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The Scrip tores Historiae Augustae, or Histona
Augusta, is a collection of biographies of
Roman emperors, heirs, and claimants
from Hadrian to Numerianus (AD 117-
284). The work, which is modeled on
Suetonius, purports to be written by six
different authors and quotes documents
and public records extensively. Since we
possess no continuous account of the
emperors of the second and third centur-
ies, the Historia Augusta has naturally
attracted the keen attention of scholars. In
the last century, however, it has generated
the gravest suspicions. Present opinion
holds that the whole is the work of a
single author (who lived in the time of
Theodosius) and contains much that is
plagiarism and even downright forgery.
F O & & J
The Loeb Classical Library edition of the
J
Historia Augusta is in three volumes.
923. 137 S
Augustan h ist<
99023
vol ,
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charged for overdue items. Fomi #0692
THE LOEB CLASSICAL LIBRARY
FOUNDED BY JAMES LOEB
EDITED BY
G. P. GOOLD
•
PREVIOUS EDITORS
T. E. PAGE E. CAPPS
W. H. D. ROUSE L. A. POST
E. H. WARMINGTON
THE SCRIPTORES HISTORIAE
AUGUSTAE
II
LCL 140
THE SCRIPTORES
HISTORIAE
AUGUSTAE
VOLUME II
WITH AN ENGLISH TRANSLATION BY
DAVID MAGIE
HARVARD UNIVERSITY PRESS
CAMBRIDGE, MASSACHUSETTS
LONDON, ENGLAND
First published 1924
Reprinted 1953, 1960, 1967, 1980, 1993
ISBN 0-674-99155-9
Printed in Great Britain by St Edmundsbury Press Ltd,
Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk, on acid-free paper.
Bound by Hunter 6- Foulis Ltd, Edinburgh, Scotland.
CONTENTS
•
INTRODUCTION vii
EDITORIAL NOTE xxxvii
CARACALLA 2
GETA 32
OPELLIUS MACRINUS 48
DIADUMENIANUS 82
ELAGABALUS 104
SEVERUS ALEXANDER 178
THE TWO MAXIMINI 314
THE THREE GORDIANS 380
MAXIMUS AND BALBINUS 448
INTRODUCTION
THE AUTHORSHIP AND DATE
OF THE
HISTORIA AUGUSTA
THE traditional assignment of the several biographies
to six different authors involves many difficulties and
apparent inconsistencies and gives rise to various
questions. Did each of the first four authors actually
write a complete series of imperial biographies from
which the various vitae of this collection have been
selected ? If so, who made the selection and on what
principle was it made ? Why did " Spartianus " write
his Severus and " Capitolinus " his Marcus Aurelius,
Verus, and Macrinus under Diocletian, and the former
his Geta and the latter his Albinus, Maximini, and
Gordiani under Constantine twenty years later?
Why do the biographies attributed to the four authors
of the earlier vitae bear a close resemblance to one
another, not merely in the general scheme of con-
struction (which might be attributed to the imitation
of the same model), but in the use of the same un-
usual phrases and words, many of which appear also
• •
VII
INTRODUCTION
in the vitae ascribed to Pollio and Vopiscus ? Why
do the minor vitae contain material which is little
more than repetition from the corresponding major
biographies,1 and why does " Spartianus " in the
Niger2 refer to the vita of Albinus as his work, when
the Albinus in the collection is attributed to Capito-
linus ?
An answer to these questions has been sought by
various scholars in various hypotheses of a more or
less radical nature, and these in their turn have been
attacked by conservative writers who have attempted
to explain away the objections and inconsistencies
and to uphold the traditional authorship. The most
radical have gone so far as to attribute all the vitae
to a single author, who, they maintain, assigned his
work to six different names as a " literary " device.
On the other hand, the most conservative stoutly
uphold the plural authorship and the traditional date
of the several biographies. Between these extremes
are other writers more moderate, who admit a plural
authorship, at the same time holding that the
traditional assignment is entirely untrustworthy and
ascribing many of the general resemblances, as well
as the inconsistencies and the interpolations, to the
hand of a later editor.
The discussion was begun in 1889 when Hermann
Dessau 3 advanced the startling hypothesis that the
whole Historia Augusta is the work, not of a group of
writers living in the early fourth century, but of a
le.g. the Marcus Aurelius and the Avidius Cassius, tne
Severus and the Niger.
2 c ix 3
3 Hermes, xxiv. (1889), pp. 337-392; xxvii. (1892), pp. 561-
605.
viii
INTRODUCTION
single " forger " of the period of Theodosius, who, in
order to secure for his work a semblance of authority,
sought to give it the appearance of an earlier origin,
and in order to arouse additional interest, used the
expedient of attributing his vitae to six different
authors. A further motive was alleged — namely, his
realization of the lack of material for his work and
his desire to cover up his shortcomings by fabrications
which would be less easily discovered were his
biographies assigned to an earlier period.
In support of his theory Dessau found in the
various biographies many inconsistencies with the
period in which they claim to have been written.
He argued that the glorification of Constantius
Chlorus in the Vita Claudii would not have been
composed while he was merely Caesar. He con-
tended, moreover, that the names of many persons
introduced into the biographies are those of important
families of the latter part of the fourth century, and
that no persons of these names were prominent in the
earlier period ; that the ignorance of many details
displayed in the vitae of Aurelian and Carus is incom-
prehensible if these biographies were really written
about 305 ; and that many of the technical terms
employed in reference to the administration of the
Empire do not seem to have been in use under
Diocletian and Constantine, but were, on the other
hand, current in the age of Valentinian and Theo-
dosius. He argued, further, that the relationship
between the duplicate narrative in the vita of Marcus J
and the corresponding passage in Eutropius, and
between the summary of Severus* reign and the
corresponding section of Victor, can be explained
1 See Intro, to Vol. i. p. xxii. f.
*
IX
INTRODUCTION
only by the hypothesis that the writer took his
material from Eutropius and Victor, who composed
their works in the third quarter of the fourth century.
He then proceeded to point out the obvious difficulties
of the traditional plural authorship — the uniformity
in use of conventional rubrics, in phraseology, and
in rhetorical devices, the similarity of the various
apologies pleading a lack of material in extenuation
of the shortcomings of the work, and the fact that
each of the alleged writers included documents which
are evident forgeries. On these and similar grounds
Dessau argued for a single authorship and that at
the end of the fourth century.
The conclusions of Dessau were carried further by
Otto Seeck.1 He, too, held that the biographies are
the work of a single writer, but attempted to set him
at a date later than Dessau's " Theodosian forger,"
contending that he lived at the beginning of the fifth
century. In defence of his theory he enumerated
many apparent allusions to the post-Constantinian ad-
ministrative and military system and asserted the
presence of many inconsistencies with the earlier
period. He discovered also various covert thrusts
at the Emperor Honorius 2 and concluded that the
work was written under Constantine III., a usurper
who appeared in Gaul in 407 and maintained his rule
for three years.
In reply to these extreme theories of Dessau and
Seeck a more conservative position was maintained
ijahrbb.f. Class. Philol, cxli. (1890), pp. 609-639 ; Bhewi.
MILS., xlix. (1894), pp. 208-224. He has repeated his theory,
with many ingenious arguments, in Rhein. Mus., Ixvii. (1912),
pp. 591-608.
2In Sev., xx. 4 — xxi. 12; Alex., Ixii. 2; Claud., ii. 6.
INTRODUCTION
by Elimar Klebs l and Eduard von Wolfflin.2 Klebs
admitted that the assignment of the vitae from the
Hadrian to the Maximus-Balbinus to the four tradi-
tional authors is certainly incorrect and that there is
a confusion in the names of the writers which cannot
be rectified, but at the same time he contended that
the Historia Augusta is altogether a product of the
period of Diocletian and Constantino. He showed at
great length that the sections in the Marcus and the
Severus which bear a close relationship to the cor-
responding portions of Eutropius and Victor were not
taken from these authors but from their common
source, and maintained that these sections could not
be omitted from the respective vitae without breaking
the connexion with what follows and that therefore
they cannot be regarded as later interpolations.
In his second article Klebs emphasized the differ-
ences exhibited by the various groups. While ad-
mitting that they bear a certain resemblance to one
another, which he explained by their common imita-
tion of Suetonius, he showed that the several groups
exhibit well-marked peculiarities both in content and
in form ; thus, even the groups ascribed to Pollio and
Vopiscus, while they resemble each other closely in
containing elaborate prefaces, in introducing citations
from oral tradition, and in naming contemporaries,
show marked differences in style and method, which
distinguish them, not only from the earlier vitae, but
also from each other. In the earlier series, Klebs
pointed out that the eight major vitae from Hadrian
to Caracalla, together with the biographies of Aelius
lBhein. Mus.t xlv. (1890), pp. 436-464; xlvii. (1892), pp.
1-52, 515-549.
zSitzungsber. d. Bayer. Akad., 1891, pp. 465-538.
xi
INTRODUCTION
and Verus, form a connected group of ten vitae with
certain definite peculiarities : they are simple collec-
tions of excerpts in which the author seldom appears ;
save for the two minor vitae they are without pre-
faces ; their sources are seldom named and there are no
documents ; the technical terms employed in regard
to the administration of the Empire are regularly those
of the period prior to Diocletian ; finally, rhetorical
devices are conspicuously absent. In the other vitae
of the first section Klebs distinguished between a
'•' Lampridius group," consisting of the vitae of
Elagabalus and Severus Alexander, and a "Capitol-
inus group," consisting of the Albinus, the Maximini,
the Gordianif and the Maximus-Balbinus. He pointed
out that the vitae of the former group are distinguished
by their great length, their fullness of detail, and
their wordy epilogues, while the biographies of the
"Capitolinus group" are characterized especially by
their close dependence on Herodian and by the fact
that they contain citations from Cordus. He held
that the Niger, the Geta, the Macrinus and the
Diadumenus are also to be assigned to this group,
while the Avidius Cassius, differing, as it does, from all
the others, not only in the number and character of
its forged documents, but also in its vocabulary and
general method, must be regarded as the work of a
special author. Thus did Klebs defend the traditional
number of six Scriptores, though admitting that per-
haps some of the vitae cannot be definitely assigned
to a particular writer.
Wolfflin attempted to solve the problem on the basis
of language and style. He pointed out that in spite
of the fact that all the biographies contain words
and phrases taken from Suetonius, there are distinct
xii
INTRODUCTION
differences among them, not only in the manner of
narration but also in the grammatical usage and the
employment of stock formulae. On this basis he
defended the plural authorship, emphasizing par-
ticularly the difference in linguistic usage between
Spartianus on the one hand and Pollio and Vopiscus
on the other — unfortunately he omitted from his
discussion the vitae ascribed to Capitolinus and
Lampridius. On the other hand, in contrast to
Klebs, he advanced the theory that there was a
general editor who compiled the collection and
added much of his own work. According to Wolfflin,
this editor was none other than Vopiscus, who, after
writing the vitae of the emperors from Aurelian to
Carinus, formed a larger collection of imperial bio-
graphies by the incorporation both of the vitae written
by Pollio and of those of the earlier emperors from
Hadrian to Caracalla written by Spartianus — how the
period between Caracalla and Philippus Arabs was
treated Wolfflin does not explain. According to this
theory, Vopiscus wrote the minor vitae of Aelius, Niger
and Geta and inserted addresses to Diocletian as well
as notes and items of information in the biographies
written by Spartianus. In the case of the Aelius,
Wolfflin attempted to prove his theory by showing a
list of words and phrases that are to be found in
Vopiscus but not in any of the major vitae written by
Spartianus. In the case of the Geta he could explain
the address to Constantine only by supposing it to be
due to a copyist's error.
A position midway between that of Dessau and the
more conservative point of view represented by Klebs
and Wolfflin was taken by Theodor Mommsen.1
1 Hermes, xxv. (1890), pp. 228-292 = Oesammelte Schriften,
vii. pp. 302-862.
xiii
INTRODUCTION
While refusing to admit that the biographies were
composed in the time of Theodosius, Mommsen
maintained that the series is a compilation of various
collections written under Diocletian and Constantine,
which was subjected to a general revision at the end
of the fourth century and increased by the addition
of some relatively unimportant material. He denied
that any forger could have so skilfully assumed the
mask of a former age and so carefully avoided every
reference to his own time. While maintaining, in
opposition to Dessau and Seeck, that the administra-
tive and military terms are not later than the third or
early fourth century, he admitted that the insertion
of names well known in the fourth century and the
relationship of the sections in the vilae of Marcus and
Severus to the histories of Eutropius and Victor seem
to indicate a later origin. He pointed out, however,
that the names occur in passages which interrupt the
course of the narrative, and maintained that the
duplicate sections in the Marcus and the Severus are
evidently subsequent additions.
In his discussion of the origin of the earlier bio-
graphies Mommsen distinguished between two groups
of major vitae, a Diocletian-group, including the vitae
from Hadrian to Macrinus, and a Constantine-group,
including those from Heliogabalus to Maximus-Balbinus,
but showed that no reliance can be placed on the
traditional assignment of authors. He declared that
the minor vitae were the work of a general editor, who
dedicated some of his biographies to Diocletian and
some to Constantine, and assigned to them the names
of the authors attached to the major biographies of
each group. The two series attributed to Pollio and
Vopiscus he accepted as genuine works composed at
the beginning of the fourth century,
xiv
INTRODUCTION
The general editor, who wrote the minor vitae as
well as compiled the whole work, Mommsen supposed
to be the author of the Constantine-group. He as-
sumed, however, the existence of a later editor, who
at the end of the fourth century added certain material,
as indicated by Dessau, to the collection as he found
it, and who was responsible for the repetitions and
the instances of confusion in the order of the narrative
and for many of the unusual words and expressions
which give to the phraseology of the whole the
appearance of unity.
In repudiation of the work of Dessau, Seeck, and
Mommsen, the extreme conservative position was
reasserted by Hermann Peter.1 While admitting
the existence of an editor who made the selection
of the vitae preserved in our collection, he held fast
to the traditional assignment to six Scriptores. He
emphasized the inherent improbability of Dessau's
theory, maintaining that it failed to solve many of the
problems involved. He argued that none of the
passages cited by the advocates of a late authorship
or editorship was necessarily written at the end of the
fourth century and that there are many of them which
could not have been composed in this period, and he
expressed his conviction that the collection was
completed about 330, and that the final redaction took
place at this time.
The moderate conservative position was next main-
tained by S. Frankfurter.2 In an examination of
the prefaces and epilogues he found differences which
preclude the belief that they were composed by a
single author. On the other hand, he admitted that,
1 Die Scriptores Historiae Augustae (Leipzig, 1892), p. 242 f.
2 Eranos Vindobonensis (Vienna, 1893), pp. 218-232.
xv
INTRODUCTION
while the prefaces to the Maximmi and the Gordiani
show that these were composed by the same author,
this writer was not the author of the earlier viiae
ascribed to Capitolinus. Furthermore, after pointing
out the fact that the preface to the Heliogabalus and
the epilogue of the Alexander show that these two
form a single group, he followed Mommsen in main-
taining that the dedications to Constantine and other
indications are sufficient evidence for the belief that
this group was written by the author of the Maximmi
and the Gordiani.
A similarly conservative point of view was taken by
H. Vermaat.1 He emphasized the lack of any definite
allusion to the later fourth century, pointing out that
even in the matter of the introduction of the names of
persons prominent in this century there is only negative
evidence to show that there were not important men
of these names in the earlier period. While granting
the presence of interpolations in most of the bio-
graphies and the assumption of a general editor who
formed the existing collection, he refused to admit
either (with Mommsen) that this editor was the
author of the series Maximini-Maximus and of the
minor vitae, or (with Wolfflin) that he was Vopiscus.
Basing his argument on the preface to the Aelius, he
held that there were two collections of lives of the
emperors from Hadrian to Caracalla, one containing
biographies of both " Augusti " and " Caesares " and
the other those of the " Augusti " only. He held
that the editor used the latter collection as the basis
of his corpus, inserting in it the minor vitae of the
former series and certain material of his own, notably
1 De Aetate qua conscripta est Historia Augusta (Leyden,
1893).
xvi
INTRODUCTION
the sections in the Marcus and the Severus which
contain the digressions and duplicate narratives, and
then took from a third source the vitae of Albinus and
Geta, finally adding to the whole the Constantine-
group H eliogabalus-Maximus (composed in S24--327)
and the biographies by Pollio and Vopiscus (composed
respectively in 300-303 and 306-308).
At the beginning of the present century the in-
vestigation into the problem of the origin of the
Historia Augusta took a new turn. Friedrich Leo,1
after a brief mention of the theories of Dessau and
his opponents, expressed the judgment that the real
question was not whether, but to what extent, the
biographies are a forgery, and this dictum gave the
impulse to a new line of discussion. Henceforth it
was not only the authorship and the date that formed
the object of learned research, but also the character
of the sources from which the material was drawn.
At first the discussion was concentrated on the
earlier vitae from Hadrian to Macrinus. It had been
generally assumed that these biographies were chiefly,
if not altogether, compiled from the lives of the
emperors written by Marius Maximus.2 An intensive
study of the material, however, pointed to a different
conclusion.
An investigation of this sort was first attempted by
J. H. Drake.3 In a study of the historicity of the
1 Die Griechisch-R&mische Biographic, p. 301.
3 J. J. Miiller, Der Geschichtschreiber L. Marius Maximus,
Bttdinger's Untersuchungen,in. (Leipzig, 1870), pp. 17-202; J.
PJew, Marius Maximus als direkte und indirekte Quelle der
S.H A. (Strassburg, 1878), and Quellenuntersuchungen zut
Geschichte des Kaisers Hadrian (Strassburg, 1890).
3 Studies in the S.H.A. ; Am. Journ. of Philol., xx. (1899),
pp. 40-58.
xvii
INTRODUCTION
fifth chapter of the Caracalla he pointed out that the
latter part of this vita l shows evident similarity with
the accounts of Caracalla's reign by Aurelius Victor
and Eutropius. He inferred therefrom that the
author used the lost " Imperial Chronicle " 2 as his
source for this part of the biography, but at the same
time he conceded that the first part, which shows
little or no similarity to the narratives of Victor and
Eutropius, was taken from Marius Maximus.
More extensive results were reached by J. M.
Heer,3 the first of a series of scholars to distinguish
in detail between two types of sources used by the
Scriptores. In an examination of the vita of Commodus
he detected two different kinds of material — an
annalistic historical section and a strictly biographical
portion. He argued that the differences between
these in respect to the method of narration, the choice
of phrases and words, and the value of the historical
material are so marked and the instances of double
versions are so frequent, that the two cannot be
regarded as an organic whole, but rather as the
combination of two different works. He held further
that the historical section,4 thoroughly consistent
within itself and without repetitions, is evidently a
series of excerpts from an epitome of some important
historical work, and that this work was written in
Latin, its narrative being entirely independent of
Cassius Dio or Herodian. He then proceeded to
maintain that the author of this history was not Marius
Maximus, showing that not only in the Commodus, but
1 See Intro, to Vol. i. p. xxiii. *Ibid., p. xxii. f.
sDer Historische Wert der Vita Commodi ; Philologus,
Suppl. Band. ix. (1901-1902), pp. 1-208.
4c. i. 1-6; i. 10— ix. 3; xvii. 1-12.
xviii
INTRODUCTION
also in the other vitae of the earlier group, the citations
from Alarms Maximus are added to the body of the
text in order to amplify or illustrate it and sometimes
merely to state the opinion of Maximus as divergent
from the main narrative.
Heer then examined the strictly biographical portion
of the Commodus,1 pointing out that here also there is
no reason for supposing that the material was taken
from Marius Maximus. He showed that this portion
of the biography consists of generalizations with few
concrete facts, and that its statements are merely
proofs or illustrations of Commodus' vices, or summaries
of events taken from the whole of his reign made
without any regard to chronological order and always
characterized by hostility toward the Emperor. He
then concluded that the author of the Vita Commodi
was little more than a compiler, who combined
excerpts from an epitome of an historical work with
material selected from a biography arranged according
to rubrics, making no attempt to construct an organic
whole and content with the production of a me-
chanical compilation.
The method and the results of Heer were carried
on much further by O. Th. Schulz.2 In a series of
three monographs he examined the vitae from Hadrian
to Geta and presented a new point of view with regard
to the historical material. Following the lead of
Heer, he maintained that these biographies are built
1 c. ix. 4 — xv. 2 ; xvi.
*Beitrttge zwr Kritik unserer litterarischen Ueberlieferung
filr die Zeit von Commodus' Sturze bis auf den Tod des
M. Aurelius Antoninus (Caracalla) (Leipzig, 1903); Leben
des Kaisers Hadrian (Leipzig, 1904); Das Kaiserhaus der
Antonine und der let ate Historiker Boms (Leipzig, 1907).
xix
INTRODUCTION
up around a core of facts taken from an historian
who wrote a history of the emperors from Hadrian
(perhaps from Nerva) to Caracalla, treating each reign
in a single monograph. He contended, moreover,
that this historian greatly surpassed Cassius Dio (of
whom he was a contemporary) in keenness of vision
and political insight, and that his work represents the
best tradition that we possess for the history of the
second and third centuries. Schulz then maintained
that this history was utilized by a writer (or writers)
of the time of Diocletian and Constantine, who,
making excerpts from it, combined with these excerpts
material from another source, more strictly bio-
graphical in character and frequently anecdote or
gossip only, and added thereto certain elaborations
and amplifications of his own. Schulz then supposed
an extensive revision in the period of Theodosius —
presumably with the addition of the biographies of
the emperors subsequent to Caracalla, which are left
tmdiscussed — holding that the final redactor removed
portions of the strictly historical material, added new
and supposedly more interesting biographical detail,
and even inserted certain fictitious statements de-
signed to add lustre to the forefathers of some of the
important families of the time. His most important
additions, according to Schulz, were made from the
biographies of Marius Maximus, which he used not
only in his vita of Avidius Cassius (which Schulz
regarded as altogether the work of the final redactor),
but also in his additions to the other biographies. It
was Marius Maximus, according to Schulz, who forged
the letters and acclamations in the vitae of Avidius
Cassius and Commodus. It was his work also, and not
the " Imperial Chronicle," that constituted the source
xx
INTRODUCTION
of Eutropius and Victor, and the resemblances between
their histories and the corresponding sections of the
vitae of Marcus and Severus are explained by the
hypothesis that the redactor took these sections
directly from Maximus. This redactor, too, is held
responsible for the arbitrary assignment of the names
of the authors to whom the biographies are tradi-
tionally attributed.
A parallel investigation was carried on by Ernst
Kornemaiin.1 Adopting Schulz's theory of the de-
pendence of the earlier vitae on the work of a lost
historian — the so-called Anonymus, — he maintained
that this history was also used in the compilation
of the biographies of Macrinus, Elagabalus, and
Alexander. Not content with this, however, he
attempted to draw inferences concerning the person-
ality and point of view of the Anonymus, and even
gave him a name, identifying him with Lollius
Urbicus, cited, in connexion with an evidently forged
letter in the Diadumenianus? as the author of an
44 historia sui temporis."
The attempt to distinguish between a trustworthy
historical source and more trivial biographical material
was next made for the biographies of Elagabalus and
Severus Alexander. An examination of the former
was undertaken by Miss O. F. Butler.3 After noting
the fact that this vita falls into two distinct sections —
a brief history of the emperor's reign 4 and a mass of
1 Kaiser Hadrian und der letzte grosse Historiker von Rom
(Leipzig, 1905).
2 Diad., ix. 2.
3 Studies in the Life of Heliogabalus ; in Univ. of Michigan
Studies, vol. iv. (New York, 1910).
4 c. i. 4 — xviii. 3.
xxi
INTRODUCTION
biographical and anecdotal material,1 she formulated
the hypothesis that the author had before him an
epitomized account of the life of Elagabalus drawn
from the " Imperial Chronicle/' which he used for a
few statements in the opening chapters of the vita,
combining with it material drawn from other sources.
This portion of the work, Miss Butler then showed, is
followed by a longer section, which contains a mass of
details, compiled from various sources and arranged
without regard to chronology or orderly sequence.
For some of the material Marius Maximus is cited as
the source.2 This portion is followed, in turn, by the
narrative of Elagabalus' downfall and death. It is
clear and chronologically accurate, and its nillness oi
detail precludes the supposition that it was taken from
an epitome of the " Imperial Chronicle." Miss Butler
then drew the conclusion that the first section of the
vita, which gives a brief history of Elagabalus' reign,
cannot be regarded as the work of any one author, for
a plurality of sources is evident from the varying value
of the material and the many dissimilarities and self-
contradictions, and the belief is precluded that either
Marius Maximus or the Anonymus was largely re-
sponsible for this biography.
A brief study of the vita of Severus Alexander was
made by W. Thiele,3 who contented himself with
listing those passages of the biography which he
deemed worthy of credence and those which seemed
suspicious as either the annotations of the compiler
or additions taken from untrustworthy sources. This
work was soon followed by the more extensive
1 c. xviii. 4 — xxxiii. 8. 2 c. xi. 6.
*De Severo Alexandra Imperatore, Cap. I. de Fontibus.
(B2rlin, 1908).
xxii
INTRODUCTION
treatise of K. Honn.1 In regard to the biography of
Elagabalus Honn held that material taken from the
" Imperial Chronicle " is scattered through the first
twelve chapters, though greatly amplified by the addi-
tions of the author. In the vita of Alexander, on the
other hand, he detected only a slight use of the " Im-
perial Chronicle." Certain brief definite statements
of fact, scattered through the biography, agree with
the narrative of Victor, and these were supposed by
Honn to have been taken from a much epitomized
version of the " Chronicle." The rest of the material
in the vita he condemned as valueless. The account
of Alexander's Persian War, he maintained, was
derived from Herodian, and the description of the
various legislative and administrative measures from
the Codex of Theodosius. The strictly biographical
material, especially in the long section which is wholly
biographical in character,2 Honn believed to be ficti-
tious. He held that, except for certain details taken
from the Codex Theodosianus, it is made up almost
entirely of statements modelled on those in the other
vitae and of items recorded for the purpose of con-
trasting Alexander with Elagabalus. He maintained
that the acclamations of the senate and the speeches
of the Emperor 3 are similar pieces of patchwork made
up of phrases taken from other biographies. He then
proceeded to a study of the style of the vita and arrived
at the conclusion that the combined evidence of the
matter and the manner of the narration argued that
the author wrote in the early part of the fifth century
and that he was of Gallic origin. He furthermore
i
Quellenuntersucliungen zu den Viten des Heliogabalus u.
des Severus Alexander im Corpus der S.H.A. (Leipzig, 1911).
2c. xxix.-liv. 3c. vi.-xi. ; Ivi.-lvd.
xxiii
INTRODUCTION
affirmed that this author also wrote the Macrinus, the
Diadumenianus, and the Heliogabalus, and, moreover,
that the Gordiaui, the Aurelianus, the Tacitus and the
Probus were adapted from his work.
Recent work on the Historia Augusta has followed
the lead of Honn in reverting to the theory of Dessau.
In a dissertation published in 1911 ] E. Hohl main-
tained, on the basis of a study of the vita of Tacitus,
that the biographies attributed to Vopiscus were
written in the time of Theodosius and that the material
was drawn from the " Imperial Chronicle," from
Victor's Caesares, and from a Greek source. He cited,
furthermore, certain resemblances between Vopiscus'
biographies and the vitae of Avidius Cassius and Severus
Alexander as evidence that these vitae also were written
by this author, and re-asserted the hypothesis once
advanced by Wolfflin, that Vopiscus was the final
redactor and editor of the whole collection.
Not content, however, with identifying Vopiscus
with Dessau's "Theodosian forger," Hohl next pro-
ceeded, on the basis of the appearance, in the bio-
graphies attributed to Pollio, of the names of some
persons mentioned by Vopiscus, to identify Vopiscus
with Pollio.2 He maintained that the "forger " used
the three pseudonyms, Vulcacius Gallicanus, Pollio,
and Vopiscus, in three different sections of the Historia
Augusta.
In a third article 3 Hohl appeared as an out and
out advocate of Dessau's hypothesis and ardently
championed the theory that the Historia Augusta is
1 Vopiscus und die Biographie des Kaisers Tacitus ; Klio,
xi. (1911), pp. 178-229; 284-325 = Diss. Tiibingen, 1911.
3 Vopiscus und Pollio; Klio, xii. (1912), pp. 474-482.
*Neue Jahrbb. f. d. Klass. Alt., xxxiii. (1914), pp. 698-712.
xxiv
INTRODUCTION
entirely the work of a fourth century " forger." After
analysing the psychology of the "Theodosian forger/'
he declared that the "forger's" reason for choosing
the emperors of the second and third centuries as his
subjects and for attributing his work to the period
of Diocletian and Constantine, was his opposition to
Christianity and his desire to display this feeling by
writing about a period in which it could not prove
dangerous to himself. He then proceeded to absolve
the " forger " of actual forgery by the contention that
his vitae belong to a type of literature of which
historical accuracy was not demanded, pointing out
instances in which he even claimed that the author
is making fun both of himself and his readers. Yet
Hohl did not deny that his " forger " used sources
which contained historical material. He admitted
the use of an "annalistic" source but refused to
follow Schulz in his reconstruction of an " Anonymus,"
holding that there has been too great a reaction
against the belief in the dependence of the Historia
Augusta on Marius Maximus.
O
The theory of the "forger" has been adopted also
by Alfred von Domaszewski in a series of four articles
on the references to the topography of Rome and
the geography of the Empire, and on the dates and
the personal names found in the Historia Augusta.1
Beginning with the assertion that the names Lam-
pridius, Capitolinus, Pollio, and Vopiscus were
invented by the " forger " to designate material drawn
respectively from Dio, Herodian, Nicostratus of
Trapezus, and Eusebius, all with additions from
Eutropius and Victor, Domaszewski proceeded to
1 Sitzungsber. d. Heidelberger Akad., Phil.-hist. Elasse,
1916-1918.
XXV
INTRODUCTION
examine various erroneous and obscure allusions to
places in Rome, as found in the biographies from
Severus onward, and to maintain that the " forger" —
who had no personal knowledge of the city — gathered
these in a blundering fashion from various ancient
authors and especially from glosses added to a list of
buildings in Rome similar to that of the "Chrono-
grapher of 354>." In like manner he argued that the
allusions, in the later biographies, to districts and
towns throughout Italy and the provinces were also
taken by the ignorant "forger" from various works,
including the earlier vitae, and amplified with the help
of an official list of the provinces, similar to the
Laterculus of Polemius Silvius. He then attempted
to show that the dates occurring in the Historia
Augusta (mostly in the so-called "documents ") were
taken by the "forger" from a trustworthy list used
by the " Chronographer of 354-," but in the process
many were confused by him and even attached to
events to which they did not belong. The fourth,
and by far the most extensive, of Domaszewski's
articles applied this same method of reasoning to the
names of persons, especially those found in the later
vitae. In it he maintained that the "forger," utterly
ignorant of the correct form of a Roman name, invented
combinations made up from the gentilicia of the
emperors and a few well-known families together
with various cognomina which he found in Cicero and
other writers, even down as far as Jordanes. Thus
the period in which the " forger " wrote is determined
as subsequent to Jordanes, and therefore not earlier
than the latter half of the sixth century. A still more
astounding hypothesis is advanced in regard to his
nationality. On the supposition that in Sev. i. 5
xxvi
INTRODUCTION
he has confused Carnuntura in Pannonia with the
town of the Carnutes in Gaul, and because of his
tendency to glorify Gaul, previously pointed out by
Seeck, and his knowledge of the Gallic poets Sidonius
Apollinaris and Ausonius it is asserted that he was of
Gallic birth ; furthermore, his home must have been
in the province of Narbonensis, since he shows especial
interest in the worship of the Magna Mater (whose
cult was popular in this province), and because his
list of dona militaria in Prob. v. 1 bears a close re-
semblance to those enumerated in some inscriptions
from Nemausus (Nimes), this town, it is maintained,
was his actual home. On this supposition his
erroneous references to places in Rome are explained
by the hypothesis that he is locating in the capital
various buildings which in reality were in Nimes.
Further arguments for a belief in the theory of the
late " forger " have been recently advanced by Dom-
aszewski's pupil Johannes Hasebroek,1 who has gone
beyond Dessau and adopted the conclusion of Seeck.
In his examination of the lives of Pescennius Niger
and Clodius Albinus he maintained that the material
for these biographies was taken from the Vita Seven,
Herodian, Eutropius and Victor, and denied the use
and even the existence of the " Imperial Chronicle."
The point of view of Dessau and Hohl has recently
been accepted by Arthur Rosenberg in his useful
hand-book on the sources of Roman history.2 In his
1 Die Ftilschungen der Vitae Nigri u. Albini in den S.H.A.
(Berlin, 1916); see review by Hohl in Berl. Philol. Woch.t
1917, 424-426. The same point of view is taken in his
Untersuchungen zur Geschichte des Kaisers Sei>timius Severus
(Heidelberg, 1921).
2 Einleitung und Quellenkunde zur Romuchen Geschichte
(Berlin, 1921).
xxvii
INTRODUCTION
statement of the origin of the Historia Augusta, which
smacks of the methods of the modern business- world,
Rosenberg imagines that about 375 a writer, who was
perhaps also a book-seller, wishing to enter into
competition with Marius Maximus and other popular
writers of imperial biographies, composed the present
series of vitae, attempting to outdo Maximus in
spiciness and in fullness of detail, especially in
embellishment of his narrative by means of "docu-
ments." Then, not daring to publish the work under
his own name, he pretended that he had discovered
an older work, attempting to deceive the public by
the attribution of his biographies to six imaginary
authors and by dedications to Diocletian and
Constantine.
Another recent contribution to the discussion is
that of Wilhelm Soltau.1 Beginning with Mommsen's
conclusions, he posited the composition in the time of
Diocletian of two series of biographies, (A) the major
vitae from Hadrian to Macrinus, and (D) the vitae
ascribed to Vopiscus. These two collections, he
asserted, were worked over and amplified about 400
A.D. by Julius Capitolinus, the general editor of the
Corpus. According to Soltau's theory, Capitolinus
wrote the six minor vitae in Group A and the
biographies of the four usurpers in Group D ; he also
inserted all the dedications to the emperors and the
duplicate sections in the Marcus and the Severus, taking
these directly from Eutropius and Aurelius Victor.
The original author of the major vitae (A), Soltau
maintained, was Spartianus ; his name Capitolinus
removed from some of the vitae on the occasion of his
1 Philologies, Ixxiv. (1917), pp. 384-445.
xxviii
INTRODUCTION
general editing and replaced it with his own, while
in similar fash'on he assigned some of his new minor
vitae to himself and some to Spartianus. The
biographies of Elagabalus and Alexander Soltau
believed to be the work of a Lampridius, and he too
may perhaps be regarded as the original author of the
three following vitae, but if so, these were completely
rewritten by Capitolinus, who also made various
additions to the two former vitae, and inserted all the
dedications to Constantine with a view to making this
collection (Group B) seem the work of an earlier
period.
Thus far Soltau followed the general conclusions of
Mommsen. However, in dealing with the biographies
of Trebellius Pollio (Group C), he advanced a new
and strange theory. Beginning with Chapter II. of
Vopiscus' vita of Aurelian, which, he held, breaks the
general connexion and hence is a later interpolation
or rather a shameless forgery, he claimed that Vopiscus
did not, as this chapter asserts, follow Pollio, but on
the contrary, that the latter wrote at a subsequent
period. After an examination of the vita of Claudius
he arrived at the following conclusions : that this
biography is founded upon a panegyric of Claudius
written in Greek about 305 by a Trebellius Pollio,
who sought, by lauding Claudius, to carry on a sort of
propaganda for Constantius ; that this same writer
caused his freedman to compile material dealing with
Gallienusand the Tyranni Trigmta, vilifying Gallienus
in order to add lustre to Claudius ; finally that about
the middle of the fourth century a freedman of
Trebellius Pollio, whom Soltau dubs Pollio Libertus,
used all this material in the composition of biographies
of Valerian, Gallienus, and Claudius, together with
xxix
INTRODUCTION
the summaries dealing with the Thirty Tyrants, and,
in order to give his work a certain prestige, issued it
under the name of his patron, claiming that he was
the author also of biographies of the emperors from
Philip to Trebonianus Gallus.
Thus Capitolinus, about 400 A.D., is supposed by
Soltau to have combined four series of biographies
with six minor vitae written by himself and the
summaries of the four usurpers attributed to Vopiscus
and to have inserted the duplicate narratives in the
Marcus and the Severus, the dedications addressed
to the emperors, and the many passages scattered
through the whole corpus which bear the hall-mark
of the fourth century, and in this way to have created
the Historia Augusta.
As a result of the controversy concerning the
authorship and date of the Historia Augusta it is
evident that the traditional assignment of the bio-
graphies to the six Scriptores must be abandoned.
Similarly, it has become clear that the radical theory
that the vitae are all the work of a "forger" who
lived at the end of the fourth century or the beginning
of the fifth, is untenable. Even Dessau and Seeck
failed to prove their contention, and the recent articles
by Honn, Hohl, and Soltau, brilliant though they
are, contain no real proof that the vitae with which
they deal were composed at this date. Nor can the
theory of a single author explain satisfactorily the
great divergences in method and style which appear
in the several biographies and the striking variations
displayed within a single biography. On the other
hand, Klebs' attempt to divide the biographies into
groups irrespective of the traditional authorship and
XXX
INTRODUCTION
Mommsen's distinction between major and minor
vitae and his theory of a later revision, all point to
the true solution of the problem. The work begun
by Heer and Schulz, which distinguished between
historical and anecdotal material and showed that
many of the biographies are awkward compilations
amplified by later additions, has also contributed to
the understanding of their origin.
At the present stage of our knowledge no definite
statement as to authorship can be made. Once rid,
however, of the tradition that the biographies,
irrespective of the character of their content and their
chronological order, are to be assigned to the several
authors whose names they bear, and, on the other
hand, unconvinced by the arguments for the pre-
posterous theories that the whole work is a forgery
of the fourth or fifth century, we may follow the lead
of Klebs, of Mommsen, and (in so far as he follows
Mommsen) of Soltau, aided by the work of Heer and
Schulz. It is clear that the character of the material,
the method of presentation, and the purpose of the
author are by no means uniform throughout the
series, and that single vitae or groups of vitae show
such individual characteristics that it is impossible to
believe that all were originally the work ot the same
author. On the other hand, the presence in almost
every biography of interpolated material, frequently
inserted at inopportune places, the resemblance
between passages of a highly rhetorical character, and
the use of certain stock phrases, all betray the hand
of some one writer, apparently a very ignorant person
and certainly one devoid of any literary sense, who
has worked over the whole collection.
Proceeding from this standpoint it is possible to
xxxi
INTRODUCTION
establish certain definite groups of biographies, differ-
ing from one another in content, manner, and the
period in which they purport to have been written.
A few vitae, it is true, can be brought into one of
these groups only with considerable difficulty, but at
least certain main divisions can be made for the
purpose of classification. The fact that these groups
are six in number is a striking coincidence with the
traditional number of Scnptores, but there seems to
be little warrant for drawing any inferences there-
from.
The groups thus established are as follows : —
A. The major vilae : Hadrian, Pius, Marcus
Aurelius, Commodus, . Pertinax, Julianus, Severus,
Caracalla. In these vitae the name of Diocletian
occurs only in the digressions in the Marcus and the
Severus. Except for occasional bursts of rhetoric,
notably in these digressions, these biographies consist
of brief statements put together in the manner of
excerpts and without any attempt at literary style.
They contain no prefaces or epilogues. Schulz has
shown that each is built up about a core of historical
material and that this has been taken from an
extensive historical work. He has, however, gone
too far in his admiration for the work of his Anonymm
and especially in his assertion that this writer was an
historian comparable to Tacitus and Dio. On the
other hand, he has done well to lessen the importance
of Marius Maximus. While he has not demonstrated
sufficiently that the citations from Maximus are all
due to the late redactor and has gone too far in his
condemnation of the biographer, he has shown that
these citations do not belong to the strictly historical
material and that they are of secondary importance.
xxxii
INTRODUCTION
B. The minor vitae : Aelius, Verus, Avidius Cassius,
Pescennius Niger, Clodius Albinus, Geta. Of these,
the first four are addressed to Diocletian, the other
two to Constantine. In the Verus and the Niger the
emperor is addressed only in an epilogue ; in the
Niger the address is followed by some miscellaneous
material which is evidently a later addition. In the
Albinus the address to Constantine is contained only
in the section intended to glorify the family of the
Ceionii,1 which is also to be regarded as an addition
by a later editor.
In contrast to the major vitae these biographies are
rhetorical in character and embellished with verses,
forged documents and anecdotes. They contain little
or no historical material that is not in the major vitae.
Schulz has tried to show that they also derived their
historical matter from the Anonymus but his attempt
does not give satisfactory results.
The differences in manner and matter between
these minor vitae and the major biographies of Group
A show clearly that their author did not compose
the major vitae in their original form. On the other
hand, he used them as sources for his historical
material. It is his purpose, he says in the preface
and the epilogue of the Aelius* to present to the
knowledge of Diocletian the lives of all the " Augusti,"
the " Caesares," and the pretenders to the throne,
and a similar purpose is proclaimed in the Avidius
Cassius* but there is no statement in either of these
vitae to the effect that the biographies of the
" Augusti " were actually composed by him.
We are therefore inclined to believe that a writer
1c. iv. 1-3. *c. i. 1; vii. 5. 3c. iii. 3.
xxxiii
INTRODUCTION
of the time of Diocletian issued a collection of bio-
graphies of the emperors from Hadrian to Macrinus.
In this he incorporated parts of an epitome of an older
series of vitae of the ' ' Augusti " — corresponding, in
general, to the work of Schulz's Anonymus — and
added thereto a considerable amount of anecdotal
and personal material. To this series of " Augusti "
he added biographies of the princes and pretenders,
which he either composed himself or found already
in existence. The Macrinus was probably also con-
tributed by him. The presence in it of some historical
material suggests that it may have been included in
the older series, but its rhetorical preface and the
many "literary' embellishments which it contains
make it clear that it was at least largely rewritten,
probably as a sort of appendix to the collection. On
the other hand, the Geta, unless some drastic emenda-
tion or excision is made in the address to Constantine,
must be attributed to some later author or editor.
C. The vitae of Elagabalus and Alexander, assigned
by the manuscript tradition to Lampridius. These
two biographies form a unit, with a preface at the
beginning of the former and an epilogue at the end
of the latter. Both are addressed to Constantine.
The worthlessness of most of the material has been
demonstrated by Miss Butler and Honn, and a general
wordiness and fullness of unimportant detail dis
tinguish these vitae from those of Groups A and B.
The fact that Marius Maximus is cited as a source for
many of the enormities of Elagabalus suggests that
he was the source of a large part of this vita, for it
consists principally of material of this sort. Moreover,
when it is remembered that the biography of Alex-
ander is largely a panegyric of the Emperor and that
xxxiv
INTRODUCTION
the iniquities of Elagabalus are utilized to shed
greater lustre on his successor, it becomes more
probable that Marius Maximus, who lived under
Alexander, may have been used for much that is in
these vitae. The worthlessness and wordiness of the
vita of Diadumenus suggests that it too is to be
placed in this group, and it is perhaps no accident
that the tradition assigns it also to Lampridius. The
rhetoric that is expended on the amabile nomen of
Antoninus l accords well with the Heliogabalus and the
Alexander, and the similar digressions in the Macrinus*
may be later additions by the same hand.
D. The vitae of the Maximini, the Gordiani, and
Maximus and Babinus. Of these, the first two have
prefaces addressed to Constantine, while the last is
without a preface, evidently because it is so closely
connected with the Gordiani. This series, it is almost
universally admitted, constitutes an independent
group. For many of its statements Herodian is cited
as authority, and undoubtedly much of the historical
material has been taken from him, apparently without
any intermediary.8 The Chronicle of Dexippus of
Athens is also cited, but always as the source of what
are evident additions or interpolations.
E. The vitae assigned to Pollio.
F. The vitae assigned to Vopiscus.
The vitae by Pollio were composed, according to
internal evidence, about 300, and those by Vopiscus
a short time afterward.4 They appear to have been
independent collections, incorporated in the series by
1Diad.t vi. 1 — viii. 1. 2c. ii. 5 — iii. 9 ; vii. 5-8.
8E. Diehl, in Pauly-Wissowa-Kroll, RealencycL, viii. p.
2081 f. ; th* citations from Herodian in the vitae of Elagabalus
and Alexander are evidently later additions.
* See Intro, to Vol. i. p. xiv.
XXXV
INTRODUCTION
the editor of the corpus. They are much more highly
rhetorical than the earlier biographies, and much
more full of errors, particularly in connexion with
topography, geography, and the administration of the
Empire. While Hohl's attempt to show that they
were written by the same author in the period of
Theodosius is utterly lacking in proof, and Soltau's
theory of a " Pollio Libertus " is too fantastic to de-
serve serious consideration, it is clear that these groups
did not escape the attentions of the later redactor
who made his interpolations here, as well as in the
other biographies, and who may have been responsible
for many of the ignorant and erroneous statements.
These groups, A-B, E and F, of the time df
Diocletian, and C and D, of the time of Constantine,
were combined, worked over, and edited by some
later writer, probably at the end of the fourth century.
He added much new material, including selections
from Eutropius and Victor (or their common source)
and, probably, most of the " documents." This
material he often inserted in the wrong connexion
and thereby added greatly to the coniusion of the
whole. The attempts to establish his name and
identity can be regarded as little more than guesses.
It is ardently to be hoped that the forthcoming
elaborate historical commentary promised by the
Heidelberg Academy under the general supervision
of Alfred von Domaszewski 1 may help to solve this
problem, as well as the many others connected with
the Historia Augusta, but in the present lack of
evidence it can only be said of this question "adhuc
sub iudice Hs est."
1 See Hohl in Neue Jahrlb. f. d. Klass. Alt., xxxiii (1914),
p. 710 ; A. von Domaszewski in Sitzungsber. d. Heidelberger
Akad.t Phil. hist. Elasse, 7 Abb., p. 3.
xxxvi
EDITORIAL NOTE (1991)
SCHOLARLY research, pursued since the first publication of
this work in 1922 now requires modification of some of the
editor's views. Most authorities today are persuaded that
the ostensible multiple authorship of these lives is a wilful
deception, that one person is responsible for the collection
and the insertion into it of documents which are sheer
fabrications, and that the date of this activity is about
A.D. 395.
Volume III of this edition contains on pages vii-x a
bibliographical appendix (1919-1967), to which the follow-
ing important works (the first two with extensive biblio-
graphies) must now be added:
SYME, SIR RONALD: Ammianus and the Historia Augusta,
Oxford 1968.
SYME, SIR RONALD: Emperors and Biography: Studies in
the Historia Augusta, Oxford 1971.
BARNES, T. D.: Sources of the Historia Augusta, Bruxelles
1978.
SYME, SIR RONALD: Historia Augusta Papers, Oxford 1983.
G. P. G.
SCRIPTORES
HISTORIAE AUGUSTAE
ANTONINUS CARACALLUS
AELII SPARTIANI
I. Ex duobus liberis, quos Septimius Severus reliquit
Getam et Bassianum, quorum unum Antoninum l
exercitus alterum pater dixit, Geta hostis est iudicatus,
2 Bassianus autem obtinuit imperium. de cuius maioribus
frustra putamus iterandum, cum omnia in Seven vita
3 satis dicta sint. huius igitur pueritia blanda, in-
geniosa, parentibus adfabilis, amicis parentum iucunda,
populo accepta, grata senatui, ipsi etiam ad amorem
4 conciliandum salutaris fuit. non ille in litteris tardus,
non in benevolentiis segnis, noil tenax in largitate,
non lentus in dementia, sed sub parentibus, visus.
6 denique, si quando feris obiectos damnatos vidit, flevit
aut oculos avertit, quod populo plus quam amabile fuit.
1 Antoninum ins. by Petschenig ; om. in P ; Antoninos ins.
after Bassianum (]. 2) by P. Richter and Peter.
1 He was originally named Julius Bassianus after' his
maternal grandfather ; see note to Sev., iii. 9. In 196 Severus
gave him the name M. Aurelius Antoninus and by this he was
officially known for the rest of his life ; see Sev., x. 3 and note.
The nickname Caracalla (more correctly Caracallus) by
which he is usually known was the name of the Gallic cloak
which he made fashionable in Home ; see c. ix. 7-8 ; Sev., xxi,
11.
ANTONINUS CARACALLA
BY
AELIUS SPARTIANUS
I. The two sons left by Septimius Severus, Geta
and Bassianus,1 both received the surname Antoninus,2
one from the army, the other from his father, but
Geta was declared a public enemy,3 while Bassianus
got the empire. The account of this emperor's
ancestors I deem it needless to repeat, for all this has
been fully told in the Life of Severus.4 He himself
in his boyhood was winsome and clever, respectful to
his parents and courteous to his parents' friends,
beloved by the people, popular with the senate, and
well able to further his own interests in winning
affection. Never did he seem backward in letters or
slow in deeds of kindness, never niggardly in largess
or tardy in forgiving — at least while under his parents.
For example, if ever he saw condemned criminals
pitted against wild beasts, he wept or turned away
his eyes, and this was more than pleasing to the people.
2 See note to Sev., x. 5.
3 After Geta's murder his statues were destroyed, his name
officially erased from inscriptions, and coins bearing his like-
ness melted down ; see Dio, Ixxvii. 12, 6, and Dessau, Ins. Sel.,
458-460.
4 Sev., i. 1-2.
3
ANTONINUS CARACALLA
6 septennis puer, cum conlusorem suum puerum ob
ludaicam religionem gravius verberatum audisset,
neque patrem suum neque patrem pueri velut auctores
yverberum diu respexit. Antiochensibus et Byzantiis
interventu suo iura vetusta restituit, quibus iratus fuit
Severus, quod Nigrum iuverant. Plautiani odium
8 crudelitatis causa concepit. quod a parentibus gratia
Sigillariorum acceperat, id vel clientibus vel magistris
sponte donavit.
II. Sedhaecpuer. egressus vero pueritiam seu patris
monitis seu calliditate ingenii sive quod se Alexandra
Magno Macedoni aequandum putabat, restrictior,
gravior, vultu etiam truculentior factus est, prorsus
ut eum quern puerum scierant multi esse non crederent.
2Alexandrum Magnum eiusque gesta in ore semper
habuit. Tiberium et Sullam in conventu plerumque
3 lau davit, patre superbior fuit ; fratrem magna eius
hu militate despexit.
4 Post patris mortem in Castra Praetoria pergens apud
milites conquestus est circumveniri se frat^is insidiis,
1 The rights of Antioch, taken away after Niger's defeat
(Sev., ix. 4), were probably restored when Caracalla received the
toga vir His and assumed his first consulship there; see Sev.,
xvi. 8. Byzantium surrendered to Severus' army in 196 after
a siege of nearly three years ; see Dio, Ixxiv. 10-14. It was
then deprived of its rights and ordered to pay tribute, and its
walls were destroyed. Its later restoration by Severus is
recorded by Malalas, p. 291, and Hesychius of Miletus (0.
Miiller, Fragm. Hist. Graec.t iv. p. 153).
2 See note to Sev., xiv. 5.
3 See note to Hadr. , xvii. 3.
4 Immediately after Severus' death in Britain on 4 Feb.,
211, Caracalla and Geta patched up a peace with the rebels
and returned to Borne, where they arrived in May. The
ANTONINUS CARACALLA I. 6— II. 4
Once, when a child of seven, hearing that a certain
playmate of his had been severely scourged for adopting
the religion of the Jews, he long refused to look at
either the boy's father or his own, because he regarded
them as responsible for the scourging. It was at his
plea, moreover, that their ancient rights were restored
to the citizens of Antioch and Byzantium, with
whom Severus had become angry because they had
given aid to Niger.1 He conceived a hatred for
Plautianus '2 because of his cruelty. And all the gifts
he received from his father on the occasion of the
Sigillaria3 he presented of his own accord to his
dependents or to his teachers.
II. A 11 this, however, was in his boyhood. For when
he passed beyond the age of a boy, either by his father's
advice or through a natural cunning, or because he
thought that he must imitate Alexander of Macedonia,
he became more reserved and stern and even some-
what savage in expression, and indeed so much so
that many were unable to believe that he was the
same person whom they had known as a boy.
Alexander the Great and his achievements were ever
on his lips, and often in a public gathering he would
praise Tiberius and Sulla. He was more arrogant than
his father ; and his brother, because he was very
modest, he thoroughly despised.
After his father's death 4 he went to the Praetorian
Camp 5 and complained there to the soldiers that his
brother was forming a conspiracy against him. And
period of their joint rule, extending from their arrival to the
murder of Geta about 26 Feb., 212, is omitted by the bio-
grapher.
5 At the N.E. corner of the city, near the modern Porta
Pia.
ANTONINUS CARACALLA
atque ita fratrem in Palatio fecit occidi. eius corpus
6 statim cremari praecepit. dixit praeterea in Castris
fratrem sibi venenum parasse, matri eum inreverentera
fuisse ; egitque publice iis gratias qui eum occiderunt.
Caddidit denique his quasi1 fidelioribus erga se sti-
7 pendium. pars miiitum apud Albam Getam occisum
aegerrime accepit, dicentibus cunctis duobus L> se fidem
promisisse liberis Severi, duobus servare debere.
Sclausisque portis diu imperator non admissus nisi
delenitis animis, non solum querellis de Geta et
crimination i bus editis sed inormitate stipendii mili-
tibus, ut solet, placatis, atque inde Romam rediit.
9 tune sub veste senatoria loricam habens cum armatis
militibus Curiam ingressus est. hos in medio inter
subsellia duplici ordine conlocavit et sic verba fecit.
10 questus est de fratris insidiis involute et incondite ad
11 illius accusationem, sui vero excusationem.3 quod qui-
dem nee senatus libenter accepit, cum ille dixisset
fratri se omnia permisisse, fratrem ab insidiis liberasse,
et ilium tamen sibi gravissimas insidias fecisse nee
Ill.vicem amori reddidisse fraterno. post hoc relegatis
deportatisque reditum in patriam restituit.
1 quasi Peter ; quos P. 2 ducibus P. 3 So P corr.,
Peter1 ; uero excusationem om. in F1 ; excusationem sui
Peter2.
1 Geta was killed in the arms of his mother ; see Dio,
Ixxvii. 2.
2 The biographer has compressed the narrative to the
point of obscurity. Immediately after the murder of Geta,
Caracalla hurried from the Palace to the Praetorian Camp,
where he declared that Geta had made a plot against him.
He then promised the soldiers a donative ; see Dio, Ixxvii. 3,
1-2 ; Herodian, iv. 4, 3-7.
3 The Second Legion, the Parthica, which Severus, after
his discharge of the praetorian guard in 193 (see Sev., vi. 11),
ANTONINUS CARACALLA II. 5— III. 1
so he had his brother slain in the Palace,1 giving
orders to burn his body at once. He also said in the
Camp2 that his brother had made preparations to
poison him and had shown disrespect to their mother.
To those who had killed his brother he rendered
thanks publicly, and indeed he even gave them a
bonus for being so loyal to him. Nevertheless, some
of the soldiers at Alba,3 received the news of G eta's
death with anger, and all declared they had sworn
allegiance to both the sons ot Severus and ought to
maintain it to both.4 They then closed the gates of
the camp, and the Emperor was not admitted for a
long time, and then not until he had quieted their
anger, not only by bitter words about Geta and by
bringing charges against him, but also by enormous
sums of money, by means of which, as usual, the
soldiers were placated. After this he returned to
Rome and then attended a meeting of the senate,5
wearing a cuirass under his senator's robe and
accompanied by an armed guard. He stationed this
in a double line in the midst of the benches and so
made a speech, in which, with a view to accusing his
brother and excusing himself, he complained in a
confused and incoherent manner about his brother's
treachery. The senate received his speech with little
favour, when he said that although he had granted
his brother every indulgence and had in fact saved him
from a conspiracy, yet Geta had formed a most danger-
ous plot against him and had made no return for his
brotherly affection. III. After this speech he granted
had stationed in permanent garrison at Alba, the modern
Albano.
4Cf. Get., vi. 1-2.
5 On the day alter the murder ; see Dio, Ixxvii. 3, 3.
7
ANTONINUS CARACALLA
Inde ad praetorianos processit et in Castris mansit.
2altera die Capitolium petiit. eos quos occidere parabat
adfabiliter est adlocutus1 innitensque Papiniano et
3 Ciloni ad Palatium rediit. cum flentem matrem Getae
vidisset aliasque mulieres post necem fratris, mulieres
occidere conatus est, sed ob hoc retentus, ne augeretur
4fratris occisi crudelitas. Laetum ad mortem coegit
misso a se veneno ; ipse enim inter suasores Getae
mortis primus fuerat, qui et primus interemptus est.
6 ipse mortem eius saepissime flevit. multos, qui caedis
eius conscii fuerant, interemit, item2 eum qui imaginem
eius honoravit.
Post hoc fratrem patruelem Afrum, cui pridie partes
7 de eena miserat, iussit occidi. qui cum se praecipitas-
set percussorum timore et ad uxorem crure fracto
erepisset, tamen per ludibrium a 3 percussoribus depre-
Shensus est et occisus. occidit etiam Pompeianum,
Marci nepotem, ex filia natum et ex Pompeiano, cui
nupta fuerat Lucilla post mortem Veri imperatoris,
1 locutus P. a item ins. by Petschenig and Peter2 ; om. in
P, Peter1. 'a om. in P, Peter.
1 Aemilius Papinianus, the famous jurist. He had been
made prefect of the guard in 205 and was much beloved and
trusted by Severus. For accounts of his death see c. iv. 1 ;
viii. 1-9 ; Get., vi. 3.
2L. Fabius Gilo, cos. 193; see Com., xx. 1. He held
many important offices under Severus, including a second
consulship in 204 and the prefecture of the city — alluded to in
c. iv. 5. He was much esteemed by Severus and afterwards by
Caracalla, but he almost lost his life when Papinian was
murdered ; see c. iv. 5 and Dio, Ixxvii. 4.
3 Probably Maecius Laetus, co-prefect with Papinian
8
ANTONINUS CARACALLA III. 2-8
those who had been exiled or sent into banishment
the right of returning to their fatherland.
From the senate he betook himself to the
praetorians and spent the night in the Camp. The
following day he proceeded to the Capitolium ; here
he spoke cordially to those whom he was planning to
put to death and then went back to the Palace
leaning on the arm of Papinian l and of Cilo.2 Here
he saw Geta's mother and some other women weeping
for his brother's death, and he thereupon resolved
to kill them ; but he was deterred by thinking how
this would merely add to the cruelty of having slain
his brother. Laetus,3 however, he forced to commit
suicide, sending him the poison himself ; he had been
the first to counsel the death of Geta and was himself
the first to be killed. Afterwards, however, the Em-
peror frequently bewailed his death. Many others,
too, who had been privy to Geta's murder were put
to death, and likewise a man who paid honours to
his portrait.
After this he gave orders that his cousin Afer
should be killed, although on the previous day he
had sent him a portion of food from his own table.
Afer in fear of the assassins threw himself from a
window and crawled away to his wife with a broken
leg, but he was none the less seized by the murderers,
who ridiculed him and put him to death. Pompeianus
too was killed, the grandson of the Emperor Marcus,
— he was the son of his daughter and that Pompeianus 4
who was married to Lucilla after the death of the
Emperor Verus and made consul twice by Marcus
According to Dio, Ixxvii. 5, 4, Caracalla planned to kill him
but refrained because he was very ill.
4 See Marc., xx. 6 and note.
9
ANTONINUS CARACALLA
quern et consulem bis fecerat et omnibus bellis prae-
posuerat, quae gravissima tune fuerunt, et ita quidem
IV. ut videretur a latronibus interemptus. dein in con-
spectu eius Papinianus securi percussus a militibus et
occisus est. quo facto percussori dixit, " Gladio te
2exsequi oportuit meum iussum". occisus est etiam
eius iussu Patruinus l ante templum Divi Pii, tractaque
sunt eorum per plateam cadavera sine aliqua humani-
tatis reverentia. filium etiam Papiniani, qui ante
triduum quaestor opulentum munus ediderat, intere-
3 mit. iisdem diebus occisi sunt innumeri, qui fratris eius
partibus faverant. occisi etiam liberti, qui Getae ad-
4ministraverant. caedes deinde in omnibus locis. et in
balneis facta caedes, occisique nonnulli etiam cenantes,
inter quos etiam Sammoiiicus Serenus, cuius libri
5 plurimi ad doctrinam exstant. in summum discrimen
etiam Cilo iterum praefectus et consul venit ob hoc
6 quod concordiam inter fratres suaserat. et cum idem
Cilo sublata veste senatoria nudis pedibus ab urbanici-
anis raptus esset, Antoninus seditionem compressit
7 multas praeterea postea caedes in urbe fecit, passim
raptis a militibus nonnullis hominibus et occisis, quasi
1 Patru.nus Borghe^i ; patruus P.
lCt. Get., vi. 3,
1 Valerius Patruinus, apparencly co-prefect of thi
praetorian guard and colleague of Papinian and Laetus ; sec
Prosopographia Imp. Rom., iii. p. 372.
3 The Temple of Antoninus and Faustina, on the N.E.
side of the Forum, now the church of S. Lorenzo in Miranda.
4 According 10 Dio, Ixxvii. 4, 1, 20,000 persons were put to
death as partisans of Geta. Only the most important are
enumerated here.
5 The author of various works of an antiquarian character,
all of which have been lost. His Rerum Recondilarum Libri
is quoted by Macrobius (Saturnalia, iii. 9, 6), who also refers
10
ANTONINUS CARACALLA IV. 1-7
and placed in command of all the most important
wars of the time — and he was killed in such a way as to
seem to have been murdered by robbers. IV. Next, in
the Emperor's own presence, Papinian was struck with
an axe by some soldiers and so slain. Whereupon
the Emperor said to the slayer, "You should have
used a sword in carrying out my command." 1
Patruinus,2 too, was slain by his order, and that in
front of the Temple of the Deified Pius,3 and his body
as well as Papinian's were dragged about through
the streets without any regard for decency. Also
Papinian's son was killed, who was a quaestor and
only three days before had given a lavish spectacle.
During this same time there were slain men without
number, all of whom had favoured the cause of Geta,4
and even the freedmen were slain who had managed
Geta's affairs. Then there was a slaughtering in all
manner of places. Even in the public baths there
was slaughter, and some too were killed while
dining, among them Sammonicus Serenus,5 many of
whose books dealing with learned subjects are still in
circulation. Cilo, moreover, twice prefect and consul,
incurred the utmost danger merely because he had
counselled harmony between the brothers. For not
until after the city-soldiers 6 had seized Cilo, tearing
off his senator's robe and pulling off his boots, did
Antoninus check their violence. After this he
committed many further murders in the city, causing
many persons far and wide to be seized by soldiers
and killed, as though he were punishing a rebellion.
to him as vir saeculo suo doctus. See also Get., v. 6 ; Gord.,
xviii. 2. On his son see Alex., xxx. 2 and note.
8 The three cohorts under the command of the praefectus
urbi and responsible for the maintenance of order in Rome.
11
ANTONINUS CARACALLA
8 seditionem vindicans. Helvium Pertinacem, suffectum
consulem, ob hoc solum quod filius esset imperatoris
9occidit. neque cessavit umquam sub diversis occa-
sionibus eos interficere, qui fratris amici fuissent.
10 saepe in senatum saepe in populum superbe invectus
est aut edictis propositis aut orationibus editis, Sullam
se etiam ostendens futurum.
V. His gestis Galliam petiit atque ut primum in
2 earn venit Narbonensem proconsulem occidit. cunctis
deinde turbatis qui in Gallia res gerebant odium
tyrannicum meruit, quamvis se l aliquando fingeret et
3benignum, cum esset natura truculentus. et cum
multa contra homines et contra iura civitatum fecisset,
morbo implicitus graviter laboravit. circa eos qui
eum curabant crudelissimus fuit.
4 Dein ad orientem profectionem parans omisso itinere
in Dacia resedit. circa Raetiam non paucos barbaros
lse ins. by Klein; cm. in P, Peter.
1 See Pert., vi. 9 ; xv. 3. A witticism made by him is
supposed to have been the cause of his death ; see c. x. 6 and
Get., vi. 6.
2 In the imperial period it was customary for a consul to
remain in office for only a portion of the year. The consuls
(one of whom was frequently the emperor) who assumed their
office on Jan. 1 were known as consules ordinarii ; those
who succeeded them after the expiration of a few months,
and also their successors in their turn, were known as
consules suffecti.
3 In the spring of 213. His departure was commemorated
by an issue of coins with the legend Profectio Aug(usti) ; see
Cohen2, iv. pp. 503 f., nos. 503-509.
4 The province of Gallia Narbonensis was named from its
capital Narbo, now Narbonne. It included south-eastern
France as far north as Vienne and as far west as Toulouse.
5The biography omits the account of CaracalJa's campaign
12
ANTONINUS CARACALLA IV. 8— V. 4
He put to death Helvius Pertinax,1 substitute consul,2
for no other reason than because he was the son of
an emperor, and he would never hesitate, whenever
an opportunity presented itself, to put to death those
who had been his brother's friends. He often
delivered insolent invectives against the senate and
against the people, issuing proclamations and
publishing harangues, and he even declared that he
would be a second Sulla.
V. After doing all this he set out for Gaul 3 and
immediately upon his arrival there killed the pro-
consul of Narbonensis.4 Thereby great consternation
was caused among all who were engaged in adminis-
tering Gaul, and he incurred the hatred felt for a
tyrant ; and yet he would at times assume a kindly
demeanour, despite the fact that by nature he was
very savage. After many measures directed against
persons and in violation of the rights of communities
he was seized with an illness and underwent great
suffering. Yet even toward those who nursed him he
behaved most brutally.5
Then he made ready for a journey to the Orient,6
but interrupted his march and stopped in Dacia. In
the region of Raetia 7 he put a number of the natives
to death and then harangued his soldiers and made
of 213 in northern Raetia (Bavaria) against the Alamanni, his
invasion of German territory, and his victory on the river
Main, as a result of which he assumed the cognomen
Germanicus Maximus and issued coins with the legend
Victoria Oermanica ; see Cohen2, iv. p. 210, nos. 645-646.
6 In the spring of 214. His route was through Carniola and
thence down the valley of the Save to the Danube.
7 The incidents narrated in this and the following sentences
are out of place here and should be connected with his
campaign of 213.
13
ANTONINUS CARACALLA
interemit militesque suos quasi Sullae milites et
5 cohortatus est et donavit. deorum sane se nominibus
appellari vetuit, quod Commodus fecerat, icum multi l
eum, quod leonem aliasque feras occidisset, Herculem
6 dicerent. et cum Germanos subegisset, Germanum
se appellavit vel ioco vel serio, ut erat stultus et
demeiis, adserens, si Lucanos vicisset, Lucanicum se
7 appellandum. damnati sunt eo tempore qui urinam
in eo loco fecerunt in quo statuae aut imagines erant
principis, et qui coronas imaginibus eius detraxerunt,
ut alias ponerent, damnatis et qui remedia quartanis
tertianisque collo adnexas 2 gestarent.
8 Per Thracias cum praefecto praetorii iter fecit,
inde cum in Asiam traiceret, naufragii periculum
adiit antemna fracta, ita ut in scapham cum protec-
toribus descenderet.3 unde in triremem a praefecto
classis receptus evasit.
9 Excepit apros frequenter, contra leonem etiam
stetit. quando 4 missis ad amicos litteris gloriatus est
seque ad Herculis virtutem accessisse iactavit.
VI. Post hoc ad bellum Armeniacum Parthicumque
conversus ducem bellicum, qui suis competebat mori-
1 multi Lenze ; illi P, Peter. 2 adnexa P, Peter.
* ita descenderet P ; ita del. by Novak ; uix descenderet Peter.
4 quando P, Petschenig; quo etiam Peter.
1See Com., viii. 5; ix. 2; Diad., vii. 2-3.
2 The surname that he actually assumed was Germanicus
Maximus; see note to c. iv. 10. Apparently this is some pun
on the meaning of germanus as " brother," like Cicero's pun
Germanum Cimber occidit, cited by Quintilian, viii. 3, 29.
14
ANTONINUS CARACALLA V. 5— VI. 1
them presents quite as though they were the troops
of Sulla. He did not, however, as Commodus had
done,1 permit his men to call him by the names of the
gods, for many of them had begun to address him as
Hercules because he had killed a lion and some other
wild beasts. Yet he did call himself Germanus2
after defeating the Germans, either in jest or in
earnest, for he was foolish and witless and asserted
that had he conquered the Lucanians 3 he should have
been given the name Lucanicus. At that time men
were condemned to death for having urinated in
places where there were statues or busts of the
Emperor or for having removed garlands from his
busts in order to replace them by others, and some
were even condemned for wearing them around
their necks as preventives of quartan or tertian
fever.
Then he journeyed through Thrace accompanied by
the prefect of the guard. While he was crossing over
from here into Asia the yard-arm of his ship broke
and he ran great danger of shipwreck, so that, together
with his bodyguard, he had to climb down into a
lifeboat. From this he was taken up into a trireme
by the prefect of the fleet and so was rescued.
He took wild boars in great numbers and once he
even faced a lion — an occasion on which he prided
himself, writing to his friends and boasting that he had
attained to the prowess of a Hercules.
VI. After this, turning to the war with the Armen-
ians and Parthians, he appointed as military com-
mander a man whose character resembled his own.
3 In Southern Italy. The point of the joke is not evident ;
possibly some pun on the meaning of Lucanicus as a variety
of sausage is intended.
15
ANTONINUS CARACALLA
2 bus, fecit, inde Alexandriam petiit, in gymnasium
populum convocavit eumque obiurgavit ; legi etiam
3 validos ad militiam praecepit. eos autem quos
legerat occidit exemplo Ptolemaei Euergetis qui
octavus hoc nomine appellatus est. dato praeterea
signo militibus, ut hospites suos occiderent, magnam
caedem Alexandriae fecit.
4 Dehinc per Cadusios et Babylonios ingressus tum-
ultuarie cum Parthorum satrapis manum contulit,
6 feris etiam bestiis in hostes inmissis. datis ad senatum
quasi post victoriam litteris Parthicus appellatus est ;
nam Germanici nornen patre vivo fuerat consecutus.
6 deinde cum iterum vellet Parthis bellum inferre atque
hibernaret Edessae atque inde Carrhas Luni dei gratia
venisset, die natali suo, octavo idus Apriles, ipsis
Megalensibus, cum ad requisita naturae discessisset,
insidiis a Macrino praefecto praetorii positis, qui
1 After spending the winter of 214-215 at Nicomedia in
Bithynia he travelled through Asia Minor to Antioch, where
he remained for some time. From there he went on to
Alexandria; see Dio, Ixxvii. 18-22.
