  commander  of  the  troops  who  were  stationed  there, 
made  him  a  short  customary  speech,  and  to  remove  all 
suspicion,  of  his  own  accord  promised  to  come  to  a  ban- 
quet to  which  Philagrius  also  had  been  invited. 

4.  As  soon  as  Philagrius  arrived,  when  he  saw  the  king, 
he  recollected  Julian's  woi'ds,  and  pretending  some  serious 
and  urgent  business,  returned  to  his  lodging,  where  having 
read  the  paper  intrusted  to  him,  and  learnt  what  he  was  to 
do,  he  immediately  returned  and  took  his  seat  among  the 
rest. 

5.  But  when  the  banquet  was  over  he  boldly  arrested 
Vadomarius,  and  gave  him  to  the  commander  of  the  forces, 
to  be  kept  in  strict  custody  in  the  camp,  reading  to  him 
the  commands  he  had  received ;  but  as  nothing  was  men- 
tioned about  Vadomarius's   retinue,  he  ordered   them  to 
return  to  their  own  country. 


AJ>.  360.]  HE   DEFEATS    THE   BARBARIANS.  249 

6.  But  the  king  was  afterwards  conducted  to  Julian's 
camp,  and  despaired  of  pardon  when  he  heard  that  his 
secretary  had  been  taken,  and  the  letters  which  he  had 
written  to  Constantius   read ;    he  was  however  not  even 
reproached  by  Julian,  but  merely  sent  off  to  Spain,  as  it 
was  an  object  of  great  importance  that,  while  Julian  was 
absent  from  Gaul,  this  ferocious  man  should  not  be  able  to 
throw  into  confusion  the  provinces  which  had  been  tran- 
quillized with  such  great  difficulty. 

7.  Julian,  being  much  elated  at  this  occurrence,  since  the 
king,  whom  he  feared  to  leave  behind  him  while  at  a  dis- 
tance, had  been  caught  more  quickly  than  he  expected, 
without  delay  prepared  to  attack  the  barbarians  who,  as 
we  have  just  related,  had  slain  Count  Libino  and  some  of 
his  soldiers  in  battle. 

8.  And  to  prevent  any  rumour  of  his  approach  giving 
them  warning  to  retire  to  remoter  districts,  he  passed  the 
Ehine  by  night  with  great  silence,  with  some  of  the  most 
rapid  of  his  auxiliary  bands  ;  and  so  came  upon  them  while 
fearing  nothing  of  the  sort.     And  he  at  once  attacked  them 
the  moment  they  were  first  roused  .by  the  sound  of  enemies, 
and  while  still  examining  their  swords  and  javelins  ;  some 
he  slew,  some  he  took  prisoners,  who  sued  for  mercy  and 
offered  to  surrender  their  booty  ;  to  the  rest  who  remained 
and  implored  peace,  and  promised   to   be  quiet  for  the 
future,  he  granted  peace. 

V. 

§  1.  WHILE  these  transactions  were  carried  on  in  this 
spirited  manner,  Julian,  considering  to  what  great  internal 
divisions  his  conduct  had  given  rise,  and  that  nothing  is  so 
advantageous  for  the  success  of  sudden  enterprise  as 
celerity  of  action,  saw  with  his  usual  sagacity  that  if  he 
openly  avowed  his  revolt  from  the  emperor,  he  should  be 
safer ;  and  feeling  uncertain  of  the  fidelity  of  the  soldiers, 
having  offered  secret  propitiatory  sacrifices  to  Bellona,  he 
summoned  the  army  by  sound  of  trumpet  to  an  assembly, 
and  standing  on  a  tribune  built  of  stone,  with  every 
appearance  of  confidence  in  his  manner,  he  spoke  thus 
with  a  voice  unusually  loud : — 

2.  "  I  imagine  that  you,  my  gallant  comrades,  exalted 
by  the  greatness  of  your  own  achievements,  have  long  been 


250  AMMIANUS   MARCELLINUS.  [Bs.  XXI.  C».  T. 

silently  expecting  this  meeting,  in  order  to  form  a  previous 
judgment  of,  and  to  take  wise  measures  against  the  events 
which  may  be  expected.  For  soldiers  united  by  glorious 
actions  ought  to  hear  rather  than  speak ;  nor  ought  a  com- 
mander of  proved  justice  to  think  anything  but  what  is 
worthy  of  praise  and  approbation.  That  therefore  I  may 
explain  to  you  what  1  propose,  I  entreat  you  to  listen 
favourably  to  what  I  will  briefly  set  before  you. 

3.  "  From  my  earliest  year,  by  the  will  of  God,  I  have 
been  placed  among  you,  with  whom  I  have  crushed  the 
incessant  inroads  of  the  Franks  and  Allemanni,  and  checked 
the  endless  licentiousness  of  their  ravages  ;  by  our  united 
vigour  we  have  opened  the  Rhine  to  the  Roman  armies,  when- 
ever they  choose  to  cross  it ;  standing  immovable  against 
reports,  as  well  as  against  the  violent  attacks  of  powerful 
nations,  because  I  trusted  to  the  invincibility  of  your  valour. 

4.  "  Gaul,  which  has  beheld  our  labours,  and  which,  after 
much  slaughter  and  many  periods  of  protracted  and  severe 
disasters,  is  at  last  replaced  in  a  healthy  state,  will  for  ever 
bear  witness  to  posterity  of  our  achievements. 

5.  "  But  now  since,  constrained  both  by  the  authority  of 
your  judgment,  and  also  by  the  necessity  of  the  case,  I 
have  been  raised  to  the  rank  of  emperor,  under  the  favour 
of  God  and  of  you,  I  aim  at  still  greater  things,  if  fortune 
should  smile  on  my  undertakings.     Boasting  at  least  that  I 
have  secwed  to  the  army,  whose  equity  and  mighty  ex- 
ploits are  so  renowned,  a  moderate  and  merciful  chief  in 
time   of  peace,  and  in  war  a  prudent  and   wary  leader 
against  the  combined  forces  of  the  barbarians. 

6.  "  In  order  therefore  that  by  the  cordial  unanimity  of 
our  opinions  we  may  prevent  ill  fortune  by  anticipating  it, 
I  beg  you  to  follow  my  counsel,  salutary,  as  I  think  it, 
since  the  state  of  our  affairs  corresponds  to  the  purity  of  my 
intentions  and  wishes.    And  while  the  legions  of  Illyricum 
are  occupied  by  no  greater  force  than  usual,  let  us  occupy 
the  further  frontier  of  Dacia :  and  then  take  counsel  from 
our  success  what  is  to  be  done  next. 

7.  "  But  as  brave  generals.   I  entreat   you  to  promise 
with  an  oath  that  you  will  adhere  to  me  with  unanimity 
and    fidelity;   while    I   will   give   my   customary  careful 
attention  to  prevent  anything  from  being  done  rashly  or 
carelessly ;    and  if  any  one   requires  it,  will  pledge  my 


A.D.  360.]  JULIAN'S  SPEECH  TO  HIS  SOLDIERS.  251 

own  unsullied  honour  that  I  will  never  attempt  ncr  think 
of  anything  but  what  is  for  the  common  good. 

8.  "  This  especially  I  request  and  beseech  you  to  observe, 
that  none  of  you  let  any  impulse  of  sudden  ardour  lead 
you  to  inflict  injury  on  any  private  individual ;  recollecting 
that  our  greatest  renown  is  not  derived  so  much  from  the 
numberless  defeats  of  the  enemy  as  from  the  safety  of  the 
provinces,  and  their  freedom  from  injury,  which  is  cele- 
brated as  an  eminent  example  of  our  virtue." 

9.  The  emperor's  speech  was  approved  as  though  it  had 
been  the  voice  of  an  oracle,  and  the  whole  assembly  was 
greatly  excited,  and  being  eager  for  a  change,  they  all  with 
one  consent  raised  a  tremendous  shout,   and  beat   their 
shields  with  a  violent  crash,  calling  him  a  great  and  noble 
general,  and,  as  had  been  proved,  a  fortunate  conqueror 
and  king. 

10.  And  being  all  ordered  solemnly  to  swear  fidelity  to 
him,  they  put  their  swords  to  their  throats  with  terrible 
curses,  and  took  the  oath  in  the  prescribed  form,  that  for 
him  they  would  undergo  every  kind  of  suffering,  and  even 
death  itself,  if  necessity  should  require  it ;  and  their  officers 
and  all  the  friends  of  the  prince  gave  a  similar  pledge  with 
the  same  forms. 

11.  Nebridius  the  prefect  alone,  boldly  and  unshakenly 
refused,  declaring  that  he  could  not  possibly  bind  himself 
by   an  oath   hostile   to  Constantius,   from  whom  he  had 
received  many  and  great  obligations. 

12.  When  these  words  of  his  were  heard,  the  soldiers 
who  were  nearest  to  him  were  greatly  enraged,  and  wished 
to  kill  him;  but  he  threw  himself  at  the  feet  of  Julian, 
who   shielded  him  with   his  cloak.     Presently,  when  he 
returned  to  the  palace,   Kebridius  appeared   before   him, 
threw  himself  at   his  feet   as  a  suppliant,  and  entreated 
him  to  relieve  his  fears  by  giving   him  his  right  hand. 
Julian   replied,   "Will  there  be  any  conspicuous   favour 
reserved  for  my  own  friends  if  you  are  allowed  to  touch 
my  hand?     However,  depart  in  peace  as  you  will."     On 
receiving  this  answer,  Mebridius  retired  in  safety  to  his 
own  house  in  Tuscany. 

13.  By  these  preliminary  measures,  Julian  having  learnt, 
as  the  importance  of  the  afi'air  required,  what  great  in- 
fluence prt/inptness  and  being  beforehand  has  in  a  tumultu- 


252  AMMIANOS   MARCELLINUS.  [Bs.  XXL  CH.  vi 

ous  state  of  affairs,  gave  the  signal  to  march  towards 
Pannonia,  and  advancing  his  standard  and  his  camp,  boldly 
committed  himself  to  fickle  fortune. 

VI. 

A.D.  361. 

§  1.  IT  is  fitting  now  to  retrace  our  steps  and  to  relate 
briefly  what  (while  these  events  just  related  wei-e  taking 
place  in  Gaul)  Constantius,  who  passed  the  winter  at 
Antioch,  did,  whether  in  peace  or  war. 

2.  Besides  many  others  of  high  rank,  some  of  the  most 
distinguished  tribunes  generally  come  to  salute  an  emperor 
on  his  arrival  from  distant  lands.     And  accordingly,  when 
Constantius,   on   his   return   from   Mesopotamia,  received 
this  compliment,    a   Paphlagonian   named   Amphilochius, 
who  had  been  a  tribune,   and  whom  suspicion,  not  very 
far  removed  from  the  truth,  hinted  at  as  having,  while 
serving  formerly  tinder  Constans,  sown  the  seeds  of  discord 
between  him  and  his  brother,  now  ventured,  with  no  little 
audacity,  to  come  forward  as  if  he  were  to  be  admitted  to 
pay  his  duty  in  this  way,  but  was  recognized  and  refused 
admittance.      Many  also   raised   an  outcry   against  him, 
crying  out  that  he,  as  a  stubborn  rebel,  ought  not  to  be 
permitted  to  see  another  day.     But  Constantius,  on  this 
occasion  more  merciful  than  usual,  said,  "  Cease  to  press 
upon  a  man  who,  indeed,  as  I  believe,  is  guilty,  but  who 
has  not  been  convicted.    And  remember  that  if  he  has  done 
anything  of  the  kind,  he,  as  long  as  he  is  in  my  sight,  will 
be  punished  by  the  judgment  of  his  own  conscience,  which 
he  will  not  be  able  to  escape."     And  so  he  departed. 

3.  The  next  day,  at  the  Circensian  games,   the   same 
man  was  present  as  a  spectator,  just  opposite  the  usual 
seat  of  the  emperor,  when  a  sudden  shout  was  raised  at  the 
moment  of  the  commencement  of  the  expected  contest ; 
the  barriers,  on  which  he  with  many  others  was  leaning, 
were  broken,  and  the  whole  crowd  as  well  as  he  were 
thrown  forward  into  the  empty  space ;  and  though  a  few 
were  slightly  hurt,  he  alone  was  found  to  be  killed,  having 
received  some  internal  injury.     At  which  Constantius  re- 
joiced, prognosticating  from  this  omen  protection  from  his 
other  enemies. 


A.D.  361.]  CONSTANTIUS   MARRIES    FAUSTINA.  <io3 

4.  About  the  same  time  (his  wife  Euaebia  having  died 
some  time  before)  he  took  another  wife,  named  Faustina. 
Eusebia's  brothers  were  two  men  of  consular  rank,  Hypatius 
and   Eusebius.     She  had   been   a  woman  of  pre-erninent 
beauty  both  of  person  and  character,  and  for  one  of  her 
high  rank  most  courteous  and  humane.    And  to  her  favoul 
and  justice  it  was  owing,  as  we  have  already  mentioned, 
that  Julian  was  saved  from  danger  and  declared  Caesar. 

5.  About  the  same  time  Florentine  also  was  rewarded, 
who  had  quitted  Gaul  from  fear  of  a  revolution.     He  was 
now  appointed  to  succeed  Anatolius,   the  prefect  of  the 
prgetorium  in  Illyricum,  who   had   lately  died.     And  in 
conjunction  with  Taurus,  who  was  appointed  to  the  same 
office  in  Italy,  he  received  the  ensigns  of  this  most  honour- 
able dignity. 

6.  ^Nevertheless,  the  preparations  for  both  foreign  and 
civil  wars  went  on,  the  number  of  the  squadrons  of  cavalry 
was  augmented,  and  reinforcements  for  the  legions  were 
enlisted  with  equal  zeal,  recruits  being  collected  all  over 
the  provinces.     Also  every  class  and  profession  was  ex- 
posed to  annoyances,  being  called  upon  to  furnish  arms, 
clothes,    military    engines,    and    even    gold    and    silver 
and  abundant  stores  of  provisions,  and  various  kinds   of 
animals. 

7.  And  because,  as  the  king  of  Persia   had  been  com- 
pelled unwillingly  to  fall  back  on  account  of  the  difficulties 
of  the  winter,  it  was  feared  that  as  soon  as  the  weather 
became  open  he  would  return  with  greater  impetuosity 
than  ever,  ambassadors  were  sent  to  the  kings  and  satraps 
across  the  Tigris,  with  splendid  presents,  to  advise  and 
entreat  them  all  to  join  us,  and  abstain  from  all  designs  or 
plots  against  us. 

8.  But  the  most  important  object  of  all  was  to  win  over 
Arsaces  and  Meribanes,  the  kings  of  Armenia  and  Hiberia, 
who  were  conciliated  by  the  gift  of  magnificent  and  honour- 
able robes  and  by  presents  of  all  kinds,  and  who  could 
have  done  great  harm  to  the  Roman  interests  if  at  such  a 
crisis  they  had  gone  over  to  the  Persians. 

9.  At  this  important  time.  Hermogenes  died,  and  was 
succeeded  in  his   prefecture   by   Helpidius,    a   native    of 
Paphlagonia.  a  man  of  mean  appearance  and  no  eloquence, 
but  of  a  frank  and  truthful  disposition,  humane  and  merci- 


254  AMM1AAT33  MAIcCELUXUS.  faK.  XXI.  CM  VK. 

ful.  So  muck  so  that  once  when  Constant!  us  ordered  an 
innocent  man  to  be  put  to  the  torture  before  him,  he  calmly 
requested  to  be  deprived  of  his  office,  and  that  such  com- 
missions might  be  given  to  others  who  would  discharge 
them  in  a  manner  more  in  accordance  with  the  emperor's 
sentence. 

VII. 

§  1.  CONST ANTIUS  was  perplexed  at  the  danger  of  the  crisis 
before  him,  and  doubted  what  to  do,  being  for  some  time 
in  deep  anxiety  whether  tc  march  against  Julian,  who 
was  still  at  a  distance,  or  to  drive  back  the  Persians,  who 
were  already  threatening  to  cross  the  Euphrates.  And 
while  he  was  hesitating,  and  often  taking  counsel  with 
his  generals,  he  at  last  decided  that  he  would  first  finish, 
or  at  all  events  take  the  edge  off,  the  war  which  was 
nearest,  so  as  to  leave  nothing  formidable  behind  him, 
and  then  penetrate  through  lllyricuin  and  Italy,  thinking 
to  catch  Julian  at  the  very  outset  of  his  enterprise,  as  he 
might  catch  a  deer  with  hounds.  For  so  he  used  to  boast, 
to  appease  the  fears  of  those  about  him. 

2.  But  that  his  purpose  might  not  appear  to  cool,  and 
that  he  might  not  seem  to  have  neglected  any  side  of  the 
war,  he  spread  formidable  rumours  of  his  approach  in  every 
direction.     And  fearing  that  Africa,  which  on  all  occasions 
seemed  to  invite  usurpers,  might  be  invaded  during  his 
absence,  as  if  he  had  already  quitted  the  eastern  frontier, 
he  sent  by  sea  to  that  country  his  secretary  Gaudentius, 
whom  we   have   already   mentioned  as  a  spy  upon  the 
actions  of  Julian  in  Gaul. 

3.  He  had  two  reasons  for  thinking  that  this  man  would 
be  able  with  prompt  obedience  to  do  all  that  he  desired, 
both  because  he  feared  the   other  side,   which  he    had 
offended,   and  also  because  he  was  anxious  to  take  this 
opportunity  to  gain  the  favour  of  Constantius,  whom  he 
expected  beyond  a  doubt  to  see  victorious.     Indeed  no  one 
at  that  time  had  any  other  opinion. 

4.  When  Gaudentius  arrived  in  Africa,  recollecting  the 
emperor's  orders,  he  sent  letters  to  Count  Cretio,  and  to  the 
other  officers,  to  instruct  them  what  his  object  was ;  and 
having  collected  a  formidable  force  from  all  quarters,  and 
having  brought  over  a  light  division  of  skirmishers  from 


A.D.361.]  CONSTAN'TIUS   CKOSSK3  THE   EUPHRATES.  255 

the  two  Mauritanias,  he  watched  the  coasts  opposite  to 
Italy  and  Gaul  with  great  strictness. 

5.  Nor  was  Constantius  deceived  in  the  wisdom  of  this 
measure.     For  as  long  as  Gaudentius  lived  none  of  the 
adverse  party  ever  reached  that  country,  although  a  vast 
multitude  in  arms  was  watching  the  Sicilian  coast  between 
Cape  Boeo  and  Cape  Passaro,  and  ready  to  cross  in   a 
moment  if  they  could  find  an  opportunity. 

6.  Having  made  these  arrangements  as  well  as  the  case 
admitted,  in  such  a  way  as  he  thought  most  for  his  advan- 
tage, and  having  settled  other  things  also  of  smaller  im- 
portance,  Constantius    was   warned    by   messengers    and 
letters  from  his  generals  that  the  Persian  army,  in  one  solid 
body,  and  led  by  its  haughty  king,  was  now  marching 
close  to  the   banks  of  the  Tigris,  though  it  was   as  yet 
uncertain  at  what  point  they  meant  to  cross  the  frontier. 

7.  And  he,  feeling  the  importance  of  this  intelligence, 
in  order,  by  being  near  them,  to  anticipate  their  intended 
enterprises,  quitted  his  winter  quarters  in  haste,  having 
called  in  the  infantry  and  cavalry  on  which  he  could  rely 
from  all  quarters,   crossed  the  Euphrates  by  a  bridge  of 
boats  at  Capessana,  and  marched  towards  Edessa,  which 
was  well  provisioned  and  strongly  fortified,  intending  to 
wait  there  a  shoi-t  time  till  he  could  receive  from  spies  or 
deserters  certain  information  of  the  enemy's  motions. 

VIII. 

§  1.  IN  the  mean  time,  Julian  leaving  the  district  of  Basle, 
and  having  taken  all  the  steps  which  we  have  already 
mentioned,  sent  Sallustius,  whom  he  had  promoted  to  be  a 
prefect,  into  Gaul,  and  appointed  Germanianus  to  succeed 
Nebridius.  At  the  same  time  he  gave  JSevitta  the  com- 
mand of  the  heavy  cavalry,  being  afraid  of  the  old  traitor 
Gumoarius,  who,  when  he  was  commander  of  the  Scutarii, 
he  heard  had  secretly  betrayed  his  chief  oificer,  Vetranio. 
The  quaftstorship  he  gave  to  Jovius,  of  whom  we  have 
spoken  when  relating  the  acts  of  Magnentius,  and  the 
treasury  he  allotted  to  Mamertinus.  Dagalaiphus  also 
was  made  captain  of  the  household  guard,  and  many  others, 
with  whose  merits  and  fidelity  he  was  acquainted,  received 
different  commands  at  his  discretion. 


256  .AMMIANUS  MAKCELLINOS.  [BK.  XXL  CH.  nc. 

2.  Being  now  about  to  march  through  the  Black  Forest, 
and  the  country  lying  on  the  banks  of  the  Danube,  he 
on  a  sudden  conceived  great  doubt  and  fear  whether  the 
stnallness  of  his  force  might  not  breed  contempt,  and  en- 
courage the  numerous  population  of  the  district  to  resist 
his  advance. 

3.  To  prevent  this,  he  took  prudent  precautions,  and 
distributing  his  army  into  divisions,  he  sent  some  under 
Jovenius  and  Jovius  to  advance  with  all  speed  by  the  well- 
trodden  roads   of  Italy ;  others  under  the   command  of 
Nevitta,  the  commander  of  the  cavalry,  were  to  take  the 
inland  road  of  the  Tyrol.     So  that  his   army,  by  being 
scattered  over  various  countries,  might  cause  a  belief  that 
its  numbers  were  immense,  and  might  fill  all  nations  with 
fear.   Alexander  the  Great,  and  many  other  skilful  generals, 
had  done  the  same  thing  when  their  affairs  required  it. 

4.  But  he  charged  them,  when  they  set  forth,  to  march 
with  all  speed,  as  if  likely  to  meet  at  any  moment  with 
an  enemy,  and  carefully  to  post  watches  and  sentries  and 
outposts  at  night,  so  as  to  be  free  from  the  danger  of  any 
sudden  attack. 

IX. 

§  1 ,  THESE  things  having  been  arranged  according  to  the 
best  of  his  judgment,  Julian  adhering  to  the  maxim  by 
which  he  had  often  forced  his  way  through  the  countries 
of  the  barbarians,  and  trusting  in  his  continued  successes, 
proceeded  in  his  advance. 

2.  And  when  he  had  reached  the  spot  at  which  he  had 
been  informed  that  the  river  was  navigable,  he  embarked 
on  board  some  boats  which  good  fortune  had  brought 
thither  in  numbers,  and  passed  as  secretly  as  he  could 
down  the  stream,  escaping  notice  the  more  because  his 
habits  of  endurance  and  fortitude  had  made  him  indifferent 
to  delicate  food  ;  so  that,  being  contented  with  meagre  and 
poor  fare,  he  did  not  care  to  approach  their  towns  or 
camps,  forming  his  conduct  in  this  respect  according  to 
the  celebrated  saying  of  the  ancient  Cyrus,  who,  when  he 
was  introduced  to  a  host  who  asked  him  what  he  wished 
to  have  got  ready  for  supper,  answered.  "  Nothing  beyond 
bread,  for  that  he  hoped  he  should  sup  by  the  side  of  a 
river." 


J>.  381.]  THE   ADVANCE   OF   JULIAN.  257 

3.  But  Fame,  which,  as  they  say,  having  a  thousand 
tongues,  always  exaggerates  the  truth,  at  this  time  spread 
abroad  a  report  among  all   the   tribes  of  lllyricum  that 
Julian,  having  overthrown  a  number  of  kings  and  nations 
in  Gaul,  was  coming  on  flushed  with  success  and  with  a 
numerous  army. 

4.  Jovinus,  the  prefect  of  the  praetorium,  being  alarmed 
at  this  rumour,  fled  in  haste,  as  if  from  a  foreign  enemy ; 
and  going  by  the  public  conveyances  with  frequent  relays, 
he  crossed  the  Julian  Alps,  taking  with  him  also  Florentius 
the  prefect. 

5.  But  Count  Lucillianus,  who   at  that  time  had  the 
command  of  the  army  in  these  districts,  being  at  Sirmium, 
and  having  received  some  slight  intelligence  of  Julian's 
movements,    collected   the  soldiers  whom    the  emergency 
gave  time  for  being  quickly  called  from  their  several  sta- 
tions, and  proposed  to  resist  his  advance. 

6.  Julian,  however,  like  a  firebrand  or  torch  once  kindled, 
hastened  quickly  to  his  object ;  and  when,  at  the  waning  of 
the  moon,  he  had  reached  Bonmunster,  which  is  about  nine- 
teen miles  from  Sirmium,1  and  when,  therefore,  the  main 
part  of  the  night  was  dark,  he  unexpectedly  quitted  his 
boats,  and  at  once  sent  forward  Dagalaiphus  with  his  light 
troops  to  summon  Lucillianus  to  his  presence,  and  to  drag 
him  before  him  if  he  resisted. 

7.  He  was  asleep,  and  when  he  was  awakened  by  the 
violence  of  this  uproar,  and  saw  himself  surrounded  by  a 
crowd  of  strangers,  perceiving  the  state  of  the  case,  and 
being   filled  with  awe   at  the  name  of  the  emperor,   he 
obeyed  his  orders,  though   sadly   against  his  will.     And 
though  commander  of  the  cavalry,   a  little  while  before 
proud  and  fierce,  he  now  obeyed  the  will  of  another,  and 
mounting  a  horse  which  was  brought  him  on  a  sudden,  he 
was  led   before  Julian  as  an  ignoble  prisoner,  and  from 
fear  was  hardly  able  to  collect  his  senses. 

8.  But  as  soon  as  he  saw  the  emperor,  and  was  relieved 
by  receiving  permission  to  offer  his  salutations  to  his  purple 
robe,  he  recovered  his  courage,  and  feeling  safe  said,  "You 
have  been  incautious  and  rash,  0  emperor,  to  trust  yourse)f 
with  but  a  few  troops  in  the  country  of  another."     But 
Julian,  with  a  sarcastic  smile,  replied,  "  Keep  these  prudent 

1  Sinnium  was  very  near  the  existing  town  of  Petevwaradin. 


258  AMMIANUS    MARCELLINUS.  [BK.  XXI.  CB.  x. 

speeches  for  Constantius.  I  offered  you  the  ensign  of  my 
royal  rank  to  ease  you  of  your  fears,  and  not  to  take  you 
for  my  counsellor." 

X. 

§  1.  So  after  he  had  got  rid  of  Lucillianus,  thinking  no 
further  delay  or  hesitation  admissible,  being  bold  and  con- 
fident in  all  emergencies,  and  on  the  way,  as  he  presumed, 
to  a  city  inclined  to  surrender,  he  marched  on  with  great 
speed.  When  he  came  near  the  suburbs,  which  are  very- 
large  and  much  extended,  a  vast  crowd  of  soldiers  and  of 
every  class  of  the  population  came  forth  to  meet  him 
with  lights  and  flowers  and  auspicious  prayers,  and  after 
saluting  him.  as  emperor  and  lord,  conducted  him  to  the 
palace. 

2.  He,  pleased  at  these  favourable  omens,  and  conceiving 
therefrom  a  sanguine  hope  of  future  success,  concluded 
that  the  example  of  so  populous  and  illustrious  a  metro- 
polis would  be  followed  as  a  guiding-star  by  other  cities 
also,    and  therefore  on  the  very  next  day   exhibited  a 
chariot  race,  to  the  great  joy  of  the  people.     On  the  third 
day,  unable  to  brook  any  delay,  he  proceeded  by  the  public 
roads,  and  without  any  resistance  seized  upon  Succi,  and 
appointed  Nevitta  governor  of  the  place,  as  one  whom  he 
could  trust.     It  is  fitting  that  I  should  now  explain  the 
situation  of  this  place  Succi. 

3.  The  summits  of  the  mountain  chains  of  Heemus '  and 
Ehodope,  the  first  of  which  rises  up  from  the  very  banks  of 
the  Danube,  and  the  other  from  the  southern  bank  of  the 
river  Axius,  ending  with  swelling  ridges  at  one  narrow 
point,  separate  the  lllyrians  and  the  Thracians,  being  on 
the  one  side  near  the  inland  Dacians  and  Serdica,  on  the 
other  looking  towards  Thrace  and  the  rich  and  noble  city 
of  Philippopolis.    And,  as  if  Nature  had  provided  for  bring- 
ing the  surrounding  nations  under  the  dominion  of  the 
"Romans,  they  are  of  such  a  form  as  to  lead  to  this  end. 
Affording  at  first  only  a  single  exit  through  narrow  defiles, 
but  at  a  later  period  they  were  opened  out  with  roads  of 
such  size  and  beauty  as  to  be  passable  even  for  waggons. 
Though  still,  when  the  passes  have  been  blocked  up,  they 

1  Now  the  Balkan. 


A.D.  SGI.]  JULIAN'S  LETTER  TO  THE  SENATE.  259 

have   often  repelled  the   attacks   of  great  generals  and 
mighty  armies. 

4.  The  part  which  looks  to   Illyricuin  is   of  a   more 
gentle  ascent,  so  as  to  be  climbed  almost  imperceptibly ; 
but  the  side  opposite  to  Thrace  is  very  steep  and  preci- 
pitous, in  some  places  absolutely  impassable,  and  in  others 
hard  to  climb  even  where  no   one   seeks  to   prevent   it. 
Beneath  this  lofty  chain  a  spacious  level  plain  extends  in 
every  direction,  the  upper  portion  of  it  reaching  even  to 
the  Julian  Alps,  while  the  lower  portion  of  it  is  so  open 
and  level  as  to  present  no  obstacles  all  the  way  to  the 
straits  and  sea  of  Marmora. 

5.  Having  arranged  these  matters  as  well  as  the  occasion 
permitted,  and  having  left  there  the  commander  of  the 
cavalry,  the  emperor  returned  to  Nissa,  a  considerable  town, 
in  order,  without  any  hindrance,  to  settle  everything  in 
the  way  most  suited  to  his  interests. 

6.  VV  hile  there  he  appointed  Victor,  an  historical  writer, 
whom  he  had  seen  at  Sirmium,  and  whom  he  ordered  to 
follow  him  from  that  city,  to  be  consular  governor  of  the 
second  Pannonia ;  and  he  erected  in  his  honour  a  brazen 
statue,  as  a  man  to  be  imitated  for  his  temperance;  and 
some  time  after  he  was  appointed  prefect  of  Home. 

7.  And  now,  giving  the  rein  to  loftier  ideas,  and  believing 
it  to  be  impossible  to  bring  Constantius  to  terms,  he  wrote 
a  speech  full  of  bitter  invectives  to  the  senate,  setting  forth 
many  charges  of  disgrace  and  vice  against  him.     And  when 
this  harangue,  Tertullus  still  being  prefect  of  the  city,  was 
read  in  the  senate,  the  gratitude  of  the  nobles,  as  well  as 
their  splendid  boldness,  was  very  conspicuous ;  for  they  all 
cried  out  with  one  unanimous  feeling,  "  We  expect  that  you 
should  show  reverence  to  the  author  of  your  own  great- 
ness." 

8.  Then  he  assailed  the  memory  of  Constantino  also  as 
an  innovator  and  a  disturber  of  established  laws  and  of 
customs   received  from   ancient    times,   accusing  him    of 
having  been  the  first  to  promote  barbarians  to  the  fasces 
and  robe  of  the  consul.     But  in  this  respect  he  spoke  with 
folly  and  levity,  since,  in  the  face  of  what  he  so  bitterly 
reproved,   he  a  very  short  time  afterwards  added  to  Ma- 
mertinus,  as  his  colleague  in    the  consulship,  Kevitta,  a 
man  neither  in  rank,  experience,  or  reputation  at  all  equal 


260  AMMIASUS  MARCELL1XUS.  [BK.  XXI.  CH.  xi. 

to  those  on  whom  Constantino  had  conferred  that  illus- 
trous  magistracy,  but  who,  on  the  contrary,  was  desti- 
tute of  accomplishments  and  somewhat  rude ;  and  what 
was  less  easy  to  be  endured,  made  a  cruel  use  of  his  high 
power. 

XL 

§  1.  WHILE  Julian  was  occupied  with  these  and  similar 
thoughts,  and  was  anxious  about  great  and  important 
affairs,  a  messenger  came  with  terrible  and  unexpected 
news  of  the  monstrous  attempts  of  some  persons  which 
were  likely  to  hinder  his  fiery  progress,  unless  by  prompt 
vigilance  he  could  crush  them  before  they  came  to  a  head. 
I  will  briefly  relate  what  they  were. 

2.  Under  pretence  of  urgent  necessity,  but  in  reality 
becaiise  he  still  suspected  their  fidelity  to  him,  he  had  sent 
into  Gaul  two  legions  belonging  to  the  army  of  Constantius, 
with  a  troop  of  archers  which  he  had  found  at  Sirmium. 
They,  moving  slowly,  and  dreading  the  length  of  the 
journey  and  the  fierce  and  continual  attacks  of  the  hostile 
Germans,  planned  a  mutiny,  being  prompted  and  en- 
couraged by  Nigrinus,  a  tribune  of  a  squadron  of  cavalry, 
a  native  of  Mesopotamia.  And  having  arranged  the  matter 
in  secret  conferences,  and  kept  it  close  in  profound  silence, 
when  they  arrived  at  Aquileia,  a  city  important  from  its 
situation  and  wealth,  and  fortified  with  strong  walls,  they 
suddenly  closed  the  gates  in  a  hostile  manner,  the  native 
population,  by  whom  the  name  of  Constantius  was  still 
beloved,  increasing  the  confusion  and  the  terror.  And 
having  blockaded  all  the  approaches,  and  armed  the  towers 
and  battlements,  they  prepared  measures  to  encounter  the 
impending  struggle,  being  in  the  mean  time  free  and  un- 
restrained. By  this  daring  conduct  they  roused  the  Italian 
natives  of  the  district  to  espouse  the  side  of  Constautius, 
who  was  still  alive. 

XII. 

§  1.  WHEN  Julian  heard  of  this  transaction,  being  then  at 
Nissa,  as  he  feared  nothing  unfriendly  in  his  rear,  and 
had  read  and  heard  that  this  city,  though  often  besieged, 


A.D.  361.]  SIEGE   OF    AQUILEIA.  261 

had  never  been  destroyed  or  taken,  hastened  the  more 
eagerly  to  gain  it,  either  by  stratagem,  or  by  some  kind  of 
flattery  or  other,  before  any  more  formidable  event  should 
arise. 

2.  Therefore  he   ordered  Jovinus,   the   captain  of  his 
cavalry,  who  was  marching  over  the  Alps,  and  had  entered 
Noricum,  to  return  with  all  speed,   to  remedy  by  some 
means  or  other,  the  evil  which  had  burst  out.     And,  that 
nothing  might  be  wanting,   he  bade  him  retain   all   the 
soldiers  who  were  marching  after  his  court  or  his  standards 
and  passing  through  that  town,   and  to  avail  himself  of 
their  help  to  the  utmost. 

3.  When  he  had  made  these  arrangements,  having  soon 
afterwards  heard  of  the  death  of  Constantius,  he  crossed 
through  Thrace,  and  entered  Constantinople :  and  having 
been   often   assured  that  the   siege  would  be   protracted 
rather   than  formidable,  he  sent  Immo  with  some  other 
counts  to  conduct  it ;  and  removed  Jovinus  to  employ  him 
in  other  matters  of  greater  importance. 

4.  Therefore,  having  surrounded  Aquileia  with  a  double 
line  of  heavy  infantry,  the  generals  all  agreed  upon  trying 
to   induce    the   garrison    to   surrender,    using   alternately 
threats  and  caresses  ;  but  after  many  proposals  and  replies 
had  been  interchanged,  their  obstinacy  only  increased,  and 
the  conferences  were  abandoned,  having  proved   wholly 
ineffectual. 

5.  And  because  there  was  now  no  prospect  but  that  of  a 
battle,  both   sides   refreshed  themselves  with   sleep   and 
food  ;  and  at  daybreak  the  trumpets  sounded,  and  the  two 
armies,    arrayed    for    reciprocal   slaughter,    attacked    one 
another  with  loud  shouts,   but  with  more   ferocity  thau 
skill. 

6.  Therefore  the  besiegers,  bearing  wooden  penthouses 
over  them,  and  closely  woven  wicker  defences,  marched  on 
slowly  and  cautiously,  and  attempted  to  undermine  the 
walls  with  iron  tools :  many  also  bore  ladders  which  had 
been  made  of  the  height  of  the  walls,  and  came  up  close 
to  them  :  when  some  were  dashed  down  by  stones  hurled 
on  their  heads,  others  were  transfixed  by  whizzing  jave- 
lins, and  falling  back,  dragged  with  them"  those  who  were 
in  their  rear :  and  others,  from  fear  of  similar  mischances, 
shrank  from  the  attack. 


262  AMMIANUS   MAttCKLLIXUS.  [Bit.  XXL  CH.  xn. 

7.  The  besieged  being  encouraged  by  the  issue  of  this 
first  conflict,  and  hoping  for  still  better  success,  disregarded 
the  rest  of  the  attacks  made  on  them;  and  with  resolute 
minds  they  stationed  engines  in  suitable  positions,   and 
with  unwearied  toil  discharged  the  duties  of  watching  and 
of  whatever  else  could  tend  to  their  safety. 

8.  On  the  other  hand,  the  besiegers,  though  fearing  an- 
other combat,  and  full  of  anxiety,  still  out  of  shame  would 
not  appear  lazy  or  cowardly,  and  as  they  could  make  no 
way  by  open  attacks,  they  also  applied  themselves  to  the 
various  manoauvres  employed   in  sieges.       And   because 
there  was  no  ground  favourable  for  working  battering-rams 
or  other  engines,   nor  for  making  mines,  since  the  river 
Natiso  passed  under  the  walls  of  the  city,  they  contrived 
a  plan  worthy  to  be  compared  with  any  effort  of  ancient 
skill. 

•J.  With  great  rapidity  they  built  some  wooden  towers, 
higher  than  the  battlements  of  the  enemy,  and  then  fasten- 
ing their  boats  together,  they  placed  these  towers  on  them. 
In  them  they  stationed  soldiers,  who,  with  undaunted  reso- 
lution, laboured  to  drive  down  the  garrison  from  the  walls ; 
while  under  them  were  bodies  of  light  infantry  wholly 
unencumbered,  who  going  forth  from  the  hollow  parts  of 
the  towers  below,  threw  drawbridges  across,  which  they 
had  put  together  beforehand,  and  so  tried  to  cross  over  to  the 
bottom  of  the  wall  while  the  attention  of  the  garrison  was 
diverted  from  them ;  so  that  while  those  above  them  were 
attacking  one  another  with  darts  and  stones,  those  who 
crossed  over  on  the  drawbridges  might  be  able  without 
inteiTuption  to  break  down  a  portion  of  the  wall  and  so 
effect  an  entrance. 

10.  But  once  more  a  clever  design  failed  in  its  result. 
For  when  the  towers  came  close  to  the  walls,  they  were 
assailed   with   brands   steeped   in   pitch,    and   reeds,    and 
faggots,   and  every  kind  of  food  for  flames,  all  kindled. 
The  towers  quickly  caught  fire,  and  yielding  under  the 
weight  of  the  men  who  were  mounted  on  them,  fell  into 
the  river,  while  some  of  the  soldiers  on  their  summits, 
even  before  they  fell,  had  been  pierced  with  javelins  hurled 
from  the  engines  on  the  walls,  and  so  died. 

11.  Meanwhile  the  soldiers  at  the  foot  of  the  wall,  being 
cut  off  by  the  destruction  of  their  comrades  in  the  boats, 


A.D.  361.]  SIEGE   OF    AyUILEIA.  263 

were  crushed  with  Iruge  stones,  with  the  exception  of  a 
few,  who,  in  spite  of  the  difficult  ground  over  which 
their  flight  lay,  escaped  by  their  swiftness  of  foot.  At 
last,  when  the  contest  had  been  protracted  till  even- 
ing, the  usual  signal  for  retreat  was  given,  and  the 
combatants  parted  to  pass  the  night  with  very  different 
feelings. 

12.  The  losses  of  the  besiegers,  who  had  suffered  greatly, 
encouraged  the  defenders  of  the  town  with  hopes  of  vic- 
tory, though  they  also  had  to  mourn  the  deaths  of  some 
few  of  their  number.     Nevertheless,  the  preparations  went 
on  rapidly.     Eest  and  food  refreshed  their  bodies  during 
the  night ;  and  at  dawn  of  day  the  conflict  was  renewed 
at  the  trumpet's  signal. 

13.  Some,   holding  their   shields  over   their   heads,  in 
order  to  fight  with  more  activity ;  others,  in  front,  bore 
ladders  on  their  shoulders,  and  rushed  on  with  eager  vehe- 
mence, exposing  their  breasts  to  wounds  from  every  kind 
of  weapon.      Some  endeavoured  to  break  down  tho  iron 
bars  of  the  gates ;  but  were  attacked  with  fire,  or  crashed 
under  stones  hurled  from  the  walls.     Some  boldly  strove 
to  cross  the  fosses,  but  fell  beneath  the  sudden  sallies  of 
soldiers  rushing  out  from  postern  gates,  or  were  driven 
back  with  severe  wounds.     For  those  who  sallied  forth 
had  an  easy  retreat  within  the  walls,  and  the  rampart  in 
front  of  the  walls,  strengthened  with  turf,  saved  those  who 
lay  in  wait  behind  it  from  all  danger. 

14.  Although  the  garrison  excelled  in  endurance  and  in 
the  arts  of  war,  without  any  other  aid  than  that  of  their 
walls,  still  our  soldiers,  being  attacked  as  they  were  from  a 
more  numerous  force,  became  impatient  of  the  long  delay, 
and  moved  round  and  round  the  suburbs,  seeking  diligently 
to  discover  by  what  force  or  what  engines  they  could  make 
their  way  out  of  the  city. 

15.  But  as,  through  the  greatness  of  the  difficulties  in 
their  way,  they  could  not  accomplish  this,  they  began  to 
slacken  their  exertions  as  to  the  siege  itself,  and  leaving  a 
few  watches  and  outposts,  ravaged  the  adjacent  country, 
and   thus  obtained  all  kinds  of  supplies,   dividing   their 
booty  with  their  comrades.     The  consequence  was,  that 
excessive  eating  and  drinking   proved  injurious  to  their 
health. 


264  AMMIANUS   MARCELLINUS.  [Bit.  XXL  CH.  xu. 

16.  When,  however,  Immo  and  his  colleagues  reported 
this  to  Julian,  who  was  passing  the  winter  at  Constan- 
tinople, he  applied  a  wise  remedy  to  such  a  disorder,  and 
sent   thither  Agilo,    the   commander   of  his   infantry,  an 
officer  in  great  esteem,  that  when  a  man  of  his  rank  and 
reputation  appeared  there  and  took  the  intelligence  of  the 
death  of  Constantius  to  the  army,  the  siege  might  be  ter- 
minated in  that  way. 

17.  In   the   mean  while,  not  to  abandon  the  siege  of 
Aquileia,  as  all   other  attempts    had  proved  futile,   the 
generals  endeavoured  to  compel  the  citizens  to  surrender 
by  want  of  water.     So  they  cut  the  aqueducts ;  but  as  the 
garrison  still  resisted  with  undiminished  courage,   they, 
with  vast  valour,  diverted  the  stream  of  the  river.    But 
this  again  was  done  in  vain ;  for  they  reduced  the  allow- 
ance of  water  to  each  man  ;  and  contented  themselves  with 
the  scanty  supply  they  could  procure  from  wells. 

18.  \V7hile  these   affairs   were   proceeding   thus,   Agilo 
arrived,  as  he  had  been  commanded ;  and,  being  protected 
by  a  strong  body  of  heavy  infantry,  came  up  boldly  close 
to  the  walls ;  and  in  a  long  and  veracious  speech,  told  the 
citizens  of  the  death  of  Constantius,  and  the  confirmation 
of  Julian's  power  ;  but  was  reviled  and  treated  as  a  liar. 
Nor  would  any  one  believe  his  statement  of  what  had 
occurred,   till  on   promise  of  safety  he   was  admitted  by 
himself  to  the  edge  of  the  defences ;  where,  with  a  solemn 
oath,  he  repeated  what  he  had  before  related. 

19.  When  his   story  was   heard,  they  all,  eager  to   be 
released  from  their  protracted  sufferings,  threw  open  the 
gates  and  rushed  out,  admitting  him  in  the  joy  as  a  captain 
who  brought  them  peace ;    and  excusing  themselves,  they 
gave  up  Kigrinus  as  the  author  of  their  mad  resistance, 
and  a  few  others  ;  demanding  that  their  punishment  should 
be  taken  as  an  atonement  for  the  treason  and  sufferings  of 
the  city. 

20.  Accordingly,  a  few  days  later,  the  affair  was  rigor- 
ously investigated ;  Mamertinus,  the  prefect  of  the  prae- 
torium,  sitting  as  judge  ;  and  Nigrinus,  as  the  cause  of  the 
war,  was  burnt  alive.     After  him,  Romulus  and  Sabostius, 
men  who  had  held  high  office,  being  convicted  of  having 
sown  discord  in  the  empire  without  any  regard  to  the  con- 
sequences, were  beheaded;  and  all  the  rest  escaped  un- 


A.».361.]  SIEGE   OF   AQUILEIA.  265 

punished,  as  men  who  had  been,  driven  to  hostilities  by 
necessity,  and  not  by  their  own  inclination ;  this  being 
the  decision  of  the  merciful  and  clement  emperor,  after  a 
full  consideration  of  justice.  These  things,  however,  hap- 
pened some  time  afterwards. 

21.  But  Julian,  who  was  still  at  Nissa,  was  occupied  in 
the  graver  cases,  being  full  of  fears  on  both  sides.     For  he 
was  apprehensive  lest  the  defiles  of  the  Julian  Alps  might 
be  seized  and  barred  against  him  by  some  sudden  onset  of 
the  troops  who  had  been  shut  up  in  Aquileia ;  by  which 
he  might  lose  the   provinces   beyond,   and  the  supplies 
which  he  was  daily  expecting  from  that  quarter. 

22.  And  he  also  greatly  feared  the  power  of  the  East ; 
hearing  that  the  soldiers  who  were  scattered  over  Thrace 
had  been  suddenly  collected  together  to  act  against  him, 
and  were  advancing  towards  the  frontiers  of  the  Succi,  under 
command  of  Count  Marcianus.    But,  devising  measures  suit- 
able to  this  mass  of  pressing  anxieties,  he  quickly  assembled 
his  Illyrian  army,  long  inured  to  war,  and  eager  to  renew 
its  martial  labours  under  a  warlike  chief. 

23.  Nor  even  at  this  critical  moment  did  he  forget  the 
interests  of  individuals ;  but  devoted  some  time  to  hearing 
contested  causes,   especially  those  concerning  municipal 
bodies,  in  whose  favour  he  was  too  partial,  so  that  he  raised 
several    persons   who    did    not    deserve  such    honour  to 
public  offices. 

24.  It  was  here  that  he  found  Symmachus  and  Maximus, 
two  eminent  senators,  who  had  been  sent  by  the  nobles  as 
envoys  to  Constantius,  and  had  returned  again.     He  pro- 
moted them  with  great  honour ;  so  that,  preferring  them 
to  others  more  deserving,  he  made  Maximus   prefect  of 
the  eternal  city,   in  order  to   gratify  Rufinus  Vulcatius, 
whose  nephew  he  was.     Under  his  administration  the  city 
enjoyed  great  plenty,  and  there  was  an  end  to  the  com- 
plaints of  the  common  people,  which  had  been  so  frequent. 

25.  Afterwards,  in  order  to  add  security  to  those  of  his 
affairs  which  were  still  unsettled,  and  encourage  the  con- 
fidence of  the  loyal,  he  raised  Mamertinus,  the   prefect 
of  the  praetorium  in  Illyricum,  and  Nevitta  to  the  consul- 
ship ;    though  he  had    so  lately  assailed   the  memory  of 
Constant!  ne  as  the  person  who  had  set  the  example  of  thus 
promoting  low-born  barbarians. 


266  AMMIANUS  MARCELLINDS.  fBt  XXI.  CH.  xm 

XIII. 

§  1.  WHILE  Julian  was  thus  carrying  out  new  projects,  and 
alternating  between  hope  and  fear,  Constantiua  at  Edessa, 
being  made  anxious  by  the  various  accounts  brought  him 
by  his  spies,  was  full  of  perplexity.  At  one  time  collecting 
his  army  for  battle ;  at  another,  wishing  to  lay  siege  to 
Bezabde  on  two  sides,  if  he  could  find  an  opportunity ; 
taking  at  the  same  time  prudent  precautions  not  to  leave 
Mesopotamia  unprotected,  while  about  to  march  into  the 
districts  of  Armenia. 

2.  But  while  still  undecided,  he  was  detained  by  various 
causes.      Sapor  also  remained   on  the  other  side  of  the 
Tigris  till  the  sacrifices  should  become  propitious  to  his 
moving.     For  if  after  crossing  the  river  he  found  no  re- 
sistance,  he    might  without   difficulty   penetrate   to   the 
Euphrates.     On  the  other  hand,  if  he  wished  to  keep  his 
soldiers  for  the  civil  war,  he  feared  to  expose  them  to  the 
dangers  of  a  siege ;  having  already  experienced  the  strength 
of  the  walls  and  the  vigour  of  the  garrison. 

3.  However,  not  to  lose  time,  and  to  avoid  inactivity,  he 
sent  Arbetio  and  Agilo,  the  captains  of  his  infantry  and 
cavalry,  with  very  large  forces,  to  march  with  all  speed  ; 
not  to  provoke  the  Persians  to  battle,   but  to  establish 
forts  on  the  nearest  bank  of  the  Tigris,  which  might  be 
able  to  reconnoitre,  and  see  in  what  direction  the  furious 
monarch  broke  forth  ;  and  with  many  counsels  given  both 
verbally  and  in  writing,  he  charged  them  to  retreat  with 
celerity  the  moment  the  enemy's  army  began  to  cross  the 
river. 

4.  While  these  generals  were  watching  the  frontier  as 
they  were  ordered,  and  spying  out  the  secret  designs  of 
their  most  crafty  enemy,  he  himself,  with  the  main  body 
of  his  army,  made  head  against  his  most  pressing  foes,  as  if 
prepared  for  battle ;  and  defended  the  adjacent  towns  by 
rapid    movements.      Meantime  spies  and  deserters   con- 
tinually coming  in,  related  to  him  opposite  stories ;  being 
in  fact  ignorant  of  what  was  intended,  because  among  the 
Persians  no  one  knows  what  is  decided  on  except  a  few 
taciturn  and  trusty  nobles,  by  whom  the  god  Silence  is 
worshipped. 

5.  But  the   emperor  was  continually  sent  for  by  the 


AJ>.  36i.]  JULIAN'S  MARCH  THROUGH  THRACE.  267 

generals  whom  I  have  mentioned,  who  implored  him  to 
send  them  aid.  For  they  protested  that  unless  the  whole 
strength  of  the  army  was  collected  together,  it  would  be 
impossible  to  withstand  the  onset  of  the  furious  Sapor. 

6.  And  while  things  in  this  quarter  were  thus  full  of 
anxiety,  other  messengers  arrived  in  numbers,  by  whose 
accurate  statements  he  learnt  that  Julian  had  traversed 
Italy  and  Illyricum  with  great  rapidity,  had  occupied  the 
defiles   of  the   Succi,   and  called  in  auxiliaries  from  all 
quarters,  and  was  now  marching  through  Thrace  with  a 
very  large  force. 

7.  Constantius,    learning   this,  was   overwhelmed  with 
grief,  but  supported  by  one  comfort,  that  he  had  always 
triumphed  over  internal  commotions.    Nevertheless,  though 
the  affair  made  it  very  difficult  for  him  to  decide  on  a  line 
of  action,  he  chose  the  best ;  and  sent  a  body  of  troops  on 
by  public  conveyances,  in  order  as  quickly  as  possible  to 
make  head  against  the  impending  danger. 

8.  And  as  that  plan  was  universally  approved,  the  troops 
went  as  they  were  commanded,  in  the  lightest  marching 
order.     But  the  next  day,  while  he  was  finally  arranging 
these  matters,  he  received  intelligence  that  Sapor,  with  his 
whole  arm}r,  had  returned  to  his  own  country,  because  the 
auspices  were  unfavourable.     So,  his  fears  being  removed, 
he   called  in   all  the  troops  except  those  who   as  usual 
were   assigned  for  the  protection  of   Mesopotamia,   and 
returned  to  Hiei'apolis. 

9.  And  still  doubting  what  would  be  the  final  result  of 
all  his  difficulties,  when  he  had  collected  his  army  together 
he  convened  all  the  centuries  and  companies  and  squadrons 
by  sound  of  trumpet ;  and  the  whole  plain  being  filled  with 
the  host,  he,  standing  on   a  lofty  tribune,   in   order  to 
encourage   them  the   more   readily  to   execute  what  he 
should  direct,  and  being  surrounded  by  a  numerous  retinue, 
spoke    thus  with   great  appearance   of   calmness   and  a 
studied  look  of  confidence. 

10.  "  Being  always  anxious  never  to  do  or  say  anything 
inconsistent   with   incorniptible   honour,  like   a  cautious 
pilot,  who  turns  his  helm  this  way  or  that  way  according 
to  the  movement  of  the  waves,  I  am  now  constrained,  my 
most  affectionate  subjects,  to  confess  my  errors  to  you, 
or  rather,  if  I  were  to  say  the  plain  truth,  my  humanity, 


268  AMMIANUS   MARCELLINUS.  [BK.  XXI.  CH.  xitt 

which  I  did  think  would  be  beneficial  to  our  common  in- 
terests. So  now  that  you  may  the  better  understand 
what  is  the  object  of  convoking  this  assembly,  listen,  I 
pray  yon,  with  impartiality  and  kindness. 

11.  "  At  the  time  when  Magnentius,  whom  your  bravery 
overcome,  was  obstinately  labouring  to  throw  all  things 
into  confusion,   I  sent  Gallus  my  cousin,   who  had  been 
latelv  raised    to  the  rank  of  Caesar,  to  guard  the  East. 
But  he,  having  by  many  wicked  and  shameful  arts  departed 
from  justice,  was  punished  by  a  legal  sentence. 

12.  "  Would  that  Envy  had  then  been  contented,  that 
most  bitter  exciter  of  troubles !     And  that  we  had  nothing 
to  grieve  us  but  the  single  recollection  of  past  sorrows, 
unaccompanied  by  any  idea  of  present  danger !     But  now 
a  new  circumstance,  more  grievous  than  any  former  one  I 
will  venture  to  say,  has  taken  place,  which  the  gods  who 
aid  us  will  put  an  end  to  by  means  of  your  innate  valour. 

13.  "  Julian,   whom,  while    you   were   combating   the 
nations  which  threaten  Illyricum  on  all  sides,  I  appointed 
to  protect  Gaul,  presuming  on  the  issue  of  some  trifling 
battles    which    he    has    fought    against   the    half-armed 
Germans,   and    full   of   silly   elation,   has    taken    a  few 
auxiliary  battalions  into  his  noble  alliance,  men  from  their 
natural  ferocity  and  the  desperateness  of  their  situation 
ready  for  acts  of  the  most  mischievous  audacity,  and  has 
conspired    against    the    public    safety,   trampling    down 
justice,  the  parent  and  nurse  of  the  ffoman  world.     That 
power  I  believe,  both  because  I  myself  have  experienced 
it,  and  because  all  antiquity  assures  me  of  its  might,  will, 
as  an  avenger  of  wickedness,  soon  trample  down  their  pride 
like  so  many  ashes. 

14.  "  What  then  remains,  except  to  hasten  to  encounter 
the  whirlwind  thus  raised  against  us  ?  so  as  by  prompti- 
tude to  crubh  the  fury  of  this  rising  war  before  it  comes 
to  maturity   and   strength  ?     Nor   can   it  be  questioned 
that,  with   the  favour  of  the  supreme  deity,   by  whose 
everlasting  sentence  ungrateful  men  are  condemned,  the 
sword  which  they  have  wickedly  drawn  will  be  turaed 
to  their  own  destruction.      Since  never  having  received 
any  provocation,  but  rather  after  having  been  loaded  with 
benefits,  they  have  risen  up  to  threaten  innocent  men  with 
danger. 


A.».  361.]  SPBXCH   OF   COXSTAXT1US.  269 

15.  "  For  as  my  n.ind  augurs,  and  as  justice,  which  will 
aid  upright  counsels,  promises,  I  feel  sure  that  when  once 
we  come  to  close  quarters,  they  will  be  so  benumbed  with 
fear  as  neither  to  be  able  to  stand  the  fire  of  your  glanc- 
ing eyes  nor  the  sound  of  your  battle  cry."  This 
speech  harmonized  well  with  the  feelings  of  the  soldiers. 
In  their  rage  they  brandished  their  shields,  and  after 
answering  him  in  terms  of  eager  goodwill,  demanded 
to  be  led  at  once  against  the  rebels.  Their  cordiality 
changed  the  emperor's  fear  into  joy ;  and  having  dismissed 
the  assembly,  as  he  knew  by  past  experience  that  Arbetio 
was  most  eminently  successful  in  putting  an  end  to  intestine 
wars,  he  ordered  him  to  advance  first  by  the  road  which 
he  himself  designed  to  take,  with  the  spearmen  and  the 
legion  of  Mattium,1  and  several  battalions  of  light  troops  ; 
he  also  ordered  Gomoarius  to  take  with  him  the  Leti,  to 
check  the  enemy  on  their  arrival  among  the  defiles  of  the 
Succi ;  he  was  selected  for  this  service  because  he  was 
unfriendly  to  Julian  on  account  of  some  slight  he  had 
received  from  him  in  Gaul. 

XIV. 

§  1.  WHILE  the  fortune  of  Constantius  was  now  wavering 
and  tottering  in  this  tumult  of  adverse  circumstances,  it 
showed  plainly  by  signs  which  almost  spoke  that  a  very 
critical  moment  of  his  life  was  at  hand.  For  he  was 
terrified  by  nocturnal  visions,  and  before  he  was  thoroughly 
asleep  he  had  seen  the  shade  of  his  father  bringing  him  a 
beautiful  child;  and  when  he  received  it  and  placed  it  in 
his  bosom,  it  struck  a  globe  which  he  had  in  his  right  hand 
to  a  distance.  Now  this  indicated  a  change  of  circum- 
stances, although  those  who  interpreted  it  gave  favourable 
answers  when  consulted. 

2.  After  this  he  confessed  to  his  most  intimate  friends 
that,  as  if  he  were  wholly  forsaken,  he  had  ceased  to  see  a 
secret  vision  which  sometimes  he  had  fancied  appeared  to 
him  in  mournful  guise ;  and  he  believed  that  the  genius 
who  had  been  appointed  to  watch  over  his  safety  had 
abandoned  him,  as  one  who  was  soon  to  leave  the  world. 

1  It  is  believed  that  Mattium  is  the  same  as  Marburg;  it  is  not 
quite  certain. 


270  AMMIASUS   MARCELLIXUS.  [B«c.  XXI.  Cn.  xr. 

3.  For  the  opinion  of  theologians  is,  that  all  men  when 
they  are  born  (without  prejudice  to  the  power  of  destiny) 
are  connected  with  a  superior  power  of  this  kind,  who,  as 
it  were,  guides  their  actions ;  but  who  is  seen  by  very 
few,  and  only  by  those  who  are  endued  with  great  and 
various  virtues. 

4.  This  may  be  collected  both  from  oracles  and  from 
eminent  writers.     Among  whom  is  the  comic  poet  Menan- 
der,  in  whose  works  these  two  verses  are  found : — 

"  A  spirit  is  assigned  to  every  man 
When  born  to  guide  him  in  the  path  of  life." 

5.  It  may  also  be  gathered  from  the  immortal  poetry  of 
Homer,  that  they  were  not  really  the  gods  of  heaven  who 
conversed  with  his  heroes,  or  stood  by  them  and  aided 
them  in  their  combats ;    but  the  familiar  genii  who  be- 
longed to  them ;  to  whom  also,  as  their  principal  support, 
Pythagoras  owes  his  eminence,  and  Socrates  and  ISiima 
Pompilius   and   the   elder  Scipio.      And,   as   some  fancy, 
Marius,  and  Octavianus  the  first,  who  took  the  name  of 
Augustus.      And  Hermes  Trismegistus,  and  Apollonius  of 
Tyana,   and    Plotinus,   who    ventured  upon    some   very 
mystical  discussions  of  this  point ;    and   endeavoured  to 
show  by  profound  reasoning  what  is  the  original  cause 
why  these  genii,  being  thus  connected  with  the  souls  of 
mortals,  protect  them  as  if  they  had  been  nursed  in  their 
own  bosoms,  as  far  as  they  are  permitted ;  and,  if  they 
find  them  pure,  preserving  the  body  untainted  by  any 
connection  with  vice,  and  free  from  all  taint  of  sin,  instruct 
them  in  loftier  mysteries. 

XV. 

§  1.  Constantius  therefore,  having  hastened  to  Antioch, 
according  to  his  wont,  at  the  first  movement  of  a  civil  war 
which  he  was  eager  to  encounter,  as  soon  as  he  had  made 
all  his  preparations,  was  in  amazing  haste  to  march,  though 
many  of  his  court  were  so  unwilling  as  even  to  proceed  to 
murnrirs.  For  no  one  dare  openly  to  remonstrate  or 
object  to  his  plan. 

2.  He  set  forth  towards  the  end  of  autumn ;  and  when 
he  reached  the  suburb  called  Hippocephalus,  which  is 
about  three  miles  from  the  town,  as  soon  as  it  was  daylight 


«.D.  3til.j  DEATH   OF   CONST AXTIUS  271 

he  saw  on  his  right  the  corpse  of  a  man  who  had  been 
murdered,  lying  with  his  head  torn  off  from  the  body, 
stretched  out  towards  the  west — and  though  alarmed  at  the 
omen,  which  seemed  as  if  the  Fates  were  preparing  his  end, 
he  went  on  more  resolutely,  and  came  to  Tarsus,  where  he 
caught  a  slight  fever ;  and  thinking  that  the  motion  of  his 
journey  would  remove  the  distemper,  he  went  on  by  bad 
roads ;  directing  his  course  by  Mopsucrenae,  the  farthest 
station  in  Cilicia  for  those  who  travel  from  hence,  at  the 
foot  of  Mount  Taurus. 

3.  But  when  he  attempted  to  proceed  the  'next  day  he 
was  prevented  by  the  increasing  violence  of  his  disorder, 
and  the  fever  began  gradually  to  inflame  his  veins,  so  that 
his  body  felt  like  a  little  fire,  and  could  scarcely  be  touched ; 
and  as  all  remedies  failed,  he  began  in  the  last  extremity 
to  bewail  his  death ;  and  while  his  mental  faculties  were 
still  entire,  he  is  said  to  have  indicated  Julian  as  the  suc- 
cessor to  his  power.     Presently  the  last  struggle  of  death 
came  on,  and  he  lost  the  power  of  speech.    And  after  long 
and  painful  agony  he  died  on  the  fifth  of  October,  having 
lived  and  reigned  forty  years  and  a  few  months. 

4.  After    bewailing    his    death    with    groans,    lament- 
ations, and  mourning,  those  of  the  highest  rank  in  the 
royal  palace  deliberated  what  to  do  or  to  attempt ;    and 
having  secretly  consulted  a  few  persons  about  the  election 
of  an  emperor,  at  the  instigation,  as  it  is  said,  of  Eusebius, 
who  was  stimulated  by  his  consciousness  of  guilt  (since 
Julian  was  approaching  who  was  prepared  to  oppose  his 
attempts  at  innovation),  they  sent  Theolaiphus  and  Aligil- 
dus,  who  at  that  time  were  counts,  to  him,  to  announce 
the  death  of  his  kinsman  ;  and  to  entreat  him  to  lay  aside 
all  delay  and  hasten  to  take  possession  of  the  East,  which 
was  prepared  to  obey  him. 

5.  But  fame  and  an  uncertain  report  whispered  that 
Constantius  had  left  a  will,  in  which,  as  we  have  already 
mentioned,  he   had   named  Julian  as  his  heir;    and  had 
given  commissions  and  legacies  to  his  friends.     But  he  left 
his   wife  in   the   family   way,   who    subsequently   had    a 
daughter,  who  received  the  same  name,  and  was  afterwards 
married  to  Gratianus. 


272  AMMIANUS   MARCELLIXUS.  [Bt  XXL  CH.  xvi 

XVI. 

§  1.  In  accurately  distinguishing  the  virtues  and  vices  ol 
Constantius,  it  will  be  well  to  take  the  virtues  first. 
Always  preserving  the  dignity  of  the  imperial  authority, 
he  proudly  and  magnanimously  disdained  popularity.  In 
conferring  the  higher  dignities  he  was  very  sparing,  and 
allowed  very  few  changes  to  be  made  in  the  administration 
of  the  finances.  Nor  did  he  ever  encourage  the  arrogance 
of  the  soldiers. 

2.  Nor  under  him  was  any  general  promoted  to  the 
title  of  most  illustrious.1     For  there  was  also,  as  we  have 
already  mentioned,  the  title  of  most  perfect.*    Nor  had  the 
governor  of  a  province  occasion  to  court  a  commander  of 
cavalry ;   as  Constantius  never  allowed  those  officers  to 
meddle  with  civil  affairs.     But  all  officers,  both  military 
and  civil,  were  according  to  the  respectful  usages  of  old, 
inferior  to  that  of  the  prefect  of  the  preetorium,  which  was 
the  most  honourable  of  toll. 

3.  In  taking  care  of  the  soldiers  he  was  very  cautious : 
an  examiner  into  their  merits,  sometimes  over-scrupulous, 
giving  dignities  about  the  palace  as  if  with  scales.     Under 
him  no  one  who  was  not  well  known  to  him,  or  who  was 
favoured  merely  by  some  sudden  impulse,  ever  received 
any  high  appointment  in  the  palace.     But  only  such  as 
had  served  ten  years  in  some  capacity  or  other  could  look 
for  such  appointments  as  master  of  the  ceremonies  or  trea- 
surer.    The  successful  candidates  could  always  be  known 
beforehand  ;  and  it  very  seldom  happened  that  any  military 
officer  was  transferred  to  a  civil  office ;  while  on  the  other 
hand  none  but  veteran  soldiers  were  appointed  to  com- 
mand troops. 

1  These  and  other  titles,  such  as  "  respectable  "  (spectabiles),  "  illus- 
trious "  (egregrie,  illustres),  were  invented  by  the  emperors  of  this 
century.  They  none  of  them  appear  to  have  conferred  any  substantive 
power. 

8  This  office  had  been  first  established  by  Augustus,  who  created 
two  prefects  of  the  praetorian  cohorts,  under  whose  command  also  all 
the  soldiers  in  Italy  were  placed.  Commodus  raised  the  number  to 
three,  and  Constantine  to  four,  whom  (when  he  abolished  the  praetorian 
cohort),  he  made,  in  fact,  governors  of  provinces.  There  was  one 
prsefectus  prsetorio  for  Gaul,  one  for  Italy,  one  for  Ulyricum,  and  one 
for  the  East. 


A.D.  381-1  CHARACTER   OF   CONSTANTIUS.  273 

4.  He  was  a  diligent  cultivator  of  learning,  but,  as  his 
blunted   talent  was  not  suited   to   rhetoric,    he    devoted 
himself  to  versification  ;  in  which,  however,  he  did  nothing 
worth  speaking  of. 

5.  In  his  way  of  life  he  was  economical  and  temperate, 
and  by  moderation  in  eating  and  drinking  he  preserved 
such  robust  health  that  he  was  rarely  ill,  though  when  ill 
dangerously  so.     For  repeated  experience  and  proof  has 
shown  that  this  is  the  case  with  persons  who  avoid  licen- 
tiousness and  luxury. 

t3.  He  was  contented  with  very  little  sleep,  which  he 
took  when  time  and  season  allowed  ;  and  throughout  his 
long  life  he  was  so  extremely  chaste  that  no  suspicion  was 
ever  cast  on  him  in  this  respect,  though  it  is  a  charge 
which,  even  when  it  can  find  no  ground,  malignity  is  apt 
to  fasten  on  princes. 

7.  In  riding  and  throwing  the  javelin,  in  shooting  with 
the  bow,  and  in  all  the  accomplishments  of  military  exer- 
cises, he  was  admirably  skilful.     That  he  never  blew  his 
nose  in  public,  never  spat,  never  was  seen  to  change  coun- 
tenance, and  that  he  never  in  all  his  life  ate  any  fruit  I 
pass  over,  as  what  has  been  often  related  before. 

8.  Having  now  briefly  enumerated   his  good   qualities 
with  which  we  have  been  able  to  become  acquainted,  let 
us  now  proceed  to  speak  of  his  vices.     In  other  respect* 
he  was  equal  to  average  princes,  but  if  he  had  the  slightest 
reason  (even  if  founded  on  wholly  false  information)  for 
suspecting  any  one  of  aiming  at  supreme  power,  he  would 
at  once   institute   the   most   rigorous  inquiry,   trampling 
down  right  and  wrong  alike,   and   outdo   the  cruelty  of 
Caligula,    Domitian,    or   Commodus,  whose    barbarity   he 
rivalled   at  the   very  beginning  of    his  reign,   when   he 
shamefully  put  to  death  his  own  connections  and  relations. 

9.  And  his  cruelty  and  morose  suspicions,  which  were 
directed  against  everything  of  the  kind,  were  a  cruel  addi- 
tion to  the  sufferings  of  the  unhappy  persons  who  were 
accused  of  sedition  or  treason. 

10.  And  if  anything  of  the  kind  got  wind,  he  instituted 
investigations  of  a  more  terrible  nature  than  the  law  sanc- 
tioned, appointing  men  of  known  cruelty  as  judges  in  such 
cases ;  and  in  punishing  offenders  he  endeavoured  to  pro- 
tract their  deaths  as  long  as  nature  would  allow,  being  in 

T 


274  AMM1ANUS  MARCELUNUS.  [Bit.  XXI.  CH.  xvc. 

such  cases  more  savage  than  even  Gallienus.  For  lie, 
though  assailed  by  incessant  and  real  plots  of  rebels,  such 
as  Aureolus,  Posthumus,  Ingenuus,  and  Valens  who  was 
surnamed  the  Thessalonian,  and  many  others,  often  miti- 
gated the  penalty  of  crimes  liable  to  sentence  of  death  ; 
while  Constantius  caused  facts  which  were  really  unques- 
tionable to  be  looked  upon  as  doubtful  by  the  excessive 
inhumanity  of  his  tortures. 

11.  In  such  cases  he  had  a  mortal  hatred  of  justice,  even 
though  his  great  object  was  to  be  accounted  just  and  mer- 
ciful :  and  as  sparks  flying  from  a  dry  wood,  by  a  mere 
breath  of  wind  are  sometimes  carried  on  with  unrestrained 
course  to  the  danger  of  the  country  villages  around,  so  ho 
also  from  the  most  trivial  causes  kindled  heaps  of  evik  , 
being  very  unlike  that  wise  emperor  Marcus  Aureliuu, 
who,  when  Cassius  in  Syria  aspired  to  the  supreme  power, 
and  when  a  bundle  of  letters  which  he  had  written  to  his 
accomplices,  was  taken  with  their  bearer,  and  brought  to 
him,  ordered  them  at  once  to  be  burned,  while  he  was  still 
in  Illyricum,  in  order  that  he  might  not  know  who  had 
plotted  against  him,  and  so  against  his  will  be  obliged  to 
consider  some  persons  as  his  enemies. 

12.  And,  as  some  right-thinking  people  are  of  opinion, 
it  was  rather  an  indication  of  great  virtue  in  Constantius 
to  have  quelled  the  empire  without  shedding  more  blood, 
than  to  have  revenged  himself  with  such  cruelty. 

1 3.  As  Cicero  also  teaches  us,  when  in  one  of  his  letters 
to  Nepos  he  accuses  Caesar  of  cruelty,   "  For,"  says  he, 
"  felicity  is  nothing  else  but  success  in  what  is  honour- 
able ;"  or  to  define  it  in  another  way,  "  Felicity  is  fortune 
assisting  good  counsels,  and  he  who  is  not  guided  by  such 
cannot  be  happy.     Therefore  in  wicked  and  impious  de- 
signs such  as  those  of  Caesar  there  could  be  no  felicity ; 
and  in  my  judgment  Camilltis  when  in  exile  was  happier 
than  Manlius  at  the  same  time,  even  if  Manlius  had  been 
able  to  make  himself  king,  as  he  wished. ' 

14.  The  same  is  the  language  of  Heraclitus  of  Ephesus, 
when  he  remarks  that  men  of  eminent  capacity  and  virtue, 
through  the  caprice  of  fortune,  have  often  been  overcome 
by  men  destitute  of  either  talent  or  energy.     But  that  that 
glory  is  the  best  when  power,  existing  with  high  rank, 
forces,  as  it  were,  its  inclinations  to  be  angry  and  cruel, 


A.D.  36U  CHARACTER   OF   CONSTAXTIUS.  275 

and  oppressive  under  the  yoke,  and  so  erects  a  glorious 
trophy  in  the  citadel  of  its  victorious  mind. 

15.  But  as  in  his  foreign  wars  this  emperor  was  unsuc- 
cessful  and  unfortunate,  on  the  other  hand  in  his  civil 
contests  he  was  successful ;  and  in  all  those  domestic  cala- 
mities he  covered  himself  with   the  horrid  blood  of  the 
enemies  of  the  republic  and  of  himself;  and  yielding  to 
his  elation  at  these  triumphs  in  a  way  neither  right  nor 
usual,  he  erected  at  a  vast  expense  triumphal  arches  in 
Gaul  and  the  two  Pannonias,  to  record  his  triumphs  over 
his  own  provinces ;    engraving  on  them  the  titles  of  his 
exploits  ...  as  long  as  they  should  last,   to  those  who 
read  the  inscriptions. 

16.  He  was  preposterously  addicted  to  listening  to  his 
wives,  and  to  the  thin  voices  of  his  eunuchs,  and   some  of 
his  courtiers,  who  applauded  all  his  words,  and  watched 
everything  he  said,  whether  in  approval  or  disapproval,  in 
order  to  agree  with  it. 

17.  The  misery  of  these  times  was  further  increased  by 
the    insatiable   covetousness    of  his    tax-collectors,   who 
brought  him  more    odium   than    money :    and  to   many 
persons    this    seemed   the   more   intolerable,   because   he 
never  listened  to  any  excuse,  never  took  any  measures  for 
relief  of  the  provinces  when  oppressed  by  the  multiplicity  of 
taxes  and  imposts ;  and  in  addition  to  all  this  he  was  very 
apt  to  take  back  any  exemptions  which  he  had  granted. 

18.  He  confused  the  Christian  religion,  which  is  plain 
and   simple,  with  old  women's  superstitions ;  in  investi- 
gating which  he  preferred  perplexing  himself  to  settling 
its  questions  with  dignity,  so  that  he  excited  much  dissen- 
sion ;    which    he    further    encouraged   by    diffuse    wordy 
explanations  :  he  ruined  the  establishment  of  public  con- 
veyances by  devoting  them  to  the  service  of  crowds  of 
priests,  who  went  to  and  fro  to  different  synods,  as  they 
call  the  meetings  at  which  they  endeavour  to  settle  every- 
thing according  to  their  own  fancy. 

19.  As  to  his  personal  appearance  and  stature,  he  was 
of  a  dark  complexion  with  prominent  eyes ;  of  keen  sight, 
soft  hair,  with   his   cheeks  carefully  shaved,   and   bright 
looking.     From  his  waist  to  his  neck  he  was  rather  long, 
his  legs  were  very  short  and  crooked,  which  made  him  a 
good  leaper  and  runner. 


276  AMMIANUS  MARCELLINUS.  [BK.  XXIL 

20.  When  the  body  of  the  deceased  emperor  had  been 
laid  out,  and  placed  in  a  coffin,  Jovianus,  at  that  time  the 
chief  officer  of  the  guard,  was  ordered  to  attend  it  with 
royal    pomp  to  Constantinople,  to  be  buried   among  his 
relations. 

21.  While  he  was  proceeding  on  the  vehicle  which  bore 
the    remains,    samples  of   the   military  provisions  were 
brought  to  him  as  an  offering,  as  is  usual  in  the  case  of 
princes;    and   the  public   animals  were  paraded   before 
him ;  and  a  concourse  of  people  came  out  to  meet  him  as 
was    usual;   which,   with  other  similar   demonstrations, 
seemed  to  portend  to  Jovianus,  as  the  superintendent  of  his 
funeral,  the  attainment  of  the  empire,  but  an  authority 
only  curtailed  and  shadowy. 


BOOK   XXIL 


ARGUMENT. 

I.  From  fear  of  Coastantius  Julian  halts  in  Dacia,  and  secretly  con- 
sults the  augurs  and  soothsayers. — II.  When  he  hears  of  Con- 
stantius's  death  he  passes  through  Thrace,  and  enters  Constan- 
tinople, which  he  finds  quiet ;  and  without  a  battle  becomes  sole 
master  of  the  Boman  empire. — III.  Some  of  the  adherents  of 
Constantius  are  condemned,  some  deservedly,  some  wrongfully. — 
IV.  Julian  expels  from  the  palace  all  the  eunuchs,  barbers,  and 
cooks — A  statement  of  the  vices  of  the  eunuchs  about  the  palace, 
and  the  corrupt  state  of  military  discipline. — V.  Julian  openly 
professes  his  adherence  to  the  pagan  worship,  which  he  had 
hitherto  concealed ;  and  lets  the  Christian  bishops  dispute  with 
one  another.  — VI.  How  he  compelled  some  Egyptian  litigants, 
who  modestly  sought  hi*  intervention,  to  return  home. — VII.  At 
Constantinople  he  often  administers  justice  in  the  senate-house  ; 
he  arranges  the  affairs  of  Thrace,  and  receives  anxious  embassies 
from  foreign  nations. — VIIL  A  description  of  Thrace,  and  of  the  Sea 
of  Marmora,  and  of  the  regions  and  nations  contiguous  to  the 
Black  Sea. — IX.  Having  enlarged  and  beautified  Constantinople, 
Julian  goes  to  Antioch ;  on  his  road  he  joins  the  citizens  of 
Nicomedia  moving  to  restore  their  city ;  and  at  Ancyra  presides 
in  the  court  of  justice. — X.  He  winters  at  Antioch,  and  presides 
in  the  court  of  justice ;  and  oppresses  no  one  on  account  of  his 
religion. — XI.  George,  bishop  of  Alexandria,  with  two  others,  is 
dragged  through  the  streets  by  the  Gentiles  of  Alexandria,  and 


A.J.  361.]  PROCEEDINGS    OF   JULIAN.  277 

torn  to  pieces  arid  burnt,  without  any  one  being  punished  for 
this  action. — XII.  Julian  prepares  an  expedition  against  the  Per- 
sians, and,  in  order  to  know  beforehand  the  result  of  the  war,  he 
consults  the  oracles ;  and  sacrifices  innumerable  victims,  devoting 
himself  wholly  to  soothsaying  and  augury. — XIII.  He  unjustly 
attributes  the  burning  of  the  temple  of  Apollo  at  Daphne  to  the 
Christians,  and  orders  the  great  church  at  Aiitioch  to  be  shut  up. 
• — XIV.  He  sacrifices  to  Jupiter  on  Mount  Casius — Why  he  writes 
the  Misopogon  in  his  anger  against  the  citizens  of  Antioch. — 
XV.  A  description  of  Egypt ;  mention  of  the  Nile,  the  crocodile, 
the  ibis,  and  the  pyramids. — XVI.  Description  of  the  five  pro- 
vinces of  Egypt,  and  of  their  famous  cities. 

I. 

A.D.   361. 

§  1.  WHILE  the  variable  events  of  fortune  were  bringing  to 
pass  these  events  in  different  parts  of  the  world,  Julian, 
amid  the  many  plans  which  he  was  revolving  while  in 
Illyricum,  was  continually  consulting  the  entrails  of  vic- 
tims and  watching  the  flight  of  birds  in  his  eagerness  to 
know  the  result  of  what  was  about  to  happen. 

2.  Aprunculus  Gallus,  an  orator  and  a  man  of  skill  as  a 
soothsayer,  who  was  afterwards  promoted  to  be  governor 
of  Narbonne,  announced  these  results  to  him,  being  taught 
beforehand  by  the  inspection  of  a  liver,  as  he  affirmed, 
which  he  had  seen  covered    with  a  double  skin.      And 
while  Julian  was  fearing  that  he  was  inventing  stories  to 
correspond  with  his  desires,  and  was  on  that  account  out 
of  humour,  he  himself  beheld  a  far  more  favourable  omen, 
which  clearly  predicted  the  death  of  Constantius.     For  at 
the  same   moment   that  that  prince  died  in  Cilicia,  the 
soldier  who,   as  he  was  going   to  numnt  his   horse,  had 
supported  him  with  his  right  hand,  fell  down,  on  which 
Julian  at  once  exclaimed,  in  the  hearing  of  many  persons, 
that  he  who  had  raised  him  to  the  summit  had  fallen. 

3.  But  he  did  not  change  his  plans,  but  remained  within 
the   border   of    Dacia,    still  being    harassed   with   many 
fears.     Nor  did  he  think  it  prudent  to  trust  to  conjectures, 
which  might  perhaps   turn   out  contrary  to  his   expect- 
ations. 

II. 

§  1.  BUT  while  he  was  thus  in  suspense,  the  ambassadors, 
Theolaiphus  and  Aligildus,  who  had  been  despatched  to 


278  AMMIAXUS   MAKCELL1XUS.  [Bic.XXll.Cif.li. 

him  to  announce  the  death  of  Constantius,  suddenly  ar 
rived,  adding  that  that  prince  with  his  last  words  had 
named  him  as  his  successor  in  his  dignity. 

2.  As  soon  as  he  learnt  this,  being  delighted  at  his  deli- 
verance from  the  turmoils  of  war  and  its  consequent  dis- 
orders, and  fully  relying  on  the  prophecies  he  had  received, 
having  besides  often  experienced  the  advantages  of  celerity 
of  action,  he  issued  orders  to  march  to  Thrace.     Therefore 
speedily  advancing  his  standards,  he  passed  over  the  high 
ground  occupied  by  the  Succi,  and  marched  towards  the 
ancient  city  of  Eumolpias,  now  called  Philippopolis,  all 
his  army  following  him  with  alacrity. 

3.  For  they  now  saw  that  the  imperial   power  which 
they  were  on  their  way  to  seize,  in  the  face  of  imminent 
danger,  was  in  a  measure  beyond  their  hopes  put  into  their 
hands  by  the  course  of  nature.     And  as  report  is  wont 
marvellously  to  exaggerate  events,  a  rumour  got  abroad 
that  Julian,  formidable  both  by  sea  and  land,  had  entered 
Heraclea,  called  also  Perinthus,  borne  over  its  unresisting 
walls  on  the  chariot  of  Triptolemus,  which  from  its  rapid 
movements  the  ancients,  who  loved  fables,  had  stated  to 
be  drawn  by  flying  serpents  and  dragons. 

4.  When  he  arrived  at  Constantinople,  people  of  every 
age  and  sex  poured  forth  to  meet  him,  as  though  he  were 
some  one  dropped  from  heaven.     On  the  eleventh  of  De- 
cember he  was  received  with  respectful  duty  by  the  senate, 
and  by  the  unanimous  applause  of  the  citizens,  and  was 
escorted  into  the  city  by  vast  troops  of  soldiers  and  civi- 
lians, marshalled  like  an  army,  while  all  eyes  were  turned 
on  him,  not  only  with  the  gaze  of  curiosity,  but  with  great 
admiration. 

5.  For  it  seemed  to  them  like  a  dream,  that  a  youth  in 
the  flower  of  his  age,  of  slight  body,  but  renowned  for 
great  exploits,  after  many  victories  over  barbarian  kings 
and  nations,  having  passed  from   city  to  city  with  un- 
paralleled speed,  should  now,  by  an  accession  of  wealth 
and  power  as  rapid  as  the  spread  of  fire,  have  become  the 
unresisted  master  of  the  world  ;  and  the  will  of  God  itself 
having  given  him  the  empire,  should  thus  have  obtained 
it  without  any  injury  to  the  state. 


A3.361.J  SEVERITIES   OF    JULIAN.  279 


III. 

§  1.  His  first  step  was  to  give  to  Secundus  Sallustius, 
whom  he  promoted  to  be  pi-efect  of  the  praetorium,  being 
well  assured  of  his  loyalty,  a  commission  to  conduct  some 
important  investigations,  joining  with  him  as  colleagues 
Mamertinus,  Arbetio,  Agilo,  and  Nevitta,  and  also  Jovinus, 
whom  he  had  recently  promoted  to  the  command  of  the 
cavalry  in  Illyricum. 

2.  They  all  went  to  Chalcedon,  and  in  the  presence  of 
the  chiefs  and  tribunes,  the  Jovian  and  Herculian  legions, 
they  tried  several  causes  with  too  much  rigour,   though 
there   were   some  in  which  it  was   undeniable   that   the 
accused  were  really  guilty. 

3.  They  banished  Palladius,  the  master  of  the  ceremonies, 
to  Britain,  though  there  was  but  a  suspicion  that  he  had 
prejudiced  Constantius  against  Gallus,  while  he  was  master 
of  the  ceremonies  under  that  prince  as  Caesar. 

4.  They  banished  Taurus,  who  had  been  prefect  of  the 
praetorium,  to  Vercelli,  who,  to  all  persons  capable  of  dis- 
tinguishing between  right  and  wrong,   will  appear  very 
excusable  in  respect   to   the   act  for  which  he  was  con- 
demned.    For  his  offence  was  only  that,  fearing  a  violent 
disturbance  which  had  arisen,  he  fled  to  the  protection  of 
his  prince.     And  the  treatment  inflicted  on  him  could  not 
be  read  without  great  horror,  when  the  preamble  of  the 
public   accusation  began   thus : — "  In   the   consulship   of 
Taurus  and  Florentius,  Taurus  being  brought  before  the 
criers — 

5.  Pentadius  also  was  destined  for  a  similar  sentence  ; 
the  charge  against  him  being  that,  having  been  sent  on 
a  mission  by  Constantius,  he  had  made  notes  of  the  replies 
given  by  Gallus  when  he  was  examined  on  several  sub- 
jects  before  he  was  put  to   death.     But  as  he  defended 
himself  with  justice,  he  was  at  last  discharged. 

6.  With  similar  iniquity,  Florentius,  at  that  time  master 
of  the  ceremonies,  the  son  of  Nigrinianus,  was  banished  to 
Boee,   an   island    on   the   coast   of  Dalmatia.     The   other 
Florentius,  who  had  been  prefect  of  the  prcetorium,  and 
was  then  consul,  being  alarmed  at  the  sudden  change  in 
the  aspect  of  affairs,  in  order  to  save  himself  from  danger, 


280  AMMIANUS   MARCELLINUS.  TBt  XXII.  CH  .IK. 

hid  himself  and  his  wife  for  some  time,  and  never  returned 
during  Julian's  life ;  still  he  was,  though  absent,  con- 
demned to  death. 

7.  In  the  same  way,  Evagrius,  the  comptroller  of  the 
private  demesnes   of  the   emperor,    and  Salurninus,  late 
superintendent  of  the  palace,  and  Cyrinus,  late  secretary, 
were  all   banished.     But  Justice   herself  seems   to  have 
mourned  over  the   death  of  Ursulus,  the  treasurer,  and 
to   accuse  Julian   of  ingratitude  to  him.      For  when,  as 
Caesar,  he  was  sent  to  the  west,  with  the  intent  that  he 
was  to  be  kept  in  great  poverty,  and  without  any  power  of 
making  presents  to  any  of  his  soldiers,  in  order  to  make 
them    less   inclined   to   favour   any  enterprise   which   he 
might  conceive,  this  same  Ursulus  gave  him   letters  to 
the  superintendent  of  the  Gallic  treasury,  desiring  him 
to  give  the  Caesar  whatever  he  might  require. 

8.  After  his  death,  Julian,  feeling  that  he  was  exposed 
to  general  reproach  and  execration,  thinking  that  an  un- 
pardonable crime  could  be  excused,  affirmed  that  the  man 
had   been   put  to  death  without  his  being  aware  of  it, 
pretending  that  he  had  been  massacred  by  the  fury  of  the 
soldiers,  who  recollected  what  he  had  said  (as  we  men- 
tioned before)  when  he  saw  the  destruction  of  Amida. 

9.  And  therefore  it  seemed  to  be  through  fear,  or  else 
from  a  want  of  understanding  what  was  proper,  that  he 
appointed  Arbetio,  a  man  always  vacillating  and  arrogant, 
to  preside  over  these   investigations,   with  others  of  the 
chief  officers  of  the  legions   present  for  the  look  of  the 
thing,  when  he  knew  that  he  had  been  one  of  the  chief 
enemies  to  his  safety,  as  was  natural  in  one  who  had  borne 
a  distinguished  share  in  the  successes  of  the  civil  war. 

10.  And  though  these  transactions  which  I  have  men- 
tioned vexed  those  who  wished   him  well,  those   which 
came  afterwards  were  carried  out  with  a  proper  vigour 
and  severity. 

1 1 .  It  was  only  a  deserved  destiny  which  befel  Apode- 
mius,  who  had  been  the  chief  steward,  and  whose  cruel 
machinations  with  respect  to  the  deaths  of  Silvanus  and 
Gallus  we  have  already  mentioned,  and  Paulus,  the  secre- 
tary, surnamed  "  The  Chain,"  men  who  are  never  spoken 
of  without  general  horror,  and  who  were  now  sentenced  to 
be  burnt  alive. 


A.D.361.]  SEVERITIES    OF   JULIAN.  281 

12.  They  also  sentenced  to  death  Eusebius,  the  chief 
chamberlain  of  Conistantius,  a  man  equally  full  of  am- 
bition and  cruelty,  who  from  the  lowest  rank  had  been 
raised  so  high  as  even  almost  to  lord  it  over  the  emperor, 
and  who  had  thus  become  wholly  intolerable ;  and  whom 
Nemesis,  who  beholds  all  human  affairs,  having  often,  as 
the  saying  is,  plucked  him  by  the  ear,  and  warned  to  con- 
duct himself  with  more  moderation,  now,  in  spite  of  his 
struggles,  hurled  headlong  from  his  high  position. 

IV. 

§  1.  AFTER  this  Julian  directed  his  whole  favour  and  affec- 
tion to  people  of  every  description  about  the  palace ;  not 
acting  in  this  like  a  philosopher  anxious  for  the  discovery 
of  truth. 

2.  For    he  might    have    been  praised    if  he   had    re- 
tained a  few  who  were  moderate  in  their  disposition,  and 
of  proved  honesty  and  respectability.     We  must,  indeed, 
confess  that  the  greater  part  of  them  had  nourished  as  it 
were  such  a  seed-bed  of  all  vices,  which  they  spread  abroad 
so  as  to  infect  the  whole  republic  with  evil  desires,  and 
did  even  more  injury  by  their  example  than  by  the  im- 
punity which  they  granted  to  crimes. 

3.  Some  of  them  had  been  fed  on  the  spoils  of  temples, 
had  smelt  out  gain  on  every  occasion,  and  having  raised 
themselves  from  the  lowest  poverty  to  vast  riches,  had  set 
no  bounds    to  their  bribery,  their  plunder,   or  their  ex- 
travagance, being  at  all  times  accustomed  to  seize  what 
belonged  to  others. 

4.  From  which  habit  the  beginnings  of  licentious  life 
sprang  up,  with  perjuries,  contempt  of  public  opinion,  and 
an   insane   arrogance,  sacrificing  good  faith   to  infamous 
gains. 

5.  Among  which   vices,   debauchery  and   unrestrained 
gluttony  grew  to  a  head,  and  costly  banquets  superseded 
triumphs  for  victories.     The  common  use  of  silken  robes 
prevailed,  the   textile  arts  were   encouraged,  and   above 
all  was  the  anxious  care  about  the  kitchen.     Vast  spaces 
were  sought  out  for  ostentatious  houses,  so  vast  that  if  the 
consul  Cincinnatus  had  possessed  as  much  land,  he  would 
have  lost  the  glory  of  poverty  after  his  dictatorship. 


282  AMMIAXUS   MARCKLLIXUS.  [Bs.  XXII.  CH.  v. 

6.  To  these  shameful  vices  was  added  the  loss  of  mili- 
tary discipline  ;  the  soldier  practised  songs  instead  of  his 
battle-cry,  and  a  stone  would  no  longer  serve  him  for  a 
bed,  as  formerly,   but  he  wanted   feathers  and   yielding 
mattresses,  and  goblets  heavier  than  his  sword,  for  he  was 
now    ashamed    to    drink   out    of    earthenware ;     and   he 
required  marble  houses,  though  it  is  recorded  in  ancient 
histories  that  a  Spartan  soldier  was  severely  punished  for 
venturing  to  appear  under  a  roof  at  all  during  a  campaign. 

7.  But  now  the  soldier  was  fierce  and  rapacious  towards 
his   own   countrymen,    but   towards    the   enemy   he   was 
inactive  and  timid,  by  courting  different  parties,  and  in 
times  of  peace  he  had  acquired  riches,  and  was  now  a 
judge  of  gold  and  precious  stones,  in  a  manner  wholly 
contrary  to  the  recollection  of  very  recent  times. 

8.  For  it  is  well  known  that  when,  in  the  time  of  the 
Csesar  Maximian,  the  camp  of  the  king  of  1'ersia  was  plun- 
dered ;    a  common  soldier,  after  finding  a  Persian  bag  full 
of  pearls,  threw  the  gems  away  in  ignorance  of  their  value, 
and  went  away  contented  with  the   mere  beauty  of  his 
bit  of  dressed  leather. 

9.  In  those  days  it  also  happened  that  a  barber  who  had 
been  sent  for  to  cut  the  emperor's  hair,  came  handsomely 
dressed ;  and  when  Julian  saw  him,  he  was  amazed,  and 
said,    "  I   did   not  send  for  a  superintendent,  but  for  a 
barber."     And  when  he  was  asked  what  he  made  by  his 
business,  he  answered  that  he  every  day  made  enough  to 
keep  twenty  persons,  and  as  many  horses,  and  also  a  largo 
annual  income,  besides  many  sources  of  accidental  gain. 

10.  And  Julian,  angry  at  this,  expelled  all  the  men  of 
this  trade,  and  the  cooks,  and  all  who  made  similar  profits, 
as  of  no  use  to  him,  telling  them,  however,  to  go  where 
they  pleased. 

V. 

§  1.  AND  although  from  his  earliest  childhood  he  was  in- 
clined to  the  worship  of  the  gods,1  and  gradually,  as  he 
grew  up,  became  more  attached  to  it,  yet  he  was  influenced 
by  many  apprehensions  which  made  him  act  in  things 
relating  to  that  subject  as  secretly  as  he  could. 

1  Amrnianus  uses  the  phrase  "worship  of  the  gods,"  in  opposition 
tc  Christianity. 


AJ>.  361.J  HIS   CONDUCT   RESPECTING   RELIGION.  283 

2.  But  when  his  fears  were  terminated,  and  he  found 
himself  at  liberty  to  do  what  he  pleased,  he  then  showed 
las  secret  inclinations,  and  by  plain  and  positive  decrees 
ordered   the   temples  to   be   opened,   and   victims   to   be 
brought  to  the  altars  for  the  worship  of  the  gods. 

3.  And  in  order  to  give  more  effect  to  his  intentions,  he 
ordered  the  priests  of  the  different  Christian  sects,  with 
the  adherents  of  each  sect,  to  be  admitted  into  the  palace, 
and  in  a  constitutional  spirit  expressed  his  wish  that  their 
dissensions  being  appeased,   each  without  any  hindrance 
might  fearlessly  follow  the  religion  he  preferred. 

4.  He   did   this  the   more   resolutely  because,  as  long 
licence  increased  their  dissensions,  he  thought  he  should 
never  have  to  fear  the  unanimity  of  the  common  people, 
having  found   by  experience  that  no  wild  beasts  are  so 
hostile  to  men  as  Christian  sects  in  general  are  to  one 
another.     And  he  often  used  to  say,   "  Listen  to  me,  to 
whom  the  Allemanni  and  Franks  have  listened  ;"  imitating 
in  this   an   expression   of    the   ancient   emperor   Marcus 
Aurelius.     But  he  omitted  to  notice  that  there  was  a  great 
difference  between  himself  and  his  predecessor. 

5.  For  when  Marcus  was  passing  through  Palestine,  on 
his  road  to  Egypt,  he  is  said,  when  wearied  by  the  dirt 
and  rebellious  spirit  of  the  Jews,  to  have  often  exclaimed 
with  sorrow,  "  O  Marcomanni,  0  Quadi,  0  Sarmatians,  I 
have  at  last  found  others  worse  than  you  !" 

VI. 

§  1.  ABOUT  the  same  time  many  Egyptians,  excited  by 
various  rumours,  arrived  at  Constantinople  ;  a  race  given 
to  controversy,  and  extremely  addicted  to  habits  of  litiga- 
tion, covetous,  and  apt  to  ask  payment  of  debts  due  to 
them  over  and  over  again  ;  and  also,  by  way  of  escaping 
from  making  the  payments  due  to  them,  to  accuse  the  rich 
of  embezzlement,  and  the  tax-gatherers  of  extortion. 

2.  These  men,  collecting  into  one  body,  came  screeching 
like  so  many  jackdaws,  claiming  in  a  rude  manner  the  atten- 
tion of  the  emperor  himself,  and  of  the  prefects  of  the  prae- 
torium,  and  demanding  the  restoration  of  the  contributions 
which  they  had  been  compelled  to  furnish,  justly  or  un- 
justly, for  the  last  seventy  years. 


284  AMMIANUS   MAHCKLLINUS.  [Bo.  XX11.  CH.  vil 

3.  And  as  they  hindered  the  transaction  of  any  other 
business,  Julian  issued  an  edict  in  which  he  ordered  them 
all  to  go  to  Chalcedon,  promising  that  he   himself  also 
would  soon  come  there,  and  settle  all  their  business. 

4.  And  when  they  had  gone,  an  order  was  given  to  all 
the  captains  of  ships  which  go  to  and  fro,  that  none  of 
them  should  venture  to  take  an  Egyptian  foi  a  passenger. 
And  as  this  command  was  carefully  observed,  their  ob- 
stinacy in  bringing  false  accusations  camo  to  an  end,  and 
they  all,   being    disappointed  in  their  object,   returned 
home. 

o.  After  which,  as  if  at  the  dictation  of  justice  herself, 
a  law  was  published  forbidding  any  one  to  exact  from  any 
officer  the  restitution  of  things  which  that  officer  had 
legally  received. 

VIL 
A.D.  362. 

§  1.  AT  the  beginning  of  the  new  year,  when  the  consular 
records  had  received  the  names  of  Mamertinus  and  Nevitta, 
the  prince  humbled  himself  by  walking  in  their  train  with 
other  men  of  high  rank;  an  act  which  some  praised, 
while  others  blame  it  as  full  of  affectation,  and  mean. 

2.  Afterwards,  when  Mamertinus  was   celebrating  the 
Circensian   games,  Julian,  following   an  ancient   fashion, 
manumitted   some   slaves,  who   were   introduced   by   the 
consul's  officer ;  but  afterwards,  being  informed  that  on 
that  day  the  supreme  jurisdiction  belonged  to  another,  he 
fined  himself  ten  pounds  of  gold  as  an  offender. 

3.  At  the  same  time  he  was  a  continual  attendant  in 
the  court   of  justice,  settling  many  actions  which  were 
brought  in   all   kinds  of  cases.     One  day  while  he  was 
sitting  as  judge,  the  arrival  of  a  certain  philosopher  from 
Asia  named  Maximus,  was  announced,  on  which  he  leapt 
down  from  the  judgment  seat  in  an  unseemly  manner,  and 
forgetting  himself  so  far  as  to  run  at  full  speed  from  the 
hall,  he  kissed  him,  and  received  him  with  great  reverence, 
and  led  him  into  the  palace,  appearing  by  this  unseasonable 
ostentation  a  seeker  of  empty  glory,  and  forgetful  of  those 
admirable  words  of  Cicero,  which  describe  people  like  him. 

4.  "  Those  very  philosophers  inscribe  their  names  on  the 
identical  books  which  they  wiite  about  the  contempt  of 


A.D.362.]  HIS   CONDUCT   TOWARDS    THE   ARMY.  285 

glory,  in  order  that  they  may  be  named  and  extolled  in 
that  very  thing  in  which  they  proclaim  their  contempt  for 
mention  and  for  praise."  ' 

5.  Not  long  afterwards,  two  of  the  secretaries  who  had 
been    banished  came  to  him,  boldly  promising  to  point 
out  the  hiding-place   of  Florentius  if  he  would   restore 
them  to  their  rank  in  the  army  :  but  he  abused  them,  and 
called  them  informers ;  adding  that  it  did  not  become  an 
emperor  to  be  led  by  underhand  information  to  bring  back 
a  man  who  had  concealed  himself  out  of  fear  of  death,  and 
who  perhaps  would  not  long  be   left  in  his  retreat  un- 
pardoned. 

6.  On   all   these  occasions  Praetextatus  was  present,  a 
senator  of  a  noble  disposition  and  of  old-fashioned  dignity ; 
who  at  that  time  had  come  to  Constantinople  on  his  own 
private  affairs,  and  whom  Julian  by  his  own  choice  selected 
as  governor  of  Achaia  with  the  rank  of  proconsul. 

7.  Still,  while  thus  diligent  in  correcting   civil   evils, 
Julian  did  not  omit  the  affairs  of  the  army :    continually 
appointing  over  the  soldiers  officers  of  long-tried  worth  ; 
repairing  the  exterior  defences  of  all  the  cities  throughout 
Thrace,  and  taking  great   care  that  the  soldiers  on  the 
banks  of  the  Danube,  who  were  exposed  to  the  attacks  of 
the  barbarians,  and  who,  as  he  heard  were  doing  their 
duty  with  vigilance  and  courage,  should  never  be  in  want 
of  arms,  clothes,  pay,  or  provisions. 

8.  And  while  superintending  these  matters  he  allowed 
nothing  to  be  done  carelessly  :  and  when  those  about  him 
advised  him  to  attack  the  Gauls  as  neighbours  who  were 
always  deceitful  and  perfidious,  he  said  he  wished  for  more 
formidable  foes ;  for  that  the  Gallic  merchants  were  enough 
for  them,  who  sold  them  at  all  times  without  any  distinc- 
tion of  rank. 

9.  While  he  gave  his   attention  to  these  and  similai 
matters,  his  fame  was  spreading  among  foreign  nations  for 
courage,  temperance,   skill  in  war,  and  eminent  endow- 
ments of  every  kind  of  virtue,  so  that  he  gradually  became 
renowned  throughout  the  whole  world. 

10.  And   as  the   fear  of  his  approach  pervaded  both 
neighbouring  and  distant  countries,  embassies  hastened  to 
him  with  unusual  speed  from  all  quarters  at  one  time ;  the 

1  Pro  Archias  Poeta,  cap.  xxii. 


286  AMMUmiS   MARCKLLINUS.  [BK.Xyjl.CH.vin. 

people  beyond  the  Tigris  and  the  Armenians  sued  fur 
peace.  At  another  the  Indian  tribes  vied  with  each  other, 
sending  nobles  loaded  with  gifts  even  from  the  Maldive 
Islands  and  Ceylon ;  from  the  south  the  Moors  offered 
themselves  as  subjects  of  the  Roman  empire ;  from  the 
north,  and  also  from  those  hot  climates  through  which  the 
Phasis  passes  on  its  way  to  the  sea,  and  from  the  people  of 
the  Bosphorus,  and  from  other  unknown  tribes  came 
ambassadors  entreating  that  on  the  payment  of  annual 
duties  they  might  be  allowed  to  live  in  peace  within  their 
native  countries. 

VIII. 

§  1.  THE  time  is  now  appropriate,  in  my  opinion,  since  in 
treating  of  this  mighty  prince  we  are  come  to  speak  of 
these  districts,  to  explain  perspicuously  what  we  have 
learnt  by  our  own  eyesight  or  by  reading,  about  the 
frontiers  of  Thrace  and  the  situation  of  the  Black  Sea. 

2.  The  lofty  mountains  of  Athos  in   Macedonia,  once 
made  passable  for  ships  by  the  Persians,  and  the  Euboean 
rocky    promontory    of   Oaphareus,    where    Nauplius   the 
father  of  Palamedes  wrecked  the   Grecian  fleet,  though 
far  distant  from  one  another,  separate  the  ^Egean  from  the 
Thessalian  Sea,  which,  extending  as  it  proceeds,  on  the 
right,  where  it  is  widest,  is  full   of  the   Sporades  and 
Cyclades  islands,  which  latter  are  so  called  because  they 
lie  round  Delos,  an  island  celebrated  as  the  birthplace  of 
the  gods ;  on  the  left  it  washes  Imbros,  Tenedos,  Lenmos, 
and  Thasos ;    and   when  agitated  by  any  gale  it  beats 
violently  on  Lesbos. 

3.  From  thence,  with  a  receding  current,  it  flows  past 
the  temple   of  Apollo   Sminthius,  and  Troas,  and  Troy, 
renowned  for  the  adventures  of  heroes ;  and  on  the  west  it 
forms  the  Gulf  of  Melas,  near  the  head  of  which  is  seen 
Abdera,  the  abode  of  Protagoras  and  Democritus ;  and  the 
blood-stained  seat    of  the   Thracian  Diomede ;    and   the 
valleys  through  which  the  Maritza  flows  on  its  way  to  its 
waves ;    and    Maronea,   and    ^Cnus,    founded    under    sad 
auspices  and  soon  deserted  by  ^neas,  when  under  the 
guidance  of  the  gods  he  hastened  onwards  to  ancient  Italy. 

4.  After  this  it  narrows  gradually,  and,  as  if  by  a  kind 
of   natural  wish  to    mingle  with  its   waters,   it  rushes 


A.D.362.]  CHARACTER   OF    THRACE.  287 

towards  the  Black  Sea ;  and  taking  a  portion  of  it  fort  is  a 
figure  like  the  Greek  <I>.  Then  separating  the  Hellespont 
from  Mount  lihodope,  it  passes  by  Cynossema,1  where 
Hecuba  is  supposed  to  be  buried,  and  Caela,  and  Sestos, 
and  Callipolis,  and  passing  by  the  tombs  of  Ajax  and 
Achilles,  it  touches  Dardanus  and  Abydos  (where  Xerxes, 
throwing  a  bridge  across,  passed  over  the  waters  on  foot), 
and  Larnpsacus,  given  to  Themistocles  by  the  king  of 
Persia  ;  and  Parion,  founded  by  Parius  the  son  of  Jason. 

5.  Then  curving  round  in  a  semicircle  and  separating 
the  opposite  lands  more  widely  in  the  round  gulf  of  the 
sea  of  Marmora,   it  washes   on    the    east   Cyzicus,   and 
Dindyma,  the  holy  seat  of  the  mighty  mother  Cybele,  and 
Apamia,  and  Cius,  and  Astacus  afterwards  called  Nicomedia 
from  the  King  Nicomedes. 

6.  On  the  west  it  beats  against  the  Chersonese,  JEgospo- 
tami  where  Anaxagoras  predicted  that  stones  would  fall 
from  heaven,  and  Lysimachia,  and  the  city  which  Hercules 
founded  and  consecrated  to  the  memory  of  his   comrade 
Perinthus.    And  in  order  to  preserve  the  full  and  complete 
figure  of  the  letter  <t>,  in  the  very  centre  of  the  circular  gulf 
lies  the  oblong  island  of  Proconnesus,  and  also  Besbicus. 

7.  Beyond  the  upper  end  of  this  island  the  sea  again 
becomes  very  narrow  where  it  separates  Bithynia  from 
Europe,  passing  by  Chalcedon  and  Chrysopolis,  and  some 
other  places  of  no  importance. 

8.  Its  left  shore  is  looked  down  upon  by  Port  Athyras 
and  Selymbria,  and  Constantinople,  formerly  called  Byzan- 
tium, a  colony  of  the  Athenians,  and  Cape  Ceras,  having 
at   its  extremity  a  lofty  tower  to  serve  as  a  lighthouse 
to  ships — from  which  cape  also  a  very  cold  wind  which 
often  arises  from  that,  point  is  called  Ceratas. 

9.  The  sea  thus   broken,  and  terminated  by  mingling 
with  the  seas  at  each  end,  and  now  becoming  very  calm, 
spreads  out  into  wider  waters,  as  far  as  the  eye  can  reach 
both   in   length   and   breadth.     Its  entire   circuit,  if  one 
should  measure  it  as  one  would  measure  an  island,  sailing 
along  its  shores,  is  23,000  furlongs  according  to  Eratos- 
thenes, Hecataeus,  and  Ptolemy,  and  other  accurate  inves- 
tigators of  subjects  of  this  kind,  resembling,  by  the  consent 

1  The  fablo  was  that  Hecuba  was  turned  into  a  bitch,  from  which 
this  iilacc  was  culled  KOVOS  fffjua,  a  dog's  tomb. 


288  AMMIAN'US   MARCEUJN'CJS.          [Ec.  XXIL  OH  via 

of  all  geographers,  a  Scythian  bow,  held  at  both  ends  by 
its  string. 

10.  When  the  sun  rises  from  the  eastern  ocean,  it  is 
shut  in  by  the  marshes  of  Ihe  Sea  of  Azov.     On  the  west 
it  is  bounded  by  the  Roman  provinces.     On  the  north  lie 
many  tribes  differing  in  language  and  manners;  its  southern 
side  describes  a  gentle  curve. 

11.  Over  this  extended  .space  are  dispersed  many  Greek 
cities,  which  have  for  the  most  part  been  founded  by  the 
people  of  Miletus,  an  Athenian  colony,  long  since  esta- 
blished in  Asia  among  the  other  Tonians  by  iS'ileus,  the  son 
of  the  famous  Codrus,  who  is  said  to  have  devoted  himself 
to  his  country  in  the  Doric  war. 

12.  The  thin  extremities  of  the  bow  at  each  end  are 
commanded    by    the    two    Bospori,    the     Thracian   and 
Cimmerian,  placed  opposite  to  one  another ;  and  they  are 
called   Bospori    because   through   them   the   daughter   of 
Inachus,'  who  was  changed  (as  the  poets  relate)  into  a 
cow,  passed  into  the  Ionian  sea. 

13.  The  right  curve  of  the  Thracian  Bosphorus  is  covered 
by  a  side  of  Bithynia,  formerly  called  Mygdonia,  of  which 
province  Thynia  and  Mariandena  are  districts ;  as  also  is 
Bebiycia,  the  inhabitants  of  which  were  delivered  from  the 
cruelty  of  Amyous  by  the  valour  of  Pollux ;  and  also  the 
remote  spot  in  which  the  soothsayer  Phineuswas  terrified 
by  the  threatening  flight  of  the  Harpies. 

14.  The  shores  are  curved  into  several  long  bays,  into 
which  fall  the  rivers  Sangarius,  and  Phyllis,  and  Bizes, 
and  Rebas ;  and  opposite  to  them  at  the  lower  end  are  the 
Symplegades,  two  rocks  which  rise  into  abrupt  peaks,  and 
which  in  former  times  were  accustomed  to  dash  against  one 
another  with  a  fearful  crash,  and  then  rebounding  with  a 
sharp  spring,  to  recoil  once  more  against  the  object  already 
struck.     Even  a  bird  could  by  no  speed  of  its  wings  pass 
between  these  rocks  as  they  pass  and  meet  again  without 
being  crushed  to  death. 

15.  These   rocks,    when    the    Argo,    the   first    of   all 
ships,  hastening  to  Colchis  to  carry  off  the  golden  fleece, 
had  passed   unhurt    by  them,    stood   immovable    for  the 
future,  the  power  of  the  whirlwind  which  used  to  agitate 

1  To — the  name  Boo-Topos  is  derived  from  /Bobs  ir6pos,  the  passage  of 
the  Cow. 


Aj>.36a.j  DESCRIPTION   OF    ASIA   MINOR.  289 

them  being  broken  ;  and  are  now  so  firmly  united  that  no  one 
who  saw  them  now  would  believe  that  they  had  ever  been 
separated ;  if  all  the  poems  of  the  ancients  did  not  agree  on 
the  point. 

16.  After  this  portion  of  Bithynia,  the  next  provinces  aro 
Pontus  and  Paphlagonia,  in  which   are  the   noble  cities 
of  Heraclea,  and  Sinope,  and  Polemonium,  and  Amisus,  and 
Tios,  and  Amastris,  all  originally  founded  by  the  energy  of 
the  Greeks  ;  and  Cerasus,  from  which  Lucullus  brought  the 
cherry,  and  two  lofty  islands  which  contain  the  famous 
cities  of  Trapezus  and  Pityus. 

17.  Beyond  these  places  is  the  Acherusian  cave,  which 
the  natives  call  Mvytntovrtov  ;  and  the  harbour  of  Acone,  and 
several   rivers,  the   Acheron,  the  Arcadius,  the  Iris,   the 
Tibris,  and  near  to  that  the  Parthenius,  all  of  which  pro- 
ceed with  a  rapid  stream  into  the  sea.     Close  to  them  is 
the  Thermodon,  which  rises  in  Mount  Armonius,  and  flows 
through  the  forest  of  Themiscyra,  to  which  necessity  for- 
merly compelled  the  Amazons  to  migrate. 

18.  The  Amazons,  as  maybe  here  explained,  after  having 
ravaged   their   neighbours   by  bloody   inroads,  and   over- 
powered them  by  repeated  defeats,    began   to   entertain 
greater  projects  ;  and  perceiving  their  own  strength  to  be 
superior  to  their  neighbours',  and  being  continually  cove- 
tous of  their  possessions,  they  forced  their  way  through 
many  nations,  ?nd  attacked  the  Athenians.     But  they  were 
routed  in  a  fierce  battle,  and  their  flanks  being  uncovered 
by  cavalry,  they  ail  perished. 

19.  When  their  destruction  became  known,  the  rest,  who 
had  been  left  at  home  as  unwarlike,  were  reduced  to  the 
last  extremities;  and  fearing  the  attacks  of  their  neigh- 
bours, who  would  now  retaliate  on  them,  they  removed 
to  the  more  quiet  district  of  the  Thermodon.     And  after  a 
long  time,  their  posterity  again  becoming  numerous,  re- 
turned in  great  force  to  their  native   regions,  and  became 
in  later  ages  formidable  to  the  people  of  many  nations. 

20.  Not  far  from  hence  is  the  gentle  hill  Carambis,  on 
the  north,  opposite  to  which,  at  a  distance  of  2,500  furlongs, 
is  the   Criu-Metopon,    a  promontory  of   Taurica.     From 
this   spot  the  whole   of  the   sea-coast,  beginning   at   the 
river  Halys,  is  like  the  chord  of  an  arc  fastened  at  both 
ends. 


2DO  AMMIANUS  MARCELLINUS.  [Bit.  XXII.  CH.vin. 

21.  On  the  frontiers  of  this  district  are  the  Dahre,'  the 
fiercest  of  all  warriors ;  and  the  Chalybes,  the  first  people 
who  dug  up  iron,  and   wrought   it   to   the   use   of  man. 
Next  to  them  lies  a  large  plain  occupied  by  the  Byzares, 
the    Saqires,   the  Tibareni,  the  Mosyneeci,  the  Macrones 
and  the  Philyres,  tribes  with  which  we  have  no  inter- 
course. 

22.  And  at  a  small  distance  from  them  are  some  monu- 
ments of  heroes,  where  Sthenelus,  Idmon,  and  Tiphys  are 
buried,  the  first  being  that  one  of  Hercules's  comrades  who 
was  mortally  wounded  in  the  war  with  the  Amazons ;   the 
second  the  soothsayer  of  the  Argonauts ;    the   third   the 
skilful  pilot  of  the  crew. 

2.J.  After  passing  by  the  aforesaid  districts,  we  come  to 
the  cave  Aulon,  and  the  river  of  Callichorus,  which 
derives  its  name  from  the  fact  that  when  Bapchus,  having 
subdued  the  nations  of  India  in  a  three  years'  war,  came 
into  those  countries,  he  chose  the  green  and  shady  banks 
of  this  river  for  the  re-establishment  of  his  ancient  orgies 
and  dances ;  and  some  think  that  such  festivals  as  these 
were  those  called  Trieterica.* 

24.  Next  to  these  frontiers  come  the  famous  cantons  of 
the  Camaritae,    and   the   Phasis,  which  with   its   roaring 
streams   reaches  the   Colchi,  a  race  descended  from  the 
Egyptians ;  among  whom,  besides  other  cities,  is  one  called 
Phasis  from  the  name  of  the  river ;  and  Dioscurias,8  still 
famous,  which  is  said  to  have  been  founded  by  the  Spartans 
Amphitus  and  Cercius,  the  charioteers  of  Castor  and  Pollux ; 
from  whom  the  nation  of  Heniochi  *  derives  its  origin. 

25.  At  a  little  distance  from  these  are  the  Achaai,  who 
after  some  earlier  Trojan  war,  and  not  that  which  began 
about  Helen,  as  some  authors  have  affirmed,  were  driven 
into  Pontus  by  foul  winds,  and,  as  all  around  was  hostile, 
so   that  they   could  nowhere  find  a  settled  abode,  they 
always  stationed  themselves  on  the  tops  of  snowy  moun- 
tains ;  'and,  under  the  pressure  of  an  unfavourable  climate 
they  contracted  a  habit  of  living  on  plunder  in  contempt 

1  So  Virgil  calls  themlndomitique  Dahso.     In  the  Georgics.  also,  he 
speaks  of  the  Chalybes  as  producers  of  iron.   At  Chalybes  nudi  ferruni. 

•  Or  triennial,  from  rptis,  three  ;  and  fros,  a  year. 

*  From  AdffKovpoi,  the  sons  of  Jupiter,  i.  e.,  Castor  and  Pollux. 
4  From  rivtoxos,  a  charioteer. 


A.D.  362.]  THE   TRIBES    OF   THE   CASPIAN.  291 

of  all  danger ;  and  thus  became  the  most  ferocious  of  all 
nations.  Of  the  Cercetae,  who  lie  next  to  them,  nothing  is 
known  worth  speaking  of. 

26.  Behind  them  lie  the  inhabitants  of  the  Cimmerian 
Bosphorus,  living  in  cities  founded  by  the  Milesiani,  the 
chief  of  which  is  Panticapaium,  which  is  on  Ihe  Bog   a 
river  of  great  size,  both  from  its  natural  waters  and  the 
streams  which  fall  into  it. 

27.  Then  for  a  great  distance  the  Amazons  stretch  as 
far  as  the  Caspian  sea ;  occupying  the  banks  of  the  Don, 
which  rises  in  Mount  Caucasus,  and  proceeds  in  a  winding 
course,  separating  Asia  from   Europe,  and  falls  into  the 
swampy  sea  of  Azov. 

28.  Near  to  this  is  the   Rha,    on  the  banks  of  which 
grows  a  vegetable  of  the  same  name,  which  is  useful  as  a 
remedy  for  many  diseases. 

29.  Beyond  the  Don,  taking  the  plain  in  its  width,  lie  the 
Sauromatae,   whose  land  is  watered   by  the  never-failing 
rivers  Maraecus,  Rhombites,  Theophanes,  and  Totordanes. 
And  there  is  at  a  vast  distance  another  nation  also  known 
as  Sauromatas,  touching  the   shore  at  the  point  where  the 
river  Corax  falls  into  the  sea. 

30.  Near  to  this  is  the  sea  of  Azov,  of  great  extent, 
from   the   abundant   sources   of  which   a   great   body   of 
water  pours  through  the  straits  of  Patares,  near  the  Black 
Sea;  on  the  right  are  the  islands  Phanagorus  and  Her- 
monassa,  which  have  been  settled  by  the  industry  of  the 
Greeks. 

31.  Round  the  furthest  extremity  of  this  gulf  dwell 
many  tribes  differing  from  one  another  in  language  and 
habits ;  the  Jaxamatae,  the  Maeotse,  the  Jazyges,  the  Eox- 
olani,  the  Alani,  the  Melanchlasnae,  the  Geloni,  and  the 
Agathyrsi,  whose  land  abounds  in  adamant. 

32.  And  there  are  others  beyond,  who  are  the  most  re- 
mote people  of  the  whole  world.     On  the  left  side  of  this 
gulf  lies  the  Crimea,  full  of  Greek  colonies  ;  the  people  of 
which  are  quiet  and  steady  :  they  practise  agriculture,  and 
live  on  the  produce  of  the  land. 

33.  From  them  the  Tauri,  though  at  no  great  distance, 
are  separated  by  several  kingdoms,  among  which  are  the 
Arinchi,  a  most  savage  tribe,  the  Sinchi,  and  the  Isapaei, 
whose  cruelty,  being  aggravated  by  continual  licence,  is 


292  AMMIANUS   MARCELUXUS.  [BK.  XXII.  CM.  vn. 

the  reason  why  the  sea  is  called  the  Inhospitable,1  from 
which  by  the  rule  of  contrary  it  gets  the  name  of  the 
Euxine,  just  as  the  Greeks  call  a  fool  ivfjOqc,  and  night 
«{/0poVrj,  and  the  furies,  the  EIY«VI'?EC. 

34.  For  they  propitiated  the  gods  with  human  victims, 
sacrificing  strangers  to  Diana,  whom  they  call  Oreiloche, 
and  fix  the  heads  of  the  slain  on  the  walls  of  their  temples, 
as  perpetual  monuments  of  their  deeds. 

'65.  In  this  kingdom  of  the  Tauri  lies  the  uninhabited 
island  of  Leuce,  which  is  consecrated  to  Achilles ;  and  if 
any  ever  visit  it,  as  soon  as  they  have  examined  the  traces 
of  antiquity,  and  the  temple  and  offerings  dedicated  to 
the  hero,  they  return  the  same  evening  to  their  ships,  as 
it  is  said  that  no  one  can  pass  the  night  there  without 
danger  to  hu>  life. 

36.  There  is  water  there,   and  white  birds  like  king- 
fishers, the  origin  of  which,  and  the  battles  of  the  Helle- 
spont, we  will  discuss  at  a  proper  time.     And  there  are 
some  cities  in  this  region  of  which  the  most  eminent  are 
Eupatoria,  Dandaca,  and  Theodosia,   and  several    others 
which  are  free  from  the  wickedness  of  human  sacrifices. 

37.  Up  to  this  we  reckon  that  one  of  the  extremities  of 
the  arc  extends.     We  will  now  follow,  as  order  suggests, 
the  rest  of  the  curve  which  extends  towards  the  north, 
along  the  left  side  of  the  Thracian  Bosphorus,  just  remind- 
ing the  reader  that  while  the  bows  of  all  other  nations 
bend   along  the  whole   of   their  material,   those  of  the 
Scythians  and  Parthians  have  a  straight  rounded  line  in  the 
centre,  from  which  they  curve  their  spreading  horns  so  as 
to  present  the  figure  of  the  waning  moon. 

38.  At  the  very  beginning  then  of  this  district,  where 
the  Rhipaean  mountains  end,   lie   the  Arimpheei,  a  just 
people   known  for  their  quiet  character,  whose  land  is 
watered  by  the  livers  Chronius  arid  Bisula ;  and  next  to 
them  are  the  Massagetse,  the  Alani,  and  the  Sargetae,  and 
several    other  tribes  of  little   note,  of  whom  we  know 
neither  the  names  nor  the  customs. 

39.  Then,  a  long  way  off,  is  the  bay  Carcinites,  and  a 

1  The  old  name  was  "A^u/os,  inhospitable ;  turned  into  tt£ftvos, 
friendly  to  strangers — eu^07jj,  according  to  etymology,  would  mean 
"of  a  good  disposition:''  evQpdvri,  "the  time  when  people  have  happy 
thoughts ;"  LtfLtflSff,  "  deities  of  propitious  might." 


»j>.  362.]  DESCRIPTION    OF   THE   DANUBE.  293 

river  of  the  same  name,  and  a  grove  of  Diana,  frequented 
by  many  votaries  in  those  countries. 

40.  After  that  we  come  to  the  Dnieper  (Borysthenes), 
which  rises  in  the  mountains  of  the  Neuri  ;  a  river  very 
large  at  its  first  beginning,  and  which  increases  by  the 
influx  of  many  other  streams,  till  it  falls  into  the  sea  with 
great  violence ;  on  its  woody  banks  is  the  town  of  Borys- 
thenes, and  Cephalonesus,  and  some  altars  consecrated  to 
Alexander  the  Great  and  Augustus  Csesar. 

41.  Next,  at  a  great  distance,  is  an  island  inhabited  by 
the  Sindi,  a  tribe  of  low-born  persons,  who  upon  the  over- 
throw of  their  lords  and  masters  in  Asia,  took  possession  of 
their  wives  and  properties.    Below  them  is  a  narrow  strip  of 
coast  called  by  the  natives  the  Course  of  Achilles,  having 
been  made  memorable  in  olden  time  by  the  exercises  of  the 
Thessalian  chief,  and  next  to  that  is  the  city  of  Tyros,  a 
colony  of  the  Phoenicians,  watered  by  the  river  Dniester. 

42.  But  in  the  middle  of  the  arc  which  we  have  de- 
scribed as  being   of  an  extended   roundness,  and   which 
takes  an  active  traveller  fifteen  days  to  traverse,  are  the 
European  Alani,  the  Costoboci,  and  the  countless  tribes 
of  the  Scythians,  who  extend  over  territories  which  have 
no  ascertained  limit ;  a  small  pail  of,  whom  live  on  grain. 
But  the  rest  wander  over  vast  deserts,  knowing  neither 
ploughtime  nor  seedtime  ;  but  living  in  cold  and  frost,  and 
feeding   like   great   beasts.     They   place   their   relations, 
their   homes,  and  their  wretched  furniture  on   waggons 
covered    with    bark,   and,    whenever    they   choose,    they 
migrate   without   hindrance,  driving    off   these   waggons 
wherever  they  like. 

43.  \Vhen  one  arrives  at  another  point  of  the  circuit 
where  there  is  a  harbour,  which  bounds  the  figure  of  the 
arc  at  that   extremity,   the  island  Peuce  is  conspicuous, 
inhabited  by  the  Troglodytes,  and  Peuci,  and  other  inferior 
tribes,  and  we  come  also  to  Bistros,  formerly  a  city  of 
great  power,  and  to  Tomi,  Apollonia,  Anchialos,  Odissos, 
and  many  others  on  the  Thracian  coast. 

44.  But  the  Danube,  rising  near  Basle  on  the  borders  of 
the  Tyrol,  extending  over  a  wider  space,  and  receiving 
on  his  way  nearly  sixty  navigable  rivers,  pours  through 
the  Scythian  territory  by  seven  mouths   into  the  Black 
Sea. 


294  AMMIANUS   MARCELLIXUS.  BK.XXU.CH.vm. 

45.  The  first  mouth  (according  to  the  Greek  interpreta- 
tion of  the  names)  is  at  the  island  of  Peuce,  which  we  have 
mentioned;    the  second  is  at  Naracustoma,  the  third  at 
Calonstoma,  the  fourth  at  Pseudostoma.     The  Boreonstoma 
and  the  Sthenostoma,  are  much  smaller,  and  the  seventh  is 
large  and  black-looking  like  a  bog. 

46.  But  the  whole  sea,  all  around,  is  full  of  mists  and 
shoals,  and  is  sweeter  than  seas  in  general,  because  by  the 
evaporation  of  moisture  the  air  is  often  thick  and  dense, 
and  its  waters  are  tempered  by  the  immensity  of  the  rivers 
which  fall   into  it;   and   it  is  full  of  shifting   shallows, 
because  the  number  of  the  streams  which  surround  it  pour 
in  mud  and*lumps  of  soil. 

47.  And  it  is  well  known  that  fish  flock  in  large  shoals 
to  its  most  remote  extremities  that  they  may  spawn  and 
rear  their  young  more  healthfully,  in  consequence  of  the 
salubrity  of  the  water ;  while  the  hollow  caverns,  which 
are  very  numerous  there,  protect  them  from  voracious  mon- 
sters.    For  nothing  of  the  kind  is  ever  seen  in  this  sea, 
except  some  small  dolphins,  and  they  do  no  harm. 

48.  Now    the   portions    of    the  Black   Sea  which   are 
exposed  to  the  north  wind  are  so  thoroughly  frozen  that, 
while  the  rivers,  as  it  is  believed,  cannot  continue  their 
course  beneath  the  ice,  yet  neither  can  the  foot  of  beast  or 
man   proceed  firmly   over   the  treacherous   and  shifting 
ground ;  a  fault  which  is  never  found  in  a  pure  sea,  but 
only  in  one  of  which  the  waters  are  mingled  with  those  of 
rivers.     We  have  digressed  more  than  we  had  intended, 
so  now  let  us  turn  back  to  what  remains  to  be  told. 

49.  Another  circumstance  came  to  raise  Julian's  present 
joy,  one  which  indeed  had  been  long  expected,  but  which 
had  been  deferred  by  all  manner  of  delays.     For  intel- 
ligence was  brought  by  Agilo  and  Jovius,  who  was  after- 
wards quaestor,  that  the  garrison  of  Aquileia,  weary  of  the 
length  of  the  siege,  and  having  heard  of  the  death  of  Con- 
stantius,  had  opened  their  gates  and  come  forth,  delivering 
up  the  authors  of  the  revolt ;  and  that,  after  they  had  been 
burnt  alive,  as  has  been  related,  the  rest  had  obtained 
pardon  for  their  offences. 


A.D  362.]  ELATION   OF   JULIAN.  295 


IX. 

§  1.  BUT  Julian,  elated  at  his  prosperity,  began  to  aspire  to 
greatness  beyond  what  is  granted  to  man :  amid  continual 
dangers  he  had  learnt  by  experience  that  propitious 
fortune  held  out  to  him,  thus  peacefully  governing  the 
Roman  world,  a  cornucopia  as  it  were  of  human  blessings 
and  all  kinds  of  glory  and  success :  adding  this  also  to  his 
former  titles  of  victory,  that  while  he  alone  held  the  reins 
of  empire  he  was  neither  disturbed  by  intestine  commo- 
tions, nor  did  any  barbarians  venture  to  cross  his  frontiers , 
but  all  nations,  eager  at  all  times  to  find  fault  with  what  is 
past,  as  mischievous  and  unjust,  were  with  marvellous 
unanimity  agreed  in  his  praises. 

2.  Having  therefore  arranged  with  profound  delibera- 
tion all  the  matters  which  were  required  either  by  the  cir- 
cumstances  of    the   state   or    by  the   time,   and   having 
encouraged   the  soldiers   by  repeated  harangues   and  by 
adequate  pay  to  be  active  in  accomplishing  all  that  was  to 
be  done,  Julian,  being  in  great  favour  with  all  men,  set 
out  for  Antioch,    leaving  Constantinople,  which   he   had 
greatly  strengthened  and  enriched ;  for  he  had  been  born 
there,  and  loved  and  protected  it  as  his  native  city. 

3.  Then  crossing  the  straits,  and  passing  by  Chalcedon 
and  Libyssa,  where  Hannibal  the  Carthaginian  is  buried, 
he  came  to  Nicomedia ;  a  city  of  ancient  renown,  and  so- 
adorned   at  the  great  expense  of  former   emperors,  that 
from   the  multitude  of  its   public  and   private  buildings 
good  judges  look  on  it  as  a  quarter,  as  it  were,   of  the 
eternal  city. 

4.  When  Julian  behold  its  walls  buried  in  miserable 
ashes,  he  showed  the  anguish  of  his  mind,  by  silent  tears, 
and  went  slowly  on  towards  the  palace ;  especially  lament- 
ing its  misfortunes,  because  the  senators  who  came  out  to 
meet  him  were  in  poor-looking  condition,  as  well  as  ihe 
people  who  had  formerly  been  most  prosperous ;  some  of 
them  he  recognized  having  been  brought  up  there  by  the 
bishop  Eusebius,  of  whom  he  was  a  distant  relation. 

o.  Having  here  made  many  arrangements  for  repairing 
the  damage  done  by  an  earthquake,  he  passed  through 
Kisaaa  to  the  frontier  of  Gallogrsecia,  and  then  turning  to 


296  AMMIASUS   MARCELLINUS.  [flu.  XXII.  CH.  ix. 

the  right,  he  went  to  Pessinus,  to  see  the  ancient  lemple  of 
Cybele ;  from  which  town  in  the  second  Punic  war,  in  ac- 
cordance with  the  warning  of  the  Sibylline  verses,  the  image 
of  the  goddess  was  removed  to  Eome  by  Scipio  Nasica. 

6.  Of  its  arrival  in  Italy,  with  many  other  matters  con- 
nected with  it,  we  made  mention  in  recording  the  acts  of 
the  emperor  Commodus ;  but  as  to  what  the  reason  was 
for  the  town  receiving  this  name  writers  differ. 

7.  For  some  have  declared  that  the  city  was  so  called 
dir 6  TOV  ntotiv,  from  falling ;  inventing  a  tale  that  the  statue 
fell  from  heaven ;  others  affirm  that  llus,  the  son  of  Tros, 
king  of  Dardania,  gave  the  place  this  name,  which  Theo- 
pompus  says  it  received  not  from  this,  but  from  Midas, 
formerly  a  most  powerful  king  of  Phrygia. 

8.  Accordingly,  having  paid  his  worship  to  the  goddess, 
and  propitiated  her  with  sacrifices  and  prayers,  he  returned 
to  Ancyra ;  and  as  he  was  proceeding  on  this  way  from 
thence  he  was  disturbed  by  a  multitude ;  some  violently- 
demanding  the  restoration  of  what  had  been  taken  from 
them,  others   complaining   that   they  had   been   unjustly 
attached  to  different  courts ;  some,  regardless  of  the  risk 
they  ran,  tried  to  enrage  him  against  their  adversaries,  by 
charging  them  with  treason. 

9.  But  he,  a  sterner  judge  than  Cassius  or  Lycurgus, 
weighed  the  charges  with  justice,  and  gave  each  his  due ; 
never  being  swayed    from    the   truth,   but  very  severe 
to  calumniators,  whom  he  hated,  because  he  himself,  while 
still  a  private  individual  and  of  low  estate,  had  often 
experienced  the  petulant  frenzy  of  many  in  a  way  which 
placed  him  in  great  danger. 

10.  And  though  there  are  many  other  examples  of  his 
patience  in  such  matters,  it  will  suffice  to  relate  one  here. 
A  certain  man  laid  an  information  against  his  enemy,  with 
whom  he  had  a  most  bitter  quarrel,  affirming  that  he  had 
been  guilty  of  outrage  and  sedition ;  and  when  the  emperor 
concealed  his  own  opinion,  he  renewed  the  charge  for 
several  days,  and  when  at  last  he  was  asked  who  the  man 
was  whom  he  was  accusing,   he  replied,  a  rich   citizen. 
"When  the  emperor  heard  this  he  smiled  and  said,  "  What 
proof  led  you  to  the  discovery  of  this  conduct  of  his  ?"     He 
replied,  "  The  man  has  had  made  for  himself  a  purple  silk 
robe." 


4J).362.]  VISIT    TO   ANTIOCH.  297 

11.  And  on  this,  being  ordered  to  depart  in  silence,  and 
though  unpunished  as  a  low  fellow  who  was  accusing  one 
of  his  own  class  of  too  difficult  an  enterprise  to  be  believed, 
he  nevertheless  insisted  on  the  truth  of  the  accusation,  till 
Julian,  being   wearied   by   his    pertinacity,   said    to   the 
treasurer,  whom  he  saw  near  him,  "  Bid  them  give  this 
dangerous   chatterer  some   purple   shoes  to   take  to  his 
enemy,  who,  as  he  gives  me  to  understood,  has  made  him- 
self a  robe  of  that  colour ;  that  so  he  may  know  how  little 
a  worthless  piece  of  cloth  can  help  a  man,  without  the 
greatest  strength." 

12.  But  as   such  conduct  as  this  is  praiseworthy  and 
deserving  the  imitation  of  virtuous  rulers,  so  it  was  a  sad 
thing  and  deserving  of  censure,  that  in  his  time  it  was 
very  hard  for  any  one  who  was  accused  by  any  magistrate 
to  obtain  justice,  however  fortified  he  might  be  by  pri- 
vileges, or  the  number  of  his  campaigns,  or  by  a  host  of 
friends.     So  that  many  persons  being  alarmed  bought  off 
all  such  annoyances  by  secret  bribes. 

13.  Therefore,  when  after  a  long  journey  he  had  reached 
Pylse,  a  place  on  the  frontiers  of  Cappadocia  and  Cilicia, 
he  received   the   ruler  of  the   province,  Celsus,  already 
known  to  him  by  his  Attic  studies,  with  a  kiss,  and  taking 
him  up  into  his  chariot  conducted  him   with  him   into 
Tarsus. 

14.  From  hence,  desiring  to  see  Antioch,  the  splendid 
metropolis  of  the  East,  he  went  thither  by  the  usual  stages, 
and  when  he  came  near  the  city  he  was  received  as  if  he 
had  been  a  god,  with  public  prayers,  so  that  he  marvelled 
at  the  voices  of  the  vast  multitude,  who  cried  out  that  he 
had  come  to  shine  like  a  star  on  the  Eastern  regions. 

15.  It  happened  that  just  at  that  time,  the  annual  period 
for  the  celebration  of  the  festival  of  Adonis,  according  to 
the  old  fashion,  came  round  ;  the  story  being,  as  the  poets 
relate,  that  Adonis  had  been  loved  by  Venus,  and  slain  by 
a  boar's  tusk,  which  is  an  emblem  of  the  fruits   of  the 
earth  being  cut  down  in  their  prime.     And  it  appeared  a 
sad  thing  that  when  the  emperor  was  now  for  the  first 
time  making  his  entrance  into  a  splendid  city,  the  abode 
of  princes,  wailing  lamentations  and  sounds  of  mourning 
should  be  heard  in  every  direction. 

16.  And  here  was  seen  a  proof  of  his  gentle  disposition, 


298  AMMIANUS   MA.RCELL1XUS.  [BK.  XXII.  CH.  x. 

shown  indeed  in  a  trifling,  but  very  remarkable  instance. 
He  bad  long  hated  a  man  named  Thalassius,  an  officer  in 
one  of  the  law  courts,  as  having  been  concerned  in  plots 
against  his  brother  Gallus.  He  prohibited  him  from  pay- 
ing his  salutations  to  him  and  presenting  himself  among  the 
men  of  rank  ;  which  encouraged  his  enemies  against  whom 
he  had  actions  in  the  courts  of  law,  the  next  day,  when  a 
great  crowd  was  collected  in  the  presence  of  the  emperor, 
to  cry  out,  "  Thalassius,  the  enemy  of  your  clemency,  has 
violently  deprived  us  of  our  rights  ;"  and  Julian,  thinking 
that  this  was  an  opportunity  for  crushing  him,  replied, 
"  I  acknowledge  that  I  am  justly  offended  with  the  man 
whom  you  mention,  and  so  you  ought  to  keep  silence  till 
he  has  made  satisfaction  to  me  who  am  his  principal 
enemy."  And  he  commanded  the  prefect  who  was  sitting 
by  him  not  to  hear  their  business  till  he  himself  was 
recognized  by  Thalassius,  which  happened  soon  afterwards. 

X. 

§  1.  WHILE  wintering  at  Antioch,  according  to  his  wish,  he 
yielded  to  none  of  the  allurements  of  pleasure  in  which 
all  Syria  abounds ;  but  under  pretence  of  repose,  he 
devoted  himself  to  judicial  affairs,  which  are  not  less  diffi- 
cult than  those  of  war,  and  in  which  he  expended  exceed- 
ing care,  showing  exquisite  willingness  to  receive  informa- 
tion, and  carefully  balancing  how  to  assign  to  every  one 
his  due.  And  by  his  just  sentence  the  wicked  were 
chastised  with  moderate  punishments,  and  the  innocent 
were  maintained  in  the  undiminished  possession  of  their 
fortunes. 

2.  And   although   in  the  discussion  of  causes  he   was 
often  unreasonable,  asking  at  unsuitable   times   to   what 
religion  each  of  the  litigants  adhered,   yet  none   of  his 
decisions  were  found  inconsistent  with  equity,  nor  could 
he  ever  be  accused,  either  from  considerations  of  religion 
or  of  anything  else,  of  having  deviated  from  the  strict 
path  of  justice. 

3.  For  that  is  a  desirable  and  right  judgment  which  pro- 
ceeds from  repeated  examinations  of  what  is  just  and  un- 
just.    Julian  feared  anything  which  might  lead  him  away 
from  such,  as  a  sailor  fears  dangerous  rocks ;  and  he  was 


«..D.  362.1  JULIAN'S  CLEMENCY.  299 

the  better  able  to  attain  to  correctness,  because,  knowing 
the  levity  of  his  own  impetuous  disposition,  he  used  to 
permit  the  prefects  and  his  chosen  counsellors  to  check, 
by  timely  admonition,  his  own  impulses  when  they  were 
inclined  to  stray ;  and  he  continually  showed  that  he  was 
vexed  if  he  committed  errors,  and  was  desirous  of  being 
corrected. 

4.  And  when  the  advocates  in  some  actions  were  o»ce 
applauding  him  greatly  as  one  who  had  attained  to  per- 
fect wisdom,  he  is  said  to  have  exclaimed   with  much 
emotion,  "  I  was  glad  and  made  it  my  pride  to  be  praised 
by  those  whom  I  knew  to  be  competent  to  find  fault  with 
me,  if  I  had  said  or  done  anything  wrong." 

5.  But  it  will  be  sufficient  out  of  the  many  instances  of 
his  clemency  which  he  afforded  in  judging  causes  to  men- 
tion this  one,  which  is  not  irrelevant  to  our  subject  or  in- 
significant.    A  certain  woman  being  brought  before  the 
court,  saw  that  her  adversary,  formerly  one  of  the  officers  of 
the  palace,  but  who  had  been  displaced,  was  now,  contrary 
to  her  expectation,  re-established  and  girt  in  his  official 
dress,  complained  in   a  violent  manner  of  this    circum- 
stance ;  and  the  emperor  replied,  "  Proceed,  0  woman,  if 
you  think  that  you  have  been  injured  in  any  respect ;  he 
is  girt  as  you  see  in  order  to  go  more  quickly  through  the 
mire  ;  your  cause  will  not  suffer  from  it." 

6.  And  these  and  similar  actions  led  to  the  belief,  as  he 
was  constantly  saying,  that  that   ancient    justice   which 
Aratus  states  to  have  fled  to  heaven  in  disgust  at  the  vices 
of  mankind,  had  returned  to  earth ;  only  that  sometimes 
he  acted  according  to  his  own  will  rather  than  according 
to  law,  making  mistakes  which  somewhat  darkened  the 
glorious  course  of  his  renown. 

7.  After  many  trials  he  corrected  numerous  abuses  in 
the  laws,  cutting  away  circuitous  proceedings,  and  mak- 
ing the  enactments  show  more  plainly  what  they  com- 
manded or  forbade.     But  his  forbidding  masters  of  rhetoric 
and  grammar  to  instruct  Christians  was  a  cruel  action,  and 
one  deserving  to  be  buried  in  everlasting  silence. 


300  AMMIANUS   MARCELL1NUS.  [Bit.  XXU  CH.  xi 


XI. 

§  1.  AT  this  time,  Gaudentius  the  secretary,  whom  I  have 
mentioned  above  as  having  been  sent  by  Constantius  to 
oppose  Julian  in  Africa,  and  a  man  of  the  name  of  Julian, 
who  had  been  a  deputy  governor,  and  who  was  an  intem- 
perate partisan  of  the  late  emperor,  were  brought  back  as 
prisoners,  and  put  to  death. 

2.  And  at  the  same  time,  Artemius,  who  had  been  Duke 
of  Egypt,  and  against  whom  the  citizens  of  Alexandria 
brought  a  great  mass  of  heavy  accusations,  was  also  put  to 
death,  and  the  son  of  Marcellus  too,  who  had  been  com- 
mander both  of  the  infantry  and  of  the  cavalry,  was  pub- 
licly executed  as  one  who  had  aspired  to  the  empire  by 
force  of  arms.     Romanus,  too,  and  Vincentius,  the  tribunes 
of  the  first  and  second   battalion  of  the  Scutarii,  being 
convicted  of   aiming  at  things  beyond  their  due,  were 
banished. 

3.  And  after  a  short  time,  when  the  death  of  Artemius 
was  known,  the  citizens  of  Alexandria  who  had  feared  his 
return,  lest,  as  he  threatened,  he  should  come  back  among 
them  with  power,  and  avenge  himself  on  many  of  them  for 
the  offences  which  he  had  received,  now  turned  all  their 
anger  against  George,  the  bishop,  by  whom  they  had,  so 
to  say,  been  often  attacked  with  poisonous  bites. 

4.  George  having  been  born  in  a  fuller's  shop,  as  was 
reported,  in  Epiphania,  a  town  of  Cilicia,  and  having  caused 
the  ruin  of  many  individuals,  was,  contrary  both  to  his  own 
interest  and  to  that  of  the  commonwealth,  ordained  bishop 
of  Alexandria,  a  city  which  from  its  own  impulses,  and 
without    any  special    cause,   is  continually  agitated   by 
seditious  tumults,  as  the  oracles  also  show. 

5.  Men   of  this   irritable  disposition  were   readily  in- 
censed by  George,  who  accused  numbers  to  the  willing 
ears  of  Constantius,  as  being  opposed  to  his  authority  ;  and, 
forgetting  his  profession,  which  ought  to  give  no  counsel 
but  what  is  just  and  merciful,  he  adopted  all  the  wicked 
acts  of  informers. 

6.  And  among  other  things  he  was  reported  to  have 
maliciously  informed  Constantius  that  in  that  city  all   the 
edifices  which  had  been  built  by  Alexander,  its  founder, 


A.D.  36J.]  DEATH    OF    GEORGE.  301 

at  vast  public  expense,  ought  properly  to  be  a  source  of 
emolument  to  the  treasury. 

7.  To  these  wicked  suggestions  he  added  this  also,  which 
soon  afterwards  led  to  his  destruction.     As  he  was  return- 
ing from  court,  and  passing  by  the  superb  temple  of  the 
Genius,  escorted  by  a  large  train,  as  was  his  custom,  he 
turned  his  eyes  towards  the  temple,  and  said,  "  How  long 
shall  this  sepulchre  stand  ?"     And  the  multitude,  hearing 
this,  was  thunderstruck,  and  fearing  that  he  would  seek 
to  destroy  this  also,  laboured  to  the  utmost  of  their  power 
to  effect  his  ruin  by  secret  plots. 

8.  When  suddenly  there  came  the  joyful  news  that  Arte- 
mius  was  dead ;  on  which  all  the  populace,  triumphing  with 
unexpected  joy,  gnashed  their  teeth,  and  with  horrid  ont- 
cries  set  upon  George,  trampling  upon  him  and  kicking 
him,  and  tearing  him  to  pieces  with  every  kind  of  muti- 
lation. 

9.  With  him  also,  Dracontius,  the  master  of  the  mint, 
and  a  count  named   Diodorus,   were   put  to  death,  and 
dragged  with  ropes  tied  to  their  legs  through  the  street ; 
the  one  because  he  had  overthrown  the  altar  lately  set  up 
in  the  mint,  of  which  he  was  governor  ;  the  other  because 
while  superintending  the  building  of  a  church,  he  insolently 
cut  off  the  curls  of  the  boys,  thinking  thus  to  affect  the 
worship  of  the  gods. 

10.  But  the  savage  populace  were  not  content  with  this ; 
but  having  mutilated  their  bodies,  put  them  on  camels 
and  conveyed  them  to  the  shore,  where  they  burnt  them 
and  threw  the  ashes  into  the  sea  ;    fearing,  as  they  ex- 
claimed, lest  their  remains  should  be  collected  and  a  temple 
raised  over  them,  as  the  relics  of  men  who,  being  urged 
to  forsake  their  religion,  had  preferred  to  endure  torturing 
punishments  even  to  a  glorious  death,  and  so,  by  keeping 
their  faith  inviolate,  earning  the  appellation  of  martyrs. 
In  truth  the  wretched  men  who  underwent   such  cruel 
punishment  might  have  been  protected  by  the  aid  of  the 
Christians,  if  both  parties  had  not  been  equally  exasperated 
by  hatred  of  George. 

11.  When  this  event  reached  the   emperor's   ears,   he 
roused  himself  to  avenge  the  impious   deed ;    but   when 
about  to  inflict  the  extremity  of  punishment  on  the  guilt}', 
he  was  appeased  by  the  intercession  of  those  about  himk 


302  AMMIANUS   MARCELLUsUS.  [BK.  XXII.  CH  XH 

and  contented  himself  with  issuing  an  edict  in  which  he 
condemned  the  crime  which  had  been  committed  in  stern 
language,  and  threatening  all  with  the  severest  vengeance 
if  anything  should  be  attempted  for  the  future  contrary  to 
the  principles  of  justice  and  law. 

XII. 

§  1.  IN  the  mean  time,  while  preparing  theexpedition  against 
the  Persians,  which  he  had  long  been  meditating  with  all 
the  vigour  of  his  mind,  he  resolved  firmly  to  avenge  their 
past  victories ;  hearing  from  others,  and  knowing  by  his 
own  experience,  that  for  nearly  sixty  years  that  most  fero- 
cious people  had  stamped  upon  the  East  bloody  records  of 
massacre  and  ravage,  many  of  our  armies  having  often  been 
entirely  destroyed  by  them. 

2.  And  he  was  inflamed  with  a  desire  for  the  war  on  two 
grounds  :  first,  because  he  was  weary  of  peace,  and  dream- 
ing always  of  trumpets  and  battles  ;  and  secondly,  because, 
having  been  in  his  youth  exposed  to  the  attacks  of  savage 
nations,  the  wishes  of  whose  kings  and  princes  were  already 
turning  against  us,  and  whom,  as  was  believed,  it  would  be 
easier  to  conquer  than  to  reduce  to  the  condition  of  sup- 
pliants, he  was  eager  to  add  to  his  other  glories  the  sur- 
name of  Parthicus. 

3.  But  when  his  inactive  and  malicious  detractors  saw 
that  these  preparations  were  being  pressed  forward  with 
great  speed  and  energy,  they  cried  out  that  it  was  an  un- 
worthy and  shameful  thing  for  such  unseasonable  troubles 
to  be  caused  by  the  change  of  a  single  prince,  and  laboured 
with  all  their  zeal  to  postpone  the  campaign ;  and  they 
were  in  the  habit  of  saying,  in  the  presence  of  those  whom 
they  thought  likely  to  report  their  words  to  the  emperor, 
that,  unless  he  conducted  himself  with  moderation  during 
his  excess  of  prosperity,  he,  like  an  over-luxuriant  crop, 
would  soon  be  destroyed  by  his  own  fertility. 

4.  And   they  were  continually  propagating   sayings  of 
this  kind,  barking  in  vain  at  the  inflexible  prince  with 
secret  attacks,  as  the  Pygmies  or  the  clown  Thiodamas  of 
Lindus  assailed  Hercules. 

5.  But  he,  as  more  magnanimous,  allowed  no  delay  to 
take  place,  nor  any  diminution  in  the  magnitude  of  Lis 


A.D.  362.]  PROCEEDINGS    OF    JULIAN;  303 

expedition,  but  devoted  the  most  energetic  care  to  prepare 
everything  suitable  for  such  an  enterprise. 

6.  He  offered  repeated  victims  on  the  altars  of  the  gods  ; 
sometimes  sacrificing   one  hundred   bulls,    and   countless 
flocks  of  animals  of  all  kinds,  and  white  birds,  which  he 
sought  for  everywhere  by  land  and  sea  ;  so  that  every  day 
individual  soldiers  who  had  stuffed  themselves  like  boors 
with  too  much  meat,  or  who  were  senseless  from  the  eager- 
ness with  which   they  had   drunk,  were   placed   on   the 
shoulders  of  passers-by,  and  carried  to  their  homes  through 
the   streets   from   the    public    temples    where    they   had 
indulged  in  feasts  which  deserved  punishment  rather  than 
indulgence.      Especially   the   Petulantes   and   the   Celtic 
legion,  whose  audacity  at  this  time  had  increased  to  a  mar- 
vellous degree. 

7.  And  rites  and  ceremonies  were  marvellously  multi- 
plied with  a  vastness  of  expense  hitherto  unprecedented ; 
and,  as  it  was  now  allowed  without  hindrance,   every  one 
professed  himself  skilful  in  divination,  and  all,  whether 
illiterate  or  learned,  without  any  limit  or  any  prescribed 
order,  were  permitted  to  consult  the  oracles,  and  to  inspect 
the  entrails  of  victims  ;  and  omens  from  the  voice  of  birds, 
and  every  kind  of  sign  of  the  future,  was  sought  for  with  an 
ostentatious  variety  of  proceeding. 

8.  And  while  this  was  going  on,  as  if  it  were  a  time  of 
profound  peace,  Julian,  being  curious  in  all  such  branches 
of  learning,  entered  on  a  new  path  of  divination.     He  pro- 
posed to  reopen  the  prophetic  springs  of  the  fountain  of 
Castalia,  which  Hadrian  was  said  to  have  blocked  up  with 
a  huge  mass   of  stones,  fearing   lest,  as  he   himself  had 
attained   the  sovereignty  through  obedience  to   the  pre- 
dictions  of  these   waters,    others   might   leai'n   a   similar 
lesson  ;  and  Julian  immediately  ordered  the  bodies  which 
had  been  buried  around  it  to  be  removed  with  the  same 
ceremonies  as  those  with  which  the  Athenians  had  purified 
the  island  of  Delos. 

XIJI. 

§  1.  ABOUT  the  same  time,  on  the  22nd  of  October,  the 
splendid  temple  of  Apollo,  at  Daphne,  which  that  furious 
and  cruel  king  Antiochus  Epiphanes  had  built  with  the 


304  AMMIANUS   MARCELLINU?.          [B*.  XXII.  CH.  xr?, 

statue  of  the  god,  equal  in  size  to  that  of  Olympian  Jupiter, 
was  suddenly  burnt  down. 

2.  This  terrible   accident  inflamed  the   emperor  with 
such   anger,    that   he   instantly   ordered  investigations  of 
unprecedented  severity  to  be   instituted,   and   the   chief 
church  of  Antioch  to  be  shut  up.     For  he  suspected  that 
the  Christians  had  done  it  out  of  envy,  not  being  able  to 
bear  the  sight  of  the  magnificent  colonnade  which  sur- 
rounded the  temple. 

3.  But  it  was  reported,  though  the  rumour  was  most 
vague,  that  the  temple  had  been  burnt  by  means  of  Ascle- 
piades  the  philosopher,  of  whom  we  have  made  mention 
while  relating  the  actions  of  Magnentius.     He  is  said  to 
have  come  to  the  suburb  in  which  the  temple  stood  to  pay 
a  visit  to  Julian,  and  being  accustomed  to  carry  with  him 
wherever  he  went  a  small  silver  statue  of  the  Heavenly 
Venus,  he  placed  it  at  the  feet  of  the  image  of  Apollo,  and 
then,  according  to  his  custom,  having  lighted  wax  tapers 
in  front  of  it,  he  went  away.     At  midnight,  when  no  one 
was  there  to  give  any  assistance,  some  sparks  flying  about 
stuck  to  the  aged  timbers ;  and  from  that  dry  fuel  a  fire 
was  kindled  which  burnt  everything  it  could   reach,  how- 
ever separated  from  it  by  the  height  of  the  building. 

4.  The  same  year  also,  just  as  winter  was  approaching, 
there  was  a  fearful  scarcity  of  water,  so  that  some  rivers 
were   dried    up,   and   fountains   too,    which   had   hitherto 
abounded  with  copious  springs.     But  afterwards  they  all 
were  fully  restored. 

5.  And  on  the  second  of  December,  as  evening  was  coming 
on,  all  that  remained  of  Nicomedia  was  destroyed  by  an 
earthquake,  and  no  small  portion  of  Nicsea. 

XIV. 

§  1.  THK.SE  events  caused  great  concern  to  the  emperor ; 
but  still  ho  did  not  neglect  other  affairs  of  urgency,  till 
the  time  of  entering  on  his  intended  campaign  should  arrive. 
But  in  the  midst  of  his  important  and  serious  concerns, 
it  appeared  superfluous  that,  without  any  plausible  reason, 
and  out  of  a  mere  thirst  for  popularity,  he  took  measures 
for  producing  cheapness  ;  a  thing  which  often  proves  con- 
trary to  expectation  and  produces  scarcity  and  famine. 


A.D.  362.1  THE   M1SOPOGON.  305 

2.  And  when  the  magistrates  of  Antioch  plainly  proved 
to  him  that  his  orders  could  not  be  executed,  he  would  not 
depart  from  his  purpose,  being  as  obstinate  as  his  brother 
Gallus,  but  not  bloodthirsty.     On  which  account,  becoming 
furious  against  them,  as  slanderous  and  obstinate,  he  com- 
posed a  volume  of    invectives  which  he   called    "  The 
Antiochean,"  or    "  Misopogon,"  enumerating   in   a   bitter 
spirit   all   the  vices  of  the   city,   and   adding  others   be- 
yond the  truth  ;  and  when  on  this  he  found  that  many 
witticisms  were  uttered  at  his  expense,  he  felt  compelled 
to  conceal  his  feelings  for  a  time ;  but  was  full  of  internal 
rage. 

3.  For  he   was   ridiculed   as  a   Cercops;1    again,    as   a 
dwarf  spreading  out  his  narrow  shoulders,  wearing  a  beard 
like  that  of  a  goat,  and  taking  huge  strides,  as  if  he  had 
been  the  brother  of  Otus  and  Ephialtes,8  whose   height 
Horace  speaks  of  as  enormous.     At  another  time  he  was 
"  the  victim-killer,"  instead  of  the  worshipper,  in  allusion 
to  the  numbers  of  his  victims;  and  this  piece  of  ridicule 
was  seasonable  and  deserved,  as  once  out  of  ostentation 
he  was  fond  of  carrying  the  sacred  vessels  before  the  priests, 
attended  by   a  train  of  girls.      And   although  these  and 
similar  jests   made   him  very   indignant,   he  nevertheless 
kept  silence,  and  concealed  his  emotions,  and  continued  to 
celebrate  the  solemn  festivals. 

4.  At  last,  on   the   day  appointed   for  the  holiday,  he 
ascended  Mount  Casius,   a  mountain  covered  with  trees, 
very  lofty,  and  of  a  round  form  ;  from  which  at  the  second 
crowing  of  the  cock  *  we  can  see  the  sun  rise.     And  while 
he  was  sacrificing  to  Jupiter,   on  a  sudden  he  perceived 
some  one  lying  on  the  ground,  who,  with  the  voice  of  a 
suppliant,  implored  pardon  and  his  life ;  and  when  Julian 
asked  him  who  he  was,  he  replied,  that  he  was  Theodotus, 
formerly  the  chief  magistrate  of  Hierapolis,  who,  when 
Constantius  quitted  that  city,  had  escorted  him  with  other 
men  of  rank  on  his  way  :  basely  flattering  him  as  sure  to 
be  victorious ;  and   he   had  entreated   him  with   feigned 
tears  and  lamentations  to  send  them  the  head  of  Julian  as 

1  A  people  living  in  one  of  the  islands  near  Sicily,  and  changed  by 
Jnpiter  as  related,  Ov.  Met.  xiv.,  into  monkeys. 
3  Two  of  the  chief  giants,  Horn.  Od.  xi. 
•  A  time  spoken  ol  by  Pliny  as  before  the  fourth  watch. 

X 


306  AMMIANUS   MARCELLINUS.          [B*.  XXII.  CH.  xrt 

that  of  an  ungrateful  rebel,  in  the  same  way  as  he  recol- 
lected the  head  of  Magnentius  had  been  exhibited. 

5.  When  Julian  heard  this,  he  said,  "  I  have  heard  of 
this  before,  from  the  relation  of  several  persons.    But  go 
thou  home  in  security,  being  relieved  of  all  fear  by  the 
mercy  of  the  emperor,  who,  like  a  wise  man.  has  resolved 
to  diminish  the  number  of  his  enemies,  and  is  eager  to  in- 
crease that  of  his  friends." 

6.  When  he  departed,   having  fully  accomplished  the 
sacrifices,  letters  were  brought  to  him  from  the  governor 
of  Egypt,  who  informed  him  that  after  a  long  time  he  had 
succeeded  in  finding  a  bull  Apis,  which  he  had  been  seek- 
ing with  great  labour,  a  circumstance  which,  in  the  opinion 
of  the  inhabitants  of  those  regions,  indicates   prosperity, 
abundant  crops,  and  several  other  kinds  of  good  fortune. 

7.  On  this  subject  it  seems  desirable  to  say  a  few  words. 
Among  the  animals  which  have  been  consecrated  by  the 
reverence  of  the  ancients,   Mnevis  and  Apis  are  the  most 
eminent.     Mnevis,   concerning  whom  there  is  nothing  re- 
markable related,  is  consecrated  to  the  sun,  Apis  to  the 
moon.      But   the   bull  Apis   is  distinguished  by   several 
natural  marks  ;  and  especially  by  a  crescent-shaped  figure, 
like  that  of  a  new  moon,  on  his  right  side.     After  living 
his  appointed  time,  he  is  drowned  in  the  sacred  fountain 
(for  he  is  not  allowed  to  live  beyond  the  time  fixed  by  the 
sacred  authority  of  their  mystical  books  :  nor  is  a  cow 
brought  to  him  more  than  once  a  year,  who  also  must  be 
distinguished   with   particular    marks) :    then   another   is 
sought  amid  great  public  mourning;  and  if  one   can  be 
found  distinguished  by  all  the  required  marks,  he  is  led  to 
Memphis,  a  city  of  great  renown,  and  especially  celebrated 
for  the  patronage  of  the  god  ^Esculapius. 

8.  And  after  he  has  been  led  into  the  city  by  one  hundred 
priests,  and  conducted  into  a  chamber,  he  is  looked  upon  as 
consecrated,  and  is  said  to  point  out  by  evident  means  the 
signs  of  future  events.     Some  also  of  those  who  come  to 
him  he  repels  by  unfavourable  signs ;  as  it  is  reported  he 
formally  rejected  Caesar  Germauicus  when  he  offered  him 
food ;  thus  portending  what  shortly  happened. 


A.D.  :«%:  THE  AFFAIRS   OF   EGYPT.  307 


XV. 

§  1.  LET  us  then,  since  the  occasion  seems  to  require  it, 
touch  briefly  on  the  affairs  of  Egypt,  of  which  we  have 
already  made  some  mention  in  our  account  of  the  emperors 
Hadrian  and  Severus,  where  we  related  several  things  which 
we  had  seen.1 

2.  The   Egyptian   is   the  most  ancient  of  all  nations, 
except  indeed  that  its  superior  antiquity  is  contested  by 
the  Scythians  :  their  country  is  bounded  on  the  south  *  by 
the    greater    Syrtes,    Cape    Eas,    and    Cape   Borion,    the 
Garamantes,  and  other  nations ;  on  the  east,  by  Elephan- 
line,   and  Meroe,   cities  of  the  Ethiopians,  the  Catadupi, 
the  Red  Sea,  and  the  Scenite  Arabs,  whom  we  now  call 
Saracens.      On  the  north   it  joins  a   vast  track  of  land, 
where  Asia  and  the  Syrian  provinces  begin  ;  on  the  west 
it  is  bounded  by  the  Sea  of  Issus,  which  some  call  the  Par- 
thenian  Sea. 

3.  We  will  also  say  a  few  words  concerning  that  most 
useful  of  all   rivers,    the   Nile,   which    Homer   calls   the 
.iEgyptus ;  and  after  that  we  will  enumerate  other  things 
worthy  of  admiration  in  these  regions. 

4.  The  sources  of  the  Nile,  in  my  opinion,  will  be  as 
unknown  to  posterity  as  they  are  now.     But  since  poets, 
who  relate   fully,  and   geographers  who  differ   from   one 
another,  give  various  accounts  of  this  hidden  matter,  I  will 
in  a  few  words  set  forth  such  of  their  opinions  as  seem 
to  me  to  border  on  the  truth. 

5.  Some  natural  philosophers  affirm  that  in  the  districts 
beneath  the  North  Pole,  when  the  severe  winters  bind  up 
everything,  the  vast  masses  of  snow  congeal  ;  and  after- 
wards, melted  by  the  warmth  of  the  summer,  they  make 
the  clouds  heavy  with  liquid  moisture,  which,  being  driven 
to  the  south  by  the  Etesian  winds,  and  dissolved  into  rain 

1  These  books  are  lost. 

*  We  must  remark  here  Ammiarras's  complete  ignorance  of  compara- 
tive geography  and  the  bearings  of  the  different  countries  of  which  he 
speaks.  The  Syrtes  and  Cape  Ras  are  due  west,  not  south  of  Egypt. 
1  lie  Ethiopians  and  Catadupi  are  on  the  north  ;  while  the  Arabs,  whom 
he  places  in  the  same  line,  are  on  the  south-east.  The  Sea  of  Lssus,  on 
the  Levant,  which  he  places  on  the  west,  is  on  the  north. 


308  AMM1ANUS   MAUCKLUXUS.  [B«.  XXII.  Cu.  XT 

hv  the  heat  of  the  sun,  furnish  abundant  increase  to  the 
NUe. 

6.  Some,  again,  assert  that  the  inundations  of  the  river 
at  fixed  times  are  caused  by  the  rains  in  Ethiopia,  which 
tall  in  great   abundance  in   that  country  during  the  hot 
season ;  but  both  these  theories  seem  inconsistent  with  the 
truth — for  rain  never  falls  in  Ethiopia,  or  at  least  only  at 
rare  intervals. 

7.  A  more  common  opinion  is,  that  during  the  continu- 
ance of  the  wind  from  the  north,  called  the  Precursor,  and 
of  the  Etesian  gales,  which  last  forty-five  days  without 
interruption,   they  diive  back   the   stream  and  check  its 
speed,  so  that  it  becomes  swollen  with  its  waves  thus  dammed 
back  ;  then,  when  the  wind  changes,  the  force  of  the  breeze 
drives  the  waters  to  and  fro,  and  the  river  growing  rapidly 
greater,  its  perennial  sources  driving  it  forward,  it  rises  as 
it  advances,   and  covers   everything,   spreading  over  the 
level  plains  till  it  resembles  the  sea. 

8.  But  King  Juba,  relying  on  the  text  of  the  Carthaginian 
books,  affirms  that  the  river  rises  in  a  mountain  situated 
in  Mauritania,  which  looks  on  the  Atlantic  Ocean ,  and  he 
says,  too,  that  this  is  proved  by  the  fact  that  fishes,  and 
herbs,  and  animals  resembling  those  of  the  Kile  are  found 
in  the  marshes  where  the  river  rises. 

9.  But  the  Nile,  passing  through  the  districts  of  Ethiopia, 
and   many   different   countries  which   give   it  their   own 
names,  swells  its   fertilizing  stream  till  it  comes  to  the 
cataracts.     These  are  abrupt  rocks,  from  which  in  its  pre- 
cipitous course  it  falls  with  such  a  crash,  that  the  Ati, 
who  used  to  live  in  that  district,  having  lost  their  hearing 
from  the  incessant  roar,  were  compelled  to  migrate  to  a 
more  quiet  region. 

10.  Then  proceeding   more    gently,   and    receiving  no 
accession  of  waters  in  Egypt,  it  falls  into  the  sea  through 
seven  mouths,  each  of  which  is  as  serviceable  as,  and  re- 
sembles, a  separate  river.    And  besides  the  several  streams 
which  are  derived  from  its  channel,  and  which  fall  with 
others  like  themselves,  there  are  seven  navigable  with  large 
waves ;  named  by  the  ancients  the  Heracleotic,  the  Seb- 
cunitic,   the   Bolbitic,  the  Phatnitic,  the  Mendesian,  the 
Tanitic,  and  the  Pelusian  mouths. 

11.  This  river,  rising  as  I  have  said,  .is  driven  on  from 


AID.  362.j  THE   ISLANDS   OK    THE   NILE.  309 

the  marshes  to  the  cataracts,  and  forms  several  islands : 
some  of  which  are  said  to  be  of  such  extent  that  the  stream 
is  three  days  in  passing  them. 

12.  Among  these  are  two  of  especial  celebrity,  Meroe  and 
Delta.       The   latter  derives  its  name  from  its  triangular 
form  like  the  Greek  letter;   but  when  the  sun  begins  to 
pass  through  the  sign  of  Cancer,  the  river  keeps  increasing 
till  it  passes  into  Libra ;  and  then,  after  flowing  at  a  great 
height  for  one  hundred  days,  it  falls  again,  and  its  waters 
being  diminished  it  exhibits,  in  a  state  fit  for  riding  on, 
fields  which  just  before  could  only  be  passed  over  in  boats. 

13.  If  the  inundation  be  too  abundant  it  is  mischievous, 
just  as  it  is  unproductive  if  it  be  too  sparing ;  for  if  the 
flood   be   excessive,  it  keeps   the  ground  wet  too  long, 
and  so    delays    cultivation ;    while    if  it   be    deficient,   it 
threatens  the  land  with  barrenness.     No  landowner  wishes 
it  to  rise  more  than  sixteen  cubits.     If  the  flood  be  mo- 
derate, then  the  seed  sown  in  favourable  ground  sometimes 
returns  seventy  fold.      The   Nile,  too,  is   the  only   river 
which  does  not  cause  a  breeze. 

14.  Egypt  also  produces  many  animals  both  terrestrial 
and  aquatic,  and  some  which  live  both  on  the  earth  and  in 
the  \vater,  and  are  therefore  called  amphibious.     In  the 
dry  districts  antelopes  and  buffaloes  are  found,  and  sphinxes, 
animals  of  an  absurd-looking  deformity,  and  other  monsters 
which  it  is  not  worth  while  to  enumerate. 

15.  Of  the  terrestrial  animals,  the  crocodile  is  abundant 
in  every  part  of  the  country.     This  is  a  most  destructive 
quadruped,  accustomed  to  both  elements,  having  no  tongue, 
and  moving  only  the  upper  jaw,  with  teeth  like  a  comb, 
which  obstinately  fasten   into  everything  he  can  reach. 
He  propagates  his  species  by  eggs  like  those  of  a  goose. 

16.  And  as  he  is  armed  with  claws,  if  he  had  only  thumbs 
his  enormous  strength  would  suffice  to  upset  large  vessels, 
for  he  is  sometimes  ten  cubits  long.     At  night  he  sleeps 
under  water  ;  in  the  day  he  feeds  in  the  fields,  trusting  to 
the  stoutness  of  his  skin,  which  is  so  thick  that  missiles 
from  military  engines  will  scarcely  pierce  the  mail  of  his 
back. 

17.  Savage  as  these  monsters  are  at  all  other  times,  yet 
as  if  they  had  concluded  an  armistice,  they  are   always 
quiet,  laying  aside  all  their  ferocity,  during  the  seven  da)f 


310  AMMIANUS   MAHCELUXUS.  BK.  XX11.  CH.  XT 

of  festival  on  which  the  priests  at  Mempnis  celebrate  the 
birthday  of  Apis. 

18.  Besides  those  which  die  accidentally,  some  are  killed 
by  wounds  which  they  receive  in  their  bellies  from  the 
dorsal  fins  of  some  fish  resembling  dolphins,  which  this 
river  also  produces. 

19.  Some  also  are  killed  by  means  of  a  little  bird  called 
the  trochilus,  which,  while  seeking  for  some  picking  of 
small  food,  and  flying  gently  about  the  beast  while  asleep, 
tickles  its  cheeks  till  it  comes  to  the  neighbourhood  of  its 
throat.     And  when  the     hydrus,    which  is  a  kind  of  ich 
iieumon,  perceives  this,  it  penetrates  into  its  mouth,  which 
the  bird  has  caused  to  open,  and  descends  into  its  sto- 
mach, where  it  devours  its  entrails,  and  then  comes  forth 
again. 

20.  But  the  crocodile,  though  a  bold  beast  towards  those 
who  flee,  is  very  timid  when  it  finds  a  brave  enemy.     It 
has  a  most  acute  sight,  and  for  the  four  months  of  winter 
is  said  to  do  without  food. 

21.  The  hippopotamus,  also,  is  produced  in  this  country ; 
the  most  sagacious  of  all  animals  destitute  of  reason.     He 
is  like  a  horse,  with  cloven  hoofs,  and  a  short  tail.     Of  his 
sagacity  it  will  be  sufficient  to  produce  two  instances. 

22.  The  animal  makes  his  lair  among  dense  beds  of  reeds 
of  great  height,  and  while  keeping  quiet  watches  vigilantly 
for  every  opportunity  of  sallying  out  to  feed  on  the  crops. 
And  when  he  has  gorged  himself,  and  is  ready  to  return,  he 
walks  backwards,  and  makes  many  tracks,  to  prevent  any 
enemies  from  following  the  straight  road  and  so  finding 
and  easily  killing  him. 

23.  Again,  when  he  feels  lazy  from  having  his  stomach 
swollen  by  excessive  eating,  it  rolls  its  thighs  and  legs  on 
freshly-cut  reeds,   in  order  that  the  blood  which  is  dis- 
charged through  the  wounds  thus  made  may  relieve  his 
fat.     And  then  he  smears  his  wounded  flesh  with  clay  till 
the  wounds  get  scarred  over. 

24.  This  monster  was  very  rare  till  it  was  first  exhibited 
to  the  Eoman   people   in  the  sedileship  of  Scaurus,    the 
father  of  that   Scaurus  whom  Cicero  defended,  when  he 
charged  the  Sardinians  to  cherish  the  same  opinion  as  the 
rest  of  the  world  of  the  authority  of  that  noble  family. 
Since  that  time,  at  different  periods,  many  specimens  have 


l.n.  3«2.]  THE  IBIS.  311 

been  brought  to  Rome,  and  now  they  are  not  to  be  found 
in  Egypt,  having  been  driven,  according  to  the  conjecture 
of  the  inhabitants,  up  to  the  Blemmyse l  by  being  inces- 
santly pursued  by  the  people. 

25.  Among  the  birds  of  Egypt,  the  variety  of  which  is 
countless,    is   the  ibis,    a  sacred   and   amiable   bird,   also 
valuable,  because  by  heaping  up  the  eggs  of  serpenls  in 
its  nest  for  fuod  it  causes  these  fatal  pests  to  diminish. 

26.  They  also  sometimes  encounter   flocks   of  winged 
snakes,  which  come  laden  with  poison  from  the  marshes  of 
Arabia.     These,  before  they  can  quit  their  own  region, 
they  overcome   in  the  air,  and  then  devour  them.     This 
bird,  we  are  told,  produces  its  young  through  its  mouth. 

27.  Egypt    also    produces    innumerable    quantities    of 
serpents,  destructive  beyond  all  other  creatures.     Basilisks, 
amphisbaenas,*  scytalae,  acontiee,  dipsades,  vipers,  and  many 
others.     The  asp  is  the  largest  and  most  beautiful  of  all ; 
but  that  never,  of  its  own  accord,  quits  the  Kile. 

28.  There  are  also  in  this  country  many  things  exceed- 
ingly worthy  of  observation,  of  which  it  is  a  good  time  now 
to  mention  a  few.     Everywhere  there  are  temples  of  great 
size.     There  are  seven  marvellous  pyramids,  the  difficulty 
of  building  which,  and  the  length  of  time  consumed  in  the 
work,  are  recorded  by  Herodotus.     They  exceed  in  height 
anything  ever  constructed  by  human  labour,  being  towers 
of  vast  width  at  the  bottom  and  ending  in  sharp  points. 

29.  And  their  shape  received  this  name  from  the  geo- 
metricians because  they  rise  in  a  cone  like  fire  (irvp).     And 
huge  as  they  are,  as  they  taper  off  gradually,  they  throw 
no  shadow,  in  accordance  with  a  principle  of  mechanics. 

30.  There  are  also  subterranean  passages,  and  winding 
retreats,  which,    it   is  said,   men   skilful   in   the   ancient 
mysteries,  by  means  of  which  they  divined  the  coming  of 
a  flood,  constructed  in  different  places  lest  the  memory  of 
all  their  sacred  ceremonies  should  be  lost.     On  the  walls, 
as  they  cut  them  out,  they  have  sculptured  several  kinds 

1  The  Blemmyas  were  an  Ethiopian  tribe  to  the  south  of  Egypt. 

;  These  names  seem  derived  from  the  real  or  fancied  shape  of  the 
enakes  mentioned  :  the  amphisbsena,  from  oju<£l  and  /3ai'j/o>,  to  go  both 
ways,  as  it  was  believed  to  have  a  head  at  each  end.  The  scytalas 
was  like  "a  staff;"  the  acontias,  like  "a  javelin;"  the  dipsas  was  a 
thirsty  snake. 


312  AMMIANUS   MARCELLIXUS.  [BK.  XXII.  CH.  xvi. 

of  birds  and  beasts,  and  countless  other  figures  of  animals, 
which  they  call  hieroglyphics. 

31.  There  is  also  Syene,  where  at  the  time  of  the  summer 
solstice  the  rays  surrounding  upright  objects  do  not  allow 
the  shadows  to  extend  beyond  the  bodies.     And  if  any  one 
fixes  a  post  upright  in  the  ground,  or  sees  a  man  or  a  tree 
standing  erect,  he  will  perceive  that  their  shadow  is  con- 
sumed at   the  extremities   of  their  outlines.      This  also 
happens  at  Meroe,  which   is  the  spot  in  Ethiopia  nearest 
to  the  equinoctial  circle,  and  where  for  ninety  days  the 
shadows  fall  in  a  way  just  opposite  to  ours,  on  account  of 
which  the  natives  of  that  district  are  called  Antiscii.' 

32.  But  as  there  are  many  other  wonders  which  would 
go  beyond  the  plan  of  our  little  work,  we  must  lead  these 
to  men  of  lofty  genius,  and  content  ourselves  with  re- 
lating a  few  things  about  the  provinces. 


XVI. 

§  1.  IN  former  times  Egypt  is  said  to  have  been  divided 
into  three  provinces :  Egypt  proper,  the  Thebais,  and  Libya, 
to  which  in  later  times  two  more  have  been  added,  Augus- 
tamnica,  which  has  been  cut  off  from  Egypt  proper,  and 
Pentapolis,  which  has  been  detached  from  Libya. 

2.  Thebais,  among  many  other  cities,  can  boast  especially 
of  Hermopolis,  Coptos,  and  Antinous,  which  Hadrian  built 
in  honour  of  his  friend  Antinous.     As  to  Thebes,  with  its 
hundred  gates,  there  is  no  one  ignorant  of  its  renown. 

3.  In  Augustamnica,  among  others,  there  is  the  noble 
city  of  Pelusium,  which  is  said  to  have  been  founded  by 
Peleus,  the  father  of  Achilles,  who  by  command  of  the 
gods  was  ordered  to  purify  himself  in  the  lake  adjacent  to 
the  walls  of  the  city,  when,  after  having  slain  his  brother 
Phocus,  he  was  driven  about  by  horrid  images  of  the  Furies  ; 
and  Cassium,  where  the  tomb  of  the  great  Pompey  is,  and 
Ostracine,  and  Rhinocolura. 

4.  In  Libya  Pentapolis  is  Gyrene,  a  city  of  great  an- 
tiquity, but  now  deserted,  founded  by  Battus  the  Spartan, 
and  Ptolemais,  and  Arsinoe,  known  also  as  Teuohira,  anl 
Darnis,  and  Berenice,  called  also  Hesperides. 

1  From  avrl,  opposite  ;  and  tneia,  shadow 


A.D.  362.]  ALEXANDRIA.  313 

5.  And  in  the  dry  Libya,  besides  a  lew  other  insignifi- 
cant towi.s,  there  are  Paraetonium,  Chserecla,  and  Neapolis. 

6.  Egypt  proper,  which  ever  since  it  has  been  united  to 
the  Eoman  empire  has  been  tinder  the  government  of  a 
prefect,  besides  some  other  towns  of  smaller  importance,  is 
distinguished  by  Athribis,  and  Oxyryrichus,  and  Thmuis, 
and  Memphis. 

7.  But  the  greatest  of  all  the  cities  is  Alexandria,  en- 
nobled  by   many   circumstances,    and   especially   by   the 
grandeur  of  its  great  founder,  and  the  skill  of  its  architect 
Dinocrates,  who,  when  he  was  laying  the  foundation  of  its 
extensive  and  beautiful  walls,  for  want  of  mortar,  which 
could   not.be  procured  at  the  moment,  is  said  to   have 
marked  out  its  outline  with  flour ;  an  incident  which  fore- 
showed that  the  city  should  hereafter  abound  in  supplies 
of  provisions. 

8.  At  Inibis  the  air  is  wholesome,  the  sky  pure  and 
undisturbed ;  and,  as  the  experience  of  a  long  series  of 
ages  proves,  there  is  scarcely  ever  a  day  on  which  the 
inhabitants  of  this  city  do  not  see  the  sun. 

9.  The  shore  is  shifty  and  dangerous ;  and  as  in  former 
times  it  exposed  sailors  to  many  dangers,  Cleopatra  erected 
a  lofty  tower  in  the  harbour,  which  was  named  Pharos, 
from  the  spot  on  which  it  was  built,  and  which  afforded 
light  to  vessels  by  night  when  coming  from  the  Levant  or 
the  Libyan  sea  along  the  plain  and  level  coast,  without 
any  signs  of  mountains  or  towns  or  eminences  to  direct 
them,  they  were  previously  often  wrecked  by  striking  into 
the  soft  and  adhesive  sand. 

10.  The  same  queen,  for  a  well-known  and  necessary 
reason,  made  a  causeway  seven  furlongs  in  extent,  admirable 
for  its  size  and  for  the  almost   incredible  rapidity  with 
which  it  was  made.     The  island  of  Pharos,  where  Homer 
in  sublime  language  relates  that  Proteus  used  to  amues 
himself  with  his  herds  of  seals,  is  almost  a  thousand  yards 
from  the  shore  on  which  the  city  stands,  and  was  liable  to 
pay  tribute  to  the  Rhodians. 

11.  And  when  on  one  occasion  the  fanners  of  this  re- 
venue came  to  make  exorbitant  demands,  she,  being  a  wily 
woman,  on  a  pretext  of  it  being  the  season  of  solemn  holi- 
days, led  them  into  the  suburbs,  and  ordered  the  work  to 
be  carried  on  without  ceasing.    And  so  seven  furlongs  were 


314-  AMMIANUS   MARCtXLIJJUS.          [Bic.  XXII.  CH.  xvi. 

completed  in  seven  days,  being  raised  with  the  soil  of  the 
adjacent  shore.  Then  the  queen,  driving  over  it  in  her 
chariot,  said  that  the  Ehodians  were  making  a  blunder  in 
demanding  port  dues  for  what  was  not  an  island  but  part 
of  the  mainland. 

12.  Besides  this   there  are    many  lofty  temples,   and 
especially  one  to  Serapis,  which,  although  no  words  can 
adequately  describe  it,  we  may  yet  say,  from  its  splendid 
halls  supported  by  pillars,  and   its  beautiful  statues   and 
other  embellishments,  is  so  superbly  decorated,  that  next  to 
the  Capitol,  of  which  the  ever-venerable  Home  boasts,  the 
whole  world  has  nothing  worthier  of  admiration. 

13.  In  it  were  libraries  of  inestimable  value ;  and  the 
concurrent  testimony  of  ancient  records  affirm  that  70,000 
volumes,  which  had  been  collected  by  the  anxious  care  of 
the  Ptolemies,  were  burnt  in  the  Alexandrian  war  when 
the  city  was  sacked  in  the  time  of  Caesar  the  Dictator. 

14.  Twelve   miles  from  this   city  is   Canopus,  which, 
according  to   ancient   tradition,  received    its   name   from 
the  prophet  of  Menelaus,   who  was  buried  there.      It  is 
a  place   exceedingly  well  supplied  with  good  inns,  of  a 
most  wholesome  climate,  with  refreshing  breezes  ;  so  that 
any  one  who  resides  in  that  district  might  think  himself 
out  of  our  world  while  he  hears  the  breezes  murmuring 
through  the  sunny  atmosphere. 

15.  Alexandria  itself  was  not,  like  other  cities,  gradually 
embellished,  but  at  its  very  outset  it  was  adorned  with 
spacious  roa^s.    But  after  having  been  long  torn  by  violent 
seditions,  at  last,  when  Aurelian  was  emperor,  and  when 
the   intestine  quarrels   of  its   citizens  had   proceeded   to 
deadly  strife,  its   walls  were  destroyed,  and   it   lost  the 
largest  half  of  its  territorj',  which  was  called  Bruchion,  and 
ha  I  long  been  the  abode  of  eminent  men. 

16.  There  had  lived  Aristarchus,  that  illustrious  gram- 
marian ;    and    Herodianus,   that    accurate    inquirer    into 
the  fine  arts  ;  and  Saccas  Ammonius,  the  master  of  Plotinus, 
and   many   other   writers   in  various  useful   branches   of 
literature,  among  whom  Didymus,  surnamed  Chalcenterus, 
a  man   celebrated   for   his  writings  on  many  subjects  of 
science,  deserves  especial  mention  ;   who,  in  the  six  books 
in  which  he,  sometimes  incorrectly,  attacks  Cicero,  imi- 
tating those  malignant  farce  writers,  is  justly  blamed  by 


A.D.362.]  EMINENCE   OF    ITS   SCHOOLS.  315 

the  learned  as  a  puppy  barking  from  a  distance  with  puny 
voice  against  the  mighty  roar  of  the  lion. 

17.  And  although,  besides  those  I  have  mentioned,  there 
were  many  other  men  of  eminence  in  ancient  times,  yet 
even  now  there  is  much  learning  in  the  same   city ;  for 
teachers  of  various  sects  flourish,  and  many  kinds  of  secret 
knowledge  are  explained  by  geometrical  science.     Kor  is 
music  dead  among  them,  nor  harmony.     And   by  a  few, 
observations  of  the  motion  of  the  world  and  of  the  stars 
are  still  cultivated ;    while  of  learned  arithmeticians  the 
number  is  considerable ;    and  besides  them  there  are  many 
skilled  in  divination. 

18.  Again,  of  medicine,  the  aid  of  which  in  our  present 
extravagant  and  luxurious  way  of  life  is  incessantly  re- 
quired, the  study  is  carried  on  with  daily  increasing  eager- 
ness ;   so  that  while  the  employment  be  of  itself  creditable, 
it  is  sufficient  as  a  recommendation  for  any  medical  man 
to  be  able  to  say  that  he  was  educated  at  Alexandria.    And 
this  is  enough  to  say  on  this  subject. 

19.  But  if  any  one  in  the  earnestness  of  his  intellect 
wishes  to  apply  himself  to  the  various  branches  of  divine 
knowledge,  or  to  the  examination  of  metaphysics,  he  will 
find  that  the  whole  world  owes  this  kind  of  learning  to 
Egypt. 

20.  Here  first,  far  earlier  than  in  any  other  country,  men 
arrived  at  the  various  cradles  (if  I  may  so  say)  of  different 
religions.     Here  they  still  carefully  preserve  the  elements 
of  sacred  rites  as  handed  down  in  their  secret  volumes. 

21.  It  was  in  learning  derived  from  Egypt  that  Pytha- 
goras  was   educated,  which  taught   him  to   worship  the 
gods  in  secret,  to  establish  the  principle  that  in  whatever 
he   said  or  ordered  his  authority  was  final,  to  exhibit  his 
golden  thigh  at  Olympia,  and  to  be  continually  seen  in 
conversation  with  an  eagle. 

22.  Here  it  was  that  Anaxagoras  derived  the  knowledge 
which  enabled  him  to  predict  that  stones  would  fall  from 
heaven,  and  from  the  feeling  of  the  mud  in  a  well  to  foretell 
impending  earthquakes.     Solon  too  derived  aid  from  the 
apophthegms  of  the  priests  of  Egypt  in  the  enactment  of 
his  just  and  moderate  laws,  by  which  he  gave  great  con- 
firmation to  the  .Koman  jurisprudence.     From  this  some 
too  Plato,  soaring  amid  sublime  ideas,  rivalling  Jupiter 


316  AMMIAXUS   MARCELMNU8.  [Bx.  XXHJ. 

himself  in  the  magnificence   of  his  voice,   acquired    his 
glorious  wisdom  by  a  visit  to  Egypt. 

23.  The  inhabitants  of  Egypt  are  generally  swarthy  and 
dark   complexioned,   and  of  a  rather  melancholy  cast  of 
countenance,  thin  and  dry  looking,  quick  in  every  motion, 
fond   of  controversy,  and  bitter   exactors  of  their  rights. 
Among  them  a  man  is  ashamed  who  has  not  resisted  the 
payment  of  tribute,  and  who  does  not  carry  about  him 
wheals  which  he  has  received  before  he  could  be  compelled 
to  pay  it.     IS" or  have  any  tortures  been  found  sufficiently 
powerful   to  make  the  hardened  robbers  of  this  country 
disclose  their  names  unless  they  do  so  voluntarily. 

24.  It  is  well  known,  as  the  ancient  annals  prove,  that 
all  Egypt  was  formerly  under  kings  who  were  friendly  to 
us.     But  after  Antony  and  Cleopatra  were  defeated  in  the 
naval  battle  at  Actium,  it  became  a  province  under  the 
dominion  of  Octavianus  Augustus.     We  became  masters  of 
the  dry  Libya  by  the  last  will  of  king  Apion.      Gyrene 
and  the  other  cities  of  Libya  Pentapolis  we  owe  to  the 
liberality  of  Ptolemy.     After  this  long  digression,  I  will 
now  return  to  my  original  subject. 


BOOK   XXIIL 


ARGUMENT. 

L  Julian  in  vain  attempts  to  restore  the  temple  at  Jerusalem,  which 
had  been  destroyed  long  before. — II.  He  orders  Arsaces,  king  of 
Armenia,  to  prepare  for  the  war  with  Persia,  and  with  an  army 
and  auxiliary  troops  of  the  Scythians  crosses  the  Euphrates. — 
III.  As  he  marches  through  Mesopotamia,  the  princes  of  the 
Saracenic  tribes  of  their  own  accord  offer  him  a  golden  crown  and 
auxiliary  troops — A  Roman  fleet  of  eleven  hundred  ships  arrives, 
and  bridges  over  the  Euphrates. — IV.  A  description  of  several 
engines,  balistse,  scorpions,  or  wild-asses,  battering-rams,  helepoles, 
and  fire-machines. — V.  Julian,  with  all  his  army,  crosses  the  river 
Aboras  by  a  bridge  of  boats  at  Circesium— He  harangues  his 
soldiers. — VI.  A  description  of  the  eighteen  principal  provinces 
of  Persia,  their  cities,  and  the  customs  of  their  inhabitants. 


AD.  363.]  THE    TKMl'LK   OF   JERUSALEM.  517 

I. 

A.D.  363. 

§  1.  To  pass  over  minute  details,  these  were  the  principal 
events  of  the  year.  But  Julian,  who  in  his  third  consul- 
ship had  taken  as  his  colleague  Sallustius,  the  prefect  of 
Gaul,  now  entered  on  his  fourth  year,  and  by  a  novel 
arrangement  took  as  his  colleague  a  private  individual ;  an 
act  of  which  no  one  recollected  an  instance  since  that  of 
Diocletian  and  Aristobulus. 

2.  And  although,  foreseeing  in  his  anxious  mind  the 
various  accidents  that  might  happen,  he  urged  on  with 
great  diligence  all  the  endless  preparations  necessary  for 
his  expedition,  yet  distributing  his  diligence  everywhere ; 
and  being  eager  to  extend  the  recollection  of  his  reign  by 
the  greatness  of  his  exploits,  he  proposed  to  rebuild  at  a 
vast  expense  the  once  magnificent  temple  of  Jerusalem, 
which  after  many  deadly  contests  was  with  difficulty  taken 
by  Vespasian  and  Titus,  who  succeeded  his  father  in  the 
conduct  of  the  siege.  And  he  assigned  the  task  to  Alypius 
of  Antioch,  who  had  formerly  been  proprefect  of  Britain. 
-  3.  But  though  Alypius  applied  himself  vigorously  to  the 
work,  and  though  the  governor  of  the  province  co-operated 
with  him,  fearful  balls  of  fire  burst  forth  with  continual 
eruptions  close  to  the  foundations,  burning  several  of  the 
workmen  and  making  the  spot  altogether  inaccessible. 
And  thus  the  very  elements,  as  if  by  some  fate,  repelling 
the  attempt,  it  was  laid  aside. 

4.  About  the  same  time  the  emperor  conferred  various 
honours  on  the  ambassadors  who  were  sent  to  him  from  the 
Eternal  City,  being  men  of  high  rank  and  established  ex- 
cellence  of  character.     He   appointed  Apronianus   to  be 
prefect  of  Eome,  Octavianus   to   be  proconsul  of  Africa, 
Venustus  to  be  viceroy  of  Spain,  and  promoted  Eufinus 
Aradius  to  be  count  of  the  East  in  the  room  of  his  uncle 
Julian,  lately  deceased. 

5.  When  all  this  had  been  carried  out  as  he  arranged, 
he  was  alarmed  by  an  omen  which,  as  the  result  showed, 
indicated  an  event  immediately  at  hand.     Felix,  the  prin- 
cipal treasurer,   having   died  suddenly  of  a  hemorrhage, 
and  Count  Julian  having  followed  him,  the  populace,  look- 


318  AMMIANUS    MARCELLINUS.  [BK.  XXIII.  CH.  n. 

ing  on  their  public  titles,  hailed  Julian  as  Felix  and 
Augustus. 

6.  Another  bad  omen  had  preceded  this,  for,  on  the  very 
first  day  of  the  year,  as  the  emperor  was  mounting  the 
steps   of  the   temple   of  the  Genius,  one  of  the   priests, 
the    eldest   of  all,    fell   without   any   one   striking    him, 
and  suddenly   expired ;    an  event  which  the   bystanders, 
either  out  of  ignorance  or  a  desire  to  natter,  affirmed  was 
an  omen  affecting  Sallustius,  as  the  elder  consul ;  but  it 
was  soon  seen  that  the  death  it  portended  was  not  to  the 
elder  man,  but  to  the  higher  authority. 

7.  Besides  these  several  other  lesser  signs  from  time  to 
time  indicated  what  was  about  to  happen  ;  for,  at  the  very 
beginning  of  the  arrangements  for  the  Parthian  campaign, 
news  came  that  there  had  been  an  earthquake  at  Constan- 
tinople, which  those  skilful  in  divination  declared  to  be 
an  unfavourable  omen  to  a  ruler  about  to  invade  a  foreign 
country ;    and    therefore   advised   Julian  to   abandon  his 
unreasonable  enterprise,  affiiming  that  these  and  similar 
signs  can  only  be  disregarded  with  propriety  when  one's 
country  is  invaded  by  foreign  armies,  as  then  there  is  one 
everlasting  and   invariable   law,  to    defend  its  safety  by 
every  possible  means,  allowing  no  relaxation  nor  delay. 
Kews   also   came  by  letter  that   at   Rome  the   Sibylline 
volumes  had  been  consulted  on  the  subject  of  the  war  by 
Julian's  order,  and  that  they  had  in  plain  terms  warned 
him  not  to  quit  his  own  territories  that  year. 

II. 

§  1.  BUT  in  the  mean  time  embassies  arrived  from  several 
nations  promising  aid,  and  they  were  liberally  received 
and  dismissed ;  the  emperor  with  plausible  confidence  re- 
plying that  it  by  no  means  became  the  power  of  Rome 
to  rely  on  foreign  aid  to  avenge  itself,  as  it  was  rather 
fitting  that  Rome  should  give  support  to  its  friends  and 
allies  if  necessity  drove  them  to  ask  it. 

2.  He  only  warned  Arsaces,  king  of  Armenia,  to  collect 
a  strong  force,  and  wait  for  his  orders,  as  he  should  soon 
know  which  way  to  march,  and  what  to  do.  Then,  as 
soon  as  prudence  afforded  him  an  opportunity,  hastening 
to  anticipate  every  rumour  of  his  approach  by  the  occupa- 


4  t>  80S.;  JULIAN   CROSSES   THE   EUPHRATES.  319 

lion  of  the  enemy's  country,  before  spring  had  well  set  in, 
he  sent  the  signal  for  the  advance  to  all  his  troops,  com- 
manding them  to  cross  the  Euphrates. 

3.  As  soon  as  the  order  reached  them,  they  hastened  to 
quit  their  winter  quarters  ;  and  having  crossed  the  river, 
according  to  their  orders,  they  dispersed  into  their  various 
stations,  and  awaited  the  arrival  of  the  emperor.     But  he, 
being  about  to  quit  Antioch,  appointed  a  citizen  of  Helio- 
polis,  named  Alexander,  a  man  of  turbulent  and  ferocious 
character,  to  govern  Syria,  saying  that  he  indeed  had  not 
deserved  such   a   post,  but  that  the  Antiochians,  being 
covetous  and  insolent,  required  a  judge  of  that  kind. 

4.  When  he  was  aboiit  to  set  forth,  escorted  by  a  pro- 
miscuous multitude  who  wished  him  a  fortunate  march 
and  a  glorious  return,  praying  that  he  would  be  merciful 
and  .kinder  than  he  had  been,  he    (for  the  anger  which 
their  addresses  and  reproaches  had  excited  in  his  breast 
was  not  yet  appeased)  spoke  with  severity  to  them,  and 
declared  that  he  would  never  see  them  again. 

5.  For  he  said  that  he  had  determined,  after  his  campaign 
was  over,  to  return  by  a  shorter  road  to  Tarsus  in  Cilicia, 
to  winter  there  :  and  that  he  had  written  to  Memorius,  the 
governor  of  the  city,  to  prepare  everything  that  he  might 
require  in  that  city.     This  happened  not  long  afterwards  ; 
for  his  body  was  brought  back  thither  and  buried  in  the 
suburbs  with  a  very  plain  funeral,  as  he  himself  had  com- 
manded. 

6.  As  the  weather  was  now  getting  warm  he  set  out 
on  the   fifth  of  March,  and  by  the  usual   stages  arrived 
at  Hieropolis ;  and  as  he  entered  the  gates  of  that  large 
city  a  portico  on  the  left  suddenly  fell  down,  and  as  fifty 
soldiers  were  passing  under  it  at  that  moment  it  wounded 
many,  crushing  them  beneath  the  vast  weight  of  the  beams 
and  tiles. 

7.  Having  collected   all    his  troops  from  thence,    he 
marched  with  such  speed  towards  Mesopotamia,  that  before 
any  intelligence  of  his  march  could  arrive  (an  object  about 
which   he  was  especially  solicitous)  he  came    upon    the 
Assyrians  quite  unexpectedly.     Then  having  led  his  whole 
army  and  the  Scythian  auxiliaries  across  the  Euphrates 
by  a  bridge   of  boats,  he  arrived  at  Batnse,  a  town  jf 
Osdroene,  and  there  again  a  sad  omen  met  him. 


320  AMMIANUS  MARCELLINUS.  [Bs.  XX1IJ.  CH.  lit 

8.  For  when  a  great  crowd  of  grooms  was  standing  near 
an.  enormously  high  haystack,  in  order  to  receive  their 
forage  (for  in  this  way  those  supplies  used  to  be  stored 
in  that  country),  the  mass  was  shaken  by  the  numbers 
who  sought  to  strip  it,  and  falling  down,  overwhelmed 
fifty  men. 

III. 

§  1.  LEAVING  this  place  with  a  heavy  heart,  he  marched 
with  great  speed,  and  arrived  at  Carrhae,  an  ancient  town 
notorious  for  the  disasters  of  Crassus  and  the  Koman  army. 
From  this  town  two  royal  roads  branch  off,  both  leading 
into  Persia ;  that  on  the  left  hand  through  Adiabena  and 
along  the  Tigris,  that  on  the  right  through  the  Assyrians 
and  along  the  Euphrates. 

2.  There   he   stayed  some  days,   preparing   necessary 
supplies ;  and  according  to  the  custom  of  the  district  he 
offered  sacrifices  to  the  moon,  which  is  religiously  wor- 
shipped in  that  region  ;  and  it  is  said  that  while  before 
the  altar,   no  witness  to    the  action    being  admitted,  he 
secretly  gave  his  own  purple  robe  to  Procopius,  and  bade 
him  boldly  assume  the  sovereignty  if  he  should  hear  that 
he  had  died  among  the  Parthians. 

3.  Here  while  asleep  his  mind  was  agitated  with  dreams, 
and  foresaw  some  sad  event  about  to  happen ;  on  which 
account    he    and   the    interpreters    of   dreams    consider- 
ing the  omens  which    presented  themselves,   pronounced 
that  the  next  day,  which  was  the  nineteenth  of  March, 
ought  to  be  solemnly  observed.     But,  as  was  ascertained 
subsequently,  that    very  same   night,    while  Apronianus 
was  prefect  of  Home,  the  temple  of  the  Palatine  Apollo 
was  burnt  in  the  Eternal  City ;  and  if  aid  from  all  quar- 
ters had  not  come  to  the  rescue  the  violence  of  the  confla- 
gration would  have  destroyed  even  the  prophetic  volumes 
of  the  Sibyl. 

4.  After  these  things  had    happened  in  this  manner, 
and   while   Julian   was   settling   his   line   of  march,  and 
making  arrangements  for  supplies  of  all  kinds,  his  scouts 
come  panting  in,  and  bring  him  word  that  some  squadrons  ot 
the  enemy's  cavalry  have  suddenly  passed  the  frontier  in 


A.B  36?~J  ADVANCE  OF  JULIAN.  321 

the  neighbourhood  of  the  camp,  and   have  driven  off  a 
large  booty. 

5.  Indignant  at  such  atrocity  and  at  such  an  insult,  he 
immediately  (as  indeed  he  had  previously  contemplated) 
put  thirty  thousand  chosen  men  under  the  orders  of  Pro- 
copius,  who   has   been   already  mentioned,  uniting  with 
him  in  this  command  Count  Sebastian,  formerly  Duke  of 
Egypt;  and  he  ordered  them  to  act  on  this  side  of  the 
Tigris,  observing  everything  vigilantly,  so  that  no  danger 
might  arise  on  any  side  where  it  was  not  expected,  for 
such  things  had  frequently  happened.     He  charged  them 
further,  if   it  could  be  done,   to  join  King  Arsaces ;  and 
march  with  him  suddenly  through  Cordueria  and  Moxoene, 
ravaging  Chiliocomus,  a  very  fertile  district  of  Media,  and 
other  places ;  and  then  to  rejoin  him  while  still  in  Assyria, 
in  order  to  assist  him  as  he  might  require. 

6.  Having  taken   these  measures,   Julian  himself,   pre- 
tending to  march  by  the  line  of  the  Tigris,  on  which  road 
he  had  purposely  commanded  magazines  of  provisions  to 
be  prepared,  turned  towards  the  right,  and  after  a  quiet 
night,  asked  in  the  morning  for  the  horse  which  he  was 
accustomed  to  ride  :  his  name  was  Babylonius.     And  when 
he  was  brought,  being  suddenly  griped  and  starting  at  the 
pain,  he  fell  down,  and  rolling  about  scattered  the  gold 
and  jewels  with  which  his  trappings  were  decked.    Julian, 
in  joy  at  this  omen,  cried  out,  amid  the  applause  of  those 
around,   that  "  Babylon  had  fallen,  and  was  stripped  of 
all  her  ornaments." 

7.  Having  delayed  a  little  that  he  might  confirm  the 
omen  by  the   sacrifice  of  some  victims,  he   advanced  to 
Davana,  where  he  had   a  garrison-fortress,  and  where  the 
river  Belias  rises  which  falls  into  the  Euphrates.     Here 
he  refreshed  his  men  with  food  and  sleep,  and  the  next 
day  reached  Callinicus,  a  strong  fortress,  and  also  a  great 
commercial   mart,    where,    on    the   27th   of   March    (the 
day  on  which  at  Eome  the  annual  festival  in  honour  of 
Cybele  is  celebrated,  and  the  car  in  which  her  image  is 
borne  is,  as  it  is  said,  washed  in  the  waters  of  the  Almo), 
he  kept  the  same  feast  according  to  the   manner  of   the 
ancients,   and  then,  retiring  to  rest,  passed  a  triumphant 
and  joyful  night. 

8.  The  next  day  he   proceeded  along  the  bank  of  the 

Y 


322  AMAIIANUS   MARCKLLIXUS.  [BK.  XXIII.  CH.  nr. 

river,  which  other  streams  began  to  augment,  marching 
with  an  armed  escort ;  and  at  night  he  rested  in  a  tent, 
where  some  princes  of  the  Saracenic  tribes  came  as  sup- 
pliants, bringing  him  a  golden  crown,  and  adoring  him  as 
the  master  of  the  world  and  of  their  own  nations :  he 
received  theni  graciously,  as  people  well  adapted  for  sur- 
prises in  war. 

9.  And  while  addressing  them  a  fleet  arrived  equal  to 
that  of  the  mighty  sovereign  Xerxes,  under  the  command 
of  the  tribune  Constantianus,  and  Count  Lucillianus  ;  they 
threw  a  bridge  over  the  broadest  part  of  the  Euphrates  : 
the  fleet  consisted  of  one  thousand  transports,  of  various 
sorts  and  sizes,  bringing  large  supplies  of  provisions,  and 
arms,  and  engines  for  sieges,  and  fifty  ships  of  war,  and  as 
many  more  suitable  for  the  construction  of  bridges. 

IV. 

§  1.  I  AM  reminded  by  the  circumstances  to  explain  instru- 
ments of  this  kind  briefly,  as  far  as  my  moderate  talent 
may  enable  me  to  do,  and  first  I  will  set  forth  the  figure  of 
the  balista. 

2.  Between  two    axletrees   a  strong  large  iron  bar  is 
fastened,  like  a  great  rule,  round,  smooth,  and  polished ; 
from  its  centre  a  square  pin  projects  for  some  distance, 
hollowed    out   into  a  narrow   channel   down   its  middle. 
This  is  bound  by  many  ligatures  of  twisted  cords :  to  it 
two  wooden  nuts  are  accurately  fitted,  by  one  of  which 
stands  a  skilful  man  who  works  it,  and  who  fits  neatly  into 
the  hollow  of  the  pin  or  pole  a  wooden  arrow  with  a  large 
point ;  and  as  soon  as  this  is  done,  some  strong  young  men 
rapidly  turn  a  wheel. 

3.  When  the  tip  of  the  arrow's  point  has  reached  the 
extremity  of  the  cords,  the  arrow  is  struck  by  a  blow  from 
the  balista,  and  flies  out  of  sight ;  sometimes  even  giving 
forth  sparks  by  its  great  velocity,  and   it  often  happens 
that  before  the  arrow  is  seen,  it  has  given  a  fatal  wound. 

4.  The  scorpion,  which  they  now  call  the  wild-ass,  is  in 
the  following  form.     Two  axletrees  of  oak  or  box  are. cut 
out  and  slightly  curved,  so  as  to  project  in  small  humps, 
and  they  are  fastened  together  like  a  sawing  machine,  being 
perforated  with  large  holes  on  each  side ;   and  between 


A.D.  363.]  'VARLIKE   ENGINES.  323 

them,  through  the  holes,  strong  ropes  are  fastened  to  hold 
the  two  parts  together,  and  prevent  them  from  starting 
asunder. 

5.  From  these  ropes  thus  placed  a  wooden  pin  rises  in 
an  oblique  direction,  like  the  pole  of  a  chariot,  and  it  is 
«o  fastened  by  knotted  cords  as  to  be  raised  or  depressed 
at  pleasure.     To   its   top,  iron   hooks  are  fastened,   from 
which  a  sling  hangs,  made  of  either  cord  or  iron.     Below 
the  pin  is  a  large  sack  filled  with  shreds  of  cloth,  fastened 
by  strong  ties,  and  resting  on  heaped-up  turves  or  mounds 
of  brick.     For  an  engine  of  this  kind,  if  placed  on  a  stone 
wall,  would  destroy  whatever  was  beneath  it,  not  by  its 
weight,  but  by  the  violence  of  its  concussion. 

6.  Then  when  a  conflict  begins,  a  round  stone  is  placed 
.on  the  sling,  and  four  youths  on  each  side,  loosening  the 
bar  to  which  the  cords  are  attached,  bend  the  pin  back  till 
it  points  almost  upright  into  the  air;  then  the  worker  of 
the  engine,  standing  by  on  high  ground,  frees  by  a  blow 
with  the  heavy  hammer  the  bolt  which  keeps  down  the 
whole  engine ;  and  the  pin  being  set  free  by  the  stroke, 
and  striking  against  the  mass  of  cloth  shreds,  hurls  forth 
the  stone  with  such  force  as  to  crush  whatever  it  strikes. 

.  7.  This  engine  is  called  a  tormentum,  because  all  its  parts 
are  twisted  (torquetur)  ;  or  a  scorpion,  because  it  has  an 
erect  sting ;  but  modern  times  have  given  it  the  name  of 
the  wild-ass,  because  when  wild  asses  are  hunted,  they 
throw  the  stones  behind  them  by  their  kicks  so  as  to 
pierce  the  chests  of  those  who  pursue  them,  or  to  fracture 
their  skulls. 

8.  Now  let  us  come  to   the  battering  ram.     A  lofty 
pine  or  ash  is  chosen,  the  top  of  which  is  armed  with  a 
long  and  hard  head  of  iron,  resembling  a  lam,  which  form, 
has  given  the  name  to  the  engine.     It  is  suspended  from 
iron  beams  running  across  on  each  side,  like  the  top  of  a 
pair  of  scales,  and  is  kept  in  its  place  by  ropes  hanging 
from  a  third  beam.     A  number  of  men  draw  it  back  as  far 
as    there   is   room,    and   then   again   drive   it  forward  to 
break  down  whatever  opposes  it  by  mighty  blows,  like  a 
ram  which  rises  up  and  butts. 

9.  By  the  frequent  blows  of  this  rebounding  thunder- 
bolt, buildings  are  torn  asunder  and  walls  are  loosened 
and  thrown  down.     By  this  kind  of  engine,  if  worked  with 
proper  vigour,  garrisons  are  deprived  of  their  defences,  and 


3'24  AMMIANUS   MARCELLINUS.  [B«.  XXIII.  CH.  t 

the  strongest  cities  are  laid  open  and  sieges  rapidly  brought 
to  a  conclusion. 

10.  Instead  of  these  rams,  which  from  their  common  use 
came   to   be   despised,   a  machine  was  framed   called  in 
Greek  the  helepolis,  by  the  frequent  use  of  which  Deme- 
trius, the  son  of  king  Antigonus,  took  Ehodes  and  other 
cities,  and  earned  the  surname  of  Poliorcetes. 

11.  It  is  constructed  in  this  manner.     A  vast  testudo 
is  put  together,  strengthened  with  long  beams  and  fastened 
with  iron  nails  ;  it  is  covered  with  bullocks'  hides  and 
wickerwork  made  of  freshly  cut  twigs,   and   its  top  is 
smeared  over  with  clay  to  keep  off  missiles  and  fiery  darts. 

12.  Along  its  front  very  sharp  spears  with  three  points 
are  fastened,  heavy  with  iron,  like  the  thunderbolts  repre- 
sented by  painters  or  sculptors,  and  strong  enough  with 
the  projecting  points  to  tear  to  pieces  whatever  it  strikes. 

13.  A  number  of  soldiers  within  guide  this  vast  mast 
with  wheels  and  ropes,  urging   with  vehement  impulse 
against  the  weaker  parts  of  the  wall,  so  that,  unless  re- 
pelled by  the  strength  of  the  garrison  above,  it  breaks 
down  the  wall  and  lays  open  a  great  breach. 

14.  The  firebolts,  which  are  a  kind  of  missile,  are  made 
thus.     They  take   an  arrow  of  cane,  joined  together  be- 
tween the  point  and  the  reed  with  jagged  iron,  and  made 
in  the  shape  of  a  woman's  spindle,  with  which  linen  threads 
are  spun  ;  this  is  cunningly  hollowed  out  in  the  belly  and 
made  with  several  openings,  and  in  the  cavity  fire  and  fuel 
of  some  kind  is  placed. 

15.  Then  if  it  be  shot  slowly  from  a  slack  bow  (for  if  it 
be  shot  with  too  much  speed  the  fire  is  extinguished),  so 
as  to  stick  anywhere,  it  burns  obstinately,  and  if  sprinkled 
with  water  it  creates  a  still  fiercer  fire,  nor  will  anything 
but  throwing  dust  upon  it  quench  it.     This  is  enough  to 
say  of  mural  engines ;  let  us  now  return  to  our  original 
subject. 

V. 

§  1.  HAVING  received  the  reinforcements  of  the  Saracens 
which  they  so  cheerfully  offered,  the  emperor  advanced 
with  speed,  and  at  the  beginning  of  April  entered  Cir- 
ecsium,  a  very  secure  fortress,  and  skilfully  built:  it  is 
surrounded  by  the  two  livers  Aboras  (or  Chaboras)  and 
Euphrates,  which  make  it  as  it  were  an  island. 


A.D  863.]  CIRCESIUM.  325 

2.  It  had  formerly  been  small  and  insecure,  till  Diocletian 
surrounded  it  with,  lofty  towers  and  walls  when  he  was 
strengthening  his  inner  frontier  within  the  very  territories 
of  the  barbarians,  in  order  to  prevent  the  Persians  from 
overrunning   Syria,  as  had  happened  a  few  years  before 
to  the  great  injury  of  the  province. 

3.  For  it  happened  one  day  at  Antioch,  when  the  city 
was  in  perfect  tranquillity,  a  comic  actor  being  on  the  stage 
with  his  wife,  acting  some  common  play,  while  the  people 
were   delighted  with  his   acting,   the   wife   suddenly  ex- 
claimed, "  Unless  I  am  dreaming,  here  are  the  Persians  ;" 
and  immediately  the  populace  turning  round,  were  put  to 
flight,  and  driven  about  in  every  direction  while  seeking 
to  escape  the  darts  which  were  showered  upon  them ;  and 
so  the  city  being  burnt  and  numbers  of  the  citizens  slain, 
who,  as  is  usual  in  time  of  peace,  were  strolling  about  care- 
lessly, and  all  the  places  in  the  neighbourhood  being  burnt 
and  laid  waste,  the  enemy  loaded  with  booty  returned  in 
safety  to  their  own  country  after  having  burnt  Mareades 
alive,  who  had  wickedly  guided  them  to  the  destruction  of 
his  fellow-citizens.     This  event  took  place  in  the  time  of 
Gallienus. 

4.  But  Julian,  while  remaining  at  Circesium  to  give 
time  for  his  army  and  all  its  followers  to  cross  the  bridge 
of  boats  over  the  Aboras,  received  letters  with  bad  news 
from  Sallust,  the  prefect  of  Gaul,  entreating  him  to  suspend 
his  expedition  against  the  Parthians,  and  imploring  him 
not  in  such  an  unseasonable  manner  to  rush  on  irrevocable 
destruction  before  propitiating  the  gods. 

5.  But  Julian   disregarded    his   prudent    adviser,   and 
advanced  boldly ;  since  no  human  power  or  virtue  can  ever 
avail  to  prevent  events  prescribed  by  the  order  of  the  Fates. 
And  immediately,  having  crossed  the   river,  he  ordered 
the  bridge  to  be  taken  to  pieces,  that  the  soldiers  might 
have    no   hope   of    safety   by   quitting  their   ranks    and 
returning. 

6.  Here  also  a  bad  omen  was  seen ;  the  corpse  of  an 
officer  who  had  been  put  to   death   by  the    executioner, 
whom  Sallust,  the  prefect,  while  in  this  country  had  con- 
demned to  death,  because,  after  having  promised  to  deliver 
an  additional  supply  of  provisions  by  an  appointed  day,  he 
disappointed  him  through  some  hindrance.     But  after  the 
unhappy  man  had  been  executed,  the  very  next  day  there 


320 


AMMIANUS   MAHCELUMJS.  [BK.  XX11I.  CH.  r. 


arrived,    as  he  Lad  promised,  another  fleet  heavily  laden 
with  corn. 

7.  Leaving  Circestum,  we  came  to  Zaitha,  the  name  of 
the  place  meaning  an  olive-tree.     Here  we  saw  the  tomb 
of  the  emperor  Gordian,  which  is  visible  a  long  way  off, 
whose  actions  from  his  earliest  youth,  and  whose  most  for- 
tunate campaigns  and  treacherous  murder  we  related  at  the 
proper  time,1  and  when,   in  accordance  with  his  innate 
piety  he  had  offered  due  honours  to  this  deified  emperor, 
and  was  on  his  way  to  Dura,  a  town  now  deserted,  be  stood 
without  moving  on  beholding  a  large  body  of  soldiers. 

8.  And  as  he  was  doubting  what  their  object  was,  they 
brought  him  an  enormous  lion  which  had  attacked  their 
ranks  and  had  been  slain  by  their  javelins.     He,  elated  at 
this  circumstance,  which  he  looked  on  as  an  omen  of  suc- 
cess in  his  enterprise,  advanced  with  increased  exultation  ; 
but  so  uncertain  is  fortune,  the  event  was  quite  contrary 
to  his  expectation.     The  death  of  a  king  was  certainly  fore- 
shown, but  who  was  the  king  was  uncertain. 

9.  For  we  often  read  of  ambiguous  oracles,  never  under- 
stood till  the  results  interpreted  them ;   as,  for  instance, 
the  Delphic  prophecy,  which  foretold  that  after  crossing 
the  Halys,  Croesus  would  overthrow  a  mighty  kingdom ;  and 
another,  which  by  hints  pointed  out  the  sea  to  the  Athe- 
nians as  the  field  of  combat  against  the  Medes  ;  and  another, 
later  than  these,  but  not  less  ambiguous  : — 

"  O  son  of  jEacus, 
I  say  that  you  the  Romans  can  subdue.1* 

10.  The  Etrurian   soothsayers  who   accompanied  himj 
being  men  skilful  in  portents,  had  often  warned  him  against 
this  campaign,  but  got  no  credit ;  so  now  they  produced 
their  books  of  such  signs,  and  showed  that  this  was  an 
omen  of  a  forbidding  character,  and  unfavourable  to  a  prince 
who  should  invade  the  country  of  another  sovereign  how- 
ever justly. 

11.  But   he   spurned   the    opposition    of    philosophers, 
whose  authority  he  ought  to  have  reverenced,  though  at 
times  they  were  mistaken,  and  though  they  were  some- 
times obstinate  in  cases  which  they  did  not  thoroughly 
understand.     In  truth,  they  brought  forward  as  a  plausible 
argument  to  secure  credit  to  their  knowledge,  that  in  time 

1  The  book  containing  this  account  is  lost. 


A.D.363.]  OMENS.  327 

past,  when  Cassar  Maximiamis  was  about  to  fight  Xarses, 
king  of  the  Persians,  a  lion  and  a  huge  boar  which  had 
been  slain  were  at  the  same  time  brought  to  him,  and 
after  subduing  that  nation  he  returned  in  safety ;  forget- 
ting that  the  destruction  which  was  now  portended  was 
to  him  who  invaded  the  dominions  of  another,  and  that 
Narses  had  given  the  offence  by  being  the  first  to  make 
an  inroad  into  Armenia,  a  country  under  the  Roman  juris- 
diction. 

12.  On  the  next  day,  which  was  the  7th  of  April,  as  the 
sun  was  setting,  suddenly  the  air  became  darkened,  and 
all  light  wholly  disappeared,  and  after  repeated  claps  of 
thunder  and  flashes  of  lightning,  a  soldier  named  Jovianus 
was  struck  by  the  lightning  and  killed,  with  two  horses 
which  he  was  leading  back  from  the  river  to  which  he  had 
taken  them  to  drink. 

13.  When  this  was  seen,  the  interpreters  of  such  things 
were   sent  for  and  qiiestioned,   and  they  with  increased 
boldness   affirmed  that  this  event  forbade  the  campaign, 
demonstrating   it  to  be   a   monitory  lightning   (for    this 
term  is  applied  to  signs  which  advise  or  discourage  any 
line  of  action).    And  this,  as  they  said,  was  to  be  the  more 
guarded  against,  because  it  had  killed  a  soldier  of  rank, 
with  war-horses  ;  and  the  books  which  explain  lightnings 
pronounce  that  places  struck  in  this  manner  should  not  be 
trodden  on,  nor  even  looked  upon. 

14.  On  the  other  hand,  the  philosophers  declared  that 
the  brilliancy  of  this  sacred  fire  thus  suddenly  presented 
to  the  eye  had  no  special  meaning,  but  was  merely  the 
course  of  a  fiercer   breath  descending  by  some  singular 
power  from  the  sky  to  the  lower  parts  of  the  world  ;  and 
that  if  any  foreknowledge  were  to  be  derived  from  such  ^ 
circumstance,  it  was  rather  an  increase  of  renown  which 
was  portended  to  the  emperor  now  engaged  in  a  glorious 
enterprise  ;  since  it  is  notorious  that  flame,  if  it  meet  with 
no  obstacle,  does  of  its  own  nature  fly  upwards. 

15.  The  bridge  then,  as  has  been  narrated,  having  been 
finished,  and  all  the  troops  having  crossed  it,  the  emperor 
thought  it  the  most  important  of  all  things  to  addre.-s  his 
soldiers  who  were  advancing  resolutely,   in  full  reliance 
on  their  leader  and  on  themselves.     Accordingly,  a  signal 
having  been  given  by  the  trumpets,  the  centurions,  cohorts, 
and  maniples  assembled,  and  he,  standing  on  a  mound  of 


328  AMMIANUS   MARCELUNUS.  [Bit.  XXIJJ.  CH.  T. 

earth,  and  surrounded  by  a  ring  of  officers  of  high  rank, 
spoke  thus  with  a  cheerful  face,  being  favourably  heard 
with  the  unanimous  good  will  of  all  present. 

16.  "  Seeing,  my  brave  soldiers,  that  you  are  full  of  great 
vigour  and  alacrity,  I  have  determined  to  address  you,  to 
prove  to  you  by  several  arguments  that  the  Romans  are 
not,  as  spiteful  grumblers  assert,  now  for  the  first  time 
invading  the  kingdom  of  Persia.     For,  to  say  nothing  of 
Lucullus  or  of    Pompey,   who,  having  forced    his    way 
through  the  Albani  and  Massagetse,  whom  we  call  Alani, 
penetrated  through  this   nation  also  so  as  to   reach   the 
Caspian  lake;  we  know  that  Yentidius,  the  lieutenant  of 
Antony,  gained  many  victories  in  these  regions. 

17.  "  But  to  leave  those  ancient  times,  1  will  enumerate 
other  exploits  of  more  recent  memory.     Trajan,  and  Verus, 
and  Severus  have  all  gained  victories  and  trophies  in  this 
country  ;  and  the  younger  Gordian,  whose  monument  we 
have  just  been  honouring,  would  have  reaped  similar  glory, 
having  conquered  and  routed  the  king  of  Persia  at  Resaina, 
if  he  had  not  been  wickedly  murdered  in  this  very  place 
by  the  faction  of  Philip,  the  prefect  of  the  pntetorium,  with 
the  assistance  of  a  few  other  impious  men. 

18.  "  But  his  shade  was  not  long  left  to  wander  un- 
avenged, since,  as  if  Justice  herself  had  laboured  in  the 
cause,  all  those  who  conspired  against  him  have  been  put 
to   death    with    torture.      Those  men,   indeed,   ambition 
prompted  to  the  atrocious  deed ;  but  we  are  exhorted  by 
the  miserable  fate  of  cities  recently  taken,  by  the  unavenged 
shades  of  our  slaughtered  armies,  by  the  heaviness  of  our 
losses,  and  the  loss  of  many  camps  and  fortresses,  to  the 
enterprise  which  we  have  undertaken.     All  men  uniting 
in  their  wishes  that  we  may  remedy  past  evils,  and  having 
secured  the  honour  and  safety  of  the  republic  on  this  side, 
may  leave  posterity  reason  to  speak  nobly  of  us. 

19.  "By  the  assistance  of   the   eternal   deity,   I,   your 
emperor,  will  be  always  among  you  as  a  leader  and  a  com- 
rade, relying,  as  I  well  believe,  on  favourable  omens.     But 
if  variable  fortune  shall  defeat  me  in  battle,  it  will  still  be 
sufficient  for  me  to  have  devoted  myself  for  the  welfare  of 
the  Roman  world,  like  ancient  Curtii  and  Mucii,  and  the 
illustrious  family  of  the  Decii.       We  have  to  abolish   a 
most  pernicious  nation,  on  whose  swords  the  blood  of  our 
kindred  is  not  yet  dry. 


A.D.  3«3.]  SPEECH    OF   JULIAN.  329 

20.  "  Our  ancestors  have  before  now  devoted  ages  to 
cause   the    destruction  of.  enemies   who  harassed  them. 
Carthage  was  overthrown  after  a  long  and  distressing  war ; 
and  its  great  conqueror  feared  to  let  it  survive  his  victory. 
After  a  long   and  often   disastrous  siege,   Scipio   utterly 
destroyed  Mumantia.      Rome  destroyed   Fidenae,  that  it 
might  not  grow  up  as  a  rival  to  the   empire ;    and  so 
entirely  laid  waste  Falissci  and  Veil,  that  it  is  not  easy  to 
attach  so  much  faith  to  ancient  records  as  to  believe  that 
those  cities  ever  were  powerful. 

21.  "  These  transactions  I  have  related  to  you  as  one 
acquainted    with    ancient  history.       It  follows   that   all 
should  lay  aside,  as  unworthy  of  him,  the  love  of  plunder, 
which  has  often  been  the  insidious  bane  of  the  Koman 
soldier,  and  that  every  one  should  keep  steadily  to  his  own 
troop  and  his  own  standard,  when  the  necessity  for  fighting 
arises,  knowing  that  should  he  loiter  anywhere  he  will 
be  hamstrung  and  left  to  his  fate.     I  fear  nothing  of  our 
over-crafty  enemies  but  their  tricks  and  perfidy. 

22.  "  Finally,  I  promise  you  all,  that  when  our  affairs 
have  met  with  success,  without  entrenching  myself  behind 
my  imperial  prerogative,  so  as  to   consider  all  my  own 
decisions  and  opinions   irrefragably  just   and   reasonable 
because  of  my  authority,  I  will  give,  if  required,  a  full 
explanation  of  all  that  1  have  done,  that  you  may  be  able 
to  judge  whether  it  has  been  wise  or  not. 

23.  "  Therefore,  I  entreat  you,  now  summon  all  your 
courage,  in  full  reliance  on  your  good  fortune,  sure  at  all 
events  that  I  will  share  all  dangers  equally  with  you,  and 
believing  that  victory  ever  accompanies  justice." 

24.  \Vhen  he  had  ended  his  harangue  with  this  pleasant 
peroration,  the  soldiers,  exulting  in  the  glory  of  their  chief, 
and   elated   with  the   hopes  of  success,    lifted   up   their 
shields  on  high,  and  cried   out  that  they  should   think 
nothing   dangerous  nor  difficult  under   an   emperor  who 
imposed  more  toil  on  himself  than  on  his  common  soldiers. 

25.  And  above  all  the  rest  his  Gallic  troops  showed 
this  feeling  with   triumphant   shouts,  remembering  how 
often   while    he   as   their   leader   was   marshalling    their 
ranks,  they  had  seen  some  nations  defeated  and  others 
oompelled  to  sue  for  mercy  and  peace. 


330  AMMIANUS   MARCELLIXUS.  [BK.  XXIII.  CH. 


VI. 

§  1.  OUR  history  here  leads  us  to  a  digression  explana- 
tory of  the  situation  of  Persia.  It  has  been  already  dilated 
upon  by  those  who  describe  different  nations,  though  but 
few  of  them  have  given  a  correct  account ;  if  my  story 
should  be  a  little  longer,  it  will  contribute  to  a  better 
knowledge  of  the  country.  For  whoever  affects  excessive 
conciseness  while  speaking  of  things  but  little  known,  does 
not  so  much  consider  how  to  explain  matters  intelligibly, 
as  how  much  he  may  omit. 

2.  This  kingdom,  formerly  but  small,  and  one  which  had 
been  known  by  several  names,  from  causes  which  we  have 
often  mentioned,  after  the  death  of  Alexander  at  Babylon 
received  the   name   of  Parthia  from  Arsaces,  a  youth  of 
obscure  birth,  who  in  his  early  youth  was  a  leader   of 
banditti,  but  who  gradually  improved  his  condition,  and 
rose  to  high  renown  from  his  illustrious  actions. 

3.  After  many  splendid  and  gallant  exploits  he  defeated 
Nicator  Seleucus,  the  successor  of  the  above-named  Alex- 
ander, who  had  received  the  surname  of  Nicator1  from  his 
repeated  victories ;   and  having  expelled  the  Macedonian 
garrisons,  he  lived  for  the  remainder  of  his  lite  in  peace, 
like  a  merciful  ruler  of  willing  subjects. 

4.  At  last,  after  all  the  neighbouring  districts  had  been 
brought  under  his  power,  either  by  force  or  by  fear,  or  by 
his   reputation   for  justice,  he   died   a  peaceful  death  in 
middle  age,  after  he  had  filled  all  Persia  with  flourishing 
cities   and   well-fortified   camps  and   fortresses,   and  had 
made  it  an  object  of  terror  to  its  neighbours  whom  pre- 
viously it  used  to  fear.      And  he  was  the  first  of  these 
kings  who  had  by  the  unanimous  consent  of  all  his  coun- 
trymen of  all  ranks,  in  accordance  with  the  tenets  of  their 
religion,  had  his  memory  consecrated  as  one  now  placed 
among  the  stars. 

5.  And  it  is  from  his  era  that  the  arrogant  sovereigns 
of  that  nation  have  allowed  themselves  to  be  entitled  bro- 
thers of  the  sun  and  moon.     And,  as  the  title  of  Augustus 
is  sought  for  and  desired  by  our  emperors,  so  now  the 
additional  dignities  first  earned  by  the  fortunate  auspices, 

1  From  viicdu,  to  conquer. 


A.D.  363.)  GLORY    OF   ARSACES.  331 

of  Arsaoes  are  claimed  by  all  the  Parthian  kings,  who  were 
formerly  abject  and  inconsiderable. 

6.  So  that  they  still  worship  and  honour  Arsaces  a?  a 
god,  and  down  to  our  day  have  given  him  so  much  honour 
that,  in  conferring  the  royal  power,  one  of  his  race  has 
been   always   preferred   to   any  one   else.      And   also    in 
intestine  quarrels,  such  as  are  common  in  that  nation,  every 
one   avoids    as    sacrilege   wounding    any   descendant    of 
Arsaces,  whether  in  arms  or  living  as  a  private  individual. 

7.  It  is  well  known  that  this   nation,   after  subduing 
many  others  by  force,  extended  its  dominions  as  far  as  the 
Propontis  and  Thrace ;  but  that  it   subsequently  became 
diminished   and    suffered   great    disasters,    owing   to   the 
arrogance  of  its  ambitious  monarchs,  who   carried  their 
licentious  inroads  into  distant  countries.     First,  in  conse- 
quence of  the  conduct  of  Cyrus,  who  crossed  the  Bosphorus 
with  a  fabulous  host,  but  was  wholly  destroyed  by  Tomyris, 
queen  of  the  Scythians,  who  thus  terribly  avenged  her  sons. 

8.  After  him,  when  Darius,  and  subsequently  Xerxes, 
changed  the  use  '  of  the  elements  and  invaded  Greece,  they 
had  nearly  all  their  forces  destroyed  by  land  and  sea,  and 
could  scarcely  escape  in  safety  themselves.     I  say  nothing 
of  the  wars  of  Alexander,  and  of  his  leaving  the  sovereignty 
over  the  whole  nation  by  will  to  his  successor. 

9.  Then,  a  long  time  after  these  events,  while  our  re- 
public was   under  consuls,   and   was   afterwards   brought 
under  the  power  of  the  Csesars,  that  nation  was  constantly 
warring  with  us,  sometimes  with  equal  fortune ;  being  at 
one  time  defeated,  and  at  another  victorious. 

10.  Now  I  will  in  a  few  words  describe  the  situation 
and    position  of  the  country  as  well  as  I  can.     It  is  a 
region  of  great  extent  both  in  length  and  breadth,  entirely 
surrounding  on  all  sides  the  famous  Persian  gulf  with  its 
many  islands.     The  mouth  of  this  gulf  is  so  narrow,  that 

1  As  the  Greek  epigram  has  it — 

fbv  yairjs  Kal  ir6vrov  a/AeirpGeiffaiffi  Kf\fv0ols 
NauTT/v  ijireipov,  wf£6iropov  irt\dyovs. 

Thus  trvwlated  in  Bohn  a  '  Greek  Anthology,'  p.  25  : — • 
Him,  who  reversed  the  laws  great  Nature  gave, 
Sail'd  o'er  the  continent  and  walk  d  the  wave. 
Three  hundred  spears  from  Sparta  s  iron  plain 
Have  stopp'd.     Oh  blush,  ye  mountains  and  thou  main ! 


332  AMMIANUS    MARCKLLINUS.  LBK.XXlII.Cn.vr. 

from  Harmozon,  the  promontory  of  Carmania,  the  opposite 
headland,  which  the  natives  call  Maces,  is  easily  seen. 

It.  When  the  strait  between  these  capes  is  passed,  and 
the  water  becomes  wider,  they  are  navigable  up  to  the  city 
Teredon,  where,  after  having  suffered  a  great  diminution 
of  its  waters,  the  Euphrates  falls  into  the  sea.  The  entire 
gulf,  if  measured  round  the  shore,  is  20,000  furlongs,  being 
of  a  circular  form  as  if  turned  in  a  lathe.  And  all  round 
its  coasts  are  towns  and  villages  in  great  numbers;  and 
the  vessels  which  navigate  its  waters  are  likewise  very 
numerous. 

12.  Having  then  passed  through  this  strait  we  come  to 
the  gulf  of  Armenia  on  the  east,  the  gulf  of  Cantichus  on 
the  south,  and  on  the  west  to  a  third,  which  they  call 
Chalites.1      These  gulfs,  after  washing  many  islands,  of 
which  but  few  are  known,  join  the  great  Indian  Ocean, 
which  is  the  first  to  receive  the  glowing  rising  of  the  sun, 
and  is  itself  of  an  excessive  heat. 

1 3.  As  the  pens  of  geographers  delineate  it,  the  whole 
of  the  region  which  we  have  been  speaking  of  is  thus 
divided.     From  the  north  to  the  Caspian  gates  it  borders 
on  the  Cadusii,  and  on  many  Scythian  tribes,  and  on  the 
Arimaspi,  a  fierce  one-eyed   people.     On  the  west  it  is 
bounded    by  the   Armenians,    and    Mount   Niphates,    the 
Asiatic  Albani,  the  Red  Sea.  and  the  Scenite  Arabs,  whom 
later  times  have  called  the  Saracens.     To  the  south  it  looks 
towards  Mesopotamia,  on  the  east  it  reaches  to  the  Ganges, 
which  falls  into  the  Southern  Ocean  after  intersecting  the 
countries  of  the  Indians. 

1 4.  The  principal  districts  of  Persia,  under  command  of 
the  Vitaxae,  that  is  to  say  of  the  generals  of  the  cavalry, 
and  of  the  king's  Satraps,  for  the  many  inferior  provinces 
it  would  be  difficult  and  superfluous  to  enumerate,   are 
Assyria,     Susiana,    Media,    Persia,    Parthia,    the    greater 
Carmania,  Hyrcania,  Margiana,  the  Bactrians,  the  Sogdians, 
the   Sacae,  Scythia  beyond  Mount  Emodes.  Serica,  Aria, 
the  Pai-opanisadae,  Drangiana,  Arachosia,  and  Gedrosia. 

1  The  probability  is  thai;  all  these  names  are  corrupt.  Ammianus's 
ignorance  of  the  relative  bearings  of  countries  makes  it  difficult  to 
decide  what  they  ought  to  be.  If  the  proper  reading  of  the  last  name 
be,  as  Valesius  thinks,  Sarbaletes,  that  is  the  name  given  by  Ptolemy 
to  a  part  of  tho  Red  Sea.  A  French  translator  of  the  last  century 
iconsiders  the  Gulf  of  Armenia  a  portion  of  the  Caspian  8ea. 


4.D.  3«3.t  ASSYRIA.  333 

15.  Superior  to  all  the  rest  is  that  which  is  the  nearest 
to  us,  Assyria,  both  in  renown,  and  extent,  and  its  varied 
riches   and   fertility.       It   was    formerly   divided    among 
several  peoples  and  tribes,  but  is  now  known  under  one 
common  name  as  Assyria.     It  is  in  lhat  country  that  amid 
its  abundance  of  fruits  and  ordinary  crops,  there  is  a  lake 
named  Sosingites,  near  which  bitumen  is  found.     In  this 
lake  the  Tigris  is  fur  a  while  absorbed,  flowing  beneath  its 
bed,  till,  at  a  great  distance,  it  emerges  again. 

16.  Here  also  is  produced  naphtha,  an  article  of  a  pitchy 
and  glutinous  character,  resembling  bitumen  :  on  which  if 
ever  so  small  a  bird  perches,  it  finds  its  flight  impeded  and 
speedily  dies.     It  is  a  species  of  liquid,  and  when  once  it 
has  taken  fire,  human  ingenuity  can  find  nc  means  of  ex- 
tinguishing it  except  that  of  heaping  dust,  on  it. 

17.  In  the  same  district  is  seen  an  opening  in  the  earth 
from  which   a   deadly  vapour   arises,  which  by  its   foul 
odour  destroys  any   animal  which   comes   near   it.     The 
evil   arises  from  a  deep  well,  and  if  that  odour   spread 
beyond  its   wide  mouth  before  it  rose   higher,    it  would 
make  all  the  country  around   uninhabitable  by  its  fetid 
effect. 

18.  There  used,  as  some  affirm,  to  be  a  similar  chasm 
near  Hierapolis  in  Phrygia ;   from  which  a  noxious  vapour 
rose  in  like  manner  with  a  fetid  smell  which  never  ceased, 
and  destroyed  everything  within  the  reach  of  its  influence, 
except  eunuchs  ;  to  what  this  was  owing  we  leave  natural 
philosophers  to  determine. 

19.  Also  near  the  temple  of  the  Asbamaean  Jupiter,  in 
Cappadocia  (in  which  district  that   eminent  philosopher 
Apollonius  is  said  to  have  been  born  near  the  town  of 
Tyana),   a   spring  rises  from    a   marsh,    which,  however 
swollen  with  its  rising  floods,  never  overflows  its  banks. 

20.  Within  this  circuit  is  Adiabene,  which  was  formerly 
called  Assyria,  but  by  long  custom  has  received  its  present 
name  from  the  circumstance,  that  being  placed  between 
the   two   navigable    rivers    the   Ona  and   the   Tigris,    it 
can  never  be  approached   by  fording ;  for  in  Greek  we 
use  liafiaiveiv  for  to  "  cross :"  this  was  the  belief  of  the 
ancients. 

21.  But  we  say  that  in  this  country  there  are  two  rivers 
which  never  fail,  which  we  ourselves  have  crossed,  the 


334  AMMTANUS   MARCELLINUS.  [Bs.  XXIII.  CM.  vi. 

Diabas,  and  the  Adiabas :  both  having  bridges  of  boats 
over  them  ;  and  that  Adiabene  has  received  its  name 
from  this  last,  as  Homer  tells  us  Egypt  received  its  name 
from  its  great  river,  and  India  also,  and  Commagena 
which  was  formerly  called  Euphratensis,  as  did  the 
country  now  called  Spain,  which  was  formerly  called 
Iberia  from  the  Iberus.1  And  the  great  Spanish  province 
of  Boetica  from  the  river  Bcetis. 

22.  In  this  district  of  Adiabene  is  the  city  of  Nineveh, 
named  after  Ninus,  a  most  mighty  sovereign   of  former 
times,  and  the  husband  of  Semiramis,  who  was  formerly 
queen  of  Persia,  and  also  the  cities  of  Ecbatana,  Arbela, 
and   Gaugamela,   where   Alexander,   after    several    other 
battles,  gave  the  crowning  defeat  to  Darius. 

23.  In  Assyria  there  are  many  cities,  among  which  one 
of  the  most  eminent  is   Apamia,  surnamed  Mesene,  and 
Teredon,  and  Apollonia,  and  Vologesia,  and  many  others  of 
equal  importance.     But  the  most  splendid  and  celebrated 
are  these  three,  Babylon,  the  walls  of  which  Semiramis 
cemented  with  pitch ;  for  its  citadel  indeed  was  founded 
by  that  most   eminent   monarch   Belus.     And   Ctesiphon 
which  Vardanes  built  long  ago,  and  which  subsequently 
King  Pacorus  enlarged  by  an  immigration  of  many  citizens, 
fortifying  it  also  with  walls,  and  giving  it  a  name,  made 
it  the  most  splendid  place  in  Persia — next  to  it  Seleucia, 
the  splendid  work  of  Seleucus  Nicator. 

24.  This,   however,   as  we  have   already  related,  was 
stormed  by  the  generals  of  Veins  Csesar,  who  carried  the 
image  of  the  Cumsean  Apollo  to  Rome,  and  placed  it  in  the 
temple  of  the   Palatine   Apollo,  where  it  was  formally 
dedicated  to  that  god  by  his  priests.      But  it  is  said  that 
after  this  statue  was  carried  off,  and  the  city  was  burnt, 
the  soldiers,  searching  the  temple,  found  a  narrow  hole, 
and  when  this  was  opened  in  the  hope  of  finding  some- 
thing of  value  in  it,  from  some  deep  gulf  which  the  secret 
science  of  the  Chaldseans  had  closed  up,  issued  a  pestilence, 
loaded  with  the  force  of  incurable  disease,  which  in  the 
time  of  Verus  and  Marcus  Antoninus  polluted  the  whole 
world  from  the  borders  of  Persia  to  the  Rhine  and  Gaul 
with  contagion  and  death. 

1  The  Ebro.  *  The  Guadalquivir. 


A.a.363.]  CHALOEA.  335 

.  25.  Near  to  this  is  the  region  of  the  Chaldeeans,  the 
nurse  of  the  ancient  philosophy,  as  the  Chaldeeans  therp- 
selves  affirm ;  and  where  the  art  of  true  divination  has 
most  especially  been  conspicuous.  This  district  is  watered 
by  the  noble  rivers  already  mentioned,  by  the  Marses, 
by  the  Eoyal  river,  and  by  that  best  of  all,  the  Euphrates, 
which  divides  into  three  branches,  and  is  navigable  in 
them  all,  having  many  islands,  and  irrigating  the  fields 
around  in  a  manner  superior  to  any  industry  of  cultivators, 
making  them,  fit  both  for  the  plough  and  for  the  production 
of  trees. 

26.  Next  to  these  come  the  Susians,  in  whose  province 
there  are  not  many  towns  ;  though  Susa  itself  is  celebrated 
as  a  city  which  has  often  been  the  home  of  kings,  and 
Arsiana,  and  Sele,  and  Aracha.    The  other  towns  in  this 
district  are  unimportant  and  obscure.     Many  rivers  flow 
through  this  region,  the  chief  of  which  are  the  Oroates, 
the  Harax,  and  the  Meseus,  passing  through  the  narrow 
sandy  plain  which  separates  the  Caspian  from  the  Red  Sea, 
and  then  fall  into  the  sea. 

27.  On  the  left,  Media  is  bounded  by  the  Hyrcanian 
Sea  ;l  a  country  which,  before  the  reign  of  the  elder  Cyrus 
and  the  rise  of  Persia,  we  read  was  the  supreme  mistress 
of  all  Asia  after  the  Assyrians  had  been  conquered ;  the 
greater  part  of  whose   cantons  had  their  name   changed 
into  one  general  appellation  of  Acrapatena,  and  fell  by 
right  of  war  under  the  power  of  the  Medes. 

28.  They  are  a  warlike  nation,  and  the  most  formidable 
of  all  the  eastern  tribes,  next  to  the  Parthians,  by  whom 
alone  they  are  conquered.     The  region  which  they  inhabit 
js  in  the  form  of  a  square.     All  the  inhabitants  of  these 
districts  extend  over  great  breadth  of  country,  reaching  to 
the  foot  of  a  lofty  chain  of  mountains  known  by  the  names 
of  Zagrus,  Orontes,  and  Jasonium. 

29.  There    is     another    very    lofty    moxmtain     called 
Coronus :  and  those  who  dwell  on  its  western  side  abound 
in  corn  land  and  vineyards,   being  blessed  with  a  most 
fertile  soil,  and  one  enr'ched  by  rivers  and  fountains. 

30.  They  have  also  green  meadows,  and  breeds  of  noble 
horses,  on  which  (as  ancient  writers  relate,   and  as  we 

t  *  Ammianus  seems  to  distinguish  between  the  Hyrcanian  and  Caspian 
Sea,  which  are  only  different  names  for  the  same  sea  or  inlaad  lake. 


336  AMMIANUS   MARCELLINUS.  [B*  XXI11.  CH.  n 

ourselves  have  witnessed)  their  men  when  going  to  battle 
mount  with  great  exultation.     They  call  them  Nessei.1 

31.  They  have  also  as  many  cities  as  Media,  and  villages 
as  strongly  built  as  towns  in  other  countries,  inhabited  by 
large  bodies  of  citizens.     In  short,  it  is  the  richest  quarter 
of  the  kingdom. 

32.  Jn  these  districts  the  lands  of  the  Magi  are  fertile; 
and  it  may  be  as  well  to  give  a  short  account  of  that  sect  and 
their  studies,  since  we  have  occasion  to  mention  their  name. 
Plato,  that  most  learned  deliverer  of  vrise  opinions,  teaches 
us  that  Magiae  is  by  a  mystic  name  Machagistia,*  that  is  to 
say,  the  purest  worship  of  divine  beings  ;  of  which  know- 
ledge  in  olden  times  the  Bactrian  Zoroaster  derived  much 
from   the  secret  rites  of  the  Chaldasans ;  and  after  him 
Hystaspes,  a  very  wise  monarch,  the  father  of  Darius. 

33.  Who  while  boldly  penetrating  into  the  remoter  dis- 
tricts of  upper  India,  came  to  a  certain  woody  retreat,  of 
which  with  its  tranquil  silence  the  Brahmans,  men  of  sub- 
lime genius,  were  the  possessors.     From  their  teaching  he 
learnt  the  principles  of  the  motion  of  the  world  and  of  the 
stars,  and  the  pure  rites  of  sacrifice,  as  far  as  he  could ;  and 
of  what  he  learnt  he  infused  some  portion  into  the  minds 
of  the  Magi,  which  they  have  handed  down  by  tradition  to 
later  ages,  each  instructing  his  own  children,  and  adding 
to  it  their  own  system  of  divination. 

34.  From  his  time,  though  many  ages  to  the  present  era, 
a  number  of  priests  of  one  and  the  same  race  has  arisen, 
dedicated  to  the  worship  of  the  gods.     And  they  say,  if  it 
can  be  believed,  that  they  even  keep  alive  in  everlasting 
fires  a  flame  which  descended  from  heaven  among  them ; 
a  small  portion  of  which,  as  a  favourable  omen,  used  to 
be  borne  before  the  kings  of  Asia. 

35.  Of  this  class  the  number  among  the  ancients  was 
small,  and  the  Persian  sovereigns  employed  their  ministry 
in  the  solemn  performance  of  divine  sacrifices,  and  it  was 
profanation  to  approach  the  altars,  or  to  touch  a  victim 
before  a  Magus  with  solemn  prayers  had  poured  over  it  a 
preliminary    libation.       But    becoming    gradually    more 

1  A  name  not  very  unlike  Nejid,  to  this  day  the  most  celebrated 
Arab  breed. 

2  There  is  evidently  some  corruption  here ;  there  is  no  such  Greek 
word  as  Machagistia. 


RIVERS   OF   PERSIA.  337 

numerous  they  arrived  at  the  dignity  and  reputation  of  a 
substantial  race  ;  inhabiting  towns  protected  by  no  fortifi- 
cations, allowed  to  live  by  their  own  laws,  and  honoured 
from  the  regard  borne  to  their  religion. 

b6.  It  was  of  this  race  of  Magi  that  the  ancient  volumes 
relate  that  after  the  death  of  Cambyses,  seven  men  seized  on 
the  kingdom  of  Persia,  who  were  put  down  by  Darius,  after 
he  obtained  the  kingdom  through  the  neighing  of  his  horse. 

37.  in  this  district  a  medical  oil  is  prepared  with  which 
if  an  arrow  be  smeared,  and  it  be  shot  gently  from  a  loose 
bow  (for  it  loses  its  effect  in  a  rapid  night),  wherever  it 
sticks  it  burns  steadily,  and  if  any  one  attempts  to  quench 
it  with  water  it  only  burns  more  fiercely,  nor  can  it  be 
put  out  by  any  means  except  by  throwing  dust  on  it. 

38.  It  is  made  in  this  manner.     Those  skilful  in  such 
arts  mix  common  oil  with  a  certain  herb,  keep  it  a  long 
time,  and  when  the  mixture  is  completed  they  thicken  it 
with  a  material  derived  from  some  natural  source,  like  a 
thicker  oil.     The   material   being  a   liquor  produced   in 
Persia,  and  called,  as  I  have  already  said,  naphtha  in  their 
native  language. 

39.  In  this  district  there  are  many  cities,  the  most  cele- 
brated of  which  are  Zombis,  Patigran,  and  Gazaca ;  but  the 
richest  and  most  strongly  fortified  are  Heraclia,  Arsacia, 
Europos,  Cyropolis,  and  Ecbatana,  all  of  which  are  situated 
in  the  Syromedian  region  at  the  foot  of  Mount  Jasonius. 

40.  There  are  many  rivers  in  this  country,  the  principal 
of  which  are  the  Choaspes,  the  Gyndes,  the  Amardus,  the 
Charinda,  the  Cambyses,  and  the  Cyrus,  to  which,  on  account 
of  its  size  and  beauty,  the  elder  Cyrus,  that  amiable  king, 
gave  its  present  name,  abolishing  that  which  it  used  to 
bear,  when  he  was  proceeding  on  his  expedition  against 
Scythia;  his  reason  being  that  it  was  strong,  as  he  ac- 
counted himself  to  be,  and  that  making  its  way  with  great 
violence,  as  he  proposed  to  do,  it  falls  into  the  Caspian  Sea. 

41.  Beyond  this  frontier  ancient  Persia,  stretching  to- 
wards the  south,  extends  as  far  as  the  sea,  and  is  very 
thickly  peopled,  being  also  rich  in  grain  and  date-trees, 
and  well   supplied   with   excellent   water.      Many  of  its 
rivers  fall  into  the  gulf  already  mentioned,  the  chief  of 
which  are  the  Vatrachites,  the  Rogomanis,  the  Brisoana, 
and  the  Bagrada. 


338  AMMIANUS   MARCELL1XUS.  [BK.XXlII.Cn.vi 

42.  Its  inland  towns  are  very  considerable;  it  is  uncer- 
tain why  they  built  nothing  remarkable  on  the  sea-coast. 
Those  of  most  note  are  Persepolis,  Ardea,  Obroatis,  and 
Tragonice.     The  only  islands  visible  from  that  coast  are 
these  : — Tabiana,  Fara,  and  Alexandria. 

43.  On  the  borders  of  this  ancient  Persia  towards  the 
north  is  Parthia,  a  country  subject  to  snow  and  frost ;  the 
principal  river  which  intersects  that  region  is  the  Choatres ; 
the   chief  towns  are   Genonia,   Mcesia,  Charax,   Apamia, 
Artacana,  and  Hecatompylos ;  from  its  frontier  along  the 
shores  of  the  Caspian  Sea- to  the  Caspian  gates  is  a  distance 
of  1040  furlongs. 

44.  The  inhabitants  of  all  the  countries  in  that  district 
are  fierce  and  warlike,  and  they  are  so  fond  of  war  and 
battle  that  he  who  is  slain  in  battle  is  accounted  the  hap- 
piest of  men,  while  those  who  die  a  natural  death  are  re- 
proached as  degenerate  and  cowardly. 

45.  These  tribes  are  bounded  on  the  east  and  the  south 
by  Arabia  Felix,  so  called  because  it  abounds  equally  in 
corn,  cattle,  vines,  and  every  kind  of  spice  :  a  great  portion 
of  that  country  reaches  on  the  right  down  to  the  Ked  Sea, 
and  on  its  left  extends  to  the  Persian  Gulf;  so  that  the 
inhabitants  reap  the  benefits  of  both. 

46.  There  are  in  that  country  many  havens  and  secure 
harbours,  and  well-frequented  marts;  many  spacious  and 
splendid  abodes  for  their  kings,  and  wholesome  springs  of 
water  naturally  warm,  and  a  great  number  of  rivers  and 
streams ;  the  climate  is  temperate  and  healthy,  so  that  if 
one  considers  the  matter  rightly,  the  natives  seem  to  want 
nothing  to  perfect  their  happiness. 

47.  There  are  in  it  very  many  cities  both  on  the  coast 
and   inland ;   many  fertile  hills  and   valleys.     The  chief 
cities    are   Geapolis,   Nascon,   Baraba,    Kagara,   Mephra, 
Taphra,  and  Dioscurias.     And  in  both  seas  it  possesses 
several  islands  lying  off  the  coast,  which  it  is  not  worth 
•while  to  enumerate.     But  the  most  important  of  them  is 
Turgana,  in  which  there  is  said  to  be  a  magnificent  temple 
of  Serapis. 

48.  Beyond  the  frontier  of  this  nation  is  the  greater 
Carmania,  lying  on  high  ground,  and  stretching   to   the 
Indian  Sea ;  fertile  in  fruit  and  timber  trees,  but  neither 
so  productive  nor  so  extensive  as  Arabia-     With  rivers  it 


».D.  363-]  THK    HYRCANI.  330 

is  as  well  supplied,  and  in  grass  and  herbage   scarcely 
inferior. 

49.  The  most  important  rivers  are   the  Sagareus,   the 
Saganis,  and  the  Hydriacus.     The  cities  are  not  numerous, 
but  admirably  supplied  with  all  the  necessaries  and  luxuries 
of  life ;  the  most  celebrated  of  them  all  are  Carmania  the 
metropolis,  Portospana,  Alexandria,  and  Hermopolis. 

50.  Proceeding  inland,  we  next  come  to  the  Hyrcanians, 
who  live  on  the  coast  of  the  sea  of  that  name.     Here  the 
land  is  so  poor  that  it  kills  the  seed  crops,  so  that  agricul- 
ture is  not  much  attended  to ;  but  they  live  by  hunting, 
taking  wonderful  pleasure  in  every  kind  of  sport.     Thou- 
sands of  tigers  are  found  among  them,  and  all  kinds  of  wild 
beasts ;  we  have  already  mentioned  the  various  devices  by 
which  they  are  caught. 

51.  Not   indeed   that  they  are  ignorant   of  the  art   of 
ploughing,  and  some  districts  where  the  soil  is  fertile  are 
regularly  sown  ;  nor  are  trees  wanting  to  plant  in  suitable 
spots :   many  of  the   people  too  support   themselves   by 
commerce. 

52.  In  this  province  are  two  rivers  of  universal  celebrity 
the  Oxus  and  the  Maxera,  which  tigers  sometimes,  when 
urged  by  hunger,  cross  by  swimming,  and  unexpectedly 
ravage   the   neighbouring   districts.     It   has   also  besides 
other  smaller  towns  some  strong  cities,  two  on  the  sea- 
shore named  Socunda  and  Saramanna ;  and   some  inland, 
such  as  Azmorna  and  Sole,  and  Hyrcana,  of  higher  reputa- 
tion than  either. 

53-  Opposite  to  this  tribe,  towards  the  north,  live  the 
Abii,  a  very  devout  nation,  accustomed  to  trample  under 
foot  all  worldly  things,  and  whom,  as  Homer  somewhat 
fabulously  says,  Jupiter  keeps  in  view  from  Mount  Ida. 

54.  The  regions  next  to  the  Hyrcaneans  are  possessed 
by   the   Margiani,  whose  district  is  almost  wholly   sur- 
rounded by  high  hills,  by  which  they  are  separated  from 
the  sea ;  and  although  the  greater  part  of  this  province  is 
deserted  from  want  of  water,  still  there  are  some  towns  in 
it ;  the  best  known  of  which  are  Jasonknn  Antiochia,  and 
Nisaea. 

55.  Next  to  them  are  the  Bactrians,  a  nation  formerly 
very   warlike-  and   powerful,  and   always   hostile   to   the 
Persians,  till  they  drew  all  the  nations  around  under  theii 


340  AMMIANUS  MARCELLINUS.  [B*.  XXIII.  CH.  n. 

dominion,  and  united  them  under  their  own  name  ;  and  in 
old  time  the  Bactrian  kings  were  formidable  even  to  Arsaces. 

56.  The   greater    part   of   their   country,    like   that   of 
the  Margiani,  is  situated  far  from  the  sea-shore,   but  its 
soil  is  fertile,  and  the  cattle  which  feed  both  on  the  plains 
and  on  the  mountains  in  that  district  are  very  large  and 
powerful ;  of  this  the  camels  which  Mithridates  brought 
from  thence,  and  which  were  first  seen  by  the  Romans  at 
the  siege  of  Cyzicus,  are  a  proof. 

57.  Many  tribes  are  subject  to  the  Bactrians,  the  most 
considerable  of  which  are  the  Tochari :  their  country  is 
like  Italy  in  the  number  of  its  rivers,  some  of  which  are 
the  Artemis    and    the   Zariaspes,   which    were  formerly 
joined,  and  the  Ochus  and  Orchomanes,  which  also  unite 
and  afterwards  fall  into  the  Oxus,  and  increase  that  large 
liver  with  their  streams. 

58.  There  are  also  cities  in  that  country,  many  of  them  on 
the  border  of  different  rivers,  the  best  of  which  are  Chatra, 
Charte,   Alicodra,   Astacea,   Menapila,  and  Bactra  itself, 
which  has  given  its  name  both  to  the  region  and  to  the 
people. 

59.  At  the  foot  of  the  mountains  lie  a  people  called  the 
Sogdians,  in  whose  country  are  two  rivers  navigable  for 
large  vessels,  the  Araxates  and  the  Dymas,  which,  flowing 
among  the  hills  and  through  the  valleys  into  the  open  plain, 
form  the  extensive  Oxian  marsh.     In  this  district  the  most 
celebrated  towns  are  Alexandria,  Cyreschata,  and  Drepsa 
the  metropolis. 

60.  Bordering  on  these  are  the  Sacse,  a  fierce  nation 
dwelling  in  a  gloomy-looking  district,  only  fit  for  cattle, 
and  on  that  account  destitute  of  cities.     They  are  at  the 
foot  of  Mount  Ascanimia  and  Mount  Comedus,  along  the 
bottom  of  which,  and  by  a  town  called  the  Stone  Tower, 
is  the  long  road  much  frequented  by  merchants  which 
leads  to  China. 

61.  Around  the  glens  at  the  bottom  of  the  Imauian  and 
Tapurian  mountains,  and  within  the  Persian  frontier,  is  a 
tribe  of  Scythians,  bordering  on  the  Asiatic  Sarmatians, 
and  touching  the  furthest  side  of  the  Allemanni,  who,  like 
dwellers   in  a  secluded  spot,  and  made  for  solitude,  are 
scattered  over  the   regions  at   long  distances  from  one 
another,  and  live  on  hard  and  poor  food. 


A4>.  363.]  SCVTHIA.  341 

62.  And  various  tribes  inhabit  these  districts,  which,  as 
I  am  hastening  to  other   topics,   I  think  superfluous  to 
enumerate.     But  this  is  worth  knowing,  that  among  these 
tribes,  which  are  almost  unapproachable  on  account  of  their 
excessive   ferocity,    there   are   some   races   of  gentle  and 
devout  men,  as  the  Jaxartee  and  the  Galactophagi,  whom 
Homer  mentions  in  his  verses  : — 

T\aKro<f>dytav,  'ABiuvre,  SmaiOTaTcav  avBpttnrow.1 

63.  Among  the  many  rivers  which  flow  through  this 
land,  either  uniting  at  last  with  larger  streams,  or  proceed- 
ing straight  to  the  sea,  the  most  celebrated  are  the  Ecem- 
nus,  the  Jaxartes,  and  the  Talicus.     There  are  but  three 
cities  there  of  any  note,  Aspabota,  Chauriana,  and  Saga. 

64.  Beyond  the  districts  of  the  two  Scythias,  on  the 
eastern  side,  is  a  ring  of  mountains  which  surround  Serica, 
a  country  considerable  both  for  its  extent  and  the  fertility 
of  its  soil.     This  tribe  on  their  western  side  border  on 
the  Scythians,  on  the  north  and  the  east  they  look  towards 
snowy  deserts ;  towards  the  south  they  extend  as  far  as 
India  and  the  Ganges.     The  best  known  of  its  mountains 
a  e  Annib,  Nazavicium,  Asmira,  Emodon,  and  Opurocarra. 

65.  The  plain,  which  descends  very  suddenly  from  the 
hills,   and  is  of  considerable  extent,   is  watered  by   two 
famous   rivers,  the   CEchardes   and   the   Bautis,  which  is 
less  rapid  than  the  other.     The  character  too  of  the  dif- 
ferent districts  is  very  varied.     One  is  extensive  and  level, 
the  other  is  on  a  gentle  slope,  and  therefore  very  fertile  in 
corn,  and  cattle,  and  trees. 

06.  The  most  fertile  part  of  the  country  is  inhabited  by 
various  tribes,  of  which  the  Alitrophagi,  the  Annibi,  the 
Sisyges,  and  the  Chardi  lie  to  the  north,  exposed  to  the 
frost ;  towards  the  east  are  the  Eabannae,  the  Asmirae,  and 
the  Essedones,  the  most  powerful  of  all,  who  are  joined  on 
the  west  by  the  Athagorae,  and  the  Aspacarae ;  and  on  the 
south  by  the  Bete,  who  live  on  the  highest  slopes  of  the 
mountains.  Though  they  have  not  many  cities  they  have 
some  of  great  size  and  wealth  ;  the  most  beautiful  and  re- 
nowned of  which  are  Asmira,  Essedon,  Asparata,  and  Sera. 

67.  The   Seres  themselves  live  quietly,   always  avoid- 

i  n.  xiii.  10. 


o42  AMMIANUS   MARCKLLIXUS.  [Ex.  XXIII.  Cn.  vi 

ing  arms  and  battles  ;  and  as  ease  is  pleasant  to  moderate 
and  quiet  men,  they  give  trouble  to  none  of  their  neigh- 
bours. Their  climate  is  agreeable  and  healthy ;  the  sky 
serene,  the  breezes  gentle  and  delicious.  They  have 
numbers  of  shining  groves,  the  trees  of  which  through 
continued  watering  produce  a  crop  like  the  fleece  of  a 
sheep,  which  the  natives  make  into  a  delicate  wool,  and 
spin  into  a  kind  of  fine  cloth,  formerly  confined  to  the  use 
of  the  nobles,  but  now  procurable  by  the  lowest  of  the  people 
without  distinction. 

68.  The  natives  themselves  are  the  most  frugal  of  men, 
cultivating  a  peaceful  life,  and  shunning  the  society  of 
other  men.     And  when  strangers  cross  their  river  to  buy 
their  cloth,  or  any  other  of  their  merchandise,  they  inter- 
change no  conversation,  but  settle  the  price  of  the  articles 
wanted  by  nods  and  signs  ;  and  they  are  so  moderate  that, 
while  selling  their  own  produce,  they  never  buy  any 
foreign  wares. 

69.  Beyond    the    Seres,  towards   the   north,   live   the 
Ariani ;  their  laud  is  intersected  by  a  navigable  river  called 
the  Arias,  which  forms  a  huge  lake  known  by  the  same 
name.     This  district  of  Asia  is   full  of  towns,  the   most 
illustrious  of  which  are  Bitaxa,  Sarmatina,  Sotera,  Nisibis, 
and   Alexandria,  from  which  last  down  the  river  to  the 
Caspian  Sea  is  a  distance  of  fifteen  hundred  furlongs. 

70.  Close  to  their  border,  living  on  the  slopes  of  the 
mountains,  are  the  Paropanisatse,  looking  on  the  east  to- 
wards India,  and  on  the  west  towards  Mount  Caucasus. 
Their   principal  river  is   Ortogordomaris,  which  rises  in 
Bacti  ia.   They  have  some  cities,the  principal  being  Agazaca, 
Naulibus,  and  Ortopana,  from  which  if  you  coast  along  the 
shore  to  the  borders  of  Media  which  are  nearest  to  the 
Caspian  gates,  the  distance  is  two  thousand  two  hundred 
furlongs. 

71.  Next  to  them,  among  the  hills,  are  the  Drangiani, 
whose  chief  river  is  the  Arabis,  so  called  because  it  rises 
in  Arabia  ;  and  their  two  principal  towns  are  Prophthasia 
and  Aniaspe,  both  wealthy  and  well  known. 

72.  Next    to    them   is  Arachosia,  which   on   the   right 
extends  as  far  as  India.     It  is  abundantly  watered  by  a 
river  much  smaller  than  the  Indus,  that  greatest  of  rivers, 
which  gives  its  name  to  the  surrounding  regions ;  in  fact 


A.D.  363.J  THE    HACKS   OF    MEN*.  343 

their  river  flows  out  of  the  Indus,  and  passes  on  till  it 
forms  the  marsh  known  as  Arachotoscrene.  Its  leading 
cities  are  Alexandria,  Arbaca,  and  Choaspa. 

73.  In  the  most  inland  districts  of  Persia  is  Gedrosia ; 
which  on  its   right  touches  the  frontier  of  India,  and  is 
fertilized  by  several  rivers,  of  which  the  greatest  is  the 
Artabius.     There  the  Barbitani  mountains  end,  and  from 
their  lowest  parts  rise  several  rivers  which  fall  into  the 
Indus,  losing  their  own  names  in  the  greatness  of  that 
superior   stream.      They   have  several  islands,  and  their 
principal  cities  are  Sedratyra  and  Gynaecon. 

74.  We  need  not  detail  minutely  every  portion  of  the  sea- 
coast  on  the  extremity  of  Persia,  as  it  would  lead  us  into 
too  long  a  digi-ession.     It  will  suffice  to  say  that  the  sea 
which   stretches   from   the  Caspian  mountains  along  the 
northern  side  to  the  straits  above  mentioned,  is  nine  thou- 
sand furlongs  in  extent ;  the  southern  frontier,  from  the 
mouth  of  the  Nile  to  the  beginning  of  Carmania,  is  four- 
teen thousand  furlongs. 

75.  In  these  varied  districts  of  different  languages,  the 
races  of  111311  are  as  different  as  the  places.     But  to  describe 
their  persons  and  customs  in  general  terms,  they  are  nearly 
all  slight  in  figure,  swarthy  or  rather  of  a  pale  livid  com- 
plexion ;  fierce-looking,  with  goat-like  eyes,  and  eyebrows 
arched  in  a  semicircle  and  joined,  with  handsome  beards, 
and  long  hair.     They  at  all  times,  even  at  banquets  and 
festivals,  wear   swords;  a   custom   which   that   excellent 
author  Thucydides  tells  us  the  Athenians  were  the  first  of 
the  Greeks  to  lay  aside. 

76.  They  are  generally  amazingly  addicted  to  amatory 
pleasui'es ;  each  man  scarcely  contenting  himself  with  a 
multitude  of  concubines :  from  unnatural  vices  they  are 
free.     Each  man   marries   many  or  few  wives,  as  he  can 
afford  them,  so  that  natural  affection  is  lost  among  them 
because  of  the  numerous  objects  of  their  licence.     They 
are  frugal  in  their  banquets,  avoiding  immoderate  indulg- 
ence and  especially  hard  drinking,  as  they  would  the  plague. 

77.  Nor,   except   at   the   king's   table,    have   they   any 
settled  timo  for  dining,  buv  each  man's  stomach  serves  as 
his  sun-dial ;  nor  does  any  ofte  eat  after  he  is  satisfied. 

78.  They  are   marvellously  temperate  and  cautious,  so 
that  when  sometimes  marching  among  the  gardens  and 


344  AMMIANUS   MARCELLIXUS.  [BK.XXIIl.CH.vt 

vineyards  of  enemies,  they  neither  desire  nor  touch  any- 
thing, from  fear  of  poison  or  witchcraft. 

79.  They  perform  all  the  secret  functions  of  nature  -with 
the  most  scrupulous  secrecy  and  modesty. 

80.  But  they  are  so  loose  in  their  gait,  and  move  with 
such  correct  ease  and  freedom,  that  you  would  think  them 
effeminate,  though  they  are  most  vigoroiis  warriors ;  still 
they  are  rather   crafty  than  bold,  and  are  most  formi- 
dable at  a  distance.     They  abound  in  empty  words,  and 
speak  wildly  and  fiercely ;  they  talk  big,  are  proud,  un- 
manageable, and  threatening  alike  in  prosperity  and  adver- 
sity ;  they  are  cunning,  arrogant,  and  cruel,  exercising  the 
power  of  life  and  death  over  their  slaves,  and  all  low-bom 
plebeians.     They  flay  men  alive,  both  piecemeal,  and  by 
stripping  off  the  whole  skin.     No  servant  while  waiting 
on  them,  or  standing  at  their  table,  may  gape,  speak,  or 
spit,  so  that  their  mouths  are  completely  shut. 

81.  Their  laws  are  remarkably  severe  ;  the  most  stringent 
are  against  ingratitude  and  against  deserters  ;  some  too 
are  abominable,  inasmuch  as  for  the  crime  of  one  man  they 
condemn  all  his  relations. 

82.  But  as  those  only  are   appointed   iudges  who  are 
men  of  proved  experience  and  irprightness,  and  of  such 
wisdom  as  to  stand  in  no  need  of  advice,  they  laugh  at 
our  custoxc  of  sometimes  appointing  men  of  eloquence 
and  skill   in  public  jurisprudence  as  guides   to  ignorant 
judges.     The  story  that  one  judge  was  compelled  to  sit 
on  the  skin  of  another,  who  had  been  condemned  for  his 
injustice,  is  either  an  ancient  fable,  or  else,  if  ever  there 
was  such  a  custom,  it  has  become  obsolete. 

83.  In  military  system  and  discipline,  by  continual  ex- 
ercises in  the  business  of  the  camp,  and  the  adoption  of 
the  various  manoeuvres  which  they  have  learnt  from  us, 
they  have  become  formidable  even  to  the  greatest  armies ; 
they  trust  chiefly  to  the  valour  of  their  cavalry,  in  which 
all  their  nobles  and  rich  men  serve.     Their  infantry  are 
armed  like  mirmillos,1  and  are  as  obedient  as  grooms  ;  and 
they  always  follow  the  cavalry  like  a  band  condemned  to 
everlasting  slavery,  never  receiving  either  pay  or  gratuity. 
This  nation,  besides  those  whom  it  has  permanently  sub- 

1  A  kind  of  gladiator. 


AA363.]  THEIR   CUSTOiMS.  345 

dued,  has  aiso  compelled  many  others  to  go  under  the 
yoke ;  so  brave  is  it  and  so  skilful  in  all  warlike  exercises, 
that  it  would  be  invincible  were  it  not  continually  weak- 
ened by  civil  and  by  foreign  wars. 

84.  Most  of  them  wear  garments  brilliant  with  various 
colours,  so   completely   enveloping   the   body   that   even 
though  they  leave  the  bosoms  and  sides  of  their  robes 
open  so  as  to  flutter  in  the  wind,  still  from  their  shoes  to 
their  head  no  part  of  their  person  is  exposed.     After  con- 
quering Croesus  and  subduing  Lydia,  they  leamt  also  to 
wear  golden  armlets  and  necklaces,  and  jewels,  especially 
pearls,  of  which  they  had  great  quantities. 

85.  It  only  remains  for  me  to  say  a  few  words  about  the 
origin  of  this  stone.     Among  the  Indians  and  Persians 
pearls  are  found  in  strong  white   sea-shells,  being  created 
at  a  regular  time  by  the  admixture  of  dew.    For  the  shells, 
desiring  as   it  were  a  kind  of  copulation,  open  so  as  to 
receive    moisture    from  the   nocturnal  aspersion.      Then 
becoming  big  they  produce  little   pearls   in  triplets,    or 
pairs,  or  unions,  which  are  so  called   because  the  shells 
when  scaled  often  produce  only  single  pearls,  which  then 
are  larger. 

86.  And  a  proof  that  this  produce  arises  from  and  is 
nourished  by  some   aerial  derivation  rather  than  by  any 
fattening  power  in  the  sea,  is  that  the  drops  of  morning 
dew  when  infused  into  them  make  the  stones  bright  and 
round ;  while  the  evening  dew  makes  them  crooked  and 
red,  and  sometimes  spotted.     They  become  either  small  or 
large  in  proportion  to  the  quality  of  the  moisture  which 
they  imbibe,  and   other   circumstances.     When  they  are 
shaken,  as  is  often  the  case  by  thunder,  the  shells  either 
become  empty,  or  produce  only  weak  pearls,  or  such  as 
nev^r  come  to  maturity. 

87.  Fishing   for  them  is   difficult  and  dangerous,  and 
this  circumstance  increases  their  value  ;  because,  on  account 
of  the  snares  of  the  fishermen  they  are  said  to  avoid  the 
shores  most  frequented  by  them,  and  hide  around  rocks 
which  are  difficult  of   access  and  the  hiding  places   of 
sharks. 

88.  We  are  not  ignorant  that  the  same  species  of  jewel 
is  also  produced  and  collected  in  the  remote  parts  of  the 
British  sea ;  though  of  an  inferior  value. 


346  AMM1ANUS   MARCELLIXUS.  [BK.XXiV.Cfc.fc 


BOOK   XXIV. 

ARGUMENT. 

I.  Julian  invades  Assyria  with  his  army;  receives  the  surrender  of 
Anatha,  a  fort  on  the  Euphrates,  and  burns  it. — II.  Having  made 
attempts  on  other  fortresses  and  towns,  he  burns  some  which  were 
deserted,  and  receives  the  surrender  of  Pirisabora,  and  burns  it. — 
III.  On  account  of  his  successes,  he  promises  his  soldiers  one 
hundred  denarii  a  man  ;  and  as  they  disdain  so  small  a  donation, 
he  in  a  modest  oration  recalls  them  to  a  proper  feeling. — IV.  The 
town  of  Maogamalcha  is  stormed  by  the  Romans,  and  rased  to  the 
ground. — V.  The  Romans  storm  a  fort  of  great  strength,  both  in 
its  situation  and  fortifications,  and  burn  it. — VI.  Julian  defeats 
the  Persians,  slays  two  thousand  five  hundred  of  them,  with  the 
loss  of  hardly  seventy  of  his  own  men ;  and  in  a  public  assembly 
presents  many  of  his  soldiers  with  crowns. — VII.  Being  deterred 
from  laying  siege  to  Ctesiphon,  he  rashly  orders  all  his  boats  to 
be  burnt,  and  retreats  from  the  river. — VIII.  As  he  was  neither 
able  to  make  bridges,  nor  to  be  joined  by  a  portion  of  his  forces, 
he  determines  to  return  by  Corduena. 


A.D.  363. 

§  1.  AFTER  having  ascertained  the  alacrity  of  his  army, 
which  with  ardour  and  unanimity  declared  with  their 
customary  shout  that  their  fortunate  emperor  was  invin- 
cible, Julian  thinking  it  well  to  put  an  early  end  to  his 
enterprise,  after  a  quiet  night  ordered  the  trumpets  to 
sound  a  march  ;  and  everything  being  prepared  which  the 
arduous  difficulties  of  the  war  required,  he  at  daybreak 
entered  the  Assyrian  territory  in  high  spirits,  riding  in 
front  of  his  ranks,  and  exciting  all  to  discharge  the  duties 
of  brave  men  in  emulation  of  his  own  courage. 

2.  And  as  a  leader  of  experience  and  skill,  fearing  lest 
his  ignorance  of  the  country  might  lead  to  his  being  sur- 
prised by  secret  ambuscades,  he  began  his  march  in  line 
of  battle.  He  ordered  fifteen  hundred  skirmishers  to 
precede  him  a  short  distance,  who  were  to  march  slowly 
looking  out  on  each  side  and  also  in  front,  to  prevent  any 
sudden  attack.  The  infantry  in  the  centre  were  under 
his  own  command,  they  being  the  flower  and  chief  strength 


A.D.  363.]  JULIAN    INVADES    ASSYRIA.  347 

of  the  whole  army,  while  on  the  right  were  some  legions 
under  Nevitta,  who  was  ordered  to  march  along  the  banks 
of  the  Euphrates.  The  left  wing  with  the  cavalry  he 
gave  to  Arintbeeus  and  Hormisdas,  with  orders  to  lead 
them  in  close  order  through  the  level  and  easy  country 
of  the  plain.  The  rear  was  brought  up  by  Dagalaiphus 
and  Victor,  and  the  last  of  all  was  Sectmdinus,  Duke  of 
Osdruena. 

3.  Then  in  order  to  alarm  the  enemy  by  the  idea  of  his 
superior  numbers,  should  they  attack  him  anywhere,  or 
perceive  him  from  a  distance,  he  opened  his  ranks  so  as 
to  spread  both  horses  and  men  over  a  larger  space,  in  such 
a  way  that  the  rear  was  distant  from  the  van  nearly  ten 
miles :  a  manoeuvre  of  great  skill  which  Pyrrhus  of  Epirus 
is  said  to  have  often  put  in  practice,  extending  his  camp, 
or  his  lines,  and  sometimes  on  the  other  hand  compressing 
them  all,  so  as  to  present  an  appearance  of  greater  or  lesser 
numbers  than  the  reality,  according  to  the  circumstances  of 
the  moment. 

4.  The  baggage,  the  sutlers,  all  the  camp-followers,  and 
every  kind  of  equipment,  he  placed  between  the  two  flanks 
of  troops  as  they  marched,  so  as  not  to  leave  them  unpro- 
tected and  liable  to  be  carried  off  by  any  sudden  attack,  as 
has  often  happened.     The  fleet,  although  the  river  was 
exceedingly  winding,  was  not  allowed  either  to  fall  behind 
or  to  advance  before  the  army. 

5.  After  two   days'  march  we   came  near  a  deserted 
town  called  Dura,  on  the  bank  of  the  river,  where  many 
herds  of  deer  were  found,  some  of  which  were  slain  by 
arrows,  and  others  knocked  down  with  the  heavy  oars,  so 
that  soldiers  and  sailors  all  had  plenty  of  food  ;  though  the 
greater   part   of  the   animals,    being   used  to   swimming, 
plunged  into  the  rapid  stream  and  could  not  be  stopped 
till  they  had  reached  their  well  known  haunts. 

6.  Then  after  an  easy  march  of  four  days,  as  evening 
came  on,  he  embarked  a  thousand  light-armed  troops  on 
board  his  boats,  and  sent  the  Count  Lucillianus  to  storm 
the  fortress  of  Anatha,  which,  like  many  other  forts  in  that 
country,  is  surrounded  by  the  waters  of  the   Euphrates ; 
Lucillianus  having,  as  he  was  ordered,  placed  his  ships  in 
suitable  places,  besieged  the  island,  a  cloudy  night  favour- 
ing a  secret  assault. 


348  AMM1AXUS   MARCELL1NUS.  [BK.  XXIV.  CM.  I. 

7.  But  as  soon  as  it  became  light,  one  of  the  garrison 
going  out  to  get  water,  saw  the  enemy,  and  immediately 
raised  an  outcry,  which  roused  the  awakened  garrison  to 
arm  in  their  defence.     And  presently,  from  a  high  watch- 
tower,  the  emperor  examined  the  situation  of  the  fort,  and 
came  up  with  all  speed  escorted   by  two  vessels,  and  fol- 
lowed by  a  considerable  squadron  laden  with  engines  for 
the  siege. 

8.  And  as  he  approached  the  walls,  and  considered  that 
the  contest  could  not  be  carried  on  without  great  risk,  he 
tried  both  by  conciliatory  and  threatening  language  to  in- 
duce the  garrison  to  surrender ;  and  they,  having  invited 
Hormisdas  to  a  conference,  were  won  over  by  his  promises 
and  oaths  to  rely  on  the  mercy  of  the  Romans. 

9.  At  last,  driving  before  them  a  crowned  ox,   which 
among  them  is  a  sign  of  peace,  they  descended  from  the 
fort  as  suppliants ;  the  fort  was  burnt,  and  Pusaeus,   its 
commander,   who  was  afterwards   Duke   of   Egypt,   was 
appointed  to  the  rank  of  tribune.     The  rest  of  the  garrison 
vrith  their  families  and  property  were  conducted   with  all 
kindness  to  the  Syrian  city  of  Chalcis. 

10.  Among    them    was   found   a   certain   soldier,    who 
formerly,  when  Maximian  invaded  Persia,  had  been  left  in 
this  district  as  an  invalid,  though  a  very  young  man,  but 
who  was  now  bent  with  age,  and  according  to  his  own 
account  had  several  wives,  as  is  the  custom  of  that  country, 
and  a  numerous  offspring.     He  now  full  of  joy,  professing 
to  have  been  a  principal  cause  of  the  surrender,  was  led  to 
our  camp,  calling  many  of  his  comrades  to  witness  that  he 
had  long  foreseen  and  often  foretold  that,  though  nearly  a 
hundred  years'  old,  he  should  be  buried  in  Roman  ground. 
After  this  event,  the  Saracens  brought  in  some  skirmishers 
of  the  enemy  whom  they  had  taken  ;  these  were  received 
with  joy  by  the  emperor,  the  Saracens  rewarded,  and  sent 
back  to  achieve  similar  exploits. 

1 1 .  The  next  day  another  disaster  took  place  ;  a  whirlwind 
arose,  and  made  havoc  in  many  places,  throwing  down  many 
buildings,  tearing  in  pieces  the  tents,  and  throwing  the 
soldiers  on  their  backs  or  on  their  faces,  the  violence  of  the 
wind  overpowering  their  steadiness  of  foot.     And  the  same 
day  another  equally  perilous  occurrence  took  place.   For  the 
river  suddenly  overflowed  its  banks,  and  some  of  the  ships 


A.D..363.]  TAKKS   THE   CHIEF   CITY.  349 

laden  with  provisions  were  wrecked,  the  piers  and  dams 
which  had  been  constructed  of  stone  to  check  and  repress 
the  waters  being  swept  away  ;  and  whether  that  was  done 
by  treachery  or  through  the  weight  of  the  waters  could  not 
be  known. 

12.  After  having  stormed  and  burnt  the  chief  city,  and 
sent  away  the  prisoners,  the  army  with  increased  confi- 
dence raised  triumphant  shouts  in  honour  of  the  emperor, 
thinking  that  the  gods  were  evidently  making  him  the 
object  of  their  peculiar  care. 

13.  And  because  in  these  unknown  districts  they  were 
forced  to  be  on  unusual  guard  against  hidden  dangers,  the 
troops  especially  feared  the  craft  and  exceeding  deceitful- 
ness  of  the  enemy ;  and  therefore  the  emperor  was  every- 
where, sometimes   in  front,   sometimes    with    his    light- 
armed  battalions  protecting  the  rear,  in  order  to  see  that 
no  concealed  danger  threatened  it,  reconnoitring  the  dense 
jungles  and  valleys,  and  restraining  the  distant  sallies  of 
his  soldiers,  sometimes  with  his  natural  gentleness,  and 
sometimes  with  threats. 

14.  But  he  allowed  the  fields  of  the  enemy  which  were 
loaded  with  every  kind  of  produce  to  be  burnt  with  their 
crops  and  cottages,  after  his  men  had  collected  all  that  they 
could  themselves  make  use  of.     And  in  this  way  the  enemy 
were  terribly  injured  before  they  were  aware   of  it ;  for 
the  soldiers  freely  used  what  they  had  acquired  with  their 
own  hands,  thinking  that  they  had  found  a  fresh  field  for 
their  valour ;  and  joyful  at  the  abundance  of  their  supplies, 
they  saved  what  they  had  in  their  own  boats. 

15.  But  one  rash  soldier,  being  intoxicated,  and  having 
crossed  over  to  the  opposite  bank  of  the  river,  was  taken 
prisoner  before  our  eyes  by  the  enemy,  and  was  put  to 
death. 

II. 

§  1.  AFTER  this  we  arrived  at  a  fort  called  Thilutha,  situated 
in  the  middle  of  the  river  on  a  very  high  piece  of  ground, 
and  fortified  by  nature  as  if  by  the  art  of  man.  The  inha- 
bitants were  invited  gently,  as  was  best,  to  surrender, 
since  the  height  of  their  fort  made  it  impregnable ;  but 
they  refused  all  terms  as  yet,  though  they  answered  that 
when  the  Eomans  had  advanced  further  so  as  to  occupy  the 


350  AMMIANUS   MARCELLiNUS.  [BK.  XXIV.  CH.  n. 

interior  of  the  country,  they  also  as  an  appendage  would 
come  over  to  the  conqueror. 

2.  Having  made  this  reply  they  quietly  looked  down  upon 
our  boats  as  they  passed  under  the  very  walls   without 
attempting  to  molest  them.     When  that  fort  was  passed  we 
came  to  another  called  Achaiacala,  alto  defended  by  the 
river  flowing  round  it,  and  difficult  to  scale,  where  we 
received  a  similar  answer,  and  so  passed  on.     The  next 
day  we  came  to  another  fort   which  had   been  deserted 
because  its  walls  were  weak ;  and  we  burnt  it  and  pro- 
ceeded. 

3.  In  the  two  next  days  we  marched  two  hundred  fur- 
longs, and  arrived  at  a  place   called   Paraxmalcha.     We 
then  crossed  the  river,  and  seven   miles  further  on  we 
entered  the   city  of  Diacira,  which  we  found  empty  of 
inhabitants  but  full  of  corn  and  excellent  salt,  and  here  we 
saw  a  temple  placed  on  the  summit  of  a  lofty  height.     We 
burnt  the  city  and  put  a  few  women  to   death  whom  we 
found  there,  and  having  passed  a  bituminous  spring,   we 
entered  the  town  of  Ozogardana,  which  its  inhabitants  had 
deserted  fur  fear  of  our  approaching  army  ;  in  that  town  is 
shown  a  tribunal  of  the  emperor  Trajan. 

4.  This  town  also  we  burnt  after  we  had  rested  there 
two  days  to  refresh  our  bodies.     On  the  second  day  just 
at  nightfall,  the  Surena  (who  is  the  officer  next  in  rank  to 
the  king  among  the  Persians),  and  a  man  named  Malechus 
Podosaces,  the  chief  of  the  Assanite  Saracens,  who  had  long 
ravaged  our  frontiers  with  great  ferocity,  laid  a  snare  for 
Hormisdas,  whom  by  some  means  or  other  they  had  learnt 
was  about  to  go  forth  on  a  reconnoitring  expedition,  and 
only  failed   because  the  river  being  very  narrow  at  that 
point,  was  so  deep  as  to  be  unfordable. 

5.  And  so  at  daybreak,  when  the  enemy  were  now  in 
sight,  the  moment   that  they  were   discovered   by   their 
glittering  helmets  and  bristling  armour,  our  men  sprang 
up  vigorously  to  the  conflict,  and  dashed  at  them  with 
great  courage  ;  and  although  the  enemy  wielded  their  huge 
bows   with   great   strength,  and    the  glistening  of  their 
weapons  increased  the  alarm  of  our  soldiers,  yet  their  rage, 
and  the  compactness  of  their  ranks,  kept  alive  and  added 
fuel  to  their  courage. 

6.  Animated  by  their  first  success,  our  army  advanced 


A.D.363.]  CROSSES   THE   RIVER.  351 

to  the  village  of  Macepracta,  where  were  seen  vestiges 
of  walls  half  destroyed,  which  had  once  been  of  great 
extent,  and  had  served  to  protect  Assyria  from  foreign 
invasion. 

7.  At  this  point  a  portion  of  the  river  is  drawn  off  in 
large  canals  which  convey  it  to  the  interior  districts  of 
Babylonia,  for  the  service  of  the  surrounding  country  and 
cities.     Another  branch  of  the  river  known  as  the  Kaha- 
malca,  which  means  "  the  river  of  kings,"  passes  by  Ctesi- 
phon  •  at  the  beginning  of  this  stream  there  is  a   lofty 
tower  like  a  lighthouse,  by  which  our  infantry  passed  on 
a  carefully  constructed  bridge. 

8.  The  cavalry  and  cattle  then  took  the  stream  where 
it  was  less  violent,  and  swam  across  obliquely;  another 
body  was  suddenly  attacked  by  the  enemy  with  a  storm  of 
arrows  and  javelins,  but   our   light-armed    auxiliaries  as 
soon  as  they  reached  the  other  side,  supported  them,  and 
put  the  enemy  to  flight,  cutting  them  to  pieces  as  they  fled. 

9.  After  having  successfully  accomplished  this  exploit, 
we   arrived  at   the  city  of  Pirisabora,  of  great  size  and 
populousness,  and  also  surrounded  with  water.     But  the 
emperor  having   ridden   all  round  the  walls    and  recon- 
noitred its  position,  began  to  lay  siege  to  it  with  great 
caution,  as  if  he  would  make  the  townsmen  abandon  its 
defence  from  mere  terror.     But  after  several  negotiations 
and  conferences  with  them,  as  they  would  yield  neither  to 
promises  nor  to  threats,  he  set  about  the  siege  in  earnest, 
and  surrounded  the  walls  with  three  lines  of  soldiers.     The 
whole  of  the  first  day  the  combat  was  carried   on  with 
missiles  till  nightfall. 

10.  But  the  garrison,  full  of  courage  and  vigour,  spread- 
ing cloths  loose  everywhere  over  the  battlements  to  weaken 
the  attacks  of  our  weapons,  and  protected  by  shields  strongly 
woven  of  osier,  made  a  brave  resistance,  looking  like  figures 
of  iron,  since  they  had  plates  of  iron  closely  fitting  over 
every  limb,  which  covered  their  whole  person  with  a  safe 
defence. 

11.  Sometimes  also  they  earnestly  invited  Hormisdas  as 
a  countryman  and  a  prince  of  royal  blood  to  a  conference  ; 
but   when   he   came   they   reviled  him   with   abuse    and 
reproaches  as  a  traitor  and  deserter ;  and  after  a  great  part 
of  the  day  had  been  consumed  in  this  slow  disputing,  at  the 


352  AMMIANUS    MARCELLIXUS.  [BK.XXIV.CH.il. 

beginning  of  night  many  kinds  of  engines  were  brought 
against  the  walls,  and  we  began  to  fill  up  the  ditches. 

12.  But  before  it  was  quite  dawn,  the  garrison  perceived 
what  was  being  done,  with  the  addition  that   a   violent 
stroke  of  a  battering-ram  had  broken  down  a  tower  at  one 
corner ;  so  they  abandoned  the  double  city  wall,  and  occu- 
pied a  citadel  close  to  the  wall,  erected  on  the  level  summit 
of  a  ragged  hill,  of  which  the  centre,  rising  up  to  a  great 
height  in  its  round  circle,  resembled  an  Argive   shield, 
except  that  in  the  north  it  was  not  quite  round,  but  at 
that  point  it  was  protected  by  a  precipice  which  ran  sheer 
down  into  Ihe  Euphrates  ;  the  walk  were  built  of  baked 
bricks  and  bitumen,  a  combination  which  is  well  known 
to  be  the  strongest  of  all  materials. 

13.  And  now  the  savage  soldiery,  having  traversed  the 
city,  which  they  found  empty,  were  fighting  fiercely  with 
the  defenders  who  poured  all  kinds  of  missiles  on  them  from 
the  citadel.      Being   hard  pressed   by  the   catapults  and 
balistae  of  our  men,  they  also  raised  on  the  height  huge 
bows  of  great  power,  the  extremities  of  which,  rising  high 
on  each  side,  could  only  be  bent  slowly ;  but  the  string, 
when  loosed  by  violent  exertion  of  the  fingers,  sent  forth 
iron-tipped  arrows  with  such  force  as  to  inflict  fatal  wounds 
on  any  one  whom  they  struck. 

14.  Nevertheless,  the  fight  was  maintained  on  both  sides 
with  showers  of  stones  thrown  by  the  hand,  and  as  neither 
gained  any  ground  a  fierce  contest  was  protracted  from 
daybreak  to  nightfall  with  great  obstinacy  ;  and  at  last 
they  parted  without  any  advantage  to  either  side.     The 
next  day  the  fight  was  renewed  with  great  violence,  and 
numbers  were  slain  on  each  side,  and  still  the  result  was 
even ;  when  the  emperor,  being  eager  amid  this  reciprocal 
slaughter  to  try  every  chance,  being  guarded  by  a  solid 
column,  and  defended  from  the  arrows  of  the  enemy  by 
their  closely  packed  shields,  rushed  forward  with  a  rapid 
charge  up  to  the  enemy's  gates,  which  were  faced  with 
stout  iron. 

15.  And  although  he  was  still  in  some  danger,  being 
hard  pressed  with  stones  and  bullets  and  other  weapons, 
still  he  cheered  on  his  men  with  frequent  war-cries  while 
they  were  preparing  to  force  in  the  gates  in  order  to  effect 
an  entrance,  and  did  not  retreat  till  he  found  himself  on 


«.».  388.]  HIS   EMULATION    OF   SCFPIO.  35i 

the  point  of  being  entirely  overwhelmed  by  the  mass  of 
missiles  which  were  poured  down  on  him. 

16.  However,  he  came  off  safe  with  only  a  few  of  hig 
men  slightly  wounded;  not  without  feeling  some  modest 
shame  at  being  repulsed.      For  he  had  read  that  Scipio 
^Eiuilianus,  with  the  historian  Polybius,  a  citizen  of  Mega 
lopolis  in  Arcadia,  and  thirty  thousand  soldiers,  had,  by  a 
similar  attack,  forced  the  gate  of  Carthage. 

17.  But  the  account  given  by  the  old  writers  may  serve 
to  defend  this  modern  attempt ;  for  ^Emilianus  approached 
a  gate  protected  by  a  stone-covered  testudo,  under  which 
he  safely  forced  his  way  into  the  cit}'  while  the  garrison 
was  occupied  in  demolishing  this  stone  roof.     But  Julian 
attacked  a  place  completely  exposed,  while  the  whole  face 
of  heaven  was  darkened   by  the   fragments  of  rock  and 
weapons  which  were  showered  upon  him,  and  was  even 
then  with  great,  difficulty  repulsed  and  forced  to  retire. 

18.  After  this  hasty  and  tumultuous  assault,  as  the  vast 
preparations  of  sheds  and  mounds  which  were  carried  on 
were  attended  with  much  difficulty,  through  the  hindrances 
offered  by  the  garrison,  Julian  ordered  an  engine  called 
helepolis  to  be  constructed  with  all  speed ;  which,  as  wf 
have  already  mentioned,  King  Demetrius  used,  and  earne« 
the  title  of  Poliorcetes  by  the  number  of  cities  which  he  took. 

19.  The  garrison,  anxiously  viewing  this  engine,  which 
was  to  exceed  the  height  of  their  lofty  towers,  and  consi- 
dering at  the  same  time  the  determination  of  the  besiegers, 
suddenly  betook  themselves  to  supplications,  and  spreading 
over  the  towers  and  walls,  imploring  the  pardon  and  pro- 
tection of  the  Komans  with  outstretched  hands. 

20.  And  when  they  saw  that  the  works  of  the  Eomans 
were  suspended,  and  that  those   who   were  constructing 
them  were  doing  nothing,  which  seemed  a  sure  token  of 
peace,  they  requested  an  opportunity  of  conferring  with 
Hormisdas. 

21.  And  when  this  was  granted,  Mamersides,  the  com- 
mander of  the  garrison,  was  let  down  by  a  rope,  and  con- 
ducted to  the  emperor  as  he  desired  ;  and  having  received 
a  promise  of  his  own  life,  and  of  impunity  to  all  his  com- 
rades, he  was  allowed  to  return  to  the  city.     And  when 
he  related  what  had  been  done,  the  citizens  unanimously 
agreed  to  follow  his  advice  and  accept  the  terms ;   and 

2  A 


354  AMMIANUS   MARCELLINU&,  tBx.  XXIV.  CK.  m. 

peace  was  solemnly  made  with  all  the  sanctions  of  religion*, 
the  gates  were  thrown  open,  and  the  whole  population 
went  forth  proclaiming  that  a  protecting  genius  had  shone 
upon  them  in  the  person  of  the  great  and  merciful  Caesar. 