2 More correctly, Ptolemy VII. Physcon Euergetes, who died
in 116 B.C. For the massacre see Polybius quoted by Strabo,
xvii. p. 797 f.
8 From Alexandria he returned to Antioch, where he spent
the winter of 215-216. In the spring of 216 he marched
across northern Mesopotamia and over the Tigris to Arbela,
16
ANTONINUS CARACALLA VI. 2-6
Then he betook himself to Alexandria,1 and here he
called the people together into the gymnasium and
heaped abuse on them ; he gave orders, moreover,
that those who were physically qualified should be
enrolled for military service. But those whom he
enrolled he put to death, following the example of
Ptolemy Euergetes,2 the eighth of those who bore the
name Ptolemy. In addition to this he issued an
order to his soldiers to slay their hosts and thus
caused great slaughter at Alexandria.
Next he advanced through the lands of the Cadusii
and the Babylonians 3 and waged a guerilla- warfare
with the Parthian satraps, in which wild beasts
were even let loose against the enemy. He then
sent a letter to the senate as though he had won
a real victory 4 and thereupon was given the name
Parthicus 5 ; the name Germanicus he had assumed
during his father's lifetime.6 After this he wintered
at Edessa7 with the intention of renewing the war
against the Parthians. During this time, on the
eighth day before the Ides of April, the feast of the 6 Apr., 217.
Megalensia 8 and his own birthday, while on a journey
but apparently, in spite of the statement of the biographer,
he did not actually meet the Parthiaris in battle, for they fled
before his advance ; see Dio, Ixxviii. 1, 1-2.
4 Coins were issued with the legend Victoria) Part(hica) ;
see Cohen,2 iv. pp. 210 f., nos. 647-656.
5 This cognomen had been bestowed on him in 199 on the
occasion of his father's victory over the Parthians.
6 But see note to c. v. 3.
7 Now Urfa, in northern Mesopotamia ; here he spent the
winter of 216-217.
8 The feast of the Great Mother (?) Meyd\i] M-rjrrip), cele-
brated at Rome on 4-10 April. According to Dio, Ixxviii. 6, 5,
his birthday was the 4th April.
17
ANTONINUS CARACAJLLA
post eum invasit imperium, interemptus est. conscii
caedis fuerunt Nemesianus et frater eius Apollinaris
Triccianusque,1 qui praefectus legionis secundae Par-
thicae militabat et qui equitibus extraordinariis
praeerat, non ignorantibus Marcio Agrippa, qui class!
praeerat, et praeterea plerisque officialium impulsu
Martialis.
VII. Occisus est autem in medio itinere inter Carrhas
et Edessam, cum levandae vesicae gratia ex equo
descendisset atque inter protectores suos, coniuratos
caedis, ageret. denique cum ilium in equum strator
eius levaret, pugione latus eius confodit, conclamatum-
que ab omnibus est id Martialem fecisse.
3 Et quoniam dei Luni fecimus mentionem, sciendum
doctissimis quibusque id memoriae traditum atque ita
1 Triccianusque Henzen ; Recianusque P, Peter.
1 Famous as the scene of the defeat of Crassus by the
Parthians in 53 B.C.
2 i.e. the Semitic male moon-deity Sin, who was worshipped
at Carrhae and is depicted on the coins of the city. The name
Lunus seems to have been coined for the purpose of indicating
the male sex of this deity. Tt has been incorrectly used by
modern writers to designate the Phrygian moon-god Men
(Mr)v)t who was worshipped throughout Asia Minor, but in
reality there is no evidence that this god was ever called
Lunus ; see Roscher, Lexicon d. Griech. u. Rom. Mythologie,
ii. 2689, note. In the pseudo-learned discussion in c. vii. 3-t
the cult of Sin seems hopelessly confused with that of 2e\?jj/7?
and according to Herodian, iv. 13, 3, Caracalla's intended
visit was to the temple of Selene.
3 Nemesianus and Apollinaris were tribunes in the praetor-
ian guard.
4 Aelius Decius Triccianus, prefect of the Second Legion
under Caracal la and Macrinus, afterwards appointed by
Macrinus governor of Pannonia Inferior ; see Dio, Ixxviii.
13; Ixxix. 4.
18
ANTONINUS CARACALLA VI. 7— VII. 3
to Carrhae 1 to do honour to the god Lunus,2 he
stepped aside to satisfy the needs of nature and was
thereupon assassinated by the treachery of Macrinus
the prefect of the guard, who after his death seized
the imperial power. The accomplices in the murder
were Nemesianus,3 his brother Apollinaris, and
Triccianus,4 who was serving as prefect of the Second
Legion, the Parthian,5 and commanded the irregular
cavalry. Marcius Agrippa,6 too, the commander of
the fleet, was privy to it, as well as many members of
his staff acting on the instigation of Martialis.7
VII. He was slain .in the course of a journey
between Carrhae and Edessa,8 when he had dis-
mounted for the purpose of emptying his bladder and
was standing in the midst of his body-guard, who were
accomplices in the murder. For his equerry, while
helping him to mount, thrust a dagger into his side,
and thereupon all shouted out that it had been done
by Martialis.
Now since we have made mention of the god Lunus,
it should be known that all the most learned men
have handed down the tradition, and it is at this day
5 See note to c. ii. 7.
6 A slave by birth, he became an advocatus fisci under
Severus and was promoted by Caracalla to the posts of a
cognitionibus and ab epistuhs and, later, raised to the sena-
torial order; Macrinus made him governor, first of Pannonia,
then of Dacia ; see Dio, Isxviii. 13. The fleet which he
commanded at this time was probably the one used to
transport the troops to Asia Minor.
7 Julius Martialis, the actual murderer. He was a former
soldier, now serving as an evocatus, and bore a grudge against
Caracalla because he had refused to make him a centurion ;
see Dio, Ixxviii. 5, 3.
8 On this portion of the vita see Intro, to Vol. i. p. rriii.
19
ANTONINUS CARACALLA
nunc quoque a Carrhenis praecipue haberi, ut qui
Lunam femineo nomine ac sexu putaverit nuncupan-
4 dam is addictus mulieribus semper inserviat ; qui
vero marem deum esse crediderit, is dominetur uxori
5 neque ullas . muliebres patiatur insidias. unde,
quamvis Graeci vel Aegyptii eo genere quo feminam
hominem etiam Lunam deum dicant, mystice tamen
Lunum dicunt.1
VJ1I. Scio de Papiniani nece multos ita in litteras
rettulisse, ut caedis non adsciverint causam, aliis alia
referentibus ; sed ego malui varietatem opinionum
2 edere quam de tanti viri caede reticere. Papinianum
amicissimum fuisse irnperatori Severe eumque cum
Severe professum sub Scaevola et Severe in ad vocations
fisci successisse,2 ut aliqui loquuntur, adfinem etiam per
3 secundam uxorem, memoriae traditur ; et huic prae-
cipue utrumque filium a Severe commendatum atque
ob hoc concordiae fratrum Antoninorum favisse 3 ;
4 egisse quin etiam ne occideretur, cum iam de insidiis
eius Bassianus quereretur ; atque idee una cum iis
qui fautores fuerant Getae a militibus, non solum
permittente verum etiam suadente Antonino, occisum.
5 multi dicunt Bassianum occiso fratre illi mandasse,
ut et in senatu pro se et apud populum facinus dilueret,
1 Lunum Hirschfeld ; deum P, Peter. 2 eumque . . .
successisse om. in P1 ; ins. in P corr. ; placed after commend-
atum in Peter's editions, after Seue.ro by Peter, on evidence of
P, in Jahresb. cxxx. (1906), p. 35; del. as interpolation by
Momm-en and Hohl. sfauisse Salm. ; fuisse P.
JCf. c. iv. 1. 2 Julia Domna.
3 Q. Cervidius Scaevola; see Marc., xi. 10 and note.
4 See note to Hadr., xx. 6. The statement that Severus
held this office is also made in Get., ii. 4 ; Eutropius, viii. 18 ;
Victor, Caesares, xx. 30, but, inasmuch as there is no mention
20
ANTONINUS CARACALLA VII. 4— VIII. 5
so held, particularly by the people of Carrhae, that
whoever believes that this deity should be called
Luna, with the name and sex of a woman, is subject
to women and always their slave ; whereas he who
believes that the god is a male dominates his wife and
is not caught by any woman's wiles. Hence the
Greeks and, for that matter, the Egyptians, though
they speak of Luna as a "god " in the same way as
they include woman in " Man," nevertheless in their
mystic rites use the masculine " Lunus."
VIII. Many, I know, have told the story of Papin-
ian's death,1 but in such. a way as to show that they did
not know its cause, and each has given a different
version. I, however, have preferred to record a variety
of opinions rather than to remain silent about the
murder of so great a man. It is generally reported
that Papinian was a close friend of the Emperor
Severus — related to him, some say, through his second
wife,2 — and that he had given instruction along with
Severus under Scaevola's3 direction and later suc-
ceeded Severus as pleader for the privy-purse.4 It is
further reported that Severus had particularly en-
trusted him with the care of his two sons, and for this
reason he had always tried to reconcile the brothers
Antoninus, and had even pleaded with Bassianus,when
he accused his brother of treachery, not to put Geta
to death ; and for this reason he, together with Geta's
supporters, was killed by the soldiers, not only with the
consent but even with the encouragement of Antoninus.
Many, again, relate that Bassianus, after killing his
brother, commanded Papinian to explain away his crime
of it in the vita of Severus, it is usually regarded as suspicious ;
see Prosop. Imp. Bom., iii. p. 213.
21
ANTONINUS CARACALLA
ilium autem respondisse non tarn facile parricidium
6 excusari posse quam fieri, est etiam haec fabella,
quod dictare noluerit orationem qua invehendum erat
in fratrem ut causa eius melior fieret qui occiderat ;
ilium autem negantem respondisse illud l esse parrici-
7 dium aliud accusare innocentem occisum. sed hoc
omnino non convenit ; nam neque praefectus poterat
dictare orationem, et constat eum quasi fautorem
8 Getae occisum. et fertur quidem Papinianus, cum
raptus a militibus ad Palatium traheretur occidendus,
praedivinasse, dicens eum 2 stultissimum fore qui in
suum subrogaretur locum, nisi adpetitam crudeliter
9 praefecturam vindicaret. quod factum est ; nam
10 Macrinus Antoninum 3 occidit, ut supra exposuimus.
qui cum filio factus in castris imperator filium suum,
qui Diadumenus vocabatur, Antoninum vocavit, id-
circo quod a praetorianis multum Antoninus desider-
atus est.
IX. Bassianus vixit annis quadraginta tribus. im
2 peravit annis sex. publico funere elatus est. filium
reliquit, qui postea et ipse Marcus Antoninus Helio-
gabalus dictus est ; ita enim nomen Antoninorum
inoleverat, ut velli ex aiiimis hominum non posset, quod
omnium pectora velut Augusti nomen obsederat.
1 illud Salm., Peter; aliud P. 2 dicens eum
Petschenig, Peter2 ; dicentem P. 8 Antoninum ins. by
Erasmus ; om. in P.
1 c. vi. 6.
2 See Macr., ii. 5 ; v. 1, and notes.
3 This is an erroneous statement based on the belief that he
was the son of Severus' first wife Pacciana Marciana (see note
to c. x. 1). He was actually twenty-nine years old at the time
of his death ; see Dio, Ixxviii. 6, 5.
22
ANTONINUS CARACALLA VIII. 6— IX. 2
for him in the senate and before the people ; to which
Papinian replied that it was not so easy to defend
fratricide as to commit it. There is also the story
that Papinian refused to compose a speech in which,
to improve the murderer's case, the brother was to
be attacked ; and that in his refusal he had de-
clared that to accuse an innocent man who had been
murdered was a second act of murder. All of which
does not accord with facts ; for the prefect of the
guard may not compose speeches, and, besides, it is
well established that Papinian was killed for being one
of Geta's supporters. It is further related that
Papinian, when, seized by the soldiers, he was being
haled to the Palace to be put to death, foretold the
future, saying that whoever should succeed to his
position would be an utter fool did he not take
vengeance for this brutal attack on the prefecture.
And this actually came to pass ; for, as we have
previously related,1 Macrinus murdered Antoninus ;
then, after he had been acclaimed emperor in the
camp, together with his son, he gave the latter, who
was called Diadumenianus, the name Antoninus,2 for
the reason that an Antoninus was earnestly desired by
the praetorian guard.
IX. Bassianus lived for forty-three years 3 and ruled
for six. He was borne to the grave with a public
funeral. He left a son, who afterward received, like
his father, the name Antoninus — Marcus Antoninus
Elagabalus 4 ; for such a hold had the name of the
Antonines that it could not be removed from the
thoughts of the people, because it had taken root in
the hearts of all, even as had the name of Augustus.
4 See note to Heliog., i. 1.
23
ANTONINUS CARACALLA
3 Fuit male moratus et patre duro crudelior. avidus
cibi, vini etiam adpetens, suis odiosus et praeter
milites praetorianos omnibus castris exosus. prorsus
nihil inter fratres simile.
4 Opera Romae reliquit thermas nominis sui eximias,
quarum cellam soliarem architect! negant posse ulla
Simitatione qua facta est fieri, nam et ex acre vel
cupro cancelli subterpositi esse dicuntur, quibus
cameratio tota concredita est, et tantum est spatii,
ut id ipsum fieri negent potuisse docti mechanis.
6 reliquit et porticum patris nomine, quae gesta illius
7 contineret et triumphos et bella. ipse Caracalli
nomen accepit a vestimento, quod populo dederat,
8 demisso usque ad talos. quod ante non fuerat. unde
hodieque Antoninianae dicuntur caracallae huiusmodi,
9 in usu maxime Romanae plebis frequentatae. idem
viam novam munivit, quae est sub eius thermis,
Antoninianis scilicet, qua pulchrius inter Romanas
lOplateas non facile quicquam invenias. sacra Isidis
Romam deportavit et templa ubique magnifica eidem
deae fecit, sacra etiam maiore reverentia celebravit,
11 quam ante celebrabantur. in quo quidem mihi mirum
1The famous Thermae Antoninianae or Baths of Cara-
calla, the impressive ruins of which are on the Via Appia just
within the modern Porta San Sebastiano. It was surrounded
by a portico built by Elagabalus and Alexander; see Heliog.,
xvii. 8-9; Alex., xxv. 6.
2 By this term, the meaning of which is uncertain, the
biographer refers to the frigidarium, or great entrance-hall,
which contains a large swimming-pool. The vaulting of this
hall was supported by a sort of grating made of iron bars
riveted together, great quantities ot which were found in the
ruins ; see J. H. Middleton, Remains of Ancient Rome, ii. p. 163
3 See Sev., xxi. 12 and note.
4 See note to c. i. 1.
24
ANTONINUS CARACALLA IX. 3-11
His mode of life was evil and he was more brutal
even than his cruel father. He was gluttonous in his
use of food and addicted to wine, hated by his house-
hold and detested in every camp save that of the
praetorian guard ; and between him and his brother
there was no resemblance whatever.
Among the public works which he left at Rome
was the notable Bath named after himself,1 the cella
soliaris 2 of which, so the architects declare, cannot be
reproduced in the way in which it was built by him .
For it is said that the whole vaulting rested on
gratings of bronze or copper, placed underneath it,
but such is its size, that those who are versed in
mechanics declare that it could not have been built
in this way. And he left a portico, too, named after
his father3 and intended to contain a record of his
achievements, both his triumphs and his wars. He
himself assumed the name Caracallus, taken from the
garment reaching down to the heels,4 which he gave
to the populace and which before his time had not
been in vogue. Hence at this present day, too, the
hooded cloaks of this kind, affected especially by the
Roman plebs, are called Antonine. He also con-
structed a new street 5 at the side of his bath (that is
to say, the Antonine Bath), one more beautiful than
which it were hard to find among all the streets of
Rome. He brought the cult of Isis to Rome and
built magnificent temples to this goddess everywhere,
celebrating her rites with even greater reverence than
they had ever been celebrated before. In all this,
however, it is a source of wonder to me how it can be
5 Probably the Vicus Sulpicius, a street running across the
Via Appia and forming an approach to the south side of the
Thermae Antoninianae ; see Heliog., xvii. 8.
25
ANTONINUS CARACALLA
videtur, quemadmodum sacra Isidis primum per hunc
Romam venisse dicantur, cum Antoninus Commodus
ita ea celebraverit ut et Anubin portaret et pausas
ederet ; nisi forte iste addidit celebntati, non earn
primus invexit.
12 Corpus eius Antoninorum sepulchre inlatum est,
ut ea sedes reliquias eius acciperet quae nomen
addiderat.
X. Interest scire quemadmodum novercam suam
2luliam uxorem duxisse dicatur. quae cum esset pul-
cherrima et quasi per neglegentiam se maxima corporis
parte nudasset, dixissetque Antoninus, "Vellem, si
liceret/' respondisse fertur, " Si libet, licet, an nescis
3 te imperatorem esse et leges dare, non accipere ? " quo
audito furor inconditus ad effect um criminis roboratus
estnuptiasque eas celebravit quas, si sciret se leges dare
4 vere, solus prohibere debuisset. matrem enim (non alio
dicenda erat nomine) duxit uxorem et ad parricidium
iunxit incestum, si quidem earn matrimonio sociavit
cuius filium nuper occiderat.
5 Non ab re est etiam diasyrticum quiddam in eum
6 dictum addere. nam cum Germanici l et Parthici et
Arabici et Alamannici nomen adscriberet (nam Alam-
1 Oermani P.
1 See Com., ix. 4 and 6; Pesc. Nig., vi. 9.
2 i.e. the Sepulcrum Hadriani ; see Sev., xix. 3 and note.
3 The fabrication of an incestuous relationship between
Caracalla and Julia Domna, and the equally false statement
that Julia was the Emperor's stepmother, appear together in
a definite historical tradition ; see notes to Sev., xviii. 8 and
xx. 2.
4 See note to c. v. 6.
5 See note to c. vi. 5.
6 The cognomen Arabicus is not found on coins !or in official
inscriptions. It does appear, however, in a few provincial
26
ANTONINUS CARACALLA IX. 12— X. 6
said that it was he who first brought the rites of Isis to
Rome, for Antoninus Commodus celebrated them too,
and he even carried about the statue of Anubis and
made all the ritualistic pauses.1 Perhaps, however,
Bassianus merely added to the renown of the goddess
and was not actually the first to bring her to Rome.
His body was laid in the tomb of the Antonines,2
in order that the resting-place which had given him
his name might also receive his remains.
X. It is of interest to know the way in which they
say he married his stepmother Julia.3 She was a very
beautiful woman, and once when she displayed a
considerable part of her person, as it were in careless-
ness, Antoninus said, " I should like to, if I might,"
whereupon, they relate, she replied, "If you wish,
you may ;, are you not aware that you are the emperor
and that you make the laws and do not receive
them ? " By these words his violent passion was
strengthened for the perpetration of a crime, and he
contracted a marriage, which, were he in truth aware
that he made the laws, it were his sole duty to forbid.
For he took to wife his mother (by no other name
should she be called), and to fratricide he added
incest, for he joined to himself in marriage the woman
whose son he had recently slain.
It is not out of place to include a certain gibe that
was uttered at his expense. For when he assumed
the surnames Germanicus,4 Parthicus,5 Arabicus,6 and
Alamannicus 7 (for he conquered the Alamanni too),
inscriptions, mostly of the years 213-214. It was, therefore,
probably not borne officially, or, if so, only for a short time;
see Pauly-Wissowa, Realencycl., ii. 2437.
7 There is no evidence that he ever bore the cognomen
Alamannicus. The following anecdote is told also in Get.,
vi. 6.
27
ANTONINUS CARACALLA
annorum gentem devicerat) Helvius Pertinax, filius
Pertinacis, dicitur ioco dixisse, " Adde, si placet, etiam
Geticus Maximus," quod Getam occiderat fratrem, et
Gothi Getae dicerentur, quos ille, dum ad orientem
transiit, tumultuariis proeliis devicerat.
XI. Occidendi Getae multa prodigia exstiterunt, ut
2 in vita eius exponemus. nam quamvis prior ille e vita
excesserit, nos tamen ordinem secuti sumus, ut qui
et prior natus est et qui prior imperare coeperat,
prior scriberetur.
3 Eo sane tempore quo ab exercitu appellatus est
Augustus vivo patre, quod ille pedibus aeger guber-
nare non posse videretur imperium, contunsis animis
militum et tribunorum Severus dicitur anirno volutasse,
ut et hunc occideret, nisi repugnassent 1 praefecti
4 eius, graves2 viri. aliqui contra dicuiit praefectos
voluisse id fieri, sed Septimium noluisse, ne et severi-
tas illius crudelitatis nomine inquinaretur, et, cum
auctores criminis milites fuerint. adulescens stultae
temeritatis poenas lueret tarn gravis supplicii titulo,
ut a patre videretur occisus.
5 Hie tamen omnium durissimus et, ut uno complecta-
mur verbo, parricida et incestus, patris, matris, fratris
inimicus, a Macrino, qui eum occiderat, timore militum
et maxime praetorianorum inter deos relatus est.
1pugnassent P. 3 grauis P, Peter.
lOet., in. 2-9; iv. 5.
2 See Sev.t xviii. 9-11.
8 His deification at the request of Macrinus is also attested
by Dio, Ixxviii. 9, 2. On coins and inscriptions of the period
of Elagabalus and Alexander he is designated as Divus Magnus
Antoninus.
28
ANTONINUS CARACALLA XI. 1-5
Helvius Pertinax, the son of Pertinax, said to him in
jest, so it is related, "Add to the others, please,
that of Geticus Maximus also " ; for he had slain his
brother Geta, and Getae is a name for the Goths,
whom he conquered, while on his way to the East,
in a series of skirmishes.
XI. Many omens predicting Geta's murder oc-
curred, as we shall relate in his biography.1 For
although Geta was the first to depart from this life,
we shall none the less follow our usual plan, that
the first to be born and the first to begin his rule
shall be the first to be .described.
On that occasion, moreover, when the soldiers
hailed him as Augustus though his father was still
alive,2 because it seemed to them that Severus, now
afflicted with a disease in his feet, could no longer rule
the Empire, Severus, it is said, when the plot of the
soldiers and tribunes was crushed, had thought of
putting him to death ; this, however, was opposed by
the prefects, who were men of great influence. Some,
on the other hand, say that the prefects wished
to have him killed, but Severus refused, for fear that
the severity of the act might be misrepresented as a
piece of mere cruelty, and that, whereas it was in
reality the soldiers who were guilty, the young man
might pay the penalty for an act of rash folly with
the stigma of a punishment so severe — namely, of
seeming to have been put to death by his father.
Nevertheless, this emperor, the most cruel of men,
and, to include all in a single phrase, a fratricide and
committer of incest, the foe of his father, mother
and brother, was raised to the rank of the gods 3 by
Macrinus, his slayer, through fear of the soldiers,
especially the praetorians. He has a temple, he has a
ANTONINUS CARACALLA
6 habet templum, habet Salios, habet sodales Antonin-
ianos, qui Faustinae templum et divale Domen eripuit,
7 certe templum quod ei sub Tauri radicibus fundaverat
maritus, in quo postea filius huius Heliogabalus
Antoninus sibi vel lovi Syrio vel Soli — incertum id
est — templum fecit.
1 This statement is not strictly true; see note to Marc., xv.
4 ; certainly no Salii were ever created in his honour.
ANTONINUS CARACALLA XI. 6-7
board of Salii, he has an Antonine brotherhood,1 he who
himself took from Faustina not only her temple but also
her name as a goddess — that temple, at least, which
her husband had built her in the foot-hills of the
Taurus,2 and in which this man's son Elagabalus
Antoninus afterwards made a shrine, either for him-
self or for the Syrian Jupiter (the matter is uncertain)
or for the Sun.3
2 See Marc., xxvi. 4.
3 See Marc., xxvi. 9, and Heliog., i. 5 f.
ANTONINUS GETA
AELII SPARTIANI
I. Scio, Constantine Auguste, et multos et plement-
iam tuam quaestionem movere posse cur etiam Geta
Antoninus a me tradatur. de cuius priusquam vel vita
vel nece dicam, disseram cur et ipsi Antonino a Severe
2patre sit nomen adpositum. neque enira multa in
eius vita dici possunt, qui prius rebus humanis ex-
emptus est quam cum fratre teneret imperium.
Septimius Severus quodam tempore cum consul-
uisset ac petisset ut sibi indicaretur quo esset succes-
sore moriturus, in somniis vidit Antoninum sibi suc-
*cessurum. quare statim ad milites processit et
Bassianum, filium maiorem natu, Marcum Aurelium
5 Antoninum appellavit. quod cum fecisset,1 vel 2
paterna cogitatione vel, ut quidam dicunt, a lulia
uxorecommonitus, quae gnara erat somnii, quod minori
filio hoc facto ipse interclusisset aditum imperandi,
etiam Getam, minorem filium, Antoninum vocari iussit.
quod fecisset P. 2 uel Jordan, Peter1; et P.
1 There is no real evidence for the statement that this name
was given to him ; see note to Sev., x. 5. Tn inscriptions he is
regularly called P. Septimius Geta Nobilissimus Caesar.
3 This is also related in Sev.. x. 4.
S2
ANTONINUS GETA
BY
AELIUS SPARTIANUS
I. I am well aware, Constantine Augustus, that
many besides Your Clemency may raise the question
why I should also write the life of Geta Antoninus.
With regard to this man, before I tell of his life, or
rather of his death, I will set forth the reason why his
father Severus gave to him too the name Antoninus.1
For there is not much to relate in the life of a man
who was removed from human affairs before he could
take the imperial power conjointly with his brother.
Once when Septimius Severus asked about the
future and prayed that it might be revealed to him
who should be his successor when he died, he learned
from a dream that an Antoninus would succeed him.
Whereupon he went at once to the army and gave
Bassianus, the elder of his sons, the name Marcus
Aurelius Antoninus.2 After this, when it was brought
to his mind either by fatherly reflection, or, as some
relate, by Julia his wife, who was skilled in dreams,
that by this action he himself had cut off his younger
son from any chance of reigning, he ordered that
Geta, his younger son, should also receive the name
Antoninus. And so he always gave him this name in
33
ANTONINUS GETA
6itaque semper ab eo in epistulis familiaribus dictus
7 est, cum si forte abesset scriberet, " Salutate An-
toninos filios et successores meos ". sed nihil valuit
patris cautio, nam ei solus ille successit qui primus
Antonini nomen accepit. et haec de Antonini
nomine.
II. Geta autem dictus est vel a patrui nomine vel avi
paterni, de cuius vita et moribus in vita Severi Marius
'2 Maximus primo septenario satis copiose rettulit. fuit
autem Antoninus Geta etiam ob hoc ita dictus quod
in animo habuit Severus, ut omnes deinceps principes,
quemadmodum Augusti, ita etiam Antonini dicerentur,
et quidem l amore Marci, quern fratrem suum semper a
dicebat et cuius philosophiam litterarumque institu-
Stionem semper imitatus est. dicunt aliqui non in
Marci honorem tantum Antonini nomini delatum,
cum id Marcus adoptivum habuerit, sed in eius qui
Pius cognominatus est, Hadriani scilicet successoris,
4 et quidem ob hoc quod Severum ille ad fisci advo-
cationem delegerat ex formulario forensi, cum ad
tantos processus ei patuisset dati ab Antonino primi
Sgradus vel honoris auspicium, simul quod nemo ei
videretur felicior imperator ad commodandum nomen
let quidem Editor ; atque P ; idque Salm., Peter.
2 quern fratrem suum semper Jordan; uelf. s. sem P.
1 See Sev., viii. 10 and note.
2 See Sev.t i. 2 and note.
3 The meaning of septenarius, as used here, is unknown.
4 Cf. Sev., xix. 3.
5 In his inscriptions, however, Severus called himself Divi
Marci Antonini filius ; see note to Sev.t x. 6.
34-
ANTONINUS GETA I. 6— II. 5
letters to members of his household, writing, when-
ever he chanced to be absent from home, "Give
greetings to the Antonines, my sons and successors ".
But all his fatherly care was of no avail, for he was
succeeded by that son alone who had first been given
the name Antoninus. So much about the name
Antoninus.
II. Now Geta was named after either his uncle l or
his paternal grandfather,2 concerning whose life and
habits Marius Maximus has written at sufficient length
in the first section 3 of his Life of Severus. He was
given the surname Antoninus, moreover, because
Severus purposed that every emperor from that time
onward should be called Antoninus, just as they were
called Augustus.4 This he did out of love for Marcus,
whom he always called his brother,5 and whose studies
in philosophy and training in letters he always sought
to imitate. Some say, however, that it was not only
in honour of Marcus that Severus gave his son the
name Antoninus, since this was Marcus' name by adop-
tion only,6 but also in honour of him who bore the
surname Pius, Hadrian's successor, I mean ; and,
furthermore, that Severus gave it because it was this
emperor who raised him from a pettifogger in the
law-courts to the post of pleader for the privy-purse,7
and the way to great advancement had been opened
up to him by the happy augury of an appointment
by Antoninus to the first step in his career, or rather
his first public office ; and at the same time because
no prince seemed to him more auspicious for lending
6 See Hadr., xxiv. 1 and note.
7 On this office see note to Hadr., xx. 6. On this statement
that it was held by beverus see note to Carac., viii. 3.
35
ANTONINUS GETA
eo principe cuius proprium nomen iam per quattuor
principes cucurrisset.
6 De hoc eodem Severus, gnarus geniturae illius,
cuius, ut plerique Afrorum, peritissimus fuit, dixisse
7 fertur : " Mirum mihi videtur, luvenalis amantissimus,
Geta noster divus futurus, cuius nihil imperiale in
genitura video", erat enim luvenalis praefectus eius
8 praetorii. nee eum fefellit. nam Bassianus, cum eum
occidisset ac vereretur tyrannicam ex parricidio notam
audiretque posse mitigari facinus, si divum fratrem
9 appellaret, dixisse fertur, " Sit divus, dum non sit
vivus ". denique eum inter divos rettulit atque ideo
utcumque rediit cum l fama in gratiam parricida.
III. Natus est Geta Severe et Vitellio consulibus
Mediolani, etsi aliter alii prodiderunt, VI kal. lunias
ex lulia, quam idcirco Severus uxorem duxerat quod
earn in genitura habere compererat ut regis uxor esset,
2 isque privatus sed iam optimi in re publica loci, statim
ut natus est, nuntiatum est ovum gallinam in aula
Speperisse purpureum. quod cum allatum Bassianus
frater eius accepisset et quasi parvulus adplosum ad
terram fregisset, lulia dixisse ioco fertur, " Maledicte
4 parricida, fratrem tuum occidisti." idque quod ioco
1 cum om. in P.
1 Pius, Marcus Aurelius, Lucius Verus, and Commodus.
2Cf. Sev.tiii. 9.
3Flavius Juvenalis, the prefect of the guard, appointed by
Didius Julianus and retained in office by Severus ; see Sev., vi. 5.
4 The play on words in divus, vivus cannot be reproduced.
So far from being deified, Geta underwent damnatio memoriae ;
his statues were overthrown, his name was erased from public
monuments, and coins bearing his effigy were melted down ;
see Dio, Ixxvii. 12, 6 and inscriptions, e.g., Dessau, Ins. Sel.t
458-460.
36
ANTONINUS GETA II. 6— III. 4
his name, than the one whose personal name had now
been borne by four of the emperors.1
With regard to this same Geta, Severus, on learning
his horoscope — a study in which, like most Africans,
he was very proficient2 — is said to have made the
remark : " It seems to me strange, my dear Juvenalis,3
that our Geta is -destined to be a deified emperor,
for in his horoscope I see nothing imperial." Now
Juvenalis was his prefect of the guard. And Severus
was not mistaken. For when Bassianus had killed
Geta and was in fear of being branded as a tyrant
because of his act of fratricide, he was told that his
crime could be mitigated were he to give his brother
the appellation of the Deified ; he then remarked, it
is said, " Let him be deified provided he is not alive ".4
Accordingly, he placed him among the deified emperors
and so came back into favour with a good reputation,
fratricide though he was.
III. Geta was born in the consulship of Severus and
Vitellius on the sixth day before the Kalends of June 27 May,
at Mediolanum 5 — though some have related other- 189
wise. He was the son of Julia, whom Severus married
because he found out that her horoscope showed that
she should be the wife of a king,6 while he was still
only a subject, though he held even then an excellent
place in the state. Immediately after Geta was born
some one announced that a purple egg had been laid
by a hen in the palace. This egg was then brought in,
and Bassianus his brother, seizing it, dashed it upon
the ground, as a child would do, and broke it ; where-
upon Julia, it is said, exclaimed in jest, "Accursed
fratricide, you have killed your brother ". But this,
5 According to Sev., iv. 2, he was born in Rome.
8 Of. Sev., iii. 9.
37
ANTONINUS GETA
dictum est1 Severus altius quam quisquam praesentium
accepit, a circumstantibus autem postea velut divinitus
5 effusum adprobatum est. fuit etiam aliud omen :
nam cum in villa cuiusdam Antonini, plebei hominis,
agnus natus esset, qui vellus in fronte purpureum
haberet, eadem die atque hora qua Geta natus est,
audissetque ille ab haruspice post Severum Antoninum
imperaturum, ac de se ille auguraretur sed tamen
6 talis fati timeret indicium, ferro eum adegit. quod et
ipsum signo fuit Getam ab Antonino interimendum,
7ut postea satis claruit. fuit etiam aliud omen ingens,
ut postea2 exitus docuit, huius facinoris quod evenit :
8 nam cum infantis Getae natalem Severus commendare
vellet, hostiam popa nomine Antoninus percussit.
9 quod tune nee quaesitum nee animadversum, post
vero intellectum est.
IV. Fuit adulescens decorus, moribus asperis, sed
non impius, amorumtractator,3gulosus, cupidusciborum
2 et vini varie conditi. huius illud pueri fertur insigne
quod cum vellet partium diversarum viros Severus
occidere et inter suos diceret, " Hostes vobis eripio,"
consentiretque adeo usque Bassianus, ut eorum etiam
liberos, si sibi consuleret, diceret occidendos, Get?
interrogasse fertur quantus esset inter ficiendorum
Snumerus; cumque dixisset pater, ille interrogavit
" Isti habent parentes, habent propinquos ? " cum re-
1 idque quod ioco dictum est Editor ; idque ioco quod dictum
P ; [idque ioco] quod dictum Peter. 2 so Peter ; ut postea
ingens P. 3 amorum tractator Editor ; anarbore tractator
P; ^anarbo retracta tor Peter.
Especially the partisans of Clodius Albinus ; see Sev., xiii
38
ANTONINUS GETA III. 5— IV. 3
which was said as a jest, Severus took more seriously
than any of those who were present, though afterwards
all who were there testified to it as uttered by divine
inspiration. There was also another omen. For on
the very day and at the very hour when Geta was
born, there was born on the farm of a certain plebeian
named Antoninus, a lamb which had purple wool on
its forehead ; thereupon the owner, learning from a
soothsayer that after Severus an Antoninus should
reign, interpreted the prophecy as referring to himself,
but fearing any indication of so great a destiny, he
thrust a knife in the lamb. And this too was a sign
that Geta should be killed by Antoninus, as became
later abundantly clear. There was, moreover, as was
later shown by the outcome, another important pre-
diction of the crime which indeed came to pass. For
when Severus was making ready to celebrate the
birthday of the infant Geta, the sacrificial victim was
slain by a boy named Antoninus. At the time no
one looked for a hidden meaning in this or com-
mented upon it, but later its importance was under-
stood.
IV. As a youth, he was handsome, brusque in his
manners though not disrespectful, incontinent in love,
gluttonous, and a lover of food and of wine variously
spiced. There is quoted a famous remark of his
in his boyhood ; for when Severus was planning to
kill the men of the opposite factions l and said to
his family, " 1 am ridding you of your enemies,"
Bassianus gave his approval, even declaring that
should he be consulted, their children too should be
slain, but Geta, it is said, asked how large was the
number of those to be put to death. When his
father informed him, he asked again, " Have they
39
ANTONINUS GETA
sponsum esset habere, ait, "Turn plures1 ergo in
icivitate tristes erunt quam laeti, quod vicimus". et
obtinuisset eius sententia nisi Plautianus praefectus
vel luvenalis institissent spe proscriptionum, ex quibus
ditati sunt. his accedebat Bassiani fratris nimia
5 crudelitas. qui cum contenderet et diceret, quasi
ioco quasi serio, omnes cum liberis occidendos partium
diversarum, Geta ei dixisse dicitur, "Tu qui nulli
parcis, potes et fratrem occidere ". quod dictum eius
tune nihil, post vero pro praesagio fuit.
V. Fuit in litteris adsequendis tenax veterum scrip to-
rum, paternarum etiam sententiarum memor, fratri
semper invisus, matri amabilior quam frater, subbalbe
2tamen canorus. vestitus nitidi cupidissimus, ita ut
pater rideret. si quid accepit a parentibus, ad suum
contulit cultum neque quicquam cuipiam dedit.
3 Post Parthicum bellum cum ingenti gloria pater2
floreret, Bassiano participi imperil appellate Geta
quoque Caesaris et Antonini, ut quidam dicunt,
nomen accepit.
4 Familiare illi fuit has quaestiones grammaticis pro-
ponere, ut dicerent singula animalia quomodo vocem
6 emitterent, velut : agni balant, porcelli grunniunt,
1 so Peter ; haberet complures P. 2 pater ius. by Peter ;
om. in P.
1C. Fulvius Plautianus ; see note to Sev., xiv. 5.
2 See c. ii. 7 and note.
8 See Sev., xvi. 4.
40
ANTONINUS GETA IV. 4— V. 5
parents, have they kinsmen ? ' And when answer
was made that they had, he remarked, " Then there
will be more in the state to mourn than to make
merry at our victory." And he would have carried
his point, had not the prefect Plautianus,1 or rather
Juvenalis,2 stood out against him in the hope of
proscriptions, from which they became enriched.
They were also encouraged by the great brutality of
Bassianus. He, in the course of his argument, urged,
half in jest half in earnest, that all those of the
opposite factions be slain together with their children ;
whereupon Geta, it is said, exclaimed, " You, who
spare no one, are capable even of killing your
brother " — a remark which received no attention
then, but afterwards passed for an omen.
V. In his literary studies he held fast to the
ancient writers. He was ever mindful of his father's
sayings, always regarded by his brother with hatred,
more affectionate than his brother toward their
mother, speaking with a stammer though his voice
was melodious. He was very fond of bright clothing
— so much so, in fact, that his father would laugh at
him. Whatever he received from his parents he
used for his own adornment, and he never gave
presents to any.
After the Parthian war, his father, who was then
at the height of his glory and had named Bassianus
partner in the imperial power, gave Geta the name
of Caesar 3 and, according to some, of Antoninus
also.
It was a common practice of his to propound
puzzles to the grammarians, asking them to char-
acterize the cries of the different animals, as for
example : the lamb bleats, the pig squeals, the dove
41
ANTONINUS GETA
palumbes minurriunt, porci grunniunt, ursi saeviunt,
leones rugiunt, leopard! rictant, elephant! barriunt,
ranae coaxant, equi hinniunt, asini rudunt,1 tauri
mugiunt, casque de veteribus adprobare. Sereni
6 Sammonici libros familiarissimos habuit, quos ille ad
7 Antoninum scripsit. habebat etiam istam consuetudi-
nem, ut convivia et maxime prandia per singulas
litteras iuberet scientibus servis, velut in quo erat
8 anser, apruna, anas, item pullus, perdix, pavus, por-
cellus, piscis, perna et quae in earn litteram genera
edulium caderent, et item phasianus, farrata, ficus et
talia. quare comis etiam habebatur in adulescentia.
VI. Occiso eo pars militum quae mcorrupta erat par-
ricidium aegerrime accepit, dicentibus cunctis duobus
se liberis fidem promisisse, duobus servare debere,
clausisque portis diu non est imperator admissus.
2 denique nisi querellis de Geta editis et animis militum
delenitis, inormibus etiam stipendiis datis Romam
3 Bassianus redire non potuit. post hoc denique et
Papinianus et multi alii interempti sunt, qui vel con-
cordiae faverant 2 vel qui partium Getae fuerant, ita ut
utriusque ordinis viri et in balneo et cenantes et in
publico percuterentur, Papinianus ipse securi percus-
sus sit, improbante Bassiano, quod non gladio res
4 peracta sit. ventum denique est usque ad seditionem
urbanicianorum militum, quos quidem non levi auc-
toritate Bassianus compressit, tribune eorum, ut alii
1 rudiunt Peter; ragiunt P. 2/ 'iterant P.
Carac., iv. 4 and note. 3Lit., "wild-boar meat."
8 A variety of duck.
4 Repeated from Carac., ii. 7-8.
6 See Carac. ,iv. "See Carac.. iv. 6 and note.
ANTONINUS GETA V. 6— VI. 4.
coos, the hog grunts, the bear growls, the lion roars,
the leopard snarls, the elephant trumpets, the frog
croaks, the horse neighs, the ass brays, the bull
bellows ; and in proof he would cite the ancient
writers. His favourite books were the works of
Serenus Sammonicus,1 addressed by him to Antoninus.
He was accustomed, moreover, to have skilful slaves
serve meals, and especially dinners, according to a
single letter of the alphabet, as, for instance, one in
which there were goose, gammon,2 and gadwall,3 or,
again, pullet, partridge, peacock, pork, poisson, pig's-
thigh, and other kinds of food beginning with this
letter, or pheasant, farina, figs and so forth. For this
reason he was considered a good comrade, even in his
youth.
VI. After the murder of Geta, those soldiers who
had not been bribed received the news of the fratricide
with anger, and all declared they had sworn allegiance
to both sons and ought to maintain it to both.4 They
then closed the gates of the Camp and for a long
time the Emperor was not admitted. And not until
he had quieted their anger by bitter words about
Geta and by giving them great sums of money, was
Bassianus able to return to Rome. Next, Papinian
and many others besides, who had either desired
concord or had been partisans of Geta, were killed 5 ;
men of both senatorial and equestrian rank were
slain while in the bath, or at table, or in the street,
and Papinian himself was struck down with an axe,
whereupon Bassianus found fault that the business
had not been done with a sword. At last matters
came to the point of a mutiny among the city-
troops 6 ; Bassianus, however, brought them to order
with no light hand, and their tribune was put to death,
43
ANTONINUS GETA
5 dicunt, interfecto, ut alii, relegate, ipse autem tan-
turn timuit, ut loricam sub lato habens clavo etiam
Curiam sit ingressus atque ita rationem facti sui et
Gnecis Geticae reddiderit. quo quidem tempore
Helvius Pertinax, qui postea est ab eodem Bassiano
interemptus, recitanti Faustino1 praetori et dicenti
" Sarmaticus maximus et Parthicus maximus," dixisse
dicitur, "Adde et Geticus maximus," quasi Gothicus.
7 quod dictum altius in pectus Bassiani descendit, ut
postea nece Pertinacis est adprobatum, nee solum
Pertinacis sed et aliorum, ut supra dictum est, passim
8et inique. Helvium autem etiam suspectum habuit
adfectatae tyrann dis, quod esset in amore omnium et
films Pertinacis imperatoris. quae res nulli facile
private satis tuta est.
V 1 1. Funus Getae accuratius fuisse dicitur quam eius
2 qui fratri videretur occisus. inlatusque est maiorum
sepulchro, hoc est Severi, quod est in Appia Via eunti-
bus ad portam dextra, specie Septizonii exstructum,
quod sibi ille vivus ornaverat.
3 Occidere voluit et matrem Getae, novercam suam,
quod fratrem lugeret, et mulieres, quas post reditum
4 de Curia flentes repperit. fuit praeterea eius inmani-
tatis Antoninus, ut iis praecipue blandiretur quos ad
lfaustum P.
Carac., ii. 9-11.
3 See Carac., iv. 8.
3 This cognomen was never borne by Caracalla. For the pun
on Geticus and Gothicus see Carac., x. 6.
4 The biographer has confused the Sepulchrum Hadriani,
where the Antonines and Severus (and later Caracalla) were
buried (see Sev., xix. 3 and Carac., ix. 12), with the Septizonium
built by Severus on the Palatine Hill, facing the Via Appia
(see Sev., xix. 5).
44
ANTONINUS GETA VI. 5— VII. 4
as some relate, or, as others, sent into exile. Yet
Bassianus himself was in such fear that he entered the
Senate-house wearing a cuirass under his broad-striped
tunic and thus clad rendered an account of his actions
and of the death of Geta.1 It was at this time, too,
it is said, that Helvius Pertinax, the son of Pertinax,
afterwards killed by Bassianus,2 remarked to the
praetor Faustinus, who was reading aloud and had
uttered the titles Sarmaticus Maximus 3 and Parthicus
Maximus, " Add to these also Geticus Maximus," that
is to say, Gothicus. This remark sank deep into the
heart of Bassianus, as was afterwards proved by his
murder of Pertinax, and not of Pertinax alone, but,
as we have said before, of many others as well, far
and wide and with utter injustice. He suspected
Helvius, moreover, of aspiring to the imperial office,
merely because he was loved by all and was the son
of Pertinax the Emperor — a combination none too
safe for any man content to remain a commoner.
VII. The funeral of Geta was too splendid, it is
said, for a man supposed to have been killed by his
brother. He was laid in the tomb of his ancestors,
of Severus, that is, on the Via Appia at the right as
you go to the gate 4 ; it was constructed after the
manner of the Septizonium, which Severus during his
life had embellished for himself.
Antoninus also planned to slay Geta's mother, his
own step-mother,5 because she mourned for his
brother, and with her the women whom on his
return from the Senate-house he found in tears. He
was, moreover, so cruel that he lavished his favours
particularly on those whom he had destined for death,
8 See note to Carac., x. 1.
45
ANTONINUS GETA
necem destinabat, ut eius magis blandimentum
Stimeretur quam iracundia. mirum sane omnibus
videbatur quod mortem Getae totiens etiam ipse fleret
quotiens nominis eius mentio fieret, quotiens imago
$ videretur aut statua. varietas autem taiita fuit An-
tonini Bassiani, immo tanta l sitis caedis, ut modo
fautores Getae, modo inimicos occideret, quos fors
obtulisset. quo facto magis Geta desiderabatur.
1 immota P.
ANTONINUS GETA VII. 5-6
so that his favour was viewed with more fear than his
anger. It seemed, indeed, strange to all that he him-
self wept for the death of Geta whenever he heard his
name mentioned or saw his portrait or his statue.
Such, however, was the caprice, or rather the blood-
thirstiness, of Antoninus Bassianus, that he slew, now
the partisans of Geta, and now his enemies, according
as chance threw them in his way. As a result, Geta
was the more regretted.
OPILIUS MACRINUS
IULII CAPITOLINI
I. Vitae illorum principum seu tyrannorum sive
Caesarum qui non diu imperaverunt in obscuro latent,
idcirco quod neque de privata eorum vita digna sunt
quae dicantur, cum omnino ne scirentur quidem, nisi
adspirassent ad imperium, et de imperio, quod non
diu tenuerunt, non multa dici possunt. nos tamen
ex diversis historicis eruta in lucem proferemus, et ea
2quidem quae memoratu digna erunt. non enim est
quisquam qui ! in vita non ad diem quodcumque fecerit.
sed eius qui vitas aliorum scribere orditur officium est
3digna cognitione perscribere. et lunio quidem Cordo
studium fuit eorum imperatorum vitas edere quos
4obscuriores videbat. qui non multum profecit ; nam
et pauca repperit et indigna memoratu, adserens se
minima quaeque persecuturum, quasi vel de Traiano
1 qui ins. by Baehrens and Peter2 ; om. in P.
1 In the manuscripts of the Historia Augusta, Victor, and
Eutropius, the gentile name of Macrinus is regularly spelled
Opilius. On coins and in inscriptions, however, it is invari-
ably given as Opellius, and this is evidently the correct form.
48
OPELLIUS1 MACRINUS
BY
JULIUS CAPITOLINUS
I. The lives of such emperors, usurpers or Caesars,
as held their throne for no long time lie hidden away
in darkness, because, in the first place, there is nothing
in their private lives worth telling, since they would
have remained totally unknown had they not aspired
to the throne ; and, in the second place, not much can
be said about their sovereignty, because they did not
hold it long. None the less, we shall bring forward
what we have discovered in various historical works —
and they shall be facts that are worthy to be related.
For there is no man who has not done something or
other every day of his life ; it is the business of the
biographer, however, to relate only those events that
are worth the knowing. Junius Cordus,2 indeed, was
fond of publishing the lives of those emperors whom
he considered the more obscure. He did not, how-
ever, accomplish much ; for he found but little in-
formation and that not worth noting. He openly
declared that he would search out the most trivial
details, as though, in dealing with a Trajan, a Pius, or
2 On the biographer Aelius Junius Cordus see Introduction
to Vol. i. p. xviii.
49
OPELLIUS MACRINUS
aut Pio aut Marco sciendum sit, quotiens processerit,
quando cibos variaverit et quando vestem mutaverit
Set quos quando promoverit. quae ille omnia exse-
quendo libros mythistoriis replevit talia scribendo,
cum omnino rerum vilium aut nulla scribenda sint
aut nimis pauca, si tamen ex his mores possint anim-
adverti, qui re vera sciendi sunt, sed ex parte, ut ex
ea cetera colligantur.
II. Occiso ergo Antonino Bassiano Opilius Macrinus,
praefectus praetoni eius, qui antea privatas curarat,1
imperium arripuit, humili natus loco et animi atque
oris inverecundi,sequenunc Severum nunc Antoninum,
cum in odio esset omnium et hominum et militum,
2 nuncupavit. statimque ad bellum Parthicum profectus
et iudicandi de se militibus et rumoribus, quibus pre-
3 mebatur, adulescendi potestatem demit ; quamvis
senatus eum imperatorem odio Antonini Bassiani
libenter acceperit, cum in senatu omnibus una vox
4 esset : " Quemvis magis quam parricidam, quemvis
magis quam incestum, quemvis magis quam impurum,
quemvis magis quam interfectorem et senatus et
populi."
5 Et mirum omnibus fortasse videatur, cur Diadume-
lpriuatus cubabat P.
1See Carac., vi. 6 — vii. 2.
2 He was procurator rei privatae (see also c. vii. 1). On
this office see note to Com., xx. 1.
3 So also Dio ; see Ixxviii. 11, 1. On the other hand, there
seems to be no foundation for the insulting remarks said to
have been made about him after his downfall; see c. iv. 1-6.
4 His official name after his accession was M. Opellius
50
OPELLIUS MACRINUS I. 5— II. 5
a Marcus, it should be known how often he went
out walking, when he varied his diet, and when he
changed his clothes, whom he advanced in public life
and at what time. By searching out all this sort of
thing and recording it, he filled his books with
gossip, whereas either nothing at all should be said of
petty matters or certainly very little, and then only
when light can thereby be thrown on character. It
is character, of course, that we really want to know,
but only to a certain extent, that from this the rest
may be inferred.
II. Now after the murder of Antoninus Bassianus,1
Opellius Macrinus, who was his prefect of the guard
and had previously been the steward of his private
property,2 laid hold upon the imperial power. Though
of humble origin 3 and shameless in spirit as well as in
countenance, and though hated by all, both civilians
and soldiers, he nevertheless proclaimed himself now
Severus and now Antoninus.4 Then he set out at
once for the Parthian war 5 and thus gave no oppor-
tunity either for the soldiers to form an opinion of him,
or for the gossip by which he was beset to gain its
full strength. The senators, however, out of hatred
for Antoninus Bassianus, received him as emperor
gladly, and in all the senate there was but the one
cry : "Anyone rather than the fratricide, anyone rather
than the incestuous, anyone rather than the filthy,
anyone rather than the slayer of the senate and
people ! " 6
It may perhaps seem to all a matter for wonder
Severus Macrinus Augustus. He never bore the name An-
toninus.
6 In the summer of 217 ; see c. viii. 3 and note.
"The same attitude is shown in Dio, Ixxviii. 18.
51
OPELLIUS MACRINUS
num filium Macrinus Antoninum 1 voluerit mmcupari,
1 1 1. cum auctor necis Antoninianae fuisse dicatur. de
ipso quae in annales relata sint proferam : vates
Caelestis apud Carthaginem, quae dea 2 repleta solet
vera canere, sub Antonino Pio, cum sciscitante pro-
consule de statu, ut solebat, publico et de suo imperio
futura praediceret, ubi ad principes ventum est, clara
voce numerari iussit quotiens diceret Antoninum,
tuncque adtonitis omnibus Antonini nomen3 octavo
2edidit. sed credentibus cunctis quod octo annis
Antoninus Pius imperaturus esset, et ille transcendit
hunc annorum numerum, et constitit apud credentes
vel tune vel postea per vatem aliud designatum.
3 denique adnumeratis omnibus qui Antonini appellati
4sunt is Antoninorum numerus invenitur. enimvero
Pius primus, Marcus secundus, Verus tertius, Corn-
modus quartus, quintus Caracallus, sextus Geta,
Septimus Diadumenus, octavus Heliogabalus Antonini
5 fuere. nee inter Antoninos referendi sunt duo Gor-
diani, qui aut 4 praenomen tantum Antoninorum
habuerunt aut etiam Antonii dicti sunt non Antonini.
6 inde est quod se et Severus Antoninum vocavit, ut
plurimi ferunt,5 et Pertinax et lulianus et idem
7 Macrinus ; et ab ipsis Antoninis, qui veri successores
aso Cas. and Peter; Diadumenus filius Macrini Antoninus
P. 2dea Peter2; de P. 3 nomen Augusti P ; Augusti
del. by Jordan and Peter. 4 qui aut Egnatius ; aut qui P ;
ut qui Peter. 5 et plurimi fuerunt P.
1He is called Diadumenus in the Historia Augusta and by
Eutropius and Victor. On coins and in inscriptions, however,
and in Dio and Herodian his name is invariably given as
Diadumenianus, and this is evidently the correct form.
After his father's accession to power he was officially called
M. Opellius Antoninus Diadumenianus Caesar.
52
OPELLIUS MACRINUS III. 1-7
that Macrinus wished his son Diadumenianus l to re-
ceive the name Antoninus, when he himself, it was
reported, was responsible for the murder of an An-
toninus. III. Concerning this matter I will relate what
has been recorded in books of history. The priestess
of Caelestis 2 at Carthage was wont, when inspired by
the goddess, to predict the truth. Now once, in the
reign of Antoninus Pius, she was foretelling the future
to the proconsul, who, according to custom, was con-
sulting about the public welfare as well as his own
hopes of power, and when she came to the emperors
she bade him in a loud voice count the number of
times she said Antoninus. Then, to the amazement
of all, she uttered the name Antoninus eight times.
All interpreted this to mean that Antoninus Pius
would reign for eight years, but he exceeded this
number and those who had faith in the priestess,
either then or later, felt sure that her words had some
different meaning. And in fact, if all who bore the
name Antoninus be counted, this will be found to be
their number. For Pius first, Marcus second, Verus
third, Commodus fourth, Caracalla fifth, Geta sixth,
Diadumenianus seventh. Elagabalus eighth — all bore
the name Antoninus ; while the two Gordians, on the
other hand, must not be placed among the Antonini,
for they either had only their praenomeu or were
called Antonii, not Antonini.3 Hence it came about
that Severus called himself Antoninus, as most writers
relate, and Pertinax too and Julianus, and likewise
Macrinus 4 ; and the Antonines themselves, who were
the true successors of Antoninus, used this name
2 See Pert., iv. 2 and note.
3 See Gord., iv. 7 and note.
4 None of these four ever assumed the name Antoninus.
53
OPELLIUS MACRINUS
Antonini fuerunt, hoc nomen magis quam proprium
8 retentum est. haec alii, sed alii idcirco Antoninura
Diadumenum a Macrino patre appellatum ferunt,
ut suspicio a Macrino interfecti Antonini militibus
9 tolleretur. alii vero tantum desiderium nominis huins
fuisse dicunt, ut, nisi populus et milites Antonini
nomen audirent, imperatorium non putarent.
IV. Et de Macrino quidem in senatu multis, quando
nuntiatum est Variura Heliogabalum imperare,1 cum
iam Caesarem Alexandrum senatus dixisset, ea dicta
sunt ut 2 appareat ignobilem^sordidum, spurcum fuisse.
2verba denique Aurelii Victoria, cui Pinio cognomen
3 erat, haec fuerunt : Macrinum libertinum, hominem
prostibulum, servilibus officiis occupatum in domo im-
peratoria, venali fide, vita sordida sub Commodo, a
Severo remotum etiam a miserrimis officiis relegatum-
que in Africam, ubi, ut infamiam damnationis tegeret,
lectioni operam dedisse, egisse causulas, declamasse,
4 ius 4 postremo dixisse ; donatum autem anulis aureis,
patrocinante sibi conliberto suo Festo, advocatum fisci
Sfactum sub Vero Antonino. sed et haec dubia
ponuntur, et alia dicuntur ab aliis, quae ipsa quoque
non tacebimus. nam plerique gladiatoriam pugnam
1 imperare Peter ; imperatorem P. 2 ut om. in P.
*nobilemP. *inP.
1 See c. ix-x.
2 On these statements see note to c. ii. 1.
3 Otherwise unknown and perhaps wholly fictitious.
4 Worn by members of the equestrian order as a sign of
their rank.
8 This is, of course, not Lucius Verus, for Macrinus was not
born until 164; either Commodus or Severus must be meant.
Such an error in the name of the emperor is a fair indication
of the value of the whole passage.
54
OPELLIUS MACRINUS III. 8— IV. 5
rather than their own personal names. Thus some
have related it. Others, however, assert that
Macrinus gave the name Antoninus to his son
Diadumenianus merely for the purpose of removing
the soldiers' suspicion that he himself had slain
Antoninus. Others, again, declare that so great was
the love for this name that the people and soldiers
would not deem a man worthy of the imperial power
did they not hear him called by the name Antoninus.
IV. Now with regard to Macrinus himself, many of
the senators, when the news had been brought that
Varius Elagabalus was emperor,1 and when the
senate had hailed Alexander as Caesar, related such
things as to make it clear that he was ignoble, low,
and base. In fact, such statements 2 as these were
made by Aurelius Victor, surnamed Pinius 3 : that
Macrinus under the reign of Commodus was a freed-
man and a public prostitute, engaged in servile tasks
about the imperial palace ; that his honour could be
purchased and his manner of life was base ; that
Severus had even dismissed him from his wretched
duties and banished him to Africa, where, in order to
conceal the disgrace of his condemnation, he devoted
himself to reading, pleaded minor cases, engaged
in declamation, and finally administered the law ;
further, that through the support of his fellow-freed-
man Festus, he was presented with the golden ring,4
and under Verus Antoninus 5 was made pleader for
the privy-purse.6 But not only are these statements
reported as doubtful, but others are made by various
authors, which also we will not fail to relate. For
many have said that he fought in a gladiatorial
6 See note to Hadr., rx. 6.
55
OPELLIUS MACRINUS
eum exhibuisse dixerunt et accepta rudi ad Africam
6 isse ; venatorem primo, post etiam tabellionem fuisse,
deinceps advocatum fuisse fisci. ex quo officio ad
yamplissima quaeque pervenit. dein cum esset prae-
fectus praetorii collega ablegato, Antoninum Cara-
callum imperatorem suum interemit tanta factione,1
8ut ab eo non videretur occisus. nam stratore eius
redempto et spe ingenti proposita, id egit ut quasi
militaribus insidiis, quod vel ob parricidium vel in-
cestum 2 displiceret, interemptus diceretur.
V. Statim denique arripuit imperium filio Diadu-
meno in participatum adscito, quern continue, ut
2 diximus, Antoninum appellari a militibus iussit. dein
corpus Antonini Romam remisit, sepulchris maiorum
3 inferendum. mandavit collegae dudum suo praefecto
praetorio, ut munus suum curaret ac praecipue Anto-
ninum honorabiliter sepeliret ducto funere regio, quod
sciebat ob vestimenta populo congiaria data multum
4 Antoninum a plebe dilectum. adcedebat etiam illud,
quod militarem motum timebat, ne eo interveniente
suum impediretur imperium, quod raptum ierat, sed
quasi invitus acceperat ; ut sunt homines, qui ad ea
1 factions P, Petschenig; fictione Peter. *uel ne inces-
turn P.
1 Given to a gladiator when honourably discharged.
2 See Carac., vi. 6 — vii. 2.
3 See Carac., x. 1 and note. 4See Carac., ix. 12.
50clatinius Adventus. Macrinus made him a member of
the senate, appointed him prefect of the city for a short time,
and finally had him elected consul with himself for 218 ; see
Dio, Ixxviii. 14. 2-4. The statement of § 5 that Adventus
would not have been unwilling to take the imperial power is
also made by Dio ; Herodian, on the other hand, records
(iv. 14, 1) that the soldiers offered it to him but he refused it.
56
OPELLIUS MACRINUS IV. 6— V. 4
combat, received the honorary staff,1 and then went
to Africa ; that he was first of all a huntsman in the
arena, then a notary, and after that a pleader for the
privy-purse — an office from which he was advanced
to the very highest honours. Then, when prefect of
the guard, after his colleague was banished, he slew
his emperor, Antoninus Caracalla,2 employing such
treachery that it did not appear that the Emperor
had been slain by him. For by bribing the imperial
equerry and holding out great hopes, he caused the
report to spread that the Emperor was killed by a
conspiracy of the soldiers, because he had incurred
their displeasure through his fratricide or his incest.3
V. Then he seized the imperial power at once and
advanced his son Diadumenianus to a share in it,
immediately ordering the soldiers, as we have said
before, to give him the name Antoninus. Next, he
sent back Antoninus' body to Rome to be laid in the
tomb of his forefathers.4 He charged the prefect of
the guard,5 formerly his colleague, to perform the
duties of his office, and particularly to bury Antoninus
with all honour, providing a funeral train worthy of
a monarch ; for he knew that Antoninus had been
greatly beloved by the people because of the
garments which he had presented as gifts to the
plebs.6 There was also the further reason, that he
dreaded a soldiers' uprising, fearing that if this oc-
curred he might be barred from the power, which he
had purposed to seize but had accepted with a show
of reluctance. Such, indeed, is the way of men, for
they say that they are forced to accept what they
get for themselves, even through crime. Macrinus
6 See Carac., ix. 7-8.
57
OPELLIUS MACRINUS
6 se cogi dicunt quae vel sceleribus comparant. timuit
autem etiam collegam, ne et ipse imperare cuperet,
sperantibus cunctis, quod, si unius numeri concessus
accederet, neque ille recusaret, et omnes cupidissime
id facerent odio Macrini vel propter vitam improbam
vel propter ignobilitatem, cum omnes superiores
6nobiles fuissent imperatores. infulsit praeterea in
nomen Severi se, cum illius nulla cognatione tangere-
7 tur. unde iocus exstitit, " Sic Macrinus est Severus
quomodo Diadumenus Antoninus." statim tamen ad
delendum militum motum stipendium et legioiiariis
et praetorian is dedit solito uberius, utpote qui extenu-
8 are cuperet imperatoris occisi crimen. profuitque
pecunia, ut solet, cui innocentia prodesse non poterat.
re tent us est enim aliquanto tempore in imperio homo
vitiorum omnium.
9 Ad senatum dein litteras misit de morte Antonini,
divum ilium appellans excusansque se et iurans quod
de caede illius nescierit. ita sceleri suo more hominum
perditorum iunxit periurium, a quo incipere decuit
hominem improbum.1
VI. Cum ad senatum scriberet interest 2 scire cuius-
modi oratio fuerit qua se excusavit, ut et impudentia
hominis noscatur et sacrilegium, a quo initium sumpsit
1 a quo . . . improbum del. by Peter. 2 So Gas. and
Jordan; cum ad senatum scriberet. Interest Peter.
1 See c. ii. 1 and note.
2 See Dio, Ixxviii. 19. 2. The language of Dio is obscure,
but he seems to say that when the name Antoninus was be-
stowed on Diadumenianus, Macrinus gave each soldier a
second donative of 3000 sesterces, indicating that he had
presented the same sum to them on his accession. Entirely
different figures are given in the fictitious speech in Diad.t
ii. 1.
58
OPELLIUS MACRINUS V. 5— VI. 1
moreover, feared also his colleague, lest he too might
desire to rule ; for all hoped that he would, and,
had he received the support of a single company
of soldiers, he himself would not have been un-
willing. All, indeed, would most gladly have had
him because of their hatred for Macrinus on account
of his evil life or his humble origin, for all former
emperors had been noble in birth. Furthermore, he
emblazoned himself with the name of Severus,1
although not connected with him by any tie of kin.
Hence arose the jest, " Macrinus is as much a Severus
as Diadumenianus is an Antoninus". Nevertheless,
in order to prevent an uprising among the soldiers,
he at once presented a donative 2 to both the legion-
aries and the praetorians, rewarding them more
liberally than was customary, and as a man would
who sought to mitigate the crime of having slain
the emperor. Thus did money, as often happens,
avail a man whom innocence could not have availed.
For Macrinus kept himself in power for some time,
though addicted to every kind of evil.3
He then sent the senate a letter relating the
death of Antoninus, in which he gave him the title
of the Deified, at the same time clearing himself of
guilt and swearing that he knew nothing of the
murder. Thus to his crime (as is the manner of evil
men) he added perjury — an act with which it well
became a scoundrel to begin.
VI. It is of interest to know what manner of
oration that was in which he cleared himself when
writing to the senate, for thus his shamelessness may
be understood, and the sacrilege with which this evil
3 There seems to be no ground for this statement.
OPELLIUS MACRINUS
2improbus imperator. capita ex oratione Macrini et
Diadumeni imperatorum : " Vellemus, patres con-
scripti, et incolumi Antonino nostro et revecti cum
triumpho vestram Clementiam videre. tune demum
enim florente re publica et omnes felices essemus, et
sub eo principe viveremus quern nobis Antoninorum
3 loco di dederant. verum quia id e venire per tumultum
militarem non potuit, nuntiamus primum quid de
4 nobis exercitus fecerit, dein honores divinos, quod
primum faciendum est, decernimus ei viro in cuius
verba iuravimus, cum exercitus ultorem caedis Bassiani
neminem digniorem praefecto eius putavit, cui et ipse
utique vindicandam factionem mandasset, si vivus
5 deprendere potirsset." et infra : " Detulerunt ad me
imperium, cuius ego, patres conscripti, interim tutelam
recepi, tenebo regimen, si et vobis placuerit quod
militibus placuit, quibus iam et stipendium et omnia
Simperatorio more iussi." item infra: " Diadumenum
filium meum vobis notum et imperio miles donavit et
nomine, Antoninum videlicet appellans, ut cohones-
7 tetur l prius nomine, sic etiam regni honore. quod vos,
patres conscripti, bono faustoque omine adprobetis
petimus, ne vobis desit Antoninorum nomen, quod
1 cohonestetur Jordon, Petschenig; quo honestetur P;
cohonestaretur Peter.
1 This speech is, of course, wholly fictitious ; see Intro, to Vol.
i. p. xix f. An altogether different version, probably equally
fictitious, is given in Herodian, v. 1.
60
OPELLIUS MACRINUS VI. 2-7
emperor began his reign. Passages from the speech
of the Emperors Macrinus and Diaclumenianus l :
" We could have wished, O Conscript Fathers, to be-
hold Your Clemency, with our beloved Antoninus
safe and riding back in triumph. For then indeed
would the state be happy and all of us be joyous,
were we under the rule of an emperor whom the
gods had given us in the place of the Antonines. But
inasmuch as an uprising of the soldiers has prevented
this from coming to pass, we would inform you, in
the first place, of what the army has done concerning
ourselves, and, in the second, we decree for him to
whom we swore our allegiance the honours of a god,
as is indeed our first duty. For the army has deemed
no one a more worthy avenger of the murder of
Bassianus than his own prefect, whom he himself
would certainly have charged with the punishing of
the conspiracy, could it have been in his power to
detect it while yet alive." And farther on : " They
have offered me the imperial power, O Conscript
Fathers, and for the time being I have accepted its
guardianship, but I will retain its governance only if
you also desire what has been the desire of the
soldiers, to whom I have already ordered a donative
to be given as well as all other things, according to
the custom of emperors". Likewise, farther on:
"To my son Diadumenianus, who is known to you,
the soldiers have given both the imperial power and
the name — for they have called him Antoninus — that
he might be honoured, first with this name, but also
with the office of monarch. And this act we beseech
you, O Conscript Fathers, to approve with all good
and prospering auspices, in order that you may still
have with you the name of the Antonines, which
61
OPELLIUS MACRINUS
8 maxime diligitis." item infra : " Antonino autem
divinos honores et miles decrevit, et nos decernimus
et vos, patres conscripti, ut decernatis, cum possimus
imperatorio iure praecipere, tamen rogamus, dicantes
ei l duas statuas equestres, pedestres 2 duas habitu
militari, sedentes civili habitu duas, item Divo Severo
9 duas triumphales. quae omnia, patres conscripti, vos
impleri iubebitis nobis religiose pro prioribus ambien-
tibus."
VII. Lectis igitur in senatu litteris contra opinionem
omnium et mortem Antonini senatus gratanter accepit
et Opilium Macrinum libertatem publicam curaturum
sperans primum in patricios allegit, novum hominem
2 et qui paulo ante procurator privatae fuisset. eundem,
cum scriba pontificius esset, quos hodie pontifices
minores vocant, pontificem maximum appellavit Pii
3 nomine decreto. diu tamen lectis litteris, cum omnino
4 nemo crederet de Antonini morte, silentium fuit. sed
posteaquam constitit occisum, senatus in eum velut in
tyrannum invectus est. denique statim Macrino et
proconsulare imperium et potestatem tribuniciam
detulerunt.
1 ei Golisch, Peter 2 ; et P, Peter l. 2 pedes P.
li.e. Caracalla ; see Carac., xi. 5 and note.
2 See note to c. ii. 4.
8 See c. ii. 1 and note.
4 See note to Com., xx. 1.
8 This statement is taken directly from Livy, xxii. 57, 3. The
pontifices minores were originally servants of the pontifices.
In the course of time they formed a corporation of their own
and gradually acquired more and more prestige, until, in the
imperial period, their office was one of the most respected of
the priesthoods open to the equestrian order ; see G. Wissowa,
Religion u. Kultus d. Bonier, p. 447.
62
OPELLIUS MACRINUS VI. 8— VII. 4
you so greatly love." Likewise, farther on : " For
Antoninus,1 moreover, both the soldiers have decreed
divine honours and we decree them, and we
request you — though by our power as emperor we
might command you — to decree them also, and we
ourselves shall dedicate to him statues, two on horse-
back, two on foot clad in the garb of a soldier, and
two seated clad in civil garb, and likewise to the
Deified Severus two, clad in the robes of a trium-
phant general. These measures, O Conscript Fathers,
you will order to be carried out in accordance with
our dutiful solicitation in behalf of our predecessors."
VII. So, when this letter had been read to the
senate, contrary to the general expectation the senate
not only received with pleasure the news of Antoninus'
death 2 but expressed the hope that Opellius Macrinus
would be guardian of the public liberty, first of all
enrolling him among the patricians, though he was
a man without ancestry 3 and had been only a short
time before the steward of the emperor's private
property.4 This man, though he had been merely
one of the pontifical clerks (whom they now call the
Minor Pontifices 5), the senate made Pontifex Maxi-
mus,6 decreeing him also the surname Pius.7 Never-
theless, for a long time after the letter was read there
was silence, for no one at all believed the news of
Antoninus' death. But when it was certain that he
was slain, the senate reviled him as a tyrant, and
forthwith offered Macrinus both the proconsular
command and the tribunician power.8
6 This office was held by every emperor.
7 He frequently bears this name in inscriptions. In c. xi.
2, he is said to have refused it.
8 See note to Pius, iv. 7.
63
OPELLIUS MACRINUS
5 Filium sane suum, cum ipse Felicis nomen recepisset,
ut suspicionem occisi a se Antonini removeret, Anto-
6ninum vocavit, Diadumenum antea dictum, quod
quidem nomen etiam Varius Heliogabalus, qui se
Bassiani filium diceret, homo sordidissimus et ex
7 meretrice conceptus, idem postea accepit. denique
versus exstant cuiusdam poetae, quibus ostenditur
Antonini nomen coepisse a Pio et paulatim per Anto-
ninos usque ad sordes ultimas pervenisse, si quidem
solus Marcus nomen illud sanctum vitae genere auxisse
videatur, Verus autem degenerasse, Commodus vero
8 etiam polluisse sacrati nominis reverentiam. iam quid
de Caracallo Antonino, quidve de hoc potest dici ?
postremo etiam quid de Heliogabalo, qui Antoninorum
ultimus in summa impuritate vixisse memoratur ?
VIII. Appellatusigiturimperator, imperiosuscepto1
contra Parthos profectus est magno apparatu, studens
sordes generis et prioris vitae infamiam victoriae magni-
2tudine abolere. sed conflictu habito contra Parthos
defectu legionum, quae ad Varium Heliogabalum con-
fugerant, interemptus est. sed anno amplius imperavit.
Sane cum esset inferior in eo bello quod Antoninus
gesserat, Artabane graviter necem suorum civium
vindicante, primo Macrinus repugnavit ; postea vero
missis legatis petiit pacem, quam libenti animo inter-
* fecto Antonino Parthus concessit. inde cum se
suscepto Editor; sutceptos P;
Peter.
1 So also c. xi. 2. He frequently bears this name in in-
scriptions.
2 Both it and Pius are among the cognomina regularly
borne by Elagabalus.
3 See Heliog., ii. 1-2.
64
OPELLIUS MACRINUS VII. 5— VIII. 4
Now to his son, previously called Diadumenianus,
he gave the name Antoninus (after he had himself
assumed the appellation Felix1) in order to avert the
suspicion of having slain Antoninus. This same
name wasaftewards taken by Varius Elagabalus also,2
who claimed to be the son of Bassianus, a most filthy
creature and the son of a harlot.3 Indeed, there are
still in existence some verses written by a certain
poet, which relate how the name of the Antonines,
which began with Pius, gradually sank from one
Antonine to another to the lowest degradation ; for
Marcus alone by his manner of life exalted that holy
name, while Verus lowered, and Commodus even
profaned the reverence due to the consecrated name.
And what can we say of Caracalla Antoninus, and
what of this youth Diadumenianus ? And finally,
what of Elagabalus, the last of the Antonines, who is
said to have lived in the lowest depths of foulness ?
VIII. And so, having been acclaimed emperor,
Macrinus assumed the imperial power and set out
against the Parthians with a great array,4 eager to
blot out the lowliness of his family and the infamy of
his early life by a magnificent victory. But after
fighting a battle with the Parthians he was killed in
a revolt of the legions, which had deserted to Varius
Elagabalus.5 He reigned, however, for more than a
year.
Though defeated in the war which Antoninus had
waged — for Artabanus exacted a cruel revenge for
the death of his subjects — Macrinus, nevertheless,
at first fought stoutly. But later he sent out envoys
and sued for peace, which, now that Antoninus was
4 See c. ii. 2 and viii. 3 and note. 6 See c. ix.
65
OPELLIUS MACRINUS
Antiochiam recepisset ac luxuriae operam darat,iusta m
causam interficiendi sui praebuit exercitui ac Bassiani,
ut putabatur, filiura sequendi, id est Heliogabalum
Bassianura Varium, qui postea est et Bassianus et
Antoninus appellatus.
IX. Fuit aliqua mulier Maesa sive Varia ex Emesena
urbe, soror luliae uxoris Severi Pertinacis Afri, quae
post mortem Antonini Bassiani ex aulica domo fuerat
expulsa per Macrini superbiam ; cui quidem omnia
2concessit Macrinus, quae diu ilia collegerat. huic
erant duae filiae, Symiamira et Mamaea, quarum
maiori filius erat Heliogabalus, qui 1 et Bassiani et
Antonini nomen accepit, nam Heliogabalum Phoenices
3vocant solem. sed Heliogabalus pulchritudine ac
statura et sacerdotio conspicuus erat ac notus omnibus
hominibus qui ad templum veniebant, militibus prae-
4cipue. his Maesa sive Varia dixit Bassianum filium
esse Antonini, quod paulatim omnibus militibus
lgui Edit, princ. ; om. in P.
lrThis war, begun in the summer of 217, is also mentioned
in c. ii. 2. According to Dio, Ixxviii. 26,2 — 27,2, Macrinug
was defeated at Nisibis in Mesopotamia by the Parthian
king Artabanus, and in 218 surrendered all prisoners and
gave presents to Artabanus amounting to 200 million sesterces.
The account of the battle and the ensuing negotiations, as
given by Herodian (iv. 15), is as non-committal as that of the
biography. According to Dio, Ixxviii. 27, 3, the senate, on
the receipt of Macrinus' account of the battle, voted a suppli-
catio and conferred on him the cognomen Parthicus — which
he refused to accept. Coins were also issued with the legend
Victoria Parthica ; see Cohen, iv.2 pp. 303-304, nos. 133-141.
66
OPELLIUS MACRINUS IX. 1-4
slain, the Parthian granted readily.1 Thereupon he
proceeded to Antioch and gave himself over to luxury
and thus furnished the army just grounds for putting
him to death and taking up the cause of the supposed
son of Bassianus, Elagabalus Bassianus Varius, after-
wards called both Bassianus and Antoninus.2
IX. Now there was a certain woman of the city of
Emesa,3 called Maesa 4 or Varia ; she was the sister
of Julia, the wife of Severus Pertinax the African,5
and after the death of Antoninus Bassianus she had
been expelled from her home in the palace through
the arrogance of Macrinus — though Macrinus did
grant to her all her possessions which she had gathered
together during a long period. This woman had
two daughters, Symiamira 6 and Mamaea,7 the elder
of whom was the mother of Elagabalus ; he assumed
the names Bassianus and Antoninus, for the Phoeni-
cians give the name Elagabalus to the Sun.8 Elaga-
balus, moreover, was notable for his beauty and
stature and for the priesthood which he held, and he
was well known to all who frequented the temple,
and particularly to the soldiers. To these, Maesa,
or Varia as she was also called, declared that this
Bassianus was the son of Antoninus, and this was
2 On his names see note to Heliog., i. 1.
3 In central Syria, on the Orontes. It is now called Horns.
4 Julia Maesa, the daughter of Bassianus, the high-priest
of the Sun-god worshipped at Emesa. There is no evidence
that she ever bore the name Varia. Her husband was Julius
Avitus.
6 i.e., Septimius Severus.
6 For her name see note to Heliog., ii. 1.
7 Julia Mamaea, the mother of Severus Alexander ; see
note to Heliog., v. 1.
8 See note to Heliog., i. 5.
67
OPELLIUS MACRINUS
5 innotuit. erat praeterea Maesa ipsa ditissima, ex quo
etiam Heliogabalus luxuriosissimus. qua promittente
6 militibus legiones abductae sunt a Macrino. suscepta
enim ilia noctu in oppidum cum suis, nepos eius
Antoninus appellatus est imperil delatis iiisignibus.
X. Haec ubi sunt Macrino apud Antiochiam posito
nuntiata, miratus audaciam muliebrem, simul etiam
contemnens, lulianum praefectum ad obsidendos eos
2 cum legionibus misit. quibus cum Antoninus ostende-
retur, miro amore in eum omnibus inclinatis occiso
3 luliano praefecto ad eum omnes transierunt. dein
parte exercitus coniuncta, venit contra Macrinum
Antoninus contra se festinantem, commissoque proelio
Macrinus est victus proditione militum eius et amore
Antonini. fugiens sane Macrinus cum paucis et filio
in vico quodam Bithyniae occisus est cum Diadumeno,
ablatumque eius caput est et ad Antoninum perlatum.
4 Sciendum praeterea quod Caesar fuisse dicitur non
1The Third Legion, Gallica, which was encamped near
Emesa; see Herodian, v. 3, 9. The following account of the
revolution against Macrinus led by Maesa agrees with the
detailed and reasonable narrative of Herodian and tne frag-
ments of Dio (Ixxviii. 31-38). It is the only portion of this
biography that has any historical value. On Maesa's claim
that her grandson was a natural son of Caracalla see note to
Heliog., i. 1.
2 i.e., the camp of the Third Legion.
3 Ulpius Julianus, the prefect of the guard.
4 At a village 180 stadia from Antioch, on the 8th June,
218, according to Dio, Ixxviii. 37, 3 ; 39, 1. Both Dio and
Herodian relate that Macrinus fled from the field before the
battle was finished.
5 Macrinus was captured at Chalcedon on the Bosphorus
and put to death on the journey back to Antioch. He had
sent Diadumsnianus to the Parthian king, but the boy was
captured on the way and killed ; see Dio, Ixxviii. 40, 1.
68
OPELLIUS MACRINUS IX. 5— X. 4
gradually made known to all the soldiers.1 Maesa
herself, furthermore, was very rich (whence also
Elagabalus was most wasteful of money), and through
her promises to the soldiers the legions were per-
suaded to desert Macrinus. For after she and her
household had been received into the town 2 by night,
her grandson was hailed as Antoninus and presented
with the imperial insignia.
X. When the news of this was brought to Macrinus,
then encamped near Antioch, marvelling at the
audacity of the women and at the same time regard-
ing them with contempt, he sent Julianus the prefect3
with the legions to lay siege to them. But when
Antoninus was shown to these troops, all turned to
him in wonderful affection, and, killing Julianus the
prefect, they all went over to him. Then, having a
part of the army 011 his side, Antoninus marched
against Macrinus, who was hastening to meet him.
A battle was then fought,4 in which, as a result of
the soldiers' treachery to him and their love for
Antoninus, Macrinus was defeated. He did, indeed,
escape from the battle together with his son and a
few others, but he and Diadumenianus were after-
wards slain in a certain village of Bithynia,5 and his
head was cut off and carried to Antoninus.
It should be recorded, furthermore, that the boy
Diadumenianus is said to have been made merely
Caesar and not Augustus,6 for many have related
"This statement is technically correct, for the title of
Augustus was never conferred on him officially. On coins of
Antioch, however, he has the titles of AvroKparup (Imperator)
and 2e£aoWs (Augustus) ; see Eckhel, Doctrina Numorum,
vii. p. 242. He was created Imperator by his father after the
defeat of Julianus ; see Dio, Ixxviii. 34, 2.
69
OPELLIUS MACRINUS
Augustus Diadumenus puer, quern plerique pari fuisse
6 cum patre imperio tradiderunt. occisus est etiam
nlius, cui hoc solum attulit imperium, ut interficeretur
6 a milite. non enim aliquid dignum in eius vita erit
quod dicatur, praeter hoc quod Antoninorum nomini
est velut nothus adpositus.
XI. Fuit tamen in vita imperatoria paulo rigidior et
austerior, sperans se ante acta omnia posse oblivion!
dare, cum ipsa severitas illius occasionem reprehen-
2dendi et lacerandi eius aperiret. nam et Severum se
et Pertinacem voluerat nuncupari, quae duo illi
asperitatis nomina videbantur. et cum ilium senatus
Pium ac Felicem nuncupasset, Felicis nomen recepit,
SPii habere noluit. unde in eum epigramma non
inlautum Graeci cuiusdana poetae videtur exstare,
quod Latine hac sententia continetur :
4 Histrio iam senior turpis gravis asper iniquus
impius et felix sic simul esse cupit,
ut nolit pius esse, velit tamen esse beatus,
quod natura negat, nee recipit 1 ratio,
nam pius et felix poterat dicique viderique,
impius2 infelix est, erit3 ille sibi.
6hos versus nescio qui de Latinis 4 iuxta eos qui Graeci
3 neget . . . recepit P. 2 impius Baehrens ; imperium P,
Peter. sesteteritP. *de Latinis Peter2; delatis P;
Latinos Peter1.
1 He never bore the name Pertinax.
2 See c. vii. 2 and 5 and notes.
70
OPELLIUS MACRINUS X. 5— XI. 5
that he had equal power with his father. The son
also was slain, having gotten from his power only
this — that he should be killed by the soldiery. For
in his life there will be found nothing worthy of
being related, save that he was annexed, as a sort of
bastard, to the name of the Antonines.
XI. Macrinus, in his life as emperor, was, in spite
of all, rather rigid and stern, thinking that so he
could bury in oblivion all his previous career, though
in fact this very sternness of his presented an oppor-
tunity for criticising and attacking him. For he
wished to bear the names Severus and Pertinax,1
both of which seemed to him to connote harshness,
and when the senate conferred on him the names
Pius and Felix, he accepted the name of Felix but
refused that of Pius.2 This refusal, it seems, was
the cause of an epigram against him, written by a
certain Greek poet and not without charm, which
has been rendered into Latin in the following vein :
"Play-actor aged and sordid, oppressive, cruel, and
wicked,
Blest and unrighteous at once — that was the thing
he would be.
Righteous he wished not to be, but yet would gladly
be happy ;
But this which nature denies, reason will not allow.
Righteous and blessed together he might have
appeared and been surnamed,
Unrighteous, unblessed too, now and forever is
he."
These verses some Latin writer or other displayed
in the Forum together with those which had been
71
OPELLIUS MACRINUS
erant propositi in foro posuit. quibus acceptis Ma-
crinus his versibus respondisse fertur,
6 Si talem Graium tetulissent fata poetam,
qualis Latinus gabalus iste fuit,
nil populus nosset, nil nosset curia, mango
nullus scripsisset carmina taetra mihi.
7 his versibus Macrinus longe peioribus, quam illi Latini
sunt, respondisse se credidit, sed non minus risui est
habitus quam poeta ille qui de Graeco Latine conatus l
est scribere.
XII. Fuit igitur superbus et sanguinarius et volens
militariter imperare, incusans quin etiam superiorum
temporum disciplinam ac solum Severum prae ceteris
2laudaiis. nam et in crucem milites tulit et servilibus
suppliciis semper adfecit et, cum seditiones militares
pateretur, milites saepius decimavit, aliquando etiam
centesimavit, quod verbum proprium ipsius est, cum se
clementem diceret, quando eos centesimaret qui digni
3 essent decimatione atque vicensimatione. longum est
eius crudelitates omnes aperire, attamen unam osten-
dam non magnam, ut ipse credebat, sed omnibus tyran-
4nicis inmanitatibus tristiorem. cum quidam milites
ancillam hospitis iam diu pravi pudoris adfectassent,
idque2 per quendam frumentarium ille didicisset,
1 conatus Peter ; coactus P.
3 so Salm. and Peter ; pudore suffectassent atque P corr.
1 See note to Hadr., xi. 4.
72
OPELLIUS MACRINUS XI. 6— XII. 4
published in Greek. On hearing them, Macrinus, it
is said, replied in the following lines :
" Had but the Fates made the Grecian as wretched
a poet as this one,
Latin composer of verse, gallows-bird aping a bard,
Naught had the populace learned and naught learned
the senate ; no huckster
Ever had tried to compose scurrilous verses on
me."
In these lines, which are much worse even than the
other Latin verses, Macrinus believed that he had
made adequate reply, but he became no less of a
laughing-stock than the poet who tried to translate
from the Greek into Latin.
XII. Macrinus, then, was arrogant and bloodthirsty
and desirous of ruling in military fashion. He found
fault even with the discipline of former times and
lauded Severus alone above all others. For he even
crucified soldiers and always used the punishments
meted out to slaves, and when he had to deal with a
mutiny among the troops, he usually decimated the
soldiers — but sometimes he only centimated them.
This last was an expression of his own, for he used to
say that he was merciful in putting to death only one
in a hundred, whereas they deserved to have one in
ten or one in twenty put to death. It would be too
long to relate all his acts of brutality, but neverthe-
less I will describe one, no great one in his belief,
yet one which was more distressing than all his
tyrannical cruelties. There were some soldiers who
had had intercourse with their host's maid-servant,
who for some time had led a life of ill -repute.
Learning of their offence through one of his spies,1 he
73
OPELLIUS MACRINUS
5adduci eos iussit interrogavitque utrum esset factum.
quod cum constitisset, duos boves mirae magnitudinis
vivos subito aperiri iussit atque his singulos milites
inseri capitibus, ut secum conloqui possent, exsertis ;
itaque poena hos adfecit, cum ne adulteris quidem
talia apud maiores vel sui temporis essent constituta
6 supplicia. pugnavit tamen et contra Parthos et contra
Armenios et contra Arabas, quos Eudaemones vocant,
non minus fortiter quam feliciter.
7 Tribunum, qui excubias deseri passus est, carpento
rotali subteradnexum per totum iter vivum atque
Sexanimum traxit. reddidit etiam Mezentii supplic-
ium, quo ille vivos mortuis inligabat et ad mortem
9cogebat longa tabe confectos. unde etiam in Circo,
cum favor publicus in Diadumenum se proseruisset,
adclamatum :
" Egregius forma iuvenis,"
" cui pater baud Mezentius esset."
10 vivos etiam homines parietibus inclusit et struxit.
adulterii reos semper vivos simul incendit iunctis
corporibus. servos qui dominis fugissent reppertos
11 ad gladium ludi deputavit. delatores, si non proba-
1 See c. viii. 3.
2 Tiridates, the claimant to the Armenian throne, went
through the usual form of homage and received the diadem
from Macrinus; see Dio, Ixxviii. 27, 4.
3 Nothing is known of any campaign in Arab a Felix.
4 The mythical king of Caere in Etruria, who fought with
Turnus against Aeneas. For the punishment here described
see Vergil, Aeneid, viii. 485-488.
8 The first half-line is from Aeneid, xii. 275, where the
phrase is used of an Arcadian killed by Tolumnius ; the second
describes Lausus, son of Mezentius, and is taken from Aeneid,
vii. 654.
74
OPELLIUS MACRINUS XII. 5-1 1
commanded them to be brought before him and
questioned them as to whether it were really true.
When their guilt was proved, he gave orders that two
oxen of extraordinary size should be cut open rapidly
while still alive, and that the soldiers should be thrust
one into each, with their heads protruding so that they
could talk to each other. In this way he inflicted
punishment on them, though neither our ancestors
nor the men of his own time ever ordained any such
penalty, even for those guilty of adultery. Yet in
spite of all this, he warred against the Parthians,1
the Armenians,2 and the Arabs who are called the
Blest,3 and with no less bravery than success.
A tribune who allowed a sentry-post to be left un-
guarded he caused to be bound under a wheeled waggon
and then dragged living or dead all through the
entire march. He even reproduced the punishment
inflicted by Mezentius,4 who used to bind live men to
dead and thus force them to die consumed by slow
decay. Hence it came about that even in the Circus,
when general applause broke forth in honour of Dia-
dumenianus, some one cried out :
" Peerless in beauty the youth,"
" Not deserving to have as his father Mezentius." 5
He also put living men into walls, which he then
built up. Those guilty of adultery he always burned
alive, fastening their bodies together. A slave who
had fled from his master and had been found he
would sentence to a combat with the sword in the
public games. A public informer, if he could not
make good his accusation, he would condemn to
death ; if he could make it good, he would present
75
OPELLIUS MACRINUS
rent, capite adfecit, si probarent, delate pecuniae
praemio infancies dimisit.
XIII. Fuit in iure non incallidus, adeo ut statuisset
omnia rescripta veterum principum tollere, ut iure non
rescriptis ageretur, nefas esse dicens leges videri Corn-
modi et Caracalli et hominum imperitorum voluntates,
cum Traianus numquam libellis respondent, ne ad
alias causas facta praeferrentur quae ad gratiam com-
posita viderentur.
In amionis tribuendis largissimus fuit, in auro parcis-
3 simus, in verberandis l vero 2 aulicis tarn impius, tarn
pertinax, tarn asper, ut servi ilium sui non Macrinum
dicerent, sed Macellinum, quod macelli specie domus
4eius cruentaretur sanguine vernularum. vini cibique
avidissimus, nonnumquam usque ad ebrietatem, sed
vespertinis horis. nam si prandisset vel privatim
5 parcissimus, in cena effusissimus. adhibuit convivio
litteratos, ut loquens de studiis liberalibus necessario
abstemius.
XIV. Sed cum eius vilitatem homines antiquam
cogitarent, crudelitatem morum viderent, hominem
putidulum in imperio ferre non possent ; et maxime
milites, qui multa eius meminerant funestissima et
aliquando turpissima, inita factione ilium occiderunt
1 uerberandis Madvig, Peter2 ; uerandis P. zuero Peter2;
uel P, Peter J.
lu Butcher," a comic formation from macellum, a meat-
market,
76
OPELLIUS MACRINUS XIII. 2— XIV. 1
him with his reward in money and send him away in
disgrace.
XIII. In the administration of the law he was not
without wisdom, and he even determined to rescind
all decisions of earlier emperors, in order that judg-
ments might be rendered on the basis of the law and
not of a decision ; for he used to say that it would
be a crime to give the force of law to the whims of
Commodus and Caracalla and other untrained men,
when Trajan had always refused to render decisions
in response to petitions, in order that rulings which
might seem to have been made out of favour might
not be applied to other cases.
In bestowing largesses of grain he was most
generous, while in gifts of money he was niggardly.
But in flogging his palace-attendants he was so un-
just, so unreasonable, and so cruel, that his slaves
used to call him Macellinus l instead of Macrinus,
because his palace was so stained with the blood of
his household-servants that it looked like a shambles.
In his use of food and wine he was most gluttonous,
sometimes even to the point of drunkenness, but
only in the evening hours. For if he had breakfasted
even in private with great simplicity, he would be most
extravagant in his dinner. He used to invite literary
men to his banquets, as though he would perforce be
more sparing in his diet if conversing about liberal
studies.
XIV. But when men thought of his old-fashioned
niggardliness and saw the savagery of his ways, they
could not bear that so malodorous a man should have
the imperial power, and most of all the soldiers, who
remembered many deeds of his that were most cruel
and sometimes even most base. So, forming a plot,
77
OPELLIUS MACRINUS
cum puero suo Diadumeno, scilicet Antonino cogno-
mine. de quo dictum est quod in somniis Antoninus
2 fuisset. unde etiam versus exstant huiusmodi :
Vidimus in somnis cives, nisi fallor, et istud :
Antoninorum nomen puer ille gerebat,
qui patre venali genitus sed matre pudica,
centum nam moechos passa est centumque rogavit.
ipse etiam calvus moechus fuit, inde maritus ;
en Pius, en Marcus, Verus nam non fuit ille.
3 et isti versus ex Graeco l translati sunt in Latinum.
nam Graece sunt disertissimi, videntur autem mihi
4ab aliquo poeta vulgari translati esse. quod cum
Macrinus audisset, fecit iambos qui non exstant.
6 iucundissimi autem fuisse dicuntur. qui quidem
perierunt in eo tumultu in quo ipse occisus est, quando
et omnia eius a militibus pervasa sunt.
XV. Genus mortis, ut diximus, tale fuit : cum in
Antoninum Heliogabalum exercitus inclinasset, ille
fugit belloque victus est et occisus in suburbano
Bithyniae, suis partim deditis partim occisis partim
2fugatis. ita Heliogabalus clarus creditus est, quod
videretur patris vindicasse mortem ; atque inde in
lso P (see S. H. Ballou, Cl Philol. Hi., p. 273 f.) ; om. in
P ace. to Peter ; ex < Graeco > Peter l ; sex Peter 2.
1 This is incorrect ; see c. x. 3 and note.
2 Of. Diad.,v. 1.
3 Apparently a pun on the meaning of verus = " true".
4 c. x. 3. B But see c. x. 3 and notes.
6 i.e., Caracalla's ; see c. ix. 4.
78
OPELLIUS MACRINUS XIV. 2— XV. 2
they murdered him and his son,1 the boy Diadu-
menianus, surnamed Antoninus, of whom it was said
that he was Antoninus only in his dreams — a saying
which gave rise to the following verses :
" This we beheld in our dreams, fellow-citizens, if I
mistake not :
How that the Antonine name was borne by that
immature stripling,
Sprung from a father corrupt, though virtuous truly
his mother ;
Lovers a hundred she knew and a hundred were
those whom she courted.2
Lover was also the bald-head, who later was known
as her husband ;
Pius indeed, aye Marcus indeed, for ne'er was he
Verus."3
These lines have been translated from Greek into
Latin. In the Greek they are very well written,
but they seem to me to have been translated by some
commonplace poet. When they were read to Macri-
nus he composed iambics, which have not been pre-
served but are said to have been most delightful.
They were, for that matter, destroyed in that same
uprising in which he himself was slain, when all his
possessions were overrun by the soldiers.
XV. The manner of his death, as we have previously
related,4 was the following : After the army went
over to Elagabalus Antoninus, Macrinus fled, but he
was defeated and killed in a rural district ofBithynia,5
while his followers were partly forced to surrender,
partly killed, and partly put to flight. So Elagabalus
achieved glory because he was thought to have
avenged his father's death,6 and so established
79
OPELLIUS MACRINUS
fmperium venit, quod dedecoravit vitiis ingentibus,
luxurie, turpitudine, abligumtione, superbia, in-
manitate. qui et ipse similem exitum vitae suae
sortitus est.
Haec de Macrino nobis sunt cognita, multis aliqua
4 variantibus, ut se habet hominis historia. quae de
plurimis collecta Serenitati tuae, Diocletiane Auguste,
detulimus, quia te cupidum veterum imperatorum esse
perspeximus.
1 See Eeliog., xvii. 1-3.
80
OPELLIUS MACRINUS XV. 3-4
himself on the throne, which he disgraced by his
enormous vices, his extravagance, his baseness, his
feasting, his arrogance, and his savagery. He, too,
was fated to meet with an end corresponding to his
life.1
These are the facts we have learned concerning
Macrinus, though many give different versions of
certain details, according to the character of each
man's history ; these we have gathered together from
many sources and have presented to Your Serenity,
Diocletian Augustus, because we have seen that you
are desirous of learning about the emperors of former
times.
DIADUMENUS ANTONINUS
AELII LAMPRIDII
I. Antonini Diadumeni pueri, quern cum patre
Opilio Macrino imperatorem dixit exercitus occiso
Bassiano factione Macriniana, nihil habet vita memor-
abile, nisi quod Antoninus est dictus et quod ei
stupenda omina sunt facta imperii non diutini, ut
2 evenit. nam cum primum innotuit per legiones occisum
esse Bassianum, ingens maeror obsedit omnium
pectora, quod Anton inum in re publica non haberent,
existimantium quod cum eo Romanum esset imperium
3 periturum. id ubi Macrino iam imperatori nuntiatum
est, veritus ne in aliquem Antoninorum, qui multi ex
adfinibus Antonini Pii erant inter duces, exercitus
inclinaret, statim contionem parari iussit filiumque
4suum hunc puerum Antoninum appellavit. contio :
" Videtis, conmilitones, et me aetatis iam provectae et
Diadumenum puerum, quern diu principem, si di
1 For the correct form of the name see note to Macr., ii. 5.
2 He was not acclaimed Imperator until after the revolution
had broken out under Maesa and Elagabalus ; see note to
Macr., x. 4.
3 This statement is hardly correct.
4 This speech is wholly fictitious ; see Intro, to Vol. i.,
p. xix f.
82
ANTONINUS DIADUMENIANUS
BY
AELIUS LAMPRIDIUS
I. The life of the boy Antoninus Diadumenianus l
who, together with his father, Opellius Macrinus, was
proclaimed emperor by the army 2 when Bassianus had
been slain through the treachery of Macrinus, con-
tains nothing memorable, save that he received the
name of Antoninus and that there befell him astonish-
ing omens signifying that his reign would be but a
short one — and so it really came to pass. Now as
soon as it became known among the legions that
Bassianus was slain, great sorrow beset the hearts of
all, for they thought, because they had not an An-
toninus at the head of the state, that with Bassianus
the Roman Empire would come to an end. When
word of this was brought to Macrinus, who by this
time was emperor, he became afraid that the army
would turn to some one of the Antonines, many of
whom, being of the kin of Antoninus Pius, were
among the leaders.3 He therefore gave orders at
once to compose an harangue, and then bestowed
upon his son, this lad, the name Antoninus. His
harangue 4: " You behold me, Comrades, now advanced
in years, and Diadumenianus still a lad, whom, if the
83
ANTONINUS DIADUMENIANUS
6 faveant, habebitis. intellego praeterea des;derium
ingens Antoniniarii norninis apud vos manere. quare,
quoniam mihi perconditionern fragilitatis huinanae non
multum superesse videturad vitarn, hunc puerum An-
toninum vobis auctoribus nuncupo diu vobis Antoni-
6 nurn repraesentaturum." adclamatum : " Macrine im-
perator, di te servent. Antoriine Diadumene, di te
7 servent. Antoninum dudum 1 omnes rogamus. lup-
piter optime rnaxiine, Macrino et Antonino vitam. tu
scis, luppiter, Macrinus vinri non potest. tu scis,
8 luppiter, Antoninus vinci non potest. Antoninum
habenms, omnia habernus. Antoninum riobis di de-
derunt. patre dignus9 Antoninus, dignus irnperio."
II. Macrinus imperator dixit : " Habcte igitur, conrnili-
toncs, pro irnperio aureos ternos, pro Antonini nomine
aureos quinos et sol ibis prornotiones sed gerninatas. di
facient ut haec saepius fiant. dabirnus autem per
2 cuncta quinquennia hoc quod hodie putavimus." post
hoc ipse puerulus Diadumenua Antoninus imperator
dixit: *' (/ratias vobis, conmilitones, (juod me et im-
perio donastis et nomine, si (juidem dignos et me et
patrem meurn duxistis:< quos imperatores Komanos
adiceretiset quibus cornrnitteretis rem publicam. et
} dudum I'otor; diuum I'. 2 diynus om. in P; patre
Antoninus <^di(jnux^> MorarriHfsri, Jordan; imperator em.
Antoninus L'ctcr. '•' duxistis Jordan, Peter; dixistis P.
1 See note to Macr., v. 7.
84
ANTONINUS DIADUMENIANUS I. 5— II. 8
gods are gracious, you will have for many years as
your prince. Furthermore. I perceive that there still
remains among you a great yearning for the name of
the Antoniiies. And so, since the nature of human
weakness seems to leave me but a short space of life,
with your sanction I bestow upon this lad the name
Antoninus, and he for long vears to come shall be in
~ •
vour eves an Antoninus indeed." Outcries of the
«/ *
soldiers : " Maerinus, our Emperor, may the gods
keen von ! Antoninus Diadumenianus. mav the iiods
* * *
keep von ! An Antoninus have we all for a long
1 » C*
time desired. Jupiter. Greatest and Best, grant long
life to Maerinus and to Antoninus. Thou knowest,
O Jupiter, that no man can conquer Maerinus. Thou
knowest, O Jupiter, that no man can conquer
Antoninus. An Antoninus we have, and in him we
have all thinjjs ; an Antoninus, indeed, have the jrods
~ * "
granted to us. \Vorthv of his sire is Antoninus, ave
v* * &
worthy of the Empire too." II. Maerinus the Emper-
or spoke : " Accept, therefore. Comrades, in return for
the bestowal of the imperial power, three aurei for
each one of von, and for the bestowal of the name
»
Antoninus rive aurei for each.1 together with the ad-
vancements prescribed by custom, but at this tune
doubled. The gods will grant that such £ifts shall
O ™ ~
be often bestowed upon you. but we shall give you
every five years what we have deemed right to give
today." Thereupon the child himself, Diadumeni-
anus Antoninus, the Emperor, spoke : " I bring you
thanks, Comrades, because you have bestowed upon
me both imperial orrice and name ; and inasmuch as
you have deemed us worthy, both my father and my-
• * « •
self, to acclaim us Emperors of Rome and to commit
the state to our keeping, my father, for his part, will
85
ANTONINUS DIADUMENIANUS
pater quidem meus curabit ne desit imperio, ego
autem elaborabo lie desim nomini Antoninorum.
scio enim me Pii, me Marci, me Veri suscepisse nomen,
4quibus satis facere perdifficile est. interim tamen
causa imperii, causa nominis, id omne quod pater et
tantundem promitto, honoribus, ut et venerandus
5 Macrinus pater praesens promisit, duplicatis." Hero-
dianus Graecus scriptor haec praeteriens Diadumenum
tantum Caesarem dicit puerum a militibus nuncupa-
tum et cum patre occisum.
6 Hac habita contione statim apud Antiochiam
moneta Antonini Diadumeni nomine percussa est'
7 Macrini usque ad iussum senatus dilata est. missae
etiam ad senatum litterae quibus nomen Antonini
indicatum est. quare etiam senatus imperium id
libenter dicitur recepisse, quamvis alii Antonini Cara-
Scalli odio id factum putent. paraverat sane paenulas
populo coloris russei dare Macrinus imperator in
honorem Antonini filii sui, quae vocarentur Antonini-
anae, ut caracallae Bassiani dictae sunt, adserens
melius filium suum Paenuleum vel Paenularium
dicendum quam Caracallus esset dictus Bassianus.
gcongiarium etiam per edictum Antoninianum
promisit, ut ipsum edictum poterit indicare.
1 Herodian, v. 4, 12. Diadumenianus was born in 208 ;
consequently he was nine years old when he is supposed to
have delivered the foregoing speech.
2 See Macr.t vi. 2-7.
3 Cf. Macr., ii. 3-4 and note ; vii. 4.
4 See Carac., ix. 7-8.
5 From paenula, a long cloak worn on journeys and in
rainy weather.
86
ANTONINUS DIADUMENIANUS II. 4-9
take good care not to fail the Empire, and I, more-
over, will strive earnestly not to fail the name of the
Antonines. For I know that it is the name of Pius
and of Marcus and of Verus that I have taken, and
to live according to the standard of these is difficult
indeed. Meanwhile, however, in return for the im-
perial office and in return for my name, I promise you
all that my father has promised and as much as he
has promised, doubling all advancements, even as my
revered father Macrinus has promised here in your
presence." Herodian, the Greek writer, omits these
details and records only that Diadumenianus as a
child received from the soldiers the title of Caesar
and that he was slain along with his father.1
Immediately after this harangue a coin was struck
at Antioch bearing the name of Antoninus Diadumeni-
anus, but coinage with the name of Macrinus was
postponed until the senate should give command.
Moreover, despatches announcing the bestowal of the
name Antoninus were sent to the senate.2 In return,
it is said, the senate readily acknowledged his rule —
although some think they did so only out of hatred
for Antoninus Caracalla.3 Now Macrinus, as emperor,
purposed in honour of his son Antoninus to present to
the populace mantles of a reddish hue, to be called
'Antoninian' as Bassianus' Gallic mantles had been.4
For it was more fitting, he said, that his son should
be called Paenuleus or Paenularius,5 than that Bas-
sianus should have been called Caracalla. He
also issued an edict, promising a largess 6 in the
name of Antoninus, as the edict itself will prove.
6 Apparently commemorated by an issue of coins with the
legend Liberalitas A ugusti; see Cohen, iv2. p. 294, nos. 41-44.
87
ANTONINUS DIADUMENIANUS
lOverba edict! : " Vellem, Quirites, iam praesentes
essemus ; Antoninus vester vobis congiarium sui
nominis daret. incideret praeterea et pueros Antoni-
nianos et puellas Antoninianas, quae tarn grati
nominis gloriam propagarent " ; et reliqua.
III. His ita gestis signa in Castris et vexilla fieri
Antoniniana iussit fecitque Bassiani simulacra ex auro
atque argento atque dies septem supplicatio pro
Antonini nomine celebrata est.
2 Puer fuit omnium speciosissimus, statura longius-
cula, crine flavo, nigris oculis, naso deducto, ad omnem
decorem mento composite, ore ad l oscula para to, fortis
3 naturaliter, exercitio delicatior. hie ubi primum in-
dumenta coccea et purpurea ceteraque castrensia
imperil insignia accepit, quasi sidereus et caelestis
emicuit, ut amaretur ab omnibus gratia venustatis.
haec 2 de puero sunt dicenda.
4 Nunc veniamus ad omina imperii, quae cum in
IV. aliis turn in hoc praecipue sunt stupenda. die qua
natus est pater eius purpuras, tune forte procurator
aerarii maioris, inspexit et quas claras probavit in id
conclave redigi praecepit in quo post duas horas Dia-
2dumenus natus est. solent deinde pueri pilleo in-
signiri naturali, quod obstetrices rapiunt et advocatis
1 ad om. in P. 2so P ; haec <^fere^> Peter1 ; haec
quae de imperio Peter2.
1 See Pius, viii. 1 and note.
2 Yet according to Dio, Ixxviii. 19, 2, Maciinus had the
statues of Caracalla at Rome removed.
8 There was no such office as this. Perhaps it is an error
tor procurator thesaurorum, for the thesauri seem to have in-
cluded the imperial robes ; see note to Alex., xl. 3.
88
ANTONINUS DIADUMENIANUS II. 10— IV. 2
The text of the edict : " I would, Fellow -citizens,
that we were now present in person ; for then your
Antoninus himself would give you a largess in his
own name. He would, furthermore, enroll boys as
Antoniniani and girls as Antoninianae,1 that they
might extend the glory of so dear a name " ; and so
forth throughout.
III. When he had done all in this fashion he
gave orders that the standards in the Camp and the
colours should be called Antonine and he had statues
of Bassianus made of gold and of silver 2 ; and cere-
monies of thanksgiving were celebrated for seven
days in honour of the naming of Antoninus.
The boy himself was beautiful beyond all others,
somewhat tall of stature, with golden hair, black eyes,
and an aquiline nose ; his chin was wholly lovely in
its modelling, his mouth designed for a kiss, and he
was by nature strong and by training graceful. And
when first he assumed the scarlet and purple gar-
ments and the other imperial insignia used in the
camp, he was radiant as a being from the stars or a
dweller in heaven, and he was beloved of all because
of his beauty. This much there is to be said con-
cerning the boy.
Now let us proceed to the omens predicting his
imperial power — which are marvellous enough in the
case of others, but in his case beyond the usual wont.
IV. On the day of his birth, his father, who then
chanced to be steward of the greater treasury,3 was
inspecting the purple robes, and those which he
approved as being brighter in hue he ordered to
be carried into a certain chamber, in which two
hours later Diadumenianus was born. Furthermore,
whereas it usually happens that children at birth are
89
ANTONINUS DIADUMENIANUS
credulis vendunt, si quidem causidici hoc iuvari
3 dicuntur. at iste puer pilleum non habuit sed diade-
ma tenue, sed ita forte ut rumpi non potuerit, fibris
4 intercedentibus l specie nervi sagittarii. ferunt denique
Diadematum puerum appellatum, sed ubi adolevit,
avi sui nomine materni Diadumenum vocatum, quam-
vis non multum abhorruerit ab illo signo Diademati
5 nomen Diadumeni. in agro patris eius oves purpureas
duodecim ferunt natas, quarum una tantum varia
6 fuerit. eadem die qua hie natus est aquilam ei con-
stat sensim palumbum regium parvulum attulisse et
posuisse in cunis dormienti ac recessisse sine noxa.
V. pantagathi in domo patris eius nidum posuerunt. his
diebus quibus ille natus est mathematici accepta
genitura eius exclamaverunt et ipsum filium impera-
toris esse et imperatorem, quasi 2 mater eius adulterata
2 esset, quod fama retinebat. huic eidem aquila pilleum
in agro ambulanti tulit et, cum comitum infantis
clamor esset factus, in monumento regio, quod iuxta
villam esset in qua tune pater agebat, supra statuam
Sregis posuit, ita ut capiti eius aptaret. quod multi
ominosum putarunt et morti adcommodum, clarum
4autem eventus ostendit. natus est praeterea natali
Antonini et ea hora et s ignis prope concinentibus
lso Gas., Peter; uiris intersedentibus P. 2 quasi Gra-
in P.
1 This belief has been perpetuated. The caul was supposed
to impart the gift of eloquence and to be a protection against
drowning; see also B. Jonson, Alchemist, i. 1.
2 i.e., " of good omen " ; they are otherwise unknown.
3 Cf. Macr., xiv. 2.
4 A similar omen is described in Livy, i. 34, 8.
6 Apparently Antoninus Pius, born on 19th Sept. (Pius,
90
ANTONINUS DIADUMENIANUS IV. 3— V. 4
provided by nature with a caul, which the midwives
seize and sell to credulous lawyers (for it is said
that this brings luck to those who plead *), this
child, instead of a caul, had a narrow band like a
diadem, so strong that it could not be broken, for
the fibres were entwined in the manner of a bow-
string. The child, they say, was accordingly called
Diadematus, but when he grew older, he was called
Diadumenianus from the name of his mother's father,
though the name differed little from his former ap-
pellation Diadematus. Also they say that twelve
purple sheep were born on his father's estate and
of these only one had spots upon it. And it is well
known, besides, that on the very day of his birth
an eagle brought to him gently a tiny royal ring-
dove, and, after placing it in his cradle as he
slept, flew away without doing him harm. Moreover,
birds called pantagathi 2 built a nest in his father's
house. V. And about the time of his birth, the as-
trologers, on reading his horoscope, cried out that
he was both the son of an emperor and an emperor
too, just as though his mother had been seduced
— as, indeed, public gossip maintained.3 More-
over, when he was walking about in the open
country, an eagle bore away his cap ; 4 and when the
child's comrades shouted out, the bird set it upon
the statue of a king on a royal monument near the
farm-house in which his father then lived, fitting it
close to the head. This seemed portentous to many
and a sign of an early death, but later events showed
it to be a prediction of glory. He was born, further-
more, on the birthday of Antoninus,5 at the same
i. 8). According to Dio, Ixxviii. 20, 1, Diadumenianus was
born on 14th Sept.
91
ANTONINUS DIADUMENIANUS
quibus et Antoninus Pius, quare dixerunt mathe-
matici et imperatoris ilium filium futurum et impera-
6torem, sed non diu. die qua natus est, quod Antonini
esset natalis, mulier quaedam propinqua dicitur ex-
clamasse ' Antoninus vocetur/ sed Macrinus timuisse
et,1 quod nullus ex eius genere hoc nomine censeretur,
abstinuisse nomine imperatorio, simul quod iam rumor
6de vi geniturae illius emanasset. haec atque alia
omina fuisse multi in litteras rettulerunt, sed illud
praecipue quod, cum in cunis esset Diadumenus, et
leo ruptis vinculis, ut quidam, ferus effugisset atque
ad incunabula eius venisset, puerum delinxit et in-
violatum reliquit, cum nutrix se in leonem misisset
atque eius morsu adfecta perisset, ut quae '2 sola forte
in areola inventa erat in qua infans iacebat.
VI. Haec sunt quae digna memoratu in Antonino
Diadumeno esse videantur. cuius vitam iunxissem
patris gestis, nisi Antoninorum nomen me ad eden-
dam puerilis specialem expositionem vitae coegisset.
2et fuit quidem tarn amabile illis temporibus nomen
Antoninorum, ut qui eo nomine non niteretur mereri
3 non videretur imperium. unde etiam quidam et
Severum et Pertinacem et lulianum Antoninorum
praenominibus honorandos putant, unde postea duos
Gordianos, patrem et filium, Antoninos cognominatos
1 et om. in P; ins. by Paucker, Petschenig, Peter2. zut
quae Unger, Peter2 ; atque P.
1 See note to Macr., iii. 6.
92
ANTONINUS DIADUMENIANUS V. 5— VI. 3
hour as Antoninus Pius and with the stars in almost
the same positions. Wherefore the astrologers said
that he would be both the son of an emperor and an
emperor himself, but not for long. On the day of
his birth, which was also the birthday of Antoninus,
a certain woman, who lived near by, cried out, it is
said, " Let him be called Antoninus ". Macrinus,
however, was afraid and refused the imperial name,
both because none of his kin was called by this
name and at the same time because rumours con-
cerning the significance of his horoscope had already
spread abroad. These omens and others, too, oc-
curred, or so numerous writers have related, but the
following one is especially worthy of note. As
Diadumenianus was lying in his cradle, some say, a
lion broke its chains and dashed about savagely, but
when it came to the cradle of the child it only
licked him and left him unharmed ; but when the
nurse — the only person who chanced to be present
in the open place in which the child was lying —
threw herself at the lion, it seized her in its teeth
and she perished.
VI. These are the details concerning Antoninus Dia-
dumenianus which seem to be worthy of mention.
His life, indeed, I should have combined with the
achievements of his father, had not the name of the
Antonines constrained me to publish a special dis-
cussion of the life of this boy. And in fact the name
of the Antonines was at that time so greatly beloved,
that he who had not the prestige of this name did
not seem to merit the imperial power. Wherefore
some also think that Severus and Pertinax and
Julian us should be honoured with the praenomen
Antoninus, l and that later on the two Gordiani,
93
ANTONINUS DIADUMENIANUS
4 putant. sed aliud est cum praenomen adscitur, aliud
5 cum ipsum nomen imponitur. nam Pius verum
nomen Antonini habuit, cognomen Pii, Marcus verum
nomen Verissimi habuit, sed hoc sublato atqueabolito
6 Antonini noil praenomen sed nomen accepit. Verus
autem Commodi nomen habuit, quo abolito Antonini
7 non praenomen sed nomen accepit. Commodum
autem Marcus Antoiiinum appellavit atque ita in
8 publicas edidit die natalis sui. iam Caracallum Bas-
sianum satis constat vel somnii causa, quod Severus
viderat, cum sibi Antoninum successorem praedictum
sensisset, anno l demum tertio decimo Antoninum
dixisse, quando ei etiam imperatoriam addidisse
Qdicitur potestatem. Getam vero, quern multi An-
toninum negant dictum, eadem ratione qua Bassianum
appellatum satis constat, ut patri Severe succederet,
10 quod minime factum est. post hoc ipse Diadumenus
ut commendaretur exercitui, senatui populoque Ro-
mano, cum2 esset ingens desiderium Bassiani Caracalli,
Antoninum appellatum satis constat.
VII. Exstat epistula Opilii Macrini, patris Diadu-
meni, qua gloriatur non tarn se ad imperium pervenisse,
qui esset secundus imperii, quam quod Antoniniani
nominis esset pater factus, quo clarius 3 illis temporibus
lAntoninoP. -cum om. in P. 3 clarius Jordan,
Peter1; clarior P; clarior </wnor> Peter2.
aSee Gord., iv. 7 and note.
'See Marc., i. 10, and Hadr., xxiv. 1 and note.
8 See note to Hadr., xxiv. 1.
4 See Sev., x. 4; Get., i. 3.
5 See Sev., x. 5, and Get., i. 1 and notes.
*i.e. the prefecture of the guard.
ANTONINUS DIADUMENIANUS VI. 4— VII. 1
father and son, had Antoninus as surname.1 How-
ever, it is one thing to assume this as praenomen and
another to take it as an actual name. In the case of
Pius, for instance, Antoninus was his actual name and
Pius only a surname. Moreover, the true name of
Marcus was Verissimus,2 but when this was set aside
and annulled, Antoninus was conferred on him not
as a praenomen but as his name. So the original
name of Verus was Commodus,3 but when this was
annulled, he too was called Antoninus not as a prae-
nomen but as a name. Commodus, however, was
given the name Antoninus by Marcus, and on the
day of his birth he was so enrolled in the public
records. As for Caracalla Bassianus, it is well known
that he was called Antoninus on account of a dream
beheld by Severus, which revealed that an Antoninus
was fore-ordained to be his successor,4 and that he
was given the name in his thirteenth year, when, it
is said, Severus conferred on him also the imperial
power. Geta, moreover, who, many aver, was not
called Antoninus at all, was given the name, it is
generally said, with the same intention as Bassianus
— namely that he might succeed his father Severus 5 ;
but this never came to pass. After him, the name
Antoninus was given to this very Diadumenianus, in
order, it is generally said, that he might thereby find
favour with the army, the senate, and the people of
Rome, since there was a great yearning for Bassianus
Caracalla.
VII. There is still in existence a letter written by
Opellius Macrinus, father of Diadumenianus, in wh>ch
he boasts, not so much that he attained to the
imperial power, having previously held second place
in the Empire/ as that he had become the father of
96
ANTONINUS DIADUMENIANUS
2non fuerat vel deorura. quam epistulam priusquam
intexam, libet versus inserere in Commodum dictos,
qui se Herculem appellaverat, ut intellegant omnes
tarn clarum fuisse Antoninorum nomen, ut illi ne
Sdeorum nomen commode videretur adiungi. versus
in Commodum Antoninum dicti :
Commodus Herculeum nomen habere cupit,
Antoninorum non putat esse bonum,
expers humani iuris et imperii,
sperans quin etiam clarius esse deum,
quam si sit princeps nominis egregii.
non erit iste deus nee tamen ullus homo.
4 hi versus a Graeco nescio quo compositi a malo poeta
in Latinum translati sunt, quos ego idcirco inserendos
putavi, ut scirent omnes Antoninos pluris l fuisse quam
deos ab2 trium principum amore, quo sapientia,
bonitas, pietas consecrata sit, in Antonino pietas, in
^Vero bonitas, in Marco sapientia. redeo nunc ad
epistulam Macrini Opilii :
" Opilius Macrinus Noniae Celsae coniugi. quid
boni adepti sumus, mi uxor, caret aestimatione. et
fortassis de imperio me putes dicere ; non magnum
1plures P. 2a6 Peter2 ; ac P, Peter l.
1 See Com., viii. 5; ix. 2; Carac., v. 5.
2 This and the following letters are fictitious.
ANTONINUS DIADUMENIANUS VII. 2-5
one bearing the name Antoninus, than which no
name was then more illustrious — no, not even that of
the gods. But before I insert this letter, I wish to
include some verses directed at Commodus, who had
taken the name of Hercules,1 in order that I may
show to all that the name of the Antonines was so
illustrious that it was not deemed suitable to add to
it even the name of a god. The verses directed
against Commodus Antoninus are as follows :
Commodus wished to possess Hercules' name as his
own ;
That of the great Antonines did not seem noble
enough.
Nothing of common law, nothing of ruling he knew,
Hoping indeed as a god greater renown to acquire
Than by remaining a prince called by an excellent
name.
Neither a god will he be, nor for that matter a man.
These verses, written by an unknown Greek, some
unskilful poet has rendered into Latin, and I have
thought it right to insert them here for the purpose
of showing to all that the Antonines were deemed
greater than the gods as a result of the love felt for
the three emperors, a love which has enshrined their
wisdom, kindness, and righteousness — righteousness
in the case of Pius, kindness in the case of Verus,
and wisdom in the case of Marcus. I will now return
to the letter written by Opellius Macrinus : 2
"Opellius Macrinus to his wife Nonia Celsa. The
good fortune to which we have attained, my dear
wife, is incalculable. Perhaps you may think I
allude to the imperial power, but this is nothing
97
ANTONINUS DIADUMENIANUS
est istud quod etiam indignis fortuna concessit.
6 Antonini pater factus sum ; Antonini mater es facta.
o nos beatos, o fortunatam domum, praeclaram laudem
7 nunc demum felicis imperil, di faxint et bona luno,
quam colis, ut et ille Antonini meritum effingat, et
ego, qui sum pater Antonini, dignus omnibus videar."
VIII. hac epistula indicatur, quantum gloriae adeptus sibi
videretur quod vocatus est filius Antoninus.
2 Hie tamen quarto decimo mense imperil ob in-
civilem patris atque asperum principatum interfectus
3 est cum patre, non suo nomine ; quamvis etiam istum
ultra aetatem saevisse in plerosque reperiam, ut
decent litterae ab hoc eodem ad patrem m ssae.
4 nam cum quidam defectionis suspicionem incurrissent,
et eos Macrinus saevissime punisset filio forte absente,
atque hie audisset auctores quidem defectionis occisos,
conscios l tainen, quorum dux Armeniae erat et item
legatus Asiae atque Arabiae, ob antiquam familiaritatem
dimissos, his litteris convenisse patrem dicitur, paribus
missis etiam ad matrem, quarum exemplum historiae
causa inserendum putavi :
6 " Patri Augusto filius Augustus, non satis, mi
pater, videris in amore nostro tenuisse tuos mores,
qui tyrannidis adfectatae conscios reservasti,
1 conscios ins. by Paucker, Peter2 ; om. in P, Peter.1
1 See Macr., x. 3 and note.
2 This office did not exist at the time in which this letter
is alleged to have been written. The duces were the generals
in command of the armies stationed on the various frontiers ;
they were instituted at the end of the third century, when the
civil authority in the provinces was separated from the
military.
3 See Macr., x. 4 and note.
98
ANTONINUS DIADUMENIANUS VII. 6— VIII. 5
great and Fortune has bestowed it on even the un-
deserving. No ! I have become the father of an.
Antoninus ; you have become the mother of an
Antoninus. Blessed indeed are we, fortunate is OUP
house, and noble the meed of praise now at length
attained by this happy empire ! May the gods grant,
and kindly Juno too, whom you revere, both that he
may achieve the deserts of an Antoninus, and that I,
who am now the father of an Antoninus, may be
deemed worthy in the sight of all." VIII. This letter
indicates how much glory he thought he had gained
from the fact that his son was called Antoninus.
Yet in spite of all, Diadumenianus was killed with
his father in the fourteenth month of their reign,1
not, indeed, for any fault of his own, but because of his
father's harsh and tyrannical rule. Nevertheless,
I find in many writers that he himself was cruel
beyond his years, and this is shown by a letter which
he sent to his father. For when certain men had
fallen under the suspicion of rebellion, Macrlnus
visited upon them the most cruel punishments in the
absence, as it chanced, of his son ; but when the
latter learned that the instigators of the rebellion
had indeed been put to death, but their accomplices,
among whom were the military governor of Armenia '2
and the governors of Asia and Arabia, had, on account
of a long-standing friendship, been sent away un-
harmed, he addressed, it is said, the following letter
to his father, sending an identical one to his mother
also. A copy of this letter I think, for the sake of
history, should be inserted :
" Augustus the son 3 to Augustus the father. You
do not seem, my dear father, to have kept close
enough to your usual ways or to your affection for
99
ANTONINUS DIADUMENIANUS
sperans eos vel amiciores tibi futures, si iis par-
ceres, vel ob antiquam familiaritatem l dimittendos.
6 quod nee debuit fieri nee proderit.2 nam primum om-
nium iam te exulcerati suspicionibus amare non
possunt. deinde crudeliores inimici sunt, qui obliti
veteris familiaritatis se inimicissimis tuis iunxerunt.
adde quod exercitus adhuc habent.
7 ' Si te nulla movet tantarum gloria rerum,
Ascanium surgentem et spes heredis luli
respice, cui regnum Italiae Romanaque tellus
debetur.'
sferiendi sunt isti, si vis esse securus. nam vitio
generis humani alii non sunt defuturi, cum isti ser-
Qvantur." hanc epistulam quidam ipsius, quidam
magistri eius Caeliani ferunt, Afri quondam rhetoris,
ex qua apparet, quam asper futurus iuvenis si vixisset.
IX. Exstat alia epistula ad matrem ab eodem
destinata talis : " Dominus noster et Augustus nee te
amat nee ipsum se, qui inimicos suos servat. age
igitur, ut Arabianus et Tuscus et Gellius ad palum
deligentur,3 ne, si occasio fuerit, non praetermittant."
2et, quantum Lollius Urbicus in historia sui temporis
lfamiliam tamen P. *>proderit Unger, Peter2 ; poterit P.
*diligenter P.
*Aeneid, iv. 272-276.
2 Otherwise unknown.
3 Presumably the officials alluded to in c. viii. 4 ; the names
are evidently fictitious.
4 Otherwise unknown, but see Intro, to Vol. ii. p. xxi.
100
ANTONINUS DIADUMENIANUS VIII. 6— IX. 2
me ; for you have spared the lives of men engaged
in a plot to seize the imperial power, either in the
hope that if you spare them now they will prove
more kindly disposed to you in the future, or else
believing that because of an ancient friendship they
ought to be sent away unharmed. This should not
have been done, nor will it prove of any avail. For,
in the first place, they cannot love you now, rendered
sore, as they are, by suspicion ; in the second, those
who have forgotten their ancient friendship and have
joined your bitterest enemies will prove to be all the
more cruel foes. Consider also the fact that they still
have armies.
'Even should you yourself regard not the fame of
such actions,
Think of the youthful Ascanius, the hopes of lulus
your scion ;
Fated for him is Italy's realm and the land of the
Romans.' l
These men must be executed, if you wish to live in
safety, for, thanks to the evil ways of mankind, there
will be no lack of other foes, if the lives of these be
spared." This letter, attributed by some to Dia-
dumenianus himself, by others to his teacher Caeli-
anus,2 formerly a rhetorician in Africa, shows how
cruel the young man would have been, had he lived.
IX. There is still in existence another letter,
which he wrote to his mother, reading as follows :
" Our Lord and Emperor loves neither you nor
himself, for he spares the life of his foes. See to it,
then, that Arabianus, Tuscus, and Gellius 3 be bound
to the stake, lest if an opportunity arise, they may
not let it slip." And, as Lollius Urbicus * records
101
ANTONINUS DIADUMENIANUS
dicit, istae litterae per notarium proditae illi puero
3multum apud milites obfuisse dicuntur. nam, cum
patrem occidissent, quidam huno servare voluerunt,
sed exstitit cubicularius, qui has epistulas contioni
militum legit.
4 Interfectis igitur ambobus et capitibus pilo circum-
latis, in Marcum Aurelium Antoninum caritate nomi-
5nis inclinavit exercitus. is filius Bassiani Caracalli
ferebatur. erat autem templi Heliogabali sacerdos,
homo omnium impurissimus et qui fato quodam
6 Romanum deformarit imperium. de quo quidem,
quia multa sunt, loco suo disseram.
1See Macr.,
109
ANTONINUS DIADUMENIANUS IX. 3-6
in his history of his own time, these letters, when
made public by his secretary, are said to have done
the boy much harm among the soldiers. For after
his father was slain many wished to spare him, but
his chamberlain came forward and read these letters
before an assembly of the troops.
And so, when both had been slain and their heads
borne about on pikes, the army out of affection for his
name went over to Marcus Aurelius Antoninus.1 He
was said to be the son of Bassianus Caracalla, but he
was, in point of fact, a priest of the temple of Elaga-
balus and the filthiest of men, who through some
decree of Fate was to bring disgrace upon the Roman
Empire. But the details concerning him, for they
are many, I will relate in their own proper place.
103
ANTONINUS HELIOGABALUS
AELII LAMPRIDII
I. Vritam Heliogabali Antonini, qui Varius etiam
dictus est, numquam in litteras misissem, ne quis
fuisse Roman orum principem sciret, nisi ante Cali-
gulas et Nerones et Vitellios hoc idem habuisset im-
2 perium. sed cum eadem terra et venena ferat et
furmentum atque alia salutaria, eadem serpentes et
cicures, compensationem sibi lector diligens faciet,
cum legerit Augustum, Traianum, Vespasianum,
Hadrianum, Pium, Titum, Marcum contra hos pro-
digiosos tyrannos. simul intelleget Romanorum
iudicia, quod illi et diu imperarunt et exitu naturali
functi sunt, hi vero interfecti, tracti, tyranni etiam
appellati, quorum nee nomina libet dicere.
1 His original name was Varius Avitus. He was the son of
Julia Soaemias (or Symiamira, see note to c. ii. 1) and Sex.
Varius Marcellus (see C.I.L., x. 65G9 = Dessau, Ins. Sel., 478).
In order to strengthen his claim to the throne his grand-
mother Maesa declared that he was the natural son of Carac-
alla (see Carac., ix. 2 ; Macr., ix. 4), and he became emperor
under the name of M. Aurelius Antoninus, by which he was
officially known ; in his inscriptions he is regularly styled son
of Antoninus (Caracalla) and grandson of Severus. As the
hereditary priest of Elagabalus, the patron-deity of Emesa
(see note to § 5), he was called by the name of his god, but
this name was never official, and there is no evidence that it
104
ANTONINUS ELAGABALUS
BY
AELIUS LAMPRIDIUS
I. The life of Elagabalus Antoninus, also called
Varius,1 I should never have put in writing — hoping
that it might not be known that he was emperor of
the Romans — ,were it not that before him this same
imperial office had had a Caligula, a Nero, and a
Vitellius. But, just as the selfsame earth bears not
only poisons but also grain and other helpful things,
not only serpents but flocks as well, so the thoughtful
reader may find himself some consolation for these
monstrous tyrants by reading of Augustus, Trajan,
Vespasian, Hadrian, Pius, Titus, and Marcus. At
the same time he will learn of the Romans' discern-
ment, in that these last ruled long and died by
natural deaths, whereas the former were murdered,
dragged through the streets, officially called tyrants,
and no man wishes to mention even their names.
was applied to him during his lifetime ; see 0. F. Butler,
Studies in the Life of Heliogabalus (New York, 1910), p. 119.
This name the Latin writers (Hist. Aug., Victor, Eutropius)
always reproduce in the erroneous form Heliogabalus. He
is sometimes called Bassianus (e.g. Macr.t viii. 4; ix. 4;
Herodian, v. 3, 6), but there is no real evidence that he ever
bore this name.
105
ANTONINUS ELAGABALUS
4 Igitur occiso Macrino eiusque filio Diadumeno, qui
pari potestate imperil Antonini etiam nomen ac-
ceperat, in Varium Heliogabalumimperium conlatum
5 est, idcirco quod Bassiaiii filius diceretur. fuit autem
Heliogabali vel lovis vel Solis sacerdos atque Anto-
nini sibi noinen adsciverat vel in argumentum generis
vel quod id nomen usque adeo carum esse cognoverat
gentibus, ut etiam parricida Bassianus causa nominis
6amaretur. et hie quidem prius dictus est Varius,
post Heliogabalus a sacerdotio del Heliogabali, cui
tempi um Romae in eo loco constituit in quo prius
7 aedes Orci fuit, quern e Syria secum advexit. post-
remo cum accepit imperium, Antoninus appelJatus
est atque ipse in Romano imperio ultimus l Antoni-
norum fuit.
II. Hie tantum Symiamirae matri deditus fuit,ut sine
illius voluntate nihil in re publica faceret, cum ipsa
meretricio more vivens in aula omnia turpia exerceret,
Antonino autem Caracallo stupro cognita, ita ut hinc
vel Varius vel Heliogabalus vulgo conceptus puta-
1 altissimus P.
lSee Macr., ix-x.
2 The patron-god of Emesa, where he was worshipped in
the form of a conical bla^k stone, or Pairvhos, supposed to
have fallen from Heaven; see Heiodian, v. 3, 5. He was
popularly regarded as a sun-god, and in Rome alter his im-
portation by the new Emperor (see c. iii. 4) he was officially
called Deus Sol Elagabalus or Invictus Sol Elagdbalus. This
identification was responsible for the erroneous form Helio-
gabalus, applied both to the god and to the emperor.
3 See note on c. iii. 4.
4 The correct form of her name is Julia Soaemias Bassiana ;
see C.I.L., viii. 2564; x. 6569. On her coins she is regularly
called Julia Soaemias Augusta ; see Cohen, iv.2 pp. 387-389.
106
ANTONINUS ELAGABALUS I. 4— II. 1
Now when Macrinus had been slain and also his
son Diadumenianus,1 who had been given an equal
share of the power and also the name Antoninus, the
imperial office was bestowed upon Varius Elagabalus,
solely because he was reputed to be the son of Bas-
sianus. As a matter of fact, he was the priest of
Elagabalus (sometimes called Jupiter, or the Sun 2),
and had merely assumed the name Antoninus in
order to prove his descent or else because he had
learned that this name was so dear to mankind that
for its sake even the parricide Bassianus had been
greatly beloved. Originally, he had the name Varius,
but later he was called Elagabalus because he was
priest of this god — whom he afterwards brought with
him from Syria to Rome, founding a temple for him
on the site of an earlier shrine of Orcus.3 Finally,
when he received the imperial power, he took the
name Antoninus and was the last of the Antonines
to rule the Roman Empire.
II. He was wholly under the control of his mother
Symiamira,4 so much so, in fact, that he did no public
business without her consent,5 although she lived like
a harlot and practised all manner of lewdness in the
palace. For that matter, her amour with Antoninus
Caracalla was so notorious that Varius, or rather
Elagabalus, was commonly supposed to be his son.
The masculine form 26ai/j.os (or Suhaim) is a well-established
Syrian name. The peculiar forms Symiamira, by which she
is known in this bi graphy and in the Macrinus (ix. 2), and
Symiasera, as she is called by Eutropius (viii. 22), have not
been satisfactorily explained. They may be derivations from
the name of the Syrian goddess Simea ; see O. F. Butler,
p. 120, and Ronzevalle, Rev. Arch., ii. (1903), p. 48.
5 This is overstated. The controlling influence was that
of Maesa; see 0. F. Butler, p. 40.
107
ANTONINUS ELAGABALUS
2retur. et aiunt quidam Varii etiam nomen idcirco
eodera inditum a condiscipulis quod vario semine,
3 de meretrice utpote, conceptus videretur. hie fertur
occiso Macrini factione patre, ut dicebatur, Antonino
in templum dei Heliogabali confugisse, velut in asylum,
ne interficeretur a Macrino, qui saevissime cum filio
41uxurioso et crudeli exercuit imperium. sed de
nomine hactenus, quamvis sanctum illud Antoninorum
nomen polluerit, quod tu, Constantine sacratissime,
ita veneraris, ut Marcum et Pium inter Constantios
Claudiosque, velut maiores tuos, aureos formaveris,
adoptans virtutes veterum tuis moribus congruente*
et tibi arnicas caras.
III. Sed ut ad Antoninum Varium revertamur,
nanctus imperium Romam nuntios misit, excitatisque
omnibus ordinibus, omni etiam populo ad nomen
Antoninum, quod non solum titulo, ut in Diadumeno
fuerat, sed etiam in sanguine redditum videbatur,
cum se Antonini Bassiani filium scripsisset, ingens eius
2desiderium factum est. erat praeterea etiam rumor,
qui novis post tyrannos solet donari1 principibus,
1 damnari P.
1 See note to c. i. 1. The manner of life imputed to
Soaemias in this passage is certainly much exaggerated and
quite in keeping with the general tone of this biography. An
amour b?tween her and Gannys, her son's tutor, is alluded to
by Dio (Ixxix. 6, 2).
2 See Macr., xi.-xii. There is no evidence, however, that
Macrini] s showed any cruelty to the relatives of Caracalla.
Dio (Ixxviii. 23, 2) emphasizes his considerate treatment of
Julia Domna. The statement (repeated also by Victor, Goes.,
xxiii. 1) that Elagabalus fled to the temple at Emesa is a
•wholly incorrect inference from his permanent residence
there as hereditary high-priest.
108
ANTONINUS ELAGABALUS II. 2— III. 2
The name Varius, some say, was given him by his
school-fellows because he seemed to be sprung from
the seed of " various " men, as would be the case
with the son of a harlot.1 And then, when his
reputed father Antoninus was slain by Macrinus'
treachery, he sought refuge in the temple of Elaga-
balus the god, as in a sanctuary, for fear that
Macrinus would kill him ; for Macrinus and his
wasteful and brutal son were wielding the imperial
power with the greatest cruelty.2 But enough con-
cerning his name — though he defiled this venerated
name of the Antonines, which you, Most Sacred Con-
stantine, so revere that you have had portrayed in gold
both Marcus and Pius together with the Constantii
and the Claudii, as though they too were your an-
cestors, just as you have adopted the virtues of the
ancients which are naturally suited to your own
character, and pleasing and dear to you as well.
III. But let us return to Varius Antoninus.
After obtaining the imperial power he despatched
couriers to Rome,3 and there all classes were filled
with enthusiasm, and a great desire for him was
aroused in the whole people merely at the mention
of the name Antoninus, now restored, as it seemed,
not in an empty title (as it had been in the case of
Diadumenianus 4), but actually in one of the blood —
for he had signed himself son of Antoninus Bassianus.5
He had the prestige, furthermore, which usually
comes to a new ruler who has succeeded a tyrant ;
this is permanent only when the highest virtues
3 From Antioch ; see Dio, Ixxix. 1.
4 See Diad., i. 3-8.
5 He also assumed all the imperial titles ; see Dio, Ixxix.
2,2.
109
ANTONINUS ELAGABALUS
qui nisi ex sumrais virtutibus non permanet, et quern
multi mediocres principes amiserunt.
3 Denique ubi in senatu lectae sunt litterae Helioga-
bali, statim fausta 1 in Antoninum et dira in Macrinum
eiusque filium dicta sunt, appellatusque Antoninus
princeps volentibus cunctis et studiose credentibus,
ut sese habent vota hominum ad credulitatem festi-
nantium, cum quod optant verum esse desiderant.
4 Sed ubi primum ingressus est urbem, omissis quae
in provincia gerebantur, Heliogabalum in Palatino
monte iuxta aedes imperatorias consecravit eique
templum fecit, studens et Matris typum et Vestae
ignem et Palladium et ancilia et omnia Romanis
veneranda in illud transferre templum et id agens, ne
6 quis Romae deus nisi Heliogabalus coleretur. dice-
bat praeterea ludaeorum et Samaritanorum religiones
et Christianam devotionem illuc transfereiidam, ut
1 infausta P.
1 According to Dio, Ixxix. 2, and Herodian, v. 5, 2, the
senate acclaimed him emperor only out of fear of tha soldiers.
2 In July, 219 ; see O. F. Butler, p. 75. He spent the
winter of 218-219 at Nicomedia in Bithynia ; see c. v. 1.