22.  The  number  of  those  who  surrendered  was  two* 
thousand  five  hundred,  for  the  rest  of  the  citizens,  expect- 
ing the  siege  beforehand,  had  crossed  the  river  in  small 
V-oats  and  abandoned  the  city.  In  the  citadel  a  great  store 
of  arms  and  provisions  was  found ;  and  after  they  had 
taken  what  they  required,  the  conquerors  burnt  the  rest  as 
well  as  the  place  itself. 

III. 

§  I.  THE  day  after  these  transactions,  ierions  news  reached 
the  emperor  as  he  was  quietly  taking  his  dinner,  that  the 
feurena,  the  Persian  general,  had  surprised  three  squadrons 
of  our  advanced  guard,  and  slain  a  few,  among  whom  was 
one  tribune  ;  and  had  also  taken  a  standard. 

2.  Immediately  Julian  became   violently  exasperated, 
and  flew  to  the  spot  with  an  armed  band,  placing  much 
hope  of  success  in  the   rapidity  of  his  movements :  he 
routed  the  assailants  disgracefully,   cashiered  the  other 
two  tribunes  as  blunderers  and  cowards,  and  in  imitation 
of  the  ancient  laws  of  Eome  disbanded  ten  of  the  soldiers 
who  had  fled,  and  then  condemned  them  to  death. 

3.  Then,   having    burnt   the    city   as   I   have    already 
mentioned,  he  mounted  a  tribunal  which  he  had  caused  to 
be  erected,  and  having  convoked  his  army,  he  thanked 
them,  and  counted  upon  their  achieving  other  similar  ex- 
ploits.    He  als^  promised  them  each  a  hundred  pieces  of 
silver  ;  but  seeing  that  they  were  inclined  to  murmur,  as 
being  disappointed  at  the  smallness  of  the  sum,  he  became 
most  indignant  and  said  : — 

4.  "  Behold  tbe   Persians  who   abound  in  wealth   of 
every  kind ;    their   riches   may  enrich   you   if  we  only 
behave  gallantly  with  one  unanimous  spirit  of  resolution. 
But  after  having  been  very  rich,  I  assure  you  that  the 
republic  is  at  this  moment  in  great  want,  through  the 
conduct  of  those  men  who,  to  increase  their  own  wealth, 
taught  former  emperors  to  return  home  after  buying  peace 
of  the  barbarians  with  gold. 

5.  *'  The  treasury  is  empty,  the  cities  are  exhausted, 


A.D.363.J  HIS   SPEECH   TO   HIS   SOLDIERS.  355 

the  finances  are  stripped  bare.  I  myself  have  neither 
treasures,  nor,  noble  as  I  am  by  birth,  do  I  inherit  any- 
thing from  my  family  but  a  heart  free  from  all  fear.  Nor 
shall  I  be  ashamed  to  place  all  my  happiness  in  the  cul- 
tivation of  my  mind,  while  preferring  an  honourable 
poverty.  For  the  Fabricii  also  conducted  great  wars 
while  poor  in  estate  and  rich  only  in  glory. 

6.  "  Of  all  these  things  you  may  have  plenty,  if,  dis- 
carding  all  fear,  you  act  with  moderation,  obeying  the 
cautious   guidance  of  God  and  myself,  as  far  as  human 
reason  can  lead  you  safely ;  but  if  you  disobey,  and  choose 
to  return  to  your  former  shameful  mutinies,  proceed. 

7.  As  an  emperor  should  do,  I  by  myself,  having  per- 
formed the  important  duties  which  belong  to  me,  will  die 
standing,  despising  a  life  which  any  fever  may  take  fi  om 
me  :  or  else  1  will  abdicate  my  power,  for  1  have  not  lived 
so   as  to   be  unable  to  descend  to  a  private  station.      I 
rejoice  in,  and  feel  proud  of  the  fact  that  there  are  with 
me  many  leaders  of  proved  skill  and  courage,  perfect  in 
every  kind  of  military  knowledge." 

8.  By  this  modest  speech  of  their  emperor,   thus  un- 
moved  alike   by   prosperity  and   adversity,  the   soldiers 
were  for  a  time  appeased,  regaining  confidence  with  an 
expectation  of  better  success ;  and  unanimously  promised 
to  be  docile   and  obedient,  at  the   same  time  extolling 
Julian's  authority  and  magnanimity  to  the  skies ;  and,  as 
is  their  wont  when  their  feelings  are  genuine  and  cordial, 
they  showed  them  by  a  gentle  rattling  of  their  arms. 

9.  Then   they  returned   to   their   tents,  and  refreshed 
themselves    with    food,   for   which    they   had    abundant 
means,  and   with   sleep  during   the   night.      But   Juliau 
encouraged  his  army  not  by  the  idea  of  their  families,  but 
by  the  thoughts  of  the   greatness  of  the  enterprises  in 
which  they  were  embarked  :    continually  making  vows — 
"  So  might  he  be  able  to  make  the  Persians  pass  under 
the  yoke."     "  So  might  he  restore  the  Eoman  power  which 
had  been  shaken  in  those  regions," — in  imitation  of  Trajan, 
who  was  accustomed  frequently  to  confirm  anything  he 
had  said  by  the  imprecations — "  So  may  I  see  Dacia  re- 
duced to  the  condition  of  a  province  ;  so  may  I  bridge  over 
the  Danube  and  Euphrates," — using  many  similar  f  im* 
of  attestation. 


356  A.MMI.VNirS   MARCKLLINUS.  [DK.  XXIV.  CH.  m. 

10.  Then  after   proceeding  fourteen   miles  further  ivo 
came  to  a  certain  spot  where  the  soil  is  fertilized  by  the 
abundance  of  water.     But  as  the  Persians  had  learnt  that 
we  should  advance  by  this  road,  they  removed  the  dams, 
and  allowed  the  waters  to  flood  the  country. 

11.  The  ground  being  thereby,  for  a  great  distance,  re- 
duced to  the  state  of  a  marsh,  the  emperor  gave  the  soldiers 
the  next  day  for  rest,  and  advancing  in  front  himself,  con- 
structed  a   number   of    little   bridges    of    bladders,    and 
coracles1  made  of  skins,  and  rafts  of  palm-tree  timber,  and 
thus  led  his  army  across,  though  not  without  difficulty. 

12.  In  this  region  many  of  the  fields  are  planted  with 
vineyards  and  various  kinds  of  fruit  trees  ;  and  palm-trees 
grow  there  over  a  great  extent  of  country,  reaching  as  far 
as  Mesene  and  the  ocean,  forming   great   groves.      And 
wherever  any  one   goes  he    sees   continual   stocks    and 
tmckers  of  palrns,  from   the  fruit   of  which  abundance  of 
honey  and   wine  is  made,  and  the  palms  themselves  are 
said  to  be  divided  into  male  and  female,  and  it  is  added 
that  the  two  sexes  can  be  easily  distinguished. 

13.  They  say  further  that  the  female  trees  produce  fruit 
when  impregnated  by  the  seeds  of  the  male  trees,   and 
even  that  they  feel  delight  in  their  mutual  love  :  and  that 
this  is  clearly  shown  by  the  fact  that  they  lean  towards 
one  another,  and   cannot   be   bent  back   even  by  strong 
winds — and  if  by  any  unusual  accident  a  female  tree  is  not 
impregnated  by  the  male  seed,  it  produces  nothing  but 
imperfect  fruit,  and  if  they  cannot  find   out  with  what 
male  tree  any  female  tree  is  in  love,  they  smear  the  trunk 
of  some  tree  with  the  oil  which  proceeds  from  her,  and 
then  some  other  tree  naturally  conceives  a  fondness  for  the 
odour ;  and  these  proofs  create  some  belief  in  the  story  of 
their  copulation. 

14.  The  army  then,  having  sated  itself  with  these  fruits, 
passed  by  several  islands,  and  instead  of  the  scarcity  which 
they  apprehended,  the  fear  arose  that  they  would  become 
too  fat.     At  last,  after  having  been  attacked  by  an  am- 
buscade of  the  enemy's  archers,  but  having  avenged  them- 
selves well,  they  came  to  a  spot  where  the  larger  portion 
of  the  Euphrates  is  divided  into  a  number  of  small  streams. 

1  Small  boats  made  of  wicker  and  covered  with  hide ;  still  used  in 
Wales,  where  they  are  also  called  thorricle,  truckle,  or  cobble. 


AJ>.  363.]  HIS   DANGER.  357 


IV. 

§  1.  IN  this  district  a  city,  which  on  account  of  the  lowness 
of  its  walls,  had  been  deserted  by  its  Jewish  inhabitants, 
was  burnt  by  our  angry  soldiers.  And  afterwards  the 
emperor  proceeded  further  on,  being  elated  at  the  manifest 
protection,  as  he  deemed  it,  of  the  Deity. 

2.  And  when  he   had  reached   Maogamalcha,  a  city  of 
great  size  and  surrounded  with  strong  walls,  he  pitched 
his  tent,  and  took  anxious  care  that  his  carnp  should  not 
be  surprised  by  any  sudden  attack  of  the  Persian  cavalry ; 
whose  courage  in  the  open  plains  is  marvellously  dreaded 
by  the  surrounding  nations. 

3.  And  when  he  had  made  his  arrangements,  he  himself, 
with  an  escort  of  a  few  light  troops,  went  forth  on  foot  to 
reconnoitre   the   position   of  a   city   by   a   close  personal 
examination ;    but  he   fell    into   a  dangerous    snare  from 
which  he  with  difficulty  escaped  with  his  life. 

4.  For  ten  armed   Persians  stole  out  by  a  gate  of  the 
town  of  which  he  was  not  aware,  and  crawled  on  their 
hands  and  knees  along  the  bottom  of  the  hill,  till  they  got 
within  reach  so  as  to  fall  silently  upon  our  men,  and  two 
of  them  distinguishing  the  emperor  by  his  superior  appea)-- 
ance,  made  at  him  with  drawn  swords ;  but  he  encountered 
them  with  his  shield  raised,  and  protecting  himself  with 
that,  and  fighting  with  great  and  noble  courage,  he  ran 
one  of  them  through  the  body,  while  his  guards  killed  the 
other  with  repeated  blows.     The  rest,  of  whom  some  were 
wounded,  were  put  to  flight,  and  the  two  who  were  slain 
were  stripped  of  their  arms,  and  the  emperor  led  back  his 
comrades  in  safety,  laden  with  their  spoils,  into  the  camp, 
where  he  was  received  with  universal  joy. 

5.  Torqnatus  took  a  golden  necklace  from  one  of  the 
enemy  whom  he  had  slain.     Valerius  by  the  aid  of  a  crow 
defeated  a  haughty  Gaul  and  earned  the  surname  of  Cor- 
vinus,  and  by  this  glory  these  heroes  were  recommended 
to  posterity.     We  do  not  envy  them,  but  let  this  gallant 
exploit  be  added  to  those  ancient  memorials. 

6.  The  next  day  a  bridge  was  laid  across  the  river,  and 
the  army  passed  over  it,  and  pitched  their  camp  in  a  fresh 
and   more   healthy  place,    fortifying  it   with    a    double 


358  AMMIAXUS   MARCELLIXUS.  [BK.XXIT.CH.nr. 

rampart,  since,  as  we  have  said,  the  open  plains  were 
regarded  with  apprehension.  And  then  he  undertook  the 
siege  of  the  town,  thinking  it  too  dangerous  to  march 
fui-vvard  while  leaving  formidable  enemies  in  his  rear. 

7.  While  he  was  making  great  exertions  to  complete 
his   preparations,  the   Surena,  the    enemy's   general,  fell 
upon  the  cattle  which  were  feeding  in  the  palm  groves,  hut 
was  repulsed  by  those  of  our   squadrons  who  were  ap- 
pointed to  that  service,  and,  having  lost  a  few  men,  he 
retired. 

8.  And  the   inhabitants  of  two  cities  which  are  made 
islands  by  the  rivers  which  surround  them,  fearing  to  trust 
in  their  means  of  defence,  fled  for  refuge  to  Ctesiphon, 
some  fleeing  through  the  thick  woods,  oihers  crossing  the 
neighbouring  marches  on  canoes  formed  out  of  hollowed 
trees,  and  thus  made  a  long  journey  to  the  principal  or 
indeed  the  only  shelter  which  existed  for  them,  intending 
to  proceed  to  still  more  distant  regions. 

9.  Some  of  them  were  overtaken,  and  on  their  resist- 
ance were  put  to  death  by  our  soldiers,  who,  traversing 
various  districts  in  barks  and  small  boats,  brought  in  from 
time  to  time  man}*  prisoners.     For  it  had  been  cleverly 
arranged  that,  while  the  infantry  was  besieging  the  town, 
the  squadrons  of  cavalry  thonld  scour  the  country  in  email 
bands  in  order  to  bring  in  booty.     And  by  this  system, 
without  doing  any  injury  to  the  inhabitants  of  the  pro- 
vinces, the  soldiers  fed  on  the  bowels  of  the  enemy. 

10.  And  by  this  time  the  emperor  was  besieging  with 
all   his  might  and  with  a  triple   line  of  heavily  armed 
soldiers  this  town  which  was  fortified  with  a  double  wall ; 
and  he  had  great  hope  of  succeeding  in  his  enterprise. 
But  if  the  attempt  was  indispensable,  the  execution  was 
very  difficult.     For  the  approach  to  the  town  lay  every- 
where over  rocks  of  great -height  and  abruptness;  across 
which  there  was  no  straight   road  ;   and  dangers  of  two 
kinds  seemed  to  render  the  place  inaccessible.     In  the  first 
place  there  were  towers  formidable  both  for  their  height 
and  for  the  number  of  their  garrison  ;  equalling  in  height 
the  natural  mountain  on  which  the  citadel  was  built ;  and 
secondly,  a  sloping  plain  reached  down  to  the  river,  which 
again  was  protected  by  stout  ramparts. 

11.  Theie  was  a  third  difficulty  not  less  formidable  thai 


AJ>.  363.]  GALLANTRY   OF   THE   ASSAILANTS.  356 

the  numerous  garrison  of  picked  men  which  defended  the 
place  could  not  be  won  over  by  any  caresses  to  surrender, 
but  resisted  the  enemy  as  if  resolved  either  to  conquer  or 
to  perish  amid  the  ashes  of  their  country.  The  soldiers, 
who  desired  to  attack  at  once,  and  also  insisted  upon  a 
pitched  battle  in  a  fair  field,  could  hardly  be  restrained, 
and  when  the  retreat  was  sounded  they  burnt  with  indig- 
nation, being  eager  to  make  courageous  onsets  on  the 
enemy. 

12.  But  the  wisdom  of  our  leaders  overcame  the  eager- 
ness of  mei'e  courage ;   and  the  work  being  distributed, 
every  one  set  about  his  allotted  task  with  great  alacrity. 
For  on  one  side  high  mounds  were  raised ;   on  another 
other  parties  were  raising  the  deep  ditches  to  the  le\el  of 
the  ground  ;  in  other  quarters  hollow  pitfalls  were  covered 
over  with  long  planks ;  artisans  also  were  placing  mural 
engines  soon  intended  to  burst  forth  with  fatal  roars. 

13.  Nevitta  and  Dagalaiphus  superintended  the  miners 
and  the  erection  of  the  vineae,  or  penthouses  ;  but  the  begin- 
ning of  the  actual  conflict,  and  the  defence  of  the  machines 
from  fire  or  from  sallies  of  the  garrison,  the  emperor  took 
to  himself.     And  when  all  the  preparations  for  taking  the 
city  had  been  completed  by  this  variety  of  labour,  and  the 
soldiers  demanded  to  be  led  to  the  assault,  a  captain  named 
Victor  returned,  who  had  explored  all  the  roads  as  far  as 
Ctesiphon,  and  now  brought  word  that  he  had  met  with  no 
obstacles. 

14.  At  this  news  all  the  soldiers  became  wild  with  joy, 
and  being  more  elated  and  eager  for  the  contest  than  ever> 
they  waited  under  arms  for  the  signal. 

15.  And  now  on  both  sides  the  trumpets  sounded  with 
martial   clang,  and  the  Eoman  vanguard,  with   incessant 
attacks   and  threatening  cries,  assailed  the   enemy,  who 
were  covered  from  head  to  foot  with  thin  plates  of  iron 
like   the  feathers  of  a  bird,  and  who  had  full  confidence 
that  any  weapons  that  fell  on  this  hard  iron  would  recoil ; 
while   our    close-packed    shields   with    which    our    men 
covered  themselves  as  with  a  lestudo,  opened  loosely  so 
as  to  adapt  themselves  to  their  continual  motion.     On  the 
other  hand  the  Persians,  obstinately  clinging  to  their  walls, 
laboured  with  all  their  might  to  avoid  and  frustrate  our 
deadly  attacks. 


360  AMM1ANUS   MAECELLIXUS.  [Bs.  XXIV.  Cu.  IT 

16.  But  when  the   assailants,  pushing  the  osier  fences 
before  them,  passed  up  to  the  walls,  the  archers,  slingers 
Hud  others,  rolling  down  huge  stones,  with  firebrands  and 
tire-pots,  repelled  them  to  a  distance.     Then  the  balistao, 
armed  with  wooden  arrows,  were  bent  and  loosened  with  a 
horrid  creak,  and  poured  forth  incessant  storms  of  darts. 
And  ihe  scorpions  hurled  forth  round  stones  under  the 
guidance  of  the  skilful  hands  of  their  workers. 

17.  The  combat  was  repeated  and  redoubled  in  violence, 
till  the  heat  increasing  up  to  midday,  and  the  sun  burning 
up   everything  with   its   evaporation,    recalled  from   the 
battle  the  combatants  on  both  sides,  equally  intent  as  they 
were  on  the  works  and  on  the  fray,  but  thoroughly  ex- 
hausted by  fatigue  and  dripping  with  sweat. 

18.  The  same  plan  was  followed  the  next  day,  the  two 
parties  contending  resolutely  in  various  modes  of  fight- 
ing, and  again  they  parted  with  equal  valour,  and  equal 
fortune.     But  in  every  danger  the  emperor  was  foremost 
among  the  armed  combatants,  urging  on  the  destruction  of 
the  city  lest,  by  being  detained  too  long  before  its  walls,  he 
should  be  forced  to  abandon  other  objects  which  he  had 
at  heart. 

19.  But   in   times   of  emergency  nothing   is  KO  unim- 
portant as  not  occasionally  to  influence  great  atfairs,  even 
contrary   to   all    expectation.      For   when,    as   had   often 
happened,  the  two  sides  were  fighting  slackly,  and  on  the 
point,  of  giving  over,  a  battering-ram  which  had  just  been 
brought  up,  being  pushed  forward  awkwardly,  struck  down 
a  tower  which  was  higher  than  any  of  the  others,  and  was 
very  strongly  built  of  baked  brick,  and   its  fall  brought 
down  all  the  adjacent  portion  of  the  wall  with  a  mighty 
crash. 

20.  Then  in  the  variety  of  incidents  which  arose,  the 
exertions  of  the  besiegers  and  the  gallantry  of  the  besieged 
were  equally  conspicuous  with  noble  exploits.     For  to  our 
soldiers,    inflamed   with   anger  and   indignation,  nothing 
appeared  difficult.   To  the  gairison,  fighting  for  their  safety, 
nothing  seemed  dangerous  or  formidable.     At  last,  when 
the  fierce  contest  had   raged   a  long  time  and  was  still 
undecided,  great  slaughter   having   been    made  on   both 
sides,  the  close  of  day  broke  it  off,  and  both  armies  yielded 
to  fatigue. 


A.D.  363.]  LABOURS   OF    THE    AliNKUS.  361 

21.  \Vhile  these  matters  were  thus  going   on  in  broad 
daylight,  news  was  brought  to  the  emperor,  who  was  full 
of  watchful  care,  that  the  legionary  soldiers  to  whom  the 
digging  of  the  mines  had  been  intrusted,  having  hollowed 
out   their  subterranean   paths   and   supported  them  with 
stout  stakes,  had  now  reached   the  bottom  of  the  founda- 
tions of  the  walls,  and  were  ready  to  issue  forth  if  he 
thought  fit. 

22.  When  therefore  a  great  part  of  the  night  was  passed, 
the  brazen  trumpets  sounded  the  signal  for  advancing  to 
battle,    and   the   troops   ran   to  arms ;    and  as   had   been 
planned,  the  wall  was  attacked  on  both  its  faces,  in  order 
that  while  the  garrison  were  running  to  and  fro  to  repel 
the  danger,  and  while  the  noise  of  the  iron  tools  of  the 
miners  digging  at  the  foundations  was  overpowered  by  the 
din  of  battle,  the  miners  should  come  forth  on  a  sudden 
without  any  one  being  at  the  mouth  of  the  mine  to  resist 
them. 

23.  When  these  plans  had  all  been  arranged,  and   the 
garrison  was  fully  occupied,  the  mine  was   opened,  and 
Exsuperius,  a  soldier  of  the  Victorian  legion,  sprung  out, 
followed  by  a  tribune  named   Magnus,   and   Jovianus,  a 
secretary,  and  an  intrepid  body  of  common  soldiers,  who, 
after  slaughtering  all  the  men  found  in  the  temple  into 
which  the  mine  opened,  went  cautiously  forward  and  slew 
the  sentinels,  who  were  occupying   themselves  after  the 
fashion  of  their  country  in  singing  the  praises,  the  justice, 
and  good  fortune  of  their  king. 

24.  It  was  believed  that  Mars  himself   (if  indeed  the 
gods  are  permitted  to  mingle  with  men)    aided  Luscinus 
when  he  forced  the  camp  of  the  Lucanians.     And  it  was 
the  more  believed  because  in  the  height   of  the   conflict 
there  was  seen  an  armed  figure  of  enormous  size  carrying 
ladders,  who  the  next  day,  when  the  roll  was  called  over, 
though  sought  for  very  carefully,  could  not  be  found  any- 
where ;  when  if  he  had  really  been  a  soldier  he  would  have 
come  forward  of  his  own  accord  from  a  consciousness  of 
his  gallant  action.     But  though  on  that  occasion  it  was 
never  known  who  performed  that  splendid  achievement, 
yet  those  who  now  behaved  bravely  were  not  unknown, 
but  received  obsidional  crowns,  and  were  publicly  praised 
according  to  the  ancient  fashion. 


362  AMMIANUS   MARCELLINUS.  [Bx.  XXIV.  CH.  nr. 

25.  At  last  the  fated  city,  its  numerous  entrances  being 
laid  open,   was  entered  by  the   Romans,  and   the  furious 
troops  destroyed  all  whom  the}r  found,  without  regard  to 
age  or  sex.     Some  of  the  citizens,  from  dread  of  impending 
destruction,  threatened  on  one  side  with  fire,  on  the  other 
with  the  sword,  weeping  threw  themselves  headlong  over 
<he  walls,  and  being  crippled  in  all  their  limbs,  led  for  a 
few  hours  or  days  a  life  more  miserable  than  any  death, 
till  they  were  finally  killed. 

26.  But  Nabdates,   the   captain   of   the   garrison,   was 
taken  alive  with  eighty  of  his  guards  ;  and  when  he  was 
brought  before  the  emperor,  that  magnanimous  and  merciful 
prince  ordered  him  to  be  kept  in  safety.     The  booty  was 
divided  according  to  a  fair   estimate  of  the   merits  and 
labours  of  the  troops.     The  emperor,  who  was  contented 
with  very  little,  took  for  his  own  share  of  the  victor}'  he 
had  thus  gained  three  pieces  of  gold  and  a  dumb  child  who 
was  brought  to  him,  and  who  by  elegant  signs  and  gesticu- 
lations explained   all  he  knew,  and  considered   that  an 
acceptable  and  sufficient  prize. 

27.  But  of  the  virgins  who  were  taken  prisoners,  and 
who,  as  was  likely  in   Persia,  where  female  beauty  is  re- 
markable, were  exceedingly  beautiful,  he  would  neither 
touch  nor  even  see  one ;  imitating  Alexander  and  Scipio, 
who  refused  similar  opportunities,  in  order,  after  having 
proved  themselves  unconquered  by  toil,  not  to  show  them- 
selves the  victims  of  desire. 

28.  \\  hile  the  battle  was  going  on,  an  engineer  on  our 
side,   whose   name  .1   do  not   know,  who  happened  to  be 
standing  just  behind  a  scorpion,  was  knocked  down  and 
killed  by  the  recoil  of  a  stone,  which  the  worker  of  the 
engine  had  fitted  to  the  sling  carelessly,  his  whole  body 
being  so  dislocated  and  battered  that  he  could  not  even  be 
recognized. 

29.  After  the  town  was  taken  intelligence  was  brought 
to  the  emperor  that  a  troop  was  lying  in  ambuscade  in 
some   concealed  pits  around  the   walls  of  the  town  just 
taken  (of  which  pits  there  are  many  in  those  districts), 
with  the  intention  of  surprising  the  rear  of  our  army  by 
a  sudden  attack. 

30.  A  body  of  picked  infantry  of  tried  courage  was  there- 
fore sent  to  take  the  troop  prisoners.     But  as  they  could 


A.B  363.]  THE    ROMANS   ADVANCE.  363 

neither  force  their  way  into  the  pits,  nor  induce  those  con- 
cealed in  them  to  come  forth  to  fight,  they  collected  some 
straw  and  faggots,  and  piled  them  up  before  the  mouths  of 
the  caves,  and  then  set  them  on  fire,  from  which  the  smoke 
penetrated  into  the  caverns  through  the  narrow  crevice, 
being  the  more  dense  because  of  the  small  space  through 
which  it  was  forced,  and  so  suffocated  some  of  them ;  others 
the  fire  compelled  to  come  forth  to  instant  destruction  ; 
and  in  this  manner  they  were  destroyed  by  sword  or  by 
fire,  and  our  men  returned  with  speed  to  their  camp.  Thus 
was  this  large  and  populous  city,  with  its  powerful  garrison, 
stormed  by  the  Romans,  and  the  city  itself  reduced  to 
ruins. 

31.  After  this  glorious  exploit  the  bridges  which  led 
over  several  rivers  were  crossed  in  succession,  and  we 
reached  two  forts,  constructed  with  great  strength  and 
skill,  where  the  son  of  the  king  endeavoured  to  prevent 
Count  Victor,  who  was  marching  in  the  van  of  the  army, 
from  crossing  the  river,  having  advanced  for  that  purpose 
from  Ctesiphon  with  a  large  body  of  nobles  and  a  con- 
siderable armed  force ;  but  when  he.  saw  the  numbers 
which  were  following  Victor,  he  retreated. 

V. 

§  1 .  So  we  advanced  and  came  to  some  groves,  and  also  to 
some  fields  fertile  with  a  great  variety  of  crops,  where  we 
found  a  palace  built  in  the  Koman  fashion,  which,  so 
pleased  were  we  with  the  circumstance,  we  left  unhurt. 

2.  There  was  also  in  this  same  place  a  large  round  space, 
enclosed,  containing  wild  beasts,  intended  for  the  king's 
amusement ;  lions  with  shaggy  manes,  tusked  boars,  and 
bears  of  amazing  ferocity  (as  the  Persian  bears  are),  and 
other  chosen  beasts  of  vast  size.     Our  cavalry,  however, 
forced  the  gates  of  this  enclosure,  and  killed  all  the  beasts 
with  hunting-spears  and  clouds  of  arrows. 

3.  This  district  is  rich  and  well  cultivated :  not  far  off 
is  C<iche,  which  is  also  called  Seleucia ;  where  we  foilified 
a  camp  with  great  celerity,  and  rested  there  two  days  to 
refresh  the  army  with  timely  supplies  of  water  and  pro- 
visions.    The  emperor  himself  in  the  meanwhile  proceeded 
with  his  advanced  guard  and  reconnoitred  a  deserted  city 
which  had  been  formerly  destroyed  by  the  Emperor  Veruu, 


3fi4  AMMIANUS   .rfARCELLINUS.  [.»*•  XXIV.  Cn.  r. 

whei'e  an  everlasting  8pring  forms  a  large  tube  which  com- 
municates with  the  Tigris.  Here  we  saw,  hanging  on 
gallows,  many  bodies  of  the  relations  of  the  man  whom  we 
have  spoken  of  above  as  having  betrayed  Pirisabora. 

4.  Here  also  Nabdates  was  burnt  alive,  he  whom  I  have 
mentioned  above  as  having  been  taken  with  eighty  of  his 
garrison  while  hiding  among  the  ruins  of  the  city  which 
we  had  taken  ;  because  at  the  beginning  of  the  siege  he 
had  secretly  promised  to  betray  it,  but  afterwards  had  re- 
sisted us  vigorously,  and  after  having  been  unexpectedly 
pardoned  had  risen  to  such  a  pitch  of  violence  as  to  launch 
all  kinds  of  abuse  against  Hormisdas. 

5.  Then  after  advancing  some  distance  we  heard  of  a 
sad  disaster :    for  while  three   cohorts   of  the   advanced 
guard,  who  were  in  light   marching  order,  were  fighting 
with  a  Persian  division  which  had  made  a  sally  out  of  the 
city  gates,  another  body  of  the  enemy  out  off  and  slew  oxir 
cattle,  which  were  following  us  on  the  other  side  of  the 
river,   with  a  few  of  our   foragers  who   were   straggling 
about  in  no  great  order. 

6.  The  emperor  was  enraged  and  indignant  at  this ;  he 
was   now  near   the   district   of  Ctesiphon,   and   had  just 
reached  a  lofty  and  well-fortified  castle.     He  went  himself 
to  reconnoitre  it,  being,  as  he  fancied,  concealed,  as  he 
rode  with  a  small  escort  close  to  the  walls :  but  as  from 
too  much  eagerness  he  got  within  bowshot,  he  was  soon 
noticed,  and  was  immediately  assailed  by  every  kind  of 
missile,  and  would  have  been  killed  by  an  arrow  shot  from 
an  engine  on  the  walls,  if  it  had  not  struck  his  armour- 
bearer,  who  kept  close  by  his  side,  and  he  himself,  being 
protected  by  the  closely-packed  shields  of  his  guards,  fell 
back,  after  having  been  exposed  to  great  danger. 

7.  At  this  he  was  greatly  enraged,  and  determined  to 
lay  siege  to  the  fort :  but,  the  garrison  was  very  resolute  to 
defend  it,  believing  the  place  to  be  nearly  inaccessible,  and 
that  the  king,  who  was  advancing  with  great  speed  at  the 
head  of  a  large  army,  would  soon  arrive  to  their  assistance. 

8.  And  now,   the  vineaB  and  everything  else  required 
for  the  siege  being  prepared,  at  the  second  watch,  when 
the   night,    which   happened   to    be   one   of  very   bright 
moonlight,  made   everything  visible  to  the  defenders  on 
the   battlements,    suddenly   the    whole   multitude   of  the 


A.I>.  383.]  ENERGY    OF   JULIAK.  365 

garrison  formed  into  one  body,  threw  open  the  gates  and 
sallied  out,  and  attacking  a  division  of  our  men  who  were 
not  expecting  them,  slew  numbers,  among  whom  one 
tribune  was  killed  as  he  was  endeavouring  to  repel  the 
attack. 

i~.  And  while  this  was  going  on,  the  Persians,  having 
attacked  a  portion  of  our  men  in  the  same  manner  as 
before  from  the  opposite  side  of  the  river,  slew  some  and 
took  others  prisoners.  And  our  men,  in  alarm,  and  because 
they  believed  the  enemy  had  come  into  the  field  in  very 
superior  numbers,  behaved  at  first  with  but  little  spirit ; 
but  presently,  when  they  recovered  their  courage,  they 
flew  again  to  arms,  and  being  roused  by  the  sound  of  the 
trumpets,  they  hastened  to  the  charge  with  threatening 
cries,  upon  which  the  Persians  retired  to  the  garrison 
without  further  contest. 

10.  And  the   emperor,   being   terribly   angry,    reduced 
those  of  the  cavalry  who  had  shown  a  want  of  courage 
when  attacked  to  serve  in  the  infantry,  which  is  a  severer 
sei'vice  and  one  of  less  honour. 

11.  Then,  being  veiy  eager  to  take  a  castle  where  he  had 
incurred  so  much  danger,  he  devoted  all  his  own  labour 
and  care  to  that  end,  never  himself  retiring  from  the  front 
ranks  of  his  men,  in  order  that  by  fighting  in   the  van 
he  might,  be  an  example  of  gallantry  to  his  soldiers,  and 
might  be  also  sure  to  see,  and  therefore  able  to  reward, 
every  gallant  action.     And  when  he  had  exposed  himself 
a  long  time  to  imminent  danger,  the  castle,  having  been 
assailed  by  every  kind  of  manoeuvre,  weapon,  and  engine, 
and  by  great  valour  on  the  part  of  the  besiegers,  was  at 
length  taken  and  burnt. 

12.  After  this,  in   consideration  of  the  great  labour  of 
the  exploits  which  they  had  performed,  and  which  were 
before  them,  he  granted  rest  to  his  army,  exhausted  with 
its  excessive  toil,  and  distributed  among  them  provisions 
in  abundance.    Then  a  rampart  was  raised  round  the  camp, 
with  dense  rows  of  palisades,  and  a  deep  fosse,  as  sudden 
sallies  and  various  formidable  manoeuvres  were  dreaded, 
since  they  were  very  near  Ctesiphon. 


366  AMM1AXUS    MARCELLINUS.  [Us.  XXIV.  OR  TI. 

VI. 

§  1.  FROM  this  place  they  advanced  to  a  canal  known  as 
Naharmalcha,  a  name  which  means  "  The  Kiver  of  Kings." 
It  was  then  dry.  Long  ago  Trajan,  and  after  him  Severus, 
had  caused  the  soil  to  be  dug  out,  and  had  given  great 
attention  to  constructing  this  as  a  canal  of  great  size,  so 
that,  being  filled  with  water  from  the  Euphrates,  it  might 
enable  vessels  to  pass  into  the  Tigris. 

2.  And  for  every  object  in  view  it  appeared  best  that 
this  should  now  be  cleaned  out,  as  the  Persians,  fearing 
such  an  operation,  had  blocked  it  up  with  a  mass  of  stones. 
After  it  had  been  cleared  and  the  dams  removed,  a  large 
body  of  water  was  let  in,  so  that  our  fleet,  after  a  safe 
voyage  of  thirty  furlongs,  passed  into  the  Tigris.     There 
the   army  at   once   threw   bridges   across   the   river,   and 
passing  over  to  the  other  side,  marched  upon  Coche. 

3.  And  that  after  our  fatigue  we  might  enjoy  seasonable 
rest,  we  encamped  in  an  open  plain,  rich  with  trees,  vines, 
and  cypresses,  in  the  middle  of  which  was  a  shady  and 
delicious  pavilion,  having  all  over  it,    according   to   the 
fashion  of  the  country,  pictures  of  the  king  slaying  wild 
beasts  in  the  chase  ;  for  they  never  paint  or  in  any  way 
represent  anything  except  different  kinds  of  slaughter  and 
war. 

4.  Having  now  finished    everything   according   to    his 
wish,  the  emperor,  rising  higher  in  spirit  as  his  difficulties 
increased,  and  building  such  hopes  on  Fortune,  which  had 
not  yet  proved  unfavourable  to  him,  that  he  often  pushed 
his  boldness  to  the  verge  of  temerity,  unloaded  some  of  the 
strongest  of  the  vessels  which  were  carrying  provisions 
and  warlike  engines,  and  put  on  board  of  them  eight  hun- 
dred armed  men ;  and  keeping  the  main  part  of  the  fleet 
with   him,    which   he   divided   into   three   squadrons,    he 
settled  that  one  under  the  command  of  Count  Victor  should 
start  at  nightfall,  in  order  to  cross  the  river  with  speed, 
and  so  seize  on  the  bank  in  possession  of  the  enemy. 

o.  The  generals  were  greatly  alarmed  at  this  plan,  and 
unanimously  entreated  him  to  forego  it ;  but  as  they  could 
not  prevail,  the  signal  for  sailing  was  raised,  as  he  com- 
manded, and  at  once  five  ships  hastened  onwards  out  of 
sight ;  and  when  they  drew  near  te  the  bank  they  were 


AJ>.  3*3.]  COURAGE   OF   JULIAN.  367 

attacked  with  an  incessant  storm  of  fire-pots  and  every 
kind  of  contrivance  to  handle  flames,  and  they  would  have 
been  burnt  soldiers  and  all  if  the  emperor,  being  roused, 
had  not  with  great  energy  hastened  to  the  spot,  shouting- 
out  that  our  men,  as  they  were  ordered,  had  made  him  a 
signal  that  they  were  now  masters  of  the  bank  of  the  river, 
and  ordering  the  whole  fleet  to  hasten  forward  with  all  speed. 

6.  In  consequence  of  which  vigour  the  ships  were  saved, 
and  the  soldiers,  though  harassed  by  the  enemy  from  their 
commanding  ground  with  stones  and  every  kind  of  missile, 
nevertheless  after  a  fierce  conflict  made  good  their  footing 
on  the  high  bank  of  the  river,  and  established  themselves 
immovably. 

7.  History   marvels    that   Sertorius    swam    across    the 
Khone  with  his  arms  and  his  breastplate ;    but  on   this 
occasion,  some  soldiers,  though  disordered,  fearing  to  re- 
main behind  after  the  signal  for  battle  was  raised,  clinging 
firmly  to  their  shields,  which  are  broad  and  concave,  and 
guiding  them,  though  without  much  skill,  kept  pace  with 
the  speed  of  the  vessels  through  a  river  full  of  currents. 

8.  The  Persians  resisted  this  attack  with  squadrons  of 
cuirassier  cavalry  in  such  close  order   that  their  bodies 
dazzled  the  eye,  fitting  together,  as  it  seemed,  with  their 
brilliant  armour;    while  their  horses  were  all  protected 
with  a  covering  of  stout  leather.     As  a  reserve  to  support 
them  several  maniples  of  infantry  were  stationed,  protected 
by  crooked,  oblong  shields,  made  of  wicker-work  and  raw 
hides,  behind  which  they  moved  in  compact  order.    Behind 
them  were  elephants,  like  so  many  walking  hills,  which  by 
every  motion  of  their  huge  bodies  threatened  destruction 
to  all  who  came  near  them,  and  our  men  had  been  taught 
to  fear  them  by  past  experience. 

9.  On  this  the  emperor,  according  to  the  arrangement  of 
the  Greek   army  as  mentioned  by   Homer,1   allotted  the 

»  Reell.  iv.  297:— 

'ITTTTTJOS  fJ.tv  irpiaTra  <TVV  lTrirotffii>  ml  oxfffipw 
icffavs  8'  (^o-niOtv  tn^fftv  iro\«as  Tt  nnl  f<rO\ovs 

fpKOS  ffJ.fV  TToAf'/LlOlO,   KO.KOVS  S'ttS  fUfffffOV  l\OfftTet>, 

Thus  translated  by  Pope  : — 

*  The  horse  and  chariots  to  the  front  assigned, 
M'lie  foot  (the  strength  of  war)  he  placed  behind? 
The  middle  space  suspected  troops  supply, 
uawAoaed  by  both,  nor  left  th«  poweir  to  fly," 


368  AMMIANUS   MAUCELLINUS.  [BK.  XXIV.  CH.  n. 

centre  space  between  his  two  lines  to  his  weakest  infantry, 
lest  rf  they  were  placed  in  the  front  rank,  and  should  then 
misbehave,  they  should  disorder  the  whole  of  his  line  ;  or 
lest,  on  the  other  hand,  if  posted  in  the  rear,  behind  all  the 
other  centuries,  they  should  flee  without  shame,  since  there 
would  be  no  one  to  check  them  :  he  with  his  light-armed 
auxiliaries  moving  as  might  be  required  between  the  lines. 

10.  Therefore  when  the  two  armies  beheld  each  other, 
the   Romans   glittering   with   their   crested    helmets,    and 
brandishing  their  shields,   proceeded  slowly,  their  bands 
playing   an  anapaestic  measure ;    and  after  a  preliminary 
skirmish,  carried  on  by  the  missiles  of  the  front  rank,  they 
rushed   to   battle   with  such  vehemence   that  the    earth 
trembled  beneath  them. 

1 1 .  The  battle-shout  was   raised  on  all   sides,   as   was 
usual,  the  braying  trumpets  encouraged  the  eagerness  of 
the  men  :  all  fought  in  close  combat  with  spears  and  drawn 
swords,  so  that  the  soldiers  were  free  from  all  danger  of 
arrows  the  more  rapidly  they  pressed  onwards.      Mean- 
while, Julian,  like  a  gallant  comrade,   at  the  same  time 
that  he  was  a  skilful  general,  hasten  to  support  his  hardly- 
pressed   battalions   with   reserves,    and   to   cheer   on   the 
laggards. 

12.  So  the  front  line  of  the  Persians  wavered,  having 
been  never  very  fierce ;    and  at  last,  no  longer  able  to 
support  the  heat  of  their  armour,  they  retreated  in  haste 
to   their  city,  which  was   near :    they  were  pursued    by 
our  soldiers,  weary  as  they  were  with  having  fought  in 
those   torrid   plains   from   daybreak  to   sunset;    and   we, 
pressing    close   on   their   heels,   drove   them,    with    their 
choicest  generals,  Pigranes,  the  Surena,  and  N arses,  right 
up  to  the  walls  of  Ctesiphon,  inflicting  many  wounds  on 
their  legs  and  backs. 

13.  And  we  should  have  forced  our  entrance  into  the 
city  if  a  general  named  Victor  had  not,  by  lifting  up  his 
hands   and   his  voice,  checked  tis,   being  himself  pierced 
through  the  shoulder  with  an  arrow,  and  fearing  lest  if  the 
soldiers  allowed  themselves  to  be  hurried  within  the  walls 
without  any  order,  and  could  then  find  no  means  of  re- 
turning, they  might  be  overwhelmed  by  the  mass  of  their 
enemies. 

1  -t.  Let  the  poets  celebrate  the  ancient  battles  of  Hector, 


A.D.363.]  SACRIFICE  TO   MARS.  369 

or  extol  the  valour  of  the  Thessalian  Achilles  ;  let  past  ages 
tell  the  praises  of  Sophanes,  and  Aminias,  and  Callirnachus, 
and  Cynsegirus,  those  thunderbolts  of  war  in  the  struggles 
of  the  Greeks  against  Persia  ;  but  it  is  evident  by  the  con- 
fession of  all  men  that  the  gallantry  displayed  by  some  of 
our  troops  on  that  day  was  equal  to  any  of  their  exploits. 

15.  After  having  laid  aside  their  fears,  and  trampled  on 
the  carcases  of  their  enemies,   the  soldiers,  still  stained 
with  the   blood  so  justly  shed,  collected  round  the  tent 
of  the   emperor,    loading  him   with   praises   and   thanks, 
because,   while  behaving  with  such  bravery  that  it  was 
hard  to  say   whether  he  had  been  more  a  general  or   a 
soldier,  he  had  conducted   the   affair  with  such  success 
that  not  above  seventy  of  our  men  had  fallen,  while  nearly 
two  thousand  five  hundred  of  the  Persians  had  been  slain. 
And  he  in   his   turn   addressed   by   name   most  of  those 
whose   steady   courage   and   gallant   actions   he  had  wit- 
nessed, presenting  them  with   naval,  civic,  and  military 
crowns. 

16.  Thinking  that  this  achievement  would   surely  be 
followed  by  other  similar  successes,  he  prepared  a  large 
sacrifice  to  Mars  the  Avenger.     Ten  most  beautiful  bulls 
were  brought  for  the  purpose,  nine  of  which,  even  before 
they  reached  the  altars,  lay  down  of  their  own  accord  with 
mournful  countenances,  but  the  tenth  broke  his  bonds  and 
escaped,  and  was  with  difficulty  brought  back  at  all ;  and 
when    sacrificed    displayed    very    unfavourable    omens ; 
but  when  he  saw  this,  Julian  became  very  indignant,  and 
exclaimed,  calling  Jupiter  to  witness,  that  henceforth  ho 
would  offer  no  sacrifices  to  Mars.     Nor  did  he  recall  his 
vow,  being  cut  off  by  a  speedy  death. 

VII. 

§  1.  JULIAN,  having  discussed  with  his  chief  officers  the 
plan  for  the  siege  of  Ctesiphon,  it  appeared  to  some  of 
them  that  it  would  be  an  act  of  unseasonable  temerity  to 
attack  that  city,  both  because  its  situation  made  it  almost 
impregnable,  and  also  because  King  Sapor  was  believed  to 
be  hastening  to  its  protection  with  a  formidable  army. 

2.  The  better  opinion  prevailed ;  and  the  sagacious  em- 
peror being  convinced  of  its  wisdom,  sent  Arinthaeus  with 

2  B 


370  AMJ11ANUS  MARCELL1NUS.  [Bx.  XXJV.  CH.  T. 

a  division  of  light  infantry,  to  lay  waste  the  surrounding 
districts,  which  were  rich  both  in  herds  and  in  crops,  with 
orders  also  to  pursue  the  enemy  with  equal  energy,  for 
many  of  them  were  wandering  about,  concealed  amid  over- 
grown by-ways,  and  lurking-places  known  only  to  them- 
selves. The  booty  was  abundant. 

3.  But  Julian  himself,  being  always  eager  to  extend  his 
conquests,  disregarded   the  advice  of  those  who  remon- 
strated against  his  advance  ;  and  reproaching  his  chiefs,  as 
men  who  out  of  mere  laziness  and  a  love  of  ease  advised 
him  to  let  go  the  kingdom  of  Persia  when  he  had  almost 
made  himself  master  of  it,  left  the  river  on  his  left  hand, 
and  led  by  unlucky  guides,  determined  to  proceed  towards 
the  inland  parts  of  the  country  by  forced  marches. 

4.  And  he  ordered  all  his  ships  to  be  burnt,  as  if  with 
1he  fatal  torch  of  Bellona  herself,  except  twelve  of  the 
smaller  vessels,  which  he  airanged  should  be  carried  on 
waggons,  as  likely  to  be  of  use  for  building  bridges.     And 
he  thought  this  a  most  excellently  conceived  plan,  to  prevent 
his  fleet  if  left  behind  from  being  of  any  use  to  the  enemy, 
or  on  the  other  hand  to  prevent  what  happened  at  the  out- 
set of  the  expedition,  nearly  twenty  thousand  men  being 
occupied  in  moving  and  managing  the  vessels. 

5.  Then,  as  the  men  began  in  their  alarm  to  grumble  to 
themselves  (as  indeed  manifest  truth  pointed  out),  that  the 
soldiers  if  hindered  from  advancing  by  the  height  of  the 
mountains  or  the  dryness  of  the  country,  would  have  no 
means  of  returning  to  get  water,  and  when  the  deserters, 
on  being  put  to  the  torture  openly  confessed  that  they  had 
made  a  false  report,  he  ordered  all  hands  to  labour  to  extin- 
guish the  flames.      But  the  fire,   having  got  to  a  great 
head,  had  consumed  most  of  them,  so  that  only  the  twelve 
could  be  preserved  unhurt,  which  were  set  apart  to  be 
taken  care  of. 

6.  In  this  way  the  fleet  being  unseasonably  destroyed, 
Julian,  relying  on  his  army  which  was  now  all   united, 
having  none  of  its  divisions  diverted  to  other  occupations, 
and  so  being  strong  in  numbers,  advanced  inland,  the  rich 
district  through  which  he  marched  supplying  him  with  an 
abundance  of  provisions. 

7.  When  this  was  known,  the  enemy,  with  a  view  to 
distressing  us  by  want  of  supplies,  burnt  up  all  the  grass 


A.».3«3.]  THE   PERSIANS    BURN    THE   CROPS.  371 

and  die  nearly  ripe  crops ;  and  we,  being  unable  to  ad- 
vance by  reason  of  the  conflagration,  remained  stationary 
in  our  camp  till  the  fire  was  exhausted.  And  the  Persians, 
insulting  us  from  a  distance,  sometimes  spread  themselves 
widely  on  purpose,  sometimes  offered  us  resistance  in  a 
compact  body  ;  so  that  to  us  who  beheld  them  from  a  dis- 
tance it  might  seem  that  the  reinforcements  of  the  king 
had  come  up,  and  we  might  imagine  that  it  was  on  that 
account  that  they  had  ventured  on  their  audacious  sallies 
and  unwonted  enterprises. 

8.  Both  the  emperor  and  the  troops  were  greatly  vexed 
at  this,  because  they  had  no  means  of  constructing  a  bridge, 
since  the  ships  had  been  inconsiderately  destroyed,  nor 
could  any  check  be  offered  to  the  movements  of  the 
strange  enemy,  whom  the  glistening  brilliancy  of  their 
arms  showed  to  be  close  at  hand ;  this  armour  of  theirs 
being  singularly  adapted  to  all  the  inflections  of  their  body. 
There  was  another  evil  of  no  small  weight,  that  the  rein- 
forcements which  we  were  expecting  to  arrive  under  the 
command  of  Arsaces  and  some  of  oar  own  generals,  did' 
not  make  their  appearance,  being  detained  by  the  causes 
already  mentioned. 

VIII. 

§  1.  THE  emperor,  to  comfort  his  soldiers  who  were  made 
anxious  by  these  events,  ordered  the  prisoners  who  were 
of  slender  make,  as  the  Persians  usually  are,  and  who  were 
now  more  than  usually  emaciated,  to  be  brought  before 
the  army ;  and  looking  at  our  men  he  said,  "  Behold  what 
those  warlike  spirits  consider  men,  little  ugly  dirty  goats ; 
and  creatures  who,  as  many  events  have  shown,  throw 
away  their  arms  and  take  to  flight  before  they  can  come  to 
blows." 

2.  And  when  he  had  said  this,  and  had  ordered  the 
prisoners  to  be  removed,  he  held  a  consultation  on  what  wan 
to  be  done  ;  and  after  many  opinions  of  different  kinds  had 
been  delivered,  the  common  soldiers  inconsiderately  crying 
out  that  it  was  best  to  return  by  the  same  way  they  hads 
advanced,  the  emperor  steadily  opposed  this  idea,  and  was 
joined  by  several  officers  who  contended  that  this  could 
not  be  done,  since  all  the  forage  and  crops  had  been 
destroyed  throughout  the  plain,  and  the  remains  o£  the 


372  AMMIANUS    MARCELLINUS.  [BK.  XXIV.  CH.  v 

villages  which  had  been  burnt  were  all  in  complete  desti- 
tution, and  could  afford  no  supplies ;  because  also  the  whole 
soil  was  soaked  everywhere  from  the  snows  of  winter,  and 
the  rivers  had  overflowed  their  banks  and  were  now  for- 
midable torrents. 

3.  There  was  this  further  difficulty,  that  in  those  dis- 
tricts where  the  heat  and  evaporation  are  great,  everyplace 
is  infested  with  swarms  of  flies  and  gnats,  and  in  such 
numbers  that  the  light  of  the  sun  and  of  the  stars  is  com- 
pletely hidden  by  them. 

4!  And  as  human  sagacity  was  of  no  avail  in  such  a 
state  of  affairs,  we  were  long  in  doubt  and  perplexity  ;  and 
raising  altars  and  sacrificing  victims  we  consulted  the  will 
of  the  gods ;  inquiring  whether  it  was  their  will  that  we 
should  return  through  Assyria,  or  advancing  slowly  along 
the  foot  of  the  mountain  chain,  should  surprise  and  plunder 
Chiliocomum  near  Corduena;  but  neither  of  these  plans 
was  conformable  to  the  omens  presented  by  an  inspection 
of  the  sacrifices. 

5.  However  it  was  decided,  that  since  there  was  no 
better  prospect  before  us,  to  seize  on  Corduena ;  and  on 
the  16th  June  we  struck  our  camp,  and  at  daybreak  the 
emperor  set  forth,  when  suddenly  was  seen  either  smoke 
or  a   great   cloud  of  dust ;    so  that  many  thought  it  was 
caused  by  herds  of  wild  asses,  of  which  there  are  countless 
numbers  in  those  regions,  and  who  were  now  moving  in  a 
troop,  in  order  by  their  compactness  to  ward  off  the  fero- 
cious attacks  of  lions. 

6.  Some,  however,  fancied  that  it  was  caused  by  the 
approach  of   the  Saracen  chieftains,  our  allies,    who  had 
heard  that  the  emperor  was  besieging  Ctesiphon  in  great 
force  :  some  again  affirmed  that  the  Persians  were  lying  in 
wait  for  us  on  our  march. 

7.  Therefore  amid  all  these  doubtful  opinions,  the  trum- 
pets  sounded  a  halt,  in  order  to  guard  against  any  re- 
verse,  and  we   halted   in  a  grassy  valley  near  a  stream, 
where,  packing  our  shields  in  close  order  and  in  a  circular 
figure,  we  pitched  our  camp  and  rested  in  safety.     Nor,  so 
dark  did  it  continue  till  evening,  could  we  distinguish  what 
it  was  that  had  so  long  obscured  the  view. 


A.D.363.]  373 


BOOK   XXV. 

ARGUMENT. 

I.  The  Persians  attack  the  Romans  on  their  march,  but  are  gallantly 
repelled. — II.  The  army  is  distressed  by  want  of  corn  and  forage  ; 
Julian  is  alarmed  by  prodigies. — III.  The  emperor,  while,  in  order 
to  repulse  the  Persians,  who  pressed  him  on  all  quarters,  he 
rashly  rushes  into  battle  without  his  breastplate,  is  wounded  by 
a  spear,  and  is  borne  back  to  his  tent,  where  he  addresses  those 
around  him,  and,  after  drinking  some  cold  water,  dies. — IV.  His 
virtues  and  vices ;  his  personal  appearance. — V.  Jovian,  the 
captain l  of  the  imperial  guards,  is  tumultuously  elected  em- 
peror.— VI.  The  Eomans  hasten  to  retreat  from  Persia,  and  on 
their  march  are  continually  attacked  by  the  Persians  and  Sara- 
cens, whom,  however,  they  repulse  with  great  loss. — VII.  Tiie 
emperor  Jovian,  being  influenced  by  the  scarcity  and  distress  with 
which  his  army  is  oppressed,  makes  a  necessary  but  disgraceful 
peace  with  Sapor ;  abandoning  five  provinces,  with  the  cities  of 
Nisibis  and  Singara. — VIII.  The  Eomans  having  crossed  the 
Tigris,  after  a  very  long  and  terrible  scarcity  of  provisions,  which 
they  endured  with  great  courage,  at  length  reach  Mesopotamia — 
Jovian  arranges  the  aflairs  of  Illyricum  and  Gaul  to  the  best  of  his 
power. — IX.  Bineses,  a  noble  Persian,  acting  for  Sapor,  receives 
from  Jovian  the  impregnable  city  of  Nisibis;  the  citizens  are 
unwilling  to  quit  their  country,  but  are  compelled  to  migrate  to 
Amida — Five  provinces,  with  the  city  of  Singara,  and  sixteen 
fortresses,  are,  according  to  the  terms  of  the  treaty,  handed  over 
to  the  Persian  nobles. -X.  Jovian,  fearing  a  revolution,  marches 
with  great  speed  through  Syria,  Cilicia,  Cappadocia,  and  Galatia, 
and  at  Ancyra  enters  on  the  consulship,  with  his  infant  son  Varro- 
nianus,  and  soon  afterwards  dies  suddenly  at  Dadastana. 

I. 
A.D.  363. 

§  1.  THE  night  was  dark  and  starless,  and  passed  by  us  as 
nights  are  passed  in  times  of  difficulty  and  perplexity  ;  no 
one  out  of  fear  daring  to  sit  down,  or  to  close  his  eyes. 
But  as  soon  as  day  broke,  brilliant  breastplates  sur- 
rounded with  steel  fringes,  and  glittering  cuirasses,  were 
seen  at  a  distance,  and  showed  that  the  king's  army  was 
at  hand. 

1  Primicerius  :  he  was  the  third  officer  of  the  guard ;  the  first  being 
the  lower  ;  the  second,  the  tribune — answering,  as  one  might  say,  to 
our  major. 


374  AMMIANUS  MARCELUNUS.  [BK.  XXV.  CH.  u 

2.  The  soldiers  were  roused  at  this  sight,  and  hastened 
to  engage,  since  only  a  small  stream  separated  them  from 
the  Persians,  but  were  checked  by  the  emperor ;  a  sharp 
skirmish  did  indeed  take  place  between  our  outposts  and 
the   Persians,    close    to    the    rampart    of    our   camp,    in 
which  Machamaeus,  the  captain  of  one  of  our  squadrons, 
was  stricken  down :  his  brother  Maurus,  afterwards  Duke 
of  Phoenicia,  flew  to  his  support,  and  slew  the  man  who 
had  killed  Machamaeus,   and  crushed  all  who  came  in  his 
way,  till  he  himself  was  wounded  in  the  shoulder  by  a 
javelin  ;    but   he   still   was    able    by   great    exertions   to 
bring  off  his  brother,  who  was  now  pale  with  approaching 
-death. 

3.  Both  sides  were  nearly  exhausted  with  the  intolerable 
violence   of  the  heat  and  the   repeated  conflicts,  but  at 
last  the  hostile  battalions  were  driven  back  in  great  dis- 
order.    Then  while  we  fell  back  to  a  greater  distance,  the 
Saracens  were  also  compelled  to  retreat  from  fear  of  our 
infantry,  but  presently  afterwards  joining  themselves  to 
the  Persian  host,  they  attacked  us  again,  with  more  safety 
to  themselves  for  the  purpose  of  carrying  off  the  Eoman 
baggage.     But  when  they  saw  the  emperor  they  again 
retreated  upon  their  reserve. 

4.  After  leaving  this  district  we  reached  a  village  called 
Hucumbra,  where  we  rested  two  days,  procuring  all  kinds 
of  provisions  and  abundance  of  corn,  so  that  we  moved  on 
again  after  being  refreshed  beyond  our  hopes  ;  all  that  the 
time  would  not  allow  us  to  take  away  we  burnt. 

5.  The  next  day  the  army  was  advancing  more  quietly, 
when  the  Persians  unexpectedly  fell  upon  our  last  division, 
to  whom  that  day  the  duty  fell  of  bringing  up  the  rear,  and 
would  easily  have  slain  all  the  men,  had  not  our  cavalry, 
which  happened  to  be  at  hand,   the  moment   that   they 
heard  what  was  going  on,  hastened  up,  though  scattered 
over  the  wide  valley,  and  repulsed  this  dangerous  attack, 
wounding  all  who  had  thus  surprised  them. 

6.  In  this  skinnish  fell  Adaces,  a  noble  satrap,  who  had 
formerly  been  sent  as  ambassador  to  the  emperor  Constan- 
tius,  and  had  been  kindly  received  by  him.     The  soldier 
who  slew  him  brought  his  arms  to  Julian,  and  received 
the  reward  he  deserved. 

7.  The  same  day  one  of  our  corps  of  cavalry,  known  aa 


A.D.  363.]  COWARDICE   OF    ONE   CORPS.  375 

the  third  legion,  was  accused  of  having  gradually  given 
way,  so  that  when  the  legions  were  on  the  point  of  break- 
ing the  enemy's  line,  they  nearly  broke  the  spirit  of  the 
whole  army. 

8.  And   Julian,   being    justly   indignant    at    this,    de- 
prived them  of  their  standards,  broke  their  spears,  and 
condemned  all  those  who  were  convicted  of  having  mis- 
behaved of  marching  among  the  baggage  and  prisoners ; 
while  their  captain,  the  only  one  of  their  number  who  had 
behaved  well,  was  appointed  to  the  command  of  another 
squadron,  the  tribune  of  which  was  convicted  of  having 
shamefully  left  the  field. 

9.  And   four   other   tribunes   of    companies   were    also 
cashiered  for  similar  misconduct ;    for  the   emperor  was 
contented  with  this  moderate  degree  of  punishment  out  of 
consideration  for  his  impending  difficulties. 

10.  Accordingly,  having  advanced  seventy  furlongs  with 
very  scanty  supplies,  the  herbage  and  the  corn  being  all 
burnt,  each  man  saved  for  himself  just  as  much   of  the 
grain  or  forage  as  he  could  snatch  from  the  flames  and 
carry. 

11.  And   having   left   this   spot,    when   the   army   had 
arrived  at  the  district  called  Maranx,  near  daybreak  an 
immense  multitude  of  Persians  appeared,  with  Merenes, 
the  captain  of  their  cavalry,  and  two  sons  of  the  king,  and 
many  nobles. 

12.  All  the   troops  were  clothed  in  steel,    in   such  a 
way  that  their  bodies  were  covered  with  strong  plates,  so 
that  the  hard  joints  of  the  armour  fitted  every  limb  of 
their  bodies  ;  and  on  their  heads  were  effigies  of  human 
faces  so  accurately  fitted,  that  their  whole  persons  being 
covered  with  metal,  the  only  place   where   any  missiles 
which  fell  upon  them  could  stick,  was  either  where  there 
were  minute  openings  to  allow  of  the  sight  of  the  eyes 
penetrating,  or  where  holes  for  breathing  were  left  at  the 
extremities  of  the  nostrils. 

13.  Part  of  them  who  were  prepared  to  fight  with  pikes 
stood  immovable,  so  that  you  might  have  fancied  they  were 
held  in  their  places  by  fastenings  of  brass ;  and  next  to 
them  the   archers  (in   which  art  that  nation  has  always 
been  most  skilful  from  the  cradle)  bent,  their  supple  bows 
with  widely  extended  arms,  so  that  the  strings  touched 


37fi  AMMIANUS   MARCELLIXUS.  [B*.  XXV.  CH.  i. 

their  right  breasts,  while  the  arrows  lay  just  upon  their 
left  hands ;  and  the  whistling  arrows  flew,  let  loose  with 
great  skill  of  finger,  bearing  deadly  wounds. 

14.  Behind  them  stood  the  glittering  elephants  in  for- 
midable array,  whose  grim  looks  our  terrified  men  could 
hardly  endure ;  while  the  horses  were  still  more  alarmed 
at  their  growl,  odour,  and  unwonted  aspect. 

15.  Their  drivers  rode  on  them,  ani  bore  knives  with 
handles  fastened  to  their  right  hands,  remembering  the 
disaster  which  they  had  experienced  at  Nisibis  ;  and  if  the 
ferocious  animal  overpowered  his  overseer,  they  pierced 
the  spine  where  the  head  is  joined  to  the  neck  with  a 
vigorous  blow,  that  the  beast  might  not  recoil  upon  their 
own  ranks,  as  had  happened  on  that  occasion,  and  trample 
down  their  own  people ;  for  it  was  found  out  by  Hasdrubal, 
the  brother  of  Hannibal,  that  in  this  way  these  animals 
might  be  very  easily  deprived  of  life. 

16.  The  sight  of  these  beasts  caused  great  alarm ;  and  so 
this  most  intrepid  emperor,  attended  with  a  strong  body 
of  his  armed  cohorts  and  many  of  his  chief  officers,  as  the 
crisis  and  the  superior  numbers  of  the  enemy  required, 
marshalled  his  troops  in  the  form  of  a  crescent  with  the 
wings  bending  inwards  to  encounter  the  enemy. 

17.  And  to  hinder  the  onset  of  the  archers  from  dis- 
ordering our  columns,  by  advancing  with  great  speed  he 
baffled  the  aim  of  their  arrows ;  and  after  he  had  given  the 
formal  signal  for  fighting,  the  Roman  infantry,  in  close 
order,  beat  back  the  front  of  the  enemy  with  a  vigorous 
effort. 

18.  The  struggle   was  fierce,   and  the   clashing  of  the 
shields,  the  din  of  the  men,  and  the  doleful  whistle  of  the 
javelins,  which  continued  without  intennission,  covered  the 
plains  with  blood  and  corpses,  the  Persians  falling  in  every 
direction ;  and  though  they  were  often  slack  in  fighting, 
being  accustomed  chiefly  to  combat  at  a  distance  by  means 
of  missiles,  still  now  foot  to  foot  they  made  a  stout  resist- 
ance ;  and  when  they  found  any  of  their  divisions  giving 
way,  they  retreated  like  rain  before  the  wind,  still  with 
showers  of  arrows  seeking  to  deter  their  foes  from  pur- 
suing them.    So  the  Parthians  were  defeated  by  prodigious 
efforts,   till  our  soldiers,   exhausted  by   the   heat  of  the 
day,  on  the  signal  for  retreat  being  sounded,  returned  to 


i.D.  363.]  SELF-DEXI  A.L   OF   JULIAN.  377 

their  camp,  encouraged  for  the  future  to  greater  deeds  of 
daring. 

19.  In  this  battle,  as  I  have  said,  the  loss  of  the  Persians 
was  very  great — ours  was  very  slight.  But  the  most  im- 
portant death  in  our  ranks  was  that  of  Vetranio,  a  gallant 
soldier  who  commanded  the  legion  of  Zianni.1 

II. 

§  1.  AFTER  this  there  was  an  armistice  for  three  days,  while 
the  men  attended  to  their  own  wounds  or  those  of  their 
friends,  during  which  we  were  destitute  of  supplies,  and 
distressed  by  intolerable  hunger ;  and  since,  as  all  the  corn 
and  forage  was  burnt,  both  men  and  cattle  were  in  extreme 
danger  of  starvation,  a  portion  of  the  food  which  the 
horses  of  the  tribunes  and  superior  officers  were  carrying 
was  distributed  among  the  lower  classes  of  the  soldiers, 
who  were  in  extreme  want. 

2.  And  the  emperor,    who  had  no  royal  dainties  pre- 
pared for  himself,  but  who  was  intending  to  sup  under  the 
props  of  a  small  tent  on  a  scanty  portion  of  pulse,  such  as 
would  often  have  been  despised  by  a  prosperous  common 
soldier,  indifferent  to  his  own  comfort,  distiibuted  what  was 
prepared  for  him  among  the  poorest  of  his  comrades. 

3.  He  gave  a  short  time  to  anxious  and  troubled  sleep  ; 
and  when  he   awoke,  and,  as  was  his  custom,  began  to 
write  something  in  his  tent,  in  imitation  of  Julius  Caesar, 
while  the  night  was  still  dark,  being  occupied  with  the 
consideration  of  the  writings  of  some  philosophers,  he  saw, 
as  he  told  his  friends,  in  moiirnful  guise,  the  vision  of  the 
Genius  of  the  Empire,  whom,  when  he  first  became  em- 
peror, he  had  seen  in  Gaul,  sorrowfully  departing  through 
the  curtains  of  his  tent  with  the  cornucopia,  which  he 
bore  in  his  hand  veiled,  as  well  as  his  head. 

4.  And  although  for  a  moment  he  stood  stupefied,  yet 
being  above  all  fear,  he  commended  the  future  to  the  will 
of  heaven ;  and  leaving  his  bed,  which  was  made  on  the 
ground,    he  rose,  while   it.  was  still  but  little  past  mid- 
night, and  supplicating  the  deities  with  sacred   rites  to 
avert  misfortune,  he  thought  he  saw  a  bright  torch,  falling, 

1  The  Zianni  were  an  Armenian  tribe.    The  legion  belonged  to  the 
Tliracian  establishment. 


378  AMMIAXUS   MARCELLIXUS.  [BK.  XXV.  CH.  n. 

cut  a  passage  through  the  air  and  vanish  from  his  sight ; 
and  then  he  was  horror-stricken,  fearing  that  the  star  of 
Mara  had  appeared  openly  threatening  him. 

5.  For  this  brightness  was  of  the   kind  which  we  call 
Staiffffovra,   not    falling   down    or   reaching    the    ground. 
Indeed,  he  who  thinks  that  solid  substances  can  fall  from 
heaven  is  rightly  accounted  profane  and  mad.     But  these 
occurrences  take  place  in  many  ways,  of  which  it  will  be 
enough  to  enumerate  a  few. 

6.  Some  think  that  sparks  falling  off  from  the  ethereal 
fire,  as  they  are  able  to  proceed  but  a  short  distance,  poon 
become  extinguished  ;  or,  perhaps,  that  rays  of  fire  coming 
against  the  dense  clouds,  sparkle  from  the  suddenness  of 
the  contact ;  or  that  some  light  attaches  itself  to  a  cloud, 
and  taking  the  form  of  a  star,  runs  on  as  long  as  it  is  sup- 
ported by  the  power  of  the  fire ;  but  being  presently  ex- 
hausted by  the  magnitude  of  the  space  which  it  traverses, 
it  becomes  dissolved  into  air,  passing  into  that  substance 
from  the  excessive  attrition  of  which  it  originally  derived 
its  heat. 

7.  Therefore,  without  loss  of  time,  before  daybreak,  he 
sent  for  the  Etruscan   soothsayers,  and   consulted  them 
what  this  new  kind  of  star  portended ;  who  replied,  that 
he  must  cautiously  avoid  attempting  any  new  enterprise  at 
present,  showing  that  it  was  laid  down  in  the  works  of 
Tarquitius,1  "  on  divine  affairs,"  that  when  a  light  of  this 
kind  is  seen  in  heaven,  no  battle  ought  to  be  engaged  in, 
or  any  similar  measure  be  undertaken. 

8.  But  as  he  despised  this  and  many  other  similar  warn- 
ings, the  diviners  at  least  entreated  him  to  delay  his  march 
for  some  hours ;    but  they  could  not  prevail  even  to  this 
extent,  as  the  emperor  was  always  opposed  to  the  whole 
science  of  divination.     So  at  break  of  day  the  camp  was 
struck. 

III. 

§  1.  WHEN  we  set  forward,  the  Persians,  who  had  learnt 
by  their  frequent  defeats  to  shun  pitched  battles,  laid 
secret  ambuscades  on  our  road,  and,  occupying  the  hills  on 
each  side,  continually  reconnoitred  our  battalions  as  they 

1  Tarquitius  was  an  ancient  Etruscan  soothsayer,  who  had  written  on 
the  subject  of  his  art. 


JULIAN   IS   \r7JNDED.  379 

marched,  so  that  our  soldiers,  being  kept  all  day  on  the 
watch,  could  neither  find  time  to  erect  ramparts  round 
their  camp,  or  to  fortify  themselves  with  palisades. 

2.  And  while  our  flanks  were  strongly  guarded,  and  the 
army  proceeded  onward  in  as  good  order  as  the  nature  of 
the  ground  would  allow,  being  formed  in  squares,  though 
not  quite  closed  up,  suddenly  news  was  brought  to  the 
emperor,  who  had  gone  on  unarmed   to   reconnoitre   the 
ground  in  front,  that  our  rear  was  attacked. 

3.  He,   roused  to  anger  by  this  mishap,  without  stop- 
ping to  put  on  his  breastplate,  snatched  up  his  shield  in  a 
hurry,  and  while  hastening  to  support  his  rear,  was  re- 
called by  fresh  news  that  the  van  which  he  had  quitted 
was  now  exposed  to  a  similar  attack. 

4.  Without  a  thought  of    personal    danger,   he    now 
hastened  to  strengthen  this  division,  and  then,  on  another 
side,  a  troop  of  Persian  cuirassiers  attacked  his  centre,  and 
pouring  down  with  vehemence  on  his  left  wing,  which 
began    to   give  way,  as   our  men   could  hardly  bear  up 
against  the  foul  smell  and  horrid  cries  of  the  elephants, 
they  pressed  us  hard  with  spears  and  clouds  of  arrows. 

5.  The  emperor  flew  to  every  part  of  the  field  where  the 
danger  was  hottest ;  and  our  light-armed  troops  dashing 
out  wounded  the  backs  of  the  Persians,  and  the  hocks  of 
the  animals,  which  were  turned  the  other  way. 

6.  Julian,  disregarding  all  care  for  his  own  safety,  made 
signs   by  waving  his   hands,  and   shouted   out   that   the 
enemy  were  fleeing  in  consternation ;  and  cheering  on  his 
men  to  the  pursuit,  threw  himself  eagerly  into  the  con- 
flict.    His  guards  called  out  to  him  from  all  sides  to  be- 
ware of  the  mass  of  fugitives  who  were  scattered  in  con- 
sternation, as  he  would  beware  of  the  fall  of  an   ill-built 
roof,  when  suddenly  a  cavalry  spear,  grazing  the  skin  of 
his  arm,  pierced  his  side,  and  fixed  itself  in  the  bottom  of 
his  liver. 

7.  He  tried  to  pull  it  out  with  his  right  hand,  and  cut 
the  sinews  of  his  fingers  with  the  double-edged  point  of 
the  weapon ;   and,  falling  from  his  horse,   he  was  borne 
with  speed  by  the  men  around  him  to  his  tent ;  and  the 
physician  tried  to  relieve  him. 

8.  Presently,  when  his  pain  was  somewhat  mitigated,  so 
that  his  apprehensions  were  relieved,  contending  against 


380  AMMIANUS    MARCKLL1XUS.  [BK.  XXV.  CH.  at 

death  with  great  energy,  he  asked  for  arms  and  a  horse, 
in  order  that,  by  revisiting  his  troops,  who  were  still 
engaged,  he  might  restore  their  confidence,  and  appear 
so  secure  of  his  own  recovery  as  to  have  room  for 
anxiety  for  the  safety  of  others ;  with  the  same  energy, 
though  with  a  different  object,  with  which  the  celebrated 
leader,  Epaminondas,  when  he  was  mortally  wounded  at 
Man  tinea,  and  had  been  borne  out  of  the  battle,  asked 
anxiously  for  his  shield ;  and  when  he  saw  it  he  died  of 
his  wound  cheerfully,  having  been  in  fear  for  the  loss  of 
his  shield,  while  quite  fearless  about  the  loss  of  his 
life. 

9.  But  as  Julian's  strength  was  inferior  to  his  firmness, 
and  as  he  was  weakened  by  the  loss  of  blood,  he  remained 
without  moving :    and  presently  he  gave  up  all  hope  of 
life  ;  because,  on  inquiry,  he  found  that  the  place  where 
he  had  fallen  was  called  Phrygia ;  for  he  had  been  assured 
by  an  oracle  that  he  was  destined  to  die  in  Phrygia. 

10.  When  he  was  brought  back  to  his  tent,  it  was  mar- 
vellous with  what  eagerness  the  soldiers  flew  to  avenge 
him,  agitated  with  anger  and  sorrow  ;    and  striking  their 
spears  against  their  shields,  determined  to  die   if  Fate 
so  willed  it.     And  although  vast  clouds  of  dust  obscured 
their  sight,  and  the  burning  heat  hindered  the  activity  of 
their  movements,  still,  as  if  they  were  released  from  all 
military  discipline  by  the  loss  of  their  chief,  they  rushed 
unshrinkingly  on  the  enemy's  swords. 

11.  On  the  other  hand  the  Persians,  fighting  with  in- 
creased spirit,  shot  forth  such  clouds  of  arrows,  that  we 
could  hardly  see  the  shooters  through  them ;    while  the 
elephants,  slowly  marching  in  front,   by  the  vast  size  of 
their  bodies,  and  the  formidable  appearance  of  their  crests, 
terrified  alike  our  horses  and  our  men. 

12.  And  far  off  was  heard  the  clashing  of  armed  men, 
the  groans  of  the  dying,  the  snorting  of  the  horses,  and  the 
clang  of  swords,  till  both  sides  were  weary  of  inflicting 
wounds,  and  the  darkness  of  night  put  an  end  to  the  con- 
test. 

13.  Fifty  nobles  and  satraps  of  the  Persians,  with  a  vast 
number  of  the  common  soldiers,  were  slain  ;    and  among 
them,  two  of  their  principal  generals,  Merena  and  Noho- 
dares.     Let  the  grandiloquence  of  antiquity  marvel  at  the 


A.D.  sea.]  JULIAN'S  DYING  SPEECH.  381 

twenty  battles  fought  by  Marcellus  in  different  places  ;  let 
it  add  Sicinius  Dentatus,  adorned  with  his  mass  of  military 
crowns ;  let  it  further  extol  Sergius,  who  is  said  to  have 
received  twenty-three  wounds  in  his  different  battles, 
among  whose  posterity  was  that  last  Catiline,  who  tar- 
nished the  glories  of  his  distinguished  family  by  everlasting 
infamy. 

14.  But  sorrow  now  overpowered  the  joy  at  this  success. 
While  the  conflict  was  thus  carried  on  after  the  withdrawal 
of  the  emperor,  the  right  wing  of  the  army  was  exhausted 
by  its  exertions ;   and  Anatolius,  at  that  time  the  master 
of  the    offices,    was   killed ;    Sallust  the  prefect  was  in 
imminent  danger,  and  was  saved  only  by  the  exertions  of 
his  attendant,  so  that  at  last  he  escaped,  while  Sophorius 
his  counsellor  was  killed ;  and  certain  soldiers,  who,  after 
great  danger,  had  thrown  themselves  into  a  neighbouring 
fort,  were  unable  to  rejoin  the  main  army  till  three  days 
afterwards. 

15.  And  while  these  events  were  taking  place,  Julian, 
lying  in  his  tent,  thus  addressed  those  who  stood  around 
him  sorrowing  and  mourning :    "The  seasonable  moment 
for  my  surrendering  this  life,  O  comrades,  has  now  ar- 
rived, and,  like  an   honest   debtor,  I  exult  in  preparing 
to    restore    what   nature   reclaims ;  not   in   affliction   and 
sorrow,  since  I  have  learnt,  from  the  general  teaching  of 
philosophers,   how  much  more  capable   of  happiness  the 
mind  is  than  the  body ;    and  considering  that  when  the 
better  part  is  separated  from  the  worse,  it  is  a  subject  of 
joy  rather  than  of  mourning.     Reflecting,  also,  that  there 
have  been  instances  in  which  even  the  gods  have  given  to 
some  persons  of  extreme  piety,  death  as  the  best  of  all 
rewards. 

16.  "  And  I  well  know  that  it  is  intended  as  a  gift  of 
kindness  to  me,  to  save  me  from  yielding  to  arduous  diffi- 
culties, and  from  forgetting  or  losing  myself ;  knowing  by 
experience  that  all  sorrows,  while  they  triumph  over  the 
weak,  flee  before  those  who  endure  them  manfully. 

17.  "Nor  have  I  to  repent  of  any  actions;   nor  am   I 
oppressed  by  the  recollection  of  any  grave  crime,  either 
when  I  was  kept  in  the  shade,  and,  as  it  were,  in  a  corner, 
or  after  I  arrived  at  the  empire,  which,  as  an  honour  con- 
ferred on  me  by  the  gods,  I  have  preserved,  as  I  believe', 


382  AMMIANUS   MARCELLINUS.  [B*.  XXV.  CH.  in 

unstained.  In  civil  affairs  I  have  ruled  with  moderation, 
and,  whether  carrying  on  offensive  or  defensive  war,  have 
always  been  under  the  influence  of  deliberate  reason; 
prosperity,  however,  does  not  always  correspond  to  the 
wisdom  of  man's  counsels,  since  the  powers  above  reserve 
to  themselves  the  regulation  of  results. 

18.  "  But  always  keeping  in  mind  that  the  aim  of  a  just 
sovereign  is  the  advantage  and  safety  of  his  subjects,  I  have 
been  always,  as  you  know,  inclined  to  peace,  eradicating 
all  licentiousness — that  great   corruptress  of  things  and 
manners — by  every  part  of  my  own  conduct ;    and  I  am 
glad  to  feel  that  in  whatever  instances  the  republic,  like 
an   imperious   mother,   has   exposed    me   deliberately  to 
danger,  I  have  stood  firm,  inured  to  brave  all  fortuitous 
disturbing  events. 

19.  "  Nor  am  I  ashamed  to  confess  that  I  have  long 
known,  from  prophecy,  that  I  should  fall  by  the  sword. 
And  therefore  do  I  venerate  the  everlasting  God  that  I 
now  die,  not  by  any  secret  treachery,  nor  by  a  long  or 
severe  disease,  or  like  a  condemned  criminal,  but  I  quit 
the  world  with  honour,  fairly  earned,  in  the  midst  of  a 
career  of  flourishing  glory.     For,  to  any  impartial  judge, 
that  man  is  base  and  cowardly  who  seeks  to  die  when 
he  ought  not,  or  who  avoids  death  when  it  is  seasonable 
for  him. 

20.  "  This  is  enough  for  me  to  say,  since  my  strength  is 
failing  me  ;  but  I  designedly  forbear  to  speak  of  creating  a 
new  emperor,  lest  I  should  unintentionally  pass  over  some 
worthy  man ;  or,  on  the  other  hand,  if  I  should  name  one 
whom   I  think  proper,  I  should  expose  him  to  danger  in 
the  event  of  some  one  else  being  preferred.     But,  as  an 
honest  child  of  the  republic,  I  hope  that  a  good  sovereign 
will  be  found  to  succeed  me." 

21.  After  having  spoken  quietly  to  this  effect,  he,  as 
it  were  with  th«  last   effort  of  his  pen,  distributed  his 
private  property   among    his   dearest  friends,  asking  for 
Anatolius,  the  akaster  of  the  offices.   And  when  the  prefect 
Sallust  replied  that  he  was  now  happy,  he  understood  that 
he  was  slain,  and  bitterly  bewailed  the  death  of  his  friend, 
though  he  had  so  proudly  disregarded  his  own. 

22.  And  as  all  around  were  weeping,  he  reproved  them 
with  still  undiminished  authority,  saying  that  it  was  a 


A.D.  363.]  JULIAN'S  CHARACTER.  383 

humiliating  thing  to  mourn  for  an  emperor  who  was  just 
united  to  heaven  and  the  stars. 

23.  And  as  they  then  became  silent,  he  entered  into  an 
intricate  discussion  with  the  philosophers  Maximus  and 
Priscus  on  the  sublime  nature  of  the  soul,  while  the  wound 
of  his  pierced  side  was  gaping  wide.  At  last  the  swelling 
of  his  veins  began  to  choke  his  breath,  and  having  drank 
some  cold  water,  which  he  had  asked  for,  he  expired  quietly 
about  midnight,  in  the  thirty-first  year  of  his  age.  He 
was  born  at  Constantinople,  and  in  his  childhood  lost 
his  father,  Constantius,  who,  after  the  death  of  his 
brother  Constantine,  perished  amid  the  crowd  of  competi- 
tors for  the  vacant  crown.  And  at  the  same  early  age  he 
lost  his  mother,  Basilina,  a  woman  descended  from  a  long 
line  of  noble  ancestors. 

IV. 

§  1.  JULIAN  was  a  man  to  be  classed  with  heroic  characters, 
and  conspicuous  for  the  brilliancy  of  his  exploits  and  his 
innate  majesty.  For  since,  as  wise  men  lay  it  down,  there 
are  four  cardinal  virtues, — temperance,  prudence,  justice, 
and  fortitude, — with  corresponding  external  accessaries, 
such  as  military  skill,  authority,  prosperity,  and  liberality, 
he  eagerly  cultivated  them  all  as  if  they  had  been  but  one. 

2.  And  in  the  first  place,  he  was  of  a  chastity  so  inviolate 
that,  after  the  loss  of  his  wife  he  never  indulged  in  any 
sexual   pleasures,   recollecting   what    is   told  in  Plato   of 
Sophocles  the  tragedian,  that  being  asked  when  he  was  a 
very  old  man  whether  he  still  had  any  commerce  with 
women,  he  said  "  No,"  with  this  further  addition,  that  "he 
was  glad  to  say  that  he  had  at  all  times  avoided   such 
indulgence  as  a  tyrannous  and  cruel  master." 

3.  And  to  strengthen  this  resolution  he  often  called  to 
mind  the  words  of  the  lyric  poet  Bacchylides,  whom  he 
used  to  read  with  pleasure,  and  who  said  that  as  a  fine 
painter  makes  a  handsome  face,  so  chastity  adorns  a  life 
that  aims  at  greatness.     And  even  when  in  the  prime  of 
life  he  so  carefully  avoided  this  taint  that  there  was  never 
the  least  suspicion  of  his  becoming  enamoured  even  of 
any  of  his  household,  as  has  often  happened. 

4.  And  this  kind  of  temperance  increased  in  him,  being 
strengthened  by  a  sparing  indulgence  in  eating  and  sleep- 


384  AMMIANUS  MARCELLINUS.  [Bs.  XX V.  On.  nr. 

ing,  to  which  he  rigidly  adhered  whether  abroad  or  at 
home.  For  in  time  of  peace  his  frugal  allowance  of  food 
was  a  marvel  to  all  who  knew  him,  as  resembling  that  of  a 
man  always  wishing  to  resume  the  philosopher's  cloak. 
And  in  his  various  campaigns  he  used  commonly  only  to 
take  a  little  plain  food  while  standing,  as  is  the  custom  of 
soldiers. 

5.  And  when  after  being  fatigued   by  labour  he   had 
refreshed  his  body  with  a  short  rest,  as  soon  as  he  awoke  he 
would  go  by  himself  round  all  the  sentries  and  outposts ; 
after  which  he  retired  to  his  serious  studies. 

6.  And  if  any  voice  could  bear  witness  to  his  use  of  the 
nocturnal  lamp,  by  which  he  pursued   his   lucubrations, 
it  would  show  that  there  was  a  vast  difference   between 
some  emperors  and  him,  who  did  not  even  indulge  himself 
in  those  pleasures  permitted  by  the  necessities  of  human 
nature. 

7.  Of  his  prudence  there   were  also  many  proofs,  of 
which  it  will  be  sufficient  to  recount  a  few.     He  was  pro- 
foundly skilled  in  war,  and  also  in  the  arts  of  peace.     He 
was  very  attentive    to   courtesy,  claiming  just   so  much 
respect  as  he  considered  sufficient  to  mark  the  difference 
between  contempt  and  insolence.     He  was  older  in  virtue 
than  in  years,  being  eager  to  acquire  all  kinds  of  know- 
ledge.    He  was  a  most  incorruptible  judge,  a  rigid  censor 
of  morals  and  manners,  mild,   a   despiser  of  riches,  and 
indeed  of  all  mortal  things.      Lastly,  it  was  a  common 
saying  of  his,  "  That  it  was  beneath  a  wise  man,  since  he 
had  a  soul,  to  aim  at  acquiring  praise  by  his  body." 

8.  Of  his  justice  there  are  many   conspicuous  proofs: 
first,  because,  with  all  proper  regard  to  circumstances  and 
persons,  he  inspired  awe  without  being  cruel ;  secondly, 
because  he  repressed  vice  by  making  examples  of  a  few, 
and  also  because  he  threatened  severe  punishment  more 
frequently  than  he  employed  it. 

9.  Lastly,  to  pass  over  many  circumstances,  it  is  certain 
that  he  treated  with  extreme  moderation  some  who  were 
openly  convicted  of  plotting  against  him,  and  mitigated 
the  rigour  of  the  punishment  to  which  they  were  sentenced 
with  genuine  humanity. 

10.  His  many  battles  and  constant  wars  displayed  his 
fortitude,  as  did  his  endurance  of  extreme  cold  and  heat. 


A.D.383.]  HIS   MILITARY  SKILL.  385 

From  a  common  soldier  we  require  the  services  of  the 
body,  from  an  emperor  those  of  the  mind.  But  having 
boldly  thrown  himself  into  battle,  he  would  slay  a  ferocious 
foe  at  a  single  blow ;  and  more  than  once  he  by  himself 
checked  the  retreat  of  our  men  at  his  own  personal  risk. 
And  when  he  was  putting  down  the  rule  of  the  furious 
Germans,  and  also  in  the  scorching  sands  of  Persia,  he  en- 
couraged his  men  by  fighting  in  the  front  ranks  of  his  army. 

11.  Many  well-known  facts  attest  his   skill  in  all  that 
concerns  a  camp ;  his  storming  of  cities  and  castles  amid 
the  most  formidable  dangers  ;  the  variety  of  his  tactics  for 
battles,   the   skill   he   showed  in    choosing  healthy  spots 
for  his  camps,  the  safe  principles   on  which  his  lines  of 
defence  and  outposts  were  managed. 

12.  So  great  was  his  authority,  that  while  he  was  feared 
he  was  also  greatly  loved  as  his  men's  comrade  in  their 
perils  and  dangers.     And  in  the  hottest  struggles  he  took 
notice  of  cowards  for  punishment.     And  while  he  was  yet 
only  Caesar,  he  kept  his  soldiers  in  order  while  confront- 
ing  the  barbarians,  and  destitute  of  pay  as  I  have  men- 
tioned before.     And  haranguing  his  discontented  troops, 
the  threat  which  he  used  was  that  he  would  retire  into 
private  life  if  they  continued  mutinous. 

13.  Lastly,  this  single  instance  will  do  as  well  as  many, 
by  haranguing  the  Gallic  legions,  who  were  accustomed 
to  the  frozen  Ehine,  in  a  simple   address,  he  persuaded 
them  to  traverse  vast  regions  and  to  march  through  the 
warm  plains  of  Assyria  to  the  borders  of  Media. 

14.  His  good  forttme  was  so  conspicuous  that,  riding  as 
it  were  on  the  shoulders   of  Fortune,  who  was  long  his 
faithful   guide,  he  overcame  enormous  difficulties  in  his 
victorious  career.     And  after  he  quitted  the  regions  of  the 
west,  they  all  remained  quiet  during  his  life-time,  as  if 
under  the  influence  of  a  wand  powerful  enough  to  tran- 
quillize the  world. 

15.  Of  his   liberality   there   are   many  and  undoubted 
proofs.     Among  which  are  his  light  exactions  of  tribute, 
nis  remission  of  the  tribute  of  crowns,  and  of  debts  long 
due,  his   putting  the  rights  of  individuals   on  an   equal 
footing  with  those  of  the  treasury,  his  restoration  of  their 
revenues  and  their  lands  to  different  cities,  with  the  ex- 
ception of  such   as  had  been  lawfully  sold  by  former 

2e 


386  A^tMIANUS   MARCELLIXUS.  [BK.  XXV.  Oil.  IT. 

princes;  and  also  the  fact  that  he  was  never  covetous  of 
money,  which  he  thought  was  better  kept  by  its  owners, 
often  quoting  the  saying,  "  that  Alexander  the  Great,  when 
he  was  asked  where  he  kept  his  treasures,  kindly  answered 
.'  Among  my  friends.' " 

16.  Having  discussed  those  of  his  good  qualities  which 
have  come  within  our  knowledge,  let  us  now  proceed  to 
unfold  his  faults,  though  they  have  been  already  slightly 
noticed.     He   was  of  an   unsteady  disposition ;    but  this 
fault  he  corrected  by  an  excellent  plan,  allowing  people 
to  set  him  right  when  guilty  of  indiscretion. 

17.  He  was  a  frequent  talker,  rarely  silent.     Too  much 
devoted  to  divination,  so  much  so  as  in  this  particular  to 
equal  the  emperor  Adrian.     He  was  rather  a  superstitious 
than  a  legitimate  observer  of  sacred  rites,  sacrificing  count- 
less numbers  of  victims  ;  so  that  it  was  reckoned  that  if  he 
had  returned  from  the  Parthians  there  would  have  been 
a  scarcity  of  cattle.     Like  the  celebrated  case  of  Marcus 
Ca3sar,'  about  whom  it  was  written,  as  it  is  said,  "  The 
white  cattle  to  Marcus  Caesar,  greeting.     If  you  conquer 
there  is  an  end  of  us." 

18.  He  was  very  fond  of  the  applause  of  the  common 
people,  and  an  immoderate  seeker  after  praise  even  in  the 
most  trifling  matters ;  often,  from  a  desire  of  popularity, 
indulging  in  conversation  with  unworthy  persons. 

19.  But  in  spite  of  all  this  he  deserved,  as  he  used  to 
say  himself,  to  have  it  thought  that  that  ancient  Justice, 
whom  Aratus  says  fled  to  heaven  from  disgust  with  the 
vices  of  men,  had  in  his  reign  returned  again  to  the  earth ; 
only  that  sometimes  he  acted  arbitrarily  and  inconsistently. 

20.  For  he  made  some  laws  which,  with  but  few  excep- 
tions, were  not  offensive,  though  they  very  positively  en- 
forced or  forbade  certain  actions.     Among  the  exceptions 
was  that  cruel   one  which  forbade  Christian   masters   of 
rhetoric  and  grammar  to  teach  unless  they  came  over  to 
the  worship  of  the  heathen  gods. 

21.  And  this  other  ordinance  was  equally  intolerable, 
namely  one  which  allowed  some  persons  to  be  unjustly 
enrolled  in  the  companies  of  the  municipal  guilds,  though 
they  were  foreigners,  or  by  privilege   or   birth  wholly 
unconnected  with  such  companies. 

1  That  is  Marcus  Aurelius. 


.HIS    PERSONAL  rAPPEARANCE.  38? 

22.  As  to  his  personal  appearance  it  was  this.  He  was 
of  moderate  stature,  with  soft  hair,  as  if  he  had  carefully 
dressed  it,  with  a  rough  beard  ending  in  a  point,  with 
/beautiful  brilliant  'eyes,  which  displayed  the  subtlety  of 
,his  mind,  with  handsome  eyebrows  and  a  straight  nose,  a 
rather  large  mouth,  with  a  drooping  lower  lip,  a  thick  and 
•stooping  neck,  large  and  broad  shoulders.  From  head  to 
•foot  he  was  straight  and  well  proportioned,  which  made 
rhim  strong  and  a  good  runner. 

'  23.  And  since  his  detractors  have  accused  him  of  provok- 
ing new  wars,  to  the  injury  of  the  commonwealth,  let  them 
know  the  unquestionable  truth,  that  it  was  not  Julian  but 
fConstaiitius  who  occasioned  the  hostility  of  the  1'arthians 
(by  greedily  acquiescing  in  the  falsehoods  of  Metrodorus, 
.as  we  have  already  set  forth. 

j  24.  In  consequence  of  this  conduct  our  armies  were 
slain,  numbers  of  our  soldiers  were  taken  prisoners,  cities 
were  rased,  fortresses  were  stormed  and  destroyed,  pro- 
-vinees  were  exhausted  by  heavy  expenses,  and  in  short  the 
Persians,  putting  their  threats  into  effect,  were  led  to  seek 
to  become  masters  of  everything  up  to  Bithynia  and  the 
shores  of  the  Fropontis. 

:  25.  \VhiletheGallicwars  grew  more  and  more  violent, 
the  Germans  overrunning  our  territories,  and  being  on  the 
point  of  forcing  the  passes  of  the  Alps  in  order  to  invade 
Italy,  there  was  nothing  to  be  seen  but  tears  and  consterna- 
tion, the  recollection  of  the  past  being  bitter,  the  expecta- 
tion of  the  future  still  more  woeful.  All  these  miseries, 
this  youth,  being  sent  into  the  West  with  the  rank  of  Csesar, 
put  an  end  to  with  marvellous  celerity,  treating  the  kings 
.of  those  countries  as  base-born  slaves. 

26.  Then  in  order  to  re-establish  the  prosperity  of  the 
«ast,  with  similar  energy  he  attacked   the  Persians,  and 
would  have  gained  in  that  country  both  a  triumph  and  a 
surname,  if  the  will  of  heaven  had  beom  in  accordance  with 
!his  glorious  plan.     and  actions. 

27.  And  as  we  know  by  experience  that  some  men  are 
so  rash  and  hasty  that  if  conquered  they  return  to  battle, 
if  shipwrecked,    j  the  sea,  in  short,  each  to  the  difficulties 
by  which  he  h      been  frequently  overcome,  so  some  find 
fault  with  this  emperor  for  returning  to  similar  exploits 
after  having  been  repeatedly  victorious. 


383  AMMIANfTS   MAKCKLLINUS.  [B*.XXV.CH.tl 


V. 

§  1.  AFTER  these  events  there  was  no  time  for  lamentation 
or  weeping.  For  after  he  had  been  laid  out  as  well  as  the 
circumstances  and  time  permitted,  that  he  might  be  buried 
where  he  himself  had  formerly  proposed,  at  daybreak  the 
next  morning,  which  was  on  the  27th  of  June,  while  the 
enemy  surrounded  us  on  every  side,  the  generals  of  the 
army  assembled,  and  having  convened  the  chief  officers  of 
the  cavalry  and  of  the  legions,  deliberated  about  the  election 
of  an  emperor. 

2.  There  were   great  and  noisy  divisions.     Arinthseus 
and  Victor,  and  the  rest  of  those  who  had  been  attached  to 
the  court  of  Constantius,  sought  for  a  fit  man  of  their  own 
party.     On  the  other  hand,  Nevitta  and  Dagalaiphus,  and 
the  nobles  of  the  Gauls,  sought  for  a  man  among  their  own 
ranks. 

3.  While  the  matter  was  thus  in  dispute,  they  all  unani- 
mously agreed  upon  Sallustius.     And  when  he  pleaded  ill 
health  and  old  age,  one  of  the  soldiers  of  rank  observing 
his  real  and  fixed  reluctance  said,  "  And  what  would  you  do 
if  the  emperor  while  absent  himself,  as  has  often  happened, 
had  intrusted  you  with  the  conduct  of  this  war?     Would 
you  not  have  postponed  all  other  considerations  and  applied 
yourself  to   extricating   the  soldiers  at    once    from   the 
difficulties  which  press  on  them  ?     Do  so  now :  and  then, 
if  we  are  allowed  to  reach  Mesopotamia,  it  will  be  time 
enough  for  the  united  suffrages  of  both  armies  to  declare  a 
lawful  emperor." 

4.  Amid  these  little  delays  in  so  important  a  matter, 
before  opinions  were  justly  weighed,  a  few  made  an  uproar, 
as  often  happens  in  critical  circumstances,  and  Jovian  was 
elected  emperor,  being  the  chief  officer  of  the  guards,  and 
a  man  of  fair  reputation  in  respect  of  his  father's  services. 
For  he  was  the  son  of  Varronianus,  a  distinguished  count,1 
who  had  not  long  since  retired  from  military  service  to  lead 
a  private  life. 

5.  And  immediately  he  was  clothed  in   the  imperial 
robes,  and  was  suddenly  led  forth  out  of  the  tent  and 

1  It  must  be  remembered  that  throughout  Ammianus's  history  a 
fount  is  always  spoken  of  aa  of  higher  rank  than  a  duke. 


A.D.M3.]  JOVIAN  IS  CHOSEN  EMPEROR.  389 

passed  at  a  quick  pace  through  the  army  as  it  was  pre- 
paring to  march. 

6.  And  as  the  line  extended  four  miles,  those  in  the  van 
hearing  some  persons  salute  Jovian  as  Augustus,  raised  the 
same  cry  still  more  loudly,  for  they  were  caught  by  the 
relationship,  so  to  say,  of  the  name,  which  differed  only  by 
one  letter  from  that  of  Julian,  and  so  they  thought  that 
Julian  was  recovered  and  was  being  led  forth  with  great 
acclamations  as  had  often  been  the  case.     But  when  the 
new  emperor,  who  was  both  taller  and  less  upright,  was 
seen,  they  suspected  what  had  happened,  and  gave  vent 
to  tears  and  lamentations. 

7.  And  if  any  lover  of  justice  should  find  fault  with 
what  was  done  at   this  extreme   crisis  as  imprudent,  he 
might  still  more  justly  blame  sailors  who,  having  lost  a 
skilful  pilot  when  both  winds  and  waves  are  agitated  by 
a  storm,  commit  the  helm  of  their  vessel  to  some  one  of 
their  comrades. 

8.  This  affair  having  been  thus  settled  by  a  blind  sort  of 
decision   of  Fortune,    the   standard-bearer  of  the  Jovian 
legion,  which  Varronianus  had  formerly  commanded,  having 
had  a  quarrel  with  the  new  emperor  while  he  was  a  private 
individual,  because  he  had  been  a  violent  disparager  of  his 
father,  now  fearing  danger  at  his  hand,  since  he  had  risen 
to  a  height  exceeding  any  ordinary  fortune,  fled  to  the 
Persians.     And  having  been  allowed  to  tell  what  he  knew, 
he  informed  Sapor,  who  was  at  hand,  that  the  prince  whom 
he  dreaded  was  dead,  and  that  Jovian,  who  had  hitherto 
been  only  an  officer  of  the  guards,  a  man  of  neither  energy 
nor  courage,  had  been  raised  by  a  mob  of  camp  dmdges 
to  a  kind  of  shadow  of  the  imperial  authority. 

9.  Sapor  hearing    this    news,    which    he    had    always 
anxiously  prayed  for,  and  being  elated  by  this  unexpected 
good  fortune,  having  reinforced  the  troops  who  had  fought 
against  us  with  a  strong  body  of  the  royal  cavalry,  sent 
them  forwai'd  with  speed  to  attack  the  rear  of  our  army. 

VI. 

§  1.  AND  while  these  arrangements  were  being  made,  the 
victims  and  entrails  were  inspected  on  behalf  of  Jovian, 
and  it  was  pronounced  that  he  would  ruin  everything  if  he 


390  AMMIAXUS    MARCKLLIXUS;  [BK.  XXV.  On.  V*. 

remained  in  the  camp,  as  he  proposed,  but  that  if  he  quitted 
it  he  would  have  ihe  advantage. 

2.  And  just  as    we   were    beginning  our  march,   the 
Persians  attacked  us,  preceded  by  their  elephants.     Both' 
our  horses  and  men  were  at  first  disordered  by  their  roaring 
and  formidable  onset;  but  the  Jovian  and  Herculean  le- 
gions slew  a  few  of  the  monsters,  and  made  a  gallant  reA 
sistance  to  the  mounted  cuirassiers. 

3.  Then  the  legions  of  the  Jovii  and  Victores  coming  up 
to  aid  their  comrades,  who  were  in  distress,  also  slew  two 
elephants  and  a  great  number  of  the  enemy's  troops.     And 
on  our  left  wing  three  most  gallant  men  were  slain,  Julian; 
Macrobius,  and  Maximus.  all  tribunes  of  the  legions  which 
were  then  the  chief  of  the  whole  army. 

4.  AN' hen   they  were   buried   as  well  as   circumstances 
permitted,  as  night  was  di-awing  on,  and  as  we  were  press- 
ing forward  with  all  speed  towards  a  fort  called  Suruere; 
the  dead  body  of  Anatolius  was  recognized  and  buried  with 
ii  hurried  funeral.     Here  also  we  were  rejoined  by  sixty 
soldiers  and  a  party  of  the  guards  of  the  palace,  whom  we 
have  mentioned  as  having  taken  refuge  in  a  fort  called 
Vaccatum. 

5.  Then  on  the  following  day  we  pitched  our  cainp  in  a 
valley  in  as  favourable  a  spot  as  the  nature  of  the  ground 
permitted,  surrounding  it  with  a  rampart  like  a  wall,  with 
sharp  stakes  fixed  all  round  like  so  many  swords,  with  the 
exception  of  one  wide  entrance. 

6  And  when  the  enemy  saw  this  they  attacked  us  with 
all  kinds  of  missiles  from  their  thickets,  reproaching  us 
also  as  traitors  and  murderers  of  an  excellent  prince.  Fot 
they  had  heard  by  the  vague  report  of  some  deserters  that 
Julian  had  fallen  by  the  weapon  of  a  Roman. 

7.  And  presently,  while  this  was  going  on,  a  body  of 
cavalry  ventured  to  force  their  way  in  by  the  Pra?toriani 
gate,  and  to  advance  almost  up  to  the  emperor's  tent.     But 
they  were  vigorously  repulsed  with  the  loss  of  many  of 
their  men  killed  and  wounded. 

8.  Quitting  this  camp,  the  next  night  we  reached  a  place 
called  Charcha,  where  we  were  safe,  because  the  artificial 
mounds  of  the  river  hud  been  broken  to  prevent  the  Saracens 
from  overrunning  Armenia,  so  that  no  one  was  able  id 
harass  our  lines  as  they  had  done  before. 


A.D.  363.]  AJTACKS   OK   THE   SARACENS.  39l 

9.  Then  on  the  1st  of  July  we  marched  thirty  furlongs ; 
more,  and  came  to  a  city  called  Dura,  where  our  baggage- 
horses  were  so  jaded,  that  their  drivers,  being  mostly  re- 
cruits, marched  on  foot  till  they  were  hemmed  in  by  a 
troop  of  Saracens ;  and  they  would  all  have  been  killed  if 
some  squadrons  of  our  light  cavalry  had  not  gone  to  their 
assistance  in  their  distress. 

10.  We  were  exposed  to  the  hostility  of  these  Saracens 
because  Julian  had  forbidden  that  the  presents  and  gra- 
tuities, to   which  they  had  been   accustomed,  should  be 
given  to  them ;    and  when  they  complained  to  him,  they 
were  only  told  that  a  warlike  and  vigilant  emperor  had 
iron,  not  gold. 

1 1 .  Here,  owing  to  the  obstinate  hostility  of  the  Persians, 
we  lost  four  days.     For  when  we  advanced  they  followed 
us,  compelling  us  to  retrace  our  steps  by  their  incessant 
attacks.     When  we  halted  gradually  to  fight,  they  retired, 
tormenting  us  by  their  long  delay.      And  now  (for  when 
men  are  in  great  fear  even  falsehoods  please  them)  a  report 
being  spread  that  we  were  at  no  great  distance  from  our 
own   frontier,  the   army  raised  an   impatient   shout,  and 
demanded  to  be  at  once  led  across  the  Tigris. 

12.  But  the  emperor  and  his  officers  opposed  this  de- 
mand, and  showed  them  that  the  river,  now  just  at  the 
time  of  the  rising  of  the  Dogstar,  was  much  flooded,  en- 
treated  them   not   to   trust  themselves   to   its   dangerous 
currents,   reminding  them   that  most   of  them   could  not 
swim,  and  adding  likewise  that  the  enemy  had  occupied 
the  banks  of  the  river,  swoln  as  it  was  at  many  parts.  . 

13.  But  when  the  demand  was  repeated  over  and  over 
again  in  the  camp,  and  the  soldiers  with  shouts  and  great 
eagerness  began  to  threaten  violence,  the  order  was  given 
very  unwillingly  that  the -Gauls,  mingled  with  the  northern 
Germans,  should  lead  the  way  into  the  river,  in  order  that 
if  they  were  carried  away  by  the  violence  of  the  stream 
the  obstinacy  of  the  rest  might  be  shaken  ;  or  on  the  other 
hand,  if  they  accomplished  the  passage  in  safety  the  rest 
might  attempt  it  with  more  confidence. 

14.  And  men  were  selected  suited  to  such  an  enterprise, 
who  from  their  childhood  had  been  accustomed  in  their 
native  land  to  cross  the  greatest  rivers.     And  when  the' 
darkness  of  night  presented  an  opportunity  for  making  the; 


392  AMMIANUS   MARCELL1NUS.  [BK.  XXV.  CH.  TII. 

attempt  unperceived,  as  if  they  had  just  escaped  from  a 
prison,  they  reached  the  opposite  bank  sooner  than  could 
have  been  expected ;  and  having  beaten  down  and  slain 
numbers  of  the  Persians  whom,  though  they  had  been 
placed  there  to  guard  the  passage,  their  fancied  security 
had  lulled  into  a  gentle  slumber,  they  held  up  their  hands, 
and  shook  their  cloaks  so  as  to  give  the  concerted  signal 
that  their  bold  attempt  had  succeeded. 

15.  And  when  the  signal  was  seen,  the  soldiers  became 
eager  to  cross,  and  could  only  be  restrained  by  the  promise 
of  the  engineers  to  make  them  bridges  by  means  of  bladders 
and  the  hides  of  slaughtered  animals. 

VII. 

§  1.  WHILE  these  vain  attempts  were  going  on,  king  Sapor, 
both  while  at  a  distance,  and  also  when  he  approached, 
received  from  his  scouts  and  from  our  deserters  a  true 
account  of  the  gallant  exploits  of  our  men,  of  the  disgraceful 
slaughter  of  his  own  troops,  and  also  of  his  elephants  in 
greater  numbers  than  he  ever  remembered  to  have  lost 
before.  And  he  heard  also  that  the  Roman  army,  being 
hardened  by  its  continual  labours  since  the  death  of  its 
glorioxis  chief,  did  not  now  think  so  much,  as  they  said,  of 
safety  as  of  revenge  ;  and  were  resolved  to  extricate  them- 
selves from  their  difficulties  either  by  a  complete  victory 
or  by  a  glorious  death. 

2.  He  looked  on  this  news  as  formidable,  being  aware  by 
experience  that  our  troops  who  were  scattered  over  these 
provinces  could  easily  be  assembled,  and  knowing  also  that 
his  own  troops  after  their  heavy  losses  were  in  a  state  of 
the  greatest  alarm ;  he  also  heard  that  we  had  in  Meso- 
potamia an  army  little  inferior  in  numbers  to  that  before 
him. 

3.  And  besides  all  this,  his  courage  was  damped  by  the 
fact  of  five  hundred  men  having  crossed  that  swollen  river 
by  swimming  in  perfect  safety,  and  having  slain  his  guards, 
and  so  emboldening  the  rest  of  their  comrades  to  similar 
hardihood. 

4.  In  the  mean  time,  as  the  violence  of  the  stream  pre- 
vented any  bridges  from  being  constructed,  and  as  every- 
thing which  could  be  eaten  was  consumed,  wo  passed  two 


4 J>.  363.]  DISTRESS   OF   THE   ARMY.  593 

days  in  great  misery,  and  the  starving  soldiers  began  to  be 
furious  with  rage,  thinking  it  better  to  perish  by  the  sword 
than  by  hunger,  that  most  degrading  death. 

5.  But  the  eternal  providence  of  God  was  on  our  side, 
and  beyond  our  hopes  the  Persians  made  the  first  overtures, 
sending  the  Surena  and  another  noble  as  ambassadors  to 
treat  for  peace,  and  they  themselves  being  in  a  state  of 
despondency,   as  the  Romans,  having  proved  superior  in 
almost  every  battle,  weakened  them  daily. 

6.  But  the  conditions  which  they  proposed  were  difficult 
and  intricate,  since  they  pretended  that,  out  of  regard  for. 
humanity,  their  merciful  monarch  was  willing  to  permit 
the  remains  of  our  army  to  return  home,  provided  the 
Caesar,  with  his  officers,  would  satisfy  his  demands. 

7.  In  reply,  we  sent  as  ambassadors  on  our  part,  Arin- 
thseus  and  Sallustius ;    and  while  the  proper  terms  were 
being  discussed  with  great  deliberation,  we  passed  four 
more  days  in  great  suffering  from  want  of  provisions,  more 
painful  than  any  kind  of  torture. 

8.  And  in  this  truce,  if  before  the  ambassadors  were  sent, 
the  emperor,  being  disabused,  had  retired  slowly  from  the 
territories  of  the  enemy,  he  would  have  reached  the  forts 
of  Corduena,  a  rich  region  belonging  to  us,  only  one  hun- 
dred miles  from  the  spot  where  these  transactions  were 
being  carried  on. 

9.  But  Sapor  obstinately  demanded    (to  use   his   own 
language)  the  restoration  of  those  territories  which  had 
been  taken  from  him  by  Maximian ;    but  as  was  seen  in 
the  progress  of  the  negotiation,  he  in  reality  required,  as 
the  price  of  our  redemption,  five  provinces  on  the  other 
side  of  the  Tigris, — Arzanena,  Moxoena,  Zabdicena,  Rehe- 
mena,  and  Corduena,  with  fifteen  fortresses,  besides  Nisi  bis, 
and  Singara,  and  the  important  fortress  called  the  camp  of 
the  Moors. 

10.  And  though  it  would  have  been  better  to  fight  ten 
battles  than  to  give  up  one  of  them,  still  a  set  of  flatterers 
harassed  our  pusillanimous  emperor  with  harping  on  the 
dreaded  name  of  Procopius,  and  affirmed  that  unless  we 
quickly  reorossed  the  river,  that  chieftain,  as  soon  as  he 
heard  of  the  death  of  Julian,  would  easily  bring  about  a 
revolution  which   no   one   could  resist,  by  means  of  the 
fresh  troops  which  he  had  under  his  command. 


394  AMMIANUS    MAKCKU.INUS.  [BK.  XXV.  CH.  vr«$ 

11.  Jovian,  being  wrcmght  upon  by  the  constant  reite-1 
ration  of  these  evil  counsels,  without  further  delay  gave 
up  eveiything  that  was  demanded,  with  this  abatement,- 
which  he  obtained  with  difficulty,  that  the  inhabitants  of 
Nisibis  and  Singara  should  not  be  given  up  to  the  Persians 
as  well  as  the  cities  themselves.;  and  that  the  Koman  gar- 
risons in    the   forts   about  to  be   surrendered   should   be 
permitted  to  retire  to  fortresses  of  our  own. 

1 2.  To  which  another  mischievous  and  unfair  condition 
was  added,  that  after  this  trealy  was  concluded  we  were 
not  to  be  at  liberty  to  assist  Arsaces  against  the  Persians, 
if  he  implored  our  aid,  though  he  had  always  been  our 
friend  and  trusty  ally.     And  this  was  insisted  on  by  Sapor 
for  two  reasons,  in  order  that  the  man  might  be  pnnished 
who  had  laid  waste  Chiliocomum  at  the  emperor's  com- 
mand, and  also  that  facility  might  be  given  for  invading 
Armenia  without  a  check.     In  consequence  of  this  it  fell 
out  subsequently  that  Arsaces  was   taken   prisoner,  and 
that,    amid   different   dissensions    and    disturbances,    the 
Parthians  laid  violent    hands  on   the  greater  portion  of 
Armenia,  where  it  borders  on  Media,  and  on  the  town  of 
Artaxata. 

13.  This  ignoble  treaty  being  made,  that  nothing  might 
be  done  during  the  armistice,  in  contravention  of  its  terms, 
some   men  of  rank  were  given  as  hostages  on  each  side : 
on  ours,  Eemora,  Victor,  and  Bellovaedius,  tribunes  of  dis- 
tinguished legions  :  and  on  that  of  the  enemy,  one  of  their 
chief  nobles  named  Bineses,  and  three  other  satraps  of 
note. 

14.  So  peace  was  made  for  thirty  years,  and  ratified  by 
solemn  oaths:  and  we,  returning  by  another  line  of  march, 
because  the  parts  near  the  river  were  rugged  and  difficult, 
suffered  severely  for  want  of  water  and  piovisions. 

VIII. 

§  1.  THE  peace  which  had  been  granted  on  pretence  of 
humanity  was  turned  to  the  ruin  of  many  who  were  so, 
exhausted  by  want  of  food  as  to  be  at  the  last  gasp,  and. 
who  in  consequence  could  only  creep  along,  and  were' 
either  carried  away  by  the  current  of  the  river  from  not 
being  able  to  swim,  or  if  able  to  overcome  the  force  of  tho. 


A.D.  363.]  THE  .ARMY    ADVANCE   TO   HATRA.  895 

stream  so  far  as  to  reach  the  bank,  were  either  slain  like 
sheep  by  the  Saracens  or  Persians  (because,  as  we  stated 
some  time  back,  the  Germans  had  driven  them  out),  or  sent 
to  a  distance  to  be  sold  for  slaves. 

2.  But  when  the  trumpets  openly  gave  the  signal  for 
crossing  the  river,  it  was  dreadful  to  see  with  what  ardour 
every  individual  hastened  to  rush  into  this  danger,  pre- 
ferring himself  to  all  his  comrades,  in  the  desire  of  avoid- 
ing the  many  dangers  and  distresses  behind  him.     Some 
tried  to  guide  the  beasts  who  were  swimming  about  at 
random,  with  hurdles  hurriedly  put  together  ;  others,  seated 
on  bladders,  and  others,  being  driven  by  necessity  to  all 
kinds  of  expedients,  sought  to  pass  through  the  opposing 
waves  by  crossing  them  obliquely. 

3.  The  emperor  himself  with  a  few  others  crossed  over 
in  .the  small  boats,  which  we  said  were  saved  when  the* 
fleet  was  burnt,  and  then  sent  the  same  vessels  backwards 
and  forwards   till   our  whole  body   was   brought  across. 
And  at   length  all  of  us,  except  such  as  were  drowned, 
reached  the  opposite  bank  of  the  river,  being  saved  amid 
our  difficulties  by  the  favour  of  the  Supreme  Deity. 

4.  While  we  were  still  oppressed  with  the  fear  of  imj 
pending  disasters,  we  learnt  from  information  brought  in 
by  our  outposts  that  the  Persians  were  throwing  a  bridge 
over  the  river  some  way  off,  at  a  point  out  of  our  sight,  in" 
order  that  while  all  ideas  of  war  were  put  an  end  to  on  our 
side  by  the  ratification  of  the  treaty  of  peace,  they  might 
come   upon    our    invalids    as    they   proceeded   carelessly 
onwards,  and  on  the  animals  exhausted  with  fatigue.     Buti 
when   they  found  their   purpose   discovered,   they  relin- 
quished their  base  design. 

5.  Being  now  relieved  from  this  suspicion,  we  hastened7 
on  by  rapid  marches,  and  approached  Hatra,  an  ancient: 
town  in  the  middle  of  a  desert,  which  had  been  long  since  • 
abandoned,    though  at  different  times  those  warlike  em- ; 
perors,  Trajan  and  Severus,  had  attacked  it  with  a  view 
to   its  destruction,  but  had  been   almost  destroyed  with  > 
their  armies,  as  we  have  related  in  our  history  of  their; 
exploits.    ,:  • 

,  J6.  Andias  we  BOW  learnt  that  over  the  vast  plain  before: 
us  for  seventy  miles  in  that  arid  region  no  water  could  bei 
found  hut;$nch.  a$  was  brackish  and  fetid,  and  no  kind-ii 


896  AMMIAMTS   MARCELLINUS.  [BK.  XXV.  CH.  TIU 

food  but  son  them  wood,  wormwood,  dracontinm,  and  other 
bitter  herbs,  we  filled  the  vessels  which  we  had  with 
sweet  water,  and  having  slain  the  camels  and  the  rest  of 
the  beasts  of  burden,  we  thus  sought  to  insure  some  kind 
of  supplies,  though  not  very  wholesome. 

7.  For  six  days  the  army  marched,  till  at  last  even  grass, 
the  last  comfort  of  extreme  necessity,  could  not  be  found ; 
when  Cassianus,   Duke  of  Mesopotamia,  and  the  tribune 
Mauricius,  who  had  been  sent  forward  with  this  object, 
came  to  a  fort  called  Ur,  and  brought  some  food  from  the 
supplies  which  the  army  under  Procopius  and  Sebastian, 
by  living  sparingly,  had  managed  to  preserve. 

8.  From  this  place  another  person  of  the  name  of  Proco- 
pius, a  secretary,  and  Memoridus,  a  military  tribune,  was 
sent  forward  to  Illyricum  and  Gaul  to  announce  the  death 
of  Julian,  and  the  subsequent  promotion  of  Jovian  to  the 
rank  of  emperor. 

9.  And  Jovian  deputed  them  to  present  his  father-in- 
law  Lucillianus  (who,   after  giving  up  military  service, 
had  retired  to  the  tranquillity  of  private  life,  and  who  was 
at  that  time  dwelling  at  Sirntium)  with  a  commission  as 
captain  of  the  forces  of  cavalry  and  infautry,  and  to  urge 
him  at  the  same  time  to  ha.sten  to  Milan,  to  support  him 
there  in  any  difficulties  which  might  arise,  or  (what  he 
feared  most)  to  oppose  any  attempts  which  might  be  made 
to  bring  about  a  revolution. 

10.  And  he  also  gave  them  still  more  secret  letters,  in 
which  he  warned  Lucillianus  to  bring  him  some  picked 
men  of  tried  energy  and  fidelity,  of  whose  aid  he   might 
avail  himself  according  as  affairs  should  turn  out. 

11.  He  also  made  a  wise  choice,  and  selected  Malarichus, 
who  was  at  that  time  in  Italy  on  his  own  private  affairs, 
sending  him  the  ensigns  of  office  that  he  might  succeed 
Jovinus  as  commander  of  the  forces   in  Gaul,  in   which 
appointment  he  had   an   eye  on  two  important  objects ; 
first,  to  remove  a  general  of  especial  merit  who  was  an 
object  of  suspicion  on  that  very  account,  and  also  by  the 
promotion  to  so  high  a  position  of  a  man  whose  hopes  were 
not  set  on  anything  so  lofty  to  bind  him  to  exert  all  his 
zeal  in  supporting  the  doubtful  position  of  the  maker  of 
his  fortunes. 

12.  And  the  officers  who  went  to  perform  these  com- 


A.D.363.]  IMPORTANCE  OF  N1S1BIS.  397 

mands  were  also  enjoined  to  extol  the  emperor's  con- 
duct, and  wherever  they  went  to  agree  in  reporting  that 
the  Parthian  campaign  had  been  brought  to  an  honourable 
termination ;  they  were  also  charged  to  prosecute  their 
journey  with  all  speed  by  night  and  day,  delivering  as  they 
went  letters  from  the  new  emperor  to  all  the  governors  of 
provinces  and  commanders  of  the  forces  on  their  road ; 
and  when  they  had  secretly  learnt  the  opinions  of  them  all, 
to  return  to  him  with  all  speed,  in  order  that  when  he 
knew  what  was  being  done  in  the  distant  provinces,  he  might 
be  able  to  frame  well-digested  and  wise  plans  for  strength- 
ening himself  in  his  government. 

13.  But  Fame  (being  alway  the  most  rapid  bearer  of  bad 
news),  outstripping  these  couriers,  flew  through  the  differ- 
ent provinces  and  nations  ;  and  above  all  others  struck  the 
citizens  of  Nisibis  with  bitter  sorrow  when  they  heard  that 
their  city  was  surrendered  to  Sapor,   whose  anger  and 
enmity    they    dreaded,    from  recollecting   the  havoc  and 
slaughter  which  he  had  made  in  his  frequent  attempts  to 
take  the  place. 

14.  For  it  was  clear  that  the  whole  eastern  empire  would 
have  fallen  under  the  power  of  Persia  long  before  if  it  had 
not  been  for  the  resistance  which  this  city,  strong  in  its 
admirable  position  and  its  mighty  walls,  had  been  able  to 
offer.    But  miserable  as  they  now  were,  and  although  they 
were  filled  with  a  still  greater  fear  of  what  might  befall 
them  hereafter,  they  were  supported  by  this  slender  hope, 
that,  either  from  his  own  inclination  or  from  being  won 
over  by  their  prayers,  the  emperor  might  consent  to  keep 
their  city  in  its  existing  state,  as  the  strongest  bulwark  of 
the  east. 

15.  While  different  reports  were  flying  about  of  what 
had  taken  place,  the  scanty  supplies  which  I  have  spoken 
of  as  having  been  brought,  were  consumed,  and  necessity 
might  have  driven  the  men  to  eat  one  another,  if  the  flesh 
of  the  animals  slain  had  not  lasted  them  a  little  longer; 
but  the  consequence  of  our  destitute  condition  was,  that 
the  arms  and  baggage  were  thrown  away;  for  we  were 
BO  worn  out  with  this  terrible  famine,  that  whenever  a 
single  bushel  of  corn  was  found  (which  seldom  happened), 
it  was  sold  for  ten  pieces  of  gold  at  the  least. 

16.  Marching  on  from  thence,  we  come  to  Thilsaphata 


"398  .AMMIANtTS   MARCELLINUS.  [BK.  XXV.  Cu.  uc. 

where  Sebastian  and  Procopius,  with  the  tribunes  and  chief 
officers  of  the  legions  which  had  been  placed  under  their 
•command  for  the  protection  of  Mesopotamia,  came  to  meet 
•the  emperor  as  the  solemn  occasion  required,  and  being 
•kindiy  received,  accompanied  us  on  our  march. 

17.  After  this,  proceeding  with  all  possible  speed,  we 
rejoiced  when  we  saw  Misibis,  where  the  emperor  pitched 
a  standing  camp  outside  the  walls  ;  and  being  most 
earnestly  entreated  by  the  whole  population  to  come  to 
lodge  in  the  palace  according  to  the  custom  of  his  prede- 
cessors, he  positively  refused,  being  ashamed  that  an  im- 
pregnable city  should  be  surrendered  to  an  enraged  enemy 
\vhile  he  was  within  its  walls. 

.,.  18.  But  as  the  evening  was  getting  dark,  Jovian,  the  chief 
secretary,  was  seized  while  at  supper,  the  man  who  at  the 
siege  of  the  city  Maogamalcha  we  have  spoken  of  as  escaping 
with  others  by  a  subterranean  passage,  and  being  led  to  an 
out-of-the-way  place,  was  thrown  headlong  down  a  dry  well, 
and  overwhelmed  with  a  heap  of  stones  which  were  thrown 
down  upon  him,  because  after  the  death  of.  Julian  he  also 
had  been  named  by  a  few  persons  as  fit  to  be  made  emperor ; 
and  after  the  election  of  his  namesake  had  not  behaved 
with  any  modesty,  but  had  been  heard  to  utter  secret 
whispers  concerning  the  business,  and  had  from  time  to 
time  invited  some  of  the  leading  soldiers  to  entertainments. 

IX. 

§  1.  THK  next  day  Bineses,  one  of  the  Persians  of  whom 
wo  have  spoken  as  the  most  distinguished  among  them, 
hastening  to  execute  the  commission  of  his  king,  demanded 
from  Jovian  the  immediate  performance  of  his  promise ; 
and  by  his  permission  he  entered  the  city  of  Nisibis,  and 
-raised  the  standard  of  his  nation  on  the  citadel,  announcing 
to  the  citizens  a  miserable  emigration  from  their  native 
place. 

2.  Immediately  they  were  all  commanded  to  expatriate 
.themselves,  in  vain  stretching  forth  their  hands  in  entreaty 
fLot  to  be  compelled  to  depart,  affirming  that  they  by  them- 
selves, without  drawing  on  the  public  resources  for  either 
provisions  or  soldiers,  were  sufficient  to  defend  their  own 
home  in  full  confidence  that  Justice  would  be  on  theij  side 


AJ>.cc«3.]  .    SEVERITY   OF   JOVIAN.  399 

while  fighting  for  the  place  of  their  birth,  as  they  had  often 
found  her  to  be  before.  Both  nobles  and  common  people 
joined  in  this  supplication  ;  but  they  spoke  in  vain  as  to  the 
winds,  the  emperor  fearing  the  crime  of  perjury,  as  he 
pretended,  though  in  reality  the  object  of  his  fear  was 
very  different. 

3.  Then  a  man  of  the  name  of  Sabinus,  eminent  among 
his  fellow-citizens  both  for  his  fortune  and  birth,  replied 
with  great  fluency  that  Constantius  too  was  at  one  time 
defeated  by  the  Persians  in  the  terrible  strife  of  fierce  war, 
that  afterwards  he  fled  with  a  small  body  of  comrades  to 
the  unguarded  station  of  Hibita,  where  he  lived  on  a  scanty 
and  uncertain  supply  of  bread  which  was  brought  him  by 
an  old  woman  from  the  country ;  and  yet  that  to  the  end 
of  his  life  he  lost  no  territory ;  while  Jovian,  at  the  very 
beginning  of  his  reign,  was  yielding  up  the  wall  of  his 
provinces,  by  the   protection   of  which  barrier  they  had 
hitherto  remained  safe  from  the  earliest  ages. 

4.  But  as  he  could  not  prevail  on  the  emperor,  who  per- 
sisted obstinately  in  alleging  the  obligation  of  his  oath,  pre- 
sently, when  Jovian,  who  had  for  some  time  refused  the 
crown  which  was  offered  to  him,  accepted  it  under  a  show 
of  compulsion,    an    advocate,  named    Silvanus,  exclaimed 
boldly,  "  May  you,  O  emperor,  be  so  crowned  in  the  rest 
,of  your  cities."     But  Jovian  was  offended  at  his  words, 
and  ordered  the  whole  body  of  citizens  to  quit  the  city 
"within  three  days,  in  despair  as  they  were  at  the  existing 
-state  of  affairs. 

5.  Accordingly,  men  were  appointed  to  compel  obedience 
to  this  order,  with  threats  of  death  to  every  one  who  de- 
Jayed  his  departure  ;  and  the  whole  city  was  a  scene  of 
mourning  and  lamentation,  and  in  every  quarter  nothing 
,was  heard  but  one  universal  wail,  matrons  tearing  their 
hair  when  about  to  be  driven  from  their  homes,  in  which 
they  had  beeu  born  and  brought  up,  the  mother  who  had 
lost  her  children,  or  the  wife  her  husband,  about  to  be  torn 
from  the  place  rendered  sacred  by  their  shades,  clinging  to 
their  doorposts,  embracing  their  thresholds,    and  pouring 
forth  floods  of  tears. 

6.  Every   road   was   crowded,   each   person   straggling 
away  as  he  could.     Many,  too,  loaded  themselves  with  as 
much  of  their  property  as  they  thought  they  could  carrj 


400  AMMIANUS   MARCELUNUS.  [BK.  XXV.  CH.  OR 

while  leaving  behind  them  abundant  and  costly  fmmture, 
for  this  they  could  not  remove  for  want  of  beasts  of 
burden. 

7.  Thou  in  this  place,  0  fortune  of  the  Roman  world, 
art  justly  an  object  of  accusation,  who,  while  storms  were 
agitating  the   republic,  didst  strike  the   helm  from   the 
hand  of  a  wise  sovereign,  to  intrust  it  to  an  inexperienced 
youth,  whom,  as  he  was  not  previously  known  for  any  re- 
markable actions  in  his  previous  life,  it  is  not  fair  either  to 
blame  or  praise. 

8.  But  it  sunk  into  the  heart  of  all  good  citizens,  that 
while,  out  of  fear  of  a  rival  claimant  of  his  power,  and 
constantly  fancying  some  one  in   Gaul   or   in   Illyricum 
might  have  formed  ambitious  designs,  he  was  hastening  to 
outstrip  the  intelligence  of  his  approach,  he  should  have 
committed,  under  pretence  of  reverence  for  an  oath,  an 
act  so  unworthy  of  his   imperial  power  as   to  abandon 
Nisibis,  which  ever  since  the  time  of  Mithridates  had  been 
the  chief  hindrance  to  the  encroachments  of  the  Persians 
in  the  East. 

9.  For  never  before  since  the  foundation  of  Rome,  if 
one  consults  all  its  annals,  I  believe  has  any  portion  of  our 
territories  been  surrendered  by  emperor  or  consul  to  an 
enemy.     Nor  is  there  an  instance  of  a  triumph  having  been 
celebrated  for  the  recoveiy  of  anything  that  had  been  lost, 
but  only  for  the  increase  of  our  dominions. 

10.  On  this  principle,  a  triumph  was  refused  to  Publius 
Scipio  for  the  recovery  of  Spain,  to  Fulvius  for  the  acqui- 
sition of  Capua  after  a  long  struggle,  and  to  Opimius  after 
many  battles  with  various  results,   because  the  people  of 
Fregellse,  who  at  that  time  were  our  implacable  enemies, 
had  been  compelled  to  surrender. 

11.  For  ancient  records  teach  us  that  disgraceful  treaties, 
made  under  the  pressure  of  extreme  necessity,  even  after 
the  parties  to  them  have  sworn  to  their  observance  in  set 
terms,  have  nevertheless  been  soon  dissolved  by  the  renewal 
of  war ;  as  in  the  olden  time,  after  the  legions  had  been 
made  to  pass  under  the  yoke  at  the  Caudine  Forks,  in  Sam- 
mum  ;  and  also  when  an  infamous  peace  was  contemplate* 
by  Albinus  in  Numidia ;  and  when  Mancinus,  the  author  of  i 
peace  which  was  concluded  in  disgraceful  haste,  was  sur- 
rendered to  the  people  of  Numantia. 


».D.  363.]  THE    ARMY   AT   ANTIOCH.  401 

12.  Accordingly,  when  the  citizens  had  been  with- 
drawn, the  city  surrendered,  and  the  tribune  Constantiu  < 
had  been  sent  to  deliver  up  to  the  Persian  nobles  the  for- 
tresses and  districts  agreed  upon,  Procopius  was  sent 
forward  with  the  remains  of  Julian,  to  bury  them  in  the 
suburbs  of  Tarsus,  according  to  his  directions  while  alive. 
He  departed,  I  say,  to  fulfil  this  commission,  and  as  soon 
as  the  body  was  buried,  he  quitted  Tarsus,  and  though 
sought  for  with  great  diligence,  he  could  not  be  found 
anywhere,  till  long  afterwards  he  was  suddenly  seen  at 
Constantinople  invested  with  the  purple. 


§  1.  THESE  transactions  having  been  thus  concluded,  after 
a  long  march  we  arrived  at  Antioch,  where  for  several 
days  in  succession  many  terrible  omens  were  seen,  as  if 
the  gods  were  offended,  since  those  who  were  skilled  in 
the  interpretation  of  prodigies  foretold  that  impending 
events  would  be  melancholy. 

2.  For  the  statue  of  Maximian  Caesar,  which  was  placed 
in  the  vestibule  of  the  palace,  suddenly  lost  the  brazen 
globe,  formed  after  the  figure  of  the  heavens,   which  it 
bore  in  its  hand.     Also  the  beams  in  the  council  chamber 
sounded  with  an  ominous  creak ;  comets  were  seen  in  the 
daytime,  respecting  the   nature    of  which   natural  philo- 
sophers differ. 

3.  For  some  think  they  have  received  the  name  because 
they  scatter  fire  wreathed  like  hair '  by  a  number  of  stars 
being   collected   into   one   mass ;    others  think  that  they 
derive  their   fire  from  the  dry  evaporation  of  the  earth 
rising  gradually  to  a  greater  height ;  some  fancy  that  the 
sunbeams  as  they  rapidly  pass,  being  prevented  by  dense 
clouds  from  descending  lower,  by  infusing  their  brilliancy 
into  a  dense  body  show  a  light  which,  as  it  were,  seems 
spotted   with   stars  to  the  eyes  of  mortals.     Some   again 
have  a  fixed  opinion  that  this  kind  of  light  is  visible  when 
some  cloud,  rising  to  a  greater  height  than  usual,  becomes 
illuminated  by  its  proximity  to  the  eternal  fires ;  or,  that 
at  all  events  there  are  some  stars  like  the  rest,  of  which 
the  special  times  of  their  rising  and  setting  are  not  under- 

1  From  Kiuri,  hair. 

2D 


402  AMMIANUS  MARCELLINUS.  [BK.  XXV.  CH.  x. 

stood  by  man.  There  are  many  other  suggestions  about 
comets  which  have  been  put  forth  by  men  skilled  in  mun- 
dane philosophy,  but  1  must  pass  over  them,  as  my  subject 
calls  me  in  another  direction. 

4.  The  emperor  remained  a  short  time  at  Antioch,  dis- 
tracted by  many  important  cares,  but  desirous  above  all 
things  to  proceed.    And  so,  sparing  neither  man  nor  beast, 
he  started  from  that  city  in  the  depth  of  winter,  though, 
as  I  have  stated,  many  omens  warned  him  from  such  a 
course,  and  made  his  entrance  into  Tarsus,  a  noble  city 
of  Cilicia,  the  origin  of  which  I  have  already  related. 

5.  Being  in  excessive  haste  to  depart  from  thence,  he 
ordered   decorations  for  the  tomb   of  Julian,  which   was 
placed  in  the  suburb,  in  the  road  leading  to  the  defiles  of 
Mount  Taurus.     Though  a  sound  judgment  would  have 
decided  that  the  ashes  of  such  a  prince  ought  not  to  lie 
within  sight  of  the  Cydnus,  however  beautiful  and  clear 
that  river  is,  but,  to  perpetuate  the  glory  of  his  achieve- 
ments, ought  rather  to   be  placed  where  they  might  be 
washed  by  the  Tiber  as   it   passes   through  the    Eternal 
City  and  winds  round  the  monuments  of  the  ancient  gods. 

6.  Then  quitting  Tarsus,  he  reached  by  forced  marches 
Tyana,  a  town  of  Cappadocia,  where  Procopius  the  secre- 
tary and  Memoridus  the  tribune  met  him  on  their  return, 
and  related  to  him  all  that  occurred ;  beginning,  as  the 
order  of  events  required,  at  the  moment  when  Lucillianus 
(who  had  entered  Milan  with  the  tribunes  Seniauchus  and 
Valentinian,  whom  he  had  brought  with  him,  as  soon  as  it 
was  known  that  Malarichus  had  refused  to  accept  the  post 
which  was  offered  to  him)  hastened  on  with  all  speed  to 
Eheims. 

7.  There,  as  if  it  had  been  a  time  of  profound  tranquil- 
lity, he  went  quite  beside  the  mark,  as  we  say,  and  while 
things  were  still  in  a  very  unsettled  state,  he  most  unsea- 
sonably devoted  his  attention  to  scrutinizing  the  accounts 
of  the  commissary,  who,  being  conscious  of  fraud  and  guilt, 
fled   to  the  standards  of  the  soldiers,  and  pretended  that 
while  Julian   was  still   alive   some   one   of  the   common 
people  had  attempted  a  revolution.     By  this  false  report 
the  army  became  so  greatly  excited  that  they  put  Lucil- 
lianus  and   Seniauchus  to  death.     For  Valentinian,  who 
soon  afterwards  became  emperor,  had  been  concealed  by 


A.n.  364.]   THE  GALMC  AUMY   EMBRACES  THE  CAUSE  OF  JOVIAN.     40.1 

his  host  Primitivus  in  a  safe  place,  overwhelmed  with  fear 
and  not  knowing  which  way  to  flee. 

8.  This  disastrous  intelligence  was  accompanied  by  one 
piece  of  favourable  news, — that  the  soldiers  who  had  been 
sent  by  Jovian  were  approaching  (men  known  in  the  camp 
as  the  heads  of  the  classes),  who  brought  word  that  the 
Gallic  army  had  cordially  embraced  the  cause  of  Jovian. 

9.  When  this  was  known,  the  command  of  the  second 
class  of  the  Scutarii  was  given  to  Valentinian,  who  had 
returned  with  those  men  ;  and  Vitalianus,  who  had  been 
a   soldier  of  the    Heruli,    was   placed   among   the   body- 
guards, and  afterwards,  when  raised  to  the  rank  of  count, 
met  with  very  ill  success  in  Illyricum.     And  at  the  same 
time  Arinthseus  was  despatched  into  Gaul  with  letters  for 
Jovinus,  with  an  injunction  to  maintain  his  ground  and 
act  with  resolution  and  constancy ;  and  he  was  further 
charged  to  make  an  example  of  the  author  of  the  disturb- 
ance which  had  taken  place,  and  to  send  the  ringleaders  of 
the  sedition  as  prisoners  to  the  court. 

10.  When  these  matters  had  been  arranged  as  seemed 
most  expedient,  the  Gallic  soldiers  obtained  an  audience 
of  the  emperor  at  Aspuna,  a  small  town  of  Galatia,  and 
having   been   admitted   into    the   council   chamber,    after 
the  message  which  they  brought  had  been  listened  to  with 
approval,  they  received  rewards  and  were  ordered  to  re- 
turn to  their  standards. 

A.D.  364. 

11.  When  the  emperor  had  made  his  entry  into  Ancyra, 
everything  necessary  for  his  procession  having  been  pre- 
pared as  well  as  the  time  permitted,  Jovian  entered  on 
the  consulship,  and  took  as  his  colleague  his  son  Varroni- 
anus,  who  was  as  yet  quite  a  child,  and  whose  cries  as  he 
obstinately  resisted  being  borne  in  the  curule  chair,  ac- 
cording to  the  ancient  fashion,  was  anornenof  what  shortly 
happened. 

12.  Here  also  the  appointed  termination  of  life  carried 
off  Jovian  with  rapidity.    For  when  he  had  reached  Dadas- 
tana,  a  place  on  the  borders  of  Bithynia  and   Galatia,  he 
was  found  dead  in  the  night ;  and  many  uncertain  reports 
were  spread  concerning  his  death. 

13.  It  was  said  that  he  had  been  unable  to   bear  thfr 


404  AMM1ASUS   MARCELLINUS.  [BK.  XXV.  CH.  x 

unwholeHome  smell  of  the  fresh  mortar  with  which  his 
bedchamber  had  been  plastered.  Also  that  his  head  had 
swollen  in  consequence  of  a  great  fire  of  coals,  and  that 
this  had  been  the  cause  of  his  death ;  others  said  that  he 
had  died  of  a  surfeit  from  over.eating.  He  was  in  the 
thirty-third  year  of  his  age.  And  though  he  and  Scipio 
^milianus  both  died  in  the  same  manner,  we  have  not 
found  out  that  any  investigation  into  the  death  of  either 
ever  took  place. 

14.  Jovian  was  slow  in  his  movements,  of  a  cheerful 
countenance,  with  blue  eyes ;  very  tall,  so  much  so  that 
it  was  long  before  any  of  the  royal  robes  could  be  found  to 
fit  him.     He  was  anxious  to  imitate  Constantins,  often  oc- 
cupying himself  with  serious  business  till  after  midday, 
and  being  fond  of  jesting  with  his  friends  in  public. 

15.  He  was  given  to  the  study  of  the  Christian  law, 
sometimes   doing   it  marked  honour ;    he   was  tolerably 
learned  in   it,  very  well  inclined  to  its  professors,  and 
disposed  to  promote  them  to  be  judges,  as  was  seen  in 
some  of  his  appointments.     He  was  fond  of  eating,  ad- 
dicted to  wine  and  women,  though  he  would  perhaps  have 
corrected  these  propensities  from  a  sense  of  what  was  due 
to  the  imperial  dignity. 

16.  It  was  said  that  his  father,  Varronianus,  through  the 
warning  of  a  dream,  had  long  since  foreseen  what  hap- 
pened, and  had  foretold  it  to   two  of  his  most  faithful 
friends,  with  the   addition   that  he   himself  also   should 
become  consul.     But  though  part  of  his  prophecy  became 
true,  he  could  not  procure  the  fulfilment  of  the  rest.     For 
though  he  heard  of  his  son's  high  fortune,  he  died  before 
he  could  see  him. 

17.  And  because  the  old  man  had  it  foretold  to   him 
in  his  sleep  that  the  highest  office  was  destined  for  his 
name,  his  grandson  Varronianus,  while  still  an  infant,  was 
made  consul  with  his  father  Jovian,  as  we  have  related 
above. 


>.  364.]  405 


BOOK    XXVI. 


ARGUMENT. 

I.  Valentinian,  the  tribune  of  the  second  school  of  the  Scutarii,  by  the 
unanimous  consent  of  both  the  civil  and  military  officers,  is  elected 
emperor  at  Nicaea,  in  his  absence — A  dissertation  on  leap-year. — 
II.  Valentinian,  being  summoned  from  Ancyra,  comes  with 
speed  to  Nicsea,  and  is  again  unanimously  elected  emperor,  and 
having  been  clothed  in  the  purple,  and  saluted  as  Augustus, 
harangues  the  army. — III.  Concerning  the  prefecture  of  Rome,  as 
administered  by  Apronianus. —  IV.  Valentinian  at  Nicomedia 
makes  Valens,  his  brother,  who  was  master  of  the  horse,  his 
colleague  in  the  empire,  and  repeats  his  appointment  at  Constan- 
tinople, with  the  consent  of  the  army  — V.  The  two  emperors 
divide  the  counts  and  the  army  between  them,  and  soon  afterwards 
enter  on  their  first  consulship,  the  one  at  Milan,  the  other  at 
Constantinople  —  The  Allemanni  lay  waste  Gaul — Procopius 
attempts  a  revolt  in  the  East. — VI.  The  country,  family,  habits, 
and  rank  of  Procopius ;  his  obscurity  in  the  time  of  Jovian,  and 
how  he  came  to  be  saluted  emperor  at  Constantinople. — VII.  Pro- 
copius, without  bloodshed,  reduces  Thrace  to  acknowledge  his 
authority  ;  and  by  promises  prevails  on  the  cavalry  and  in- 
fantry, who  were  marching  through  that  country,  to  take  the 
oath  of  fidelity  to  him  ;  he  also  by  a  speech  wins  over  the  Jovian 
and  Victorian  legions,  which  were  sent  against  him  by  Valens. — 
VIII.  Nicsea  and  Chalcedon  being  delivered  from  their  blockades, 
Bithynia  acknowledges  the  sovereignty  of  Procopius  ;  as  presently, 
after  Cyzicus  is  stormed,  the  Hellespont  does  likewise. — IX.  Pro- 
copius is  deserted  by  his  troops  in  Bithynia,  Lycia,  and  Phrygia, 
is  delivered  alive  to  Valens,  and  beheaded.  —  X.  Marcellus,  a 
captain  of  the  guard,  his  kinsman,  and  many  of  his  partisans  aro 
put  to  death. 

I. 
A.D.  364. 

§  1.  HAVING  narrated  with  exceeding  care  the  series  of 
transactions  in  my  own  immediate  recollection,  it  is 
necessary  now  to  quit  the  track  of  notorious  events,  in 
order  to  avoid  the  dangers  often  found  in  connection  with 
truth ;  and  also  to  avoid  exposing  ourselves  to  unreason- 
able critics  of  our  work,  who  would  make  an  outcry  as  if 
they  had  been  personally  injured,  if  anything  should  be 
passed  over  which  the  emperor  has  said  at  dinner,  if  any 
cause  should  be  overlooked  for  which  the  common  soldiers 


406  AMMIAXUS   MAT.CKI.LIXUS.  [BK  XXVI.  Cn.  I 

were  assembled  round  their  standards,  or  if  there  were 
not  inserted  a  mention  of  every  insignificant  fort,  however 
little  such  things  ought  to  have  room  in  a  varied  descrip- 
tion of  different  districts.  Or  if  the  name  of  every  one 
who  filled  the  office  of  urban  pnetor  be  not  given,  and 
many  other  things  quite  impertinent  to  the  proper  idea 
of  a  history,  which  duly  touches  on  prominent  occur- 
rences, and  does  not  stoop  to  investigate  petty  details  or 
secret  motives,  which  any  one  who  wishes  to  know  may 
as  well  hope  to  be  able  to  count  those  little  indivisible 
bodies  flying  through  space,  which  we  call  atoms. 

2.  Some  of  the  ancients,  fearing  this  kind  of  criticism, 
though  they  composed  accounts  of  various   actions  in  a 
beautiful  style,  forbore  to  publish  them,  as  Tnlly,  a  wit- 
ness of  authority,  mentions  in  a  letter  to  Cornelius  Kepos. 
However,  let  us,   despising  the   ignorance  of  people   in 
general,  proceed  with  the  remainder  of  our  narrative. 

3.  The  course  of  events  being  terminated  so  mournfully, 
by  the  death   of  two   emperors  at   such  brief  intervals, 
the  army,  having  paid  the  last  honours  to  the  dead  body 
which  was  sent  to  Constantinople  to  be  interred  among 
the   other  emperors,   advanced   towards   Kicaea,  which  is 
the  metropolis   of  Bithynia,   where   the    chief  civil  and 
military  authorities  applied  themselves  to  an  anxious  con- 
sideration  of  the   state  of  affairs,  and   as   some  of  them 
were  full  of  vain  hopes,  they  sought  for  a  ruler  of  dignity 
and  proved  wisdom. 

4.  In   reports,  and  the   concealed   whispers   of  a  few 
persons,  the  name  of  Equitius  was  ventilated,  who  was  at 
that  time  tribune  of  the  first  class  of  the  Scutarii ;  but  he 
Avas  disapproved  by  the  most  influential  leaders  as  being 
rough  and  boorish  ;    and  their  inclinations  rather  tended 
towards  Januarius,  a  kinsman  of  Julian,  who  was  the  chief 
commissary  of  the  camp  in  Illyricum. 

5.  However,  he  also  was  rejected  because  he  was  at  a 
distance  ;  and,  as  a  man  well  qualified  and  at  hand,  Va- 
lentinian  was   elected  by  the  unanimous   consent   of  all 
men,  and  the  manifest  favour  of  the  Deity.     He  was  the 
tribune  of  the  second  class  of  the  Scutarii.  and  had  been 
left  at  Ancyra,  it  having  been  arranged  that  he  should 
follow  afterwards.     And.  because  no  one  denied  that  this 
was  for  the  advantage  of  the  republic,  messengers  were  sent 


A.D.  364.]  CONDUCT    OF    VALKNT1XIAX.  407 

to  beg  him  to  come  with,  all  speed  ;  and  for  ten  days  the 
empire  was  without  a  ruler,  which  the  soothsayer  Marcus, 
by  an  inspection  of  entrails  at  Rome,  announced  to  be  the 
case  afr^hat  moment  in  Asia. 

(!.  But  in  the  meanwhile,  to  prevent  any  attempt  to 
overturn  what  had  been  thus  settled,  or  any  movement  on 
the  part  of  the  fickle  soldiers  to  set  aside  the  election  in 
favour  of  some  one  on  the  spot,  Equitins  and  Leo,  who 
was  acting  as  commissary  under  Dagalaiphus  the  com- 
mander of  the  cavalry,  and  who  afterwards  incurred  great 
odium  as  master  of  the  offices,'  strove  with  great  prudence 
and  vigilance  to  establish,  to  the  best  of  their  power,  what 
had  been  the  decision  of  the  whole  arnry,  they  being  also 
natives  of  Pannonia,  and  partisans  of  the  emperor  elect. 

7.  When  Valentinian  arrived  in  answer  to  the  summons 
he   had   received,    either  in   obedience   to   omens   which 
guided  him  in  the  prosecution  of  the  affair,  as  was  gene- 
rally thought,  or  to  repeated  warnings  conveyed  in  dreams, 
he  would  not  come  into  public  or  be  seen  by  any  one  for 
two  days,  because  he  wished  to  avoid  the  bissextile  day  of 
February  whicli  came  at  that  time,  and  which  he  knew  to 
have  been  often  an  unfortunate  day  for  the  Roman  empire : 
of  this  day  I  will  here  give  a  plain  explanation. 

8.  The  ancients  who  were  skilled  in  the  motions  of  the 
world  and  the  stars,  among  whom  the  most  eminent  are 
Meton,  Euctemon,  Hipparchu.s,  and  Archimedes,  define  it 
as  the  period  of  the  revolving  year  when  the  sun,  in  accord- 
ance with  the  laws  which  regulate  the  heavens,  having 
gone  through  the  zodiac,  in  three  hundred  and  sixty-five 
days  and  nights,  returns  to  the  same  point :  as,  for  instance, 
when,  after  having  moved  on  from  the  second  degree  of 
the  Ram,  it  returns  again  to  it  after  having  completed  its 
circuit. 

9.  But  the  exact  period  of  a  year  extends  over  the  num- 
ber of  days  above  mentioned  and  six  hours  more.     And 
so  the  correct  commencement  of  the  next  year  will  not 
begin   till  after  midday  and  ends   in  the  evening.     The 
third  year  begins  at  the  first  watch,  and  lasts  till  the  sixth 
hour  of  the  night.     The  fourth  begins  at  daybreak. 

10.  Now  as  the  beginning  of  each  year  varies,  one  com- 
mencing at  the  sixth  hour  of  the  day,  another  at  the  same 

1  Master  of  the  Offices— v.  Bohn's  '  Gibbon,'  ii.,  223. 


40S  AMMIANUS   MARCELLINUS.  [Hn.  XXVI.  CH.  IL 

hour  of  the  night,  to  prevent  the  calculation  from  throwing 
all  science  into  confusion  by  its  perplexing  diversity,  and 
the  months  of  autumn  from  sometimes  being  found  to  come 
in  the  spring,  it  has  been  settled  that  those  six  hours 
which  in  a  period  of  four  years  amount  to  twenty-four 
shall  be  put  together  so  as  to  make  one  day  and  night. 

11.  And  after  much  consideration  it  has  been  so  arranged 
with  the  concurrence  of  many  learned  men,  that  thus  the 
revolutions  of  the  year  may  come  to   one   regular  end, 
removed  from  all  vagueness  and  uncertainty,  so  that  the 
theoi-y  of  the  heavens  may  not  be  clouded  by  any  error, 
and  that  the  months  may  retain  their  appointed  position. 

12.  Before  their  dominions  had  reached  any  wide  extent, 
the  Romans  were  for  a  long  time  ignorant  of  this  fact,  and 
having  been  for  many  years  involved  in  obscure  difficulties, 
they  were  in  deeper  darkness  and  error  than  ever,  when 
they  gave  the  priests  the  power  of  intercalating,  which 
they,  in  profligate  subservience  to  the  interests  of  the  far- 
mers of  the  revenue,  or  people  engaged  in  lawsuits,  effected 
by  making  additions  or  subtractions  at  their  own  pleasure. 

13.  And  from  this  mode  of  proceeding  many  other  expe- 
dients were  adopted,  all  of  which  were  fallacious,  and  which 
I  think  it  superfluous  now  to  enumerate.     But  when  they 
were  given  up,  Octavianns  Augustus,  in  imitation  of  the 
Greeks,  corrected  these  disorderly  arrangements  and  put 
an  end  to  these  fluctuations,  after  great  deliberation  fixing 
the  duration  of  the  year  at  twelve  months  and  six  hours, 
during  which  the  sun  with  its  perpetual  movement  runs 
through  the  whole  twelve  signs,  and  concludes  the  period 
of  a  whole  year. 

14.  This  rule  of  the  bissextile   year,  Rome,  which  is 
destined  to  endure  to  the  end  of  time,  established  with  the 
aid  of  the  heavenly  Deity.     Now  let  us  return  to  our 
history. 

II. 

§  1.  WHES  this  day,  so  little  fit  in  the  opinion  of  many  for 
beginning  any  great  affair,  had  passed,  at  the  approach  of 
evening,  by  the  advice  of  the  prefect  Sallust,  an  order  was 
issued  by  general  consent,  and  with  the  penalty  of  death 
attached  to  any  neglect  of  it,  that  no  one  of  higher  autho- 


».D.  364.]  VALENTINIAN    IS   SALUTED   AS  AUGUSTUS.  409 

rity,  or  suspected  of  aiming  at  any  objects  of  ambition, 
should  appear  in  public  the  next  morning. 

2.  And  when,  while  the  numbers  who   allowed   their 
own  empty  wishes  to  torment  them  were  weary  of  the 
slowness  of  time,   the  night   ended  at  last,  and  daylight 
appeared,  the   soldiers  were   all   assembled  in  one  body, 
and   Valentinian    advanced    into    the    open    space,    and 
mounting  a   tribunal   of    some    height   which   had    been 
erected  on  purpose,  he  was  declared  ruler  of  the  empire 
as  a  man  of  due  wisdom  by  this  assembly,  bearing  the 
likeness  of  a  comitia,  with  the  unanimous  acclamations  of 
all  present. 

3.  Presently  he  was  clothed  with  the  imperial  robe, 
and  crowned,  and  saluted  as  Augustus  with  all  the  delight 
which  the  pleasure  of  this  novelty  could  engender;  and 
then  he  began  to  harangue  the  multitude  in  a  premeditated 
speech.     But  as  he  put  forth  his  arm  to  speak  more  freely, 
a  great   murmur  arose,   the  centuries   and    maniples  be- 
ginning to  raise  an  uproar,  and  the  whole  mass  of  the 
cohorts  presently  urging  that  a  second  emperor  should  be 
at  once  elected. 

4.  And  though  some  people  fancied  that  this  cry  was 
raised  by  a  few  corrupt  men  in  order  to  gain  the  favour  of 
those  who  had  been  passed  over,  it  appeared  that  that  was 
a  mistake,  for  the  cry  that  was  raised  did  not  resemble 
a   purchased   clamour,   but    rather   the   unanimous   voice 
of  the  whole  multitude  all  animated  with  the  same  wish, 
because  recent  examples   had  taught  them  to  fear  the 
instability  of  this  high  fortune.     Presently  the  murmurs  of 
the  furious  and  uproarious  army  appeared  likely  to  give 
rise   to  a  complete  tumult,  and  men  began  to  fear  that 
the  audacity  of  the  soldiers  might  break  out  into  some 
atrocious  act. 

5.  And  as  Valentinian  feared  this  above  everything,  he 
raised  his  hand  firmly  with  the  vigour  of  an  emperor  full 
of  confidence,  and  venturing  to  rebuke  some  as  obstinate 
and  seditious,  he  delivered  the  speech  he  had  intended 
without  interruption. 

6.  "  I  exult,  0  ye  gallant  defenders  of  our  provinces, 
and  boast  and  always  shall  boast  that  your  valour  has  con- 
ferred on  me,  who  neither  expected  nor  desired  such  an 
honour,  the  government  of  the  Roman  empire,  as  the  fittest 


410  AMMIAXUS    MARCKLLIXUS.  [BK.  XXVI.  CH.  n. 

man  to  discharge  its  duties.  That  which  was  in  your 
hands  before  an  emperor  was  elected,  you  have  completed 
beneficially  and  gloriously,  by  raising  to  this  summit  of 
honour  a  man  whom  you  know  by  experience  to  have 
lived  from  his  earliest  youth  to  his  present  age  with 
honour  and  integrity.  ISow  then  I  entreat  you  to  listen 
with  quietness  to  a  few  plain  observations  which  I  think 
will  be  for  the  public  advantage. 

7.  "So  numerous  are  the  matters  for  the  consideration 
of  an  emperor,  that  1  neither  deny  nor  even  doubt  that  it  is 
a  desirable  thing  that  he  should  have  a  colleague  of  equal 
power  to  deal  with  every  contingency.     And  I  myself,  as 
a  man,  do  also  fear  the  great  accumulation  of  cares  which 
must  be  mine,  and  the  various  changes  of  events.      But 
still  we  must  use  every  exertion  to  insure   concord,  by 
which  even  the  smallest  affairs  give  strength.     And  that 
is  easily  secured  if,  your  patience  concurring  with  your 
equity,  you  willingly  grant  me  what  belongs  to   me  in 
this    matter.     For  Fortune,  the   ally   of  all  good   coun- 
sels, will   I   trust  aid  me,  while  to  the  very  utmost  of 
my  ability  and  power,  I  diligently  search  for  a  wise  and 
temperate  partner.     For  as  wise   men   lay  it  down,  not 
only  in  the  case  of  empire  where  the  dangers  are  frequent 
and  vast,  but  also  in  matters  of  private  and  everyday  life, 
a  man  ought  rather  to  take  a  stranger  into  his  friendship 
after  he  has  had  opportunities  of  judging  him  to  be  wise, 
than  to  ascertain  his  wisdom  after  he  has  made  him  his 
friend. 

8.  "  This,  in  hopes  of  a  happier  fortune,  I  promise.     Do 
you,  retaining   your   steadiness    of  conduct   and  loyalty, 
recruit  the  vigour  of  your  minds  and  bodies  while  rest 
in  your  winter  quarters  allows  you  to  do  so.     And  you 
shall  soon  receive  what  is  your  due  on   my  nomination 
as  emperor." 

9.  Having  finished  this  speech,  to  which  his  unexpected 
authority  gave  weight,  the  emperor  by  it  brought  all  over 
to  his  opinion.     And  even  those  who  a  few  minutes  before 
with  loud  voices   demanded  something  different,  now,  fol- 
lowing his  advice,  surrounded  him   with  the   eagles  and 
standards,  and,  forming  a  splendid  and  formidable  escort 
of  all  classes  and  ranks  of  the  army,  conducted  him  to  the- 
palace. 


A.D.  364.]  ENERGY  OF    APROXIANUS.  411 


III. 

§  1.  WHILE  the  decisions  of  Fate  were  rapidly  bringing  these 
events  to  pass  in  the  East,  Apronianus,  the  governor  of 
Rome,  an  upright  and  severe  judge,  among  the  grave  cases 
by  which  that  prefecture  is  continually  oppressed,  was 
labouring  with  most  particular  solicitude  to  suppress  the 
magicians,  who  were  now  getting  scarce,  and  who,  having 
been  taken  prisoners,  had  been,  after  being  put  to  the 
question,  manifestly  convicted  by  the  evidence  of  their 
accomplices  of  having  injured  some  persons.  These  he 
put  to  death,  hoping  thus,  by  the  punishment  of  a  few,  to 
drive  the  rest,  if  any  were  still  concealed,  ont  of  the  city 
through  fear  of  similar  treatment. 

2.  And   he   is   said    to   have   acted   thus    energetically 
because  having  been  promoted  by  Julian  while  he  was  still 
in  Syria,  he  had  lost  one  eye  on  his  journey  to  take  pos- 
session of  his  office,  and  he  suspected  that  this  was  owing 
to  his  having  been  the  object  of  some  nefarious  practices ; 
therefore  with  just  but   unusual   indignation   he  exerted 
great  industry  in  searching  out  these  and  similar  crimes. 
This  made  him  appear  cruel  to  some  persons,  because  the 
populace   were   continually   pouring   in  crowds  into   the 
amphitheatre  while  he  was  conducting  the  examination  of 
some  of  the  greatest  criminals. 

3.  At  last,  after  many  punishments  of  this  kind   had 
been  inflicted,  he  condemned  to  death  the  charioteer  Hila- 
rinus,  who  was  convicted  on  his  own  confession  of  having 
intrusted  his  son,  who  was  but  a  very  young  boy,  to  a 
sorcerer  to  be  taught  some  secret  mysteries  forbidden  by 
the  laws,  in  order  that  he  might  avail  himself  of  unlawful 
assistance  without  the  piivity  of  any  one.     But,  as  the 
executioner  held  him  but  loosely  he  suddenly  escaped  and 
fled  to  a  Christian  altar,  and  had  to  be  dragged  from  it, 
when  he  was  immediately  beheaded. 

4.  But  soon  ample  precautions  were  taken  against  the 
recurrence   of  this  and   similar  offences,  and  there  were 
none  or  very  few  who  ventured  afterwards  to  insult  the 
rigour  of  the  public  law  by  practising  these  iniquities.     But 
at  a  later  period  long  impunity  nourished  atrocious  crimes; 
and  licentiousness  increased  to  such  a  pitch  that  a  certain 


412  AMMIAXUS   MARCELUNUS.  [BK.  XXVI.  CH.  rv. 

senator  followed  the  example  of  Hilarinus,  and  was  con- 
victed of  having  almost  articled  by  a  regular  contract  one 
of  his  slaves  to  a  teacher  of  the  black  art,  to  be  instructed 
in  his  impious  mysteries,  though  he  escaped  punishment 
by  an  enormous  bribe,  as  common  report  went. 

5.  And,  as  it  was  said,  having    thus  procured  an  ac- 
quittal, though  he  ought  to  have  been  ashamed  even  to  have 
such  an  accusation,  he  took  no  pains  to  efface  the  stain, 
but  as  if,  among  a  lot  of  infamous  persons,  he  were  the 
only  one  absolutely  innocent,  he  used  to  ride  on  a  hand- 
somely caparisoned  horse  through  the  streets,  and  is  still 
always  attended  by  a  troop  of  slaves,  as  if  by  a  new  and 
curious  fashion  he  were  desirous  to  attract  particular  ob- 
servation, just  asDuilius  in  ancient  times  after  his  glorious 
naval  victory  became  so  arrogant  as  to  cause  a  flute-player 
to  precede  him  with  soft  airs  when   he  returned  to  his 
house  after  any  dinner-party. 

6.  Under  this  same  Apronianus  all  necessaries  were  so 
abundant  in  Rome  that  not  the  slightest  murmur  because 
of  any  scarcity  of  supplies  was  ever  heard,  which  is  very 
common  at  Eome. 

IV. 

§  1.  BUT  in  Bithynia,  Valentinian,  as  we  have  already 
mentioned,  having  been  declared  emperor,  having  fixed  the 
next  day  but  one  for  beginning  his  march,  assembled  his 
chief  officers,  and,  as  if  the  course  which  he  preferred  was 
to  follow  their  advice,  inquired  whom  they  recommended 
him  to  take  for  his  colleague ;  and  when  no  one  made  him 
any  answer,  Dagalaiphus,  who  at  that  time  was  commander 
of  the  cavalry,  boldly  answered  "  If,  O  excellent  emperor, 
you  love  your  own  kindred,  you  have  a  brother ;  if  you 
love  the  republic,  then  seek  the  fittest  man  to  invest." 

2.  Valentinian  was  offended  with  this  speech,  but  kept 
silence,  and  dissembled  his  displeasure  and  his  intentions. 
And  having-made  a  rapid  journey  he  reached  Nicomedia  on 
the  first  of  March,  where  he  appointed  his  brother  Valens 
master  of  the  horse  with  the  rank  of  tribune. 

3.  And   after   that,  when   he   reached   Constantinople, 
revolving  many  considerations  in  his  mind,  and  considering 
that  he  himself  was  already  overwhelmed  with  the  inag- 


A.I>.  364.]  INROADS    OF   THE   BARBARIANS.  413 

nitude  of  pressing  business,  he  thought  that  the  emergency 
would  admit  of  no  delay  ;  and  on  the  28th  of  March  he  led 
Valens  into  the  suburbs,  where,  with  the  consent  of  all 
men  (and  indeed  no  one  dared  to  object),  he  declared  him 
emperor,  had  him  clothed  in  the  imperial  robes,  and 
crowned  with  a  diadem,  and  then  brought  him  back  in  the 
same  carriage  with  himself  as  the  legitimate  partner  of  his 
power,  though  in  fact  he  was  to  be  more  like  an  obedient 
servant,  as  the  remainder  of  my  narrative  will  show. 

4.  After  these  matters  had  been  thus  settled  without 
any  interruption,  the  two  emperors  suffered  a  long  time 
from  a  violent  fever ;  but  when  out  of  danger  (as  they 
were  more  active  in  the   investigation  of  evils  than  in 
removing  them)   they  intrusted  the    commission  to  in- 
vestigate the  secret  causes  of  this  malady  to  Ursatius  the 
master  of  the  offices,  a   fierce  Dalmatian,  and  to  Juventius 
Siscianus  the  quaestor,  their  real  motive,  as  was  constantly 
reported,  being  to  bring  the  memory  of  Julian  and  that 
of  his  friends  into  odium,  as  if  their  illness  had  been  owing 
to  their  secret   malpractices.     But  this   insinuation   was 
easily  disposed  of,  since  not  a  word  could  be  adduced  to 
justify  any  imputation  of  such  treason. 

5.  At  this  time  the  trumpet  as  it  were  gave  signal  for 
war  throughout   the   whole  Roman  world ;  and  the  bar- 
barian tribes  on  our  frontier  were  moved  to  make  incur- 
sion on  those  territories  which  lay  nearest  to  them.      The 
Allemanni  laid  waste  Gaul  and  Ehaetia  at  the  same  time. 
The  Sarmatians  and  Quadi  ravaged  Pannonia.     The  Picts, 
Scots,  Saxons,  and  Atacotti  harassed  the  Britons  with  in- 
cessant invasions  ;  the  Austoriani  and  other  Moorish  tribes 
attacked  Africa  with  more  than  usual  violence.   Predatory 
bands  of  the  Goths  plundered  Thrace. 

6.  The  king  of  the  Persians  poured  troops  into  Armenia, 
exerting  all  his  power  to  reduce  that  people  again  into 
subjection    to   his    authority ;    without    any  just    cause, 
arguing,  that  after  the  death  of  Julian,  with  whom  he 
had  made  a  treaty  of  peace,  there  was  nothing  that  ought 
to  hinder  him  from  recovering  those  lands  which  he  could 
prove  to  have  belonged  in  former  times  to  his  ancestors. 


414  AMMIANUS   MARCELLINUS.         [Bx.  XXVI.  CH   vr 

V. 

A.D.  365. 

§  1.  So  after  the  winter  had  passed  off  quietly,  the  two 
emperors  in  perfect  hannony,  one  having  been  formally 
elected,  and  the  other  having  been  admitted  to  share  that 
honour,  though  chiefly  in  appearance,  having  traversed 
Thrace,  arrived  at  Kissa,  where  in  the  suburb  which  is 
known  as  Mediana,  and  is  three  miles  from  the  city,  they 
divided  the  counts  between  them  as  if  they  were  going  to 
separate. 

2.  To  the  share  of  Valentinian,  by  whose  will  every- 
thing was  settled,  there  fell  Jovinus,  who  had  lately  been 
promoted  by  Julian  to  be  the  commander  of  the  forces  in 
Gaul,  and  Dagalaiphus,  on  whom  Jovian  had  conferred  a 
similar  rank  ;  while  Victor  was  appointed  to  follow  Valens 
to  the  east :  and  he  also  had  originally  been  promoted  by 
the  decision  of  Julian ;  and  to  him  was  given  Ariathseus 
as  a  colleague.     For  Lupicinus,  who  in  like  manner  had 
sometime  before  been  appointed  by  Jovian  to  command 
the  cavalry,  was  defending  the  eastern  districts. 

3.  At  the  same  time  Equitius  received  the  command 
of  the  army  of  Illyricum,  with  the  rank  not  of  general  but 
of  count ;  and  Serenianus,  who  sometime  before  had  re- 
tired from  the  service,  now,  being  a  citizen  of  Pannonia, 
returned   to  it,  and  joined  Valens  as   commander  of  the 
cohort  of  his  guards.     This  was  the  way  in  which  these 
affairs  were  settled,  and  in  which  the  troops  were  divided. 

4.  After  this,  when  the  two  brothers  entered  Sinnium, 
they  divided  their'courts  also,  and  Valentinian  as  the  chief 
took  Milan,  while  Valens  retired  to  Constantinople. 

5.  Sallust,  with  the  authority  of  prefect,  governed  the 
East,  Mamertinus  Italy  with  Africa  and  Illyricum,  and 
Germanianus  the  provinces  of  Gaul. 

6.  It  was  in  the  cities  of  Milan  and  Constantinople  that 
the  emperors  first  assumed  the  consular  robes.     I3ut  the 
whole  year  was  one  of  heavy  disaster  to  the  "Roman  state. 

7.  For  the  Allemanni  burst  through  the  limits  of  Ger- 
many, and  the  cause  of  their  unusual  ferocity  was  this. 
They  had  sent  ambassadors  to  the  court,  and  according  to 


A.D.  3651  ATTEMPTS  OF   PROCOPIUS.  415 

custom  they  were  entitled  to  regular  fixed  presents,  but 
received  gifts  of  inferior  value ;  which,  in  great  indigna- 
tion, they  threw  away  as  utterly  beneath  them.  For  this 
they  were  roughly  treated  by  Ursatius,  a  man  of  a  pas- 
sionate and  cruel  temper,  who  at  that  time  was  master  of 
the  offices  ;  and  when  they  returned  and  related,  with  con- 
siderable exaggeration,  how  they  had  been  treated,  they 
roused  the  anger  of  their  savage  countrymen  as  if  they  had 
been  despised  and  insulted  in  their  persons. 

8.  About  the  same  time,  or  not  much  later,  Procopius 
attempted  a  revolution  in  the  east ;  and  both  these  occur- 
rences were  announced  to  Valentinian  on  the  same  day, 
the  1st  of  November,  as  he  was  on  the  point  of  making 
his  entry  into  Paris. 

9.  He  instantly  sent  Dagalaiphus  to  make  head  against 
the  Allemanni,  who,  when  they  had  laid  waste  the  land 
nearest  to  them,  had  departed  to  a  distance  without  blood- 
shed.    But   with   respect   to  the   measures   necessary   to 
crush  the   attempt  of  Procopius    before     it   gained    any 
strength,  he  was  greatly  perplexed,  being  made  especially 
anxious  by  his  ignorance  whether  Yalens  were  alive  or 
dead,  that  Procopius  thus  attempted  to  make  himself  master 
of  the  empire. 

1 0.  For  Equitius,  as  soon  as  he  heard  the  account  of  the 
tribune  Antonius,  who  was  in  command  of  the  army  in  the 
interior  of  Dacia,  before  he  was  able  to  ascertain  the   real 
truth  of  everything,  brought  the  emperor  a  plain   state- 
ment of  what  had  taken  place. 

11.  On  this  Valentinian  promoted  Equitius  to  the  com- 
mand of  a  division,  and  resolved  on  retiring  to  lllyricum 
to  prevent  a  rebel  who  was  already  formidable  from  over- 
running Thrace  and  then  carrying  an  hostile  invasion  into 
Pannonia.     For  he  was   greatly  terrified   by  recollecting 
recent  events,  considering  how,  not  long  before,  Julian, 
despising  an  emperor  who  had  been  invariably  successful 
in  every  civil  war,  before  he  was  expected  or  looked  for, 
passed  on  from  city  to  city  with  incredible  rapidity. 

1 2.  But  his  eager  desire  to  return  was  cooled  by  the 
advice  of  those  about  him,  who  counselled  and  implored 
him   not   to    expose  Gaul  to   the   barbarians,   who   were 
threatening  it ;  nor  to  abandon  on  such  a  pretence  pro- 
vinces which  were  in  need!  of  great  support.     And  then 


416  AMMIANUS   MARCELUNUS.  [B*.  XXVI.  CH.  Ti. 

prayers  were  seconded  by  embassies  from  several  important 
cities  which  entreated  him  not  in  a  doubtful  and  disastrous 
crisis  to  leave  them  wholly  undefended,  when  hy  his  pre- 
sence he  might  at  once  deliver  them  from  the  greatest 
dangers,  by  the  mere  terror  which  his  mighty  name  would 
strike  into  the  Germans. 

13.  At  last,  having  given  much  deliberation   to  what 
might  be  most  advisable,  he  adopted  the  opinion  of  the 
majority,  and  replied  that  Procopius  was  the  foe  only  of 
himself  and   his   brother,   but  the  Allemanni   were    the 
enemies  of  the  whole  Eoman  world  ;  and  so  he  determined 
in  the  mean   time  not  to  move  beyond    the  frontier   of 
Gaul. 

14.  And  advancing  to  Eheims,  being  also  anxious  that 
Africa   should    not    be   suddenly  invaded,   he   appointed 
Neotherius,  who  at  that  time  was  only  a  secretary,  but  who 
afterwards  became  a  consul,  to  go  to  the  protection  of  that 
country  ;  and  with  him  Masaucio,  an  officer  of  the  domestic 
guard,  being  induced  to  add  him  by  the  consideration  that 
he  was  well  acquainted  with  the  disturbed  parts,  since  he 
had  been  brought  up  there  under  his  father  Cretion,  who 
was  formerly  Count  of  Africa ;  he  added  further,  Gauden- 
tius,  a  commander  of  the  Scutarii,  a  man  whom  he  had 
long  known,  and  on  whose  fidelity  he  placed  entire  con- 
fidence. 

15.  Because  therefore  these  sad  disturbances  arose  on 
both  sides  at  one  and  the  same  time,  we  will  here  arrange 
our  account  of  each  separately  in  suitable  order ;  relating 
first  what  took  place  in  the  East,  and  afterwards  the  war 
with  the  barbarians ;    since  the  chief  events  both  in  the 
West  and  the  East  occurred  in  the  same  months ;  lest,  by 
any  other  plan,  if  we  skipped  over  in  haste  from  place  to 
place,  we  should  present  only  a  confused  account  of  every- 
thing, and  so  involve  our  whole  narrative  in  perplexity  and 
disorder. 

VI. 

§  1.  PROCOPIUS  was  born  and  bred  in  Cilicia,  of  a  noble 
family,  and  occupied  an  advantageous  position  from  his 
youth,  as  being  a  relation  of  Julian  who  afterwards  became 
emperor.  He  was  very  strict  in  his  way  of  life  and  morals, 
reserved  and  eilent ;  but  both  as  secretary,  and  afterwards  as 


*.D.  365.]  FORMER   CAREER   OF   PROCOPIUS.  417 

tribune  distinguishing  himself  by  his  services  in  war,  and 
rising  gradually  to  the  highest  rank.  After  the  death  of 
Constantius,  in  the  changes  that  ensued,  he,  being  a  kins- 
man of  the  emperor,  began  to  entertain  higher  aims, 
especially  after  he  was  admitted  to  the  order  of  counts  ; 
and  it  became  evident  that  if  ever  he  were  sufficiently 
powerful,  he  would  be  a  disturber  of  the  public  peace. 

2.  When  Julian  invaded  Persia  he  left  him  in  Mesopo- 
tamia, in  command  of  a  strong  division  of  troops,  giving 
him  Sebastian  for  his   colleague  with  equal  power ;    and 
he  was  enjoined  (as  an  uncertain  rumour  whispered,  for 
no  certain  authority  for  the  statement  could  be  produced) 
to  be  guided  by  the  course  of  events,  and  if  he  should  find 
the  republic  in  a  languid  state,  and  in  need  of  further  aid, 
to  cause  himself  without  delay  to  be  saluted  as  emperor. 

3.  Procopius  executed  his   commission  in   a  courteous 
and  prudent   manner;    and  soon  afterwards  heard  of  the 
mortal  wound  and  death  of  Julian,  and  of  the  elevation  of 
Jovian  to  the  supreme  authority  ;  while  at  the  same  time 
an  ungrounded  report  had  got  abroad  that  Julian  with  his 
last  breath  had  declared  that  it  was  his  will  that  the  helm 
of  the  state  should  be  intrusted  to  Procopius.    He  therefore, 
fearing  that  in  consequence  of  this  report  he  might  be  put 
to  death  uncondemned,  withdrew  from  public  observation ; 
being  especially  alarmed    after  the  execution  of  Jovian, 
the  principal  secretary,  who,  as  he  heard,  had  been  cruelly 
put   to   death   with   torture,   because   after  the   death  of 
Julian  he  had  been  named  by  a  few  soldiers  as  one  worthy 
to  succeed  to  the  sovereignty,  and  on  that  account  was 
suspected  of  meditating  a  revolution. 

4.  And  because  he  was  aware  that  he  was  sought  for 
with  great   care,   he  withdrew  into  a   most   remote  and 
secret  district,  seeking  to  avoid  giving  offence  to  any  one. 
Then,  finding  that  his  hiding-place  was  still  sought  out 
by   Jovian  with   increased  diligence,    he  grew  weary  of 
living  like  a  wild  beast  (since  he  was  not   only  driven 
from  high  rank  to  a  low  station,  but  was  often  in  distress 
even  for  food,  and  deprived  of  all  human  society)  ;    so  at 
last,  under  the  pressure  of  extreme  necessity,  he  returned 
by  secret  roads  into  the  district  of  Chalcedon. 

5.  Where,  since  that  appeared  a  safer  retreat,  he   con- 
cealed himself  in  the  house  of  a  trusty  friend,  a  niaa  of 

2  G 


418  AMMIANUS   MARCELLINUS.  [BK.  XXVI.  CH.  rr. 

the  name  of  Strategius,  who  from  being  an  officer  about 
the  palace  had  risen  to  be  a  senator ;  crossing  over  at  times 
to  Constantinople  whenever  he  could  do  so  without  being 
perceived  ;  as  was  subsequently  learnt  from  the  evidence 
of  this  same  Strategius  after  repeated  investigations  had 
been  made  into  the  conduct  of  all  who  were  accomplices  in 
his  enterprise. 

6.  Accordingly,  like  a  skilful  scout,  since  hardship  and 
want  had  so  altered   his  countenance  that  no  one  knew 
him,  he  collected  the  reports  that  were  flying  about,  spread 
by  many  who,  as  the  present  is  always  grievous,  accused 
Valens  of  being  inflamed  with  a  passion  for  seizing  what 
belonged  to  others. 

7.  An  additional  stimulus  to  his  ferocity  was  the  em- 
peror's father-in-law,  Petronius,  who,  from  the  command 
of  the  Martensian  cohort,  had  been  suddenly  promoted  to 
be  a  patrician.     He  was  a  man  deformed  both  in  mind 
and  appearance,  and  cruelly  eager  to  plunder  every  person 
without   distinction ;  torturing   all,    guilty  and  innocent, 
and  then  binding  them  with  fourfold  bonds  ;  exacting  debts 
due  as  far  back  as  the  time  of  the  emperor  Aurelian,  an  I 
grieving  if  any  one  escaped  without  loss. 

8.  And  his  natural  cruelty  was  inflamed  by  this  addi 
tional  incentive,  that  as  he  was  enriched  by  the  sufferings 
of  others,  he  was  inexorable,  cruel,  hard  hearted,  and  un- 
feeling, incapable  either  of  doing  justice  or  of  listening  to 
reason.     He  was  more  hated  than  even  Oleander,  who,  as 
we  read,  while  prefect  in  the  time  of  Commodus,  oppressed 
people  of  all  ranks  with  his  foolish  arrogance ;  and  more 
tyrannical  than  Plautian,  who  was  prefect  under  Severus, 
and  who  with  more  than  mortal  pride  would  have  thrown 
everything  into  confusion,  if  he  had  not  been  murdered 
out  of  revenge. 

9.  The  cruelties  which  in  the  time  of  Valens,  who  acted 
under  the  influence  of  Petronius,  closed  many  houses  both 
of  poor  men  and  nobles,  and  the  fear  of  still  worse  im- 
pending, sank  deep  into  the  hearts  of  both  tbe  provincials 
and  soldiers,  who  groaned  under  the  same  burdens ;  and 
though  the  prayers  breathed  were  silent  and  secret,  yet 
some   change  of  the  existing  state  of  things  by  the  inter- 
position of  the  supreme  Deity  was  unanimously  prayed  for. 

10.  This  state  of  affairs  came  home  to  the  knowledge  cf 


A.».3G5.]  ATTEMPTS  Of   PKOCOPIDS.  419 

Procopins,  and  he,  thinking  that  if  Fate  were  at  all  propi- 
tious, he  might  easily  rise  to  the  highest  power,  lay  in 
wait  like  a  wild  beast  which  prepares  to  make  its  spring 
the  moment  it  sees  anything  to  seize. 

11.  And  while  he  was  eagerly  maturing  his  plans,  the 
following  chance  gave  him  an  opportunity  which  proved 
most  seasonable.     After  the  winter  was  past,  Valens  has- 
tened into  Syria ;  and  when  he  had  reached  the  borders 
of  Bithynia  he  learnt  from  the  accounts  of  the  generals 
that  the  nation  of  the  Goths,  who  up  to  that  time  had  never 
come  into  collision  with  us,  and  who  were  therefore  very 
fierce  and  untractable,  were  all  with  one  consent  preparing 
for  an  invasion  of  our  Thracian  frontier.     \\  hen  he  heard 
this,  in  order  to  proceed  on  his  own  journey  without  hin- 
drance, he  ordered  a  sufficient  force  of  cavalry  and  infantry 
to  be  sent  into  the  districts  in  which  the  inroads  of  these 
barbarians  were  apprehended. 

12.  Therefore,  as  the  emperor  was  now  at  a  distance, 
Procopius,  being  wearied  by  his  protracted  sufferings,  and 
thinking  even  a  cruel  death  preferable  to  a  longer  endur- 
ance of  them,  precipitately  plunged  into  danger ;  and  not 
fearing  the  last  extremities,  but  being  wrought  up  almost 
to  madness,  he  undertook  a  most  audacious  enterprise.    His 
desire  was  to  win  over  the  legions  known  as  the  Divi- 
tenses  and  the  younger  Tungricani,  who  were  under  orders 
to  march  through  Thrace  for  the  coining  campaign,  and, 
according  to  custom,  would  stop  two   days   at   Constan- 
tinople on  their  way ;   and  for  this  object  he  intended  to 
employ  some  of  them  whom  he  knew,  thinking  it  safer 
to  rely  on  the  fidelity  of  a  few,  and  dangerous  and  difficult 
to  harangue  the  whole  body. 

13.  Those  whom  he  selected  as  emissaries,  being  secured1 
by  the  hope  of  great  rewards,  promised  with  a  solemn  oath 
to  do  everything  he  desired  ;    and  undertook  also  for  the 
goodwill  of  their  comrades,  among  whom  they  had  great 
influence  from  their  long  and  distinguished  service. 

14.  As  was   settled   between  them,   when   day   broke, 
Procopius,   agitated   by  all  kinds  of  thoughts  and  plans, 
repaired  to  the  Baths  of  Anastasia,  so  called  from  the  sister 
of  Constantino,  where  he   knew  these  legions  were  sta- 
tioned ;   and  being  assured  by  his  emissaries  that  in  am 
assembly  which  had  been  held  during  the  preceding  nighti 


420  AMMIANUS   MARCELL1NUS.  [Bt  iXVl.  CH.  VL 

all  the  men  had  declared  their  adherence  to  his  party,  he 
received  from  them  a  promise  of  safety,  and  was  gladly 
admitted  to  their  assembly ;  where,  however,  though  treated 
with  all  honour  by  the  throng  of  mercenary  soldiers,  he 
found  himself  detained  almost  as  a  hostage ;  for  they,  like 
the  praetorians  who  after  the  death  of  Pertinax  had  ac- 
cepted Julian  as  their  emperor  because  he  bid  highest, 
now  undertook  the  cause  of  Procopius  in  the  hope  of 
great  gain  to  themselves  from  tfce  unlucky  reign  he  was 
planning. 

15.  Procopius   therefore    stood    among    them,  looking 
pale  and  ghost-like  ;  and  as  a  proper  royal  robe  could  nut 
be  found,  he  wore  a  tunic  spangled  with  gold,  like  that  of 
an  officer  of  the  palace,  and  the  lower  part  of  his  dre*s  like 
that  of  a  boy  at  school ;  and  purple  shoes ;  he  also  bore 
a  spear,  and  carried  a  small  piece  of  purple  cloth  in  his 
right  hand,  so  that  one  might  fancy  that  some  theatrical 
figure  or  dramatic  personification  had  suddenly  come  upon 
the  stage. 

16.  Being  thus  ridiculously  put  forward  as  if  in  mockery 
of  all  honours,  he  addressed  the  authors  of  his  elevation 
with  servile  flattery,  promising  them  vast  riches  and  high 
rank   as   the   first-fruits   of  his  promotion  ;  and  then   he 
advanced  into  the   streets,   escorted  by  a  multitude   of 
armed  men ;  and  with  raised  standards  he  prepared  to  pro- 
ceed, surrounded  by  a  horrid  din  of  shields  clashing  wiih  a 
mournful  clang,  as  the  soldiers,  fearing  lest  they  might  be 
injured  by  stones  or  tiles  from  the  housetops,  joined  them 
together  above  their  heads  in  close  order. 

17.  As  he   thus  advanced  boldly  the  people   showed 
him   neither   aversion  nor  favour ;    but  he   was   encou- 
raged by  the  love  of  sudden  novelty,  which  is  implanted 
in  the  minds  of  most  of  the   common  people,   and  was 
further  excited  by  the  knowledge  that  all   men  unani- 
mously detested  Petronius,  who,  as  I  have  said  before,  was 
accumulating  riches  by  all    kinds  of  violence,    reviving 
actions  that  had  long  been  buried,  and  oppressing  all  ranks 
with  the  exaction  of  forgotten  debts. 

18.  Therefore  when    Procopius   ascended  the  tribunal, 
and  when,   as  all  seemed  thunderstruck  and  bewildered, 
even  the  gloomy  silence  was  terrible,  thinking  (or,  indeed, 
expecting)  that  he  had  only  found  a  shorter  way  to  death. 


A.D.  365.]  TROCOP1US   SALUTED   EMPEROR.  421 

trembling  so  as  to  be  unable  to  speak,  he  stood  for  some 
time  in  silence.  Presently  when  he  began,  with  a  broken 
and  languid  voice,  to  say  a  few  words,  in  which  he  spoke 
of  his  relationship  to  the  imperial  family,  he  was  met  at 
first  with  but  a  faint  murmur  of  applause  from  those  whom 
he  had  bribed  ;  but  presently  he  was  hailed  by  the  tumul- 
tuous clamours  of  the  populace  .in  general  as  emperor,  and 
hurried  off  to  the  senate-house,  where  he  found  none  of  the 
nobles,  but  only  a  small  number  of  the  rabble  of  the  city  ; 
and  so  he  went  on  with  speed,  but  in  an  ignoble  style,  to 
the  palace. 

19.  One  might  marvel  that  this  ridiculous  beginning,  so 
improvidently  and  rashly  engaged  in,  should  have  led  to 
melancholy  disasters  for  the  republic,  if  one  were  ignorant 
of  previous  history,  and  imagined  that  this  was  the  first 
time  any  such  thing  had  happened.  But,  in  tiuth,  it 
was  in  a  similar  manner  that  Andriscus  of  Adramyttium. 
a  man  of  the  very  lowest  class,  assuming  the  name  of 
Philip,  added  a  third  calamitous  war  to  the  previous 
Macedonian  wars.  Again,  while  the  emperor  Macrinus 
was  at  Antioch,  it  was  then  that  Antoninus  Heliogabalus 
issued  forth  from  Emessa.  Thus  also  Alexander,  and  his 
mother  Mamaea,  were  put  to  death  by  the  unexpected 
enterprise  of  Maximinus.  And  in  Africa  the  elder  Gor- 
dian  was  raised  to  the  imperial  authority,  till,  being  over- 
whelmed with  agony  at  the  dangers  which  threatened  him, 
he  put  an  end  to  his  life  by  hanging  himself. 

VII. 

§  1.  So  the  dealers  in  cheap  luxuries,  and  those  who  were 
about  the  palace,  or  who  had  ceased  to  serve,  and  al! 
who,  having  been  in  the  ranks  of  the  army,  had  retired 
to  a  more  tranquil  life,  now  embarked  in  this  unusual  and 
doubtful  enterprise,  some  against  their  will,  and  others 
willingly.  Some,  however,  thinking  anything  better  than 
the  present  state  of  affairs,  escaped  secretly  from  the  city, 
and  hastened  with  all  speed  to  the  emperor's  camp. 

2.  They  were  all  outstripped  by  the  amazing  celerity 
of  Sophronius,  at  that  time  a  secretary,  afterwards  prefect 
of  Constantinople,  who  reached  Valens  as  he  was  just 
about  to  set  out  from  Caesarea  in  Cappadocia,  in  order, 


422  AMMIAXUS   MARCELLINUS.  [BK.  XXVI.  Ca.  tn. 

now  that  the  hot  weather  of  Cilicia  was  over,  to  go  to 
Antioch ;  and  having  related  to  him  all  that  had  taken 
place,  brought  him,  though  wholly  amazed  and  bewildered 
at  so  doubtful  and  perplexing  a  crisis,  back  into  Galatia  to 
encounter  the  danger  before  it  had  risen  to  a  head. 

3.  While  Valens  was  pushing  forward  with  all  speed, 
Procopius  was  using  all  his  energy  day  and  night,  pro- 
ducing   different    persons    who    with    cunning    boldness 
pretended   that  they  had  arrived,   some   from  the   east, 
noiue  from  Gaul,  and  who  reported  that  Valentinian  was 
dead,   and   that  everything  was  easy   for  the  new   and 
favoured  emperor. 

4.  And    because    enterprises    suddenly   and   wantonly 
attempted  are  often  strengthened  by  promptness  of  action, 
and  in  order  to  neglect  nothing,  Nebridins,  who  had  been 
recently  promoted  through   the  influence  of  Petronius  to 
be  prefect  of  the  prsetorium  in  the  place  of  Sallust,  and 
Cassarius,   the   prefect  of  Constantinople,   were  at  once 
thrown  into  prison ;  and  Phronemius  was  intrusted  with 
the  government  of  the  city,  with  the  customary  powers ; 
and   Euphrasius   was   made   master   of  the  offices,    both 
being  Gauls,   and   men   of  known   accomplishments  and 
good  character.      The  government  of  the  camp  was  in- 
trusted to  Gomoarius   and  Agilo,  who  were   recalled   to 
military  service  with  that  object — a  very  ill-judged  ap- 
pointment, as  was  seen  by  the  result. 

5.  Now  because   Count  Julius,  who  was  commanding 
the  forces  in  Thrace,  was  feared  as  likely  to  employ  the 
troops  at  the  nearest  stations  to   crush  the  rebels  if  he 
received  information  of  what  was  being  done,  a  vigorous 
measure  was  adopted  ;    and  he  was  summoned  to  Constan- 
tinople by  letter,  which  Nebridius,  while  still  in  prison, 
was  compelled  to  write,  as  if  he  had  been  appointed  by 
Valens  to  conduct  some  serious  measures  in  connection 
with  the  movements  of  the  barbarians ;  and  as  soon  as  he 
arrived  he  was  seized  and  kept  in  close  custody.     By  this 
cunning  artifice  the  warlike  tribes  of  Thrace  were  brought 
over  without  bloodshed,  and  proved  a  great  assistance  to 
this  disorderly  enterprise. 

6.  After  this  success,  Araxius,  b}7  a  court  intrigue,  was 
made  prefect  of  the  pnetorium,  as  if  at  the  recommenda- 
tion of  Agilo,  his  son-in-law.     Many  others  were  admitted 


A.D.365.]  MEASURES   TAKKN    BY    PROCOPIU3.  423 

to  various  posts  in  the  palace,  and  to  the  government  of 
provinces  ;  some  against  their  will,  others  voluntarily,  and 
even  giving  bribes  for  their  promotion. 

7.  And,  as  often  happens  in  times  of  intestine  commo- 
tion, some  men,  from  the  very  dregs  of  the  populace,  rose 
to  a  high  position,  led  by  desperate  boldness  and  insane 
expectations  ;    while,    on   the    contrary,    others   of  noble 
birth  fell  from  the   highest  elevation  down  to  exile  and 
death. 

8.  When  by  these  and  similar  acts  the  party  of  Pro- 
copius  seemed  firmly  established,  the  next  thing  was  to 
assemble  a  sufficient  military  force  ;    and  that  was  easily 
managed,  though  sometimes,  in  times  of  public  disorder, 
a  failure  here  has  hindered  great  enterprises,  and  even 
some  which  had  a  lawful  origin. 

9.  The   divisions   of  cavalry  and  infantry  which  were 
passing  through   Thrace   were   easily   gained    over,   and 
being  kindly  and  liberally  treated,  were  collected  into  one 
body,  and  at  once  presented  the  appearance  of  an  army ; 
and  being  excited  by  magnificent  promises,  they  swore 
with   solemn  oaths   fidelity   to   Procopius,    promising   to 
defend  him  with  unswerving  loyalty. 

10.  For  a  most  seasonable  opportunity  of  gaining  them 
over  was  found  ;  because  he  carried  in  his  arms  the  little 
daughter  of  Constantius,  whose  memory  was  still  held  in 
reverence,  himself  also  claiming  relationship  with  Julian. 
He  also  availed  himself  of  another  seasonable   incident, 
namely,  that  it  was  while  Faustina,  the  mother  of  the 
child,  was  present  that  he  had  received  the  insignia  of  the 
imperial  rites. 

1 1 .  He  employed  also  another  expedient  (though  it  re- 
quired  great  promptitude)  ;  he   chose   some   persons,   as 
stupid  as   they  were   rash,  whom   he  sent  to  lllyricum, 
relying  on  no  support  except  their  own  impudence ;  but 
also  well  furnished  with  pieces  of  gold  stamped  with  the 
head  of  the  new  emperor,  and  with  other  means  suited  to 
win  over  the  multitude.     But  these  men  were  arrested  by 
Equitius,  who  was  the  commander  of  the  forces  in  that 
country,  and  were  put  to  death  by  various  methods. 

1 2.  And  then,  fearing  similar  attempts  by  Procopius,  he 
blocked  up  the  three  narrowest  entrances  into  the  northern 
province  ;   one  through  Dacia,  along  the  course  of  the  dif- 


424  AMMIAXUS   MARCELL1NUS.  [En.  XXVI.  CH.  vu 

ferent  rivers ;  another,  and  that  the  most  frequented, 
through  the  Succi ;  and  the  third  through  Macedonia, 
which  is  known  as  the  Acontisma.  And  in  consequence 
of  these  precautions  the  usurper  was  deprived  of  all  hope 
of  becoming  master  of  lllyricum,  and  lost  one  great  re- 
source for  carrying  on  the  war. 

13.  In  the  mean  time  Valens,  overwhelmed  with  the 
strange  nature  of  this  intelligence,  and  being  already  on 
his  return  through  Gallo-Gra3cia,  after  he  had  heard  what 
had  happened  at   Constantinople,  advanced    with  great 
diffidence  and  alarm ;    and  as  his  sudden  fears  deprived 
him  of  his  usual  prudence,  he  fell  into  such  despondency 
that  he  thought  of  laying  aside  his  imperial  robes  as  too 
heavy  a  burden ;  and  in  truth  he  would  have  done  so 
if  those  about  him  had  not  hindered  him  from  adopting  so 
dishonourable  a  resolution.     So,  being  encouraged  by  the 
opinions  of  braver  men,  he  ordered  two  legions,  known  as 
the   Jovian  and  the   Victorian,   to  advance  in  front  to 
storm  the  rebel  camp. 

14.  And  when   they  approached,  Procopius,  who  had 
returned  from  Nicaea,  to  which  city  he  had  lately  gone 
with  the  legion  of  Divitenses  and  a  promiscuous  body  of 
deserters,  which  he  had  collected  in  a  few  days,  hastened 
to  Mygdus  on  the  Sangarius. 

15.  And   when   the   legions,   being   now   prepared   for 
battle,   assembled  there,  and  while  both  sides  were   ex- 
changing  missiles  as  if  wishing  to   provoke   an   attack, 
Procopius  advanced  by  himself  into  the  middle,  and  under 
the  guidance  of  favourable  fortune,  he  remarked  in  the 
opposite  ranks  a  man  named  Vitalianus  (it  is  uncertain 
whether  he  had  known  him  before),  and  having  given  him 
his  hand  and  embraced  him,  he  said,  while  both  armies 
were  equally  astonished. 

16.  "  And  is  this  the  end  of  the  ancient  fidelity  of  the 
Roman  armies,  and  of  the  oaths  taken  under  the  strictest 
obligations  of  religion  !     Have  you  decided,  0  gallant  men. 
to  use  your  swords  in  defence  of  strangers,  and  that  a 
degenerate  Paunonian  should  undermine  and  upset  every- 
thing, and  so  enjoy  a  sovereign  power  which  he  never 
even  ventured  to  picture  to  himself  in  his  prayers,  while 
we  lament  over  your  ill-fortune  and  our  own.     Follow 
rather  the  race  of  your  own  noble  princes  which  is  now 


SIEGE    OF   CHALCEDOX   AND   NIOEA   RAISED.  425 

in  arms,  not  with,  the  view  of  seizing  what  does  not  belong 
to  it,  but  with  the  hope  of  recovering  its  ancestral  posses- 
sions and  hereditary  dignities." 

17.  All  were  propitiated  by  this  conciliatory  speech, 
and  those  who  had  come  with  the  intention  of  fighting 
now  readily  lowered  their  standards  and  eagles,  and  of 
their  own  accord  came  over  to  him;  instead  of  uttering 
their  fearful  yells,  they  unanimously  saluted  Procopius 
emperor,  and  escorted  him  to  his  camp,  calling  Jupiter 
to  witness,  after  their  military  fashion,  that  Procopius 
should  prove  invincible. 

VIII. 

§  1.  ANOTHER  fortunate  circumstance  occurred  to  swell  the 
prosperity  of  the  rebels.  A  tribune  named  Rumitalca, 
who  had  joined  the  partisans  of  Procopius,  having  been 
intrusted  with  the  guard  of  the  palace,  digested  a  plan, 
and  after  mingling  with  the  soldiers,  passed  over  by  sea 
to  the  town  formerly  known  as  Drepanum,  but  now  as 
Helenopolis,  and  thence  marched  upon  Mcsea,  and  made 
himself  master  of  it  before  any  one  dreamt  of  such  a  step. 

2.  Valens   sent   Vadomarius,  who   had   formerly   been 
duke  and  king  of  the  Allemanni,  with  a  body  of  troops 
experienced  in  that  kind  of  work,  to  besiege  Nicasa,  and 
proceeded  himself  to  Nicomedia  ;  and  passing  on  from  that 
city,  he  pressed  the  siege  of  Chalcedon  with  all  his  might ; 
but  the  citizens  poured  reproaches  on  him  from  the  walls, 
calling  him  Sabaiarius,  or  beer-drinker.     Now  Sabai  is  a 
drink  made  of  barley  or  other  grain,  and  is  used  only  by 
poor  people  in  Illyricum. 

3.  At  last,  being  worn  out  by  the  scarcity  of  supplies 
and  the  exceeding  obstinacy  of  the  garrison,  he  was  pre- 
paring to  raise  the  siege,  when   the  garrison  who  were 
shut  up  in  Nicaea  suddenly  opened  the  gates  and  issued 
forth,  destroying  a  great  portion  of  the  works  of  the  be- 
siegers, and  under  the  command  of  the  faithful  Euniitalca 
hastened  on  eagerly  in  the  hope  of  cutting  off  Valens,  who 
had  not  yet  quitted  the  suburb  of  Chalcedon.     And  they 
would   have   succeeded   in  their  attempt  if  he  had  nut 
learnt  the  imminence  of  his  danger  from  some  rumonr, 
and  eluded  the  enemy  who  were  pressing  on  his  track, 


426  AMMIANUS  MARCELLINUS.         [BK.  XXVII.  CH.  VHL 

by  departing  with  all  speed  by  a  road  lying  between  the 
lake  Simon  and  the  winding  course  of  the  river  Gallus. 
And  through  this  circumstance  Bithynia  also  fell  into  the 
hands  of  Procopius. 

4.  When  Valens  had  returned  by  forced  marches  from 
this  city  to  Ancyra,  and  had  learnt  that  Lupicinus  was 
approaching  with  no  inconsiderable  force  from  the  East, 
he  began  to  entertain  better  hopes,  and  sent  Arinthaeus 
as  his  most  approved  general  to  encounter  the  enemy. 

5.  And  when  Arinthaaus  reached  Dadastana,  where  we 
have  mentioned  that  Jovian  died,  he  suddenly  saw  in  his 
front,  Hyperechius,  who  had  previously  been  only  a  su- 
baltern,  but  who  now,  as  a  trusty  friend,  had  received 
from  Procopius  the  command  of  the  auxiliary  forces.     And 
thinking   it   no   credit  to  defeat   in   battle  a  man  of  no 
renown,  relying  on  his  authority  and  on  his  lofty  personal 
stature,  he  shouted  out  a  command  to  the  enemy  them- 
selves to  take  and  bind  their  commander ;  they  obeyed, 
and  so  this  mere  shadow  of  a  general  was  arrested  by  the 
hands  of  his  own  men. 

6.  In  the  interim,  a  man  of  the  name  of  Venustus,  who 
had  been  an  officer  of  the  treasury  under  Valens,  and  who 
had  some  time  before  been  sent  to  Nicomedia,  to  distribute 
pay  to   the   soldiers  who  were  scattered   over  the  East, 
when  he  heard  of  this  disaster,  perceived  that  the  time 
was  unfavourable  for  the  execution  of  his  commission,  and 
repaired  in  haste  to  Cyzicus  with  the  money  which  he  had 
with  him. 

7.  There,  as  it  happened,  he  met  Serenianus,  who  was 
at  that  time  the  count  of  the  guards,  and  who  had  been 
sent  to  protect  the  treasury,  and  who  now,  with  a  garrison 
collected  in  a  hurry,  had  undertaken  the  defence  of  the 
city,  which  was  impregnable  in  its  walls,  and  celebrated 
also  for  many  ancient  monuments,  though  Pvocopius,   in 
order,  now  that  he  had  got  possession  of  Bithynia,  to  inahe 
himself  master  of  the  Hellespont,  had  sent  a  strong  force 
to  besiege  it. 

8.  The  siege  went  on   slowly  ;    often  numbers  of  the 
besiegers  were  wounded  by  arrows  and  bullets,  and  other 
missiles  ;  and  by  the  skill  of  the  garrison  a  barrier  of  ihe 
strongest  iron  chain  was  thrown  across  the  mouth  of  the 
harbour,  fastened  strongly  to  the  land  on  each  side,  to 


A.D.365]  FALL    OF   CYZICUS.  427 

prevent  the  ships  of  the  enemy,  which  were  armed  with 
beaks,  from  forcing  their  way  in. 

9.  This  boom,  however,  after  great  exertions  on  the  part 
of  both  soldiers  and  generals,  who  were  all  exhausted  by 
the  fierce  nature  of  the  struggle,  a  tribune  of  the  name  of 
Aliso,  an  experienced  and  skilful  warrior,  cut  through  in 
the  following  manner  : — He  fastened  together  three  vessels, 
and  placed  upon  them  a  kind   of  testudo,  thus, — on  the 
benches  stood  a  body  of  armed  men,  united  together  by 
their  shields,  which  joined  above  their  heads  ;  behind  them 
was  another  row,  who  stooped,  so  as  to  be  lower ;  a  third 
rank  bent  lower  still,  so  as  to  form  a  regular  gradation  ;  so 
that  the  last  row  of  all,  resting  on  their  haunches,  gave  the 
whole  formation  the  appearance  of  an  arch.     This  kind  oi 
machine  is  employed  in  contests  under  the  walls  of  towns, 
in  order  that  while  the  blows  of  missiles  and  stones  fall  on 
the  islippery  descent  they  may  pass  off  like  so  much  rain. 

10.  Aliso  then,  being  for  a  while   defended   from  the 
shower  of  missiles,  by  his  own  vast  strength  held  a  log 
under  this  chain,  while  with  a  mighty  blow  of  his  axe 
he  cut  it  through,  so  that  being  driven  asunder,  it  left  the 
broad  entrance  open,  and  thus  the  city  was  laid  open  un- 
protected  to  the   assault   of  the   enemy.      And   on   this 
account,  when,  after  the  death  of  the  originator  of  all  this 
confusion,  cruel  vengeance  was  taken  on  the  members  of 
his   party,   the  same  tribune,  from  a  recollection  of  his 
gallant  action,  was  granted  his  life  and  allowed  to  retain 
his  commission,  and  a  long  time  afterwards  fell  in  Isauria 
in  a  conflict  with  a  band  of  ravagers. 

11.  When  Cyzicus  was  thus  opened  to  him,  Procopius 
hastened  thither,  and  pardoned  all  who  had  opposed  him, 
except   Serenianus,   whom  be  put  in  irons,  and   sent  to 
Nicaea,  to  be  kept  in  close  confinement. 

12.  And  immediately  he  appointed  the  young  Hormisdas 
(the   son   of  the    former    Prince    Hormisdas)   proconsul 
intrusting  him  in  the  ancient  fashion  with  the  command 
both  in  civil  and  military  affairs.     He  conducted  himself, 
as  his  natural  disposition  prompted  him,  with  moderation, 
but  was  almost  seized  by  the  soldiers  whom  Valens  had 
sent  by  the  difficult  passes  of  Phrygia ;  he  saved  himself, 
however,  by  great  energy,  embarking  on  board  a  vessel 
which  he  kept  in  readiness  for  any  emergency, 


428  AMMIANUS    MARCELL1NUS.  [BK.  XXVI.  CH.  ix. 

off  also  his  wife,  who  followed  him,  and  was  nearly  taken 
prisoner,  had  he  not  protected  her  under  a  shower  of 
arrows.  She  was  a  lady  of  high  family  and  great  wealth, 
whose  modesty  and  the  glorious  destiny  reserved  for  her 
subsequently  saved  her  husband  from  great  dangers. 

13.  Jn  consequence  of  this  victoiy  1'rocopius  was  elated 
beyond  measure,  and  not  knowing  that  a  man,  however 
happy,   if  Fortune   turns  her  wheel   may  become  most 
miserable  before  evening,  he  ordered  the  house  of  Arbetio, 
which  he  had  previously  spared  as  that  of  one  of  his  own 
partisans,  to   be  rifled,    and   it   was   full   of  furniture   of 
countless  value.     The  reason   of  his   indignation   against 
Arbetio  was,  that  though  he  had  summoned  him  several 
times   to   come   to   him,   he  had  deferred   his   audience, 
pleading  old  age  and  sickness. 

14.  And  this  presumptuous  man  might,  from  the  uncer- 
tainty in  human  affairs,  have  feared  some  great  change  ; 
but  though  without  any  resistance  he  could  have  overrun 
the  provinces  of  the  East  with  the  willing  consent  of  the 
natives  themselves,  who,  from  weariness  of  the  severe  rule 
under  which  they  then  were,  were  eager  for  any  change 
whatever,  he  indolently  lingered,  hoping  to  gain  over  some 
cities  of  Asia  Minor,  and  to  collect  some  men  who  were 
skilful  in  procuring  gold,  and  who  would  be  of  use  to  him 
in  future  battles,  which  he  expected  would  be  both  nume- 
rous and  severe. 

15.  Thus  he  was  allowing  himself  to  grow  blunt,  like 
a  rusty  sword  ;  just  as  formerly  Pescennius  Niger,  when 
repeatedly  urged  by  the  Roman  people  to  come  to  their 
aid  at  a  time  of  great  extremity,  lost  a  great  deal  of  time 
in  Syria,  and  at  last  was  defeated  by  Severus  in  the  Gulf 
of  Issus   (which  is  a  town  in   Cilicia,   where  Alexander 
conquered  Darius),  and  was  put  to  death  by  a  common 
soldier  in  a  suburb  of  Antioch. 

IX. 

A.D.  3C6. 

§  1.  THESE  events  took  place  in  the  depth  of  winter,  in 
the  consulship  of  Valentinian  and  Valens.  But  this  high 
office  of  consul  was  transferred  to  Gratian,  who  was  as  yet 
only  a  private  individual,  and  to  Dagalaiphus.  And  then, 


A.D  366.]  MEASURES   TAKEN    BY    VALENS.  42 

having  collected  his  forces  at  the  approach  of  spring, 
Valens,  having  united  Lupicinus's  troops,  which  were  a 
numerous  body,  to  his  own,  marched  with  all  speed  to- 
wards Pessinus,  which  was  formerly  reckoned  a  town  of 
Phrygia,  but  was  now  considered  to  belong  to  Galatia. 

2.  Having  speedily  secured  it  with  a  garrison,  to  pre- 
vent any  unforeseen  danger  from  arising  in  that  district,  he 
proceeded  along  the  foot  of  Mount  Olympus  by  very  diffi- 
cult passes  to  Lycia,  intending  to  attack  Gomoarius,  who 
was  loitering  in  that  province. 

3.  Many  vehemently  opposed  this  project  from  this  con- 
sideration, that  his  enemy,  as  has  been  already  mentioned, 
always  bore  with  him  on  a  litter  the  little  daughter  of 
Constantius,  with  her  mother  Faustina,  both  when  march- 
ing  and   when   preparing   for   battle,    thus   exciting   the 
soldiers  to  fight  more  resolutely  for  the  imperial  family, 
with  which,  as  he  told  them,  he  himself  was  connected. 
So  formerly,  when  the  Macedonians  were  on  the  point  of 
engaging  in  battle  with  the  Illyrians,  they  placed  their 
king,  who  was  still  an  infant,1  in  his  cradle  behind  the 
line  of  battle,  and  the  fear  lest  he  should  be  taken  prisoner 
made  them  exert  themselves  the  more  so  as  to  defeat  their 
enemies. 

4.  To  counteract  this  crafty  manoeuvre  the  emperor,  in 
the  critical  state  of  his  affairs,  devised  a  sagacious  remedy, 
and  summoned  Arbetio,  formerly  consul,  but  who  was  now 
living  in  privacy,  to  join  him,  in   order   that  the  fierce 
minds  of  the  soldiers  might  be  awed  by  the  presence  of 
a  general   who   had    served   under   Constantine.     And  it 
happened  as  he  expected. 

5.  For  when  that  officer,  who  was  older  in  years  than  all 
around  him,  and  superior  in  rank,  showed  his  venerable 
gray  hairs  to  the  numbers  who  were  inclined  to  violate 
their  oaths,  and  accused  Procopius  as  a  public  robber,  and 
addressing  the  soldiers  who  followed  his  guilty  leadership 
as  his  own  sons  and  the  partners  of  his  former  toils,  en- 
treated them  rather  to  follow  him  as  a  parent  known  to 
them  before  as  a  successful  leader  than  obey  a  profligate 
spendthrift  who  ought  to  be  abandoned,  and  who  would 
soon  fall. 

H.  And  when  Gomoarius  heard  this,  though  he  might 
1  The  young  king's  name  was  Eropus,  v.  Justin,  vii.  122. 


430  AMillANUS   MAKCELLIND3.  fBic.XXVLCH.ix. 

have  escaped  from  the  enemy  and  returned  in  safety  to  the 
place  from  whence  he  came,  yet,  availing  himself  of  the 
proximity  of  the  emperor's  camp,  he  passed  over  under 
the  guise  of  a  prisoner,  as  if  he  had  been  surrounded  by  the 
sudden  advance  of  a  superior  force. 

7.  Encouraged  by  this,  Valens  quickly  moved  his  camp 
to  Phrygia,  and  engaged  the  enemy  near  Nacolia,  and  the 
battle  was  doubtful  till  Agilo,  the  leader  of  Procopius's 
forces,  betrayed  his  side  by  a  sudden  desertion  of  his  ranks  ; 
and   he  was   followed   by   many  who,    brandishing   their 
javelins  and  their  swords,  crossed  over  to  the  emperor, 
bearing  their  standards  and  their  shields  reversed,  which  is 
the  most  manifest  sign  of  defection. 

8.  When  this  unexpected  event  took  place,  Procopius 
abandoning  all  hope  of  safety,  dismounted,  and  sought  a 
hiding-place  on  foot   in.  the   groves  and  hills,     lie  was 
followed  by  Florentius  and  the  tribune  Barchalbas,  who 
having  been  known  ever  since  the  time  of  Constantine  in 
all  the  terrible  wars  which  had  taken  place,  was  now 
driven  into  treason  by  necessity  not  by  inclination. 

9.  So  when  the  greater  part  of  the  night  was  passed,  as 
the  moon,  which  had  risen  in  the  evening,  by  continuing 
her  light  till  dawn  increased  their  fear,  Procopius,  finding  it 
impossible  to  escape,  and  having  no  resources,  as  is  often 
the  case  in  moments  of  extreme  danger,  began  to  blame  his 
mournful  and  disastrous  fortune.    And  being  overwhelmed 
with  care,  he  was  on  a  sudden  taken  and  bound  by  his  own 
comrades,  and  at  daybreak  led  to  the  camp,  and  brought, 
silent  and  downcast,  before  the  emperor.     He  was  imme- 
diately beheaded  ;  and  his  death  put  an  end  to  the  increas- 
ing disturbances  of  civil  war.     His  fate  resembled  that  of 
Perpenna  of  old,  who,  after  Sertorius  had  been  slain  at  a 
banquet,  enjoyed  the  power  for  a  short  time,   but  was 
dragged  out  of  the  thicket  where  he  was  concealed,  and 
brought  to  Pompey,  by  whose  orders  he  was  put  to  death. 

10.  Giving  way  to  equal  indignation  against  Florentine 
and  Barchalbas,  though  they  delivered  up  Procopius,  he 
instantly  ordered  them  also  to  be  slain,  without  listening 
to  reason.      For  if  they  had  betrayed   their  legitimate 
prince.  Justice  herself  would  pronounce  them  justly  slain  ; 
but  if  he  whom  they  betrayed  was  a  rebel  and  an  enemy  to 
the  tranquillity  of  the  state,  as  was  alleged,  then  they  ought 


AJ>.366.]  MOVEMENTS  OF   MARCELLUS.  431 

to  have  received  an  ample  T3ward  for  so  memorable  an 
action. 

11.  Procopius  perished  at  the  age  of  forty  years  and  ten 
months.  He  was  of  a  goodly  appearance,  tall,  inclined  to 
stoop,  always  looking  on  the  ground  as  he  walked,  and  in 
his  reserved  and  melancholy  manners  like  Crassus,  whom 
Lucillius  and  Cicero  record  never  to  have  smiled  but  once 
in  his  life  ;  and  what  is  very  remarkable,  as  long  as  he  lived 
he  never  shed  blood. 

X. 

§  1.  ABOUT  the  same  time,  his  kinsman  Marcellus,  an  officer 
of  the  guard,  who  commanded  the  garrison  of  Nicsea,  hear- 
ing of  the  treachery  of  the  soldiers  and  the  death  of 
Procopius,  attacked  Serenianus,  who  was  confined  in  the 
palace,  unexpectedly  at  midnight,  and  put  him  to  death. 
And  his  death  was  the  safety  of  many. 

2.  For  if  he,  a  man  of  rude  manners,  bitter  temper,  and 
a  love  of  injuring  people,  had  survived  Valens's  victory, 
having  also  great  influence  with  Valens  from  the  similarity 
of  his  disposition  and  the  proximity  of  their  birthplaces, 
he  would  have  studied  the  secret  inclinations  of  a  prince 
always  inclined  to  cruelty,  and  would  have  shed  the  blood 
of  many  innocent  persons. 

3.  Having   killed   him,   Marcellus    by   a  rapid    march 
seized  on  Chalcedon,  and  with  the  aid  of  a  few  people, 
whom  the  lowness  of  their  condition  and  despair  urged 
to  crime,  obtained  a  shadow  of  authority  which  proved 
fatal  to  him,  being  deceived  by  two  circumstances,  because 
he  thought  that  the  three  thousand  Goths  who,  after  their 
kings  had  been  conciliated,  had  been  sent  to  aid  Procopius, 
who  had  prevailed  on  them  to  support  him  by  pleading  his 
relationship  to  Constantine,  would  at  a  small  cost  be  easily 
won  over  to  support  him,  and  also  because  he  was  igno- 
rant of  what  had  happened  in  Illyricum. 

4.  \\hile  these  alarming  events  were  taking  place,  Equi- 
tius,  having  learat  by  trustworthy  reports  from  his  scouts 
that  the  whole  stress  of  the  war  was  now  to  be  found 
in  Asia,  passed  through  the  Succi,  and  made  a  vigorous 
attempt   to   take   Philippopolis,    the   ancient   Eurnolpias,1 

1  Called  also  Trimoniium,  from  standing  on  three  hills ;  the  modem 
.name  is  Pktlippopdi.     See  Smith's  '  Anc.  Geography,'  p.  333. 


432  AMMIANUS  MARCELLINUS.  [B*.  XXVI.  CH.  x 

which  was  occupied  by  a  garrison  of  the  enemy.  It  was 
a  city  in  a  most  favourable  position,  and  likely  to  prove  an 
obstacle  to  his  approach  if  left  in  his  rear,  and  if  he,  while 
conducting  reinforcements  to  Valens  (for  he  was  not  yet 
acquainted  with  what  had  happened  at  Nacolia),  should  be 
compelled  to  hasten  to  the  district  around  Mount  Heemus. 

5.  But  when,  a  few  days  later,  he  heard  of  the  foolish 
usurpation  of  Marcellus,  he  sent  against  him  a  body  of 
bold  and  active  troops,  who  seized  him  as  a  mischievous 
slave,  and  threw  him  into  prison.    From  which,  some  days 
afterwards,  he  was  brought  forth,  scourged  severely  with 
his  accomplices,  and  put  to  death,  having  deserved  favour 
by  no  action  of  his  life  except  that  he  had  slain  Serenianus, 
a  man  as  cruel  as  Phalaris,  and  faithful  only  in  barbarity, 
which  he  displayed  on  the  slightest  pretext. 

6.  The  war  being  now  at  an  end  by  the  death  of  the  leader, 
many  were  treated  with  much  greater  severity  than  their 
errors  or  faults  required,  especially  the  defenders  of  Philip- 
popolis.  who  would  not  surrender  the  city  or  themselves 
till  they  saw  the  head  of  Procopius,  which  was  conveyed  to 
Gaul. 

7.  Some,  however,  by  the  influence  of  intercessors,  re- 
ceived mercy,  the  most  eminent  of  whom  was  Araxius, 
who,  when  the  crisis  was  at  its  height,  had  applied  for  and 
obtained  the  office  of  prefect.     He,  by  the  intercession  of 
his  son-in  law  Agilo,  was  punished  only  by  banishment  to 
an  island,  from  which  he  soon  afterwards  escaped. 

8.  But  Euphrasius  and  Phronemius   were   sent  to  the 
west  to  be  at  the  disposal  of  Valentinian.     Euphrasius  was 
acquitted,  but  Phronemius  was  transported  to  the  Cher- 
soriesus,  being  punished  more   severely  than   the   other, 
though  their  case  was  the  same,  because  he  had  been  a 
favourite  with  the  late  emperor  Julian,  whose  memorable 
virtues   the  two  brothers  now   on   the   throne   joined   in 
disparaging,  though  they  were  neither  like  nor  equal  to 
him. 

9.  To  these  severities  other  grievances  of  greater  im- 
portance, and  more  to  be  dreaded  than  any  sufferings  in 
battle,  were  added.    For  the  executioner,  and  the  rack,  and 
bloody  modes  of  torture,  now  attacked  men  of  eveiy  rank, 
class,  or  fortune,  without  distinction.     Peace  seemed  as  a 
pretext  for  establishing  a  detestable  tribunal,  while  all  men 


A.U366.]  CRUELTY  OF  THE  EMPEROR.  433 

cursed  the  ill-omened  victory  that  had  been  gained  as 
worse  than  the  most  deadly  war. 

10.  For  amid  arms  and  trumpets  the  equality  of  every 
one's  chance  makes  danger  seem  lighter;  and  often  the 
might  of  martial  valour  obtains  what  it  aims  at ;  or  else 
a  sudden  death,  if  it  befalls  a  man,  is  attended  by  no  feel- 
ing of  ignominy,  but  brings  an  end  to  life  and  to  suffering 
at  the  same  time.     When,  however,  laws  and  statutes  are 
put  forth  as  pretexts  for  wicked  counsels,  and  judges,  affect- 
ing the  equity  of  Cato  or  Cassius,  sit  on  the  bench,  though 
in  fact  everything  is  done  at  the  discretion  of  over-arrogant 
power,  on  the  whim  of  which  every  man's  life  or  death 
depends,  the  mischief  is  fatal  and  incurable. 

11.  For  at  this  time  any  one  might  go  to  the  palace  on 
any  pretext,  and  if  he   were  inflamed  with  a  desire  of 
appropriating  the  goods  of  others,  though  the  person  he 
accused  might  be  notoriously  innocent,  he  was  received  by 
the  emperor  as  a  friend  to  be  trusted  and  deserving  to  be 
enriched  at  the  expense  of  others. 

12.  For  the  emperor  was  quick  to  inflict  injury,  always 
ready  to  listen  to  informers,  admitting  the  most  deadly 
accusations,  and  exulting  unrestrainedly  in  the  diversity  of 
punishments  devised  ;  ignorant  of  the  expression  of  Tully, 
which  teaches  us  that  those  men  are  unhappy  who  think 
themselves  privileged  to  do  everything. 

13.  This  implacability,  unworthy  of  a  just  cause,  and 
disgracing  his  victory,  exposed  many  innocent  men  to  the 
torturers,  crushing  them  beneath  the  rack,  or  slaying  them 
by  the  stroke  of  the  fierce  executioner.   Men  who,  if  nature 
had  permitted,  would  rather  have  lost  ten  lives  in  battle 
than  be  thus  tortured  while  guiltless  of  all  crime,  having 
their  estates  confiscated,  as  if  guilty  of  treason,  and  their 
bodies   mutilated  before  death,  which  is  the  most  bitter 
kind  of  death. 

14.  At  last,  when  his  ferocity  was  exhausted  by  his 
cruelties,  men  of  the  highest  rank  were  still  exposed  to 
proscription,  banishment,  and  other  punishments  which, 
though  severe,  appear  lighter  to  some  people.   And  in  order 
to  enrich  some  one  else,  men  of  noble  birth,  and  perhaps 
still  more  richly  endowed  with  virtues,  were  stripped  of 
their  patrimony  and  driven  into  exile,  where  they  were 
exhausted  with  misery,  perhaps  being  even  reduced  to 

2  F 


434  AMMIANOS   MARCELLINUS.  [Bic.  XX  VI.  CH.  x. 

subsist  by  beggary.  Nor  was  any  limit  put  to  the  cruelties 
which  were  inflicted  till  both  the  prince  and  those  about 
him  were  satiated  with  plunder  and  bloodshed. 

15.  While  the  usurper,  whose  various  acts  and  death  we 
have  been  relating,  was  still  alive,  on  the  21st  of  July,  in 
the  first  consulship  of  Valentinian  and  his  brother,  fearful 
dangers  suddenly  overspread  the  whole  world,  such  as  are 
related  in  no  ancient  fables  or  histories. 

16.  For  a  little  before  sunrise  there  was  a  terrible  earth- 
quake, preceded  by  incessant  and  furious  lightning.     The 
sea  was  driven  backwards,  so  as  to  recede  from  the  land, 
and  the  very  depths  were  uncovered,  so  that  many  marine 
animals  were  left  sticking  in  the  mud.     And  the  depths  of 
its  valleys  and  the  recesses  of  the  hills,  which  from  the 
very  first  origin  of  all  things  had  been  lying  beneath  the 
boundless  waters,  now  beheld  the  beams  of  the  sun. 

17.  Many  ships  were  stranded  on  the  dry  shore,  while 
people  straggling  about  the  shoal  water  picked  up  fishes 
and  things  of  that  kind  in  their  hands.    In  another  quarter 
the  waves,  as  if  raging  against  the  violence  with  which 
they  had  been  driven  back,  rose,  and  swelling  over  the 
boiling  shallows,  beat  upon  the  islands  and  the  extended 
coasts  of  the  mainland,  levelling  cities  and  houses  wherever 
they  encountered  them.     All  the  elements  were  in  furious 
discord,  and  the  whole  face  of  the  world  seemed  turned 
upside  down,  revealing  the  most  extraordinary  sights. 

1 8.  For  the  vast  waves  subsided  when  it  was  least  ex- 
pected, and  thus  drowned  many  thousand  men.      Even 
ships  were  swallowed  up  in  the  furious  currents  of  the 
returning  tide,  and  were  seen  to  sink  when  the  fury  of  the 
sea  was  exhausted ;  and  the  bodies  of  those  who  perished 
by  shipwreck  floated  about  on  their  backs  or  faces. 

1 9.  Other  vessels  of  great  size  were  driven  on  shore  by 
the  violence  of  the  wind,  and  cast  upon  the  housetops,  as 
happened  at  Alexandria;  and  some  were  even  driven  two 
miles  inland,  of  which  we  ourselves  saw  one  in  Laconia, 
near  the  town  of  Mothone,  which  was  lying  and  rotting 
where  it  had  been  driven. 


JLJ>.  367.]  435 


BOOK    XXVII. 

ARGUMENT. 

L  The  Allemanni  having  defeated  the  Romans,  put  the  counts  Chari- 
etto  and  Severianus  to  death. — II.  Jovinus,  the  commander  of  the 
cavalry  in  Gaul,  surprises  and  routs  two  divisions  of  the  Allemanni ; 
defeats  a  third  army  in  the  country  of  the  Cutalauui,  the  enemy 
losing  six  thousand  killed  and  four  thousand  wounded.  — 
III.  About  the  three  prefects  of  the  city,  Symmachus,  Lampadius, 
and  Juventius — The  quarrels  of  Damasus  and  Ursinus  about  the 
bishopric  of  Rome. — IV.  The  people  and  the  six  provinces  of 
Thrace  are  described,  and  the  chief  cities  in  each  province. — 
V.  The  emperor  Valens  attacks  the  Goths,  who  had  sent  Procopius' 
auxiliary  troops  to  be  employed  against  him,  and  after  three  years 
makes  peace  with  them. — VI.  Valentinian,  with  the  consent  of 
the  army,  makes  his  son  Gratian  emperor ;  and,  after  investing  the 
boy  with  the  purple,  exhorts  him  to  behave  bravely,  and  recom- 
mends him  to  the  soldiers. — VII.  The  passionate  temper,  ferocity, 
and  cruelty  of  the  emperor  Valentinian. — VIII.  Count  Theodosius 
defeats  the  Picts,  Attacotti,  and  Scots,  who  were  ravaging  Britain 
with  impunity,  after  having  slain  the  duke  and  count  of  that 
province,  and  makes  them  restore  their  plunder.  —  IX.  The 
Moorish  tribes  ravage  Africa — Valens  checks  the  predatory  incur- 
sions of  the  Isaurians — Concerning  the  office  of  city  prefect. — 

X.  The  emperor  Valentinian  crosses  the  Rhine,  and  in  a  battle, 
attended  with   heavy  loss  to  both  sides,  defeats  and  routs  the 
Allemanni,  who  had  taken  refuge  in  their  highest  mountains. — 

XI.  On  the  high  family,  wealth,  dignity,  and  character  of  Probus. 
— XII.  The  Romans  and  Persians  quarrel  about  the  possession  of 
Armenia  and  Iberia. 

I. 

A.D,  307. 

§  1.  WHILE  these  events  which  we  have  related  were  taking 
place  with  various  consequences  in  the  east,  the  Allemanni, 
after  the  many  disasters  and  defeats  which  they  had  received 
in  their  frequent  contests  with  the  emperor  Julian,  at 
length,  having  recruited  their  strength,  though  not  to  a 
degree  equal  to  their  former  condition,  for  the  reason  which 
has  been  already  set  forth,  crossed  the  frontier  of  Gaul  in 
formidable  numbers.  And  immediately  after  the  beginning 
of  the  year,  while  winter  was  still  in  its  greatest  severity 
in  those  frozen  districts,  a  vast  multitude  poured  forth  in  a 
solid  columnT  plundering  all  the  places  around  in  the  most 
licentious  manner. 


436  AMMIANUS   MARCELLIXUS.  [BK.  XXVIL  Co.  a. 

2.  Their  first  division  was  met  by  Charietto,   who  at 
that  time  had  the  authority  of  count  in  both  the  Gem  r»n 
provinces,  and  who  marched  against  them  with  his  mo*t 
active  troops,  having  with  him  as  a  colleague  count  Severi- 
anus,  a  man  of  great  age  and  feeble  health,  who  had  tho 
legions  Divitensis  and  Tungricana  under   his  command, 
near  Cabillonum  (Chalons).1 

3.  Then  having  formed  the  whole  force  into  one  solid 
body,  and  having  with  great  rapidity  thrown  a  bridge  over 
a  small  stream,  the  Eomans  assailed  the  barbarians  from  a 
distance  with  arrows  and  light  javelins,  which  they  shot 
back  at  us  with  great  vigour. 

4.  But  when  the  battalions  met  and  fought  with  drawn 
swords,  our  line  was  shaken  by  the  vehement  onset  of  the 
enemy,  and  could  neither  resist  nor  do  any  valorous  deeds 
by  way  of  attack,  but  were  all  put  to  flight  as  soon  as  they 
saw  Severianus  struck  down  from  his  horse  and  severely 
wounded  by  an  arrow. 

5.  Charietto,  too,  while  labouring  by  the  exposure  of  his 
own  person,  and  with  bitter  reproaches,  to  encourage  his 
men,  who  were  giving  way,  and  while  by  the  gallantry 
with  which  he  maintained  his  own  position  he  strove  to 
efface  the  disgrace  they  were  incurring,  was  slain  by  a 
mortal  wound  from  a  javelin. 

6.  And  after  his  death  the  standard  of  the  Eruli  and  of 
the  Batavi  was  lost,  and  the  barbarians  raised  it  on  high, 
insulting  it,  dancing  round  it,  but  after  a  fierce  struggle 
it  was  recovered. 

II. 

A.D.  367. 

§  1.  THE  news  of  this  disaster  was  received  with  great 
sorrow,  and  Dagalaiphus  was  sent  from  Paris  to  restore 
affairs  to  order.  But  as  he  delayed  some  time,  and  made 
excuses,  alleging  that  he  was  unable  to  attack  the  bar- 
barians, who  were  dispersed  over  various  districts,  and  as 
he  was  soon  after  sent  for  to  receive  the  consulship  with 
Gratian,  who  was  still  only  a  private  individual,  Jovinus 
was  appointed  commander  of  the  cavalry  :  and  he  being  well 
provided  and  fully  prepared,  attacked  the  fortress  of  Chur- 

1  Cabillonum  is  Chalons-sur-Soane,  in  Burgundy  ;  Catalauni  is  Chft- 
loiLs-sur-Marae,  in  Champagne. 


1.0.  367.]  VIGOUR  OF  JOVINUS.  437 

peigne,  protecting  both  his  wings  and  flanks  with  great 
care.  And  at  this  place  he  fell  on  the  barbarians  un- 
expectedly, before  they  could  arm  themselves,  and  in  a 
very  short  time  utterly  destroyed  them. 

2.  Then  leading  on  the  soldiers  while  exulting  in  the 
glory  of  this  easy  victory,  to  defeat  the  other  divisions, 
and  advancing  slowly,  he  learnt  from  the  faithful  report  of 
his  scouts  that  a  band  of  ravagers,  after  having  plundered 
the  villages  around,  were  resting  on  the  bank  of  the  river. 
And  as  he  approached,  while  his  army  was  concealed  by 
the  lowness  of  the  ground  and  the  thickness  of  the  trees, 
he  saw  some  of  them  bathing,  some  adorning  their  hair 
after  their  fashion,  and  some  carousing. 

3.  And  seizing  this    favourable    opportunity,   he   sud- 
denly bade  the  trumpet  give  the  signal,  and  burst  into  the 
camp  of  the  marauders.     On  the  other  hand,  the  Germans 
could  do  nothing  but  pour  forth  useless  threats  and  shouts, 
not  being  allowed  time  to  collect  their   scattered  arms, 
or  to   form   in  any  strength,   so   vigorously  -were   they 
pressed  by  the  conquerors.     Thus  numbers  of  them  fell 
pierced  with  javelins  and  swords,  and  many  took  to  flight, 
and  were  saved  by  the  winding  and  narrow  paths. 

4.  After  this  success,  which  was  won  by  valour  and  good 
fortune,  Jovinus  struck  his  camp  without  delay,  and  led 
on  his  soldiers  with  increased  confidence  (sending  out  a 
body  of  careful  scouts  in  advance)  against  the  third  division. 
And  arriving  at  CMlons  by  forced  marches,  he  there  formed 
the  whole  body  ready  for  battle. 

5.  And  having  constructed  a  rampart  with  seasonable 
haste,  and  refreshed  his  men  with  food  and  sleep  as  well 
as  the  time  permitted,  at  daybreak  he  arranged  his  army 
in   an    open    plain,    extending    his   line  with    admirable 
skill,   in  order  that  by  occupying  an  extensive  space  of 
ground  the  Romans  might  appear  to  be  equal  in  number  to 
the  enemy :  being  in  fact  inferior  in  that  respect  though 
equal  in  strength. 

6.  Accordingly,  when  the  trumpet  gave  the  signal  and 
the  battle  began  to  rage  at  close  quarters,  the  Germans 
stood  amazed,  alarmed  at  the  well-known  appearance  of 
the  shining  standards.     But  though  they  were  checked  for 
a  moment,  they  presently  recovered  themselves,  and  the 
conflict  was  protracted  till  the  close  of  the  day,  when  our 


438  AMMIANUS   MARCELL1NUS.  [Bit.  XXVJJ.  Cn.  n. 

valorous  troops  would  have  reaped  the  fruit  of  their 
gallantly  without  any  loss  if  it  had  not  been  for  Balcho- 
baudes,  a  tribune  of  the  legions,  who  being  as  sluggish  as 
he  was  boastful,  at  the  approach  of  evening  retreated  in 
disorder  to  the  camp.  And  if  the  rest  of  the  cohorts  had 
followed  his  example  and  had  also  retired,  the  aifair  would 
have  turned  out  so  ruinous  that  not  one  of  our  men  would 
have  been  left  alive  to  tell  what  had  happened. 

7.  But  our  soldiers,  persisting  with  energy  and  courage, 
showed  such  a  superiority  in  personal  strength  that  they 
wounded  four  thousand  of  the  enemy  and  slew  six  thousand, 
while  they  did  not  themselves  lose  more  than  twelve  hun- 
dred killed  and  two  hundred  wounded. 

8.  At  the  approach  of  night  the  battle  terminated,  and 
our  weary  men  having  recruited  their  strength,  a   little 
before  dawn  our  skilful  general  led  forth  his  army  in  a 
square,  and  found  that  the  barbarians  had  availed  them- 
selves of  the  darkness  to  escape.    And  having  no  fear  there 
of  ambuscade,  he  pursued  them  over  the  open  plain,  tramp- 
ling on  ihe  dying  and  the  dead,  many  of  whom  had  perished 
from  the  effect  of  the  severity  of  the  cold  on  their  wounds. 

0.  After  he  had  advanced  some  way  further,  without 
finding  any  of  the  enemy  he  returned,  and  then  he  learnt 
1hat  the  king  of  the  hostile  army  had  been  taken  prisoner, 
with  a  few  followers,  by  the  Ascarii,1  whom  he  himself  had 
sent  by  another  road  to  plunder  the  tents  of  the  Allemanni, 
and  they  had  hanged  him.  But  the  general  being  angry 
at  this,  ordered  the  punishment  of  the  tribtine  who  had 
ventured  on  such  an  act  without  consulting  his  superior 
officer,  and  he  would  have  condemned  him  if  he  had  not 
been  able  to  establish  by  manifest  proof  that  the  atrocious 
act  had  been  committed  by  the  violent  impulse  of  the 
soldiers. 

10.  After  this,  when  he  returned  to  Paris  with  the  glory 
of  this  success,  the  emperor  met  him  with  joy,  and  appointed 
him  to  be  consul  the  next  year,  being  additionally  rejoiced 
because  at  the  very  same  time   he  received  the  head  of 
Procopius,  which  had  been  sent  to  him  \>y  Valens. 

11.  Besides  these  events,  many  other  battles  of  inferior 

1  These  seem  to  have  been  a  tribe  of  the  Batavi ;  but  some  editors 
give,  as  a  various  reading,  Hastarii,  which  may  be  translated,  a  detach- 
ment of  lancers. 


A.D.  367.]  CHARACTER   OF    SYMMACHUS.  430 

interest  and  importance  took  place  in  Gaul,  which  it  would 
be  superfluous  to  recount,  since  they  brought  no  result* 
worth  mentioning,  and  it  is  not  fit  to  spin  out  history  with 
petty  details. 

III. 

§  1.  AT  this  time,  or  a  little  before,  a  new  kind  of  prodigy 
appeared  in  the  corn  district  of  Tuscany ;  those  who  were 
skilful  in  interpreting  such  things  being  wholly  ignorant 
of  what  it  portended.  For  in  the  town  of  Pistoja,  at 
about  the  third  hour  of  the  day,  in  the  sight  of  many 
persons,  an  ass  mounted  the  tribunal,  where  he  was  heard 
to  bray  loudly.  All  the  bystanders  were  amazed,  as  were 
all  those  who  heard  of  the  occurrence  from  the  report  of 
others,  as  no  one  could  conjecture  what  was  to  happen. 

2.  But  soon  afterwards  the  events  showed  what  was  por- 
tended, for  a  man  of  the  name  of  Terence,  a  person  of  low 
birth  and  a  baker  by  trade,  as  a  reward  for  having  given 
information  against  Orsitus,  who  had  formerly  been  pre- 
fect, which  led  to  his  being  convicted  of  peculation,  was 
intrusted  with  the  government  of  this  same  province.   And 
becoming  elated  and  confident,  he  threw  aftairs  into  great 
disorder,  till  he  was  convicted  of  fraud  on  transactions 
relating  to  some  ship-masters,  as  was  reported,  and  wras 
executed  while  Claudius  was  prefect  of  Rome. 

3.  But  some   time   before   this   happened   Symmachus 
succeeded   Apronianus ;    a   man    deserving  to   be  named 
among  the  most  eminent   examples  of  learning  aiid  mo- 
deration ;   under  whose  government  the  most  sacred  city 
enjoyed  peace  and  plenty  in  an  unusual  degree ;    being 
also  adorned  with  a  magnificent  and  solid  bridge  which  he 
constructed,  and  opened  amid  the  great  joy  of  his  un- 
grateful fellow-citizens,  as  the  result  very  plainly  showed. 

4.  For  they  some  years  afterwards  burnt  his  beautiful 
house   on   the   other   side   of    the   Tiber,  being   enraged 
because   some  worthless   plebeian  had  invented   a  story, 
which  there  was  no  evidence  or  witness  to  support,  that 
1-e  had  said  that  he  would  prefer  putting  out  the  limekilns 
with  nig  own  wine,  to  selling  the  lime  at  the  price  expected 
of  him. 


440  AMM1ANUS    MARCKLL1NUS.          tBtXXVlJ.Oi.nl. 

5.  After  him  the  prefect  of  the  city  was  Lampadius,  who 
had  been  prefect  of  the  praetorium,  a  man  of  such  bound- 
less arrogance,  that  he  grew  very  indignant  if  he  were  not 
praised  even  when  he  spat,  as  if  he  did  that  with  more 
grace  than  any  one  else ;  but  still  a  man  of  justice,  virtue, 
and  economy. 

6.  When  as  praetor  he  was  celebrating  some  splendid 
games,  and  giving  abundant  largesses,  being  unable  to 
bear  the  tumult  of  the  populace,  which  was  often  urgent 
to  have  gifts  distributed  to  those  who  were  unworthy,  in 
order  to  show  his  liberality  and  his  contempt  for  the 
multitude,  he  sent  for  a  crowd  of  beggars  from  the  Vatican, 
and  enriched  them  with  great  presents. 

7.  But,  not  to  digress  too  much,  it  will  be  sufficient  to 
record  one  instance  of  his  vanity,  which,  though  of  no 
great  importance,  may  serve  as  a  warning  to  judges.     In 
every  quarter  of  the  city  which  had  been  adorned  at  the 
expense  of  different  emperors  he  inscribed  his  own  name, 
and  that,  not  as  if  he  were  the  restorer  of  old  works,  but 
their  founder.    This  same  fault  is  said  to  have  characterized 
the  emperor  Trajan,  from  which  the  people  in  jest  named 
him  "  The  Pellitory  of  the  wall." 

8.  While  he  was  prefect  he  was  disturbed  by  frequent 
commotions,  the  most  formidable  being  when  a  vast  mob 
of  the  lowest  of  the  people  collected,  and  with  firebrands 
and  torches  would  have  burnt  his  house  near  the  baths  of 
Constantino,  if  they  had  not  been  driven  away  by  the 
prompt  assistance   of  his  friends  and  neighbours,   who 
pelted  them  with  stones  and  tiles  from  the  tops  of  the 
houses. 

9.  And  he  himself,  being  alarmed  at  a  sedition,  which 
on  this   occasion  had  become   so  violent,   retired  to   the 
Mulvian  bridge  (which  the  elder  Scaurus  is  said  to  have 
built),  and  waited  there  till  the  discontent  subsided,  which 
indeed  had  been  excited  by  a  substantial  grievance. 

10.  For  when  he  began  to  construct  some  new  buildings, 
he  ordered  the  cost  to  be  defrayed,  not  from  the  customary 
s<  nirces  of  revenue,  but  if  iron,  or  lead,  or  copper,  or  any- 
thing of  that  kind  was  required,  he  sent  officers  who,  pre- 
tending to  try  the  different  articles,  did  in  fact  seize  them 
without  paying  any  price  for  them.     This  so  enraged  the 
poor,  since  they  suffered  repeated  losses  from  such  a 


A.D.  367.]  CONDITION  OF   ROME.  44t 

tice,  that  it  was  all  he  could  do  to  escape  from  them  by  a 
rapid  retreat. 

11.  His  successor  had  formerly  been  a  quaestor  of  the 
palace,  his  name  was  Juventius,  a  man  of  integrity  and 
prudence,  a  Pannonian  by  birth.     His  administration  was 
tranquil  and  undisturbed,  and  the  people  enjoyed  plenty 
under  it.      Yet  he  also  was   alarmed  by  fierce  seditions 
raised  by  the  discontented  populace,  which  arose  from  the 
following  occurrence. 

12.  Damasus  and  Ursinus,  being  both  immoderately  eager 
to  obtain  the  bishopric,  formed  parties  and  carried  on  the 
conflict  with  great  asperity,  the  partisans  of  each  carrying 
their  violence  to  actual  battle,  in  which  men  were  wounded 
and  killed.     And  as  Juventius  was  unable  to  put  an  end 
to,  or  even  to  soften  these  disorders,  he  was  at  last  by  their 
violence  compelled  to  withdraw  to  the  suburbs. 

13.  Ultimately  Damasus  got  the  best  of  the  strife  by  the 
strenuous  efforts  of  his  partisans.    It  is  certain  that  on  one 
day  one  hundred  and  thirty-seven  dead  bodies  were  found 
in  the  Basilica  of  Sicininus,  which  is  a  Christian  church.1 
And  the  populace  who  had  been  thus  roused  to  a  state  of 
ferocity  were  with  great  difficulty  restored  to  order. 

14.  I  do  not  deny,  when  I  consider  the  ostentation  that 
reigns  at  Rome,  that  those  who   desire   such  rank   and 
power  may  be  justified  in  labouring  with  all  possible  exer- 
tion and  vehemence  to  obtain  their  wishes  ;  since  after  they 
have  succeeded,  they  will  be  secure  for  the  future,  being 
enriched  by  offerings  from  matrons,  riding  in  carriages, 
dressing  splendidly,  and  feasting  luxuriously,  so  that  their 
entertainments  surpass  even  royal  banquets. 

15.  And  they  might  be  really  happy  if,  despising  the 
vastness  of  the  city,  which  they  excite  against  themselves 
by  their  vices,  they  were  to  live  in  imitation  of  some  of 
the  priests  in  the  provinces,  whom  the  most  rigid  absti- 
nence in  eating  and  drinking,  and  plainness  of  apparel, 
and  eyes  always  east  on  the  ground,  recommend  to  the 
everlasting  Deity  and  his  true  worshippers  as  pure  and 
sober-minded  men.     This  is  a  sufficient  digression  on  this 
subject :  let  us  now  return  to  our  narrative. 

1  Probably  the  church  of  Santa  Maria  Maggiore ;  but  Bee  note  in 
Gibbon,  ch.  xxv.  (vol.  iii.  p.  91,  Bohn). 


442  AMMIANUS  MARCELLIXCS.          [BK.  XXT1L  On.  If 


IV. 

§  1.  WHILE  the  erents  above  mentioned  were  taking  place 
in  Gaul  and  Italy,  a  new  campaign  was  being  prepared  ia 
Thrace.  For  Valens,  acting  on  the  decision  of  his  brother, 
by  whose  will  he  was  entirely  governed,  marched  against 
the  Goths,  having  a  just  caxise  of  complaint  against  thota. 
because  at  the  beginning  of  the  late  civil  war  they  had 
sent  assistance  to  Procopius.  It  will  here  be  desirable  to 
say  a  few  words  of  the  origin  of  this  people,  and  the  situation 
of  their  country. 

2.  The  description  of  Thrace  would  be  easy  if  the  pens 
of  ancient  authors   agreed   on  the  subject ;    but  as   the 
obscurity   and  variety  of  their  accounts  is  of  but  little 
assistance  to  a  work  which  professes  to  tell  the  truth,  it 
will  be  sufficient  for  us  to  record  what  we  remember  to 
have  seen  ourselves. 

3.  The  undying  authority  of  Homer   informs   us  that 
these  countries  were  formerly  extended  over  an  immense 
space  of  tranquil  plains  and  high  rising  grounds ;    since 
that  poet  represents  both  the  north  and  the  west,  wind  as 
blowing  from  1  hence  -,1  a  statement  which  is  either  fabu- 
lous, or  else  which  shows  that  the  extensive  district  in- 
habited by  all  those  savage  tribes  was  formerly  included 
under  the  single  name  of  Thrace. 

4.  Part  of  this  region  was  inhabited  by  the  Scordisci, 
who  now  live  at  a  great  distance  from  these  provinces  ;  a 
race  formerly  savage  and  uncivilized,  as  ancient  history 
proves,  sacrificing  their  prisoners  to  Bellona  and  Mara,, 
and  drinking  with  eagerness  human  blood  out  of  skulls. 
Their  ferocity  engaged  the  Eoman  republic  in  many  wars ; 

1  See  Iliad,  ix.  5  :— 

BopfTjj  Ka.\  £f<pvpos  rwrt  QphKyQw  Hyrov 
'EAtctT1  jfoirii'Tjj. 
Thus  translated  by  Pope  :— 

"  As  from  its  cloudy  dungeon,  issuing  forth 
A  double  tempest  of  the  west  and  north 
Swells  o'er  the  sea  from  Thracia's  frozen  shore, 
Heaps  waves  on  waves,  arid  bids  th'  ^Egean  roai. ' 


».».  36?.]  DESCIU1T10M    OF    THRAGE.  443 

and  on  one  occasion  led  to  the  destruction  of  an  entire  army 
with  its  general.1 

5.  But  we  see  that  the  country  now,  the  district  being  in 
the  form  of  a  crescent,  resembles  a  splendid  theatre  ;  it  is 
bounded  on  the  west  by  mountains,  on  the  abrupt  summit 
of  which  are  the  thickly  wooded  passes  of  the  Succi,  which 
separate  Thrace  from  Dacia. 

6.  On   the   left,  or   northern  side,  the  heights  of  the 
Balkan  form  the  boundary,  as  in  one  part  does  the  Danube 
also,  where  it  touches  the  Koman  territory :  a  river  with 
many  cities,  fortresses,  and  castles  on  its  banks. 

7.  On  the  right,  or  southern  side,  lies  Mount  Khodope  : 
on  the   east,   the  country  is  bounded  by  a  strait,  which 
becomes  more  rapid  from  being  swollen  by  the  waters  of 
the   Euxine   sea,    and   proceeds   onwards   with    its   tides 
towards  the  2Egean,  separating  the  continents  of  Europe 
and  Asia  by  a  narrow  space. 

8.  At  a  confined  corner  on  the  eastward  it  joins  the 
frontier  of  Macedonia  by  a  strait  and    precipitous  defile 
named   Acontisma ;    near   to  which    are  the   valley   and 
station   of  Arethusa,    where   one   may  see   the    tomb   of 
Euripides,  illustrious  for  his  sublime  tragedies;  and  Stagira, 
where  we  are  told  that  Aristotle,  who  as  Cicero  says  pours 
from  his  mouth  a  golden  stream,  was  born. 

9.  In  ancient  times,  tribes  of  barbarians  occivpied  these 
countries,    differing    from    each    other    in    customs    and 
language.      The    most   formidable    of  which,   from   their 
exceeding  ferocity,  were  the  Odrysseans,  men  so  accustomed 
to  shed  human  blood,  that  when  they  could  not  find  enemies 
enoiigh,  they  would,  at  their  feasts,  when  they  had  eaten 
and  drunk  to  satiety,  stab  their  own  bodies  as  if  they  bo- 
longed  to  others. 

10.  But   as   the   republic   grew  in   strength  while  the 
authority  of  the  consular  form   of  government  prevailed, 
Marcus  Didius,  with   great  perseverance,   attacked  these 
tribes  which  had  previously  been  deemed  invincible,  and 
had  roved  about  without  any  regard  either  to  divine  or 
human  laws.    Diusus  compelled  them  to  confine  themselves 

1  The  contents  of  the  sixty-third  book  of  Livy  record  that  C.  Porcina 
Cato  lost  his  whole  army  in  a  campaign  against  the  Scordici,  who  wero 
•e  Pannonian  tribe  ;  but  neither  Livy  nor  any  other  writer,  excepi 
Ajnmianus,  mentions  that  Cato  himself  was  killed. 


444  AMMIA.NUS   MARCELLINUS.  [BK.  XXVll.  Ca.  IT 

to  their  own  territories  ;  Minucius  defeated  them  in  a 
great  battle  on  the  river  Maritza,  which  flows  down  from 
the  lofty  mountains  of  the  Odrysaeans ;  and  after  those 
exploits,  the  rest  of  the  tribes  were  almost  destroyed  in  a 
terrible  battle  by  Appius  Claudius  the  proconsiil.  Ani 
the  Roman  fleets  made  themselves  masters  of  the  towns  on 
the  Bosporus,  and  on  the  coast  of  the  Sea  of  Marmora. 

11.  After  these  generals  came  Lucullus ;  who  was  tho 
first  of  all  our  commanders  who  fought  with  the  warlike 
nation  of  the  Bessi :  and  with  similar  vigour  he  crushed 
the  mountaineers  of  the  district  of  the  Balkan,  in  spite  of 
their  obstinate  resistance.      And   while  he  was   in  that 
country  the  whole  of  Thrace  was  brought  under  the  power 
of  our  ancestors,  and  in  this  way,  after  many  doubtful 
campaigns,  six  provinces  were  added  to  the  republic. 

12.  Of  these  provinces  the  first  one  comes  to,  that  which 
borders  on  the  lllyrians,  is  called  by  the  especial  name  of 
Thrace  ;  its  chief  cities  are  Philippopolis,  the  ancient  Eu- 
molpias,  and  Berasa ;  both  splendid  cities.     Next  to  this 
the  province  of  the  Balkan  boasts  of  Hadrianople,  which 
used  to  be  called  Uscudama,  and  Anchialos,  both  great 
cities.     Next  comes  Mysia,  in  which  is  Marcianopolis,  so 
named  from  the  sister  of  the  emperor  Trajan,  also  Doros- 
torus,  and  Nicopolis,  Odyssus. 

13.  Next  comes  Scythia,  in  which  the  chief  towns  are 
Dionysiopolis,  Tomis,    and   Calatis.       The  last  of  all  is 
Europa;    which  besides  many  municipal  towns  has  two 
principal  cities,  Apri  and  Perinthus,  which  in  later  times 
has  received  tho  name  of  Heraclea.     Beyond  this  is  Rho- 
dope,  in  which  are  the  cities  of  Maximianopolis,  Maronea, 
and   ,<Enus,   after  founding   and    leaving    which,    it  was 
thought  ^Eneas  proceeded,   onwards  to   Italy,  of  which, 
after  long  wanderings,  he  became  master,  expecting  by 
the  auspices  to  enjoy  there  perpetual  prosperity. 

14.  But  it  is  certain,  as  the  invariable  accounts  of  all 
writers  represent,  that  these  tribes  were  nearly  all  agri- 
cultural, and,  that  living  on  the  high  mountains  in  these 
regions  above  mentioned,  they  are  superior  to  us  in  health, 
vigour,  and  length   of  life ;    and  they  believe   that  this 
superiority  arises  from  the  fact,  that  in  their  food  they  for 
the  most  part  abstain  from  all  that  is  hot ;  also  that  the 
constant  dews  besprinkle  their  persons  with  a  cold  and 


»J).367.]  SEVERITY   OF   VOLENS.  44£ 

Dracing  moisture,  and  that  they  enjoy  the  freshness  of  a 
purer  atmosphere  ;  and  that  they  are  the  first  of  all  trihes 
to  feel  the  rays  of  the  morning  sun,  which  are  instinct  with 
life,  before  they  become  tainted  with  any  of  the  foulness 
arising  from  human  things.  Having  discussed  this  matter 
let  us  now  return  to  our  original  narrative. 

V. 

§  1.  After  Procopius  had  been  overpowered  in  Phrygia,  and 
all  material  for  domestic  discords  had  thus  been  removed, 
Victor,  the  commander  of  the  cavalry,  was  sent  to  the  Goths 
to  inquire,  without  disguise,  why  a  nation  friendly  to  the 
Romans,  and  bound  to  it  by  treaties  of  equitable  peace, 
had  given  the  support  of  its  arms  to  a  man  who  was 
waging  war  against  their  lawful  emperor.  And  they, 
to  excuse  their  conduct  by  a  valid  defence,  produced 
the  letters  from  the  above-mentioned  Procopius,  in  which 
he  alleged  that  he  had  assumed  the  sovereignty  as  his  due, 
as  the  nearest  relation  to  Constantine's  family ;  and  they 
asserted  that  this  was  a  fair  excuse  for  their  error. 

2.  When  Victor    reported  this    allegation    of   theirs, 
Valens   disregarding   it  as   a   frivolous   excuse,   marched 
against  them,  they  having  already  got  information  of  his 
approach.     And  at  the  beginning  of  spring  he  assembled 
his  army  in  a  great  body,  and  pitched  his  camp  near  a  for- 
tress named  Daphne,  where  having  made  a  bridge  of  boats 
he  crossed  the  Danube  without  meeting  any  resistance. 

3.  And  being  now  full  of  elation  and  confidence,  as 
while  traversing  the  country  in  every  direction  he  met 
with  no  enemy  to  be  either  defeated  or  even  alarmed  by 
his  advance;    they   having  all   been  so  terrified  at  the 
approach  of  so  formidable  a  host,  that  they  had  fled  to  the 
high  mountains  of  the  Serri,  which  were  inaccessible  to  all 
except  those  who  knew  the  country. 

4.  Therefore,  that  he  might  not  waste  the  whole  summer, 
and  return   without  having   effected    anything,  he  sent 
forward  Arinthseus,  the  captain  of  the  infantry,  with  some 
light  forces,  who  seized  on  a  portion  of  their  families, 
which  were  overtaken  as  they  were  wandering  over  the 
plains  before  coming  to  the  steep  and  winding  defiles  of 
the  mountains.    And  having  obtained  this  advantage,  which 
chance  put  in  his  way,  he  returned  with  his  men  without 


446  AMMIANUS   MAKCKLLIXUS.  [Bs.  XXVU.  CH.  v. 

having  suffered  any  loss,  and  indeed  without  having  in- 
flicted any. 

5.  The  next  year  he  attempted  with  equal  vigour  again 
to  invade  the  country  of  the  enemy ;  hut  being  checked  in 
his   advance   by  the   inundations   of  the   Danube,  which 
covered  a  wide  extent  of  country,  he  remained  near  the 
town  of  Capri,  where  he  pitched  a  camp  in  which  he  re- 
mained till  the  autumn.     And  from  thence,  as  he  was  pre- 
vented from  undertaking  any  operations  on  account  of  the 
magnitude  of  the  floods,  lie  retired  to  Marcianopolis  into 
winter  quarters. 

6.  With  similar  perseverance  he  again  invaded  the  land 
of  the  barbarians  a  third  year,  having  crossed  the  river  by 
a  bridge  of  boats  at  Nivors ;    and  by  a  rapid  march  ho 
attacked  the  Gruthungi,  a  warlike  and  very  remote  tribe, 
and  after  some  trivial  skirmishes,  he  defeated  Athanaric, 
at  that  time  the   most  powerful  man  of  the   tribe,  who 
dared  to   resist  him  with  what   he   fancied  an    adequate 
force,  but  was  compelled  to  flee  for  his  life.     And  then 
he  returned   himself  with  his   army  to  Marcianopolis  to 
spend  the  winter  there,  as  the  cold  was  but  slight  in  that 
district. 

7.  After  many  various  events  in  the  campaigns  of  three 
years,  there  arose  at  last  some  very  strong  reasons  in  the 
minds  of  the  barbarians  for  terminating  the  war.     In  the 
first  place,  because  the  fear  of  the  enemy  was  increased  by 
the  continued  stay  made  by  the  emperor  in  that  country. 
Secondly,  because  as  all  their  commerce  was  cut  off  they 
began  to  feel  great  want  of  necessaries.     So  that  they  sent 
several  embassies  with  submissive  entreaties  for  pardon 
and  peace. 

8.  The  emperor  was  as  yet  inexperienced,  but  still  he 
was  a  very  just  observer  of  events,  till  having  been  cap- 
tivated by  the  pernicious  allurements  of  flattery,  he  subse- 
quently involved  the  republic  in   an  ever-to-be-lamented 
disaster ;  and  now  taking  counsel  for  the  common  good,  he 
determined  that  it  was  right  to  grant  them  peace. 

9.  And  in  his  turn  he  sent  to  them  Victor  and  Arinthfeus, 
who  at  that  time  were  the  commanders  of  his  infantry  and 
cavalry  :  and  when  they  sent  him  letters  truly  stating  that 
the  Goths  were  willing  to  agree  to  the  conditions  which 
they  had  proposed,  ne  appointed  a  suitable  place  for  finally 


A.D.  387.1  ILLNESS   OF   VALKXT1NIAN.  447 

settling  the  terms  of  the  peace.  And  since  Athanaric 
alleged  that  he  was  bound  by  a  most  dreadful  oath,  and 
also  forbidden  by  the  strict  commands  of  his  father  ever  to 
set  foot  on  the  Roman  territory,  and  as  he  could  not  be 
brought  to  do  so,  while,  on  the  other  hand,  it  would  be 
unbecoming  and  degrading  for  the  emperor  to  cross  over 
to  him,  it  was  decided  by  negotiation  that  some  boats 
should  be  rowed  into  the  middle  of  the  river,  on  which  the 
emperor  should  embark  with  an  armed  guard,  and  that 
there  also  the  chief  of  the  enemy  should  meet  him  with 
his  people,  and  conclude  a  peace  as  had  been  arranged. 

10.  \Vhen  this  had  been  arranged,  and  hostages  had 
been  given,  Valens  returned  to  Constantinople,  whither 
afterwards  Athanaric  fled,  when  he  was  driven  from  his 
native  land  by  a  faction  among  his  kinsmen ;  and  he  died 
in  that  city,  and  was  buried  with  splendid  ceremony  ac- 
cording to  the  Eoman  fashion. 

VI. 

§  1.  In  the  mean  time,  Valentinian  being  attacked  with  a 
violent  sickness  and  at  the  point  of  death,  at  a  secret 
entertainment  of  the  Gauls  who  were  present  in  the 
emperor's  army,  Eusticus  Julianus,  at  that  time  master 
of  the  records,  was  proposed  as  the  future  emperor  ;  a  man 
as  greedy  of  human  blood  as  a  wild  beast,  seeming  to  be 
smitten  with  some  frenzy,  as  had  been  shown  while  govern- 
ing Africa  as  proconsul. 

2.  For  in  his  prefecture  of  the  city,  a  post  which  he  was 
filling  when  he  died,  fearing  a  change  in  the  tyranny 
through  the  exercise  of  which  he,  as  if  in  a  dearth  of  worthy 
men,  had  been  raised  to  that  dignity,  he  was  compelled  to 
appear  more  gentle  and  merciful. 

.  3.  Against  his  partisans  others  with  higher  aims  were 
exerting  themselves  in  favour  of  Severus,  who  at  that  time 
was  captain  of  the  infantry,  as  a  man  very  fit  for  such  a 
dignity,  who,  although  rough  and  unpopular,  seemed  yet 
more  tolerable  than  the  other,  and  worthy  of  being  pre- 
ferred to  him  by  any  means  that  could  be  devised. 

4.  But  all  these  plans  were  formed  to  no  purpose  ;  for  in 
the  mean  time,  the  emperor,  through  the  variety  of  remedies 
applied,  recovered,  and  would  scarcely  boliovo  thtit  hit; 


448  AMMIANUS   MARCELLINUS.          [B*.  XXVII.  CH.  VI 

life  had  been  saved  with  difficulty.  And  he  proposed 
to  invest  his  son  Gratian,  who  was  now  on  the  point 
of  arriving  at  manhood,  with  the  ensigns  of  the  imperial 
authority. 

5.  And  when  everything  was  prepared,  and  the  consent 
of  the  ooldiers  secured,  in  order  that  all  men  might  willingly 
accept  the  new  emperor,  immediately  upon  the  arrival  of 
Gratian,  Valentinian  advancing  into  the  open  space,  mounted 
the  tribune,  and  surrounded  by  a  splendid  circle  of  nobles 
and  princes,  and  holding  the  boy  by  his  right  hand,  showed 
him  to  them  all,  and  in  the  following  formal  harangue  re- 
commended their  intended  sovereign  to  the  army. 

6.  "  This  imperial  robe  which  I  wear  is  a  happy  indica- 
tion of  your  good  will  towards  me  when  you  adjudged  me 
superior  to  many  illustrious  men.     Now,  with  you  as  the 
partners  of  my  counsels  and  the  favourers  of  my  wishes,  I 
will  proceed  to  a  seasonable  work  of  affection,  relying  on 
the  protecting  promises  of  God,  to  whose  eternal  assistance 
it  is  owing  that  the  Roman  state  stands  and  ever  shall  stand 
unshaken. 

7.  "  Listen,  I  beseech  you,  0  most  gallant  men,  with 
willing    minds    to    my    desire,   recollecting    that    thet^e 
things  which  the  laws  of  natural  affection  sanction,  we 
have  in  this  instance  not  only  wished  to  accompli^  with 
your  perfect  cognizance,  but  we  have  also  desired  to  have 
them  confirmed  by  you  as  what  is  proper  for  us  ami  likely 
to  prove  beneficial. 

8.  This,  my  grown-up  son  Gratian,  to  whom  all  of  you 
bear  affection  as  a  common  pledge,  who  has  long  lived 
among  your  own  children,  I  am,  for  the  sake  of  securing 
the  public  tranquillity  on  all  sides,  about  to  take  as  my 
colleague  in  the  imperial  authority,  if  the  propitious  will 
of  the  ruler  of  heaven  and  of  your  dignity,  shall  co-operata 
with  a  parent's  affection.     He  has  not  been  trained  by  a 
rigid  education  from  his  very  cradle  as  we  ourselves  have ; 
nor  has  he  been  equally  taught  to  endure  hardships  ;  nor  is 
be  as  yet,  as  you  see,  able  to  endure  the  toils  of  war ;  but 
in  his  disposition  he  is  not  unworthy  of  the  glorious  repu- 
tation of  his  family,  or  the  mighty  deeds  of  his  ancestor*, 
and,  I  venture  to  say,  he  is  likely  to  grow  up  equal  to  still 
greater  actions. 

9.  "  For  as  I  often  think  when  contemplating,  uu  I  a  n 


*.D  367  J  SPEECH    OF    VALENTINIAN.  449 

wont  to  do,  his  manners  and  passions  though  not  yet  come 
to  maturity,  he  is  so  furnished  with  the  liberal  sciences, 
and  in  all  accomplishments  and  graces,  that  even  now, 
while  only  entering  on  manhood,  he  will  be  able  to  form 
an  accurate  judgment  of  virtuous  and  vicious  actions.  He 
will  so  conduct  himself  that  virtuous  men  may  see  that 
they  are  appreciated ;  he  will  be  eager  in  the  performance 
of  noble  actions ;  he  will  never  desert  the  military  standards 
and  eagles ;  he  will  cheerfully  bear  heat,  snow,  frost,  and 
thirst ;  he  will,  if  necessity  should  arise,  never  shrink  from 
fighting  in  defence  of  his  country  ;  he  will  expose  his  life  to 
save  his  comrades  from  danger,  and  (and  this  is  the  highest 
and  greatest  work  of  piety)  he  will  love  the  republic  as  his 
own  paternal  and  ancestral  home." 

10.  Before  he  had   finished  his  speech,  every  soldier 
hastened  to  anticipate  his  comrades  as  well  as  his  position 
permitted  him,  in  showing  that  these  words  of  the  em- 
peror met  with  their  cheerful  assent.      And  so,  as  par- 
takers in  his  joy,  and  as  convinced  of  ihe  advantage  of 
his  proposal,  they  declared  Gratian  emperor,  mingling  the 
propitious  clashing  of  their  arms  with  the  loud  roar  of  the 
trumpets. 

11.  When  Valentinian  saw  this,  his  confidence  increased  ; 
he  adorned  his  son  with  a  crown  and  with  the  robes  befitting 
his  now  supreme  rank,  and  kissed  him ;    and  then  thus 
addressed  him,  brilliant  as  he  appeared,  and  giving  careful 
attention  to  all  his  words : — 

12.  '•'  You  wear  now,"  said  he,  "  my  Gratian,  the  impe- 
rial robe,  as  we  have  all  desired,  which  has  been  conferred 
on  you  with  favourable  auspices  by  my  will  and  that  of 
our  comrades.     Therefore  now,  considering  the  weight  of 
the  affairs  which  press  upon  us,  gird  yourself  up  as  the 
colleague  of  your  father  and  your  uncle ;  and  accustom 
yourself  to  pass  fearlessly  with  the  infantry  over  the  Danube 
and  the  Ehine,  which  are  made  passable  by  the  frost,  to 
keep  close  to  your  soldiers,  to  devote  your  blood  and  your 
very  life  with  all  skill  and  deliberation  for  the  safety  of 
those  under  your  command  ;  to  think  nothing  unworthy  of 
your  attention  which  concerns  any  portion  of  the  Roman 
empire. 

13.  "  This  is  enough  by  way  of  admonition  to  you  at 
the  present  moment,  at  other  times  I  will  not  fail  to  give 


450  AMMIANUS  MARCELL1NCS.          [BK.  XXVII.  CH.  VL 

furtlier  advice.  Now  you  who  remain,  the  iefenders  of  the 
state,  I  entreat,  I  beseech  you  to  preserve  with  a  steady 
affection  and  loyalty  your  youthful  empercr  thus  intrusted 
to  your  fidelity." 

14.  These  words   of  the   emperor  were  accepted   and 
ratified  with  all  possible  solemnity ;  Eupraxius,  a  native 
of  Mauritania   Csesariensis,   at  that  time  master   of  the 
records,  led  the  way  by  the  exclamation,  "  The  family  of 
Gratian  deserves  this."     And  being  at  once  promoted  to 
be  quaestor,   he  set  an  ex<unp'.e  of  judicious  confidence 
worthy  of  being  imitated  by  all  wise  men ;  especially  as 
he  in  no  wise  departed  from   the  habits  of  his  fearless 
nature,  but  was  at  all  times  a  man  of  consistency  and 
obedient  to  the  laws,  which,  as  we  have  remarked,  speak 
to  all  men  with  one  and  the  same  voice  under  the  most 
varied  circumstances.     He  at  this  time  was  the  more  steady 
in  adhering  to  the  side  of  justice  which  he   always  es- 
poused, because  on  one  occasion  when  he  had  given  good 
advice,  the  emperor  had  attacked  him  with  violence  and 
threats. 

15.  After  this,  the  whole  assembly  broke  out  into  praises 
of  both  emperors,  the  elder  and  the  new  one ;  and  especially 
of  the  boy,  whose  brilliant  eyes,   engaging  countenance 
and  person,  and  apparent  sweetness  of  disposition,  recom- 
mended him  to  their  favour.     And  these  qualities  would 
have  rendered  him  an  emperor  worthy  to  be  compared  to 
the  most  excellent  princes  of  former  times,  if  fate  had 
permitted,  and  his  relations  who  even  then  began  to  over- 
shadow his  virtue,  before  it  was  firmly  rooted,  with  their 
own  wicked  actions. 

16.  But  in    this   affair,  Valentinian  went  beyond  the 
custom  which  had  been  established  for  several  generations, 
in  making  his  brother  and  his  son,  not  Caesar,  but  emperors  ; 
acting  indeed  in  this  respect  with  great  kindness.     Nor 
had  any  one  yet  ever  created  a  colleague  with  powers  equal 
to    his  own,  except  the  emperor   Marcus  Aurelius,  who 
made  his  adopted  brother  Verus  his  colleague  in  the  empire 
without  any  inferiority  of  power. 


A.i).  368.]  VIRTUES    OF   RUFINUS  451 

VII. 

A.D.  368. 

§  1.  AFTER  these  transactions  had  been  thus  settled  to  the 
delight  both  of  the  prince  and  of  the  soldiers,  but  a  few 
days  intei-vened ;  and  then  Avitianus,  who  had  been 
deputy,  accused  Mamertinus,  the  prefect  of  the  prastorium, 
of  peculation,  on  his  return  from  the  city  whither  he  had 
gone  to  correct  some  abuses. 

2.  And    in    consequence    of   this    accusation    he    was 
replaced  by  Kufinus,  a  man  accomplished  in  every  respect, 
who    had    attained   the   dignity   of    an    honourable    old 
age,  though  it  is  true  that  he  never  let  slip  any  oppor- 
tunity of  making  money  when  he  thought  he  could  do  so 
secretly. 

3.  He  now  availed  himself  of  his  access  to  the  emperor 
to  obtain  permission  for  Orfitus,  who  had  been  prefect  of 
the  city,  but  who  was  now  banished,  to  receive  back  his 
property  which  had  been  confiscated,  and  return  home. 

4.  And  although  Valentinian  was  a  man  of  undisguised 
ferocity,  he  nevertheless,  at  the  beginning  of  his  reign, 
in   order  to  lessen  the  opinion   of  his   cruelty,   took  all 
possible  pains  to  restrain   the   fierce   impetuosity  of  his 
disposition.      But  this  defect   increasing  gradually,    from 
having  been  checked  for  some  time,  presently  broke  out 
more  unrestrained  to  the  ruin  of  many  persons  ;  and  his 
severity  was  increased  by  the  vehemence  of  his  anger.     For 
wise  men  define  passion  as  a  lasting  ulcer  of  the  mind,  and 
sometimes  an  incurable  one,  usually  engendered  from  a 
weakness  of  the  intellect ;  and  they  have  a  plausible  argu- 
ment for  asserting  this  in  the  fact  that  people  in  bad  health 
are  more  passionate  than  those  who  are  well ;  women,  than 
men;  old  men,  than  youths ;  and  people  in  bad    circum- 
stances than  the  prosperous. 

5.  About  this  time,  among  the  deaths  of  many  persons 
of  low  degree,  that  of  Diocles,  who  had  previously  been 
a  treasurer  of  Illyricum,   was  especially   remarked ;    the 
emperor  having  had  him  burnt  alive  for  some  very  slight 
offence,  as  was  also  the  execution  of  Diodorus,  who  had 
previously  had    an    honourable    employment  in  the  pro- 
^inces,  and  also  that  of  three  officers  of  the  vicar  prefect 


452  AMMIANOS   MARCELLIKUS.          [Bn.  XXVJ1.  CH.  Til 

of  Italy,  who  were  all  put  to  death  with  great  cruelty 
because  the  count  of  Italy  had  complained  to  the  emperor 
that  Diodorus  had,  though  in  a  constitutional  manner, 
implored  the  aid  of  the  law  against  him;  and  that  the 
officers,  by  command  of  the  judge,  served  a  summons  on 
him  as  he  was  setting  out  on  a  journey,  commanding  him 
to  answer  to  the  action  according  to  law.  And  the 
Christians  at  Milan  to  this  day  cherish  their  memory,  and 
call  the  place  where  they  were  buried,  the  tomb  of  the 
innocents. 

6.  Afterwards,  in    the   affair  of  a  certain  Pannonian, 
named  Maxentius,  on  account  of  the  execution  of  a  sen- 
tence very  properly  commanded  by  the  judge  to  be  carried 
out  immediately,  he  ordered  all  the  magistrates  of  these 
towns  to  be  put  to  death,  when  Eupraxius,  who  at  that 
time  was  quaestor,  interposed,  saying,  "  Be  more  sparing, 
O  most  pious  of  emperors,  for  those  whom  you  command  to 
be  put  to  death  as  criminals,  the  Christian  religion  honours 
as  martyrs,  that  is  as  persons  acceptable  to  the  deity." 

7.  And  the  prefect  Florentius,  imitating  the  salutary 
boldness  of  Eupraxius,  when  he  heard  that  the  emperor 
was  in  a  similar  manner  very  angry  about  some  trifling  and 
pardonable  matter,  and  that  he  had  ordered  the  execution 
of  three  of  the  magistrates  in  each  of  several  cities,  said 
to  him,   "  And  what  is  to  be  done  if  any  town  has  not  got 
so  many  magistrates?      It  will  be  necessary  to  suspend 
the  execution  there  till  there  are  a  sufficient  number  for 
the  purpose." 

8.  And  besides  this  cruel  conduct  there  was  another  cir- 
cumstance horrible  even  to  speak  of,  that  if  any  one  came 
before  him  protesting  against  being  judged  by  a  powerful 
enemy,  and  requiring  that  some  other  judge  might  hear  his 
tase,  he  always  refused  it ;  and  however  just  the  arguments 
of  the  man  might  be,  he  remitted  his  cause  to  the  decision 
of  the  very  judge  whom  he  feared.     And  there  was  another 
very  bad  thing  much  spoken  of ;  namely,  that  when  it  was 
urged  that  any  debtor  was  in  such  absolute  want  as  to  be 
unable  to  pay  anything,  he  used  to  pronounce  sentence 
of  death  on  him. 

9.  But  some  princes  do  these  and  other  similar  actions 
with  the  more  lofty  arrogance,  because  they  never  allow 
their  friends  any  opportunity  of  setting  them  right  in  any 


A.B.  368.J  DISTRESS    OF    BRITAIN.  453 

mistake  they  make,  either  in  a  plan  or  in  its  execution  ; 
while  they  terrify  their  enemies  by  the  greatness  of  their 
power.  There  can  be  no  question  of  mistake  or  error 
raised  before  men  who  consider  whatever  they  choose  to  do 
to  be  in  itself  the  greatest  of  virtues. 

VIII. 

§  1.  VALENTINIAN  having  left  Amiens,  and  being  on  his 
way  to  Treves  in  great  haste,  received  the  disastrous  in- 
telligence that  Britain  was  reduced  by  the  ravages  of  the 
united  barbarians  to  the  lowest  extremity  of  distress  ;  that 
Nectaridus,  the  count  of  the  sea-coast,  had  been  slain  in 
battle,  and  the  dnke  Fullofaudes  had  been  taken  prisoner 
by  the  enemy  in  an  ambuscade. 

2.  This  news  struck  him  with  great  consternation,  and 
he  immediately  sent  Severus,  the  count  of  the  domestic 
guards,  to  put  an  end  to  all  these  disasters  if  he  could  find 
a  desirable  opportunity.     Severus  was  soon  recalled,  and 
Jovinus,  who  then  went  to  that  country,  sent  forward  Pro- 
vertuides  with  great  expedition  to  ask  for  the  aid  of  a 
powerful  army  ;  for  they  both  affirmed  that  the  imminence 
of  the  danger  required  such  a  reinforcement. 

3.  Last  of  all,  on  account  of  the  many  formidable  reports 
which  a  continual  stream  of  messengers  brought  from  that 
island,  Theodosius  was  appointed  to  proceed  thither,  and 
ordered  to  make  great  haste.     He  was  an   officer  already 
distinguished  for  his  prowess  in  war,  and  having  collected 
a  numerous  force  of  cavalry  and  infantry,  he  proceeded  to 
assume  the  command  in  full  confidence. 

4.  And   since    when  I   was   compiling  my   account   of 
the  acts  of  the  emperor  Constantine,  1  explained  as  well 
as  I  could  the  movement  of  the  sea  in  those  parts  at  its 
ebb  and  flow,  and  the  situation  of  Britain,  I  look  upon  it 
as  superfluous  to  return  to  what  has  been  once  described  ; 
as  the  Ulysses  of  Homer  when  among  the  Phseacians  hesi- 
tated to  repeat  his  adventures  by  reason  of  the  sufferings 
they  brought  to  mind. 

5.  It  will  be  sufficient  here  to  mention  that  at  that  time 
the  Picts,  who  were  divided  into  two  nations,  the  Dicali- 
dones  and  the  Vecturiones,  and  likewise  the  Attacotti,  a 
very  warlike  people,  and  the  Scots  were  all  roving  over 


454  AMMIAN'CJS   MARCELL1XUS.         [BK.XXVJI.CH.vm. 

different  parts  of  the  country  and  committing  great  ravages. 
While  the  Franks  and  the  Saxons  who  are  on  the  frontiers 
of  the  Gauls  were  ravaging  their  country  wherever  they 
could  effect  an  entrance  by  sea  or  land,  plundering  and 
burning,  and  murdering  all  the  prisoners  they  could  take. 

6.  To  put  a  stop  to  these  evils,  if  a  favourable  fortune 
should  afford  an  opportunity,  the  new  and  energetic  general . 
repaired  to  that  island  situated  at  the  extreme  corner  of 
the  earth ;  and  when  he  had  reached  the  coast  of  Boulogne, 
which  is  separated  from  the  opposite  coast  by  a  very  narrow 
strait  of  the  sea,  which  there  rises  and  falls  in  a  strange 
manner,  being  raised   by  violent    tides,   and  then  again 
sinking  to  a  perfect  level  like  a  plain,  without  doing  any 
injury  to  the  sailors.     From  Boulogne  he  crossed  the  strait 
in  a  leisurely  manner,  and  reached  Richborough,  a  very 
tranquil  station  on  the  opposite  coast. 

7.  And  when  the  Batavi.  and  Heruli,  and  the  Jovian 
and  Victorian  legions  who  followed  from  the  same  place, 
had  also  arrived,  he  then,  relying  on  their  number  and 
power,  landed  and  marched  towards  Londinium,  an  ancient 
town  which  has  since  been  named  Augusta  ;  and  dividing 
liis  army  into  several  detachments,  he   attacked  the  preda- 
tory and  straggling  bands  of  the  enemy  who  were  loaded 
with  the  weight  of  their  plunder,  and  having   speedily 
routed  them  while  driving  prisoners  in  chains  and  cattle 
before  them,  he  deprived  them  of  their  booty  which  they 
had  carried  off  from  these  miserable  tributaries  of  Home. 

8.  To  whom  he  restored  the  whole  except  a  small  portion 
which  he  allotted  to  his  own  weary  soldiers ;  and  then 
joyful  and  triumphant  he  made  his  entry  into  the  city 
which  had  just  before  been  overwhelmed  by  disasters,  but 
was  now  suddenly   re-established  almost  before  it  could 
have  hoped  for  deliverance. 

9.  This   success   encouraged    him   to   deeds   of  greater 
daring,    and    after   considering  what    counsels   might  be 
the  safest,  he  hesitated,   being  full   of  doubts  as  to  the 
future,  and  convinced  by  the  confession  of  his  prisoners 
and  the  information  given  him  by  deserters,  that  so  vast 
a  multitude,  composed  of  various  nations,  all   incredibly 
savage,  could  only  be  vanquished  by  secret  stratagems  and 
unexpected  attacks. 

10.  Then,  by  the  publication  of  several  edicts,  in  which 


A.D.  368.1  THE   BARBARIANS   OVERRUN   AFRICA.  455 

lie  promised  them  impunity,  he  invited  deserters  and 
others  who  were  straggling  about  the  country  on  furlough, 
to  repair  to  his  camp.  At  this  summons  numbers  came 
in,  and  he,  though  eager  to  advance,  being  detained  by 
anxious  cares,  requested  to  have  Civilis  sent  to  him, 
to  govern  Britain,  with  the  rank  of  pro-prefect,  a  man  of 
quick  temper,  but  just  and  upright ;  and  he  asked  at  the 
same  time  for  Dulcitius,  a  general  eminent  for  his  military 
skill. 

IX. 

§  1.  THESE  were  the  events  which  occurred  in  Britain. 
But  in  another  quarter,  from  the  very  beginning  of  Valen- 
tinian's  reign,  Africa  had  been  overrun  by  the  fuiy  of  the 
barbarians,  intent  on  bloodshed  and  rapine,  which  they 
sought  to  carry  on  by  audacious  incursions.  Their  licen- 
tiousness was  encouraged  by  the  indolence  and  general 
covetousness  of  the  soldiers,  and  especially  by  the  conduct 
of  Count  Romanus. 

2.  Who,  foreseeing  what  was  likely  to  happen,  and  being 
very  skilful  in  transferring  to  others  the  odium  which  he 
himself  deserved,  was  detested  by  men  in  general  for  the 
savageness  of  his  temper,  and  also  because  it  seemed  as  if 
his  object  was  to  outrun  even  our  enemies  in  ravaging 
the  provinces.     He  greatly  relied  on  his  relationship  to 
Remigius,  at  that  time  master  of  the  offices,  who  sent  all 
kinds  of  false  and  confused  statements  of  the  condition  of 
the  country,  so  that  the  emperor,  cautious  and  wary  as  he 
plumed  himself  on  being,  was  long  kept  in  ignorance  of 
the  terrible  sufferings  of  the  Africans. 

3.  I  will  explain   with  great  diligence  the   complete 
series  of  all  the  transactions  which  took  place  in  those 
regions,  the  death  of  Ruricius   the  governor,  and  of  his 
lieutenants,  and  all  the  other  mournful  events  which  took 
place,  when  the  proper  opportunity  arrives. 

4.  And  since  we  are  able  here  to  speak  freely,  let  us 
openly  say  what  we  think,  that  this  emperor  was  the  first 
of  all  our  princes  who  raised  the  arrogance  of  the  soldiers 
to  so  great  a  height,   to  the  great  injury   of   the  state, 
1  y   increasing   their    rank,    dignity,    and    riches.      And 
^  which  was  a  lamentable  thing,  both  on  public  and  private 


456  AMMIAXUS   MARCELUNUS.  fBx.  XXVII.  CH.  ix. 

accounts)  while  he  punished  the  errors  of  the  common 
soldiers  with  unrelenting  severity,  he  spared  the  officers, 
who,  as  if  complete  licence  were  given  to  their  misconduct, 
proceeded  to  all  possible  lengths  of  rapacity  and  cruelty 
for  the  acquisition  of  riches,  and  acting  as  if  they  thought 
that  the  fortunes  of  all  persons  depended  directly  on 
their  nod. 

5.  The  framers  of  our  ancient  laws  had  sought  to  repress 
their  pride  and  power,  sometimes  even  condemning  the 
innocent  to  death,  as  is  often  done  in  cases  when,  from  the 
multitude  concerned  in  some  atrocity,  some  innocent  men, 
owing  to  their  ill  luck,  suffer  for  the  whole.      And  this 
lias  occasionally  extended   even   to  the   case   of  private 
persons. 

6.  But  in  Isauria  the  banditti  formed  into  bodies  and 
roamed  through  the  villages,  laying  waste  and  plundering 
the  towns  and  wealthy  country  houses :  and  by  the  mag- 
nitude of  their  ravages  they  also  greatly  distressed  Pam- 
phylia  and  Cilicia.     And   when   Musonius,  who   at   that 
time  was  the  deputy  of  Asia  Minor,  having  previously 
been  a  master  of  rhetoric  at  Athens,  had  heard  that  they 
were  spreading  massacre  and  rapine  in  every  direction, 
being  filled  with  grief  at  the  evil  of  which  he  had  just 
heard,    and    perceiving    that   the   soldiers   were    rusting 
in  luxury  and  inactivity,  he  took  with  him  a  few  light- 
armed  troops,  called  Diogmitae,  and  resolved  to  attack  the 
first  body   of  plunderers   he   could   find.      His   way   led 
through  a  narrow  and  most  difficult  defile,  and  thus  he 
fell   into   an   ambuscade,    which    he    had   no    chance    of 
escaping,   and   was   slain,   with   all  the  men  under  his 
command. 

7.  The  robber  bands  became  elated  at  this  advantage, 
and  roamed  over  the  whole  country  with  increased  boldness, 
slaying  many,  till  at  last  our  army  was  aroused,  and  drove 
them  to  take  refuge  amid  the  recesses  of  the  rocks  arid 
mountains  they  inhabit.  And  then,  as  they  were  not 
allowed  to  rest,  and  were  cut  off  from  all  means  of  ob- 
taining necessary  supplies,  they  at  last  begged  for  a  truce, 
as  a  prelude  to  peace,  being  led  to  this  step  by  the  advice 
of  the  people  of  Germauicopolis,  whose  opinions  always 
had  as  much  weight  with  them  as  standard-bearers  have 
with  an  army.  And  after  giving  hostages  as  they  were 


A.D.368.]  MAYEXCE   IS   STOKMEP.  457 

desired,  tliey  remained  for  a  long  time  quiet,  without  ven- 
turing on  any  hostilities. 

8.  vVhile  these  events  were  taking   place,  Praetextatus 
was  administering  the  prefecture  of  the  city  in  a  noble 
manner,  exhibiting  numerous  instances  of  integrity  and 
probity,  virtues  for  which  he  had  been  eminent  from  his 
earliest  youth  ;  and  thus  he  obtained  what  rarely  happens 
to  any  one,  that  while  he  was  feared,  he  did  not  at  the 
same  time  lose  the  affection  of  his  fellow-citizens,  which 
is   seldom    strongly   felt   for   those   whom   they   fear    as 
judges. 

9.  By  his  authority,  impartiality,    and  just   decisions, 
a  tumult  was  appeased,  which  the  quarrels  of  the  Chris- 
tians had  excited,  and  after  Ursinus  was  expelled  complete 
tranquillity  was  restored,  which  best  corresponded  to  the 
wishes  of  the  Koman  people ;    while  the  glory  of  their 
illustrious  governor,  who  performed  so  many  useful  actions, 
continually  increased. 

10.  For  he  also  removed  all  the  balconies,  which  the 
ancient  laws  of  Home  had  forbidden  to  be  constructed,  and 
separated   from  the  sacred  temples  the  walls   of  private 
houses  which  had  been  improperly  joined  to  them ;  and 
established    one    uniform    and    proper    weight   in  every 
quarter,  for  by  no  other  means  could  he  check  the  covetous- 
ness  of  those  who  made  their  scales  after  their  own  plea- 
sure.    And  in  the  adjudication  of  lawsuits  he  exceeded  all 
men  in  obtaining  that  praise  which  Cicero  mentions  in  his 
panegyric  of  Brutus,   that  while  he  did  nothing  with  a 
view  to  please  anybody,  everything  which  he  did  pleased 
everybody. 

X. 

§  1.  ABOUT  the  same  time,  when  Valentinian  had  gone 
forth  on  an  expedition  very  cautiously  as  he  fancied,  a 
prince  of  the  Allemanni,  by  name  Kando,  who  had  been  for 
some  time  preparing  for  the  execution  of  a  plan  which  he 
had  conceived,  with  a  body  of  light-armed  troops  equipped 
only  for  a  predatory  expedition,  surprised  and  stormed 
Mayence,  which  was  wholly  destitute  of  a  garrison. 

2.  And  as  he  arrived  at  the  time  when  a  great  solemnity 
of  the  Christian  religion  was  being  celebrated,  he  found 


458  AMMIAXUS   MARCKLLIXUS.  [BK.XXVH.CK.x. 

no  obstacle  whatever  in  carrying  off  a  vast  multitude  of 
both  men  and  women  as  prisoners,  with  no  small  quantity 
of  goods  as  booty. 

3.  After   this,    for   a   short   interval  a  sudden  hope  of 
brighter  fortune  shone  upon  the  affairs  of  Rome.     For  as 
king  Vithicabius,  the  son  of  Yadomarius,  a  bold  and  war- 
like man,  though  in  appearance  effeminate  and  diseased, 
was  continually  raising  up  the  troubles   of  war  agaii^t 
us.  great  pains  were  taken  to  have  him  removed  by  some 
means  or  other. 

4.  And  because  after  many  attempts  it  was  found  im- 
possible to  defeat  him  or  to  procure  his  betrayal,  his  most 
confidential  servant  was  tampered  with  by  one  of  our  men, 
and  by  his  hand  he  lost  his  life ;    and  after  his   death, 
all  hostile  attacks  upon  us  were  laid  aside  for  a  while. 
But  his  murderer,  fearing  punishment  if  the  truth  should 
get   abroad,    without   delay   took   refuge   in   the    Roman 
territory. 

5.  After  this  an  expedition  on  a  larger  scale  than  usual 
was  projected  with  great  care  and  diligence  against  the 
Allemanni,  to  consist  of  a  great  variety  of  troops  :    the 
public  safety  imperatively  required  such  a  measure,  since 
the  treacherous  movements  of  that  easily  recruited  nation 
were   regarded   with  continual  apprehension,  while   our 
soldiers  were  the  more  irritated,  because,  on  account  of  the 
constant  suspicion  which  their  character  awakened,  at  one 
time  abject  and  suppliant,  at  another  arrogant  and  threat- 
ening, they  were  never  allowed  to  rest  in  peace. 

6.  Accordingly,   a   vast  force   was   collected   from   all 
quarters,  well  furnished  with  arms  and  supplies  of  pro- 
visions, and  the  count   Sebastian   having   been   sent   for 
with  the    Illyrian   and    Italian   legions   which    he   com- 
manded, as  soon  as  the  weather  got  warm,  Valentinian, 
accompanied  by  Gratian,  crossed  the  Rhine  without  re- 
sistance.    Having  divided  the  whole  army  into  four  divi- 
sions, he  himself  marched  with  the  centre,  while  Jovinus 
and  Severus,  the  two  captains  of  the  camp,  commanded  the 
divisions  on  each  side,  thus  protecting  the  army  from  any 
sudden  attack. 

7.  And  immediately  under  the  guidance  of  men   who 
knew  the  roads,  all  the   approaches   having  been  recon- 
noitred, the  army  advanced  slowly  through  a  most  exten- 


A.D.  368.]  ADVANCE   OF   THE   EMPEROR.  459 

sive  district,  the  soldiers  by  the  slowness  of  their  march 
being  all  the  more  excited  to  wish  for  battle,  and  gnar-h- 
ing  their  teeth  in  a  threatening  manner,  as  if  they  had 
already  found  the  barbarians.  And  as,  after  many  days 
had  passed,  no  one  could  be  found  who  offered  any  re- 
sistance, the  troops  applied  the  devouring  flame  to  all  the 
houses  and  all  the  crops  which  were  standing,  with  the 
exception  of  such  supplies  for  their  own  magazines  as 
the  doubtful  events  of  war  compelled  them  to  collect  and 
store  up. 

8.  After  this  the  emperor  advanced  further,  with  no 
great  speed,  till  he  arrived  at  a  place  called  Solicinium, 
where  he  halted,  as  if  he  had  suddenly  come  upon  some 
barrier,    being   informed   by   the   accurate   report   of  his 
advanced  guard  that  the  barbarians  were  seen  at  a  dis- 
tance. 

9.  They,  seeing  no  way  of  preserving  their  safety  unless 
they  defended  themselves  by  a  speedy  battle,  trusting  in 
their   acquaintance  with   the  country,    with  one  consent 
occupied  a  lofty  hill,  abrupt  and  inaccessible  in  its  rugged 
heights  on  every  side  except  the  north,  where  the  ascent 
was  gentle  and  easy.      Our  standards  were  fixed  in  the 
usual  manner,  and  the  cry,   "  To  arms  !"  was  raised  :  and 
the   soldiers,   by  the   command  of  the  emperor   and   his 
generals,  rested  in  quiet  obedience,  waiting  for  the  raising 
of  the   emperor's   banner  as  the   signal  for   engaging  in 
battle. 

10.  And  because  little  or  no  time  could  be  spared  for 
deliberation,    since   on   one   side   the   impatience   of   the 
soldiers  was  formidable,  and  on  the  other  the  Allemanni 
were  shouting  out  their  horrid  yells  all  around,  the  ne- 
cessity for  rapid  operations  led  to  the  plan  that  Sebastian 
with  his  division  should  seize  the  northern  side  of  the 
hill,  where  we  have  said  the  ascent  was  gentle,  in  which 
position  it  was  expected  that,   if  fortune   favoured   him, 
he  would  be  able  easily  to  destroy  the  flying  barbarians. 
And  when  he,  as  had  been  arranged,  had  moved  forward 
first,   while    Gratian  was   kept   behind   with   the   Jovian 
legion,  that   young  prince  being  as  yet  of  an  age  unfit 
for  battle  or  for  hard  toil,  Valentinian,  like  a  deliberate 
and  prudent  general,  took  off  his  helmet,  and   reviewed 
his  centuries  and  maniples,  and  not  having  informed  any 


460  AMMtAXUS    MARCELLIXUS.  [BK.  XXVII.  CH.  x. 

of  the  nobles  of  his  secret  intentions,  and  having  sent 
back  his  numerous  body  of  guards,  went  forward  himself 
with  a  very  small  escort,  whose  courage  and  fidelity 
he  could  trust,  to  reconnoitre  the  foot  of  the  hill,  de- 
claring (as  he  was  always  apt  to  think  highly  of  his  own 
skill)  that  it  must  be  possible  to  find  another  path  which 
led  to  the  summit  besides  that  which  the  advanced  guaid 
had  reported. 

11.  Ha  then,  as  he  advanced  by  a  devious  track  over 
ground  strange  to  him,  and  across  pathless  swamps,  was 
very  nearly  being  killed  by  the  sudden  attack  of  a  band 
placed  in  an  ambuscade  on  his  flank,  and  being  driven 
to  extremities,    only  escaped  by  spurring  his  horse  to   a 
gallop  in  a  different  direction  over  a  deep  swamp,  so  at 
last,  after  being  in  the  most  imminent  danger,  he  rejoined 
his  legions.      But  so   great  had  been   his  peril  that  his 
chamberlain,  who  was   carrying   his   helmet,  which   was 
adorned    with    gold    and    precious    stones,    disappeared, 
helmet  and   all,  while   the  man's   body  could  never  be 
found,  so  that  it  could  be  known  positively  whether  he 
were  alive  or  dead. 

12.  Then,  when  the   men  had  been  refreshed  by  rest, 
and  the  signal  for  battle   was  raised,   and  the  clang  of 
warlike   trumpets    roused   their   courage,   two   youths   of 
prominent  valour,  eager  to  be  the  first  to  encounter  the 
danger,  dashed  on  with  fearless   impetuosity  before  the 
line  of  their  comrades.     One  was  of  the  band  of  Scutarii, 
by  name  Salvins,  the  other,  Lupicinus,  belonging  to  the 
Gentiles.     They  raised  a  terrible  shout,  brandished  their 
spears,   and   when  they  reached   the  foot  of  the   rocks, 
in  spite  of  the  efforts  of  the  Allemanni   to  repel  them, 
pushed  steadily  on  to  the  higher  ground ;  while  behind 
them  came  the  main  body  of  the  army,  which  following 
their  lead  over  places  rough  with  brambles  and  rugged,  at 
last,  after  vast  exertions,   reached  the  very   summit  of 
the  heights. 

13.  Then  again,  with  great  spirit  on  both   sides,  the 
conflict  raged  with  spears  and  swords.     On  our  side  the 
soldiers  were  more  skilful  in  the  art  of  war ;  on  the  other 
eide  the  barbarians,  ferocious  but  incautious,  closed  with 
them  in  the  mighty  fray ;  while  our  army  extending  itself, 
outflanked   them   on    both    sides    with    its    overlapping 


A.D.  368.]  VICTORY    OF    THE    ROMANS.  461 

wings,  the  enemy's  alarm  being  increased  by  our  shouts, 
the  neighing  of  the  horses,  and  the  clang  of  trumpets. 