3 He brought the sacred stone of Elagabalus to Rome with
him and built two temples for the god, one on the Palatine —
the so-called Eliogabalium (Mommsen, Chron. Min.t i. 147) —
and the other in the suburb known as Ad Spem Veterem east
of the city, near the modern Porta Maggiore ; see 0. Richter,
Top. d. Stadt Rom*, p. 315. On the other hand, nothing is
known of the Aedes Orci mentioned in c. i. 6.
4 His plan was to unite all cults and to make Elagabalus
the chief deity of Rome; see Dio, Ixxix. 11, 1 ; Herodian, v.
6, 7. He particularly desired to form a union between his
god and Vesta as the representative of the Roman state, and
to this end he transferred to the Eliogabalium the fire of
110
ANTONINUS ELAGABALUS III. 3-5
are present and has been lost by many a mediocre
emperor.
In short, when Elagabalus' message was read in
the senate, at once good wishes were uttered for
Antoninus and curses on Macrinus and his son,1 and,
in accordance with the general wish and the eager
belief of all in his paternity, Antoninus was hailed
as emperor. Such are the pious hopes of men, who
are quick to believe when they wish the thing to
come true which their hearts desire.
As soon as he entered the city,2 however, neglect-
ing all the affairs of the provinces, he established
Elagabalus as a god on the Palatine Hill close to the
imperial palace 3 ; and he built him a temple, to
which he desired to transfer the emblem of the
Great Mother, the fire of Vesta, the Palladium, the
shields of the Salii, and all that the Romans held
sacred, purposing that no god might be worshipped
at Rome save only Elagabalus.4 He declared , further-
more, that the religions of the Jews and the Samaritans
and the rites of the Christians must also be transferred
Vesta and the sacred objects kept in her temple, such as the
Ancilia and the Palladium. The latter, an image of Pallas,
supposedly of Trojan origin, he seems to have regarded as
the image ^of Vesta, who, in fact, was not represented in
image-form. He further symbolised the union between the
two deities by his own marriage with a Vestal; see c. vi. 6
and note. Since his combination of these cults aroused the
greatest indignation in Borne, he divorced the Vestal and
chose a new consort for his god in the Carthaginian deity
Caelestis (see note to Pert., iv. 2), whose image was brought
to Rome and placed in the Eliogabalium ; see Dio, Ixxix. 12,
1. Since she was frequently identified with the Magna Mater
the Matris typus of the text probably refers to this image ;
see 0. F. Butler, p. 91 f.
Ill
ANTONINUS ELAGABALUS
omnium culturarum secretum Heliogabalisacerdotium
teneret.
IV. Deinde ubi primum diem senatus habuit, ma-
2 trem suam in senatum rogari iussit. quae cum venisset,
vocata ad consulum subsellia scribendo adfuit, id est
senatus consulti conficiendi testis, solusque omnium
imperatorum fuit, sub quo mulier quasi clarissima
loco viri senatum ingressa est.
3 Fecit et in colle Quirinali senaculum, id est mulie-
rum senatum, in quo ante fuerat conventus matronalis,
sollemnibus dumtaxat diebus et si umquam aliqua
matrona consularis coniugii ornamentis esset donata,
quod veteres imperatores adfinibus detulerunt et iis
maxime quae nobilitatos maritos non habuerant, ne
4 innobilitatae remanerent. sed Symiamira facta sunt
senatus consulta ridicula de legibus matronalibus :
quae quo vestitu incederet, quae cui cederet, quae ad
cuius osculum veniret, quae pilento, quae equo,
1This statement is almost certainly a later addition, for
there would be no significance in a combination of these sects
with the cult of Elagabalus; see O. F. Butler, p. 126.
2 He himself bore the title sacerdos amplissimus Dei Solis
Elagabali, giving this sacred office a higher place than that
of Pontifex Maximus; see G. Wissowa, Religion u. Kultus
der Romer, p. 305.
3 On his arrival in Borne in July, 219.
4 There is no other voucher for this statement. According
to c. xii. 3 it was his grandmother Maesa who came into the
senate.
5 Nero's mother Agrippina was allowed to be present at a
meeting of the senate, but concealed behind a curtain ; see
Tacitus, Annals, xiii. 5.
6 Mentioned also in Aurel., xlix. 6. Senaculum properly
denotes a place in which the senators waited while the senate
was not in session ; the name seems to have been applied to
112
ANTONINUS ELAGABALUS IV. 2-4
to this place,1 in order that the priesthood of Elaga-
balus 2 might include the mysteries of every form of
worship.
IV. Then, when he held his first audience with
the senate,8 he gave orders that his mother should be
asked to come into the senate-chamber. On her
arrival she was invited to a place on the consuls'
bench and there she took part in the drafting —
that is to say, she witnessed the drawing up of the
senate's decree.4 And Elagabalus was the only one
of all the emperors under whom a woman attended
the senate like a man, just as though she belonged
to the senatorial order.5
He also established a senacnlum? or women's senate,
on the Quirinal Hill. Before his time, in fact, a
congress of matrons had met here, but only on certain
festivals, or whenever a matron was presented with
the insignia of a " consular marriage " — bestowed by
the early emperors on their kinswomen, particularly
on those whose husbands were not nobles, in order
that they might not lose their noble rank.7 But
now under the influence of Symiamira absurd decrees
were enacted concerning rules to be applied to
matrons, namely, what kind of clothing each might
wear in public, who was to yield precedence and to
whom, who was to advance to kiss another, who
this gathering of matrons merely for the purpose of giving it
a quasi-political importance ; see Mommsen, Staatsrecht, iii.
p. 914. The conventus matronalis was an organization dating
from the early republican period. Its rulings — here con-
cerned with matters of court etiquette — seem to have received
some sort of official recognition and hence are incorrectly
called senatus consulta.
7 A woman who married a man of lower status lost her
rank, unless authorized to retain it by imperial decree.
113
ANTONINUS ELAGABALUS
quae sagmario,1 quae asino veheretur, quae carpento
mulari, quae bourn, quae sella veheretur, et utrum
pellicia an ossea an eborata an argentata, et quae
aurum vel gemmas in calciamentis haberent.
V. Ergo cum hibernasset Nicomediae atque omnia
sordide ageret inireturque a viris et subigeret, statim
milites facti sui paenituit, quod in Macrinum con-
spiraverant ut hunc principem facerent, atque in
consobrinum eiusdem Heliogabali Alexandrum, quern
Caesarem senatus Macrino interempto appel'averat,
2inclinavereanimos. quis enim ferre posset principem
per2 cuiicta cava corporis libidinem recipientem, cum
3ne beluam quidem talem quisquam ferat ? Romae
denique nihil egit aliud nisi ut emissarios haberet,
qui ei bene vasatos perquirerent eosque ad aulam
4 perducerent, ut eorum conditionibus frui posset, age-
bat praeterea domi fabulam Paridis ipse Veneris per-
sonam subiens, ita ut subito vestes ad pedesdefluerent,
nudusque una manu ad mammam altera pudendis
adhibita ingenicularet, posterioribus eminentibus in
Ssubactoiem reiectis et oppositis. vultum praeterea
eodem quo Venus pingitur schemate figurabat, corpore
toto expolitus, eum fructum vitae praecipuum existi-
mans, si dignus atque aptus libidini plurimorum
videretur.
1 quae equo, quae sagmario Mommsen, Peter ; quae quoque
sagmario P. 2 qui per P.
1 The son of Julia Avita Mamaea, younger daughter of
Julia Maesa, and Gessius Marcianus. He was originally
called Alexionos (Herodian, v. 3, 3) or Bassianus (Dio, Ixxviii.
80, 3), but after he was formally adopted by Elagabalus in
221 and given the title of Caesar, he was known as M.
Aurelius Alexander. On his accession to the throne he took
the name M. Aurelius Severus Alexander. The biography if
114
ANTONINUS ELAGABALUS V. 1-5
might ride in a chariot, on a horse, on a pack-animal,
or on ail ass, who might drive in a carriage drawn
by mules or in one drawn by oxen, who might be
carried in a litter, and whether the litter might be
made of leather, or of bone, or covered with ivory
or with silver, and lastly, who might wear gold or
jewels on her shoes.
V. After he had spent the winter in Nicomedia, 218-219.
living in a depraved manner and indulging in un-
natural vice with men, the soldiers soon began to
regret that they had conspired against Macrinus to
make this man emperor, and they turned their
thoughts toward his cousin Alexander,1 who on the
murder of Macrinus had been hailed by the senate
as Caesar. For who could tolerate an emperor who
indulged in unnatural lusts of every kind, when not
even a beast of this sort would be tolerated ? And
even at Rome he did nothing but send out agents
to search for those who had particularly large organs
and bring them to the palace in order that he might
enjoy their vigour. Moreover, he used to have the
story of Paris played in his house, and he himself
would take the role of Venus, and suddenly drop his
clothing to the ground and fall naked on his knees,
one hand on his breast, the other before his private
parts, his buttocks projecting meanwhile and thrust
back in front of his partner in depravity. He would
likewise model the expression of his face on that
with which Venus is usually painted, and he had
his whole body depilated, deeming it the chief
enjoyment of life to appear fit and worthy to arouse
the lusts of the greatest number.
here in error in the statement that Alexander received the
title of Caesar on the death of Macrinus.
115
ANTONINUS ELAGABALUS
VI. Vendidit et honores et dignitates et potestates
tarn per se quam per omnes servos ac libidinum minis-
2 tros. in senatum legit sine discrimine aetatis, census,
generis pecuniae merito, militaribus etiam praeposi-
turis et tribunatibus et legationibus et ducatibus ven-
ditis, etiam procurationibus et Palatinis officiis.
3aurigas Protogenen et Cordium primo in certamine
curuli socios, post in omni vita et actu participes
4habuit. multos, quorum corpora placuerant, de
5 scaena et Circo et arena in aulam traduxit. Hieroclem
vero sic amavit ut eidem inguina oscularetur, quod
dictum etiam inverecundum est, Floralia sacra se
adserens celebrare.
6 In virginem Vestalem incestum admisit. sacra
7 populi Romani sublatis penetralibus profanavit. ignem
perpetuum exstinguere voluit. nee Romanas tantum
exstinguere voluit religiones, sed per orbem terrae,
unum studens, ut Heliogabalus deus ubique coleretur.
et in penum Vestae, quod solae virgines solique ponti-
fices adeunt, inrupit, pollutus ipse omni contagione
1 Ct. c. xi. 1 ; xii. 1-2. The same charge is made by
Herodian (v. 3, 6-7).
2 Otherwise unknown.
3 Called Gordius by Dio (Ixxix. 15, 1). He was appointed
praefectus vigilum (c. xii. 1) but was removed from office at
the demand of the soldiers (c. xv. 2).
4 Originally a slave, from Caria, the pupil and favourite of
Cordius; see Dio, Ixxix. 15. In 221 the praetorian guard
forced Elagabalus to dismiss him, together with other of his
unworthy favourites; see c. xv. 2-4; Dio, Ixxix. 19, 3. He
was finally killed by the soldiers after Elagabalus' murder;
see Dio, Ixxix. 21, 1.
5 An arcient festival, held 28 April-3 May. The theatrical
performances held in conjunction with it were characterized
by lack of decorum and even lewdness and were the target for
116
ANTONINUS ELAGABALUS VI. 1-7
VI. He took money for honours and distinctions
and positions of power, selling them in person or
through his slaves and those who served his lusts. He
made appointments to the senate without regard to
age, property, or rank, and solely at the price of
money, and he sold the positions of captain and tri-
bune, legate and general, likewise procuratorships
and posts in the Palace.1 The charioteers Proto-
genes 2 and Cordius,3 originally his comrades in the
chariot-race, he later made his associates in his daily
life and actions. Many whose personal appearance
pleased him he took from the stage, the Circus, and
the arena and brought to the palace. And such
was his passion for Hierocles 4 that he kissed him in
a place which it is indecent even to mention, declar-
ing that he was celebrating the festival of Flora.5
He violated the chastity of a Vestal Virgin,*
and by removing the holy shrines he profaned the
sacred rites of the Roman nation.7 He also desired
to extinguish the everlasting fire. In fact, it was
his desire to abolish not only the religious cere-
monies of the Romans but also those of the whole
world, his one wish being that the god Elagabalus
should be worshipped everywhere. He even broke
into the sanctuary of Vesta, into which only Vestal
Virgins and the priests may enter,8 though himself
defiled by every moral stain and in the company of
the criticism of early Christian writers; see Lactantius, Inst.t
i. 20, 10; Tertullian, de Sped., 17.
6Aquilia Severa, whom he married early in 221, after the
divorce of his first wife Paula. On this marriage see note to
c. iii. 4.
7 On this and the following statements see c. iii. 4 and
note.
8 AJS Pontifex Maximus he was entitled to enter.
117
ANTONINUS ELAGABALUS
fimorum cum iis qui se polluerant. et penetrale sa-
crum est auferre conatus cumque seriam quasi veram
rapuisset, quam ei virgo 1 maxima falsam monstraverat,
atque in ea nihil repperisset, adplosam fregit. nee
tamen quicquam religioni dempsit, quia plures similes
factae dicuntur esse, ne quis veram umquam possit
9 auferre. haec cum ita essent, signum tamen quod
Palladium esse credebat abstulit et auro tinctum 2 in
sui dei templo locavit.
VII. Matris etiam deum sacra accepit et tauroboli-
atus est, ut typum eriperet et alia sacra quae penitus
2habentur condita. iactavit autem caput inter prae-
cisos fanaticos et genitalia sibi devinxit et omnia
fecit quae Galli facere solent, ablatumque sanctum in
3 penetrale dei sui transtulit. Salambonem etiam
1 quam ei uirgo Jordan, Novak ; quamquisgo P1 ; quamque
uirgo Petschenig, Peter2. -iinctum Hirschfeld, Peter2 ;
uinctum P, Peter1.
xln the Penus Vestae, the Holy of Holies of the Temple of
Vesta, were preserve! various sacred objects which none but
the Vestals and the Pontifex Maximus might look upon. Ac-
cording to Servius (note to Aeneid, vii. 188), there were seven
of these pigywra, including the Palladium. They seem to have
been kept in a large earthenware crock ; Plutarch, Camillus,
xx., records that two such vessels were kept in the sanctuary,
one of which was empty — a belief which seems to be respon-
sible for the statements made here.
2 See c. iii. 4 and note.
3 A rite connected with the worship of Caelestis and
especially with that of the Magna Mater and in great vogue
in Borne in the second and third centuries. Originally a
sacrifice of a bull and a ram, it came to have an especial
significance as a rite of purification and initiation. The
neophyte stood in a pit covered with perforated boards on
which a bull was slaughtered. The blood flowing down upon
118
ANTONINUS ELAGABALUS VI. 8— VII. 3
those who had defiled themselves. He also at-
tempted to carry away the sacred shrine,1 but instead
of the true one he seized only an earthenware one,
which the Senior Vestal had shown him in an at-
tempt to deceive him, and when he found nothing
in it, he threw it down and broke it. The cult,
however, did not suffer at his hands, for several
shrines had been made, it is said, exactly like the
true one, in order that none might ever be able to
take this one away. Though this be so, he never-
theless carried away the image which he believed to
be the Palladium, and after washing it over with
gold he placed it in the temple of his god.
VII. He also adopted the worship of the Great
Mother2 and celebrated the rite of the taurobolium 3 ;
and he carried off her image and the sacred objects
which are kept hidden in a secret place. He would
toss his head to and fro among the castrated devotees
of the goddess, and he infibtalated himself, and did all
that the eunuch-priests are wont to do 4 ; and the
image of the goddess which he carried off he placed
in the sanctuary of his god. He also celebrated the
rite of Salambo 5 with all the wailing and the frenzy
the person beneath signified his purification and spiritual
re-birth and at the same time his initiation as priest of the
Magna Mater ; see G. ' Wissowa, Religion u. Kultus d.
Romer, p. 268 f.
4 Orgiastic rites, including the act of castration practised
in connexion with various eastern cults and especially with
that of the Magna Mater, seem to have been performed in
the worship of the god Elagabalus. It was believed that
magic rites also were celebrated and children sacrificed in his
honour ; see c. viii. 1-2 and Dio, Ixxix. 11, 3.
6 A Semitic goddess, probably akin to Aphrodite and Tanith-
Caelestis, associated with a ceremony of lamentation like the
mourning for Adonis.
119
ANTONINUS ELAGABALUS
omni planctu et iactatione Syriaci cultus exhibuit,
4 omen sibi faciens inminentis exitii. omnes sane deos
sui del ministros esse aiebat, cum alios eius cubicu-
larios appellaret, alios servos, alios diversarum rerum
5 ministros. lapides qui divi dicuntur ex proprio
templo, simulacrum 1 Dianae Laodiceae ex adyto suo,
in quo id Orestes posuerat, adferre voluit.
6 Et Orestem quidem ferunt non unum simulacrum
Dianae nee uno in loco posuisse sed multa in multis.
7posteaquam se apud Tria Flumina circa Hebrum ex
response purificavit, etiam Orestam condidit civitatem,
quam saepe cruentari hominum sanguine necesse est.
Set Orestam quidem urbem Hadrianus suo nomini
vindicari iussit eo tempore, quo furore coeperat
laborare, ex response, cum ei dictum esset ut in
£$ furiosi alicuius domum vel nomen inreperet. nam
ex eo emollitam insaniam ferunt, per quam multos
lOsenatores occidi iusserat. quibus servatis Antoninus
Pii nomen meruit, quod eos post ad senatum adduxit
quos omnes iussu principis interfectos credebant.
VIII. Cecidit et humanas hostias, lectis ad hoc
1 simulacrum ins. by Obrecht and Peter ; om. in P.
1 On the Syrian coast, now Latakiyeh. The tutelary god-
dess of the place was assimilated to the Greek Artemis Tavpo-
TTO'XOS, who, as a result of the similarity in name, was blended
with the Tauric goddess, brought to Attica, according to
Euripides, by Orestes and Iphigenia. The sacred image at
Laodicea, presented by King Seleucus, was alleged, like many
others in various sanctuaries, to be the original one brought
by Orestes, which, it was claimed, had been carried away from
Attica to Susa by the Persians ; see Pausanias, iii. 16, 8.
2 An ancient Thracian town called by various names, among
them Orestias, re-founded by Hadrian as Hadrianopolis, now
Adrianople. It became famous as the scene of a battle be-
tween Constantino and Licinius in 323 and of the defeat of
120
ANTONINUS ELAGABALUS VII. 4— VIII. 1
of the Syrian cult — thereby foreshadowing his own
impending doom. In fact, he asserted that all gods
were merely the servants of his god, calling some its
chamberlains, others its slaves, and others its attend-
ants for divers purposes. And he planned to carry
off from their respective temple's the stones which are
said to be divine, among them the emblem of Diana,
from its holy place at Laodicea,1 where it had been
dedicated by Orestes.
Now Orestes, they say, dedicated not merely one
image of Diana in one place, but many and in many
places. And after he purified himself at the Three
Rivers in the Hebrus region in obedience to a divine
response, he founded the city of Oresta2 — a city
destined to be often stained with human blood. As
for this city of Oresta, Hadrian, after he had begun
to suffer from madness, ordered that it should be
called after his own name — also acting in obedience
to a divine response, for he had been told to steal
into the house or into the name of some madman.
Thereupon, they say, he recovered from his madness,
which had caused him to order the execution of many
senators, all of whom, however, were saved by Antoni-
nus ; for he won the surname of Pius by leading them
into the senate after all supposed that they had been
put to death by the Emperor's order.3
VIII. Elagabalus also sacrificed human victims,4 and
Valens by the Goths in 378. Both these battles seem to be
alluded to in this passage, and this ha^ been used as an
argument for the theory that the Histojia Augusta was
written at the end of the fourth century ; see Intro, to vol. ii.
p. viii f. This whole paragraph, however, breaks the continuity
of the narrative and is evidently a later addition.
3 See Hadr., xxiv. 4 ; Pius, ii. 4.
4 See c. vii. 2 and note.
121
ANTONINUS ELAGABALUS
pueris nobilibus et decoris per omnem Italiam patrimis
et matrimis, credo ut maior esset utriqne parent!
dolor, omne denique magorum genus aderat illi
operabaturque cottidie, hortante illo et gratias dis
agente, quod amicos eorum invenisset, cum inspiceret
exta puerilia et excruciaret hostias ad ritum gentilera
suum.
3 Cum consulatum inisset, in populum non nummos
vel argenteos vel aureos vel l bellaria vel minuta
animalia, sed boves opimos 2 et camelos et asinos et
servos populo diripiendos abiecit, imperatorium id
esse dictitans.
4 Insecutus est famam Macrini crudeliter, sed multo
magis Diadumeni, quod Antoninus dictus est, Pseudo-
Antoninum 3 eum appellans, simul quod ex luxurio-
sissimo exstitisse vir fbrtissimus, optimus, gravissimus,
5severissimus diceretur. coegit denique scriptores
nonnullos nefanda, immo potius impatibilia 4 de eius-
dem luxuria dictu 5 disputare, ut in vita 6 eius.
6 Lavacrum publicum in aedibus aulicis fecit, simul
et PJautini populo exhibuit, ut ex eo condiciones bene
7vasatorum hominum colJigeret. idque diligenter
1 uel om. in P. 2optimos P. 3 Pseudoantoninum
et Pseudophilippum P1; et Ps. del. by Salm. and Peter.
4 impatibilia Editor; mipace P; impia Egnatius, Peter1;
inepta Peter2. 5 luxuria dictu Editor; dictum luxuria P ;
Diadumeni luxuria Peter. 6 disputare ut in uita P ; dispu-
tarent in uita Salm., Peter1 ; disputare, ut in uita eius . . .
Peter2.
1 This is related by Herodian (v. 6, 9) in connection with
the removal of the god Elagabalus from the Palatine to his
suburban temple (see note to c. iii. 4).
2 See Diad., i. 3; vi. 10.
3 These details are not in the Vita Diadumeni.
122
ANTONINUS ELAGABALUS VIII. 2-7
for this purpose he collected from the whole of Italy
children of noble birth and beautiful appearance,
whose fathers and mothers were alive, intending, I
suppose, that the sorrow, if suffered by two parents,
should be all the greater. Finally, he kept about
him every kind of magician and had them perform
daily sacrifices, himself urging them on and giving
thanks to the gods because he found them to be well-
disposed to these men ; and all the while he would
examine the children's vitals and torture the victims
after the manner of his own native rites.
When he entered upon his consulship he threw
presents to the populace to be scrambled for, no mere
pieces of silver and gold, indeed, or confectionery or
little animals, but fatted cattle l and camels and
asses and slaves, declaring that this was an imperial
custom.
He made a savage attack on the memory of Ma-
crinus and a still more savage one on that of Dia-
dumenianus because he had received the name
Antoninus 2 — he called him a Pseudo- Antoninus — and
because it was asserted that from a veritable profligate
he had become very brave and honourable and digni-
fied and austere. And he even forced certain writers
to recount concerning his profligacy some details
which were unspeakable, or, more properly, intoler-
able to relate, considering that this was in a biography
of him.3
He made a public bath in the imperial palace and
at the same time threw open the bath of Plautinus *
to the populace, that by this means he might get a
supply of men with unusually large organs. He also
4 Otherwise unknown.
123
ANTONINUS ELAGABALUS
curatum est, ut ex tota penitus urbe atque ex nauticis
onobeli l quaererentur. sic eos appellabant qui virili-
ores videbantur.
IX. Cum Marcomannis bellum inferre vellet, quod
Antoninus pulcherrime profligarat, dictum est a qui-
busdam per Chaldaeos et magos Antoninum Marcum
id egisse, ut Marcomanni populo Romano semper de-
voti essent atque amici, idque factum 2 carminibus et
consecratione.3 et cum quaereret quae ilia esset vel
2 ubi esset, suppressum est. constabat enim ilium ob
hoc consecrationem quaerere, ut earn dissiparet spe
belli concitandi, et idcirco maxime quod audierat re-
sponsum fuisse ab Antonino bellum Marcomannicum
finiendum, cum hie Varius et Heliogabalus et ludi-
brium publicum diceretur, nomen autem Antonini
Spollueret, in quod invaserat. prodebatur autem per
eos maxime, qui dolebant sibi homines ad exercendas
libidines bene vasatos et maioris peculii opponi.
unde etiam de nece eius cogitari coepit. et haec
quidem domi.
X. Sed milites pestem illam imperatoris velari no-
mine pati nequierunt ac primum inter sese deinde per
coronas iecere sermones, in Alexandrum omnes in-
clinantes, qui iam Caesar erat a senatu eo tempore
1 onobeli Lipsius, Peter2 ; monobiles P. 2 factum Peter1 ;
factus P ; sacris Petschenig, Peter2. 3 carminibus et con-
secratione. cumque Jordan, Peter2; carminibus. et consecra-
tionem cum P, Peter1, Lenze.
1 i.e. like an ass in this respect.
2 Probably Caracalla's campaign against the Alamanni is
meant ; see note to Carac., v. 3. Perhaps, however, it is an
124
ANTONINUS ELAGABALUS IX. I— X. 1
took care to have the whole city and the wharves
searched for onobeli,1 as those were called who seemed
particularly lusty.
IX. When he was making plans to take up the war
against the Marcomanni, which Marcus Antoninus 2
had fought with great glory, he was told by certain
persons that it was by the help of astrologers and
magicians that Marcus had made the Marcomanni
forever the liegemen and friends of the Roman
people, and that it had been done by means of magic
rites and a dedication. But when he inquired what
this was or where it could be obtained, he could get
no response. For it. was generally reported that he
inquired about this dedication solely for the purpose
of destroying it, hoping thereby to bring on the war ;
for he had been told that there was a prophesy that
the Marcomannic war should be ended by an An-
toninus— whereas he was called Varius and Elaga-
balus and a public laughing-stock, and he was, more-
over, a disgrace to the name of Antoninus, on which
he had laid violent hands. This report, moreover, was
spread by those most of all who were aggrieved that
men well equipped for gratifying his lusts and of
larger resources were opposed to themselves. And
for this reason they even began to plot his death.
So much for domestic affairs.
X. As for the soldiers, they could not endure to have
such a pest clothed with the name of emperor, and
they all expressed their views, first one to another,
then in groups, turning their thoughts to Alexander,
who previously, at the time when Macrinus was
allusion to the Marcomannic war of Marcus Aurtlius, as a
result of which the Marcomanni accepted terms like those
described here ; see Dio, Ixxii. 2.
125
ANTONINUS ELAGABALUS
quo Macrinus interemptus est appellatus, consobrinus l
huius Antonini, nam Varia una iis erat avia, unde
Heliogabalus Varius dicebatur.
2 Zoticus sub eo tantum valuit ut ab omnibus officio-
rum principibus sic haberetur quasi domini maritus.
3 erat praeterea idem Zoticus qui hoc familiaritatis
genere abutens omnia Heliogabali dicta et facta
venderet fumis, quam maxime divitias enormes
parans,2 cum aliis minaretur, aliis polliceretur, omnes
falleret egrediensque ab illo singulos adiret dicens,
" de te hoc locutus sum," " de te hoc audivi," " de
4 te hoc futurum est ". ut sunt homines huiusmodi, qui,
si admissi fuerint ad nimiam familiaritatem principum,
famam non solum malorum sed et bonorum princi-
pum vendunt et qui stultitia vel innocentia impera-
torum, qui hoc non perspiciunt, infami rumigeratione
5 pascuntur. nupsit et coit, ita ut 3 et pronubam haberet
clamaretque "Concide Magire," eteoquidem tempore
6 quo Zoticus aegrotabat. quaerebat deinde a philo-
sophis et gravissimis viris, an et ipsi in adulescentia
perpessi essent quae ipse pateretur, et4 quidem im-
1 so Petschenig ; eo tempore quo Macrinus huius Ant. P ;
eo tempore consobrinus huius Salm., Peter. 2so Gemoll,
Peter2 ; enormq sperans P. 3ita ut Kellerbauer, Peter2 ;
aut P. 4et om. in P.
1 An error ; see note to c. v. 1. This paragraph forms a
transition to the narrative of the attempted assassination of
Alexander and the consequent outbreak among the soldiers
(c. xiii.-xv.) The connexion is broken by the more personal
material contained in c. x. 2 — xii.
2 Aurelius Zoticus, an athlete from Smyrna, brought to
Borne by order of Elagabalus. His father had been a cook
and he was accordingly given the nickname of Mdyeipos
(= cook). For a further account of him see Dio, Ixxix. 16.
126
ANTONINUS ELAGABALUS X. 2-6
murdered, had been hailed by the senate as Caesar l
— he was the cousin of this Antoninus, for both were
grandsons of Varia, from whom Elagabalus had the
name Varius.
During his reign Zoticus 2 had such influence that
all the chiefs of the palace-departments treated
him as their master's consort. This same Zoticus,
furthermore, was the kind to abuse such a degree
of intimacy, for under false pretences 3 he sold all
Elagabalus' promises and favours, and so, as far as he
could, he amassed enormous wealth. To some men
he held out threats, and to others promises, lying to
them all, and as he came out from the Emperor's
presence, he would go up to each and say, "In
regard to you I said this," "in regard to you I was
told that," and "in regard to you this action will
be taken ". That is the way of men of this kind,
for, once admitted to too close an intimacy with a
ruler, they sell information concerning his intentions,
whether he be good or bad, and so, through the
stupidity or the innocence of an emperor who does
not detect their intrigues, batten on the shameless
hawking of rumours.4 With this man Elagabalus
went through a nuptial ceremony and consummated
a marriage, even having a bridal-matron and ex-
claiming, " Go to work, Cook " — and this at a time
when Zoticus was ill. After that he would ask
philosophers and even men of the greatest dignity
whether they, in their youth, had ever experienced
what he was experiencing — all without the slightest
3 See note to Pius, vi. 4.
4 An implicit comparison with the policy of Alexander; see
Alex., xxiii. 8; Ixvii. 2.
127
ANTONINUS ELAGABALUS
7 pudentissime ; neque enim umquam verbis pepercit
infamibus, cum et digitis impudicitiam ostentaret,
Dec ullus in conventu et audiente populo esset
pudor.
XL Fecit libertos praesides, legates, consules,
duces, omnesque dignitates polluit ignobilitate homi-
2 num perditorum. cum ad vindemias vocasset amicos
nobiles et ad corbes sedisset, gravissimum quemque
percontari coepit, an promptus esset in Venerem,
erubescentibusque senibus exclamabat " Erubuit, salva
res est," silentium ac ruborem pro consensu ducens.
3 addidit praeterea ipse quae faceret, sine ullius pudoris
4velamento. postquam senes vidit erubescere ac
tacere, vel quia aetas vel quia dignitas talia refuta-
bat, contulit se ad iuvenes et ab his coepit omnia ex-
5 quirere. a quibus cum audiret aetati congrua, gaudere
coepit, dicens l vere liberam vindemiam esse quam sic
6celebraret. ferunt multi ab ipso primum repertum,
ut in vindemiarum festivo multa in dominos iocularia
et audientibus dominis dicerentur, quae ipse com-
posuerat, et Graeca maxime. horum pleraque Marius
7 Maximus dicit in vita ipsius Heliogabali. erant
1 dicens Peter ; dicere P.
lGt. c. vi. 1-4; xii. 1-2.
2 The term amid Augusti denoted those persons who were
officially recognized as qualified to enter the emperor's
presence, and the word amid is used in this sense in this and
the following biographies and occasionally also in the pre-
ceding, e.g. Hadr., xviii. 1 ; Pius, vi. 11 ; Marc., vii. 3 ; x. 3 ;
xxvii.-xxix. ; Com., iii. 1. The amid included probably all
the senators and selected members of the equestrian order;
their names were announced in the Acta Urbis see note to
Com., xv. 4) aud were probably entered in an official register.
From their numbers were taken the consiliarii Augusti (see
128
ANTONINUS ELAGABALUS X. 7— XI. 7
shame. For indeed he never refrained from filthy
conversation and would make indecent signs with
his fingers and would show no regard for decency
even in public gatherings or in the hearing of the
people.
XI. He made his freedmen governors and legates,
consuls and generals, and he brought disgrace on all
offices of distinction by the appointment of base-born
profligates.1 On one occasion he invited the nobles
of the court2 to a vintage-festival, and when he had
seated himself by the baskets of grapes, he began to
ask the most dignified of them one by one whether
he were responsive to Venus, and when the old men
would blush he would cry out, " He is blushing, it's
all right," regarding their silence and blushes as a
confession. He then narrated his own doings without
any cloak of shame. But when he saw that the elders
blushed and kept silent, because neither their age
nor their dignity was in keeping with such topics, he
turned to the young men and began to question them
about all their experiences. And when they told him
what one would expect of their age, he began to be
merry, declaring that a vintage celebrated in such a
manner was truly bacchanalian. Many relate, further-
more, that he was the first to devise the custom of
having slaves make jibes at their masters' expense
during a vintage-festival, even in the hearing of
their masters, which jibes he had composed himself,
most of them in Greek ; several of these, indeed,
are quoted by Marius Maximus in his Life of Ela-
gabalus. His courtiers, moreover, were men of
note to Hadr., viii. 9) and the comites (Hadr., xviii. 1 ; Ver.,
vii. 6-8; Alex., xxxii. 1), who were officially appointed to ac-
company the emperor on his journeys.
129
ANTONINUS ELAGABALUS
amici improbi et senes quidam et specie philosophi
qui caput reticulo componerent, qui improba quaedam
pati se dicerent, qui maritos se habere iactarent.
quos quidam finxisse dicunt, ut illi fierent vitiorum
imitatione cariores.
XII. Ad praefecturam praetorii saltatorem, qui
histrionicam Romae fecerat, adscivit, praefectum
vigilum Cordium aurigam fecit, praefectum annonae
2Claudium tonsorem.1 ad honores reliquos promovit
commendatos sibi pudibilium enormitate membrorum.
ad vicensimam hereditatium mulionem curare iussit,
iussit et cursorem, iussit et cocum et claustrarium
Sartificem. cum ingressus est vel Castra vel Curiam,
aviam suam, Variam nomine, de qua superius dictum
est, secum induxit, ut eius auctoritate honestior fieret,
quia per se non poterat ; nee ante eum, quod iam
diximus, senatum mulier ingressa est ita, ut ad scriben-
4dum rogaretur et sententiam diceret. in conviviis
exsoletos maxime iuxta se ponebat eorumque adtrec-
tatione et tactu praecipue gaudebat, nee quisquam ei
magis poculum cum bibisset dabat.
XIII. Inter haec mala vitae impudicissimae Alexan-
drum, quern sibi adoptaverat, a se amoveri iussit, dicens
1 tonsorem Salm., Peter ; censorem P.
1 Probably Valerius Comazon Eutychianus, a freedman ; see
Dio, Ixxviii. 31, 1 ; Ixxix. 4, 1-2 ; Herodian, v. 7, 6. He aided
in the overthrow of Macrinus and was appointed prefect of
the guard. Later ho received the consular insignia and in
220 was Elagabalus' colleague in the consulship. He was
prefect of the city on three different occasions.
130
ANTONINUS ELAGABALUS XII. 1— XIII. 1
depraved life, some of them old men looking like
philosophers, who would do up their hair in nets,
declare that they were living a life of depravity, and
boast that they had husbands. Some say, however,
that they only made a pretence of this in order that
by counterfeiting the Emperor's vices they might
stand higher in his favour.
XII. As prefect of the guard he appointed a dancer1
who had been on the stage at Rome, as prefect of
the watch a chariot-driver named Cordius,2 and as
prefect of the grain-supply a barber named Claudius,3
and to the other posts of distinction he advanced
men whose sole recommendation was the enormous
size of their privates. As collector of the five-per-
cent tax on inheritances 4 he appointed a mule-driver,
a courier, a cook, and a locksmith. When he went
to the Camp or the Senate-house he took with him
his grandmother, Varia by name, whom I have previ-
ously mentioned,5 in order that through her prest;ge
he might get greater respect — for by himself he got
none. And never before his time, as I have already
said, did a woman come into the Senate -chamber or
receive an invitation to take part in the drafting
of a decree and express her opinion in the debate.
At his banquets he preferred to have perverts placed
next to him and took special delight in touching or
fondling them, and whenever he drank one of them
was usually selected to hand him the cup.
XIII. Among the base actions of his life of de-
pravity he gave orders that Alexander, whom he had
2 See c. vi. 3 and note.
3 Otherwise unknown.
4 See note to Marc. , xi. 8.
6 See c. iv. 2 and note.
131
ANTONINUS ELAGABALUS
se paenitere adoptionis, mandavitque ad senatum ut
2Caesaris ei nomen abrogaretur. sed in senatu hoc
prodito ingens silentium fuit ; si quidem erat optimus
iuvenis Alexander, ut postea1 comprobatum genere
imperii eius, cum ideo displiceret patri, quod impudi-
3 cus non esset. erat autem eidem consobrinus, ut
quidam dicunt. a militibus etiam amabatur et senatui
4acceptus erat et equestri ordini. nee defuit tamen
furor usque ad exitum voti pessimi. nam ei percus-
5 sores inmisit, et hoc quidem modo : ipse secessit ad
hortos Spei Veteris, quasi contra novum iuvenem vota
concipiens, relicta in Palatio matre et avia et conso-
brino suo, iussitque ut trucidaretur iuvenis optimus
6 et rei publicae necessarius. misit et ad milites litte-
ras, quibus iussit ut abrogaretur nomen Caesaris
7 Alexandro. misit qui et in Castris statuarum eius
8 titulos luto tegeret, ut fieri solet de tyrannis. misit
et ad nutritores eius, quibus imperavit sub praemiorum
spe atque honorum, ut eum occiderent quo vellent
XIV. modo, vel in balneis vel veneno vel ferro. sed nihil
agunt improbi contra innocentes. nam nulla vi quis
1 Alexander, ut postea Salm., Peter ; Alexandrum postea P.
:The account of the attempt to remove Alexander and the
ensuing mutiny of the troops and the story of Elagabalus'
downfall as contained in c. xiii.-xvii. form a coherent and
seemingly correct narrative, which presents a great contrast
to the ill-arranged and often absurd details contained in the
earlier chapters of the biography. It is evidently taken from
a different source, and it is fuller and clearer than the account
of either Dio or Herodian.
2 The general popularity of Alexander is attested by Dio,
Ixxix. 19, 1. According to Herodian, v. 8, 2-3, the soldiers'
devotion to him was strengthened by Mamaea, who secretly
distributed money among them.
132
ANTONINUS ELAGABALUS XIII. 2— XIV. 1
formally adopted, be removed from his presence,1
saying that he regretted the adoption. Then he
commanded the senate to take away from Alexander
the name of Caesar. But when this was announced
to the senate, there was a profound silence. For
Alexander was an excellent youth, as was afterwards
shown by the character of his rule, even though,
because he was chaste, he was displeasing to his
adoptive father — he was also, as some declare,
his cousin. Besides, he was loved by the soldiers
and acceptable to the senate and the equestrian
order.2 Yet the Emperor's madness went the length
of an attempt to carry out the basest design ;
for he despatched assassins to kill Alexander, and
that in the following way : Leaving his mother,
grandmother, and cousin in the Palace, he himself
withdrew to the Gardens of Spes Vetus 3 on the
ground that he was forming designs against some
new youth, and there he issued an order to slay Alex-
ander, a most excellent young man and one of whom
the state had need. He also sent a written order to
the soldiers bidding them take away from Alexander
the name of Caesar, and he despatched men to smear
mud on the inscriptions on his statues in the Camp,4
as is usually done to a tyrant. He sent, further-
more, to Alexander's guardians, ordering them, if
they hoped for rewards and distinctions, to kill him
in any way they wished, either in his bath, or by
poison, or with the sword. XIV. But evil men can
accomplish nothing against the upright. For no
power could induce any to commit so great a crime,
8 See note to c. iii. 4.
4 See note to Carac., ii. 4.
133
ANTONINUS ELAGABALUS
adduci potuit, ut tantum facinus impleret, cum in
ipsum magis conversa sint tela quae parabat aliis, ab
iisque sit l interfectus quibus alios adpetebat.
2 Sed ubi primum lutati sunt tituli statuarum, milites
omnes exarserunt, et pars in Palatium, pars in hortos,
in quibus erat Varius, ire tendunt, ut Alexandrum
vindicarent homiiiemque impurum eundemque par-
3 ricidalis animi tandem a re publica depellerent. et
cum in Palatium venissent, Alexandrum cum matre
atque avia custoditum diligentissime postea in Castra
4 duxerunt. secuta autem erat illos Symiamira mater
5 Heliogabali pedibus, sollicita filio. inde itum est in
hortos, ubi Varius invenitur certamen aurigandi2
parans, exspectans tamen mtentissime, quando eidem
6 nuntiaretur consobrinus occisus. qui subito militum
strepitu exterritus in angulum se condit obiectuque
veli cubicularis, quod in introitu erat cubiculi, se texit,
7 missis 3 praefectis alto ad compescendos milites in
Castra, alio vero ad eos placandos qui iam in hortos
8 venissent. Antiochianus igitur e praefectis unus milites
qui in hortos venerant sacramenti 4 admonitione exora-
vit ne ilium occiderent, quia nee multi venerant et
plerique cum vexillo, quod Aristomachus tribunus re-
XV. tinuerat, remanserant. haec in hortis. in Castris vero
milites precanti praefecto dixerunt se parsuros esse
Heliogabalo, si et impuros homines et aurigas et histri-
1 sit om. in P. 2 augurandi P. 3 so Lenze ; misit
praefectis alio . . . alio P ; misit praefectos alios . . . alios
Peter. 4 et sacramenti Peter ; et not in P ace. to S.H.
Ballou (Cl. Philol. iii, p. 273).
10theiwise unknown, but evidently prefect of the guard.
134
ANTONINUS ELAGABALUS XIV. 2— XV. 1
and the weapons which he was making ready for
others were turned against himself, and it was by the
same violent means that he was directing at others
that he himself was put to death.
But immediately after the inscriptions on Alex-
ander's statues were smeared with mud, all the
soldiers were fired with anger, and they set out, some
for the Palace and some for the gardens where
Varius was, with the purpose of protecting Alexander
and finally ridding the state of this filthy creature full
of murderous intent. And when they had come to
the Palace they set a guard about Alexander and his
mother and grandmother and then escorted them
with the greatest care to the Camp ; Symiamira,
Elagabalus' mother, followed them on foot, filled with
anxiety about her son. Then the soldiers went to the
gardens, where they found Varius making prepara-
tions for a chariot-race and at the same time eagerly
awaiting the news of his cousin's murder. Alarmed
by the sudden clatter of the soldiers, he crouched
down in a corner and covered himself with the
curtain which was at the door of the bed-chamber,
sending one of the prefects to the Camp to quiet the
soldiers there and the other to placate those who had
just entered the gardens. Then Antiochianus,1 one of
the prefects, reminded the soldiers who had come to
the gardens of their oath of allegiance and finally per-
suaded them not to kill the Emperor — for, in fact,
only a few had come and the majority had remained
with the standard, which the tribune Aristomachus
had kept back. So much for what happened in the
gardens. XV. In the Camp, on the other hand, the
soldiers replied to the entreaties of the prefect that
they would spare Elagabalus' life on the condition
135
ANTONINUS ELAGABALUS
ones a se dimoveret atque ad bonam frugem rediret, iis
maxime summotis qui cum omnium dolore apud eum
plurimum poterant et qui omnia eius vendebant vel
2 veritate vel fumis. remoti sunt denique ab eo Hier-
ocles, Cordius, et Mirissimus et duo improbi familiares,
3 qui eum ex stulto stultiorem faciebant. mandatum
praeterea a militibus praefectis, ne paterentur ilium ita
diutius vivere, et ut Alexander custodiretur, neve : illi
aliqua vis adferretur, simul ne Caesar quempiam
aniicum Augusti videret ne ulla fieret imitatio turpi-
4 tudinis. sed Heliogabalus et ingenti prece Hiero-
clem reposcebat impudicissimum hominem et insidias
5 in dies Caesaris propagabat. denique kalendis lanua-
riis, cum simul turn designati essent consules, noluit
6 cum consobrino procedere. ad extremum cum ei
avia et mater dicerent inminere milites ad eius exi-
tium, nisi concordiam viderent inter se consobrinorum,
sumpta praetexta hora diei sexta processit ad senatum,
avia sua ad senatum vocata et ad sellam perducta.
Tdeinde in Capitolium ad vota concipienda et perfici-
enda sollemnia ire noluit, omniaque 2 per praetorem 3
urbanum facta sunt, quasi consules illic non essent.
XVI. Nee distulit caedem consobrini, sed timens
ne senatus ad alium quern 4 se inclinaret, si ille
consobrinum occidisset, iussit subito senatum urbe
1 neue Baehrens, Peter2 ; ne uel P, Peter1. 2 omnia P.
8 praetorem Mommsen ; pr P ; praefectum Peter. 4 alium
quern Peter2 ; aliquam P.
1 See c. vi. 3-5.
2 Otherwise unknown.
3 For their formal inauguration as consuls in the temple of
Jupiter Optimus Maximus on the Capitolium.
136
ANTONINUS ELAGABALUS XV. 2— XVI. 1
that he would send away all his filthy creatures, his
chariot-drivers, and his actors, and return to a decent
mode of living, dismissing particularly those who, to
the general sorrow, possessed the greatest influence
over him and sold all his decisions, actual or pretended.
He did, finally, dismiss Hierocles, Cordius,1 and
Mirissimus 2 and two other base favourites who were
making him even more of a fool than he was naturally.
The soldiers, furthermore, charged the prefects not to
permit him to continue longer his present mode of
living, and also to keep watch over Alexander that
no violence might be done him, and at the same time
to prevent the Caesar from seeing any of the friends
of the Augustus, lest he imitate their baseness. But
Elagabalus with earnest entreaties kept demanding
back Hierocles, that most shameless of men, and daily
increased his plotting against Alexander. Finally,
on the Kalends of January, he refused to appear in 1 Jan.,
public with his cousin 3 — for they had been designated 222.
joint consuls. At last, however, when he was told by
his grandmother and mother that the soldiers were
threatening that they would kill him unless they saw
that harmony was established between himself and
his cousin, he put on the bordered toga and at the
sixth hour of the day entered the senate, inviting
his grandmother to the session and escorting her to
a seat. But then he refused to proceed to the
Capitolium to assume the vows for the state and con-
duct the usual ceremonies, and accordingly everything
was done by the city-praetor, just as if there were no
consuls there.
XVI. Nevertheless he did not give up the murder
of his cousin, but first, for fear that if he killed him
the senate would only turn to some one else, he gave
137
ANTONINUS ELAGABALUS
decedere. omnesque quibus aut vehicula aut servi
deerant subito proficisci iussi sunt, cum alii per baiulos,
alii per fortuita animalia et mercede conducta vehe-
2 rentur. Sabinum consularem virum, ad quern libros
Ulpianus scripsit, quod in urbe remansisset, vocato
3 centurione mollioribus verbis iussit occidi. sed cen-
turio aure surdiori imperari sibi credidit ut urbe pel-
leretur, itaque fecit, sic vitium centurionis Sabino
4 saluti fuit. removit et Ulpianum iuris consultum ut
bonum virum et Silvinum rhetorem, quern magistrum
Caesaris fecerat. et Silvinus quidem occisus est,
Ulpianus vero reservatus.
5 Sed milites et maxime praetorianus, vel scientes
quae mala in Heliogabalum pararentur,1 vel quod sibi
viderent invidiam, facta 2 conspiratione ad liberandam
rem publicam primum conscios . . . genere mortis,3
cum alios vitalibus exemptis necarent, alios ab ima
parte perfoderent, ut mors esset vitae consentiens.
post hoc in eum impetus factus est atque in latrina
ad quam confugerat occisus. tractus deinde per
publicum ; addita iniuria cadaver! est, ut id in cloacam
2 milites mitterent. sed cum non cepisset cloaca
fortuito, per pontem Aemilium, adnexo pondere ne
1 quae . . . pararentur Editor ; qui . . . pararant P,
Peter. 2 facta Jordan ; factaque P ; + factaque Peter2.
8 conscii genere mortis P; consciuere mortem his Salm.,
Peter1; t conscii genere mortis Peter'2.
1 Perhaps Fabius Sabinus, later a member of Alexander's
consilium ; see Alex., Ixviii. 1.
2 Domitius Ulpianus, the famous jurist, often quoted in the
Digesta. He had been appointed assistant to Papinian, the
prefect of the guard, by Severus arid had held other cabinet-
offices; see Peso. Nig., vii. 4. He was made prefect of the
guard by Alexander and had great influence during the latter's
138
ANTONINUS ELAGABALUS XVI. 2— XVII. 2
orders that the senate should at once leave the city.
Even all those senators who had no carriages or slaves
were ordered to set out at once, some of them being
carried by porters, others using animals that chance
threw in their way or that they hired for money.
And because Sabinus,1 a man of consular rank, to
whom Ulpian2 dedicated some of his books, remained
in the city, the Emperor called a centurion and
ordered him to kill him, speaking in a low tone.
But the centurion, who was rather deaf, thought that
he was being ordered to eject Sabinus from the city
and acted accordingly ; and so a centurion's infirmity
saved Sabinus' life. He dismissed both Ulpian the
jurist because he was a righteous man and Silvinus
the rhetorician, whom he had appointed tutor to
Alexander. Silvinus, in fact, was put to death, but
Ulpian was spared.
The soldiers, however, and particularly the members
of the guard, either because they knew what evils
were in store for Elagabalus, or because they foresaw
his hatred for themselves, formed a conspiracy to set
the state free. First they attacked the accomplices
in his plan of murdering Alexander, killing some by
tearing out the vital organs and others by piercing
the anus, so that their deaths were as evil as their
lives. XVII. Next they fell upon Elagabalus him-
self and slew him in a latrine in which he had taken
refuge. Then his body was dragged through the
streets, and the soldiers further insulted it by thrust-
ing it into a sewer. But since the sewer chanced to
be too small to admit the corpse, they attached a
weight to it to keep it from floating, and hurled it
reign ; see Alex. pass. He was finally killed by the mutinous
praetorians ; see Dio, Ixxx. 2.
139
ANTONINUS ELAGABALUS
fluitaret, in Tiberim abiectum est, ne uraquam sepeliri
3 posset, tractum est cadaver eius etiam per Circi
spatia, priusquam in Tiberim praecipitaretur.
4 Nomen eius, id est Antonini, erasum est senatu
iubente remansitque Varii Heliogabali, si quidem
illud adfectato retinuerat, cum vult videri filius An-
5tonini. appellatus est post mortem Tiberinus et
Tractaticius et Impurus et multa, si quando ea erant
6 designanda quae sub eo facta videbantur. solusque
omnium principum et tractus est et in cloacam missus
7et in Tiberim praecipitatus. quod odio communi
omnium contigit, a quo speciatim cavere debent im-
peratores, si quidem nee sepulchra mereantur qui
amorem senatus populi ac militum non merentur.
8 Opera publica ipsius praeter aedem Heliogabali
dei, quern Solem alii, alii lovem dicunt, et Amphi-
theatri instaurationem post exustionem et lavacrum
in vico Sulpicio, quod Antoninus Severi filius coeperat,
9 nulla exstant. et lavacrum quidem Antoninus Cara-
callus dedicaverat et lavando et populum admittendo,
sed porticus defuerant, quae postea ab hoc subditicio 1
Antonino exstructae sunt, ab Alexandro perfectae.
^subditicio Salm., Peter1; subdecio P; subditiuo Opitz,
Peter2.
1 Crossing the Tiber at the Forum Boarium, approximately
the position of the modern Ponte Emilio.
2 It is erased in many of his inscriptions ; see Dessau, his.
Sel, 468 f.
3 See note to c. i. 1.
4 Because his body was thrown into the Tiber ; so also Dio,
Ixxix. 21, 3.
8 The Colosseum. It had been struck by lightning during
the reign of Macrinus (Dio, Ixxvii. 25, 2-3).
140
ANTONINUS ELAGABALUS XVII. 3-9
from the Aemilian Bridge l into the Tiber, in order
that it might never be buried. The body was also
dragged around the Circus before it was thrown into
the Tiber.
His name, that is to say the name Antoninus, was
erased from the public records by order of the senate 2
— though the name Varius Elagabalus was left 3 — , for
he had used the name Antoninus without valid claim,
wishing to be thought the son of Antoninus. After
his death he was dubbed the Tiberine,* the Dragged,
the Filthy, and many other such names, all of which
were to signify what seemed to have been done during
his rule. And he was the only one of all the emperors
whose body was dragged through the streets, thrust
into a sewer, and hurled into the Tiber. This befell
him as the result of the general hatred of all, against
which particularly emperors must be on their guard,
since those who do not win the love of the senate, the
people, and the soldiers do not win the right of
burial. .
No public works of his are in existence, save the
temple of the god Elagabalus (called by some the
Sun, by others Jupiter), the Amphitheatre 5 as restored
after its destruction by fire, and the public bath in
the Vicus Sulpicius,6 begun by Antoninus, the son of
Severus. This bath, in fact, had been dedicated by
Antoninus Caracalla, who bathed in it himself and
opened it to the public, but the portico was left un-
built, and this was added after his death by this
spurious Antoninus, though actually completed by
Alexander.7
6 See Carac. , ix. 4 and 9 and notes.
7 See Alex., xxv. 6.
141
ANTONINUS ELAGABALUS
XVIII. Hie ultimus Antoninorum fuit (quamvis
cognomine postea Gordianos multi Antoninos putent,
qui Antonii dicti sunt, non Antonini) vita, moribus,
improbitate ita odibilis, ut eius senatus et nomen
2 eraserit. quern nee ego Antoninum vocassem nisi
causa cognitionis, quae cogit plerumque dici ea etiam
nomina quae sunt abolita.
Occisa est cum eo et mater Symiamira probrosissima
3 mulier et digna filio. cautumque ante omnia post
Antoninum Heliogabalum ne umquam mulier senatum
ingrederetur, utique inferis eius caput dicaretur de-
vovereturque per quern id esset factum.
4 De huius vita multa in litteras missa sunt obscena,
quae quia digna memoratu non sunt, ea prodenda
censui quae ad luxuriam pertinebant, quorum aliqua
privatus, aliqua iam imperator fecisse perhibetur, cum
ipse e privatis diceret se Apicium, imperatorum vero1
XIX. Othonem et Vitellium imitari. nam primus omnium
privatorum toros aureis toralibus texit, quia tune ex
Antonini Marci auctoritate id fieri licebat, qui omnem
2 apparatum imperatorium publice vendiderat. deinde
aestiva convivia coloribus exhibuit, ut hodie prasinum,
vitreum alia die, venetum deinceps 2 exhiberet, semper
le priuatis . . . imperatorum uero Petschenig, Peter2;
priuatus . . . imperatorem uero P. zet deinceps P.
1 See Gord., iv. 7 and notes.
2 According to Dio, Ixxix. 20, 2, he was killed in her arms
and her body was dragged about the streets with his.
3 See c. iv. 1-2.
4 The rest of this biography is entirely made up of these
anecdotes.
*Sje Ael., v. 9 and note.
"See Marc., xvii. 4-6 ; xxi. 9.
142
ANTONINUS ELAGABALUS XVIII. 2— XIX. 2
XVIII. He was the last of the Antonines (though
many think that later the Gordians had the cognomen
Antoninus, whereas they were really called Antonius
and not Antoninus1), a man so detestable for his
life, his character, and his utter depravity that the
senate expunged from the records even his name.
I myself should not have referred to him as Antoninus
save for the sake of identification, which frequently
makes it necessary to use even those names which
officially have been abolished.
With him was also slain his mother Symiamira,2 a
most depraved woman and one worthy of such a son.
And the first measure enacted after the death of
Antoninus Elagabalus provided that no woman should
ever enter the senate,8 and that whoever should cause
a woman to enter, his life should be declared doomed
and forfeited to the kingdom of the dead.
Concerning his life many filthy anecdotes have
been put into writing, but since they are not worthy
of being recorded, I have thought I ought to relate
only such deeds as illustrate his extravagance.4
Some of these, it is said, were done before he ascended
the throne, others after he was made emperor ; for
he himself declared that his models were Apicius 5
among commoners and, among emperors, Otho and
Vltellius. XIX. For example, he was the first com-
moner to cover his couches with golden coverlets —
for this was lawful then by authorization of Marcus
Antoninus, who had sold at public auction all the im-
perial trappings.6 Also, he gave summer-banquets in
various colours, one day a green banquet, another day
an iridescent one, and next in order a blue one, varying
them continually every day of the summer. More-
over, he was the first to use silver urns and casseroles,
143
ANTONINUS ELAGABALUS
3 varie per dies omnes aestivos. primus deinde authep-
sas argenteas habuit, primus etiam caccabos. vasa
deinde centenaria argentea scalpta et nonnulla sche-
4matibus libidinosissimis inquinata. et mastichatum
et puleiatum et omnia haec quae nunc luxuria retinet
5 primus invenit. nam rosatum ab aliis acceptum
pinearum etiam adtritione odoratius reddidit. deni-
que haec genera poculorum ante Heliogabalum non
6 leguntur. nee erat ei ulla vita nisi exquirere volupta-
tes. primus fecit de piscibus insicia, primus de
ostreis et leiostreis et aliis huiusmodi marinis conchis
7 et locustis et cammaris et scillis. stravit et triclinia
de rosa et lectos et porticus ac sic deambulavit,
idque omni florum genere, liliis, violis, hyacinthis,
8 et narcissis. hie non nisi unguento nobili aut croco
9 piscinis infectis natavit. nee cubuit in accubitis
facile nisi iis quae pilum leporinum haberent aut
plumas perdicum subalares, saepe culcitas mutans.
XX. Senatum nonnumquam ita contempsit, ut
mancipia togata appellaret, populum Romanum unius
fundi cultorem, equestrem ordinem in nullo loco
2habens. praefectum urbicum saepe post cenam ad
potandum vocabat adhibitis et praefectis praetorio,
ita ut, si recusarent, magistri officiorum l eos cogerent.
1 officiorum Salm., Peter2 ; horum P.
1Rome was divided by Augustus into fourteen regiones,
each of which was administered by a praetor, aedile, or tri-
bune of the plebs. Later, probably under Hadrian, each
regio was administered by one or two curatores of non-sena-
torial rank, apparently freedmen ; see Mommsen, Staatsrecht,
ii.3 p. 1036. The plan of Elagabalus seems to have been
carried out, at least in part, by Alexander, who appointed
fourteen curatores of consular rank, representing the fourteen
144
ANTONINUS ELAGABALUS XIX. 3— XX. 2
and vessels of chased silver, one hundred pounds in
weight, some of them spoiled by the lewdest designs.
He was also the first to concoct wine seasoned with
mastich and with pennyroyal and all such mixtures,
which our present luxury retains. And rose-wine,
of which he had learned from others, he used
to make more fragrant by adding pulverized pine-
cone. In fact, all these kinds of cups are not nut
with in books before the time of Elagabalus. Indeed,
for him life was nothing except a search after pleasures.
He was the first to make force-meat of fish, or of
oysters of various kinds or similar shell-fish, or of
lobsters, crayfish and squills. He used to strew
roses and all manner of flowers, such as lilies, violets,
hyacinths, and narcissus, over his banqueting-rooms,
his couches and his porticoes, and then stroll about in
them. He would refuse to swim in a pool that was
not perfumed with saffron or some other well-known
essence. And he could not rest easily on cushions
that were not stuffed with rabbit-fur or feathers from
under the wings of partridges, and he used, moreover,
to change the pillows frequently.
XX. He often showed contempt for the senate,
calling them slaves in togas, while he treated
the Roman people as the tiller of a single farm
and the equestrian order as nothing at all. He
frequently invited the city-prefect to a drinking-bout
after a banquet and also summoned the prefects of
the guard, sending a master of ceremonies, in case
they declined, to compel them to come. And he
wished to create a city-prefect for each region of
Rome, thus making fourteen for the city 1 ; and he
regiones, to act as assistants and advisers to the prefect of
the city ; see Alex., xxxiii. 1.
145
ANTONINUS ELAGABALUS
3 voluit et per singulas urbis regiones l praefectos urbi
facere, utl/ essent in urbe quattuordecim. et fecisset,
si vixisset, promoturus omnes turpissimos et ultimae
professionis homines.
4 Hie solido argento factos habuit lectos et tricliniares
5 et cubiculares. comedit saepius ad imitationem
Apicii calcanea camelorura et cristas vivis gallinaceis
demptas, linguas pavonum et lusciniarum, quod qui
6 ederet a pestilentia tutus diceretur. exhibuit et
Palatinis lances 3 ingentes extis mullorum refertas et
cerebellis phoenicopterum et perdicura ovis et cere-
bellis turdorum et capitibus psittacorum et phasia-
jnorum et pavonum. barbas sane mullorum tantas
iubebat exhiberi, ut pro nasturtiis,4 apiasteris, et
phaselaribus et faeno Graeco exhi beret plenis faba-
tariis et discis. quod praecipue stupendum est.
XXI. Canes iecinoribus anserum pavit. habuit
leones et leopardos exarmatos in deliciis, quos edoctos
per mansuetarios subito ad secundam et tertiam
mensam iubebat accumbere, ignorantibus cunctis
quod exarmati essent, ad pavorem ridiculum exci-
2tandum. misit et uvas Apamenas in praesepia equis
suis et psittacis atque phasianis leones pavit et alia
Sanimalia. exhibuit et sumina apruna per dies decem
tricena cottidie cum suis vulvis, pisum cum aureis,
lentem cum cerauniis, fabam cum electris, orizam
4 cum albis exhibens. albas praeterea in vicem piperis
6 piscibus et tuberibus conspersit. oppressit in tri-
1 urbis regiones Gas., Peter2; urbes lenones P. 2et ut P.
3 lances ins. by Salm., om. in P1; ingentes dapes P corr. ;
mag ides Peter. 4 nascentis P.
1 Cf. c. xxv. 1.
3 An important city in Syria, on the river Orontes.
146
ANTONINUS ELAGABALUS XX. 3— XXI. 5
would have done it, too, had he lived, for he was
always ready to promote men of the basest character
and the lowest calling.
He had couches made of solid silver for use in his
banqueting-rooms and his bed-chambers. In imita-
tion of Apicius he frequently ate camels-heels and
also cocks-combs taken from the living birds, and the
tongues of peacocks and nightingales, because he
was told that one who ate them was immune from
the plague. He served to the palace-attendants,
moreover, huge platters heaped up with the viscera
of mullets, and flamingo-brains, partridge-eggs, thrush-
brains, and the heads of parrots, pheasants, and pea-
cocks. And the beards of the mullets that he ordered
to be served were so large that they were brought on,
in place of cress or parsley or pickled beans or fenu-
greek, in well filled bowls and disk-shaped platters —
a particularly amazing performance.
XXI. He fed his dogs on goose-livers. Among his
pets he had lions and leopards, which had been ren^
dered harmless and trained by tamers, and these he
would suddenly order during the dessert and the
after-dessert to get up on the couches, thereby causing
an amusing panic, for none knew that the beaste
were harmless.1 He sent grapes from Apamea 2 to
his stables for his horses, and he fed parrots and
pheasants to his lions and other wild animals. For
ten successive days, moreover, he served wild sows'
udders with the matrices, at the rate of thirty a day,
serving, besides, peas with gold-pieces, lentils with
onyx, beans with amber, and rice with pearls ; and
he also sprinkled pearls on fish and truffles in lieu of
pepper. In a banqueting-room with a reversible
ceiling he once overwhelmed his parasites with violets
147
fC
((
ANTONINUS ELAGABALUS
cliniis versatilibus parasites suos violis et floribus, sic
ut animam aliqui efflaverint, cum erepere ad summum
6 non possent. condito piscinas et solia temperavit et
rosato atque absinthiato.1 vulgum ad bibendum in-
vitavit et ipse cum populo tantum bibit, ut in piscina,
eum bibisse intellegeretur, viso quod unus bibisset.
7 eanuchos pro apophoretis dedit, dedit quadrigast
equos stratos, mulos, basternas, et raedas, dedit ee
XXII. aureos millenos et centena pondo argenti. sortes sans
convivales scriptas in coclearibus habuit tales ut alius
exierit "decem camelos," alius "decem muscas," alius
decem libras auri/' alius " decem plumbi/' alius
decem struthiones/' alius "decem ova puliina," ut
2 vere sortes essent et fata temptarentur. quod qui-
dem et ludis suis exhibuit, cum et ursos decem et
decem glires et decem lactucas et decem auri libras
in sorte habuit. primusque hunc morem sortis insti-
3tuit quern nunc videmus. sed vere ad sortem
scaenicos vocavit, cum et canes mortuos et libram
bubulae carnis haberet in sorte et item centum
aureos et mille argenteos et centum folles aeris et
4 alia talia. quae populus tarn libenter accepit, ut
eum postea imperare gratularentur.
XXIII. Fertur in euripis vino plenis navales
1 absentafo P, Peter.
xNero did this also (Suetonius, Nero, xxxi.), and a similar
ceiling in the house of Trimalchio is described in Petrouius,
Sat., Ix.
2 Follis, as a result of its meaning of " leathern money-
bag," was used to denote, in the late empire, various sums
of money or coins. The/oZZis aeris was a small copper coin
containing a slight admixture of silver and equal in value to
two denarii of the depreciated currency of Diocletian (see
148
ANTONINUS ELAGABALUS XXI. 6— XXII 4.
and other flowers,1 so that some of them were actually
smothered to death, being unable to crawl out to the
top. He flavoured his swimming-pools and bath-
tubs with essence of spices or of roses or wormwood.
And once he invited the common mob to a drinking-
O
bout, and himself drank with the populace, taking
so much that on seeing what he alone consumed,
people supposed he had been drinking from one of
his swimming-pools. As banquet-favours, he gave
eunuchs, or four-horse chariots, or horses with saddles,
or mules, or litters, or carriages, or a thousand aurei
or a hundred pounds of silver. XXII. At his ban-
quets he would also distribute chances inscribed on
spoons, the chance of one person reading " ten
camels," of another " ten flies," of another "ten
pounds of gold," of another " ten pounds of lead," of
another " ten ostriches," of another " ten hens-
eggs," so that they were chances indeed and
men tried their luck. These he also gave at his
games, distributing chances for ten bears or ten dor-
mice, ten lettuces or ten pounds of gold. Indeed
he was the first to introduce this practice of giving
chances, which we still maintain. And the performers
too he invited to what really were chances, giving
as prizes a dead dog or a pound of beef, or else *
hundred aurei, or a hundred pieces of silver, or a
hundred coppers,2 and so on. All this so pleased
the populace that after each occasion they rejoiced
that he was emperor.
XXIII. He gave a naval spectacle, it is said, on the
note to c. xxiv. 3). As the word follis does not seem to have
been applied to this coin until the time of Diocletian, the
biographer seems to be employing the terminology of his own
time and not that of the period of Elagabalus.
149
ANTONINUS ELAGABALUS
circenses exhibuisse, pallia de oenanthio fudisse et
elephantorurn quattuor quadrigas in Vaticano agitasse
dirutis sepulchris quae obsistebant, iunxisse etiarn
camelos quaternos ad currus in Circo private specta-
2 culo. serpentes per Marsicae gentis sacerdotes col-
legisse fertur, eosque subito ante lucern, ut solet
populus ad ludos celebres convenire, effudisse, multos-
3que adflictos morsu et fuga. usus est aurea omni
tunica, usus et purpurea, usus et de gemmis Persica,
4 cum gravari se diceret onere voluptatis. habuit et
in calciamentis gemrnas, et quidem scalptas. quod
risum omnibus movit, quasi possent scalpturae no-
biliurn artificum videri in gernmis, quae pedibus ad-
5 haerebant. voluit uti et diadernate gemmato, quo
pulchrior fieret et magis ad feminarum vultum aptus.
6 quo et usus est domi. fertur et promisisse phoenicem
convivis vel pro ea libras auri mille, ita 1 ut in prae-
7 torio eas dimitteret.2 marinae aquae colymbos exhi-
buit, in mediterraneis locis maxime, eosdemque
1 ita ins. by Editor. *eas dimitteret Jordan ; ^eos
demitteret P, Peter2.
1 Euripus, "strait," denoted in particular the narrow
channel between Boeotia and Euboea. It then came to mean
any canal or ditch, and was applied to the canal around the
Circus, dug by Julius Caesar (Suetonius, Julius, xxxix. 2) and
filled up by Nero (Pliny, Nat. Hist., viii. 21).
2 The Circus Vaticanus was constructed by Caligula at the
north end of the Janiculum (the present site of the Church
of St. Peter). Under Nero it was the scene of the tortures
inflicted on the Christians; see Tacitus, Annals, xv. 44. The
context of the present passage, however, seems to indicate
that it was not this circus that was the scene of Elagabalus'
exploit, but the immediate vicinity, generally known as Voti-
canum, where remains of tombs have been discovered; see
O. Richter, Topographie d. Stadt Rom* p. 280 f.
150
ANTONINUS ELAGABALUS XXIII. 1-7
Circus-canals,1 which had been filled with wine, and
he sprinkled the people's cloaks with perfume made
from the wild grape ; also he drove a chariot drawn
by four elephants on the Vatican Hill.2 destroying
the tombs which obstructed the way. and he harnessed
•> *
four camels to a chariot at a private spectacle in the
Circus. It is also said that he collected serpents
with the aid of priests of the Marsic nation 3 and
suddenly let them loose before dawn, when the popu-
lace usually assembled for the more frequented
games, and many people were injured by their fangs
as well as in the general panic. He would wear a
tunic made wholly of cloth of gold, or one made of
purple, or a Persian one studded with jewels, and at
such times he would say that he felt oppressed by
the weight of his pleasures. He even wore jewels
on his shoes, sometimes engraved ones — a practice
which aroused the derision of all, as if, forsooth, the
engraving of famous artists could be seen on jewels
attached to his feet. He wished to wear also a
jewelled diadem in order that his beauty might be
increased and his face look more like a woman's ;
and in his own house he did wear one. He promised
a phoenix to some guests, it is said, or in lieu of the
b rd a thousand pounds of gold, and this sum he handed
out in the imperial residence. He constructed
swimming-pools filled with sea-water in places
especially far from the coast, and would hand them
over to individual friends who swam in them, or at
3 An ancient people of central Italy living around the
Lacus Fucinus or Lago di Celano (see note to Hadr., xxii.
12), which has recently been drained. They were famous as
snake-charmers; see Vergil, Aeneid, vii. 753-755 ; Pliny, Nat.
Hist., vii. 15; xxv. 30; Gellius, Noct. Atticae, xvi. 11.
151
ANTONINUS ELAGABALUS
singulis amicis natantibus dimisit et iterum cum
8piscibus implevit. montem niviura in viridiario do-
mus aestate fecit advectis nivibus. ad mare piscem
numquam comedit, in longissimis a mari locis omnia
marina semper exhibuit. murenarum lactibus et lu-
porum in locis mediterraneis rusticos pavit.