14.  IS evertheless  they  resisled  with  indomitable  courage, 
and  the  battle  was  for  some  time  undecided;  both  sides 
exerted  themselves  to  the  utmost,  and  death  was  scattered 
almost  equally. 

15.  At  last    the  barbarians  were  beaten   down  by  the 
ardour  of  the  Romans,  and  being  disordered  and  broken, 
were  thrown  into  complete  confusion  ;  and  as  they  began 
to  retreat  they  were  assailed  with  great  effect  by  the  spears 
and  javelins  of  their  enemies.     tSuon  the   retreat   became 
a  flight,  and  panting  and  exhausted,  they  exposed  their 
backs   and  the  back  sinews  of  their  legs   and   thighs   to 
their  pursuers.     After  many  had  been  slain,   those  who 
fled  fell  into  the  ambuscade  laid  for  them  by  Sebastian, 
who  was  posted  with  his  reserve  at  the  back   >f  the  moun- 
tain, and  who  now  fell  unexpectedly  on  their   flank,  and 
slew  numbers  of  them,  while  the  rest  who  escaped  con- 
cealed themselves  in  the  recesses  of  the  woods. 

16.  In  this  battle  we  also  suffered   no   inconsiderable 
loss.     Among  those  who  fell  was  Valerian,  the  first  officer 
of  the  domestic  guards,   and  one  of  the  Scutarii,  named 
Natuspardo,  a  warrior  of  such  pre-eminent  courage  that  he 
might  be  compared  to  the  ancient  Sicinius  or  Sergius. 

17.  After  these  transactions,  accompanied  with  this  diver- 
sity of  fortune,  the  arnry  went  into  winter  quarters,  and 
the  emperor  returned  to  Treves. 


XI. 

§  1 .  ABOUT  this  time,  Vulcatius  Rufinus  died,  while  filling 
the  office  of  prefect  of  the  praetorium,  and  Probus  was  sum- 
moned from  Rome  to  succeed  him,  a  man  well  known  to 
the  whole  Roman  world  for  the  eminence  of  his  family,  and 
his  influence,  as  well  as  for  his  vast  riches,  for  he  possessed 
a  patrimonial  inheritance  which  was  scattered  over  the 
whole  empire ;  whether  acquired  justly  or  unjustly  it  is 
not  for  us  to  decide. 

2.  A  certain  good  fortune,  as  the  poets  would  represent 
it,  attended  him  from  his  birth,  and  bore  him  on  her  rapid 
wings,  exhibiting  him  sometimes  as  a  man  of  beneficent 


462  AMMIANUS   MARCELLIXUS.  [BK.XXVU.CH.xi. 

character,  promoting  the  interests  of  his  friends,  though 
often  also  a  formidable  intriguer,  and  cruel  and  mischievous 
in  the  gratification  of  his  enmities.  As  long  as  he  lived 
he  had  great  power,  owing  to  the  magnificence  of  his  gifts 
and  to  his  frequent  possession  of  oifice,  and  yet  he  was  at 
times  timid  towards  the  bold,  though  domineering  over  the 
timid ;  so  that  when  full  of  self-confidence  he  appeared  to 
be  spouting  in  the  tragic  buskin,  and  when  he  was  afraid 
he  seemed  more  abased  than  the  most  abject  charactei 
in  comedy. 

3.  And  as   fishes,   when  removed    from   their  natural 
element,  cannot  live  long  on  the  land,  so  he  began  to 
pine  when  not  in  some  post  of  authority  which  he  was 
driven  to  be  solicitous  for  by  the  squabbles  of  his  troops 
of  clients,  whose  boundless  cupidity  prevented  their  ever 
being  innocent,  and  who  thrust  their  patron  forward  into 
affairs  of  state  in  order  to  be  able  to  perpetrate  all  sorts  of 
crimes  with  impunity. 

4.  For  it  must  be  confessed  that  though  he  was  a  man 
of  such  magnanimity  that  he  never  desired  any  dependent 
or  servant  of  his  to  do  an  unlawful  thing,  yet  if  he  found 
that  any  one  of  them  had  committed  a  crime,  he  laid  aside 
all  consideration  of  justice,  would  not  allow  the  case  to  be 
inquired  into,  but  defended  the  man  without  the  slightest 
regard  for  right  or  wrong.     Now  this  is  a  fault  expressly 
condemned  by  Cicero,  who  thus  speaks  :  "  For  what  differ- 
ence is  there  between  one  who  has  advised  an  action,  and 
one  who  approves  of  it  after  it  is  performed?   or  what 
difference  does  it  make  whether  I  wished  it  be  done,  or 
am  glad  that  it  is  done  ?" 

5.  He  was  a  man  of  a  suspicious  temper,  self-relying, 
often  wearing  a  bitter  smile,   and  sometimes  caressing  a 
man  the  more  effectually  to  injure  him. 

6.  This  vice  is  a  very  conspicuous  one  in  dispositions  of 
that  kind,   and  mostly  so   when  it  is  thought  possible 
to  conceal  it.     He  was  also  so  implacable  and  obstinate 
in  his  enmities,  that  if  he  ever  resolved  to   injure  any 
one   he   would   never  be   diverted  from   his   purpose  by 
any  entreaties,  nor  be  led  to  pardon  any  faults,  so  that 
his  ears  seemed  to  be  stopped  not  with  wax  but  with 
lead. 

7.  Even  when  at  the  very  summit  of  wealth  and  dignity 


A.D.  368-1  TREACHERY   OF   SAPOR.  403 

he  was  always  anxious  and  watchful,  and  therefore  he  was 
continually  subject  to  trifling  illnesses. 

8.  Such  was  the  course  of  events  which  took  place  in 
the  western  provinces  of  the  empire. 

XII. 

§  1.  THE  King  of  Persia,  the  aged  Sapor,  who  from  the 
very  commencement  of  his  reign  had  been  addicted  to  the 
love  of  plunder,  after  the  death  of  the  Emperor  Julian, 
and  the  disgraceful  treaty  of  peace  subsequently  made, 
for  a  short  time  seemed  with  his  people  to  be  friendly  to 
us ;  but  presently  he  trampled  under  foot  the  agreement 
which  he  had  made  with  Jovian,  and  poured  a  body  of 
troops  into  Armenia  to  annex  that  country  to  his  own 
dominions,  as  if  the  whole  of  the  former  arrangements  had 
been  abolished. 

2.  At  first  he  contented  himself  with  various  tricks, 
intrigues,  and  deceits,  inflicting  some  trifling  injuries  on 
the  nation   which  unanimously  resisted   him,  tampering 
with  some  of  the  nobles  and  satraps,  and  making  sudden 
inroads  into  the  districts  belonging  to  others. 

3.  Afterwards  by  a  system  of  artful  cajolery  fortified  by 
perjury,  he  got  their  king  Arsaces  into  bis  hands,  having 
invited   him  to  a  banquet,  when  he  ordered  him   to  be 
seized  and  conducted  to  a  secret  chamber  behind,  where 
his    eyes  were  put   out,   and   he  was  loaded  with  silver 
chains,  which  in  that  country  is  looked  upon  as  a  solace 
under  punishment  for  men  of  rank,  trifling  though  it  be  ; 
then  he  removed  him  from  his  country  to  a  fortress  called 
Agabana,  where  he  applied  to  him  the  torture,  and  finally 
put  him  to  death. 

4.  After  this,    in   order  that   his  perfidy  might  leave 
nothing  unpolluted,   having  expelled   Sauromaces,  whom 
the  authority  of  the  Eomans  had  made  governor  of  Hiberia, 
he  conferred  the  government  of  that  district  on    a  man  of 
the   name  of  Aspacuras,  even  giving  him  a    diadem,   to 
mark  the  insult  offered  to  the  decision  of  our  emperors. 

5.  And  after  these  infamous  actions  he  committed  the 
charge  of  Armenia  to  an  eunuch  named  Cylaces,  and  to 
Artabannes,  a  couple  of  deserters  whom  he  had  received 
some  time  before  (one  of  them  having  been  prefect  of  that 


464  AMMIAN'US   MARCELLIXUS.          fBK.  XXVII.  CH.  xtt 

nation,  and  the  other  commander  in-chief);  and  he  enjoined 
them  to  use  every  exertion  to  destroy  the  town  of  Artoge- 
a-assa,  a  place  defended  by  strong  walls  and  a  sufficient 
garrison,  in  which  were  the  treasures,  and  the  wife  and 
son  of  Arsaces. 

6.  These  generals  commenced  the  siege  as  they  were 
ordered.     And  as  it  is  a  fortress  placed  on  a  very  rugged 
mountain  height,   it  was  inaccessible  at  that  time,  while 
the  ground  was  covered  with  snow  and  frost :  and  so  Cy:aces 
being  an  eunuch,  and,  as  such,  suited  to  feminine  manoeu- 
vres, taking  Artabannes  with  him,  approached  the  walls  ; 
after  having  received  a  promise  of  safety,  and  he  and  his 
companion  had  been  admitted  into  the  city,  he  sought  by  a 
mixture  of  advice  and  threats  to  persuade  the  garrison  and 
the  queen  to  pacify  the  wrath  of  the  impiacable  Sapor  by 
a  speedy  surrender. 

7.  And  after  many  arguments  had  been  urged  on  both 
sides,  the  woman  bewailing  the  sad  fortune  of  her  husband, 
these  men,  who  had  been  most  active  in  wishing  to  com- 
pel her  to  surrender,  pitying  her  distress,  changed  their 
views ;  and  conceiving  a  hope  of  higher  preferment,  they 
in  secret  conferences  arranged  that  at  an  appointed  hour  of 
the  night  the  gates  should  be  suddenly  thrown  open,  and 
a  strong  detachment  should  sally  forth  and  fall  upon  the 
ramparts  of  the  enemy's  camp,  surprising  it  with  sudden 
slaughter ;    the   traitors  promising   that,   to   prevent  any 
knowledge  of  what  was  going  on,  they  would  come  forward 
to  meet  them. 

8.  Having  ratified  this  agreement  with  an  oath,  they 
quitted  the  town,  and  led  the  besiegers  to  acquiesce  in 
inaction  by  representing  that  the  besieged  had  required 
two  days  to  deliberate  on  what  course  they  ought  to  pur- 
sue.    Then  in  the  middle  of  the  night,  when  they  were  all 
roundly  asleep  in  fancied  security,  the  gates  of  the  city  were 
thrown  open,  and  a  strong  body  of  young  men  poured  forth 
with  great  speed,  creeping  on  with  noiseless   steps   and 
drawn  swords,  till  they  entered  the  camp  of  the  unsuspect- 
ing  enemy,  where  they  slew  numbers   of  sleeping   men, 
without  meeting  with  any  resistance. 

8.  This  unexpected  treachery  of  his  officers,  and  the  loss 
thus  inflicted  on  the  Persians,  caused  a  terrible  quarrel 
between  us  and  Sapor;  and  another  cause  for  his  anger 


A.D.  368.J  SAPOR   INVADKS   ARMENIA.  465 

was  added,  as  the  Emperor  Valens  received  Para,  the  son 
of  Arsaces,  who  at  his  mother's  instigation  had  quitted  the 
fortress  with  a  small  escort,  and  had  desired  him  to  stay  at 
Neo-r!sB»area,  a  most  celebrated  city  on  the  Black  Sea, 
where  he  was  treated  with  great  liberality  and  high  respect. 
Cylaces  and  Artabannes,  being  allured  by  this  humanity  of 
Valens,  sent  envoys  to  him  to  ask  for  assistance,  and  to 
request  that  Para  might  be  given  them  for  their  king. 

10.  However,  for   the   moment  assistance  was  refused 
them ;  but  Para  was  conducted  by  the  general  Terentius 
back  to  Armenia,  where  he  was  to  rule  that  nation  without 
any  of  the  insignia  of  royalty ;  which  was  a  very  wise 
regulation,  in  order  that  we  might  not  be  accused  of  break- 
ing our  treaty  of  peace. 

11.  When  this  arrangement  became  known,  Sapor  was 
enraged  beyond  all  bounds,  and  collecting  a  vast  army, 
entered  Armenia  and  ravaged  it  with  the  most  ferocious 
devastation.     Para  was  terrified  at  his  approach,  as  were 
also  Cylaces  and  Artabannes,  and,  as  they  saw  no  other 
resource,   fled   into   the   recesses   of  the  lofty  mountains 
which  separate  our  frontiers  from  Lazica  ;  where  they  hid 
in  the  depths  of  the  woods  and  among  the  defiles  of  the 
hills  for  five  months,  eluding  the  various  attempts  of  the 
king  to  discover  them. 

12.  And   Sapor,  when  he  saw   that  he  was  losing  his 
labour  in  the  middle  of  winter,  burnt   all  the  fruit  trees, 
and  all  the  fortified  castles  and  camps,  of  which  he  had 
become    master   by   force   or   treachery,   and   also   burnt 
Artogerassa,  which  had  long  been  blockaded  by  his  whole 
army,  and  after  many  battles  was  taken  through  the  ex- 
haustion of  the  garrison  ;  and  he  carried  off  from  thence 
the  wife  of  Arsaces  and  all  his  treasures. 

13.  For  these  reasons,  Arinthseus  was  sent  into  these  dis- 
tricts with  the  rank  of  count,  to  aid  the  Armenians  if  the 
Persians  should  attempt  to  harass  them  by  a  second  cam- 
paign. 

14.  At  the  same  time,  Sapor,  with  extraordinary  cun- 
ning, being  either  humble  or  arrogant  as  best  suited  him, 
under  pretence  of  an  intended  alliance,  sent  secret  mes- 
sengers to  Para  to  reproach  him  as  neglectful  of  his  own 
dignity,  since,  with  the  appearance  of  royal  majesty,  he  was 
really  the  slave  of  Cylaces  and  Artabannes.      On  which 

2  H 


466  AMMIANUS   MA.RCELL1NUS.         [BK.  XXVII.  CH.  xir. 

Para,  with  great  precipitation,  cajoled  them  with  caresses 
till  he  got  them  iu  his  power,  and  slew  them,  sending  their 
heads  to  Sapor  in  proof  of  his  obedience. 

15.  When  the  death   of  these  men   became  generally 
known,  it  caused  such  dismay  that  Armenia  would  have 
been  ruined  without  striking  a  blow  in  its  own  defence,  if 
the  Persians  had  not  been  so  alarmed  at  the  approach  of 
Arinthaeus  that  they  forbore  to  invade  it  again,  contenting 
themselves   with    sending  ambassadors  to    the    emperor, 
demanding  of  him  not  to  defend  that  nation,  according  to 
the  agreement  made  between  them  and  Jovian. 

16.  Their  ambassadors  were  rejected,  and  Sauromaces, 
who,  as  we  have  said  before,  had  been  expelled  from  the 
kingdom  of  Hiberia,  was  sent  back  with  twelve  legions 
under  the  command  of  Terentius ;  and  when  he  reached  the 
river  Cyrus,  Aspacuras  entreated  him  that  they  might  both 
reign  as  partners,  being  cousins ;  alleging  that  he  could 
not  withdraw  nor  cross  over  to  the  side  of  the  Romans, 
because  his  son  Ultra  was  as  a  hostage  in  the  hands  of  the 
Persians. 

17.  The  emperor  learning  this,  in  order  by  wisdom  and 
prudence  to  put  an  end  to  the  difficulties  arising  out  of 
this  affair,  acquiesced  in  the  division  of  Hiberia,  allowing 
the  Cyrus  to  be  the  boundary  of  the  two  divisions  :  Sauro- 
maces to  have  the   portion   next  to   the  Armenians  and 
Lazians,   and  Aspacuras  the   districts  which  border  on 
Albania  and  Persia. 

18.  Sapor,  indignant  at  this,  exclaimed  that  he  was  un- 
worthily treated,  because  we  had  assisted  Armenia  con- 
trary to  our  treaty,  and  because  the  embassy  had  failed 
which  he  had  sent  to  procure  redress,  and  because  the 
kingdom  of  Hiberia  was  divided   without  his  consent  or 
privity ;  and  so,  shutting  as  it  were,  the  gates  of  friend- 
ship, he  sought  assistance  among  the  neighbouring  nations, 
and  prepared  his  own  army  in   order,   with   the   return 
of  fine  weather,  to  overturn  all  the  arrangements  which 
the  Romans  had  made  with  a  view  to  their  own  interests 


A.D.  368.]  467 


BOOK    XXVIII. 


ARGUMENT. 

I.  Many  persons,  even  senators  and  women  of  senatorial  family  are 
accused  at  Rome  of  poisonings,  adultery,  and  debauchery,  and  are 
punished. — II.  The  Emperor  Valentinian  fortifies  the  whole  Gallic 
bank  of  the  Ehine  with  forts,  castles,  and  towers  ;  the  Allemanni 
slay  the  Romans  who  are  constructing  a  fortification  on  the  other 
side  of  the  Rhine. — The  Marathocrupeni,  who  are  ravaging  Syria. 
are,  by  the  command  of  Valens,  destroyed  with  their  children  and 
their  town. — III.  Theodosius  restores  the  cities  of  Britain  which 
had  been  laid  waste  by  the  barbarians,  repairs  the  fortresses,  and 
recovers  the  province  of  the  island  which  is  called  Valentia. — 
IV.  Concerning  the  administration  of  Olybrius  and  Ampelius  as 
prefects  of  the  city  :  and  concerning  the  vices  of  the  Roman 
senate  and  people. — V.  The  Saxons,  after  a  time,  are  circumvented 
in  Gaul  by  the  manoeuvres  of  the  Romans.  Valentinian  having 
promised  to  unite  his  forces  with  them,  sends  the  Burgundians  to 
invade  Germany ;  but  they,  finding  themselves  tricked  and  de- 
ceived, put  all  their  prisoners  to  the  sword,  and  return  home. — 
VI.  The  ravages  inflicted  in  the  province  of  Tripoli,  and  on  the 
people  of  Leptis  and  (Ea,  by  the  Asturians,  are  concealed  from 
Valentinian  by  the  bad  faith  of  the  Roman  count ;  and  so  are  not 
properly  avenged. 

I. 

A.D.  368. 

§  1.  WHILE  the  perfidy  of  the  king  was  exciting  these  un- 
expected troubles  in  Persia,  as  we  have  related  above,  and 
while  war  was  reviving  in  the  east,  sixteen  years  and  rather 
more  after  the  death  of  Nepotianus,  Bellona,  raging  through 
the  eternal  city,  destroyed  everything,  proceeding  from 
trifling  beginnings  to  the  most  lamentable  disaster*. 
Would  that  they  could  be  buried  in  everlasting  silence, 
lest  perhaps  similar  things  may  some  day  be  again 
attempted,  which  will  do  more  harm  by  the  general 
example  thus  set  than  even  by  the  misery  they  occasion. 

2.  And  although  after  a  careful  consideration  of  different 
circumstances,  a  reasonable  fear  would  restrain  me  from 
giving  a  minute  account  of  the  bloody  deeds  now  perpe- 
trated, yet,  relying  on  the  moderation  of  the  present  age, 


4f>8  AMMIAXUS   MAUCKLLIXUS.  rBK.  XXVIII.  CH.  I. 

I  will  briefly  touch  upon  the  things  most  deserving  of 
record,  nor  shall  I  regret  giving  a  concise  account  of  the 
fears  which  the  events  that  happened  at  a  former  period 
caused  me. 

3.  In  the   first   Median  war,  when   the    Persians   had 
ravaged  Asia,  they  laid  siege  to  Miletus  with  a  vast  host, 
threatening  the  garrison  with  torture  and  death,  and  at 
last  reduced  the  citizens  to  such  straits,  that  they  all,  being 
overwhelmed   with    the    magnitude    of    their  distresses, 
slew  their  nearest  relations,  cast  all  their  furniture  and 
movables    into  the  fire,  and    then  threw   themselves   in 
rivalry  with  one  another  on  the  common  funeral  pile  of 
their  perishing  country. 

4.  A  short  time  afterwards,  Phrynichus  made  this  event 
the  subject  of  a  tragedy  which  he  exhibited  on  the  stage  at 
Athens  ;  and  after  he  had  been  for  a  short  time  listened  to 
with   complacency,  when  amid  all  its  fine  language   the 
tragedy  became  more  and  more   distressing,  it  was  con- 
demned by  the  indignation  of  the  people,  who  thought  that 
it  was   insulting    to    produce    this   as    the  subject  of  a 
dramatic  poem,  and  that  it  had  been  prompted  not  by  a 
wish  to  console,  but  only  to  remind  them  to  their  own 
disgrace  of  the  sufferings  which  that  beautiful  city  had 
endured  without  receiving  any  aid  from  its  founder  and 
parent.     For  Miletus  was  a  colony  of  the  Athenians,  and 
had  been  established  there  among  the  other  Ionian  states 
by  Neleus,  the  son  of  that  Codrus  who  is  said  to  have 
devoted  himself  for  his  country  in  the  Dorian  war. 

5.  Let  us  now  return   to    our    subject.      Maximinus, 
formerly  deputy  prefect  of  Kome,  was  born  in   a  very 
obscure  rank  of  life  at  Sopianae,  a  town  of  Valeria  ;    his 
father  being  only  a  clerk  in  the  president's  office,  descended 
from  the  posterity  of  those  Carpi  whom  Diocletian  re- 
moved   from    their    ancient    homes    and    transferred    to 
Pannonia. 

6.  After  a  slight  study   of   the   liberal  sciences,   and 
some  small  practice  at  the  bar,  he  was  promoted  to  be 
governor  of   Corsica,   then   of    Sardinia,   and  at  last  of 
Tuscany.     From  hence,  as  his  successor  loitered  a  long 
while  on  his  road,  he  proceeded  to  superintend  the  supply- 
ing of  the   eternal   city  with  provisions,  still  retaining 
the  government  of  the  province ;  and  three  different  con- 


d.D.  388.]  .FEROCITY   OF   MAXIMIV  469 

siderations  rendered  him  cautious  on  his  first  entrance  into 
office,  namely : — 

7.  In  the  first  place,  because  he  bore  in  mind  the  pre- 
diction of  his  father,  a  man  pre-eminently  skilful  in  inter- 
preting what  was  portended  by  birds  from  whom  auguries 
were  taken,  or  by  the  note  of  such  birds  as  spoke.    And  he 
had  warned  him  that  though  he  would  rise  to  supreme 
authority,  he  would  perish  by  the  axe  of  the  executioner ; 
secondly,  because  he  had  fallen  in  with  a  Sardinian  (whom 
he  himself  subsequently   put  to   death   by   treachery,  as 
report  generally  affirmed)  who  was  a  man  skilled  in  raising 
tip  evil  spirits,  and  in  gathering  presages  from  ghosts ;  and 
as  long  as  that  Sardinian  lived,  he,  fearing  to  be  betrayed, 
was  more  tractable  and  mild  ;    lastly,  because  while  he 
was  slowly  making  his  way  through  inferior  appointments, 
like  a  serpent  that  glides  underground,  he  was  not  yet  of 
power  sufficient  to  perpetrate  any  extensive  destruction  or 
executions. 

8.  But  the  origin   of  his   arriving   at   more  extensive 
power  lay  in  the  following  transaction :  Chilo,  who  had 
been  deputy,  and  his  wife,  named  Maxima,  complained  to 
Olybrius,  at  that  time  prefect  of  the  city,  asserting  that 
their  lives  had  been  attacked  by  poison,  and  with  such 
earnestness  that  the  men  whom  they  suspected  were  at 
once  arrested  and  thrown  into  prison.    These  were  Sericus, 
a  musician,  Asbolius,  a  wrestling  master,  and  Campensis, 
a  soothsayer. 

,  9.  But  as  the  affair  began  to  cool  on  account  of  the  long- 
continued  violence  of  some  illness  with  which  Olybrius 
was  attacked,  the  persons  who  had  laid  the  complaint, 
becoming  impatient  of  delay,  presented  a  petition  in 
which  they  asked  to  have  the  investigation  of  their  charge 
referred  to  the  superintendent  of  the  corn-market ;  and, 
from  a  desire  for  a  speedy  decision,  this  request  was 
granted. 

10.  Now,  therefore,  that  he  had  an  opportunity  of  doing 
injury,  Maximin  displayed  the  innate  ferocity  which 
was  implanted  in  his  cruel  heart,  just  as  wild  beasts 
exhibited  in  the  amphitheatre  often  do  when  at  length 
released  from  their  cages.  And,  as  this  affair  was  repre- 
sented first  in  various  ways,  as  if  in  a  kind  of  prelude,  and 
eome  persons  with  their  sides  lacerated  named  certain 


470  AMMUNUS  MARCELLINUS.  [BK.  XXVIII.  CH.  t 

nobles,  as  if  by  means  of  their  clients  and  other  low-born 
persons  known  as  criminals  and  informers,  they  had  em- 
ployed various  artifices  for  injuring  them.  This  infernal 
delegate,  carrying  his  investigations  to  an  extravagant 
length,  presented  a  malicious  report  to  the  emperor,  in 
which  he  told  him  that  such  atrocious  crimes  as  many 
people  had  committed  at  Rome  could  not  be  investigated 
nor  punished  without  the  severest  penalties. 

11.  When  the  emperor  learnt  this  he  was  exasperated 
beyond  measure,  being  rather  a  furious  than  a  rigorous 
enemy   to   vice ;    and    accordingly,   by   one    single   edict 
applying  to  causes  of  this  kind,  which  in  his  arrogance  he 
treated  as  if  they  partook  of  treason,  he  commanded  that 
all  those  whom  the  equity  of  the  ancient  law  and  the 
judgment  of  the  gods  had  exempted  from  examination  by 
torture,  should,  if  the  case  seemed  to  require  it,  be  put  to 
the  rack. 

12.  And  in  order  that  the  authority  to  be  established, 
by  being  doubled  and  raised  to  greater  distinction,  might 
be  able  to  heap  up  greater  calamities,  he  appointed  Maximin 
pro-prefect  at  Rome,  and  gave  him  as  colleague  in  the 
prosecution  of  these  inquiries,  which  were  being  prepared 
for  the  ruin  of  many  persons,  a  secretary  named  Leo, 
who  was  afterwards  master  of  the  ceremonies.     He  was 
by  birth  a  Pannonian,  and  by  occupation  originally  a 
brigand,   as  savage   as  a  wild  beast,   and  insatiable  of 
human  blood. 

1 3.  The  accession  of  a  colleague  so  much  like  himself, 
inflamed  the  cruel  and  malignant  disposition  of  Maximin, 
which  was  further  encouraged  by  the  commission  which 
conferred  this  dignity  on  them ;  so  that,  flinging  himself 
about  in  his  exultation,  he  seemed  rather  to  dance  than 
to  walk,  while  he  studied  to  imitate  the  Brachmans  who, 
according  to   some  accounts,    move   in  the  air  amid  the 
altars. 

14.  And  now  the  trumpets  of  intestine  discords  sounded, 
while  all  men  stood  amazed  at  the  atrocity  of  the  things 
which  were  done.     Among  which,  besides  many  other  cruel 
and  inhuman  actions  so  various  and  so  numerous  that  it  is 
impossible  for  me  to  relate  them  all,  the  death  of  Marinns, 
the  celebrated  advocate,  was  especially  remarkable.     He 
was  condemned  to  death  on  a  charge  which  was  not  even 


A.D.  :68.]  FEROCITY    OF   MAXIMIN.  471 

attempted  to  be  supported  by  evidence,  of  having  en- 
deavoured by  wicked  acts  to  compass  a  marriage  with 
Hispanilla. 

15.  And  since  I  think  that  perhaps  some  persons  may 
read    this    history  who,   after  careful   investigation,    will 
object  to  it  that  such  and  such  a  thing  was  done  before 
another  ;  or  again  that  this  or  that  circumstance  has  been 
omitted,  I  consider  that  I  have  inserted  enough,  because  it 
is  not  every  event  which  has  been  brought  about  by  base 
people  that  is  worth  recording;    nor,  if  it  were  neces- 
sary to  relate  them  all,  would  there  be  materials  for  such 
an  account,  not  even  if  the  public  records  themselves  were 
examined,  when  so  many  atrocious  deeds  were  common, 
and  when  this  new  frenzy  was  throwing  everything  into 
confusion  without  the  slightest  restraint ;  and  when  what 
was  feared  was  evidently  not  a  judicial  trial  but  a  total 
cessation  of  all  justice. 

16.  At  this  time,  Cethegus,  a  senator,  who  was  accused  of 
adultery,  was  beheaded,  and  a  young  man  of  noble  birth, 
named  Alypius,  who  had  been  banished  for  some  trivial 
misconduct,  with  some  other  persons  of  low  descent,  were 
all  publicly  executed ;  while  every  one  appeared  in  their 
sufferings  to  see  a  representation  of  what  they  themselves 
might  expect,  and  dreamt  of  nothing  but  tortures,  prisons, 
and  dark  dungeons. 

17.  At  the  same  time  also,  the  affair  of  Hymetius,  a  man 
of  very  eminent  character,  took  place,  of  which  the  circum- 
stances were  as  follows.    When  he  was  governing  Africa  as 
pro-consul,  and  the  Carthaginians  were  in  extreme  distress 
for  want  of  food,  he  supplied  them  with  corn  out  of  the 
granaries  destined  for  the  Eoman  people  ;  and  shortly  after- 
wards, when  there  was  a  fine  harvest,  he  without  delay 
fully  replaced  what  he  had  thus  consumed. 

1 8.  But  as   at  the  time   of  the  scarcity  ten   bushels 
had  been  sold  to  those  who  were  in  want  for  a  piece  of 
gold,  while  he  now  bought  thirty  for  the  same  sum,  he 
sent  the  profit  derived  from  the  difference  in  price  to  the 
emperor's  treasury.      Therefore,   Valentinian,   suspecting 
that  there  was  not  as  much  sent  as  there  ought  to  have 
been  as  the  proceeds  of  this  traffic,  confiscated  a  portion  of 
his  property. 

19.  And  to   aggravate   the  severity  of  this  infliction, 


472  AMMIANUS   MARCELLIXUS.  [B*.  XXVJJI.  CH.  1 

another  circumstance  happened  abc'.it  the  same  time  which 
equally  tended  to  his  ruin.  Amantius  was  a  soothsayer 
of  pre-eminent  celebrity  at  that  period,  and  having  been 
accused  by  some  secret  informer  of  being  employed  by  this 
same  Hymetius  to  offer  a  sacrifice  for  some  evil  purpose, 
he  was  brought  before  a  court  of  justice  and  put  to  the 
rack ;  but  in  spite  of  all  his  tortures,  he  denied  the  charge 
with  steadfast  resolution. 

20.  And  as  he  denied  it,  some  secret  papers  were  brought 
from  his  house,  among  which  was  found  a  letter  in  the 
handwriting  of  Hymetius,  in  which  he  asked  Amantius  to 
propitiate  the  gods  by  some  solemn  sacrifices  to  engage 
them  to  make  the  disposition  of  the  emperor  favourable 
to  him;    and  at  the  end  of  the  letter  were  found  some 
reproachful   terms  applied   to   the  emperor  as  avaricious 
and  cruel. 

21.  Valentinian  learnt  these   facts  from  the  report  of 
some  informers,  who  exaggerated  the  offence  given,  and  with 
very  unnecessary  vigour  ordered  an  inquiry  to  be  made 
into  the  affair;    and  because  Frontinus,  the  assessor  of 
Hymetius,  was  accused  of  having  been  the  instrument  of 
drawing  up  this  letter,  he  was  scourged  with  rods  tilt  he 
confessed,  and  then  he  was  condemned  to  exile  in  Britain. 
But  Amantius  was  subsequently  convicted  of  some  capital 
crimes  and  was  executed. 

22.  .After  these  transactions,   Hymetius  was  conducted 
to  the  town  of  Otricoli,  to  be  examined  by  Ampelius,  the 
prefect  of  the  city,  and  deputy  of  Maximin;  and  when 
he  was  on  the  point  of  being  condemned,  as  was  manifest 
to  every  one,  he  judiciously  seized  an  opportunity  that 
was  afforded  to  him  of  appealing  to  the  protection  of  the 
emperor,  and  being  protected  by  his  name,  he  came  off  for 
the  time  in  safety. 

23.  The  emperor,  however,  when  he  was  consulted  on 
the  matter,  remitted  it  to  the  senate,  who  examined  into 
the  whole  affair  with  justice,  and  banished  him  to  Boae,  a 
•\dllage   in   Dalmatia,   for  which   they  were  visited  with 
the  wrath  of  the  emperor,  who  was  exceedingly  enraged 
when  he  heard  that  a  man  whom  in  his  own  mind  he 
had  condemned  to  death  had  been  let  off  with  a  mildei 
punishment. 

24.  These  and  similar  transactions  led  every  one  to  fear 


A.D.  368.]  CONDUCT   OF   MAXIMIN. 

that  the  treatment  thus  experienced  by  a  few  was  intended 
for  all :  and  that  these  evils  should  not,  by  being  con- 
cealed, grow  greater  and  greater  till  they  reached  an 
intolerable  height,  the  nobles  sent  a  deputation  consisting 
of  Praetextatus,  formerly  a  prefect  of  the  city,  Venustus, 
formerly  deputy,  and  Minervius,  who  had  been  a  consular 
goveinor,  to  entreat  the  emperor  not  to  allow  the  punish- 
ments to  exceed  the  offences,  and  not  to  permit  any 
senator  to  be  exposed  to  the  torture  in  an  unprecedented 
and  unlawful  manner. 

25.  But  when    these   envoys  were   admitted  into  the 
council  chamber,  Valentinian  denied  that  he  had  ever  given 
such  orders,  and  insisted  that  the  charges  made  against  him 
were   calumnies.     He  was,   however,  refuted  with  great 
moderation  by  the  praetor  Eupraxius  ;  and  in  consequence 
of  this  freedom,  the  cruel  injunction  that  had  been  issued, 
and  which  had  surpassed  all  previous  examples  of  cruelty 
was  amended. 

26.  About  the  same  time,  Lollianus,  a  youth  of  tender 
age,  the  son  of  Lampadius,  who  had  been  prefect,  being 
accused  before  Maximin,  who  investigated  his  case  with 
great  care,  and  being  convicted  of  having  copied  out  a 
book  on  the  subject  of  the  unlawful  acts  (though,  as  his 
age  made  it  likely,  without  any  definite  plan  of  using  it), 
was,  it  seemed,  on  the  point  of  being  sentenced  to  banish- 
ment, when,  at  the  suggestion  of  his  father,  he  appealed 
to  the  emperor ;  and  being  by  his  order  brought  to  court, 
it  appeared  that  he  had,  as  the  proverb  has  it,  gone  from 
the  frying-pan  into  the  fire,  as  he  was  now  handed  over  to 
Phalangius,  the  consular  governor  of  Baetica,  and  put  to 
death  by  the  hand  of  the  executioner. 

27.  There  were  also  Tarratius  Bassus,  who  afterwards 
became  prefect  of  the  city,  his  brother  Camenius,  a  man  of 
the   name   of  Marcian,  and   Eusapius,  all   men  of  great 
eminence,  who  were  prosecuted  on  the  ground  of  having 
protected  the  charioteer  Auchenius,  and  being  his  accom- 
plices in  the  act  of  poisoning.     The  evidence  was  very 
doubtful,   and    they  were  acquitted  by  the  decision   of 
Victorinus,  as  general  report  asserted  ;  Victorinus  being  a 
most  intimate  friend  of  Maximin. 

28.  Women  too  were  equally  exposed  to  similar  treat- 
ment.    For  many  of  this  sex  also,  and  of  noble  birth,  were 


474  AMMIANUS    MABCKLLINUS.  [BK.  XXVIII.  CH.  t 

put  to  death  on  being  convicted  of  adultery  or  unchastity. 
The  most  notorious  cases  were  those  of  Claritas  and 
Flaviana ;  the  first  of  whom,  when  conducted  to  death, 
was  stripped  of  the  clothes  which  she  wore,  not  even 
being  permitted  to  retain  enough  to  cover  her  with  bare 
decency ;  and  for  this  the  executioner  also  was  con- 
victed of  having  committed  a  great  crime,  and  burnt  10 
death. 

29.  Paphius  and  Cornelius,  both  senators,  confessed  that 
they  had  polluted  themselves  by  the  wicked  practice  of 
poisoning,  and  were  put  to  death  by  the  sentence  of  Maxi- 
min  ;  and  by  a  similar  sentence  the  master  of  the  mint  was 
executed.     He  also  condemned  Sericus  and  Asbolius,  who 
have  been  mentioned  before  ;  and  because  while  exhorting 
them  to  name  any  others  who  occurred  to  them,  he  had 
promised  them  with  an  oath  that  they  should  not  them- 
selves be  punished  either  by  fire  or  sword,  he  had  them 
slain  by  violent  blows  from  balls  of  lead.     After  this  he  also 
burnt  alive  Campensis  the  soothsayer,  not  having  in  his 
case  bound  himself  by  any  oath  or  promise. 

30.  Here  it  is  in  my  opinion  convenient  to  explain  the 
cause  which  brought  Aginatius  headlong  to  destruction,  a 
man  ennobled  by  a  long  race  of  ancestors,  as  unvarying 
tradition  affirms,  though  no  proof  of  his  ancestral  renown 
was  ever  substantiated. 

31.  Maximin,   full  of  pride  and  arrogance,   and  being 
then  also  prefect  of  the  corn-market,  and  having  many  en- 
couragements to  audacity,  proceeded  so  far  as  to  show  his 
contempt  for  Probus,  the  most  illustrious  of  all  the  nobles, 
and  who  was  governing  the  provinces  with  the  authority 
of  prefect  of  the  prsetorium. 

32.  Aginatius,  being  indignant  at  this,  and  feeling  it  a 
hardship  that  in  the  trial  of  causes  Olybrius  had  preferred 
Maximin  to  himself,  while  he  was  actually  deputy  at  Kome, 
secretly  informed  Probus  in  private  letters  that  the  arro- 
gant and  foolish  man  who  had  thus  set  himself  against  hia 
lofty  merits,  might  easily  be  put  down  if  he  thought  fit. 

33.  These    letters,    as    some    affirm,    Probus    sent    to 
Maxirain,  hardened  as  he  was  in  wickedness,  because  he 
feared  his  influence  with  the  emperor;  letting  none  but 
the  bearer  know  the  business.     And  when  he  had  read 
them,  the  cruel  Maximin  became  furious,  and  henceforth 


A.D.  368.]  CONDUCT  OF  MAXIMIN.  475 

set  all  his  engines  at  work  to  destroy  Aginatius,  like  a 
serpent  that  had  been  bruised  by  some  one  whom  it 
knew. 

34.  There  was  another  still  more  powerful  cause  for  in- 
triguing against  him,  which  ultimately  became  his  destruc- 
tion.    For  he  charged  Victorinus,  who  was  dead,  and  from 
whom  he  had  received  a  very  considerable  legacy,  with 
having  while  alive  made  money  of  the  decrees  of  Maximin  ; 
and  with  similar  maliciousness  he  had  also  threatened  his 
wife  Anepsia  with  a  lawsuit. 

35.  Anepsia,   alarmed   at  this,  and   to  support  herself 
by  the  aid  of  Maximin,  pretended  that  her  husband  in  a 
will  which  he  had   recently  made,   had   left  him  three 
thousand  pounds  weight  of  silver.     He,  full  of  covetotis- 
ness,  for  this  too  was  one  of  his  vices,  demanded  half  the 
inheritance,  and  afterwards,  not  being  contented  with  that, 
as  if  it  were  hardly  sufficient,  he  contrived  another  device 
which  he  looked  upon  as  both  honourable  and  safe ;  and 
not  to  lose  his  hold  of  the  handle  thus  put  in  his  way 
for  obtaining  a  large  estate,  he  demanded  the  daughter  of 
Anepsia,  who  was  the  stepdaughter  of  Victorinus,  as  a  wife 
for  his  son ;  and  this  marriage  was  quickly  arranged  with 
the  consent  of  the  woman. 

36.  Through  these  and  other  atrocities  equally  lamentable, 
which  threw  a  gloom  over  the  whole  of  the  eternal  city, 
this  man,  never  to  be  named  without  a  groan,  grew  by  the 
ruin  of  numerous  other  persons,  and  began  to  stretch  out 
his  hands  beyond  the  limits  of  lawsuits  and  trials  :  for  it  is 
said  that  he  had  a  small  cord  always  suspended  from  a 
remote  window  of  the  prsetorium,  the  end  of  which  had  a 
loop  which  was  easily  drawn  tight,  by  means  of  which  he 
received  secret  informations  supported  by  no  evidence  or 
testimony,  but  capable  of  being  used  to  the  ruin  of  many 
innocent  persons.     And  he  used  often  to  send  his  officers, 
Mucianus  and  Barbarus,  men  fit  for  any  deceit  or  treachery , 
secretly  out  of  his  house. 

37.  Who  then,  as  if  bewailing  some  hardship  which  as 
they  pretended  had  fallen  upon  them,  and  exaggerating 
the  cruelty  of  the  judge,  with  constant  repetition  assured 
those  who  really  lay  under  execution  that  there  was  no 
remedy  by  which  they  could  save  themselves  except  that 
of  advancing  heavy  accusation  against  men  of  high  rank  ; 


476  AMMIAXUS  MARCELLIXUS.  [BK.  XXV1I1.  CH.  I 

because  if  such  men  were  involved  in  such  accusations, 
they  themselves  would  easily  procure  an  acquittal. 

38.  In   this   way,    Maximin's  implacable  temper  over- 
whelmed those  yet  in  his  power ;  numbers  were  thrown 
into  prison,  and  persons  of  the  highest  rank  were  seen  with 
anxious  faces  and  in  mourning  attire.     Nor  ought  any  one 
of  them  to  be  blamed  for  bowing  down  to  the  ground  in 
saluting  this  monster,  when  they  heard  him  vociferating 
with  the  tone  of  a  wild  beast,  that  no  one  could  ever  be 
acquitted  unless  he  choose. 

39.  For  sayings  like  that,  when  instantly  followed  by 
their  natural  result,  would  have  terrified  even  men  like 
Numa,  Pompilius,  or  Cato.  In  fact  things  went  on  in  such  a 
way  that  some  persons  never  had  their  eyes  dried  of  the 
tears  caused  by  the  misfortunes  of  others,  as  often  happens 
in  such  unsettled  and  dangerous  times. 

40.  And  the  iron- hearted  jtidge,  continually  disregarding 
all  law  and  justice,  had  but  one  thing  about  him  which 
made  him  endurable  ;  for  sometimes  he  was  prevailed  upon 
by  entreaties  to  spare  some  one,  though  this  too  is  affirmed 
to  be  nearly  a  vice  in  the  following  passage  of  Cicero. 
"  If   anger    be    implacable,   it   is   the   extreme  of   seve- 
rity ;  if  it  yield  to  entreaties,  it  is  the  extreme  of  levity ; 
though  in  times  of  misfortune  even  levity  is  to  be  preferred 
to  cruelty." 

41.  After  these  events,  Leo  arrived,  and  was  received  as 
his  successor,  and  Maximin  was  summoned  to  the  emperor's 
court  and  promoted  to  the  office  of  prefect  of  the  prtetorium, 
where  he  was  as  cruel  as  ever,  having  indeed  greater  power 
of  inflicting  injury,  like  a  basilisk  serpent. 

42.  Just  at  this  time,  or  not  long  before,  the  brooms  with 
which  the  senate-house  of  the  nobles  was  swept  out  were 
seen  to  flower,  and  this  portended  that  some  persons  of  the 
very  lowest  class  would  be  raised  to  high  rank  and  power. 

43.  Though  it  is  now  time  to  return  to  the  course  of  our 
regular  histoiy,  yet  without  neglecting  the  proper  order  of 
time,  we  must  dwell  on  a  few  incidents,  which  through 
the  iniquity  of  the  deputy  prefects  of  the  city,  were  done 
most  unjustly,  being  in  fact  done  at  the  word  and  will  of 
Maximin  by  those  same  officers,  who  seemed  to  look  on 
themselves  as  the  mere  servants  of  his  pleasure. 

44.  After  him  came  Ursicinus,  a  man  of  a  more  merciful 


A.D.  368.]  CRUELTY    OF   SIMPLICIUS.  477 

disposition,  who,  wishing  to  act  cautiously  and  in  confor- 
mity to  the  constitution,  confronted  a  man  named  Esaias 
with  some  others  who  were  in  prison  on  a  charge  of 
adultery  with  Eufina ;  who  had  attempted  to  establish  a 
charge  of  treason  against  Marcellus  her  husband,  formerly 
in  a  situation  of  high  trust.  But  this  act  led  to  his  being 
despised  as  a  dawdler,  and  a  person  little  tit  to  carry  out 
such  designs  with  proper  resolution,  and  so  he  was  removed 
from  his  place  of  deputy. 

45.  He  was  succeeded  by  Simplicius  of  Emona,  who  had 
been  a  schoolmaster,  but  was  now  the  assessor  of  Maximin. 
After  receiving  this  appointment,  he  did  not  grow  more 
proud  or  arrogant,  but  assumed  a  supercilious  look,  which 
gave   a   repulsive   expression   to   his   countenance.      His 
language  was  studiously  moderate,  while  he  meditated  the 
most  rigorous  proceedings  against  many  persons.      And 
first  of  all  he  put  Rufina  to  death  with  all  the  partners  of 
her  adultery,  and  all  who  were  privy  to  it,  concerning 
whom  Ursicinus,  as  we  have  related,  had  already  made  a 
report.     Then  he  put  numbers  of  others  to  death,  without 
any  distinction  between  the  innocent  and  the  guilty. 

46.  Running  a  race  of  bloodshed  with  Maximin,  as  if  he 
had,  as  it  were,  been  his  leader,  he  sought  to  surpass  him 
in  destroying  the  noblest  families,  imitating  Biisiris  and 
Antaeus  of  old,  and   Phalaris,  so  that  he  seemed  to  want 
nothing  but  the  bull  of  Agrigentum. 

47.  After  these  and  other  similar  transactions  had  taken 
place,  a  certain  matron  named  Hesychia,  who  was  accused 
of  having  attempted  some  crime,  becoming  greatly  alarmed, 
and  being  of  a  fierce  and  resolute  disposition,  killed  herself 
in   the  house   of  the  officer  to  whom  she  w;;s  given   in 
custody,  by  muffling  her  face  in  a  bed  of  feathers,  and 
stopping  up  her  nostrils  and  so  becoming  suffocated. 

48.  To  all  these  calamities  another  of  no  less  severity 
was  added.     For  Eumenius  and  Abienus,  two  men  of  the 
highest  class,  having  been  accused,  during  Maximin's  term 
of  office,  of  adultery  with  Fausiana,  a  woman  of  rank,  after 
the  death  of  Victorinus,  under  whose  protection  they  were 
safe,  being  alarmed  at  the  arrival  of  Simplicius,  who  was 
as  full  of  audacity  and  threats  as  Maximin,  withdrew  to 
some  secret  hiding-place. 


478  AMMIANUS   MARCELLINUS.  [B*.  XXVIII.  CH.  i. 

49.  But  after  Fausiana  had  been  condemned  they  were 
recorded    among    the   accused,    and   were   summoned   by 
public    edict  to  appear,   but  they   only  hid  themselves 
the   more  carefully.     And  Abrenus  was  for  a  very  long 
time  concealed  in  the  house  of  Anepsia.     But  as  it  con- 
tinually happens  that  unexpected  accidents  come  to  aggra- 
vate the  distresses  of  those  who  are  already  miserable,  a 
slave  of  Anepsia  named  Apaudulus,  being  angry  because 
his  wife  had  been  flogged,  went  by  night  to  Simplicius, 
and  gave  information   of  the  whole  affair,   and  officers 
were  sent  to  drag  them  both  from  their  place  of  conceal- 
ment. 

50.  The  charge  against  Abrenus  was  strengthened  by 
another  charge  which  was  brought  against  him,  of  having 
seduced  Anepsia,  and  he  was  condemned  to  death.     But 
Anepsia  herself,  to  get  some  hope  of  saving  her  life  by  at 
least  procuring  the  delay  of  her  execution,  affirmed  that 
she  had  been  assailed  by  unlawful  arts,  and  had  been 
ravished  in  the  house  of  Aginatius. 

51.  Simplicius  with  loud  indignation  reported  to  the 
emperor  all   that    had  taken    place,   and    as    Maximin, 
who  was  now  at  court,  hated  Aginatius  for  the  reason 
which  we  have  already  explained,  and  having  his  rage 
increased  against  him  at  the  same  time  that  his  power  was 
augmented,  entreated  with  great  urgency  that  he  might  be 
sentenced  to  death ;  and  such  a  favour  was  readily  granted 
to  this   furious  and  influential  exciter  of  the  emperor's 
severity. 

52.  Then    fearing    the    exceeding  unpopularity  which 
would  fall  upon  him  if  a  man  of  patrician  family  should 
perish  by  the  sentence  of  Simplicius,  who  was   his  new 
assessor  and  friend,  he  kept  the  imperial  edict  for  the 
execution  by  him  for  a  short  time,  wavering  and  doubting 
whom  to  pitch  upon  as  a  trusty  and  efficient  perpetrator  of 
so  atrocious  a  deed. 

53.  At   length,    as   like    usually   finds  like,  a   certain 
Gaul   of  the  name  of  Doryphorianus  was  discovered,  a 
man  daring  even  to  madness ;    and  as  he  promised  to 
accomplish  the  matter  in  a  short  time,  he  obtained  for  him 
the  post  of  deputy,  and  gave  him  the  emperor's  letter  with 
an  additional  rescript;  instructing  the  man,  who  though 


A.D.  368.]  CONDUCT   OF   DORYPHORIANUS.  479 

savage  had  no  experience  in  such  matters,  how,  if  he  used 
sufficient  speed,  he  would  meet  with  no  obstacle  to  his  slay- 
ing Aginatius  ;  though,  if  there  were  any  delay,  he  would 
be  very  likely  to  escape. 

54.  Doryphorianus,  as  he  was  commanded,  hastened  to 
Rome  by  rapid  journeys  ;  and  while  beginning  to  discharge 
the  duties  of  his  new  office,  he  exerted  great  industry  to 
discover  how  he  could  put  a  senator  of  eminent  family  to 
death  without  any  assistance.     And  when  he  learnt  that 
he  had   been  some  time  before  found  in  his  own  house 
where  he  was  still  kept  in  custody,  he  determined  to  have 
him  brought  before  him  as  the  chief  of  all  the  criminals, 
with  Anepsia,  in   the  middle   of  the  night;    an  hour  at 
which  men's  minds  are  especially  apt  to  be  bewildered  by 
terror ;    as,    among   many   other   instances,    the    Ajax   of 
Homer1  shows  us,  when  he  expresses  a  wish  rather  to  die 
by  daylight,  than  to  suffer  the  additional  terrors  of  the 
night. 

55.  And  as  the  judge,  I  should  rather  call  him  the 
infamous  robber,  intent  only  on  the  service  he  had  pro- 
mised to    perform,  carried  everything   to  excess,   having 
ordered  Aginatius  to  be  brought  in,  he  also  commanded  the 
introduction  of  a  troop  of  executioners ;    and   while  the 
chains  rattled  with  a  mournful  sound,  he  tortured  the  slaves 
who  were  already  exhausted  by  their  long  confinement,  till 
they  died,  in  order  to  extract  from  them  matter  affecting 
the  life  of  their  master  ;  a  proceeding  which  in  a  trial  for 
adultery  our  merciful  laws  expressly  forbids. 

56.  At  last,  when  the  tortures  which  were  all  but  mortal 
had  wmng  some  hints  from  the  maid-servant,  without  any 
careful  examination  of  the  truth  of  her  words,  Aginatius 
was  at  once  sentenced  to  be  led  to  execution,  and  without 
being  allowed  to  say  a  word  in  his  defence,  though  with 

Sec  the  Iliad,  XVIII.  1.  645,  where  Ajax  prays  :— 

"  Lord  of  earth  and  air, 
O  King  !   O  Father,  hear  my  humble  prayer ! 
Dispel  this  cloud,  the  light  of  heaven  restore  ; 
Give  me  to  see,  and  Ajax  asks  no  more ! 
If  Greece  must  perish,  we  thy  will  obey, 
But  let  us  perish  in  the  face  of  day." 

POPE'S  Trans.,  1.  727,  etc. 


480  AMMIANU.S   MARCELL1NUS.          [BK.  XXVIII.  CH.  n 

loud  outcries  he  appealed  to  and  invoked  the  names  of  the 
emperors,  he  was  carried  off  and  put  to  death,  and  Anepsia 
was  executed  by  a  similar  sentence.  The  eternal  city  was 
filled  with  mourning  for  these  executions  which  were  per- 
petrated either  by  Maximin  himself  when  he  was  present 
in  the  city,  or  by  his  emissaries  when  he  was  at  a  dis- 
tance. 

57.  But  the  avenging  Furies  of  those  who  had  been 
murdered  were  preparing  retribution.  For,  as  I  will  after- 
wards relate  at  the  proper  season,  this  same  Maximin 
giving  way  to  his  intolerable  pride  when  Gratian  was 
emperor,  was  put  to  death  by  the  sword  of  the  executioner ; 
and  Simplicius  also  was  beheaded  in  Illyricum.  Dorypho- 
rianus  too  was  condemned  to  death,  and  thrown  into  the 
Tullian  prison,  but  was  taken  from  thence  by  the  emperor 
at  his  mother's  suggestion,  and  when  he  was  brought 
back  to  his  own  country  was  put  to  death  with  terrible 
torments.  Let  us  now  return  to  the  point  at  which  we 
left  our  history.  Such,  however,  was  the  state  of  affairs  in 
the  city  of  Rome. 

II. 

A.D.  369. 

§  1.  VALEXTINIAN  having  several  great  and  useful  pro- 
jects in  his  head,  began  to  fortify  the  entire  banks  of  the 
Rhine,  from  its  beginning  in  the  Tyrol  to  the  straits  of 
the  ocean,1  with  vast  works ;  raising  lofty  castles  and 
fortresses,  and  a  perfect  range  of  towers  in  every 
suitable  place,  so  as  to  protect  the  whole  frontier  of  Gaul ; 
and  sometimes,  by  constructing  works  on  the  other  side 
of  the  river,  he  almost  trenched  upon  the  territories  of  the 
enemy. 

.  2.  At  last  considering  that  one  fortress,  of  which  he 
himself  had  laid  the  very  foundations,  though  sufficiently 
high  and  safe,  yet,  being  built  on  the  very  edge  of  the 
river  Neckar,  was  liable  to  be  gradually  undermined  by 
the  violent  beating  of  its  waters,  he  formed  a  plan  to 
divert  the  river  itself  into  another  channel ;  and,  having 
sought  out  some  workmen  who  were  skilful  in  such  works 

1  See  Gibbon,  vol.  III.  p.  97  (Bohri's  edition). 


A.D.  369.1  PROGRESS   OF   THE   ROMANS.  481 

and  collected  a  strong  military  force,  he  began  that  arduous 
labour. 

3.  Day  after  day  large  masses  of  oaken  beams   were 
fastened  together,  and  thrown  into  the  channel,  and  by 
them  huge  piles  were  continually  fixed  and  unfixed,  being  all 
thrown  into  disorder  by  the  rising  of  the  stream,  and  after- 
wards they  were  broken  and  carried  away  by  the  current. 

4.  However,  the  resolute  diligence  of  the  emperor  and 
the  labour  of  the  obedient  soldiery  prevailed  ;  though  the 
troops  were  often  up  to  their  chins  in  the  water  while 
at  work ;  and  at   last,  though   not   without  considerable 
risk,  the  fixed  camp  was  protected  against  all  danger  from 
the  violence  of  the  current,  and  is  still  safe  and  strong. 

5.  Joyful  and  exulting  in  this  success,  the  emperor,  per- 
ceiving that  the  weather  and  the  season  of  the  year  did 
not  allow  him  any  other  occupation,  like  a  good  and  active 
prince  began  to  apply  his  attention  to  the  general  affairs 
of  the  republic.     And  thinking  the  time  very  proper  for 
completing  one  work  which  he  had  been  meditating,  he 
began  with  all  speed  to  raise  a  fortification  on  the  other 
side  of  the  Rhine,  on  Mount  Piri,  a  spot  which  belongs  to 
the  barbarians.     And  as  rapidity  of  action  was  one  great 
means  of  executing  this  design  with  safety,  he  sent  orders 
to  the  Duke  Arator,  through  Syagrius,  who  was  then  a 
secretary,  but  who  afterwards  became  prefect  and  consul, 
to  attempt  to  make  himself  master  of  this  height  in  the 
dead  of  the  night. 

6.  The  duke  at  once  crossed  over  with  the  secretary,  as 
he  was  commanded ;    and  was  beginning  to  employ  the 
soldiers  whom  he  had  brought  with  him  to  dig  out  the 
foundations,  when  he  received  a  successor,  Hermogenes. 
At  the  very  same  moment  there  arrived  some  nobles  of  the 
Allemanni,  fathers  of  the  hostages,  whom,  in  accordance 
with  our  treaty,  we  were  detaining  as  important  pledges 
for  the  long  continuance  of  the  peace. 

7.  And  they,  with  bended  knees  entreated  him  not  to 
let   the   Romans,  with   an  improvident   disregard   of  all 
safety  (they  whose  fortune   their  everlasting  good  faith 
had  raised  to  the  skies),  now  be  misled  by  a  base  error  to 
trample  all  former  agreements  under  foot,  and  attempt  an 
act  unworthy  of  them. 

8.  But  since  it  was  to  no  purpose  that  they  used  these 

2  I 


482  AMMIANUS  MARCELLINUS.       [Bi.XXVIII.CH.il. 

and  similar  arguments,  as  they  were  not  listened  to,  and 
finding  that  they  had  no  chance  of  a  conciliatory  answer, 
they  reluctantly  returned,  bewailing  the  loss  of  their  sons  ; 
and  when  they  were  gone,  from  a  secret  hiding-place 
in  a  neighbouring  hill  a  troop  of  barbarians  sprang  forth, 
waiting,  as  far  as  was  understood,  for  the  answer  which 
was  to  be  given  to  the  nobles  ;  and  attacking  our  half- 
naked  soldiers,  who  were  carrying  loads  of  earth,  drew 
their  swords  and  quickly  slew  them,  and  with  them  the 
two  generals. 

9.  Nor  was  any  one  left  to  relate  what  had  happened, 
except  Syagrius,  who,  after  they  were  all  destroyed  returned 
to  the  court,  where  by  the  sentence  of  his  offended  emperor 
he  was  dismissed  the  service ;  on  which  he  retired  to  his 
own  home ;  being  judged  by  the  severe  decision  of  the 
prince  to  have  deserved  this  sentence  because  he  was  the 
only  one  who  escaped. 

10.  Meanwhile   the   wicked  fury  of  bands  of  robbers 
raged  through  Gaul  to  the  injury  of  many  persons ;  since 
they  occupied  the  most  frequented  roads,  and  without  any 
hesitation  seized  upon  everything  valuable  which  came  in 
their  way.     Besides  many  other  persons  who  were  the 
victims  of  these  treacherous  attacks,   Constantianus,  the 
tribune  of  the  stable,  was  attacked  by  a  secret  ambus- 
cade and  slain  ;  he  was  a  relation  of  Valentinian,  and  the 
brother  of  Cerealis  and  Justina. 

11.  In  other  countries,  as  if  the  Furies  were  stirring  up 
similiar  evils  to  afflict  us  on  every  side,  the  Maratocupreni, 
those  most  cruel  banditti,  spread  their  ravages  in  every 
direction.     They  were  the  natives  of  a  town  of  the  same 
name   in  Syria,    near    Apamea;    very   numerous,    mar- 
vellously skilful  in  every  kind  of  deceit,  and  an  object  of 
universal  fear,  because,  under  the  character  of  merchants 
or  soldiers  of  high  rank,  they  spread  themselves  quietly 
over  the  country,  and  then  pillaged  all  the  wealthy  houses, 
villages,  and  towns  which  came  in  their  way. 

12.  Nor  could  any  one  guard  against  their  unexpected 
attacks ;  since  they  fell  not  upon  any  previously  selected 
victim,  but   in  places  in  various  parts,  and  at  great  dis- 
tances, and  carried  their  devastations  wherever  the  wind 
led  them.      For   which   reason   the   Saxons   were  feared 
beyond  all  other  enemies,  because  of  the  suddenness  of 


A.D.  369.]  MEASURES   OF   TI1EODOSIUS.  483 

their  attacks.  They  then,  in  bands  of  sworn  comrades, 
destroyed  the  riches  of  many  persons  ;  and  being  tinder  the 
impulse  of  absolute  fury,  they  committed  the  most  mournful 
slaughters,  being  not  less  greedy  of  blood  than  of  booty. 
Nevertheless,  that  I  may  not,  by  entering  into  too  minute 
details,  impede  the  progress  of  my  history,  it  will  be  suffi- 
cient to  relate  one  destructive  device  of  theirs. 

13.  A  body  of  these  wicked  men  assembled  in  one  place, 
pretending  to  be  the  retinue  of  a  receiver  of  the  revenue,  or 
of  the  governor  of  the  province.     In  the  darkness  of  the 
evening  they  entered  the  city,  while  the  crier  made  a 
mournful  proclamation,  and  attacked  with  swords  the  house 
of  one  of  the  nobles,  as  if  he  had  been  proscribed  and 
sentenced  to  death.     They  seized  all  his  valuable  furni- 
ture, because  his  servants,  being  utterly  bewildered  by  the 
suddenness  of  the  danger,  did  not  defend  the  house ;  they 
slew  several  of  them,  and  then  before  the  return  of  day- 
light withdrew  with  great  speed. 

14.  But  being  loaded  with  a  great  quantity  of  plunder, 
since  from  their  love   of   booty  they  had  left  nothing 
behind,  they  were  intercepted  by  a  movement  of  the  em- 
peror's troop,  and  were  cut  off  and  all  slain  to  a  man. 
And  their  children,  who  were  at   the  time  very  young, 
were   also    destroyed    to   prevent    their   growing    up    in 
the   likeness   of  their    fathers ;   and    their  houses  which 
they  had  built  with  great  splendour  at  the  expense   of 
the  misery  of    others,   were    all   pulled    down.      These 
things  happened  in  the  order  in  which  they  have  been 
related. 

III. 

§  1 .  Bur  Theodosius,  a  general  of  very  famous  reputation, 
departed  in  high  spirits  from  Augusta,  which  the  ancients 
used  to  call  Londinium,  with  an  army  which  he  had  col- 
lected with  great  energy  and  skill ;  bringing  a  mighty  aid 
to  the  embarrassed  and  disturbed  fortunes  of  the  Britons. 
His  plan  was  to  seek  everywhere  favourable  situations  for 
laying  ambuscades  for  the  barbarians ;  and  to  impose  no 
duties  on  his  troops  of  the  performance  of  which  he  did  not 
himself  cheerfully  set  the  example. 
2.  And  in  this  way,  while  he  performed  the  duties  of  a 


484  AMMIANUS   MARCELL1NUS.         [B*.  XXVIII.  CH.  m. 

gallant  soldier,  and  showed  at  the  same  time  the  prudence 
of  an  illustrious  general,  he  routed  and  vanquished  the 
various  tribes  in  whom  their  past  security  had  engendered 
an  insolence  which  led  them  to  attack  the  Eoman  terri- 
tories ;  and  he  entirely  restored  the  cities  and  the  fortresses 
which  through  the  manifold  disasters  of  the  time  had  been 
injured  or  destroyed,  though  they  had  been  originally 
founded  to  secure  the  tranquillity  of  the  country. 

3.  But  while  he  was  pursuing  this  career,  a  great  crime 
was  planned  which  was  likely  to  have  resulted  in  serious 
danger,  if  it  had  not  been  crushed  at  the  veiy  beginning. 

4.  A  certain    man    named    Valentine,    in    Valeria    of 
Pannonia,  a  man  of  a  proud  spirit,  the  brother-in-law  of 
Maximin,  that  wicked  and  cioiel  deputy,  who  afterwards 
became  prefect,  having  been  banished  to  Britain  for  some 
grave  crime,  and  being  a  restless  and  mischievous  beast, 
was  eager  for  any  kind  of  revolution  or  mischief,  began  to 
plot  with  great  insolence  against   Theodosius,  whom  he 
looked  upon  as  the  only  person  with  power  to  resist  his 
wicked  enterprise. 

5.  But  while  both  openly  and  privily  taking  many  pre- 
cautions, as  his  pride  and  covetousness  increased,  he  began 
to  tamper  with  the  exiles  and  the  soldiers,  promising  them 
rewards  sufficient  to  tempt  them  as  far  at  least  as  the  cir- 
cumstances and  his  enterprise  would  permit. 

6.  But  when  the   time  for  putting  his   attempt  into 
execution  drew  near,  the  duke,  who  had   received  from 
some  trustworthy  quarter  information  of  what  was  going 
on,  being  always  a  man  inclined  to  a  bold  line  of  conduct, 
and  resolutely  bent  on  chastising  crimes  when  detected, 
seized  Valentine  with  a  few  of  his  accomplices  who  were 
most  deeply  implicated,  and  handed  them  over  to  the  general 
Dulcitius  to  be  put  to  death.     But  at  the  same  time  con- 
jecturing the  future,  through  that  knowledge  of  the  soldiers 
in  which  he  surpassed  other  men,  he  forbade  the  institution 
of  any  examination  into  the  conspiracy  generally,  lest  if 
the  fear  of  such  an  investigation  should  affect  many,  fresh 
troubles  might  revive  in  the  province. 

7.  After  this  he  turned  his  attention   to  make   many 
necessary    amendments,   feeling    wholly   free    from    any 
danger  in  such  attempts,  since  it  was  plain  that  all  his 
enterprises  were  attended   by  a  propitious  fortune.     So 


A.D.369.]  SUCCESS   OF   THEODOSIUS.  485 

he  restored  cities  and  fortresses,  as  we  have  already  men- 
tioned, and  established  stations  and  outposts  on  our  fron- 
tiers ;  and  he  so  completely  recovered  the  province  which 
had  yielded  subjection  to  the  enemy,  that  through  his 
agency  it  was  again  brought  under  the  authority  of  its 
legitimate  ruler,  and  from  that  time  forth  was  called 
Valentia,  by  desire  of  the  emperor,  as  a  memorial  of  his 
success. 

8.  The  Areans,  a  class  of   men  instituted   in  former 
times,  and  of  whom  we  have  already  made  some  mention 
in  recording  the  acts  of  Constans,  had  now  gradually  fallen 
into  bad  practices,  for  which  he  removed  them  from  their 
stations ;  in  fact  they  had  been  undeniably  convicted   of 
yielding  to  the  temptation  of  the  great  rewards  which 
were  given  and   promised  to   them,  so  as   to  have   con- 
tinually betrayed  to  the  barbarians  what  was  done  among 
us.     For  their  business  was  to  traverse  vast  districts,  and 
report   to   our   generals   the   warlike   movements   of  the 
neighbouring  nations. 

9.  In   this   manner   the  affairs   which   I   have  already 
mentioned,  and  others  like  them,  having  been  settled,  he 
was  summoned  to  the  court,  and  leaving  the  provinces  in 
a  state   of  exultation,  like   another   Furius   Camillus   or 
Papirius  Cursor,  he   was   celebrated  everywhere  for   his 
numerous  and  important  victories.     He  was  accompanied 
by  a  large  crowd  of  well-wishers  to  the  coast,  and  crossing 
over   with  a  fair  wind,  arrived   at  the  emperor's  camp, 
where   he  was  received  with  joy   and  high  praise,  and 
appointed  to  succeed  Valens  Jovinus,  who  was  commander 
of  the  cavalry. 

IV. 

§  1.  I  HAVE  thus  made  a  long  and  extensive  digression 
from  the  affairs  of  the  city,  being  constrained  by  the 
abundance  of  events  which  took  place  abroad  ;  and  now  I 
will  jeturn  to  give  a  cursory  sketch  of  them,  beginning 
with  the  tranquil  and  moderate  exercise  of  the  prefect's 
authority  by  Olybrius,  who  never  forgot  the  rights  of 
humanity,  but  was  continually  anxious  and  careful  that  no 
word  or  deed  of  his  should  ever  be  harsh  or  cruel.  He 
was  a  merciless  punisher  of  calumnies ;  he  restrained  the 
exactions  cf  the  treasury  wherever  he  could;  he  was  a 


486  AMMIANUS  MARCELLIXUS.         [BK.  XXVIII.  CH.  nr. 

careful  discriminator  of  right  and  wrong;  an  equitable 
judge,  and  very  gentle  towards  those  placed  under  his 
authority. 

2.  But  all  these  good  qualities  were  clouded  by  one 
vice  which,  though  not  injurious  to  the  commonwealth, 
was  very  discreditable  to  a  judge  of  high  rank ;  namely, 
that  his  private  life  was  one  of  great  luxury,  devoted 
to  theatrical  exhibitions,  and  to  amours,  though  not  such 
as  were  either  infamous  or  incestuous. 

3.  After  him  Ampelius  succeeded  to   the  government 
of  the  city ;  he  also  was  a  man  addicted  to  pleasure,  a 
native  of  Antioch,  and  one  who  from  having  been  master 
of   the    offices  was  twice   promoted  to  a  proconsulship, 
and  sometime  afterwards  to  that  supreme  rank,  the  prefec- 
ture.    In  other  respects  he  was  a  cheerful  man,  and  one 
admirably  suited  to  win  the  favour  of  the  people ;  though 
sometimes  over-severe,  without  being  as  firm  in  his  pur- 
poses as  might  have  been  wished.     Had  he  been,  he  would 
nave  corrected,  though  perhaps  not  effectually,  the  glut- 
tonous and  debauched  habits  which  prevailed ;  but,  as  it 
was,  by  his  laxity  of  conduct,  he  lost  a  glory  which  other- 
wise might  have  been  enduring. 

4.  For  he  had  determined  that  no  wine-shop  should  be 
opened  before  the  fourth  hour  of  the  day ;  and  that  none 
of  the  common  people,  before  a  certain  fixed  hour,  should 
either  warm  water  or  expose  dressed  meat  for  sale ;  and 
that  no  one  of  respectable  rank  should  be  seen  eating  in 
public. 

5.  Since    these    unseemly  practices,   and  others    still 
worse,  owing  to  long  neglect  and  connivance,  had  grown 
so  frequent  that  even  Epimenides  of  Crete,  if,  according  to 
the  fabulous  story,  he  could  have  risen  from  the  dead  and 
returned  to  our  times,  would  have  been  unable  by  himself 
to  purify  Kome  ;  such  deep  stains  of  incurable  vices  over- 
whelmed it. 

6.  And  in  the  first  place  we  will  speak  of  the  faults  of 
the  nobles,  as  we  have  already  repeatedly  done  as  far  as 
our  space  permitted ;    and  then  we  will  proceed  to  the 
faults  of  the   common  people,   touching,  however,   only 
briefly  and  rapidly  on  either. 

7.  Some  men,  conspicuous  for  the  illustriousness  of  their 
ancestry   as    they   think,    gave    themselves    immoderate 


*j>.  369.J  FAULTS   OF    THE   NOBLES.  487 

airs,  and  call  themselves  Eeburri,  and  Fabunii,  and 
Pagonii,  and  Geriones,  Dalii,  Tarracii,  or  Perrasii,  and 
other  finely-sounding  appellations,  indicating  the  antiquity 
of  their  family. 

8.  Some  also  are  magnificent  in  silken  robes,  as  if  they 
were  being  led  to  execution,  or,  to  speak  without  words 
of  so  unfavourable   an  omen,  as  if  after  the  army  had 
passed  they  were  bringing  up  the  rear,  and  are  followed 
by  a  vast  troop  of  servants,  with  a  din  like  that  of  a  com- 
pany of  soldiers. 

9.  Such  men  when,  while  followed  by  fifty  servants 
apiece,  they  have  entered  the  baths,  cry  out  with  threaten- 
ing voice,  "  Where  are  my  people  V"     And  if  they  sud- 
denly find  out  that  any  unknown  female  slave  has  appeared, 
or  any  worn-out  courtesan  who  has  long  been  subservient 
to  the  pleasures  of  the  townspeople,  they  run  up,  as  if  to 
win   a  race,    and   patting   and   caressing    her   with    dis- 
gusting and  unseemly  blandishments,  they  extol  her,  as 
the  Parthians  might  praise  Semiramis,  Egypt  her  Cleo- 
patra, the  Carians  Artemisia,  or  the   Palmyrene  citizens 
Zenobia.     And  men  do  this,  whose  ancestor,  even  though 
a  senator,  would  have  been  branded  with  a  mark  of  infamy 
because  he  dared,  at  an  unbecoming  time,  to  kiss  his  wife 
in  the  presence  of  their  common  daughter. 

10.  Some  of  these,  when  any  one  meets  and  begins  to 
salute  them,  toss  their  heads  like  bulls  preparing  to  butt, 
offering  their  flatterers  their  knees  or  hands  to  kiss,  think- 
ing that  quite  enough  for  their  perfect  happiness ;  while 
they  deem  it  sufficient  attention  and  civility  to  a  stranger 
who  may  happen  to  have  laid  them  under  some  obligation 
to  ask  him  what  warm  or  cold  bath  he  frequents,  or  what 
house  he  lives  in. 

11.  And  while  they  are  so  solemn,  looking  upon  them- 
selves as  especial  cultivators  of  virtue,  if  they  learn  that 
any  one  has  brought  intelligence  that  any  fine  horses  or 
skilful  coachmen  are  coming  from  any  place,  they  rush 
with  as  much  haste  to  see  them,  examine  them,  and  put 
questions  concerning  them,  as  their  ancestors  showed  on 
beholding  the  twin-brothers  Tyndaridae,1  when  they  filled 

1  This  is  an  allusion  to  the  story  of  Castor  and  Pollux  bringing  news 
of  the  victory  gained  at  the  battle  of  Kegillus  to  Domitius  (B.C.  496). 
The  legend  adds  that  they  stroked  his  black  beard,  which  immediately 


488  AMMIANUS  MAROELL1>»I8.        [if-  XXVIIL  CH.  rr 

the  whole  city  with  joy  by  the  announcement  of  that  an- 
cient victory. 

12.  A  number  of  idle  chatterers  frequent  their  houses, 
and,  with  various  pretended  modes  of  adulation,  applaud 
every  word  uttered  by  men  of  such  high  fortune ;  resem- 
bling the  parasites  in  a  comedy,  for  as  they  puff  up  bragging 
soldiers,  attributing  to  them,  as  rivals  of  the  heroes  of  old, 
sieges  of  cities,  and  battles,  and  the  death  of  thousands  of 
enemies,  so  these  men  admire  the  construction  of  the  lofty 
pillars,  and  the  walls  inlaid  with  stones  of  carefully  chosen 
colours,  and  extol  these  grandees  with  superhuman  praises. 

13.  Sometimes  scales  are  sent  for  at  their  entertain- 
ments to  weigh  the   fish,  or  the  birds,  or  the   dormice 
which  are  set  on  the  table  ;  and  then  the  size  of  them  is 
dwelt  on  over  and  over  again,  to  the  great  weariness  of 
those  present,  as  something  never  seen  before  ;  especially 
when  near  thirty  secretaries  stand  by,  with  tablets  and 
memorandum  books,  to  record  all  these  circumstances ;  so 
that  nothing  seems  to  be  wanting  but  a  schoolmaster. 

14.  Some  of  them,  hating  learning  as  they  hate  poison, 
read  Juvenal  and  Marius  Maximus1  with  tolerably  careful 
study ;  though,  in  their  profound  laziness,  they  never  touch 
any  other  volumes  ;  why,  it  does  not  belong  to  my  poor 
judgment  to  decide. 

15.  For,  in  consideration  of  their  great  glories  and  long 
pedigrees,  they  ought  to  read  a  great  variety  of  books ; 
in  which,  for  instance,  they  might  learn  that  Socrates, 
when  condemned  to  death  and  thrown  into  prison,  asked 
some  one  who  was   playing  a  song  of  the  Greek   poet 
Stesichorus  with  great  skill,  to  teach  him  also  to  do  that, 
while  it  was  still  in  his  power ;  and  when  the  musician 
asked  him  of  what  use  this  skill  could  be  to  him,  as  he 
was  to  die  the  next  day,  he  answered,  "  that  I  may  know 
something  more  before  I  die." 

16.  And  there  are  among  them  some  who  are  such  severe 
judges  of  offences,  that  if  a  slave  is  too  long  in  bringing 
them  hot  water,  they  will  order  him  to  be  scourged  with 
three  hundred  stripes ;  but  should  he  intentionally  have 

became  red  ;  from  which  he  and  his  posterity  derived  the  surname  of 
JEnobarbus. — See  Dion.  Hal.  vi.  13. 

1  Marius  Maximus  was  an  author  who  wrote  an  account  of  the  lives 
of  the  Csesars. 


AJ>.  369.]  PRIDE   OF   THE  NOBLES.  489 

killed  a  man,  while  numbers  insist  that  he  ought  to  be 
unhesitatingly  condemned  as  guilty,  his  master  will  exclaim, 
"  What  can  the  poor  wretch  do  ?  what  can  one  expect 
from  a  good-for-nothing  fellow  like  that?"  But  should 
any  one  else  venture  to  do  anything  of  the  kind,  he 
would  be  corrected. 

17.  Their  ideas  of  civility  are  such  that  a  stranger  had 
better  kill  a  man's  brother  than  send  an  excuse  to  them  if  he 
be  asked  to  dinner ;  for  a  senator  fancies  that  he  has  suffered 
a  terrible  grievance,  equal  to  the  loss  of  his  entire  patri- 
mony, if  any  guest  be  absent,  whom,  after  repeated  deli- 
berations, he  has  once  invited. 

18.  Some  of  them,  if  they  have  gone  any  distance  to  see 
their  estates  in  the  country,  or  to  hunt  at  a  meeting  col- 
lected for  their  amusement  by  others,  think  they  have 
equalled  the  marches  of  Alexander  the  Great,  or  of  Caesar ; 
or  if  they  have  gone  in  some  painted  boats  from  Lake 
Avernus  to   Pozzuoli   or   Cajeta,  especially  if  they  have 
ventured  on  such  an  exploit  in  warm  weather.     Where 
if,  amid  their  golden  fans,  a  fly  should  perch  on  the  silken 
fringes,  or  if  a  slender  ray  of  the  sun  should  have  pierced 
through  a  hole  in  their  awning,  they  complain  that  they 
were  not  born  among  the  Cimmerians. 

19.  Then,  when  they  come  from  the  bath  of  Silvanus,  or 
the  waters  of  Mamaea,  which  are  so  good  for  the  health, 
after  they  come  out  of  the  water,  and  have  wiped  themselves 
with  cloths  of  the  finest  linen,  they  open  the  presses,  and 
take  out  of  them  robes  so  delicate  as  to  be  transparent, 
selecting  them  with  care,  till  they  have  got  enough  to 
clothe   eleven  persons;    and  at  length,   after  they  have 
picked  out  all  they  choose,  they  wrap  themselves  up  in  them, 
and  take  the  rings  which  they  had  given  to  their  attendants 
to  hold,  that  they  might  not  be  injured  by  the  damp ;  and 
then  they  depart  when  their  fingers  are  properly  cooled. 

20.  Again,  if  any  one  having  lately  quitted  the  military 
service  of  the  emperor,  has  retired  to  his  home.1     .     .     . 

21.  Some  of  them,  though  not  many,  wish  to  avoid  the 
name  of  gamblers,  and  prefer  to  be  called  dice-players ; 
the  difference  being  much  the  same  as  that  between  a  thief 
and  a  robber.     But  this  must  be  confessed  that,  while  all 

1  §  20  is  mutilated,  so  that  no  sense  can  be  extracted  from  the  re 
mainder  of  it. 


490  AMMIANUS  MARCELLINUS.         [BK.  XXVIII.  CH.  IT. 

friendships  at  Rome  are  rather  cool,  those  alone  which 
are  engendered  by  dice  are  sociable  and  intimate,  as  if 
they  had  been  formed  amid  glorious  exertions,  and  were 
firmly  cemented  by  exceeding  affection ;  to  which  it  is 
owing  that  some  of  this  class  of  gamblers  live  in  such  har- 
mony that  you  might  think  them  the  brothers  Quintilii.1 
And  so  you  may  sometimes  see  a  man  of  base  extraction, 
who  knows  all  the  secrets  of  the  dice,  as  grave  as  Porcius 
Cato  when  he  met  with  a  repulse  which  he  had  never 
expected  nor  dreamt  of,  when  a  candidate  for  the  prastorship, 
with  affected  solemnity  and  a  serious  face,  because  at  some 
grand  entertainment  or  assembly  some  man  of  proconsular 
rank  has  been  preferred  to  himself. 

22.  Some   lay  siege   to  wealthy  men,  whether  old  or 
young,  childless  or  unmarried,  or  even  with  wives  and 
children  (for  with  such  an  object  no  distinction  is  ever 
regarded  by  them),  seeking  by  most  marvellous  tricks  to 
allure  them  to  make  their  wills ;  and  then  if,  after  observing 
all  the  forms  of  law,  they  bequeath  to  these  persons  what 
they  have  to  leave,  being  won  over  by  them  to  this  com- 
pliance, they  speedily  die.2 

23.  Another  person,  perhaps  only  in  some  subordinate 
office,  struts  along  with  his  head  up,  looking  with  so  slight 
and  passing  a  glance  upon  those  with  whom  he  was  pre- 
viously acquainted,  that  you  might  fancy  it  must  be  Marcus 
Marcellus  just  returned  from  the  capture  of  Syracuse. 

24.  Many  among  them  deny  the  existence  of  a  superior 
Power  in  heaven,  and  yet  neither  appear  in  public,  nor 
dine,  nor  think  that  they  can  bathe  with  any  prudence, 
before   they  have   carefully   consulted  an  almanac,   and 
learnt  where  (for  example)  the  planet  Mercury  is,  or  in 
what  portion  of  Cancer  the  moon  is  as  she  passes  through 
the  heavens. 

25.  Another  man,   if  he  perceives  his  creditor  to  be 
importunate  in  demanding  a  debt,  flies  to  a  charioteer 
who  is  bold  enough  to  venture  on  any  audacious  enterprise, 
and  takes  care  that  he  shall  be   harassed  with  dread  of 
persecution  as  a  poisoner;  from  which  he  cannot  be  released 
without  giving  bail  and  incurring  a  very  heavy  expense. 

1  Two  brothers  who    had    been  colleagues  in   several   important 
offices,  and  who  were  at  last  put  to  death  together  by  Commodus. 
*  The  end  of  §  22  is  also  mutilated. 


AJ>.  369.]  MEANNESS  OF   THE   NOBLES.  491 

One  may  add  to  this,  that  he  includes  under  this  head  a 
debtor  who  is  only  so  through  the  engagements  into  which 
he  has  entered  to  avoid  a  prosecution,  as  if  he  were  a  real 
debtor,  and  that  he  never  lets  him  go  till  he  has  obtained 
the  discharge  of  the  debt. 

26.  On  the  other  side,  a  wife,  who,  as  the  old  proverb 
has  it,  hammers  on  the  same  anvil  day  and  night,  to  compel 
her  husband  to  make  his  will,  and  then  the  husband  is 
equally  urgent  that  his  wife  shall  do  the  same.     And  men 
learned  in  the  law  are  procured  on  each  side,  the  one  in 
the   bedchamber,  and   his  opponent   in  the  dining-room, 
to  draw  up  counter-documents.     And  under  their  employ 
are    placed  ambiguous   interpreters    of   the    contracts   of 
their  victims,  who,  on  the  one  side,  promise  with  great 
liberality  high  offices,  and  the  funerals  of  wealthy  matrons  ; 
and  from  these  they  proceed  to  the  obsequies  of  the  hus- 
bands, giving  hints  that  everything  necessary  ought  to  be 
prepared ;    and1    ...     .     .as  Cicero  says,   "  Nor  in  the 
affairs  of  men  do  they  understand  anything  good,  except 
what  is  profitable ;  and  they  love  those  friends  most  (as 
they  would  prefer  sheep)  from  whom  they  expect  to  deriv* 
the  greatest  advantage."2 

27.  And  when    they  borrow    anything,    they  are    s: 
humble   and  cringing,  you  would   think  you  were   at  & 
comedy,  and  seeing  Micon  or  Laches ;  when  they  are  con 
strained  to  repay  what  they  have  borrowed,  they  become 
so  turgid  and  bombastic  that  you  would  take  them  for  those 
descendants  of  Hercules,  Oresphontes  and  Temenus.     Thi& 
is  enough  to  say  of  the  senatorial  order. 

28.  And  let  us  come   to  the  idle  and  lazy  commor 
people,  among  whom  .some,  who  have  not  even  got  shoes 
boast  of  high-sounding  names ;  calling  themselves  Cimes- 
sores,    Statarii.  Semicupae,  Serapina,   or   Cicimbricus,    01 
Gluturiorus,     Trulla,     Lucanicus,    Pordaca,    or    Salsula,3 
with    numbers    of    other    similar    appellations.      These 
men    spend    their    whole    lives    in    drinking,    and   gam- 
bling, and  brothels,  and  pleasures,  and  public  spectacles ; 
and  to  them  the  Circus  Maximus  is  their  temple,  their 

1  This  passage,  again,  seems  hopelessly  mutilated. 

2  Cicero,  de  Amicitia,  c.  xxi. 

3  These  are  not  in  reality  noble  names,  but  names  derived  from 
low  occupations.     Trulla  is  a  dish  ;  Salsula,  belonging  to  pickles,  &c. 


492  AMMIANUS   MARCELLINUS.         [B*.  XXVIIL  CB.  IT. 

home,  their  public  assembly ;  in  fact,  their  whole  hope 
and  desire.1 

29.  And  you  may  see  in  the  forum,  and  roads,  and  streets, 
and  places  of  meeting,  knots  of  people  collected,  quarrel- 
ling violently  with  one  another,  and   objecting  to  one 
another,  and  splitting  themselves  into  violent  parties. 

30.  Among  whom  those  who  have  lived  long,  having 
influence  by  reason  of  their  age,  their  gray  hairs  and 
wrinkles,  are   continually  crying  out  that  the   republic 
cannot  stand,  if  in  the  contest  which  is  about  to  take  place, 
the  skilful  charioteer,  whom  some  individual  backs,  is.  not 
foremost  in  the  race,  and  does  not  dextrously  shave  the 
turning-post  with  the  trace-horses. 

31 .  And  when  there  is  so  much  ruinous  carelessness,  when 
the  wished-for  day  of  the  equestrian  games  dawns,  before 
the  sun  has  visibly  risen,  they  all  rush  out  with  headlong 
haste,  as  if  with  their  speed  they  would  outstrip  the  very 
chariots  which  are  going  to  race ;  while  as  to  the  event  of 
the  contest  they  are  all  torn  asunder  by  opposite  wishes, 
and  the  greater  part  of  them,  through  their  anxiety,  pass 
sleepless  nights. 

32.  From  hence,  if  you  go  to  some  cheap  theatre,  the 
actors  on  the  stage  are  driven  off  by  hisses,  if  they  have 
not  taken  the  precaution  to  conciliate  the  lowest  of  the 
people  by  gifts  of  money.     And  if  there  should  be  no 
noise,   then,  in   imitation  of  the   people   in  the   Taurio 
Chersonese,  they  raise  an  outcry  that  the  strangers  ought 
to  be   expelled   (on  whose  assistance  they  have   always 
relied  for  their  principal  support),  using  foul  and  ridiculous 
expressions ;    such  as  are  greatly  at  variance  with   the 
pursuits  and  inclinations  of  that  populace  of  old,  whose 
many  facetious  and  elegant  expressions  are  recorded  by 
tradition  and  by  history. 

33.  For  these  clever  gentlemen  have  now  devised  a  new 
method  of  expressing  applause,  which  is,  at  eveiy  spectacle 
to  cry  out  to  those  who  appear  at  the  end,  whether  they 
are  couriers,  huntsmen,   or  charioteers — in  short,  to   the 
whole  body  of  actors,  and  to  the  magistrates,  whether  of 
great  or  small  importance,  and  even  to  nations,  "  It  is  to 

1  Compare  Juvenal's  description  of  the  circumspect  in  his  time  :— 
"  Atque  duas  tantum  resarexius  optat 
Panem  et  Circenses." 


».D.  369.]  INCURSIONS  OF   THE  SAXONS.  493 

your  school  that  he  ought  to  go."  But  what  he  is  to  learn 
there  no  one  can  explain. 

34.  Among  these  men  are  many  chiefly  addicted  to  fat- 
tening themselves   up  by  gluttony,  who,   following  the 
scent  of  any  delicate  food,  and  the  shrill  voices  of  the 
women  who,  from  cockcrow,  cry  out  with  a  shrill  scream, 
like  so  many  peacocks,  and  gliding  over  the  ground  on 
tiptoe,  get  an  entrance  into  the  halls,  biting  their  nails 
while  the  dishes  are  getting  cool.     Others  fix  their  eyes 
intently  on  the  tainted  meat  which  is  being  cooked,  that 
you  might  fancy  Democritus,  with  a  number  of  anatomists, 
was  gazing  into  the  entrails  of  sacrificed  victims,  in  order 
to  teach  posterity  how  best  to  relieve  internal  pains. 

35.  For  the  present  this  is  enough  to  say  of  the  affairs  of 
the  city  ;  now  let  us  return  to  other  events  which  various 
circumstances  brought  to  pass  in  the  provinces. 

V. 

§  1 .  IN  the  third  consulship  of  the  emperors  a  vast  multi- 
tude of  Saxons  burst  forth,  and  having  crossed  the  difficult 
passage  of  the  ocean,  made  towards  the  Roman  frontier  by 
rapid  marches,  having  before  often  battened  on  the  slaughter 
of  our  men.  The  first  storm  of  this  invasion  fell  upon  the 
count  Nannenus,  who  was  in  command  in  that  district, 
being  a  veteran  general  of  great  merit  and  experience. 

2.  He    now    engaged    in    battle    with    a    host    which 
fought  as  if  resolved  on  death ;  but  when  he  found  that 
he  had  lost  many  of  his  men,  and  that  he  himself,  having 
been  wounded,  would  be  unequal  to  a  succession  of  battles, 
he  sent  word  to  the  emperor  of  what  was  necessary,  and 
prevailed  on    him  to   send  Severus,   the  commander  of 
the  infantry,  to  aid  him  at  this  crisis. 

3.  That  general  brought  with  him  a  sufficient  body  of 
troops,  and  when  he  arrived  in  the  countiy  he  so  arrayed 
his  men  that  he  terrified  the  barbarians,  and  threw  them 
into  such  disorder,  even  before  any  battle  took  place,  that 
they  did  not  venture  to  engage  him,  but,  panic-stricken  at 
the  brilliant  appearance  of  the  standards  and  eagles,  they 
implored  pardon  and  peace. 

4.  The  question  of  granting  it  to  them  was  long  dis- 
cussed, with  variety  of  opinion,  between  the  Eoman  com- 


494  AMM1ANUS  MARCELLINUS.          [BK.  XXVIII.  CH.  T 

manders ;  but  at  last,  as  it  seemed  for  the  advantage  of  the 
republic,  a  truce  was  granted,  and  after  they  had  agreed 
to  the  conditions  proposed,  one  of  which  was  that  they 
should  furnish  a  number  of  young  men  suitable  for  military 
service,  the  Saxons  were  permited  to  withdraw,  but  without 
their  baggage,  and  to  return  to  their  own  country. 

5.  But  when  they,  being  now  freed  from  all  fear,  were 
preparing  to  return,  some  of  our  infantry  were  sent  for- 
ward, who  secretly  laid  an  ambuscade  in  a  certain  hidden 
defile,  from  which  they  would   easily  be  able  to  attack 
them  as  they  passed.      But  the  matter  turned  out  very 
differently  from  what  was  expected. 

6.  For  some  of  our  men  being  roused  by  the  noise  of  the 
Saxons,   sprang   from    their    ambush  unseasonably ;    and 
being  suddenly  seen,  while  they  were  hastening  to  esta- 
blish themselves,  the  barbarians,  with  a  terrible  yell,  put 
them  to   flight.      Presently,  however,  they  halted  in  a 
solid  body,  and  being  now  driven  to  extremities,  were 
compelled  to  fight,  though  their  strength  was  far  from 
great.      The  slaughter  was  great,  and  they  would  have 
been  all  cut  off  to  a  man,  had  not  a  column  of  cuirassier 
cavalry,  which  had  been  similarly  placed  in  ambuscade  at 
a  place  where  the  road  divided,  in  order  there  also  to 
attack  the  barbarians  in  their  passage,  been  roused  by  the 
uproar,  and  come  up  suddenly. 

7.  Then  the  battle  raged  more  fiercely,  and  with  daunt- 
less breasts  the  Romans  pressed  forward  on  all  sides,  and 
with  drawn  swords  hemmed  in  their  enemies,  and  slew 
them ;  nor  did  any  of  them  ever  return  home,  for  not 
one  survived  the  slaughter.     And  although  an  impartial 
judge   will    blame  the  action    as    treacherous    and    dis- 
graceful,  still    if   he   weighs   all    the   circumstances,  he 
will  not  regret  that  a  mischievous  band  of  robbers  was 
at  length  destroyed  when  such  an  opportunity  presented 
itself. 

8.  After  these  affairs  had  been  consummated  thus  suc- 
cessfully, Valentinian  revolving  in  his  mind  a  great  variety 
of  opinions,  was  filled  with  anxious  solicitude,  considering 
and  contemplating  different   measures   for   breaking  the 
pride   of  the  Allemanni  and  their  king   Macrianus,  who 
were  incessantly  and   furiously  disturbing   the   republic 
with  their  restless  movements. 


*..».  370.]  OVERTURES   TO    THE    BURGUNDIANS.  495 

9.  For  that  ferocious  nation,  though  from  its  earliest 
origin   diminished   by  various  disasters,  yet  continually 
revives,  so  that  it  might  be  considered  as  having  been  free 
from  attacks  for  many  ages.      At  last,  after  the  emperor 
had  considered  and  approved  of  one  plan  after  another,  it 
was  finally  determined  to  excite  the  Burgundians  to  attack 
them,  the  Burgundians  being  a  warlike  people,  with  an 
immense  population  of  active  youths,  and  therefore  for- 
midable to  all  their  neighbours. 

10.  And    the   emperor   sent    repeated    letters   to    their 
chiefs  by  some  silent  and  trustworthy  messengers,  to  urge 
them  to  attack  the  Allemanni  at  a  certain  fixed  time,  and 
promising  that  he  likewise  would  cross  the  Ehine  with  the 
Eoman  legions,  and  attack  their  forces  when  in  disorder, 
and  seeking  to  escape  the  unexpected  attack  of  the  Bur- 
gundians. 

11.  The  letters  of  the  emperor  were  received  with  joy, 
for  two  reasons :  first,  because  for  many  ages  the  Burgun- 
dians had  looked  upon  themselves  as  descended  from  the 
Romans;  and  secondly,  because  they  had  continual  quarrels 
with  the  Allemanni  about  their  salt-pits  and  their  borders. 
So  they  sent  against  them  some  picked  battalions,  which, 
before  the  Roman   soldiers  could   be  collected,  advanced 
as  far  as  the  banks  of  the  Rhine,  and,  while  the  emperor 
was  engaged  in  the  construction  of  some  fortresses,  caused 
the  greatest  alarm  to  our  people. 

12.  Therefore,  after  waiting  for  some  time,  Valentinian 
having  failed  to  come  on  the  appointed  day  as  promised, 
and  finding  that  none  of  his  engagements  were  performed, 
they  sent  ambassadors  to  the  court,  requesting  assistance 
to  enable  them  to  return  in  safety  to  their  own  land,  and  to 
save  them  from  exposing  their  rear  unprotected  to  their 
enemies. 

13.  But  when  they  perceived  that  their  request  was 
virtually  refused  by  the  excuses  and  pleas  for  delay  with 
which  it  was  received,  they  departed  from  the  court  in 
sorrow  and  indignation  ;  and  when  the  chiefs  of  the  Bur- 
gundians received  their  report,  they  were  very  furious, 
thinking  they  had  been  mocked;    and  so  they  slew  all 
their  prisoners  and  returned  to  their  native  land. 

14.  Among  them  their  king  is  called  by  one  general  name 
of  "  Hendinos,"  and  according  to  a  very  ancient  custom 


496  AMMIANUS  MARCELLINUS.         ,"3x.  XXVIII.  CH.  vi 

of  theirs,  is  deposed  from  his  authority  if  under  his  go- 
vernment the  state  meets  with  any  disaster  in  war ;  or  if 
the  earth  fails  to  produce  a  good  crop  ;  in  the  same  way  as 
the  Egyptians  are  accustomed  to  attribute  calamities  of 
that  kind  to  their  rulers.  The  chief  priest  among  the 
Burgundians  is  called  "  the  Sinistus."  But  he  is  irre- 
movable and  not  exposed  to  any  such  dangers  as  the 
kings. 

15.  Taking  advantage  of  this  favourable  opportunity, 
Theodosius,  the  commander  of  the  cavalry,  passed  through 
the  Tyrol  and  attacked  the  Allemanni,  who,  out  of  fear 
of  the  Burgundians,  had  dispersed  into  their  villages. 
He  slew  a  great  number,  and  took  some  prisoners,  whom 
by  the  emperor's  command  he  sent  to  Italy,  where  some 
fertile  districts  around  the  Po  were  assigned  to  them,  which 
they  still  inhabit  as  tributaries. 

VI. 

§  1.  LET  us  now  migrate,  as  it  were,  to  another  quarter  of 
the  world,  and  proceed  to  relate  the  distresses  of  Tripoli, 
a  province  of  Africa ;  distresses  which,  in  my  opinion, 
even  Justice  herself  must  have  lamented,  and  which  burst 
out  rapidly  like  flames.  I  will  now  give  an  account  both 
of  them  and  of  their  causes. 

2.  The  Asturians  are  barbarians  lying  on  the  frontier  of 
this  province,  a  people  always  in  readiness  for  rapid  in- 
vasions, accustomed  to  live  on  plunder  and  bloodshed  ; 
and  who,  after  having  been  quiet  for  a  while,  now  relapsed 
into  their  natural  state  of  disquiet,  alleging  the  following 
as  the  serious  cause  for  their  movements. 

3.  One  of  their  countrymen,  by  name  Stachao,  while 
freely  traversing  our  territories,  as  in  time  of  peace,  did 
some   things  forbidden  by  the  laws ;   the  most  flagrant 
of  his  illegal  acts  being  that  he  endeavoured,  by  every 
kind  of  deceit  and  intrigue,  to  betray  the  province,  as 
was  shown  by  the  most  undeniable  evidence,  for  which 
crime  he  was  burnt  to  death. 

4.  To  avenge  his  death,  the  Asturians,  claiming  him 
as  their   clansman,  and  affirming  that  he   had  been   un- 
justly condemned,  burst  forth  from   their  own   territory 
like  so  many  mad  wild  beasts  during  the  reign  of  Jovian, 


A.D.  370-1  DISTRESS   OF    LEPTIS.  497 

but  fearing  to  approach  close  to  Leptis,  which  was  a  city 
with  a  numerous  population,  and  fortified  by  strong  walls, 
they  occupied  the  district  around  it,  which  is  very  fertile, 
for  three  days  :  and  having  slain  the  agricultural  popula- 
tion on  it,  whom  terror  at  their  sudden  inroad  had  deprived 
of  all  spirit,  or  had  driven  to  take  refuge  in  caves,  and 
burnt  a  great  quantity  of  furniture  which  could  not  be 
carried  off,  they  returned  home,  loaded  with  vast  plunder., 
taking  with  them  as  prisoner  a  man  named  Silva,  the 
principal  noble '  of  Leptis,  whom  they  found  with  his 
family  at  his  country  house. 

5.  The  people  of  Leptis  being  terrified  at  this  sudden 
disaster,  not  wishing  to  incur  the  further  calamities  with 
which  the  arrogance  of  the  barbarians  threatened  them, 
implored   the    protection   of  Count   Eomanus,   who    had 
recently   been   promoted  to    the   government   of   Africa. 
But  when  he  came  at  the  head  of  an  army,  and  received 
their  request  to  come  to  their   immediate  assistance   in 
their  distress,  he  declared  that  he  would  not  move  a  step 
further   unless   abundant    magazines   and    four   thousand 
camels  were  provided  for  his  troops. 

6.  At  this  answer  the  wretched  citizens  were  stupefied, 
and  declared  to  him,  that,  after  the  devastations  and  con- 
flagrations to  which  they  had  been  exposed,  it  was  im 
possible  for  them  to  make  such  exertions,  even  for  thr 
reparation  of  the  cruel  disasters  which  they  had  suffered  ; 
and,  after  waiting  forty  days  there  with  vain  pretences 
and  excuses,  the   count  retired  without  attempting   any 
enterprise. 

7.  The  people  of  Tripoli,  disappointed  in  their  hopes, 
and  dreading  the  worst  extremities,  at  their  next  council 
day,  appointed    Severus   and   Flaccianus   ambassadors   to 
carry  to  Valentinian    some  golden  images    of  victory  in 
honour  of  his  accession  to  the  empire,  and  to  state  fully 
and  boldly  to  him  the  miserable  distress  of  the  province. 

8.  When  this  step  became  known,  Romanus  sent  a  swift 
horseman   as   a   messenger  to   the  master   of  the   offices. 
Jtemigius,  his  own  kinsman  and  his  partner  in  plunder, 
bidding  him  take  care,  that  by  the  emperor's  decision,  the 
investigation  into  this  matter  should  be  committed  to  the 
deputy  and  himself. 

9.  The  ambassadors  arrived  at  the  court,  and  having 

2K 


496  AMMIANUS   MARCELLINUS.         ."Sz.  XXVIII.  CH.  vi 

of  theirs,  is  deposed  from  his  authority  if  under  his  go- 
vernment the  state  meets  with  any  disaster  in  war ;  or  if 
the  earth  fails  to  produce  a  good  crop  ;  in  the  same  way  as 
the  Egyptians  are  accustomed  to  attribute  calamities  of 
that  kind  to  their  rulers.  The  chief  priest  among  the 
Burgundians  is  called  "  the  Sinistus."  But  he  is  irre- 
movable and  not  exposed  to  any  such  dangers  as  the 
kings. 

16.  Taking  advantage  of  this  favourable  opportunity, 
Theodosius,  the  commander  of  the  cavalry,  passed  through 
the  Tyrol  and  attacked  the  Alleinanni,  who,  out  of  fear 
of  the  Burgundians,  had  dispersed  into  their  villages. 
He  slew  a  great  number,  and  took  some  prisoners,  whom 
by  the  emperor's  command  he  sent  to  Italy,  where  some 
fertile  districts  around  the  Po  were  assigned  to  them,  which 
they  still  inhabit  as  tributaries. 

VI. 

§  1.  LET  us  now  migrate,  as  it  were,  to  another  quarter  of 
the  world,  and  proceed  to  relate  the  distresses  of  Tripoli, 
a  province  of  Africa ;  distresses  which,  in  my  opinion, 
even  Justice  herself  must  have  lamented,  and  which  burst 
out  rapidly  like  flames.  I  will  now  give  an  account  both 
of  them  and  of  their  causes. 

2.  The  Astuiians  are  barbarians  lying  on  the  frontier  of 
this  province,  a  people  always  in  readiness  for  rapid  in- 
vasions, accustomed  to  live  on  plunder  and  bloodshed ; 
and  who,  after  having  been  quiet  for  a  while,  now  relapsed 
into  their  natural  state  of  disquiet,  alleging  the  following 
as  the  serious  cause  for  their  movements. 

3.  One  of  their  countrymen,  by  name  Stachao,  while 
freely  traversing  our  territories,  as  in  time  of  peace,  did 
some   things   forbidden   by  the   laws ;   the  most  flagrant 
of  his  illegal  acts  being  that  he  endeavoured,  by  every 
kind  of  deceit  and  intrigue,  to  betray  the  province,  as 
was  shown  by  the  most  undeniable  evidence,  for  which 
crime  he  was  burnt  to  death. 

4.  To  avenge  his  death,  the  Asturians,  claiming  him 
as  their   clansman,  and  affirming  that  he   had  been   un- 
justly condemned,  burst  forth  from   their  own   territory 
like  so  many  mad  wild  beasts  during  the  reign  of  Jovian, 


A.D.  370-1  DISTRESS   OF   LEPTIS.  497 

but  fearing  to  approach  close  to  Leptis,  which  was  a  city 
with  a  numeroiis  population,  and  fortified  by  strong  walls, 
they  occupied  the  district  around  it,  which  is  very  fertile, 
for  three  days  :  and  having  slain  the  agricultural  popula- 
tion on  it,  whom  terror  at  their  sudden  inroad  had  deprived 
of  all  spirit,  or  had  driven  to  take  refuge  in  caves,  and 
burnt  a  great  quantity  of  furniture  which  could  not  be 
carried  off,  they  returned  home,  loaded  with  vast  plunder., 
taking  with  them  as  prisoner  a  man  named  Silva,  the 
principal  noble '  of  Leptis,  whom  they  found  with  his 
family  at  his  country  house. 

5.  The  people  of  Leptis  being  terrified  at  this  sudden 
disaster,  not  wishing  to  incur  the  further  calamities  with 
which  the  arrogance  of  the  barbarians  threatened  them, 
implored  the    protection   of  Count   Eomanus,   who    had 
recently   been   promoted  to    the   government   of   Africa. 
But  when  he  came  at  the  head  of  an  army,  and  received 
their  request  to  come  to  their   immediate  assistance   in 
their  distress,  he  declared  that  he  would  not  move  a  step 
further   unless   abundant    magazines   and    four   thousand 
camels  were  provided  for  his  troops. 

6.  At  this  answer  the  wretched  citizens  were  stupefied, 
and  declared  to  him,  that  after  the  devastations  and  con- 
flagrations to  which  they  had  been  exposed,  it  was  im 
possible  for  them  to  make  such  exertions,  even  for  thr 
reparation  of  the  cruel  disasters  which  they  had  suffered  ; 
and,  after  waiting  forty  days  there  with  vain  pretences 
and  excuses,  the   count  retired  without  attempting  any 
enterprise. 

7.  The  people  of  Tripoli,  disappointed  in  their  hopes, 
and  dreading  the  worst  extremities,  at  their  next  council 
day,  appointed    Severus   and   Flaccianus   ambassadors   to 
carry  to  Valentinian    some  golden  images    of  victory  in 
honour  of  his  accession  to  the  empire,  and  to  state  fully 
and  boldly  to  him  the  miserable  distress  of  the  province. 

8.  When  this  step  became  known,  Eomanus  sent  a  swift 
horseman   as   a  messenger  to  the  master  of  the   offices. 
Kemigius,  his  own  kinsman  and  his  partner  in  plunder, 
bidding  him  take  care,  that  by  the  emperor's  decision,  the 
investigation  into  this  matter  should  be  committed  to  the 
deputy  and  himself. 

9.  The  ambassadors  arrived  at  the  court,  and  having 

2K 


600  AMMIANUS   MARCELLINUS.         [B*.  XXVIII. CH.  TT 

the  palace,  the  chief  part  of  the  money  for  the  soldiers' 
pay  which  he  had  brought  over,  and  they  obeyed  him. 

18.  So  he,  having  been  thus  suddenly  enriched,  reached 
Leptis  ;    and  that  he  might  arrive  at  a  knowledge  of  the 
truth,  he  took  with  him  to  the  districts  that  had  been  laid 
waste,  Erecthius  and  Aristomenes,  two  citizens  of  great 
eloquence  and  reputation,  who  freely  unfolded  to  him  the 
distress  which  their  fellow-citizens  and  the   inhabitants 
of  the  adjacent  districts  had  suffered.     They  showed  him 
everything  openly  ;    and  so  he  returned  after  seeing  the 
lamentable  desolation  of  the  province  :   and  reproaching 
Komanus  for  his  inactivity,  he  threatened  to  report  to 
the  emperor  an  accurate  statement  of  everything  which 
he  had  seen. 

19.  He,  inflamed  with  anger  and  indignation,  retorted 
that  he  also   should  soon  make  a  report,  that  the  man 
who  had  been  sent  as  an  incorruptible  secretary  had  con- 
verted to  his  own  uses  all  the  money  which  had  been 
sent  out  as  a  donation  to  the  soldiers. 

20.  The  consequence  was  that  Palladius,  being  hampered 
by  the  consciousness  of  his  flagitious  conduct,  proceeded 
from  henceforth  in  harmony  with  Eomanus,  and  when  he 
returned  to  court,  he  deceived  Valentinian  with  atrocious 
falsehoods,  affirming  that  the  citizens  of  Tripoli  complained 
without  reason.     Therefore  he  was  sent  back  to  Africa  a 
second  time  with  Jovinus,  the  last  of  all  the  ambassadors 
(for  Pancratius  had  died  at  Treves),  in  order  that  he,  in 
conjunction  with  the  deputy,  might  inquire  into  every- 
thing connected  with  the  second  embassy.     And  besides 
this,   the  emperor  ordered  the  tongues  of  Erecthius  and 
Aristomenes  to  be  cut  out,   because  this  same   Palladius 
had  intimated  that  they  made  some  malignant  and  disloyal 
statements. 

21.  The  secretary,  following  the  deputy,  as  had  been 
arranged,  came  to  Tripoli.     When  his  arrival  was  known, 
liomanus  sent  one  of  his  servants  thither  with  all  speed, 
and  Caecilius,  his  assessor,  who  was  a  native  of  the   pro- 
vince ;    and   by   their   agency   (whether  they    employed 
briber}'  or  deceit  is  doubtful)  all  the  citizens  were  won 
over  to  accuse  Jovinus,  vigorously  asseiting  that  he  had 
never  issued  any  of  the  commands  which  he  had  reported 
to  the  empei  or ;  carrying  their  iniquity  to  such  a  pitch, 


A.D.3YOJ  EXECUTION   OF  JOVINUS.  501 

that  Jovinus  himself  was  compelled  by  them  to  confess,  to 
his  own  great  danger,  that  he  had  made  a  false  report  to 
the  emperor. 

22.  When  these  events  were  learnt  from  Palladius  on 
his  return,  Valentinian,  being  always  inclined  to  severe 
measures,  commanded  the   execution   of  Jovinus   as   the 
author  of  such  a  report,   and  of  Caelestinus,  Concordius, 
and  Lucius,  as  privy  to  it,  and  partners  in  it.     He  also 
commanded  Kuricius,  the  president,  to  be  put  to  death  for 
falsehood  ;  the  charge  against  him  being  aggravated  by  the 
circumstance  that  his  report  contained  some  violent  and 
intemperate  expressions. 

23.  Kuricius  was  executed  at  Sitifis  ;  the  rest  were  con- 
demned at  Utica  by  the  sentence  of  the  deputy  Crescens. 
But  before  the  death  of  the  ambassadors,  Flaccianus,  while 
being  examined  by  the  deputy  and  the  count,  and  while  re- 
solutely defending  his  own  safety,  was  assailed  with  abuse, 
and  then  attacked  with  loud  outcries  and  violence  by  the 
angry  soldiers,   and  was  nearly  killed  ;  the  charge  which 
they  made  against  him  being  that  the  cause  which  had 
prevented  the  people  of  Tripoli  from  being  defended  was, 
that  they  had  refused  to  furnish  necessaries  for  the  use  of 
any  expedition. 

24.  On  this  account  he  was  thrown  into  prison,  till  the 
emperor  could  be  consulted  on  his  case,  and  should  decide 
what  ought  to  be  done  ;  but  his  gaolers  were  tampered 
with,  as  was  believed,  and  he  escaped  from  prison  and  fled 
to  Rome,  where  he  concealed  himself  for  some  time,  till  his 
death. 

25.  In  consequence  of  this  memorable  catastrophe,  Tri- 
poli, which  had  been  often  harassed  by  external  and  do- 
mestic calamities,  brought  forward  no  further  accusations 
against  those  who  had  left  it  undefended,  knowing  that  the 
eternal  eye  of  justice  was  awake,  as  well  as  the  avenging 
furies  of  the  ambassadors  and  the  president.     And  a  long 
time  afterwards  the  following  event  took  place  : — Palladius, 
having  been   dismissed   from   the    military    service,    and 
stript  of  all  that  nourished  his  pride,  retired  into  private 
life. 

26.  And  when  Theodosius,  that  magnificent  commander 
of  armies,   came  into  Africa  to  put   down   Firmus,  who 
was   entertaining .  some    pernicious    designs,  and,    as   he 


502  AMM1AMJS  MARCELLINUS.         ,[B«-  XXVIH.  On.  n. 

was  ordered,  began  to  examine  the  moveable  effects  of 
Romanus,  he  found  among  his  papers  a  letter  of  a  certain 
person  named  Meterius,  containing  this  passage :  "  Mete- 
rius,  to  his  lord  and  patron,  Romanus ;"  and  at  the  end  of 
the  letter  many  expressions  unconnected  with  its  general 
subject.  "  Palladius,  who  has  been  cashiered,  salutes  you. 
He  who  says  he  was  cashiered  for  no  other  reason  than  that 
in  the  case  of  the  people  of  Tripoli  he  made  a  false  report 
to  the  sacred  ears." 

27.  When  this  letter  was  sent  to  the  court  and  read, 
Meterius  was  arrested  by  order  of  Valentinian,  and  con- 
fessed that  the  letter  was  his  writing.     Therefore  Palladius 
also  was  ordered  to  appear,  and  reflecting  on  all  the  crimes 
he  had  committed,  while  at  a  halting  place  on  the  road, 
he  watched  an  opportunity  afforded  him  by  the  absence 
of  his  guards,  as  soon  as  it  got  dark  (for,   as  it  was  a  fes- 
tival of  the  Christian  religion,  they  passed  the  whole  night 
in  the  church),  and  hanged  himself. 

28.  The  news   of  this  propitious   event — the   death  of 
the  principal  cause  of  their  sad  troubles — being  known, 
Erecthius  and  Aristomenes,  who  when  they  first  heard  that 
their   tongues  were  ordered  to  be  cut  out  for  sedition, 
had  escaped,  now  issued  from  their  hiding-places.      And 
when  the  emperor  Gratian  was  informed  of  the  wicked 
deceit  that  had  been  practised  (for  by  this  time  Valen- 
tinian was  dead),  their  feara  vanished,  and  they  were  sent 
to  have  their  cause  heard  before  Hesperus  the  proconsul 
and  Flavian  the  deputy,  men  whose  justice  was  supported 
by  the  righteous  authority  of  the  emperor,  and  who,  after 
putting  Caecilius  to  the  torture,  learnt  from  his  clear  con- 
fession that  he  himself  had  persuaded  the  citizens  to  bring 
false  accusations  against  the  ambassadors.     These  actions 
were  followed  by  a  report  which  gave  the  fullest  possible 
account  of  all  that  had  taken  place,  to  which  no  answer 
was  given. 

29.  And  that  the  whole  story  might  want  nothing  of 
tragic  interest,  the  following  occurrence  also  took  place 
after  the   curtain   had   fallen.     Romanus   went   to   court, 
taking  with  him  Caecilius,  with  the  intent  to  accuse  the 
judges  as  having  been  unduly  biassed  in  favour  of  the 
province ;  and  being  received  graciously  by  Merobaudes, 
he  demanded  that  some  more  necessary  witnesses  should 


A.D.  371.]  AGGRESSION   OF   SAPOR.  503 

be  summoned.  And  when  they  had  come  to  Milan,  and 
had  shown  by  proofs  which  ser  med  correct,  though  these 
were  false,  that  they  had  been  falsely  accused,  they  were 
acquitted,  and  returned  home.  Valentinian  was  still 
alive,  when  after  these  events  which  we  have  related, 
Remigius  also  retired  from  public  life,  and  afterwards 
hanged  himself,  as  we  shall  relate  in  the  proper  place. 


BOOK   XXIX. 

ARGUMENT. 

I.  Theodoras,  the  secretary,  aims  at  the  imperial  authority,  and  being 
accused  of  treason  before  Valens  at  Antioch,  and  convicted,  is 
executed,  with  many  of  his  accomplices. — II.  In  the  East  many 
persons  are  informed  against  as  guilty  of  poisoning  and  other 
crimes ;  and  being  condemned  (some  rightly,  some  wrongfully), 
are  executed. — III.  In  the  West  many  instances  occur  of  the  ferocity 
and  insane  cruelty  of  the  emperor  Valentinian. — IV.  Valentiniau 
crosses  the  Ehine  on  a  bridge  of  boats,  but,  through  the  fault  of  a 
soldier,  fails  in  an  attempt  to  surprise  Macrianus,  the  king  of  the 
Allemanni. — V.  Theodosius,  the  commander  of  the  cavalry  in 
Gaul,  in  several  battles  defeats  Formus  Maorus,  the  son  of 
Nubelis  Regulus,  who  had  revolted  from  Valentinian ;  and,  after 
having  driven  him  to  kill  himself,  restores  peace  to  Africa. — 
VI.  The  Quadi,  being  provoked  by  the  wicked  murder  of  their 
king  Galerius,  in  conjunction  with  the  Sarmatians,  lay  waste  botli 
the  Pannonias  and  Valeria  with  fire  and  sword,  and  destroy  almost 
the  whole  of  two  legions — A  dissertation  on  the  city  prefecture  of 
Claudius. 

I. 

A.D.    371. 

§  1.  AT  the  conclusion  of  the  winter,  Sapor,  king  of  Persia, 
being  full  of  cruelty  and  arrogance  from  the  confidence 
engendered  by  his  former  battles,  having  completed  his 
army  to  its  full  number,  and  greatly  strengthened  it,  sent 
out  a  force  of  cuirassiers,  archers,  and  mercenary  troops, 
to  make  an  invasion  of  our  territories. 

2.  Against  this  force,  Count  Trajan  and  Vadomarius,  the 
ex-king  of  the  Allemanni,  advanced  with  a  mighty  army, 
having  been  enjoined  by  the  emperor  to  remember  his 
orders  to  act  on  the  defensive  rather  than  on  the  offensive 
against  the  Persians. 


504  AMMIANUS   MARCELLINtTS.  [Bit.  XXIX.  CH.\. 

3.  \Vhen  they  arrived  at  Vagabanta,  a  place  well  suited 
for  the  manoeuvres  of  the  legions,  they  supported  against 
their  will  a  rapid  charge  which  was  made  upon  them  by 
the  squadrons  of  the  enemy,  and  retreated  with  the  design 
not  to  be  the  first  to  slay  any  of  the  hostile  soldiers,  and 
not  to  be  looked  upon  as  guilty  of  having  broken  the  treaty. 
At  last,  under  the  pressure  of  extreme  necessity,  they  came 
to  an  engagement  with  the  barbarians,  and  after  having 
slain  a  great  number  of  them,  were  victorious. 

4.  During  the   cessation   of  regular  operations  which 
ensued,  several  slight  skirmishes   occurred  through   the 
impatience  of  both  armies,  which  ended  with   different 
results;  and  at  last  the  summer  ended,  and  a  truce  was 
agreed  to  by  common  consent,  and  the  two   armies   se- 
parated,   though    the    generals    were   violently   inflamed 
against   each  other.     The  king  of  Parthia,   intending  to 
pass  the  winter  at  Ctesiphon,  returned  to  his  own  home, 
and  the  Roman  emperor  went  to  Antioch ;  and  while  he 
tarried  there,  in  complete  security  from  foreign  enemies, 
he  had  very  nearly  perished  through  domestic  treachery, 
as  shall  be  related  in  the  coming  narrative. 

5.  A  certain  Procopius,  a  restless  man,  at  all  times 
covetous  and  fond  of  disturbances,  had  persuaded  Anato- 
lius  and  Spudasius,  officers   about  the  palace,   who  had 
been  ordered  to  restore  what  they  had  appropriated  from 
the  treasury,  to  bring  a  plot  against  the  Count  Fortuna- 
tianus,  who  was  especially  obnoxious  as  being  represented 
to  be   the  principal  demander   of  this  restitution.     He, 
being  a  man  of  naturally  harsh  temper,   was  thereupon 
inflamed  almost  to  insanity,  and  exercising  the  authority 
of  the  office  which  he  filled,  he  delivered  up  to  trial  before 
the  tribunal  of  the  prefect  a  person  of  the  lowest  birth, 
named  Palladius,   for  being  a  poisoner  in  the   train  of 
Anatolius  and  Spudasius ;   Helidorus,  also  an  interpreter 
of  the  Fates  from  the  events  which  happened  at  any  one's 
birth  ;    with  the  intent  that  they  should  be  compelled  by 
torture  to  relate  all  that  they  knew. 

6.  And  when  they  came  with  rigid  scrutiny  to  inquire 
into  what  had  been  done  or  attempted,  Palladius  boldly 
exclaimed,  that  the  matters  now  under  investigation  were 
trivial,  and  such  as  might  well  be  passed  over ;  that  he 
himself,  if  he  might  be  allowed   to  speak,  could  bring 


A.D.  371.]  ARREST  OF   FIDUSTIUS.  505 

forward  some  circumstances  both  formidable  and  more 
important,  which,  having  been  prepared  with  great  exer- 
tion, wo"uld  throw  everything  into  confusion,  if  they 
were  not  provided  against  beforehand.  Being  ordered 
to  explain  without  fear  all  he  knew,  he  made  a  deposition 
at  great  length,  affirming  that  Fidustius  the  president,  and 
Pergamius  and  Irenseus,  had  secretly  learnt,  by  the  detest- 
able arts  of  magic,  the  name  of  the  person  who  should 
become  emperor  after  Valens. 

7.  Fidustius  was  at  once  arrested  (for  he  happened  by 
chance  be  on  the  spot),  and  being  brought  secretly  before 
the  emperor,  when  confronted  with  the  informer,  he  did 
not  attempt  by  any  denial  to  throw  a  doubt  on  what  was 
already  revealed,  but  laid  open  the  whole  of  this  wretched 
plot ;    confessing  in   plain  words,  that  he  himself,  with 
Hilarius  and  Patricius,  men  skilled  in  the  art  of  sooth- 
saying,  of  whom  Hilarius  had  filled  high  offices  in  the 
palace,  had  held  consultations  about  the  future  possessors 
of  the  empire  ;  that  by  secret  arts  they  had  searched  into  the 
Fates,  which  had  revealed  to  them  the  name  of  an  excellent 
emperor,  admonishing  them  at  the  same  time  that  a  mise- 
rable end  awaited  the  investigators  of  these  omens.1 

8.  And  while  they  were  hesitating,  unable  to  decide 
who  at  that  moment  was  superior  to  all  other  men   in 
vigour   of  mind,    Theodoras    appeared    to  excel   all   the 
rest,  a  man  who  had  already  arrived  at  the  second  class  of 
secretaries.     And  in  truth  he  deserved  the  opinion  which 
they  entertained  of  him  ;    for  he  was  descended  from  an 
ancient  and  illustrious    family   in    Gaul ;    he   had   been 
liberally  educated  from   his   earliest  childhood ;    he  was 
eminent  for  modesty,  prudence,  humanity,  courtesy,  and 
literature.     He  always  appeared  superior  to  the  post  or 
place  which    he  was  filling,    and  was    equally   popular 
among  high  and  low,  and  he  was  nearly  the  only  man 
whose  tongue  was  never  unbridled,  but  who  always  re- 
flected on  what  he  was  going  to   say,  yet  without  ever 
being  restrained  by  any  fear  of  danger. 

y.  Fidustius,  who  had  been  tortured  so  severely  that  he 
was  at  the  point  of  death,  added  further,  that  all  that 

1  Fcr  an  account  of  this  incantation,  see  Gibbon,  Bonn's  edition, 
rol.  iii.,  p.  75,  note. 


503  AMMIANUS   MARCELLISUS.  [Bis.  XXIX.  CH.I 

he  had  now  stated  he  had  communicated  to  Theodoras  by 
the  intervention  of  Eucaerius,  a  man  of  great  literacy 
accomplishments,  and  of  very  high  reputation  ;  indeed,  he 
had  a  little  time  before  governed  Asia  with  the  title  of 
proprefect. 

1 0.  Eucaerius  was  now  thrown  into  prison ;  and  when 
a  report  of  all  that  had  taken  place  was,  as  usual,  laid 
before  the  emperor,  his  amazing  ferocity  burst  out  more 
unrestrainedly  than  ever,  like  a  burning  firebrand,  being 
fed  by  the  base  adulation  of  many  persons,  and  especially 
of  Modestus,  at  that  time  prefect  of  the  prsetorium. 

11.  He,  being  every  day  alarmed  at  the  prospect  of  a 
successor,   addressed  himself  to  the  task  of  conciliating 
Valens,  who  was  of  a  rustic  and  rather  simple  character, 
by  tickling  him  with  all  kinds  of  disguised  flatter)-  and 
caresses,  calling  his  uncoiith  language  and  rude  expres- 
sions "  flowers  of  Ciceronian  eloquence."     Indeed,  to  raise 
his  vanity  higher,  he  would  have  promised  to  raise  him 
up  to  the  stars  if  he  had  desired  it. 

12.  So  Theodoras  also  was  ordered  to  be  arrested  with 
all  speed  at  Constantinople,  to  which  city  he  had  repaired 
on  some  private  business,  and  to  be  brought  to  the  court. 
A.nd  while  he  was  on  his  way  back,  in  consequence  of 
various   informations   and  trials  which   were   carried   on 
day  and  night,  numbers  of  people  were   dragged   away 
from  the  most  widely  separated  countries— men  eminent 
for  their  birth  and  high  authority. 

13.  The   public  prisons,  being  now  completely  filled, 
could  no  longer  contain  the  crowds  which  were  confined 
in  them,  while  private  houses  were  equally  crammed  to 
suffocation,  for  nearly  every  one  was  a  prisoner,  and  every 
man  shuddered  to   think  when  it   might  be  his  turn  or 
that  of  his  nearest  relations. 

14.  At  last  Theodorus  himself  arrived,  in  deep  mourn- 
ing, :ind  half  dead  through  fear.     And  while  he  was  kept 
concealed  in  some  obscure  place  in  the  vicinity,  and  all 
things  were  being  got   ready  for  his  intended    examina- 
tion, the  trumpet  of  civil  discord  suddenly  sounded. 

15.  And  because  that  man  who  knowingly  passes  over 
facts  appears  to  be  an  equally  unfaithful  historian  with 
him   who  invents  circumstances  which  never  happened, 
we  do  not  deny  (what,  in  fact,  is  quite  undoubted)  that  the 


A.D.  371.]  SUSPICIOUS   CHARACTER   OF    VALENS.  50? 

safety  of  Valens  had  often  before  been  attacked  by  secret 
machinations,  and  was  now  in  the  greatest  possible  danger. 
And  that  a  sword,  as  one  may  say,  was  presented  to  his 
throat  by  the  officers  of  the  army,  and  only  averted  by 
Fate,  which  was  reserving  him  for  lamentable  misfortunes 
in  Thrace. 

16.  For  one  day  as  he   was  taking  a  gentle  nap  in  the 
afternoon,  in  a  shady  spot  between  Antioch  and  Seleucia, 
he  was  attacked  by  Sallust,  at  that  time  an  officer  of  the 
Scutarii ;    and  on  various  other  occasions  he  was  plotted 
against  by  many  other  persons,  from  whose  treacherous 
designs  he   only  escaped  because  the  precise  moment  of 
his  death  had  been  determined  at  his  birth  by  Destiny. 

17.  As  sometimes  happened  in   the  times   of  the  em- 
perors  Commodus   and   Severus,   whose  safety  was   con- 
tinually assailed  with  extreme  violence,  so  that  after  many 
various  dangers  at  the  hands  of  their  countrymen,  the  one 
was  dangerously   wounded   by  a   dagger  in   the   amphi- 
theatre,  as  he  entered  it  for  the  purpose  of  witnessing 
an  entertainment,  by  a  senator  named  Quintianus,  a  man 
of  wicked  ambition.     The  other,  when  extremely  old,  was 
assailed  as  he  was  lying  in  his  bed-chamber,  by  a  cen- 
turion of  the  name  of  Saturninus,  who  was  instigated  to 
the  act  by  Plautian  the   prefect,  and  would  have   been 
killed  if  his  youthful  son  had  not  come  to  his  assistance. 

18.  Valens,    therefore,    was  to   be    excused   for  taking 
every  precaution  to  defend  his  life,  which  traitors  were 
endeavouring  to  take.    But  it  was  an  unpardonable  fault  in 
him  that,  through  tyrannical  pride,  he,  with  haste  and  with 
inconsiderate  and  malicious  persecution,  inflicted  the  same 
severities   on  the  innocent  as  on  the   guilty,  making  no 
distinction  between  their  deserts  ;  so  that  while  the  judges 
were  still  doubting  about  their  guilt,   the  emperor   had 
made  up  his  mind  about  their  punishment,  and  men  learnt 
that  they  were   condemned  before  they  knew  that  they 
were  suspected. 

19.  But  his  obstinate  resolution  was  strengthened  since 
it  received  a  spur  from  his  own  avarice,  and  that  also  of 
those  who  at  that  time  were  about  the  palace,  and  were 
constantly  seeking  new  sources  of  gain ;  while  if  on  any 
rare  occasion  any  mention  was  made  of  humanity,  they 
styled  it  slackness;    and  by  their  bloodthirsty  flatteries 


508  AMMIANUS   MARCELLINUS.  [Bit.  XXIX.  CS.  I 

perverted  the  resolution  of  a  'man  who  bore  men's  lives 
on  the  tip  of  his  tongue,  guiding  it  in  the  worst  direction, 
and  assailing  everything  with  unseemly  confusion,  while 
seeking  to  accomplish  the  total  ruin  of  the  most  opulent 
houses. 

20.  For  Valens  was  a  man  who  was  especially  exposed 
and  open  to  the  approaches  of  treacherous  advisers,  being 
tainted  with  two  vices  of  a  most  mischievous  character : 
one,  that  when  he  was  ashamed  of  being  angry,  that  very 
shame  only  rendered  him  the  more  intolerably  furious ; 
and  secondly,  that  the  stories  which,  with  the  easiness  of 
access  of  a  private  individual,  he  heard  in  secret  whispers, 
he  took  at  once  to  be  true  and  certain,  because  his  haughty 
idea  of  the  imperial  dignity  did  not  permit  him  to  examine 
whether  they  were  true  or  not. 

21.  The  consequence  was  that,  under  an  appearance  of 
clemency,  numbers  of  innocent  men  were  driven  from  their 
homes,  and  sent  into  exile :   and  their  property  was  con- 
fiscated to  the  public  treasury,  and  then  seized  by  himself 
for  his  private  uses;  so  that  the  owners,  after  their  con- 
demnation, had  no  means  of  subsistence  but  such  as  they 
could  beg ;  and  were  worn  out  with  the  distresses  of  the 
most  miserable  poverty.     For  fear  of  which  that  wise  old 
poet  Theognis  advises  a  man  to  rush  even  into  the  sea.1 

22.  And  even  if  any  one  should  grant  that  these  sen- 
tences were  in  some  instances  right,  yet  it  surely  was  an 
odious  severity ;  and  from  this  conduct  of  his  it  was  re- 
marked  that  the  maxim  was  sound  which  says,    "  that 
there  is  no  sentence  more  cruel  than  that  which,  while 
seeming  to  spare,  is  still  harsh." 

23.  Therefore  all  the  chief  magistrates  and  the  prefect 
of  the  praetorium,  to  whom  the  conduct  of  these  investiga- 
tions was  committed,  having  been  assembled  together,  the 

1  The  lines  of  Theognis  are — 

"  *A.v6p'  oyaOov  irevtr)  travruv  td[t,vrj<ri  n<!i\iffTa 

Kal  y-fipws  iro\tov,  Kvpvf,  Kal  r)iu6.\ov 
*Hi>  8)/  XP^I  Qfbyovra.  Kal  ts  nrycuc-frrfa  irovrov 
'Piirrfiv,  Kal  trtrpuv  Kvpvf,  tear*  ii\ifidT<uv." 
Which  may  be  thus  translated  : — 

"  Want  crushes  a  brave  man  far  worse  than  age, 
O  Cyrnus !  or  than  fever's  fiery  rage ; 
Flee,  should  thy  flight  beneath  the  greedy  ware, 
Or  from  steep  rocks  but  ope  a  milder  grave." 


A;D.3T1.]  DEATH   OF   SALIA.  509 

racks  were  got  ready,  and  the  weights,  and  lead,  and 
scourges,  and  other  engines  of  torture.  And  all  places  re- 
sounded with  the  horrors  of  the  cruel  voice  of  the  execu- 
tioners, and  the  cries  uttered  ainid  the  clanking  of  chains : 
"  Hold  him  !"  "  Shut  him  up  !"  "  Squeeze  him !"  "  Hide 
him !"  and  other  yells  uttered  by  the  ministers  of  those 
hateful  duties. 

24.  And  since  we  saw  numbers  condemned  to  death  after 
having   endured  cruel  torture,  everything  being  thrown 
into  complete  confusion  as  if  in  perfect  darkness,  because 
the  complete  recollection  of  everything  which  then  took 
place  has  in  some   degree   escaped  me,  I  will  mention 
briefly  what  I  do  remember. 

25.  Among   the   first  who  were  summoned   before   the 
bench,  was  Pergamius,  who,  as  we  have  already  mentioned, 
was  betrayed  by   Falladius,  who   accused  him  of  having 
arrived   at  a   foreknowledge   of    certain    events    through 
wicked  incantations.     As  he  was  a  man  of  exceeding  elo- 
quence, and  very  likely  to  say  dangerous  things,  and  after 
some   very  trivial   interrogatories  had   been   put  to  him, 
seeing  that  the  judges  were  hesitating  what  questions  to 
put  first  and  what  last,  he  began  himself  to  harangue  them 
boldly,  and  shouting  out  the  names  with  a  loud  voice  and 
without  any  cessation,  he  named  several  thousand  persons 
as  accomplices  with  himself,  demanding  that  people  should 
be  brought  forward  to  be  accused  of  great  crimes  from 
every  part  of  the  empire,  up  to  the  very  shores  of  the  great 
Atlantic.     The   task  that   he  thus  seemed  to  be  putting 
together  for  them  was  too  arduous ;  so  they  comdemned 
him  to  death  ;  and  afterwards  put  whole  troops  of  others  to 
death,   till   they  came  to  the  case   of  Theodorus,   which 
was  regarded,  after  the  manner  of  the  Olympian  games,  as 
a  crowning  of  the  whole. 

26.  The   same    day,    among    other    circumstances,   this 
melancholy  event  took  place,  that  Salia,  who  a  little  while 
before  had  been   the  chief  treasurer  in  Thrace,  when  he 
was  about  to  be  brought  out  of  his  piison  to  have  his  cause 
heard,  and  was  putting  on  his  shoes,  as  if  suddenly  over- 
whelmed by  the  dread  of  his  impending  destruction,  died 
in  the  hands  of  his  gaolers. 

27.  So  when  the  court  was  opened,  and  when  the  judges 
exhibited  the  decrees  of  the  law,  though,  in  accordance 


510  AMMIANUS   MARCELUNUS.  [BK.  XXIX.  CH.  t 

with  the  desire  of  the  emperor,  they  moderated  the  severity 
of  the  charges  brought  before  them,  one  general  alarm 
seized  all  people.  For  Valens  had  now  so  wholly  departed 
from  justice,  and  had  become  so  accomplished  in  the  inflic 
tion  of  injury,  that  he  was  like  a  wild  beast  in  an  amphi- 
theatre ;  and  if  any  one  who  had  been  brought  before  the 
court  escaped,  he  grew  furious  beyond  all  restraint. 

28.  Presently    Patricius    and    Hilarius    were    brought 
before  the  court,  and  were  ordered  to  enumerate  the  whole 
series  of  their  actions  :  and  as  they  differed  a  little  at  the 
beginning  of  their  statement,  they  were  both  put  to  the 
torture,  and  presently  the  tripod  which  they  had  used  was 
brought  in  ;l  and  they,  being  reduced  now  to  the  greatest 
extremity,  gave  a  true  account  of  the  whole  affair  from 
the  very  beginning.    And  first  Hilarius  spoke  as  follows  : — 

29.  "  We  did  construct,  most  noble  judges,  under  most 
unhappy  auspices,  this  little  unfortunate  tripod  which  you 
see,  in  the  likeness  of  that  at  Delphi,  making  it  of  laurel 
twigs :    and  having  consecrated   it   with   imprecations   of 
mysterious  verses,  and  with  many  decorations  and  repeated 
ceremonies,  in  all  proper  order,  we  at  last  moved  it ;  and  the 
manner  in  which  we  moved  it  as  often  as  we  consulted  it 
upon  any  secret  affair,  was  as  follows : — 

30.  "  It  was  placed  in  the  middle  of  a  building,  carefully 
purified  on  all  sides  by  Arabian  perfumes ;  and  a  plain 
round  dish  was  placed  upon  it,  made  of  different  metals. 
On  the  outer  side  of  which  the  four-and-twenty  letters  of 
the  alphabet  were  engraved  with  great  skill,  being  sepa- 
rated from  one  another  by  distances  measured  with  great 
precision. 

31.  "  Then  a  person  clothed  in  linen  garments,  and  shod 
with  slippers  of  linen,  with  a  small  linen  cap  on  his  head, 
bearing  in  his  hand  sprigs  of  vervain  as  a  plant  of  good 
omen,   in   set  verses,  propitiated  the  deity  who  presides 
over  foreknowledge,  and  thus  took  his  station  by  this  dish, 
according  to  all  the  rules  of  the  ceremony.     Then  over  the 
tripod  he  balanced  a  ring  which  he  held  suspended  by  a 
flaxen  thread  of  extreme   fineness,    and  which   had  also 
been  consecrated  with  mystic  ceremonies.     And  as  this 
ring  touched  and  bounded  off  from  the  different  letters 
which  still   preserved  their  distances  distinct,    he   made 

1  For  tlie  purposes  of  divination. 


A.D  371.J  ANSWER   OF   THE   ORACLE.  511 

with  these  letters,  by  the  order  in  which  he  touched  them, 
verses  in  the  heroic  metre,  corresponding  to  the  questions 
which  we  had  atked ;  the  verses  being  also  perfect  in 
Taetre  and  rhythm  ;  like  the  answers  of  the  Pythia  which 
are  so  celebrated,  or  those  given  by  the  oracles  of  the 
Branchidse. 

32.  "  Then,  when  we  asked  who   should  succeed  the 
present  emperor,  since  it  was  said  that  it  would  be  a  person, 
of  universal  accomplishments,  the  ring  bounded  up,  and 
touched  the  two  syllables  0EO;    and   then  as   it  added 
another  letter,  some  one  of  the  bystanders  exclaimed  that 
Theodorus  was  pointed  out  by  the  inevitable  decrees  of 
Fate.       We  asked  no   further   questions   concerning  the 
matter :   for  it  seemed  quite  plain  to  us  that  he  was  the 
man  who  was  intended." 

33.  And  when  he  had  with  this  exactness  laid  the  know- 
ledge of  this  affair  open  to  the  eyes  of  the  judges,  he  added 
with  great  benevolence,  that  Theodorus  knew  nothing  of 
the  matter.     When  after  this  they  were  asked  whether  the 
oracles  which  they  had  consulted  had  given  them  any  fore- 
knowledge of  their  present  sufferings,  they  repeated  these 
well-known  verses  which  clearly  pronounce  that  this  em- 
ployment of  investigating  those  high  secrets  would  cost 
them  their  lives.     Nevertheless,  they  added,  that  the  Furies 
equally  threatened  the  judges  themselves,   and  also  the 
emperor,  breathing  only  slaughter  and  conflagration  against 
them.     It  will  be  enoxigh  to  quote  the  three  final  verses. 

"  Ou  fiiiv  VTiirotviye  ffbv  efffferai  aljua,  Kal  avrols 
"TiffHp&vri  fiapv/j.rjvis  £<f>oTr\l£et  Kaviiiv  girov 
'Ep  -irfSioiffi  Mi/jMvros  a\a\fp.fvoiffiv  Jipijo." 
"  Thy  blood  shall  not  fall  unaveng'd  on  earth  ; 
The  fierce  Tisiphone  still  keeps  her  eye 
Fixed  on  thy  skyers ;  arming  evil  fate 
Against  them  when  arrayed  on  Mima's  plain 
They  seek  to  stem  the  tide  of  horrid  war." 

When  he  had  read  these  verses  they  were  both  tortured 
with  great  severity,  and  carried  away  dead. 

34.  Afterwards,    that    the   whole    workshop  where  the 
wickedness   had  been  wrought  might  be  disclosed  to  the 
world,  a  great  number  of  men  of  rank  were  brought  in, 
among  whom  were  some  of  the  original  promoters  of  the 
whole  business.     And   when  each,  regarding  nothing  but 


Jl2  AMMIANUS   MARCELLIXUS.  PK.  XXIX  CH.  I. 

his  own  personal  safety,  sought  to  turn  the  destruction 
which  menaced  himself  in  some  other  quarter,  by  the  per- 
mission of  the  judges,  Theodorus  began  to  address  them. 
First  of  all,  he  humbled  himself  with  entreaties  for  pardon  ; 
then  being  compelled  to  answer  more  precisely  to  the 
charges  alleged,  he  proved  that  he,  after  having  been  in- 
formed of  the  whole  affair  by  Eucaerius,  was  prevented  by 
him  from  repeating  it  to  the  emperor,  as  he  had  often 
attempted  to  do  :  since  Eucrerius  affirmed  that  what  did  not 
spring  from  a  lawless  desire  of  reigning,  but  from  some 
fixed  law  of  inevitable  fate,  would  surely  come  to  pass. 

35.  Eucaerius,    when   cruelly   tortured,    confirmed    this 
statement  by  his  own  confession.     His  own  letters  were 
employed  to   convict   Theodorus,    letters   which   he   had 
written  to  Hilarius  full  of  indirect  hints,  which  showed  that 
he  had  conceived  a  sure  hope  of  such  events  from  the  pro- 
phecies of  the  soothsayers;  and  was  not  inclined  to  delay, 
but  was  looking  for  an  opportunity  of  attaining  the  object 
of  his  desires. 

36.  After  the  establishment  of  these  facts,  the  prisoners 
were   removed;    and   Eutropius,  who  at  that  time   was 
governing  Asia  with  the  rank  of  proconsul,  having  been 
involved  in  the  accusation  as  having  been  a  partisan  of 
theirs,  was  nevertheless  acquitted ;    being   exculpated  by 
Pasiphilus  the  philosopher,  who,  though  cruelly  tortured 
to  make  him  implicate  Eutropius  by  a  wicked  lie,  could 
not  be  moved  from  his  vigorous  resolution  and  fortitude. 

37.  To  that  was  added  the   philosopher   Simonides,   a 
young  man,  but  the  most  rigidly  virtuous  of  all  men  in 
our  time.     An  information  had  been  laid  against  him  as 
having  been   made  aware   of  what  was  going   on  by  Fi- 
dustius,   as  he   saw  that  his   cause   depended,  not  on  its 
truth,  but  on  the  will  of  one  man,  avowed  that  he  had 
known  all  that  was  alleged,  but  had  forborne  to  mention  it 
out  of  regard  for  his  character  for  constancy. 

38.  When  all  these  matters  had  been  minutely  inquired 
into,  the  emperor,   in  answer  to  the  question    addressed 
to  him  by  the  judges,  ordered  them  all  to  be  condemned 
and  at  once  executed  :  and  it  was  not  without  shuddering 
that  the  vast  populace   beheld   the   mournful   spectacle ; 
filling  the  whole  air  with  lamentations   (since  they  looked 
on  the  misery  of  each  individual  as  threatening  the  whole 


A.D.371.]  SIMONIDES  AND  MAXIMUS.  513 

community  with  a  similar  fate)  when  the  whole  number 
of  accused  persons,  except  Simon  ides,  were  executed  in  a 
melancholy  manner.  Simonides  being  reserved  to  be 
burnt  alive  by  the  express  command  of  the  savage  judge, 
who  was  enraged  at  his  dignified  constancy. 

39.  And  he,  abandoning  life  as  an  imperious  mistress, 
and  defying  the  sudden  destruction  thus  coming  on  him,  was 
burnt  without  giving  any  sign  of  shrinking ;  imitating,  in 
his  death,  the  philosopher  Peregrinus,  sumamed  Proteus, 
who  having  determined  to  quit  the  world,  at  the  quin- 
quennial games  of  Olympia,  in  the  sight  of  all  Greece, 
mounted  a  funeral  pile  which  he  had  built  himself,   and 
was  there  burnt  alive. 

40.  After  his  death,  on  the  ensuing  days  a  vast  multi- 
tude of  almost  all  ranks,  whose  names  it  would  be  too 
arduous  a  task  to  enumerate,  being  convicted  by  calumnious 
accusations,    were  despatched   by   the  executioners,   after 
having  been  first  exhausted  by  every  description  of  torture. 
Some  were  put  to  death  without  a  moment's  breathing-time 
or  delay,  while  the  question  was  still  being  asked  whether 
they  deserved  to  be  punished  at  all ;  in  fact,   men  were 
slaughtered  like  sheep  in  all  directions. 

41.  After  this,   innumerable   quantities  of  papers,  and 
many  heaps  of  volumes  were  collected,  and  burnt  under 
the  eyes  of  the  judges,  having  been  taken  out  of  various 
bouses  as  unlawful  books ;    in  order  to  lessen   the   unpo- 
pularity arising  from  so  many  executions,  though  in  fact, 
the  greater  part  of  them  were  books  teaching  various  kinds 
of  liberal  accomplishments,  or  books  of  law. 

42.  Not  long  afterwards,  Maximus,  the  celebrated  phi- 
losopher,   a   man    of  vast   reputation   for   learning,    from 
whose  eloquent  discourses  the  emperor  Julian  derived  his 
great  learning  and  wisdom,  being  accused  of  having  been 
acquainted  with  the  verses  of  the  oracle  mentioned  above, 
and  confessing  that  he  had  known  something  of  them,  but 
that  he  had  not  divulged  what  he  knew,  as  being  bound  to 
keep  silence  out   of  consideration  for   his   promise ;    but 
adding  that  he  had  of  his  own  accord  predicted  that  those 
jwho  had  consulted  the  oracle  would  perish  by  public  exe- 
cution, was  conducted  to  Ephesus,  his  native  place,  and 
Jthere  beheaded.     And  thus  by  his  own  forfeiture  of  life,  he 

bund  that  the  injustice  of  a  judge  is  the  worst  of  all  crimes. 

2  L 


514  AMMIANDS   MARCKLL1NU?.  [BK.  XXIX.  Cn.  n. 

43.  Diogenes,  too,  a  man  of  noble  family,  great  forensic 
eloquence  and  pre-eminent  courtesy,  who  had  some  time 
before  been  governor  of  Bithynia,  being  entangled  in  the 
toils  of  wicked  falsehood,  was  put  to  death  in  order  to 
afford  a  pretext  for  seizing  on  his  ample  patrimony. 

44.  Alypius  also,   who  had  been  governor  of  Britain, 
a  man  of  most   delightful  mildness  of  temper,  and  who 
had  lived  a  tranquil  and  retired  life  (since  even  against 
such  as  him  did  Injustice  stretch  forth  her  hands),  was 
involved  in   the  greatest  misfortune ;   and   was  accused, 
with  Hierocles  his  son,  a  youth  of  most  amiable  disposition, 
of  having  been  guilty  of  poisoning,  on  the  unsupported 
information  of  a  low  fellow  named  Diogenes,  who  had 
been  tortured   with    extreme    severity  to  force   him  to 
make  confessions   which  might  please  the   emperor,   or] 
rather,  which  might  please  his  accuser.     When  his  limbs 
could  no  longer  endure  their  punishment,  he  was  burnt 
alive ;  and  Alypius,  after  having  had  his  property  confis- 
cated, was  condemned  to  banishment,  though  by  an  extra- 
ordinary piece  of  good  fortune  he  received  back  his  son 
after  he  had  been  condemned,  and  had  actually  been  led 
out  to  suffer  a  miserable  death. 


II. 

§  1.  DURING  all  this  time,  Palladius,  the  original  cause  of 
these  miseries,  whom  we  have  already  spoken  of  as 
having  been  arrested  by  Fortunatianus,  being,  from  the 
lowness  of  his  original  condition,  a  man  ready  to  fall  into 
every  kind  of  wickedness,  by  heaping  one  murder  on 
another  diffused  mourning  and  lamentation  over  the  whole 
empire. 

2.  For  being  allowed  to  name  any  persons  he  chose, 
without  distinction  of  rank,  as  men  contaminated  by  the 
practice   of  forbidden    arts,   like   a    huntsman   who    has 
learnt  to  mark  the  secret  tracks  of  wild  beasts,   he  en- 
closed many  victims  within  his  wretched  toils,  some  as 
being  polluted  with  a  knowledge  of  poisonings,  others  as 
accomplices  of  those  who  were  guilty  of  treason. 

3.  And  that  wives  too  might  not  have  leisure  to  weep  over 
the  miseries  of  their  husbands,  officers  were  sent  at  once  to 


A.D.  371.]         HELIODORUS   THE  COLLEAGUE   OF  PALLADIUS.  515 

seal  up  the  house  of  any  one  who  was  condemned,  and 
who,  while  examining  all  the  furniture,  slipped  in  among 
it  old  women's  incantations,  or  ridiculous  love-tokens,  con- 
trived to  bring  destruction  on  the  innocent ;  and  then, 
when  these  things  were  mentioned  before  the  bench, 
where  neither  law,  nor  religion,  nor  equity  were  present 
to  separate  truth  from  falsehood,  those  whom  they  thus 
accused,  though  utterly  void  of  offence,  without  any  distinc- 
tion, youths,  and  decrepit  old  men,  without  being  heard 
in  their  defence,  found  their  property  confiscated,  and  were 
hurried  off  to  execution  in  litters. 

4.  One  of  the  consequences  in  the  eastern  provinces  was, 
that  from  fear  of  similar  treatment,  people  burnt  all  their 
libraries  ;  so  great  was  the  terror  which  seized  upon  all 
ranks.     For,  to  cut  my  story  short,  at  that  time  all  of  us 
crawled  about  as  if  in  Cimmerian  darkness,  in  the  same 
kind  of  dread  as  the  guest  of  Dionysius  of  Sicily ;   who, 
while  feasting    at  a  banquet  more  irksome   than   famine 
itself,  saw  a  sword  suspended  over  his  head  by  a  single 
horsehair. 

5.  There  was  a  man  named  Bassianus,  of  most  noble 
family,  a  secretary,  and  eminently  distinguished  for  his 
military  services,  who,  on  a  charge  of  having  entertained 
ambitious  projects,  and  of  having  sought  oracles  concern- 
ing their  issue,  though  he  declared  he  had  only  consulted 
the  oracles  to  know  the  sex  of  his  next  child,  was  saved 
indeed  from  death  by  the  great  interest  made  for  him  by 
his  relations  who  protected  him ;  but  he  was  stripped  of 
all  his  splendid  inheritance. 

6.  Amid  all  this  destruction  and  ruin,  Heliodorus,  that 
hellish   colleague   of  Palladius   in   bringing   about   these 
miseries  (being  what  the  common  people  call  a  mathema- 
tician), having  been  admitted  into  the  secret  conferences 
of  the  imperial  palace,  and  been  tempted  by  every  kind 
of   caress  and   cajolery  to   relate  all   he   knew   or  could 
invent,  was  putting  forth  his  fatal  stings. 

7.  For  he  was  carefully  feasted  on  the  most  delicate 
food,  and  furnished  with  large  sums  of  money  to  give  to 
his  concubines ;  and  he  strutted  about  in  every  direction 
with  a  pompous,  haughty  countenance,  and  was  universally 
dreaded.     Being  the  more  confident  and  arrogant,  because 
as  he  was  high  chamberlain,  he  could  go  constantly  and 


516        .  AMMIANUS  MARCELLINUS.  fBK.XXIX.C8.il. 

openly  to  the  brothels,  in  which,  as  he  desired,  he  was 
freely  entertained,  while  revealing  the  edicts  of  the 
"  parental  guardian  of  the  state,"  which  were  destined  to 
be  disastrous  to  many. 

8.  And  through  his  means,  as  an  advocate  at  the  bar, 
Yalens  was  instructed  beforehand   in   what  would   most 
contribute  to  success — what  to  place  in  the  first  part  of  his 
speech,  and  with  what  figures,  and  what  inventions  to  work 
up  splendid  passages. 

9.  And  as  it  would  take  a  long  time  to  enumerate  all 
the  devices  of  that  villain,  I  will  mention  this  one  only, 
which,  in  its  rash  boldness,  assailed  the  very  pillars  of  the 
patrician  dignity.     As  I  have  said  before,  he  was  raised  to 
exceeding  arrogance  by  being  admitted  to  the  secret  con- 
ferences of  the  princes ;   and  being,  from  the  low-ness  of 
his  birth,  a  man  ready  for  any  wickedness,  he  laid  an  in- 
formation against  that    illustrious    pair  of   consuls,   the 
brothers  Eusebius  and  Hypatius,  relations  of  the  former 
emperor   Constantius,  as    having  conceived  desires  of  a] 
higher  fortune,  and  formed  projects  and  entered  into  enter-  • 
prises   for  the  attainment  of  supreme   power.      Adding, 
in  order  to   procure  additional  credit  for  this  falsehood, 
that  Eusebius  had  had  a  set  of  imperial  robes  prepared 
for  him. 

10.  And  when  the  story  had  been  swallowed  willingly, 
Valens  raging  and  threatening,  a  prince  who  never  ought 
to  have  had  any  power  at  all,  because  he  thought  that  every- 
thing, even  injustice,  was  in  his  power,  was  incessantly 
active  in  causing  the  production,  even  from  the  most  dis- 
tant countries,  of  all  those  whom  the  lawless  accuser  in 
profound  security  had  insisted  ought  to  be  produced ;  and 
further  commanded  a  prosecution  to  be  instituted  on  the 
criminal  charge. 

11.  And  when   equity  had  long   been   tossed  to    and 
fro  by  knotty  difficulties,  while  that  abandoned  profligate 
persisted   with   unyielding   obstinacy  in  maintaining  the 
truth  of  his  assertions,  while  the  severest  tortures  were  un- 
able to  wring  any  confession  from  the  prisoners,  and  when 
every  circumstance  proved  that  those  eminent  men  were 
free  from  all  consciousness  of  anything  of  the  kind,  still  the 
false  accuser  was  treated  with  the  same  respect  as  he  had 
previously  received.     But  though  the  prisoners  were  sen- 


I.D.  371.]  DEATH   AND   FUNERAL  OF   HELIODORUS.  517 

tenced  to  exile  and  a  heavy  fine,  a  short  time  afterwaixls 
they  were  recalled  from  banishment,  restored  to  their 
former  rank  and  dignity,  and  their  fine  repaid. 

12.  Still  after  all  these  shameful  transactions,  the  prince 
did  not  proceed  with  any  more  moderation  or  decency  than 
before ;  never  considering  that  in  a  wise  government  it  is 
well  not  to  be  too  keen  in  hunting  out  offences,  even  as  a 
means  of  inflicting  distress  upon  one's  enemies ;  and  that 
nothing  is  so  unbecoming   as  to  display  a  bitterness  of  dis- 
position in  connection  with  supreme  authority. 

13.  But  when   Heliodorus  died,  whether  of  sickness  or 
through  some  deliberate  violence  is  uncertain  (I  should  not 
like  to  say,  and  I  wish  that  the  facts  themselves  were  equally 
silent),  many  men  of  rank  in  mourning  robes,  among  whom 
were  these  two  brothers  of  consular  rank,,  by  the  express 
command  of  the  emperor,  attended  his  funeral  when  he  was 
borne  to  his  grave  by  the  undertakers. 

14.  At  that   time,  and  in  that  place,   the  whole  vile- 
ness  and  stupidity  of  the  ruler  of  the  empire  was  publicly 
displayed.       When    he    was    entreated    to   abstain    from 
abandoning  himself  to   inconsolable   grief,    he   remained 
obstinately  inflexible,  as  if  he  had  stopped  his  ears  with 
wax  to  pass  the  rocks  of  the  Sirens. 

15.  But  at   last,  being  overcome  by  the  pertinacious 
entreaties  of  his  court,  he  ordered  some  persons  to  go  on 
foot,  bareheaded,  and  with  their  hands  folded,  to  the  burial- 
place  of  this  wretched  gladiator  to  do  him  honour.     One 
shudders  now  to  recollect  the  decree  by  which  so  many  men 
of  high  rank  were  humiliated,  especially  some  of  consular 
dignity,  after  all  their  truncheons  and  robes  of  honour,  and 
all  the  worldly  parade  of  having  their  names  recorded  in 
the  annals  of  their  nation. 

16.  Among  them  all,  our  friend  Hypatius  was  most  con- 
spicuous, recommended  as  he  was  to  every  one   by  the 
beauty  of  the  virtues  which  he  had  practised   from   his 
youth  ;  being  a  man  of  quiet  and  gentle  wisdom,  preserv- 
ing  an  undeviating  honesty  combined  with  the  greatest 
courtesy  of  manner,  so  that  he  conferred  a  fresh  lustre  on 
the  glory  of  his   ancestors,  and  was  an  ornament  to  his 
posterity,  by  the  memorable  actions  which  he  performed 
in  the  office  of  prefect,  to  which  he  was  twice  appointed. 

'.   17.  At  the  same  time,  this  circumstance  came  to  ctown 


518  AMMIANUS   MARCIiLLINUS.  [BK.  XXIX.  CH.  IL 

the  other  splendid  actions  of  Valens,  that,  while  in  the 
case  of  others  he  gave  way  to  such  furious  violence,  that  he 
was  even  vexed  when  the  severity  of  their  punishment  was 
terminated  by  death,  yet  he  pardoned  Pollentianus,  the 
tribune,  a  man  stained  with  such  enormous  wickedness, 
that  at  that  very  time  he  was  convicted  on  his  own  con- 
fession of  having  cut  out  the  womb  of  a  living  woman  and 
taken  from  it  her  child,  in  order  to  summon  forth  spirits 
from  the  shades  below,  and  to  consult  them  about  a  change 
in  the  empire.  He  looked  on  this  wretch  with  the  eye  of 
friendship,  in  spite  of  the  murmurs  of  the  whole  bench  of 
senators,  and  discharged  him  in  safety,  suffering  him  to 
retain  not  only  his  life,  but  his  vast  riches  and  full  rank  in 
the  army. 

18.  0  most  glorious  learning,  granted  by  the  express 
gift  of  heaven  to  happy  mortals,  thou  who  hast  often  re- 
fined  even  vicious  natures !      How  many  faults   in  the 
darkness  of  that  age  wouldst  thou  have  corrected  if  Valens 
had  ever  been  taught  by  thee  that,  according  to  the  defi- 
nition of  wise  men,  empire  is  nothing  else  but  the  care  of  the 
safety  of  others ;  and  that  it  is  the  duty  of  a  good  emperor 
to  restrain  power,  to  resist  any  desire  to  possess  all  things, 
and  all  implacability  of  passion,  and  to  know,  as  the  dic- 
tator Caesar  used  to  say,  "  That  the  recollection  of  cruelty 
was  an  instrument  to  make  old  age  miserable !"    And  there- 
fore that  it  behoves  any  one  who  is  about  to  pass  a  sentence 
affecting  the  life  and  existence  of  a  man,  who  is  a  portion 
of  the  world,  and  makes  up  the  complement  of  living  crea- 
tures, to  hesitate  long  and  much,  and  never  to  give  way  to 
intemperate  haste  in  a  case  in  which  what  is  done  is  irre- 
vocable.    According  to  that  example  well  known   to  all 
antiquity. 

19.  When  Dolabella  was  proconsul  in  Asia,   a  matron 
at  Smyrna  confessed  that  she  had  poisoned  her  son  and 
her  husband,  because  she  had  discovered  that  they  had 
murdered  a  son  whom  she  had  had  by  a  former  husband. 
Her   case   was  adjourned — the  council  to   whom  it   had 
been  referred  being  in  doubt  how  to  draw  a  line  between 
just  revenge  and  unprovoked  crime ;  and  so  she  was  re- 
mitted to  the  judgment  of  the   Areopagus,   those   severe 
Athenian  judges,  who  are  said  to  have  decided  disputes 
even  among  the  gods.     They,  when  they  had  heard  the 


A.D.  371.]  FESTUS   GOVERNOR   OF  SYRIA.  519 

case,  ordered  the  woman  and  her  accuser  to  appear  before 
them  again  in  a  hundred  years,  to  avoid  either  acquitting 
a  poisoner,  or  punishing  one  who  had  been  the  avenger 
of  her  kindred.  So  that  is  never  to  be  thought  too  slow 
which  is  the  last  of  all  things. 

20.  After  all  the  acts  of  various  iniquity  already  men- 
tioned, and  after  even  the  free  persons  who  were  allowed  to 
survive  had  been  thus  shamefully  branded,  the  eye  of  Jus- 
tice which  never  sleeps,  that  unceasing  witness  and  avenger 
of  events,  became  more  attentive  and  vigilant.     For  the 
avenging  Furies  of  those  who  had  been  put  to  death,  work- 
ing on  the  everlasting  deity  with  their  just  complaints, 
kindled  the  torches  of  war,  to  confirm  the  truth  of  the 
oracle,  which  had  given  warning  that  no  crime  can  be  per- 
petrated with  impunity. 

21.  While  the  affairs  thus  narrated  were  taking  place, 
Antioch  was  exposed  to  great  distress  through  domestic 
dissension,   though  not  molested  by  any   attacks   on  the 
side  of  Parthia.     But  the  horrid  troop  of  Furies,  which 
after  having  caused  all  sorts  of  miseries  there,  had  quitted 
that  city,  now  settled  on  the  neck  of  the  whole  of  Asia, 
as  will  be  seen  in  what  follows. 

22.  A  certain  native  of  Trent,  by  name  Festus,  a  man 
of   the    lowest    obscurity  of  birth,   being  a  relation  of 
Maximin,  and  one  who  had  assumed  the  manly  robe  at  the 
same  time  with  himself,  was  cherished  by  him  as  a  com- 
panion, and  by  the  will  of  the  Fates  had  now  crossed  over 
to  the  east,  and  having  there  become  governor  of  Syria, 
and  master  of  the  records,  he  set  a  very  good  and  respect- 
able example  of  lenity.      From  this  he  was  promoted  to 
govern  Asia  with  the  rank  of  proconsul,  being  thus,  as  the 
saying  is,  borne  on  with  a  fair  wind  to  glory. 

23.  And  hearing  that  Maximin  caused  the  destruction  of 
every  virtuous  man,  he  began  from  this  time  to  denounce  his 
actions  as  mischievous  and  disgraceful.     But  when  he  saw 
that,  in  consequence  of  the  removal  of  those  persons  whom 
he  had   impiously  put   to    death,   that  wicked   man   had 
arrived  at  the  dignity  of  prefect,  he  began  to  be  excited  to 
similar  conduct  and  similar  hopes.     And  suddenly  chang- 
ing his  character  like  an  actor,  he  applied  himself  to  the 
study  of  doing  injury,   and   went   about  with   fixed    and 
severe  eyes,  trusting  that  he  also  should  soon  become  a 


520  AMMIANUS  MARCELLINUS.  [Bit.  XXIX.  CH.  tf. 

prefect,  if  he  only  polluted   himself  with  the   blood   of 
innocent  men. 

24.  And  although  there  are  many  and  various  instances 
in  which,  to  put  the  best  construction  on  them,  he  acted 
with  great  harshness,  still  it  will  be  sufficient  to  enumerate 
a  few,  which  are  notorious  and  commonly  spoken  of,  seem- 
ing to  be  done  in  rivalry  of  the  deeds  which  were  com- 
mitted at  Rome  ;  for  the  principle  of  good  and  bad  actions 
is  the  same  everywhere,  even  if  the  importance  of  the  cir- 
cumstances be  unequal. 

25.  There  was  a  philosopher  named  Cseranius,  a  man  of 
no  inconsiderable  merit,  whom  he  put  to  death  with  the 
most  cruel  tortures,  and  without  any  one  coming  forward 
to  avenge  him,  because,  when  writing  familiarly  to  his 
wife,  he  had  put  a  postscript  in  Greek,    "  a\>  It  rote,  KOI 
(TTf<f>E  TTIV  Trv\r\v" — "  Do  you  take  care  and  adorn  the  gate," 
which  is  a  common  expression  to  let  the  hearer  know  that 
something  of  importance  is  to  be  done. 

2fi.  There  was  a  certain  simple  old  woman  who  was  wont 
to  cure  intermittent  fever  by  a  gentle  incantation,  whom  he 

Sit  to  death  as  a  witch,  after  she  had  been  summoned,  with 
s  consent,  to  his  daughter,  and  had  cured  her. 

27.  There  was  a  certain  citizen  of  high  respectability, 
among  whose  papers,  when  they  were  searched  by  the 
officers  on  some  business  or  other,  was  found  the  nativity 
of  some  one  of  the  name  of  Valens.     He,  when  asked  on 
what  account  he  had  troubled  himself  about  the  star  of  the 
emperor,  had  repelled  the  accusation  by  declaring  that  it 
was  his  own  brother  Valens  whose  nativity  was  thus  found, 
and  when  he  promised  to  bring  abundant  proof  that  he  had 
long  been  dead,  the  judges  would  not  wait  for  evidence  of 
the  truth  of  his  assertion,  but  put  him  to  the  torture  and 
cruelly  slew  him. 

28.  A  young  man  was  seen  in  the  bath  to  put  the  fingers 
of  each  hand  alternately  against  the  marble  and  against  his 
own  chest,  and  then  to  repeat  the  names  of  the   seven 
vowels,  fancying  that  a  remedy  for  a  pain  in  the  stomach. 
For  this  he  was  brought  before  the  court,  put  to  the  tor- 
lure,  and  then  beheaded. 


AJ>.  371.]  CRUELTIES   OF   VALENTINIAN.  521 

III. 

§  1.  THESE  erenis,  and  the  account  of  Gaul  to  which  I  am 
now  about  to  proceed,  will  cause  some  interruption  to 
the  narration  of  occurrences  in  the  metropolis.  Among 
many  terrible  circumstances,  I  find  that  Maximin  was  still 
prefect,  who  by  the  wide  extent  of  his  power  was  a  cruel 
prompter  to  the  emperor,  who  combined  the  most  un- 
restrained licence  with  unbounded  power.  Whoever, 
therefore,  considers  what  I  have  related,  must  also  reflect 
on  the  other  facts  which  have  been  passed  over,  and,  like  a 
prudent  man,  he  will  pardon  me  if  I  do  not  record  every- 
thing which  the  wickedness  of  certain  counsels  has  occa- 
sioned by  exaggerating  every  accusation  ? 

2.  For  while  severity,  the  foe  of  all  right  principles,  in- 
creased, Valentinian,  being  a  man  of  a  naturally  ferocious 
disposition,  when  Maximin  arrived,  having  no  one  to  give 
him   good   advice   or  to   restrain   him,   proceeded,   as  if 
hurried  on  by  a  storm  of  winds  and  waves,  to  all  kinds  of 
cruel  actions ;  so  that  when  angry,  his  voice,  his  counte- 
nance,  his  gait,   and  his   complexion,  were   continually 
changing.      And  of  this  passionate  intemperance  there  are 
many  undoubted  instances,  of  which  it  will  be  sufficient  to 
recount  a  few. 

3.  A   certain   grown-up  youth,  of  those  called  pages, 
having  been  appointed  to  take  care  of  a  Spartan  hound 
which  had  been  brought  out  for  hunting,  let  him  loose 
before  the  appointed  moment,   because  the  animal,  in  its 
efforts  to  escape,  leaped  upon  him  and  bit  him ;  and  for 
this  he  was  beaten  to  death  and  buried  the  same  day. 

4.  The  master  of  a  workshop,   who  had   brought  the 
emperor  an   offering  of   a  breastplate   most  exquisitely 
polished,   and   who   was  therefore   in   expectation    of    a 
reward,  was  ordered  by  him  to  be  put  to  death  because 
the  steel  was  of  less  weight  than  he  considered  requisite. 

.  .  .  .  There  was  a  certain  native,  of  Epirus,  a 
priest  of  the  Christian  religion.1  .... 

1  This  sentence  is  so  mutilated  as  to  be  unintelligible,  but  is  filled 
up  by  conjecture,  founded  on  a  knowledge  of  the  facts,  thus  :  "  who  waa 
executed  because  he  had  not  given  up  Octavian,  who  had  been 
formerly  proconsul  of  Africa,  and  who  had  taken  refuge  in  his  house 
when  accused  of  some  crime." 


522  AMMIANUS    MAUCKLUXUS.  [BK.XXIX.Cu.nl. 

5.  Constantianus,   the    master  of   the    stables,   having 
ventured  to  change  a  few  of  the  horses,  to  select  which 
he  had  been  despatched  to  Sardinia,  was,  by  his  order, 
stoned  to  death.     Athanasius,  a  very  popular  character, 
being  suspected  by  him  of  some  levity  in  the  language 
he  held  among  the   common   people,   was  sentenced   to 
bo  burnt  alive  if  he  ever  did  anything  of  the  kind  again ; 
and  not  long  afterwards,  being  accused  of  having  practised 
magic,  he  was  actually  burnt,  no  pardon  being  given  even 
to  one  whose  devices  had  often  afforded  the  emperor  great 
amusement. 

6.  Africanus  was  an  advocate  of  great  diligence,  residing 
in  Rome ;  he  had  had  the  government  of  one  province,  and 
aspired  to  that  of  another.      But  when   Theodosius,   the 
commander  of  the  cavalry,  supported  his  petition  for  such 
an   office,   the   emperor  answered  him  somewhat  rudely, 
"  Away  with  you,  0  count,  and  change  the  head  of  the 
man  who  wishes  to  have  his  province  changed."     And 
by  this  sentence  a  man  of  great  eloquence  perished,  only 
because,  like  many  others,  he  wished  for  higher  preferment. 

7.  Claudian  and  Sallust  were  officers  of  the  Jovian  legion, 
who  had  gradually  risen  to  the  rank  of  tribunes ;  but  they 
were  accused  by  some  man  of  the  most  despicable  baseness 
of  having  said  something  in  favour  of  Procopius  when  he 
aimed  at  the  imperial  power.       And  when  a  diligent  in- 
vestigation into  this   charge  had  proved  ineffectual,  the 
emperor  gave  orders  to  the  captains  of  the  cavalry  who 
had  been  employed  in  it,  to  condemn  Claudian  to  banish- 
ment, and  to  pass  sentence  of  death  upon  Sallust,  promising 
that  he  would  reprieve  him  as  he  was  being  led  to  execu- 
tion.    The  sentence  was  passed,  as  he  commanded ;  but 
Sallust  was  not  reprieved,  nor  was  Claudian  recalled  from 
exile  till  after  the  death  of  Valentinian.1       .     .     .     After 
they  had  been  exposed  to  frequent  tortures. 

8.  N  evertheless  after  so  many  persons  had  been  put  to  the 
question,  some  of  whom  had  even  expired  under  the  se- 
verity of  their  tortures,  still  no  traces  of  the  alleged  crimes 
could  be  discovered.      In   this   affair  some  of  the   body- 
guards, who  had  been  sent  to  arrest  certain  persons,  were, 
in  a  most  unusual  manner,  beaten  to  death. 

9.  The  mind  shudders  at  the  idea  of  recapitulating  all 
that  took  place,  and,  indeed,  dreads  to  do  so,  lest  we  should 


A.D.  371.]  WAR   AGAINST    MAORI  ANUS.  523 

appear  to  make  a  business  of  pointing  out  the  vices  of  an 
emperor  who,  in  other  respects,  had  many  good  qualities. 
But  this  one  circumstance  may  not  be  passed  over  in 
silence  nor  suppressed,  that  he  kept  two  ferocious  she-bears 
who  were  used  to  eat  men  ;  and  they  had  names,  Golden 
Camel  and  Innocence,  and  these  beasts  he  took  such  care 
of  that  he  had  their  dens  close  to  his  bedchamber ;  and 
appointed  over  them  trusty  keepers  who  were  bound  to  take 
especial  care  that  the  odious  fury  of  these  monsters  should 
never  be  checked.  At  last  he  had  Innocence  sot  free,  after 
he  had  seen  the  burial  of  many  corpses  which  she  had  torn 
to  pieces,  giving  her  the  range  of  the  forests  as  a  reward 
for  her  services.1 

IV. 

§  1.  THESE  actions  are  the  most  undeniable  proof  of  his 
habits  and  real  character ;  but  even  the  most  obstinate 
disparager  of  his  disposition  cannot  deny  him  the  praise  of 
great  ability,  which  never  forgot  the  interests  of  the  state  ; 
especially  when  it  is  recollected,  that  perhaps  it  is  a  greater 
and  more  beneficial,  as  well  as  difficult,  task  to  control  the 
barbarians  by  means  of  an  army,  than  to  repulse  them. 
And  when  ...  If  any  one  of  the  enemy  moved,  he  was 
seen  from  the  watch-towers  and  immediately  overwhelmed. 

2.  But  among  many  other  subjects  of  anxiety,  the  first 
and  most  important  thing  of  all  which  was  agitated,  was 
to  seize  alive,  either  by  force  or  by  trickery,  as  Julian  had 
formerly  taken  Vadomarius,    Macrianus,  the   king,   who, 
through  all  the  changes  which  had  taken  place,  had  ob- 
tained a  considerable  increase  of  power,  and  was  rising  up 
against  our  people  with  full-grown  strength :  and  after  all 
the  measures  had  been  taken  which  seemed  required  by 
the  affair  itself  and  the  time,  and  when  it  had  been  learnt 
by  information  collected  from  deserters  when  the  aforesaid 
monarch  could  be  seized  before  he  expected  anything  of 
the  kind,  the  emperor  threw  a  bridge  of  boats  across  the 
Ehine  with  as  much  secrecy  as  was  possible,  lest  any  one 
should  interpose  any  obstacle  to  such  a  work. 

3.  Severus,  who  was  the  commander  of  the  infantry,  led 

1  The  end  of  this  chapter  also  is  lost,  as  are  one  or  two  passages  in 
the  beginning  of  Chapter  IV. 


524  AMM1AKUS  MAUCELLINUS.  [Bt  XXLX.  CH.  IT. 

the  van  of  the  army  towards  Wiesbaden ;  and  then,  reflect- 
ing on  his  scanty  numbers,  halted  in  consternation  ;  being 
afraid  lest,  as  he  should  be  quite  unequal  to  resist  them, 
he  should  be  overwhelmed  by  the  mass  of  the  hostile  army 
if  it  attacked  him. 

4.  And    because   he   suspected   that   the    dealers  who 
brought  slaves  for  sale,  whom  he  found  at  that  place  by 
chance,  would  be  likely  to  repair  with  speed  to  the  king  to 
tell  him  what  they  had  seen,  he  stripped  them  of  all  their 
merchandise,  and  then  put  them  all  to  death. 

5.  Our  generals  were  now  encouraged  by  the  arrival  of 
more  troops ;  and  speedily  contrived  a  temporary  camp, 
because  none  of  the  baggage-beasts  had  arrived,  nor  had 
any  one  a  proper  tent,  except  the  emperor,  for  whom  one 
was  constructed  of  carpets  and  tapestry.     Then  waiting  a 
short  time  on  account  of  the  darkness  of  the  night,  at  day- 
break the  army  quitted  the  camp  and  proceeded  onwards ; 
being  led  by  guides  well  acquainted  with  the  country. 
The  cavalry,  under  Theodosius,  its  captain,  was  appointed 
to  lead  the  way    .     .     .     was  inconvenienced  by  the  great 
noise  made  by  his  men  ;    whom  his  repeated  commands 
could  not  restrain  from  rapine  and  incendiarism.     For  the 
guards  of  the  enemy  being  roused  by  the  crackling  of  the 
flames,  and  suspecting  what  had  happened,  put  the  king 
on  a  light  carriage  and  carrying  him  off  with  great  speed, 
hid  him  among  the  defiles  of  the  neighbouring  mountains. 

'  6.  Valentinian  being  defrauded  of  the  glory  of  taking 
him,  and  that  neither  through  any  fault  of  his  own  or  of 
his  generals,  but  through  the  insubordination  of  his  soldiers, 
which  was  often  the  cause  of  great  misfortunes  to  the 
Roman  state,  laid  waste  all  the  enemy's  country  for  fifty 
miles  with  fire  and  sword  ;  and  then  returned  dejected  to 
Treves. 

7.  Where  like  a  lion  raging  for  the  loss  of  a  deer  or  a 
goat  and  champing  with  empty  jaws,  while  fear'  was 
breaking  and  dividing  the  enemy,  he  proceeded  to  com- 
mand the  Bucenobantes,  who  are  a  tribe  of  the  Allemanni 
opposite  to  Mayence,  to  elect  Fraomarius  as  their  king  in 
place  of  Macrianus.  And,  shortly  afterwards,  when  a 
fresh  invasion  had  entirely  desolated  that  canton,  he 
removed  him  to  Britain,  where  he  gave  him  the  authority 
of  a  tribune,  and  placed  a  number. of  the  Allemanni  under 


A.D.371.]  FIRMUS   THK   MAURITANIA!*.  525 

his  command,  forming  for  him  a  division  strong  both  in 
its  numbers  and  the  excellence  of  its  appointments.  He 
ulso  gave  two  other  nobles  of  the  same  nation,  by  name 
Bitheridus  and  Hortarius,  commands  in  his  army ;  of 
whom  Hortarius,  being  betrayed  by  the  information  of 
Florentius,  Duke  of  Germany,  who  accused  him  of  having 
written  letters  to  Macrianus  and  the  chieftains  of  the 
barbarians,  containing  language  unfavourable  to  the  re- 
public, was  put  to  the  torture,  and  having  been  compelled 
to  confess  the  truth,  was  condemned  to  be  burnt  alive. 

V. 

§  1.  AFTER  this  ...  it  seems  best  to  relate  these 
matters  in  one  connected  narrative,  lest  the  introduction 
of  other  affairs  wholly  unconnected  with  them,  and  which 
took  place  at  a  distance,  should  lead  to  confusion,  and 
prevent  the  reader  from  acquiring  a  correct  knowledge  of 
these  numerous  and  intricate  affairs. 

2.  Nubel,  who  had  been  the  most  powerful  chieftain 
among  the  Mauritanian  nations,  died,  and  left  several 
sons,  some  legitimate,  others  bom  of  concubines,  of  whom 
Zamma,  a  great  favourite  of  the  Count  Komanus,  was  slain 
by  his  brother  Firmus ;  and  this  deed  gave  rise  to  civil 
discords,  and  wars.  For  the  count  being  exceedingly  eager 
to  avenge  his  death,  made  formidable  preparations  for  the 
destruction  of  his  treacherous  enemy.  And  as  continual 
reports  declared,  most  exceeding  pains  were  taken  in  the 
palace,  that  the  despatches  of  Komanus,  which  contained 
many  most "  unfavourable  statements  respecting  Firmus, 
should  be  received  and  read  by  the  prince ;  while  many 
circumstances  strengthened  their  credibility.  And,  on  the 
other  hand,  that  those  documents  which  Firmus  frequently, 
for  the  sake  of  his  own  safety,  endeavoured  to  lay  before 
the  emperor  by  the  agency  of  his  friends,  should  be  kept 
from  his  sight  as  long  as  possible,  Kemigius,  a  friend 
and  relation  of  Eomanus,  and  who  was  at  that  time 
master  of  the  offices,  availed  himself  of  other  more  im- 
portant affairs  which  claimed  the  emperor's  attention  to 
declare  that  Firmus's  papers  were  all  unimportant  and 
superfluous,  only  to  be  read  at  a  perfectly  favourable 
opportunity. 


626  AMMIANUS   MARCELLINUS.  [BK.  XXIX.  CH.  T 

3.  But  when  Firmus  perceived  that  these  intrigues  were 
going  on  to  keep  his  defence  out  of  sight,  trembling  for 
fear  of  the  worst  if  all  his  excuses  should  be  passed  over,  and 
he  himself  be  condemned  as  disaffected  and  mischievous, 
and  so  be  put  to  death,  he  revolted  from  the  emperor's 
authority,  and  aided     ...     in  devastation.1 

4.  Therefore,   to   prevent   an   implacable    enemy  from 
gaining  strength  by  such  an  increase  of  force,  Theodosius, 
the  commander  of  the  cavalry,  was  sent  with  a  small  body 
of  the  emperor's  guards  to  crush  him  at  once.     Theodosius 
was  an  officer  whose  virtues  and  successes  were  at  that 
time  conspicuous  above  those  of  all  other  men :  he  re- 
sembled  those    ancient  heroes,   Domitius    Corbulo,    and 
Lusius ;  the  first  of  whom  was  distinguished  by  a  great 
number  of  gallant  achievements  in  the  time  of  Nero,  and 
the  latter  of  equal  reputation  under  Trajan. 

5.  Theodosius    marched    from   Aries   with    favourable 
auspices,  and  having  crossed  the  sea  with  the  fleet  under 
his  command  so  rapidly  that  no  report  of  his  approach 
could  arrive  before  himself,  he  reached  the  coast  of  Mauri- 
tania Sitifensis ;  that  portion  of  the  coast  being  called,  by 
the  natives,   Igilgitanum.      There,  by  accident,  he  met 
Romanus,  and  addressing  him  kindly,  sent  him  to  arrange 
the  stations  of   the   sentries  and  the   outposts,  without 
reproaching  him  for  any  of  the  matters  for  which  be  was 
liable  to  blame. 

6.  And  when  he  had  gone  to  the  other  province,  Mauri- 
tania Ceesariensis,  he  sent  Gildo,  the  brother  of  Firmus 
and  Maximus,  to  assist  Vincentius,  who,  as  the  deputy  of 
Romanus,   was  the   partner  of  his  disloyal  schemes   and 
thefts. 

7.  Accordingly,  as  soon  as  his  soldiers  arrived,  who  had 
been  delayed  by  the  length  of  the  sea  voyage,  he  hastened 
to  Sitifis;  and  gave  orders  to  the   body-guards  to  keep 
Romanus   and    his   attendants    under    surveillance.      He 
himself  remained  in  the  city,  full  of  embarrassment  and 
anxiety,  working  many  plans  in  his  mind,  while  devising 
by   what   means   or  contrivances  he   could  conduct  his 
soldiers  who  were  accustomed  to  a  cold  climate  through  a 
country  parched  up  with  heat ;  or  how  he  could  catrh  an 

1  Manuscript  imperfect. 


A.D.371.]  MOVEMENTS  OF   THEODORUS.  527 

enemy  always  on  the  alert  and  appearing  when  least  ex- 
pected, and  who  relied  more  on  surprises  and  ambuscades 
than  a  pitched  battle. 

8.  When   news   of   these   facts   reached  Firmus,   first 
through  vague  reports,  and  subsequently  by  precise  in- 
formation, he,   terrified  at  the  approach  of  a  general  of 
tried  valour,  sent  envoys  and  letters  to  him,  confessing 
all   he  had  done,  and  imploring  pardon ;    asserting  that 
it  was  not  of  his  own  accord  that  he  had  been  driven  on 
to  an  action  which  he  knew  to  be  criminal,  but  that  he  had 
been  goaded  on  by  unjust  treatment  of  a  flagitious  cha- 
racter, as  he  undertook  to  show. 

9.  When  his  letters  had  been  read,  and  when  peace  was 
promised  him,  and  hostages  received  from  him,  Theodosius 
proceeded  to  the  Pancharian  station  to  review  the  legions 
to  which  the  protection  of  Africa  was  intrusted,  and  who 
had  been  ordered  to  assemble  to  meet  him  at  that  place. 
There  he  encouraged  the  hopes  of  them  all  by  confident 
yet  prudent  language ;  and  then  returned  to  Sitifis,  having 
reinforced  his  troops  with  some  native  soldiers ;  and,  not 
being   inclined  to  admit  of  any  delay,    he   hastened  to 
regain  his  camp. 

10.  Among  many  other  admirable  qualities  which  he 
displayed,  his  popularity  was  immensely  increased  by  an 
order  which  he  issued,  forbidding  the  army  to  demand 
supplies  from  the  inhabitants  of  the  province  ;  and  assert- 
ing, with  a  captivating  confidence,  that  the  harvests  and 
granaries  of  the  enemy  were  the  magazines  of  the  valour 
of  our  soldiers. 

11.  Having   arranged   these   matters   in  a  way  which 
caused  great  joy  to  the  landowners,  he  advanced  to  Tubu- 
suptum,  a  town  near  Mons  Ferratus,  where  he  rejected  a 
second  embassy  of  Firmus,  because  it  had  not  brought 
with  it  the  hostages,  as  had  been  provided  before.     From 
this  place,  having  made  as  careful  an  examination  of  every- 
thing as  the  time  and  place  permitted,  he  proceeded  by 
rapid  marches  to  the  Tyndenses  and  Massisenses  ;  tribes 
equipped  with  light  arms,  under  the  command  of  Mascizel 
and  Dius,  brothers  of  Firmus. 

12.  When  the  enemy,  being  quick   and  active  in   all 
their  movements,  came  in  sight,  after  a  fierce  skirmish 
by  a  rapid  interchange  of  missiles,  both  sides  engaged 


"528  AMMIANUS  MARCELLINUS.  [Bs.  XXIX.  CH.  t 

in  a  furious  contest ;  and  amid  the  groans  of  the  wounded 
and  dying  were  heard  also  the  wailing  and  lamentations 
of  barbarian  prisoners.  When  the  battle  was  over,  the 
territory  for  a  great  distance  was  ravaged  and  wasted  by 
fire. 

13.  Among  the  havoc  thus  caused,  the  destruction  of 
the  farm  of  Petra,  which  was  razed  to  the  ground,  and 
which  had  been  originally  built  by  Salmaces,  its  owner, 
a  brother  of  Firmus,  in  such  a  manner  as  to  resemble  a 
town,  was   especially  remarkable.      The   conqueror  was 
elated  at  this  success,  and  with  incredible  speed  proceeded 
to  occupy  the  town  of  Lamforctense,  which  was  situated 
among  the   tribes   already  mentioned;   here   he   caused 
large  stores  of  provisions  to  be   accumulated,  in   order 
that   if,    in   his   advance    into    the    inland    districts,    he 
should  find  a  scarcity  of  supplies,  he  might  order  them  to 
be  brought  from  this  town,  which  would  be  at  no  great 
distance. 

14.  In  the   mean  time  Mascizel,  having  recruited  his 
forces  by  auxiliaries  which  he  had   procured  from  the 
tribes  on  the  borders,  ventured  on  a  pitched  battle  with 
our  army,  in  which  his   men  were  routed,   and  a  great 
portion  of  them  slain,  while  he  himself  was  with  difficulty 
saved  from  death  by  the  speed  of  his  horse. 

15.  Firmus,    being    weakened    by   the  losses  he  had 
sustained   in  two    battles,   and    in  great  perplexity,   in 
order  to  leave  no  expedient  untried,  sent  some  priests 
of  the   Christian  religion  with  the   hostages,    as   ambas- 
sadors  to  implore   peace.     They  were   received  kindly, 
and  having  promised  supplies  of  food  for  our  soldiers, 
as  they  were  commissioned  to  do,  the)'  brought  back  a 
propitious    answer.      And  then,   sending    before    him   a 
present,  Firmus  himself  went  with  confidence  to   meet 
the  Koman  general,  mounted  on  a  horse    fitted  for  any 
emergency.      When   he  came  near  Theodosius,   he   was 
awe-struck   at  the   brilliancy  of  the  standards,  and  the 
terrible  countenance  of  the  general  himself;    and  leapt 
from   his  horse,  and  with   neck  bowed   down  almost  to 
the  ground,  he,  with  tears,  laid  all  the  blame  on  his  own. 
rashness,  and  entreated  pardon  and  peace. 

16.  He  was  received  with  a  kiss,  since  such  treatment 
ef  him  appeared  advantageous  to  the  republic ;  and  being 


A.D.  373.]  MOVEMENTS   OF    THEODOSIUS.  52t 

now  full  of  joyful  hope,  he  supplied  the  army  with  pro- 
visions in  abundance ;  and  having  left  some  of  his  own 
relations  as  hostages,  he  departed  in  order,  as  he  promised, 
to  restore  those  prisoners  whom  he  had  taken  at  the  first, 
beginning  of  these  disturbances.  And  two  days  after- 
wards, without  any  delay,  he  restored  the  town  of  Icosium 
(of  the  founders  of  which  we  have  already  spoken),  also  the 
military  standards,  the  crown  belonging  to  the  priest,  and 
all  the  other  things  which  he  had  taken,  as  he  had  beet 
commanded  to  do. 

17.  Leaving  this  place,  our  general,  advancing  by  long 
marches,  reached  Tiposa,  where,  with  great  elation,  he 
gave  answers  to  the  envoys  of  the  Mazices,  who  had 
combined  with  Firmus,  and  now  in  a  suppliant  tone  im- 
plored pardon,  replying  to  their  entreaties  that  he  would 
at  once  march  against  them  as  perfidious  enemies. 

38.  When  he  had  thus  cowed  them  by  the  fear  of 
impending  danger,  and  had  commanded  them  to  return  to 
their  own  country,  he  proceeded  onwards  to  Csesarea,  a 
city  fonnerly  of  great  wealth  and  importance,  of  the  origin 
of  which  we  have  given  a  full  account  in  our  description 
of  Africa.  When  he  reached  it,  and  saw  that  nearly  the 
whole  of  it  had  been  destroyed  by  extensive  conflagra 
tions,  and  that  the  flint  stones  of  the  streets  were  covered 
with  ashes,  he  ordered  the  first  and  second  legions  to 
bo  stationed  there  for  a  time,  that  they  might  clear  away 
the  heaps  of  cinders  and  ashes,  and  keep  guard  there  to 
prevent  a  fresh  attack  of  the  barbarians  from  repeating  this 
devastation. 

19.  When  accurate  intelligence   of  these    events  had 
arrived,  the  governors  of  the  province  and  the  tribune 
Vincentius  issued  forth  from  the  places  of  concealment  in 
which  they  had  been  lying,  and  came  with   speed   and 
confidence   to  the  general.     He  saw  and  received  them 
with  joy,  and,  while  still  at  Ceesarea,  having  accurately 
inquired  into  every  circumstance,  he  found  that  Firmus, 
while  assuming  the  disguise  of  an  ally  and  a  suppliant, 
was  secretly  planning  how,  like  a  sudden  tempest,  to  over- 
whelm his  army  while  unprepared  for  any  such  danger. 

20.  On  this  he  quitted  Caesarea,  and  went  to  the  town  of 
Sugabarritanum,  which  is  on  the  slope  of  Mount  Transcel- 
*«nsis.     There  he  found  the  cavalry  of  the  fourth  cohort 

2  M 


530  AMMIANUS   MARCELLINUS.  [BK.  XXIX.  CH.  r. 

of  archers,  who  had  revolted  to  the  rebels,  and  in  order 
to  show  himself  content  with  lenient  punishments,  he 
degraded  them  all  to  the  lowest  class  of  the  service,  and 
ordered  them,  and  a  portion  of  the  infantry  of  the  Con- 
stantian  legion,  to  come  to  Tigaviae  with  their  tribunes, 
one  of  whom  was  the  man  who,  for  want  of  a  diadem,  had 
placed  a  neck- chain  on  the  head  of  Firmus. 

21.  While  these  events  were    proceeding,   Gildo  and 
Maximus  returned,  and  brought  with  them  Bellenes,  one 
of  the   princes  of  the  Mazices,  and  Fericius,   prefect  of 
that  nation,  both  of  whom  had  espoused  the  faction  of 
the  disturber  of  the  public  peace,  leading  them  forth  in 
chains. 

22.  When   this  order  had   been  executed,  Theodosius 
himself    came    forth    from    his   camp   at   daybreak,   and 
on   seeing    those    men    eurrounded    by    his    army,    said, 
"  What,  my  trusty  comrades,  do  you  think  ought  to  be 
done   to  these  nefarious  traitors?"      And  then,   in  com- 
pliance with  the    acclamations  of  the  whole  army,  who 
demanded  that  their  treason  should  be  expiated  by  their 
blood,  he,  according  to  the  ancient  fashion,  handed  over 
those  of  them  who  had  served  in  the  Constantian  legion  to 
the  soldiers  to  be  put  to  death  by  them.     The  officers  of 
the  archers  he  sentenced  to  lose  their  hands,  and  the  rest 
he  condemned  to  death,  in  imitation  of  Curio,  that  most 
vigorous  and  severe  general,  who  by  this  kind  of  punish- 
ment crushed  the  ferocity  of  the  Dardanians,  when  it  was 
reviving  like  the  Lernsean  hydra. 

23.  But  malignant  detractors,    though  they  praise  the 
ancient  deed,  vituperate  this  one  as  terrible  and  inhuman, 
affirming  that  the  Dardanians1  were  implacable  enemies, 
and   therefore  justly   suffered   the    punishment   inflicted 
on  them  ;    but  that  those  soldiers,  who  belonged  to  our 
own  standards,  ought  to  have  been  corrected  with  more 
lenity,  for   falling   into  one  single   error.     But   we   will 
remind  these  cavillers,  of  what  perhaps  they  know  already, 
namely,  that  this  cohort  was  not  only  an  enemy  by  its  own 
conduct,  but  also  by  the  example  which  it  set  to  others. 

24.  lie  also   commanded   Bellenes   and   Fericins,    who 
have  been   mentioned  above,  and  whom   Gildo   brought 
with  him,  to  be  put  to  death ;  and   likewise  Curandiij  i, 

1  The  Dardanians  were  a  Thraciau  tribe. 


AJ>.  373.]  DEFEAT   OF   THE   MAZ1CES.  531 

a  tribune  of  the  archers,  because  he  had  always  been  back- 
ward in  engaging  the  enemy  himself,  and  had  never  been 
willing  to  encourage  his  men  to  fight.  And  he  did  this 
in  recollection  of  the  principle  laid  down  by  Cicero,  that 
"  salutary  vigour  is  better  than  an  empty  appearance  of 
clemency." 

25.  Leaving   Sugabarri,   he    came    to   a  town    called 
Gallonatis,  surrounded  by  a  strong  wall,   and   a   secure 
place  of  refuge  for  the  Moors,  which,  as  such,  he  destroyed 
with  his  battering-rams.     And   having  slain   all  the  in- 
habitants, and  levelled  the  walls,  he  advanced  along  the 
foot  of  Mount  Ancorarius  to  the  fortress  of  Tinge tanum, 
where  the  Mazices  were  all  collected  in  one  solid  body. 
He  at  once  attacked  them,  and  they  encountered  him  with 
arrows  and  missiles  of  all  kinds  as  thick  as  hail. 

26.  The  battle  proceeded  for  some  time  vigorously  on 
both  sides,  till  at  last  the  Mazices,  though  a  hardy  and 
warlike  race,  being  unable  to  withstand  the  fury  of  our 
men  and  the  shock  of  their  arms,  after  sustaining  heavy 
loss,  fled   in  every  direction   in  disgraceful    panic ;    and 
as  they  fled  they  were  put  to  the  sword  in  great  numbers, 
with  the  exception  only  of  those  who,  contriving  to  make 
their  escape,  afterwards,  by  their  humble  supplications, 
obtained  the  pardon  which  the  times  permitted  to  be 
granted  to  them. 

27.  Their  leader  Suggena,  who  succeeded  Eomanus,  was 
sent  into  Mauritania  Sitifensis  to  establish  other  garrisons 
necessary  to  prevent  that  province  from  being  overrun ; 
and  he  himself,  elated  by  his  recent  achievements,  marched 
against  the  nation  of  the  Musones,  who,  from  a  conscious- 
ness of  the  ravages  and  murders  of  which  they  had  been 
guilty,  had  joined  the  party  of  Firmus,  hoping  that  he 
would  soon  obtain  the  chief  authority. 

28.  Having  advanced  some  distance,  he  found,  near  the 
town  of  Addense,   that  a  number  of  tribes,  who,  though 
differing  from  each  other  in  manners  and  language,  were 
all  animated  with  one  feeling,  in  fomenting  the  outbreaks- 
of  terrible  wars,  being  urged  on  and  encouraged  l)y  the 
hope  of  great   rewards   from  a  sister  of  Firmus,  named 
Cyria ;  who  being  very  rich,  and  full  of  feminine  reso- 
lution, was  resolved  to  make  a  great  effort  to  help  hex 
brother. 


5H2  AMMIAJOJS  MARCELLIXU3.          [Bit.  XXIX.  CH.  Y. 

29.  Therefore  Theodosius,  fearing  to  become  involved 
in  a  war  to  which  his  forces  were  unequal,  and  that  if  he 
with  his  small  force  (for  he  had  but  three  thousand  five 
hundred  men)  should  engage  with  an  immense  multitude, 
he  should  lose  his  whole  army,  at  first  hesitating  between 
the  shame  of  retreating  and  his  wish  to  fight,  gradually 
fell  back  a  little ;    but  presently  was  compelled  by  the 
overpowering  mass  of  the  barbarians  to  retire  altogether. 

30.  The  barbarians  were  exceedingly  elated  at  this  event, 
and  pursued  him  with  great  obstinacy.     .     .     .     Being 
compelled  by  necessity  to  fight,  he  would  have  lost  all  his 
army  and  his  own  life,  had  not  these  tumultuous  tribes, 
the  moment  they  saw  a  troop  of  the  Mazican  auxiliaries, 
with  a  few  Roman  soldiers  in  their  front,  fancied  that  a 
numerous  division  was   advancing  to   charge  them,  and 
in  consequence  taking  to  flight,  opened  to  our  men  a  way 
of  escape  which  was  previously  shut  against  them. 

31.  Theodosius  now  drew  off  his  army  in  safety;  and 
when  he  had  reached  a  town  called  Mazucanum,  he  found 
there  a  number  of  deserters,  some  of  whom  he  burnt  alive, 
and  others  he  mutilated  after  the  fashion  of  the  archei  s 
whose  hands  had  been  cut  off.     He  then  proceeded  towards 
Tipata,  which  he  reached  in  the  course  of  February. 

32.  There  he  stayed  some  time  deliberating,  like  that 
old  delayer,  Fabius,  on   the   circumstances  around   him, 
desiring  to  subdue  the  enemy,  who  was  not  only  warlike, 
but  so  active  as  usually  to  keep  out  of  bowshot,  rather 
by  manoeuvres  and  skill  than  by  hazardous  engagements. 

33.  Still  he  from  time  to  time  sent  out  envoys,  skilled 
in  the  arts  of  persuasion,  to  the  surrounding  tribes,  the 
Basiiraj,  the  Cautauriani,  the  Anastomates,  the  Cafaves,  the 
Davares,  and  other  people  in  their  neighbourhood,  trying 
to  bring  them  over  to  our  alliance,  either   by  presents, 
threats,  or  by  promises  of  pardon  for  past  violence.     . 
.     .     .   seeking  by  delays  and  intrigues  to  crush  an  enemy 
who  offered  so  stout  a  resistance  to  his  attacks,  just  as 
Pornpey  in  times  past  had  subdued  Mithridates. 

34.  On  this  account  Firmus,  avoiding  immediate  destruc- 
tion, although  he  was  strengthened  by  a  large  body  of 
troops,  abandoned  the  army  which  he. had  collected  by  a 
lavish  expenditure  of  money,  and  as  the  darkness  of  night 
afforded  a  chance  of  concealment,  he  fled  to  the  Capraria 


A.D.  373.]  FLIGHT   OF    FIRMU3.  533 

mountains,  which  were  at  a  great  distance,  and  from  their 
precipitous  character  inaccessible. 

35.  On  his  clandestine  departure,  his  'army  also  dis- 
persed, being  broken  up  into  small  detachments  without 
any  leader,  and  thus  afforded  our  men  an  opportunity  of 
attacking  their  camp.  That  was  soon  plundei-ed,  and 
all  who  resisted  were  put  to  the  sword,  or  else  taken 
prisoners  ;  and  then,  having  devastated  the  greater  portion 
of  the  country,  our  wise  general  appointed  prefects  of  tried 
loyalty  as  governors  of  the  different  tribes  through  which 
he  passed. 

06.  The  traitor  was  thrown  into  consternation  by  the 
unexpected  boldness  of  his  pursuit,  and  with  the  escort 
of  only  a  few  servants,  hoping  to  secure  his  safety  by  the 
rapidity  of  his  movements,  in  order  to  have  nothing  to 
impede  his  flight,  threw  away  all  the  valuable  baggage 
which  he  had  taken  with  him.  His  wife,  exhausted  with 
continual  toil 

37.  Theodosius   .     .     .    showing  mercy  to  none  of  them, 
having  refreshed  his  soldiers  by  a  supply  of  better  food, 
and    gratified   them    by   a   distribution   of  pay,   defeated 
the  Capracienses  and   Abanni,  who  were  the  next  tribes 
to    them,    in    some    unimportant    skirmishes,    and    then. 

advanced  with  great  speed  to  the  town  of 

and   having   received   certain   intelligence    that  the  bar- 
barians had  already  occupied  the  hills,  and  were  spread 
over  the  precipitous  and  broken  ground  to  a  great  height, 
so  that  they  were  quite  inaccessible  to  any  but  natives 
who  were  intimately  acquainted  with  the  whole  country, 
he  retired,  giving  the  enemy  an  opportunity  by  a  truce, 
short  as  it   was,  to  receive   an  important   reinforcement 
from  the  Ethiopians  in  the  neighbourhood. 

38.  Then  having  assembled  all  their  united  forces,  they 
nished  on  to  battle  with  threatening  shouts,  and  an  utter 
dis7-egard  of  their   individual   safety,  compelling   him   to 
retreat,  full  of  consternation  at  the  apparently  countless 
numbers  of  their  army.     But  soon  the  courage  of  his  men 
revived,  and  he  returned,  bringing  with  him  vast  supplies, 
and  with  his  troops  in  a  dense  column,  and  brandishing 
their  shields  with  formidable  gestures,  he  again  engaged 
the  enemy  in  close  combat. 

39.  The   barbarians    rattled    their    arms    in  a  savage 


534  AMMIANUS   MARCELLINUS.  fife.  XXIX.  CH.  T 

manner,  and  our  battalions,  with  equal  rage,  pushed  on, 
they  also  rattling  their  shields  against  their  knees.  Still 
the  general,  like  a  cautious  and  prudent  warrior,  aware  of 
the  scantiness  of  his  numbers,  advanced  boldly  with  his 
army  in  battle  array,  till  he  came  to  a  point,  at  which  he 
turned  off,  though  still  preserving  an  undaunted  front, 
towards  the  city  of  Contensis,  where  Firmus  had  placed 
the  prisoners  whom  he  had  taken  from  us,  as  in  a  remote 
and  safe  fortress.  He  recovered  them  all,  and  inflicted 
severe  punishment,  according  to  his  custom,  on  the  traitors 
among  the  prisoners,  and  also  on  the  guards  of  Firmus. 

40.  While  he  was  thus  successful,  through  the  protec- 
tion of  the  Supreme  Deity,  he  received  correct  intelligence 
from  one  of  his  scouts  that  Firmus  had  fled  to  the  tribe  of 
the  Isaflenses.     He  at  once  entered  their  territory  to  re- 
quire that  he  should  be  given  up,  with  his  brother  Ma- 
zuca,  and  the  rest  of  his  relations :  and  on  being  refused, 
he  declared  war  against  the  nation. 

41.  And  after  a  fierce  battle,  in  which  the  barbarians 
displayed  extraordinary  courage  and  ferocity,  he  threw  his 
army  into  a  solid  circle ;  and  then  the  Isaflenses  were  so  com- 
pletely overpowered  by  the  weight  of  our  battalions  pressing 
on  them  that  numbers  were  slain  ;   and  Firmus  himself, 
gallantly  as   he   behaved,  after  exposing  himself  to   im- 
minent danger  by  the  rashness  of  his  courage,  put  spurs 
to  his  horse,  and  fled ;  his  horse  being  accustomed  to  make 
his  way  with  great  speed  over  the  most  rocky  and  preci- 
pitous paths.     But  his  brother  Mazuca  was  taken  prisoner, 
mortally  wounded. 

42.  It  was  intended  to  send  him  to  Csesarea,  where  he 
had  left  behind  him  many  records  of  his  atrocious  cruelties ; 
but  his  wounds  reopened,  and  he  died.     So  his  head  was 
cut  off,  and  (his  body  being  left  behind)  was  conveyed  to  that 
city,  where  it  was  received  with  great  joy  by  all  who  saw  it. 

43.  After  this  our  noble  general  inflicted  most  severe 
punishment,  as  justice  required,  on  the  whole  nation  of  the 
Jsaflenses,  which  had  resisted  till  it  was  thus  subdued  in 
war.     And  he  burnt  alive  one  of  the  most  influential  of 
the  citizens,  named  Evasius,  and  his  son  Florus,  and  several 
others,  who    were   convicted   on  undeniable   evidence   of 
having  aided  the  great  disturber  of  tranquillity  by  their 
secret  counsels. 


A.n  373.]  IGMAZEN    KING   OF    THE   ISAFLENSES.  535 

44.  Frora  thence  Theodosius  proceeded  into  the  interior, 
and    with    great    resolution    attacked    the   tribe  of    the 
Jubileni,  to   which   he  heard   that   Nubel,  the  father   of 
Firmus,  belonged  ;  but  presently  he  halted,  being  checked 
by  the  height  of  the  mountains,  and  their  winding  defiles. 
And  though  he  had  once  attacked  the  enemy,  and  opened 
himself  a  further  road  by  slaying  a  great  number  of  them, 
still,  fearing  the  high  precipices  as  places  pre-eminently 
adapted  for  ambuscades,  he  withdrew,  and  led  back  his 
army  in  safety  to  a  fortress  called  Audiense,  where  the 
Jesalenses,  a  warlike  tribe,  came  over  to  him,  voluntarily 
promising  to  furnish  him  with  reinforcements   and  pro- 
visions. 

45.  Our  noble  general,  exulting  in  this  and  similarly 
glorious  achievements,  now  made  the  greatest  efforts  to 
overtake  the  original  disturber  of  tranquillity  himself,  and 
therefore   having   halted   for   some   time    near   a  fortress 
named  Medianum,  he  planned  various   schemes  through 
which  he  hoped  to  procure  that  Firmus  should  be  given  up 
to  him. 

46.  And  while  he  was  directing  anxious  thoughts  and 
deep  sagacity  to  this  object,  he  heard  that  he  had  again 
gone  back  to  the  Isaflenses ;  on  which,  as  before,  without 
any  delay,   he   marched   against  them  with  all  possible 
speed.     Their  king,  whose  name  was  Tgmazen,  a  man  of 
great    reputation    in   that    country,   and    celebrated   also 
for  his  riches,  advanced  with  boldness  to  meet  him,  and 
addressed  him  thus,  "  To  what  country  do  you  belong,  and 
with  what  object  have  you  come  hither?     Answer  me." 
Theodosius,  with  firm  mind  and  stern  looks,  replied,  "  I 
am  a  lieutenant  of  Yalentinian,  the  master  of  the  whole 
world,  sent  hither  to  destroy  a  murderous  robber ;    and 
unless  you  at  once  surrender  him,  as  the  invincible  emperor 
has  commanded,  you  also,  and  the  nation  of  which  you 
are  king,  will  be  entirely  destroyed."     Igmazen,  on  receiv- 
ing this  answer,  heaped  a  number  of  insulting  epithets  on 
our  general,  and  then  retired  full  of  rage  and  indignation 

47.  And  the  next  morning  at  daybreak  the  two  armies, 
breathing  terrible  threats  against  each  other,  advanced  to 
engage  in  battle  :  nearly  twenty  thousand  barbarians  con- 
stituted the  front  of  their  aiiny,  with  very  large  reserves 
posted  behind,   out  of  sight,  with  the  intention  that  they 
should  steal  forward  gradually,  and  hem  in  our  battalions 


536  AMMIANUS   MARCELLINUS.  [BK  XXIX.  OH.  r. 

with  their  vast  and  unexpected  numbers.  These  were 
also  supported  by  a  great  number  of  auxiliaries  of  the 
Jesalenian  tribes,  whom  we  have  mentioned  as  having 
promised  reinforcements  and  supplies  to  ourselves. 

48.  On  the  other  side,  the  Koman  army,  though  scanty 
in  numbers,  nevertheless  being  full  of  natural  courage,  and 
elated  by  their  past  victories,  formed  into  dense  columns, 
and  joining  their  shields  firmly  together,  in  the  fashion  of 
a  testudo,  planted  their  feet  firmly  in  steady  resistance ; 
and  from  sunrise  to  the  close  of  day  the  battle  was  pro- 
tracted.    A  little  before  evening  Firmus  was  seen  mounted 
on  a  tall  horse,  expanding  his  scarlet  cloak  in  order  to 
attract  the  notice   of   his  soldiers,   whom   he   was   excit- 
ing with  a  loud  voice  at  once  to  deliver  up  Theodosius, 
calling   him  a  ferocious  and  cruel   man — an  inventor  of 
merciless  punishments — as  the  only  means  of  delivering 
themselves  from  the  miseries  which  he  was  causing  them. 

49.  This  unexpected   address    only  provoked  some   of 
our  men  to  fight  with  more  vigour  than  ever,  but  there 
were  others  whom  it  seduced  to  desert  our  ranks.     There- 
fore when  the  stillness  of  night  arrived,  and  the  country 
became  enveloped  in  thick  darkness,  Theodosius  returned  to 
the  fortress  of  Duodiense,  and,  recognizing  those  soldiers 
who  had  been  persuaded  by  fear  and  Firmus's  speech  to 
quit  the  fight,  he  put  them  all  to  death  by  different  modes 
of  execution ;  of  some  he  cut  off  the  right  hands,  others  he 
burnt  alive. 

50.  And   conducting  himself  with    ceaseless  care  and 
vigilance,   he   routed  a  division    of  the  barbarians   who, 
though  afraid  to  show  themselves  by  day,  ventured,  after 
the  moon  had  set,  to  make  an  attempt  upon  his  camp  ;  some 
of  those  who  advanced  further  than  their  comrades  he  took 
prisoners.     Departing  from  this  place,  he  made  a  forced 
march  through  by-roads  to  attack  the  Jesalensians,  who 
had  shown  themselves  disloyal  and  unfaithful.     He  could 
not  obtain  any  supplies  from  their  country,  but  he  ravaged 
it,  and  reduced  it  to  complete  desolation.     Then  be  passed 
through  the  towns  of  Mauritania  and  Caesarensis,  and  re- 
turned to  Sitifis,  where  he  put  to  the  torture  Castor  and 
Martinianus,  who  had  been  the  accomplices  of  Romanus 
in   his   rapine   and   other   crimes,   and    afterwards   burnt 
them. 

51.  After  this  the  war  with  the  It-aflenses  was  renewed; 


A.D.  373.-]  FIRMUS   COMMITS   SUICIDE.  537 

and  in  the  first  conflict,  after  the  barbarians  had  been 
routed  with  heavy  loss,  their  king  Igmazen,  who  had 
hitherto  been  accustomed  to  be  victorious,  agitated  by 
fears  of  the  present  calamity,  and  thinking  that  all  his 
alliances  would  be  destroyed,  and  that  he  should  have  no 
hope  left  in  life  if  he  continued  to  resist,  with  all  the 
cunning  and  secrecy  that  he  could,  fled  by  himself  from 
the  battle ;  and  reaching  Theodosius,  besought  him  in  a 
suppliant  manner  to  desire  Masilla,  the  chief  magistrate  of 
the  Mazices,  to  come  to  him. 

52.  When  that  noble  had  been  sent  to  him  as  he  re- 
quested, he  employed  him  as  his  agent  to  advise  the  general, 
as  a  man  by  nature  constant  and  resolute  in  his  plans,  that 
the  way  to  accomplish   his   purpose  would  be   to   press 
his  countrymen  with  great  vigour,  and,  by  incessant  fight- 
ing, strike  terror  into  them ;  as,  though  they  were  keen 
partisans  of  Firmus,  they  were  nevertheless  wearied  out 
by  repeated  disasters. 

53.  Theodosius  adopted  this  advice,  and,  by  battle  after 
battle,  so  completely  broke  the  spirits  of  the  Isaflenses, 
that  they  fell  away  like  sheep,  and  Firmus  again  secretly 
escaped,  and  hiding  himself  for  a  long  time  in  out-of-the- 
way  places  and  retreats,  till  at  last,  while  deliberating  on  a 
further  flight,  he  was  seized  by  Jgmazen,  and  put  in  con- 
finement. 

54.  And  since  he  had  learnt  from  Masilla  the  plans 
which  had   been  agitated   in   secret,  he  at  last  came  to 
reflect  that  in  so  extreme  a  necessity  there  was  but  one 
remedy  remaining,  and  he  determined  to  trample  under 
foot  the  love  of  life  by  a  voluntary  death;    and  having 
designedly  filled  himself  with  wine  till  he  became  stupe- 
fied, when,  in  the  silence  of  the  night,  his  keepeis  were 
sunk   in  profound  slumber,  he,  fully   awake  from  dread 
of  the  misfortune  impending  over  him,  left  his  bed  with 
noiseless  steps,  and  crawling  on  his  hands  and  feet,  con- 
veyed  himself  to  a  distance,  and  then,  having  found  a 
rope  which  chance  provided  for  the  end  of  his  life,  he 
fastened  it  to   a   nail   which  was  fixed  in  the  wall,  and 
hanging    himself,    escaped   the    protracted    sufferings    of 
torture. 

55.  Tgmazen  was  vexed  at  this,  lamenting  that  he  was 
thus  robbed  of  his  glory,  because  it  had  not  been  granted 


538  AMMIANUS  MARCELLTNUS.  [BK.  XXIX  3n.  vi. 

to  him  to  conduct  this  rebel  alive  to  the  Eoman  camp ;  and 
so,  having  received  a  pledge  of  the  state  for  his  own  safety, 
through  the  intervention  of  Masilla,  he  placed  the  body  of 
the  dead  man  on  a  camel,  and  when  he  arrived  at  the  camp 
of  the  Roman  army,  which  was  pitched  near  the  fortress 
of  Subicarense,  he  transferred  it  to  a  pack-horse,  and  offered 
it  to  Theodosius,  who  received  it  with  exultation. 

56.  And  Theodosius  having  assembled  a  crowd  of  sol- 
diers and  citizens,  and  having  asked  them  whether  they 
recognized  the  face  of  the  corpse,  learnt  by  their  answers 
that  there  was  no  question  at  all  that  it  was  the  man ; 
after  this  he  stayed  there  a  short  time,  and  then  returned 
to  Sitifis  in  great  triumph,  where  he  was  received  with  joy- 
ful acclamations  of  the  people  of  every  age  and  rank. 

VI. 

§  1.  WHILE  Theodosius  was  thus  exerting  himself,  and  toil- 
ing in  Mauritania  and  Africa,  the  nation  of  the  Quadi  was 
roused  to  make  a  sudden  movement.  It  was  a  nation 
now  not  very  formidable,  but  one  which  had  formerly 
enjoyed  vast  renown  for  its  warlike  genius  and  power, 
as  its  achievements  prove,  some  of  which  were  distin- 
guished for  the  rapidity,  as  well  as  for  the  greatness,  of 
their  success  ;  instances  are  : — Aquileia,  which  was  besieged 
by  them  and  the  Marcomanni ;  Opitergium,  which  was 
destroyed  by  them,  and  many  other  bloody  successes  which 
were  gained  in  that  rapid  campaign  when  the  Julian 
Alps  were  passed,  and  that  illustrious  emperor  Marcus,  of 
whom  we  have  already  spoken,  was  hardly  able  to  offer 
them  any  resistance.  And  indeed  they  had,  for  barbarians, 
just  ground  of  complaint. 

2.  For  Valentinian,  who  from  the  beginning  of  his 
reign  had  been  full  of  a  resolution  to  fortify  his  frontier, 
which  was  a  glorious  decision,  but  one  carried  too  far  in 
this  case,  ordered  a  fortress  capable  of  containing  a  strong 
garrison  to  be  constructed  on  the  south  side  of  the  river 
Danube,  in  the  very  territories  of  the  Quadi,  as  if  they 
were  subject  to  the  Eoman  authority.  The  natives,  being 
very  indignant  at  this,  and  anxious  for  their  own  rights 
and  safety,  at  first  contented  themselves  with  trying  to. 
avert  the  evil  by  an  embassy  and  expostulations. 


AJ).  373.]  WAR   WITH   THE    QUADI.  539 

3.  But  Maximin,  always  eager  for  any  wickedness,  and 
unable  to  bridle   his   natural  arrogance,  which  was   now 
increased   by  the   pride  which   he   felt   in    his   rank    as 
prefect,  reproached  Equitius,  who  at  that  time  was  the 
commander  of  the   forces   in  Illyricum,  as   careless  and 
inactive,  because  the  work,  which  it  was  ordered  should 
be  carried  on  with  all  speed,  was  not  yet  finished.     And  he 
added,  as   a   man  guided  only  by  zeal   for   the  common 
good,  that  if  the  rank  of  Duke  of  Valeria  were  only  con- 
ferred on  his  own  little  son,  Marcellianus,  the  fortification 
would  be  soon  completed  without  any  more  pretexts  for 
delay.     Both  his  wishes  were  presently  granted. 

4.  Marcellianus  received  the  promotion  thus  suggested, 
and  set  out  to  take  possession  of  his  government ;    and 
when  he  reached  it,  being  full  of  untimely  arrogance,  as 
might  be  expected  from  the  son  of  such  a  father,  without 
attempting  to  conciliate  those  whom  false  dreams  of  gain 
had  caused  to  quit  their  native  land,  he  applied  himself 
to  the  work  which  had  been  recently  begun,  and  had  only 
been  suspended  to  afford  an  opportunity  for  the  inhabitants 
to  present  petitions  against  it. 

5.  Lastly,  when  their  king  Gabinius  requested,  in  a  most 
moderate  tone,  that  no  innovations  might  be   made,   he 
as   if  intending  to  assent   to  his   petition,  with   feigned 
courtesy  invited  him  and  some  other  persons  to  a  banquet : 
and  then   as  he  was   departing  after   the   entertainment, 
unsuspicious  of  treachery,  he  caused  him,  in  infamous  viola- 
tion of  the  sacred  rights  of  hospitality,  to  be  murdered. 

6.  The  report    of   so    atrocious   an    act    was  speedily 
spread  abroad,  and  roused  the  indignation  of  the  Quadi 
and  other   surrounding  tribes,  who,  bewailing   the  death 
of  the  king,  collected  together  and  sent  forth  predatory 
bands,  which  crossed  the  Danube;  and  when  no  hostilities 
were  looked  for,  attacked  the  people  who  were  occupied 
in    the  fields  about   the   harvest;   and   having   slain   the 
greater  portion  of  them,  carried  off  all  the  survivors  to 
their  own  country  with  a  great  booty  of  different  kinds  of 
cattle. 

7.  And  at  that  time  an  inexpiable  atrocity  was  very  near 
being  committed,  which  would  have  been  reckoned  among 
the   most   disgraceful   disasters  which   ever  happened  to 
the  Eoman  state,  for  the  daughter  of  Constantius  had  a 


540  AMM1ANUS   MARCELLINUS.  [BK.  XXIX  Cn.  VI. 

narrow-  escape  of  being  taken  prisoner  as  she  was  at 
dinner  in  a  hotel  called  the  Pistrensian,  when  on  her 
way  to  be  married  to  Gratian  :  and  she  was  only  saved 
by  the  promptitude  of  Messala  the  governor  of  the  province, 
who,  aided  by  the  favour  of  the  propitious  Deity,  placed 
her  in  a  carriage  belonging  to  him  as  governor,  and  con- 
ducted her  back  with  all  possible  speed  to  Sinnium,  a  dis- 
tance of  about  twenty-six  miles. 

8.  By  this  fortunate  chance  the  royal  virgin  was  deli- 
vered from  the  peril  of  miserable  slavery ;  and  if  she  had 
been  taken  and  her  captors  had  refused  to  ransom  her,  it 
would   have   been  the  cause  of  terrible  disasters  to  the 
republic.     After  this  the  Quadi  in  conjunction  with  the 
Sarmatians,  extended   their  ravages  further  (since   both 
these  tribes  were  addicted  beyond  measure  to  plunder  and 
robbery),  carrying  off,  men,  women,  and  cattle,  and  exult- 
ing in  the  ashes  of  burnt  villas,  and  in  the  misery  of  the 
murdered  inhabitants,  whom  they  fell  upon  unexpectedly 
and  slaughtered  without  mercy. 

9.  All  the  neighbouring  districts  were  filled  with  appre- 
hension of  similar  evils,  and  Probus,  the  prefect  of  the 
preetorium,  who  was  at  that  time  at  Sirmium,  a  man  wholly 
unexperienced  in  war,  being  panic-struck  with  the  cala- 
mitous appearance  of  these  new  occurrences,  and  scarcely 
able  to  raise  his  eyes  for  fear,  was  for  a  long  time  waver- 
ing  in  doubt  what  to  do.      At  first  he  prepared  some 
swift   horses   and  resolved  to   fly   the  next   night;    but 
afterwards,  taking  advice  from  some  one  who  gave  him 
safer  counsel,  he  stayed  where  he  was,  but  without  doing 
anything. 

10.  For  he  had  been  assured  that  all  those  who  were 
within  the  walls  of  the  city  would  immediately  follow  him, 
with  the  intention  of  concealing  themselves  in  suitable 
hiding-places;    and  if  that  had  been  done,  the  city,  left 
without  defenders,  would  have  fallen  into  the  hands  of  the 
enemy. 

11.  Presently,  after  his  terror  had  been  a  little  mode- 
rated, he  applied  himself  with  some  activity  to  do  what  was 
most  pressing ;  he  cleared  out  the  fosses  which  were  choked 
up  with  ruins  ;  he  repaired  the  greater  portion  of  the  walls 
which,  through  the  security  engendered  by  a  long  peace, 
had  been  neglected,  and  had  fallen  into  decay,  and  raised 


A.D.  373.]  VICTORY   OF   THE   SARMATIAXS.  541 

them  again  to  the  height  of  lofty  towers,  devoting  him- 
self zealously  to  the  work  of  building.  In  this  way 
the  work  was  speedily  completed,  because  he  found  that 
the  sums  which  some  time  before  had  been  collected  for 
the  erection  of  a  theatre  were  sufficient  for  the  purpose 
lie  was  now  pressing  forward.  And  to  this  prudent  mea- 
sure he  added  another  of  like  precaution,  in  summoning 
a  cohort  of  archer  cavalry  from  the  nearest  station, 
that  it  might  be  at  hand  to  resist  a  siege  should  any  take 
place. 

12.  By  these  barriers,  as  they  may  be  called,  the  bar- 
barians were  forced  to  abandon  their  design  of  besieging 
the  city,  since  they  were  not  skilful  in  contests  of  this  kind, 
and  were  also  hampered  by  the  burden  of  their  booty ; 
accordingly  they  turned  aside  to  pursue  Equitius.     And 
when,  from  the  information  given  them  by  their  prisoners, 
they  learnt  that  he  had  retired  to  the  most  remote  part  of 
Valeria,  they  hastened  thither  by  forced  marches,  gnashing 
their  teeth,  and   determined  on  his  death,   because   they 
believed  that  it  was  through  his  means  their  innocent  king 
had  been  circumvented. 

13.  And  as  they  were  hastening  onwards  with  impetuous 
and  vengeful  speed,  they  were  met   by  two  legions,  the 
Pannonian   and    the   Mcesian,   both    of   approved   valour, 
who,   if  they  had  acted  in  harmony,  must  unquestionably 
have  come  off  victorious.     But  while  they  were  hastening 
onward  to  attack  the  barbarians  separately,  a  quarrel  arose 
between  them  on  the  subject  of  their  honour  and  dignity, 
which  impeded  all  their  operations. 

14.  And  when   intelligence  of  this  dissension   reached 
the  Sarmatians,  who  are  a  most  sagacious  people,   they, 
without  waiting  for  any  regular  signal  of  battle,  attacked 
the  Mcasians  first ;  and  while  the  soldiers,  being  surprised 
and  in  disorder,  were   slowly  making  ready  their  arms, 
many    of   them   were   killed;    on   which   the   barbarians 
with  increased  confidence   attacked   the  Pannonians,   and 
broke  their  line  also  ;  and  when  the  line  of  battle  was  once 
disordered,  they  redoubled  their  efforts,  and  would  have 
destroyed  almost  all  of  them,  if  some  had  not  saved  them- 
selves from  the  danger  of  death  by  a  precipitate  flight. 

15.  Amid  these  calamitous  inflictions  of  adverse  fortune, 
Theodosius  the  younger,  Duke  of  Moesia,  then  in  the  first 


f»42  AMMIAXUS   MARCELLINUS.  [B*.  XXIX.  CH.  vi. 

bloom  of  youth,  but  afterwards  a  prince  of  the  highest 
reputation,  in  many  encounters  defeated  and  vanquished 
the  Free  Sarmatians  (so  called  to  distinguish  them  from 
their  rebellious  slaves),  who  had  invaded  our  frontier 
on  the  other  side,  till  he  exhausted  them  by  his  repeated 
victories ;  and  with  such  vigour  did  he  crush  the  assembled 
crowds  combined  to  resist  his  arms,  that  he  glutted  the 
very  birds  and  beasts  with  the  blood  of  the  vast  numbers 
justly  slain. 

16.  Those  who  remained  having  lost  all  their  pride  and 
spirit,  fearing  lest  a  general  of  such  evident  promptitude 
and    courage  should  rout  or  destroy  these  invading  bat- 
talions  on  the  very  edge   of  his  frontier,  or  lay   ambus- 
cades   for    them    in   the    recesses    of   the   woods,    made 
from   time   to  time   many  vain  attempts  to  escape,   and 
at   last,  discarding  all  confidence  in  battle,  they  begged 
indulgence   and   pardon    for    their   past    hostility.      And 
being   thoroughly  subdued,    they   did    nothing   for   some 
time  contrary  to  the  treaty  of  peace,  being  more  especially 
terrified  because  a  strong  force  of  Gallic  soldiers  had  come 
to  the  defence  of  lllyricum. 

17.  \\hile  these  events  were  agitating  the  empire,  and 
while  Claudius  was  prefect  of  the  Eternal  City,  the  Tiber, 
which  intersects  its  walls,  and  which,  after  receiving  the 
waters   of  many   drains   and    copious   streams,   falls  into 
the  Tyrrhenian  Sea,  overflowed  its  banks,  in  consequence 
of  an  abundance  of  rain,  and  extending  to  a  size  beyond 
that  of  a  river,  overwhelmed  almost  everything  with  its 
flood. 

18.  All  those  parts  of  the  city  which  lie  in  the  plain 
were  under  water,  and  nothing  reared  its  head  above  but 
the  hills  and  other  spots  of  rising  ground,  which  seemed 
like  islands,  out  of  the  reach  of  present  danger.     And,  as 
the  vastness  of  the  inundation  permitted  of  no  departure 
in  any  direction  to  save  the  multitude  from  dying  of  famine, 
great  quantities  of  provisions  were  brought  in  barges  and 
boats.     But  when  the  bad  weather  abated,  and  the  river 
which  had  burst  its   bounds   returned  to  its  accustomed 
channel,  the  citizens  discarded  all  fear,  and  apprehended  no 
inconvenience  for  the  future. 

19.  Claudius,  as  a  prefect,  conducted  himself  very  quietly, 
nor  was   any  sedition  in  his  time  provoked  by  any   real 


AJ>  374.1  PARA,    KING    OF   ARMENIA.  543 

grievance.  He  also  repaired  many  ancient  buildings :  and 
among  his  improvements  he  built  a  large  colonnade  con- 
tiguous to  the  bath  of  Agrippa,  and  gave  it  the  name  of 
The  Colonnade  of  Success,  because  a  temple  bearing  that 
title  is  close  to  it. 


BOOK    XXX. 


ARGUMENT. 

I.  Para,  king  of  Armenia,  being  summoned  by  Valens  to  Tarsus,  and 
being  detained  there  under  pretence  of  doing  him  honour,  escapes 
with  three  hundred  of  his  countrymen ;  and  having  baffled  the 
sentinels  on  the  roads,  he  regains  his  kingdom  on  horseback  ;  but 
not  long  afterwards  he  is  slain  by  Duke  Trajan  at  an  entertain- 
ment.— II.  The  embassies  of  the  Emperor  Valens  and  Sapor,  king 
of  Persia,  who  are  at  variance  about  the  kingdoms  of  Armenia  and 
Hiberia.—  III.  Valentinian,  after  having  ravaged  several  districts 
of  the  Allemanni,  has  a  conference  with  their  king  Macrianus,  and 
makes  peace  with  him. — IV.  Modestus,  the  prefect  of  the  prajto- 
rium,  diverts  Valens  from  his  purpose  of  sitting  as  a  judge — A 
statement  of  the  condition  of  the  bar,  of  counsel  learned  in  the 
law,  and  the  different  classes  of  advocates.  —  V.  Valentiuiun, 
intending  to  wage  war  against  the  Sarmatians  and  the  Quadi,  who 
had  been  devastating  Panuonia,  marches  into  Illyricum,  and 
having  crossed  the  Danube,  he  ravages  the  territories  of  the 
Quadi,  burns  their  villages,  and  slaughters  the  inhabitants,  without 
regard  to  age. — VI.  Valentinian,  while  giving  answer,  in  a  great 
passion,  to  the  ambassadors  of  the  Quadi,  who  are  trying  to  excuse 
their  countrymen,  bursts  a  blood-vessel,  and  dies. — VII.  Who  his 
father  was,  and  what  was  his  conduct  as  emperor. — VDII.  His 
cruelty,  avarice,  envy,  and  cowardice. — IX.  His  virtues. — X.  Valen- 
tinian the  younger,  the  son  of  Valentinian,  is  saluted  as  emperor  in 
the  camp  at  Bregetio. 

I. 

A.U.  374. 

§  1.  WHILE  all  these  difficulties  and  disturbances  had  been 
caused  by  the  perfidy  of  the  Duke  Marcelliauus,  in  trea- 
cherously murdering  the  king  of  the  Quadi,  a  terrible 
crime  was  committed  in  the  East,  where  Para,  king  of 
Armenia  was  also  murdered  by  secret  treachery ;  the 


544  AMMIANUS  MARCELL1XU3.  [B*.  XXX.  CH.  t. 

original  cause  of  which  wicked  action  we  have  ascertained 
to  be  this  : — 

2.  Some  men  of  perverse  temperament,  who  delighted 
in  public  misfortune,  had  concocted  a  number  of  accusa- 
tions against  this  prince  for  acts  which  they  imputed  to 
him  even  when  scarcely  grown  up,  and  had  exaggerated 
them  to  Valens.    Among  these  men  was  the  Duke  Terentius, 
a  man  who  always  walked  about  with  a  downcast  melan- 
choly look,  and  throughout  his  life  was  an  unwearied 
sower  of  discord. 

3.  He,  having  formed  a  combination  with  a  few  people 
of    Para's   nation,    whom    a    consciousness   of   their   own 
crimes  had  filled  with  fear,  was  continually  harping  in  his 
letters  to  the   court  on   the   deaths  of  Cylax  and  Arta- 
bannes  ;  adding  also  that  this  same  young  king  was  full  of 
haughtiness  in  all  his  conduct,  and  that  he  behaved  with 
excessive  cruelty  to  his  subjects. 

4.  In  consequence  of  these  letters,  Para,  as  if  it  were 
intended  that  he  should  become  a  partaker  in  a  treaty  of 
which  existing    circumstances   required  ratification,  was 
invited  to  court  with  all  the  ceremony  to  which  he  was 
entitled  as  a  king,  and  then  was  detained  at  Tarsus  in 
Cilicia,   with   a   show  of  hoi) our,    without   being  able  to 
procure  permission  to  approach  the  emperor's  camp,  or  to 
learn  why  his  arrival  had  been  so  eagerly  pressed  ;    since 
on  this   point  all  around  him  preserved  a  rigid  silence. 
At  last,  however,  by  means   of  private   information,   he 
learnt  that  Terentius  was  endeavouring  by  letter  to  per- 
suade the  Roman  sovereign  to  send  without  delay  another 
king  to  Armenia ;  lest,  out  of  hatred  to  Para,  and  a  know- 
ledge of  what  they  had  to  expect  if  he  returned  among 
them,   his   nation,  which  at  present  was  friendly  to  us, 
should  revolt  to  the  Persians,  who  had  long  been  eager  to 
reduce  them  under  their  power  either  by  violence,  fear, 
or  flattery. 

5.  Para,  reflecting  on  this  warning,  foreboded  grievous 
mischief  for   himself;    and  being   a  man   of  forethought 
and  contrivance,  as  he  c  iuld  not  perceive  any  means  of 
safety,  except  by  a  speedy  departure,   by  the  advice   oi 
his  most  trusty  friends  he  collected  a  body  of  300  persons 
who   had  accompanied   him   from  his  own    country,  and 
with   horses   selected  for   especial  speed,  acting  as   men 


AJ).  374.]  ESCAPE   OF    PARA.  £45 

are  wont  to  do  under  the  pressure  of  great  terror  and  per- 
plexity, that  is  to  say,  with  more  boldness  than  prudence : 
late  one  afternoon  he  started  boldly  forth  at  the  head  of 
his  escort,  formed  in  one  solid  body. 

6.  And    when  the   governor   of  the   province,    having 
received  information  from  the  officer  who  kept  the  gate, 
came  with  prompt  energy  and  found  him  in  the  suburb, 
he  earnestly  entreated  him  to  remain ;  but  finding  that  he 
could  not  prevail  upon  him,  he  quitted  him,  for  fear  of 
his  own  life. 

7.  And  not  long  afterwards  Para,  with  his  escort,  turned 
back  upon  the   legion  which  was  pursuing  him   and  on 
the  point  of  overtaking  him,   and    pouring  arrows  upon 
them  as  thick  as  sparks  of  fire,  though  designedly  missing 
them,  he  put  them  to  flight,  filling  them,  tribune  and  all, 
with  complete  consternation,  so  that  they  returned  to  the 
city  with  greater  speed  than  they  left  it. 

8.  After  this,   Para  being  released   from  all  fear,  con- 
tinued  his    laborious    and   rapid  journey  for    iwo    days 
and  two  nights,  till  he  reached  the  Euphrates  ;  where,  for 
want  of  boats,  he  was  unable  to  pass  the  river,  which  at 
that,  place  is  full  of  strong  currents  and  too  deep  to  be 
forded.     His  men,  not  being  skilful  swimmers,  were  afraid 
to  trust  themselves  to  the  stream,  and  he  himself  showed 
more  hesitation  than  any  of  them ;  indeed  he  would  have 
halted    there    altogether,    if  while   eveiy   one   was   sug- 
gesting one  plan  or  another,  he  had  not  at  last  hit  upon 
the  folloAving  expedient,  which  seemed  the  safest  in  this 
emergency. 

9.  They  took  a  number  of  little  beds  which  they  found  in 
the  neighbouring  houses,  and  supported  them  each  on  two 
bladders,  of  which  there  were  plenty  at  hand  in  the.vine- 
yards.      And   then  he  and  his  nobles  placed  themselves 
each  on   a  bed,  leading  their  horses  after  them,  and   so 
floated   down    and    across    the    stream ;    by   which   con- 
trivance, after  extreme  danger,  they  at  last  reached  the 
opposite  bank. 

10.  All  the  rest  swam  their  horses,  and   though  they 
were  terribly  tossed  about  and  often  almost  sunk  by  the 
eddying   stream,   still,   though   much   exhausted  by  their 
wetting,  they  also  reached  the  opposite  bank  ;  when  having 
rested  for  a   short  time    and    refreshed  themselves,   they 

2N 


546  AMMIANUS  MARCKLLIXUS.  [Bic.  XXX.  Ca  I. 

proceeded  on  their  way,  travelling  further  than  on  the 
previous  days. 

11.  When  this  transaction  became  known,  the  emperor 
being  greatly  moved  at  the  king's  flight,  fearing  he  would 
break  off  his  alliance,  sent  Daniel  and  Barzimeres  to  bring 
him  back ;  the  one  being  a  count,  the  other  the  tribune 
of  the  Scutarii,  and  he  placed   under  their  command  a 
thousand  archers  prepared  for  a  rapid  march  by  the  light- 
ness of  their  equipment. 

12.  These  officers,  trusting  to  their  acquaintance  with 
the  country,  and  feeling  sure  that  Para,  as  a  stranger  who 
was  not  accustomed  to  it,  would  take  a  roundabout  way, 
Bought  to  cut  him  off"  by  marking  a  short  cut  through 
some  valleys ;  and  having  divided  their  forces,  they  block- 
aded the  two  nearest  roads,  which  were  three  miles  from 
one  another,  in  order  that  whichever  Para  took  he  might 
be  caught  before  he  expected  it.     But  he  escaped  their 
manoeuvre  in  this  way : — 

13.  A  traveller  who  happened  to  be  hastening  towards  the 
western  bank  of  the  river,  saw  that  the  two  roads  were  filled 
with  armed  soldiers,  and  accordingly  quitted  this  road  in 
order  to  avoid  them,  and  made  his  way  by  an  almost  in- 
visible path,  which  lay  between  them,  overgrown  with 
bushes  and  brambles,  and  fell  in  with  ihe  Armenians,  who 
were  by  this  time  greatly  fatigued.     He  was  brought  be- 
fore the  king,  and,  being  admitted  by  him  to  a  private 
conference,   related  to  him  secretly  what  he  had  seen, 
and  was  detained  in  safety. 

14.  And  presently,  without  anything  being  done  to 
give  an  idea  that  they  were  alarmed,  a  horseman  was 
sent  secretly  to  the  road  on  the  right  side  to  prepare  a 
resting-place  and  some  food.      And  when  he  had  been 
gone   a  little  time,   another  was  sent  to   the   left  with 
directions  to  move  with  great  rapidity,  and  do  the  same 
thing ;  neither  horseman  being  aware  that  the  other  had 
been  sent  in  a  different  direction. 

15.  And  after  this  arrangement  had  been  thus  cleverly 
made,  the  king  himself,  with  his  escort,  retraced  his  steps 
through   the  jungle  by  which  the   traveller   had   come, 
taking  him  for  his  guide,  and  passing  through  this  over- 
grown path,  which  was  almost  too  narrow  for  a  loaded 
horse,  he  left  the   Roman  soldiers  behind  him  and  so 


AJ>.  374.]  DANIEL,   AND   BARZIMERES.  547 

escaped.  Meanwhile  our  troops,  who  had  made  prisoners 
of  the  soldiers  who  had  been  thus  sent  out  to  impose 
upon  them,  waited  a  long  time,  while  watching  for  the 
king,  and  stretching  out  their  hands,  as  one  may  say,  to 
seize  the  game  which  they  expected  would  rush  into  them. 
And  while  they  were  thus  waiting  for  the  arrival  of 
Para,  he  reached  his  kingdom  in  safety,  where  he  was 
received  with  great  joy  by  his  countrymen,  and  still 
remained  unshaken  in  his  fidelity  to  us,  burying  in  silence 
the  injuries  which  he  had  received. 

16.  After  this,  Daniel  and  Barzimeres,  having  been  thus 
balked  of  their  prey,  returned  to  Tarsus,  and  were  loaded 
with  bitter  reproaches  as  inactive  and  blundering  officers. 
But  like  venomous  serpents  whose  first  spring  has  failed, 
they  only  whetted   their  deadly  fangs,   in  order  at  the 
first  opportunity  to  inflict  all  the  injury  in  their  power  on 
the  king  who  had  thus  escaped  them. 

17.  And,  with  a  view  to  palliate  the  effect  of  their  own 
mistake,  or  rather  of  the  defeat  their  hopes,  which  the 
deeper  sagacity  of  the  king  had  contrived,  they  began 
to  fill  the  emperor's  ears,  which  were  at  all  times  most 
ready  to  receive  all  kinds  of  reports  with  false  accusa- 
tions against  Parti;   pretending  that  he  was  skilled   in 
Circean  incantations,  so  as  to  be  able  to  transform  people, 
or  to  afflict  them  with  sickness  in  a  marvellous  manner, 
Adding,  moreover,  that  it  was  by  means  of  arts  of  this 
kind  that  he  had  rendered  himself  invisible,  and  that  if 
allowed  to  continue  changing  his  shape,  he  would  cause 
them  great  trouble,  if  permitted  to  live  to  boast  of  having 
deceived  them. 

18.  In  this  manner  the  hatred  which  Valens  had  con- 
ceived against  him  was  increased  to  an  incredible  degree  ; 
and  plan  after  plan  was  laid  to  take  his  life,  either  by 
force    or   stratagem ;    and    orders   to    that    effect    were 
transmitted  by  secret  letters  to  Trajan,  who  at  that  time 
was  in  Armenia,  in  chief  command  of  the  forces  in  that 
kingdom. 

19.  Trajan,  accordingly,  began  to  surround  Para  with 
treacherous  blandishments — at  one  time  showing  him  some 
letters  of  Valens,  which  appeared  to  indicate  that  he  was 
favourably  disposed  towards  the  king — at  another,  par- 
taking cheerfully  of  his  entertainments,  he  at  last,  with 


548  AMMIAXUS  MARCEL:  ixus.  [BK.  XXXQLL 

great  apparent  respect  (but  in  pursuance  of  a  deliberate 
plot),  invited  him  to  supper.  Para,  fearing  no  hostility, 
came,  and  was  placed  in  the  seat  of  honour  at  the  feast. 

20.  Exquisite  delicacies  were  set  before  him,  and  the 
splendid  palace  resounded  with  the  music  of  lyres  and 
lutes.     Presently,  when  the  wine  had  circulated  freely, 
the  master  of  the  feast  quitted  it  for  a  moment,  under 
pretence  of  some  natural  want,  and  immediately  a  ferocious 
barbarian  of  the  troop  they  call  Suprae '  was  sent  in,  bran- 
dishing  a   drawn   sword,  and   with   a  terribly  ferocious 
countenance,  to  murder  the  youth,  against  whose  escape 
ample  precautions  had  now  been  taken. 

21.  As  soon  as  he  saw  him,  the  king,  who  as  it  happened 
Avas  on  the  further  side  of  the    couch,   jumped   up  and 
drew  his  dagger  to  defend  his  life  by  every  means  in  his 
power,   but  was   stabbed   in   the  breast,   and  fell  like  a 
miserable  victim,   being  shamefully   cut  to  pieces  with 
repeated  blows. 

22.  By  this  foul  contrivance  was  his  credulity  shame- 
fully deceived  at  a  feast  which  is  respected  even  on  the 
coast  of  the  Euxine  Sea,  under  the  eye  of  the  Deity  of 
Hospitality ;   and  the  blood  of  a  stranger  and  a  guest  was 
sprinkled  on  the  splendid  tablecloths,  and,  by  its  foaming 
gore,  filled  the  guests  with  loathing,  who  at  once  dispersed 
in  great  horror.    If  the  dead  can  feel  sorrow  or  indignation, 
then  let  that  illustrious  Fabricius  Luscinus  groan  at  the 
evidence  of  this  deed,  knowing  with  what  greatness  of 
mind  he  himself  repelled  Demochares   (or,  as  some  call 
him,   Kicias),  the  king's  servant,  who   in  a  secret  con- 
ference offered  to  poison  Pyrrhus,  at  that  time  desolating 
Italy  with  cruel  wars,  and  wrote  to  the  king,  bidding  him 
beware  of  his  immediate  attendants  :  such  great  reverence 
in  the  first  ages  of  antiquity  was  there  for  the  rights  of 
hospitality  even  when  claimed  by  an  enemy. 

23.  But  this   modern,   strange,  and   shameful    act  was 
excused  by  the  precedent  afforded  by  the  death  of  Ser- 
torius ;    though  the    emperor's    flatterers   were    perhaps 

1  No  one  has  succeeded  in  explaining  this  word.  Some  editors  wish 
to  read  Surse,  explaining  that  as  "men  picked  out  for  their  great 
strength,"  by  a  reference  to  Juvenal,  xvi.  14 — Grandes  magna  adsub- 
sellia  Surse.  Wagner  proposes  to  read  Scurrse,  a  name  sometimes  given 
to  the  guards  in  this  age. 


A.D.  374.]  PROPOSALS   OF    SAPOR.  549 

ignorant  that,  as  Demosthenes — the  everlasting  glory  of 
Greece — affirms,  an  unlawful  and  wicked  action  cannot  be 
defended  by  its  resemblance  to  another  crime,  or  by  the 
fact  that  that  crime  met  with  impunity. 


II. 

§  1.  THESE  are  the  transactions  which  especially  attracted 
notice  in  Armenia  ;  but  Sapor,  after  the  last  defeat  which 
his  troops  had  experienced,  having  heard  of  the  death  of 
Para,  whom  he  had  been  earnestly  labouring  to  win  to  his 
own  alliance,  was  terribly  grieved  ;  and,  as  the  activity 
of  our  army  increased  his  apprehensions,  he  began  to 
dread  still  greater  disasters  to  himself. 

2.  He  therefore  sent  Arsaces  as  his  ambassador  to  the 
emperor,  to  advise  him  utterly  to  destroy  Armenia  as  a 
perpetual  cause  of  trouble  ;  or,    if  that  plan  should  be 
decided  against,  asking  that  an  end  might  be  put  to  the 
division  of  Hiberia  into  two  provinces,  that  the  Roman 
garrison  might  be  withdrawn,  and  that  Aspacuras,  whom 
he  himself  had  made  the  sovereign  of  the  nation,  might  be 
permitted  to  reign  with  undivided  authority. 

3.  To  this  proposal,  Valens  replied,  that  he  could  not 
change  the  resolutions  which  had  been  agreed  to  by  both 
of  them ;  and,  indeed,  that  he  should  maintain  them  with 
zealous  care.     Towards  the  end  of  the  winter,  letters  were 
received  from  the  king  of  a  tenor  very  contrary  to  this 
noble  determination  of  Valens,  full  of  vain  and  arrogant 
boasting.      For  in   them  Sapor  affirmed  that  it  was   im- 
possible for  the  seeds  of  discord  to  be  radically  extirpated, 
unless  those  who  had  been  witnesses  of  the  peace  which 
had  been  made  with   Julian  were  all  collected,  some  of 
whom  he  knew  to  be  already  dead. 

4.  After  this,  the  matter  becoming  a  source  of  greater 
anxiety,  the  emperor,  who  was  more   skilful  in  choosing 
between  different   plans  than  in  devising  them   himself, 
thinking  that  it  would  be  beneficial  to  the  state  in  general, 
ordered  Victor,  the  commander  of  the  cavalry,  and  Ur- 
bicius,  the  Duke  of  Mesopotamia,  to  march  with  all  speed 
to  Persia,  bearing  a   positive   and   plain   answer  to  the 
proposals   of  Sapor:   namely,    that   he,   who  boasted   of 


550  AMMJANUS  MARCELLINUS.  [Bs.  XXX.  CH.  n. 

being  a  just  man,  and  one  contented  with  his  own,  was 
acting  wickedly  in  coveting  Annenia,  after  a  promise  had 
been  made  to  its  inhabitants,  that  they  should  be  allowed 
to  live  according  to  their  own  laws.  And  unless  the 
soldiers  who  had  been  left  as  auxiliaries  to  Sauromaces 
returned  without  hindrance  at  the  beginning  of  the 
ensuing  year,  as  had  been  agreed,  he  would  compel  Sapor 
by  force  to  perform  what  he  might  at  present  do  with  a 
good  grace. 

5.  And  this  embassy  would  in  all  respects  have  been  a 
just  and  honourable  one,   if  the  ambassadors  had  not, 
contrary  to  their  instructions,  accepted  some  small  districts 
in  this  same  Armenia  which  were  offered  them.     When 
the  ambassadors  returned,  the  Surena  (the  magistrate  who 
enjo}'S  an  authority  second  only  to  that  of  the  king)  came 
with  them,  offering  the  said  districts  to  the  emperor  which 
our  ambassadors  had  ventured  to  take. 

6.  He  was  received  with  liberality  and  magnificence  ; 
but  dismissed  without  obtaining  what  he  requested.     And 
then  great  preparations  were  made  for  war,  in  order  that, 
as  soon  as  the  severity  of  the  winter  was  over,  the  em- 
peror might  invade  Persia  with  three  armies;  and  with 
this   object  he  began  with  all  speed  to  bargain  for  the 
services  of  some  Scythian  auxiliaries. 

7.  Sapor  not  having  succeeded   in   obtaining  what  his 
vain  hopes  had  led  him  to  reckon  on,  and  being  exasperated 
in  an  extraordinaiy  degree,   because  he  had  learnt  that 
our  emperor  was  preparing  for  an  expedition,  nevertheless 
stifled  his  wrath,  and  gave  the  Surena  a  commission  to 
endeavour  to  recover  by  force  of  arms  (if  any  one  should 
resist  him)  the  territories  which  Count  Victor  and  Urbicius 
had  accepted,  and  to  press  hostilities   with  the  utmost 
rigour  against  those  soldiers  who  had  been  destined  to  aid 
Sauromaces. 

8.  His  orders  were  at  once  carried  out.     Nor  was  it 
found  possible  to  prevent  or  resist  their  execution,  be- 
cause a  new  cause  of  alarm  suddenly  came  on  the  republic ; 
as  the   entire  nation  of  the  Goths   suddenly  burst  into 
Thrace.      The   calamities    which    we  experienced    from 
that  event  shall  be   related  succinctly  in  their  proper 
places. 

9.  These  were  the  occurrences  which  took  place  in  the 


A.D.  374.]  REMIG1US   COMMITS   SUICIDE.  551 

East.  And  while  they  were  proceeding,  as  has  been 
related,  the  unfailing  arm  of  justice  avenged  the  losses 
we  had  sustained  'in  Africa,  and  the  slaughter  of  the 
ambassadors  of  Tripoli,  whose  shades  were  still  wandering 
aboxit  unavenged.  For  Justice,  though  a  late,  is  yet  a 
scrupulous  and  unerring  discriminator  between  right  and 
wrong. 

10.  Kemigius,  whom   we   have  already  spoken  of  as 
favouring  Count  Eomanus,  who  had  laid  waste  these  pro- 
vinces after  Leo  had   succeeded  him  as  master  of  the 
offices,  retired  from  office  and  from  public  life,  and  de- 
voted himself  to  rural  pursuits  in  his  own  native  district 
near  Mayence. 

11.  And  while  he  was  living  there  in  security,  Maximin, 
the  prefect  of  the  prsetorium,  despising  him  because  of  his 
return  to  a  tranquil  life,  as  he  was  accustomed  to  attack 
everything  like  a  terrible  pestilence,  set  to  work  to  do  him 
injury  by  every  means  in  his  power.     And,  in  order  to 
hunt  out  all   his   secrets,   he   seized  Caesarius  who  had 
formerly  been  a  servant  of  his,  and  afterwards  had  become 
a  secretary  of  the  emperor,  and  put  him  to  the  question, 
torturing  him  with  great  severity  to  learn  from  him  what 
Eemigius  had  done,  and  how  much  he  had  received  to 
induce  him  to  countenance  the  wicked  actions  of  Eomanus. 

12.  But  when  Eemigius  heard  this  in  his  retreat,  to 
which,  as  has  been  said,  he"  had  retired ;  being  oppressed 
by  the  consciousness  of  his  acts,  or  perhaps  letting  the 
dread  of  false  accusation  overpower  his  reason,  he  hanged 
himself. 

III. 

§  1.  THE  next  year  Gratian  took  Equitius  as  his  colleague 
in  the  consulship ;  and  Valentinian,  after  desolating  some 
cantons  of  the  Allemanni,  was  building  a  fortress  near 
Basle,  which  the  natives  of  the  country  call  Eobur,  when  a 
report  was  brought  to  him  from  the  prefect  Probus  with  an 
account  of  the  disasters  which  had  taken  place  in  Illyricum. 
2.  He  read  them  with  a  very  careful  examination,  as 
became  a  prudent  general ;  and  then  being  filled  with 
anxious  thoughts,  he  sent  his  secretary,  Paternianus,  to  that 
country,  to  inquire  minutely  into  the  whole  details  of  the 


552  AMMIANDS   MARCELLINUS.  [Bit.  XXX.  CH.  in 

affair.  And,  as  he  soon  received  from  him  a  true  account 
of  all  that  had  taken  place,  he  prepared  to  repair  thither 
himself  with  all  speed,  in  order  to  overwhelm  with  the 
first  crash  of  his  arms  (such  was  his  idea)  the  barbarians 
who  had  dared  to  pollute  our  frontier. 

3.  But,  because,  as  it  was  now  the  end  of  autumn,  there 
were  many  serious  difficulties  in  the  way,  all  the  nobles  in 
the  palace  pressed  him  earnestly  to  allow  the  time  between 
that  and  the  beginning  of  spring  to  be  spent  in  embassies 
and  conferences.    Keminding  him,  in  the  first  place,  that  the 
roads  were  all  impassable  through  frost — that  it  was  im- 
possible to  find  herbage  to  feed  the  cattle,  or  anything  else 
that  would  be  useful.     In  the  next  place,  they  dwelt  on 
the  ferocity  of  the  chieftains  who  lay  nearest  to  Gaul,  and 
especially  of  Macrianus  whom  they  greatly  dreaded,  as  it 
was  quite  certain  that  he  was  no  friend  to  us,  and  was 
inclined  to  attack  even  the  fortified  cities. 

4.  By  recapitulating  these  arguments,  and  adding  others 
of  great  weight,  they  brought   the   emperor  to   adopt  a 
wiser  plan ;  and  immediately  (as  was  best  for  the  com- 
monwealth) King  Macrianus  was  invited  in  courteous  terms 
to  come  to  Mayence ;  and  the  event  proved  that  he  also 
was  well  inclined  to  make  a  treaty.     When  he  arrived, 
however,  it  was  marvellous  how  proud  and  arrogant  he 
was,  as  if  he  were  to  be  the  supreme  arbiter  of  the  peace. 
And  on  a  day  appointed  for  a  conference  he  came,  carrying 
himself  very  loftily,  to  the  very  brink  of  the  Khine,  and 
escorted   by  a   number  of  his  countrymen,  who  made  a 
great  clang  with  their  shields. 

5.  On  the  other  hand,  the  emperor,  having  embarked  in 
a  boat,  such  as  is  used  on  that  river,   and   likewise  es- 
corted by  a  strong  force,  came  with  great  confidence  up 
to   the    eastern    bank,    being    conspicuous    through    the 
brilliancy    of    his    glittering    standards ;    and   when    the 
frantic  gestures  and  murmurs  of  the  barbarians  had  been 
quieted,  a  long  discussion  took  place  on  both  sides,  and 
at  last  a  firm  friendship  was  agreed  on,  and  ratified  with 
an  oath. 

6.  When  this  was  over,  the  king,  who  had  been  the 
cause  of  all  these    troubles,   retired,   quite  pacified,  and 
destined  to  prove  an  ally  to  us  for  the  future ;  indeed,  he 
afterwards,    to   the   very  end   of  his   life,  gave  proof  of 


4..D.  374.]  MODESTUS    PREFECT  OF   THE   PR^ETORIUM.  553 

his  constancy  and   resolution  to  preserve   his  agreement 
with  us,  by  many  noble  and  gallant  actions. 

7.  But  subsequently  he  died  in  the  country  of  the 
Franks,  which  he  had  invaded  and  ravaged  in  a  most 
destructive  manner,  till  at  last  he  was  cut  off  by  the 
manoeuvres  of  Mellobaudes,  the  warlike  king  of  that  na- 
tion, and  slain.  After  the  treaty  had  thus  been  solemnly 
ratified,  Yalentinian  retired  into  winter  quarters,  at 
Treves. 


IV. 


§  1.  THESE  were  the  events  which  took  place  in  Gaul  and 
the  northern  countries.  But  in  the  east,  while  all  our 
foreign  affairs  were  quiet,  great  domestic  evils  were  in- 
creasing in  consequence  of  the  conduct  of  the  friends  and 
relations  of  Valens,  who  had  more  regard  to  expediency 
than  honesty ;  for  they  laboured  with  the  utmost  dili- 
gence to  bring  about  the  recall  from  his  post  a  judge 
of  rigid  probity,  who  was  fond  of  deciding  lawsuits 
equitably,  out  of  a  fear  lest,  as  in  the  times  of  Julian,  when 
Innocence  was  allowed  a  fair  opportunity  of  defending 
itself,  the  pride  of  the  powerful  nobles,  which  was  ac- 
customed to  roam  at  large  with  unrestrained  licence,  might 
again  be  broken  down. 

2.  With  these  and  similar  objects  a  great  number  of 
persons  conspired  together,  being  led  by  Modestus,  the  pre- 
fect of  the  praetorium,  who  was  a  complete  slave  to  the 
wishes  of  the  emperor's  eunuchs,  and  who,  under  a  spe- 
cious countenance,  concealed  a  rough  disposition  which 
had  never  been  polished  by  any  study  of  ancient  virtue  or 
literature,  and  who  was  continually  asserting  that  to  look 
into  the  minute  details  of  private  actions  was  beneath  the 
dignity  of  the  emperor.  lie  thinking,  as  he  said,  that  the 
examination  of  such  matters  had  been  imposed  on  the 
nobles  to  lower  their  dignity,  abstained  from  all  such 
matters  himself,  and  opened  the  doors  to  plunder;  which 
doors  are  now  daily  more  and  more  opened  by  the  de- 
pravity of  the  judges  and  advocates,  who  are  all  of  the 
same  mind,  and  who  sell  the  interests  of  the  poor  to  the 
military  commanders,  or  the  persons  of  influence  within 


554  AMMIANUS   MARCELLINUS.  fB*.  XXX.  Or.  rr. 

the  palace,  by  which  conduct  they  themselves  have  gained 
riches  and  high  rank. 

3.  This  profession  of  forensic  oratoiy   the  wisdom  of 
Plato  defines  to  be  TroAmidifc  fj-opiov  £U>wAo>',  "  the  shadow  of 
a  fraction  of  the  art  of  government,"  or  a  fourth  part  of 
the   art   of  flattery.      But    Epicurus  calls    it   KaKOT£\via, 
reckoning   it  among  the  wicked  arts.      Tisias,  who   has 
Gorgias  of  Leontinum  on  his  side,  calls  the  orator  an  artist 
of  persuasion. 

4.  And  while  such  has  been  the  opinion  formed  of  this 
art  by  the  ancients,  the  craft  of  some  of  the  Eastern  people 
has  put  it  forward  so  as  to  make  it  an  object  of  hatred 
to  good  men,  on  which  account  an  orator  it  is  sometimes 
restricted  to   a  limited  time   for  speaking.1     Therefore, 
after  saying  a  few  words  about  its  unworthy  character, 
as  I  found  by  experience  while  in  those  countries,  I  will 
return  to  my  original  subject. 

5.  The   tribunals,   in  former  times,   when   good  taste 
prevailed,  were  greatly  adorned  by  our  advocates,  when 
orators  of  spirited  eloquence — laborious  and  accomplished 
scholars — shone  pre-eminent  in  genius,  honesty,  fluency, 
and  every  kind  of  embellishment  of  language.     As  De- 
mosthenes, who,  as  we  learn  from  the  Athenian  records, 
whenever  he  was  going  to  speak,  drew  together  a  vast 
concourse  of  people  from  the  whole  of  Greece,  who  assem- 
bled for  the  sake  of  hearing  him ;  and  Callistratus,  who, 
when  summing  up  his  noble  pleading  on  the  subject  of 
Oropus  in  Euboea,  produced  such  an  impression  that  that 
same  Demosthenes  quitted  the  academy,  at  the  time  when 
Plato   was  at  its  head,   to  become  his  follower.      And 
Hyperides,  and  ^Eschines,  and  Andocides,  and  Dinarchus, 
and   Antiphon  the   Rhamnusian,  who  is  the   first   man 
spoken  of  in  ancient  history  as  having  received  a  fee  for 
pleading  a  cause. 

6.  And  similarly  among  the  Romans,  the  Rutilii,  and 
Galbffi,  and  Scauri,  men  of  eminent  reputation  for  purity 
of  life  and  manners,  and  for  frugality;  and  in  the  suc- 
ceeding generations,  many  men  of  censorian  and  consular 
rank,  and  even  many  who  had  celebrated  triumphs,  such 

1  As  at  Athens,  where  the  orators  were  only  allowed  to  speak  as 
loug  as  an  hour-glass,  filled  with  water,  was  running  down. 


A.D.374.]  ROMAN   LAWYERS    CHARACTEKIZED.  555 

as  the  Crassi,  the  Antonii,  the  Philippi,  the  Sceevolae, 
and  numbers  of  others,  after  having  commanded  armies 
with  glory,  gained  victories,  and  raised  trophies,  became 
eminent  also  for  their  civil  services  to  the  State,  and  won 
fresh  laurels  by  their  noble  contests  at  the  bar,  thus 
reaping  the  highest  honour  and  glory. 

1.  And  after  them  Cicero,  the  most  excellent  of  them 
al\  who  repeatedly  saved  many  who  were  in  distress 
from  the  scorching  flames  of  judgment  by  the  stream  of 
his  imperious  eloquence,  used  to  affirm  "  that  if  men 
could  not  be  defended  without  their  advocate  incurring 
blame,  they  certainly  could  not  be  carelessly  defended 
without  his  being  guilty  of  crime." 

8.  But  now  throughout  all  the  regions  of  the  East  one 
may  see  the  most  violent  and  rapacious  classes  of  men 
hovering  about  the  courts  of   law,   and    besieging  the 
houses  of  the  rich  like  Spartan  or  Cretan  hounds,   cun- 
ningly pursuing  different  traces,  in  order  to  create  the 
occasion  of  a  lawsuit. 

9.  Of  these  the  chief  is  that  tribe  of  men  who,  sowing 
every  variety  of  strife  and  contest  in  thousands  of  actions, 
wear  out  the  doorposts   of  widows  and  the  thresholds 
of  orphans,  and  create  bitter  hatred  among  friends,  rela- 
tions, or  connections,  who  have  any  disagreement,  if  they 
can  only  find  the  least  pretext  for  a  quarrel.      And  in 
these  men,  the  progress  of  age  does  not  cool  their  vices 
as  it  does  those  of  others,  but  only  hardens  and  strengthens 
them.      And  amid  all  their  plunder  they  are  insatiable 
and  yet  poor,  whetting  the  edge  of  their  genius  in  order 
by  their  crafty  orations  to  catch  the  ear  of  the  judges, 
though  the  very  title  of  those  magistrates  is  derived  from 
the  name  of  Justice. 

10.  In  the  pertinacity  of  these  men  rashness  assumes  the 
disguise  of  freedom — headlong  audacity  seeks  to  be  taken 
for  constancy,  and  an  empty  fluency  of  language  usurps 
the  name  of  eloquence — by  which  perverse  arts,  as  Cicero 
tells  us,  it  is  a  shame  for  the  holy  gravity  of  a  judge  to 
be  deceived.     For  he  says,  "  And  as  nothing  in  a  republic 
ought  to  be  so  incorruptible  as  a  suffrage  or  a  sentence, 
I  do   not   understand   why  the  man  who   corrupts   such 
things  with  money  is  to  be  esteemed  worthy  of  punish- 
ment, while  he  who  perverts  them  by  eloquence  receives 


556  AMMIANUS   MARCELLINUS.  [B*.  XXX.  CH.  iv. 

commendation.  In  fact,  the  latter  appears  to  me  to  do 
the  most  harm,  it  being  worse  to  corrupt  a  judge  by  a 
speech  than  by  a  bribe,  inasmuch  as  no  one  can  corrupt 
a  wise  man  with  a  bribe,  though  it  is  possible  that  he 
may  with  eloquence. 

11.  There  is  a  second  class  of  those  men  who,  professing 
the  science  of  the   law,  especially  the  interpretation  of 
conflicting  and  obsolete  statutes,  as  if  they  had  a  bridle 
placed  in  their  mouths,  keep  a  resolute  silence,  in  which 
they   rather   resemble  their  shadows    than    themselves. 
These,  like  those  men  who  cast  nativities  or  interpret  the 
oracles  of  the  sibyl,  compose  their  countenances  to  a  sort 
of  gravity,  and  then  make  money  of  their  supine  drowsi- 
ness. 

12.  And  that  they  may  appear  to  have  a  more  profound 
knowledge  of  the   laws,   they  speak   of  Trebatius,1  and 
Cascellius,  and  Alfenus,  and  of  the  laws  of  the  Aurunci 
and  Sicani,  which  have  long  become  obsolete,  and  have 
been  buried  ages  ago  with  the  mother  of  Evander.     And 
if  you  should  pretend  to  have  deliberately  murdered  your 
mother,   they   will   promise    you    that    there   are   many 
cases  recorded  in  abstruse  works  which  will  secure  your 
acquittal,  if  you  are  rich  enough  to  pay  for  it. 

13.  There  is  a  third  class  of  these  men,  who,  to  arrive 
at   distinction    in  a   turbulent   profession,   sharpen   their 
mercenary  mouths  to  mystify  the  truth,  and  by  prostitut- 
ing their  countenances  and  their  vile  barking,  work  their 
way  with  the  public.     These  men,  whenever  the  judge  is 
embarrassed  and   perplexed,  entangle   the   matter  before 
him  with  further  difficulties,  and  take  pains  to  prevent 
any  arrangement,  carefully  involving  every  suit  in  knotty 
subtleties.     When  these  courts,  however,  go  on  rightly, 
they  are  temples  of  equity ;  but  when  they  are  perverted 
they  are  hidden  and  treacherous  pitfalls,  and  if  any  person 
falls  into  them,  he  will  not  escape  till  after  many  years 
have  elapsed,  and  till  he  himself  has  been  sucked  dry  to 
his  very  marrow. 

14.  There  is  a  fourth  and  last  class,  impudent,  saucy, 
and  ignorant,  consisting  of  those  men  who,  having  left 

1  All  these  men  are  spoken  of  by  Horace  as  distinguished  lawyers 
in  hia  time. 


VJ.374.]  ROMAN  LAWYERS    CHARACTERIZED.  557 

school  too  early,  run  about  the  corners  of  cities,  giving 
more  time  to  farces  than  to  the  study  of  actions  and 
defences,  wearing  out  the  doors  of  the  rich,  and  hunting 
for  the  luxuries  of  banquets  and  rich  food. 

15.  And    when    they   have    given    themselves    up   to 
gains,    and  to  the  task   of  hunting  for  money   by  every 
means,    they  incite   men,    on   any  small   pretence    what- 
ever, to  go  to  law ;   and  if  they  are  permitted  to  defend 
a  cause,  which,  but  seldom  happens,  it  is  not  till  they  are 
before  the  judge,  while  the  pleadings  are  being  recited, 
that  they  begin  to  inquire  into  the  cause  of  the  client, 
or  even  into  his  name ;  and  then  they  so  overflow  with 
a  heap  of  unarranged  phrases  and  circumlocutions,  that 
from  the  noise  and  jabber  of  the  vile  medley  you  would 
fancy  you  were  listening  to  Thersites. 

16.  But  when    it   happens   that   they   have   no   single 
allegation   they    can    establish,    they   then    resort   to    an 
unbridled  licence  of  abuse ;  for  which  conduct  they  are 
continually   brought  to   trial  themselves,  and  convicted, 
when  they  have  poured  ceaseless  abuse  upon  people  of 
honour ;  and  some  of  these  men  are  so  ignorant  that  they 
do  not  appear  ever  to  have  read  any  books. 

17.  And  if  in  a  company  of  learned  men  the  name  of 
any  ancient  author  is  ever  mentioned,  they  fancy  it  to  be 
some  foreign  name  of  a  fish  or  other  eatable.     And  if  any 
stranger  asks  (we  will  say)  for  Marcianus,  as  one  with 
whom  he  is  as  yet  unacquainted,  they  all  at  once  pretend 
that  their  name  is  Marcianus. 

18.  Nor  do  they  pay  the  slightest  attention  to  what  is 
right ;  but  as  if  they  had  been  sold  to  and  become  the 
property  of  Avarice,  they  know  nothing  but  a  boundless 
licence  in  asking.    And  if  they  catch  any  one  in  their  toils, 
they  entangle  him  in  a  thousand  meshes,  pretending  sick- 
ness by  way  of  protracting  the  consultations.     And  to  pro- 
duce an   useless   recital   of  some   well-known   law,  they 
prepare  seven  costly  methods  of  introducing  it,  thus  weav- 
ing infinite  complications  and  delays. 

19.  And  when  at  last  days  and  months  and  years  have 
been  passed  in  these  proceedings,  and  the  parties  to  the 
suit  are  exhausted,   and  the  whole  matter  in   dispute  is 
worn  out  with  age,  then  these  men,  as  if  they  were  the 
very   heads   of    their    profession,   often  introduce   sham 


558  AMMIANDS   MARCELL1NUS.  [ftc.  XXX.  CH.  IV. 

advocates  along  with  themselves.  And  when  they  have 
arrived  within  the  bar,  and  the  fortune  or  safety  of  some 
one  is  at  stake,  and  they  ought  to  labour  to  ward  off  the 
sword  of  the  executioner  from  some  innocent  man,  or 
calamity  and  ruin,  then,  with  wrinkled  brows,  and  arms 
thrown  about  with  actor-like  gestures,  so  that  they  want 
nothing  but  the  flute  of  Gracchus  at  their  back,1  then 
they  keep  silence  for  some  time  on  both  sides ;  and  at 
last,  after  a  scene  of  premeditated  collusion,  some  plau- 
sible preamble  is  pronounced  by  that  one  of  them  who 
is  most  confident  in  his  power  of  speaking,  and  who 
promises  an  oration  which  shall  rival  the  beauties  of  the 
oration  for  Cluentius2  or  for  Ctesiphon.3  And  then,  when 
all  are  eager  for  him  to  make  an  end,  he  concludes  his  pre- 
amble with  a  statement  that  the  chief  advocates  have  as 
yet  only  had  three  years  since  the  commencement  of  the 
suit  to  prepare  themselves  to  conduct  it ;  and  so  obtains 
an  adjournment,  as  if  they  had  to  wrestle  with  the  ancient 
Antaeus,  while  still  they  resolutely  demand  the  pay  due 
for  their  arduous  labours. 

20.  And  yet,  in  spite  of  all  these  things,  advocates  are 
not  without  some  inconveniences,  which  are  hard  to  be 
endured  by  one  who  would  live  uprightly.     For  being 
allured    by   small    gains,    they  quarrel    bitterly  among 
themselves,  and  offend  numbers  by  the  insane  ferocity  of 
their  evil  speaking,  which  they  pour  forth  when  they  are 
unable  to   maintain  the  weakness  of  the   ease   intrusted 
to  them  by  any  sound  reasoning. 

21.  And  sometimes  the  judges  prefer  persons  who  have 
been  instructed  in  the  quibbles  of  Philistion   or  ./Esop, 
to  those  who  come  from  the  school  of  Aristides  the  Just, 
or  of  Cato — men  who,   having  bought  public  offices  for 
large  sums  of  money,  proceed  like  troublesome  creditors 
to  hunt  out  every  one's  fortune,  and  so  shake  booty  for 
themselves  out  of  the  laps  of  others. 

22.  Finally,  the  profession  of  a  lawyer,  besides  other 
things,  has  in  it  this,  which  is  most  especially  formidable 
and  serious  (and  this  quality  is  almost  innate  in  all  liti- 

1  See  Cicero,  de  Oratore  iii.  60. 
*  The  Speech  of  Cicero  pro  Ccelio  Cluentio. 

3  The  celebrated  speech  of  Demosthenes,  more  usually  known  aa 
that  of  De  Corona. 


A.D.   175.]  VALENT1NIAN    AND    THE   SARMATIANS.  559 

gants),  namely  that  when,  through  one  or  other  out  of  a 
thousand  accidents,  they  have  lost  their  action,  they  fancy 
that  everything  which  turned  out  wrong  was  owing  to  the 
conduct  of  their  counsel,  and  they  usually  attribute  the 
loss  of  every  suit  to  him,  and  are  angry,  not  with  the  weak- 
ness of  their  case  or  (as  they  often  might  he)  with  the 
partiality  of  the  judge,  but  only  with  their  advocate.  Let 
us  now  return  to  the  affairs  from  which  we  have  thus 
digressed. 

V. 

A.D.  375. 

§  1.  AT  the  beginning  of  the  spring  Valentinian  quitted 
Treves,  and  proceeded  by  rapid  marches  along  the  usual 
high  roads.  And  as  he  approached  the  districts  to  which 
he  was  hastening,  he  was  met  by  ambassadors  from  the 
Sarmatians,  who  threw  themselves  at  his  feet,  and,  with 
prayers,  breathing  no  wish  but  for  peace,  entreated  him 
to  be  favourable  and  merciful  to  them,  assuring  him  that 
he  would  not  find  any  of  their  countrymen  implicated  in 
or  privy  to  any  evil  action. 

2.  And  when  they  had  frequently  repeated  this  asser- 
tion, he,  after  careful  deliberation,  made  answer  to  them, 
that  these  matters  must  be  diligently  inquired  into  by  an 
accurate   investigation   in  the  district  where   they   were 
said  to  have  happened,  and  if  they  had  happened,  then 
they  must  be  punished.     After  this,  when  he  had  reached 
Carnuntum,    a  city   of  the   Illyrians,   now   indeed   iu    a 
desolate  and  ruinous  state,  but  still  very  convenient  for 
the  general  of  an  army,  he  from  thence  sallied  out  when- 
ever either  chance  or  skill  afforded  him  an  opportunity ; 
and  by  the  possession  of  this  post  in  their  neighbourhood, 
he  checked  the  inroads  of  the  barbarians. 

3.  And  although  he  alarmed  all  people  in  that  district, 
since  it  was  expected  that,  as  a  man  of  active  and  impetu- 
ous feelings,  he  would  speedily  command  the  judges  to  be 
condemned  through  whose  perfidy  or  desertion  the  empire 
had  been  left  undefended  on  the  side  of  the  Pannonians, 
yet  when  he  did  arrive  he  was  so  lukewarm  in  the  busi- 
ness that  he  neither  inquired  into  the  death  of  the  king 
Gabricius,  nor  did  he  make  any  accurate  investigation  into 


56C  AMMIANUS   MARCELL1NUS.  [BK.  XXX.  CH.  T. 

the  calamities  which  the  republic  had  sustained,  with  a 
view  to  learning  through  whose  misconduct  or  negli- 
gence these  events  had  taken  place ;  so  that  in  fact, 
in  proportion  as  he  was  severe  in  punishing  his  common 
soldiers,  he  was  remiss  in  correcting  (even  by  harsh 
words)  those  of  higher  rank. 

4.  The  only  person  whom  he  pursued  with  any  especial 
hatred  was  Probus ;  whom  from  the  first  moment  that  he 
saw  him  he  never  ceased  to  threaten,  and  to  whom  he 
never  softened ;  and  the  causes  of  this  animosity  against 
him   were   not   obscure  nor  trivial.     When  Probus   first 
obtained  the  rank  of  prefect  of  the  praetorium,  the  power 
of  which  he  was  continually  labouring  to  extend  by  all 
kinds  of  means  (I  wish  I  could  say  by  all  lawful  means), 
he  forgot  the  lessons  which  he  might  have  learnt  from  his 
illustrious  descent,  and  devoted  himself  more  to  flattery 
than  to  modesty. 

5.  For  reflecting  on  the  resolution  of  the  emperor,  who 
considered  nothing  but  how  he  might  amass  money  from 
all  quarters,  without   any  distinction   between  just  and 
unjust  actions ;  he  never  attempted  to  lead  back  the  mis- 
guided prince  into  the  path  of  equity,  as  mild  and  wise 
rulers  often   have  done ;    but   rather   followed   his   lead 
through  all  his  winding  and  tortuous  paths. 

6.  And   to  this   conduct   were   owing  the  heavy  dis- 
tresses which  afflicted  the  emperor's  subjects;  the  ruin- 
ous  titles,  privileges,  and   exemptions,  which   alike   ate 
up  the  fortunes  of  poor  and  rich  ;  under  different  pretexts 
which  were  produced,  each  more  powerful  than  the  other, 
as  the  fruit   of  a   long  experience  in  injuring.     Lastly, 
the  burdens  of  all  tributes  and  taxes  were  augmented  in  a 
manifold  degree  ;  and  drove  some  of  the  highest  nobles  from 
fear  of  the  worst  to  emigrate  from  their  homes  ;  some  also 
after  being  drained  to  the  utmost  by  the  cruelty  of  the 
revenue  officers,  as  they  really  had  nothing  more  to  give, 
were  thrown  into  prison,  of  which  they  became  permanent 
inmates.      And  some,  becoming  weary  of  life  and  light, 
sought  a  release  from  their  miseries   by  hanging  them- 
selves. 

7.  Unvaiying  report  made  known  the  treacherous  and 
inhuman  character  of  these  transactions ;  but  Valentinian, 
as  if  his  ears  had  been  stopped  with  wax,  was  ignorant  of 


A.D.  374.]  IPHICLES  AN   ENVOY  FROM  El'IRUS.  561 

the  report,  being  eager  to  acquire  money  indiscriminately, 
even  from  the  most  trivial  sources,  and  thinking  only  of 
what  was  presented  to  him  ;  though  he  would  perhaps 
have  spared  the  Pannonian  provinces,  if  he  Lad  earlier 
known  of  these  melancholy  sources  of  gain  with  which  he 
became  acquainted  when  it  was  too  late,  owing  to  the 
following  occurrence : — 

8.  Following  the  example  of  the  inhabitants  of  other 
provinces,  the  people  of  Epirus  were  compelled  by  the 
prefect  to  send  envoys  to  thank  him,  and  a  certain  philo- 
sopher named  Iphicles,  a  man  of  tried  courage  and  mag- 
nanimity (who  was  very  unwilling  to  undertake  the  com- 
mission), was  elected  to  discharge  that  duty. 

5>.  And  when  he  saw  the  emperor,  having  been  recog- 
nized by  him  and  questioned  as  to  the  cause  of  his  arrival, 
he  answered  in  Greek ;  and,  like  a  philosopher  who  pro- 
fessed himself  a  votary  of  truth,  when  the  prince  inquired 
more  precisely,  if  those  who  had  sent  him  did  really 
think  well  of  the  prefect,  he  replied,  that  they  had  sent 
him  against  their  will,  and  with  bitter  groans. 

10.  The   emperor,  stricken   by   this   speech   as   by  an 
arrow,  now  investigated  his  actions  like  a  sagacious  beast, 
inquiring  of  him,  in  his  own   language,  about  different 
pei-soiis  whom  he  knew :  for  instance,  where  was  this  man 
or  that  man  (mentioning  some  one  of  high  reputation  and 
honour,  or  some  very  rich  man,  or  some  other  person  well 
known  as  having  filled  some  high  office).     And  when  he 
learnt  that  this  man  had  been  hanged,  that  that  one  had 
been  banished  beyond  the  seas,  and  that  a  third  had  killed 
himself  or  had  expired  under  torture,  he  became  furiously 
angry,  while  Leo,  who  was  at  that  time  master  of  the 
offices,  added  fuel  to  his  passion — 0   shameful  villany  ! 
Leo,  it  should  be  borne  in  mind,  was  at  this  very  time 
secretly  aiming  at  the  prefecture;  and  had  he  obtained  that 
office  and  authority,  he  would  undoubtedly  have  governed 
with   such  audacity,  that   the   administration   of  Probus 
would  in  comparison  have  been  extolled  as  a  model  of 
justice  and  humanity. 

11.  iSo  the  emperor  remained  at  Carnuntum ;  and  dur- 
ing the  three  summer  months  he  occupied  himself  uninter- 
ruptedly in  preparing  arms  and  magazines,  in  the  hope 

2o 


562  AMMIANUS  MARCELLINUS.  [Bit.  XXX.  CH.  v 

that  chance  might  afford  him  a  good  opportunity  of  making 
use  of  them;  intending  to  take  a  favourable  season  for 
attacking  the  Quadi,  who  had  lately  caused  an  atrocious 
disturbance ;  since  in  their  chief  town,  Faustinus,  the 
nephew  of  Juventius,  the  prefect  of  the  praetoriurn,  who 
had  attained  the  rank  of  military  secretary,  was  tortured 
and  then  put  to  death  by  the  executioners,  under  the 
very  eyes  of  Probus ;  having  been  accused  of  slaying  an 
ass  in  some  magical  operation,  as  his  enemies  asserted ; 
but  he  himself  said  it  was  to  use  for  strengthening  his 
hair,  which  was  beginning  to  fall  off. 

12.  Another  charge  was  also  maliciously  brought  against 
nim,  namely,  that  when  a  person  of  the  name  of  Nigrinus 
had  in  jest  asked  him  to  make  him  a  secretary,  he  replied 
in  ridicule  of  the  man  and  his  petition,  "  Make  me  emperor 
if  you  wish  to  obtain  that."     And  because  some  gave  an 
unfair  interpretation  to  this  jest,  Faustinus  himself,  and 
Nigrinus,  and  several  other  persons  were  put  to  death. 

13.  Accordingly,  having  sent  forward  Merobaudes  with 
a  strong  force  of  infantry  under  his  command,  and  Sebas- 
tian for  his  colleague,  to  ravage  the  districts  of  the  bar- 
barians with  fire  and  sword,  Valentinian  speedily  moved 
his  camp  to  Buda ;  and  having  with  great  rapidity  made 
a  bridge  of  boats  in  order  to  guard  against  any  sudden 
mishap,  he  crossed  the  river  in  another  place  and  entered 
the  territories  of  the  Quadi,  who  from  their  precipitous 
mountains  were  watching  for  his  approach  ;  the  main  body 
of  their  nation,  in  their  perplexity  and  uncertainty  of  what 
might  happen,  had   taken  refuge  with  their  families  in 
those  hills ;    but  were   overwhelmed  with  consternation 
when  they  unexpectedly  saw  the  imperial  standards  in 
their  country. 

14.  Valentinian  advanced  with  as  much  rapidity  as  he 
could,  slaughtering  every  one  of  whatever  age  whom  his 
sudden  inroad  surprised  straggling  about  the  country,  and 
after  burning  all  their  dwellings,  he  returned  safe  without 
having  experienced  the  slightest  loss.  And  then,  as  autumn 
was  now  on  the  wane,  he  stopped  awhile  at  Buda,  seeking 
where  best  to  fix  his  winter  quarters  in  a  region  subject 
to  very  rigorous  frost.    And  he  could  not  find  any  suitable 
place  except  Sabaria,  though  that  town  was  at  the  time  in 


AJ>.  374.]  VALEN1  iNIAN  AT  BREGITIO.  563 

a  very  bad  state  of  defence,  having  been  ruined  by  fre- 
quent  sieges. 

1 5.  Accordingly  when  he  reached  this  place,  though  it 
was  one  of  great  consequence  to  him,  he  remained  there 
but  a  very  short  time  ;  and  having  left  it,  he  marched  along 
the  bank  of  the  river,  which  he  strengthened  with  several 
forts  and  castles,  and  manned  them  with  adequate  garrisons. 
He  then  proceeded  to  Bregitio;  and  in  that  town,  after 
settling  down  there  in  quiet,  his  Destiny,  by  numerous  pro- 
digies, portended  to  him  his  approaching  fate. 

16.  For  a  very  few  days  before  some  of  those  comets, 
which  ever  give  token  of  the  ruins  of  lofty  fortunes,  and 
of  which  we  have  already  explained  the  origin,  appeared 
in  the  heavens.     Also,  a  short  time  before,  a  thunderbolt 
fell    at    Sirmium,  accompanied    with    a  terrific   clap  of 
thunder,  and  set  fire  to  a  portion  of  the  palace  and  senate- 
house  :   and  much  about  the   same   time  an  owl  settled 
on  the  top  of  the  royal  baths  at  Sabaria,  and  pouring  forth 
a  funeral  strain,  withstood  all  the  attempts  to  slay  it  with 
arrows  or  stones,  however  truly  aimed,  and  though  numbers 
of  people  shot  at  it  in  diligent  rivalry. 

17.  And  again,  when  the  emperor  was  quitting  the  city 
to  return  to  the  cftmp,  he  set  out  to  leave  it  by  the  same 
gate  by  which  he  had  entered  it,  with  the  object  of  obtain- 
ing an  augury  that  he  should  speedily  return  to  Gaul.   But 
the  spot  through  neglect  had  become  choked  up  with  ruins  ; 
and  when  they  were  cleaning  it  out  they  found  that  the 
door,  which  had  originally  closed  the  entrance,  had  fallen 
down :  and  a  great  multitude  of  people,  though  labouring 
with  all  their  might,  were  unable  to  remove  it ;  so  that 
after  waiting  the  greater  part  of  the  day  there,  he  was 
obliged  at  last  to  go  out  by  another  gate. 

18.  And  on  the  night  preceding  the  day  on  which  he 
died,  he  saw  in  a  dream,  such  as  often  visits  a  man  in  his 
sleep,  his  absent  wife  sitting  by,  with  dishevelled  hair, 
and  clad  in  a  mourning  robe  ;  which  some  people  fancied 
was  Fortune,  who  was  about  in  this  sad  apparel  to  take  her 
leave  of  him. 

19.  After  this,  when  he  came  forth  in  the  morning,  his 
brow   was    contracted,    and    his    countenance    somewhat 
melancholy ;  and  when  his  horse  was  brought  to  him,  it 
would  not  let  him  mount,  but  reared  up  its  forefeet  ove* 


564  AMMIANUS   MARCELLINUS.  [BE.  XXX.  CH.  vi. 

the  shoulders  of  the  equerry  who  was  holding  it.  Valenti- 
nian,  according  to  the  usual  bent  of  his  savage  temper, 
grew  immoderately  furious,  and  ordered  the  equerry's  hand 
to  be  cut  off,  which  had,  he  said,  pushed  him  aside  when 
mounting  a  horse  he  was  used  to :  and  the  innocent  youth 
would  have  perished  under  torture  if  Cereal  is,  the  prin- 
cipal master  of  the  horse,  had  not  delayed  the  barbarous 
infliction  at  his  own  risk. 


VI. 

§  1.  AFTER  this  event  ambassadors  arrived  from  the  Quadi, 
with  humble  supplications,  entreating  peace,  and  oblivion 
of  the  past :  and  that  there  might  be  no  obstacle  to  their 
obtaining  this,  they  promised  to  furnish  a  body  of  recruits, 
and  some  other  things  which  would  be  of  use  to  the 
Koman  state. 

2.  And  after  they  had  been  received,  and  had  obtained 
permission  to  return  with  the  grant  of  an  armistice  which 
they  had  solicited  (but  in  truth,  our  want  of  supplies  and 
the  unfavourable  season  of  the  year  prevented  us  from 
harassing  them  any  longer),  they  were,  by  the  influence 
of  Equitius,  who  became  security  for  their  good  behaviour, 
admitted    into   the    council -chamber.       When   introduced 
they  seemed  quite  overcome  by  fear,  bowing  down  to  the 
ground  ;  and  on  being  ordered  to  unfold  their  message,  they 
urged  all  the  customary  pretences  and  excuses,  confirm- 
ing them  by  an  oath ;  assuring  the  council  that  whatever 
offence  had  been   committed  against  any  of  our  people, 
had   not  been  done  by  the  consent  of  the  nobles  of  the 
nation,  but  only  by  some  foreign  banditti  who  dwelt  on 
the  borders  of  the  river ;  they  added   further,  as  a  fact 
quite  sufficient  to  establish  the  truth  of  their  allegations, 
that  the  fortress  which  had  been  begun  to  be  built  both 
unjustly  and  unreasonably,  had  inflamed  the  savage  temper 
of  those  rude  men  to  a  great  pitch  of  ferocity. 

3.  By  this   speech  the  emperor  was   excited  to  most 
vehement  wrath;  and  as  he  began  to  reply  to  it  he  grew 
more    indignant,  reproaching  the  whole  nation  in  bitter 
language,  as  unmindful  of  kindness,  and  ungrateful.     But 
after  a  time  he  became  pacified,  and  inclined  to  a  milder 


A.D.  374.]  DEATH  OF  VALKNTIXUN.  565 

view  of  tie  case,  when  suddenly,  as  if  he  had  been  stricken 
from  heaven,  his  breathing  and  his  voice  ceased,  and  his 
countenance  appeared  blood-shot,  and  in  a  moment  the 
blood  burst  forth,  and  a  deadly  sweat  broke  forth  over 
his  whole  body ;  and  to  save  him  from  falling  down  in  the 
sight  of  a  number  of  low-born  persons,  he  was  led  by  his 
servants  into  one  of  the  private  chambers  in  the  interior  of 
the  palace. 

4.  \Vhen  he  was  placed  on  his  bed,  breathing  with 
difficulty,  though  the  vigour  of  his  intellect  was  not  as  yet 
at  all  diminished,  he  recognized  those  who  stood  around, 
having   been  collected   by  the  chamberlains   with   great 
promptitude,  to  prevent  any  of  them  being  suspected  of 
having  murdered  him.     And  as  on  account  of  the  fever 
which  was  racking  his  bowels  it  was  necessary  to  open  a 
vein,  yet  no  surgeon  could  be  found,  because  he  had  dis- 
pensed them  all  over  different  districts  to  cure  the  soldiers 
among  whom  a  dangerous  pestilence  was  raging. 

5.  At  last,  however,  one  was  procured ;  but  though  he 
punctured  a  vein  over  and  over  again,  he  could  not  pro- 
duce a  single  drop  of  blood,  while  all  the  time  his  bowels 
were  burning  with  the  intensity  of  his  fever;  or  (as  some 
fancied;  because  his  limbs  were  wholly  dried  up,  in  con- 
sequence of  some  of  the  passages,  which   we  now   call 
hsernorrhoidal,  were  closed  up  and  crusted  over  through 
the  severity  of  the  cold. 

6.  The   emperor,  from  the  exceeding  violence  of  his 
agony,  felt  that  the  moment  of  his  death  was  at  hand ; 
and  attempted  to  say  something,  and  to  give  some  orders, 
as  was  indicated  by  a  sobbing,  which  shook   his  whole 
frame,  a  gnashing  of  the  teeth,  and  a  series  of  violent 
gestures  with  his  arms,  resembling  those  of  boxers  with 
the  caestus  :  at  last  he  became  exhausted,  and  covered  all 
over  with  livid  spots,  and   after  a  severe  struggle   he 
expired,  in  the  fifty-fifth  year  of  his  age,  having  reigned 
twelve  years  all  but  a  hundred  days. 

VII. 

§  1.  THIS  is  a  seasonable  opportunity  to  do  as  we  have 
often  done  before,  namely,  to  retrace  from  the  original 


566  AMMIAXUS   MARCELLINUS.  [BK.  XXX.  CH.  vn. 

appearance  of  the  father  of  this  emperor  down  to  the  time 
of  his  own  death,  all  his  actions,  just  touching  on  them 
cursorily  with  a  brief  mention,  not  omitting  to  distinguish 
between  his  vices  and  his  virtues,  both  of  which  his  lofty 
position  held  up  to  the  world;  being  a  condition  which 
naturally  reveals  the  inward  disposition  of  every  man. 

2.  The  elder  Gratian  was  born  at  Cibalse,  a  town  of 
Pannonia,  of  a  mean  family ;  and  from  his  childhood  he 
received  the  surname  of  Funarius,  because,  while  still  very 
young,  while  he  was  carrying  about  a  rope  (funem)  for 
sale,  he  resisted  the  attempt  of  five  soldiers  who  laboured 
with  all  their  might  to  take  it  from  him :  thus  rivalling 
Milo  of  Crotona,  from  whom  no  amount  of  strength  could 
ever  wrest  an  apple,  whether  he  held  it  in  his  right  or  his 
left  hand. 

3.  Therefore,   on    account    of   his   exceeding    personal 
strength,   and  his   skill   in  wrestling  after  the   military 
fashion,  he  became  well  known  to  many  persons,  was  pro- 
moted to  the  rank  of  an  officer  of  the  guard,  then  to  the 
post  of  tribune  :    after  this  he  was  made  count,  and  sent 
to  command  the  forces  in  Africa :  but  there  he  was  suspected 
of  theft ;  and  having  quitted  that  province,  he  was  some 
time  afterwards  sent  to  command  the  army  in  Britain,  with 
the  same  authority  which  he  had  enjoyed  in  Africa.     At 
length  he  received  an  honourable  discharge  from  military 
service,   and    returned    home ;    and    while    living   there 
in  quiet,  he  suddenly  had  all  his  property  confiscated  by 
Constantius,  on  the  ground  that,  when  the  civil  discord 
was  at  its  height,  he  was  said  to  have  received  Magnentius 
as  a  guest  when  passing  through  his  land  to   carry  his 
designs  into  execution. 

4.  The  merits  of  Gratian  brought  Valentinian  into  notice 
from  his  early  youth ;  and,  indeed,  he  was  further  aided 
by  his  own  eminent  qualities ;  so  that  he  received  the  orna- 
ments of  the  imperial  majesty  at  Nicaea;    when  he  also 
made  his  brother  Valens  his  colleague,  as  one  bound  to 
him  not  only  by  his  relationship  as  a  brother,  but  also 
by  the  most  perfect  agreement — Valens,  as  we  shall  show 
at  a  suitable  time,  being  made  up  almost  equally  of  vices 
and  of  virtues. 

5.  Therefore  Yalentinian,  after  having  experienced  many 
dangers  and  much  distress  as  a  private  individual,  as  soon 


A-D.3T4.]  REVIEW  OF  VALEXTlSIAN's   LIFE.  567 

as  he  began  to  reign  went  to  visit  the  towns  and  cities 
which  were  situated  on  the  rivers;  and  repaired  to  Gaul, 
which  was  exposed  to  the  inroads  of  the  Allemanni,  who 
had  begun  to  recover  their  courage  and  to  reassume  an 
imposing  attitude  since  they  had  heard  of  the  death  of  the 
Emperor  Julian — the  only  prince  whom  they  had  feared 
since  the  time  of  Constans. 

6.  And  Valentiniari  was  deservedly  dreaded  by  them 
because  he  took  care  to  keep  up  the  numbers  of  his  army 
by  strong  reinforcements,  and   because  also  he  fortified 
both  banks  of  the  Rhine  with  lofty  fortresses  and  castles, 
to  prevent  the   enemy  from  ever  passing  over  into   our 
territory  without  being  perceived. 

7.  We   may  pass  over  many  circumstances,  and  many 
acts  which  he  performed  with  the  authority  of  an  emperor 
whose    power  was   fully   established,   and    many   of   the 
reforms  which  he  either  effected  himself,  or  caused  to  be 
carried  out  by  his  vigorous  lieutenants.      But  we   must 
record   how,    after   he   had   raised   his   son  Gratian   to   a 
partnership  in   the  imperial   authority,  he  contrived  the 
secret  murder  of  Vithigabius,  the  king  of  the  Allemanni, 
and  the  son  of  Vadomarius,  a  young  man  in  the  flower  of 
youth,   who   was    actively    stirring    up    the   surrounding 
nations  to  tumults  and  wars ;  doing  this  because  he  found 
it  impossible  to  procure  his  death  openly.     How  also  he 
fought   a  battle  against  the  Allemanni   near  Solicinium, 
where  he  was    nearly  circumvented    and   slain    by  the 
manoauvres  of  the  enemy ;   but  where  at  last  he  utterly 
destroyed  their  whole  army  with  the  exception  of  a  few 
who  saved  themselves  by  the  aid  of  the  darkness  which 
assisted  the  rapidity  of  their  flight. 

8.  Amid  all  these  prudent  actions  he  also  turned   his 
attention  to  the  Saxons  who  had  lately  broken  out  with 
extreme  ferocity,  making  attacks  in  every  direction  where 
they  were  least  expected,  and  had  now  penetrated  into 
the   inland    districts,   from   which   they   were   returning 
enriched  by  a  vast  booty.     He  destroyed  them  utterly  by 
a  device  which  was  indeed  treacherous,  but  most  advan- 
tageous ;  and  he  recovered  by  force  all  the  booty  which 
the  defeated  robbers  were  carrying  off. 

9.  Nor  did  he  disregard  the  condition  of  the  Britons, 
who  were  unable  to  make  head  against  the  vast  hosts  of 


568  AMMIANUS  MARCELLINUS.  [Bit.  XXX. CH.  vm. 

their  enemies,  who  were  overrunning  their  country ; 
he  revived  their  hopes  of  better  fortune,  and  re-esta- 
blished liberty  and  steady  tranquillity  among  them  ;  rout- 
ing their  invaders  so  completely  that  scarcely  any  of  them 
returned  to  their  own  country. 