XXIV. Pisces semper quasi in marina aqua cum
col ore suo coctos conditura veneta comedit. momen-
tarias de rosato et rosis piscinas exhibuit et lavit l cum
omnibus suis caldarias de nardo exhibens. idem in
2lucernis balsamum exhibuit. idem mulieres num-
quam iteravit praeter uxorem. lupanaria domi amicis,
3 clientibus et servis exhibuit. idem numquam minus
centum sestertiis cenavit, hoc est argenti libris
triginta. aliquando autem tribus milibus sestertium
cenavit, omnibus supputatis quae impendit. cenas
4vero et Vitellii et Apicii vicit. pisces e vivariis2 suis
bubus traxit. per macellum transiens mendicitatem
5 publicam flevit. parasites ad rotam aquariam ligabat
et cum vertigine sub aquas mittebat rursusque in
1 lauit Peter ; uiuit P. 2 ex uiuariis Edit, princ. ;
seuiuariti P.
] Sestertium is regularly used to denote the sum of 1000
gestertii. The evaluation of 100,000 sestertii = 30 Ibs. silver,
however, presents a difficult problem, for the biographer ia
not using the system in vogue under Elagabalus. According
to Mommsen (Ges. Schr., vii. p. 316), he has confused the
sestertius with the depreciated denarius of the time of Dio-
cletian, of which 50,000 = 1 Ib. gold, or approximately
8700 = 1 Ib. silver. Seeck, on the other hand, who contends
that the Historia Augusta was composed in the fifth century
(see Intro, to Vol. ii p. ix), pointed out (Jahrbb., cxli. p.
629 f.) that in the time of Constantine (when this vita pur-
ports to have been written) 432,000 den. = 1 Ib. gold, an
evaluation which is, of course, incompatible with this passage.
152
ANTONINUS ELAGABALUS XXIII. 8— XXIV. 5
another time he would fill one with fish. One
summer he made a mountain of snow in the pleasure-
garden attached to his house, having snow carried
there for the purpose. When on the sea-coast he
never ate fish, but in places most remote from the
sea he regularly served all manner of sea-food, and
the country-folk in the interior he fed with the milt
of lampreys and pikes.
XXIV. The fish that he ate were cooked in a
bluish sauce that preserved their natural colour, as
though they were still in the sea- water. He supplied
swimming-pools that he used for the moment with
essence of roses and with the flowers themselves, and
when he bathed with all his courtiers he would
furnish oil of nard for the hot-rooms ; he also
furnished balsam-oil for the lamps. He never had
intercourse with the same woman twice except with
his wife, and he opened brothels in his house for his
friends, his clients, and his slaves. He never spent
less on a banquet than one hundred thousand sesterces,
that is, thirty pounds of silver1; and sometimes he
even spent as much as three million when all the cost
was computed. In fact, he even outdid the banquets
of Vitellius and Apicius.2 He would take fish from
his ponds by the ox-load, and then, as he passed
through the market, bewail the public poverty. He
used to bind his parasites to a water-wheel and, by
a turn of the wheel, plunge them into the water and
then bring them back to the surface again, calling
He argued, therefore, that the system here presupposed is
that introduced in 445 by Valentinian III., according to
which 1750 den. = 1 Ib. silver, and that the half-denarius is
meant here by the term sestertius.
3 See c. xviii. 4.
153
ANTONINUS ELAGABALUS
summum revolvebat eosque Ixiones amnicos : vocavit.
6 stravit et saxis Lacedaemoniis ac Porphyreticis plateas
in Palatio, quas Antoninianas vocavit. quae saxa
usque ad nostram memoriam manserunt, sed nuper
7 eruta et exsecta sunt. constituerat et columnam
unam dare ingentem, ad quam ascenderetur intrin-
secus, ita ut in summo Heliogabalum deum collocaret,
sed tantum saxum non invenit, cum id de Thebaide
adferre cogitaret.
XXV. Ebrios amicos plerumque claudebat et subito
nocte leones et leopardos et ursos exarmatos inmitte-
bat, ita ut expergefacti in cubiculo eodem leones,
ursos, pardos cum luce vel, quod est gravius, nocte
2invenirent, ex quo plerique exanimati sunt. multis
vilioribus amicis folles pro accubitis sternebat eosque
reflabat prandentibus illis, ita ut plerumque subito
3 sub mensis invenirentur prandentes. primus denique
invenit sigma in terra sternere, non in lectulis, ut a
pedibus utres per pueros ad reflandum spiritum sol-
verentur.
4 In mimicis 2 adulteriis ea quae solent simulate fieri
5 effici ad verum iussit. meretrices a lenonibus cunctis
Gredemit saepe et manumisit. cum inter fabulas
privatas sermo esset ortus, quanti herniosi esse pos-
sent in urbe Roma, iussit omnes notari eosque ad
JSo Hirschfeld, Peter2; Ixionios amicos P, Peter1. *in
mimicis Scaliger, Peter ; inimicis P.
1 A green porphyry — now called serpentmo — quarried near
Croceae, in southern Laconia and close to the modern village
of Stephania. The red porphyry, brought from Egypt, was
used in Borne in enormous quantities. The mosaic pave-
ments made of these stones were afterwards called opus
Akxandrinum ; see Alex., xxv. 7.
154
ANTONINUS ELAGABALUS XXIV. 6— XXV. 9
them meanwhile river- Ixions. He used Lacedae-
monian stone 1 and porphyry to pave the open spaces
in the Palace, which he called Antonine ; this pave-
ment lasted down to within our own memory but
was lately torn up and destroyed. And he planned
to erect a single column of enormous size, which
could be ascended inside, and to place on its summit
the god Elagabalus, but he could not find enough
stone, even though he planned to bring it from the
district of Thebes.2
XXV. When his friends became drunk he would
often shut them up, and suddenly during the night
let in his lions and leopards and bears — all of them
harmless — so that his friends on awakening at dawn,
or worse, during the night, would find Jions and
leopards and bears in the room with themselves3;
and some even died from this cause. Some of his
humbler friends he would seat on air-pillows instead
of on cushions and let out the air while they were
dining, so that often the diners were suddenly found
under the table. Finally, he was the first to think
of placing a semi-circular group on the ground
instead of on couches, with the purpose of having
the air-pillows loosened by slaves who stood at the
feet of the guests and the air thus let out.
When adultery was represented on the stage, he
would order what was usually done in pretence to
be carried out in fact. He often purchased harlots
from all the procurers and then set them free. Once
during a private conversation the question arose as
to how many ruptured people there were in the city
of Rome, and he thereupon issued an order that all
8 In upper Egypt. *Cf. c. xxi. 1.
155
ANTONINUS ELAGABALUS
balneas suas exhiberi1. et cum iisdem lavit, nonnullis
7 etiam honestis. gladiatores ante convivium pug-
nantes vidit 2 et pyctas frequenter.3 stravit sibi triclin-
ium in summo lusorio et, dum pranderet, noxios et
9 venationes sibi exhibuit. parasitis in secunda mensa
saepe ceream cenam, saepe ligneam, saepe eburneam,
aliquando fictilem, nonnumquam vel marmoream vel
lapideam exhibuit, ita ut omnia illis exhiberentur
videnda de diversa materia quae ipse cenabat, cum
tantum biberent per singula fercula et manus, quasi
comedissent, lavarent.
XXVI. Primus Romanorum holoserica veste usus
fertur, cum iam subsericae in usu essent. linteamen
lotum numquam attigit, mendicos dicens qui linteis
2 lotis uterentur. dalmaticatus in publico post cenam
saepe visus est, Gurgitem Fabium et Scipionem se
appellans, quod cum ea veste esset, cum qua Fabius
et Cornelius a parentibus ad corrigendos mores adules-
centes in publicum essent producti.
3 Omnes de Circo, de theatre, de Stadio, et omnibus
locis et balneis meretrices collegit in aedes publicas
1 exhiberi Petschenig ; exhibere P, Peter. 2 uidit Peter3 ;
sibi P, Peter1. 3pyctas. frequenter strauit Peter2.
1 Also related of Lucius Verus ; see Ver.t iv. 9.
a Of. c. xxvii. 4-5.
8 His fondness for silk clothing is also mentioned by
Herodian, v. 5, 4. Its use was forbidden by later emperors ;
see Alex., xl. 1; Aurel., xlv. 4; Toe., x. 4; Codex Theodosi-
anus, xv. 9, 1.
4 A mixture of silk and linen or cotton— ordinarily called
sericum. Under Tiberius men were forbidden to wear it
(Tacitus, Annals, ii. 33, 1), but Caligula, nevertheless ap-
peared in public thus clad (Suetonius, Cal., Hi.). Elagabalus
gave garments of this sort as presents; see c. xxix. 6.
156
ANTONINUS ELAGABALUS XXV. 7— XXVI. 3
should be noted and brought to his baths, and then
he bathed with them, some of them being men of
distinction. Before a banquet he would frequently
watch gladiatorial fights and boxing matches, and he
had a couch spread for himself in an upper gallery
and during luncheon exhibited criminals in a wild-
beast hunt.1 His parasites would often be served
during dessert with food made of wax or wood or
ivory, sometimes of earthenware, or at times even of
marble or stone; so that all that he ate himself
would be served to them too, but different in sub-
stance and only to be looked at,2 and all the while
they would merely drink with each course and wash
their hands, just as if they had really eaten.
XXVI. He was the first of the Romans, it is said,
who wore clothing wholly of silk,3 although garments
partly of silk4 were in use before his time. Linen
that had been washed he would never touch, saying
that washed linen was worn only by beggars. He
would often appear in public after dinner dressed in
a Dalmatian tunic,5 and then he would call himself
Fabius Gurges 6 or Scipio, because he was wearing
the same kind of clothing which Fabius and Cornelius
wore when in their youth they were brought out in
public by their parents in order to improve their
manners.
He gathered together in a public building all the
harlots from the Circus, the theatre, the Stadium and
5 See note to Com., viii. 8.
6 Presumably he meant Q. Fabius Maximus Gurges, consul
292, 276, 265 B.C. No such incident, however, as that de-
scribed in the text is known, nor can the Scipio be identified.
The Dalmaticus was not in use in the republican period, but
long-sleeved tunics were worn, though generally considered
effeminate ; see Gellius, Noct. Atticae, vi. (vii.) 12.
157
ANTONINUS ELAGABALUS
et apud eas contionem habuit quasi militarem, dicens
cas conmilitones, disputavitque de generibus schema-
4 turn et voluptatum. adhibuit in tali contione postea
lenones, exsoletos undique collectos et luxuriosissimos
5 puerulos et iuvenes. et cum ad meretrices muliebri
ornatu processisset papilla eiecta, ad l exsoletos habitu
puerorum qui prostituuntur. post contionem pro-
nuntiavit iis quasi militibus ternos aureos donativum
petiitque ab iis ut a dis peterent ut alios haberent ipsi 2
commendandos.
6 locabatur sane ita cum servis ut eos iuberet millena
pondo sibi aranearum deferre proposito praemio,
collegisseque dicitur decem milia pondo aranearum,
dicens et hinc intellegendum quam magna esset
7 Roma, mittebat parasitis pro cellario salarii annui 3
vasa cum ranis et scorpiis et cum serpentibus et
Shuiusmodi monstris. claudebat in eiuscemodi vasis
infinitum muscarum, apes mansuetas eas appellans.
XXVII. Quadrigas circensium in tricliniis et in
porticibus sibi semper exhibuit pransitans et cenitans,
convivas senes agitare cogens, nonnullos honoratos.
2iam imperator iubebat sibi et decem milia murium
Sexhiberi, mille mustelas, mille sorices. dulciarios et
lactarios tales habuit, ut quaecumque coqui de diversis
edulibus exhibuissent vel structores vel pomarii, illi
1 ad om. in P. 2 haberent ipsi Petschenig; haberet ipsis
P, Peter. 3 cellario salarii annua Salm., Peter; cellari&s
salarii annua P.
158
ANTONINUS ELAGABALUS XXVI. 4— XXVII. S
all other places of amusement, and from the public
baths, and then delivered a speech to them, as one
might to soldiers, calling them " comrades " and dis-
coursing upon various kinds of postures and de-
baucheries. Afterward he invited to a similar gather-
ing procurers, catamites collected together from all
sides, and lascivious boys and young men. And
whereas he had appeared before the harlots in a
woman's costume and with protruding bosom, he met
the catamites in the garb of a boy who is exposed for
prostitution. After his speech he announced a largess
of three aurei for each, just as if they were soldiers,
and asked them to pray the gods that they might
find others to recommend to him.
He used, too, to play jokes on his slaves, even
ordering them to bring him a thousand pounds of
spiders-webs and offering them a prize ; and he
collected, it is said, ten thousand pounds, and then
remarked that one could realize from that how great
a city was Rome. He also used to send to his para-
sites jars of frogs, scorpions, snakes, and other such
reptiles, as their yearly allowance of provisions, and he
would shut up a vast number of flies in jars of this sort
and call them tamed bees.
XXVII. He often brought four-horse chariots from
the Circus into his banqueting-rooms or porticoes
while he lunched or dined, compelling his guests to
drive, even though they were old men and some of
them had held public office. Even when emperor,
he would give an order to bring in to him ten
thousand mice, a thousand weasels, or a thousand
shrew-mice. So skilful were his confectioners and
dairymen, that all the various kinds of food that were
served by his cooks, either meat-cooks or fruit-cooks,
159
ANTONINUS ELAGABALUS
4 modo de dulciis modo de lactariis exhiberent. exhi-
buit parasitis cenas et de vitreis et nonnumquam tot
picta mantelia in mensam mittebat, iis edulibus picta
quae adponerentur, quot missus esset habiturus, ita
5 ut de acu aut dc textili pictura exhiberentur. non-
numquam tamen et tabulae illis pictae exhibebantur,
ita ut quasi omnia illis exhiberentur et tamen fame
6 macerarentur. miscuit gemmas pomis ac floribus.
iecit et per fenestram cibos totidem quot exhibuit
Tamicis. iusserat et canonem populi Romani unius
anni meretricibus, lenonibus, exsoletis intramuranis
dari, extramuranis alio promisso, cum eo tempore
iuxta provisionem Severi et Traiani septem annorum
canon frumentarius Romae esset.
XXVIII. Canes quaternos ingentes iunxit ad currum
et sic est vectatus intra domum regiam idemque1
2privatus in agris suis fecit, processit in publicum et
quattuor cervis iunctis ingentibus. iunxit sibi et
leones, Matrem magnam se appellans. iunxit et
tigres, Liberum sese vocans eodemque habitu agens
3 quo dii pinguntur quos imitabatur. Aegyptios dracun-
culos Romae habuit, quos illi agathodaemonas vocant.
habuit et hippopotamos et crocodillum et rhinocero-
tern et omnia Aegyptia, quae per naturam sui exhiberi
1 4
idemque Peter ; idque P.
1 See Sev.t viii. 5.
'Apparently the sacred healing snake of the god Knuphis
(Ohnum), often represented, sometimes with a lion's head, on
gems and amulets.
160
ANTONINUS ELAGABALUS XXVII. 4-XXVIII. 3
they also would serve up, making them now out of con-
fectionery or again out of milk-products. His para-
sites he would serve with dinners made of glass, and
at times he would send to their table only embroidered
napkins with pictures of the viands that were set be-
fore himself, as many in number as the courses which
he was to have, so that they were served only with re-
presentations made by the needle or the loom. Some-
times, however, paintings too were displayed to them,
so that they were served with the whole dinner, as
it were, but were all the while tormented by hunger.
He would also mix jewels with apples and flowers,
and he would throw out of the window quite as much
food as he served to his friends. He gave an order,
too, that an amount of public grain equal to one year's
tribute should be given to all the harlots, procurers,
and catamites who were within the walls, and promised
an equal amount to those without, for, thanks to the
foresight of Severus and Trajan, there was in Rome at
that time a store of grain equal to seven years' tribute.1
XXVIII. He would harness four huge dogs to a
chariot and drive about within the royal residence,
and he did the same thing, before he was made
emperor, on his country- estates. He even appeared
in public driving four stags of vast size. Once he
harnessed lions to his chariot and called himself the
Great Mother, and on another occasion, tigers, and
called himself Dionysus ; and he always appeared in
the particular garb in which the deity that he was
representing was usually depicted. He kept at Rome
tiny Egyptian snakes, called by the natives "good
genii," 2 besides hippopotami, a crocodile, and a rhi-
noceros, and, in fact, everything Egyptian which was
of such a kind that it could be supplied. And
161
ANTONINUS ELAGABALUS
ipoterant. struthocamelos exhibuit in cenis aliquo-
tiens, dicens praeceptum ludaeis ut ederent.
5 Illud sane minim videtur quod dicitur ab eo fac-
tum, ut de croco sigma straverit, cum summos viros
rogasset ad prandium, pro eorum dignitate se dicens
efaenum exhibere. transegit et dierum actus noctibus
et nocturnes diebus, aestimans hoc inter instrumenta
luxuriae, ita ut sero de somno surgeret et salutari
inciperet, mane autem dormire inceptaret. amicos
admisit1 cottidie nee quemquam facile indonatum
relinquebat, nisi quern frugi quasi perditum repper-
isset.
XXIX. Habuit gemmata vehicula et aurata con-
2temptis argentatis et eboratis et aeratis. iunxit et
quaternas mulieres pulcherrimas et binas ad pabillum
vel ternas et amplius et sic vectatus est, sed plerum-
que nudus, cum ilium nudae traherent.
3 Habuit et hanc consuetudinem, ut octo calvos
rogaret ad cenam et item octo luscos et item octo
podagrosos, octo surdos, octo nigros, octo longos et
octo pingues, cum capi non posseiit uno sigmate, ut
4de his omnibus risus citaret. donavit et argentum
omne convivis quod habuit in convivio et omnem
Sapparatum poculorum, idque saepius. hydrogarum
1 amicos <adwm£> cottidie Golisch; amicos coitidie P;
amicis cottidie <^aliquid dabat^> Gas., Peter.
1 i.e. likening them to oxen ; cf . the saying faenum edere,
cited by Cicero, de Oral. ii. 233.
2 Those ornamented with ivory or bronze were in common
use; see Aurel., xlvi. 3. Alexander permitted the use of
silver; see Alex., xliii. 1.
3 Garum was a preparation made from the entrails of fish,
particularly the mackerel, which were salted down and allowed
to ferment. The liquid thus formed was called garum.
162
ANTONINUS ELAGABALUS XXVIII. 4— XXIX. 5
sometimes at his banquets he served ostriches, saying
that the Jews had been commanded to eat them.
It seems indeed a surprising thing that he is said to
have done when he invited men of the highest rank
to a luncheon and covered a semi-circular couch with
saffron-flowers, and then said that he was providing
them with the kind of hay l that their rank demanded.
The occupations of the day he performed at night,
and those of the night in the daytime, and he con-
sidered it a mark of luxury to wait until a late hour
before rising from sleep and beginning to hold his
levee, and also to remain awake until morning. He
received his courtiers every day, and he seldom let
any go without a gift, save those whom he found to
be thrifty, for he regarded these as worthless.
XXIX. His chariots were made of jewels and gold,
for he scorned those that were merely of silver or
ivory or bronze.2 He would harness women of the
greatest beauty to a wheel -barrow in fours, in twos,
or in threes or even more, and would drive them about,
usually naked himself, as were also the women who
were pulling him.
He had the custom, moreover, of asking to a dinner
eight bald men, or else eight one-eyed men, or eight
men who suffered from gout, or eight deaf men, or
eight men of dark complexion, or eight tall men, or,
again, eight fat men, his purpose being, in the case
of these last, since they could not be accommodated
on one couch, to call forth general laughter. He
would present to his guests all the silver-plate that
he had in the banqueting-room and all the supply of
goblets, and he did it very often too. He was the
first Roman emperor to serve at a public banquet fish-
pickle3 mixed with water, for previously this had
163
ANTONINUS ELAGABLAUS
Romanorum ducum primus publice exhibuit, cum
antea militaris mensa esset, quam postea statim
6 Alexander reddidit. proponebat praeterea iis quai,
themata, ut iura nova dapibus condiendis invenirent,
et cuius placuisset commentum, ei dabat maximum
praemium, ita ut sericam vestem donaret, quae tune
7 et in raritate videbatur et in honore. si ius l autem
displicuisset, iubebat ut semper id comesset, quamdiu
Stamen melius inveniret. semper sane aut inter flores
9sedit aut inter odores pretiosos. amabat sibi pretia2
maiora dici earum rerum quae mensae parabanturs
orexin convivio hanc esse adserens.
XXX. Pinxit se ut cuppedinarium, ut seplasiarium,
ut popinarium, ut tabernarium, ut lenonem, idque
2 totum domi semper et exercuit. sescentorum struth-
ionum capita una cena multis mensis exhibuit ad
3 edenda cerebella. exhibuit aliquando et tale con-
vivium ut haberet viginti et duo fercula ingentium
epularum, sed per singula lavarent et mulieribus
uterentur et ipse et amici cum iure iurando quod
4 efficerent voluptatem. celebravit item tale convivium
ut apud amicos singulos singuli missus appararentur,
et, cum alter maneret in Capitolio, alter in Palatio,
alter super Aggerem, alter in Gaelic, alter trans
Tiberim, et ut quisque mansisset, tamen per ordinem
in eorum domibus singula fercula ederentur, ireturque
6 ad omnium domos. sic unum convivium vix toto die
1 si ius Salm., Peter; sicus P. 2 pretia rerum P.
1 The Agger Tarquinii Superbi was that portion of the so-
called " Wall of Servius Tullius " (probably a work of the
early republican period) which protected Rome on the east,
running over the level tops of the Quirinal and Esquiline
Hills ; see Pliny, Nat. Hist., iii. 67.
164
ANTONINUS ELAGABALUS XXIX. 6— XXX. 5
been only a soldier's dish — a usage which later was
promptly restored by Alexander. He would propose
to his guests, furthermore, by way of a feat, that they
should invent new sauces for giving flavour to the
food, and he would offer a very large prize for the
man whose invention should please him, even pre-
senting him with a silk garment — then regarded as a
rarity and a mark of honour. On the other hand, if
the sauce did not please him, the inventor was
ordered to continue eating it until he invented a
better one. Of course he always sat among flowers
or perfumes of great value, and he loved to hear the
prices of the food served at his table exaggerated,
asserting it was an appetizer for the banquet.
XXX. He got himself up as a confectioner,
a perfumer, a cook, a shop-keeper, or a procurer,
and he even practised all these occupations in his
own house continually. At one dinner where there
were many tables he brought in the heads of six
hundred ostriches in order that the brains might be
eaten. Occasionally he gave a banquet in which he
would serve twenty-two courses of extraordinary
viands, and between each course he and his guests
would bathe and dally with women, all taking an oath
that they were deriving enjoyment. And once he
gave a banquet in which one course was served in the
house of each guest, and although one lived on the
Capitoline Hill, one on the Palatine, one beyond the
Rampart,1 one on the Caelian Hill, and one across
the Tiber, nevertheless each course was served in
order in one of the houses, and they went about to
the homes of all. It was difficult, therefore, to finish
the banquet within a whole day, especially as between
the courses they bathed and dallied with women.
165
ANTONINUS ELAGABALUS
finitum est, cum et lavarent per singula fercula et
6 mulieribus uterentur. Sybariticum missum semper
exhibuit ex oleo et garo, quern quo anno Sybaritae
7 reppererunt, et perierunt. dicitur et balneas fecisse
multis locis ac semel lavisse atque statim destruxisse,
ne ex usu balneas haberet. hoc idem de domibus, de
8 praetoriis, de diaetis1 fecisse dicitur. sed et haec et
alia 2 nonnulla fidem transeuntia credo esse ficta ab iis
qui in gratiam Alexandri Heliogabalum deformare
voluerunt.
XXXI. Fertur et meretricem notissimam et pulcher-
rimam redemisse centum sestertiis eamque intactam
2velut virginem coluisse. huic eidem private cum
quidam diceret " Non times pauper fieri?'1 dixisse
dicitur "Quid melius, quam ut ipse mihi heres sim
3 et uxori meae ? " habuerat praeterea facultates a
multis dimissas gratia palrls. idem filios se nolle
4 dicebat, ne quis ei frugi contingeret. odores Indices
sine carbonibus ad vaporandas diaetas 3 iubebat iucendi.
iter4 privatus numquam minus sexaginta vehiculis fecit,
avia sua Varia reclamante quod omnia perditurus esset.
5 imperator vero etiam sescenta vehicula dicitur duxisse,
adserens decem milibus camelorum Persarum regem
iter facere et Neronem quingentis carrucis iter inisse.
6 causa vehiculorum erat lenonum, lenarum, meretricum,
1 diaetis Lessing ; getis P; zaetis Peter. 2 et alia ins. by
Gas. and Peter; om. in P. 3 diaetas Lessing; zetas P;
eaetas Peter. 4 in P.
1 510 B.C.
*i.e. Julia Maesa ; see note to Macr.t ix. 1.
8 According to Suetonius, Nero, xxx. 3, never with fewer
than a thousand.
166
ANTONINUS ELAGABALUS XXX. 6— XXXI. 6
He always served a course of Sybariticum, consisting
of oil and fish-pickle, which the men of Sybaris in-
vented in the year in which they all perished.1 It is
further related of him that he constructed baths in
many places, bathed in them once, and immediately
demolished them, merely in order that he might not
derive any advantage from them. And he is said to
have done the same with houses, imperial headquar-
ters, and summer-dwellings. However, these and
some other things which surpass credence, I believe
to have been fabricated by those who wished to vilify
Elagabalus in order to curry favour with Alexander.
XXXI. He purchased, it is said, a very famous
and very beautiful harlot for one hundred thousand
sesterces, and then kept her untouched, as though
she were a virgin. When some one asked him before
he was made emperor, " Are you not afraid of becom-
ing poor ? " he replied, so they say, " What could be
better than that 1 should be my own heir and my
wife's too ? ' He had abundant means besides, be-
queathed to him by many out of regard for his father.
Furthermore, he said that he did not wish to have
sons, lest one of them should chance to be thrifty.
He would have perfumes from India burned without
any coals in order that the fumes might fill his
apartments. Even while a commoner he never made
a journey with fewer than sixty wagons, though his
grandmother Varia 2 used to protest that he would
squander all his substance ; but after he became
emperor he would take with him, it is said, as many
as six hundred, asserting that the king of the Persians
travelled with ten thousand camels and Nero with
five hundred carriages.3 The reason for all these
vehicles was the vast number of his procurers and
167
ANTONINUS ELAGABALUS
exsoletorum, subactorum etiam bene vasatovum multi-
7 tudo. in balneis semper cum mulieribus fuit, ita ut
eas ipse psilothro curaret, ipse quoque barbam psi-
lothro accurans, quodque pudendum dictu sit, eodem
quo mulieres accurabantur l et eadem hora. rasit et
virilia subactoribus suis ad novaculam 2 manu sua, qua
8 postea barbam fecit, scobe auri porticum stravit et
argenti, dolens quod non posset et electri, idque fre-
quenter, quacumque fecit iter pedibus usque ad equum
vel carpentum, ut fit hodie de aurosa arena.
XXXI I. Calciamentum numquam iteravit, anulos
etiam negatur iterasse. pretiosas vestes saepe con-
scidit. balaenam3 cepit et adpendit atque ad eius
2 aestimationem ponderis pisces amicis exhibuit. naves
onustas mersit in portum, magnanimitatis hoc esse
dicens. onus ventris auro excepit, in murrinis et
Sonychis minxit. idem dixisse fertur, "Si habuero
heredem, da bo illi tutorem, qui ilium haec facere cogat
4quae ipse feci facturusque sum." habuit etiam istam
consuetudinem, ut cenas sibi exhiberet tales ut una die
nonnisi de * phasianis totum ederet omnesque missus
sola phasianorum carne strueret, item alia die de
pullis, alia de pisce illo et item illo, alia de porcis,
alia de struthionibus, alia de oleribus, alia de pomis,
5 alia de dulciis, alia de opere lactario. saepe amicos
1 So P ; accurabantur < loco > Gas., Peter. 2 nouaculam
Gruter, von Winterf eld ; nouaclum P, Peter. 3 So Madvig ;
conscidit uel lanam P ; t uel lanam Petera. *de om. in P.
1 The allusion is obscure ; the custom seems to be analogous
to that of Caligula and Nero, who had the sand of the Circus
sprinkled with chrysocolla, a silicate of copper, in order to give
it a greenish colour; see Suetonius, Calig., xviii. 3; Pliny,
Nat. Hist., xxxiii. 90.
2 See note to Pert., xii. 6.
168
ANTONINUS ELAGABALUS XXXI. 7— XXXII. 5
bawds, harlots, catamites and lusty partners in de-
pravity. In the public baths he always bathed with
the women, and he even treated them himself with
a depilatory ointment, which he applied also to his
own beard, and shameful though it be to say it, in
the same place where the women were treated and
at the same hour. He shaved his minions' groins,
using the razor with his own hand — with which he
would then shave his beard. He would strew gold
and silver dust about a portico and then lament that
he could not strew the dust of amber also ; and he
did this often when he proceeded on foot to his
horse or his carriage, as they do today with golden
sand.1
XXXII. He never put on the same shoes twice
and never, it is said, wore the same ring a second
time. He often tore up costly garments. Once he
took a whale and weighed it and then sent his friends
its weight in fish. He sank some heavily laden ships in
the harbour and then said that this was a sign of great-
ness of soul. He used vessels of gold for relieving
himself and his urinals were made of murra or onyx.
And he is said to have remarked : " If I ever have an
heir, I shall appoint a guardian for him, to make him
do what I have myself done and intend to do ". He
was accustomed, furthermore, to have dinners served
to him of the following kind : one day he would eat
nothing at all but pheasant,2 serving only pheasant-
meat at every course ; another day he would serve
only chicken, another some kind of fish and again a
a different kind, again pork, or ostrich, or greens, or
fruit, or sweets, or dairy-products. He would often
shut up his friends in halting-places for the night
with old hags from Ethiopia and compel them to stay
169
ANTONINUS ELAGABALUS
suos cum Aethiopibus aniculis inclusit nocturni&
mansionibus et usque ad lucem detinuit, cum pulcher-
6rimas his diceret apparatas. fecit hoc idem etiam de
pueris, et tune, ante Philippum utpote, licebat.
7ridebat autem sic nonnumquam, ut publice in theatre
8 solus audiretur. ipse cantavit, saltavit, ad tibias
dixit, tuba cecinit, pandurizavit, organo modulatus est.
9 fertur et una die ad omnes Circi et theatri et Amphi-
theatri et omnium urbis locorum meretrices tectus
cucullione mulionico, ne agnosceretur, ingressus, cum
tamen omnibus meretricibus sine eflfectu libidinis
aureos donaret, addens, "Nemo sciat, Antoninus
XXXIII. haec donat." libidinum genera quaedam invenit, ut
spinthrias veterum malorum vinceret, et omnis ap-
paratus Tiberii et Caligulae et Neronis norat.
2 Et praedictum eidem erat a sacerdotibus Syris bio-
Sthanatum se futurum. paraverat igitur funes blatta
et serico et cocco intortos, quibus, si necesse esset,
4laqueo vitam finiret. paraverat et gladios aureos,
6 quibus se occideret, si aliqua vis urgueret. paraverat
et in cerauniis et hyacinthis et in smaragdis venena,
quibus se interimeret, si quid gravius inmineret.
6 fecerat et altissimam turrem substratis aureis gem-
matisque ante se tabulis, ex qua se praecipitaret,
dicens etiam mortem suam pretiosam esse debere et
ad speciem luxuriae, ut diceretur nemo sic perisse.
7 sed nihil ista valuerunt. nam, ut diximus, et occisus
1 The Emperor Philippus Arabs. His prohibition of this
vice is also recorded in Alex., xxiv. 4, and Victor, Goes., xxviii.
6.
3 A musical instrument with three strings, probably re-
sembling the lute. The name has been perpetuated in a
modern Italian insfrument of the mandoline type.
3 See Suetonius, Tib., xliii. 1, and Tacitus, Annals, vi. 1.
170
ANTONINUS ELAGABALUS XXXII. 6— XXXIII. 7
there until morning, saying that the most beautiful
women were kept in these places. He did this same
thing with boys too — for then, before the time of
Philip l that is, such a thing was lawful. Sometimes
he laughed so loud in the theatre that no one else
could be heard by the audience. He could sing and
dance, play the pipes, the horn and the pandura,2 and
he also performed on the organ. On one single day,
it is said, he visited every prostitute from the Circus,
the theatre, the Amphitheatre, and all the public
places of Rome, covering his head with a muleteer's cap
in order to escape recognition ; he did not, however,
gratify his passions, but merely gave an aureus to each
prostitute, saying as he did so : " Let no one know
it, but this is a present from Antoninus ". XXXIII.
He invented certain new kinds of vice, even going
beyond the perverts used by the debauchees of old,
and he was well acquainted with all the arrangements
of Tiberius, Caligula, and Nero.3
The prophecy had been made to him by some
Syrian priests that he would die a violent death. And
so he had prepared cords entwined with purple and
scarlet silk, in order that, if need arose, he could put
an end to his life by the noose. He had gold swords,
too, in readiness, with which to stab himself, should
any violence impend. He also had poisons ready,
in ceraunites and sapphires and emeralds, with which
to kill himself if destruction threatened. And he
also built a very high tower from which to throw him-
self down, constructed of boards gilded and jewelled
in his own presence, for even his death, he declared,
should be costly and marked by luxury, in order that
it might be said that no one had ever died in this
fashion. But all these preparations availed him
171
ANTONINUS ELAGABALUS
est per scurras et per plateas tractus et sordidissime
per cloacas ductus et in Tiberim submissus est.
8 Hie finis Antoninorum nomini in re publica fiiit,
scientibus cunctis istum Antoninum tarn vita falsum
fuisse quam nomine.
XXXIV. Mirum fortasse cuipiam videatur, Constan-
tiiie venerabilis, quod haec clades, quam rettuli, loco
principum fuerit, et quidem prope triennio ; ita nemo
in re publica1 turn fuit qui istum a gubernaculis
Romanae maiestatis abduceret, cum Neroni, Vitellio,
Caligulae ceterisque huiusmodi numquam tyrannicida
2 demerit, sed primum omnium ipse veniam peto,
quod haec, quae apud diversos repperi, litteris tradidi,
cum multa improba reticuerim et quae ne dici quidem
3 sine maximo pudore possunt. ea vero, quae dixi,
praetextu verborum adhibito, quantum potui texi.
4 deinde illud quod dementia tua solet dicere credidi
esse respiciendum 2 " Imperatorem esse fortunae est."
6 nam et minus boni reges fuerunt et pessimi. agen-
dum vero quod Pietas tua solet dicere, ut sint imperio
digni quos ad regendi necessitatem vis fatalis ad-
6 duxerit. et quoniam hie ultimus Antoninorum fuit,
neque postea hoc iiomen in re publica loco principum
frequentatum est, etiam illud addendum est, ne quis
error oriatur, cum duos Gordianos narrare coepero,
1 So Bernhardy and Peter ; nemo uir e$ P. 3 So Lectius
and Peter; credidisse reficiendum P.
1 See c. xvii. 1-3.
2 Nero committed suicide, Vitellius was killed by the
soldiers of Vespasian, and Caligula was assassinated by a
tribune of the praetorian guard.
172
ANTONINUS ELAGABALUS XXXIII. 8-XXXIV. 6
nothing, for, as we have said,1 he was slain by common
soldiers, dragged through the streets, contemptuously
thrust into sewers, and finally cast into the Tiber.
He was the last of those in public life to bear the
name Antoninus, and all knew that in the case of this
Antoninus his life was as false as his name.
XXX IV. It may perhaps seem strange to some,
revered Constantine, that such a scourge as I have
described should ever have sat on the throne of the
emperors, and, moreover, for nearly three years. Such
was the lack at that time in the state of any who
could remove him from the government of Rome's
majesty, whereas a deliverer from the tyrant had not
been wanting in the case of Nero, Vitellius, Caligula,2
and other such emperors. But first of all I ask for
pardon for having set down in writing what I have
found in various authors, even though I have passed
over in silence many vile details and those things
which may not even be spoken of without the greatest
shame. But whatever I have told, I have covered up
as best I could by the use of veiled terms. Then too
I have always believed that we must remember what
Your Clemency is wont to say : " It is Fortune that
makes a man emperor". There have indeed been
unrighteous rulers and even very base ones. But, as
Your Piety is wont to declare, men must look to it
that those be worthy of the imperial office whom the
power of Fate has called to the destiny of being
emperor. Furthermore, since this man was the last
of the Antonines and never again did one of this name
appear in public life as emperor, the following fact
must also be mentioned, in order that no confusion
may arise when I shall begin to tell of the two
Gordians, father and son, who desired to be called
173
ANTONINUS ELAGABALUS
patrem et filium, qui se de Antoninorum genere dici
volebant : non nomen in illis primum fuit sed prae-
7 nomen. deinde, ut in plerisque libris invenio, Antonii
dicti sunt, non Antonini.
XXXV. Haec sunt de Heliogabalo, cuius vitam me
invitum et retractantem ex Graecis Latinisque col-
lectam scribere ac tibi offerre voluisti, cum iam
2 aliorum ante tulerimus. scribere autem ordiar qui
post sequentur. quorum Alexander optimus et cum
cura dicendus est, annorum tredecim princeps,
semestres alii et vix annui et bimi, Aurelianus
praecipuus et horum omnium decus auctor tui generis
3 Claudius, de quo vereor ad Clementiam tuam scribens
vera dicere, ne malivolis adulator videar esse, sed
absolvar contra livorem improborum, cum etapud alios
4 clarum esse perspexerim. his iungendi sunt Dio-
cletianus, aurei parens saeculi, et Maximianus, ut vulgo
5dicitur, ferrei, ceterique ad Pietatem tuam. te vero,
Auguste venerabilis, multis paginis iisdemque diser-
tioribus illi prosequentur, quibus id felicior natura de-
6 tulerit. his addendi sunt Licinius l atque Maxentius,
quorum omnium ius 2 in dicionem tuam venit, sed ita
1 Licinius Seuerus Alexander P ; S.A. del. by Mommsen
and Peter. 2 uis P.
J See Gord., iv. 7 and note.
2 See Claud., ix. 9 and note.
3 Apparently an allusion to his character as a rough soldier
and in contrast with his colleague Diocletian, of whom
Victor (Caes.y xxxix. 8) says: " Eoque ipso, quod dominum
dici passus, parentem egit."
4 Maxentiua was defeated by Constantine at the Pons
174
ANTONINUS ELAGABALUS XXXIV. 7— XXXV. 6
after the family of the Antoiiines : in the first place,
they had not the surname but only the praenomen of
the Antonines ; in the second, as I find in many books,
their name was Antonius, and not Antoninus.1
XXXV. So much concerning Elagabalus, the de-
tails of whose life you have wished me, though un-
willing and reluctant, to gather together from Greek
and Latin books and to set down in writing and
present to you, inasmuch as I have already presented
the lives of earlier emperors. Now I shall begin to
write of emperors who followed after. Of these the
most righteous and the most worthy of careful nar-
ration was Alexander (who was emperor for thirteen
years, whereas the others ruled for but six months or
at most for one or two years), the most distinguished
was Aurelian, but the glory of them all was Claudius,
the founder of your family.2 About this man I fear
to tell the truth in writing to Your Clemency, lest I
may seem to the malicious to be a flatterer ; but yet
I shall be delivered from the envy of evil men, inas-
much as I have seen that in the eyes of others also
he was most illustrious. To these rulers must be
joined Diocletian, father of the golden age, and
Maximian, father of the iron,3 as they commonly say,
and all the others down to the time of Your Piety.
But as for you, O revered Augustus, you shall receive
honour in the many and more eloquent pages of those
to whom a more kindly nature has granted this boon.
To these emperors we must add Licinius and
Maxentius, all whose power has been made subject to
your sway,4 writing of them, however, in such a way
Mulvius near Rome in 312, Licinius near Chalcedon in Bith-
ynia in 324.
17.*
ANTONINUS ELAGABALUS
7 ut nihil de l eorum virtute derogetur. non enim ego id
faciam quod plerique scriptores solent, ut de iis de-
traham qui victi sunt, cum intellegam gloriae tuae
accedere, si omnia de illis, quae bona in se habuerint,
vera praedicaro.
1 de om. in P.
ANTONINUS ELAGABALUS XXXV. 7
that full justice shall be done to their prowess. For
I will not, as is the wont of many writers, detract
from the greatness of those who have been vanquished,
since I perceive that if, in writing of them, I shall tell
the whole truth concerning the noble qualities which
they possessed, it will but enhance your glory.
177
ALEXANDER SEVERUS
AELII LAMPRIDII
I. Interfecto Vario Heliogabalo — sic enim malu-
mus dicere quam Antoninum, quia et nihil Antoni-
2 norum pestis ilia ostendit et hoc nomen ex annalibus
senatus auctoritate erasum est — ad remedium generis
huraani Aurelius Alexander, urbe Arcena genitus,
Varii filius, Variae nepos et consobrinus ipsius Helio-
gabali, accepit imperium, cum ante Caesar a senatu
3 esset appellatus, mortuo scilicet Macrino ; Augustum-
que nomen idem recepit, addito eo ut et patris
patriae nomen et ius proconsulare et tribuniciam
potestatem et ius quintae relationis deferente senatu
uno die adsumeret.
4 Et ne praeceps ista honorum continuatio videatur,
exponam causas, quibus id et senatus coactus est facere
1 See Heliog., xvii. 4 and note.
2 On his name see note to Hcliog., v. 1.
3 Area Caesarea or Caesarea ad Libanum in Syria, on the
western slope of the Lebanon range, a short distance N.E. of
the modern city of Tripoli.
4 His father's name was Gessius Marcianus. Varius Mar-
cellus was the father of Elagabalus.
6 i.e, Julia Maesa, erroneously called Varia in these bio-
graphies; see note to Macr., ix. 1.
6 This statement is incorrect; see note to Heliog., v. 1.
' See Pius, iv. 7 and note.
178
SEVERUS ALEXANDER
BY
AELIUS LAMPRIDIUS
I. After the murder of Varius Elagabalus — for thus
we prefer to call him rather than Antoninus, for,
plague that he was, he showed none of the traits of
the Antonines, and his name Antoninus, furthermore,
was expunged from the public records by order of
the senate1 — for the curing of the human race
the imperial power passed to Aurelius Alexander.2
He was born in the city of Area3 and he was the son
of Varius,4 the grandson of Varia,5 and the cousin of
Elagabalus himself. The name of Caesar had been
bestowed on him by the senate previously, that is,
after the death of Macrinus 6 ; now he was given the
name of Augustus, and it was further granted him
by the senate that on the same day he should take
the title of Father of his Country, the proconsular
command, the tribunician power,7 and the privilege
of making five proposals to the House.8
Now lest this quick succession of honours may
seem precipitate,9 I will set forth the reasons which
8 See note to Marc., vi. 6.
9 The title of Pater Patriae, particularly, had not been
assumed by earlier constitutional emperors nntil some tune
after their accession to power; see Hadr., vi. 4; Pius, vi. 6.
179
SEVERUS ALEXANDER
5et ille perpeti. non enim aut gravitati senatus con-
gruebat omnia simul deferreaut bono principi raptura
6 ire tot simul dignitates. milites iam insueverant
sibi imperatores et tumultuario iudicio facere et item
facile mutare, adferentesnonnumquamad defensionem
se idcirco fecisse quod nescissent senatum principem
7appellasse. nam et Pescennium Nigrum et Clodium
Albinum et Avidium Cassium et antea Lucium Vin-
dicem et L. Antonium,1 et ipsum Severum, cum
senatus iam lulianum dixisset principem, imperatores
fecerant, atque ista res bella civilia severat, quibus
necesse fuit militem contra hostem paratum parricida-
II. liter perire. hac igitur causa festinatum est ut omnia
simul Alexander quasi iam vetus imperator acciperet.
2 hue accessit nimia et senatus et populi inclinatio
post illam cladem, quae non solum Antoninorum
nomen decoloravit set etiam Romanum dehonestavit
Simperium. certatim denique omnia decreta sunt et
4nominum genera et potestatum. primus denique
omnium cuncta insignia et honorificentiae genera
simul recepit, suffragante sibimet Caesaris nomine,
quod iam ante aliquot annos meruerat, et magis suffra-
gante vita et moribus, cum illi magnum conciliasset
favorem, quod Heliogabalus occidere conatus est nee
1 Antoninum P.
1 On Vindex and Antonius Saturninus see notes to Pesc.
Nig., ix. 2.
2 See Sev., v. 1.
8 On his popularity see Heliog., xiii. 3 anl note.
180
SEVERUS ALEXANDER I. 5— II. 4
moved the senate to grant and the Emperor to
accept them. For it befitted neither the senate's
dignity to bestow all of them together, nor yet a
good prince to seize upon so many honours at one
time. But the soldiers had now grown accustomed
to appoint their own emperors, often in a disorderly
fashion, and also to change them at will, sometimes
alleging in their own defence that they had taken
action only because they did not know that the
senate had named a ruler. For they had chosen as
emperors Pescennius Niger, Clodius Albinus, Avidius
Cassius, and, in earlier years, Lucius Vindex and
Lucius Antonius1 ; and they had chosen even Severus
too, after the senate had already named Julianus as
prince.2 And thus were sown the seeds of civil wars,
in which it necessarily happened that soldiers en-
listed to fight against a foreign foe fell at the hands of
their brothers. II. For this reason, then, the senate
hastened to bestow all these honours on Alexander
at the same time, as though he had long been em-
peror. To this, moreover, must be added the great
desire of the senate and people for Alexander,3 now
that they had been delivered from that scourge who
had not only sullied the name of the Antonines but
brought shame upon the Roman Empire. Indeed,
they vied with one another in bestowing on him all
manner of titles and powers. He, then, was the first
of all the emperors to receive at one time all insignia
and all forms of honour, commended to them, as he
was, by the name of Caesar, earned some years pre-
viously, but commended still more by his life and
morals. He had won great favour, too, from the
fact that Elagabalus had tried to slay him, but with-
out success because of the resistance of the soldiers
181
SEVERUS ALEXANDER
potuit et militibus repugnantibus et senatu refragante.
5atque haec parva sunt, nisi quod dignum se exhibuit
quern senatus servaret, quern salvum milites cuperent,
quern omnium bonorum sententia principem diceret.
III. Alexander igitur, cui Mamaea mater fuit (nam
et ita dicitur a plerisque), a prima pueritia artibus
bonis imbutus tarn civilibus quam militaribus ne unum
quidem diem sponte sua transire passus est quo se
2non et ad litteras et ad militiam exerceret. nam in
prima pueritia litteratores habuit Valerium Cordum
et Titum Veturium et Aurelium Philippum libertum
Spatris, qui vitam eius postea in litteras misit, gram-
maticum in patria Graecum Nehonem, rhetorem
Serapionem, philosophum Stilionem, Romae gram-
maticos Scaurinum Scaurini filium, doctorem celeber-
rimum, rhetores lulium Frontinum et Baebium
Macrianum et lulium Granianum, cuius bodieque
4declamatae1 feruntur. sed in Latinis non multum
profecit, ut ex eiusdem orationibus apparet, quas in 2
senatu habuit, vel ex 3 contionibus, quas apud milites
vel apud populum. nee valde amavit Latinam
facundiam sed amavit litteratos homines vehementer,
eos etiam reformidans, ne quid de se asperum
5scriberent. denique quos dignos ad id esse4 videbat,
singula quaeque, quae publice et privatim agebat, se
1 orationes declamatae P corr. 2 in om. in P. 8 ex om.
in P. 4 eos digno adesce P.
1 See Heliog., xiii. 4 f.
2 So he is called Alexander Mamaeae in c. v. 2 ; Aurel.,
xlii. 4 ; Car., iii. 4. The appellation " son of Mamaea " was,
of course, not official, but it is significant as denoting his
entire subjection to his mother ; see note to c. xiv. 7.
3 Nothing is known of any of these.
182
SEVERUS ALEXANDER II. 5— III. 5
and the opposition of the senate.1 All these con-
siderations, however, would have availed him little,
had he not shown himself worthy that the senate
should honour him, that the soldiers should be eager
for his preservation, and the voice of all good citizens
name him their prince.
III. Alexander, then, the son of Mamaea (for so
he is called by many 2), had been nurtured from his
earliest boyhood in all excellent arts, civil and mili-
tary. Not a single day, indeed, did he allow to pass
in which he did not train himself for literature and
for military service. His teachers were 3 : during his
early childhood, Valerius Cordus, Titus Veturius, and
Aurelius Philippus (his father's freedman who after-
wards wrote his life) ; while he lived in his native
town, the Greek grammarian, Neho, the rhetorician
Serapio, and the philosopher Stilio; and when he
was at Rome, the grammarian Scaurinus (the son of
Scaurinus 4 and a most famous teacher), and the
rhetoricians Julius Frontinus, Baebius Macrianus,
and Julius Granianus, whose exercises in rhetoric
are in use today. In Latin literature, however, he
was not very proficient, as is shown by the orations
which he delivered in the senate, and also by the
speeches which he made before the soldiers or the
people. And indeed he did not greatly value the
power to speak in Latin, although he was very fond
of men of letters, fearing them at the same time,
lest they might write something harsh about him.
Indeed, it was his wish that those whom he found
worthy of the privilege should be informed of all
4 Probably the Terentius Scaurinu3 who was the teacher
of Lucius Verus ; see Ver.t ii. 5.
183
SEVERUS ALEXANDER
ipso docente volebat addiscere, si forte ipsi non adfu-
issent, eaque petebat ut, si vera essent, in litteras
mitterent.
IV. Dominum se appellari vetuit. epistulas ad se
quasi ad privatum scribi iussit servato tantum nomine
2 imperatoris. gemmas de calciamentis et vestibus
tulit, quibus usus fuerat Heliogabalus. veste, ut et
pingitur, alba usus est nee aurata, paenulis togisque
3 communibus. cum amicis tarn familiariter vixit ut
communis esset ei saepe consessus, iret ad convivia
eorum, aliquos autem haberet cotidianos etiam non
vocatos, salutaretur vero quasi unus e senatoribus
patente velo admissionalibus remotis aut solis iis qui
ministri ad fores fuerant, cumantea1 salutare princip-
em non liceret, quod eos videre non poterat.
4 Et erat eius corporis ut praeter venustatem ac
virilem,- quern hodieque et in pictura et in statuis
videmuS; decorem s ei inesset staturae militaris robur,
militis valetudo eius qui vim sui corporis sciret ac
5 semper curaret. erat praeterea cunctis hominibus
amabilis et ab aliis Pius appellabatur, ab omnibus
ecerte sanctus et utilis rei publicae. huic sors in
1 cum antea ins. by Egnatius ; oin. in P ; lacuna assumed by
Peter. *ac uirilem Eyssenhardt, Peter3; aculem P.
* decorem ei inesset Peter2 ; decureum es&e P.
1 Dominies was the title by which the emperor was usually
addressed. Its use had been discouraged by the early
emperors, notably by Augustus and Tiberius ; see Suetonius,
Awg , liii. ; Tib., rrvii. ; Dio, Ivii. 8. It was adopted by
Domitian and was regularly in use after his time.
SEVEROS ATF\ AVDF.R IV. 1
that he did. both officially and in his private k:-
he even ii~t ".ntzi iiifc»ii -. • ; n i.:::>7 : if they
. . r.. : 7 i " : 1-7 1 1 i t r_ * i* ~ L 7 ":.:.". 7 i 7 j j r j ": T " . ~
:: .: -ert ::_t -.it;, ii.li z :.- .: — :it _ :•: : -f
IV. He forbade men to call him Lord,1 and he
gave order? that : :e 7 . e should wr-:t • u Ukej
would to a commoner, retaining onlr the title
'-.~ '.•"-'".- . -------- i ~.\'.~ ~ :. ; .--' -.?-.. ?T
^ •
--« • ;:t i ':'.:-.— ~~—-.^ :; : r ~ .:': . _:
any gold, just as he is always depicted, and
cloaks and togas. He associated with his
on such familiar terms that he would sit with them
as equals, attend their banquets, have some of them
as his own daily guests, even when they were not
formally summoned, and hold a momirj . . . .ike
any senator with open curtains and without the
presence of ushers, or, at Ie;^: with none but those
who acted as attendants at the doors, whereas pre-
: .isly it was not possible for pecrle to pay their
re? T 7 ::s to the emperor for the reason that he could
not see them.
As to his physique, in addition to the grace and the
manly beauty still to be seen in his portraits and
statues, he had the strength and height of a sol.
and the vigour of the military man who knows the
power of ins body and always maintains it. Besides
this, he endeared him>- •' ::» all men; some even
called him Pius, but all regarded Ivm as a holy man
and one of ^reat value to the state. An*.: : -
Elagabalus was plotting against him. he received in
• >=- P-' '. .'•• XT
5 S = £ r;:r V; Httiog., xL 3.
ISS
SEVERUS ALEXANDER
templo Praenestinae tails exstitit, cum illi Helio-
gabalus insidiaretur :
Si qua fata aspera rumpas,
tu Marcellus eris.
V. Alexandri nomen accepit quod in templo dicato
apud Arcenam urbem Alexandro Magno natus esset,
cum casu illuc die fes to Alexandri cum uxore pater isset1
2 sollemnitatis implendae causa, cui rei argumentum
est quod eadem die natalem habet hie Mamaeae
3 Alexander qua ille Magnus excessit e vita, delatum
sibi Antonini nomen a senatu recusavit, cum 2 hie magis
adfinitate Caracallo 3 iungeretur, quam ille subditivus ;
4 si quidem, ut Marius Maximus dixit in Vita Severi,
nobilem orientis mulierem Severus, cuius hanc geni-
turam esse compererat ut uxor imperatoris esset,
adhuc privatus et non magni satis loci, duxit uxorem.
ex qua adfinitate hie Alexander fuit, cui vere per
matrem suam consobrinus Varius Heliogabalus fuit.
5 recusavit et Magni nomen ei quasi Alexandro oblatum 4
senatus iudicio.
VI. Interest relegere orationem, qua nomen
J pater isset Petschenig, Peter2 ; palris P. *cum om. in
P. 3 Caracallo Lessing, Petschenig ; Caracalli P, Peter.
4 est oblatum P ; est del. by Gruter and Peter.
1 Fortuna Primigenia, whose temple at Praeneste (mod.
Palestrina) in Latium was famous for its oracle. Its re-
sponses were issued on sortcs, i.e. pieces of wood on which
utterances were inscribed.
2Aeneid, vi. 882-883, addressed to Marcellus, the nephew
of Augustus.
3 Undoubtedly a fiction, invented because of his name.
4 His birthday was 1st October, 208; see the Calendar of
186
SEVERUS ALEXANDER V. 2— VI. 1
the temple of the Praenestine Goddess l the follow-
ing oracle :
" If ever thou breakest the Fates' cruel power,
Thou a Marcellus shalt be." 2
V. He was given the name Alexander because he
was born in a temple dedicated to Alexander the
Great 3 in the city of Area, whither his father and
mother had chanced to go on the feast-day of Alex-
ander for the purpose of attending the sacred festival.
The proof of this is the fact that this Alexander, the
son of Mamaea, celebrated as his birthday that very
day on which Alexander the Great departed this
life.4 The name Antoninus was proffered him by the
senate, but he refused it, although he was connected
with Caracalla by a closer degree of kinship than the
spurious Antoninus.5 For, as Marius Maximus nar-
rates in his Life of Severus, Severus, at that time
only a commoner and a man of no great position,
married a noble-woman from the East, whose horo-
scope, he learned, declared that she should be the
wife of an emperor 6 ; and she was a kinswoman of
Alexander, to whom Varius Elagabalus, as a matter
of fact, was a cousin on his mother's side. He refused
also the title of " the Great," which, because he was
an Alexander, was offered to him by vote of the
senate.
VI. It will not be without interest to re-read the
Philocalus, C.I.L., i2, p. 274. Alexander the Great, on the
other hand, died in June.
5 This statement is incorrect, for the mothers of Alexander
and Elagabalus were sisters, the daughters of Julia Maesa
and hence first cousins of Caracalla.
6 i.e., Julia Domna ; see Sev., in. 9.
187
SEVERUS ALEXANDER
Antonini et Magni delatum sibi a senatu recusavit.
quam priusquam praeteram innectam1 adclamationes
2 senatus, quibus id decretum est. ex actis urbis :
A. d. pridie nonas Martias, cum senatus frequens in
curiam, hoc est in Aedem Concordiae templumque
inauguratum, convenisset, rogatusque esset Aurelius
Alexander Caesar Augustus ut eo venire t,2 ac primo
recusasset, quod sciret de honoribus suis agendum,
3 deinde postea venisset, adclamatum : " Auguste inno-
cens, di te servent. Alexander imperator, di te servent.
di te nobis dederunt, di conservent. di te ex manibus
4 impuri eripuerunt, di te perpetuent. impurum tyran-
num et tu perpessus es, impurum et obscenum et tu
vivere doluisti. di ilium eradicarunt, di te servarunt.
5 infamis imperator rite damnatus. felices nos imperio
tuo, felicein rem publicam. infamis unco tractus est
ad exemplum timoris. luxuriosus imperator iure
punitus est, contaminator honorum iure punitus est.
di immortales Alexandro vitam. iudicia deorum hinc
VII. apparent." et cum egisset gratias Alexander, ad-
clamatum est : " Antonine Alexander, di te servent.
1 innectam Kellerbauer, Peter2; etiam P. ^ut eo ueniret
Peter; ut concineret P.
*For similar acclamations see c. Ivi. 9-10; Avid. Cass.,
xiii. 1-5 ; Com., xviii.-xix. ; Maxim., xvi. 3-7 ; xxvi. ; Gord., xi.
9-10 ; Max.-Balb., ii. 9-12. Their genuineness is very doubt-
ful.
2 See note to Cow., xv. 4.
3 The correctness of this date is open to question, for the
best evidence points to the llth March as the day of the murder
of Elagabalus ; see 0. P. Butler, Studies in the Life of Hel.
(1910), p. 105 f.
4 See note to Pert , iv. 9.
188
SEVERUS ALEXANDER VI. 2— VII. 1
oration in which Alexander refused the names ot
Antoninus and " the Great," which were offered him
by the senate. But before I quote it, I will insert
the acclamations of the senate,1 by which these names
were decreed. Extract from the City Gazette 2 ; On
the day before the Nones of March,3 when the 6 Mar. ,
senate met in full session in the Senate-Chamber 222
(that is, in the Temple of Concord,4 a formally conse-
crated sanctuary), and when Aurelius Alexander
Caesar Augustus had been requested to proceed
thither and, after at first refusing: for the reason that
O
he knew that action was to be taken with regard to
his titles, had finally appeared before the senate, the
following acclamations were uttered : " Augustus,
free from all guilt, may the gods keep you ! Alexander,
our Emperor, may the gods keep you ! The gods
have given you to us, may the gods preserve you !
The gods have rescued you from the hands of the foul
man, may the gods preserve you forever ! You too
have endured the foul tyrant, you too had reason to
grieve that the filthy and foul one lived. The gods
have cast him forth root and branch, and you have
they saved. The infamous emperor has been duly
condemned. Happy are we in your rule, happy too
is the state. The infamous emperor has been dragged
with the hook,5 as an example of what men should
fear ; justly punished is the voluptuous emperor,
punished justly he who defiled the public honours.
May the gods in Heaven grant long life to Alexander !
Thus are the judgments of the gods revealed." VII.
And when Alexander had expressed his thanks the ac-
clamations arose again : " Antoninus Alexander, may
6 See Heliog. , xvii. 1-6.
189
SEVERUS ALEXANDER
Antonine Aureli, di te servant. Antonine Pie, di te
2 servent. Antonini nomen suscipias rogamus. praesta
bonis imperatoribus ut Antoninus dicaris. nomen
Antoninorum tu purifica. quod ille infamavit tu
purifica. redde in integrum nomen Antoninorum.
3 sanguis Antoninorum se cognoscat. iniuriam Marci tu
vindica. iniuriam Veri tu vindica. iniuriam Bassiani
4 tu vindica. peior Commodo solus Heliogabalus, nee
imperator nee Antoninus nee civis nee senator nee
5 nobilis nee Romanus. in te salus, in te vita, ut
vivere delectet, Antoninorum Alexandro vitam. ut
vivere delectet,1 Antoninus vocetur. Antoninorum
templa Antoninus dedicet. Parthos et Persas An-
Gtoninus vincat. sacrum nomen sacratus accipiat.
sacrum nomen castus accipiat. Antonini nomen di2
cognoscant, Antoninorum honorem di conservent.
in te onuiia, per te omnia. Antonine, aveas."
VIII. Et post adclamationes Aurelius Alexander
Caesar Augustus : " Gratias vobis, patres conscripti,
non nunc primum sed et de Caesareano nomine et de
vita servata et Augusti nomine addito et de pontificatu
maximo et de tribunicia potestate et proconsular!
imperio, quae omnia novo exemplo uno die in me
Scontulistis." et cum diceret, adclamatum : " Haec
1 delectet et P. 2 di Jordan, Peter ; ut P.
190
SEVERUS ALEXANDER VII. 2— VIII. 2
the gods keep you ! Aurelius Antoninus, may the
gods keep you ! Antoninus Pius, may the gods
keep you ! Receive the name Antoninus, we be-
seech you. Grant to our righteous emperors this
boon, that you should be called Antoninus. Purify the
name of the Antonines. Purify what he has defiled.
Restore to its former glory the name of the Antonines.
Let the blood of the Antonines know itself once
more. Avenge the wrongs of Marcus. Avenge the
the wrongs of Verus. Avenge the wrongs of
Bassianus. Worse than Commodus is Elagabalus
alone No emperor he, nor Antoninus, nor citizen,
nor senator, nor man of noble blood, nor Roman.
In you is our salvation, in you our life. That we
may have joy in living, long life to Alexander of
the house of the Antonines ! That we may have
joy in living, let him be called Antoninus. The
temples of the Antonines let an Antoninus consecrate.
The Parthians and the Persians let an Antoninus
vanquish. The sacred name let the consecrated,
receive. The sacred name let the pure receive.
May the gods remember the name of Antoninus,
may the gods preserve the honours of the Antonines !
In you are all things, through you are all things.
Hail, O Antoninus ! '
VIII. After these acclamations Aurelius Alexander
Caesar Augustus spoke : " I thank you, O Conscript
Fathers, and not now for the first time, both for the
name of Caesar and for the life that has been spared
to me, and also because you have bestowed on me
the name of Augustus, the office of Pontifex Maxi-
mus, the tribunician power, and the proconsular
command, all of which you have conferred on me
without precedent on a single day." And when he
191
SEVERUS ALEXANDER
3 suscepisti, Antonini nomen suscipe. mereatur senatus,
Antonini mereantur. Anton ine Auguste, di te servant,
di te Antoninum conservent. raonetae nomen An-
tonini reddatur. templa Antoninorum Antoninus con-
secret."
4 Aurelius Alexander Augustus : " Ne quaeso, patres
conscripti, ne me ad hanc certaminis necessitatem
vocetis, ut ego cogar tanto nomini satis facere, cum
etiam hoc ipsum nomen licet peregrinum tamen
5 gravare videatur. haec enim nomina insignia onerosa
sunt. quis enim Ciceronem diceret mutum? quis
indoctum Varronem ? quis impium Metellum ? et,
ut hoc di avertant, quis non aequantem nomina ferat
IX. degentem 1 in clarissima specie dignitatum ? " item
adclamata quae supra, item imperator dixit : " An-
toninorum nomen2 vel iam numen potius quantum3
fuerit, meminit vestra dementia, si pietatem, quid
Pio sanctius ? si doctrinam, quid Marco prudentius ?
si innocentiam, quid Vero simplicius ? si fortitudinem,
2 quid Bassiano fortius ? nam Commodi meminisse
nolo, qui hoc ipso 4 deterior fuit quod cum illis moribus
3 Antonini nomen obtinuit. Diadumenus autem nee
tempus habuit nee aetatem et patris arte hoc nomen
1 degentem Gruter, Peter ; digerente.m P. 2 nomen om.
in P. 3 quantum Baehrens, Peter2 ; quam P. 4 si hoc
ipse P.
1 M. Terentius Varro (116-127 B.C.), a writer of great learn-
ing and versatility. He wrote 74 different works in about
620 books, of which only the Res Eusticae and a part of the
de Lingua Latina are extant.
2 Q. Caecilius Metellus, surnamed Pius because of his efforts
to have his father Metellus Numidicus recalled from the
banishment into which he had beeu driven in 100 B.C. as the
result of his opposition to Marius and his party.
192
SEVERUS ALEXANDER VIII. 3— IX. S
had spoken, they cried out : " These honours you
have accepted, now accept also the name Antoninus.
Let the senate be deemed worthy of this boon, let
the Antonines be deemed worthy. Antoninus
Augustus, may the gods keep you, may the gods pre-
serve you as Antoninus ! Let the name of Antoninus
appear again on our coins. Let an Antoninus con-
secrate the temples of the Antonines."
Then Aurelius Alexander Augustus spoke again :
" Do not, I beseech you, O Conscript Fathers, do not
force upon me the necessity of so difficult a task, that
I should be constrained to do justice to so great
a name, when even this very name which I now bear,
albeit a foreign one, seems to weigh heavily upon
me. For all illustrious names are burdensome indeed.
Who, pray, would give the name of Cicero to one who
was dumb, or Varro 1 to one who was unlearned, or
Metellus2 to one who was undutiful? And who
would endure — though this may the gods forfend ! —
that the man who failed to live up to the tradition of
his name should continue to dwell amid the most
illustrious forms of honour ? " IX. Again the same
acclamations as above. Again the Emperor spoke :
" How great was the name, or rather the divinity, of
the Antonines, Your Clemency remembers well. If
you think of righteousness, who was more holy than
Pius ? If of learning, who more wise than Marcus ?
If of innocence, who more honest than Verus ? If of
bravery, who more brave than Bassianus ? For on
Commodus I have no wish to dwell, who was the more
depraved for this very reason, that with those evil
ways of his he still held the name of Antoninus.
Diadumenianus, moreover, had neither the time nor
the years, and it was only through his father's
193
SEVERUS ALEXANDER
4incurrit." item adclamatum ut supra, item impera-
tor dixit : "Nuper certe, patres conscript!, meministis,
cum ille omnium lion solum bipedum sed etiam quad-
rupedum spurcissimus Antonini nomen praeferret
et in turpitudine atque luxuria Nerones, Vitellios,
Commodos vinceret, qui gemitus omnium fuerit, cum
per populi et honestorum coronas una vox esset, hunc
impie l Antoninum dici, per hanc pestem tantum 2
5violari nomen." et cum diceret, adclamatum est :
" Di mala prohibeant. haec te imperante non time-
mus. de his te duce securi sumus. vicisti vitia, vi-
6 cisti crimina, vicisti dedecora. Antonini nomen
ornabis. id certe scimus,3 bene praesumimus. nos
te et a pueritia probavimus et nunc probamus."
7 item imperator : " Neque ego, patres conscripti, id-
circo timeo istud venerabile omnibus nomen accipere,
quod verear in haec vitia delabatur vita, ut 4 nos nomi-
nis pudeat, sed primum displicet alienae familiae
nomen adsumere, deinde quod gravari me credo."
X. et cum diceret, adclamatum est ut supra, item
2 dixit : " Si enim Antonini nomen accipio, possum et
STraiani, possum et Titi, possum et Vespasiani." et
cum diceret, adclamatum est : " Quomodo Augustus,
sic et Antoninus." et imperator : " Video, patres
linpie Petschenig; inte P; inepte Peter. 2 tantum P
corr. ; tactum P1 ; sanctum Salm., Peter. 3 ornabis. id
certe scimus Baehrens, Petschenig ; ornauisti. certe sumus P ;
ornabis. certe praesumimus Peter. 4 ut Peter ; aut P.
1 See Macr.t v. 1 ; vi. 6 ; Diad. i-ii.
194
SEVERUS ALEXANDER IX. 4— X. 3
artifice that he seized upon this name." J Again the
same acclamations as above. Again the Emperor
spoke : " Surely, not long ago, O Conscript Fathers,
when that filthiest of all creatures, both two-footed
and four-footed, vaunted the name of Antoninus, and
in baseness and debauchery outdid a Nero, a Vitellius,
and a Commodus, you remember what groanings
arose from all, and how in the gatherings of the
populace and of all honourable men there was but
a single cry — that he was unworthy to bear the
name of Antoninus, and that by such a plague as he
that great name was profaned." When he had spoken,
there were again acclamations : " May the gods avert
such evils ! We fear them not with you as our
emperor. We are safe from them with you as our
leader. You have triumphed over vice, you have
triumphed over crime, you have triumphed over dis-
honour. You will add lustre to the name of Anto-
ninus. We foresee it surely, we foresee it clearly.
From your childhood on we have esteemed you, now
too we esteem you." Again the Emperor : " It is
not that I shrink, O Conscript Fathers, from accept-
ing this revered name merely because I fear that my
life may fall into vices which will cause me to feel
shame for the name ; but I do not desire to take a
name which, in the first place, belongs to a house that
is no kin to me, and, in the second, I feel assured,
will weigh heavily upon me." X. And when he had
spoken, there were acclamations as before. Again
he spoke : " If indeed I take the name of Antoninus,
I may take also the name of Trajan, the name of
Titus, and the name of Vespasian." And when he
had spoken, there were acclamations : " As you are
now Augustus, so also be Antoninus." Again the
195
SEVERUS ALEXANDER
conscripti, quod vos moveat1 ad hoc nobis nomen
4 addendum. Augustus primus primus est huius auctor
imperii, et in eius nomen 2 omnes velut quadam adop-
Stione aut iure hereditario succedimus. Antonini ipsi
Augusti dicti sunt. Antoninus item primus3 Marcum et
item Verum iure adoptionis vocavit, Commodi autem
hereditarium fuit, susceptum Diadumeno, adfectatum
6 in Bassiano, ridiculum in Aurelio." et cum diceret,
adclamatum est : " Alexander Auguste, di te servent.
di immortales faveant 4 verecundiae tuae, prudentiae
tuae, innocentiae tuae, castitati tuae. hinc intelle-
7gimus qualis futurus sis, hinc probamus. tu facies
ut senatus bene principes eligat. tu facies optimum
esse iudicium senatus. Alexander Auguste, di te
servent. templa Antoninorum Alexander Augustus
Sdedicet. Caesar noster, Augustus noster, imperator
noster, di te servent. vincas, valeas, multis annis
XI. imperes." Alexander imperator dixit : " Intellego,
patres conscripti, me obtinuisse quod volui et in ac-
ceptum refero, plurimas gratias 5 et agens et habens,
enisurus ut et hoc nomen, quod in imperium detulimus,
tale sit, ut et ab aliis desideretur et bonis vestrae
pietatis iudiciis offeratur."