10.  With    similar  vigour    he   cnished  Valentinus   the 
Pannonian  exile  (who  was  labouring  to  disturb  the  general 
tranquillity  in  that  province),  before  his  enterprise  could 
become  dangerous.     He  also  delivered  Africa  from  great 
dangers  at  a  time  when  it  was  thrown  into  confusion  by 
an  unexpected  disaster  :  when  Firmus,  unable  to  bear  the 
greediness  and  arrogance  of  the  soldiers,  was  exciting  the 
people  of  Mauritania  to  every  kind  of  discord  and  disturb- 
ance.    With  similar  resolution  would  he  have  avenged  the 
disasters  sustained  in  Illyricum,  had  he  not  left  that  im- 
portant duty  uncompleted,  in  consequence  of  being  thus 
cut  off  by  a  premature  death. 

11.  And  although   these  various   achievements,   which 
we  have  here  recorded,  were  consummated  by  the  assist- 
ance of  his  admirable   generals,  yet  it  is  very  notorious 
that  he  himself  also  performed  many  considerable  exploits ; 
being  a  man  fertile  in  resources,  and  of  long  experience 
and  great  skill  in  military  affairs  :  and  certainly  it  would 
have  been  an  admirable  crown  to  his  great  actions  if  he  had 
been  able  to  take  King  Macrianus  alive,  who  at  that  time 
was  a  very  formidable  sovereign ;  nevertheless  he  exerted 
great  energy  in  attempting  to  do  so,  after  he  heard  that 
he  had  escaped  from  the  Burgundians,  whom  he  himself 
had  led  against  the  Allemanni ;   and  the  certainty  of  his 
escape  was  to  him  a  cause  of  great  sorrow  and  indignation. 

VIII. 

§  1.  THUS  have  I  rapidly  run  over  the  different  actions  of 
this  prince.  Now,  relying  on  the  certainty  that  posterity, 
inasmuch  as  it  is  free  both  from  fear  and  from  base  flattery, 
is  usually  an  honest  judge  of  all  past  transactions,  I  will 
rapidly  run  over  his  vices,  intending  afterwards  to  relate 
his  good  qualities. 

2.  Sometimes  he  put  on  an  affectation  of  clemency, 
though  the  bent  of  his  natural  disposition  inclined  him 
more  to  cruelty:  forgetful  forsooth,  that  by  a  man  who 


A.D.  374.]  VICES  OF  VALEyTIXIAtf.  569 

governs  a  vast  empire  extremes  of  every  kind  are  to  be 
avoided  as  rocks  by  a  mariner. 

3.  Nor  indeed  was  he  ever  found  to  be  contented  with 
moderate  punishments,  but   was  continually  commanding 
cruel  tortures  to  be  multiplied ;  so  that  many,  after  under- 
going this  murderous  kind  of  examination,  were  brought 
to  death's  door.     And  he  was  so  eager  to  inflict  injury, 
that  he  never  once  saved  any  one  who  had  been  condemned 
to  death,  by  a  milder  sentence,  though  even  the  most  in- 
human of  emperors  have  sometimes  done  so. 

4.  And  yet  he  might  have  reflected  on  many  examples 
in  former  ages;    and  he  might  have  imitated  the  many 
models  of  humanity  and  of  piety  which   he  could   have 
found    both   among   natives    of    the    empire   and    among 
those  of  foreign  extraction  (and  humanity  and  piety  are 
defined  by  philosophers  to  be  qtialities  nearly  akin).     Of 
such   instances  it  will  suffice  to   enumerate  these  which 
follow  : — Artaxerxes,  that  very  powerful  king  of  Persia,  to 
whom  the  great  length  of  one  of  his  limbs  caused  the  name 
of  Longhand  to  be  given,  wishing,  through  the  natural  lenity 
of  his  disposition,  to  reprove  the  varieties  of  punishment 
in  which  his  nation,  always  cruel,  had  hitherto  delighted, 
punished  some  criminals  by  taking  off  their  turbans  instead 
of  their  heads  :    and  instead  of  the  old  royal  fashion  of 
cutting  off  people's  ears  for  their  offences,  he  used  to  cut 
the  tassels  which  hang  from  their  caps.     And  this  modera- 
tion and  lenity  made  him  so  popular  and  respected  that 
all  the  Grecian  writers  vie  with  each  other  in  celebrating 
his  many  admirable  actions. 

5.  Again,  when  Praenestinus  was  praetor,  and  was  brought 
before  the  court  of  justice,  because,  in  the  Samnite  war, 
when  ordered  to  march  with  all   speed  to   reinforce  the 
army,   he    had   been   very   dilatory   in    his    movements, 
Papirius  Cursor,  who  at  that  time  was  dictator,  ordered 
the  lictor  to  get  ready  his  axe ;    and  when  the  praetor, 
having  discarded  all  hope  of  being  able  to  clear  himself, 
seemed  utterly  stupefied  at  the  order,  he  commanded  the 
lictor  to  cut  down  a  shrub  close  by;  and  having  in  this 
jocular  manner   reproved   him,   he   let  him  go :    without 
himself  incurring  any  disrespect  by  so  doing,  since  all 
knew  him  for  a  man  who,  by  his  own  unassisted  vigour, 
had  brought  long  and  dangerous  wars  to  a  happy  termina- 


570  AMMIANUS   MARCELLINUS.  [Us.  XXX,  CH.  vra. 

tion ;  and  had  been  the  only  man  reckoned  able  to  resist 
Alexander  the  Great  if  that  prince  had  invaded  Italy, 

6.  Valentinian,  perhaps,  was  ignorant  of  these  models  ; 
and  as  he  never  considered  that  the  mercy  of  the  emperor 
is  always  the  best  comfort  of  persons  in  distress,  he  in- 
creased all  punishments  by  his  free  use  of  both  fire  and 
sword  :  punishments  which  the  merciful  disposition  of  our 
ancestors   looked  upon  as  the  very  last  resource  in  the 
most  imminent  dangers — as  we  may  learn  from  the  beau- 
tiful sentiment  of  Isocrates,  who  continually  insists  that 
we  ought  rather  to  pardon  a  king  who  is  sometimes  de- 
feated in  war,  than  one  who  is  ignorant  of  justice. 

7.  And  it  was  under  the  influence  of  this  saying  of  his 
that  I  imagine  Cicero  uttered  that  admirable  sentence,  in 
his  defence  of  Oppius  :  "  That  indeed  to  have  greatly  con- 
tributed to  the  safety  of  one  other  person  was  an  honour 
to  many  ;  but  that  to  have  had  no  share  in  injuring  others 
had  never  been  thought  discreditable  to  any  one." 

8.  A  desire  of  increasing  his  riches  without  any  regard 
to  right  and  wrong,  and  of  hunting  out  every  kind  of  source 
of  gain,  even  at  the  cost  of  other  people's  lives,  raged  in 
this  emperor  to  a  most  excessive  degree,  and  never  flagged. 
Some,   indeed,   attempted  to   excuse   it  by  pleading  the 
example  of  the  Emperor  Aurelian ;   affirming  that  as  he, 
after   the    death  of  Gallienus    and  the   lamentable   dis- 
asters which  the  republic  suffered  at  that  time,  finding 
his  treasury  totally  exhausted,  fell  upon  the  rich  like  a 
torrent,   so  Valentinian  also,  after  the  losses  which  he 
sustained  in  his   Parthian  campaign,   being  reduced  to 
want  by  the  greatness  of  his  expenses,  in  order  to  procure 
reinforcements  for  his  army  and  pay  for  his  troops,  mingled 
with  his  severity  a  desire  of  collecting  excessive  wealth. 
Pretending  not  to  know  that  there  are  some  things  which, 
although  strictly  speaking  lawful,  still  ought  not  to  be 
done.     In  this  he  was  very  unlike  the  celebrated  The- 
mistocles  of  old  times,  who,  when  strolling  carelessly  about 
after  he  had  destroyed  the  Persian  host  in  the  battle  of 
Salamis,  and  seeing  a  number  of  golden  armlets  and  chains 
lying  on  the  ground,  said  to  one  of  his  companions  who 
was  by — "  You  may  take  up  these  things  because  you  are 
not  Themistocles,"    thinking  it  became  a  magnanimous 
general  to  spurn  any  idea  of  personal  gain. 


".J>.374.]  ENVY  OF  VALENTINIAN.  571 

9.  Many  examples  of  similar  moderation  abound  in  the 
Roman    generals ;    and  without    stopping    to    enumerate 
them,  since  such  acts  are  not  indications  of  perfect  virtue 
(for  indeed  it  is  no  great  glory  to  abstain  from  carrying 
off  other  persons'  property),  I  will  just  mention  one  single 
instance   of  the  forbearance  of  people  in  general  in  this 
respect  in  ancient  times : — When  Marius  and  Cinna  had 
given  the  Eoman  populace  leave  to  plunder  the  wealthy 
houses  of  certain  persons  whom  they  had  proscribed,  the 
minds  of  the  mob,  who,  however  uncivilized  they  might 
be,  were  accustomed  to  respect  the  rights  of  men,  refused 
to  touch  the  produce  of  other  men's  labours ;    so  that  in 
fact  no  one  could  be  found  so  needy  or  so  base  as  to  be 
willing  to  profit  by  the  miseries  of  the  state. 

10.  Besides  these  things  the  aforesaid  emperor  was  a 
prey  in  his  inmost  heart  to  a  devouring  envy ;  and  as  he 
knew  that  most  vices  put  on  a  semblance  of  virtue,  he  used 
to  be  fond  of  repeating,  that  severity  is  the  inseparable 
companion  of  lawful  power.     And  as   magistrates  of  the 
highest  rank  are  in  the  habit  of  thinking  everything  per- 
mitted to  them,  and  are  always  inclined  to  depress  those 
who  oppose  them,  and  to  humiliate  those  who  are  above 
them,  so  he  hated  all  who  were  well  dressed,  or  learned, 
or  opulent,  or  high  born ;  and  he  was  always  disparaging 
the  brave,  that  he  might  appear  to  be  the  only  person 
eminent  for  virtue.     And  this  is  a  vice  which,  as  we  read, 
was  very  flagrant  in  the  Emperor  Hadrian. 

11.  This  same  emperor  used  to  be  continually  abusing 
the  timid,   calling  them  sordid  and  base,  and  people  who 
deserved  to  be  depressed  below  the  very  lowest  of  the  low; 
and  yet  he  himself  often  grew  pale,  in  the  most  abject 
manner,  with  groundless  fears,  and  often  from  the  bottom 
of  his  soul  was  terrified  at  things  which  had  no  existence 
at  all. 

12.  Kemigius,  the  master  of  the  ceremonies,  knowing 
this,  and  also  that  Valentinian  was  used  to  get  into  furious 
passions  at  every  trifling  incident,  spread  a  report,  among 
other  things,  that  some  of  the  barbarians  were  in  motion ; 
and  the  emperor,  when  he  heard  this,  became  at  once  so 
broken-spirited  through  fear  that  he  became  as  gentle  and 
merciful  as  Antoninus  Pius. 

13.  He  never    intentionally  appointed  unjust  judges 


572  AMMIANUS   MAUCELLINUS.  [BK.  XXX.  CH.  nc. 

but  if  he  learned  that  those  whom  he  had  once  promoted 
were  acting  cruelly,  he  boasted  that  he  had  discovered 
new  Lycurguses  and  Cassiuses,  those  ancient  pillars  of 
justice ;  and  he  used  to  be  continually  exhorting  them  by 
his  letters  severely  to  chastise  even  the  slightest  errors. 

14.  Nor  had  those  who  were  under  accusations,  if  any 
misfortune  fell  upon  them,  any  refuge  in  the  kindness 
of  the  prince ;  which  ought  to  be,  as  it  were,  a  desirable 
haven  to  those  tossed  about  in  a  stormy  sea.  For,  as  wise 
men  teach  us,  "  The  advantage  and  safety  of  the  subject  is 
the  true  end  of  just  government." 

IX. 

§  1.  IT  is  natural  for  us,  after  discussing  these  topics,  if  we 
would  act  fairly,  now  to  come  to  his  virtuous  and  laudable 
actions ;  since  if  he  had  tempered  his  vices  fairly  with  them 
he  would  have  been  a  second  Trajan  or  Marcus  Aurelius. 
Towards  the  people  of  the  provinces  he  was  very  conside- 
rate, lightening  the  burden  of  their  tributes  throughout 
the  empire.  He  also  exerted  himself  in  a  very  beneficial 
manner  in  building  towns  and  strengthening  the  frontiers. 
He  was  a  strict  observer  of  military  discipline,  erring  only 
in  this  respect,  that  while  he  punished  even  slight  miscon- 
duct on  the  part  of  the  common  soldiers,  he  allowed  the 
crimes  of  the  officers  of  rank  and  of  the  generals  to  proceed 
to  greater  and  greater  lengths,  and  shut  his  ears  against 
every  complaint  that  was  uttered  against  them.  And  this 
partiality  of  his  was  the  cause  of  the  murmurs  in  Britain, 
and  the  disasters  in  Africa,  and  the  devastation  of  Illy- 
ricum. 

2.  He  was,  both  at  home  and  abroad,  a  strict  observer  of 
modesty  and  chastity,  keeping  his  conscience  wholly  free 
from  all  taint  of  impurity  or  obscenity,  and  in  consequence 
he  bridled  the  wantonness  of  the  imperial  court  as  with  a 
strong  rein  ;  and  he  was  the  more  easily  able  to  do  this  be- 
cause he  had  never  shown  any  indulgence  to  his  own  rela- 
tions, whom  he  either  kept  in  obscurity,  or  (if  he  promoted 
them  at  all)  raised  to  a  very  moderate  rank,  with  the  excep- 
tion of  his  brother,  whom,  in  deference  to  the  necessities  of 
the  times,  he  made  his  partner  in  the  imperial  dignity. 

3.  He  was  very  scrupulous  in  giving  high  rank  to  any 
one ;  nor,  as  long  as  he  was  emperor,  did  any  one  of  the 


A.D.  374.]  VIRTUES  OF  VALENTINIAN.  573 

moneyed  interest  become  ruler  of  a  province,  nor  was  any 
government  sold,  unless  it  was  at  the  beginning  of  his 
reign,  when  wicked  actions  were  sometimes  committed  in 
the  hope  that  the  new  prince  would  be  too  much  occupied 
to  punish  them. 

4.  In   waging   war,    and    in    defending   himself   from 
attacks,  he  was  prudent  and  very  skilful,  like  a  veteran  of 
great  experience  in  military  affairs.     He  was  a  very  wise 
admirer  of  all  that  was  good,  and  dissuader  from  all  that 
was  bad ;  and  a  very  accurate  observer  of  all  the  details  of 
military  service.     He  wrote  with  elegance,  and  described 
everything  with  great  neatness  and  skill  in   composition. 
He  was  an  inventor  of  new  arms.     He  had  an  excellent 
memory,  and  a  fluent,  easy  style  of  speaking,  which  at 
times  boi'dered  closely  upon  eloquence.     He  was  a  lover 
of  elegant  simplicity,  and  was  fund,  not  so  much  of  profuse 
banquets,  as  of  entertainments  directed  by  good  taste. 

5.  Lastly,   he  was   especially   remarkable    during    his 
reign  for  his  moderation  in  this  particular,  that  he  kept  a 
middle  course  between  the  different  sects  of  religion ;  and 
never  troubled  any  one,  nor  issued  any  orders  in  favour  of 
one  kind  of  worship  or  another ;  nor  did  he  promulgate 
any  threatening  edicts   to   bow  down   the  necks   of  his 
subjects  to  the  form  of  worship  to  which  he  himself  was 
inclined ;  but  he  left  these  parties  just  as  he  found  them, 
without  making  any  alterations. 

6.  His  body  was  muscular  and  strong :  the  brightness  of 
his  hair — the  brilliancy  of  his  complexion,  with  his  blue 
eyes,  which  always  looked  askance  with  a  stern  aspect — the 
beauty  of  his  figure — his  lofty  stature,  and  the  admirable 
harmony  of  all  his  features — filled  up  the  dignity  and  beauty 
of  an  appearance  which  bespoke  a  monarch. 

X. 

§  1.  AFTER  the  last  honours  had  been  paid  to  the  emperor, 
and  his  body  had  been  prepared  for  burial,  in  order  to  be 
sent  to  Constantinople  to  be  there  entombed  among  the 
remains  of  former  emperors,  the  campaign  which  was  in 
preparation  was  suspended,  and  people  began  to  be  anxious 
as  to  what  part  would  be  taken  by  the  Gallic  cohorts, 
who  were  not  always  steady  in  loyalty  to  the  lawful 


574  AMMIANUS  MARCELLINUS.  [BK.  XXX.  CH.  r. 

emperor,  but  looked  upon  themselves  as  the  disposers  of 
power,  and  were  regarded  by  others  as  very  likely  to  ven- 
ture on  some  new  enterprise  at  so  favourable  a  moment. 
This  circumstance  also  was  likely  to  aid  any  attempt  that 
might  be  made  at  a  revolution,  that  Gratian,  who  knew 
nothing  of  what  had  taken  place,  was  still  at  Treves,  where 
his  father,  when  about  to  set  out  on  his  own  expedition, 
had  desired  him  to  wait. 

2.  While  affairs  were  in  this  state  of  uncertainty,  and 
when  every  one  shared  the  same  fears,  looking  on  them- 
selves as  all  in  the  same  boat,  and  sure  to  be  partners  in 
danger,  if  danger  should  arise,  at  last  it  was  decided  by 
the  advice  of  the  principal  nobles  to  take  up  the  bridge 
which  had  been  necessarily  made  when  they  meditated 
invading  the  territories  of  the  enemy,  in  order  that,  in  com- 
pliance with  the  commands  given  by  Valentinian  while 
alive,  Merobaudes  might  be  at  once  summoned  to  the 
camp. 

3-  He,  being  a  man  of  great  cunning  and  penetration, 
divined  what  had  happened  (perhaps  indeed  he  had  been 
informed  of  it  by  the  messenger  who  brought  him  his 
summons),  and  suspecting  that  the  Gallic  troops  were 
likely  to  break  the  existing  concord,  he  pretended  that  a 
token  which  had  been  agreed  upon  had  been  sent  to  him 
that  he  was  to  return  with  the  messenger  to  watch  the 
banks  of  the  Rhine;  since  the  fury  of  the  barbarians  was 
again  menacing  hostilities,  and  (in  compliance  with  a 
secret  injunction  which  he  received  at  the  same  time)  he 
removed  to  a  distance.  Sebastian  also  as  yet  was  ignorant 
of  the  death  of  the  emperor  ;  and  he  being  an  orderly  and 
quietly  disposed  man,  but  very  popular  among  the  soldiers, 
required  on  that  account  to  be  strictly  watched. 

4.  Accordingly  when  Merobaudes  had  returned,  the  chief 
men  took  careful  counsel  as  to  what  was  to  be  done ;  and 
at  last  it  was  arranged  that  the  child  Valentinian,  the  son 
of  the  deceased  emperor,  at  that  time  a  boy  of  four  years 
old,  should  be  associated  in  the  imperial  power.  He  was 
at  present  a  hundred  miles  off,  living  with  his  mother, 
Jnetina,  in  a  small  town  called  Murocincta. 

o.  This  decision  was  ratified  by  the  unanimous  consent 
of  all  parties ;  and  Cerealis,  his  uncle,  was  sent  with  speed 
to  Murocincta,  where  he  placed  the  royal  child  on  a  litter. 


A.D.  374.]  VALENT1XIAN    II.  575 

and  so  conducted  him  to  the  camp.  On  the  sixth  day  after 
^ris  father's  death,  he  was  declared  lawful  emperor,  and 
saluted  as  Augustus  with  the  usual  solemnities. 

6.  And  although  at  the  time  many  persons  thought  that 
Gratian  would  be  indignant  that  any  one  else  had  been 
appointed  emperor  without  his  permission,  yet  afterwards, 
when  all  fear  and  anxiety  was  removed,  they  lived  in 
greater  security,  because  he,  wise  and  kindhearted  man  as 
he  was,  loved  his  young  relative  with  exceeding  affection, 
and  brought  him  up  with  great  care. 


BOOK   XXXI. 


ARGUMENT. 

I.  Omens  announcing  the  death  of  the  Emperor  Valens,  and  a  disaster 
to  be  inflicted  by  the  Gauls. — II.  A  description  of  the  abodes  and 
customs  of  the  Huns,  the  Alani,  and  other  tribes,  natives  of  Asiatic 
Scythia. — III.  The  Huns,  either  by  arms  or  by  treaties,  unite  the 
Alani  on  the  Don  to  themselves  ;  invade  the  Goths,  and  drive 
them  from  their  country. — IV.  The  chief  division  of  the  Goths, 
surnamed  the  Thuringians,  having  been  expelled  from  their 
homes,  by  permission  of  Valens  are  conducted  by  the  Romans 
into  Thrace,  on  condition  of  promising  obedience  and  a  supply  of 
auxiliary  troops.  The  Grutlmngi  also,  who  form  the  other  divi» 
Bion  of  the  Goths,  secretly  cross  the  Danube  by  a  bridge  of  boats. 
— V.  The  Thuringians  being  in  great  distress  from  hunger  and 
the  want  of  supplies,  under  the  command  of  their  generals  Ala- 
vivus  and  Fritigern,  revolt  from  Valens,  and  defeat  Lupicinus  and 
his  army. — VI.  Why  Sueridus  and  Colias.  nobles  of  the  Gothic 
nation,  after  having  been  received  in  a  friendly  manner,  revolted  ; 
and  after  slaying  the  people  of  Hadrianopolis,  united  themselves 
to  Fritigern,  and  then  turned  to  ravage  Thrace.— VII.  Profuturus, 
Trajan,  and  Richomeres  fought  a  drawn  battle  against  the  Goths. 
— VIII.  The  Goths  being  hemmed  in  among  the  defiles  at  the 
bottom  of  the  Balkan,  after  the  Romans  by  returning  had  let  them 
escape,  invaded  Thrace,  plundering,  massacring,  ravishing,  and 
burning,  and  slay  Barzimeres,  the  tribune  of  the  Scutarii. — 
IX.  Frigeridus,  Gratian's  general,  routs  Farnobius  at  the  head 
of  a  large  body  of  Goths  and  Taifalae  ;  sparing  the  rest,  and 
giving  them  some  lands  around  the  Po. — X.  The  I«ntiensian 


570  AMMIANUS   MARCELLINUS.  [Bit.  XXXI.  CH.  t. 

Alemanni  are  defeated  in  battle  by  the  generals  of  the  em- 
peror Gratian,  and  their  king  Priainis  is  slain.  Afterwards,  having 
yielded  and  furnished  Gratian  with  a  body  of  recruits,  they  are 
allowed  to  return  to  their  own  country. — XI.  Sebastian  surprises 
the  Goths  at  Bertea  as  they  are  returning  home  loaded  with  plun- 
der, and  defeats  them  with  great  slaughter ;  a  few  saved  them- 
selves by  flight.  Gratian  hastens  to  his  uncle  Valens,  to  carry 
him  aid  against  the  Goths. — XII.  Valens,  before  the  arrival  of 
Gratian  resolves  to  fight  the  Goths. — XIII.  All  the  Goths  unite 
together,  that  is  to  say,  the  Thuringians,  under  their  king  Friti- 
gern.  The  Gruthungi,  under  their  dukes  Alatheus  and  Salaees, 
encounter  the  Romans  in  a  pitched  battle,  rout  their  cavalry,  and 
then  falling  on  the  infantry  when  deprived  of  the  support  of  their 
horse,  and  huddled  together  in  a  dense  body,  they  defeat  them 
with  enormous  loss,  and  put  them  to  flight.  Valens  is  slain,  but 
his  body  cannot  be  found. — XIV.  The  virtues  and  vices  of  Valens. 
— XV.  The  victorious  Goths  besiege  Hadrianopolis,  where  Vuleng 
had  left  his  treasures  and  his  insignia  of  imperial  rank,  with  the 
prefect  and  the  members  of  his  council ;  but  after  trying  every 
means  to  take  the  city,  without  success,  they  at  last  retire. — 
XVI.  The  Goths,  having  by  bribes  won  over  the  forces  of  the 
Huns  and  of  the  Alani  to  join  them,  make  an  attack  upon  Con- 
stantinople without  success.  The  device  by  which  Julius,  the 
commander  of  the  forces  beyond  Mount  Taurus,  delivered  the 
eastern  provinces  from  the  Goths. 

I. 

A.D.  375. 

§  1.  IN  the  mean  time  the  swift  wheel  of  Fortune,  which 
continually  alternates  adversity  with  prosperity,  was  giving 
Bellona  the  Furies  for  her  allies,  and  arming  her  for  war ; 
and  now  transferred  our  disasters  to  the  East,  as  many 
presages  and  portents  foreshowed  by  undoubted  signs. 

2.  For  after  many  true  prophecies  uttered  by  diviners  and 
augurs,  dogs  were  seen  to  recoil  from  howling  wolves,  and  the 
birds  of  night  constantly  uttered  querulous  and  mournful 
cries;  and  lurid  sunrises  made  the  mornings  dark.     Also, 
at  Antioch,  among  the  tumults  and  squabbles  of  the  popu- 
lace, it  had  come  to  be  a  custom  for  any  one  who  fancied 
himself  ill  treated  to  cry  out  in  a  licentious  manner,  "  May 
Valens  be  burnt  alive !"     And  the  voices  of  the  criers  were 
constantly  heard  ordering  wood  to  be  carried  to  warm  the 
baths  of  Valens,  which  had  been  built  under  the  super- 
tendence  of  the  emperor  himself. 

3.  All  which    circumstances  all  but   pointed    out    in 
express  words  that  the  end  of  the  eir.peror's  life  was  at 


•J>.  375.]  NEWS   OF    THE    DEATH   OF    VALENS.  61* 

iiand.  Besides  all  these  things,  the  ghost  of  the  king  of 
Armenia,  and  the  miserable  shades  of  those  who  had  lately 
been  put  to  death  in  the  afl'air  of  Theodoras,  agitated 
numbers  of  people  with  terrible  alarms,  appearing  to  them 
in  their  sleep,  and  shrieking  out  verses  of  horrible  import.1 
4.  ...  and  its  death  indicated  an  extensive  and  general 
calamity  arising  from  public  losses  and  deaths.  Last  of 
all,  when  the  ancient  walls  of  Chalcedon  were  thrown 
•^own  in  order  to  build  a  bath  at  Constantinople,  and  the 
&  tones  were  torn  asunder,  on  one  squared  stone  which  was 
hidden  in  the  very  centre  of  the  walls  these  Greek  verses 
were  found  engraved,  which  gave  a  full  revelation  of  what 
was  to  happen  : — 

"  'AAA'  Sirorai/  vv/j.(pai  Spocrepfj  Kara  aff-rv  "^opfir/ 
T(pir6/j,fi>ai  ffrptydivrai  fii(TTff<pas  /car"  o-ytuay 
Kal  rer^oj  \ovrpoio  iro\vaTOVov  fffffrrai  &.\KO.\ 
A))  rdrt  /j.vpia  <pv\a  Tro\vffirfp(cay  a.v6p<atru>v 
"Iffrpov  Ka\\tpdoio  iropof  iffpaovTa.  ffvv  aixjifj 
Kal  2/cv0iKV  oXeVet  x&PW  Ka^  Mwri'Sa  yalav 
Flaioi/njs  S'tirtfiavra  avv  avv  t\irifft  fj,aivo^tv^aiv 
AUTOV  Kal  fitoTO  o  TE'AOS  /cot  Sripis  f<pf£ei." 

TRANSLATION. 

*  But  when  young  wives  and  damsels  blithe,  in  dances  that  delight, 
Shall  glide  along  the  city  streets,  with  garlands  gaily  bright ; 
And  when  these  walls,  with  sad  regrets,  shall  fall  to  raise  a  bath, 
Then  shall  the  Huns  in  multitude  break  fortli  with  might  and  wrutlu 
By  force  of  arms  the  barrier-stream  of  Ister  they  shall  cross, 
O'er  Scythic  ground  and  Mcesian  lands  spreading  dismay  and  loss : 
They  shall  Pannonian  horsemen  brave,  and  Gallic  soldiers  slay, 
And  nought  but  loss  of  life  and  breath  their  course  shall  ever  stay." 

II. 

§  1.  THE  following  circumstances  were  the  original  cause 
of  all  the  destruction  and  various  calamities  which  the 
fury  of  Mars  roused  up,  throwing  everything  into  confu- 
sion by  his  usual  ruinous  violence :  the  people  called 
Huns,  slightly  mentioned  in  the  ancient  records,  live  be- 
yond the  Sea  of  Azov,  on  the  border  of  the  Frozen  Ocean, 
and  are  a  race  savage  beyond  all  parallel. 

2.  At  the  very  moment  of  their  birth  the  cheeks  of  their 
infant  children  are  deeply  marked  by  an  iron,   in  order 

1  The  text  is  unusually  mutilated  here.     It  has  been  proposed  tc» 
iasert,  "  A  little  goat  with  its  throat  cut  was  found  dead  in  the  street." 


678  -        AMMIANUS    MARCELLINDS.  [BK.  XXXI.  ClT.  K. 

that  the  usual  vigour  of  their  hair,  instead  of  growing  at 
the  proper  season,  may  be  withered  by  the  wrinkled  seal's ; 
and  accordingly  they  grow  up  without  beards,  and  conse- 
quently without  any  beauty,  like  ennuchs,  though  they  all 
have  closely-knit  and  strong  limbs,  and  plump  necks ; 
they  are  of  great  size,  and  low  legged,  so  that  you  might 
fancy  them  two-legged  beasts,  or  the  stout  figures  which 
are  hewn  out  in  a  rude  manner  with  an  axe  on  the  posts  at 
the  end  of  bridges. 

3.  They  are  certainly  in  the  shape  of  men,  however 
uncouth,  but  are  so  hardy  that  they  neither  require  fire 
nor  well-flavoured  food,   but  live   on  the  roots  of  such 
herbs  as  they  get  in  the  fields,  or  on  the  half-raw  flesh 
of    any   animal,    which    they   merely   warm    rapidly   by 
placing  it   between  their  own  thighs  and  the   backs  of 
their  horses. 

4.  They  never  shelter  themselves  under  roofed  houses, 
but  avoid  them  as  people  ordinarily  avoid  sepulchres  as 
things  not  fitted  for  common  use.     Nor  is  there  even  to  be 
found  among  them  a  cabin  thatched  with  reed ;  but  they 
wander  about,  roaming  over  the  mountains  and  the  woods, 
and  accustom  themselves  to  bear  frost  and  hunger  and 
thirst  from  their  very  cradles.     And  even  when  abroad 
they  never  enter  a  house  unless  under  the  compulsion  of 
some  extreme  necessity ;  nor,  indeed,  do  they  think  people 
under  roofs  as  safe  as  others. 

5.  They  wear  linen  clothes,  or  else  garments  made  of  the 
skins  of  field-mice :  nor  do  they  wear  a  different  dress  out 
of  doors  from  that  which  they  wear  at  home ;  but  after  a 
tunic  is  once  put  round  their  necks,  however  it  becomes 
worn,  it  is  never  taken  off  or  changed  till,  from  long  decay, 
it  becomes  actually  so  ragged  as  to  fall  to  pieces. 

6.  They  cover  their  heads  with  round  caps,  and  their 
shaggy  legs  with  the  skins  of  kids ;    their  shoes  are  not 
made  on  any  lasts,  but  are  so  unshapely  as  to  hinder  them 
from  walking  with  a  free  gait.     And  for  this  reason  they 
are  not  well  suited  to  infantry  battles,  but  ar<j   nearly 
always  on  horseback,  their   horses   being  ill-shaped,  but 
hardy ;    and   sometimes    they   even   sit    upon   them    like 
women  if  they  want  to  do  anything  more  conveniently. 
There  is  not  a  person  in  the  whole  nation  who  cannot  remain 
on  his  horse  day  and  night.     On  horseback  they  buy  and 


4.D.  375.]  DESCRIPTION"    OF   THE   HUNS,  ETC.  579 

sell,  they  take  their  meat  and  drink,  and  there  they  recline 
on  the  narrow  neck  of  their  steed,  and  yield  to  sleep  so 
deep  as  to  indulge  in  every  variety  of  dream. 

7.  .And  when  any  deliberation  is  to  take  place  on  any 
weighty  matter,  they  all  hold  their  common  council  on 
horseback.     They  are  not  under  the  authority  of  a  king, 
but  are  contented  with  the  irregular  government  of  their 
nobles,  and  under  their  lead  they  force  their  way  through 
all  obstacles. 

8.  Sometimes   when  provoked,  they  fight;    and  when 
they  go  into  battle,  they  form  in  a  solid  body,  and  utter  all 
kinds   of  terrific  yells.     They  are  very  quick  in  their 
operations,  of  exceeding   speed,    and   fond   of  surprising 
their  enemies.     With  a  view  to  this,  they  suddenly  dis- 
perse, then  reunite,  and  again,  after  having  inflicted  vast 
loss  upon  the  enemy,  scatter  themselves  over  the  whole 
plain  in  irregular  formations :  always  avoiding  a  fort  or  an 
entrenchment. 

9.  And  in  one  respect  you  may  pronounce  them  the 
most  formidable  of  all  warriors,  for  when  at  a  distance 
they  use  missiles  of  various  kinds  tipped  with  sharpened 
bones  instead  of  the  usual  points  of  javelins,   and  these 
bones  are  admirably  fastened  into  the  shaft  of  the  javelin 
or  arrow ;  but  when  they  are  at  close  quarters  they  fight 
with  the  sword,  without  any  regard  for  their  own  safety ; 
and  often  while  their  antagonists  are  warding  off  their 
blows  they  entangle  them  with  twisted  cords,  so  that,  their 
hands  being  fettered,  they  lose  all  power  of  either  riding 
or  walking. 

10.  None  of  them  plough,  or  even  touch  a  plough-handle  : 
for  they  have  no  settled  abode,  but  are  homeless  and  law- 
less, perpetually  wandering  with  their  waggons,  which  they 
make  their  homes ;  in  fact  they  seem  to  be  people  always 
in  flight.     Their  wives  live  in  these  waggons,  and  there 
weave  their  miserable  garments  ;  and  here  too  they  sleep 
with  their  husbands,  and  bring  up  their  children  till  they 
reach  the  age  of  puberly;  nor,  if  asked,  can  any  one  of 
them  tell  you  where  he  was  born,  as  he  was  conceived  in 
one  place,  born  in  another  at  a  great  distance,  and  brought 
up  in  another  still  more  remote. 

11.  In  truces  they  are  treacherous  and  inconstant,  being 
liable  to  change  their  minds  at  every  breeze  of  every  fresh 


580  AMMIAXUS   MARCELLINUS.  [Bit.  XXXI.  Cn.  11, 

hope  which  presents  itself,  giving  themselves  up  wholly 
to  the  impulse  and  inclination  of  the  moment;  and,  like 
brute  beasts,  they  are  utterly  ignorant  of  the  distinction, 
between  right  and  wrong.  They  express  themselves  with 
great  ambiguity  and  obscurity ;  have  no  respect  for  any 
religion  or  superstition  whatever ;  are  immoderately  covet- 
ous of  gold;  and  are  so  fickle  and  irascible,  that  they 
very  often  on  the  same  day  that  they  quarrel  with  their 
companions  without  any  provocation,  again  become  recon- 
ciled to  them  without  any  mediator. 

1 2.  This  active  and  indomitable  race,  being  excited  by 
an  unrest  rainable  desire  of  plundering  the  possessions  of 
others,  went  on  ravaging  and  slaughtering  all  the  nations 
in  their  neighbourhood  till  they  reached  the  Alani,  who 
were   formerly   called    the   Massagetse ;    and    from   what 
country  these  Alani  come,  or  what  territories  they  inhabit 
(since  my  subject  has  led  me  thus  far),  it  is  expedient  now 
to  explain :    after  showing  the  confusion  existing  in  the 
accounts  of  the  geographers,  who  ....  at  last  have  found 
out  ....  of  truth. 

13.  The  Danube,  which  is  greatly  increased  by  other 
rivers  falling  into  it,  passes  through  the  territory  of  the 
Sauromatse,    which    extends    as    far    as    the    river   Don, 
the  boundary  between  Asia  and  Europe.     On  the  other 
side  of  this  river  the  Alani  inhabit  the  enormous  deserts 
of  Soythia,  deriving  their  own  name  from  the  mountains 
around  :  and  they,  like  the  Persians,  having  gradually  svb- 
dued  all  the  bordering  nations  by  repeated  victories,  have 
united  them  to  themselves,  and  comprehended  them  under 
their  own  name.     Of  these  other  tribes  the  Neuri  inhabit 
the    inland   districts,    being   near    the   highest   mountain 
chains,  which  are  both  precipitous  and  covered  with  the 
everlasting  frost   of  the   north.      Next   to   them  are   the 
Budini  and  the  Geloni,  a  race  of  exceeding  ferocity,  who 
flay  the  enemies  they  have  slain  in  battle,  and  make  of  their 
skins  clothes  for  themselves  and  trappings  for  their  horses. 
Next  to  the  Geloni  are  the  Agathyi-si,  who  dye  both  their 
bodies  and  their  hair  of  a  blue  colour,  the  lower  classes 
using  spots  few  in  number  and  small — the  nobles  broad 
spots,  close  and  thick,  and  of  a  deeper  hue. 

1 5.  Next  to  these  are  the  Melanchlaenae  and  the  Anthro- 
pophagi,  who  roam  about  upon  different  tracts  of  land  and 


A.D.  375.  DESCRIPTION    OF   THE   ALAXI.  581 

live  on  human  flesh.  And  these  men  are  so  avoided  on 
account  of  their  horrid  food,  that  all  the  tribes  which  were 
their  neighbours  have  removed  to  a  distance  from  them. 
And  in  this  way  the  whole  of  that  region  to  the  north-east, 
till  you  come  to  the  Chinese,  is  uninhabited. 

16.  On  the  other  side  the  Alani  again  extend  io  the  east, 
near   the   territories   of  the  Amazons,  and   are   scattered 
among  many  populous  and  wealthy  nations,  stretching  to 
the  parts  of  Asia  which,  as  I  am  told,  extend  up  to  the 
Ganges,  a  river  which  passes  through  the  country  of  the 
Indians,  and  falls  inlo  the  Southern  Ocean. 

17.  Then  the  Alani,  being  thus  divided  among  the  two 
quarters  of  the  globe  (the  various  tribes  which  make  up 
the  whole  nation   it   is   not  worth  while  to  enumerate), 
although   widely   separated,    wander,   like    the   Nomades, 
over  enormous  districts.     But  iu  the  progress  of  time  all 
these  tribes  came  to  be  united  under  one  generic  appella- 
tion, and  are  called  Alani 

18.  They  have  no  cottages,  and  never  use  the  plough, 
but   live   solely  on  meat   and   plenty  of  milk,    mounted 
on  their  waggons,  which  they  cover  with  a  curved  awning 
made  of  the  bark  of  trees,  and  then  drive  them  through 
their   boundless  deserts.      And  when   they  come  to  any 
pasture-land,  they  pitch  their  waggons  in   a  circle,  and 
live  like  a  herd  of  beasts,  eating  up  all  the  forage — cany- 
ing,  as  it  were,  their  cities  with  them  in  their  waggons. 
In  them  the  husbands  sleep  with  their  wives — in  them 
their  children  are  born  and  brought  up  ;  these  waggons,  in 
short,  are  their  perpetual  habitation,  and  wherever  they 
fix  them,  that  place  they  look  upon  as  their  home. 

19.  They  drive  before  them  their  flocks  and  herds  to 
their  pasturage  ;  and,  above  all  other  cattle,  they  are  espe- 
cially careful  of  their  horses.     The  fields  in  that  country 
are  always  green,  and  are  interspersed  with  patches  of  fruit 
trees,  so  that,  wherever  they  go,  there  is  no  dearth  either 
of  food  for  themselves  or  fodder  for  their  cattle.     And  this 
is  caused  by  the  moisture  of  the  soil,  and  the  number  of 
the  rivers  which  flow  through  these  districts. 

20.  All  their  old  people,  and  especially  all  the  weaker 
sex,  keep  close  to  the  waggons,  and  occupy  themselves  in 
the  lighter  employments.     But  the  young  men,  who  from 
their  earliest  childhood  are  trained  to  the  use  of  horses, 


582  AMMIANUS    MAUCELUNUS.  ^K.  XXXI.  CH.  n. 

think  it  beneath  them  to  walk.  They  are  also  all  trained 
by  careful  discipline  of  various  sorts  to  become  skilful 
warriors.  And  this  is  the  reason  why  the  Persians,  who 
are  originally  of  Scythian  extraction,  are  very  skilful  in 
war. 

21.  Nearly  all  the  Alani  are  men  of  great  stature  and 
beauty ;    their  hair  is  somewhat  yellow,  their  eyes   are 
terribly  fierce  ;  the  lightness  of  their  armour  renders  them 
rapid  in  their  movements ;  and  they  are  in  every  respect 
equal  to  the  Huns,  only  more  civilized  in  their  food  and 
their  manner  of  life.     They  plunder  and  hunt  as  far  as  the 
Sea  of  Azov  and  the  Cimmerian  Bosphorus,  ravaging  also 
Armenia  and  Media. 

22.  And  as  ease  is  a  delightful  thing  to  men  of  a  quiet 
and  placid  disposition,  so  danger  and  war  are  a  pleasure  to 
the  Alani,  and  among  them  that  man  is  called  happy  who 
has  lost  his  life  in  battle.     For  those  who  grow  old,  or 
who  go  out  of  the  world  from  accidental  sicknesses,  they 
pursue  with  bitter  reproaches  as  degenerate  and  cowardly. 
Nor  is  there  anything  of  which  they  boast  with  more  pride 
than  of  having  killed  a  man  :  and  the  most  glorious  spoils 
they  esteem  the   scalps  which  they  have   torn  from  the 
heads  of  those  whom  they  have  slain,  which  they  put  as 
trappings  and  ornaments  on  their  war-horses. 

23.  Nor  is  there   any  temple  or  shrine   seen  in  their 
country,  nor  even  any  cabin  thatched  with  straw,  their 
only  idea  of  religion  being  to  plunge  a  naked  sword  into 
the  ground  with  barbaric  ceremonies,  and  then  they  wor- 
ship that  with  great  respect,  as  Mars,  the  presiding  deity 
of  the  regions  over  which  they  wander. 

24.  They  presage  the  future  in  a  most  remarkable  man- 
ner ;  for  they  collect  a  number  of  straight  twigs  of  osier, 
then  with  certain  secret  incantations  they  separate  them 
from  one  another  on  particular  days ;  and  from  them  they 
learn  clearly  what  is  about  to  happen. 

25.  They  have  no  idea  of  slavery,  inasmuch  as  they 
themselves   are  all    born   of   noble   families ;    and  those 
whom  even  now  they  appoint  to  be  judges  are  always  men 
of  proved  experience  and  skill  in  war.     But  now  let  u« 
return  to  the  subject  which  we  proposed  to  ourselves. 


*.D.  3T5.]  WARS  OF  THE   HUNS.  583 


III. 

§  1.  THEREFORE  the  Huns,  after  having  traversed  the  terri- 
tories of  the  Alani,  and  especially  of  that  tribe  of  them 
who  border  on  the  Gruthungi,  and  who  are  called  Tanaitse, 
and  having  slain  many  of  them  and  acquired  much  plun- 
der, they  made  a  treaty  of  friendship  and  alliance  with 
those  who  remained.  And  when  they  had  united  them 
to  themselves,  with  increased  boldness  they  made  a  sudden 
incursion  into  the  extensive  and  fertile  districts  of  Ermen- 
richus,  a  very  warlike  prince,  and  one  whom  his  numerous 
gallant  actions  of  every  kind  had  rendered  formidable  to 
all  the  neighbouring  nations. 

2.  He  was  astonished  at  the  violence  of  this  sudden 
tempest,  and  although,  like  a  prince  whose  power  was  well 
established   he   long   attempted    to   hold   his   ground,   he 
was  at  last  overpowered  by  a  dread  of  the  evils  impending 
over  his  country,  which  were   exaggerated  by  common 
report,  till  he  terminated  his  fear  of  great  danger  by  a 
voluntary  death. 

3.  After  his  death  Vithimiris  was  made  king.      He  for 
some  time  maintained  a  resistance  to  the  Alani,  relying  on 
the  aid  of  other  tribes  of  the  Huns,  whom  by  large  pro- 
mises of  pay  he  had  won  over  to  his  party ;    but,  after 
having  suffered  many  losses,  he  was  defeated  by  superior 
numbers  and  slain  in  battle.     He  left  an  infant  son  named 
Viderichus,  of  whom  Alatheus  and  Saphrax  undertook  the 
guardianship,  both  generals  of  great  experience  and  proved 
courage.    And  when  they,  yielding  to  the  difficulties  of  the 
crisis,  had  given  up  all  hope  of  being  able  to  make  an 
effectual  resistance,   they  retired  with  caution   till   they 
came  to  the  river  Dniester,  which  lies  between  the  Danube 
and  the   Dnieper,   and  flows  through  a  vast   extent  of 
country. 

4.  \Vhen  Athanaric,  the  chief  magistrate  of  the  Thurin- 
gians  (against  whom,  as  I  have  already  mentioned,  Valens 
had  begun  to  wage  war,  to  punish  him  for  having  sent 
assistance  to  Procopius),  had  become  informed  of  these 
unexpected    occurrences,   he    prepared    to    maintain    his 
ground,  with  a  resolution  to  rise  up  in  strength  should  he 
be  assailed  as  the  others  had  been. 


584  AMMIAXUS   MARCELLINUS.  [Bit.  XXXI.  CH.  lit. 

5.  At  last  he  pitched  his  camp  at  a  distance  in  a  very 
favourable  spot  near  the  banks  of  the  Dniester  and  the 
vtflleys  of  the  Gruthungi,   and  sent   Muderic,  who  after- 
wards became  Duke  of  the  Arabian  frontier,  with  Lagari- 
manus  and  others  of  the  nobles,  with  orders  to  advance  for 
twenty  miles,  to  reconnoitre  the  approach  of  the  enemy ; 
while  in  the  mean  time  he  himself,  without  delay,  mar- 
shalled his  troops  in  line  of  battle. 

6.  However,  things  turned  out  in  a  manner  very  con- 
trary to  his  expectations.      For  the   Huns  (being  very 
sagacious  in  conjectures)  suspecting  that  there  must  be  a 
considerable  multitude  further  off,  contrived  to  pass  beyond 
those  they  had  seen,  and  arranged  themselves  to  take  their 
rest  where  there  was  nothing  at  hand  to  disturb  them ;  and 
then,  when  the  moon  dispelled  the  darkness  of  night,  they 
forded  the  river,  which  was  the  best  plan  that  presented 
itself,  and  fearing  lest  the  piquets  at  the  outposts  might 
give  the  alarm  to  the  distant  camp,  they  made  all  possible 
speed  and  advanced  with  the  hope  of  surprising  Athauario 
himself. 

7.  He  was  stupefied  at  the  suddenness  of  their  onset,  and, 
after  losing  many  of  his  men,  was  compelled  to  flee  fur 
refuge  to  the  precipitous  mountains  in  the  neighbourhood, 
where,  being  wholly  bewildered  with  the  strangeness  of 
this  occurrence,  and  the  fear  of  greater  evils  to  come,  he 
began  to  fortify  with  lofty  walls  all  the  territory  between 
the  banks  of  the  river  Pruth  and  the  Danube,  where  it 
passes  through  the  lands  of  the  Taifali,  and  he  completed 
this  line  of  fortification  with  great  diligence,  thinking  that 
by  this  step  he  should  secure  his  own  personal  safety. 

8.  \Yhile  this  important  work  was  going  on,  the  Huns 
kept  pi'essing   on  his  traces  with  great  speed,  and  they 
would  have  overtaken  and   destroyed   him   if   they  had 
not  been  forced  to  abandon  the  pursuit  from  being  impeded 
by  the  great  quantity  of  their  booty.     In  the  mean  time  a 
report  spread  extensively  through  the  other  nations  of  the 
Goths,  that  a  race  of  men,  hitherto  unknown,  had   sud- 
denly descended  like  a  whirlwind  from  the  lofty  moun- 
tains, as  if  they  had  risen  from  some  secret  recess  of  the 
earth,  and  were  ravaging  and  destroying  everything  which 
came  in  their  way.      And  then  the  greater  part  of  the 
population  which,  because   of  their  want  of  necessaries, 


AJ>.  376.]  THE   THURINGIAN   GOTHS.  585 

had  deserted  Athanaric,  resolved  to  flee  and  to  seek  a  home 
remote  from  all  knowledge  of  the  barbarians ;  and  after  a 
long  deliberation  where  to  fix  their  abode,  they  resolved 
that  a  retreat  into  Thrace  was  the  most  suitable  for  these 
two  reasons :  first  of  all,  because  it  is  a  district  most  fer- 
tile in  grass;  and  also  because,  by  the  great  breadth  of 
the  Danube,  it  is  wholly  separated  from  the  barbarians, 
who  were  already  exposed  to  the  thunderbolts  of  foreign 
warfare.  And  the  whole  population  of  the  tribe  adopted 
this  resolution  unanimously. 

IY. 

A.D.  376. 

§  1.  ACCORDINGLY,  under  the  command  of  their  leader 
Alavivus,  they  occupied  the  banks  of  the  Danube ;  and 
having  sent  ambassadors  to  Valens,  they  humbly  entreated 
to  be  received  by  him  as  his  subjects,  promising  to  live 
quietly,  and  to  furnish  a  body  of  auxiliary  troops  if  any 
necessity  for  such  a  force  should  arise. 

2.  \Vhile  these  events  were  passing  in  foreign  countries, 
a  terrible  rumour  arose  that  the  tribes  of  the  north  were 
planning  new  and  unprecedented  attacks  upon  us:   and 
that  over  the  whole  region  which  extends  from  the  country 
of  the  Marcomanni  and  Quadi  to  Pontus,  a  barbarian  host 
composed  of  different  distant  nations,  which  had  suddenly 
been  driven  by  force  from  their  own  country,  was  now,  with 
all  their  families,  wandering  about  in  different  directions 
on  the  banks  of  the  river  Danube. 

3.  At  first  this  intelligence  was  lightly  treated  by  our 
people,  because  they  were  not  in  the  habit  of  hearing  of 
any  wars  in  those  remote  districts  till  they  were  terminated 
either  by  victory  or  by  treaty. 

4.  But  presently,  as  the  belief  in  these  occurrences  grew 
stronger,  being  confirmed,  too,  by  the  arrival  of  the  foreign 
ambassadors,   who,   with   prayers  and  earnest   entreaties, 
begged  that  the  people  thus  driven  from  their  homes  and 
now  encamped  on  the  other  side  of  the  river,  might  be 
kindly  received  by  us,  the  affair  seemed  a  cause  of  joy 
rather  than  of  fear,  according  to  the  skilful  flatterers  who 
were  always  extolling  and  exaggerating  the  good  fortune 


586  AMMIANUS   MARCELL1NUS.  [Bs.  XXXI.  CH  IT. 

of  the  emperor ;  congratulating  him  that  an  embassy  had 
come  from  the  furthest  corners  of  the  earth  unexpectedly, 
offering  him  a  large  body  of  recruits ;  and  that,  by  com- 
bining the  strength  of  his  own  nation  with  these  foreign 
forces,  he  would  have  an  army  absolutely  invincible ; 
observing  further  that,  by  the  yearly  payment  for  military 
reinforcements  which  came  in  every  year  from  the  pro- 
vinces, a  vast  treasure  of  gold  might  be  accumulated  in  his 
coffers. 

5.  Full  of  this  hope  he  sent  forth  several  officers  to 
bring  this  ferocious  people  and  their  waggons  into  our 
territory.     And   such   gre&t  pains  were  taken   to  gratify 
this  nation  which  was  destined  to  overthrow  the  empire 
of  Eome,  that  not  one  was  left  behind,  not  even  of  those 
who  were  stricken  with  mortal  disease.     Moreover,  having 
obtained  permission  of  the  emperor  to  cross  the  Danube 
and  to  cultivate   some  districts  in  Thrace,  they  crossed 
the  stream  day  and   night,  without  ceasing,  embarking 
in  troops   on   board  ships   and  rafts,   and  canoes    made 
of  the  hollow  trunks  of  trees,  in  which  enterprise,  as  the 
Danube  is  the  most  difficult  of  all  rivers  to  navigate, 
and  was  at  that  time  swollen  with  continual  rains,  a  great 
many  were  drowned,  who,  because  they  were  too  nume- 
rous for  the  vessels,  tried  to  swim  across,  and  in  spite  of 
all  their  exertions  were  swept  away  by  the  stream. 

6.  In  this  way,  through  the   turbulent  zeal  of  violent 
people,  the  ruin  of  the  Roman  empire  was  brought  on.   This, 
at  all  events,  is  neither  obscure  nor  uncertain,  that  the 
unhappy  officers  who  were  intrusted  with  the  charge  of 
conducting  the  multitude   of  the  barbarians  across   the 
river,  though  they  repeatedly  endeavoured  to  calculate  their 
numbers,  at  last  abandoned  the  attempt  as  hopeless  :  and 
the  man  who  would  wish  to  ascertain  the  number  might 
as  well  (as  the  most  illustrious  of  poets  l  says)  attempt  to 
count  the  waves  in  the  African  sea,  or  the  grains  of  sand 
tossed  about  by  the  zephyr. 

7.  Let,  however,  the  ancient  annals  be  accredited  which 
record  that  the  Persian  host  which  was  led  into  Greece, 
was,  while  encamped   on   the   shores  of  the  Hellespont, 
and  making  a  new  and  artificial  sea,*  numbered  in  bat- 

1  Virg.  Georg.,  II.  106. 

8  Ammianus  here  alludes  to  the  canal  cut  through  Mount  Athos. 


A.D.376.]  THE   GRUTHCJNGIAN   GOTHS.  637 

talions  at  Doriscus ;  a  computation  which  has  been  unani- 
mously regarded  by  all  posterity  as  fabulous. 

8.  But  after  the   innumerable   multitudes  of  different 
nations,   diffused  over  all  our  provinces,  and  spreading 
themselves  over  the  vast  expanse  of  our  plains,  who  filled 
all  the  champaign  country  and  all  the  mountain  ranges,  are 
considered,  the  credibility  of  the  ancient  accounts  is  con- 
firmed by  this  modern  instance.      And  first  of  all  Friti- 
gernus  was   received   with  Alavivus;    and   the   emperor 
assigned  them  a  temporary  provision  for  their  immediate 
support,  and  ordered  lands  to  be  assigned  them  to  cultivate. 

9.  At  that  time  the  defences  of  our  provinces  were  much 
exposed,  and  the  armies  of  barbarians  spread  over  them 
like  the   lava  of  Mount  Etna.      The   imminence  of  our 
danger   manifestly  called  for  generals  already  illustrious 
for  their  past  achievements  in  war :  but  nevertheless,  as  if 
some  unpropitious  deity  had  made  the  selection,  the  men 
who  were  sought  out  for  the  chief  military  appointments 
were  of  tainted  character.     The  .chief  among  them  were 
Lupicinus  and  Maximus,  the  one  being  Count  of  Thrace, 
the  other  a  leader  notoriously  wicked — and  both  men  of 
great  ignorance  and  rashness. 

10.  And  their  treacherous  covetousness  was  the  cause  of 
all  our   disasters.      For  (to   pass   over  other   matters   in 
which  the  officers  aforesaid,  or  others  with  their  unblushing 
connivance,    displayed    the    greatest    profligacy    in   their 
injurious    treatment   of   the   foreigners    dwelling   in   our 
territory,  against  whom  no  crime  could  be  alleged)  this 
one    melancholy    and    unprecedented    piece    of    conduct 
(which,  even  if  they  were  to  choose  their  own  judges,  must 
appear  wholly  unpardonable)  must  be  mentioned. 

11.  When  the  barbarians  who  had  been  conducted  across 
the  river  were  in  great  distress  from  want  of  provisions, 
those  detested  generals  conceived  the  idea  of  a  most  dis- 
graceful  traffic :    and   having  collected    hounds   from  all 
quarters  with  the  most  insatiable  rapacity,  they  exchanged 
them  for  an  equal  number  of  slaves,  among  whom  were 
several  sons  of  men  of  noble  birth. 

12.  About  this  time   also,   Vitheric,  the  king  of  the 
Gruthungi,  with  Alatheus  and  Saphrax,  by  whose  influence 
he  was  mainly  guided,  and  also  with  Farnobius,  approached 
the  bank  of  the  Danube,  and  sent  envoys  to  the  emperor 


588  AMMIANUS   MARCELLINDS.  [BK.  XXXI.  CH  T 

to  entreat  that  he  also  might  be  received  with  the  same 
kindness  that  Alavivus  and  Fritigern  had  experienced. 

13.  But  when,  as  seemed  best  for  the  interests  of  the 
state,  these  ambassadors  had  been  rejected,  and  were  in 
great  anxiety  as  to  what  they  should  do,  Athanaric,  fearing 
similar  treatment,  departed;  recollecting  that  long  ago, 
when  he  was  discussing  a  treaty  of  alliance  with  Valens, 
he  had  treated  that  emperor  with  contempt,  in  affirming  that 
he  was  bound  by  a  religious  obligation  never  to  set  his 
foot  on  the  Roman  territory ;  and  that  by  this  excuse  he 
had  compelled  the  emperor  to  conclude  a  peace  in  the 
middle  of  the  war.  And  he,  fearing  that  the  grudge  which 
Valens  bore  him  for  this  conduct  was  still  lasting,  with- 
drew with  all  his  forces  to  Caucalandes,  a  place  which, 
from  the  height  of  its  mountains  and  the  thickness  of  its 
woods,  is  completely  inaccessible  ;  and  from  which  he  Vad 
lately  driven  out  the  Sarmatians. 


V. 

§  1.  BUT  the  Thuringians,  though  they  had  some  time  sinc« 
received  permission  to  cross  the  river,  were  still  wandering 
up  and  down  the  banks,  being  hindered  by  a  twofold 
obstacle ;  first,  that  in  consequence  of  the  mischievous 
dissimulation  of  the  said  generals  they  were  not  supplied 
with  the  necessary  provisions ;  and  also  because  they  were 
designedly  detained  that  they  might  the  more  easily  be 
plundered  under  the  wicked  semblance  of  traffic. 

2.  And  when  they  ascertained  these  facts,  they  began  to 
gmmble,  and  proposed  to  resist  the  evils  which  they  appre- 
hended from  the  treachery  of  these  men  by  open  force; 
and  Lupicinus,  who  feared  that  they  would  resist,  brought 
up  kis  troops  close  to  them,  in  order  to  compel  them  to 
be  gone  with  all  possible  rapidity. 

3.  The  Gruthungi    seized    this   as   a  favourable  oppor- 
tunity, and  seeing  that  the  Roman  soldiers  were  occupied 
in  another  quarter,  and  that  the  vessels  which  used  to  go 
up  and  down,  to  prevent  them  from  crossing,  were  now 
stationary,  crossed  the  river  on   roughly-made  rafts,  and 
pitched  their  camp  at  a  great  distance  from  Fritigern. 

4.  But  he,   by  his  innate  foresight,  provided  against 


A.D.  376.]  REVOLT   OF    THE   THURINGIANS.  589 

everything  that  could  happen,  and  marching  on  slowly  as 
well  in  obedience  to  the  commands  he  had  received  as  to 
allow  time  for  other  powerful  kings  to  join  him,  came  by 
slow  marches  to  Marcianopolis,  arriving  later  than  he  was 
expected.  And  here  another  atrocious  occurrence  took 
place,  which  kindled  the  torches  of  the  Furies  for  general 
calamity. 

5.  Alavivus  and  Fritigern  were  invited  to  a  banquet; 
while  Lupicinus  drew  up  his  soldiers  against  the  chief  host 
of  the  barbarians,  and  so  kept  them  at  a  distance  from  the 
walls  of  the  town  ;  though  they  with  humble  perseverance 
implored  admission  in  order  so  to  procure  necessary  pro- 
visions, professing  themselves  loyal  and  obedient  subjects. 
At  last  a  serious  strife  arose  between  the  citizens  and  the 
strangers  who  were  thus  refused  admittance,  which  gra- 
dually led  to  a  regular  battle.     And  the  barbarians,  being 
excited   to   an  unusual  pitch  of  ferocity  when   they  saw 
their  relations  treated  as  enemies,  began  to  plunder  the 
soldiers  whom  they  had  slain. 

6.  But   when   Lupicinus,    of  whom   we   have    already 
spoken,  learnt  by  secret  intelligence  that  this  was  taking 
place,  while  he  was  engaged  in  an  extravagant  entertain- 
ment, surrounded  by  buffoons,   and  almost  overcome  by 
wine  and  sleep,  he,  fearing  the  issue,  put  to  death  all  the 
guards  who,  partly  as  a  compliment  and  partly  as  a  guard 
to  the  chiefs,  were  on  duty  before  the  general's  tent. 

7.  The  people  who  were  still  around  the  walls  heard  of 
this  with  great  indignation,  and  rising  up  by  degrees  into 
a  resolution  to  avenge  their  kings,  who,  as  they  fancied, 
were  being  detained  as  prisoners,  broke  out  with  furious 
threats.     And  Fritigem,  being  a  man  of  great  readiness  of 
resource,  and  fearing  that  perhaps  he  might  be  detained 
with  the  rest  as  a  hostage,  exclaimed  that  there  would  be 
a  terrible  and  destructive  conflict  if  he  were  not  allowed 
to  go  forth  with  his  companions  in  order  to  pacify  the 
multitude,  who   he   said  had  broken  out  in  this  tumult 
from  believing  that  their  leaders  had  been  trepanned  and 
murdered   under    show   of   courtesy.       Having   obtained 
permission,  they  all  went  forth,  and  were  received  with 
cheers  and  great  delight ;  they  then  mounted  their  horsea 
and  fled,  in  order  to  kindle  wars  in  many  quarters. 

8.  When  Fame,  ever  the  malignant  nurse  of  bad  news, 


690  AMMIANUS   MAKCELLINUS.  [Bt  XXXI.  CH.  * 

bruited  this  abroad,  the  whole  nation  of  the  Thuringians 
became  suddenly  inflamed  with  a  desire  for  war ;  and 
among  many  preparations  which  seemed  to  betoken 
danger,  the  standards  of  war  were  raised  according  to 
custom,  and  the  trumpets  poured  forth  sounds  of  evil 
omen ;  while  the  predatory  bands  collected  in  troops, 
plundering  and  burning  villages,  and  throwing  everything 
that  came  in  their  way  into  alarm  by  their  fearful  devasta- 
tions. 

9.  Against  these  hosts,  Lupicinus,  having  collected  his 
forces  with  the  greatest  possible  rapidity,  advanced  with 
more  rashness  than  prudence,  and  halted  in  battle  array 
nine  miles  from  the  city.     The  barbarians,  perceiving  this, 
charged   our  battalions  before  we    expected   them,  and 
dashing  upon  the  shields  with  which  they  covered  their 
bodies,  they  cut  down  all  who  fell  in  their  way  with  their 
swords  and  spears ;    and  urged  on  by  their  bloodthirsty 
fury,  they  continued  the  slaughter,  till  they  had  taken  our 
standards,  and  the  tribunes  and  the  greater  part  of  the 
soldiers  had  fallen,  with  the  exception  of  the  unhappy 
general,  who  could  find  nothing  to  do  but,  while  all  the 
rest  were  fighting,  to  betake  himself  to  flight,  and  return 
full  gallop  to  the  city.     And  then  the  enemies,  clothing 
themselves  in  the  arms  of  the  Romans  whom  they  had 
slain,  pushed  on   their  devastating  march  without  hin- 
drance. 

10.  And  since,  after  recounting  various  other  exploits, 
we  have  now  come  to  this  portion  of  our  subject,  we  call 
upon  our  readers  (if  we  shall  ever  have  any)  not  to  expect 
a  minute  detail  of  everything  that  took  place,  or  of  the 
number  of  the  slain,  which  indeed  it  would  be  utterly 
impossible  to  give.     It  will  be  sufficient  to  abstain  from 
concealing  any  part  of  the  truth  by  a  lie,  and  to  give  the 
general  outline  of  what  took  place  :  since  a  faithful  honesty 
of  narration  is  always  proper  if  one  would  hand  events 
down  to  the  recollection  of  posterity. 

11.  Those  who  are  ignorant  of  antiquity  declare  that 
the  republic  was  never  so  overwhelmed  with  the  darkness 
of  adverse  fortune ;  but  they  are  deceived  in  consequence 
of    the    stupor   into   which   they   are   thrown    by   these 
salamities,  which  are  still  fresh  in  their  memory.     For  if 
die  events  of  former  ages,  or  even  of  those  immediately 


*.r>.37«.]  THE   TEUTOXES    AND   CIMBRI.  591 

preceding  our  own  times  are  considered,  it  will  be  plain 
that  such  melancholy  events  have  often  happened,  of  which 
1  will  bring  to  mind  several  instances  • 

12.  The  Teutones  and  the  Cimbri  came  suddenl}'  from 
the  remote  shores  of  the  ocean,  and  overran  Italy ;  but, 
after  having  inflicted    enormous  disasters  on  the  Koman 
republic,  they  were  at   last  overcome  by  our  illustrious 
generals,  and   being  wholly  vanquished,  learnt   by  their 
ultimate  destruction  what  martial  valour,  combined  with 
skill,  can  effect. 

13.  Again,  in  the  reign  of  the  Emperor  Marcus  Aurelius, 
the  insane  fury  of  a  number  of  different  nations  combined 

together,  after  fearful  wars would  have  left 

but  a  small  part  of  them. 

14.  But,  soon  after  these  calamitous  losses,  the  state  was 
re-established  in  all  its  former  strength  and  prosperity ; 
because  the  soberness  of  our  ancestry  had  not  yet  become 
infected  with  the  luxury  and  softness  of  a  more  effeminate 
way  of  life,  and  had  not  learnt  to  indulge  in  splendid 
banquets,  or  the  criminal  acquisition  of  riches.     But  both 
the  highest  classes  and  the  lowest  living  in  harmony,  and 
imbued  with  one  unanimous  spirit,  eagerly  embraced   a 
glorious  death  in  the  cause  of  the  republic  as  a  tranquil 
and  quiet  haven. 

15.  The    great    multitudes   of    the    Scythian    nations, 
having  burst  through  the  Bosphorus,  and  made  their  way 
to  the  shores  of  the  Sea  of  Azov  with  2000  ships,  inflicted 
fearful  losses  on  us  by  land  and  sea ;  but  also  lost  a  great 
portion  of  their  own  men,  and  so  at  last  returned  to  their 
own  country. 

16.  Those   great   generals,  the   Decii,  father  and   son, 
fell  fighting  against  the  barbarians.     The  cities  of  Pam- 
phylia   were  besieged,    many   islands   were   laid    waste ; 
Macedon  was  ravaged  with  fire  and  sword.     An  enormous 
host  for  a  long  time  blockaded  Thessalonica  and  Cyzicus. 
Arabia   also  was  taken :   and   so   at,  the   same  time  was 
Isicopolis,  which  had  been  built  by  the  Emperor  Trajan 
as  a  monument  of  his  victory  over  the  Dacians. 

17.  After  many  fearful  losses  had  been  both  sustained 
and  inflicted  Philippopolis  was  destroyed,  and,  unless  our 
annals  speak  falsely,  100,000  men  were  slaughtered  within 
its   walls.      Foreign    enemies   roved    unrestrained    over 


592  AMSIUNUS   MARCELLIXUS.  [B*.  XXXI.  CH.  vt 

Epirus,  and  Thessaly,  aud  the  whole  of  Greece  ;  but  after 
that  glorious  general  Claudius  had  been  taken  as  a 
colleague  in  the  empire  (though  again  lost  to  us  by  an 
honourable  death),  the  enemy  was  routed  by  Aurelian,  an 
untiring  leader,  and  a  severe  avenger  of  injuries ;  and 
after  that  they  remained  quiet  for  a  long  time  without 
attempting  anything,  except  that  some  bands  of  robbers 
now  and  then  ranged  the  districts  in  their  own  neigh- 
bourhood, always,  however,  to  their  own  injury.  And 
now  I  will  return  to  the  main  history  from  which  I  have 
digressed. 


VI. 

§  1 .  WHEN  this  series  of  occurrences  had  been  made  gene- 
rally known  by  frequent  messengers,  iSueridus  and  Colias, 
two  nobles  of  the  Goths,  who  had  some  time  before  been 
friendly  received  with  their  people,  and  had  been  sent  to 
Hadrianople  to  pass  the  winter  in  that  city,  thinking  their 
«v\vn  safety  the  most  important  of  all  objects,  looked  on  all 
the  events  which  were  taking  place  with  great  indiffer- 
ence. 

2.  But,  on  a  sudden,  letters  having  arrived  from  the 
emperor,  in  which  they  were  ordered  to  cross  over  to  the 
province  of  the  Hellespont,  they  asked,  in  a  very  modest 
manner,  to  be  provided  with  money  to  defray  the  expenses 
of  their  march,  as  well  as  provisions,  and  to  be  allowed  a 
respite  of  two  days.     But  the  chief  magistrate  of  the  city 
was  indignant  at  this  request,  being  also  out  of  humour  with 
them  on  account  of  some  injury  which  had  been  done  to 
property  of  his  own  in  the  suburbs,  and  collected  a  great 
mob  of  the  lowest  of  the  people,  with  a  body  of  armourers, 
of  whom  there  is  a  great  number  in  that  place,  and  led 
them  forth  armed  to  hasten  the  departure  of  the  Goths. 
And  ordering  the  trumpeters  to  sound  an  alarm,  he  menaced 
them  with  destruction  unless  they  at  once  departed  with 
all  speed,  as  they  had  been  ordered. 

3.  The  Goths,  bewildered  by  this  unexpected  calamity, 
and  alarmed  at  this  outbreak  of  the  citizens,  which  looked 
more  as  if  caused  by  a  sudden  impulse  than  by  any  delibe- 
rate purpose,  stood  without  moving.     And  being  assailed 


fc.D.376.J  REVOLT   OF   SUERIDUS   AND  OOLIAS.  593 

beyond  all  endurance  by  reproaches  and  manifestations  of  ill 
will,  and  also  by  occasional  missiles,  they  at  last  broke  out 
into  open  revolt ;  having  slain  several  of  those  who  had 
at  first,  attacked  them  with  too  much  petulance,  and  having 
put  the  rest  to  flight,  and  wounded  many  with  all  kinds  of 
weapons,  they  stripped  their  corpses  and  armed  themselves 
with  the  spoils  in  the  Roman  fashion ;  and  then,  seeing 
Fritigern  near  them,  they  united  themselves  to  him  as 
obedient  allies,  and  blockaded  the  city.  They  remained 
eonie  time,  maintaining  this  difficult  position  and  making 
promiscuous  attacks,  during  which  they  lost  some  of  their 
number  by  their  own  audacity,  without  being  able  to 
avenge  them ;  while  many  were  slain  by  arrows  and  large 
stones  hurled  from  slings. 

4.  Then  Fritigern,  perceiving  that  his  men,  who  were 
unaccustomed  to  sieges,  were  struggling  in  vain,  and  sus- 
taining heavy  losses,  advised  his  army  to  leave  a  force 
sufficient  to  maintain  the  blockade,  and  to  depart  with  the 
rest,  acknowledging  their  failure,  and  saying  that  "  He 
did  not  war  with  stone  walls."     Advising  them  also  to  lay 
waste   all   the   fertile   regions    around   without   any   dis- 
tinction, and  to  plunder  those  places  which  were  not  de- 
fended by  any  garrisons. 

5.  His  counsel  was  approved,  as  his  troops  knew  that  he 
was  always  a  very  able  commander  in  bringing  their  plans 
to   success ;    and   then   they   dispersed    over    the   whole 
district  ?f  Thrace,  advancing  cautiously ;  while  those  who 
cams  of  their  own  accord  to  surrender,  or  those  whom  they 
had  taken  prisoners,  pointed  out  to  them  the  richest  towns, 
an:-  especially  those  where  it  was  said   that  supplies  of 
pr   risions   could   be   found.     And   in   addition    to    their 
na^iti-J  confidence  they  were  greatly  encouraged  by  this 
circumstance,  that  a   multitude  of  that   nation   came   in 
daily  to  join  them  who  had  formerly  been  sold  as  slaves 
by  the  merchants,  with  many  others  whom,  when  at  their 
first  passage  of  the  river  they  were  suffering  from  severe 
want,  they  had  bartered  for  a  little  bad  wine  or  morsels  of 
bread. 

6.  To  these  were  added  no  inconsiderable  number  of 
men  skilled  in  tracing  out  veins  of  gold,  but  who  were 
unable  to  endure  the  heavy  burden  of  their  taxes ;  and 
who,  having  been  received  with  tho  cheerful  consent  of 

2  Q 


594  AMMIAXUS  MARCELL1NUS.          fBs.  XXXI.  CH.  vn. 

all,  they  were  of  great  use  to  them  while  traversing  strange 
districts — showing  them  the  secret  stores  of  grain,  the 
retreats  of  men,  and  other  hiding-places  of  divers  kinds. 

7.  Nor  while  these  men  led  them  on  as  their  guides  did 
anything  remain  untouched  by  them,  except  what  was 
inaccessible  or  wholly  out  of  the  way ;    for  without  any 
distinction  of  age  or  sex  they  went  forward   destroying 
everything    in    one    vast    slaughter    and     conflagration : 
tearing  infants  even  from  their  mother's  breast  and  slaying 
them ;    ravishing   their   mothers ;    slaughtering   women's 
husbands  before  the  eyes  of  those  whom  they  thus  made 
widows ;   while  boys  of  tender  and   of  adult  age  were 
dragged  over  the  corpses  of  their  parents. 

8.  Lastly,  numbers  of  old  men,  crying  out  that  they  had 
lived  long  enough,  having  lost  all  their  wealth,  together 
with  beautiful  women,  had  their  hands  bound  behind  their 
back,  and  were  driven  into   banishment,  bewailing  the 
ashes  of  their  native  homes. 

VII. 

A.D.  '377. 

§  1.  THIS  news  from  Thrace  was  received  with  gr9«> 
sorrow,  and  caused  the  Emperor  Valens  much  anxiety.1 
He  instantly  sent  Victor,  the  commander  of  ths  cwalry, 
into  Persia,  to  make  such  arrangements  in  Armenia  as  war:, 
required  by  the  impending  danger.  While  he  himself  pr^ 
pared  at  once  to  quit  Antioch  and  go  to  Constar,ti!xoploj 
sending  before  him  Profuturus  and  Trajan,  both  officsrG  of 
rank  and  ambition,  but  of  no  great  skill  in  war. 

2.  When  they  arrived  at  the  place  where  it  seemed  12.03  i 
expedient  to  combat  this  hostile  multitude  in  detail  and 
by  ambuscades  and  surprises,  they  very  injudiciously 
adopted  the  ill-considered  plan  of  opposing  the  legions 
which  had  arrived  from  Armenia  to  barbarians  who  were 
still  raging  like  madmen.  Though  the  legions  had  re- 
peatedly proved  equal  to  the  dangers  of  a  pitched  battle 
and  regular  warfare,  they  were  not  suited  to  encounter 
an  innumerable  host  which  occupied  all  the  chains  of  the 
lofty  hills,  and  also  all  the  plains. 

1  See  Gibbon,  vol.  ii.,  p.  215  (Bolm's  edition). 


A.D.377.]          TRAJAN'S  BATTLE  WITH  THE  GOTHS.  595 

3.  Our  men  had  never  yet   experienced  what  can  be 
effected  by  indomitable  rage  united  with  despair,  and  so 
having  driven  back  the  enemy  beyond  the  abrupt  preci- 
pices of  the  Balkan,  they  seized  upon  the  rugged  defiles  in 
order  to  hem  in  the  barbarians  on  ground  from  which  they 
would  be  unable  to  find  any  exit,  and  where  it  seemed  they 
might  be  overcome  by  famine.     They  themselves  intended 
to  await  the   arrival  of   Frigeridus,   the  duke,  who  was 
hastening  towards  them  with  the  auxiliaries  from  Pannonia 
and  other  countries,  and  whom,  at  the  request  of  Valeni1. 
Gratian   had  commanded  to   march   to  the   camp  to   aid 
those  who  were  menaced  with  total  destruction. 

4.  After  him,  Eichomeres,   at  that  time  count  of  the 
domestics,  who  also,  by  the  command  of  Gratian,  had  moved 
forwards   from   Gaul,    hastened   towards    Thrace,1    bring- 
ing with  him  some  cohorts,  which  were  cohorts  in  name, 
though  the  greater  portion  of  them  had  already  deserted 
(if  we  would  believe  some  people)  by  the  persuasion  of 
Merobaudes,  fearing  lest  Gaul,   now  divested  of  all  the 
troops,  would  be  ravaged  without  check  after  the  barba- 
rians had  forced  the  passage  of  the  Bhine. 

5.  But  Frigeridus  was  prevented  from  moving  by  t]>i 
gout,  or  at  all  events  (as  some  of  his  malicious  detractors 
represented  it),  he  pleaded  sickness  as  an  excuse  for  no!, 
being  present  in  the  struggles  which  were  expected,  and  so 
Eichomeres,  being  unanimously  called  to  the  chief  command, 
with  Profuturus  and  Trajan  for  his  colleagues,  advanced 
towards  the  town  of  Salices — at  no  great  distance  froac. 
which  was  a  countless  host  of  barbarians,  arranged  ia  £ 
circle,  with  a  great  multitude  of  waggons  for  a  ramptcri. 
around  them,  behind  which,  as  if  protected  by  a  spaeioct 
wall,  they  enjoyed  ease  and  an  abundance  of  booty. 

6.  Filled  with  hopes  of  success,  the  Eoman  generate — • 
resolved  on  some  gallant  enterprise  should  fortune  afford 
them  an  opportunity — were  carefully  watching  the  move  - 
ments  of  the  Goths  ;  having  formed  the  design — if  they 
moved   their  camp   in    any  other  direction,   which  they 
were  very   much   in  the   habit   of  doing — to    fall   upon 
their  rear,  making  no  doubt  that  they  should  slay  many 
of  them,  and  recover  a  great  portion  of  their  spoil. 

1  See  Gibbon,  vol.  iii.,  p.  229  (BoLn). 


596  AMMIANUS  MARCELLINUS.          [BK.XXXLCH.Tn. 

7.  When  the  barbarians  learnt  this,  probably  through 
the  information  of  some  deserter,  from  whom  they  obtained 
a   knowledge   of  our  operations,  they  remained  for  SOIUG 
time  in  the   same  place  ;    but  at  last,  being  influenced  by 
fear  of  the  opposing  army,  and  of  the  reinforcements  which 
might  be  expected  to  throng  to  them,  they  assembled,  by  «. 
preconcerted   signal,  the    predatory    bands    dispersed    io 
different  districts,  and  which,  the  moment  they  received 
the  orders  of  their  leaders,  returned  like  firebrands,  with 
the  swiftness  of  birds,  to  their  "  encampment  of  chariots" 
(as  they  call  it),  and  thus  gave  their  countrymen  confi- 
dence to  attempt  greater  enterprises. 

8.  After  this  there  was  no  cessation  of  hostilities  between 
the  two  parties  except  what  was  afforded  by  a  few  short 
truces  ;   for  after  those  men  had  returned  to  the  camp 
whom  necessity  had  forced  to  quit  it,  the  whole  body  whicL 
was  crowded  within  the  circuit  of  the  encampment,  being 
full  of  fierce  discontent,  excitement,  and  a  most  ferocious 
spirit,   and    now    reduced  to    the    greatest    extremities, 
were  eager  for  bloodshed  :  nor  did  their  chiefs,  who  were. 
present  with  them,  resist  their  desire ;   and  as  the  reso- 
lution to  give  battle  was  taken  when  the  sun  was  sink- 
ing, and  when  the  approach  of  night  invited  the  sullen 
and  discontented  troops  to  rest,  they  took  some  food  quietly, 
but  remained  all  night  sleepless. 

9.  On  the  other  hand  the  Eomans,  knowing  what  was 
going  on,  kept  themselves  also  awake,  fearing  the  enemy 
and  their  insane  leaders  as  so  many  furious  wild  beasto : 
nevertheless,  with  fearless  minds  they  awaited  the  result, 
which,  though  they  acknowledged  it  to  be  doubtful  in 
respect  of  their  inferiority  in  number,  they  still  trusted 
would  be  propitious  because  of  the  superior  justice  of  their 
cause. 

10.  Therefore  the  next  day,  as  soon  as  it  was  light,  the- 
signal  for  taking  arms  having  been  given  by  the  trumpets 
on  both  sides,  the  barbarians,  after  having,  in  accordance 
with  their  usual  custom,  taken  an  oath  to  remain  faithful 
to  their  standards,  attempted  to  gain  the  higher  ground,  ir. 
order  that  from  it  they  might  descend  down  the  steep  like 
wheels,  overwhelming  their  enemy  by  the  vigour  of  their 
attack.     \Vhen  this  was  seen,  our  soldiers  all  flocked  to 
their  proper  regiments,  and  then  stood  firm,  neither  turning 


A.D.  3T7.]  DRAWN    BATTLE   WITH    THE    GOTHS.  597 

aside  nor  in  any  instance  even  leaving  their  ranks  to  rush 
forward. 

11.  Therefore  when  the  armies  on  both  sides,  advancing 
more  cautiously,  at  last  halted  and  stood  immovable,  the 
warriors,   with   mutual    sternness,   surveying   each  other 
with  fierce  looks.     The   Komans   in  every   part  of  their 
line  sang  warlike  songs,  with  a  voice  rising  from  a  lower 
to  a  higher  key,  which   they  call  barritus,1  and  so  encou- 
raged themselves  to  gallant  exertions.     But  the  barbarians, 
with  dissonant  clamour,   shouted  out  the  praises  of  their 
ancestors,  and  amid  their  various  discordant  cries,  tried 
occasional  light  skirmishes. 

12.  And  now  each  army  began  to  assail  the  other  with 
javelins  and  other  similar  missiles  ;  and  then  with  threaten- 
ing shouts  rushed  on  to  close  combat,  and  packing  their 
shields  together  like  a  testudo,  they  came  foot  to  foot  with 
their  foes.      The   barbarians,    active,   and   easily   rallied, 
hurled  huge  bludgeons,  burnt  at  one  end,  against  our  men, 
and  vigorously  thrust  their  swords  against  the  opposing 
breasts  of  the  Romans,  till  they  broke  our  left  wing ;  but 
as  it  recoiled,  it  fell  back  on  a  strong  body  of  reserve  which 
was  vigorously  brought  up  on  their  flank,  and  supported 
them  just  as  they  were  on  the  very  point  of  destmction. 

13.  Therefore,  while  the  battle  raged  with  vast  slaughter, 
each  individual  soldier  rushing  fiercely  on  the  dense  ranks 
of  the  enemy,  the  arrows  and  javelins  flew  like  hail ;  the 
blows  of  swords  were  equally  rapid  ;  while  the  cavalry,  too, 
pressed  on,  cutting  down  all  who  fled  with  terrible  and 
mighty  wounds  on  their  backs ;    as  also  on  both  sides  did 
the  infantry,  slaughtering  and  hamstringing  those  who  had 
fallen  down,  and  through  fear  were  unable  to  fly. 

14.  And  when  the  whole  place  was  filled  with  corpses, 
some  also  lay  among  them  still  half  alive,  vainly  cherishing 
a  hope  of  life,  some  of  them  having  been   pierced   with 
bullets  hurled  from  slings,  others  with  arrows  barbed  with 
iron.      Some  again  had  their  heads   cloven  in  half  with 
blows  of  swords,  so  that  one  side  of  their  heads  hung  down 
on  each  shoulder  in  a  most  horrible  manner. 

15.  Meanwhile,  stubborn  as   the  conflict  was,  neither 
party  was  wearied,  but  they  still  fought  on  with  equal 

1  Barritus  is  the  word  used  for  the  trumpeting  of  an  elephant. 


598  AMMIANUS  MARCELLINUS.        [Ex.  XXXI.  CH.  vm. 

valour  and  equal  fortune,  nor  did  any  one  relax  in  his  stern- 
ness as  long  as  his  courage  could  give  him  strength  for 
exertion.  But  at  last  the  day  yielded  to  the  evening,  and 
put  an  end  to  the  deadly  contest :  the  barbarians  all  with- 
drew, in  no  order,  each  taking  his  own  path,  and  our  men 
returned  sorrowfully  to  their  tents. 

16.  Then  having  paid  the  honours  of  burial  to  some 
among  the  dead,  as  well  as  the  time  and  place  permitted, 
the  rest  of  the  corpses  were  left  as  a  banquet  to  the  ill- 
omened  birds,  which  at  that  time  were  accustomed  to  feed 
on  carcases — as  is  even  now  shown  by  the  places  which  are 
still  white  with  bones.  It  is  quite  certain  that  the  Koinans, 
who  were  comparatively  few,  and  contending  with  vastly 
superior  numbers,  suffered  serious  losses,  while  at  the  same 
time  the  barbarians  did  not  escape  without  much  lament- 
able slaughter. 

VIII. 

§  1.  UPON  the  melancholy  termination  of  this  battle,  our 
men  sought  a  retreat  in  the  neighbouring  city  of  Mar- 
cianopolis.  The  Goths,  of  their  own  accord,  fell  back 
behind  the  ramparts  formed  by  their  waggons,  and  for 
seven  days  they  never  once  ventured  to  come  forth  or 
show  themselves.  So  OUT  soldiers,  seizing  the  oppor- 
tunity, raised  a  barrier,  and  shut  in  some  other  vast 
multitudes  of  the  barbarians  among  the  defiles  of  the 
Balkan,  in  hope,  forsooth,  that  this  destructive  host  being 
thus  hemmed  in  between  the  Danube  and  the  desert,  and 
having  no  road  by  which  to  escape,  must  perish  by  famine, 
since  everything  which  could  serve  to  sustain  life  had 
been  conveyed  into  the  fortified  cities,  and  these  cities 
were  safe  from  any  attempt  of  the  barbarians  to  besiege 
them,  since  they  were  wholly  ignorant  of  the  use  of  war- 
like engines. 

2.  After  this  Richomeres  returned  to  Gaul,  to  convey 
reinforcements   to   that   country,   where  a  fresh   war  of 
greater  importance  than  ever,   was   anticipated.      These 
events  took  place  in  the  fourth  consulship  of  Gratian,  and 
the  first  of  Merobaudes,  towards  the  autumn  of  the  year. 

3.  In  the  mean  time  Yalens,  having  heard  of  the  miserable 
result  of  these  wars  and  devastions,  gave  Saturninus  the 


A.D.  377.]  IXYASIOS   OF   THEACE   BY   THE   GOTHS.  599 

command  of  the  cavalry,  and  sent  him  to  carry  aid  to 
Trajan  and  Profuturus. 

4.  At  that  time,  throughout  the  whole  countries  of  Scythia 
and  Moesia,  everything  which  could  be  eaten  had  been  con- 
sumed ;  and  so,  urged  equally  by  their  natural  ferocity  and 
by  hunger,  the  barbarians  made  desperate  efforts  to  force 
their  way  out  of  the  position  in  which  they  were  enclosed 
but  though  they  made  frequent  attempts,  they  were  con- 
stantly overwhelmed  by  the  vigour  of  our  men,  who  made 
an  effectual  resistance  by  the  aid  of  the  rugged  ground 
which  they  occupied  ;  and  at  last,  being  reduced  to  the  ex- 
tremity of  distress,  they  allured  some  of  the  Huns  and 
Alani  to  their  alliance  by  the  hope  of  extensive  plunder. 

o.  When  this  was  known,  Saturninus  (for  by  this  time 
he  had  arrived  and  was  busy  in  arranging  the  outposts  and 
military  stations  in  the  country)  gradually  collected  his 
men,  and  was  preparing  to  retreat,  in  pursuance  of  a  suffi- 
ciently well-devised  plan,  lest  the  multitude  of  barbarians 
by  some  sudden  movement  (like  a  river  which  had  burst 
its  barriers  by  the  violence  of  a  flood)  should  easily  over- 
throw his  whole  force,  which  had  now  been  for  some  time 
watching  the  place  from  which  danger  was  suspected. 

6.  The  moment  that,  by  the  seasonable  retreat  of  our 
men,  the  passage  of  these  defiles   was   opened,  the  bar- 
barians, in  no  regular  order,  but  wherever  each  individual 
could  find  a  passage,  rushed  forth  without   hindrance  to 
spread  confusion  among  us ;  and  raging  with  a  desire  for 
devastation  and  plunder,  spread  themselves  with  impunity 
over  the  whole  region  of  Thrace,  from  the  districts  watered 
by  the  Danube,   to  Mount  Rhodope  and  the  strait  which 
separates  the  JEgean  from  the  Black  Sea,  spreading  ravage, 
slaughter,    bloodshed,    and    conflagration,    and   throwing 
everything  into  the  foulest  disorder  by  all  sorts  of  acts  of 
violence  committed  even  on  the  freeborn. 

7.  Then   one  might  see,   with    grief,   actions   equally 
horrible  to  behold  and  to  speak  of:  women  panic-stricken, 
beaten  with  cracking  scourges ;   some  even  in  pregnancy, 
whose  veiy  offspring,  before  they  were  born,  had  to  en- 
dure countless  horrors :  here  were  seen  children  twining 
round  their  mothers  ;  there  one  might  hear  the  lamentations 
of  noble  youths  and  maidens  all  seized    and   doomed   to 
captivity. 


600  AMMIAXUS    MA  UCI-:  LUX  US.  [BK.  XXXI.  CH.  ix. 

8.  Again,   grown-up    virgins  and  chaste  matrons  were 
dragged    along    with  countenances    disfigured    by    bitter 
weeping,  wishing  to  avoid  the  violation  of  their  modesty 
by  any  death  however  agonizing.    Here  some  wealthy  noble- 
inan  was  dragged   along  like  a  wild  beast,  complaining 
of  fortune  as  merciless  and  blind,  who  in  a  brief  moment 
had  stripped  him  of  his  riches,  of  his  beloved  relations,  and 
his  home ;    had  made  him  see  his  house  reduced  to  ashes, 
and  had  reduced  him  to  expect  either  to  be  torn  limb  from 
limb  himself,  or  else  to  be  exposed  to  scourging  and  tor- 
ture, as  the  slave  of  a  ferocious  conqueror. 

9.  But  the  barbarians,  like  beasts  who  had  broken  loose 
from  their  cages,   pouring  unrestrainedly    over  the    vast 
extent  of  country,   marched  upon   a   town   called    Dibal- 
tum,  where    they    found   Barzimeres,   a   tribune    of   the 
Scutarii,    with   his   battalion,    and   some    of  the   Comuti 
legion,  and  several  other  bodies  of  infantry  pitching  a  camp, 
like  a  veteran  general  of  great  experience  as  he  was. 

11.  Instantly  (as  the  only  means  of  avoiding  imme- 
diate destruction)  he  ordered  the  trumpet  to  give  the 
signal  for  battle ;  and  strengthening  his  flanks,  rushed 
forward  with  his  little  army  in  perfect  order.  And  he 
made  so  gallant  a  struggle,  that  the  barbarians  would 
have  obtained  no  advantage  over  him,  if  a  strong  body 
of  cavalry  had  not  come  round  upon  him  from  behind, 
while  his  men  were  panting  and  weary  with  their  exer- 
tions :  so  at  last  he  fell,  but  not  without  having  inflicted 
great  slaughter  on  the  barbarians,  though  the  vastness  of 
their  numbers  made  their  losses  less  observed. 

IX. 

§  1.  AFTER  this  affair  had  terminated,  the  Goths,  being 
uncertain  what  next  to  do,  went  in  quest  of  Frigeridus, 
with  the  resolution  to  destroy  him  wherever  they  could 
find  him,  as  a  formidable  obstacle  to  their  success ;  and 
having  rested  for  a  while  to  refresh  themselves  with 
sleep  and  better  food  than  usual,  they  then  pursued  him 
like  so  many  wild  beasts,  having  learnt  that  by  Gratian's 
order  he  had  returned  into  Thrace,  and  had  pitched  his 
camp  near  Beraea,  intending  to  wait  there  to  see  how 
affairs  would  turn  out. 


A.D.  377.;  THE    GOTHS   DEFEATED    BY    FRIGEEIDUS.  601 

2.  They   hastened  accordingly,    that  by  a  rapid  march 
they  might  cany  out  their  proposed  plan  ;  but  Frigeridus, 
who   knew   as    well    how   to   command    as    to    preserve 
his  troops,  either  suspected  their  plans,  or  else  obtained 
accurate    information    respecting   them   from   the   scouts 
whom  he  had  sent  out ;  and  therefore  returned  over  the 
mountains  and  through  the  thick  forests  into   Illyricum  ; 
being   full   of  joy  at  the  success   which   an   unexpected 
chance  threw  in  his  way. 

3.  For  as  he  was  retreating,    and  moving  on  steadily 
with  his  force  in  a  solid  column,  he  came  upon  Farnobius, 
one  of  the  chieftains  of  the  Goths,  who  was  roaming  about 
at  random  with  a  large  predatory  band,  and  a  body  of  the 
Taifali,  with  whom  he  had  lately  made  an  alliance,  and 
who  (if  it  is  worth  mentioning),  when  our  soldiers  were 
all  dispersed  for  fear  of  the  strange  nations  which  were 
threatening  them,  had  taken  advantage  of  their  dispersion 
to  cross  the  river,  in  order  to  plunder  the  country  thus 
left  without  defenders. 

4.  When  their  troops  thus  suddenly  came  in  sight,  our 
general  with  great  prudence  prepared  to  bring  on  a  battle 
at  close  quarters,  and,  in  spite  of  their  ferocious  threats, 
at  once  attacked  the  combined  leaders  of  the  two  nations ; 
and  would  have  slain  them  all,  not  leaving  a  single  one 
of  them  to  convey  news  of  their  disaster,  if,  after  Farno- 
bius, hitherto  the  much-dreaded  cause  of  all  these  troubles, 
had  been  slain,  with  a  great  number  of  his  men,  he  had 
not  voluntarily  spared  the  rest  on  their  own  earnest  sup- 
plication ;  and  then  he  distributed  those  to  whom  he  had 
thus  granted  their  lives  in  the  districts  around  the  Italian 
towns  of  Modena,  Eeggio,  and  Parma,  which  he  allotted  to 
them  to  cultivate. 

5.  It  is  said  that  this  nation  of  the  Taifali  was  so  pro- 
fligate, and  so  immersed  in  the  foulest  obscenities  of  life, 
that  they  indulged  in  all  kinds  of  unnatural  lusts,  exhausting 
the  vigour  both  of  youth  and  manhood  in  the  most  polluted 
defilements  of  debauchery.     But  if  any  adult  caught  a  boar 
or  slew  a  bear  single-handed,  he  was  then  exempted  from 
all  compulsion  of  submitting  to  sir.i  ignominious  pollution. 


602  AMMIANUS   MARCELLINUS.  [Bit.  XXXI.  Ca.  x 


X. 

.§  1.  IT  was  tvhen  autumn  was  passing  into  winter  that 
terrible  whirlwinds  swept  over  Thrace ;  and  as  if  the 
Furies  were  throwing  everything  into  confusion,  awful 
storms  extended  even  into  distant  regions. 

2.  And  now  the  people  of  the  Allemanni,  belonging  to 
the  district  of  Lintz,  who  border  on  the  Tyrol,  having  by 
treacherous  incursions  violated  the  treaty  which  had  been 
made  with  them  some  time  before,  began  to  make  attempts 
upon  our  frontier ;  and  this  calamity  had  the  following 
lamentable  beginning. 

3.  One    of  this  nation  who   was   serving   among   the 
guards  of  the  emperor,  returned  home  at  the  call  of  some 
private  business  of  his  own ;    and  being  a  very  talkative 
person,  when  he  was  continually  asked  what  was  doing  in 
the  palace,  he  told  them  that  Valens,  his  uncle,  had  sent 
for  Gratian  to  conduct  the  campaign  in  the  East,  in  oi'der 
that  by  their  combined  forces  they  might  drive  back  the 
inhabitants  of  the  countries  on  our  eastern  frontier,  who 
had  all  conspired  for  the  overthrow  of  the  Roman  state. 

4.  The  people  of  Lintz  greedily  swallowed  this  intelli- 
gence, looking  on  it  as  if  it  concerned  themselves  also  as 
neighbours,  being  so  rapid  and  active  in  their  movements ; 
and  so  they  assembled,  in  predatory  bands,  and  when  the 
Rhine  was  sufficiently  frozen  over  to  be  passable,  in  the 
month  of  February.  .  .  .  The  Celtae,  with  the  Petulantes 
legion,  repulsed  them,  but  not  without  considerable  loss. 

5.  These  Germans,   though  thus  compelled  to  retreat, 
being  aware  that  the  greater  part  of  our  army  had  been 
despatched  into  Illyricum,  where  the  emperor  was  about  to 
follow  to  assume  the  command,  became  more  bold  than  ever, 
and  conceived  the  idea  of  greater  enterprises.     Having  col- 
lected the  inhabitants  of  all  the  adjacent  countries  into  one 
body,  and  with  40,000  armed  men,  or  70,000,  as  some,  who 
seek  to  enhance  the  renown  of  the  emperor,  have  boasted, 
they  with  great  arrogance  and  confidence  burst  into  our 
territories. 

6.  Gratian,  when  he  heard  of  this  event,  was  greatly 
alarmed,  and  recalling  the  cohorts  which  he  had  sent  on 
before  into  Pannonia,  and  collecting  others  whom  he  had 


A.D.377.]          DEFEAT  OF  THE  ALLEMANNI.  603 

prudently  retained  in  Gaul,  he  committed  the  affair  to  the 
conduct  of  Nannienus,  a  leader  of  great  prudence  and  skill, 
joining  with  him  as  his  colleague  with  equal  power,  Mello- 
baudes,  the  count-commander  of  the  domestics  and  king  of 
the  Franks,  a  man  of  great  courage  and  renown  in  war.1 

7.  Nannienus  took  into   his   consideration  the  variable 
chances  of  fortune,  and  therefore  voted  for  acting  slowly  and 
with  caution,  while  Mellobaudes,  hurried  away  by  a  fierce 
desire  for  fighting,  according  to  his  usual  custom,  was  eager 
at  once  to  march  against  the  enemy ;  and  would  not  brook 
delay. 

8.  Presently  a  horrid  shout  was  raised  by  the  enemy, 
and  the  trumpeters  on  our  side  also  gave  the  signal  for 
battle,  upon  which  a  fierce  engagement  began  near  Cohnar. 
On  both  sides  numbers  fell  beneath  the  blows  of  arrows 
and  hurled  javelins. 

9.  But  while  the  battle  was  raging,  the  multitude  of  the 
enemy  appeared  so  countless,  that  our  soldiers,  avoiding  a 
conflict  with  them  on  the  open  field,  dispersed  as  best  they 
could  among  the  different  narrow  paths  overgrown  with 
trees  ;  but  they  afterwards  stood  their  ground  firmly,  and 
by  the  boldness  of  their  carriage  and  the  dazzling  splen- 
dour of  their  arms,  when  seen  from  a  distance,  made  the 
barbarians  fear  that  the  emperor  himself  was  at  hand. 

10.  And  they  suddenly  turned  their  backs,  still  offering 
occasional  resistance,  to  leave  no  chance  for  safety  untried  ; 
but  at  last  they  were  routed  with  such  slaughter  that  of 
their  whole  number  not  above  9,000,  as   was   reckoned, 
escaped,  and  these  owed  their  safety  to  the  thickness  of  the 
woods.      Among  the   many   bold  and   gallant  men   who 
perished  was  their  king,  Priarius,  who  had  been  the  prin- 
cipal cause  of  this  ruinous  war. 

11.  Gratian  was  greatly  delighted  and   encouraged  by 
this  success;  and  intending  now  to  proceed  to  the  East, 
he  secretly  crossed  the  Ehine,  and  turned  his  march  to 
the  left,   being  full  of  sanguine  hopes,  and  resolving,  if 
fortune  should   only  favour  his  enterprise,  to  destroy  the 
whole  of  this  treacherous  and  turbulent  nation. 

12.  And   as  intelligence  of  this  design  was   conveyed 
to  the  people  of  Lintz  by  repeated  messengers,  they,  who 
had  already  been  reduced  to  great  weakness  by  the  almost 

1  See  Gibbon,  vol.  iii.,  p.  181  (Bohn). 


604  AMMIANUS   MARCELLIXUS.  [UK.  XXXl.  CH.  A 

entire  destruction  of  their  forces,  and  were  now  greatly 
alarmed  at  the  expected  approach  of  the  emperor,  hesitated 
what  to  do,  and  as  neither  by  resistance,  nor  by  anything 
which  they  could  do  or  devise,  did  they  perceive  any 
possibility  of  obtaining  ever  so  brief  a  respite,  they  with- 
drew with  speed  to  their  hills,  which  were  almost  in- 
accessible from  the  steepness  of  their  precipices,  and 
reaching  the  most  inaccessible  rocks  by  a  winding  path, 
they  conveyed  thither  their  riches  and  their  families,  and 
prepared  to  defend  them  with  all  their  might. 

13.  Having  deliberated  on  this  difficulty,  our  general 
selected  500  men  of  proved  experience  in  war  out  of  each 
legion,  to  station  opposite  to  the  entrances  to  this  wall  of 
rock.     And  they,  being  further  encouraged  by  the  fact 
that  the  emperor  himself  was  continually  seen  actively 
employed  among  the  front  rank,  endeavoured  to  scale  the 
precipices,  not  doubting  but  that  if  they  could  once  set  foot 
upon  the  rocks  they  should  instantly  catch  the  barbarians, 
like  so  much  game,  without  any  conflict;  and  so  an  en- 
gagement was  commenced  towards  the  approach  of  noon, 
and  lasted  even  to  the  darkness  of  night. 

14.  Both  sides    experienced   heavy   losses.      Our  men 
slew  numbers,  and  fell  in  numbers ;  and  the  armour  of  the 
emperor's  body-guard,  glittering  with  gold  and  brilliant 
colours,  was  crushed  beneath  the  weight  of  the  heavy  mis- 
siles hurled  upon  them. 

15.  Gratian   held   a  long    deliberation   with   his   chief 
officers ;   and  it  seemed  to  them  fruitless  and  mischievous 
to  contend  with    unreasonable    obstinacy  against    these 
rugged  and  overhanging  rocks  :  at  last  (as  is  usual  in  such 
affairs),  after  various  opinions  had  been  delivered,  it  was 
determined,  without  making  any  more   active  efforts,  to 
blockade  the    barbarians  and    reduce   them  by   famine; 
since  against  all  active  enterprises  the  character  of  the 
ground  which  they  occupied  was  a  sufficient  defence. 

16.  But  the    Germans  still  held   out  with   unflinching 
obstinacy,    and    being    thoroughly  acquainted   with    the 
country,  retreated  to  other  mountains  still  more  lofty  than 
those   which   they  occupied  at  first.      Thither  also  the 
emperor  turned  with  his  army,  with  the  same  energy  as 
before,  seeking  for  a  patt  which  might  lead  him  to  the 
heights. 


AJ).  377.]  CHARACTER   OF   GRATIAX.  605 

17.  And  when  the  barbarians  saw  him  thus  with  un- 
wearied perseverance  intent  upon  their  destruction,  they 
surrendered ;  and  having  by  humble  supplication  obtained 
mercy,  they  furnished  a   reinforcement   of  the  flower  of 
their  youth  to  be  mingled  with  our   recruits,  and  were 
permitted  to  retire  in  safety  to  their  native  land. 

18.  It  is  beyond  all  belief  how  much  vigour  and  rapidity 
of  action   Gratian,    by  the   favour  of  the  eternal  Deity, 
displayed  in  gaining  this  seasonable  and  beneficial  victory, 
which  broke  the  power  of  the  Western  tribes  at  a  time 
when  he  was  preparing  to   hasten  in   another  direction. 
He  was  indeed  a  young  prince  of  admirable  disposition, 
eloquent,  moderate,  warlike,  and   merciful,  rivalling  the 
most   admirable  of  his  predecessors,  even  while  the  down 
of  youth  was  still  upon  his  cheeks ;  the  only  drawback  to 
his  character  being  that  he   was  sometimes  drawn  into 
ridiculous  actions,  when,   in  consequence  of  temptations 
held  out  by  his  minions  and  favourites,  he  imitated  the 
vain  pursuits  of  Caesar  Commodus ;  but  he  was  never  blood- 
thirsty. 

19.  For  as  that  prince,  because  he  had  been  accustomed 
to  slay  numbers  of  wild  beasts  with  his  javelins  in  the 
sight  of  the  people,  and  prided  himself  beyond  measure 
on  the  skill  with  which  he  slew  a  hundred  lions  let  loose 
at  the    same  time  in  the    amphitheatre    with    different 
missiles,  and  without  ever  having  to  repeat  his  shot ;  so 
Gratian,  in  the   enclosures   called   preserves,    slew   wild 
beasts   with   his   arrows,    neglecting  much   serious  busi- 
ness for   this   amusement,  and   this   at  a   time  when   if 
Marcus   Antoninus    had  resumed  the   empire   he  would 
have  found  it  hard,  without  colleagues  of  equal  genius  to 
his  own,  and  without    the   most   serious   deliberation  of 
counsel,  to  remedy  the  grievous  disasters  of  the  republic. 

20.  Therefore  having  made  all  the  arrangements  which 
the  time  would  permit  for  the  affairs  of  Gaul,  and  having 
punished  the  traitor  of  the  Scutarii  who  had  betrayed  to  the 
barbarians  the  intelligence  that  the  emperor  was  about  to 
depart   with   all  speed  for    Illyricum,    Gratianus  quitted 
the  army,  and  passing  through  the  fortress  known  as  that 
of  Arbor  Felix,  he  proceeded  by  forced  marches  to  carry 
his  assistance  to  those  who  needed  it. 

21.  About  this  time,  while  Frigeridus  was  with  great 


606  AM  MI  ANUS   MARCELL1NUS.  [Bs.  XXXL  CH.  xi 

wisdom  devising  many  schemes  likely  to  prove  of  advan- 
tage to  the  general  safety,  and  was  preparing  to  fortify 
the  defiles  of  the  Succi,  to  prevent  the  enemy  (who,  by 
the  rapidity  of  their  movements  and  their  fondness  for 
sallies,  were  always  threatening  the  northern  provinces 
like  a  torrent)  from  extending  their  inroads  any  further, 
lie  was  superseded  by  a  count  named  Maurus,  a  man  cruel, 
ferocious,  fickle,  and  untrustworthy.  This  man,  as  we 
have  related  in  our  account  of  preceding  transactions, 
being  one  of  Julian's  body-guard  to  whom  the  defence 
of  the  palace  was  expressly  committed,  while  that  prince 
was  doubting  about  accepting  the  imperial  authority,  took 
the  chain  from  his  own  neck  and  offered  it  to  him  for  a 
diadem. 

22.  Thus,  in  the  most  critical  aspect  of  our  difficulties, 
a  cautioxis  and  energetic  general  was  removed,  when, 
even  if  he  had  previously  retired  into  private  life,  he 
ought,  from  the  greatness  of  the  affairs  which  required  his 
superintendence,  to  have  been  brought  back  again  to  the 
camp. 

XI. 

A.D.  378. 

§  1.  ABOUT  the  same  time  Valens  quitted  Antioch,  and, 
after  a  long  journey,  came  to  Constantinople,  where  he 
stayed  a  few  days,  being  made  anxious  by  a  trifling  sedition 
among  the  citizens.  He  intrusted  the  command  of  the 
infantry,  which  had  previously  been  committed  to  Trajan, 
to  Sebastian,  who  at  his  request  had  been  lately  sent  to 
him  from  Italy,  being  a  general  of  well-known  vigilance ; 
and  he  himself  went  to  Melanthias,  a  country  palace  be- 
longing to  the  emperors,  where  he  conciliated  the  soldiers 
by  giving  them  their  pay,  furnishing  them  with  pro- 
visions, and  frequently  addressing  them  in  courteous 
speeches. 

2.  Having  left  this  place,  he  proceeded  according  to  the 
stages  he  had  marked  out,  and  came  to  a  station  named 
Nice,  where  he  learnt  from  intelligence  brought  by  his 
scouts,  that  the  barbarians,  who  had  collected  a  rich  booty, 
were  returning  loaded  with  it  from  the  districts  about 
Mount  Khodope,  and  were  now  near  Hadrianople.  They, 


A.B.  378.J  SEBASTIAN   SURPRISES    THE   GOTHS.  607 

hearing  of  the  approach  of  the  emperor  with  a  numerous 
force,  were  hastening  to  join  their  countrymen,  who  were 
in  strong  positions  around  Bersea  and  Nicopolis ;  and  im- 
mediately (as  the  ripeness  of  the  opportunity  thus  thrown 
in  his  way  required)  the  emperor  ordered  Sebastian  to 
hasten  on  with  three  hundred  picked  soldiers  of  each 
legion,  to  do  something  (as  he  promised)  of  signal  advan- 
tage to  the  commonweal. 

3.  Sebastian  pushed  on  by  forced  marches,  and  came  in 
sight  of  the  enemy  near  Hadrianople ;  but  as  the  gates 
were  barred   against  him,   he   was   unable  to  approach 
nearer,  since  the  garrison  feared  that  he  had  been  taken 
prisoner  by  the  enemy,  and  won  over  by  them  :  so  that 
something  to  the  injury  of  the  city  might  happen,  like 
what  had  formerly  taken  place  in  the  case  of  Count  Actus, 
who  had   been  cunningly  taken  prisoner  by  the  soldiers 
of  Magnentius,  and  who  thus  caused  the  opening  of  the 
passes  of  the  Julian  Alps. 

4.  At  last,  though  late,  they  recognized  Sebastian,  and 
allowed  him  to  enter  the  city.     He,  then,  as  well  as  he 
could,  refreshed  the  troops  under  his  command  with  food 
and  rest,  and  next    morning   secretly  issued  forth,  and 
towards  evening,  being  partially  concealed  by  the  rising 
ground  and  some  trees,  he  suddenly  caught  sight  of  the 
predatory   bands   of  the    Goths   near   the   river  Maritza, 
where,    favoured   by   the   darkness  of  night,   he  charged 
them  while  in   disorder  and   unprepared,    routing   them 
so  completely  that,  with  the  exception   of  a  few   whom 
swiftness  of  foot  saved  from  death,  the  whole  body  were 
slain,   and    he  recovered  such  an  enormous   quantity   of 
booty,    that   neither   the    city,  nor  the    extensive   plains 
around  could  contain  it. 

5.  Fritigern  was  greatly  alarmed ;  and  fearing  lest  this 
general,  whc  as  we  have  often  heard  succeeded  in  all  his 
undertakings,   should    surprise    and  utterly   destroy   his 
different  detachments,  which   were   scattered   at  random 
over  the  country,  intent  only  on  plunder,  he  called  in  all 
his  men  near  the  town  of  Cabyle,  and  at  once  made  off, 
in  order  to  gain  the  open  country,  where  he  would  not  be 
liable  to  be  straitened  for  want  of  provisions,  or  harassed 
by  secret  ambuscades. 

6.  While  these  events  were  proceeding  in  Thrace,  Gra- 


608  AMMIANOS   MARCELLINUS.          [BK.  XXXI.  Cu.  xn< 

tian  having  sent  letters  to  inform  his  uncle  of  the  energy 
with  which  he  had  overcome  the  Allemanni,  and  for- 
warded his  baggage  by  land,  himself,  with  a  picked  band 
of  his  quickest  troops,  crossed  the  Danube,  reached  Bono- 
nia.  and  afterwards  Sirmium,  where  he  halted  four  days. 
He  then  descended  the  river  to  the  Camp  of  Mars, 
where  he  was  laid  up  by  an  intermittent  fever,  and,  being 
suddenly  assailed  by  the  Alani,  lost  a  few  of  his  fol- 
lowers. 

XII. 

§  1.  AT  this  time  Valens  was  disturbed  by  a  twofold 
anxiety,  having  learned  that  the  people  of  Lintz  had 
been  defeated,  and  also  because  Sebastian,  in  the  letters 
which  he  sent  from  time  to  time,  exaggerated  what  had 
taken  place  by  his  pompous  language.  Therefore  he  ad- 
vanced from  Melanthias,  being  eager  by  some  glorious 
exploit  to  equal  his  youthful  nephew,  by  whose  virtue  he 
was  greatly  excited.  He  was  at  the  head  of  a  nume- 
rous force,  neither  unwarlike  nor  contemptible,  and  had 
united  with  them  many  veteran  bands,  among  whom  were 
several  officers  of  high  rank,  especially  Trajan,  who  a 
little  while  before  had  been  commander  of  the  forces. 

2.  And  as  by  means  of  spies  and  observation  it  was 
ascertained  that  the   enemy  were   intending    to    block- 
ade the  different  roads  by  which  the  necessary  supplies 
must  come,   with  strong   divisions,   he  sent  a  sufficient 
force  to  prevent  this,  despatching  a  body  of  the  archers 
of    the    infantry   and    a    squadron   of  cavalry,   with  all 
speed,   to   occupy    the  narrow  passes  in   the   neighbour- 
hood. 

3.  Three   days  afterwards,  when  the  barbarians,   who 
were  advancing  slowly,  because  they  feared  an  attack  in 
the    unfavourable   ground   which   they   were   traversing, 
arrived   within  fifteen   miles   from  the  station  of  Nice, 
which   was   the   aim  of  their  march,  the  emperor,  with 
wanton    impetuosity,    resolved    on    attacking    them    in- 
stantly, because   those  who    had    been    sent   forward   to 
reconnoitre  (what  led    to   such  a   mistake  is   unknown) 
affirmed  that  their  entire  body  did  not  exceed  ten  thou- 
sand men. 


.  -A  378.]  MARCH  OF  VALENS  TO  HADRIANOPLE.  009 

4.  Marching  on  with  his  army  in  battle  array,  he  came 
near  the  suburb  of  Hadrianople,   where   he  pitched  his 
camp,  strengthening  it  with  a  rampart  of  palisades,  and 
then  impatiently  waited  for  Gratian.     While  here,  Kicho- 
meres,   Count  of  the   Domestici,  arrived,  who  had  been 
sent  on  by  that  emperor  with  letters  announcing  his  im- 
mediate approach. 

5.  And  imploring  Valens  to  wait  a  little  while  for  him 
that  he  might  share  his  danger,  and  not  rashly  face  the 
danger  before  him  single  handed,  he  took  counsel  with 
his  officers  as  to  what  was  best  to  be  done. 

6.  Some,  following  the  advice  of  Sebastian,  recommended 
with  urgency  that  he  should  at  once  go  forth  to  battle ; 
while  Victor,  master-general  of  the  cavalry,  a  Sarmatian  by 
birth,  but  a  man  of  slow  and  cautious  temper,   recom- 
mended him  to  wait  for  his  imperial  colleague,  and  this 
advice  was  supported  by  several  other  officers,  who  sug- 
gested that  the  reinforcement  of  the  Gallic  army  would  be 
likely  to  awe  the  fiery  arrogance  of  the  barbarians. 

1.  However,  the  fatal  obstinacy  of  the  emperor  pre- 
vailed, fortified  by  the  flattery  of  some  of  the  princes, 
who  advised  him  to  hasten  with  all  speed,  so  that  Gratian 
might  have  no  share  in  a  victory  which,  as  they  fancied, 
was  already  almost  gained. 

8.  And    while  all  necessary   preparations  were   being 
made  for  the  battle,  a  presbyter  of  the  Christian  religion 
(as  he  called  himself),  having  been  sent  by  Fritigern  as 
his  ambassador,  came,  with  some  colleagues  of  low  rank, 
to  the  emperor's  camp ;  and  having  been  received  with 
courtesy,  he  presented  a  letter  from  that  chieftain,  openly 
requesting  that  the  emperor  would  grant  to  him  and  to 
his  followers,   who   were   now   exiles   from  their   native 
homes,  from  which  they  had  been  driven  by  the  rapid 
invasions  of  savage  nations,   Thrace,   with  all  its  flocks 
and  all  its  crops,  for  a  habitation.     And  if  Valens  would 
consent   to    this,  Fritigern  would  agree  to  a  perpetual 
peace. 

9.  In  addition  to  this  message,  the  same  Christian,  as 
one  acquainted  with  his  commander's  secrets,   and  well 
trusted,  produced  other  secret  letters  from  his  chieftain' 
who,  being  full  of  craft  and  every  resource   of  deceit, 
infonseti  Valens,  as  one  who  was  hereafter  to  be  his  friend 

2  R 


610  AMMIANUS   MARCEL^iNtJS.  [Bs.XXXLCH.xit 

and  ally,  that  he  had  no  other  means  to  app«ase  the 
ferocity  of  his  countrymen,  or  to  induce  them  to  accept 
conditions  advantageous  to  the  Roman  state,  unless  from 
time  to  time  he  showed  them  an  army  under  arms  close  at 
hand,  and  by  frightening  them  with  the  name  of  the  em- 
peror, recalled  them  from  their  mischievous  eagerness  for 
fighting.  The  ambassadors  retired  unsuccessful,  having 
been  looked  on  as  suspicious  characters  by  the  emperor. 

10.  When  the  day  broke  which  the  annals  mark  as  the 
fifth  of  the  Ides  of  August,  the  Roman  standards  were  ad- 
vanced with  haste,  the  baggage  having  been  placed  close 
to  the  walls  of  Hadrianople,  under  a  sufficient  guard  of 
soldiers  of  the  legions  ;  the  treasures  and  the  chief  insignia 
of  the  emperor's  rank  were  within  the  walls,  with  the 
prefect  and  the  principal  members  of  the  council. 

11.  Then,  having  traversed  the  broken  ground  which 
divided  the  two  armies,  as  the  burning  day  was  progressing 
towards  noon,  at  last,  after  marching  eight  miles,  our  men 
came  in  sight  of  the  waggons  of  the  enemy,  which  had 
been  stated  by  the  scouts  to  be  all  arranged  in  a  circle. 
According  to   their  custom,   the   barbarian    host   raised 
a  fierce  and   hideous   yell,   while    the    Roman  generals 
marshalled  their  line  of  battle.      The  right  wing  of  the 
cavalry  was   placed   in  front ;    the   chief  portion  of  the 
infantry  was  kept  in  reserve. 

12.  But  the  left  wing  of  the  cavalry,  of  which  a  consider- 
able number  were  still  straggling  on  the  road,  were  ad- 
•»-ancmg  with  speed,  though  with  great  difficulty ;  and  while 
this  wing  was  deploying,  not  as  yet  meeting  with  any 
obstacle,   the   barbarians  being  alarmed  at  the   terrible 
clang  of  their  arms  and  the   threatening  crash  of  their 
shields  (since  a  large  portion  of  their  own  army  was  still 
at  a  distance,  under  Alatheus  and  Saphrax,  and,  though 
sent  for,  had  not  yet  arrived),  again  sent  ambassadors  to 
ask  for  peace. 

13.  The  emperor  was  offended  at  the  lowness  of  theil 
rank,  and  replied,  that  if  they  wished  to  make  a  lasting 
treaty,  they  must  send  him  nobles  of  sufficient  dignity. 
They  designedly  delayed,  in  order  by  the  fallacious  truce 
which  subsisted  during  the  negotiation  to  give  fime  foi 
their  cavalry  to  return,  whom  they  looked  upon  ar>  close  at 
hand ;  and  for  our  soldiers,  already  suffering  from  the  sum 


AJ).  378.]  BATTLE   OF    HADRIANOPLE.  Oil 

mer  heat,  to  be  come  parched  and  exhausted  by  the  confla- 
gration of  the  vast  plain  ;  as  the  enemy  had,  with  this 
object,  set  fire  to  the  crops  by  means  of  burning  faggots 
and  fuel.  To  this  evil  another  was  added,  that  both  men 
and  cattle  were  suffering  from  extreme  hunger. 

14.  In  the  meantime  Fritigern,  being  skilful  in  divining 
the  future,  and  fearing  a  doubtful  struggle,  of  his  own  head 
sent  one  of  his  men  as  a  herald,  requesting  that  some 
nobles  and  picked  men  should  at  once  be  sent  to  him  as 
hostages  for  his  safety,  when  he  himself  would  fearlessly 
bring  us  both  military  aid  and  supplies. 

15.  The  proposition  of  this  formidable  chief  was  received 
with  praise  and  approbation,  and  the  tribune  Equitius,  a 
relation  of  Valens,  who  was  at  that  time  high  steward  of 
the  palace,  was  appointed,  with  general  consent,  to  go  with 
all  speed  to  the  barbarians  as  a  hostage.     But  he  refused, 
because  he  had  once  been  taken  prisoner  by  the  enemy, 
arid  had  escaped  from  Dibaltum,  so  that  he  feared  their 
vengeful  anger  ;  upon  this  Kichomeres  voluntarily  offered 
himself,  and  willingly  undertook  to  go,  thinking  it  a  bold 
action,  and  one  becoming  a  brave  man ;  and  so  he  set  out, 
bearing  vouchers  of  his  rank  and  high  birth. 

16.  And  as   he  was  on  his  way  towards  the  enemy's 
camp,  the  accompanying  archers  and  Scutarii,  who  on  that 
occasion  were  under  the  command  of  Bacurius,  a  native  of 
Iberia,  and  of  Cassio,  yielded,  while  on  their  march,  to  an 
indiscreet  impetuosity,   and  on  approaching  the   enemy, 
first  attacked  them  rashly,  and  then  by  a  cowardly  flight 
disgraced  the  beginning  of  the  campaign. 

17.  This  ill-timed  attack  frustrated  the  willing  services 
of  Richomeres,  as  he  was  not  permitted  to  proceed ;  in  the 
mean  time  the  cavalry  of  the  Goths  had  returned  with 
Alatheus  and  Saphrax,  and  with  them,  a  battalion  of  Alani ; 
these  descending  from  the  mountains  like  a  thunderbolt, 
spread  confusion  and  slaughter  among  all  whom  in  their 
rapid  charge  they  came  across. 


612  AMM1ANUS  MARCELLINUS.         [B«.  XXXI.  CH.  xui. 


XIII. 

§  1.  AND  while  arms  and  missiles  of  all  kinds  were  meet- 
ing in  fierce  conflict,  and  Bellona,  blowing  her  mournful 
trumpet,  was  raging  more  fiercely  than  usual,  to  inflict 
disaster  on  the  Romans,  our  men  began  to  retreat ;  but 
presently,  roused  by  the  reproaches  of  their  officers,  they 
made  a  fresh  stand,  and  the  battle  increased  like  a  confla- 
gration, terrifying  our  soldiers,  numbers  of  whom  were 
pierced  by  strokes  from  the  javelins  hurled  at  them,  and 
from  arrows. 

2.  Then   the  two  lines  of  battle  dashed   against  each 
other,  like  the  beaks  (or  rams)  of  ships,  and  thrusting  with 
all  their  might,  were  tossed  to  and  fro,,  like  the  waves  of 
the  sea.     Our  left  wing  had  advanced  actually  up  to  the 
waggons,  with  the  intent  to  push  on  still  further  if  they 
were  properly  supported ;  but  they  were  deserted  by  the 
rest  of  the  cavalry,  and  so  pressed  upon  by  the  superior 
numbers  of  the  enemy,  that  they  were  overwhelmed  and 
beaten  down,  like  the  ruin  of  a  vast  rampart.     Presently 
our  infantry  also  was  left  unsupported,  while  the  different 
companies  became  so  huddled  together  that  a  soldier  could 
hardly  draw  his  sword,  or  withdraw  his  hand  after  he  had 
once  stretched  it  out.     And  by  this  time  such  clouds  of 
dust  arose  that  it  was  scarcely  possible  to  see  the  sky, 
which  resounded  with  horrible  cries ;  and  in  consequence, 
the  darts,  which  were  bearing  death  on  every  side,  reached 
their  mark,  and  fell  with  deadly  effect,  because  no  one 
could  see  them  beforehand  so  as  to  guard  against  them. 

3.  But  when  the  barbarians,  rushing  on  with  their  enor- 
mous host,  beat  down  our  horses  and  men,  and  left  no  spot 
to  which  our  ranks  could  fall  back  to  deploy,  while  they 
were  so  closely  packed  that  it  was  impossible  to  escape 
by  forcing  a  way  through  them,  our  men  at  last  began  to 
despise  death,  and  again  took  to  their  swords  and  slew  all 
they  encountered,  while  with  mutual  blows  of  battle-axes, 
helmets  and  breastplates  were  dashed  in  pieces. 

4.  Then  you  might  see  the  barbarian  towering  in  bis 
fierceness,  hissing  or  shouting,  fall  with  his  legs  pierced 
through,  or  his  right  hand  cut  off,  sword  and  all,  or  his  side 
transfixed,  and  still,  in  the  last  gasp  of  life,  casting  round  i 


«J».378.]  BATTLE   OF    HADRIANOl'LE.  613 

him  donant  glances.  The  plain  was  covered  with  car- 
cases, strewing  the  mutual  ruin  of  the  combatants ;  while 
the  groans  of  the  dying,  or  of  men  fearfully  wounded,  were 
intense,  and  caused  great  dismay  all  around. 

5.  Amidst   all    this    great   tumult   and    confusion    our 
infantry  were  exhausted  by  toil  and  danger,  till  at  last 
they  had  neither  strength  left  to  fight,  nor  spirits  to  plau 
anything ;  their  spears  were  broken  by  the  frequent  col- 
lisions, so  that   they  were  forced   to    content  themselves 
with  their  drawn  swords,  which  they  thrust  into  the  dense 
battalions  of  the  enemy,  disregarding  their  own  safety,  and 
seeing  that  every  possibility  of  escape  was  cut  oft'  from 
them. 

6.  The  ground,  covered  with   streams   of  blood,  made 
their  feet  slip,  so  that  all  that  they  endeavoured  to  do  was 
to  sell  their  lives  as  dearly  as  possible;    and  with  such 
vehemence  did  they  resist  their  enemies  who  pressed  on 
them,  that  some  were  even  killed  by  their  own  weapons. 
At  last  one  black  pool  of  blood  disfigured  everything,  and 
wherever  the  eye  turned,  it  could  see  nothing  but  piled -up 
heaps  of  dead,  and  lifeless  corpses  trampled  on  without 
mercy. 

7.  The  sun  being  now  high   in   the   heavens,   having 
traversed  the  sign  of  Leo,  and  reached  the  abode  of  the 
heavenly  Virgo,   scorched  the  Eomans,  who  were  emaci- 
ated by  hunger,  worn  out  with  toil,  and  scarcely  able  to 
support  even  the  weight  of  their  armour.      At   last  our 
columns  were  entirely  beaten  back  by  the  overpowering 
weight  of  the  barbarians,  and  so  they  took  to  disorderly 
flight,  which  is  the  only  resource  in  extremity,  each  man 
trying  to  save  himself  as  well  as  he  could. 

8.  While  they  were  all  flying  and  scattering  themselves, 
over  roads  with  which  they  were  unacquainted,  the  em- 
peror, bewildered  with  terrible  fear,  made  his  way  over 
heaps  of  dead,  and  fled  to  the  battalions  of  the  Lancearii 
and  the  Mattiarii,  who,  till  the  superior  numbers  of  the 
enemy   became   wholly   irresistible,    stood    firm   and   im- 
movable.    As  soon  as  he  saw  him,  Trajan  exclaimed  that 
all  hope  was  lost,  unless  the  emperor,  thus  deserted  by  his 
guards,  could  be  protected  by  the  aid  of  his  foreign  allies. 

9.  \\hen  this  exclamation  was   heard,  a  count  named 
yictor  hastened  to  bring  up  with  all  speed  the  Batavians, 


614  AMMIANUS  MARCELL1NUS.          [BK.  XXXI.  CH.  xiit 

who  were  placed  in  the  reserve,  and  who  ought  to  have 
been  near  at  hand,  to  the  emperor's  assistance  ;  but  as  none 
of  them  could  be  found,  he  too  retreated,  and  in  a  similar 
manner  Richomeres  and  Saturninus  saved  themselves  from 
danger. 

10.  So  now,  with  rage  flashing  in  their  eyes,  the  bar- 
barians pursued  our  men,  who  were  in  a  state  of  torpor, 
tne  warmth  of  their  veins  having  deserted  them.     Many 
were  slain  without  knowing  who  smote  them ;  some  were 
overwhelmed  by  the  mere  weight  of  the  crowd  which 
pressed  upon  them ;  and  some  were  slain  by  wounds  in- 
flicted by  their  own  comrades.      The  barbarians  spared 
neither  those  who  yielded  nor  those  who  resisted. 

11.  Besides  these,  many  half  slain  lay  blocking  up  the 
roads,  unable  to  endure  the  torture  of  their  wounds  ;  and 
heaps  of  dead  horses  were  piled  up  and  filled  the  plain 
with  their  carcases.     At  last  a  dark  moonless  night  put  an 
end  to  the  irremediable  disaster  which  cost  the  Roman 
state  so  dear. 

12.  Just  when  it  first  became  dark,  the  emperor  being 
among  a  crowd  of  common  soldiers,  as  it  was  believed — 
for  no  one  said  either  that  he  had  seen  him,  or  been  near 
him — was  mortally  wounded  with  an  arrow,   and,   very 
shortly  after,  died,  though  his  body  was  never  found.     For 
as  some  of  the  enemy  loitered  for  a  long  time  about  the 
field  in  order  to  plunder  the  dead,  none  of  the  defeated 
army  or  of  the  inhabitants  ventured  to  go  to  them. 

13.  A  similar  fate  befell  the  Csesar  Decius,  when  fight- 
ing vigorously  against  the  barbarians ;  for  he  was  thrown 
by  his  horse  falling,  which  he  had  been  unable  to  hold,  and 
was  plunged  into  a  swamp,  out  of  which  he  could  never 
emerge,  nor  could  his  body  be  found. 

14.  Others  report  that  Valens  did  not  die  immediately, 
but  that  he  was  borne  by  a  small  body  of  picked  soldiers 
and  eunuchs  to  a  cabin  in  the  neighbourhood,  which  was 
strongly  built,  with  two  stories;    and  that  while  these 
unskilful  hands  were  tending  his  wounds,  the  cottage  was 
surrounded  by  the  enemy,  though  they  did  not  know  who 
was  in  it ;  still,  however,  he  was  saved  from  the  disgrace 
of  being  made  a  prisoner. 

15.  For  when  his  pursuers,  while  vainly  attempting  to 
force  the  barred  doors,  were  assailed  with  arrows  from 


*J>.378.]  BATTLE  OF   HADRIANOPLE.  615 

the  roof,  they,  not  to  lose  by  so  inconvenient  a  delay  the 
opportunity  of  collecting  plunder,  gathered  some  faggots 
and  stubble,  and  setting  fire  to  them,  burnt  down  the  build- 
ing, with  those  who  were  in  it. 

16.  But  one  of  the  soldiers  dropped  from  the  windows, 
and,  being  taken  prisoner  by  the  barbarians,  revealed  to 
them  what  had  taken  place,  which  caused  them  great  con- 
cern, because  they  looked  upon  themselves  as  defrauded  of 
great  glory  in  not  having  taken  the  ruler  of  the  Koman 
state  alive.     This  same  young   man  afterwards  secretly 
returned  to  our  people,  and  gave  this  account  of  the  affair. 

17.  When  Spain  had  been  recovered  after  a  similar  dis- 
aster, we  are  told  that  one  of  the  Scipios  was  lost  in  a  fire, 
the  tower  in  which  he  had  taken  refuge  having  been  burnt. 
At  all  events  it  is  certain  that  neither  Scipio  nor  Valens 
enjoyed  that  last  honour  of  the  dead — a  regular  funeral. 

18.  Many  illustrious  men  fell  in  this  disastrous  defeat, 
and  among  them  one  of  the  most  remarkable  was  Trajan, 
and  another  was  Sebastian  ;  there  perished  also  thirty-five 
tribunes  who  had  no  particular  command,  many  captains 
of  battalions,  and  Valerianus  and  Equitius,  one  of  whom 
was  master  of  the   horse  and  the   other  high   steward. 
Potentius,  too,   tribune  of  the  promoted   officers,  fell  in 
the  flower  of  his  age,  a  man  respected  by  all  persons  of 
virtue,  and  recommended  by  the  merits   of  his   father, 
Ursicinus,  who  had  formerly  been  commander  of  the  forces, 
as  well  as  by  his  own.     Scarcely  one-third  of  the  whole 
army  escaped. 

19.  Nor,  except  the  battle  of  Cannae,  is  so  destructive  a 
slaughter  recorded  in  our  annals ;  though,  even  in  the  times 
of  their  prosperity,  the  Romans  have  more  than  once  had 
to  deplore  the  uncertainty  of  war,  and  have  for  a  time  suc- 
cumbed to  evil  Fortune ;  while  the  well-known  dirges  of 
the  Greeks  have  bewailed  many  disastrous  battles. 


T16  AMMIANUS  MARCELLINUS.         [BK.  XXXI.  OH.  nv 


XIV. 

§  1.  SUCH  was  the  death  of  Valens,  when  he  was  about 
fifty  years  old,  and  had  reigned  rather  less  than  fourteen 
3rears.  We  will  now  describe  his  virtues,  which  were 
known  to  many,  and  his  vices. 

2.  He  was  a  faithful  and  steady  friend — a  severe  chastiser 
of  ambition — a  rigid  upholder  of  both  military  and  civil 
discipline — always  careful  that  no  one  should  assume  im- 
portance on  account  of  any  relationship  to  himself;  slow 
both  in  conferring,  office,  and  in  taking  it  away ;  a  very- 
just  ruler  of  the  provinces,  all  of  which  he  protected  from 
injury,  as  if  each  had  been  his  own  house ;  devoting  sin- 
gular care  to  the  lessening  the  burdens  of  the  state,  and 
never  permitting  any  increase  of  taxation.      He  was  very 
moderate  in  the  exaction  of  debts  due  to  the  state,  but 
a  vehement  and  implacable  foe  to  all  thieves,  and  to  every 
one  convicted  of  peculations ;   nor  in  affairs  of  this  kind 
was  the  East,  by  its  own  confession,  ever  better  treated 
under  any  other  emperor. 

3.  Besides  all  this,  he  was  liberal  with  due  regard  to 
moderation,  of  which  quality  there   are  many  examples, 
one  of  which  it  will  be  sufficient  to  mention  here : — As  in 
palaces   there  are   always  some  persons  covetous  of  the 
possessions  of  others,  if  any  one  petitioned  for  lapsed  pro- 
perty, or  anything  else  which  it  was  usual  to  apply  for,  he 
made  a  proper  distinction  between  just  and  unjust  claims, 
and  when  he  gave  it  to  the  petitioner,  while  reserving  full 
liberty  to  any  one  to  raise  objections,  he  often  associated 
the  successful  candidate  with  three   or  four   partners,  in 
order  that  those  covetous  suitors  might  conduct  themselves 
with   more   moderation,  when   they  saw  the   profits  for 
which  they  were  so  eager  diminished  by  this  device. 

4.  Of  the   edifices,    which   in    the   different  cities   and 
towns  he  either  repaired  or  built,  from  their  foundations,  I 
will  say  nothing  (to  avoid  prolixity),  allowing  those  things 
to  speak  for  themselves.     These  qualities,  in  my  opinion, 
deserve  the  imitation  of  all  good  men.     Now  let  us  enume- 
rate his  vices. 

5.  He  was  an  immoderate  coveter  of  great  wealth ;  im- 
patient of  labour,  he  affected  an  extreme  severity,  and  was 


i.D.378.]  VICES   OF   VALEXS. 

too  much  inclined  to  cruelty ;  his  behaviour  was  rude  and 
rough ;  and  he  was  little  imbued  with  skill  either  in  war 
or  in  the  liberal  arts.  He  willingly  sought  profit  and 
advantage  in  the  miseries  of  others,  and  was  more  than 
ever  intolerable  in  straining  ordinary  offences  into  sedition 
ov  treason ;  he  cruelly  encompassed  the  death  or  ruin  of 
wealthy  nobles. 

6.  This  also  was  unendurable,  that  while  he  wished  to 
have  it  appear  that  all  actions  and  suits  were  decided  ac- 
cording to  the  law,  and  while  the  investigation  of  such 
affairs  was  delegated  to  judges  especially  selected  as  the 
most  proper  to  decide  them,  he  still  would  not  allow  any 
decision  to  be  given  which  was  contrary  to  his  own  pleasure.. 
He  was  also  insulting,  passionate,  and  always  willing  To 
listen  to  all  informers,  without  the  least  distinction  as  to 
whether  the  charges  which  they  advanced  were  true  or 
false.     And  this  vice  is  one  very  much  to  be  dreaded,  even 
in  private  affairs  of  every-day  occurrence. 

7.  He  was   dilatory  and  sluggish;    of  a  swarthy  com- 
plexion ;  had  a  cast  in  one  eye,  a  blemish,  however,  which 
was  not  visible  at  a  distance  ;  his  limbs  were  well  set ;  his 
figure  was  neither  tall  nor  short ;  he  was  knock-kneed,  and 
rather  pot-bellied. 

8.  This  is  enough  to  say  about  Valens :  and  the  recol- 
lection of  his  contemporaries  will  fully  testify  that  this 
account  is  a  true  one.     But  we  must  not  omit  to  mention 
that  when  he  had  learnt  that  the  oracle  of  the  tripod,  which 
we  have  related  to  have  been  moved   by  Patricias  and 
Hilanus,  contained  those  three  prophetic  lines,  the  last  of 
which  is, — 

"  'Ev  irtSioifft  Mfytajros  a.\a\KOfj.tvoi.ffiv  &pfja." 
"  Repelling  murd'rous  war  in  Mimas'  plain  ;" 
— he,  being  void  of  accomplishments  and  illiterate,  despised 
them  at  first ;  but  as  his  calamities  increased,  he  became 
filled  with  abject  fear,  and,  from  a  recollection  of  this  samo 
prophecy,  began  to  dread  the  very  name  of  Asia,  where  he 
had  been  informed  by  learned  men  that  both  Homer  and 
Cicero  had  spoken  of  the  Mountain  of  Mimas  over  the  town 
of  ErythrsB. 

9.  Lastly, — after  his  death,  and  the  departure  of  the 
enemy,  it  is  said  that  a  monument  was  found  near  the  spot 
where  he  is  believed  to  have  died,  with  a  stone  fixed  into 


618  AMMIAXUS    MARCKLLINUS.  [BK.  XXXI.Cn.  rr 

it  inscribed  with  Greek  characters,  indicating  that  some 
ancient  noble  of  the  name  of  Mimas  was  buried  there. 


XV. 

§  1.  AFTER  this  disastrous  battle,  when  night  had  veiled 
the  earth  in  darkness,  those  who  survived  fled,  some  to  the 
right,  some  to  the  left,  or  wherever  fear  guided  them,  each 
man  seeking  refuge  among  his  relations,  as  no  one  coijld 
thi  k  of  anything  but  himself,  while  all  fancied  the  lances 
of  the  enemy  sticking  in  their  backs.  And  far  off  were  heard 
the  miserable  wailings  of  those  who  were  left  behind — the 
sobs  of  the  dying,  and  the  agonizing  groans  of  the  wounded. 

2.  But   when    daylight  returned,   the   conquerors,   like 
wild  beasts  rendered  still  more  savage  by  the  blood  they 
had  tasted,  and  allured  by  the  temptations  of  groundless 
hope,    marched    in    a   dense    column    upon   Hadrianople, 
resolved  to  run  any  risk  in  order  to  take  it,  having  been 
informed  by  traitors  and  deserters  that  the  principal  officers 
of  State,  the  insignia  of  the  imperial  authority,  and  the 
treasures  of  Valens  had  all  been  placed  there  for  safety, 
as  in  an  impregnable  fortress. 

3.  And  to  prevent  the  ardour  of  the  soldiers  from  being 
cooled  by  delay,  the  whole  city  was  blockaded   by  the 
fourth  hour ;  and  the  siege  from  that  time  was  carried  on 
with  great  vigour,  the  besiegers,  from  their  innate  ferocity, 
pressing  in  to  complete  its  destruction,  while,  on  the  other 
hand,  the  garrison  was  stimulated  to  great  exertions  by 
their  natural  courage. 

4.  And  while  the  vast  number  of  soldiers  and  grooms, 
who  were  prohibited  from  entering  the  city  with  their 
beasts,  kept  close  to  the  walls  and  to  the  houses  which 
joined  them,  and  fought  gallantly,  considering  the  disad- 
vantages under  which  they  laboured  from  the  lowness  of 
the  ground  which  they  occupied,  and  baffled  the  rage  of 
their  assailants  till  the  ninth  hour  of  the  day,  on  a  sudden 
three  hundred  of  our  infantry,  of  those  who  were  nearest 
the  battlements,  formed  themselves  into  a  solid  body,  and 
deserted  to  the  barbarians,  who  seized  upon  them  with 
avidity,  and  (it  is  not  known  on  what  account)  at  once 
slaughtered  them  all.     And  from  that  time  forth  it  was 


A.D.379."\  SIEGE   OF   HADRIANOPLE.  619 

remarked  that  no  one,  even  in  the  extremity  of  despair, 
adopted  any  similar  conduct. 

5.  Now  while  all  these  misfortunes  were  at  their  height, 
suddenly   there    came   a  violent   thunderstorm,   and   rain 
pouring  down  from  the  black  clouds   dispersed  the  bands 
of  soldiers  who  were  raging  around ;    and  they  returned 
to  their  camp,  which  was  measured  out  in  a  circle  by  their 
waggons ;   and  being  more  elated  and  haughty  than  ever, 

they  sent  threatening  letters  to  our  men and  an 

ambassador on  condition  of  safety  to  him. 

6.  But  as  the  messenger  did  not  dare  to  enter  the  city, 
the  letters  were  at  last  brought  in  by  a  certain  Christian ; 
and  when   they  had  been   read  and   considered  with  all 
pioper  attention,  the  rest  of  the  day  and  the  whole  of  the 
night  was  devoted  to  preparing  for  defence.     For  inside 
the  city  the  gates  were  blocked  up  with  huge  stones ;  the 
weak  parts  of  the  walls  were  strengthened,  and  engines  to 
hurl  javelins  or  stones  were  fixed  on  all  convenient  places, 
and  a  sufficient  supply  of  water  was  also  provided  ;  for  the 
day  before  some  of  the  combatants  had  been  distressed 
almost  to  death  by  thirst. 

7.  On  the  other  hand  the  Goths,  considering  the  diffi- 
culty and  uncertainty  of  all  warlike  transactions,  and  be- 
coming anxious  at  seeing  their  bravest  warriors  wounded 
and  slain,  and  their  strength  gradually  diminished,  devised 
and  adopted  a  crafty  counsel,  which,  however,  was  revealed 
to  us  by  Justice  herself. 

8.  They  seduced  some  picked  soldiers  of  our  army,  who 
had  revolted  to  them  the  day  before,  to  pretend  to  escape 
back  to  their  former  comrades,  and  thus  gain  admittance 
within  the  walls  ;  and  after  they  had  effected  their  entrance, 
they  were  secretly  to  set  fire  to  some  part  of  the  city,  so 
that  the  conflagration  might  serve  as  a  secret  signal,  and 
while  the  garrison  and  citizens  were  occupied  in  extin- 
guishing it,  the  walls  might  be  left  undefended,  and  so  bo 
easily  stormed. 

9.  The  traitors  did  as  they  were  commanded ;  and  when 
they  came  near  the  ditch  they  stretched  out  their  hands, 
and  with  entreaties  requested  to  be  admitted  into  the  city 
as  Romans.     When  they  were  admitted,  however  (since  nc 
suspicion  existed   to   hinder   their  admission),  and   were 
questioned  as  to  the  plans  of  the  enemy,  they  varied  in 


620  AMM1ANUS   MARCELLIXUS.  [BK  XXXI.  Cu.  xv 

their  tale :  and  in  consequence  they  were  put  to  the  tor- 
ture, and  having  formally  confessed  what  they  had  under 
taken  to  do,  they  were  all  beheaded. 

10.  Accordingly,  every  resource  of  war  having  been 
prepared,  the  barbarians,  at  the  third  watch  discarding  all 
fear  from  past  failures,  rushed  in  enormous  numbers 
against  the  blocked  up  en  trances  of  the  city,  their  officers 
urging  them  with  great  obstinacy.  But  the  provincials 
and  imperial  guards,  with  the  rest  of  the  garrison,  rose 
with  fearless  courage  to  repel  them,  and  their  missiles  of 
every  kind,  even  when  shot  at  random  among  so  vast  a 
crowd,  could  not  fall  harmless.  Our  men  perceived  that 
the  barbarians  were  using  the  same  weapons  which  we  our- 
selves had  shot  at  them :  and  accordingly  an  order  was 
given  that  the  strings  which  fastened  the  iron  points  to  the 
javelins  and  arrows  should  be  cut  before  they  were  hurled 
or  shot ;  so  that  while  flying  they  should  preserve  their 
efficacy,  but  when  they  pierced  a  body  or  fell  on  the  ground 
they  should  come  asunder. 

12.  While  affairs  were  in  this  critical  state  an  unex- 
pected accident  had  a  considerable  influence  on  the  result. 
A  scorpion,  a  military  engine  which  in  ordinary  language 
is  also   known  as  the  wild-ass,  being  stationed  opposite 
the  dense  array  of  the  enemy,  hurled  forth  a  huge  stone, 
which,  although  it  fell  harmless  on  the  ground,  yet  by  the 
mere  sight  of  it  terrified  them  so  greatly,  that  in  alarm 
at  the  strange  spectacle  they  all  fell  back  and  endeavoured 
to  retreat. 

13.  But  their  officers  ordering  the  trumpets  to  sound 
a  charge,   the  battle  was  renewed ;   and  the  Romans,  as 
before,  got  the  advantage,  not  a  single  javelin  or  bullet 
hurled  by  a  slinger  failing  of  its  effect.     For  the  troops  of 
the  generals  who  led  the  vanguard,  and  who  were  inflamed 
by  the  desire  of  possessing  themselves  of  the   treasures 
which  Valens   had  so  wickedly  acquired,  were  followed 
closely  by  others  who  were  vain  of  exposing  themselves  to 
as  much  danger  as  those  of  greater  renown.     And  some 
were  wounded  almost  to  death :  others  were  struck  down, 
crushed  by  huge  weights,  or  pierced  through  their  breasts 
with  javelins ;   some  who  carried  ladders  and  attempted 
to  scale  the  walls  on  different  sides  were  buried  under 
their  own  burthens,  being  beaten  down  by  stones  which 


A.D.  378.]  .SIEGE   OF   HADRIAXOl'LK.  621 

were  htirled  upon  them,  and  by  fragments  of  pillars  and 
cylinders. 

14.  And  yet,  horrible  as  the  sight  of  this  bloodshed  was, 
so  great  was  their  ardour  that  no  one  relaxed  in  his  gallant 
exertions   till  the   evening,   being   enco'uraged   by  seeing 
many  of  the  garrison  also  fall  by  various  wounds.     So, 
without   rest   or   relaxation,  both  the   besiegers  and   the 
besieged  fought  with  unwearied  courage. 

15.  And  now  no   kind   of  order  was   observed  by  the 
enemy,  but  they  fought   in   detached  bands  and  in  skir- 
mishes (which  is  the  sign  of  the  extremity  of  despair) ; 
and  at  last,  when  evening  came  on,  they  all  returned  to 
their  tents,  sorrowfully,  each  man  accusing  his  neighbour 
of  inconsiderate  rashness,  because  they  had  not  taken  the 
advice  of  Fritigern,  and  avoided  the  labours  and  dangers 
of  a  siege. 

XVI. 

§  1.  AFTER  the  battle,  the  soldiers  devoted  the  whole  night 
(which,  as  it  was  summer,  was  not  long)  to  tending  the 
wounded  with  all  the  remedies  known  to  their  nations, 
and  when  daylight  returned  they  began  to  discuss  various 
plans,  doubting  what  to  do.  And  after  many  plans  had 
been  proposed  and  objected  to,  they  at  last  decided  to 
occupy  Perinthus,  and  then,  every  place  where  they  could 
hear  that  any  treasures  were  stored  up,  the  deserters  and 
fugitives  having  given  them  all  the  information  they  re- 
quired, so  that  they  learnt  what  was  in  every  house,  to  say 
nothing  of  what  was  in  every  city.  Adopting  this  reso- 
lution unanimously,  which  they  thought  the  best,  they 
advanced  by  slow  marches,  ravaging  and  burning  every- 
thing as  they  passed. 