2 Post haec adclamatum est: " Magne Alexander, di
te servent. si Antonini nomen repudiasti, Magni
1 moueat om. in P. 2 nomen om. in P. 3 primus
Peter ; saepius P. 4 di . . . faueant Flor. Cusanum (see
Mommsen, Ges. Schr., vii. p. 301) ; om. by P and Peter.
6plurimas gratias sed P corr. ; plurimas sed P1 ; plurimas et
Peter.
196
SEVERUS ALEXANDER X. 4— XI. 2
Emperor : " I see, O Conscript Fathers, what impels
you to bestow upon us this name also. The first
Augustus was the first founder of this Empire, and to
his name we all succeed, either by some form of
adoption or by hereditary claim. Even the Antonines
themselves bore the name of Augustus. Likewise
the first Antoninus gave his name to Marcus and also
to Verus by a process of adoption, while in the case
of Commodus it was inherited, in Diadumenianus
assumed, in Bassianus simulated, but in Aurelius it
would be a mockery." And when he had spoken,
there were acclamations : " Alexander Augustus,
may the gods keep you ! May the gods in Heaven
look with favour upon your modesty, your wisdom,
your integrity, your purity I Hence we can see what
an emperor you will be, and hence we esteem you.
You will be a proof that the senate can choose its
rulers with wisdom. You will be a proof that the
choice of the senate is the best of all. Alexander
Augustus, may the gods keep you ! Let Alexander
Augustus consecrate the temples of the Antonines.
Our Caesar, our Augustus, our emperor, may the gods
keep you ! May you be victorious, may you prosper,
and may you rule for many years ! ' XI. Alexander
the Emperor spoke : " I perceive, O Conscript Fathers,
that I have obtained my desire, and I count it as
gain, feeling and expressing the deepest gratitude.
And I will endeavour to make the name which I
bring to this office so famous that it will be coveted
by future emperors and be bestowed upon the
righteous in testimony of your loyalty." Thereupon
there were acclamations : " O Great Alexander,
may the gods keep you ! If you have rejected the
surname Antoninus, accept then the praenomen of
197
SEVERUS ALEXANDER
praenomen suscipe. Magne Alexander, di te servent."
Set cum saepius dicerent, Alexander Augustus:
" Facilius fuit, patres conscript!, ut Antoninorum
nomen acciperem, aliquid enim vel adfinitati deferrem
4 vel consortioni nominis imperialis. Magni vero
nomen cur accipiam : ? quid enim iam magnum feci ?
cum id Alexander post magna gesta, Pompeius vero
5 post magnos triumphos acceperit. quiescite igitur,
venerandi patres, et vos ipsi magnifici unum me de
vobis esse censete, quam Magni nomen ingerite."
XII. post haec adclamatum est : " Aureli Alexander
Auguste, di te servent ' et reliqua ex more.
2 Dimisso senatu, cum et alia multa eo die essent
3acta, quasi triumphans domum se recepit. multo
clarior visus est alienis nominibus non receptis quam
si recepisset, atque ex eo constantiae ac plenae
gravitatis famam obtinuit, si quidem uni viro 2 vel adu-
lescenti potius senatus totus persuadere non potuit.
*sed quamvis senatu rogante nou potuerit persuaded,
ut vel Antonini vel Magni nomina susciperet, tamen
ob ingentem vigorem animi et mirandam singular-
emque constantiam contra militum insolentiam
5 Severi nomen a militibus eidem inditum est. quod
1 accipiam Peter; accepi P. zuiro ins. by Peter; om.
in P.
xln fanciful allusion to Alexander the Great.
2 This explanation of the assumption of the name Severus
by Alexander (repeated in c. xxv. 2) is wholly incorrect. He
took the name in order to emphasize his connexion with
Septimius Severus, as Elagabalus had assumed the name
M. Aurelius Antoninus in order to connect himself more
closely with Caracalla. The explanation given here is based
on the general fondness of these biographers for punning on
198
SEVERUS ALEXANDER XI. 3— XII. 5
'the Great.'1 O Great Alexander, may the gods
keep you ! " And when they had cried this out many
times, Alexander Augustus spoke : " It would be
easier, O Conscript Fathers, to take the name of the
Antonines, for in so doing I should make some con-
cession either to kinship or to a joint possession in
that imperial name. But why should I accept the
name of ' the Great ' ? What great thing have I
done? Alexander, indeed, received it after great
achievements, and Pompey after great triumphs. Be
silent then, O revered Fathers, and do you in your
greatness hold me as one of yourselves rather than
force upon me the use of the name of 'the Great. '
XII. Thereupon they cried out: "Aurelius Alex-
ander Augustus, may the gods keep you ! '" and all
the rest in the usual manner.
When the senate had adjourned after the trans-
action of much other business on that same day, the
Emperor returned home in the manner of one cele-
brating a triumph. For he seemed much more
illustrious for refusing to receive names which did
not belong to him than if he had received them, and
he obtained from his refusal a reputation for stead-
fastness and mature dignity, since, though but one
single man, or rather youth, he could not be moved
by the persuasions of the entire senate. Neverthe-
less, although the entreaties of the senate could not
persuade him to take the name of either Antoninus
or " the Great," the troops conferred on him the
name Severus 2 on account of his great strength of
spirit and his marvellous and matchless fortitude in
the face of the soldiers' insolence. This won him
the names of the emperors; see Pert., i. 1; Sev., xiv. 13;
if OCT., xi. 2.
199
SEVERUS ALEXANDER
illi ingentem in praesentia reverentiam, magnam
apud posteros gloriam peperit, cum eo accessisset ut
de animi virtute nomen acceperit, si quidem solus in-
ventus sit, qui tumultuantes legiones exauctoraverit,
ut suo loco ostendetur, in milites autem gravissime
animadverterit, qui forte incurrerunt l aliquid quod 2
videretur iniustum, ut et ipsum locis suis declarabimus.
XIII. Omina imperii haec habuit : primum quod ea
die natus est qua defunctus vita Magnus Alexander
dicitur, deinde quod in templo eius mater enixa est,
tertio quod ipsius nomen accepit, turn praeterea quod
ovum purpurei coloris eadem die natum qua ille natus
est palumbinum anicula quaedam matri eius obtulit ;
ex quo quidem haruspices dixerunt imperatorem
quidem ilium, sed non diu futurum et cito ad imperium
2 perventurum. turn praeterea, quod tabula Traiani
imperatoris, quae geniali lecto patris inminebat, dum
3 ille in templo pareretur, in lectum eius decidit. his
accessit quod nutrix ei Olympias data est, quo nomine
4 mater Alexandri appellata est. nutritor Philippus
provenit casu unus ex rusticis, quod nomen patn
5 Alexandri Magni fuit. fertur die prima natalis toto
1 currerent P. 2 quod om. in P.
1 Alexander seems to have been unable to control the
soldiers, and there was a succession of mutinies during his
reign ; see c. lii. 3 ; liii. 3 ; lix. 4, and the final mutiny which
led to his murder (see note to c. lix. 1). Another mutiny in
Mesopotamia is recorded by Dio (Ixxx. 4) and a mutiny of
the praetorian guard led to the murder of Ulpian ; see c.
li. 4.
2 Alexander's strictness in discipline is a favourite topic
of the biographer ; see c. xxv. 2 ; 1. 1 ; li. 6 ; lii.-liv. ; lix.
5 ; Ixiv. 3. It is even assigned as the cause of his assassina-
tion (c. lix. 6) but wholly incorrectly ; see note to c. lix. 1.
200
SEVERUS ALEXANDER XIII. 1-5
profound respect in his own time, and great renown
among later generations, especially since it came to
pass further that he was given this name on account
of his courageous spirit ; for he is the only one of
whom it is known that he dismissed mutinous legions,
as I shall tell at the proper place,1 and, moreover,
inflicted the harshest punishments on soldiers who
chanced to commit any deed which could seem un-
lawful, as we shall also relate in its own place.2
XIII. The omens that predicted his rule were as
follows : First, he was born on the anniversary of
that day on which, it is said, Alexander the Great
departed this life ; secondly, his mother bore him
in a temple dedicated to Alexander ; and thirdly, he
was called by Alexander's name. Furthermore, a
dove's egg of purple hue,3 laid the very day he was
born, was presented to his mother by an old woman ;
and from this the soothsayers prophesied that he
would indeed be emperor, but not for long, and that
he would speedily succeed to the imperial power.
Furthermore, a picture of the Emperor Trajan, which
hung over his father's marriage-bed, fell down upon
the bed at the time that Alexander was born in the
temple. We must add, moreover, that a woman
named Olympias acted as his nurse — this was also
the name of the mother of Alexander the Great —
and it happened by chance that he was reared by
a certain peasant named Philip — which was the name
of Alexander's father.4 It is said that on the day
In general, there is no reason to believe that he was a severe
disciplinarian, and this quality seems to be attributed to him
as part of the tendency of the biography to eulogize him.
3 For a similar portent see Geta, iii. 2.
4 These statements seem wholly fanciful.
201
SEVERUS ALEXANDER
dieapud Arcam Caesaream stella primae magnitudinis
visa et sol circa domum patris eius fulgido ambitu
Gcoronatus. cum eius natalem haruspices comraen-
darent, dixerunt eum sumraam rerum tenturum, id-
circo quod hostiae de ea villa quae esset Severi im-
peratoris adductae essent, et quas in illius honorem
7 coloni parassent. nata in domo laurus iuxta persici
arborem intra unum annum persici arborem vicit.
unde etiam coniectores dixerunt Persas ab eo esse
XIV. vincendos. mater eius pridie quam pareret somniavit
2 se purpureum dracunculum parere. pater eadem
nocte in somniis vidit alis se Romanae Victoriae, quae
3 in senatu, ad caelum vehi. ipse cum vatem consuleret
de futuris, hos accepisse dicitur versus adhuc par-
4vulus; et primum quidem sortibus
Te manet imperium caeli terraeque
intellectum est quod inter divos etiam referretur,1
Te manet imperium quod tenet imperium.
ex quo intellectual est Roman! ilium imperil principem
futurum. nam ubi est imperium nisi apud Romanes
quod tenet imperium ? et haec quidem de Graecis
^versibus sunt proJita. ipse autem, cum parentis
hortatu aiiimum a philosophia musicaque ad 2 alias artes
1 referretur Jordan, Peter1 ; referetur P, Peter2. 2 musica-
que <o<f> Jordan, Peter2 ; et musica quae P.
*The native city of his father ; see c. i. 2 and note.
2 The peach (mains Persica) was brought to Italy from
Persia or Transcaucasia in the first century after Christ.
202
SEVERUS ALEXANDER XIII. 6— XIV. 5
after his birth a star of the first magnitude was visible
for the entire day at Area Caesarea,1 and also that in
the neighbourhood of his father's house the sun was
encircled with a gleaming ring. And the soothsayers,
when they commended his birthday to the favour of
the gods, declared that he would some day hold the
supreme power, because some sacrificial victims were
brought in from a farm of the Emperor Severus,
which the tenants had made ready in order to do
honour to the Emperor. Also, a laurel sprang up in
his house close to a peach-tree, and within a single
year it outgrew the peach, and from this the sooth-
sayers predicted that he was destined to conquer the
Persians.2 XIV. The night before he was born his
mother dreamed that she brought forth a purple snake,
and on the same night his father saw himself in a dream
carried to the sky on the wings of the Victory of
Rome which is in the Senate-Chamber. And when
Alexander himself consulted a prophet about his
future, being still a small child, he received, it is
said, the following verses, and first of all, by the
oracle
" Thee doth empire await on earth and in Heaven "
it was understood that he was even to have a place
among the deified emperors ; then came
"Thee doth empire await which rules an empire"
by which it was understood that he should become
ruler of the Roman Empire ; for where, save at Rome,
is there an imperial power that rules an empire ? This
same story, too, is related with regard to some Greek
verses. Moreover, when at his mother's bidding he
turned his attention from philosophy and music to
208
SEVERUS ALEXANDER
traduceret, Vergilii sortibus huiusmodi inlustratus
est :
Excudent alii spirantia mollius aera,
credo equidem, vivos ducent de marmore vultus,
orabunt causas melius caelique meatus
describent radio et surgentia sidera dicent ;
tu regere imperio populos, Romane, memento,
hae tibi erunt artes pacisque imponere morem,
parcere subiectis et debellare superbos.
efuerunt multa alia signa, quibus principem humani
generis esse constaret.
Nimius ardor oculorum et diutius intuentibus gravis,
divinatio mentis frequentissima, rerum memoria
singularis, quam mnemonico Acholius ferebat adiutam.
7et cum puer ad imperium pervenisset, fecit cuncta
cum matre, ut et ilia videretur pariter imperare,
mulier sancta sed avara et auri atque argenti cupida.
XV. Ubi ergo Augustum agere coepit, primum re-
movit omnes iudices a re publica et a ministeriis atque
lAeneid, vi. 848-854.
2 Cited also in c. xlviii. 7; Ixiv. 5. In AureL, xii. 4, he is
said to have been the magister admissionum of Valerian.
Nothing else is known of him, and it is not improbable that
he and Encolpius (c. xvii. 1 ; xlviii. 7) are inventions of the
biographer.
3 Alexander was 13 years old at his accession and the
government was carried on entirely by Mamaea after the death
of Julia Maesa in 226; see Herodian, vi. 1, 1-5. She was
clever enough to conceal the weak and indolent character of
her son by providing him with excellent advisers, notably
Ulpian, and attributing to him all the reforms instituted by
them.
4 Her greed is attested by Herodian (vi. 1, 8). It brought
the reign of Alexander into great disrepute and was one of the
204
SEVERUS ALEXANDER XIV. 6— XV. 1
other pursuits, he seemed to be alluded to in the
following verses from the Vergil-oracle l :
"Others, indeed, shall fashion more gracefully life-
breathing bronzes,
Well I believe it, and call from the marble faces
more lifelike,
Others more skilfully plead in the court-room and
measure out closely
Pathways through Heaven above and tell of the stars
in their risings ;
Thou, O Roman, remember to rule all the nations
with power.
These arts ever be thine : The precepts of peace
to inculcate,
Those that are proud to cast down from their seats,
to the humbled show mercy."
There were many other portents, too, which made it
clear that he was to be the ruler of all mankind.
His eyes were very brilliant and hard to look at
for a long time. He was very often able to read
thoughts and he had an exceptional memory for
facts — though Acholius 2 used to maintain that he
was aided by a mnemonic device. After he succeeded
to the imperial power, while still a boy, he used to do
everything in conjunction with his mother, so that
she seemed to have an equal share in the rule,3 a
woman greatly revered, but covetous and greedy
for gold and silver.4
XV. When he began to play the part of emperor, his
first act was to remove from their official posts and
causes of his downfall. Alexander's own tendency for amassing
wealth is alluded to in c. xliv. 2 and Ixiv. 3.
205
SEVERUS ALEXANDER
mimeribus, quos impurus ille ex genere hominum
turpissimo provexerat ; delude senatum et equestrem
2ordinem purgavit. ipsas deinde tribus et eos qui
militaribus nituntur praerogativis purgavit et Palatium
suum comitatumque oronem abiectis ex aulico
ministerio cunctis obscenis et infamibus ; nee quem-
quam passus est esse in Palatinis nisi l necessarium
Shominem. iure iurando deinde se constrinxit ne
quern adscriptum. id est vacantivurn, haberet, ne an-
nonis rera publicam gravaret, dicens maluin publicum 2
esse imperatorem, qui ex visceribus provincialium
homines non necessaries nee rei publicae utiles pas-
4 ceret. fures iudices 3 iussit in civitatibus ullis numquara
videri et si essent visi deportari per rectores provinci-
5 arum, annonam militum diligenter inspexit. tribunes,
qui per4 stellaturas militibus aliquid tulissent, capitali
6 poena adfecit. negotia et causas prius a scriniorum
principibus et doctissimis iuris peritis et sibi fidelibus,
quorum primus tune Ulpianus fuit, tractari ordinarique
atque ita referri ad se praecepit.
XVI. Leges de iure populi et fisci moderatas et
infinitas sanxit neque ullam constitutionem sacravit
lnisi om. in P1. 2 publicum Gas., Jordan ; pupillum P;
populi uillicum Salm., Peter. 3 iudices Editor (see c.
xvii. 1-2) ; iudicare P, Peter; iudicata re von Winterfeld,
Walter. *per om. in P.
1 i.e. the thirty-five tribes made up of the free c:tizens.
2 Legionary soldiers received full citizenship when honour-
ably discharged from the service.
3 See note to Pesc. Nig., iii. 8.
4 This body was the consilium principis, further described
in c. xvi. 1-2. Some of its members are enumerated in
o. Ixviii. 1. It included, besides Ulpian, his fellow-prefect,
206
SEVERUS ALEXANDER XV. 2— XVI. 1
duties and from all connexion with the government
all those judges whom that filthy creature had raised
from the lowest class. Next, he purified the senate
and the equestrian order ; then he purified the
tribes l and the lists of those whose positions de-
pended on the privileges accorded to soldiers,2 and
the Palace, too, and all his own suite, dismissing from
service at the court all the depraved and those of ill-
repute. And he permitted none save those who
were needed to remain in the retinue of the Palace.
Then he bound himself by an oath that he would not
retain any supernumeraries, that is, any holders of
sinecures, his purpose being to relieve the state of the
burden of their rations ; for he characterized as a
public evil an emperor who fed on the vitals of the
provincials any men neither necessary nor useful to
the commonwealth. He issued orders that judges
guilty of theft should never appear in any city, and
that if they did, they should be banished by the ruler of
the province. He gave careful attention to the
rationing of the troops, and he inflicted capital
punishment on tribunes who gave any privileges to
soldiers in return for tithes of their rations.3 He
issued instructions that the chiefs of the bureaus and
those jurists who were most learned and most loyal
to himself,4 of whom the foremost at that time was
Ulpian,5 should examine and arrange in order all
state-business and all law-suits, and then submit
them to himself.
XVI. The respective rights of the people and the
privy-purse he provided for in innumerable just laws,
the other great jurist of the time, Julius Paulus ; see c. xxvi.
5 ; Peso. Nig., vii. 4.
5 On Ulpian see e. xxvi. 5 and Eeliog., xvi. 2.
207
SEVERUS ALEXANDER
sine viginti iuris peritis et doctissimis ac sapientibus
viris iisdemque disertissimis non minus quinqnaginta,
ut non minus in consilio essent sententiae quam
2isenatus consultum conficerent, et id quidem ita ut
iretur per sententias singulorum ac scriberetur quid
quisque dixisset, dato tamen spatio ad disquirendum
cogitandumque priusquam dicerent, ne incogitati
Sdicere cogerentur de rebus ingentibus. fuit prae-
terea illi consuetude, ut si de iure aut de negotiis
tractaret, solos doctos et disertos adhiberet, si vero
de re militari, militares veteres et senes bene meritos
et locorum peritos ac bellorum et castrorura et omnes
litteratos et maxime eos qui historiam norant, re-
quirens quid in talibus causis quales in disceptatione
versabantur veteres imperatores vel Romani vel ex-
terarum gentium fecissent.
XVII. Referebat Encolpius, quo ille familiarissimo
usus est, ilium, si umquam furem iudicem vidisset,
paratum habuisse digitum, ut illi oculum erueret ;
tantum odium eum tenebat eorum de quibus apud
2se probatum quod fures fuissent. addit Septimius,
qui vitam eius non mediocriter exsecutus est, tanti
stomach! fuisse Alexandrum in eos iudices qui
JIn 11 B.C. this number was lowered by Augustus to under
400 ; see Dio, liv. 35, 1. Afterwards, however, he ordered
that the number should vary with the importance of the
measure to be enacted ; see Dio Iv. 3. In 356 A.D. a quorum
for the election of a praetor consisted of only fifty senators ;
see Cod. Theodosianus, vi. 4, 9.
2 Not necessarily members of the consilium but experts
summoned to give advice on some particular question.
8 Mentioned al^o in c. xlviii. 7, but not otherwise known.
Both he and Septimius (§ 2, also cited in c. xlviii. 7) are
£08
SEVERUS ALEXANDER XVI. 2— XVII. 2
and he never formally issued an imperial order save
in conjunction with twenty of the most learned
jurists and at least fifty men of wisdom who were also
skilled in speaking, his purpose being to have in his
council as many votes as were requisite to pass a
decree of the senate.1 The opinion of each man
would be asked arid whatever he said written down,
but before anyone spoke, he was granted time for
inquiry and reflection, in order that he might not be
compelled to speak without due thought on matters
of great importance. It was his custom, furthermore,
when dealing with matters of law or public business,
to summon only those who were learned and skilled
in speaking,2 but when matters of war were discussed,
to summon former soldiers and old men who had
served with honour and had knowledge of strategic
positions, warfare, and camps ; and he would also
send for all the men of letters, particularly those
versed in history, and ask them what action in cases
like those under discussion had been taken by pre-
vious emperors, either of the Romans or of foreign
nations.
XVII. Encolpius,3 with whom Alexander was on
most intimate terms, used to say that the Emperor,
whenever he saw a thieving judge, had a finger ready
to tear out the man's eye ; such was his hatred for
those whom he found guilty of theft. It is told,
furthermore, by Septimius, who has given a good
account of Alexander's life, that so great was his in-
dignation at judges, who, although not actually found
probably, like Acholius (c. xiv. 6), wholly fictitious, invented
by the biographer in order to embellish his narrative with the
citation of sources.
209
SEVERUS ALEXANDER
furtorum fama laborassent, etiamsi damnati non
essent, ut, si eos casu aliquo videret, commotione
animi stomach! choleram evomeret toto vultu in-
Sardescente,1 ita ut nihil loqui posset, nam cum qui-
dam Septimius Arabianus, famosus crimine furtorum
et sub Heliogabalo iam liberatus, inter senatores
4 principem'2 salutatum venisset, exclamavit : " O Marna,
O luppiter, O di inmortales, Arabianus non solum
vivit, verum etiam in senatum venit, fortassis etiam
de me sperat ; tarn fatuum, tain stultum esse me
iudicat ? "
Salutabatur autem nomine, hoc est "Ave, Alex-
XVIII. ander." si quis capnt flexisset aut blandius aliquid
dixisset, ut adulator, vel abiciebatur, si loci eius
qualitas pateretur, vel ridebatur ingenti cachinno, si
eius dignitas graviori subiacere non posset iniuriae.
2salutatus consessum obtulit omnibus senatoribus at-
que adeo nisi honestos et bonae famae homines ad
salutationem non admisit, iussitque — quemadmodum
in Eleusinis sacris dicitur, ut nemo ingrediatur nisi
qui se innocentem novit — per praeconem edici, ut
nemo salutaret principem, qui se furem esse nosset,
ne 3 aliquando detectus capitali supplicio subderetur.
3 idem adorari se vetuit, cum iam coepisset Helio-
4gabalus adorari regum more Persarum. erat prae-
terea haec illius sententia, solos fures de paupertate
1 uultui non ardescente P1. 9principem Edit, princ.,
Peter2; principes P, Peter1. sne ins. by Edit, princ. and
Peter2 ; om. in P.
JThe patron-deity of Gaza in Palestine, later identified
with Zeus. His cult is frequently mentioned in early
Christian writers as an opponent of Christianity.
2 i.e. not as Domine ; see c. iv. 1.
210
SEVERUS ALEXANDER XVII. 3— XVIII. 4
guilty, yet laboured under the reputation of being
dishonest, that, even if he merely chanced to see
them, he would vent all the bile of his anger in great
perturbation of spirit and with his whole countenance
aflame, so that he became unable to speak. Indeed,
when a certain Septimius Arabianus, who had been
notorious because of accusations of theft, but had
been acquitted under Elagabalus, came with the
senators to pay his respects to the Emperor, Alexander
exclaimed : " O Marna,1 O Jupiter, O ye gods in
Heaven, not only is Arabianus alive, but he comes
into the senate, and perhaps he is even hoping for
some favour from me ; does he consider me so foolish
and so stupid ? '
In greeting him at his levees it was customary to
address him by his name only, that is, " Hail,
Alexander".2 XVIII. And if any man bowed his
head or said aught that was over-polite as a flatterer,
he was either ejected, in case the degree of his
station permitted it, or else, if his rank could not be
subjected to graver affront, he was ridiculed with loud
laughter. At his levees he granted an audience to
all senators, but even so he admitted to his presence
none but the honest and those of good report ; and —
according to the custom said to be observed in the
Eleusinian mysteries, where none may enter save
those who know themselves to be guiltless — he gave
orders that the herald should proclaim that no one
who knew himself to be a thief should come to pay
his respects to the emperor, lest he might in some
way be discovered and receive capital punishment.
Also, he forbade any one to worship him, whereas
Elagabalus had begun to receive adoration in the
manner of the king of the Persians. Furthermore,
211
SEVERUS ALEXANDER
5 conqueri, dum volunt scelera vitae suae tegere. item
addebat sententiam de furibus notam et Graece qui-
dem, quae Latine hoc significat : " Qui multa rapuerit,
pauca suffragatoribus dederit, salvus erit." quae
Graece tails est :
'0 TToAAo. /cA.€l//U? 6Xtya 8oi><S OC^CV^CTCU.
XIX. Praefectum praetorii sibi ex senatus auctori-
tate constituit, praefectum urbi a senatu accepit.
alterum praefectum praetorii fecit, qui ne fieret
etiam fugerat, dicens invitos non ambientes in re
2publica conlocandos. senatorem numquam sine
omnium senatorum qui aderant consilio fecit, ita ut
per sententias omnium crearetur,1 testimonia dicerent
summi viri, ac si fefellissent vel testes vel ii qui
sententias dicebant postea in ultimum reicerentur
locum civium condemnatione adhibita, quasi falsi rei
3adprobati, sine ullius indulgentiae proposito. idem
senatores nonnisi ad summorum in Palatio virorum
suffragium fecit, dicens magnum virum esse oportere
4 qui faceret senatorem. idem libertinos numquam in
equestrem locum redegit, adserens seminarium sena-
torum equestrem locum esse.
1 crearetur Edit, princ. and later editors; curaretur P;
circumiretur Peter.
JThis was in accord with Alexander's general policy of
granting the senate a larger share in the administration of
the empire and increasing its prestige; see also c. xxiv. 1;
xliii. 2 ; xlvi. 5. It had been customary to advance the pre-
fect of the guard, on his retirement, to membership in the
senatorial order (see Hadr., viii. 7 and note; Com., iv. 7), but
now the office was opened to senators as well as knights, and
those knights who were appointed to it were raised to
senatorial rank ; see c. xxi. 3.
212
SEVERUS ALEXANDER XVIII. 5— XIX. 4
he was the originator of the saying that only thieves
complain of poverty — their purpose being to conceal
the wickedness of their lives. He used also to quote
a well known proverb about thieves, using a Greek
version which is rendered into Latin thus : " Whoso
steals much but gives a little to his judges, he shall
go free." The Greek, however, is as follows :
" Who much has thieved, through payment small
shall be absolved."
XIX. He always chose his prefects of the guard
subject to the authorization of the senate1 and the
senate actually appointed the prefect of the city.
Once he even appointed as second prefect of the
guard2 a man who had tried to avoid the appoint-
ment, saying that it was the reluctant and not the
seekers of office who should be given positions in the
state. He never appointed anyone to the senate
without consulting all the senators present ; for it
was his policy that a senator should be chosen only in
accordance with the opinions of all, that men of the
highest rank should give their testimony, and that, if
either those who gave testimony or those who subse-
quently expressed their opinion had spoken falsely,
they should be degraded to the lowest class of citizens,
the sentence being carried out without any prospect
of mercy, just as if they had been found guilty of fraud.
Moreover, he never appointed senators except on
the vote of the men of highest rank in the Palace,
asserting that he who created a senator should himself
be a great man. And he would never enrol freedmen
in the equestrian order, for he always maintained
that this order was the nursery for senators.
a See note to Hadr., iz. 5.
213
SEVERUS ALEXANDER
XX. Moderationis tantae fuit, ut nemo umquam ab
eius latere summoveretur, ut omnibus se blandum
adfabilemque praeberet, ut amicos non solum primi
aut secundi loci sed etiam inferiores aegrotantes
viseret, ut sibi ab omnibus libere quod sentiebant1
dici cuperet et, cum dictum esset, audiret et, cum
audisset, ita ut res poscebat emendaret atque corri-
2geret, sin minus bene factum esset aliquid, etiam
ipse convinceret, idque sine fastu2 et sine amaritudine
pectoris, consessum omnibus semper oflferret praetei
eos quos furtorum densior fama perstrinxerat, df
Sabsentibus semper requireret. denique cum ei nimiam
civilitatem et Mamaea mater et uxor Memmia, Sulpicii
consularis viri filia, Catuli neptis, saepe obicerent et3
dicerent, " Molliorem tibi potestatem et contemptibi-
liorem imperil fecisti/' ille respondit, " Sed securi-
4orem atque diuturniorem." dies denique numquam
transiit, quando non aliquid mansuetum, civile, pium
fecit, sed ita ut aerarium non everteret.
XXI. Condemnationes perraras 4 esse iussit, at quae
factae fuerant non indulsit. vectigalia civitatibus ad
1 quod sentiebant Peter, Jordan ; consentiebant P1 ; eon-
sentiebat P corr., ace. to Mommsen, Oes. Schr., vii., p. 355.
2 idque in factum P. 3 obicerent et ins. by Peter; om. in P.
4 perraras Peter ; erraras P1 ; raras P corr., ace. to Mommsen,
Oes. Schr., vii., p. 355.
1 On the amici see note to Heliog., xi. 2. They were divided
into amici primae and secundae admissionis, corresponding in
general to the senatorial and equestrian orders, although this
principle of distinction was not carried out rigidly.
2 She is not mentioned elsewhere. In the autumn of 225
Alexander married Sallustia Barbia Orbiana, mentioned in
inscriptions and portrayed on coins of 225-227. Memmia (if
the name is not apocryphal) was perhaps the wife (unnamed)
SEVEHUS ALEXANDER XX. 2— XXI. 1
XX. So considerate was he that he would never have
anyone ordered to stand aside, always showed him-
self courteous and gracious to all, visited the sick, not
merely his friends of the first and second degrees,1
but also those of lower rank, desired that every man
should speak his thoughts freely and heard him when
he spoke, and, when he had heard, ordered improve-
ment and reform as the case demanded ; but if any-
thing was not done well, he would reprove it in
person, though without any arrogance or bitterness of
spirit. He would grant an audience to any except
those whom persistent rumours charged with dis-
honesty, and he would always make inquiries con-
cerning the absent. Finally, when his mother
Mamaea and his wife Memmia,2 the daughter of
Sulpicius, a man of consular rank, and the grand-
daughter of Catulus, would often upbraid him for
excessive informality, saying, " You have made your
rule too gentle and the authority of the empire less
respected," he would reply, " Yes, but I have made
it more secure and more lasting." In short, he
never allowed a day to pass without doing some kind,
some generous, or some righteous deed, and yet he
never ruined the public treasury.
XXI. He gave orders that few sentences should
be pronounced, but those that were pronounced he
would not reverse. He assigned public revenues to
of whom Herodian records that Mamaea became jealous
of her and had her banished to Africa, at the same time
putting to death on the charge of conspiracy her father, who
had been promoted to high office by Alexander ; see Herodian,
vi. 1, 9-10. This event is also alluded to in c. xlix. 3-4, where
the father-in-law is called Macrinus, but he cannot be
identified with certainty with the Sulpicius of the present
passage.
215
SEVERUS ALEXANDER
2proprias fabricas deputavit. faenus publicum tri-
entarium exercuit, ita ut pauperibus plerisque sine
usuris pecunias dederit ad agros emendos, reddendas
de fructibus.
3 Praefectis praetorii suis senatoriam addidit digni-
tatem, ut Viri Clarissimi et essent et dicerentur.
4 quod antea vel raro fuerat vel oranino diii1 non
fuerat, eo usque ut si quis imperatorum successorem
praefecto praetorii dare vellet, laticlaviam eidem per
libertum summitteret, ut in multorum vita Marius
6 Maximus dixit. Alexander autem idcirco senatores
esse voluit praefectos praetorii, ne quis non senator
de Romano senatore iudicaret.
6 Milites suos sic ubique scivit, ut in cubiculo haberet
breves et numerum et tempora militantum contin-
entes,2 semperque, cum solus esset, et rationes eorum
et numerum et dignitates et stipendia recenseret, ut
7 esset ad omnia instructissimus. denique cum 3 inter
militares aliquid ageretur, multorum dicebat et
8 nomina. de provehendis 4 etiam sibi adnotabat et
perlegebat cuncta pittacia, et sic faciebat diebus
etiam pariter adnotatis et quis quo esset insinuante
promotus.
9 Commeatum populi Romani sic adiuvit, ut, cum
1 non diu P. ^continentes ins. by Kellerbauer and Peter2 ;
om. in P. 3cww ins. in Pcorr. ; om. in P1. *proueh0ndis
Mommsen ; prouendisP, aco. to Mommsen, Ges. Schr., vii.,
p. 355 ; promouendii Peter.
1 This was a very low rate ; see Pius, ii. 8 and note.
2 See note to c. xix. 1.
3On the title see note to Avid. Cass., i. 1.
4 i.e. dismiss him from office; see note to Hadr., ix. 4.
B On this principle see Hadr.t vii. 4 and note; Sev., tii. 6.
216'
SEVERUS ALEXANDER XXI. 2-9
individual communities for the advancement of their
own special handicrafts. And he loaned out public
money on interest at four-per-cent,1 but to many of
the poor he even advanced money without interest
for the purchase of lands, the loans to be repaid from
their profits.
His prefects of the guard he would promote to the
rank of senator2 in order that they might belong to
the class of The Illustrious3 and be so addressed.
Previous to his time such promotions had been made
rarely, or, if made at all, had been of short duration ;
indeed — as Marius Maximus says in many of his
biographies — whenever an emperor wished to appoint
a successor to the prefect of the guard,4 he merely
had a freedman take him a tunic with the broad
stripe. Alexander, however, in wishing the prefects
to be senators had this end in view, namely, that no
one might pass judgment on a Roman senator who
was not a senator himself.5
He knew all about his soldiers, wherever he might
be ; even in his bed-chamber he had records contain-
ing the numbers of the troops and the length of each
man's service, and when he was alone he constantly
went over their budgets, their numbers, their several
ranks, and their pay, in order that he might be
thoroughly conversant with every detail. Finally,
whenever there was anything to be done in the
presence of the soldiers, he could even call many of
them by name. He would also make notes about
those whom he was to promote and read through
each memorandum, actually making a note at the
same time both of the date and the name of the man
on whose recommendation the promotion was made.
He greatly improved the provisioning of the
217
SEVERUS ALEXANDER
frumenta Heliogabalus evertisset, hie empta l de pro-
XXII. pria pecunia loco suo reponeret. negotiatoribus, ut
Romam volentes concurrerent, niaximam inmunitatem
2dedit. oleum, quod Severus populo dederat quod-
que Heliogabalus inminuerat turpissimis hominibus
praefecturam annonae tribuendo, integrum restituit.
3ius conferendi actiones, 2 quod impurus ille sustulerat,
4 hie omnibus reddidit. mechanica opera Romae plu-
rima instituit. ludaeis privilegiareservavit. Christia-
6 nos esse passus est. pontificibus tantum detulit et
quindecimviris atque auguribus, ut quasdam causas
sacrorum a se finitas iterari et aliter distingui patere-
6tur. praesides provinciarum, quos vere non factioni-
bus laudari comperit, et itineribus secum semper in
vehiculo habuit et muneribus adiuvit, dicens et fures
a re publica pellendos ac pauperandos et integros
7 esse retinendos 3 atque ditandos. cum vilitatem po-
pulus Romanus ab eo peteret, interrogavit per curio-
nem quam speciem caram putarent. illi continuo
1 hie empta Salm., Peter; uicem pia P. 2conferre
rationes P, Peter. 3 retinendos Cornelissen, Peter2; redi-
mendos P, Peter.1
xThe coins of Alexander show five different liberalitates, or
distributions of grain or money to the people ; see Cohen, iv2,
p. 412-417, nos. 107-145. This number is not in accord
with the statement in c. xxvi. 1, which, accordingly, ia in-
correct.
2 By remitting the tax levied on them ; see c. xxxii. 5.
'See Sev., xviii. 3.
4 i.e. Claudius, a barber; see Heliog., xii. 1.
5 The text is evidently corrupt.
"Perhaps the buildings described in c. xxv. 3-6.
7 A reversal of Severus' policy; see Sev., xvii. 1. On his
general interest in Judaism aud Christianity see c. xxix. 2;
xliii. 6-7; xlv. 7; xlix. C; li. 7.
218
SEVERUS ALEXANDER XXII. 1-7
populace of Rome, for, whereas Elagabalus had
wasted the grain-supply, Alexander, by purchasing
grain at his own expense, restored it to its former
status.1 XXII. In order to bring merchants to Rome
of their own accord he bestowed the greatest privileges
on them,2 and he established anew the largess of oil
which Severus had given to the populace 3 and
Elagabalus had reduced when he conferred the
prefecture of the grain-supply on the basest.4 The
right of bringing suit,5 which that same filthy
wretch had abrogated, he restored to all. He erected
in Rome very many great engineering-works.6 He
respected the privileges of the .Jews and allowed the
Christians to exist unmolested.7 He paid great
deference to the Pontifices, to the Board of Fifteen,8
and to the Augurs, even permitting certain cases in-
volving sacred matters, though already decided by
himself, to be reopened and presented in a different
aspect. Whenever he discovered that the praises
accorded to a returning provincial governor were
genuine and not the result of intrigue, he would
always ask the man to ride in his own carriage with
him when on a journey and also help him by means
of presents, saying that rogues should be driven from
public office and impoverished, but that the upright
should be retained and enriched. Once, when the
populace of Rome petitioned him for a reduction of
prices, he had a herald ask them what kinds of food
they considered too dear, and when they cried out
8 The quindecimviri sacris faciendis, or keepers of the
Sibylline Books, which contained formulas or verses officially
consulted by the senate at great crises. The emperor was
always a member of this board as well as of the pontifices and
augures ; see note to Marc., vi. 3.
219
SEVERUS ALEXANDER
exclamaverunt carnem bubulam atque porcinam.
8 tune ille non quidem vilitatem proposuit sed iussit,
ne quis suminatam occideret, ne quis lactantem, ne
quis vaccam, ne quis damalionem, tantumque intra
biennium vel prope annum porcinae carnis fuit et
bubulae, ut, cum fuisset octo minutulis l libra, ad duos
unumque2 utriusque carnis libra redigeretur.
XX III. Causas militum contra tribunos sic audivit
ut, si aliquem repperisset tribunorum in crimine, pro
facti qualitate sine indulgentiae proposito puniret.
2de omnibus hominibus per fideles homines suos
semper quaesivit, et per eos quos nemo nosset hoc
agebat,3 cum diceret omnes praeda corrumpi posse.
3 servos suos semper cum servili veste habuit, libertos
4 cum ingenuorum. eunuchos de miiiisterio suo abiecit
5et uxori ut servos servire iussit. et cum Heliogabalus
manicipium eunuchorum fuisset, ad certum numerum
eos redegit nee quicquam in Palatio curare fecit nisi
6balneas feminarum. cum plerosque eunuchos rationi-
bus et procurationibus praeposuisset Heliogabalus, hie
7illis et veteres sustulit dignitates. idem tertium
genus hominum eunuchos esse dicebat nee viden-
dum nee in usu habendum a viris sed vix a feminis
8 nobilibus. qui de eo fumos 4 vendiderat et a quodam
1 octo minutulis Mommsen ; octominutalis P, Peter. 2 wn-
umquemque P. 3 agebat Editor; ageret P; agere Peter.
4 fumos P corr., ace. to Mommsen, Ges. Schr., vii., p. 355;
fumus P1 ; fumum Peter.
*The argenteus minutulus (so also AureL, ix. 7; xii. 1)
was the small silver coin current in the third century, corres-
ponding to the denarius of the earlier period but much de-
preciated in value ; see Mommsen, Rom. Miinzwesen, p. 783.
220
SEVERUS ALEXANDER XXII. 8— XXIII. 8
immediately "beef and pork" he refused to proclaim
a general reduction but gave orders that no one
should slaughter a sow or a suckling-pig, a cow or a
calf. As a result, in two years or, in fact, in little
more than one year, there was such an abundance of
pork and beef, that whereas a pound had previously
cost eight minutuli,1 the price of both these meats
was reduced to two and even one per pound.
XXIII. When soldiers brought charges against
their tribunes he would hear them with attention,
and whenever he found a tribune guilty, he would
punish him in proportion to the degree of his
offence, leaving no prospect of pardon. In gather-
ing information about any person he would always
use agents whom he could trust, and it was his
practice to employ for this purpose men whom no
one knew, for he used to say that every man could
be bribed. He always had his slaves wear slaves'
attire, but his freedmen that of the free-born. He
removed all eunuchs from his service and gave orders
that they should serve his wife as slaves. And whereas
Elagabalus had been the slave of his eunuchs,2
Alexander reduced them to a limited number and
removed them from all duties in the Palace except
the care of the women's baths ; and whereas Elaga-
balus had also placed many over the administration
of the finances and in procuratorships, Alexander
took away from them even their previous positions.
For he used to say that eunuchs were a third sex of
the human race, one not to be seen or employed by
men and scarcely even by women of noble birth.
And when one of them sold a false promise in his
* 01 o. xxsiv. 3 ; xlv. 4 ; Ixvi. 3.
221
SEVERUS ALEXANDER
militari centum aureos acceperat, in crucem tolli
iussit per earn viam qua esset servis suis ad suburbana
imperatoria iter frequeiitissimum.
XXIV. Provincias legatorias praesidales 1 plurimas
fecit, proconsulares ex senatus voluntate ordinavit.
2 balnea mixta Romae exhiberi prohibuit, quod quidem
iam ante prohibitum Heliogabalus fieri permiserat.
Slenomim vectigal et meretricum et exsoletorum in
sacrum aerarium inferri vetuit, sed sumptibus publicis
ad instaurationem theatri, Circi, Amphitheatri, Stadii
4 deputavit. habuit in animo ut exsoletos vetaret, quod
postea Philippus fecit, sed veritus est ne prohibens
publicum dedecus in privatas cupiditates converteret,
cum homines inlicita magis prohibita poscant furore
fiiactati. bracariorum, linteonum, vitrariorum, pellio-
num, claustrariorum, argentariorum, aurificum et
1 praesidales P corr., ace. toMommsen, ibid. ; praesidiales
P1, Peter.
1 See note to Pius, vi. 4. For his punishment of one
offender see c. xxxvi. 2-3.
2 On the distinction between imperial provinces (here,
legatoriae) and senatorial (proconsulares) see note to Hadr., iii.
9. In the present passage the word praesidales presents con-
siderable difficulty. The term praeses was used loosely to
designate any provincial governor (see Digesta, i. 18, 1) as in,
e.g., c. xxii. 6; xlii. 4; xlvi. 5; Hadr., xiii. 10; Pius, v. 8.
Again, it was used in the later period, after the separation of
the civil and military powers in the provinces, to designate
the civil governor as opposed to the military commander, and
this has been thought to be its application here. There is,
however, no other evidence that this separation was carried
out until the latter part of the third century, and it is very
doubtful if this change can be attributed to Alexander. A
third use of praeses was its application to a procurator of
equestrian rank charged with the governorship of a minor
imperial province as opposed to a senatorial legatus (see
222
SEVERUS ALEXANDER XXIV. 1-5.
name l and received a hundred aurei from one of the
soldiers, he ordered him to be crucified along the
road which his slaves used in great numbers on their
way to the imperial country-estates.
XXIV. Very many provinces which had previously
been governed by legates were transferred by him to
the class which was ruled by equestrian governors,2
and the provinces which were under proconsuls were
governed according to the wish of the senate. He
forbade the maintenance in Rome of baths used
by both sexes — which had, indeed, been forbidden
previously3 but had been allowed by Elagabalus.
He ordered that the taxes imposed on procurers,
harlots, and catamites should not be deposited in the
public treasury, but utilized them to meet the state's
expenditures for the restoration of the theatre, the
Circus, the Amphitheatre, and the Stadium.4 In fact,
he had it in mind to prohibit catamites altogether —
which was afterwards done by Philip 5 — but he feared
that such a prohibition would merely convert an evil
recognized by the state into a vice practised in private
— for men when driven on by passion are more apt
to demand a vice which is prohibited. He imposed
a very profitable tax on makers of trousers, weavers of
linen, glass-workers, furriers, locksmiths, silversmiths,
goldsmiths, and workers in the other crafts, and gave
Hirschfeld, Verwaltungsbeamten, p. 385 f.) and it seems most
reasonable to interpret it in this sense here.
3 See Hadr., xviii. 10; Marc., xxiii. 8.
4 The Theatre of Marcellus (see c. xliv. 7), the Circus
Maximus, the Colosseum, struck by lightning under Macrinus
(see Heliog., xvii. 8 and note), and the stadium built by
Domitian in the Campus Martius — the site of the modern
Piazza Navona.
8Seec. xxxix. 2; Heliog., xxxii. 6.
223
SEVERUS ALEXANDER
ceterarum artium vectigal pulcherrimum instituit ex
eoque iussit thermas et quas ipse fundaverat et
Csuperiores populi usibus exhiberi ; silvas etiam
thermis publicis deputavit. addidit et oleum lumini-
bus thermarum, cum antea et non ante auroram1
paterent et ante soils occasum clauderentur.
2 XXV. Huius imperium incruentum quidam litteris
tradiderunt, quod contra est. nam et Severus est
appellatus a militibus ob austeritatem et in animad-
8 versibus asperior in quibusdam fuit.
Opera veterum principum instauravit, ipse nova
multa constituit, in his thermas nominis sui iuxta eas
4 quae Neronianae fuerunt, aqua inducta quae Alexan-
driana nunc dicitur. nemus thermis suis de privatis
Saedibus suis, quas emerat, dirutis aedificiis fecit.
Oceani solium primus inter principes 2 appellavit, cum
6 Traianus id non fecisset sed diebus solia deputasset.
Antonini Caracalli thermas additis porticibus perfecit
lnon ante auroram 2 codd., ace. to Hohl, Klio, xiii., p.
406; annonam P; ante nonam Gruter; ante nonam non
Peter. 2 inter P1 ; principes add. in P corr. ; in. thermis
Jordan ; imperator Peter.
1 See c. xxv. 3.
2 The early closing-hour was restored by the Emperor
Tacitus; see Tac., x. 2.
3 See c. lii. 2.
4 This is not true ; see note to c. xii. 4.
8 See c. xxiv. 3 and note.
6 The Thermae Alexandrianae were a re-building and ex-
tension of the Thermae Neronianae in the Campus Martius
immediately N.E. of the Pantheon ; the name was still ap-
plied to this locality in the eleventh century. These Thermae
are depicted on coins of 226; see Cohen, iv2, p. 431, no. 297;
p. 449 f., nos. 479-480; p. 483 f., nos. 14 and 17.
224
SEVERUS ALEXANDER XXIV. 6— XXV. 6
orders that the proceeds should be devoted to the
maintenance of the baths for the use of the populace,
not only those that he had himself built,1 but also
those that were previously in existence ; he also as-
signed certain forests as a source of income for the
public baths. In addition, he donated oil for the
lighting of the baths, whereas previously these were
not open before dawn and were closed before sunset.2
XXV. Some writers have maintained in their books
that Alexander's reign was without bloodshed.3
This, however, is not the case, for he was given the
name of Severus by the soldiers because of his
strictness,4 and his punishments were in some cases
much too harsh.
He restored the public works of former emperors5
and built many new ones himself, among them the
bath which was called by his own name 6 adjacent to
what had been the Neronian and also the aqueduct
which still has the name Alexandriana.7 Next to
this bath he planted a grove of trees on the site of
some private dwellings which he purchased and then
tore down. One bath-tub he called " the Ocean "
— and he was the first of the emperors to do this, for
Trajan had not done this 8 but had merely called his
tubs after the different days. The Baths of Anto-
ninus Caracalla he completed and beautified by the
7 It brought the water for his Thermae, conveying it from
springs near Gabii about eleven miles E. of the city — the
source of the modern Acqua Felice constructed in 1585. It
entered the city at the Porta Maggiore, about 3 km. outside
which, near Vigna Certosa, its ruins are still visible, though
all traces of it inside the walls have vanished.
8i.a. in his Thermae, the ruins of which are on the
Esquiline Hill, N.E. of the Colosseum.
225
SEVERUS ALEXANDER
7 et ornavit. Alexandrinum opus marmoris de duobus
marmoribus, hoc est porphyretico et Lacedaemonio,
primus instituit, in Palatio plateis l exornatis hoc
Sgenere marmorandi. statuas colossas in urbe multas
9 locavit artificibus undique conquisitis. Alexaiidri
habitu nummos plurimos figuravit, etquidem electros
aliquantos sed plurimos tamen aureos.
10 A mulieribus famosis matrem et uxorem suam
11 salutari vetuit. contiones in urbe multas habuit
XXVI. more veterum tribunorum et consulum. congiarium
populo ter dedit, donativum ter, carnem populo ad-
2 didit. usuras faeneratorum contraxit ad trientes
Spensiones, etiam pauperibus consulens. senatores si
faenerarentur, usuras accipere primo vetuit, nisi
aliquid muneris causa acciperent ; postea tamen
iussit ut semisses acciperent, donum munus tamen
4sustulit. statuas summorum virorum in foro Traiani
conlocavit undique translatas.
6 Paulum et Ulpianum in magno honore habuit, quos
praefectos ab Heliogabalo alii dicunt factos, alii ab
1 plateis ins. by Peter2 ; om. in P.
1 See Carac., ix. 4 ; Heliog., xvii. 9.
8 See Heliog., xxiv. 6 and note.
* See c. xxvi. 4 ; xxviii. 6.
4 Probably an allusion to the many coins on which he ap-
pears in full armour, e.g. Cohen, iv2, p. 442, no. 406.
5 An alloy of silver and gold. Coins made of it were fre-
quently issued by the cities of Greece and Asia Minor and by
Carthage, but no such Roman coins appear to be extant.
6 See c. xxi. 9 and note.
7 See c. xxi. 2 ; Pius, ii. 8 and note.
8 On its site see Hadr., vii. 6 and note.
9 The two famous jurists ; see Pesc. Nig., vii. 4 and Heliog.,
rvi. 2 and notes. The statement that they were made pre-
fects of the guard by Elagabalus is incorrect, for he seems to
226
SEVERUS ALEXANDER XXV. 7— XXVI. 5
addition of a portico.1 Moreover, he was the first to
use the so-called Alexandrian marble-work, which is
made of two kinds of stone, porphyry and Lacedae-
monian marble,2 and he employed this kind of
material in the ornamentation of the open places in
the Palace. He set up in the city many statues of
colossal size,3 calling together sculptors from all
places. And he had himself depicted on many of
his coins in the costume of Alexander the Great,4
some of these coins being made of electrum 5 but
most of them of gold.
He forbade women of evil reputation to attend the
levees of his mother and his wife. According to the
custom of the ancient tribunes and consuls he made
many speeches throughout the city. XXVI. Thrice
he presented a largess to the populace,6 and thrice a
gift of money to the soldiers, and to the populace he
also gave meat. He reduced the interest demanded
by money-lenders to the rate of four-per-cent 7 — in
this measure, too, looking out for the welfare of the
poor — and in the case of senators who loaned money,
he first ordered them not to take any interest at all
save what they might receive as a gift, but afterwards
permitted them to exact six-per-cent, abrogating,
however, the privilege of receiving gifts. He placed
statues of the foremost men in the Forum of Trajan,8
moving them thither from all sides.
He held in especial honour Ulpian and Paulus,9
whom, some say, Elagabalus made prefects of the
have removed Ulpian from office (see Heliog., xvi. 4) and
banished Paulus (Victor, Caes., xxiv. 6). Alexander's appoint-
ment of these two jurists to the prefecture of the guard was an
important step in the transformation of this post from a
military office to a judicial one.
227
SEVERUS ALEXANDER
6ipso. nam et consiliarius Alexandri et magister scrinii
L) Ipianus fuisse perhibetur, qui tamenambo assessores
Papiniani fuisse dicuntur.
7 Basilicam Alexandrinam instituerat inter Campum
Martium et Saepta Agrippiana in lato pedum centum
in longo pedum mille, ita ut tota columnis penderet.
8quam efficere non potuit, morte praeventus. Iseum
et Serapeum decenter ornavit additis signis et Deliacis
9et omnibus mysticis. in matrem Mamaeam unice
pius fuit, ita ut Romae in Palatio faceret diaetas
nominis Mamaeae, quas imperitum vulgus hodie " ad
Mammam " vocat, et in Baiano palatium cum stagno,
10 quod Mamaeae nomine hodieque censetur. fecit et
alia in Baiano opera magnifica in honorem adfinium
Hsuorum et stagna stupenda admisso mari. pontes
quos Traianus fecerat instauravit paene in omnibus
locis, aliquos etiam novos fecit, sed instauratis nomen
Traiani reservavit.
XXVII. In animo habuit omnibus officiis genus
vestium proprium dare et omnibus dignitatibus, ut a
1 See c. rvi. 1 and note.
•The a libellis under Caracalla ; see Pesc. Nig., vii. 4 and
note. It was probably from this office that he was removed
by Elagabalus. In an edict of Alexander's of 31st March,
222 (Codex Justinianus, viii. 37, 4) he appears as praefectiis
annonae; in a later one of 1st Dec., 222 (id.t iv. 65, 4) he is
prefect of the guard.
•On the assessores see notes to Pesc. Nig., vii. 3-4.
4 See Carac., iii. 2 and note.
6 Otherwise unknown, but probably connected with his
Thermae.
8 See note to Hadr., xix. 10.
7 This double sanctuary was in the Campus Martius between
the Pantheon aud the Saepta B. of the modern church of
S. Maria sopra Minerva. Oiigiually founded in 43 B.C. (Dio,
228
SEVERUS ALEXANDER XXVI. 6- XXVII. 1
guard, others, Alexander himself. Ulpian, it is rela-
ted, was a member of Alexander's council 1 as well
as chief of a bureau,2 but both of them are said to
have sat on the bench3 with Papinian.4
Alexander also began the Basilica Alexandrina,5
situated between the Campus Marttus and the Saepta
of Agrippa,6 one hundred feet broad and one
thousand long and so constructed that its weight
rested wholly on columns ; its completion, however,
was prevented by his death. The shrines of Isis and
Serapis 7 he supplied with a suitable equipment, pro-
viding them with statues, Delian slaves,8 and all the
apparatus used in mystic rites. Toward his mother
Mamaea he showed singular devotion, even to the
extent of constructing in the Palace at Rome certain
apartments named after her (which the ignorant mob
of today calls " ad Mammam " 9) and also near Baiae
a palace and a pool, still listed officially under the
name of Mamaea. He also built in the district of
Baiae other magnificent public works in honour of
his kinsmen, and huge pools, besides, formed by
letting in the sea. The bridges which Trajan had
built he restored almost everywhere, and he con-
structed new ones, too, but on those that he restored
he retained Trajan's name.
XXVII. It was his intention to assign a peculiar
type of clothing to each imperial staff, not only to the
various ranks — in order that they might be distin-
guished by their garments — but also to the slaves as
xlvii. 15), it was burned under Titus (Dio, Ixvi. 24) but rebuilt
by Domitian (Eutropius, vii. 23).
8 Apparently castrated slaves (see Petronius, Sat., xxiii.),
named from the island of Delos, famous as a slave-market.
9 Apparently a popular corruption of Mamaea's name.
229
SEVERUS ALEXANDER
vestitu dinoscerentur, et omnibus servis, lit in populo
possent agnosci, ne quis seditiosus esset, simul ne
servi ingenuis miscerentur. sed hoc Ulpiano Paulo-
2que displicuit, dicentibus plurimum rixarum fore, si
Sfaciles essent homines ad iniurias. turn satis esse
constituit, ut equites Romani a senatoribus clavi
4qualitate discernerentur. paenulis intra urbam
frigoris causa ut senes uterentur permisit, cum id
vestimenti genus semper itinerarium aut pluviale
fuisset. matronas tamen intra urbem paenulis uti
vetuit, itinere permisit.
5 Facundiae Graecae magis quam Latinae nee versu
invenustus et ad musicam pronus, matheseos peritus,
et ita quidem ut ex eius iussu mathematici publice
proposuerint Romae ac sint professi, ut docerent.
eharuspicinae quoque peritissimus fuit, orneoscopos
magnus, ut et Vascones Hispanorum et Pannoniorum
7augures vicerit. geometriam fecit. pinxit mire,
cantavit nobiliter, sed numquam alio conscio nisi
Spueris suis testibus. vitas principum bonorum versi-
9 bus scripsit. lyra, tibia, organo cecinit, tuba etiam,
quod quidem imperator numquam ostendit. palaestes
1 The convention had long been in existence that senators
should wear a broad purple stripe on their tunics (see note to
Com., iv. 7) and knights a narrow one.
54 See c. iii. 4.
3 See also c. xliv. 4. Astrologers, usually called Chaldaei,
had always been looked upon with suspicion by the Roman
government and were officially banished from Rome as early
as 139 B.C. Though periodically ordered to leave the city
during the early empire (see Tacitus, Annals, ii. 32 ; xii. 52 ;
Hist., ii. 62), they continued to practise their art and were
consulted by mauy and even by the emperors themselves
230
SEVERUS ALEXANDER XXVII. 2-9
a class — that they might be easily recognized when
among the populace and held in check in case of
disorder, and also that they might be prevented from
mingling with the free-born. This measure, however,
was regarded with disapproval by Ulpian and Paulus,
who declared that it would cause much brawling in
case the men were at all quick to quarrel. There-
upon it was held to be sufficient to make a distinc-
tion between Roman knights and senators by means
of the width of the purple stripe.1 But permission
was given to old men to wear cloaks in the city as a
protection against the cold, whereas previously this
kind of garment had not been used except on journeys
or in rainy weather. Matrons, on the other hand,
were forbidden to wear cloaks in the city but per-
mitted to use them while on a journey.
He could deliver orations in Greek better than in
Latin,2 he wrote verse that was not lacking in charm,
and he had a taste for music. He was expert in
astrology, and in accordance with his command
astrologers even established themselves officially in
Rome 3 and professed their art openly for the purpose
of supplying information. He was also well versed
in divination, and so skilled an observer of birds was
he that he surpassed both the Spanish Vascones4
and the augurs of the Pannoriians. He was a student
of geometry, he painted marvellously, and he sang
with distinction, though he never allowed any
listeners to be present except his slaves. He com-
posed in verse the lives of the good emperors. He
could play the lyre, the clarinet, and the organ, and
he could even blow the trumpet, but this he never
•In mod. Navarre, the ancestors of the Basques. Their
skill in augury is not attested elsewhere.
231
SEVERUS ALEXANDER
10 primus fuit. in armis magnus, adeo ut raulta bella
et gloriose gesserit.
XXVIII. Consulatum ter iniit tantum ordinarium
2 ac primo nundinio sibi alios semper suffecit. severis-
simus iudex contra fures, appellans eosdem cotidia-
norum scelerum reos et damnans acerrime ac solos
3 hostes inimicosque rei publicae vocans. eum notarium
qui falsum causae brevem in consilio imperatorio ret-
tulisset, incisis digitorum nervis, ita ut numquam
4 posset scribere, deportavit. cum quidam ex honoratis
vitae sordidae et aliquando furtorum reus per am-
bitionem nimiam ad militiam adspirasset, idcirco quod
per reges amicos ambierat admissus, statim in furto
praesentibus patronis detectus est iussusque a regibus
Saudiri damnatus est re probata. et cum quaereretur
a regibus, quid apud eos paterentur fures, illi respon-
derunt " crucem." ad eorum responsum in crucem
sublatus est. ita et patronis auctoribus damnatus
ambitor est et Alexandri quam praecipue tuebatur
servata dementia est.
6 Statuas colossas vel pedestres nudas vel equestres
1 In 222, 226, and 229. On the consul ordinarius see note
to Carac., iv. 8.
* Originally used to denote the market-day — every eighth
day — the word nundinium (nundinae) came to signify the
portion of the year during which a pair of consuls (ordinarii
or suffecti) held office. This u^e of the word seems to be due
to the fact that in the early period the consul took over the
fasces from his colleague on the nundinium ; see Mommsen,
R&m. Staatsrecht, ii3, p. 84.
3 A narrow forum (35-40 metres in width), N.E. of the
Forum Romanum. Its purpose was to connect the Forum
August! with the temple of Pax built by Vespasian, and hence
it was called Transitorium. Of the elaborate wall which
232
SEVERUS ALEXANDER XXVII. 10— XXVIII. 6
did openly while emperor. Moreover, he was a
wrestler of the first rank, and he was great in arms,
winning many wars and with great glory.
XXVIII. He held the regular consulship only
three times,1 merely entering upon the office and on
the first legal day2 always appointing some one else
in his place. As a judge he was especially harsh
toward thieves, referring to them as guilty of daily
crime, and he would pronounce most severe sentences
on them, declaring that they were the only real
enemies and foes of the state. When a clerk at a
meeting of the imperial council brought in a falsified
brief of a case, he ordered the tendons of his fingers
to be cut, in order that he might never be able to
write again, and then banished him. Once a certain
man, who had held public office and had at some time
been accused of evil living and theft, sought by
means of undue intriguing to enter military service
and was admitted because he had paid court to cer-
tain friendly kings; but immediately thereafter he
was detected in a theft, even in the very presence of
his patrons, and was ordered to plead his case before
the kings, and his guilt being established he was
convicted. Thereupon the kings were asked what
penalty thieves suffered at their hands, and they
replied " the cross," and at this reply the man was
crucified. So not only was the intriguer condemned
by his own patrons, but also Alexander's policy of
clemency, which he particularly desired to maintain,
was duly upheld.
In the Forum of Nerva 3 (which they call the
surrounded this forum two Corinthian columns with a portion
of the frieze are still in situ.
233
SEVERUS ALEXANDER
divis imperatoribus in foro Divi Nervae, quod Transi-
torium dicitur, locavit omnibus cum titulis et columnis
aereis, quae gestorum ordinem continerent, exemplo
Augusti, qui summorum virorum statuas in foro suo
7e marmore conlocavit additis gestis. volebat videri
originem de Romanorum gente trahere, quia eum
pudebat Syrum dici, maxima quod quodam tempore
festo,1 ut solent, Antiochenses, Aegyptii, Alexandrini
lacessiverant 2 conviciolis, et Syrum archisynagogum
eum vocantes et 3 archiereum.
XXIX. Antequam de bellis eius et expeditionibus
et victoriis loquar, de vita cotidiana et domestica pauca
2disseram. usus vivendi eidem hie fuit : primum,4 si
facultas esset, id est si non cum uxore cubuisset,
matutinis horis in larario suo, in quo et divos principes
sed optimos electos et animas sanctiores, in quis
Apollonium et, quantum scriptor suorum temporum
dicit, Christum, Abraham et Orpheum et huiuscemodi 5
ceteros habebat ac maiorum effigies, rem divinam
Sfaciebat. si id non poterat, pro loci qualitate vel
vectabatur vel piscabatur vel deambulabat vel vena-
1 festo editors, Peter; frusta P ; a scurra Salm. 2 laces-
siuerant editors, Peter ; lacessitus erat P, Salm., Petsehe-
nig. 3 et om. in P. 4 primum ut P] ut del. by
Peter. 5 huius P.
1 N. W. of the Forum Nervae. Its chief adornment was
the Temple of Mars Ultor, built by Augustus, extensive ruins
of which are still preserved.
2 Cf. c. xliv. 3 ; Ixiv. 3.
3 i.e. af>xl*P€vs or chief-priest ; it was evidently an allusion
to the high-priesthood of the god Elagabalus of Emesa, which
was hereditary in his mother's family.
4Apollonius of Tyana in Asia Minor, a Pythagorean phil-
osopher and miracle-worker of the first century after Christ.
234
SEVERUS ALEXANDER XXVIII. 7— XXIX. 3
Forum Transitorium) he set up colossal statues of the
deified emperors, some on foot and nude, others on
horseback, with all their titles and with columns of
bronze containing lists of their exploits, doing this
after the example of Augustus, who erected in his
forum l marble statues of the most illustrious men,
together with the record of their achievements. He
wished it to be thought that he derived his descent
from the race of the Romans, for he felt shame at
being called a Syrian,2 especially because, on the
occasion of a certain festival, the people of Antioch
and of Egypt and Alexandria had annoyed him with
jibes, as is their custom, calling him a Syrian syna-
gogue-chief and a high priest.3
XXIX. Before I tell of his wars and his campaigns
and his victories, I will relate a few details of his private
every-day life. His manner of living was as follows :
First of all, if it were permissible, that is to say, if
he had not lain with his wife, in the early morning
hours he would worship in the sanctuary of his
Lares, in which he kept statues of the deified
emperors — of whom, however, only the best had been
selected — and also of certain holy souls, among them
Apollonius,4 and, according to a contemporary writer,
Christ, Abraham, Orpheus, and others of this same
character and, besides, the portraits of his ancestors.5
If this act of worship were not possible, he would
ride about, or fish, or walk, or hunt, according to the
character of the place in which he was. Next, if the
hour permitted, he would give earnest attention to
6 Containing also a statue of Alexander the Great; see
c. xxxi. 5. Marcus Aurelius had had a similar chapel, in which
he kept statues of his teachers ; see Marc., iii. 5.
235
SEVERUS ALEXANDER
4batur. dehinc, si hora permitteret, actibus publicis
perm til tarn l operam dabat, idcirco quod et res bellicae
et civiles, ut superius dictum est, per amicos tracta-
bantur, sed sanctos et fidelis et numquam venales, et
tractatae firmabantur, nisi quid novi etiam ipsi
5 placeret. sane si necessitas cogeret, ante lucem
actibus operam dabat et in longam horam producebat
neque umquam taediavit aut morosus aut iratus resedit,
6fronte semper pari et laetus ad omnia. erat enim
ingentis prudentiae et cui nemo posset imponere et
quern si aliquis urbane temptare voluit, intellectus
tulit poenas.
XXX. Post actus publicos seu bellicos seu civiles
lectioni Graecae operam maiorem dabat, de Re Publica
Slibros Platonis legens. Latina cum legeret, non alia
magis legebat quam de Officiis Ciceronis et de Re
Publica, nonnumquam et orationes et poetas, in quis
Serenum Sammonicum, quern ipse noverat et dilexerat,
Set Horatium. legit et vitam Alexandri, quern prae-
cipue imitatus est, etsi in eo condemnabat ebrietatem
et crudelitatem in amicos, quamvis utrumque de-
fendatur a bonis scriptoribus, quibus saepius ille
4credebat. post lectionem operam palaestrae aut
sphaeristerio aut cursui aut luctaminibus mollioribus
dabat, atque inde unctus lavabatur, ita ut caldaria vel
numquam vel raro, piscina semper uteretur in eaque
1permult(.m Krauss, Peter2 ; post multam P.
1 See c. xvi. 3.
a The son of Sammonicus Serenus the antiquary ; see
Carac., iv. 4 and note. A series of sixty-three medical pre-
scriptions written in hexameter verse, attributed in the manu-
scripts to Quintus Serenus, is usually supposed to have been
written by him.
236
SEVERUS ALEXANDER XXIX. 4— XXX. 4
public business, for all matters both military and civil,
were, as I have said previously,1 worked over by his
friends — who were, however, upright and faithful and
never open to bribes — and when they had been thus
worked over they were given his endorsement, ex-
cept when it pleased him to make some alteration.
Of course, if necessity demanded it, he would give
his attention to public business even be (ore dawn and
continue at it up to an advanced hour, never growing
weary or giving up in irritation or anger, but always
with a serene brow and cheerful in every task. He
was, indeed, a man of great sagacity, and he could
not be tricked, and whoever tried to impose on him
by some sharp practice was always found out and
punished.
XXX. After the public business, whether military
or civil, he would give even greater attention to read-
ing Greek, usually Plato's Republic. When he read
Latin, there was nothing that he would read in
preference to Cicero on Duties and on the Stale, but
sometimes he would read speeches or the poets,
among them Serenus Sammonicus,2 whom he himself
had known and loved, and also Horace. He would
read, too, the life of Alexander the Great, whom he
particularly sought to resemble, although he always
denounced his drunkenness and his brutality toward
his friends, in spite of the fact that these vices were
denied by trustworthy writers, whom Alexander in
most cases believed. After his reading he would
devote himself to exercise, either ball-playing or run-
ning or some mild wrestling. Then, after having
himself rubbed with oil, he would bathe, but rarely,
if ever, in a hot bath, for he always used a swimming-
pool, remaining in it about an hour ; and before he
237
SEVERUS ALEXANDER
una hora prope maneret, biberet etiam frigidam
6 Claudiam ieiunus ad unum prope sextarium. egressus
balneas multum lactis et panis sumebat, ova deinde
mulsum. atque his refectus, aliquando prandium
inibat aliquando cibum usque ad cenam differebat,
6prandit tamen saepius. ususque est Hadriani tetra-
pharmaco frequenter, de quo in libris suis Marius
Maximus loquitur, cum Hadriani disserit vitam.
XXXI. Postmeridianas horas subscription! et lec-
tioni epistularum semper dedit, ita ut ab epistulis, a l
libellis et a memoria semper adsisterent, nonnum-
quam etiam, si stare per valetudinem non possent,
sederent, relegentibus cuncta librariis et iis qui
scrinium gerebant, ita ut Alexander sua manu adderet
si quid esset addendum, sed ex eius sententia qui
2disert;or habebatur. post epistulas omnes amicos
simul admisit, cum omnibus pariter est locutus, neque
umquam solum quemquam nisi praefectum suum vidit,
et quidem Ulpianum, ex assessore semper suo causa
Siustitiae siiigularis. cum autem alterum adhibuit, et
Ulpianum rogari iussit.
4 Vergilium autem Platonem poetarum vocabat
eiusque imaginem cum Ciceronis simulacro in secundo
1 a ins. by Jordan and Peter3 ; om. in P.
1 The Aqua Claudia, begun by Caligula and finished by
Claudius in 52 A.D., drew its water from the Sabine Mountains
in the neighbourhood of the mod. Subiaco. Together with the
Aqua Anio Novus, it enters Rome on high arches at the Porta
Maggiore.
*See Hadr., xxi. 4 ; AeL, v. 4-5.
* See note to Peso. Nig., vii. 4.
4 On the amid see note to Heliog., xi. 2.
5 Of. c. Ixvii. 2.
238
SEVERUS ALEXANDER XXX. 5— XXXI. 4
took any food he would drink about a pint of cold
water from the Claudian aqueduct.1 On coming out
of the bath he would take a quantity of milk and
bread, some eggs, and then a drink of mead. Thus
refreshed, he would sometimes proceed to luncheon,
sometimes put off eating until the evening meal, but
more frequently he took luncheon. And he often
partook of Hadrian's tetrapharmacum,2 which Marius
Maximus describes in his work on the life of Hadrian.
XXXI. The afternoon hours he always devoted to
signing and reading letters. Meanwhile, the heads
of the bureaus of the Imperial Correspondence, the
Petitions, and the Memoranda 3 would always stand
beside him, or occasionally, if unable to stand on
account of ill-health, they would be seated, while the
secretaries and those who administered the particular
bureau re-read everything to him ; then he would
add with his own hand whatever was to be added,
but in conformity with the opinion of the man who
was regarded as the most expert. After attending
to the letters, he would receive his friends,4 all of
them at once, and speak with all equally, and he
never received anyone alone except the prefect of the
guard,5 Ulpian that is, who, because he was so pre-
eminently just, had always been his assistant on the
bench. Moreover, whenever he sent for anyone for
a consultation, he would give orders to summon
Ulpian also.
He used to call Vergil the Plato of poets and he
kept his portrait, together with a likeness of Cicero, in
his second sanctuary of the Lares,6 where he also had
6 In distinction from the lararium mains, for which see
c. xxix. 2.
239
SEVERUS ALEXANDER
larario habuit, ubi et Achillis et magnorum virorum.
6 Alexandrum vero Magnum inter optimos et divos in
larario maiore consecravit.
XXXII. Iniuriam nulli umquam amicorum corai-
tumve fecit nee magistris quidem aut principibus
2 officiorum. praefectis autem semper detulit, adserens
eum qui mereatur iniuriam pati ab imperatore dam-
Snandum esse, non dimittendum. si umquam alicui
praesentium successorem dedit, semper illud addidit,
" Gratias tibi agit res publica," eumque muneratus est,
ita ut privatus pro loco suo posset honeste vivere, his
quidem muneribus : agris, bubus, equis, frumento,
ferro, impendiis ad faciendam domum, marmoribus ad
ornandam, et operis quas ratio fabricae requirebat.
4aurum et argentum raro cuiquam nisi militi divisit,
nefas esse dicens ut dispensator publicus in delecta-
tiones suas et suorum converteret id quod provinciales
6 dedissent. aurum negotiatorium et coronarium
Romae remisit.
XXXIII. Fecit Romae cura tores urbis quattuor-
decim sed ex consulibus viros, quos audire negotia
2 urbana cum praefecto urbis iussit, ita ut omnes aut
magna pars adessent cum acta fierent. corpora om-
nium constituit vinariorum, lupinariorum, caligariorum
1 As the chief judicial officials ; see note to c. xxvi. 5.
2 In contrast with the extravagant gifts that were continu-
ally made by Elagabalus ; see Heliog., xxi. 7; xxii, 3; xxvi.
5. On Alexander's liberalitates see c. xxi. 9 and note.
3 See note to Hadr., vi. 5.
4 See Heliog., xx. 3 and note.
240
SEVERUS ALEXANDER XXXI. 5— XXXIII. 2
portraits of Achilles and the great heroes. But
Alexander the Great he enshrined in his greater
sanctuary along with the most righteous men and the
deified emperors.
XXXII. He never showed harshness to any of
his friends or companions, or, for that matter, to any
of the heads of the bureaus or the chiefs of staff.
Indeed, he would always refer their cases to the pre-
fects of the guard,1 declaring that if any one deserved
harsh treatment from the emperor, he ought to be
condemned and not dismissed. Whenever he ap-
pointed a successor to anyone in the man's own
presence, he would always add, (( The State is grate-
ful to you " ; and he would reward him, too, in order
that after his retirement he might live respectably
and in keeping with his rank, presenting him with
such gifts as lands, cattle, horses, grain, tools, the
cost of building a house, marbles for beautifying it,
and the labour which the character of the con-
struction demanded. He rarely distributed gold or
silver except to the soldiers,2 maintaining that it was
a sin for the steward of the state to use for his own
pleasures or those of his friends that which was con-
tributed by the people of the provinces. But to the
city of Rome he remitted the tax on merchants and
the crown-gold.3
XXXIII. He appointed fourteen overseers of the
city of Rome,4 chosen from among the ex-consuls, and
these he commanded to hear city-cases in conjunction
with the prefect of the city, giving orders that all of
them, or at least a majority, should be present when-
ever the records were made. He also formed guilds
of all the wine-dealers, the green-grocers, the boot-
makers, and, in short, of all the trades, and he granted
24J
SEVERUS ALEXANDER
et omnino omnium artium, atque l ex sese defensores
declit et iussit qui ad quos indices pertinerent.2
8 Scaenicis numquam aurum, numquam argentum,
vix pecuniam donavit. pretiosas vestes, quas Helio-
gabalus dederat, sustulit, et milites, quos ostensionales
vocant, non pretiosis sed speciosis claris vestibus orna-
bat. nee multum in signa aut ad apparatum regium
auri et serici deputabat, dicens imperium in virtute
4esse, non in decore. chlamydes hirtas Seven et
tunicas asemas vel macrocheras et purpureas non
XXXIV. magnas 3 ad usum revocavit suum. in convivio aurum
nesciit, pocula mediocria sed nitida semper habuit.
ducentarum librarum argenti pondus ministerium
eius numquam transiit.
2 Nanos et nanas et moriones et vocales exsoletos et
omnia acroamata et pantomimos populo donavit ; qui
autem usui non erant singulis civitatibus putavit
alendos singulos, ne gravarentur specie mendicorum.
Seimuchos, quos Heliogabalus et in consiliis turpibus
habebat et promovebat, donavit amicis addito elogio,
ut, si non redissent ad bonos mores, eosdem liceret
4occidi sine auctoritate iudicii. mulieres infames,
quarum infinitum numerum deprehenderat, publicari
iussit, exsoletis omnibus deportatis, aliquibus etiara
1 atque Peter1 ; idque P ; idemque Peter2. 2 pertinerent
Jordan, Baehrens; pertineret P, Peter. 3et purpureas
non magnas editors ; et purpureaque non magna P, suap.
by Peter.
1 Cf. c. xxxvii. 1. 2 Not otherwise known.
3 See Sev.t xix. 7.
4Cf. c. xli. 4; in contrast with Elagabalus, see Heliog.,
xix. 3.
6Cf. c. xxiii. 4-7.
SEVERUS ALEXANDER XXXIII. 3— XXXIV. 4
them advocates chosen from their own numbers and
designated the judge to whose jurisdiction each
should belong.
To actors he never presented either gold or silver,
and rarely money.1 He did away with the costly
garments which Elagabalus had provided, and he
dressed the soldiers who are called the Paraders,2 in
bright uniforms, not costly, indeed, but elegant. Nor
did he ever spend much for their standards or for the
royal outfit of gold and silk, declaring that the
imperial power was based, not on outward show, but
on valour. For his own use he re-introduced the
rough cloaks worn by Severus 3 and tunics without
the purple stripe and those with long sleeves and
purple ones of small size. XXX IV. Moreover, his
banquets were utterly devoid of gold plate, and his
goblets were always moderate in size though elegant.
And his service of plate never exceeded the weight
of two hundred pounds of silver.4
All the dwarfs, both male and female, fools,
catamites who had good voices, all kinds of enter-
tainers at table, and actors of pantomimes he made
public property ; those, however, who were not of any
use were assigned, each to a different town, for support,
in order that no one town might be burdened by a new
kind of beggars. The eunuchs, whom Elagabalus had
had in his base councils and had promoted,5 he pre-
sented to his friends, adding a statement to the effect
that if they did not return to honest ways, it should
be lawful to put them to death without authority from
the courts. Women of ill repute, of whom he arrested
an enormous number, he ordered to become public
prostitutes, and he deported all catamites,6 some of
6 But of. c. juriv. 4.
S43
SEVERUS ALEXANDER
naufragio mersis, cum quibus ilia clades consuetudinem
habuerat funestissimam.
5 Auratam vestem ministrorum vel in publico con-
6 vivio nullus habuit. cum inter suos convivaretur, aut
Ulpianum aut doctos homines adhibebat, ut haberet
fabulas litteratas, quibus se recreari dicebat et pasci.
7 habebat, cum privatim convivaretur, et librum in
mensa et legebat, sed Graece magis ; Latinos autem
Spoetas lectitabat. publica convivia ea simplicitate
egit qua privata, nisi quod numerus accubitionum
crescebat et multitude convivarum, qua ille offende-
batur, dicens se in theatre et circo manducare.
XXXV. Oratores et poetas non sibi panegyricos
dicentes, quod exemplo Nigri Pescennii stultum
ducebat, sed aut orationes recitantes aut facta
veterum qui erant eminentes libenter l audivit, liben-
tius tamen, si quis ei recitavit Alexandri Magni laudes
aut meliorum retro principum aut magnorum urbis
2 Romae virorum. ad Athenaeum audiendorum et
Graecorum et Latinorum rhetorum2 vel poetarum
8 causa frequenter processit. audivit autem etiam for-
enses oratores causas recitantes, quas vel apud ipsum
4 vel apud praefectos urbis egerant. agoni praesedit
et maxime Herculeo in honorem Magni Alexandri.
1 qui erant eminentes libenter Editor ; quam netuli ueniter
P; canentes libenter Salm., Peter. *praetorum P.
1 Of. c. xxx. 2. a See Pesc. Nig., xi. 5.
'See note to Pert., xi. 3.
4 Contests (bywcs) modelled after the great Greek contests
had been in vogue in Rome since 186 B.C. Originally purely
athletic, they were soon extended to include musicians and,
later, poets. The most famous were the Ludi pro salute
Augusti (to commemorate the battle of Actium), the Agon
Neroneus, held in 60 and 65 and restored in honour of Minerva
by Gordian III., and the Agon Capitolinus, instituted by Domi-
244
SEVERUS ALEXANDER XXXIV. 5— XXXV. 4
•
them, with whom that scourge had carried on a most
pernicious intimacy, being drowned by shipwreck.
None of his servants ever wore a garment orna-
mented with gold, not even at a public banquet.
When he dined with the members of his household,
he would invite Ulpian or some other man of learn-
ing, in order to have conversation of a literary char-
acter, for this, he used to say, refreshed and nourished
him. And when he dined in private he would even
keep a book on the table and read, usually Greek ;
Latin poets, however, he used to read also.1 His
state-dinners were conducted with the same simplicity
as his private ones, except that the number of covers
and the crowd of guests was greatly increased, though
this was always displeasing to him, and he would say
that he was feeding in a theatre or a circus.
XXXV. He heard orators and poets with pleasure —
not, indeed, when they made laudatory addresses to
himself, which, following the example cf Pescennius
Niger,2 he considered a foolish custom, but when they
recited speeches or the deeds of ancient men of
eminence — and with still greater pleasure, when they
related the praises of Alexander the Great or of the
better emperors of the past, or of the great men of
the city of Rome. Moreover, he often resorted to
the Athenaeum3 to hear both Greek and Latin
rhetoricians and poets, and he would listen to the
orators of the Forum, as they read aloud the pleas
which they had already delivered before himself or
the city-prefects. And he used to preside at contests,
particularly at the Hercules-contest, which was held
in honour of Alexander the Great.4
tian. Nothing further is known of the Agon Herculeua ; to
judge from the name it was athletic in character.
245
SEVERUS ALEXANDER
6 Solos1 post meridiem vel matutinis horis idcirco
numquam aliquos videbat, quod ementitos de se multa
6cognoverat, speciatim Verconium Turinum. quern
cum familiarem habuisset, ille omnia vel fingendo sic
vendiderat, ut Alexandri quasi stulti hominis et quern
ille in potestate haberet et cui multa persuaderet,
infamaret imperium ; sicque omnibus persuaserat
XXXVI. quod ad nutum suum omnia faceret. denique hac
ilium arte deprehendit, ut quendam inmitteret, qui a
se quiddam publice peteret, ab illo autem occulte quasi
praesidium postularet, ut pro eo Alexandro secreto
2suggereret. quod cum factum esset et Turinus suffra-
gium promisisset dixissetque se quaedam imperatori
dixisse, cum nihil dixisset, sed in eo pendere, ut adhuc
impetraret, eventum vendens, cumque iterum iussisset
Alexander interpellari et Turinus quasi aliud agens
nutibus adnuisset neque tamen intus quicquam dixisset,
impetratum autem esset quod petebatur, Turinusque
ab illo, qui meruerat, fumis venditis ingentia praemia
percepisset ; accusari eum Alexander iussit probatisque
per testes omnibus, et quibus praesentibus quid ac-
1 solos P1, Lessing, Lenze ; solus Peter.
J0n the expression fumum vendere see note to Piws, vi. 4.
246
SEVERUS ALEXANDER XXXV. 5— XXXVI. 2
There were certain men that he always refused to
see alone in the afternoon or, for that matter, in the
morning hours, because he found out that they had
said many things about him falsely, and chief among
them was Verconius Turinus. For Turinus had been
treated by him as an intimate friend, and all the
while he had sold favours under false pretences, with
the result that he brought Alexander's rule into dis-
repute, for he made the Emperor seem a mere fool,
whom he, Turinus, had completely in his power and
could persuade to do anything ; in this way he made
all believe that the Emperor did everything at his
beck and call. XXXVI. He was finally caught, how-
ever, by the following trick : A certain man was
deputed to present a petition to the Emperor publicly,
but secretly to ask Turinus, as it were for protection,
namely, that he would privately plead with Alexander
in his behalf. All this was done, and Turinus
promised him his support and later told him that he
had said certain things to the Emperor (whereas in
reality he had said nothing at all), and that it now
depended on him alone whether or not the request
would be granted ; he then offered a favourable
decision in return for money. And when Alexander
ordered the petitioner to be summoned for a second
hearing, Turinus, though apparently occupied in doing
something else, signalled to the man by nodding his
head, but said nothing to him in the room ; then his
petition was granted, and Turinus, in return for a
favour sold under false pretences,1 received a huge
reward from the successful petitioner. Thereupon
Alexander ordered him to be indicted, and when
all the charges had been proved by witnesses, of
whom some were present and saw what Turinus had
247
SEVERUS ALEXANDER
cepisset et quibus audientibus quid promisisset, in
foro Transitorio ad stipitem ilium adligari l praecepit
et fumo adposito, quern ex stipulis atque umidis lignis
fieri iusserat, necavit praecone dicente, " Fumo punitur
3qui vendidit fumum." ac ne una tantum causa
videretur crudelior fuisse quaesivit diligentissime, an-
tequam eum damnaret, et invenit Turinum saepe et
in causis ab utraque parte accepisse, cum eventus ven-
deret, et ab omnibus qui aut praeposituras aut pro-
vincias acceperant.
XXXVII. Spectacula frequentavit cum summa do-
nandi parsimonia, dicens et scaenicos et venatores et
aurigas sic alendos quasi servos nostros aut venatores
2 aut muliones aut voluptarios. convivium neque
opiparum neque nimis parcum sed nitoris summi fuit,
ita tamen, ut pura mantelia mitterentur, saepius cocco
clavata, aurata vero numquam, cum haec habere
Heliogabalu^ iam coepisset, et ante, ut quidam prae-
Sdicant, Hadrianus habuisset. usus convivii'2 diurnus
hie fuit : vini ad totum diem sextarii triginta, panis
mundi pondo triginta, panis sequentis ad donandum
4 pondo quinquaginta. nam semper de manu sua
ministris convivii et panem et partes aut holerum aut
carnis aut leguminum dabat, senili prorsus maturitate
5patrem familias agens. erant decreta et carnis
diversae pondo triginta, erant et gallinacei duo.
1 adligari Jordan, Peter; // legari P1; ligari P corr.
*concubii P.
1 See c. xxviii. 6. 2 Of. c. xxxiii. 3.
3 In contrast with Elagabalu3 ; see Heliog., xx. 4-7 ; xxiv. 8.
*S48
SEVERUS ALEXANDER XXXVI. 3- XXXVII. 5
received and others heard what he had promised, he
issued instructions to bind him to a stake in the
Forum Transitorium.1 Then he ordered a fire of
straw and wet logs to be made and had him suffocated
by the smoke, and all the while a herald cried aloud,
" The seller of smoke is punished by smoke." And
in order that it might not be thought that he was too
cruel in thus punishing one single offence, he made a
careful investigation before sentencing Turinus, and
found that when selling a decision in a law-suit he
had often taken money from both parties, and that
he had also accepted bribes from all who had obtained
appointments to commands or provinces.
XXXVII. He used to attend the public spectacles,
but he was very niggardly in giving presents,2 saying
that the actors and wild-beast hunters and chariot-
drivers should be treated as if they were our slaves,
or huntsmen, or grooms, or ministers to our pleasure.
His banquets were neither sumptuous nor yet too
frugal, but always characterized by the greatest good-
taste.3 None but white napkins were used, though
they often had a scarlet stripe ; but they were never
embroidered in gold, though these had been intro-
duced by Elagabalus, and even before his time, they
say, by Hadrian. The daily provision for his table was
as follows : thirty pints of wine for a whole day, thirty
pounds of bread of the first quality, and fifty pounds of
bread of the second quality used for giving away — for
he always gave away to his table-servants not only
bread but also portions of greens or meat or vegetables,
all with his own hand, playing the part of the father
of a household with all the maturity of an old man.
The provision further included thirty pounds of
various meats and two fowls. On feast-days, however,
249
SEVERUS ALEXANDER
fladhibebatur anser diebus festis, kalendis autem
lanuariis et Hilariis Matris Deum et Ludis Apol-
linaribus et lovis Epulo et Saturnalibus et huiusmodi
festis diebus phasianus, ita ut aliquando et duo pone-
yrentur additis gallinaceis duobus. leporem cottidie
habuit, venationem frequentem, sed earn cum amicis
dividebat et iis maxime quos sciebat per se non habere.
8 nee divitibus quicquam talium munerum misit sed ab
9 his semper accepit. habuit cottidie et mulsi 1 sine
pipere sextarios quattuor, cum pipere duo, et, ne
longum sit omnia inserere, quae Gargilius eius temporis
scriptor singillatim persecutus est, omnia et ad modum
10 et ad rationem illi sunt praebita. pomis vehementer
indulsit, ita ut secunda mensa illi saepius ponerentur,
unde etiam iocus exstitit, non secundam mensam
11 Alexandrum habere sed secundum. ipse cibo plurimo
referciebatur, vino neque parce neque copiose, adfatim
12 tamen. frigida semper pura usus, et aestate cum vino
rosa condito. quod quidem solum ex diverse genere
conditorum Heliogabali tenuerat.
XXXVIII. Et quoniam de lepusculis facta est
let mulsi Mommsen; et mulis P; amuli Scaliger, Peter.
1 Regarded as a great dainty ; see Pert., xii. 6 and note.
2 The 25th March, celebrated in much the same manner as
the modern Carnival.
3 The 6th-13th July ; they were especially characterized by
theatrical performances.
4 There were two Epula Jovis, the 13th Sept. and the 13th
Nov., connected respectively with the Ludi Romani (4th-19th
Sept.) and the Ludi Plebeii (4th-17th Nov.). The first of these
is doubtless meant here. It was celebrated as the anniversary
of the founding of the temple of Jupiter on the Capitolium,
and in the earliest period was regarded as the first day of the
year.
250
SEVERUS ALEXANDER XXXVII. 6— XXXVIII. 1
a goose was served, and a pheasant 1 on the Kalends
ot January and also during the Hilaria of the Great
Mother,2 the Games of Apollo,3 the Feast of Jupiter,4
the Saturnalia, and other festivals of this kind, and
sometimes even a brace was brought in besides the
two fowls. He had a hare every day and often game,
but this he would share with his friends, chiefly those
whom he knew to have none of their own. For he
never gave any of these gifts to the rich, though he
was always ready to receive presents from them.
Every day he had four pints of mead without pepper
and two with pepper. In short, lest it be too tedious
to give an account of all that he ate, which has been
done in great detail by Gargilius,5 a contemporary
writer, everything was served to him in due measure
and according to reason. But he was inordinately
fond of fruit and usually had it served to him as
dessert ; hence arose the witticism that Alexander
had, not a second course, but a second meal. He
himself would consume the greatest amount of food
and he would drink wine neither too sparingly nor
yet in large quantities, but nevertheless in fair
amounts. He always drank pure cold water as well,
but in summer he would add wine flavoured with
essence of roses — the only one of Elagabalus's various
kinds of flavourings 6 that he retained.
XXXVIII. Now — since mention has been made
5 Called Gargilius Martialis in Prob., ii. 7. He is probably
to be identified with the Q. Gargilius Martialis who wrote
a treatise on husbandry, including also an account of the
medicinal use of farm-products and of veterinary art. Parts
of it have been preserved in the so-called Medicina Plinii, a
manual of medicine dating from the fourth century.
•See Heliog., xix. 5 ; xxi. 6 ; xxiv. 1.
251
SEVERUS ALEXANDER
mentio, quod ille leporem cottidie haberet, iocus
poeticus emersit, idcirco quod multi septem diebus
pulchros esse dicunt eos qui leporem comederint, ut
Martialis etiam epigramma significat, quod contra
quandam Gelliam scripsit huiusmodi :
2 " Cum leporem mittis, semper mihi, Gellia, mandas :
' septem formosus, Marce, diebus eris.'
si verum dicis, si verum, Gellia, mandas,
edisti numquanr, Gellia, tu leporem."
8sed hos versus Martialis in earn quae deformis esset
composuit, poeta vero temporum Alexandri haec in
eum dixit :
4 " Pulchrum quod vides esse nostrum regem,
pulchrum1 quod Syra detulit propago,2
venatus facit et lepus comesus..
de quo continuum capit leporem."
5 hos versus cum ad eum quidam ex amicis detulisset,
respondisse ille dicitur Graecis versibus in hanc sen-
tentiam :
6 " Pulchrum quod putas esse vestrum regem 3
vulgari, miserande, de fabella,
si verum putas esse, non irascor.
tantum tu 4 comedas velim lepusclos,
ut fias animi malis repulsis,
pulchris ne invideas livore mentis.
1 pulchrum om. in P. ^quod Syrunt detulit propago P;
quern Syrum tetulit propago, <^pulchrum^> Peiper, Peter2;
<Zpulchrum> quod sua detulit propago Damst6. 3putas
esse <^uestrum^> regem Egnatius, Peter ; putasse se regem P.
*tu ins. by Egnatius and Peter ; om. in P.
1 Martial, v. 29, with several variations. The superstition
is mentioned also in Pliny, Nat. Hist., xxviii. 260.
252
SEVERUS ALEXANDER XXXVIII. 2-6
of hares — his custom of having a hare every day gave
rise to a witticism in verse ; for many say that those
who have eaten a hare are beautiful for the next
seven days, and this belief is also indicated in an
epigram of Martial's directed at a woman named
Gellia as follows l :
" When you send me a hare, dear Gellia, you send
me a message plain :
' For the next seven days, dear Marcus, a beautiful
man you'll remain.'
If you tell me the truth, dear Gellia, if you send me
a promise fair,
You have never yourself, dear Gellia, you have never
eaten a hare."
These verses, however, Martial wrote to a woman
who was ugly, but a poet of Alexander's time wrote
to him the following :
"If you see our king is fair,
Fair the child of Syrian race,
'Tis the hunt and meals of hare
Give him everlasting grace."
And when one of his friends brought him these
lines, he replied, it is said, in Greek verses to the
following effect :
" Since you think your king is fair,
Fool, by vulgar stories taught,
I'm not angry — if you're right.
But I wish you'd eat a hare
And remove your ugly thought ;
Cease to hate the fair with spite."
253
SEVERUS ALEXANDER
XXXIX. Cum amicos militares habuisset, ut usum
Traiani, quern ille post secundam raensam potandi
usque ad quinque pocula instituerat, reservaret, unum
tantum poculum amicis exhibebat in honorem
Alexandri Magni, idque brevius, nisi si quis, quod
2licebat, maius libere postulasset. usus Veneris in eo
moderatus fuit, exsoletorum ita expers, ut, quemad-
modum supra diximus, legem de his auferendis ferre
voluerit.
3 Horrea in omnibus regionibus publica fecit, ad quae
conferrent bona ii qui privatas custodias non haberent.
balnea omnibus regionibus addidit, quae forte non
4 habebant. nam hodieque 1 multa dicuntur Alexandri.
5 fecit et domos pulcherrimas easdemque amicis suis
maxime integris viris donavit.
6 Vectigalia publica in id contraxit, ut qui decem
aureos sub Heliogabalo praestiterant tertiam partem
aurei praestarent, hoc est tricensimam partem.
7tuncque primum semisses aureorum formati sunt,
tune etiam, cum ad tertiam aurei partem vectigal
desidisset, tremisses, dicente Alexandro etiam quar-
Starios futuros, quod minus non posset, quos quidem
iam formatos in moneta detinuit, exspectans ut, si
fl dieque P.
1 Trajan had the reputation of being a hard drinker; see
Hadr., iii. 3; Dio, Ixviii. 7, 4; Victor, Goes., xiii. 4.
2 See c. xxiv. 4.
3 Fourteen in number ; see note to Heliog., xx. 3.
4 This statement can hardly be literally correct, but that
the taxes were reduced seems evident from c. xvi. 1 and
xxxii. 5.
6 His attempts to improve the currency are attested by
copper coins with the legends Restitutor Mon(etae) and
254
SEVERUS ALEXANDER XXXIX. 1-8
XXXIX. When he had with him friends of the
military class he would observe a custom which
Trajan had introduced,1 namely, that of drinking
after the dessert as many as five goblets ; he, how-
ever, would serve his friends one goblet only, to be
drunk in honour of Alexander the Great, and it was
a rather small one too, though it was always permis-
sible to ask openly for a larger one. In the 'enjoy-
ment of love he was temperate, and he would have
nothing to do with catamites, in fact, he even wished
to have a law passed, as I have said before,2 doing
away with them altogether.
He built a public store-house in each region of the
city,3 and to this anyone who had no store-house of
his own might take his property. He built a bath,
too, in every region which happened to have none,
and even today many of these are still called Alex-
ander's. And he also constructed magnificent dwel-
lings and presented them to his friends, especially to
the upright.
The taxes paid to the state were so reduced that
those whose tax under Elagabalus had amounted to
ten aurei now paid a third of an aureus, a thirtieth,
that is, of their former tax.4 Then for the first time
half-aurei were minted, and also third-aurei,5 after
the tax had been reduced to this amount ; and
Alexander declared that quarter-aurei too would be
issued — for he could not issue a smaller coin. And
he did indeed coin these, but kept them in the mint,
Mon(eta) Restituta; see Cohen, iv2, p. 453 f., nos. 516-518,
and p. 420, no. 180. The aureus and half-aureus of Alexander
are well known, but no third-aureus is known prior to the
time of Valerian (253 A.D.) ; see Mommsen, Rom. Milnzwesent
p. 776.
255
SEVERUS ALEXANDER
vectigal contrahere potuisset, et eosdem ederet ; sed
cum non potuisset per publicas necessitates, conflari
eos iussit et tremisses tantum solidosque formari.
9 formas binarias, ternarias et quaternarias et denarias
etiam atque amplius usque ad libriles quoque et cen-
tenarias, quas Heliogabalus invenerat, resolvi prae-
10 cipit neque in usu cuiusquam versari ; atque ex eo his
materiae nomen inditum est, cum diceret plus
largiendi hanc esse imperatori causam, si, cum multos
solidos minores dare possit, dans decem vel amplius
una forma triginta et quinquaginta et centum dare
coger^tur.
XL. Vestes sericas ipse raras habuit ; holosericam
numquam induit, subsericam numquam donavit.
2 divitiis nullius invidit. pauperes iuvit. honoratos, quos
pauperes vere non per luxuriam aut simulationem
vidit, semper multis commodis auxit, agris, servis,
8 animalibus, gregibus, ferramentis rusticis. in thesauris
vestem numquam nisi annum esse passus est eamque
statim expendi iussit. omnem vestem quam donavit
4 ipse perspexit. omne aurum, omne argentum idque
1 Aurei. The name solidus was applied to the aureus from
the period of Constantino onward.
2 i.e. 50 aurei ; at this time 1 Ib. gold = 50 aurei ; see
Cohen, i2, Intro., p. xviii. It is difficult to believe that such
huge gold pieces were ever coined.
3 On the use and prohibition of silk garments see notes to
Eeliog., xxvi., 1.
4 The emperor's robes, because of their great value, were
regarded as forming part of the imperial treasury, and, accord-
ingly, were under the charge of the procurator thesaurorum
(this is probably the meaning of the term procurator aerarii
maioris in Diad., iv. 1) ; see Hirschfeld, Verwaltungsbeamten,
p. 307 f., n. 3. The manufacture of these robes constituted a
separate department of the imperial administration under the
256
SEVERUS ALEXANDER XXXIX. 9— XL. 4
waiting to issue them until he could reduce the tax ;
however, when this proved impossible because of the
needs of the state, he had them melted down and
issued only third-aurei and solidi.1 He also melted
down the pieces of two, three, four, and ten aurei,
and the coins of larger denominations even up to the
value of a pound 2 and of a hundred aurei — which had
been introduced by Elagabalus — and so withdrew
them from circulation. The coins made therefrom
were designated only by the name of the metal itself,
for, as he himself said, it would result in the emperor's
giving too generous largesses, if, when it were possible
for him to bestow many pieces of smaller value, he
should be compelled to bestow thirty or fifty or a
hundred by giving the. value of ten or more in a
single piece.
XL. He himself had very few silk garments, and
he never wore one that was wholly silk or gave away
one that was even partly silk.3 He envied no man
his wealth. He gave aid to the poor ; and in the
case of men who had held public office, when he saw
that their poverty was genuine, and not simulated or
due to extravagance, he would always help them with
many useful gifts, such as lands, slaves, draught-
animals, herds, and farm-implements. He always
kept his robes in his treasury 4 for a year 5 and then
ordered them to be given away at once. Every
garment that he gave away he inspected in person.
name of ratio purpurarum. A procurator of Alexander
charged with its conduct is commemorated in an inscription
from Corinth; see C.I.L., iii. 536. In 383 the manufacture
of purple robes became an imperial monopoly; see Cod.
Justinianus, iv. 40, 1.
5 In contrast with Elagabalus ; see Heliog., xxxii. 1.
257
SEVERUS ALEXANDER
5 frequenter adpendit. donavit et ocreas et bracas et
6 calciamenta inter vestimenta militaria. purpurae
clarissimae non ad usum suum sed ad matronarum, si
quae aut possent aut vellent, certe ad vendendum
gravissimus exactor fuit, ita ut Alexandriana purpura
hodieque dicatur quae vulgo Probiana dicitur, idcirco
quod Aurelius Probus baphiis praepositus id genus
Tmuricis repperisset. usus est ipse chlamyde saepe
coccinea. in urbe tamen semper togatus fuit et in
8 Italiae urbibus. praetextam et pictam togam num-
quam nisi consul accepit, et earn quidem quam de
lovis templo sumptam alii quoque accipiebant aut
9praetores aut consules. accepit praetextam etiam
cum sacra faceret, sed loco pontificis maximi non im-
10 peratoris. boni linteaminis 1 adpetitor fuit, et quidem
puri, dicens : " Si lineae idcirco sunt ut 2 nihil asperum
11 habeant, quid opus est purpura in linea ? " aurum autem
mitti et dementiam iudicabat, cum ad 3 asperitatem ad-
1 linteaminis Salm., Peter ; linae P.1 ; linaei P corr. 2 ut
om. in P. 3 ad om. in P.
1 The procurator baphii is mentioned in the Codex Justini-
anus and other documents of the later empire.
2 See c. xlii. 1. On this type of cloak see notes to CL Alb.t
ii. 5.
8 So also Hadrian and Marcus Aurelius; see Hadr., xxii.
8; Marc., xxvii. 3.
4 On the triumphal toga see note to Cl. Alb., ii. 5.
£58
SEVERUS ALEXANDER XL. 5-11
He would give away all his gold and silver, and very
frequently too. He would also give away equipment
for the troops, such as leggings, trousers, and boots.
He would always insist most rigorously on having
purple of the brightest hue, not for his own use but
for that of matrons, in case they were able or eager
to have it, and in any case with a view to having it
put on sale ; and even today that purple is still
called Alexandrian, which is commonly spoken of as
Probian merely because Aurelius Probus, the super-
intendent of the dye-works,1 invented this kind of
dye. He himself usually wore a scarlet cloak,2 but
when in Rome and the cities of Italy he was always
dressed in the toga.3 On the other hand, he never
assumed the bordered or the gold -embroidered toga 4
except when consul, and then it was always the one
which was brought out from the temple of Jupiter
and assumed by all the other praetors and consuls.5
He also assumed the bordered toga when he per-
formed sacrifices, but then only as pontifex maximus,
and not as emperor. He was always eager to get
good linen, without any purple in it, for he used to
say, " If these garments are made of linen in order
to prevent their being rough, what is the use of hav-
ing purple in the linen ? ' And as for inserting gold
threads, he deemed it madness, since in addition to
being rough they also made the garment stiff. He
always wore bands on his legs,6 and he used white
6 See note to Oord., iv. 4.
8 Woollen or linen bands wrapped about the calves as a
protection against the cold. Augustus wore them in winter
(Suetonius, Aug., Ixxxii.), but in the first century they were
considered as suitable for invalids only ; see Quinlilian, xi. 3,
144.
259
SEVERUS ALEXANDER
deretur rigor, fasciis semper usus est. bracas albas
habuit non coccineas, ut prius solebant.
XLI. Gemmarum quod fuit vendidit et aurum in
aerarium contulit, dicens gemmas viris usui non esse,
matronas autem regias contentas esse debere uno
reticulo atque inauribus et bacato monili et corona,
cum qua sacrificium facerent, et unico pallio auro
sparso et cyclade, quae sex uncias auri plus non
2 haberet. prorsus censuram suis temporibus de pro-
priis moribus gessit. imitati sunt eum magni viri et
Suxorem eius matronae pemobiles. aulicum minis-
tenum in id contraxit, ut essent tot homines in sin-
gulis officiis quot necessitas postularet, ita ut annonas
non dignitatem accipereiit fullones et vestitores et
pistores l et pincernae et 2 omnes castrenses ministri,
quemadmodum pestis ilia instituerat, sed annonas
4singulas vix binas. et cum argentum in ministerio
plus ducentis libris non haberet nee 3 plures ministros,
argentum et ministros et stromataf4 quando pascebat,
accipiebat ab amicis. quod hodieque fit, si pascatur
5 a praefectis absente imperatore. voluptates scaenicas
in convivio numquam habuit, sed summa illi oblectatio
1 pistores Loisel, Peter; pictures P, Jordan. *et om. in
P. 3 nee haec P. 4 ministros et stromata Editor ; mistro
mantea P ; ministeria mutua Peter2.
1 Tightly-fitting trousers gathered in at the ankle, the
characteristic costume of the northern barbarians. These
appear clad in them on Trajan's Column and the Arch of
Constantine. In the first century they were regarded as a
barbarum tegmen (so Tacitus, Hist., ii. 20), but the present
passage seems to suggest that their use in the third century
was not uncommon. Their use in Rome was prohibited at
260
SEVERUS ALEXANDER XLI. 1-5
trousers,1 not scarlet ones, as had formerly been the
custom.
XLI. All the jewels that he had he sold and the pro-
ceeds he deposited in the public treasury, saying that
men had no need of jewels,2 and that the women of
the royal household should be content with one hair-
net, a pair of earrings, a necklace of pearls, a diadem
to wear while sacrificing, a single cloak ornamented
with gold, and one robe with an embroidered border,
not to contain more than six ounces of gold. And
in every way he exercised a censorship on the customs
of his age quite in keeping with his own manner of
life, for illustrious men followed his example and
noble matrons that of his wife. The palace-servants
were so reduced in number that in each department
there were no more than absolute necessity de-
manded ; and the fullers, the tailors, the bakers, the
cup-bearers, and all the court-servants were granted
rations but not any official rank, as had been the
practice of that scourge, and only single rations too,
rarely double ones. And since he never had more
than two hundred pounds of silver-plate in his table
service,3 and a correspondingly small number of ser-
vants, when he gave banquets he would borrow from
his friends silver-plate, servants, and couch-covers —
a custom still in vogue to-day when the prefects give
banquets in the emperor's absence. He never had
dramatic entertainments at his banquets,4 but his
the end of the fourth century ; see Codex Theodosianus, xiv.
10,2.
2 In contrast with Elagabalus ; see Heliog., xxiii. 3-4 ; xxix. 1.
8 Cf . c. xxxiv. 1.
4 As Elagabalus had gladiatorial fights ; see Heliog., xxv.
7-8.
26' 1
SEVERUS ALEXANDER
fuit, ut aut l catuli cum porcellulis luderent, aut per-
dices inter se pugnarent, aut galbulae 2 parvulae sur-
6 sum et deorsum volitarent. habuit sane in Palatio
unum genus voluptatis, quo maxime delectatus
7 est et quo sollicitudines publicas sublevabat. nam
aviaria instituerat pavonum, phasianorum, gallina-
ceorum, anatum, perdicum etiam, bisque vehementer
oblectabatur, maxime palumborum, quos habuisse ut
ad xx milia dicitur, et ne eorum pastus gravaret an-
nonam, servos habuit vectigales, qui eos ex ovis ac
pullicenis ac pipionibus alerent.
XLII. Thermis et suis et veterum frequenter cum
populo usus est et aestate maxime, balneari veste ad
Palatium revertens, hoc solum imperatorium habens
2 quod lacernam cocceam accipiebat. cursorem num-
quam nisi servum suum, dicens ingenuum currere nisi
in sacro certamine non debere, cocos, pistores,3 fullones
et balneatores nonnisi servos suos habuit, ita ut, si
3quis deesset, emeret. medicus sub eounus palatinus
salarium accepit, ceterique omnes usque ad sex
fuerimt, qui annonas binas aut ternas accipiebant,
ita ut mundas singulas consequerentur, alias aliter.
4iudices cum promoveret, exemplo veterum, ut et
Cicero docet, et argento et necessariis instruebat, ita
ut praesides provinciarum acciperent argenti pondo
vicena, mulas4 senas, mulos binos, equos binos, vestes
1ut aut Petschenig; aut P; ut Peter. 2 galbulae Salm.,
Peter1; gacplae P; auicolae Madvig, Peter2. *pistores
Peter; picatores P. 4uicena, mulas Salm., Peter; uicenam
filas P.
1 Of. c. xliv. 4.
8 In Verrem, Act. II., iv. 6, 9.
SEVERUS ALEXANDER XLI. 6— XLII. 4
chief amusement consisted in having young dogs
play with little pigs, or partridges tight with one
another, or tiny little birds fly about to and fro. He
did have one kind of amusement in the Palace which
gave him the greatest pleasure and afforded him
relief from the cares of state ; for he arranged
aviaries of pea-fowl, pheasants, hens, ducks, and
partridges, and from these he derived great amuse-
ment, but most of all from his doves, of which he had,
it is said, as many as twenty thousand. And in order
that the food for these might not become a burden
to the grain-supply, he had slaves to provide the
necessary income, who maintained the doves on the
proceeds of the eggs and the squabs and young birds.
XLII. He frequently used the public baths in
company with the populace, especially in summer,
using both those built by himself and the older ones,
and he would return to the Palace in his bathing-
costume, retaining only this much of the emperor,
namely, that he put on a scarlet cloak. As runners
he had none but slaves, for he said that a free-born
man ought not to run except in a contest held in
honour of a god ; and he had none but slaves as
cooks, bakers, fullers, and bath-keepers, buying more
if there was any lack. During his reign only one
palace-physician received a salary,1 while all the
others, of whom there were never more than six,
received double or triple rations, one being of the
finest kind, the others of different quality. When-
ever he advanced judicial officers he provided them,
after the custom of the ancients (described also by
Cicero2), with silver and all needed equipment, pro-
viding a provincial governor with twenty pounds of
silver, six she-mules, a pair of mules, a pair of horses,
263
SEVERUS ALEXANDER
forenses binas, domesticas binas, balneares singulas,
aureos centenos, cocos singulos, muliones siiigulos et,
si uxores non haberent, singulas concubinas, quot
sine his esse non possent, reddituri deposita adminis-
tratione mulas, mulos, equos, muliones et cocos, cetera
sibi habituri, si bene egissent, in quadruplum reddituri,
si male, praeter condemnationem aut peculatus aut
repetundarum.
XLIII. Leges innumeras sanxit. carrucas Romae
et raedas senatoribus omnibus ut argentatas haberent,
permisit, interesse Romanae dignitatis putans, ut his
2tantae urbis senatores utereiitur. consules quoscum-
que vel ordinaries vel suffectos creavit, ex senatus
sententia nominavit, sumptum eorum contrahens, et
3nundinia veteri ex ordine instituit.1 quaestores can-
didatos ex sua pecunia iussit munera populo dare,
sed ita ut post quaesturam praeturas acciperent et
4 deinde provincias regerent. arcarios vero instituit,
qui de area fisci ederent munera eademque parciora.
habuit in animo, ut munera per totum annum dis-
pergeret, ut per triginta dies munus populo daretur,
6 sed cur id non fecerit in occulto habetur. Capitolium
1 instituit uel dies uel tempora P ; uel . . . tempora del. by
Gas. and Peter.
1See Heliog., xxix. 1 and note.
2 See note to Carac., iv. 8.
8 See note to c. xxviii. 1.
4 The quaestores candidati principis were named directly
by the emperor without the formality of an election. Both
these and the quaestors elected in the ordinary way were
obliged to provide public games at their own expense. Accord-
ing to the present passage, Alexander limited this obligation
to the quaestores candidati and provided the others (the
264
SEVERUS ALEXANDER XLIII. 1-5
two garments for use in the forum, two for use at
home, and one for the bath, one hundred aurei, one
cook, one muleteer, and a concubine in the case of a
man who had no wife and could not live without a
woman. Of these, the mules and the horses, the
muleteer and the cook were to be returned when
the governor laid down his office ; the rest, however,
he might keep if he had governed well, but if ill, he
must return them fourfold and also undergo the
punishment imposed for embezzlement or extortion.
XLIII. He enacted laws without number. He
permitted every senator to use a carriage in the city
and to have a coach ornamented with silver,1 thinking
that it enhanced the dignity of Rome that these
should be used by the senators of so great a city. In
appointing consuls, either regular or substitute,2 he
always asked for the opinion of the senate ; he reduced
their expenses, furthermore, and arranged for the days
of their entry into office3 in accordance with the
ancient system. He issued an order that a quaestor
who was the nominee of the emperor should give
games to the people at his own expense,4 but with
the understanding that after the quaestorship he was
to receive a praetorship and then govern a province ;
ordinary quaestors, on the other hand, were authorized
to pay for their games — which were less lavish — out
of the revenues of the privy-purse. And it was his
intention to have the games given at regular intervals
throughout the whole year, in order that the people
might have a spectacle every thirty days, but this
plan, for some unknown reason, was never carried
out. Every seven days, when he was in the city, he
quaestores arcarii) with funds from the privy-purse; see
Mommsen, C.I.L., i2, p. 336, and Staatsrecht, ii3, p. 534 f.
265
SEVERUS ALEXANDER
septimo quoque die, cum in urbe esset, ascendit,
6templa frequentavit. Christo templum facere voluit
eumque inter decs recipere. quod et Hadrianus
cogitasse fertur, qui templa in omnibus civitatibus
sine simulacris iusserat fieri, quae hodieque, idcirco
quia non habent numina, dicuntur Hadriani, quae ille
Tad hoc parasse dicebatur. sed pruhibitus est ab iis
qui consulentes sacra reppererant omnes Christianos
futures, si id fecisset,1 et templa reliqua deserenda.
XLIV. Jn iocis dulcissimus fuit, in fabulis amabilis,
in conviviis comis, ita ut quisque posceret quod vellet.
2 ad aurum colligendumattentus, ad servandum cautus,
ad inveniendum sollicitus, sed sine cuiusquam excidio.
3 Syrum se dici nolebat sed a maioribus Romanum et
stemma generis depinxerat, quo ostendebatur genus
eius a Metellis descendere.
4 Rhetoribus, grammaticis, medicis, haruspicibus,
mathematicis, mechanicis, architectis salaria instituit
et auditoria decrevit et discipulos cum annonis pau-
6 perum filios modo ingenues dari iussit. etiam in pro-
vinciis oratoribus forensibus multum detulit, plerisque
etiam annonas dedit, quos constitisset gratis agere.
1 In P the portion of the vita which begins with fecisset and
ends with de Is^uria in c. Iviii. 1 is transposed to the Vita
Maximinorum, v. 3, where it is inserted after occiso Helio-
gabalo ubi primum ; this portion is retained, in its proper
place in the 2 codices ; see Intro, to Vol. I., p. xxxiii. f.
JCf. c. xxii. 4 and note.
8 See Hadr.t xiii. 6 and note.
3 He and his mother were criticized for this; see note to
c. xiv. 7.
4 Of. c. xxviii. 7. 'This was, of course, fictitious.
266
SEVERUS ALEXANDER XLIII. 6— XLIV. 5
went up to the Capitolium, and he visited the other
temples frequently. He also wished to build a
temple to Christ and give him a place among the
gods l — a measure, which, they say, was also considered
by Hadrian. For Hadrian ordered a temple without
an image to be built in every city, and because these
temples, built by him with this intention, so they
say, are dedicated to no particular deity, they are
called today merely Hadrian's temples.2 Alexander,
however, was prevented from carrying out his purpose,
because those who examined the sacred victims
ascertained that if he did, all men would become
Christians and the other temples would of necessity
be abandoned.
XLIV. He was very, kindly in his jests, agreeable
in his conversation, and generous at his banquets, so
much so, in fact, that anyone might ask for what-
ever he wished. He was diligent in amassing gold,*
careful in keeping it, and zealous in procuring it, yet
he never put any one to death. He did not like to
be called a Syrian 4 and asserted that his ancestors
were Romans, and he had his family-tree depicted,
showing that he was descended from the Metelli.5
To rhetoricians, grammarians, physicians, sooth-
sayers, astrologers, engineers, and architects he paid
regular salaries and assigned lecture-rooms, and he
ordered rations to be given to their pupils, provided
these were sons of poor men and free-born. Also in
the provinces he granted many privileges to pleaders
in the courts, and to some, whom he appointed to
plead cases without remuneration, he even gave
rations. The laws governing literary contests 6 he
6 See c. xxxv. 4 and note.
267
SEVERUS ALEXANDER
6 leges agonis 1 firmavit casque etiam ipse diligenlissime
7 servavit. theatralia spectacula saepe obiit. Theatrum
8 Marcelli reficere voluit. multis civitatibus, quae post
terrae motus deformes erant, sumptus ad instaura-
tionem operum et publicorum et privatorum ex vecti-
Qgalibus2 dedit. in templis sane numquam praeter
quattuor aut quinque argenti libras auri ne guttulam
quidem aut bratteolam posuit, susurrans versum Flacci
Persii :
"In sanctis quid facit aurum ?"
XLV. Expeditiones bellicas habuit, de quibus ordine
suo edisseram. primum tamen eius consuetudinem di-
2 cam de rebus vel tacendis vel prodendis. tacebantur
secreta bellorum, itinerum autem dies publice propone-
bantur, ita ut edictum penderet ante menses duos, in
quo scriptum esset, " Ilia die, ilia hora ab urbe sum
exiturus et, si di voluerint, in prima mansione man-
surus," deinde per ordinem mansiones, deinde stativae,
deinde ubi annona esset accipienda, et id quidem eo
3 usque quamdiu ad fines barbaricos veniretur. iam3
enim inde tacebatur, et omnes operam dabant 4 ne
4 dispositionem Romanam barbari scirent. certum est
autem eum numquam id quod proposuerat fefellisse,
cum diceret nolle ab aulicis suas vendi dispositiones,
quod factum fuerat sub Heliogabalo, cum ab eunuchis
1 agonis Mommsen ; agnos P, susp. by Peter. zpecuniam
ex uectigalibus P ; pecuniam del. by Salm. and Peter. 3 et
iam P. 4 operam dabant Editor ; ambulabant P, susp. by
Peter ; et omnes amb. del. by Jordan.
1 See c. xxiv. 3 and note.
3 Persius, Saturae, ii. 69. The MSS. of Persius read sancto.
8Seec. 1. f.
268
SEVERUS ALEXANDER XLIV. 6— XLV. 4
made more stringent, always observing them most
scrupulously himself, and he frequently attended
performances in the theatre. He planned to repair
the Theatre of Marcellus,1 and in many cities, which
had been rendered unsightly by earthquakes, he
made an appropriation from the public revenues to
pay for the restoration of both public and private
buildings. But to temples he never made donations
of more than four or five pounds of silver, and of gold
not even a mite or the thinnest leaf, and he was even
heard to murmur a line of Persius Flaccus 2 :
"What place has gold in sanctuaries ?"
XLV. He conducted military expeditions, which I
shall describe in their proper place.3 But first I will
tell of his way of dealing with matters to be kept
secret or announced publicly. He always kept secret
the plan for a campaign, but announced openly the
length of each day's march ; and he would even issue
a proclamation two months beforehand, in which was
written, " On such and such a day, and at such and
such an hour, I shall depart from the city, and, if the
gods so will, I shall tarry at the first halting- place."
Then were listed in order all the halting-places, next
the camping-stations, and next the places where pro-
visions were to be found, for the whole length of the
march as far as the boundaries of the barbarians'
country. From here on everything was kept secret
and all took every precaution to keep the barbarians
in ignorance of the plans of the Romans. It is certain,
moreover, that he never practised any deception in
anything that he announced publicly, for he de-
clared that he would not allow the palace-officials to
sell his plans, as had been done under Elagabalus,
269
SEVERUS ALEXANDER
5omnia venderentur. quod genus hominum idcirco
secreta omnia in aula esse cupiunt, ut soli aliquid
scire videantur et habeant unde vel gratiam vel pe-
cuniam requirant.
6 Et quia de publicandis dispositionibus mentio con-
tigit — ubi aliquos voluisset vel rectores provinciis dare
vel praepositos l facere vel procuratores, id est ration-
ales, ordinare, nomina eorum proponebat, hortans
populum, ut si quis quid haberet criminis probaret
manifestis rebus, si non probasset, subiret poenam
7capitis. dicebatque grave esse, cum id Christiani
et ludaei facerent in praedicandis sacerdotibus, qui
ordinandi sunt, non fieri in provinciarum rectoribus,
quibus et fortunae hominum committerentur et capita.
XLVI.adsessoribus salaria instituit, quamvis saepe dixerit eos
esse promovendos qui per se rem publicam gerere
possent, non per adsessores, addens militares habere
suas administrationes, habere litteratos, et ideo unum-
quemque hoc agere debere quod nosset.
2 Thesauros reppertos iis qui reppererant donavit et,
si multi essent, addidit his eos quos in suis habebat
Sofficiis. cogitabat secum et descriptum habebat
lpropositos P, Peter.
aSee c. xxiii. 4-7.
3 The term rationales, originally applied to the official (also
called a rationibus) who had the supervision of the privy-
purse at Rome, was in the later third and the fourth centuries
used generally, though not officially, to designate any pro-
vincial procurator; see Maxim., xiv. 1; Gard., vii. 2.
3 On his interest in Judaism and Christianity see c. xxii. 4
and note.
4 See Pesc. Nig., vii. 3-6 and notes.
8 On laws dealing with treasure-trove see Hadr.t xviii. 6 and
note.
270
SEVERUS ALEXANDER XLV. 5— XLVI. S
when everything was sold by the eunuchs l — a class of
men who desire that all the palace-affairs should be
kept secret, solely in order that they alone may seem
to have knowledge of them and thus possess the
means of obtaining influence or money.
Now since we happen to have made mention of his
practice of announcing his plans publicly — whenever
Alexander desired to name any man governor of a
province, or make him an officer in the army, or
appoint him a procurator, that is to say, a revenue-
officer,2 he always announced his name publicly and
charged the people, in case anyone wished to bring
an accusation against him, to prove it by irrefutable
evidence, declaring that anyone who failed to prove
his charge should suffer capital punishment. For, he
used to say, it was unjust that, when Christians and
Jews observed this custom in announcing the names of
those who were to be ordained priests,3 it should not
be similarly observed in the case of governors of
provinces, to whose keeping were committed the
fortunes and lives of men. XLVI. Furthermore, the
assistants of the governors were granted regular
salaries,4 though he often said that only those men
ought to be promoted who could carry on the ad-
ministration of the state by their own efforts and did
not need the aid of assistants, adding that soldiers
had their own particular sphere, and scholars theirs,
and that accordingly it was the duty of every man to
do whatever he could.
Treasure-trove he always gave to the finders,5 and if
these were numerous he would include among them
the officials of his various departments. He always
remembered and wrote down the names of those to
whom he had granted some favour, and if he knew
271
SEVERUS ALEXANDER
cui quid praestitisset, et si quos sciret vel nihil petisse
vel non multum, unde sumptus suos augerent, vocabat
eos et dicebat : " Quid est, cur nihil petis ? an me
tibi vis fieri debitorem ? pete, ne privatus de me
4 queraris." dabat autem haec in beneficiis quae famam
eius non laederent : bona punitorum sed numquam
cum auro, argento vel gemmis, nam id omne in
aerarium reponebat ; dabat praeposituras locorum
civilium non militum, dabat eas administrationes quae
5 ad procurationes pertinerent. rationales cito mutabat,
ita ut nemo nisi annum compleret, eosque, et l si boni
essent, oderat, malum necessarium vocans. praesides
vero proconsules et legates numquam fecit ad bene-
ficium sed ad iudicium vel suum vel senatus.
XLVII. Milites expeditionis tempore sic disposuit,
ut in mansionibus annonas acciperent nee portarent
cibaria decem et septem, ut solent, dierum nisiin
barbarico, quamvis et illic mulis eosdem atque camelis
adiuverit, dicens milites se magis servare quam se
2ipsum, quod salus publica in his esset. aegrotantes
ipse visitavit per tentoria milites etiam ultimos et
Scarpentis vexit et 2 omnibus necessariis adiuvit. et si
1 et om. in P. 2 et om. in P.
1 i.e. the holding of some public office.
2 Of. Hadr., vii. 7 ; xviii. 3; Avid. Cass., vii. 6.
8 See notes to c. xxiv. 1 and Hadr., iii. 9.
4 So also Ammianus Marcellinus xvii. 9, 2 ; plus dimidiati
mensis cibaria, Cicero, Tutc. Disp., ii. 37.
272
SEVERUS ALEXANDER XLVI. 4— XLVII. 3
that there was a man who had not asked for some-
thing, or at any rate not much, which would cause his
expenses to increase,1 he would call him and say, " Why
is it, that you do not ask for some present ? Is it be-
cause you wish me to be your debtor ? Ask for some-
thing, then, that you may not, by remaining a private
citizen, have cause to complain of me." When he
granted favours, moreover, he would grant those which
would not damage his reputation, such as, for in-
stance, the property of those who had suffered punish-
ment, but never the gold or the silver or the jewels,
for all these he deposited in the public treasury 2 ; or
he would grant civil offices, but never military, or
else those posts which had to do with the collection
of the revenues. His revenue -officers he would change
frequently, and none held office for longer than a
year ; and even if the officers were upright, he de-
tested them and referred to them as a necessary evil.
And when he appointed governors of provinces, pro-
consuls, or legates,3 it was never as a favour but
solely on the basis of his own judgment or that of the
senate.
XLVII. During his campaigns he made such care-
ful provision for the soldiers that they were furnished
with supplies at each halting-place and were never
compelled to carry food for the usual period of
seventeen days,4 except in the enemy's country.
And even then he lightened their burdens by using
mules and camels, saying that he was more concerned
for the soldiers' welfare than for his own, for on them
depended the safety of the state. When any of the
soldiers were ill he would visit them personally in
their tents, even those of the lowest rank, and have
them carried in carts and provided with every
273
SEVERUS ALEXANDER
forte gravius laborassent, per civitates et agros patri-
bus familias honestioribus l et sanctioribus matronis eos
distribuebat, reddens impendia quae fecissent, sive
convaluissent illi seu perissent.
XLVIII. Cum quidam Ovinius Camillus senator
antiquae familiae delicatissimus rebellare voluisset
tyrannidem adfectans. eique nuntiatum esset ac statim
probatum, ad Palatium eumrogavit eique gratias egit,
quod curam rei publicae, quae recusantibus bonis im-
2poneretur, sponte reciperet. deinde ad senatum
processit et timeiitem ac tantae conscientiae tabe con-
fectum participem imperil appellavit, in Palatium
recepit, convivio adhibuit, ornamentis imperialibus et
8 melioribus quam ipse utebatur adfecit. et cum ex-
peditio barbarica esset nuntiata, vel ipsum si vellet
4 ire vel ut secum proficisceretur hortatus est. et cum
ipse pedes iter faceret, ilium invitavit ad laborem,
quern post quinque milia cunctantem equo sedere
iussit, cumque post duas mansioiies equo etiam
6 fatigatus esset, carpento imposuit. hoc quoque seu
timore seu vere respuentem, abdicantem quin etiam
imperium et mori paratum dimisit commendatumque
militibus, a quibus Alexander unice amabatur, tutum
6 ad villas suas ire praecepit. in quibus diu vixit, sed
post iussu imperatorisoccisus est, etquod2 ille militaris
] honestioribus Salm. , Peter ; hominibus P. 2 quod et
P, Peter.
1 Otherwise unknown.
274
SEVERUS ALEXANDER XLVIII. 1-6
necessity ; and if by any chance they grew worse,
he would quarter them on the most upright house-
holders or highly esteemed matrons in the cities and
the country-districts, paying back the expenses which
they incurred, whether they recovered or died.
XLVIII. Once, when a certain Ovinius Camillus,1
a senator of ancient family but very pleasure -loving,
made plans to rebel and seize the throne, and this
was reported to Alexander and forthwith proved, he
summoned him to the Palace and thanked him for
voluntarily offering to assume the responsibility for
the state, which had been imposed on many a good
man against his will. Then he proceeded to the
senate and greeted as partner in the imperial power
this trembling wretch. now overcome with weakness at
the realization of his guilt. Next, he conducted him to
the Palace, invited him to a banquet, and presented
him with the imperial insignia, of a better quality,
even, than his own. Later, when an expedition
against the barbarians was announced, he urged him
either to set forth on his own responsibility, did he
so desire, or to proceed in company with himself.
And since he himself travelled on foot, he invited
Camillus to share his labours, but when the man fell
behind after five miles, he bade him ride a horse, and
again, when after two days' journey he was tired out
by riding, he had him put in a carriage. And when
Camillus refused even this, either through fear or in
sincerity, and even resigned his power and made
ready to die, Alexander sent him away, commending
him to the soldiers, by whom he himself was
singularly beloved, and bidding him go in safety to
his country-estate. Here he lived for a long time,
but afterwards he was put to death by the Emperor's
275
SEVERUS ALEXANDER
esset, a militibus occisus est.1 scio vulgura hanc rem
quam contexui Traiani putare, sed neque in vita
eius id Marius Maximus ita exposuit neque Fabius
Marcellinus neque Aurelius Verus neque Statius
Valens, qui omnem eius vitam in litteras miserunt.
7 contra autera et Septimius et Acholius et Encolpius
ceterique vitae scriptores 2 de hoc talia praedicaverunt.
g quod ideo addidi, ne quis vulgi magis famam sequere-
tur quam historiam, quae rumore utique vulgi verier
reperitur.
XLIX. Honores iuris gladii numquam vendi passus
est, dicens : " Necesse est, ut qui emit et vendat. ego
non patior mercatores potestatum et eos quos, si
rapiant,3 damnare non possim. erubesco enim punire
2 ilium hominem, qui emit et vendidit." pontificatus
et quindecimviratus et auguratus codicillares fecit, ita
ut in senatu allegarentur.
Dexippus dixit uxorem eum cuiusdam Macrini filiam
duxisse, eundemque ab eo Caesarem nuncupatum.
4verum cum vellet insidiis occidere Alexandrum
i
1 et a militibus occisus esset P ; del. by Peter2. 2 uitae
scriptores ceterique P, Peter1; uitae scriptores del. by Peter2.
srapia?it Madvig ; pariant P, Peter.
1 Cited also in Prob., ii. 7, but otherwise unknown and per-
haps apocryphal. He is possibly to be identified with the
Valerius Marcellinus of Max.-Balb., iv. 5.
2 Verus and Valens are otherwise unknown.
3 See c. xiv. 6 ; xvii. 1-2 and note.
4 i.e. the right to inflict capital punishment, which in
theory belonged only to the emperor or the senate. In the
third century this right was granted by the emperor to all
provincial governors ; see Ulpian in Digesta, i. 18, 6, 8.
5 See note to c. yxii. 5.
6 P. Herennius Dexippus of Athens. His Chronicle, fre-
quently cited in the later biographies of the Historia Augusta,
276
SEVERUS ALEXANDER XLVIII. 7— XLIX. 4
command, and, because he was a soldier, he was put
to death by soldiers. The common crowd, I know,
ascribes this incident, which I have just related, to
Trajan, but Marius Maximus has not published it in
his Life of Trajan, nor yet Fabius Marcellinus1 or
Aurelius Verus or Statius Valens,2 all of whom have
written accounts of Trajan's entire life. On the
other hand, Septimius and Acholius and Encolpius3
and his other biographers have related just such
stories as this about Alexander, and I have included
this one here in order that no one may accept common
rumour rather than real history, which at least will
be found more authentic than the talk of the crowd.
XLIX. The right of wearing the sword4 he would
never allow to be sold, for he said : " It must inevit-
ably happen that he who buys will also sell, and I
will not tolerate traffickers in offices or men on whom,
if they should plunder, I could not impose sentence.
For I blush at the thought that a man who buys and
sells should be able to inflict punishment." The
office of pontifex and also membership in the College
of Fifteen 5 and the augurship he bestowed by im-
perial mandate, but always on condition that the
appointment be ratified by the senate.
Dexippus 6 has related that Alexander married the
daughter of a certain Macrinus 7 and that he gave
this man the name of Caesar ; moreover, that when
Macrinus tried to kill him by treachery, Alexander,
began apparently with the mythical period and extended
down to 268 A.D. He held important municipal offices in
Athens, and about 267 A.D., with the aid of a hastily collected
army, he repelled an invasion of the Goths (the Heruli) ; see
Gall., xiii. 8.
7 See note to c. xx.>3.
277
SEVERUS ALEXANDER
Macrinus, detecta factione et ipsum interemptum et
Suxorem abiectam. idem dicit patruum fuisse Aii-
toninum Heliogabalum Alexandri, non sororis eius-
6 dem matris1 filium. cum Christian! quendam locum,
qui publicus fuerat, occupassent, contra popinarii
dicerent sibi eum deberi, rescripsit melius e&se, ut
quemadmodumcumque illic deus colatur, quam popi-
nariis dedatur.
L. Cum igitur tantus ac talis imperator domi ac
foris esset, iniit Parthicam expeditionem, quam tanta
disciplina, tanta reverentia sui egit, ut non milites sed
2senatores transire diceres. quacumque iter legiones
faciebant, tribuni taciti, centuriones verecundi,
milites amabiles erant, ipsum vero ob haec tot et
S tanta bona provinciales ut deum suspiciebant. iam
vero ipsi milites iuvenem imperatorem sic amabant
ut fratrem, ut filium, ut parentem, vestiti honeste,
calciati etiam ad decorem, armati nobiliter, equis
etiam instruct! et ephippiis ac frenis decentibus,
prorsus ut Romanam rem publicam intellegeret qui-
4cumque Alexandri vidisset exercitum. elaborabat
denique ut dignus illo nomine videretur, immo ut
Macedonem ilium vinceret, dicebatque inter Romanum
Alexandrum et Macedonem multum interesse debere.
Sfecerat denique sibi argyroaspidas et chrysoaspidas,
1 sororis eiusdem matris Gas., Jordan; uxoris sororis
eiusdem P, Peter.
1 An error, for their mothers were sisters.
2 i.e. the Persians; see c. Iv. 1.
3 See c. xii. 5 and note.
4 This seems to be contradicted by the many mutinies
under him ; see note to o. xii. 5.
278
SEVERUS ALEXANDER XLIX. 5— L. 5
on detecting the plot, not only put Macrinus to
death but also divorced his wife. The same writer
says also that Antoninus Elagabalus was the uncle of
Alexander/ and not the son of his mother's sister.
And when the Christians took possession of a certain
place, which had previously been public property,
and the keepers of an eating-house maintained that
it belonged to them, Alexander rendered the decision
O *
that it was better for some sort of a god to be wor-
shipped there than for the place to be handed to the
keepers of an eating-house.
L. And so, after showing himself such a great and
good emperor at home and abroad, he embarked
upon a campaign against the Parthians- ; and this he
conducted with such discipline3 and amid such re-
spect, that you would have said that senators, not
soldiers, were passing that way. Wherever the
legions directed their march, the tribunes were
orderly, the centurions modest, and the soldiers
courteous, and as for Alexander himself, because of
these many great acts of consideration, the inhabi-
tants of the provinces looked up to him as to a god.
And the soldiers too loved their youthful emperor
like a brother, or a son, or a father 4 ; for they were
respectably clad, well shod, even to the point of
elegance, excellently armed, and even provided with
horses and suitable saddles and bridles, so that all
who saw the army of Alexander immediately realized
the power of Rome. In short, he made every effort
to appear worthy of his name and even to surpass
the Macedonian king, and he used to say that there
should be a great difference between a Roman and a
Macedonian Alexander. Finally, he provided him-
self with soldiers armed with silver shields and with
279
SEVERUS ALEXANDER
fecerat et phalangem triginta railium hominum, quos
phalangarios vocari iusserat et cum quibus multura
fecit in 1 Perside ; quae quidem erat ex sex legionibus
similium armorum, stipendiorum vero post bellum
Persicum maiorum.
LI. Dona regia in templis posuit ; geramas sibi ob-
latas vendidit, muliebre esse aestimans gemmas pos-
sidere, quae neque militi dari possint neque a viro
2 haberi. cum quidam legatus uniones duos uxori eius
per ipsum obtulisset magni ponderis et inusitatae men-
Ssurae, vendi eos iussit. cum pretium non invenirent,
ne exemplum malum a regina nasceretur, si eo
uteretur, quod emi non posset, inauribus Veneris eos
dicavit.
4 Ulpianum pro tutore habuit, primum repugnante
matre deinde gratias agente, quern saepe a militum
ira obiectu purpurae suae 2 defendit, atque ideo sum-
mus imperator fuit quod eius consiliis praecipue rem
publicam rexit.
5 In procinctu atque in expeditionibus apertis papili-
onibus prandit atque cenavit, cum militarem cibum
cunctis videntibus atque gaudentibus sumeret, cir-
1in Peter1, Novak; inter P; in terra Petschenig, Peter2.
*tuae Jordan, Peter; summae P.
during the Indian campaign of Alexander the Great a
picked corps of infantrymen was formed, armed, as an
especial mark of honour, with shields decorated with silver;
hence they were known as apyupda-mSes. A similar corps
with shields decorated with gold and hence named x^o-ofo-inSes
is mentioned by Pollux, i. 175.
8 See note to c. Iv. 1. 3See o. xli. 1.
* Notably in his vain attempt to protect Ulpian against
280
SEVERUS ALEXANDER LI. 1-5
golden,1 and also a phalanx of thirty thousand men,
whom he ordered to be called phalangarii, and with
these he won many victories in Persia.'2 This phalanx,
as a matter of fact, was formed from six legions, and
was armed like the other troops, but after the Persian
wars received higher pay.
LI. Gifts presented to him by kings he would
always dedicate in a temple, but the jewels that were
given to him he sold,3 maintaining that jewels were
for women and that they should not be given to a
soldier or be worn by a man. And when one of his
legates presented to the Emperor's wife through
Alexander himself two pearls of great weight and
uncommon size, he ordered them to be sold. But
when no offer could be found, fearing that a bad ex-
ample might be set by the queen, were she to wear
jewels too costly to find a buyer, he dedicated them
to Venus for earrings.
He always treated Ulpian as his guardian — a fact
which called forth, first the opposition of his mother,
but, later, her gratitude — and he frequently protected
him from the soldiers' ill-will by sheltering him under
his own purple robe.4 In fact, it was because he
ruled chiefly in accordance with Ulpian's advice that
he was so excellent an emperor.5
When in the field or on a campaign he lunched
and dined in an open tent and ate the soldiers' ordin-
ary food in the sight of all and greatly to their plea-
sure 6 ; and he used to go about to all the tents and
the praetorian guards, who mutinied in 228 and killed him ;
see Dio, Ixxx. 2, 2 ; see also c. xii. 5 and note.
6 See note to c. siv. 7.
6 So also c. Ixi. 2. This is told also of Hadrian and Pescen-
m'us Niger; see Hadr., x. 2; Pesc. Nig., xi. 1.
281
SEVERUS ALEXANDER
cumiret prope tota tentoria, a signis abesse neminem
6pateretur. si quis de via in alicuius possessionem
deflexisset, pro qualitate loci aut fustibus subiciebatur
in conspectu eius aut virgis aut condemnation! aut, si
haec omnia transiret dignitas hominis, gravissimis
contumeliis, cum diceret, " Visne hoc in agro tuo
7 fieri quod alteri facis ? ' clarmbatque saepius, quod
a quibusdam sive ludaeis sive Christianis audierat et
tenebat, idque per praeconenr, cum aliquem emen-
8 daret, dici iubebat, " Quod tibi fieri non vis, alteri ne
feceris." quam sententiam usque adeo dilexit ut et
in Palatio et in publicis operibus praescribi iuberet.
LI I . Idem cum quandam aniculam adfectam iniuriis
a milite audisset, exauctoratum eum militia servum
ei dedit, quod artifex carpentarius esset, ut earn pas-
ceret. et cum dolerent hoc milites factum, persuasit
2 omnibus ut modeste ferrent, et eos terruit. dvat^tarov
imperium eius, cum fuerit durus et tetricus, idcirco
vocatum est quod senatorem nullum occiderit, ut
Herodianus Graecus scriptor refert in libris temporum
Ssuorum. severitatis autem tantae fuit in milites, ut
saepe legiones integras exauctoraverit, ex militibus
Quirites appellans, nee exercitum umquam timuerit,
idcirco quod in vitam suam dici nihil posset quod
1 See note to c. xxii. 4.
aHerodian, vi. 1, 7 ; 9, 8.
3 See c. xii. 5 and notes.
4 Modelled after the famous incident related of Julius
Caesar, that he quelled a mutiny by addressing the troops as
282
SEVERUS ALEXANDER LI. 6— LIT. 3
never permitted anyone to be absent from the colours.