2.  But  those  who  had  been  besieged  in  Hadrianople, 
after  the  barbarians  had  departed,  as  soon  as  scouts  of 
approved  fidelity  had  reported  that  the  whole  place  was 
free  from  enemies,  issued  forth  at  midnight,  and  avoiding 
the  public  causeways,  took  out-of-way  roads  through  the 
woods,  and  withdrew,  some  to  Philippopolis,  and  from 
thence  to  Serdica,  others  to  Macedonia ;  with  all  the  wealth 
which  they  had  saved  undiminished,  and  pressing  on  with 
the  greatest  exertion  and  celerity,  as  if  they  were  likely  to 


622  AMMIANU3  MARCELLIXUS.  [BK.  XXXI  CH.  rvi 

find  Valens  in  those  regions,  since  they  were  wholly  igno- 
rant that  he  had  perished  in  battle,  *r  else  certainly  (as 
is  rather  believed)  burnt  to  death  in  the  cottage. 

3.  Meanwhile  the  Goths,  combining  with  the  Huns  and 
Alani,  both  brave'  and  warlike  tribes,  and  inured  to  toil 
and  hardship,  whom  Fritigern  had  with  great  ability  won 
over  to  his  side  by  the  temptation  of  great  rewards  — fixed 
their  camp  near  Perinthus  ;  but  recollecting  their  previous 
losses,  they  did  not  venture  to  come  close  to  the  city,  or 
make  any  attempt  to  take  it ;  they,  however,  devastated 
and  entirely  stripped  the  fertile  territory  surrounding  it. 
slaying  or  making  prisoners  of  the  inhabitants. 

4.  From  hence   they  marched  with  speed  to  Constan- 
tinople in  battle  array,  from  fear  of  ambuscades ;   being 
eager  to  make  themselves  masters  of  its  ample  riches,  and 
resolved  to  try  every  means  to  take  that  illustrious  city. 
But  while  giving  way  to  extravagant  pride,  and  beating 
almost  against  the  barriers  of  the  gates,  they  were  repulsed 
in  this  instance  by  the  Deity. 

o.  A  body  of  Saracens  (a  nation  of  whose  origin  and 
manners  we  have  already  given  a  full  account  in  several 
places),  being  more  suited  for  sallies  and  skirmishes  than 
for  pitched  battles,  had  been  lately  introduced  into  the 
city;  and,  as  soon  as  they  saw  the  barbarian  host,  they 
sallied  out  boldly  from  the  city  to  attack  it.  There  was 
a  stubborn  fight  for  some  time;  and  at  last  both  armies 
parted  on  equal  terms. 

6.  But  a  strange  and  unprecedented  incident  gave  the 
final  advantage  to  the  eastern  warriors ;  for  one  of  them 
with  long  hair,  naked — with  the  exception  of  a  covering 
round  his  waist — shouting  a  hoarse  and  melancholy  cry, 
drew  his  dagger  and  plunged  into  the  middle  of  the  Gothic 
host,  and  after  he  had  slain  an  enemy,  put  his  lips  to  hi« 
throat,  and  sucked  his  blood.     The  barbarians  were  ter- 
rified at  this  marvellous  prodigy,  and  from  that  time  forth, 
when  they  proceeded  on  any  enterprise,  displayed  none  of 
their  former  and  usual  ferocity,  but  advanced  with  hesi- 
tating steps. 

7.  As  time  went  on  their  ardour  damped,  and  they  began 
to  take  into   consideration   the  vast  circuit  of  the  walls 
(which  was   the   greater  on   account  of  the   large   space 
occupied   by  mansions  with  gardens  within    it),  the   in 


A.3.  378.]        RETREAT  OF  THE  GOTHS  FROM  CONSTANTINOPLE.         623 

accessible  beauties  of  the  city,  and  the  immensity  of  its 
population ;  also  the  vicinity  of  the  strait  which  divides 
the  Black  Sea  from  the  ^Egean.  Then  after  destroying 
the  works  which  they  had  constructed,  having  sustained 
greater  losses  than  they  had  inflicted,  they  raised  the  siege, 
and  roamed  at  random  over  the  northern  provinces,  which 
they  traversed  without  restraint  as  far  as  the  Julian  Alps, 
which  the  ancients  used  to  call  the  Venetian  Alps. 

8.  At  this  time  the  energy  and  promptitude  of  Julius, 
the  commander  of  the  forces  on  the  other  side  of  Mount 
Taurus,  was  particularly  distinguished ;  for  when  he  learnt 
what  had  happened  in   Thrace,   he  sent  secret  letters  to 
all  the  governors  of  the  different  cities  and  forts,  who  were 
all  Romans  (which  at  this  time  is  not  very  common),  request- 
ing them,  on  one  and  the  same  day,  as  at  a  concerted  signal, 
to  put  to  death  all  the  Goths  who  had  previously  been 
admitted  into  the  places  under  their  charge ;  first  luring 
them  into  the  suburbs,  in  expectation  of  receiving  the  pay 
which  had  been  promised  to  them.     This  wise  plan  was 
carried  out  without  any  disturbance  or  any  delay ;   and 
thus  the   Eastern  provinces   were  delivered  from  great 
dangers. 

9.  Thus  have  I,  a  Greek  by  birth,  and  formerly  a  soldier, 
related  all  the  events  from  the  accession  of  Nerva  to  the 
death  of  Valens,  to  the  best  of  my  abilities ;  professing 
above  all  things  to  tell  the  truth,  which,  as  I  believe,  1 
have  never  knowingly  perverted,  either  by  silence  or  by 
falsehood.     Let  better  men  in  the  flower  of  their  age,  and 
of  eminent  accomplishments,  relate  the  subsequent  events. 
But  if  it  should  please  them  to  undertake  the  task,  I  warn 
t'aem  to  sharpen  their  tongues  to  a  loftier  style. 


INDEX. 


A. 

ABANNI,  a  people  of  Africa,  533 
Aoarne,  a  town  in  Mesopotamia,  noted 

for  its  hot  springs,  182 
Abdera,   the  birthplace   of  Protagoras 

and  Democritus,  286 
Abdigidus,  a  tribune,  173 
Abienus,  a  senator,  477,  478 
Abii,  a  people  of  Persia,  339 
Ablabius,   prefect    of    the   praotorium, 

236 

Abora,  or  Chaboras,  a  river  in  Meso- 
potamia, 111 
Abydos,  287 

Abydum,  a  town  in  Thebais,  208 
Achsei,  a  Caspian  tribe,  290 
Achaiacala,  a  fort  on  an  island  in  the 

Euphrates,  350 
Acheron,  the  river,  289 
Acherusian  cave,  the,  289 
Airiluis   Glabrio,    the   first  Roman    to 

whom  a  statue  was  erected,  16 
AciinJncum,     a    town    in     Hungary, 

205 

Acou>',  a  port  on  the  Euxine  Sea,  289 
Aumtjj:-,  a  species  of  feerpent  in  Egypt, 

311 
Acontiumn,    a   narrow  defile    between 

Thraoa  and  Macedonia,  443 
Acropatena,  a  province  of  M,edia,  335 
Adaces,  a  Persian  Satrap,  killed,  374 
Adden-*,  531 

Adelphiui,  pi  ofcct  of  Rome,  92 
Adiabas,  a  river  m  Assyria,  334 
Adiabene,  a  province  of  Assyria,  176, 

S'.'O,  333 
Adonis,  186 
Adrastea,   the   goddess   of  retribution, 

veiled  also  Nemesis,  42,  281 
A.lrasi,;*,  king  of  the  Argives,  41 
jJ^l-'.sius,  keeper  of  the  records,  56,  58 
jKgean  Sea,  286 


.Elian,  Count,  182,  183;  crucified  by 

the  Persians,  200 
JEaus,  a  city  of  Thrace,  286,  444 
Africauus,  Governor  of  the  second  Pan- 

nouia,  50,  95 

Agabana,  a  fortress  in  Persia,  463 
Agathocles,  king  of  Sicily,  44 
Agathyrsi,    a    tribe    near    the    Pains 

Maeotis,  291 
Asazaca,  a  city  of  the  Paropanisatox 

"342 

Agenaricus,  king  of  the  Allemanni,  113 
Agilimundus,  a  chieftain  of  the  Quadi, 

151 
Agilo,    an    equerry,    34,    266 ;    pro 

moted  to  the  prefecture  by  Julian, 

279 ;  recalled  to  military  service  by 

Procopius,  422  ;    intercedes  for  hi» 

father-in-law  Araxius,  432 
Aginatius   put  to  death    by  Maximia 

474 

Aiadalthes,  a  tribune,  181 
Alani,  a  Scythian  tribe,  291,  328,  5SG 

581,  599,  611 
Alatheus,  583,  587,611 
Alavivus,  a  general  of  the  Goths,  585, 

587 
Albani,  allies  of  the  Persians,  176,137 

332 

Albinus  of  Etruria,  56 
Alexander  the  Great,  41,  46,  89 
Alexander  of  Heliopolis,  319 
Alexandria,  a  village  near  Rome,  13! 
iu  Egypt,  300;  described,  31. ? 

its   temples   and   library,   314;    t*.i 

schools,  315 

• a  city  in  Arachosia,  343 

in  Ariana,  342 

in  Cannania,  339 

an  island  in  Persia,  338 

a  town  in  Sogdiana,  340 

Alfenus,  a  distinguished  lawyer,  556 


526 


INDEX. 


Alicodia,  a  city  in  Bactria,  340 
Aligildus,  a  count,  271,  277 
Aliso,  a  tribune,  427 
Alitrophagi,  a  Scythian  tribe,  341 
Allemanni,  or  Germans — these   names 
are   used   promiscuously  by  Ammi- 
anus — defeated  at  the  battle  of  Stras- 
burg,  118,  247  ;  lay  waste  Gaul  and 
Rhaetia,    413,    414;    defeated    by 
Jovinus,  438,  567  ;  make  incursions 
into  the  Roman  territory,    602  ;  are 
defeated,  604 

Allobroges,  a  nation  of  Gaul,  81 
Alpheus,  a  river  rising  in  Arcadia,  53 
Alps,  the  Cottian,  75  ;  the  Julian,  259  ; 
the  Grecian,  76 ;    the    Penine,  76 ; 
Hannibal's  passage  of  the,  77 
Alypius  of  Antioch,  317,  514 
••        a  Roman  noble,  471 
Amantius,  a  soothsayer,  472 
Amanus,  a  mountain  range  in  Cilicia, 

27 

Amardus,  a  river  in  Media,  337 
Amastris,  a  city  in  Paphlagonia,  289 
Amazons,  one  of  the  Caspian    tribes, 
291  ;    defeated    by    the    Athenians, 
289 

Amicenses,  a  Sarmatian  tribe,  154 
Amida,  a  city  of  Mesopotamia,   174; 
besieged  by  Sapor,  185  ;  betrayed  by 
a  deserter,  192;  courage  of  the  gar- 
rison,  195  ;    a  sortie  of  the  Gallic 
troops,  from,  195,  236 
Ainiens  (Arabians),  a  city  in  Belgium, 

79,  453 

Aininias,  a  Persian  general,  369 
Auiisus,  a  city  in  Pontus,  289 
Ammianus,  his  noble  birtn,  199  • 
placed  under  Ursicinus,  governor  of 
Nisibis,  by  the  Emperor  Constantius, 
30 ;  returns  to  Italy,  37 ;  his  in- 
dustry, 45  ;  sent  into  Gaul,  60 ; 
seut  back  to  the  East,  103 ;  visits 
Thebes,  130;  recalled,  171 ;  escapes 
from  Nisibis,  173  ;  sent  to  Jovini- 
anus,  satrap  of  Corduena,  175 ; 
narrow  escape  of,  181  ;  arrives  at 
Antioch,  200;  accompanies  Julian 
in  his  expedition  against  the  Persians, 
326  ;  returns  with  Jovian,  402  ;  his 
advice  to  future  historians,  623 
Aropelius,  prefect  of  Otricoli,  472 


Amphiaraus,  an  ancient  seer,  4 
Amphilochius,  a  Paphlagonian,  252 
Amphisbicna,  a  serpent,  311 
Amphitheatre  at  Home,  102,  411 
Amphitris,  a  Spartan,  the  charioteer  of 

Castor  and  Pollux,  290 
Amudis,  a  fort  in  Mesopotamia,  173 
Amycus,  king  of  the  Bebrycii,  288 
Anaphe,  an  island  in  the  .Egean  Sea, 

139 
Anatha,   a   fortress    in    Mesopotamia 

347 

Anatolis,  prefect  of  Illyricum,  204; 
master  of  the  offices,  2^54  ;  his  death. 
253 

Anatolius,  an  officer  of  the  palnce,  504 
Anaxagoras  the  philosopher,  287  ;  pre- 
dicted the  fall  of  stones  and  earth- 
quake*, 315 
Anaxim.mder,  a   Milesian  philosopher, 

139 

Anazarbus,  a  city  of  Cilicia,  27 
Anchialos,  a  city  of  Thrace,  293,  444 
Ancorarius,  a  mountain  of  Mauritania, 

531 

Ancyra,  a  city  of  Galatia,  296,  403,  426 
Andernach  (Anturnacum),  161 
Andocides,  a  Grecian  orator,  554 
Andrisciis  of  Adramyttium,  44,  421 
Andronicus,  a  poet,  209 
Anepsia,  wife  of  Victorinus,  475,  473 
Anicii,  the,  a  noble  family  at  Rome,  98 
Anniba,  a  mountain  in  Scythia,  341 
Anthemusia,   a    province    of   Mesopo- 
tamia, 10 

Anthropophagi,  a  Scythian  tribe,  580 
Antibes  (Antipolis),  a  town  inG.v:l,  79 
Antinoopolis,  a  city  in  Egypt,  312 
Antioch  in  Syria,  28  ;  visited  by  t!K- 
Emperor   Julian,   297 ;    by  Jovw.i, 
401 

Antiochia,  in  Persia,  339 
Antiphon,  a  Greek  orator,  554 
Antoninopolis,  a  town  in  Me*  jr.t.irii;t, 

built  by  Constantius,  182 
Antoninus,  a  wealthy  merchant  aHi-i 
wards  one  of  the  protecto«b.  1-38: 
his  treachery,  169 
Antonius,  a  tribune,  415 
Anzaba,  a  river  in  Mesopotamia  1  •".•> 
Apamia,  a  city  in  Afsyria,  334t  3k' 
a  city  in  Thrace,  287 


INDEX. 


627 


Apamia,  a  city  in  Syria,  28 
Apis,  the  sacred  Egyptian  bull,  306 
Apodemius,  the  secretary  for  the  pro- 
vinces,  41,    46;    sentenced    to    be 

burnt  alive,  280 
Apollinarii,  father  and  son,  the  former 

governor   of    Phoenicia,    the    latter 

steward  of  the  palace,  26 
Apollo,  the  Cimsean,  334;  of  Daphne, 

303  ;  the  Palatine,  320  ;  the  Smin- 

thian,  286 
Apollonia,  a  city  of  Thrace,  293 

in  Assyria,  334 

Apollonius  of  Tyana,  270 

Apronianus,    prefect    of    Rome,    317 ; 

suppresses  the  magicians,  411 
Aprunculus  Callus,  an  orator  and  sooth- 
sayer, afterwards  governor  of  Nar- 

bonne,  277 
Aquileia,  the  capital  of  Venetia,  261 ; 

besieged  by  Julian,  261 ;  surrenders, 

264 

Aquitani,  a  nation  of  Gaul,  78 
Arabia  reduced  to  a  Roman  province 

by  the  Emperor  Trajan,  29  ;  Arabia 

Felix,  338 
Arabis,  a  river  in  the  country  of  the 

Drangeani,  342 

Aracha,  a  town  in  Susiana,  335,  337 
Arachosia,  a  Persian  province,  342 
Arachotoscrene,  a  marsh  in  Arachosia, 

343 

Aradius,  count  of  the  east,  317 
Araharius,  a  Sarmatian  chief,  149 
Arai-,  a.  river  in  Gaul  (the  Saone),  80 
Arator,  duke,  481 
Aratus  the  poet,  299,  386 
Araxates,  a  river  in  Sogdiana,  340 
Araxius,  prefect  of  the  preetorium,  422 
Arbaca,  a  city  in  Arachosia,  343 
Arbela,  a  city  in  Adiabene,  334 
Arbetio,  36,  47,  92  ;  made  consul,  71, 

213 

Arboreus,  high  chamberlain,  49 
Arbor  Felix,  fortress  of,  605 
Arcadius,  a  river  of  the  Euxine,  289 
Archelaus,  a  general  of  King  Mithri- 

dates,  116 

Archimedes  the  mathematician,  407 
Ardea,  a  town  in  Persia,  338 
Areans,  a  sect,  485 
Areopagus,  518 


Arethusa,  a  town  in  Thrace,  the  burial- 
place  of  Euripides,  443 

Argaus,  a  mountain  in  Cappadocia,  233 

Argonauts,  the,  27 

Ariana,  a  province  of  Persia,  342 

Arias,  a  river  in  Arcana,  342 

Ariaspe,  a  town  in  the  province  of 
Drangiana,  342 

Arimaspi,  a  fierce  one-eyed  nation 
bordering  on  Persia,  332  ' 

Arimphsei,  a  nation  bordering  on  the 
Euxine,  292 

Arinchi,  a  savage  tribe  near  the  Euxine, 
291 

Arintheus,  a  tribune,  54 ;  commands 
the  left  wing  of  the  army  under 
Julian,  347 ;  ambassador  to  the 
Persians,  393,  446 

Aristenetus,  prefect  of  Bithynia,  lust 
his  life  in  an  earthquake,  138 

Aristarchus  the  grammarian,  314 

Aristides,  558 

Aristobulus  consul  with  Diocletian, 
317 

Aries  (Arelate),  a  town  on  the  Rhone. 
79 

Armenia  conquered  by  Galerius,  134; 
its  restoration  to  the  Persians  de- 
manded by  Sapor,  135 ;  abandoned 
by  Jovian  in  the  treaty  of  Dura, 
394,  549 

Armonius,  a  mountain  in  Asia  Minor, 
289 

Arsaces,  the  first  king  of  the  Parthians, 
330 

—  king  of  Armenia,  an  ally  of  C»n- 
stantius,  235 ;  of  Julian,  318  ;  taken 
prisoner  by  the  PersJans,  394;  put 
to  death,  463 

Arsacia,  a  city  of  Media,  037 

Arsiana,  a  city  of  Susiana,  335 

Arsinoe,  a  city  of  Cyiene,  ancJe.iliy 
called  Tauchira,  and  now  Tochira,  312 

Artabannes,  a  Persian  satrap,  463 

Artabius,  a  river  in  Gedrosia,  a  distrut 
of  Persia,  343 

Artacana,  a  city  of  Parthla,  338 

Artemis,  a  river  in  Bactria,  340 

Artemisia,  queen  of  Caria,  487 

Artemius,  deputy-governor  of 
144 

duke  of  Egypt,  300 


C28  INDEX. 


Artogerassa,  a  city  of  Annex*,  464 
Arzauena,  a  province  of  Mesopotamia, 

393 

Ascalon,  a  city  of  Palestine,  29 
Ascanimia,  a  mountain  in  Scythia,  340 
Asclepiades  the  philosopher,  304 
Asclepiadotus,  count,  65 
Asia  Minor,  description  of,  289 
Asmira,  a  mountain  in  Serica,  341 
Asp,  the  largest  species  of  serpent  in 

Egypt,  311 

Aspabota,  a  city  of  Scythia,  341 
Aspacarae,  a  tribe  of  the  Seres,  341 
Aspacuras,  a  Persian  satrap,  466 
Asparata,  a  city  of  the  Beta,  341 
Assanite  Saracens,  350 
Assyria,  the  wife  of  Barbatio,  1 65 
a  province  of  Persia,  in  the  time 

of  Ammianus  called  Adiabene,  333 
Astacia,  a  city  of  Bactria,  340 
Astracus,  a  city  in  Bithynia,  also  called 

Nicomedia,  287 

Atacotti  harass  the  Britons,  413 
Athagorae,  a  Scythian  tribe,  341 
Athanaric,  a  Gothic  chief,  447,  583 
Athanasius,  bishop  of  Alexandria,  his 

character,  67 

Athos,  a  mountain  in  Macedonia,  286 
Athribis,  a  city  of  Egypt,  313 
Athyras,  a  port  in  the  Propontis,  287 
Ati,  a  people  near  the  cataracts  of  the 

Nile,  308 

Atlas,  a  mountain  in  Africa,  50 
Attuarii,  a  tribe  of  Franks,  235 
Audi  (Ausci),  a  town  in  Aquitania,  79 
Augury,  modes  of,  245 
Augusta   (Londinium),  the   capital  of 

Roman  Britain,  483 
Augustamnica,  a  province  of  Egypt,  312 
Augustus.  Emperor,   his  correction  of 

the  calendar,  408 

Aulion,  a  cave  near  the  Euxine,  290 
Aurelian,  the  Emperor,  570 
Aureolus,   a  conspirator  against   Con- 
stant! us,  274 

Austoriani,  a  people  of  Mauritania,  413 
Autun  (Augustodunum),  the  chief  town 

of  the  JEdai,  79 
Auxerre  (Autosidorum),  a  city  in  Gaul, 

85 
Avenches   (Aventicum),  the  capital  of 

the  Helvetii,  79 


Avernus,  a  lake  in  Campania,  489 

Avitianus,  deputy-governor  of  Africa, 
451 

Axius,  a  river  of  Macedonia,  258 

Azmorna,  a  city  of  Hyrcania,  339 

Azov,  sea  of  (Palus  Maeotis),  288,  577, 
582 

B. 

BABYLON,  334 

Bacchus,  290 

Bacchylides,  the  lyric  poet,  383 

Bactra,  a  river  in  Bactria,  340 

Bactrians,  339 

Baetica,  a  consular  province  of  Spain, 
473 

Bagrada,  a  river  in  Persia,  337 

Bainobaudes,  a  tribune  of  the  Scutarii, 
39, 105  ;  (2)  a  tribune  of  the  Cornuti, 
106 ;  killed  in  the  battle  of  Stras- 
burg,  121 

Batista,  a  military  engine  for  discharg- 
ing stones,  described,  322 

Bappo,  a  tribune,  commander  of  the 
Promoti,  54 

Baraba,  a  town  in  Arabia  Felix,  338 

Barbatio,  count  of  the  domestics,  40; 
promoted  to  the  command  of  the 
infantry,  104,  136;  a  swarm  of 
bees  on  his  house  regarded  as  a  bad 
omen,  165;  an  arrogant  and  trea- 
cherous man,  166  ;  beheaded,  166 

Barbitani,  mountains  in  Persia  lying 
towards  India,  343 

Barchalhas,  a  tribune,  430 

Bards,  the  poets  of  Gaul,  74 

Barzala,  a  fort  in  Mesopotamia,  179 

Barzimeres,  tribune  of  the  Scutarii,  546 

Basilica  of  Sicininus  in  Home,  probably 
the  church  of  Santa  Maria  Maggior*, 
441 

Basil  ina,  mother  of  the  Emperor  Julian, 
383 

Basilisk,  a  kind  of  Egyptian  serpent, 
311 

Bassianus,  a  Roman  of  noble  family,  515 

Bassus,  prefect  of  Rome,  146 

Batne,  a  town  near  the  Euphrates, 
where  an  annual  fair  was  held,  10 

Battus,  a  Spartan,  the  founder  of 
Cyrene,  312 

Bautis,  a  river  in  Serica,  341 

Bazas  (Vasata),  a  towa  in  Gaul,  79 


INDEX. 


629 


Bebase,  a  town  in  Mesopotamia,  178 

Bebrycia,  a  district  in  Bithynia,  288 

Belgae,  the  most  warlike  people  of  Gaul, 
78 

Belias,  a  river  cf  Mesopotamia  which 
falls  into  the  Euphrates,  321 

Bellovaedius,  a  tribune  given  as  a  host- 
age to  the  Persians,  394 

Berenice,  also  called  Hesperides,  a  town 
in  Libya,  312 

Bercea,  a  city  of  Thrace,  444 

Beryttis,  a  city  of  Phoenicia  (the  modern 
Beirut),  28 

Besa,  the  name  cf  an  Egyptian  deity,  208 

Besanson,  a  city  of  the  iSequani,  79,  253 

Besbicus,  an  island  in  the  Propontis,  287 

Bessi,  a  Thracian  tribe,  444 

Betas,  a  people  in  Serica,  341 

Bezabde,  a  town  on  the  Tigris  formerly 
called  Phcenice,  225,  266  ;  captured 
by  Sapor,  227  ;  unsuccessfully  be- 
sieged by  Constantius,  237-239 

Bineses,  a  Persian  satrap,  394 

Bingcn  (Bingium),  a  town  in  Germany, 
161 

Bisula,  a  river  (the  Weichsel),  292 

Bitaxa,  a  town  of  the  Ariani,  342 

Bitheridus,  a  German  noble,  525 

Bithynia,  288 

Bizes,  a  river  of  the  Euxine,  288 

Blemmya?,  a  people  near  the  cataracts 
of  the  Nile,  11 

Boae,  an  island  on  the  coast  of  Dalmatia, 
279 

Bonitus,  a  Frank,  the  father  of  Silvanus, 
63 

Bonmunster  (Bononia),  a  town  in  Pan- 
nonia,  257 

Bonn  (Bonna),  a  town  in  Germany,  161 

Borion,  a  promontoiy  in  Egypt,  307 

Bosporus,  the  Thracian  (the  Straits  of 
Constantinople),  288 

•  the  Cimmerian  (Straits  of  Yene- 
Kali),  70 

Bostru,  a  city  of  Arabia,  29 

Boulogne  (Bononia),  a  town  in  Gaul, 
212 

Bourdeaux  (Burdegala),  a  city  in  Aqui- 
tania,  79 

Brahmans,  336,  470 

Branchida?,  an  oracle  in  the  Milesian 
territory,  511 


Briancon  (Viigantia),  76 

Brigantia  (the  lake  of  Constance),  52 

Brisoana,  a  Persian  river,  337 

Britain,  corn  exported  to  Rome,  161; 
pearls  found  in  the  British  sea,  345; 
suffers  from  the  incursions  of  the 
Picts  and  ^cots,  212,  453;  invaded 
by  the  Saxons,  413 ;  distress  of,  45o  ; 
Theodosius  goes  to  assist,  483 

Bruchion,  a  quarter  in  Alexandria, 
inhabited  by  opulent  persons,  314 

Brumat  (Brocomagus),  a  city  of  Ger- 
many, 86 

Bucenobantes,  a  tribe  of  the  Allemanni 
524 

Buffaloes  in  Egypt,  309 

Bura,  a  town  destroyed  by  an  earth- 
quake, 140 

Burgundians,  495  ;  their  kings  called 
Hendinos,  495 ;  their  chief  priest 
called  the  SinistiM,  496 

Busan,  a  fort  in  Mesopotamia,  183 

Byzantium  (Constantinople),  287 

Byzares,  a  people  near  the  Euxine, 
290 

C. 

CABTLLONUM  (Chalons  sur  Marne),  98, 

43« 

Cabylc,  a  town  in  Thrace,  607 
Cadusii,  a   tribe   on  the  Caspian  Sea, 

332 

Cseranius,  a  philosopher,  520 
Gaesaren,  formerly  Mazaca,  a  town  in 

Cappadocia,  233 

a  town  in  Mauritania,  534 

a  town  in  Palestine,  29 

Caesanensis,  a  province  of  Mauritania, 

52t3 
Crp.arius,   prefect    of   Constantinople, 

422 

secretary  of  the  Emperor,  551 

Caesius,  treasurer  of  the  commander  of 

the  cavalry,  200 
Cafaves,  a  people  of  Africa,  532 
Calatis,  a  town  in  European  Scythia, 

444 

Calicadnua,  a  river  in  Isauria,  9 
Callichorus,  a  river  near  the   Euxine 

Sea,  290 

Callimachus,  an  ancient  Grecian  gene- 
ral, 369 


630 


INDEX. 


Callipolis,  a  city  at  the  head    of  the 

Hellespont,  287 

Callisthenes,  a  pupil  of  Aristotle,  166 
Callistratus,  an  ancient  orator,  554 
Camaritae,  a  tribe  near  the  Euxine  Sea 

290 
Cambyses,  king  of  Persia,  1 29 

a  river  in  Media,  337 

Camels  first   seen  by  the  Romans  at 

the  siege  of  Cyzicus,  340 
Camenius,  a  Roman  senator,  473 
Camp  of  Hercules  (Castra  Herculis),  a 

town  in  Germany,  161 
Camp  of  Mare,  a  town  in  Dacia,  608 
Camp  of  the  Moors,  a  town  or  fortress 

in  Mesopotamia,  1 73,  393 
Canini,   a    people   on   the   borders   of 

Rhaetia,  52 

Canopus,  a  city  of  Egypt,  314 
Cantichus,  a  gulf  in  Armenia,  332 
Capellatum,  a  district  on  the  borders  of 

the  Burgundians,  164 
Capersana,  a  town  in  Syria,  179  ;  called 

also  Capessana,  255 
Caphareus,   a   promontory   of  Euboea, 

286 
Carambis  a  promontory  in  Paphlagonia 

(now  Cape  Kerempe),  289 
Carcinites,   a    river   and   bay   on   the 

Euxine  Sea,  292 

Carmania,  a  province  of  Persia,  338 
Camuntum,  a  city  of  Illyria,  559 
Carpi,  a  people  on  the  Danube,  446,  468 
Carrae,  a  town  of  Mesopotamia,  177, 

237,  320 

Cascellius,  a  Roman  lawyer,  556 
Caspian,  tribes  of  the,  291 
Cassianus,  Duke  of  Mesopotamia,  98, 

176,  201,  396 

Cassium,  a  town  in  Egypt,  312 
Cassius,   a    mountain    in    Syria,   28 ; 

Julian  sacrifices  to  Jupiter  upon  it, 

305 
Castalia,  a  fountain  in  Phocis,  at  the 

base  of  Mount  Parnassus,  303 
Castricius,  Count  of  Isauria,  8 
Catadupi,  the  cataracts  of  the  Nile,  or 

the  people  who  live  near  them,  307 
CataSauni  (Chalons  sur  Mame),  436 
Cato,  the  censor,  16,  81,  88 
Catulus,  the  aedile,  20 
Caucalandes,  a  town  in  Sarmatia,  588 


Cella,  a  tribune  of  the  Scutarii,  105 
Celse,  a  town  in  Phoenicia,  23 
Cephalones'is,   a  town   on  the  Borys- 

thenes,  293 

Ceras,  a  cape  on  the  Propontis,  287 
Cerasus,  a  town  in  Pontus,  289 
Cereetee,  a  tribe  near  the  Euxine  Sea, 

291 
Cercius,  the  charioteer  of  Castor  and 

Pollux,  290 
Cercusium,  a  fortress  in  Mesopotamia, 

324 
Cerealis»,  uncle  of  Callus,  43 ;    (2)  a 

master  of  the  horse,  482,  504 
Cethegus,  a  senator,  beheaded,  471 
Chserecla,  a  town  in  Libya,  313 
Chalcedon,  a  town  in  Bithynia,   287; 

inscription  found  on  a  stone  in  the 

walls  of,  577 

Chalcenterus,  an  author,  314 
Chaldasa,  335 

Chalites,  a  gulf  in  Armenia,  332 
Chalybes,  a  tribe  near  the  Caspian  Sea, 

290 

Chamavi,  a  German  tribe,  141 
Charax,  a  town  in  Parthia,  3M8 
Charca,  a  town  on  the  Tigris,  183 
Chardi,  a  Scythian  tribe,  341 
Charietto,    count   of    Germany,    144, 

436 

Charinda,  a  river  in  Media,  337 
Charte  and  Chartra,  towns  in  BuctriA, 

340 

Chasmatiae,  a  kind  of  earthquake,  1 39 
Chauriana,  a  town  in  Scythia,  341 
Chiliocomus,  a  district  of  MeJia,    21 
Chilo,  a  Roman  deputy,  469 
Chionitaj,  a  tribe  bordering  on  Persi*, 

99,  134,  176 
Chnodomarius,  a  king  of  the  Allemanni, 

107,  112,  120;  taken  prisoner  and 

sent  to  Rome,  121;  his  death,  121 
Choaspa,  a  town  in  Arachosia,  343 
Choaspes,  a  river  in  Media,  337 
Choatres,  a  river  in  Parthia,  328 
Chronius,  a  river  of  the  Euxine  Sea, 

292 
Chrysopolis,  a  city  on  the  Propontis, 

287 

Cibalae,  a  town  in  Pannonia,  566 
Cicero,  5,  49,  61,  81,  84,  210,  245, 

274,  284,  310,  406,  433,  443,  457, 


INDEX. 


631 


402,   476,   491,    531,   555,    570,  | 


617 

Cilicia,  description  of,  27 
Ciminia,  a  district  in  Italy,  140 
Cimon,  son  of  Miltiades,  145 
Cineas,  the  ambassador  of  Pyrrhus,  100 
Circesium,   a    town    of  Mesopotamia, 

described,  325 

Cius,  a  town  on  the  Propontis,  287 
Civilis,  prefect  of  Britain,  455 
Claritas,  a  Roman  matron,  474 
Clares,  in  Lydia,  seat  of  a  temple  and 

oracle  of  Apollo,  210 
Claudiopolis,  a  city  in  Isauria,  27 
Claudius,  prefect  of  Home,  439,  542 
Cleander,  a  prefect  under  the  Emperor 

Commodus,  418 

Clematius,  a  citizen  of  Alexandria,  2 
Cleopatra,  313 
Coche,  a  town  in  Persia,  363 
Coela,   a   town    near   the   Hellespont, 

287 

Cceni  Gallicani,  a  station  in  Bithynia,  38 
Colchi,  a  tribe  of  Egyptian  origin,  290 
Colias,  a  Gothic  noble,  revolts,  592 
Cologne  (Colonia  Agrippina),  86 
Comedus,  a  mountain  in  the  country 

of  the  Sacae,  340 
Comets,  their  nature,  401 
Commagena,  a  province  of  Syria,  334 
Commodus,  the  Roman  Emperor,  507, 

605 

Como  (Comum),  a  town  in  Italy,  48 
Constans,  son  of  Constantine,  2,  94 
Constantia,   daughter  of   Constantius, 

423,  539 
Constantianus,   a   tribune,   322,   482, 

522 
Constantina,  daughter  of  Constantine 

the  Great,  2,  37, 244,  245 
.          a  town  in  Mesopotamia,  178 
Constantine  the  Great,  60,  81,  93,  97, 

131,419 
Constantinople,  287  ;  threatened  siege 

of,  by  the  Goths,  622 
Constantius  the  Eirperor,  his  cruelty, 

13 ;  summons  Gallus  to  Italy,  23 ; 

makes   war   on  the  Allemanui,  32 ; 

his  speech,  34-36  ;  retires  to  Milan, 

36 ;   his  jealousy,    37 ;    his   severe 

treatment   of  Callus's   friend,    51 ; 

invests    Julian    with    the    title    of 


Caesar,  70 ;  his  weakness,  99 ;  his 
triumphal  procession  to  Rome,  100  ; 
his  arrogance,  101 ;  erects  an  obelisk, 
130  ;  reply  to  Sapor,  135  ;  receives 
the  title  of  Sarmaticus,  156  ;  marches 
against  the  Limigantes,  204;  jealousy 
of  Julian,  216  ;  besieges  Bezabde, 
237 ;  marries  Faustina  after  the 
doath  of  Eusebia,  253 ;  crosses 
the  Euphrates,  255 ;  his  speech  to 
his  army,  267  ;  unfavourable  dreams 
and  omens,  269;  his  death,  271; 
virtues  and  vices,  272  ;  buried  at 
Constantinople,  276 
Contensis,  a  town  in  Africa,  534 
Coptos,  a  town  in  the  Thebais,  312 ; 

stoiy  of  his  wife,  291 
Corax,  a  river  flowing  into  the  Euxine, 

291 
Corduena,  a  province  belonging  to  the 

Persians,  175,  321,  393 
Cornelius  Gallus,  procurator  of  Egypt, 

129 

Cornelius,  a  senator,  474 
Coronus,  a  mountain  in  Media,  335 
Costoboci,  a  Scythian  tribe,  293 
Cottius,  a  king  on  the  Alps,  75 
Craugasius,  a  noble  of  Nisibis,  200  ; 

story  of  his  wife,  201 
Crescens,   deputy-governor   of   Africa, 

501 

Cretio,  count  of  Africa,  254 
Crispus,  son  of  Constantine  the  Great, 

41 

Crisssean  Gulf  in  Western  Locris,  140 
Criu-Metopon,  a  promontory  of  Thrace, 

289 

Crocodiles  in  Egypt,  309 
Croesus,  64 
Ctesiphon,  the  winter  residence  of  the 

Parthian  kings,  334 
Curandius,  a  tribune   of  the  archers, 

530 

Curio,  a  Roman  general,  530 
Cybele,  festival  in  honour  of,  321 
Cyclades,  286 

Cydnus,  a  river  in  Cilicia,  27 
Cylaces,  a  Persian  eunuch,  463 
Cynaegirus,  a  Grecian  general,  369 
Cynossema.a  promontory  inCaria,  now 

Cape  Volpo,  287 
Cyprus,  29 


632 


INDEX. 


Cyrene,  a  city  in  Libya,  312 

Cyreschata,  a  town  in  Sogdiana,  340 

Cyria,  a  Mauritanian  princess,  531 

Cyrinus,  280 

Cyropolis,  a  town  in  Media,  337 

Cyrus,  90,  331 

Cyzicus,  287 ;  besieged  and  taken  by 
Procopius,  426  ;  taken  by  the  Scy- 
thians, 591 

D. 

DACCA,  423 

Dadastana,  a  town  on  the  borders  of 
Bithynia,  403 

Dagalaiphus,  captain  of  the  domestics, 
255,  347,  359,  388,  407 ;  sent  by 
Valentinian  to  oppose  the  Allemanui, 
415 ;  made  consul,  428 

Dahae,  a  Scythian  tribe,  290 

Damascus,  28 

Damasus,  bishop  of  Rome,  441 

Dames,  95 

Dandace,  a  town  in  the  Tauric  Cher- 
sonese, 292 

Daniel,  a  Roman  count,  546 

Danube,  desciiption  of  the,  293 

Daphne,  a  suburb  of  Antioch,  210  ;  (2) 
a  town  in  Mcesia,  445 

Dardanus,  a  town  in  the  Hellespont, 
287 

Darius,  331,  428 

Darnis,  a  town  in  Libya,  312 

Datianus,  a  Roman  consul,  133 

Davana,  a  town  in  Mesopotamia,  321 

Davares,  a  people  of  Africa,  532 

Decem  Pagi  (Dieuse),  86 

Decentius,  a  tribune,  216 

Decius( the  Caesar),  614 

Delos,  139,  303 

Delphidius,  an  orator,  160 

Delta  in  Egypt,  309 

Demetrius  Chytras,  a  philosopher  of 
Alexandria,  209 

Democritus,  46,  88,  286 

Demosthenes,  549,  554 

Diabas,  a  river  of  Assyria,  334 

Dibaltum,a  city  of  Thrace,  600 

Dicalidones,  a  tribe  of  Picts,  453 

Didius,  a  Roman  general,  443 

Didymiis,  surnamed  Chalcenteros,  314 

Dieuse  (Decem  Pagi),  86 

Diaarchus,  a  Grecian  orator,  554 


Dindyma,  a  mountain  of  Mygia,  287 

Dinocrates,  an  architect,  313 

Diocles,  treasurer  of  Illyricum,  451 

Diocletian,  59,317 

Diodorus,  a  count,  301 

Diogenes,  governor  of  Bithynia,  514 

Diogmite,  a  kind  of  light-armed  troops, 

456 

Dionysiopolis,  444 
Dionysius,  king  of  Sicily,  44,  64,  97 
Dioscurias,  a  city  on  the  Euxine,  290 
Dipsades,  a  species  of  Egyptian  serpent, 

311 

Discenes,  a  tribune,  202 
Dius,  a  Mauritanian  chief,  527 
Divitenses,  a  German  tribe,  424,436 
Domitian,  the  emperor,  168 
Domitianus,  prefect  of  the  East,  23,  49 
Domitius  Corbulo,  48 
Dorians,  73 

Doriscus,  a  town  in  Thrace,  176 
Doros,  a  surgeon  of  the  Scutari,  92 
Dorostorus,  a  city  of  Thrace,  444 
Dracontius,  master  of  the  mint,  301 
Drangiana,  a  province  of  Persia,  342 
Drepanum,  a  town  in  Bithynia,  425 
Drepsa,  a  town  in  Sogdiana,  340 
Druentia  (the  Durance),  a  river  in  Gaul, 

77 

Druids,  73,  74 

Drusus,  a  Roman  general.  443 
Drypetina,  daughter  of  King   Mithri- 

dates,  95 

Dulcitius,  a  Roman  general,  455 
Duodiense,  a  fort  in  Mauritania,  536 
Dura,  a  town    beyond    the  Tigris,  In 

Mesopotamia,  326,  H47,  891 
Dymas,  a  river  in  Sogdiana,  340 
Dynamius,  55 

E. 

EARTHQUAKES  in  Africa,  137 ;   their 

supposed  causes,  138 
Ecbatana,  an  Assyrian  town,  334 
Eclipses,  ca uses  of,  214 
Edessa,  236,  255 

Elephantine,  a  city  of  Ethiopia,  307 
Elephants,  376 
Eleusis,  139 
Eleutheropolis,    a    town    in    Palestine 

29 
Elusa  (Elause),  a  tovrn  in  Gaul,  79 


IXDEX. 


633 


Emissa,  a  town  of  Syria,  28 

Etnodon,  a  mountain  in  Scythia,  341 

Emona,  477 

Engines,  warlike,  323 

Epicurus,  554 

Epigonius,  a  philosopher,  25,  31 

Epimenides,  486 

Epiphania,  a  town  in  Cilicia,  300 

Equitius,  tribune  of  the  Scutarii,  406  ; 
made  general  and  count,  414,  539; 
his  son  Equitius  a  tribune,  611 

Eratosthenes,  287 

Erectheus,  84 

Ermenrichus,  king  of  the  Ostrogoths, 
583 

Erythra,  a  city  in  Ionia,  617 

Esaias,  a  Roman  noble,  477 

Essedones  and  Es«edon,  a  people  and 
town  of  the  Seres,  341 

Eubulus,  a  citizen  of  Antioch,  22 

Euca?rius,  proprefect  of  Asia,  506 

Euctemon,  an  ancient  astronomer,  407 

Eumenius,  477 

Eumolpias  (Philippopolis),  278 

Eupatoria,  a  city  of  the  Tauri,  292 

Euphi-asius,  master  of  the  offices, 
422 

Euphrates,  199,  335 

Euphronius.  governor  of  Mesopotamia, 
176 

Eupraxius,  master  of  the  records,  450 

Euripides,  his  tomb  at  Arethusa,  443 

Europos,  a  city  of  Persia,  337 

Eusebia,  wife  of  the  Emperor  Constan- 
tius,  48 ;  her  plots  against  Helena, 
103,  253 

Eusebius,  an  orator,  stirnamed  Pitt-icus, 
23,  31 ;  (ii.)  High  Chamberlain,  33, 
36,  167,  281;  (iii.)  surnamed  Mat- 
tyocopa,  55  ;  (iv.)  brother  of  Euse- 
bia and  Hypatius,  160,  253,  516; 
(y.)  Bishop  of  Nicomedia,  295 

Euseni,  an  eastern  people,  near  Persia, 
29 

Eustathius,  a  philosopher,  136 
Eutherius,  prefect  of  the  bedchamber, 
93,  232 

Eutropius,  proconsul  of  Asia,  512 
Evagrius,  one  of  the  emperor's  house- 
hold, 280 

Exsuperius,  one  of  the  Victorian  Legion, 
361 


F. 


FABIUS  MAXIMUS,  81 

Fabricius  Luscinus,  548 

Fara,  an  island  on  the  coast  of  Persia, 
338 

Farnobius,  587,  601 

Faustina,  the  second  wife  of  the  Em- 
peror Constantius,  253,  271,  423 

Faustinus,  a  military  secretary,  562 

Felix,  master  of  the  offices,  233,317 

Fericius,  a  Mauritanian  chief,  530 

Ferratus,  a  mountain  in  Mauritania. 
527 

Festus,  governor  of  Syria,  519;  his 
cruelties,  528 

Fidustius,  accused  of  magic,  505 

Firmus,  a  Mauritanian  chief,  525  ;  his 
flight,  533 ;  commits  sueide,  537 

Flavian,  a  Roman  citizen,  502 

FJorentius,  (i.)  prefect  of  the  Pretorian 
Guard,  110,  128,  216,  232,  253, 
270  ;  (ii.)  the  son  of  Nigridianus,  58, 
213,279;  (iii.)  the  pi  efect  of  Gaul 
under  Valentinian,  452  ;  (iv.)  a  tri- 
bune, 430  ;  (v.)  Duke  of  Germany, 
525 

Fortunatianus,  a  count,  504 

Forum  of  Trajan,  102 

Fragiledus,  a  Sarmatian  chief,  148 

Franks,  58,  141,  235 

Fraomarius,  king  of  the  Bucenobantes, 
a  German  tribe,  524 

Frigeridus,  a  Roman  general,  595,  600 

Fritigernus,  general  of  the  Goths,  587, 
593,  607,  609 

Frontinus,  472 

Fullofaudes,  military  duke  in  Britain 
453 

Fulvius,  a  Roman  general,  81 

G. 

GABINIUS,  king  of  the  Quadi,  539,  559 

Galactophagi,  a  Scythian  tribe,  341 

Galatse,  the  Gauls,  73 

Galerius,  38 

Galla,  the  mother  of  Callus,  43 

Gallienus,  4 

Gallonatis,  a  fort  in  Mauritania,  531 

Gallus,  nephew  of  Constantine  the 
Great,  1 ;  his  atrocities,  2  ;  puts  the 
principal  pei  sons  at  Antioch  to  death, 


634 


INDEX. 


21 ;  summoned  by  the  emperor,  37  ; 
leaves  Antioch   and  arrives  at  Con- 
stantinople, 39 ;  is  sent  to  Jstria,  41  ; 
put  to  death,  42 ;  his  pei^sonul  ap- 
pearance and  character,  43 
Callus,  a  river  in  Bithynia,426 
Garamantes,  an  African  tribe,  307 
Garumna  (the  Garonne),  78 
Gaudentius,  51,  95, 143,  254,  300 
Gaugamela,  a  city  in  Adiabene,  334 
Gaul,  description  of,  73 ;  its  provinces, 
79 ;    its    inhabitants,    80 ;    produce, 
81 

Gaza  (now  Ghuzzeh),  a  city  of  Pales- 
tine, 29 

Gazaea,  a  town  in  Media,  337 
Geapolis,  a  town  in  Arabia,  338 
Gedrosia,  a  province  of  Persia,  343 
Gelani,  a  people  of  the  East,  near  Persia, 

134 

Geloni,  a  tribe  near  the  Caspian,  291 
Genonia,  a  town  in  Parthia,  338 
Genua    (Genoa),    chief    town    of  the 

Ligures,  77 
George,    bishop    of  Alexandria,    300, 

301 

Gerasa,  a  town  in  Arabia,  29 
Gerasus  (the  Pruth),  584 
Germanianus,  255 
Germanicopolis,  in  Bithynia,  456 
Germanicus,  306 
Germany,  78 

Gerontius,  tortured  by  Constantius,  12 
Gildo,  a  Mauritanian  chief,  526 
Glabrio,  Acilius,  17 
Gomoarius,  or  Gumoharius,  233,  255, 

269, 422,  429 
Gordian,    the    elder,    421  ;    (ii.)    the 

younger,  326 

Gorgias  of  Leontinum,  554 
Gorgonius,  Caesar's  cha«iberlain,  48 
Goths,  442,  445,  585 ;  invade  Thrace, 
599 ;  defeated  by  Frigeridus,   601 ; 
massacre  of  the,  623 
Gratian,   the  elder,   566 ;  (ii.)  son  of 
Valentiuian,  448  ;  takes  Equitius  as 
his  colleague,  551,  602,   605;  sur- 
prised by  Sebastian,  607 
Grumbates,  king  of  the  Chronitas,  176, 

185 

Gruthungi,  a  tribe  of  Ostrogoths,  446, 
583 


Gundomadus,  king  of  the  Alleninim, 
32,  111 

Gynaecon,  a  town  in  the  Persian  pro- 
vince of  Gedrosia,  343 

Gyndes,  a  Persian  river,  337 

H. 

HADRIAN,  386,  571 
Hadrianople,  battle  of,  610-615;  siege 

of  by  the  Goths,  619;  raised,  620 
Hadria'nopolis,  39,  444,  607 
Hannibal,  77;  buried  at  Libyssa,  295 
Harax,  a  river  in  Susiana,  335 
Hariobaudes,  a  tribune,  161,  162 
Hariobaudus,  a  king  of  the  Allemanni, 

164 
Harmozon,  a  promontory  in  Carmania, 

332 
Harpalus,   one  of  Cyrus's  lieutenants. 

74 

Hasdrubal,  a  Carthaginian  general,  77 
Hatra,  an  ancient  town  in  Mesopotamia, 

395 
Hebrus  (Maritza),  a  river  in  Thrace, 

172 

Hecataeus,  an  ancient  geographer,  287 
Hocatompylos,  a  town  in  Parthia,  3^8 
Helen,  wife  of  Julian,  71 ;  her  death 

and  burial,  244 
Helenopolis    (Frankfort-on-the-Maine), 

425 
Helice,  a  town  in  Achaia,  destroyed  by 

an  earthquake,  140 
Heliodorus,  a  seer,  504 ;  his  atrocities, 

515;  death  of,  517 
Heliogabalus,  421 
Heliopolis,  a  town  of  Syria,  131 
Helipolis,   a    military   engine   used  in 

sieges,  324 

Helpidius,  prefect  of  the  East,  253 
Hendinos,  a  title  given  to  the  Burguu- 

dian  kings,  495 

Heniochi,  a  tribe  near  the  Euxine,  290 
Heraclea,  a  city  of  Thrace,  called  also 

Perinthus,  278 
Heraclitus,  the  philosopher  of  Ephesus, 

274 

Herculanus,  officer  of  the  guard,  33 
Hercules,  73 
Hermapion,  132 
Hermes  Trismegistus,  270 
Hermogenes,  master  of  the  horse,  33 , 


INDEX. 


635 


(ii.)  of  Pontus,  prefect  of  the  prae- 

torium,   208,  253;    (iii.)  a  Roman 

general  in  Germany,  481 
Hermonapa,    an    island   in   the    Palus 

Maotis,  291 

Hermopolis,  a  city  in  the  Thebais,  312 
Herod,  29 
Herodianus,  314 
Herodotus,  311 
Hesiod,  16 

Hesperius,  proconsul  of  Africa,  502 
Hesychia,  a  Roman  matron,  477 
Hiaspis,  a  district  on  the  Tigris,  169 
Hiberia,  a  country  in  Asia,  near  Col- 
chis, 463 ;  is  divided    between    the 

Persians  and  Romans,  466,  549 
Hibita,  a  station  in  Mesopotamia,  399 
Hiera,  an  island  on  the  coast  of  Sicily, 

one  of  the  jEgates,  139 
Hierapolis,  a  city  in  Commagena,  28, 

267,   319  ;    (ii.)  a  city  in  Phrygia, 

333 
Hierocles,  son  of  Alypius,  governor  of 

Britain,  514 

Hieroglyphics  of  the  Egyptians,  130 
Hilarinus,  a  charioteer,  411 
Hilarius,  505 

Hileia,  a  town  in  Mesopotamia,  170 
Hipparchus,  the  philosopher,  407 
Hippias  of  Elis,  90 
Hippocephalus,  a  suburb  of  Antioch, 

270 

Hippopotamus  of  Egypt,  310 
Histros,  a  city  of  Thrace,  293 
Homer,  '20,  71,  170,  191,  270,  341, 

442,  453,  479,  617 
Honoratus,  Count  of  the  East,  3,  21 
Hormisdas,  a  Persian  prince,  102  ;  (ii.) 

a  general  of  the  emperor  Julian,  347  ; 

(iii.)  son  of  the  preceding,  427 
Horre,  a  town  in  Mesopotamia,  183 
Hortarius,  king  of  the  Allemanni,  107, 

144, 161 ;  (ii.)  a  German  noble,  525 
Hucumbra,  374 
Huns,  577-582 

Hydriacus,  a  river  in  Cannania,  339 
Hydrus,  the,  310 
Hymetius,   proconsul  of  Africa,  471 ; 

banished  to  Box,  a  town  in  Dilmatia, 

742 
Hypanis  (the  Bog),  a  river  o '  Sarma- 

tia,  291 


Hypatius,  a  consul,  brother  of  Eusebius, 
160,  253,  516 

Hyperechius,  426 

Hyperides,  a  Grecian  orator,  554 

Hyrcania,  a  northern  province  of  Per- 
sia, 339 

Hystaspes,  father  of  Darius,  336 


I. 


IAXAMAT^E,  a  Scythian  tribe,  291 
laxarta?    and    iaxartes,   a   people    and 

river  of  Scythia,  341 
lazuyges,  a  people  on  the  Palus  Masot's, 

291 
Ibis,  the  sacred  bird  of  the  Egyptians, 

311 

Ichneumon,  an  Egyptian  reptile,  310 
Iconium,  a  town  in  Pisidia,  5 
Icosium,  a  town  in  Mauritania,  529 
Idmon,  an  augur,  290 
Igilgitatum,  part  of  the  coast  of  Mauri- 
tania, so  called  from  the  town  Igil- 

gili  (lijeli),  5'26 

Igmazen,  king  of  Mauritania,  535 
Ilus,  son  of  Troas,  296 
Imbros,    an    island    off    the   coast  of 

Thrace,  286 

Immci,  a  Roman  count,  261 
Ingenuus,  a  rebel,  274 
Innocentius,  121 
Iphicles,    a   philosopher,    envoy    from 

Epirus,  561 
Iris,  a  river  flowing  into  the  Euxine, 

289 

Isarlenses,  a  people  of  Africa,  534 
Isaura,   a   large   town  at  the  foot    of 

Mount  Taurus,  144 
Isauna,  a  province  of  Asia  Minor,  143 
Isaurians,    rebellion    of  the.    5 ;    they 

besiege   Seleucia,    8;    compelled   by 

Nebridius  to  disperse,  10 
Isocrates,  570 
Izala,  a  mountain  in  Mesopotamia,  173 


J. 


JACOBUS,  treasurer  of  the  commander 

of  the  cavahy,  200 
Januarius,  a  relation  of  the  Emperol 

Julian,  406 
Jasonium,  a  mountain  in  Media,  33S 


636 


INDEX. 


Jerusalem,  the  temple  of,  317 
Jews,  283 

Jovian,  chief  officer  of  the  guard,  276; 
son  of  Varronianus,  388 ;  elected 
emperor  after  Julian,  388  ;  his 
treaty  with  Sapor,  393 ;  advances  to 
Hatra,  395;  his  severity,  399;  vi- 
sits Tarsus,  402  ;  dies  suddenly  at 
Didastana,  403 ;  his  character,  405 ; 
his  body  brought  to  Constantinople, 
406 

Jovianus,  a  secretary,  361,  398,  417 
Jovinianus,  a  Persian  satrap,  175 
Jovinus,  master  of  the  horse,  256,  261, 
279,  396  ;  commander  of  the  forces 
in    Gaul,   414;    his   vigour,    436; 
defeats  the  Germans,  458  ;  his  execu- 
tion, 501 

Jovius,  a  quaestor,  256,  294 
Juba,  king  of  Mauritania,  308 
Jubileni,  an  African  tribe,  535 
Julian,  son  of  Constantiirs  and  Basil  ina, 
383 ;  born  at  Constantinople,  295 ; 
educated  by  Eusebius,  bishop  of 
Nicomedia,  295 ;  protected  by  Queen 
Eusebia,  48 ;  is  invested  with  the 
title  of  Caesar,  69 ;  married  to  Helena, 
71;  made  consul,  83;  marches 
against  the  Allemanni,  85  ;  tempe- 
rate habits,  89 ;  his  moderation,  91 ; 
plots  against,  93 ;  second  consulship, 
104;  his  first  campaign,  105;  his 
prudence,  107 ;  his  speech  to  his 
soldiers,  109 ;  the  Allemanni  sue 
for  peace,  126 ;  fixes  his  winter 
residence  at  Paris,  128  ;  attacks  the 
Chimavi,  141 ;  military  sedition, 
142;  he  crosses  the  Rhine,  163; 
Constantius  grows  jealous  of  him, 
216;  saluted  as  emperor,  219;  his 
dream,  223;  his  letters  to  Constan- 
tius, 229;  elected  emperor  by  the 
army,  234 ;  crosses  the  Rhine,  and 
attacks  the  Attuarii,  235  ;  death  of 
his  wife  Helena,  244 ;  pretended 
adherence  to  Christianity,  246; 
defeats  the  Allemanni,  249 ;  speech 
to  his  soldiers,  250  ;  enters  Sermium, 
257  ;  his  letter  to  the  senate,  259 ; 
besieges  Aquileia,  261  ;  his  march 
through  France,  267  ;  hears  of  the 
death  of  Constantius,  and  enters  Con- 


stantinople, 278  ;  his  severities,  279 ; 
reforms  the  imperial  palace,  281 ; 
openly  professes  paganism,  283  ;  sets 
out  for  Antioch,  295 ;  visits  the 
ancient  temple  of  Cybele  at  Pesi-inus, 
and  offers  sacrifices,  296  ;  winters  at 
Antioch,  298 ;  forbids  the  masters  of 
rhetoric  to  instruct  Christians,  299  ; 
prepares  for  an  expedition  against  the 
Persians,  302  ;  orders  the  church  at 
Antioch  to  be  closed,  304;  writes 
his  '  Misopogon,'  305 ;  marches  into 
Mesopotamia,  and  arrives  at  Carrhoe, 
320 ;  addresses  his  army,  328 ; 
invades  Assyria,  347  ;  captures  and 
burns  Pirisabora,  353 ;  addresses 
the  army,  354  ;  his  continence,  368 ; 
his  sacrifice  to  Mars,  369 ;  storms 
Megalomalcha,  357-362;  bums  all 
his  ships  except  twelve,  370  ;  his  self- 
denial,  377  ;  alarmed  by  prodigies, 
377 ;  wounded  in  fighting  with  the 
Persians,  379 ;  his  dying  speech, 
381;  death,  383;  his  character, 
383-386 ;  his  personal  appearance, 
387 

Julian,  uncle  of  the  emperor,  317 
Juliers  (Juliacum  Francorum),  127 
Julius,  a  count  commanding  the  army 

in  Thrace,  422,  623 
Justina,  wife  of  Valentim'an,  575  ;  sister 

of  Cerealis,  482 
Juvenal,  488 

Juventius  Siscianus,  the  quaestor,  413  ; 
made  prefect  ot  the  city,  441 


K. 


Grr- 


KELLEN  (Triffisinsn),  a  town  in 
many,  161 

L. 


LACOTENE,  a  town  in  Armenia,  236 
Lasti,  a  German  tribe,  231 
Lagarimanus,  a  general  of  the  Gotha 

584 

Laipso,  a  tribune,  1 2-it 
Lamfoctense,    a  town   in  Mauritania, 

528 
Lampadius,   prefect   of  the   prajtorian 

guard,  55  ;  made  prefect  of  the  city, 

440 


INDEX. 


637 


Lampsacus,  a  city  of  Mysia,  287 
Laniogaisus,  a  Frank  and  tribune,  59 
Laodicea,  a  town  of  Syria,  28 
Laranda,  a  town  in  Isauria,  8 
Latinus,  count  of  the  domestics,  34 
Laudias,  a  fort  in  Mesopotamia,  179 
Laumellum,  a  town  in  Italy,  72 
Lauricius,  sent  as  governor  to  Isauria, 

211 

Lawyers,  Roman,  described,  555 
Lazica,  a  province  of  Scythia,  465 
Leap-year  explained,  407 
Lemannus  (the  Lake  Leman),  79 
Lemnos,   an    island   off    the   coast    of 

Thrace,  286 
Lentia  (Lintz),  52,  602 
Lentienses,  incursions  of  the,  53 
Leo,    a    Pannonian,    407,   470,    551, 

561 

Leonas,  quaestor  of  Constantius,  233 
Leontius,  prefect  of  Rome,  65 
Leptis,    a   town  in  Africa,  distress  of, 

497;  implores  the  emperor's  aid,  499 
Lesbos,  an  island  on  the  Mgean  Sea, 

286. 
Leuce,    an    island   in    the   Black   Sea, 

292 
Liberius,  bishop  of  Rome,  banished  by 

Constantius  for  refusing  to  concur 

in  the  deposition  of  Athanasius,  67 
Libino,  a  count,  sent  by  Julian  against 

the  Allemauni  and  slain,  247 
Libya,  312 

Libyssa,  a  town  in  Bithynia,  295 
Limigantes,  slaves  of  the    Sarmatians, 

151,  203 ;  their  treacheiy,  151,  203, 

205 ;  defeated,  207 
Lions  in  Mesopotamia,  177 
Londinium  (London),  212,  454,  483 
Lome,  a  fort  in  Mssopotamia,  201 
Lotophagi,  mentioned  by  Homer,  20 
Lucillianus,  count  of  the  domestics,  and 

father-in-law   of  Jovian,    39,    159, 

175,  257,  322,  396,  402 
Lucullus,  a  Roman  general  who  defeated 

the  Thracians,  444 
Lugdunum  (Lyons),  79 
Lupicinua,  master  of  the  horse,  1  rt:{ ; 

sent  against  the  Picts,  212, 233 ;  (ii.) 

count  of  Thrace,  587,  589  ;  (Hi.)  cue 

of  the  Gentiles,  460 
Luscinus,  361,  548 


Luscus,  governor  of  Antioch,  burnt  to 

death,  25 

Lusius,  an  officer  under  Trajan,  526 
Lutetia  (Paris),  the  capital  of  the  Pa- 

risii,  78 

Luto,  count,  65 

Lycaonia,  part  of  Asia  Minor,  7 
Lycurgus,  the  Spartan   lawgiver,   88, 

296,  572 
Lyons  (Lugdunum),  79 

gulf  of  (Adgradus),  80 

Lysimachia,  287 

M, 

MACELLUM,  in  Cappadocia,  48 

Macepracta,  a  town  in  Assyria,  351 

Maces,  a  promontory  in  the  Persian 
Gulf,  332 

Machameus,  a  Roman  general,  killed 
374 

Macrianus,  a  king  of  the  Allemanni, 
164,  494,  523,  552 

Macrones,  a  people  near  the  Euxine, 
290 

Mseotus  Palus  (the  Sea  of  Azov),  291 

Magamalcha,  a  city  in  Persia,  357 

Magi,  336 

Maharbal,  170 

Malaricus,  commander  of  the  Gentiles, 
56,  57  ;  appointed  by  Jovian  com- 
mander of  the  forces  in  Gaul,  396 

Malechus  Podosaces,  350 

Mallobaudes,  or  Mellobaudes,  41,  56, 
553,  603 

Mamersides,  353,  303 

Mamertinus,  255,  259,  279 ;  made 
prelect  of  Italy,  with  Africa  and 
Illyricum,  414 ;  accused  of  pecula- 
tion, 451 

Maudlins,  C.  Hostiliu*.  a  Roman 
consul,  44 

Manlius  Prisons,  a  lieutenant  of 
Pompey,  95 

Maraccus,  a  river  near  the  Caspian  Sea 
291 

Maranx,  a  district  in  Persia,  375 

Maras,  a  Christian  deacon,  put  to  the 
torture,  32 

Maratocupreni,  a  people  in  Syria,  who 
lived  by  plunder,  48 

Marcel lianus,  duke  of  Valeria,  539 


638 


INDEX. 


M  arcellus,  86 ;  master  of  the  horse, 
88;  cashiered,  92,  95;  (ii.)  a 
kinsman  of  Procopius,  kills  Serenia- 
nus,  431;  seizes  Chalcedon,  431; 
taken  and  put  to  death,  432 

Mwdanopolis,  a  city  of  Thrace,  444, 
589 

ilarcianus,  265 ;  (ii.)  a  rhetorician, 
557 

Marcius,  an  ancient  seer,  4 

Marcomanni,  538 

Marcus  Aurelius,  274,  538,  591 

Mareades,  325 

Margiani,  a  Persian  tribe,  339 

Mariandena,  a  district  in  Bithynia,  288 

Marius  Maxim  us,  488 

Marinus,  a  tribune,  51 

Maronen,  a  town  in  Thrace,  286 

Marseilles  (Massilia),  79 

Marses,  a  river  in  Assyria,  335 

Martinus,  a  deputy-governor  of  Britain, 
13  ;  commits  suicide,  14 

Masaucio,  416 

Mascizel,  a  Mauritanian  chief,  527 

Masilla,  537 

Massagete,  292,  328,  580 

Massilia  (Marseilles),  74,  79 

Massissenses,  a  people  of  Mauritania, 
527 

Matrona,  an  Alpine  mountain  (Mont 
Genevre),  76  ;  (ii.)  the  Marne,  a 
river  in  Gaul,  78 

Maride,  a  fort  in  Mesopotamia,  201 

Maudio,  count,  65 

Mauritania,  526 

Maurus,  a  Roman  count,  220 

Maxentius,  a  Pannonian,  452 

Maxera,  a  river  in  Hyrcania,  339 

Maximianopolis,  a  city  in  Thrace,  444 

Maximinus,  the  Roman  emperor,  4 

prefect  of  Rome,  468 ;  his  ferocity, 

469,  470,  473-476 

Maximus,  prefect  of  Rome,  265 

a  celebrated  philosopher,  be- 
headed at  Ephesus,  513 

Mayence  (Moguntiacum),  stormed  by 
Raiido,  a  chief  of  the  Allemanni,  457 

Maznca,  a  city  in  Cappadocia,  233 

Mazices,  a  people  in  Mauritania,  529 

Mazuca,  a  Mauritanian  chief,  534 

Mederichus,  a  king  of  the  Allem.-inuu 
113 


Medianum,  a  fortress  in  Mauritania, 
535 

Media,  335 

Mediolanum  (Evreux),  79 

Meiacarire,  a  small  town  in  Mesopo- 
tamia, noted  for  its  cool  springs, 
174 

Melanchlaini,  a  tribe  near  the  Palus 
Ma:otis,  291 

Melantheas,  a  country  palace  of  the 
Roman  emperors,  606 

Melas,  a  river  in  Pamphylia,  7 

a  bay  (Gulf  of  Sarosj  on  the 

coast  of  Thrace,  286 

Melitina,  a  town  in  Lesser  Armenia, 
200,  236 

Memoridus,  tribune,  396 

Memorius,  prefect  of  Cilicia,  319 

Memphis,  a  town  of  Egypt,  313 

Menander,  a  poet,  270 

Menapila,  a  town  in  Bactria,  340 

Menophilus,  the  eunuch  of  king  Mithri- 
dates,  95 

Mephra,  a  town  in  Arabia,  338 

Mercurius,  a  notary,  nicknamed  the 
Count  of  Dreams,  50 

Merenes,  a  Persian  general,  375 

Meribanes,  king  of  Hiberis,  253 

Merobaudes,  574,  598 

Meroe,  a  town  in  Ethiopia,  307,  312 

Mesene,  a  town  in  Assyria,  334 

Meseus,  a  river  in  Persia,  335 

Mesopotamia,  134 

Messalla,  prefect  of  Paniionm,  540 

Meton,  an  ancient  astronomer,  407 

Metrodorus,  387 

Metz  (Mediomatricum),  79,  99 

Midas,  king  of  Phrygia,  296 

Milan,  49 

Milesians,  Athenian  colonists,  288 

Miletus,  468 

Mimas,  mount,  617 

Minervius,  consular  governor,  473 

Misopogon,  the,  305 

Mithridates,  94 

Mnevis,  306 

Modestus,  count  of  the  East,  208  ;  pre- 
fect of  the  praetorium,  506,  553 

Moesia,  one  of  the  Danubian  provinces, 
146 ;  (ii.)  a  town  in  Parthia,  338 

Mognntiacus  (Mayence),  78 

Mona?cus  (Monaco),  76 


INDEX. 


639 


Montius,a  quaestor,  24,  31 ;  his  violent 

death,  25,  40,  49 

Mopsucrense,  a  town  in  Cilicia,  271 
Mopsuestia,  27 
Mopsus,  a  celebrated  seer,  27 
Mosa  (the  Meuse),  127 
Mossynseci,    a   tribe   near   the  Euxine 

Sea,  290 

Mothone,  a  town  of  I.aconia,  434 
Moxoene,  a  province  beyond  the  Tigris, 

321,393 

Munderic,  a  Thuringian  noble,  584 
Murci,   persons  exempt  from  military 

service,  81 
Murocincta,  575 
Mursa,  battle  of,  63 
Musones,  a  people  in  Mauritania,  531 
Musonianus,  prefect  of  the   East,  81, 

98,  136 
Musonius,    a    rhetorician,    afterwards 

deputy  governor  of  Asia  Minor,  456 
Mygdonia,  part  of  Bithyuia,  288 
Mygdus,  a  town  in  Phrygia,  424 


N. 

NABATHJEI,  a  people  of  Arabia,  29 
Nabdates,  362  ;  burnt  alive,  364 
Nacolia,  a  town  in  Phrygia,  430 
Nassus,  or  Nacsus,  a  town  in  Illyricum, 

259,  414 

Nag<ira,  a  town  in  Arabia,  338 
Naiiarmaleha,  a  canal  joining  the  Eu- 
phrates to  the  Tigris,  366 
Nannenus,    or    Nannienus,    Count    of 
Britain,  493 ;  defeats  the  Allemauni, 
603 

Napaei,  a  tribe  of  the  Caspian,  291 
Naphtha,  333,  337 

Narbona  (Narbonne),  capital  of  the  fol- 
lowing, 79 

Narbonne,  a  province  of  Gaul,  78 
N  arses,  king  of  the  Persians,  327;  (ii.) 

a  Persian  nobleman,  134,  368 
Nascon,  a  town  in  Arabia,  338 
Natiso,  a  river  near  Aquilea,  262 
Natuspardo,  chief  of  the  domestici,  461 
Naulibus,  342 
Nauplius,  286 

\;izavicium,  mountain  of  Scythia,  341 
Neapolis  (formerly  Sliechem,  now  -Na- 


blous),  a  town  in  Palestine,  29  ;  (ii.) 
a  town  in  Africa,  313 

Nebridius,  count  of  the  East,  10 ; 
made  quaestor  by  Julian,  233;  refuses 
to  take  the  oath  of  allegiance,  and 
retires  from  public  life,  251  ;  made 
prefect  of  the  praetorium,  422 

Nectaridus,  prefect  of  Britain,  453 

Nemesis,  or  Adrastea,  42 

Nemetae  (Spiers)  a  city  in  Germany, 
78 

Neo-Caesarea,  a  city  in  Pontus,  465 

Neotherius,  416 

Nopotianus,  467 

Nestica,  tribune  of  the  Scutarii,  144 

Neuri,  a  tribe  of  the  Massigetae,  580 

Nevitta,  master  of  the  horse,  256,  258, 
259,  265,  284,  347,  359 

Nicaca  in  Bithynia,  295 
in  Gaul  (Nice),  79 


Nice,  a  town  in  Thrace,  606 

Nicer  (the  Neckar),  480 

Nicomedia,  137,  287,  295,  304 

Nicopolis,  444,  591 

Nigrinus,  260  ;  burnt  alive,  264 

Nile,  307  ;  its  islands,  309 

Nileus,  son  of  Codrus,  288,  468 

Nineveh,  176  (Ninus),  28,  334 

Ninus,  or  Nineveh,  28 

Niphates,  332 

Nisasa,  339 

Nisibis,   a  town  in   Mesopotamia,    ?0, 

172,  178,  393;  its  importance,  397 
Nobles,  Roman,  vices  of  the,  487-491 
Nohodares,  a  Persian  noble,  10,  174  : 

killed,  380 

Novesium  (Nuys),  161 
Novidunum  (Nivors),  446 
Nubel,  a  Mauritunian  chief,  525 
Numerius,  prefect  of  Gaul,  160 
Nymphaeum,  a  temple  in  Rome  sacred 

to  the  nymphs,  66 
Nymphaeus,  a  river   in   Mesopotamia, 

183 

O. 


OBELISK,  Egyptian,    inscription 

an,  132 

Obroatis,  a  town  in  Persia,  338 
Ochus,  a  river  in  Bactria,  340 
Ocricoli  (Ocriculum),  100,  472 


640 


INDEX. 


Octavianus,  proconsul  of  Africa,  317 
Odissos,  293,  444 

Odryssseans,  a  people  of  Thrace,  443 
(Ea,  a  Roman  colony  in  the  province  of 

Tripoli,  498 

(Echardes,  a  people  of  Scythia,  341 
Olybrius,  prefect  of  the  city,  469 
Olympias,  daughter  of  Ablabius,  236 
Ona,  a  river  in  Persia,  333 
Ophiusa,    a    name    of   the    Island   of 

Rhodes,  139 

Opitergium,  a  town  in  Pannonia,  538 
Opurocarra,  a  mountain  in  Serica,  341 
Orchomanes,  a  river  in  Bactria,  340 
Orfitus,  prefect  of  Rome,  14,  100,  439, 

451 

Oroates,  a  river  in  Persia,  335 
Orontes,  a  river  in  Syria,  28 

a  mountain  in  Media,  335 

Oropus,  a  town  in  Euboea,  554 
Ortogordomaris,  a  river  rising  in  Bac- 
tria, 342 
Ortopana,  a  city  of  the  Paropanisatae, 

342 
Osdroene,  or  Osdruena,  a  province  of 

Mesopotamia,  10,  28,  319,  347 
Ostracine,  a  town  in  Egypt,  312 
Oxian  Marsh  in  Sogdiana,  340 
Oxus,  a  river  in  Hyrcania,  339 
Oxyrynchus,  a  town  in  Egypt,  313 
Ozogardana,  a  city  in  Assyria,  350 

P. 

PACORUS,  king  of  Persia,  334 
Palea,  town  in  Pamphylia,  8 
Palestine,  29 
Pal  lad  ius,  master  of  the  offices,  279 ; 

(ii.)  a  tribune  and  secretary,  498- 

502 

Palm-tree,  356 
Pannonia,  103,  146 
Pantheon  of  Rome,  102 
Pantricapaeum,  291 
Paphius,  a  senator,  474 
Paphos,  its  temple  of  Venus,  29 
Papirius  Cursor,  569 
Para,  son  of  Arsaces,  king  of  Armenia, 

465,  543-549 

Paratonium,  a  town  in  Libya,  313 
Paraxmalcha,  a  town  on  the  Euphrates, 

350 


Parion,  a  town    on   th« 
287 

Parnasius,  prefect  of  Egypt,  209 

Paropanisatae,  a  tribe  of  Persians,  342 

Parthenius,  a  river  in  Bithynia,  289 

Parthia,  338 

Parthiscus,  a  river  in  Sarmatia,  152 

Pasiphilus,  a  philosopher,  512 

Patares,  straits  between  the  Palus 
Ma-otis  and  the  Euxine,  291 

Paternianus,  551 

Patigran,  a  town  in  Media,  337 

Patrae,  a  town  in  Achaia,  209 

Patricius,  505,  510 

Patruinus,  a  Roman  noble,  67 

Paulus,  surnamed  "The  Chain,"  13, 
14  ;  his  character,  207  ;  despatched 
as  a  judge  with  Modestus  to  the 
East,  208  ;  his  cruelties,  209,  210, 
280 

Pelagia,  a  name  given  to  the  Island  of 
Rhodes,  139 

Pelusium,  a  city  in  Egypt,  312 

Pentadius,  a  notary,  41  ;  made  master 
of  the  offices,  232,  279 

Pentapolis,  a  province  of  North  Afriut, 
312 

Peregrinus,  a  philosopher,  513 

Pergamius,  accused  of  magical  prac- 
tices, 505 

Persepolis,  a  town  of  Persia,  338 

Persia,  described,  331-337;  its  rivers 
337 

Persians,  also  called  Parthians,   216 
their   sovereigns  called   brothers   o» 
the  sun  and  moon,  330  ;  description 
of  their  country,  331-337 ;   delibe 
rate  on  public  aflkirs  at.  their  ban 
quets,  171 

Pescennius  Niger,  428 

Pessinus,  a  town  in  Phrygia,  429 ;  its 
temple  of  Cybele,  296 

Petobio  (Pettau),  a  town  in  Noricum, 
40 

Petronius,  his  influence  over  Valens, 
418 

Petrus  Valvomerej,  66 

1'euce,  an  island  in  the  Euxine  Sea,  293 

Phaeacians,  170,  453 

Phalangius,  governor  of  Boetica,  473 

Phanagorus,  an  island  in  the  Palm 
Maeotis,  291 


INDEX. 


641 


Pharos,  an  island  and  lighthouse  near 
Alexandria,  313 

Phasis,  a  river  and  city  in  Colchis, 
290 

Philadelphia,  a  town  in  Arabia,  29 

Philagrius,  248 

Philippopolis,  a  town  in  Thrace,  for- 
merly Eumolpias,  now  Philippopoli, 
258,  278,  431,  444;  destroyed  by 
the  barbarians,  591 

Philistion,  558 

Philoromus,  a  charioteer,  66 

Philoxenus,  a  poet,  64 

Philyres,  a  tribe  near  the  Euxine,  290 

Phineus,  a  soothsayer,  288 

Phocaeans,  74 

Phocus,  312 

Phoenicia,  28 

a  town  on  the  Tigris,  called  also 

Bezabde,  225 

Phronemius,  422  ;  exiled  to  the  Cher- 
sonesus,  432 

Phrygia,  380 

Phrynichus,  an  Athenian  dramatist, 
468 

Phyllis,  a  rirer  flowing  into  the 
Euxine,  288 

Picenses,  a  Sarmatian  tribe,  155 

Pictavi  (Poictiers),  79 

Picts  and  Scots,  212,  453;  harass  the 
Britons,  413 

Pigranes,  a  Persian  general,  368 

Piri,  a  mountain  in  Germany,  481 

Pirisabora,  a  town  in  Persia,  351 ;  cap- 
tured and  burnt  by  Julian,  353 

Pistoja,  a  town  of  Tuscany,  ominous 
occurrence  at,  439 

Pityus,  an  island  in  the  Euxine,  289 

Plato,  90,  315,  383,  554 

Plautiau,  418,  507 

Plotinus.  270,  314 

Podosaces,  chief  of  the  Assanite  Sara- 
cens, 350 

Pols,  a  town  in  Istria,  41 

Polemonion,  a  town  of  Pontius,  289 

Pollentianus,  a  tribune,  518 

Polybius,  the  historian,  353 
Pompey,  146 

Portospana,  a  town  in  Carmania,  339 

Posthumus,  274 
Potentius,  a  tribune,  615 
Prsetextatus,  285,  457,  473 


Priarius,  king  of  the  Allemanni,  killed, 
603 

Priscus,  a  philosopher,  383 

Pro  bus,  461 ;  his  cowardice,  540,  551, 
560 

Proconesus,  an  island  in  the  Propontis, 
287 

Procopius,  159;  message  from,  175, 
320,  401 ;  attempts  a  revolution  in 
the  East,  415;  his  former  career, 
417;  saluted  as  emperor,  421;  his 
successes,  424,  425  ;  his  death,  431 

Profuturus,  594,  599 

Prophthasia,  capital  of  Drangiana,  342 

Prosper,  count,  37,  82,  136 

Protagoras,  286 

Provertuides,  453 

Ptolemais,  312 

Ptolemy  the  geographer,  287 

Pylaj,  a  town  on  the  borders  of  Cilicia 
and  Cappadocia,  297 

Pyramids  of  Egypt,  311 

Pythagoras,  315 

Q. 

QUADT,  neighbours  of  the  Sarmatians, 
103,  146,  148;  ravage  Pannoiiia, 
413,  538 

Quadriburgium,  161 

Quintianus,  a  senator,  507 

Quintilii,  two  Roman  brothers,  490 

R. 

RABANN.ZE,  a  Scythian  tribe,  341 

Rainbows,  causes  of,  241 

Ramestes,  an  Egyptian  kins:,  132 

Rando,  a  chief  of  the  Allemanni,  457 

Rauracum,  a  town  on  the  Rhine  (Basle), 
34,  79,  255 

Regulus,  17 

Rehimena,  a  province  beyond  the 
Tigris,  393 

Reman,  a  Roman  fortress  in  Mesopo- 
tamia, 183 

Remi  (Rheims),  79,  86 

Remigius,  64,  455, 497,  525  ;  commit* 
suicide,  551 

Remora,  a  tribune  given  as  a  hostage  to 
the  Persians,  394 

Resaina,  battle  of,  328 

Rha  (the  Volga),  291 

2  T 


642 


INDEX. 


Rhebas,    a     river    flowing     into     the 

Euxine,  288 

Rhine,  its  course  described,  52 
Rhinocolura,  a  city  of  Egypt,  312 
Rhone,  its  course  described,  79,  80 
Rhodes,  139 
Rhodope,  258,  287,  443 
Rhombites,  a  river  of  the  Sauromate, 

291 

Richborough  (Rutupiae),  212,  254 
Richomeres,   count   of   the   domestics, 

595,  598 

Rigomagum  (Rheinmagen),  87 
Robur,   a    Roman  fortress  near  Basle, 

551 

Roemnus,  a  river  in  Persia,  341 
Rogomanis,  a  river  in  Persia,  337 
Ronianus,  count,  455,  497,  525 
Rome,  its  state  of  morals  described,  15  ; 

its  buildings,  101,  102  ;    danger   of 

a  famine  at,  203 
Romulus,  a  senator,  264 
Rothomagi  (Kouen),  79 
Rosolani,  a  Sarmatian  race,  291 
Rufina,    put    to    death    for  adultery, 

477 
Ruliuus,  commander  of  the  praetorian 

guard,  51,  96 
prefect   of  the  praetorium,  451, 

461 ;  his  character,  451,  461 

Aradius,  317 

Rumitalca,  a  tribune,  425 
Rumo,  a  Sarmatian  chief,  148 
Ruricius,  455,  498,  501 
Rusticianus,  a  priest,  498 
Rusticus  Julianus,  447 
Rutupiaa  (Richborough),  212,  454 

S. 
SABAIARIDS,  or  beer-drinker ;   a  name 

given   by   the   inhabitants  of  Chal- 

cedon  to  the  emperor  Valens,  425 
Sabaria,  a  town  in  Pannonia,  563 
Sabastius,  264 
Shbinianus,  169,  171,  189 
Saca:,  the,  340 

Saccumum,  a  town  in  Italy,  140 
Saga,  a  town  in  Scythia,  341 
Saganis  and   Sagareus,  rivers  in  Car» 

mania,  339 
Salamis,   celebrated   for  its  temple  of 

Jupiter,  29 


Salia,  his  sudden  death,  509 

Salices,  a  town  in  Thrace,  595 

Salii,  a  tribe  of  Franks,  141 

Saliso  (Spiers),  86 

Sal  lust,  the  historian,  81 

Sallustius  (i.),  prefect  of  Gaul,  255; 
consul  with  Julian,  317 ;  opposes 
the  Persian  war,  325;  (ii.)  prefect 
of  the  East,  381  ;  refuses  the  imperial 
dignity  after  Julian's  death,  388; 
ambassador  to  the  Persians,  393; 
succeeded  in  the  prefecture  by  Ne- 
bridius,  422 

Salmaces,  a  Mauritanian  chief,  528 

Samosata,  a  town  of  Syria,  28,  168, 
236 

Sanctio  (Seckingen),  247 

Sangarius,  a  river  flowing  into  the 
Euxine,  288 

Santones  (Saintes),  79 

Sapaudia  (Savoy),  80 

Saphrax,  a  general  of  the  Goths,  583, 
610 

Sapires,  a  tribe  near  the  Euzine,  290 

Sapor,  king  of  Persia,  98 ;  letter  to 
Constantius,  134;  his  designs,  167; 
wounded  at  Amida,  185;  invades 
Mesopotamia,  and  lays  siege  to  Sin- 
gara,  223 ;  captures  it,  224 ;  takes 
Bezabde,  228;  makes  peace  with  the 
Romans,  393 ;  his  treachery,  463 ; 
renews  the  war,  463 ;  invades  Ar- 
menia, 485 ;  his  aggression,  503  ; 
his  proposals  to  Yalentinian,  549 

Saracens,  11,  307,  322,  332,  350,  391, 
622 

Saramanna,  a  town  of  Hyrcania,  339 

Sargetae,  a  nation  near  the  Euxine, 
292 

Sarmatians,  103,  146,  154;  ravage 
Pannonia,  413,  540 

Saturninus  (i.),  superintendent  of  the 
palace,  280 ;  (ii.)  a  general  against 
the  Goths,  598 

Saulieu  (Sedelaucum),  85 

Sauromaces,  468 

Sauromata,  291,  580 

Saxons,  413,  454 ;  make  incursions 
into  the  Roman  territory,  493,  567 

Scaevolae,  the,  555 

Scipio,  P.  C.,  17,  77 

Sciron,  a  pirate,  6 


INDEX. 


643 


Seordisci,      formerly     inhabitants     of 

Thrace,  442 
Scorpion,  a  military  engine,  197 ;   its 

structure,  322 

Scots  and  Picts,  212,  413,  453 
Scudilo,   commander  of    the  Scutarii, 

34,42 
Scytalae,  a  species  of  Egyptian  serpent, 

311 

Scythia,  described,  341 
Scythians,  229,  550 
Scythopolis  (Bethshean),   in   Palestine, 

208 
Sebastian,  duke   of  Egypt,  321,  396, 

458  ;  surprises  the  Goths,  607,  615 
Seckingen  (Sanctio),  247 
Secundinus,  347 

Sedratyra,  a  town  in  Gerosia,  343 
Segestani,  a  warlike  tribe,  187 
Seine  (Sequana),  78 
Sele,  a  Persian  town,  335 
Seleucia  (Selefkieh),  a  city  in  Syria,  28  ; 

(ii.)  a   town   in   Persia,  also   called 

Coche,  363 
Seleucus  Nicator,  28 
Selymbria,  a  Megarian  colony,  286 
Semiramis,  19 
Sens  (Senones),  79 
Sera,  capital  of  Serica,  341 
Serapion,  king  of  the  Allemanni,  107 
Serapis,  his  temple  at  Alexandria,  314; 

also  at  Turgana,  338 
Serdica,  a  town  in  Bulgaria,  95 
Serenianus,  duke  of  Phoenicia,  22,  41, 

414;     defends    Cyzicus,    427;    his 

death,  431 
Sergius,  381,  461 
Serica,  a  country  bordering  on  Scythia, 

341 

Servilius,  the  conqueror  of  Cilicia,  27 
Severus  (i.),  the   Emperor,  395,  507 ; 

(ii.)  master  of  the  horse,  103 ;    at 

the  battle  of  Strasburg,   113,  141, 

143 ;   master  of  the  infantry  under 

Valentinian,  447,  493 
Sextius  Calvinus,  81 
Sicani,  ancient  occupants  of  Sicily,  556 
Sicinius  Dentatus,  381,  461 
Sidon,  a  city  of  Phoenicia,  28 
Silvanus,  55 ;  attempts  to  assume  the 

imperial  dignity,  59  ;  is  killed  in  a 

Christian  church,  63 


Simonides  (i.),  the  lyric  poet,  16    90; 

(ii.)  a  philosopher,  512  ;  burnt  alive, 

513 

Simplicius,  209 ;  cruelty  of,  477 
Sindi,  a  tribe  near  the  Euxine,  293 
Singara,  a  town  in  Mesopotamia,  170 ; 

besieged  and  taken  by  Sapor,  223, 

224  ;  given  up  to  the  Persians,  393 
Sinope,  in  Paphlagonia,  289 
Sintula,  tribune  of  the  stable,  217,  221 
Sirmium,  257 

Sisara,  a  fort  in  Mesopotamia,  1 73 
Sitifis,  a  town  in  Mauritania,  501,  526 
Sizyges,  a  Scythian  tribe,  341 
Socrates,  488 

Socunda,  a  town  in  Hyrcania,  339 
Sogdiana,  a  province  of  Persia,  340 
Sole,  a  town  of  Hyrcania,  339 
Solicinium,  459 
Solon,  64,  88,  315 

Sophanes,  a  general  under  Xerxes,  369 
Sophocles,  383 
Sophronius,  prefect  of  Constantinople, 

421 
Sopianae,  a  town  in  Valeria,  a  province 

of  Pannonia,  468 
Sosingetes,  a  lake  in  Assyria,  333 
Sotera,  a  town  in  Persia,  342 
Sparti,  a  Persian  regiment,  200 
Spectatus,  a  Roman  tribune,  136 
Sphinx,  309 
Sporades,  islands   in   the   JEvean   sea, 

286 
Stagira,  the    birthplace   of    Aristotle, 

443 

Stesichorus,  a  Greek  lyric  poet,  488 
Sthenelus,  his  monument,  290 
Strasburg,  battle  of,  113-118 
Subicarense,  a  fortress  in  Mauritania 

538 
Succi,  a  narrow  pass  in  Mount  Hemus, 

258,  265,  267,  443 
Sueridus,  a  Gothic  chief,  revolts,  592 
Sugarbaritanum,  a  town  in  Mauritania, 

529 

Suggena,  a  Mauritanian  general,  531 
Sumere,  a  fort  on  the  Tigris,  390 
Sunon,  a  lake  in  Bithynia,  426 
Suomarius,  king  of  the  Allemanni,  107  ; 

his  submission,  143 
Suprae,  a  barbarian  troop,  548 
Surena,  the  title  of  the  Persian  com- 


644 


INDEX. 


mander-in-chief,  354,  358  ambas- 
sador from  Sapor,  393 

Susa  (Shushan),  a  city  of  Persh,  335 

Syagrius,  481 

Syene,  a  town  of  Egypt,  312 

Sylla,  88,  116 

Symmachus,  a  senator,  265 ;  prefect 
of  Rome,  his  character,  439 

Symplegades,  islands  in  the  Bosporus, 
288 

Synhorium,  a  fortress  in  Armenia,  95 

Syria,  28 

T. 

TABIANA,   an    island  in  the   Persian 

gulf,  338 

Tages,  a  soothsayer,  143,  245 
Taifali,  a  Gothic  tribe,  155 
Talicus,  a  Persian  river,  341 
Tamsapor,  a  Persian  general,  98,  134, 

169,  201 

Tanais  (the  Don),  291 
Tanaitae,  a  tribe  of  the  Alani,  583 
Taphra,  a  town  in  Arabia,  338 
Tapurian  mountains  in  Persia,  340 
Tarquitius,  a  soothsayer,  378 
Tarratius  Bassus,  473 
Tarsus,  a  town  in  Cilicia,  27  ;  Julian 

buried  at,  404 

Tauri,  a  tribe  near  the  Euxine,  291 
Taurini  (Turin),  72 
Tauriscus,  a  conqueror  of  Spain,  73 
Taurus,  a  quaestor,  39 ;  prefect  in  Italy, 

253 
Tenedos,  an  island  in  the  JEgean  sea, 

286 
Teredon,  a  city  at  the  mouth  of  the 

Euphrates,  332 
Terence, '439 

Terentius,  a  Roman  general,  465,  544 
Tertullus,  prefect  of  Rome,  203,  259 
Teuchira,  a  town  in  Cyrenaica,  312 
Teutomeres,  chief  of  the  Protectores,  51 
Teutones,  incursions  of  the,  591 
Thalassius  (i.),  prefect  of  the  East,  4, 

23;    (ii.)  an  officer  in  oue  of  the 

law  courts  at  Rome,  298 
Thasos,  now  Thaso,  286 
Thebes,  a  city  in  Egypt,  129,  312 
Themiscyra  forest,  inhabited  by  Ama- 
zons, 289 
Themistocles,  571 


Theodoras,  505,  506,  511 
Theodosius  (i.),  453 ;  assists  the  Bri- 
tons, 483 ;    his  success,   485,   526, 

527,  538  ;  (ii.)  the  younger,  541 
Theodotus,  305 
Theognis,  a  poet,  508 
Theolaiphus,  count,  271 
Theophanes,  a  river  of  the  Sauromata;, 

291 

Theophilus,  governor  of  Syria,  22,  82 
Theopompus,  296 

Thermodon,  a  river  of  Pontus,  289 
Thiadamas,  302 
Thilsaphata,  a  town  in  Mesopotamia, 

397 

Thilutha,  a  fort  on  the  Euphrates,  349 
Thmuis,  a  town  in  Egypt,  313 
Thrace,  442  ;  description  of  the  country 

and  the  people,  287,  443,  444 
Thucydides,  191,  343 
Thule,  171 
Thuringians,  583  ;  revolt,  588 ;  defeat 

an  army  under  Lupicinus,  590 
Thynia,  a  district  of  Bithynia,  288 
Tibareni,  a  people  of  Pontus,  290 
Tiber,  542 
Tibris,  289 

Ticinum  (now  Pavia),  72 
Tigaviae,  a  town  of  Mauritania,  530 
Tigris,  333 

Timagenes,  a  Greek  writer,  73 
Tingetanum,  a    fort     in    Mauritania, 

531 

Tios,  a  town  of  the  Euxine,  289 
Tipata,  a  town  in  Mauritania,  532 
Tiphys,   the   pilot   of  the   Argonauts, 

290 

Tiposa,  a  town  in  Mauritania,  529 
Tisias,  an  ancient  Greek  orator,  554 
Tochari,  a  Bactrian  tribe,  340 
Tolosa  (Toulouse),  79 
Tomi,  a  city  of  Thrace,  293 
Tomyris,  a  queen  of  Scythia,  331 
Totordanes,  a  river  of  the  Sauromatse, 

291 
Toxandria,  a  town  built  by  the  Franks, 

141 

Tragonice,  a  town  of  Persia,  338 
Trajan   (i.),   the    Emperor,    29,    102, 

395,  440;   (ii.)  count  of  Armenia, 

503,  547  ;  his  battle  with  the  Goths, 

595,  608,  615 


IXDKX. 


645 


Transcellensis,  a  mountain  in  Mauri- 
tania, 529 

Trapezus,  a  Sinopean  colony  in  Pontus, 
289 

Trebatius,  a  lawyer,  556 

Treves  (Treviri),  79 

Tribocci,  a  tribe  on  the  Upper  Rhine, 
120 

Tricapae  (Troyes),  79 

Tricesimae  (Kellen),  161 

Tricorii,  a  people  of  the  Alps,  77 

Tripoli,  496,  551 

Troglodyte,  a  tribe  near  the  Red  Sea, 
293 

Tubusuptum,  a  town  in  Mauritania,  527 

Tungri  (Tongres),  78,  141 

Turgana,  an  Arabian  island,  338 

Tyana,  a  town  in  Cappadocia,  333,  402 

Tyndenses,  a  people  of  Mauritania,  527 

Tyras  (the  Dneister),  293 

Tyre,  28 

Tyros,  a  town  on  the  Euxine,  293 

U. 

ULTRA,  the  son  of  Aspacuras,  466 

Ur,  a  fort  in  Persia,  396 

Urbicius,  duke  of  Mesopotamia,  549 

Urius,  king  of  the  Allemanni,  107, 164 

Ursacius,413,  415 

Ursicinus,  king  of  the  Allemanni,  107, 

164 
master  of  the  horse  in  the  East, 

30, 36  ;  recalled,  37  ;  danger  of,  47 ; 

goes  to  Cologne,  61,  86,  180,  189, 

190 ;  charges  against,  213 
Ursinus,  contest  with  Damarus  for  the 

bishopric  of  Rome,  441 
Ursulus,  96,  280 
Usafer,  a  Sarmatian  noble,  149 
Uscudama,  a  town  in  Thrace,  39,  444 

V. 

VADOMARITTS,  king  of  the  Allemanni, 
32,  24-7,  248,  425,  503 

Vagabanta,  a  town  of  Mesopotamia, 
504 

Valens  of  Thessalonica,  274 

Valens  chosen  emperor  of  the  East  by 
his  brother  Valentinian,  413  ;  his 
alarm  at  the  successes  of  Procopius, 
424;  sends  Vadomarius  to  besiege 
Nicaa,  and  proceeds  himself  to  Ni- 


comedia,  425  ;  his  cruelty,  433 ; 
marches  against  the  Goths,  445 ;  at- 
tacks the  Gruthungi,  446 ;  returns 
to  Constantinople,  447 ;  his  suspi- 
cious character,  507  ;  reply  to  Sapor, 
549  ;  omens  of  his  death,  576 ;  re- 
ceives an  embassy  from  the  Goths, 
585  ;  sends  Victor  into  Persia,  594  ; 
leaves  Antioch  for  Constantinople, 
606 ;  marches  to  Hadrianople,  609  ; 
his  death,  614;  his  vices,  616 
Valentia  (Valence),  32,  79 

a  province  of  Britain,  485 

Valentine,  a  Pannonian,  484,  568 
Valentinian,  chosen  emperor,  406  ;  his 
conduct,  407  ;  saluted  as  Augustus, 
409  ;  his  speech,  409 ;  creates  his 
brother  Valens  tribune  and  master 
of  the  horse,  412 ;  arrives  at  Con- 
stantinople, 412;  takes  as  his  col- 
league in  the  imperial  dignity  his 
brother  Valens,  413;  his  cruelty, 
433 ;  invests  his  son  Gratian  with 
the  imperial  dignity,  448 ;  sends 
Theodosius  to  Britain,  453 ;  marches 
against  the  Allemanni  and  gains  a 
victory,  458 ;  defeats  the  Goths  at 
Solicinum,  and  returns  to  Treves, 
461 ;  fortifies  the  banks  of  the  Rhine, 
480 ;  makes  overtures  of  peace  to 
the  Burgundiaus,  495  ;  his  cruelties, 
521 ;  makes  peace  with  Macrianus, 
552  ;  marches  against  the  Quadi, 
562  j  his  dream,  563 ;  his  death, 
564 ;  review  of  his  reign,  567  ;  his 
character,  569-573 
Valentinian  II.  chosen  emperor,  575 
Valentinus,  a  tribune,  166 
Valeria,  a  province  of  Pannonia,  so 
named  after  the  daughter  of  Diocle- 
tian, 204,  468 

Valerian,  officer  of  the  domestics,  461 
Valerianus,  master  of  the  horse,  615 
Valerius  Publicola,  17 
Vangiones  (Worms),  78 
Vardanes,  the  founder  of  Ctesiphon,  334 
Varronianus,  the  father  of  Jovian,  388 
— —  the  son  of  Jovian,  403 
Vasata  (Bazas),  79 
Vatrachites,  a  river  of  Persia,  337 
Vecturiones,  a  nation  of  the  Picts,  453 
Velia,  a  town  in  Lucania,  74 


646 


INDEX. 


VfiitiJius,  lieutenant  of  Antony,  328 

Venustus,  317,  473 

Verissimus,  count,  92 

Verrinianus,  60,  181 

Vertae,  allies  of  the  Persians  at  the  siege 

of  Amida,  187,  193 
Vestralpus,  a  king  of  the  Allemanni, 

107,  164 
Veteranio,  46 

Vetranio,  captain  of  the  Zianni,  377 
Victohali,  a  Gothic  tribe,  150 
Victor  Aurelius,  the  historian,  259 
Victor,   a  Sarmatian,  347,  356,  366, 

445,  609 
a  tribune  given  as  a  hostage  to 

the  Persians,  394 
Victorinus,  473 

Viderichus,  son  of  Vithimiris,  583 
Viduarius,  king  of  the  Quadi,  151 
Vienna  (Vienne),  79 
Vincentius,  tribune  of  the  Scutarii,  300 
Virgantia  (Brianjon),  76 
Virgil,  72,  202,  586 
Virta,  a  town  in  Mesopotamia,  228 


Vitalianus,  count,  403 

Vithicabius,  king  of  the  Allemanni,  458 

Vithimiris,  king  of  the  Eastern  Goths, 

583 

Vitrodurus,  son  of  Viduarius,  151 
Vocontii,  a  people  of  Gaul,  67 

Z. 

ZABDICENI,  a  people  of  Mesopotamia, 

225,  393 

Zagrus,  montes,  335 
Zaita,  a  fortress  in  Mesopotamia,  193 
Zamma,  son  of  a  Mauritauiau  chief,  525 
Zariaspes,  a  river  in  Bactria,  340 
Zeno,  a  celebrated  Stoic,  31 
Zeugma,  a  town  on  the  Euphrates,  179 
Zianni,  an  Armenian  tribe,  377 
Ziata,  a  fortress  in  Mesopotamia,  193 
Zinafer,  a  Sarmatian  chief,  148 
Zizais,  son  of  a  king  of  the  Sarmatians, 

148 

Zombis,  a  town  in  Media,  337 
Zopyrus,  169 
Zoroaster,  336 


THE  END. 


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An  Alphabetical  List  of  Books 


DEFOE'S  NOVELS  &c.,  continued. 

HI.— Moll    Flanders,    and    the 
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IV.— Roxana,  and  Life  of  Mrs. 

Christian  Davies. 
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IO 


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Contained  in  Bohn's  Libraries, 


ii 


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12 


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HOOPER'S  (G.)  Waterloo:  The 
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Views  of  Nature.    Translated 

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vised by  Rev.  A.  R.  Shilleto,  M.A. 
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graphical Notes  by  Colonel  Sir 
C.  W.  Wilson,  K.C.B.  5  vols. 
35.  6d.  each. 


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JOYCE'S  Scientific  Dialogues. 
With  numerous  Woodcuts.  5*. 

JUKES-BROWNE  (A.  J.),  The 
Building  of  the  British  Isles: 
a  Study  in  Geographical  Evolu- 
tion. Illustrated  by  numerous 
Maps  and  Woodcuts.  2nd  Edition, 
revised,  7*.  6d. 

Student's    Handbook     of 

Physical    Geology.      With    nu- 
merous  Diagrams    and    Illustra- 
tions.     2nd    Edition,    much    en- 
larged, Js.  6d. 

The  Student's  Handbook  of 

Historical   Geology.     With  nu- 
merous   Diagrams    and    Illustra- 
tions.   6s. 

JULIAN,  the  Emperor.  Contain- 
ing Gregory  Nazianzen's  Two  In- 
vectives and  Libanus'  Monody, 
with  Julian's  extant  Theosophical 
Works.  Translated  '  by  C.  W. 
King,  M.A.  5*. 

JUSTIN,  CORNELIUS  NEPOS, 
and  EUTROPIUS  Translated 
by  the  Rev.  J.  S.  Watson,  M.A. 

3* 

JUVENAL,  PERSIUS,  SUL- 
PICIAandLUCILIUS.  Trans- 
lated by  L.  Evans,  M.A.  5^ 

JUNIUS'S  Letters.  With  all  the 
Notes  of  Wood  fall's  Edition,  and 
important  Additions.  2  vols.  3s.6d. 
each. 

KANT'S  Critique  of  Pure  Reason. 
Translated  by  J.  M.  D.  Meikle- 
john.  5^. 

Prolegomena  and  Meta- 
physical Foundation  s  of  Natural 
Science.  Translated  byE.  Belfort 
Bax.  55. 

KEIGHTLEY'S  (Thomas)  My- 
thology of  Ancient  Greece  and 
Italy.  4th  Edition,  revised  by 
Leonard  Schmitz,  Ph.D.,  LL.D. 
With  12  Plates  from  the  Antique 


KEIGHTLEY'S  Fairy  Myth- 
ology, illustrative  of  the  Romance 
and  Superstition  of  Various  Coun- 
tries. Revised  Edition,  with 
Frontispiece  by  Cruikshank.  5-f. 

LA  FONTAINE'S  Fables.  Trans- 
lated into  English  Verse  by  Elizur 
Wright.  New  Edition,  with  Notes 
byj.  W.  M.  Gibbs.  3*.  6d. 

LAMARTINE'S  History  of  the 
Girondists.  Translated  by  H.  T. 
Ryde.  3  vols.  $s.  6d.  each. 

History  of  the  Restoration 

of  Monarchy  in  France  (a  Sequel 
to  the  History  of  the  Girondists). 
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History  of  the  French  Re- 
volution of  1848.     3.?.  fxt. 

LAMB'S  (Charles)  Essays  of  Ella 
and  Eliana.  Complete  Edition. 
&.6d. 

Specimens  of  English  Dra- 
matic   Poets  of  the    Tune    of 
Elizabeth.     $s.  6a. 

Memorials   and  Letters    of 

Charles    Lamb.       By    Serjeant 
Talfourd.     New  Edition,  revised, 
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3j.  6d.  each. 

LANZI'S  History  of  Painting  in 
Italy,  from  the  Period  of  the 
Revival  of  the  Fine  Arts  to  the 
End  of  the  Eighteenth  Century. 
Translated  by  Thomas  Roscoe. 
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LAPPENBERG'S  History  of 
England  under  the  Anglo- 
Saxon  Kings.  Translated  by 
B.  Thorpe,  F.S.A.  New  edition, 
revised  by  E.  C.  Otte".  2  vols. 
35.  6J.  each. 

LECTURES  ON  PAINTING, 
by  Barry,  Opie,  Fuseli.  Edited 
by  R.  Wornum.  $s. 

LEONARDO  DA  VINCI'S 
Treatise  on  Painting.  Trans- 


Contained  in  Bokn's  Libraries. 


lated  by  T.  F.  Rigaud,  R.A., 
With  a  Life  of  Leonardo  by  John 
William  Brown.  With  numerous 
Plates.  5-r. 

LELAND'S  Itinerary.   Edited  by 

Laurence  Gomme,  F.S.A.  Vol.  I. 

[/«  the  Press. 

LEPSIUS'S  Letters  from  Egypt, 
Ethiopia,  and  the  Peninsula  of 
Sinai.  Translated  by  L.  and 
J.  B.  Homer.  With  Maps.  5*. 

LESSING-'S  Dramatic  Works, 
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M.A.  With  Memoir  of  Lessing 
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Laokoon,  Dramatic  Notes, 

and  the  Representation  of 
Death  by  the  Ancients.  Trans- 
lated by  E.  C.  Beasley  and  Helen 
Zimmern.  Edited  by  Edward 
Bell,  M.A.  With  a  Frontispiece 
of  the  Laokoon  group.  3^.  6d. 

LILLY'S  Introduction  to  Astro- 
logy. With  a  GRAMMAR  OF 
ASTROLOGY  and  Tables  for  Cal- 
culating Nativities,  by  Zadkiel.  $s. 

LIVY'S  History  of  Rome.  Trans- 
lated by  Dr.  Spillan,  C.  Edmonds, 
and  others.  4  vols.  5*.  each. 

LOCKE'S  Philosophical  Works. 

Edited  by  J.  A.  St.  John.    2  vols. 

y.  6d.  each. 
Life  and  Letters:    By  Lord 

King.     3.?.  6d. 

LOCKHART  (J.  G.)— See  BURNS. 

LODGE'S  Portraits  of  Illustrious 
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on  Steel,  with  the  respective  Bio- 
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LONGFELLOW'S  Prose 
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LOTJDON'S  (Mrs.)  Natural 
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W.  S.  Dallas,  F.L.S.  With 
numerous  Woodcut  Illus.  5-r. 

L  OWN  DBS'  Bibliographer's 
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Enlarged  Edition.  By  H.  G. 
Bonn.  6  vols.  cloth,  $s.  each. 
Or  4  vols.  half  morocco,  2.1.  2s. 

LONGUS.  Daphnis  and  Chloe. 
— See  GREEK  ROMANCES. 

LUCAN'S  Pharsalia.  Translated 
by  H.  T.  Riley,  M.A.  5^. 

LUC  I  AN' S  Dialogues  of  the 
Gods,  of  the  Sea  Gods,  and 
of  the  Dead.  Translated  by 
Howard  Williams,  M.A.  5^. 

LUCRETIUS.  Translated  by  the 
Rev.  J.  S.  Watson,  M.A.  $s. 

LUTHER'S  Table-Talk.  Trans- 
lated and  Edited  by  William 
Hazlitt.  3*.  6d. 

Autobiography.  —  See 

MICHELET. 

MACHIAVELLI'S  History  of 
Florence,  together  with  the 
Prince,  Savonarola,  various  His- 
torical Tracts,  and  a  Memoir  of 
Machiavelli.  y.  6d. 

MALLET'S  Northern  Antiqui- 
ties, or  an  Historical  Account  of 
the  Manners,  Customs,  Religions 
and  Laws,  Maritime  Expeditions 
and  Discoveries,  Language  and 
Literature,  of  the  Ancient  Scandi- 
navians. Translated  by  Bishop 
Percy.  Revised  and  Enlarged 
Edition,  with  a  Translation  of  the 
PROSE  EDDA,  by  J.  A.  Black- 
well.  5^. 

MANTELL'S  (Dr.)  Petrifactions 
and  their  Teachings.  With  nu- 
merous illustrative  Woodcuts.  6s. 

Wonders  of  Geology.  8th 

Edition,  revised  by  T.  Rupert 
Jones,  F.G.S.  With  a  coloured 
Geological  Map  of  England, 
Plates,  and  upwards  oi  200 
Woodcuts.  2  vols.  Js.  6d.  each. 


i6 


An  A Iphabetical  List  of  Books 


MANZONI.  The  Betrothed : 
being  a  Translation  of  '  I  Pio 
messi  Sposi.'  By  Alessandro 
Manzoni.  With  numerous  Wood- 
cuts. $s. 

MARCO  POLO'S  Travels;  the 
Translation  of  Marsden  revised 
by  T.  Wright,  M.A.,  F.S.A.  5*. 

MARRYAT'S  (Capt.  RN.) 
Masterman  Ready.  With  93 
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Mission  ;  or,  Scenes  in  Africa. 

Illustrated  by  Gilbert  and  Dalziel. 
35.  6d. 

-  Pirate  and  Three  Cutters. 
With  8   Steel    Engravings,   from 
Drawings  by  Clarkson  Stanfield, 
R.A.     35.  6d. 

Privateersman.      8  Engrav- 
ings on  Steel.     $s.  6a 

Settlers  in  Canada.    10  En- 
gravings by  Gilbert  and  Dalziel. 
3s.  6d. 

—  Poor  Jack.  With  16  Illus 
trations  after  Clarkson  Stansfield, 
R.A.  y.  6d. 

-  Peter  Simple      With  8  full- 
page  Illustrations.     3^.  6d. 

-  Midshipman  Easy.    With  8 
full  page  Illustrations.     3.1.  6d. 

MARTIAL'S  Epigrams,  complete. 
Translated  into  Prose,  each  ac- 
companied by  one  or  more  Verse 
Translations  selected  from  the 
Works  of  English  Poets,  and 
other  sources.  75.  &/. 

MARTINEAU'S  (Harriet)  His- 
tory of  England,  from  1800- 
1815.  35.  ftd. 

-  History  of  the  Thirty  Years' 
Peace,  A.D.    1815-46.      4  vols. 
35.  6d.  each. 

See  Comtek  Positive  Philosophy. 

MATTHEW  PARIS'S  English 
History,  from  the  Year  1235  to 
1273.  Translated  by  Rev.  J.  A. 
Giles,  D.C.L.  3  vols.  5*.  each. 


MATTHEW  OF  WESTMIN 
STER'S  tlo/»es  of  History, 
from  the  beginning  of  the  World 
to  A.D.  1307.  Translated  by  C.  D. 
Yonge,  M.A.  2  vols.  5*.  each. 

MAXWELL'S  Victories  of  Wel- 
lington aud  the  British  Armies. 
Frontispiece  and  5  Portraits.  55. 

MENZEL'S  History  of  Germany, 
from  the  Earliest  Period  to  1842. 
3  vols.  3*  6d  each 

MICHAEL  ANGELO  AND 
RAPHAEL,  their  Lives  and 
Works.  By  Duppa  and  Quatre- 
mere  de  Quincy  With  Portraits, 
and  Engravings  on  Steel.  51. 

MICHELET'S  Luther's  Auto- 
biography. Trans,  by  William 
Hazlitt.  With  an  Appendix  (no 

,  pages)  of  Notes.     31.  6d. 

History  of  the  French  Revo- 
lution from  its  earliest  indications 
to  the  flight  of  the  King  in  1791. 
3*.  6d. 

MIGNET'S  History  of  the  French 
Revolution,  from  1789  to  1814. 
3s.6d. 

MILL  (J.  S.).  Early  Essays  by 
John  Stuart  Mill.  Collected  from 
various  sources  byj.  W.  M.  Gibbs. 
3*  &/. 

MILLER  (Professor).  History 
Philosophically  Illustrated,  from 
the  Fall  of  the  Roman  Empire  to 
the  French  Revolution.  4  vols. 
35.  6d.  each. 

MILTON'S  Prose  Works.  Edited 
by  J.  A.  St.  John.  5  vols.  35.  6d. 
each. 

Poetical  Works,  with  a  Me- 
moir   and   Critical    Remarks    by 
James  Montgomery,  an  Index  to 
Paradise  Lost,  Todd's  Verbal  Index 
to  all  the  Poems,  and  a  Selection 
of  Explanatory  Notes  by  Henry 
G.   Bohn.      Illustrated   with    120 
Wood  Engravings  from  Drawings 
by  W.  Harvey.     2  vols.     31.  6d. 
each. 


Contained  in  Bohris  Libraries. 


MIT  FORD'S  (Miss)  Our  Village 
Sketches  of  Rural  Character  and 
Scenery.  With  2  Engravings  on 
Steel.  2  vols.  3^.  6d.  each. 

MOLIERE'S    Dramatic  Works. 

A    new   Translation    in  English 

Prose,  by  C.  H.  Wall.  3  vols. 
35.  6d.  each. 

MONTAGU.  The  Letters  and 
Works  of  Lady  Mary  Wortley 
Montagu.  Edited  by  her  great- 
grandson,  Lord  Wharncliffe's  Edi- 
tion, and  revised  by  W.  Moy 
Thomas.  New  Edition,  revised, 
with  5  Portraits  2  vols.  $s.  each 

MONTAIGNE'S  Essays.  Cotton's 
Translation,  revised  by  W.  C. 
Hazlitt.  New  Edition.  3  vols. 
$s.  6d.  each. 

MONTESQUIEU'S  Spirit  of 
Laws.  New  Edition,  revised  and 
corrected.  By  J.  V.  Pritchard, 
A.  M.  2  vols.  3-f.  6d.  each. 

MOTLEY  (J.  L.).  The  Rise  of 
the  Dutch  Republic.  A  History. 
By  John  Lothrop  Motley.  New 
Edition,  with  Biographical  Intro- 
duction by  Moncure  D.  Conway. 
3  vols  3-r.  6d.  each. 

MORPHY'S  Games  of  Chess. 
Being  the  Matches  and  best  Games 
played  by theAmerican  Champion, 
with  Explanatory  and  Analytical 
Notes  by  J.  Lowenthal.  $s. 

MUDIE'S  British  Birds ;  or,  His- 
tory of  the  Feathered  Tribes  of  the 
British  Islands.  Revised  by  W. 
C.  L.  Martin.  With  52  Figures 
of  Birds  and  7  Coloured  Plates  of 
Eggs.  2  vols. 

NEANDER  (Dr.  A.).  History 
of  the  Christian  Religion  and 
Church.  Trans,  from  the  German 
byj.  Torrey.  lOvols.  $s.6d.  each. 

-  Life  of  Jesus  Christ.  Trans- 
lated by  J.  McClintock  and  C. 
Blumenthal.  is.  6d. 


NEANDER  (Dr.  A.).  History  oi 
the  Planting  and  Tra  ning  of 
the  Christian  Church  by  the 
Apostles.  Translated  by  J.  E. 
Ryland.  2  vols.  3^.  6d.  each. 

Lectures  on  the  History 

Christian  Dogmas.     Edited  by 
Dr.  Jacobi.     Translated  by  J.  E. 
Ryland.     2  vols.     3^.  6d.  each. 

Memorials  of  Christian  Life 

in  the  Early  and  Middle  Ages  ; 
including  Light  in   Dark  Places. 
Trans,  by  J.  E.  Ryland.     31.  6d. 

NIBELUNGEN  LIED.  The 
Lay  of  the  Nibelungs,  metrically 
translated  from  the  old  German 
text  by  Alice  Hoiton,  and  edited 
by  Edward  Bell,  M.A.  To  which 
is  prefixed  the  Essay  on  the  Nibe- 
lungen  Lied  by  Thomas  Carlyle. 

y. 

NEW  TESTAMENT  (The)  in 
Greek.  Griesbach's  Text,  with 
various  Readings  at  the  foot  of 
the  page,  and  Parallel  References 
in  the  margin  ;  also  a  Critical 
Introduction  and  Chronological 
Tables.  By  an  eminent  Scholar, 
with  a  Greek  and  English  Lexicon. 
3rd  Edition,  revised  and  corrected. 
Two  Facsimiles  of  Greek  Manu- 
scripts. 900  pages.  55. 

The  Lexicon  may  be  had  sepa- 
rately, price  2s. 

NICOLINI'S  History  of  the 

Jesuits :   their  Origin,    Progress, 

Doctrines,  and  Designs.     With  8 
Portraits.     5*. 

NORTH  (R.)  Lives  of  the  Right 
Hon.  Francis  North,  Baron  Guild - 
ford,  the  Hon.  Sir  Dudley  North, 
and  the  Hon.  and  Rev.  Dr.  John 
North.  By  the  Hon.  Roger 
North.  Together  with  the  Auto 
biography  of  the  Author.  Edited 
by  Augustus  Jessopp.D.D.  3vols. 
3^.  6d.  each. 

NUGENT'S  (Lord)  Memorials 
of  Hampden,  his  Party  and 


i8 


An  Alphabetical  List  of  Books 


Times.  W,th  a  Memoir  of  the 
Author,  an  Autograph  Letter,  an.! 
Portrait.  $s. 

OCKLEY  (S.)  History  of  the 
Saracens  and  their  Conquests 
in  Syria,  Persia,  and  Egypt. 
By  Simon  Ockley,  B.D.,  Professor 
of  Arabic  in  the  University  of 
Cambiidge.  35.  6d. 

OMAN  (J.  C.)  The  Great  Indian 
Epics :  the  Stories  of  the  RAMA- 
YANA  and  the  MAHABHARATA. 
By  John  Campbell  Oman,  Prin- 
cipal of  Khalsa  College,  Amritsar. 
With  Notes,  Appendices,  and 
Illustrations.  V-  6^- 

ORDERICUS  VITALIS'  Eccle- 
siastical History  of  England 
and  Normandy.  Translated  by 
T.  Forester,  M.A.  To  which  is 
added  the  CHRONICLE  OF  ST. 
EVROULT.  4  vols.  5.?.  each. 

OVID'S  Works,  complete.  Literally 
translated  into  Prose.  3  vols. 
5j.  each. 

PASCAL'S  Thoughts.  Translated 
from  the  Text  of  M.  Auguste 
Molinier  by  C.  Kegan  Paul.  3rd 
Edition.  3*.  6d. 

PAULI'S  (Dr.  R.)  Life  of  Alfred 
the  Great.  Translated  from  the 
German.  To  which  is  appended 
Alfred's  ANGLO-SAXON  VERSION 
OF  OROSIUS.  With  a  literal 
Translation  interpaged,  Notes, 
and  an  ANGLO-SAXON  GRAMMAR 
and  GLOSSARY,  by  B.  Thorpe.  5*. 

PAUSANIAS'  Description  of 
Greece.  Newly  translated  by  A.  R. 
Shilleto,  M.A.  2  vols.  $s.  each. 

PEARSON'S  Exposition  of  the 
Greed.  Edited  by  E.  Walford, 
M.A.  $s. 

PEPYS'  Diary  and  Correspond- 
ence. Deciphered  by  the  Rev. 
J.  Smith,  M.  A.,  from  the  original 
Shorthand  MS.  in  the  Pepysian 


Library.  Edited  by  Lord  Bray- 
brooke.  4  vols.  With  31  En- 
gravings. 51.  each. 

PERCY'S  Reliques  of  Ancient 
English  Poetry.  With  an  Essay 
on  Ancient  Minstrels  and  a  Glos- 
sary. Edited  by  J.  V.  Pritchard, 
A.M.  2  vols.  3*.  6d.  each. 

PERSIUS.— See  JUVENAL. 

PETRARCH'S  Sonnets,  Tri- 
umphs and  other  Poems. 
Translated  into  English  Verse  by 
various  Hands.  With  a  Life  of 
the  Poet  by  Thomas  Campbell. 
With  Portrait  and  15  Steel  En- 
gravings. 5*. 

PHILO  -  JUD2EUS,  Works  of. 
Translated  by  Prof.  C.  D.  Yonge, 
M.A.  4  vols.  5^.  each. 

PICKERING'S  History  of  the 
Races  of  Man,  and  their  Geo- 
graphical Distribution.  With  AN 
ANALYTICAL  SYNOPSIS  OF  THE 
NATURAL  HISTORY  OF  MAN  by 
Dr.  Hall.  With  a  Map  of  the 
World  and  12  coloured  Plates.  $s. 

PINDAR.  Translated  into  Prose 
by  Dawson  W.  Turner.  To  which 
is  added  the  Metrical  Version  by 
Abraham  Moore.  $s. 

PLANCHE.  History  of  British 
Costume,  from  the  Earliest  Time 
to  the  Close  of  the  Eighteenth 
Century.  By  J.  R.  Planche, 
Somerset  Herald.  With  upwards 
of  400  Illustrations.  c,s. 

PLATO'S  Works.  Literally  trans- 
lated, with  Introduction  and 
Notes.  6  vols.  5*.  each. 

I. — The  Apology  of  Socrates, 
Crito,  Phsedo,  Gorgias,  Pro- 
tagoras, Phsedrus,  Theaetetus, 
Euthyphron,  Lysis.  Trans- 
lated by  the  Rev.  H.  Carey. 
II. — The  Republic,  Timseus,  and 
Critias.  Translated  by  Henry 
Davis. 


Contained  in  Bokn's  Libraries. 


PLATO'S  WORKS  continued. 

III. — Meno,  Euthydemus,  The 
Sophist,  Statesman,  Cratylus, 
Parmenides,  and  the  Banquet. 
Translated  by  G.  Burges. 

IV. — Philebus,  Charmides,  Laches, 
Menexenus,  Hippias,  Ion, 
The  Two  Alcibiades,  The- 
ages,  Rivals,  Hipparchus, 
Minos,  Clitopho,  Epistles. 
Translated  by  G.  Burges. 

V. — The  Laws.  Translated  by 
G.  Burges. 

VI.— The  Doubtful  Works.  Trans- 
lated by  G.  Burges. 

Summary  and  Analysis  of 

the  Dialogues.    With  Analytical 
Index.     By  A.  Day,  LL.D.     5*. 

PLAIJTUS'S  Comedies.  Trans- 
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PLINY'S  Natural  History. 
Translated  by  the  late  John 
Bostock,  M.D.,  F.R.S.,  and  H.T. 
Riley,  M.A.  6  vols.  5*.  each. 

PLINY.  The  Letters  of  Pliny 
the  Younger.  Melmoth's  trans- 
lation, revised  by  the  Rev.  F.  C. 
T.  Bosanquet,  M.A.  S.T. 

PLOTINUS,  Select  Works  of. 
Translated  by  Thomas  Taylor. 
With  an  Introduction  containing 
the  substance  of  Porphyry's  Plo- 
tinus.  Edited  by  G.  R.  S.  Mead, 
B.A.,  M.R.A.S.  5-r. 

PLUTARCH'S  Lives.  Translated 
by  A.  Stewart,  M.A.,  and  George 
Long,  M.A.  4  vols.  35.  6d.  each. 

Morals.  Theosophical  Essays. 

Translated  by  C.  W.  King,  M.A. 
Ss. 

Morals.      Ethical    Essays. 

Translated   by   the   Rev.    A.    R. 
Shilleto,  M.A.     $s. 

POETRY  OF  AMERICA.  Se- 
lections from  One  Hundred 


American   Poets,   from    1776    to 
1876.     By  W.  J.  Linton.     $s  6d. 

POLITICAL  CYCLOPAEDIA. 
A  Dictionary  of  Political,  Con- 
stitutional, Statistical,  and  Fo- 
rensic Knowledge ;  forming  a 
Work  of  Reference  on  subjects  of 
Civil  Administration,  Political 
Economy,  Finance,  Commerce, 
Laws,  and  Social  Relations.  4 
vols.  2s-  6d.  each 

POPE'S  Poetical  Works.  Edited, 
with  copious  Notes,  by  Robert 
Carruthers.  With  numerous  Illus 
trations.  2  vols.  5-r.  each. 

Homer's   Iliad.      Edited    by 

the    Rev.    J.    S.    Watson,    M.A. 
Illustrated  by  the  entire  Series  of 
Flaxman's  Designs.     5^. 

—  Homer's  Odyssey,  with  the 
Battle  of  Frogs  and  Mice,  Hymns, 
&c. ,  by  other  translators.  Edited 
by  the  Rev.  J.  S.  Watson,  M.A. 
With  the  entire  Series  of  Flax- 
man's Designs.  5-f. 

Life,   including   many   of  his 

Letters.     By   Robert  Carruthers. 
With  numerous  Illustrations.     5^. 

POTJSHEIN'S  Prose  Tales:  The 
Captain's  Daughter — Doubrovsky 
—  The  Queen  of  Spades  —  An 
Amateur  Peasant  Girl — The  Shot 
—The  Snow  Storm— The  Post- 
master —  The  Coffin  Maker  — 
Kirdjali— The  Egyptian  Nights- 
Peter  the  Great's  Negro.  Trans- 
lated by  T.  Keane.  3-r.  6d. 

PROPERTIUS.  Translated  by 
Rev  P.  J.  F.  Gantillon,  M.A., 
and  accompanied  by  Poetical 
Versions,  from  various  sources. 
3^.  6d. 

PROVERBS,  Handbook  of.  Con- 
taining an  entire  Republication 
of  Ray's  Collection  of  English 
Proverbs,  with  his  additions  from 
Foreign  Languages  and  a  com- 
plete Alphabetical  Index;  in  which 


20 


An  Alphabetical  List  of  Books 


are  introduced  large  additions  as 
well  of  Proverbs  as  of  Sayings, 
Sentences,  Maxims,  and  Phrases, 
collected  by  H.  G.  Bohn.  5*. 

PROVERBS,  A  Polyglot  of 
Foreign.  Comprising  French, 
Italian,  German,  Dutch,  Spanish, 
Portuguese,  and  Danish.  With 
English  Translations  &  a  General 
Index  by  H.  G.  Bohn.  $s. 

POTTERY  AND  PORCELAIN, 
and  other  C Objects  of  Vertu.  Com- 
prising an  Illustrated  Catalogue  of 
the  Bernal  Collection  of  Works 
of  Art,  with  the  prices  at  which 
they  were  sold  by  auction,  and 
names  of  the  possessors.  To  which 
are  added,  an  Introductory  Lecture 
on  Pottery  and  Porcelain,  and  an 
Engraved  List  of  all  the  known 
Marks  and  Monograms.  By  Henry 
G.  Bohn.  With  numerous  Wood 
Engravings,  5*. ;  or  with  Coloured 
Illustrations,  10*.  6d. 

PROUT'S  (Father)  Reliques.  Col- 
lected and  arranged  by  Rev.  F. 
Mahony.  Copyright  edition  with 
the  Author's  last  corrections  and 
additions.  New  issue,  with  21 
Etchings  by  D.  Maclise,  R.A. 
Nearly  600  pages.  5*. 

QTJINTILIAN'S   Institutes  of 

Oratory,    or    Education    of    an 

Orator.     Translated  by  the  Rev. 

S.  Watson,  M.A.     2  vols.     5*. 

each. 

RACINE'S  (Jean)  Dramatic 
Works.  A  metrical  English  ver- 
sion. By  R.  Bruce  Boswell,  M.A. 
Oxon.  2  vols.  3*.  6rf.  each. 

RANKE'S  History  of  the  Popes, 
their  Church  and  State,  and  espe- 
cially of  their  Conflicts  with  Pro- 
testantism in  the  1 6th  and  I7th 
centuries.  Translated  by  E. 
Foster.  3  vols.  y.  (d.  each. 

History  of   Servia   and  the 

Servian  Revolution.      With  an 


Account  of  the  Insurrection  in 
Bosnia.  Translated  by  Mrs.  Kerr. 
3s.  6d. 

REUMONT  (Alfred  de).  See 
CARAFAS. 

RECREATIONS  in  SHOOTING. 
By '  Craven.'  With  62  Engravings 
on  Wood  after  Harvey,  and  9 
Engravings  on  Steel,  chiefly  after 
A.  Cooper,  R.A.  5J- 

RENNIE'S  Insect  Architecture. 
Revised  and  enlarged  by  Rev. 
J.  G.  Wood,  M.A.  With  186 
Woodcut  Illustrations.  55. 

REYNOLD'S  (Sir  J.)  Literary 
Works.  Edited  by  H.  W.  Beechy. 
2  vols.  3.1.  6d.  each. 

RICARDO  on  the  Principles  of 
Political  Economy  and  Taxa- 
tion. Edited  by  E.  C.  K.  Conner, 
M.A.  55. 

RICHTER  (Jean  Paul  Friedrich). 
Levana,  a  Treatise  on  Education: 
together  with  the  Autiobiography 
(a  Fragment),  and  a  short  Pre- 
fatory Memoir,  y.  6d. 

Flower,  Fruit,  and   Thorn 

Pieces,  or  the  Wedded  Life, Death, 
and  Marriage  of  Firmian  Stanis- 
laus Siebenkaes,  Parish  Advocate 
in  the  Parish  of  Kuhschnappel. 
Newly  translated  by  Lt.  -Col.  Alex. 
Ewing.  3.1.  (>d. 

ROCKER  DE  HOVEDEN'S  An- 
nals of  English  History,  com- 
prising the  History  of  England 
and  of  other  Countries  of  Europe 
from  A.D.  732  to  A.  D.  1201. 
Translated  by  H.  T.  Riley,  M.A. 
2  vols.  55.  each. 

ROGER  OF  WENDOVER'S 
Flowers  of  History,  comprising 
the  History  of  England  from  the 
Descent  of  the  Saxons  to  A.D. 
1 235,  formerly  ascribed  to  Matthew 
Paris.  Translated  by  J.  A.  Giles, 
D.C.Li,  2  vols.  $s.  each. 


Contained  in  Bohn's  Libraries. 


21 


ROME  in  the  NINETEENTH 
CENTURY.  Containing  a  com- 
plete Account  of  the  Ruins  of  the 
Ancient  City,  the  Remains  of  the 
Middle  Ages,  and  the  Monuments 
of  Modern  Times.  By  C.A.Eaton. 
With  34  Steel  Engravings.  2  vols. 
5J.  each. 

See  BURN  and  DYER. 

ROSCOE'S  (W.)  Life  and  Ponti- 
ficate of  Leo  X.  Final  edition, 
revised  by  Thomas  Roscoe.  2 
vols.  3.5-.  6(/.  each. 

Life  of  Lorenzo  de'  Medici, 

called   '  the  Magnificent.'     With 
his    poems,    letters,    &c.        loth 
Edition,  revised,  with  Memoir  of 
Roscoe  by  his  Son.     3^.  6d. 

RUSSIA.  History  of,  from  the 
earliest  Period,  compiled  from 
the  most  authentic  sources  by 
Walter  K.  Kelly.  With  Portraits. 
2  vols.  3^  (>d.  each. 

SALLUST,  FLORUS,  and  VEL- 
LEIUS  PATERCULUS. 

Translated  by  J.  S.Watson,  M.A. 

St. 

SCHILLER'S  Works.  Translated 
by  various  hands.  7  vols.  3*.  6d. 
each : — 

I.— History  of  the  Thirty  Years' 
War. 

II. — History  of  the  Revolt  in  the 
Netherlands,  the  Trials  of 
Counts  Egmont  and  Horn, 
the  Siege  of  Antwerp,  and 
the  Disturbances  in  France 
preceding  the  Reign  of 
Henry  IV. 

III. — Don  Carlos,  Mary  Stuart, 
Maid  of  Orleans,  Bride  of 
Messina,  together  with  the 
Use  of  the  Chorus  in 
Tragedy  (a  short  Essay). 

These   Dramas  are  all 
translated  in  metre. 


SCHILLER'S  WORKS  continued. 

IV.— Robbers  ( with  Schiller's 
original  Preface),  Fiesco, 
Love  and  Intrigue,  De- 
metrius, Ghost  Seer,  Sport 
of  Divinity. 

The  Dramas  in  this 
volume  are  translated  into 
.Prose. 

V. — Poems. 

VI.— Essays,  ^Esthetical  and  Philo- 
sophical. 

VII. — Wallenstein's  Camp,  Pic- 
colomini  and  Death  of 
Wallenstein,  William  Tell. 

SCHILLER  and  GOETHE. 
Correspondence  between,  from 
A.D.  1794-1805.  Translated  by 
L.  Dora  Schmitz.  2  vols.  $s.  6d. 
each. 

SCHLEGEL'S  (F.)  Lectures  on 
the  Philosophy  of  Life  and  the 
Philosophy  of  Language.  Trans- 
lated by  the  Rev.  A.  J.  W.  Mor- 
rison, M.A.  3^.  6d. 

Lectures  on  the  History  of 

Literature,  Ancient  and  Modern. 
Translated  from  the  German.  y.6d. 

Lectures  on  the  Philosophy 

of  History.     Translated  by  J.  B. 
Robertson.     3*.  6d. 


—  Lectures  on  Modern  History, 
together  with  the  Lectures  entitled 
Csesar  and  Alexander,  and  The 
Beginning  of  our  History.  Trans- 
lated by  L.  Purcell  and  R.  H. 
Whitetock.  3*.  6d. 


^Esthetic  and  Miscellaneous 

Works.      Translated    by   E.    J. 
Millington.     35.  6d. 

SCHLEGEL  (A.  W. )  Lectures 
on  Dramatic  Art  at  d  Literature. 
Translated  by  J.  Black.  Revised 
Edition,  by  the  Rev.  A.  J.  W. 
Morrison,  M.A.  3J.  6d. 


22 


An  Alphabetical  List  of  Books 


SCHOPENHAUER  on  the  Pour- 
fold  Root  of  the  Principle  of 
Sufficient  Reason,  and  On  the 
Will  in  Nature.  Translated  by 
Madame  Hillebrand.  5*. 


Essays.     Selected  and  Trans- 
lated.   With  a  Biographical  Intro- 
duction and  Sketch  of  his  Philo- 
sophy, by  E.  Belfort  Bax.     5-r. 

SCHOUW'S  Earth,  Plants,  and 
Man.  Translated'  by  A.  Henfrey. 
With  coloured  Map  of  the  Geo- 
graphy of  Plants.  5.5. 

SCHUMANN  (Robert).  His  Life 
and  Works,  by  August  Reissmann. 
Translated  by  A.  L.  Alger.  3^.  6d. 

—  Early  Letters.  Originally  pub- 
blished  by  his  Wife.  Translated 
by  May  Herbert.  With  a  Preface 
by  Sir  George  Grove,  D.CL. 
3*.  6d. 

SENECA  on  Benefits.  Newly 
translated  by  A.  Stewart,  M.A. 
y.  6d. 

Minor  Essajs  and  On  Clem- 
ency.    Translated  by  A.  Stewart, 
M.A.     5j. 

SHAKESPEARE'S  Dramatic 
Art.  The  History  and  Character 
of  Shakespeare's  Plays.  By  Dr. 
Hermann  Ulrici.  Translated  by 
L.  Dora  Schmitz.  2  vols.  35.  6d. 
each. 

SHAKESPEARE  (William).  A 
Literary  Biography  by  Karl  Elze, 
Ph.D.,  LL.D.  Translated  by 
L.  Dora  Schmitz.  5*. 

SHARPE  (S.)  The  History  of 
Egypt,  from  the  Earliest  Times 
till  the  Conquest  by  the  Arabs, 
A.D.  640.  By  Samuel  Sharpe. 
2  Maps  and  upwards  of  400  Illus- 
trative Woodcuts.  2  vols.  5*.  each. 

SHERIDAN'S  Dramatic  Works, 
Complete.  With  Life  by  G.  G.  S. 
3-r.  6d. 


SISMONDI'S  History  of  the 
Literature  of  the  South  oi 
Europe.  Translated  by  Thomas 
Roscoe.  2  vols.  3*.  6d.  each. 

SIX  OLD  ENGLISH  CHRON- 
ICLES: viz.,  ASSER'S  LIFE  OF 
ALFRED  AND  THECHRONICLESOF 
ETHELWERD,  GILDAS,  NENNIUS, 
GEOFFREY  OF  MONMOUTH,  AND 
RICHARD  OF  CIRENCESTER. 
Edited  by  J.  A.  Giles,  D.C.L.  5.1. 

SYNONYMS  and  ANTONYMS, 
or  Kino  red  Words  and  their 
Opposites,  Collected  and  Con- 
trasted by  Yen.  C.  J.  Smith,  M.A. 
Revised  Edition.  51. 

SMITH'S  (Adam)  The  Wealth  of 
Kations.  Edited  by  E.  Belfort 
Bax.  2  vols.  35.  6J.  each. 

Theory  of  Moral  Sentiments ; 

with  his  Essay  on  the  First  For- 
mation of  Languages ;  to  which  is 
added  a  Memoir  of  the  Author  by 
Dugald  Stewart.  3*.  6</. 

SMYTH'S  (Professor)  Lectures 
on  Modern  History;  from  the 
Irruption  of  the  Northern  Nations 
to  the  close  of  the  American  Re- 
volution. 2  vols.  3*.  6d.  each. 

Lectures  on  the  French  Re- 
volution.    2  vols.     3^.  6d.  each. 

SMITH'S  (  Pye )  Geology  and 
Scripture.  2nd  Edition.  5*. 

SMOLLETT'S  Adventures  oi 
Roderick  Random.  With  short 
Memoir  and  Bibliography,  and 
Cruikshank's  Illustrations.  31.  6d. 

Adventures  of  Peregrine 

Pickle,  in  which  are  included  the 
Memoirs  of  a   Lady  of  Quality. 
With    Bibliography    and    Cruik- 
shnnk's  Illustrations.  2  vols.  y.6d. 
each. 


Contained  in  Bohris  Libraries. 


SMOLLETT'S  The  Expedition 
of  Humphry  Clinker.  With 
Bibliography  and  Cruikshank's 
Illustrations.  35.  6d. 

SOCRATES  (surnamed  '  Scholas- 
ticus  '  )  .  The  Ecclesiastical  His- 
tory of  (A.  0.30  5-445).  Translated 
from  the  Greek.  5.?. 

SOPHOCLES,  The  Tragedies  of. 
A  New  Prose  Translation,  with 
Memoir,  Notes,  &c.,  by  E.  P. 
Coleridge.  55. 

-  The  Oxford  Translation.    5*. 

S  OUT  KEY'S  Life  of  Nelson. 
With  Facsimiles  of  Nelson's  writ- 
ing, Portraits,  Plans,  and  upwards 
of  50  Engravings  on  Steel  and 
Wood.  5*. 


Life  of  Wesley,  and  the  Rise 
and  Progress  of  Methodism.     55. 

—  Robert  Southey.  The  Story 
of  his  Life  written  in  his  Letters. 
With  an  Introduction.  Edited  by 
John  Dennis.  3.5.  6d. 


SOZOMEN'S  Ecclesiastical  His- 
tory. Comprising  a  History  of 
the  Church  from  A.D.  324-440. 
Translated  from  the  Greek.  To- 
gether with  the  ECCLESIASTICAL 
HISTORY  OF  PHILOSTORGIUS,  as 
epitomised  by  Photius.  Trans- 
lated from  the  Greek  by  Rev.  E. 
Walford,  M.A.  5*. 

SPINOZA'S  Chief  Works.  Trans- 
lated, with  Introduction,  by  R.  H.  M. 
Elwes.  2  vols.  5-r.  each. 

STANLEY'S  Classified  Synopsis 
of  the  Principal  Painters  of  the 
Dutch  and  Flemish  Schools. 
By  George  Stanley.  5*. 

STARLING'S  (Miss)  Noble  Deeds 
of  Women  ;  or,  Examples  of 
Female  Courage,  Fortitude,  and 
Virtue.  With  14  Steel  Engrav- 
ings. $s. 


STAUNTON'S  Chess  -  Player's 
Handbook.  A  Popular  and  Scien- 
tific Introduction  to  the  Game. 
With  numerous  Diagrams.  $s. 

Chess  Praxis.    A  Supplement 

to  the  Chess-player's  Handbook. 
Containing  the  most  important 
modern  improvements  in  the  Open- 
ings ;  Code  of  Chess  Laws ;  and 
a  Selection  of  Morphy's  Games. 
Annotated.  $s. 

—  Chess-player's  Companion. 
Comprising  a  Treatise  on  Odds, 
Collection  of  Match  Games,  and  a 
Selection  of  Original  Problems.  55. 


-  Chess  Tournament  of  1851. 
A  Collection  of  Games  played  at 
this  celebrated  assemblage.  With 
Introduction  and  Notes.  $s. 

STOCKHARDT'S  Experimental 
Chemistry.  A  Handbook  for  the 
Study  of  the  Science  by  simple 
experiments.  Edited  by  C.  W. 
Heaton,  F.C.S.  With  numerous 
Woodcuts.  New  Edition,  revised 
throughout.  5^. 

STRABO'S  Geography.  Trans- 
lated by  W.  Falconer,  M.A., 
and  H.  C.  Hamilton.  3  vols. 
$s.  each. 

STRICKLAND'S  (Agnes)  Lives 
of  the  Queens  of  England,  from 
the  Norman  Conquest.  Revised 
Edition.  With  6  Portraits.  6  vols. 
$s.  each. 

Life  of  Mary  Queen  of  Scots. 


2  vols.     5.?.  each. 

-  Lives  of  the  Tudor  and  Stuart 
Princesses.  With  Portraits.  5*. 

STUART  and  REVETT'S  Anti- 
quities of  Athens,  and  other 
Monuments  of  Greece  ;  to  which 
is  added,  a  Glossary  of  Terms  used 
in  Grecian  Architecture.  With  7  1 
Plates  engraved  on  Steel,  and 
numerous  Woodcut  Capitals.  5*. 


An  AlpJiabetical  List  of  Books 


SUETONIUS'  Lives  of  the  Twelve 
Cgesars  and  Lives  of  the  Gram- 
marians.  The  translation  of 
Thomson,  revised  by  T.  Forester. 

s*> 

SULLY.  Memoirs  of  the  Duke 
of,  Prime  Minister  to  Henry 
the  Great.  Translated  from  the 
French.  With  4  Portraits.  4  vols. 
3^.  &/.  each. 

SWIFT'S  Prose  Works.  Edited 
by  Temple  Scott.  With  a  Bio- 
graphical Introduction  by  the  Right 
Hon.  W.  E.  H.  Lecky,  M.P. 
With  Portraits  and  Facsimiles. 
1 1  vols.  3-f.  6J.  each. 

[  Vols.  I.-IV.  &>  VIII.  ready. 
I.— Edited  by  Temple  Scott. 
With  a  Biographical  In- 
troduction by  the  Right 
Hon.  W.  E.  H.  Lecky, 
M.  P.  Containing  :  —  A 
Tale  of  a  Tub,  The  Battle 
of  the  Books,  and  other 
early  works. 

II.— The  Journal  to  Stella.  Edited 
by  Frederick  Ryland,  M.  A. 
With  2  Portraits  of  Stella, 
and  a  Facsimile  of  one  of 
the  Letters. 

II I. &  IV. — Writings  on  Religion  and 
the  Church.  Edited  by 
Temple  Scott. 

V. — Historical  and  Political 
Tracts  (English).  Edited 
by  Temple  Scott 

VIII.— Gulliver's  Travels.      Edited 

by  G.  R    Dennis.     With 

Portrait  and  Maps. 

The  order  and   contents  of 

the  remaining  volumes  will 

probably  be  as  follows : — 

vT&VII. — Historical  and  Political 

Tracts  (Irish). 

IX. — Contributions  to  the  '  Ex- 
aminer,' '  Taller,'  '  Spec- 
tator,' &c. 

X. — Historical  Writings. 
XI. — Literary  Essays  and  Biblio- 
graphy. 


STOWE  ( Mrs.  H.B.)  Uncle  Tom's 
Cabin,  or  Life  among  the  Lowly. 
With  Introductory  Remarks  by 
Rev.  J.  Sherman.  With  8  full- 
page  Illustrations.  3^.  6d, 

TACITUS.  The  Works  of.  Liter- 
ally  translated.  2  vols.  5*.  each. 

TALES  OF  THE  GENII;  or, the 
Delightful  Lessons  of  Horam,  the 
Son  of  Asmar.  Translated  from 
the  Persian  by  Sir  Charles  Morel  1. 
Numerous  Woodcuts  and  1 2  Steel 
Engravings.  $s. 

TASSO'a  Jerusalem  Delivered. 
Translated  into  English  Spenserian 
Verse  by  J.  H.  Wiffen.  With  8 
Engravings  on  Steel  and  24  Wood- 
cuts by  Thurston.  55. 

TAYLOR'S  (Bishop  Jeremy) 
Holy  Living  and  Dying,  with 
Prayers  containing  the  Whole  Duty 
of  a  Christian  and  the  parts  of  De- 
votion fitted  to  all  Occasions  and 
furnished  for  all  Necessities.  3* .  6d. 

TEN  BRINK.— See  BRINK. 

TERENCE  and  PHJEDRUS. 
Literally  translated  by  H.  T.  Riley, 
M.A.  To  which  is  added,  SMART'S 
METRICALVERSION  OF  PH^EDRUS. 
St. 

THEOCRITUS,  BION,  MOS- 
CHUS,  and  TYRT^IUS.  Liter- 
ally translated  by  the  Rev.  J. 
Banks,  M.A.  To  which  are  ap- 
pended the  Metrical  Versions  of 
Chapman.  5^. 

THEODORET  and  EVAGRIUS. 
Histories  of  the  Church  from  A.D. 
332  to  A.D.  427;  and  from  A.D. 
43 1  to  A.  D.  544.  Translated  from 
the  Greek.  5*. 

THIERRY'S  History  of  the 
Conquest  of  England  by  the 
Normans;  its  Causes,  and  its 
Consequences  in  England,  Scot- 
land, Ireland,  and  the  Continent. 
Translated  by  William  Hazlitt. 
2  vols.  3*.  6d.  each. 


Contained  in  Bohn's  Libraries. 


THUCYDIDES.  The  Pelopon- 
nesian  War.  Literally  translated 
by  the  Rev.  II  .  Dale.  2  vols. 
3^.  6d.  each. 

-  An  Analysis  and  Summary 
of.  With  Chronological  Table  of 
Events,  &c.  By  J.  T.  Wheeler. 


THUDICHTJM  (J.  L.  W.)  A  Trea- 
tise on  Wines:  their  Origin, 
Nature,  and  Varieties.  With  Prac- 
tical Directions  for  Viticulture  and 
Vinification.  By  J.  L.  W.  Thudi- 
chum,  M.D.,  F.R.C.P.  (Lond.). 
Illustrated.  5*. 

URE'S  (Dr.  A.)  Cotton  Manufac- 
ture of  Great  Britain,  systemati- 
cally investigated.  Revised  Edit. 
by  P.  L.  Simmonds.  With  150 
original  Illustrations.  2  vols.  5*. 
each. 

-  Philosophy  of  Manufactures. 
Revised  Edition,  by  P.  L.  Sim- 
monds. With  numerous  Figures. 
Double  volume.  "js.  6d. 

VASARI'S  Lives  of  the  most 
Eminent  Painters,  Sculptors, 
and  Architects.  Translated  by 
Mrs.  J.  Foster,  with  a  Commen- 
tary by  J.  P.  Richter,  Ph.D.  6 
vols.  3-r.  6d.  each. 

VIRGIL.  A  Literal  Prose  Trans- 
lation by  A.  Hamilton  Bryce, 
LL.D.,  F.R.S.E.  With  Portrait. 


VOLTAIRE'S  Tales.  Translated 
by  R.  B.  Boswell.  Vol.  I  ,  con- 
taining Bebouc,  Memnon,  Can- 
dide,  L'Ingenu,  and  other  Tales. 


WALTON  S  Complete  Angler, 
or  the  Contemplative  Man's  Re- 
creation, by  Izaak  Walton  and 
Charles  Cotton.  Edited  by  Ed- 
ward Jesse.  To  which  is  added 
an  account  of  Fishing  Stations, 


Tackle,  &c.,  by  Henry  G.  Bohn. 
With  Portrait  and  203  Engravings 
on  Wood  and  26  Engravings  on 
Steel.  51. 

Lives  of  Donne,  Hooker,  &c. 

New    Edition   revised   by  A.  H. 
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