Moreover, if any man turned aside from the road
into someone's private property, he was punished in
the Emperor's presence according to the character of
his rank, either by the club or by the rod or by con-
demnation to death, or, if his rank placed him above
all these penalties, by the sternest sort of a rebuke,
the Emperor saying, " Do you desire this to be done
to your land which you are doing to another's ? "
He used often to exclaim what he had heard from
someone, either a Jew or a Christian,1 and always
remembered, and he also had it announced by a
herald whenever he was disciplining anyone, "What
you do not wish that a man should do to you, do not
do to him." And so highly did he value this senti-
ment that he had it written up in the Palace and in
public buildings.
LII. Once, on learning that a soldier had maltreated
an old woman, he dismissed the man from the ser-
vice and gave him to the woman as a slave, in order
that he might support her, for he was a waggon-
maker. And when the soldiers grumb^d at this
action, he persuaded them all to submit quietly and
actually frightened them. His rule, though harsh
and stern, was called bloodless for the reason that he
never put a senator to death — or so Herodian, a
Greek writer, declares in his history of his own times.2
Moreover, so stern was he toward the soldiers that
frequently he discharged entire legions,3 addressing
the men as "Citizens " instead of " Soldiers"4 ; and
he never felt any fear of his troops, for it could not
be said as a criticism of his character that his tribunes
Quirites (i.e. "Citizens ") ; see Suetonius, Julius, Ixx. The
speech attributed to Alexander is given in c. liii.-liv.
283
SEVERUS ALEXANDER
umquam tribuni vel duces de stipendiis militum quic-
quam accepissent, dicens, "Miles non timendus si1
vestitus, armatus, calciatus et satur et habens aliquid
in zonula," idcirco quod mendicitas militaris ad om-
4nem desperationem vocaret armatum. apparitores
denique nullos esse passus est tribunis aut ducibus
milites iussitque, ut ante tribunum quattuor milites
ambularent, ante ducem sex, ante legatum decem,
hique ad domos suos reciperent.
LI 1 1. Et ut severitas eius agnosci posset, unam
contionem militarem indendam putavi, quae illius in
2 re militari mores ostenderet. nara cum Antiochiam
venisset, ac milites lavacris muliebribus et deliciis
vacarent eique nuntiatum esset, omnes eos compre-
3 hendi iussit et in vincula conici. quod ubi compertum
est, mota seditio est a legione, cuius socii erant in
4 vincula coniecti. turn ille tribunal ascendit vinctisque
omnibus ad tribunal adductis, circumstantibus etiam
5 militibus et quidem armatis ita coepit : " Commili-
tones, si tamen ista vobis quae a vestris facta sunt
displicent, disciplina maiorum rem publicam tenet,
quae si dilabitur, et nomen Romanum et imperium
6 amittemus. neque enim sub nobis ista facienda sunt
7 quae sub impura ilia bestia nuper facta sunt. milites
1 non timendus si sugg. by Peter in note ; non. timet nisi P,
Peter.
1 See c. xv. 5 and note.
2 His practice of addressing the troops is attested by coins
with the representation of Alexander on a platform haranguing
soldiers and the legend Adlocutio Augusti ; see Cohen, iv2,
p. 402, nos. 3-7 ; p. 480, no. 1.
284
SEVERUS ALEXANDER LII. 4— LIII. 7
or generals ever took tithes out of the soldiers'
pay,1 his motto being : " A soldier is not to be feared
if he is clothed and armed and shod, and has a full
stomach and something in his money-belt." And
this was because poverty in a soldier drove him,
when in arms, to every desperate deed. Last of all,
he did not permit the tribunes and generals to use
soldiers as their servants, and he gave orders that
four soldiers should walk in front of a tribune, six in
front of a general, and ten in front of a legate, and
that they should take their men into their quarters.
LIII. Now in order to show his strictness I have
thought it right to insert one military harangue,2
which reveals his methods of dealing with the troops.
After his arrival in Antioch the soldiers began to use
their leisure in the women's baths and the other
pleasures,3 but when Alexander learned of it he
ordered all who did so to be arrested and thrown into
chains. When this was made known, a mutiny was
attempted by that legion whose members were put
in chains. Thereupon, after bringing all those who
had been thrown into chains to the tribunal, he
mounted the platform, and, with the soldiers standing
about him, and that too in arms, he began as follows :
" Fellow-soldiers, if, in spite of all, such acts as have
been committed by your comrades are to you dis-
pleasing, the discipline of our ancestors still governs
the state, and if this is weakened, we shall lose both
the name and the empire of the Romans. For never
shall such things be done in my reign which were but
recently done under that filthy monster. Soldiers of
3 Also told of the troops quartered in Syria under Marcus
Aurelius ; see Avid. Cass.t v. 5.
285
SEVERUS ALEXANDER
Romani, vestri socii, mei contubernales et commili-
tones, amant, potant, lavant, et Graecorum more
quidem se instituunt.1 hoc ego diutius feram ? et
8 non eos capital! dedam supplicio ? ' tumultus post
hoc ortus est. atque iterura : " Quin continetis
vocem in bello contra hostem, non contra impera-
9 torem vestrum necessarian! ? certe campidoctores
vestri hanc vos clocuerunt contra Sarmatas et Ger-
manos ac Persas emittere, non contra eum, qui ac-
ceptam a provincialibus annonam, qui vestem, qui
lOstipendia vobis adtribuit. continete igitur vocem
truculeiitam et campo ac bellis necessariam, ne vos
hodie omnes uno ore atque una voce Quirites dimittam
11 et incertum an Quirites. non enim digni estis qui
vel Romanae plebis sitis, si ius Romaiium non agnos-
LIV. citis." et cum vehementius fremerent ac ferro quo-
que minarentur, "Deponite," inquit, " dextras contra
hostem erigeiidas, si fortes sitis, me enim ista non
2terrent. si enim unum hominem occideritis, non
nobis deerit res publica, non senatus, non populus
sRomanus, qui me de vobis vindicet." cum nihilo
minus post ista fremerent, exclamavit, " Quirites, dis-
4cedite atque arma deponite." mirando exemplo de-
positis armis, depositis etiam sagulis militaribus omnes
non ad 2 castra, sed ad deversoria varia recesserunt.
Stuncque privatim intellectum est quantum eius
Gseveritas posset, denique etiam signa stipatores et ii
1 So Editor ; lauant Graecorum morem. etquidem se institu-
unt P ; lauant Graecorum <iw> morem. equidem si insistunt
Salm., Peter. 2deP.
286
SEVERUS ALEXANDER LIU. 8— LIV. 6
Rome, your companions, my comrades and fellow-
soldiers, are whoring and drinking and bathing and,
indeed, conducting themselves in the manner of the
Greeks. Shall I tolerate this longer ? Shall I not
deliver them over to capital punishment ? ' There-
upon an uproar arose. And again he spoke : " Will
you not silence that shouting, needed indeed against
the foe :n battle but not against your emperor ? Of
a certainty, your drill -masters have taught you to use
this against Sarmatians, and Germans, and Persians,
but not against him who gives you rations presented
by the men of the provinces, and who gives you
clothing and pay. Therefore cease from this fierce
shouting, needed only on the battle-field and in war,
lest I discharge you all today with one speech and with
a single word, calling you " Citizens." But I know
not whether I should even call you Citizens ; for you
are not worthy to be members even of the populace
of Rome, if you do not observe Rome's laws." LIV.
And when they clamoured still more loudly and even
threatened him with their swords, he continued :
" Put down your hands, which, if you are brave men,
you should raise against the foe, for such things do
not frighten me. For if you slay me, who am but
one man, the state and the senate and the Roman
people will not lack someone to take vengeance for
me upon you." And when they clamoured none the
less at this, he shouted, " Citizens, withdraw, and
lay down your arms." Then in a most marvellous
fashion they laid down their arms and also their
military coats, and all withdrew, not to the camp, but
to various lodgings. And on that occasion, parti-
cularly, it was seen how much could be accom-
plished by his strictness and discipline. Finally, his
287
SEVERUS ALEXANDER
qui imperatorem circumdederant in castra rettulerunt,
7arma collecta populus ad Palatium tulit. earn tamen
legionem quara exauctoravit rogatus post dies xxx,
priusquam ad expeditionem Persicam proficisceretur,
loco suo restituit eaque pugnante maxime vicit, cum
tamen tribunos eius capital! adfecit supplicio, quod
per neglegentiam illorum milites apud Daphnem
luxuriati essent, vel per coniventiam seditionem
fecisset exercitus.
LV. Magno igitur apparatu inde in Persas pro-
fectus Artaxerxen regem potentissimum vicit, cum
ipse cornua obiret, milites admoneret, subiectus telis1
versaretur, manu plurimum faceret, singulos quosque
2 milites ad laudem verbis adduceret. fuso deiiique
fugatoque tanto rege, qui cum septingentis elephantis
falcatisque mille et octingentis curribus ad bellum
venerat et 2 equitum multis milibus, statim Antiochiam
rediit et de praeda, quam Persis diripuit, suum ditavit
exercitum, cum et tribunos ea quae per vicos diri-
1 telis Petschenig, Peter2; tuteli P. *et ins. by Pet-
schenig ; om. in P and Peter.
1 See note to Sev., xxii. 7.
2 In his interest in anecdote and trivial detail the bio-
grapher has failed to give any coherent account of Alexander's
war in the Orient. In 227 Ardashir (Artaxerxes), a Persian
chieftain, who had gradually conquered all Persia, defeated
and killed Artabanus V., the Parthian king, and founded the
new Persian monarchy and the Sassanid dynasty (named
from Sasan, his grandfather). In 230 he overran Mesopotamia
and threatened Syria and Cappadocia, so that in 231 Alex-
ander was forced to take the field against him ; see the coins
of 231 with the legend Prof(ectio) Aug(usti), Cohen, iv2,
p. 450 f., no. 486 ; p. 484, no. 18. The most detailed account
of the campaign is given by Herodian (vi. 5-6), who relates
288
SEVERUS ALEXANDER LIV. 7--LV. 2
attendants and those who stood about his person
carried the standards back to the camp, and the
populace gathering up the arms bore them to the
Palace.1 However, thirty days afterwards, before
he set out on the campaign against the Persians, he
was prevailed upon to restore the discharged legion
to its former status ; and it was chiefly through its
prowess in the field that he won the victory. Never-
theless, he inflicted capital punishment on its tribunes
because it was through their negligence that the
soldiers had revelled at Daphne or else with their
connivance that the troops had mutinied.
LV. And so, having set out from there against the
Persians with a great array, he defeated Artaxerxes,2
a most powerful king. In this battle he himself
commanded the flanks, urged on the soldiers, exposed
himself constantly to missiles, performed many brave
deeds with his own hand, and by his words encouraged
individual soldiers to praiseworthy actions. At last
he routed and put to flight this great king, who had
come to the war with seven hundred elephants,
eighteen hundred scythed chariots, and many
thousand horsemen. Thereupon he immediately
returned to Antioch and presented to his troops the
booty taken from the Persians, commanding the
tribunes and generals and even the soldiers to keep
that one division of the Roman army was annihilated and
the other two (one under the command of Alexander) forced
to retire, but says nothing of the victories recorded here and
by Victor (Caes., xxiv.) and Eutropius (Brev., viii. 23). On
the other hand, the fact that Ardashir refrained from any
advance and that the Roman- Parthian boundary remained
unchanged points to the belief that Alexander was not wholly
unsuccessful.
289
SEVERUS ALEXANDER
%
puerant et duces et ipsos milites habere iussisset.
8 tumque primum servi Persae apud Romanes fuerunt,
quos quidem, quia indigne ferunt Persarum reges
quempiam suorum alicui servire, acceptis pretiis red-
didit pretiumque vel iis qui manu ceperant servos
dedit vel in aerarium contulit.
LVI. Post hoc Romam venit triumphoque pul-
cherrimo acto apud senatum primum haec verba ha-
2buit : Ex actis senatus die VII kal. Octob. : " Persas,
patres conscripti, vicimus. longae eloquentiae opus
non est, tantum scire debetis, quae illorum arma
Sfuerint, qui apparatus, iam primum elephanti sep-
tingenti idemque turriti cum sagittariis et onere
sagittarum. ex1 his triginta cepimus, ducenti inter-
4fecti iacent, decem et octo perduximus. falcati cur-
rus mille octingenti. ex his 2 adducere interfectorum
animalium currus ducentos potuimus, sed id, quia et
6 fingi poterat, facere supersedimus. centum et viginti
milia equitum eorum fudimus, cataphractarios, quos
1 et P. 2 MDCCC Salm. (cf. c. Iv. 2) ; mille se adducere P ;
mille -\se. adducere Peter.
aHis return is commemorated on coins of 233 with the
representation of Alexander crowned by Victory and having
the Tigris and Euphrates at his feet ; see Cohen, iv2, p. 445,
no. 446. Also coins of Mama*a with the legend Fortuna
Redux (Cohen, iv2, p. 493, no. 30) probably celebrate this
return.
2 The citation is supposed to be from the official records
of the senate's transactions. They are also cited as a source
in Prob,, ii. 1, but the genuineness of these citations is more
than dubious.
3 The KardtypaKToi were a body of cavalry whose horses were
clad in full mail; they were Persian in origin but were also
used by the Seleucid kings, and they appear in the Roman
army of the late empire (see Ammianus Marcellinus, xvi, 10, 8)
290
SEVERUS ALEXANDER LV. 3— LVI. 5
for themselves the plunder they had seized in the
country. Then for the first time Romans had
Persian slaves, but because the kings of the Persians
deem it a disgrace that any of their subjects should
serve anyone as slaves, ransoms were offered, and
these Alexander accepted and then returned the
men, either giving the ransom-money to those who
had taken the slaves captive, or depositing it in the
public treasury.
LVI. After this, returning to Rome, he conducted
a most splendid triumph1 and then first of all
addressed the senate in the following speech : From
the transactions of the senate for the seventh day 25 Sept.,
before the Kalends of October 2 : " Conscript Fathers,
we have conquered the Persians. There is no need
of lengthy rhetoric ; you should know, however, this
much, namely, what their arms were, and what their
array. First of all, there were seven hundred
elephants provided with turrets and archers and
great loads of arrows. Of these we captured thirty,
we have left two hundred slain upon the field, and
we have led eighteen in triumph. Moreover, there
were scythed chariots, one thousand eight hundred
in number. Of these we could have presented to
your eyes two hundred, of which the horses have
been slain, but since they could easily be counterfeited
we have refrained from so doing. One hundred ard
twenty thousand of their cavalry we have routed, ten
thousand of their horsemen clad in full mail, whom
they call cuirassiers,3 we have slain in battle, and
under the name clibanarii. The word clibanarii would seem
from the present passage to be Persian (so Du Cange, Glos-
sarium, ii. p. 371), but it seems more natural to connect it
with K\(&CU>OS, an iron vessel.
2.01
SEVERUS ALEXANDER
illi clibanarios vocant, decera milia in bello intere-
mimus, eorum armis nostros armavimus. multos
6 Persarum cepimus eosdemque vendidimus. terras
interamnanas, Mesopotamiae scilicet, neglectas ab
7 impura ilia belua recepiraus. Artaxerxen, potentis-
simum regera tarn in re quam nomine, fusum fuga-
vimus, ita ut eum terra Persarum fugientem videret,
et qua ducta fuerant quondam signa nostrorum, ea
8 rex ipse sign is effugit relictis. haec sunt, patres
conscripti, gesta. eloquentiae opus non est. milites
divites redeunt, laborem in victoria nemo sentit.
9 vestrum est supplicationem decernere, ne dis videa-
mur ingrati." adclamatio senatus : " Alexander
Auguste, di te servent. Persice Maxime, di te ser-
vent. vere Parthicus, vere Persicus. tropaea tua et
IQnos videmus, victorias et nos videmus. iuveni im-
peratori, patri patriae, pontifici maximo. per te
victoriam undique praesumimus. ille vincit qui
militem regit. dives senatus, dives miles, dives
LVII. populus Romanus." dimisso senatu Capitolium as-
cendit atque inde re divina facta et tunicis Persicis
in templo locatis contionem huiusmodi habuit :
" Quirites, vicimus Persas. milites divites reduximus.
vobis cougiarium pollicemur, eras ludos circenses
Persicos dabimus."
1i.e. Elagabalus.
2 The standards of Crassus captured by the Parthians at
Carrhae in 53 B.C. and of Antony's legates Saxa and Statianus
captured respectively in 40 and 36 B.C.
3 For similar acclamations see c. vi.-xi. ; Avid. Cass., xiii. ;
Com., xviii.-xix. and notes.
292
SEVERUS ALEXANDER LVI. 6— LVII. 1
with their armour we have armed our own men. We
have captured many of the Persians and have sold
them into slavery, and we have re-conquered the
lands which lie between the rivers, those of Meso-
potamia I mean, abandoned by that filthy monster.1
Artaxerxes, the most powerful of kings, in fact as
well as in name, we have routed and driven from the
field, so that the land of the Persians saw him in full
flight, and where once our ensigns were led away in
triumph,2 there the king himself fled apace leaving
his own standards. These are our achievements,
Conscript Fathers, and there is no need of rhetoric.
Our soldiers have come back enriched, and in victory
no one remembers his hardships. It is now your
part to decree a general thanksgiving, that we may
not seem to the gods to be ungrateful." Then
followed the acclamations of the senate 3 : " Alexander
Augustus, may the gods keep you ! Persicus Maximus,
may the gods keep you ! Parthicus in truth, Persicus
in truth. We behold your trophies, we behold your
victories too. Hail to the youthful Emperor, the
Father of his Country, the Pontifex Maximus !
Through you we foresee victory on every hand. He
conquers who can rule his soldiers. Richis the senate,
rich the soldiers and rich the Roman people ! "
LVII. Thereupon he dismissed the senate and went
up to the Capitolium, and then, after offering sacrifices
and dedicating the tunics of the Persians in the
temple, he delivered the following address : " Fellow-
citizens, we have conquered the Persians. We have
brought back the soldiers laden with riches. To you
we promise a largess, and to-morrow we will give
games in the Circus in celebration of our victory over
the Persians."
293
SEVERUS ALEXANDER
2 Haec nos et in annalibus et apud multos repperi-
mus. sed quidam dicunt a servo suo eum proditum
3 non vicisse regem sed, ne vinceretur, fugisse. quod
contra multorum opinionem dici non dubium est iis
qui plurimos legerint. nam et amisisse ilium exer-
citum dicunt fame, frigore ac morbo, ut Herodianus
auctor est contra multorum opinionem.
4 Post hoc cum ingenti gloria comitante senatu
equestri ordine atque omni populo circumfusisque un-
dique mulieribus et infantibus, maxime militum
coniugibus, pedes Palatium conscendit, cum retro
currus triumphal is a quattuor elephantis traheretur.
5levabatur manibus hominum Alexander, vixque illi
per horas quattuor ambulare permissum est, undique
omnibus clamantibus : " Salva Roma, salvares publica,1
Gquia salvus est Alexander." alia die actis circensibus
et item ludis scaenicis deinceps congiarium populo
7 Romano dedit. puellas et pueros, quemadmodum
Antoninus Faustinianas instituerat, Mamaeanas et
Mamaeanos instituit.
LVIII. Actae sunt res feliciter et in Mauretania
Tingitana per Furium Celsum et in Illyrico per
Varium Macrinum adfinem eius et in Armenia per
lunium Palmatum, atque ex omnibus locis ei tabellae
laureatae sunt delatae. quibus in senatu et apud
1 salua res publica Flor. Cusanum, ace. to Mommsen, Ges.
Schr., vii., p. 301 ; om. in P and Peter.
1 Herodian, vi. 6, 3 ; see also note to c. !v. 1.
2 Probably the Liberalitas Aug(usti) quinta of his coins;
see Cohen, iv2, p. 416 f., nos. 141-145.
3 See Pius, viii. 1 and note ; Marc., xxvi. 6.
4 Presumably his father-in-law ; see c. xlix. 3-4 and note.
6 It was customary to send a wreath of laurel with the
294
SEVERUS ALEXANDER LVII. 2— LVIII. 1
All this we have found both in the annals and in
many writers. Some assert, however, that he was
betrayed by one of his slaves and did not conquer
the king at all, but, on the contrary, was forced to
flee in order to escape being conquered. But those
who have read most of the writers are sure that this
assertion is contrary to the general belief. It is also
stated that he lost his army through hunger, cold,
and disease, and this is the version given by Herodian,1
but contrary to the belief of the majority.
After this, with the greatest glory and accompanied
by the senate, the equestrian order, and the whole
populace, with the women and children, particularly
the wives of the soldiers, crowding about him on
every side, he went up on foot to the Palace, while
behind him four elephants drew his triumphal chariot.
And the populace kept lifting him up in their arms,
and for four hours they scarcely permitted him to
put his foot to the ground, while on all sides they
kept shouting out, " Secure is Rome, secure is the
commonwealth, for secure is Alexander." On the
following day he gave games in the Circus and
spectacles on the stage, and immediately thereafter
he presented a largess 2 to the Roman people. And
he founded an order of girls and boys, to be called
Mamaeanae and Mamaeani, as Antoninus had
founded the Faustinianae.3
LV111. Other victories also were won — in Maure-
taniaTingitana by Furius Celsus, in Illyricum by Varius
Macrinus, Alexander's kinsman,4 and in Armenia by
Junius Palmatus, and from all these places laurelled
letters5 were sent to Alexander. When these had
official report of an important victory. Nothing further is
known of any of these campaigns.
295
SEVERUS ALEXANDER
populum lectis vario tempore cum etiam de Isauria l
2 optatae vfcnissent,2 omnibus nominibus est ornatus. iis
vero qui rem publicam bene gesserant consularia orna-
menta decreta sunt, additis etiam sacerdotiis et agro-
rum possessionibus iis qui erant pauperes et aevo iam
3 graves, captivos diversarum nationum amicis donavit,
si aetas puerilis aut iuvenalis permisit, si qui tamen
regii aut nobiliores fuerunt, eos militiae, non tamen
4 magnae, deputavit. sola quae de hostibus capta sunt,
limitaneis ducibus et militibus donavit, ita ut eorum
essent,3 si heredes eorum militarent, nee umquam ad
privates pertinereiit, dicens attentius eos militaturos,
6 si etiam sua rura defenderent. addidit sane his et
animalia et servos, ut possent colere quod acceperant,
ne per inopiam hominum vel per senectutem possi-
dentium desererentur rura vicina barbariae, quod tur-
pissimum ille ducebat.
LIX. Post haec cum ingenti amore apud populum
et senatum viveret, et sperantibus victoriam cunctis
1 With Isauria ends the portion of the vita transposed to
Maxim., v. 3 ; see crit. note to c. xliii. 7. 2 optatae uenis-
sent P, ace. to Hohl, Klio, xiii., p. 287 ; \uario t. c. e. d. I.
opiate uenisset Peter. 3 essent militarent P.
1 An error, for none is found hi his inscriptions or on his coins.
2 See note to Hadr.t viii. 7.
3 A similar policy was followed by Probus in Isauria (see
Prob., xvi. 6) and also by the emperors of the fifth century
(see Codex Justiniamis, xi. 60. 3).
4 Probably in 234. An account of the German expedition is
given by Herodian, vi. 7. The Germans, taking advantage of
the fact that the armies on the Danube and the Rhine had
been depleted in order to supply troops for the campaign
against Ardashlr, crossed the rivers and invaded Roman ter-
ritory. Alexander, marching northward hastily, crossed the
Rhine on a bridge of boats (portrayed on a coin of 235,
Cohen, iv2, p. 483, no. 16) and attempted to make peace,
296
SEVERUS ALEXANDER LVIII. 2— LIX. 1
been read, on different occasions, before the senate
and the people and wished-for tidings had arrived
from Isauria also, honorary cognomina taken from the
names of all these lands were conferred on the
Emperor.1 Moreover, those who had won success in
the administration of the state received the consular
insignia,2 with the addition of priestly offices and
grants of land for any who were poor and now
burdened with age. The captives taken from the
various nations, if their childhood or youth permitted
it, were given to the Emperor's friends, but those
who were of royal blood or noble rank were enrolled
for warfare, though not for any of great importance.
The lands taken from the enemy were presented to
the leaders and soldiers of the frontier-armies,3 with
the provision that they should continue to be theirs
only if their heirs entered military service, and that
they should never belong to civilians, for, he said,
men serve with greater zeal if they are defending
their own lands too. He added to these lands, of
course, both draught-animals and slaves, in order that
they might be able to till what they had received,
and that it might not come to pass that, through a
lack of inhabitants or the old age of the owners, the
lands bordering on the country of the barbarians
should be left uninhabitated, for this, he thought,
would be most discreditable.
LIX. After this he was regarded with the greatest
affection by both the populace and the senate, and
when he set out for the war against the Germans,4
promising to fulfil their conditions and offering them large
sums of money. The anger of the troops at these negotia-
tions led to a revolt under the leadership of Maximinus (§ 7-8)
and the murder of Alexander and Mamaea ; see Maxim., vii.
4 ; Herodian, vi., 8-9.
297
SEVERUS ALEXANDER
et invitis eum dimittentibus ad Germanicum bellum
profectus est, deducentibus cunctis per centum et
2 centum quinquaginta milia. erat autem gravissimum
rei publicae atque ipsi, quod Germanorum vastationi-
3 bus Gallia diripiebatur. pudoremque augebat, quod
victis iam Parthis ea natio inminebat rei publicae
cervicibus, quae semper etiam minusculis imperatori-
4 bus subiecta videbatur. magnis igitur itineribus, laetis
militibus contendit. sed cum ibi quoque seditiosas
Slegiones comperisset, abici eas praecepit. verum
Gallicanae mentes, ut sese habent durae ac retorridae
et saepe imperatoribus graves, severitatem hominis
nimiam et longe maiorem post Heliogabalum non
Gtulerunt. denique agentem eum cum paucis in
Britannia, ut alii volunt in Gallia, in vico cui Sicilia
nomen est, non ex omnium sententia sed latroci-
antium modo quidam milites et ii praecipue qui
Heliogabali praemiis effloruerunt, cum severum prin-
7 cipem pati non possent, occiderunt. multi dicunt a
Maximino inmissos tirones, qui ei ad exercendum
Sdati fuerant, eum occidisse, multi aliter ; a militibus
tamen constat, cum iniuriose quasi in puerum eundem
et matrem eius avaram et cupidam multa dixissent.
LX. Imperavit annis xin diebus vim. vixit annis
1 On Alexander's severity see c. xii. 5 and note. It certainly
was not responsible for this mutiny ; see note to § 1.
2 Victor also says that he was killed at Sicilia, a vicus
Britanniae (Caes., xxiv. 4), but this is, of course, an error
due to some confusion in the name. All the testimony points
to the belief that his death occurred at or near Mainz; see
C.I.L., xiii. 2, p. 298.
3Maximinus (Thrax), his successor; see Maxim., vii.
298
SEVERUS ALEXANDER LIX. 2— LX. 1
though all hoped for victory, they were unwilling to let
him depart and escorted him on his way for a distance
of a hundred or a hundred and fifty miles. It was,
indeed, a very grave matter both for the state and
for himself that Gaul should be plundered by German
inroads, and his sense of humiliation was increased by
the thought that now that the Parthians had been
defeated a nation should still be hanging over the
neck of the commonwealth, which, even under in-
significant emperors, had seemed to be in a state of
subjection. Therefore he hastened against the enemy
by long marches, and the soldiers, too, were eager.
But on his arrival he found that there also the
legions were ready to mutiny, and accordingly he
ordered them to be disbanded. The Gallic temper,
however, which is rough and surly and frequently a
source of danger to emperors, would not brook his
excessive strictness,1 which seemed all the greater
after Elagabalus. And finally, while he was in
quarters with a few men in Britain, or, according to
some, in Gaul, in a village named Sicilia,2 some
soldiers murdered him. This was not done in re-
sponse to any general sentiment but rather as the
act of an assassin, the ringleaders being men who had
thriven on the gifts of Elagabalus and would not
tolerate a stricter prince. Many, indeed, relate that
he was slain by some recruits despatched by
Maximinus 3 (to whom they had been assigned for
their training), and many others give different
accounts. Nevertheless, it is generally agreed that
those who killed him were soldiers, for they hurled
many insults at him, speaking of him as a child and
of his mother as greedy and covetous.
LX. He ruled for thirteen years and nine days, and
he lived for twenty-nine years, three months, and
299
SEVERUS ALEXANDER
2XXVIIH mensibus in diebus VH. egit omnia ex consilio
matris, cum qua occisus est.
3 Omina mortis haec fuerunt : cum natalem diem
commendaret, hostia cruenta effugit et, ut se civiliter
gerebat ac permixtus populo erat, albam eius vestem,
4 cum qua constiterat, cruentavit. laurus in Palatio
cuiusdam l civitatis, a qua proficiscebatur ad bellum,
Singens et antiqua tota subito decidit. arbores fici
tres, quae fie us eas ferrent quibus Alexandrinarum
nomen est, subito ante illius tentorium deciderunt,
6 cum tentoria imperatoria his adnexa essent. mulier
Druias eunti exclamavit Gallico sermone, "Vadas
nee victoriam speres iiec te militi tuo credas."
7 tribunal ascendit, ut contionaretur et faustum aliquid
diceret, et2 ita coepit " Occiso imperatore Helioga-
8balo." hoc tamen omini fuit quod iturus ad bellum
milites adloqui minus fausta oratione coeptaverat.
LXI. Sed haec omnia vehementissime contempsit.
profectusque ad bellum in loco supra dicto ita occisus
2 est : pranderat forte publico, ut solebat, convivio, id
est apertis papilionibus cibo militari accepto, neque
enim aliud a discutientibus militibus in tentoriis est
Srepertum. et cum quiesceret post convivium, hora
diei ferme septima, unus ex Germanis, qui scurrarum
officium sustinebat, ingressus dormientibus cunctis,
4 solo tamen imperatore intervigilante visus est ; cui
1 cuiusdam P corr. ; cuius P1 ; eius Peter. 2 et om. in P.
1 As his birthday was 1st October, 208 (see note to o. v. 2),
these figures are incorrect.
aSee Sev., xxii. 7 and note.
* Described by Pliny as dark with white lines and called
delicata; see Nat. Hist., xv. 70.
4 See o. li. 5.
300
SfiVERUS ALEXANDER LX. 2— LXI. 4
seven days.1 He did everything in accordance with
his mother's advice, and she was killed with him.
The omens portending his death were as follows :
When he was praying for a blessing for his birthday
the victim escaped, all covered with blood, and, as he
was standing in the crowd dressed in the clothes of a
civilian, it stained the white robe which he wore. In
the Palace 2 in a certain city from which he was
setting out to the war, an ancient laurel-tree of huge
size suddenly fell at full length. 'Also three fig-trees,
which bear the kind of figs known as Alexandrian,3
fell suddenly before his tent-door, for they were close
to the Emperor's quarters. Furthermore, as he went
to war a Druid prophetess cried out in the Gallic
tongue, " Go, but do not hope for victory, and put no
trust in your soldiers". And when he mounted a
tribunal in order to make a speech and say something
of good omen, he began in this wise : " On the
murder of the Emperor Elagabalus ". But it was
regarded as a portent that when about to go to
war he began an address to the troops with words
of ill-omen.
LXI. All these portents, however, he looked upon
with the profoundest contempt. And having set out
for the war, he was slain in the aforementioned vil-
lage in the following manner. He had lunched, as
it happened, in his usual way 4 at a general meal, that
is to say, in an open tent and on the same food that
was used by the troops — for no other kind of food
was found in the tent by the soldiers when they tore
it to pieces. And as he was resting after the meal,
at about the seventh hour, one of the Germans, who
was performing the duties of guard, came in while
all were asleep ; the Emperor, however, who alone
301
SEVERUS ALEXANDER
Alexander "Quid est hoc,1" inquit, " contubernalis ?
5 num aliquid de hostibus nuntias ? " at ille metu per-
territus et sperans non posse se evadere, quod in
tentorium principis inruisset, ad contubernales suos
venit eosque ad durum principem interimendum co-
Ghortatus est. qui subito plures armatique ingressi
inermes et obsistentes contruncarunt et2 ipsum
7 plurimis ictibus confoderunt. aliqui dicunt omnino
nihil dictum sed tantum a militibus clamatum " Exi,
recede," atque ita obtruiicatum iuvenem optimum.3
8 sed omnis apparatus militaris, qui postea est ductus
in Germaniam a Maximino, Alexandri fuit et potentis-
simus quidem per Armenios et Osrhoenos et Parthos
et omnis generis hominum.
LXII. Contempsisse Alexandrum mortem cum
ferocitas mentis, qua militem semper adtrivit, turn
2 etiam ilia declarant. Thrasybulus mathematicus illi
amicissimus fuit. qui cum ei dixisset necessitatem
esse ut gladio barbarico periret, primo laetatus est,
quod sibi mortem bellicam et imperatoriam crederet
3 inminere ; deinde disputavit ostenditque optimos
quosque violenta morte consumptos, cum diceret
ipsum Alexandrum, cuius nomen teneret, Pompeium,
Caesarem, Demosthenem, Tullium et ceteros insignes
4 viros qui non quieta morte oppetissent. tantumque
animi habuit, ut putaret se diis comparandum, si in
*est hoc Petschenig ; est hie P ; istic Jordan, Peter. 2et
om. in P. 3 dimiserunt ins. after optimum in P corr. ;
lacuna assumed by Peter.
1 This account of the murder is wholly misleading ; see note
to o. lix. 7.
2 Archers from Armenia, Osroene (N.W. Mesopotamia), and
302
SEVERUS ALEXANDER LXI. 5— LXII. 4
was awake at the moment, saw him and said, " What
is it, comrade ? Do you bring news of the enemy ? "
But the fellow, terrified by his fears and having no
hope that he could escape, seeing that he had burst
into the Emperor's tent, went out to his comrades
and urged them to kill their rigorous prince. Where-
upon a great number in arms quickly entered the
tent, and after slaying all who, though unarmed, re-
sisted, they stabbed the Emperor himself with many
thrusts.1 Some relate that nothing at all was said
and that the soldiers merely cried out, " Go forth,
depart," and thus slaughtered this excellent man.
But all the military array, which Maximinus afterwards
led to Germany, was Alexander's, and it was a very
powerful one, too, by reason of the soldiers from
Armenia, Osroene, and Parthia,2 composed, as it was,
of men of every race.
LXII. Alexander's contempt for death is clearly
shown both by the intrepid spirit with which he
always put down the soldiery, and also by the follow-
ing incident. When Thrasybulus the astrologer, with
whom he was on the most friendly terms, told him
that it was his destiny to fall by the sword of a bar-
barian, he first expressed his joy, thinking that he
was fated to die in battle in a manner worthy of an
emperor ; then, speaking at length he pointed out
that all the noblest men had died a violent death,
mentioning Alexander himself, whose name he bore,
then Pompey, Caesar, Demosthenes, Cicero, and
other men of note, none of whom had met with a
peaceful end. And such was his courage that he
Parthia were serving in the Roman army ; see Maxim., xi. 7 f.
and Herodian, vii. 2. 1.
303
SEVERUS ALEXANDER
5 bello periret. sed res eum fefellit ; nam et gladio
barbarico et scurrae barbari manu, verum non in bello,
sed belli tempore, periit.
LXIII. Mortem eius milites et qui exauctorati ab
eo quondam fuerant gravissime tulerunt atque
2auctores caedis trucidarunt. populus vero Romanus
senatusque omnis cum provincial ibus cunctis neque
tristius umquam neque asperius acceperunt, simul
quod successoris asperitas atque rusticitas Maximini,
utpote hominis militaris, cui cum filio post eum
imperium delatum est, graviorem fati necessitatem
svidebatur ostendere. senatus eum in deos rettulit.
cenotaphium in Gallia, Romae sepulcrum amplissimum
4 meruit. dati sunt et sodales, qui Alexandrini appellati
sunt ; addita et festivitas matris nomine atque ipsius,
quae hodieque Romae religiosissime celebratur natali
eius die.
5 Causa occidendi eius ab aliis haec fuisse perhibetur,
quod mater eius relicto bello Germanico orientem ad
iactantiam sui vellet redire, atque ob hoc esset iratus
gexercitus. sed haec ab amatoribus Maximini ficta
sunt, qui videri noluerunt imperatorem optimum ab
amico suo interfectum contra iura humana l atque
divina.
LXIV. Hactenus imperium populi Romani eum
1romana P.
1 This statement is certainly incorrect.
2 Commemorated on coins with the legends Divo Alexandra
and Consecratio ; see Cohen, iv2, p. 463, nos. 597-599.
3 See note to Marc., xv. 4.
4 The 1st October ; see note to c. v. 2.
5 This version is not so far from the truth ; see notes to c. lix.
1 and 7.
304
SEVERUS ALEXANDER LXII. 5— LXIV. 1
thought that he ought to be likened to the gods,
were he to perish in battle. But the result deceived
his hopes ; for he did, indeed, fall by the sword of
a barbarian and by the hand of a barbarian guard,
but it was not in battle, though during the course
of a war.
LXII I. His death was greatly lamented by the
soldiers, even by those whom he had discharged, and
they slew the men who had committed the murder.1
But the Roman people and all the senate and all the
inhabitants of the provinces never mourned anything
with greater sorrow and bitterness of spirit ; and at
the same time the cruel necessity of fate seemed to
be shown in the harshness and roughness of his suc-
cessor Maximinus (natural enough in a soldier), on
whom, together with his son, the imperial power was
conferred after Alexander. The senate raised him
to the rank of the gods,2 and he was granted the
honour of a cenotaph in Gaul and a magnificent tomb
in Rome. Moreover, a college of priests was ap-
pointed in his honour, called Alexandrian,3 and a
feast-day, too, was decreed, called by his mother's
name as well as by his, which even today is scrupu-
lously observed at Rome on the anniversary of his
birth.4
The cause of his murder, so others maintain, was
this, namely, that his mother wished to abandon the war
against the Germans and return to the East in order
to display her power there, and at this the soldiers
grew angry.5 But this is only a fiction of the friends
of Maximinus, who did not wish to let it appear that
the best of emperors had been slain by a friend in
defiance of all law, both human and divine.
LXIV. Up to this time the Roman Empire had
305
SEVERUS ALEXANDER
principem habuit qui diutius imperaret, post eum
certatim inruentibus et aliis semestribus, aliis annuls,
plerisque per biennium, ad summum per triennium
imperantibus, usque ad eos principes qui latius im-
perium tetenderunt, Aurelianum dico et deinceps.
2de quibus, si vita subpeditaverit, ea quae comperta
fuerint publicabimus.
8 Reprehensa sunt in Alexandro haec : quod Syrus
esse nolebat, quod aurum amabat, quod suspiciosis-
simus erat, quod vectigalia multa inveniebat, quod se
Magnum Alexandrum videri volebat, quod nimis
severus in milites erat, quod curis privatis l agebat
quae ornnia in re publica instituerat.
4 Scio sane plerosque negare hunc a senatu Caesarem
appellatum esse sed a militibus, qui verum prorsus
ignorant ; dicere praeterea non hunc fuisse consob-
5rinum Heliogabali. qui, ut nos sequantur, historicos
eius temporis legant et maxime Acholium, qui et
itinera huius principis scripsit.
LXV. Soles quaerere, Constantine maxime, quid
sit quod hominem Syrum et alienigenam talem
principem fecerit, cum tot Romani generis, tot
aliarum provinciarum reperiantur improbi, impuri,
2crudeles, abiecti, iniusti, libidinosi. iam primum
possum de bonorum virorum respondere sententia
1 curis priuatis Madvig ; curas priuatis P ; curas
priuatis Salm., Peter.
1 Yet the biographies of Aurelian and his successors which
are included in the Histwia Augusta are attributed to
Vopiscus.
2 This statement is incorrect ; see c. i. 2 ; Heliog. , v. 1.
306
SEVERUS ALEXANDER LXIV. 2— LXV. 2
been governed by princes who had reigns of consider-
able length, but after Alexander various men seized
the power in rivalry with one another, of whom some
reigned only six months, others for a year, and a
number, again, for two or, at the most, three years,
down to the time of those emperors, who extended
the Empire to wider bounds — Aurelian, I mean, and
his successors, concerning whom, if life be granted
me, I shall publish all I have learned.1
The following charges were brought against Alex-
ander : That he did not like to be regarded as a Syrian,
that he was too fond of gold, that he was full of sus-
picions, that he invented many new taxes, that
he wished to seem a second Alexander the Great,
that he was too harsh toward the soldiers, and that
he conducted all public business on his private re-
sponsibility.
There are many indeed, I know, who assert that
he was given the name of Caesar, not by the senate,
but by the soldiers.2 These writers, however, are
wholly ignorant of the truth ; and they say, besides,
that he was not the cousin of Elagabalus.3 But in
order to follow my version they need only to read
the historians of that time, particularly Acholius,4
who also wrote about Alexander's journeys.
LXV. You are wont to inquire, most mighty Con-
stantine, why it was that a man who was a Syrian
and an alien-born became so great an emperor,
whereas so many of Roman stock and so many from
other provinces proved to be evil, filthy, cruel, base,
unjust, and lustful. I might say in reply, following
the opinion of many good men, that, in the first place,
3 Repeated in c. xlix. 5. 4See c. xiv. 6 and note.
307
SEVERUS ALEXANDER
potuisse natura, quae ubique una mater est, bonum
principera nasci, deinde timore, quod pessimus esset
Soccisus, hunc optimum factum. sed quia verum est
suggerendum, Clementiae ac Pietati tuae lecta re-
4serabo. notum est illud Pietati tuae, quod in
Mario Maximo legisti, meliorem esse rem publicam
et prope tutiorem, in qua princeps malus est, ea, in
qua sunt amici principis mali, si quidem unus malus
potest a plurimis bonis corrigi, multi autem mali non
possunt ab uno quamvis bono ulla ratione superari.
6 et id quidem ab Homullo ipsi Traiano dictum est,
cum ille diceret Domitianum pessimum fuisse, amicos
autem bonos habuisse, atque ideo ilium magis odio
fuisse, qui rem publicam peioris vitae hominibus
mandaverit,1 quia melius est unum malum pati quam
multos.
LXVI. Sed ut ad rem redeam, Alexander quidem
et ipse optimus fuit 2 et optimae matris consiliis usus
2 est. at tamen amicos sanctos et venerabiles habuit,
non malitiosos, non ftiraces, non factiosos, non callidos,
non ad malum consentientes, non bonorum inimicos,
non libidinosos, non crudeles, non circumventores
sui, non inrisores, non qui ilium quasi fatuum circum-
ducerent, sed sanctos, venerabiles, continentes,
religiosos, amantes principis sui, et qui de illo nee ipsi
riderent nee risui esse vellent, qui nihil venderent,
1 qui . . . hominibus commendauerat Edit, princ. ; man-
dauerit Ellis ; quae rem p. temporis uitae ille P, susp. by
Peter. 2 After fuit P has nam hoc nemo uult nisi bonus ;
del. by Jordan and Peter.
li.e. Elagabalus; for his murder see Heliog., xvii. 1.
2 Perhaps the father of the Valerius Homullus mentioned
in Pius, xi. 8 ; Marc., vi. 9.
308
SEVERUS ALEXANDER LXV. 3— LXVI. 2
it is possible for a good prince to be produced by
Nature, who is the one universal mother, and that,
in the second, it was fear that made this man the
best of emperors, because the worst had been slain l ;
but since I must lay the truth before you, I shall
disclose the fruits of my reading to Your Clemency
and Piety. For it is well known to Your Piety, since
you have read it in the work of Marius Maximus,
that the state in which the ruler is evil is happier
and almost safer than the one in which he has evil
friends ; for, indeed, one evil man can be made
better by many righteous, but in no way can many
evil men be held in check by one man, however
righteous he may be. And this very thing was told
even to Trajan by Homullus,2 who said that Domitian
was, indeed, a most evil man but had righteous
friends, whereas Trajan was held in greater hatred
because he entrusted the state to men of evil ways,
for it is better to endure one evil man than many.
LXVI. But as for Alexander, to return to my
theme, he was himself a most righteous man and
followed the counsels of a righteous mother 3 ; and,
moreover, he had friends who were upright and re-
vered, not spiteful, or thieving, or seditious, or crafty,
or leagued together for evil, or haters of the righteous,
or lustful, or cruel, or deceivers of their prince, or
mockers, or desirous of hoodwinking him like a fool,
but, on the other hand, upright, revered, temperate,
pious, fond of their prince, men who neither mocked
him themselves nor wished him to become an object
of mockery to others, who sold nothing, who lied in
nothing, who falsified nothing, and who never fell
•But see c. xiv. 7 and notes.
309
SEVERUS ALEXANDER
nihil mentirentur, nihil fingerent, numquam de-
ciperent existimationem principis sui sed amarent.
3 hue accedit quod eunuchos nee in consiliis nee in
ministeriis habuit, qui soli principes perdurit, dura eos
more gentium aut regum Persarurn volunt vivere,
qui eos a populo et amicis summovent,1 qui internuntii
sunt aliud quam respondetur saepe refererites,
claudentes principem suum et agentes ante ornriia,
ne quid sciat. qui curn empti sint et servi fuerint,2
4 quid tandern possunt boni sapere ? erat denique eius
ipsius sententia, " PLgo de praefectorurn et consulum
et senatorum capitibus maneipia acre empta iudicare
non patior."
LXVII. Scio, imperator, quod periculo ista dicantur
apud imperatorem, qui talibus serviit, sed salva re
publica posteaquam intellexisti quid rnali clades istae
habeant et quemadrnodum prineipes cireumveniant,
et tu eos eo loci babes ut nee chlarnyde uti iusseris
sed de neeessitatibus domestieis delegaris.
2 lam illud insigne, quod solurn intra Palatiurn praeter
praefectum et Ulpianurn quidem neminem vidit nee
dedit alicui facultatem vel fumorum vendenrlorum de
se vel sibi de aliis male loquendij rnaxirne occiso
Turino, qui ilium quasi fatuum et vecordem saepe
3 vendiderat. his accessit, quod arnicos et parentes
J rimiciz summouent Cod. Vat lean us 5114 (see Hohl, Klio,
xiii., p. 413), Salm., lJ<S.<-.r ; amiciwimum mouent P. *serui
fuerint Petschenig ; jx-.rui futrit P; serui euirati Peter.
1 Sr:e c. xxiii. 5-6 arrl Dot .
2 i.e. tho paludamentum or general's cloak; see note to
Cl. Alb., ii. 5.
3 See c. xxzi. 2. *See c. xxxvi. 2-3.
310
SEVERUS ALEXANDER LXVI. 3— LXVII. 3
short of the expectations of their prince but were
always devoted to him. It must be added, further-
«/
more, that he never had eunuchs in his councils or
in official positions l — these creatures alone cause the
downfall of emperors, for they wish them to live in
the manner of foreign nations or as the kin^s of the
Persians, and keep them well removed from the
people and from their friends, and they are go-be-
tweens, often delivering messages other than the
emperor's reply, hedging him about, and aiming,
above all things, to keep knowledge from him. And
since they are nothing but purchased chattels and
slaves, how. pray, can they have knowledge of the
right ? Anil indeed, this was Alexander's own opinion
too; for he used to say. "I will not permit slaves
purchased with money to sit in judgment on the
lives of prefects and consuls and senators ".
LXVII. I know. O Prince, that it is perilous to
say these words to an emperor who has been in sub-
jection to such creatures, but now that, greatly to
» •
the welfare of the state, you have learned how much
evil resides in these pests, and how they mislead
rulers, you too keep them in their proper place, and
never bid them wear a soldier's cloak '-' but assign
them only to the necessary duties of your household.
Now this too is a noteworthy tiling, that never
did Alexander grant an audience in the Palace to
anyone alone except the prefect of the guard, that
is IMpian/ and he never gave anyone an opportunity
of selling false promises in his name or of telling
him evil things about others, especially after the
death of Turinus. who had often sold the promises of
the Kmperor as though he were a fool and a weak-
ling.4 And to this we must add that if Alexander
311
SEVERUS ALEXANDER
Alexander si malos repperit, aut punivit aut, si vetus
vel amicitia vel necessitudo non sivit puniri, dimisit
a se dicens " His carior est mihi totis1 res publica."
LXVIII. Et ut scias, qui viri in eius consilio fuerint :
Fabius Sabinus, Sabini insignis viri films, Cato temporis
sui ; Domitius Ulpianus, iuris peritissimus ; Aelius
Gordianus, Gordiani imperatoris parens, vir2 insignis;
Julius Paulus, iuris peritissimus ; Claudius Venacus,
orator amplissimus 3 ; Catilius Severus, cognatus eius,
vir omnium doctissimus ; Aelius Serenianus, omnium
vir sanctissimus ; Quintilius Marcellus, quo meliorem ne
2 historiae quidem continent, his tot atque aliis talibus
viris quid mali potuit cogitari vel fieri, cum ad bonum
3 consentirent ? et hos quidem malorum cohors de-
pulerat, quae circumvenerat Alexandrum primis die-
bus, sed prudentia iuvenis occisis atque depulsis et
4 amicitia ista sancta convaluit. hi sunt qui bonum
principem Syrum 4 fecerunt, et item amici mali, qui
Romanes pessimos etiam posteris tradiderunt, suis
vitiis laborantes.
1 totis Peter ; iota P ; tuta Eyssenhardt, Baehrens.
3 parens uir Mommsen; ipsa res uiri P; filius scientia
iuris Peter. 3 After amplissimus the first Venice edition
has : Pomponius legum peritissimus, Alphenus, Aphricanus,
Florentinus, Martianus, Callistratus, Hermogenes, Venuleius,
Triphonius, Metianus, Celsus, Proculus, Modestinus : hi
omnes iuris professores discipuli fuere splendidissimi Papini-
ani, et Alexandri imperatoris familiar :es et socii, ut scribunt
Acholius et Marius Maximus ; om. in P and rejected by Gas.
and Peter ; retained by Patzig, Bye. Zeitschr., xiii., p. 44 f.
4 Surum Salm., Peter ; suum P.
1 Perhaps the Sabinus mentioned in Heliog., xvi. 2. Save
for Ulpian and Paulus none of these consiliarii is otherwise
312
SEVERUS ALEXANDER LXVIII. 1-4
discovered that his friends or his kinsmen were dis-
honest he always punished them, but if the length
of their friendship or degree of kinship did not per-
mit of their punishment, he dismissed them from his
presence, saying, " Dearer to me than all of these is
the commonwealth".
LXVIII. And that you may know what men were
in his council, he had Fabius Sabinus,1 the son of the
famous Sabinus and the Cato of his time ; Domitius
Ulpianus, the learned jurist ; Aelius Gordianus, a
relative of Gordian the Emperor and a famous man ;
Julius Paulus, the learned jurist ; Claudius Venacus,
a most distinguished orator ; Catilius Severus, his
own kinsman, the most learned of them all ; Aelius
Serenianus, the most highly revered of them all ;
Quintilius Marcellus, a more righteous man than
whom is not found in history. What wicked thing
could be planned or executed by all these men and
others like them, when they were leagued together
for good ? In his early days, indeed, a band of evil
men, which surrounded Alexander, had thrust these
men aside, but when this company were slain or
driven away by the young man's good sense, these
upright friends held sway. These are the men who
made the Syrian a good emperor, as likewise evil
friends caused native Romans to seem evil, even to
posterity, for they burdened them with the weight
of their own iniquities.
known. Aelius Gordianus, if the name is correct, cannot
have been a relative of the emperor Gordian, for the gentile
name of the latter was Antonius.
813
MAXIMINI DUO
IULII CAPITOLINI
Ne fastidiosum esset Clementiae tuae, Constantine
maxime, singulos quosque principes vel principum
liberos per libros singulos legere, adhibui modera-
tionem, qua in unum volumen duos Maximinos, patrem
2filiumque, congererem. servavi deinceps hunc ordi-
nem, quern Pietas tua etiam ab Tatio Cyrillo, Claris-
simo Viro, qui Graeca in Latinum vertit, servari voluit.
8 quod quidem non in uno tantum libro sed etiam in
plurimis deinceps reservabo, exceptis magnis impera-
toribus, quorum res gestae plures atque clariores
longiorem desiderant textum.
4 Maximinus senior sub Alexandro imperatore enituit.
Smilitare autem sub Severo coepit. hie de vico
1 Otherwise unknown. On the title see note to Avid. Cass.,
1.1.
2C. Julius Verus Maximinus (Thrax). The biography is
constructed mainly out of material taken from Herodian
(called Arrianus in c. xxxiii. 3; Gord., ii. 1; Max.-Balb., i.
2). This is supplemented by anecdotes and by a few state-
ments from the "Imperial Chronicle" which appears in a
reduced form in Victor's Caesares and Eutropius' Breviarium ;
see Intro, to Vol. i. p. xxii. f. The modern tendency, however,
314-
THE TWO MAXIMINI
BY
JULIUS CAPITOLINUS
I. Lest it should be distasteful to Your Clemency,
great Constantine, to read the several lives of the
emperors and the emperors' sons, each in a separate
volume, I have practised a certain economy, in that
I have compressed the two Maximini, father and son,
into one single book. And from this point onward I
have kept this arrangement, which Your Holiness
wished also Tatius Cyrillus,1 of the rank of the
Illustrious, to keep in his translation from Greek into
Latin. And I shall keep it, indeed, not in one book
alone, but in most that I shall write hereafter, except-
ing only the great emperors ; for their doings, being
greater in number and fame, call for a longer re-
counting.
Maximinus the elder2 became famous in the reign
of Alexander ; but his service in the army 3 began
is to discard as unhistoric all that is not contained in
Herodian; see Hohl in Pauly-Wissowa, Realencycl., x. 852 f.
3 i.e. as a private soldier. If we may believe the statement
of Zonaras (xii. 16) that he was sixty-five years old at the
time of his death, he was born in 173.
315
THE TWO MAXIMINI
Thraciae vicino barbaris, barbaro etiam patre et matre
genitus, quorum alter e Gothia, alter ex Alanis genitus
6 esse perhibetur. et patri quidem nomen Micca, matri
7 Ababa fuisse dicitur. sed haec nomina Maximinus
primis temporibus ipse prodidit, postea vero, ubi ad
imperium venit, occuli praecepit, ne utroque parente
barbaro genitus imperator esse videretur.
II. Et in prima quidem pueritia fuit pastor, iuvenum
etiam procer, et 1 qui latronibus insidiaretur et suos ab
2 incursionibus vindicaret. prima stipendia equestria
huic fuere. erat enim magnitudine corporis conspicuus,
virtute inter omnes milites clarus, forma virili decorus,
ferus moribus, asper, superbus, contemptor, saepe
tamen iustus.
3 Innotescendi sub Severe imperatore prima haec fuit
4 causa : natali Getae, filii minoris, Severus militares
dabat ludos propositis praemiis argenteis, id est
Sarmillis, torquibus et balteolis. hie adulescens et
semibarbarus et vix adhuc Latinae linguae, prope
Thracica imperatorem publice petiit, ut sibi daret
licentiam contendendi cum iis qui iam non mediocri
6 loco militarent. magnitudinem corporis Severus mi-
ratus primum eum cum lixis composuit, sed fortissimis
quibusque, ne 2 disciplinam militarem conrumperet.
1 iuuenum etiam procer, et Hohl (Rh. Afus., Ixx., p. 477) ;
nonnum etiam procerte P; nonnumquam etiam -\procerte
Peter. '2quibus nee P.
1 See note to Pius, v. 5.
aSo also Jordanes (de Rebus Geticis, xv. 83), who narrates
too the anecdote contained in c. ii. 3 — iii. 6, citing as his
authority Aurelius Memmius Symmachus, who evidently took
it from this vita ; see Intro, to Vol. i., p. xxiv.
316
THE TWO MAXIMINI I. 6— II. 6
under Severus. He was born in a village in Thrace
bordering on the barbarians, indeed of a barbarian
father and mother, the one, men say, being of the
Goths, the other of the Alani.1 At any rate, they
say that his father's name was Micca, his mother's
Ababa.2 And in his early days Maxim inus himself
freely disclosed these names ; later, however, when
he came to the throne, he had them concealed, lest
it should seem that the emperor was sprung on both
sides from barbarian stock.3
II. In his early youth he was a herdsman and the
leader of a band of young men, a man who would
waylay marauders and protect his own folk from
forays. His first military service was in the cavalry.4
For certainly he was strikingly big of body, and
notable among all the soldiers for courage, handsome
in a manly way, fierce in his manners, rough, haughty,
and scornful, yet often a just man.
It was in the following way that he first came into
prominence in the reign of Severus. Severus, on the
birthday of Geta, his younger son, was giving mili-
tary games, offering various silver prizes, arm-rings,
that is, and collars, and girdles. This youth, half
barbarian and scarcely yet master of the Latin tongue,
speaking almost pure Thracian, publicly besought the
Emperor to give him leave to compete, and that with
men of no mean rank in the service. Severus, struck
with his bodily size, pitted him first against sutlers —
all very valorous men, none the less — in order to
avoid a rupture of military discipline. Whereupon
3 Of. semibarbarus, c. ii. 5, and /j.i£opdppapos, Herodnia, vi.
8, 1.
4 So also Herodian, vi. 8, 1.
317
THE TWO MAXIMINI
7 tune Maximinus sedecim lixas uno sudore devicit
sedecim acceptis praemiis minusculis non militaribus
III. iussusque militare. tertia forte die cum processisset
Severus ad campum, in turba exultantem more bar-
barico Maximinum vidit iussitque statim tribune, ut
2 eum coerceret ac Romana disciplina l imbueret. tune
ille, ubi de se intellexit imperatorem locutum, suspica-
tus barbarus et notum se esse principi et inter multos
conspicuum, ad pedes imperatoris equitantis accessit.
Stum volens Severus explorare quantus in currendo
esset, equum admisit multis circuitionibus, et cum
senex imperator laborasset, neque ille a currendo per
multa spatia desisset, ait ei : " Quid vis, Thracisce ?
num quid delectat luctari post cursum ? " turn " Quan-
4 turn libet," inquit, "Imperator." post hoc ex equo
Severus descendit et recentissimos quosque ac fortis-
6 simos milites ei comparari iussit. turn ille more solito
septem fortissimos uno sudore vicit solusque omnium
a Severo post argentea praemia torque aureo donatus
est iussusque inter stipatores corporis semper in aula
6 consistere. hinc igitur factus conspicuus inter milites
clarus, amari a tribunis, a conmilitonibus suspici, im-
petrare ab imperatore quod vellet, locis etiam militiae
a Severo adiutus, cum esset peradulescens, longitudine
1ac Romana disciplina Baehrens, Lessing; ac Romanam
disclplinam P, Peter3.
318
THE TWO MAXIMINI II. 7 —III. 6
Maximinus overcame sixteen sutlers at one sweat,
and received his sixteen prizes, all rather small and
not military ones, and was commanded to serve in
the army. III. The second day thereafter, when
Severus had proceeded to the parade-ground, he
happened to espy Maximinus rioting in his barbarian
way among the crowd, and immediately ordered the
tribune to take him in hand and school him in Roman
discipline. And he, when he perceived that the
Emperor was talking about him — for the barbarian
suspected both that he was known to the Emperor
and conspicuous even among many — , came up to the
Emperor's feet where he sat his horse. And then
Severus, wishing to try how good he was at running,
gave his horse free rein and circled about many times,
and when at last the aged Emperor had become weary
and Maximinus after many turns had not stopped
running, he said to him, "What say you, my little
Thracian ? Would you like to wrestle now after your
running?" And Maximinus answered, "As you
please, Emperor". On this Severus dismounted and
ordered the most vigorous and the bravest soldiers
to match themselves with him ; whereupon he, in his
usual fashion, vanquished seven at one sweat, and
alone of all, after he had gotten his silver prizes, was
presented by Severus with a collar of gold ; he was
ordered, moreover, to take a permanent post in the
palace with the body-guard. In this fashion, then,
he was made prominent and became famous among
the soldiers, well liked by the tribunes, and admired
by his comrades. He could obtain from the Emperor
whatever he wanted, and indeed Severus helped him
to advancement in the service when he was still very
young. In height and size and proportions, in his
319
THE TWO MAXIMINI
autem corporis et vastitate et forma atque oculorum
magnitudine et candore inter omnes excelleret.
IV. Bibisse autem ilium saepe in die vini Capitoli-
nam amphoram constat, comedisse et quadraginta
libras carnis, ut autem Cordus dicit, etiam sexaginta.
2 quod satis constat, holeribus semper abstinuit, a frigidis
3 prope semper, nisi cum illi potandi necessitas. sudores
saepe suos excipiebat et in calices vel in vasculum
mittebat, ita ut duos vel tres sextarios sui sudoris
ostenderet.
4 Hie diu sub Antonino Caracallo ordines duxit centu-
riatos et ceteras militares dignitates saepe tractavit.
sub Macrino, quod eum qui imperatoris sui filium
occiderat vehementer odisset, a militia desiit et in
Thracia in vico ubi genitus fuerat possessiones com-
paravit ac semper cum Gothis commercia exercuit.
amatus est autem unice a Getis quasi eorum civis.
5 Alani quicumque ad ripam venerunt amicum eum
donis vicissim recurrentibus adprobabant.
6 Sed occiso Macrino cum filio suo, ubi Heliogabalum
quasi Antonini filium imperatorem comperit, iam
maturae aetatis ad eum venit petiitque, ut quod avus
eius Severus iudicii circa se habuerat, et ipse haberet.
sed l apud impurum hominem valere nihil potuit.
jnam dicitur cum eo iocatus esse Heliogabalus
1 sed om. in P.
aThe amphora was the unit of liquid measure, containing
about 26*2 litres (= 6£ gals.). A vessel of standard size was
kept on the Capitoline Hill as a model. Various vessels have
been preserved with inscriptions signifying that they contain
the requisite amounts according to the Capitoline standard ;
see Dessau, Ins. Sel, 8627-8629. For a fanciful explanation
of this expression see Hohl, Hermes, lii. p. 472 f.
3 See Intro, to Vol. i., p. xviii.
S20
THE TWO MAXIMINI IV. 1-7
great eyes, and in whiteness of skin he was pre-
eminent among all.
IV. It is agreed, moreover, that often in a single
day he drank a Capitoline amphora l of wine, and ate
forty pounds of meat, or, according to Cordus,2 no
less than sixty. It seems sufficiently agreed, too,
that he abstained wholly from vegetables, and almost
always from anything cold, save when he had to
drink. Often, he would catch his sweat and put it
in cups or a small jar, and he could exhibit by this
means two or three pints of it.
For a long time under Antoninus Caracalla he
commanded in the ranks of the centuries 3 and often
held other military honours as well. But under
Macrinus, whom he hated bitterly because he had
slain his Emperor's son,4 he left the service and
acquired an estate in Thrace, in the village where
he was born, and here he trafficked continually with
the Goths. He was singularly beloved by the Getae,
moreover, as if he were one of themselves. And the
Alani, or at least those of them who came to the river-
bank,5 continually exchanged gifts with him and
hailed him as friend.
When Macrinus and his son were slain, however,
and he learned that Elagabalus was reigning as
Antoninus' son,6 he went to him, being now of
mature age, and besought him to hold the same
opinion of him that his grandfather Severus had done.
But he could have no influence with that filthy man.
For Elagabalus is said to have made sport of him
3 On this expression see note to Avid. Cass., i. 1.
4 i.e. Caracalla.
8 i.e. the Danube ; see note to c. i. 5.
•See note to Heliog., i. 1.
321
THE TWO MAXIMINI
turpissime, dicens : " Diceris,1 Maximine, sedecim
et viginti et triginta milites aliquando lassasse ; potes
Strides cum muliere perficere ? " turn ille, ubi vidit in-
9famem principem sic exorsum, a militia discessit. et
tamen retentus est per amicos Heliogabali, ne hoc
quoque illius famae accederet quod virum temporis
sui fortissimum et quern alii Herculem, alii Achillem,
V. Aiacem alii vocabant, a suo exercitu dimoveret. fuit
igitur sub homine impurissimo tantum honore
tribunatus, sed numquam ad manum eius access it,
numquam ilium salutavit per totum triennium hue
2atque illuc discurrens ; modo agris, modo otio, modo
fictis languoribus occupatus est.
3 Occiso Heliogabalo, ubi primum2 comperit Alex-
andrum principem nominatum, Romam contendit.
4 quern Alexander miro cum gaudio, mira cum gratu-
latione suscepit, ita 3 ut in senatu verba faceret talia :
" Maximinus, patres conscripti, tribunus, cui ego latum
clavum addidi, ad me confugit, qui sub impura ilia
belua militare non potuit, qui apud divum parentem
meum Severum tantus fuit quantum ilium fama
fccomperitis." statim denique ilium tribunum legionis
quartae ex tironibus, quam ipse composuerat, dedit et 4
1 dicens : <^diceris^> Editor ; dicens P, Peter1 ; diceris
Mommsen, Peter2. 2Here follows in P the misplaced
portion of the Vita Alexandra, c. xliii. 7,fecisset et, to c. Iviii.
1, de Isauria ; see Intro, to Vol. i. p. xxxiii. The portion of
the Vita Maxim, beginning comperit Alexandrum and ending
omnes qui mecum, c. xviii. 2, has been similarly transferred to
Max.-Balb., viii. 2, after homines vulgares. sita om. in P.
4 et om. in P.
1 Distinctive of the senatorial order ; see note to Com., iv.
7. This statement is evidently spurious, for Maximinus on his
322
THE TWO MAXIMINI IV. 8— V. 5
most foully, saying, " You are reported, Maximinus, to
have outworn at times sixteen and twenty and thirty
soldiers ; can you avail thirty times with a woman ? "
And when Maximinus saw the disgraceful prince
beginning thus, he left the service. In the end,
however, the friends of Elagabalus retained him, lest
this also be added to Elagabalus' ill-fame, that the
bravest man of his time — whom some called Hercules,
others Achilles, and others Ajax — had been driven
from his army. V. Under this filthy creature, there-
fore, he held only the honour of a tribuneship; but
never did he come to take the Emperor's hand and
never did he greet him, but during the whole of
three years he was always hastening from one place
to another ; now he was occupied with his fields, now
with resting, now with feigned illnesses.
On the death of Elagabalus, as soon as he learned
that Alexander was proclaimed emperor, he hastened
to Rome. And Alexander received him with marvel-
lous joy and marvellous thanksgiving ; indeed, in
the senate he used expressions like these : " Maximinus,
Conscript Fathers, the tribune to whom I have given
the broad stripe,1 has taken refuge with me — he who
could not serve under that foul monster, and who,
under my deified kinsman Severus, was what you
know him to have been by report ". He at once
made him tribune of the Fourth Legion,2 which he
elevation to the imperial power was nondum senator ; see
c. viii. 1 and also Eutropius, ix. 1.
2 If there is any truth in this statement the legion was the
Legio IV Flavia, quartered in Upper Moesia. That it was
formed out of recruits is hardly true, and the biographer has
probably confused this tribuneship with Maximinus' subsequent
command of the recruits in the army on the Rhine ; see c. vii. 1.
323
THE TWO MAXIMINI
6eum in haec verba provexit : "Veteres milites tibi,
Maximine mi carissime atque amantissime, idcirco
non credidi quod veritus sum ne vitia eorum sub aliis
7 inolescentia emendare non posses, habes tirones ;
ad tuos mores, ad tuam virtutem, ad tuum laborem
eos fac militiam condiscere, ut mihi multos Maximinos
rei publicae optabiles solus efficias."
VI. Accepta igitur legione statim earn exercere
2 coepit. quinta quaque die iubebat milites decurrere,
inter l se simulacra bellorum agere. gladios, loricas,
galeas, scuta, tunicas et omnia arma illorum cottidie
3 circumspicere ; calciamenta quin etiam ipse prospicie-
4 bat, prorsus autem ut patrem militibus praeberet. sed
cum eum quidam tribuni reprehenderent, dicentes,
" Quid tantum laboras, cum eius loci iam sis, ut
ducatum possis accipere ?" ille dixisse fertur, " Ego
5vero, quo maior fuero, tanto plus laborabo." exer-
cebat cum militibus ipse luctamina, quinos, senos et
septenos iam grandaevus ad terram pros tern ens.
Gdenique invidentibus cunctis, cum quidam tribunus
superbior, magni corporis, virtutis notae atque ideo
ierocior, ei dixisset, " Non magnam rem facis, si
tribunus tuos milites vincis," ille ait " Visne congredi-
7amur?" cumque adversarius adnuisset, venientem
contra se palma in pectus percussum supinum reiecit
et continue dixit, " Date alium, sed tribunum."
1 intei Madvig ; in P, Peter.
S24
THE TWO MAXIMINI V. 6— VI. 7
himself had formed out of recuits, giving him his
promotion with the following words : " I have not
entrusted veterans to you, my most dear and loving
Maximinus, because I feared that you cannot root
out the faults that have grown in them under other
commanders. You have fresh recruits ; after the
pattern of your habits, your courage, your industry,
make them learn their service, so that from yourself,
who are one, you can make me many Maximini,
men most desirable for the state."
VI. Having therefore accepted the legion, he
immediately began to train it. On every fifth day
he had his men parade in armour and fight a sham
battle against one another. Their swords, corselets,
helmets, shields, tunics, in fact all their arms, he in-
spected daily ; indeed, he himself provided for their
boots, so that he was exactly like a father to the
troops. And when certain tribunes remonstrated
with him, saying, " Why do you work so hard, now
that you have attained a rank where you can become
a general ? ' he replied, it is said, " As for me, the
greater I become, the harder I shall work ". He
was wont also to join the soldiers at their wrestling,
and he stretched them on the ground by fives, sixes,
and sevens, though now an old man. Now every
one became jealous, and one insolent tribune, a man
of great size and proved courage, and therefore the
bolder, said to him, " You do nothing very great, if
you vanquish your own soldiers, being a tribune your-
self". Maximinus replied, " Would you like to fight ?"
And when his opponent nodded assent and advanced
against him, he smote him on the breast with the palm
of his hand and knocked him flat on his back, then
said, " Give me another, and this time a real tribune ".
325
THE TWO MAXIMINI
Erat praeterea, ut refert Cordus, magnitudine tanta
ut octo pedes digitis sex diceretur1 egressus, pollice
ita vasto ut uxoris dextrocherio uteretur pro anulo.
9 iam ilia prope in vulgi ore sunt posita, quod hamaxas
manibus adtraheret, raedam onustam solus moveret,
equo si pugnum dedisset, denies solveret, si calcem,
crura frangeret, lapides toficios friaret, arbores
teneriores scinderet, alii denique eum Crotoniaten
Milonem, alii Herculem, Antaeum alii vocarent.
VII. His rebus conspicuum virum Alexander, mag-
norum meritorum iudex, in suam perniciem omni ex-
ercitui prae fecit, gaudentibus cunctis ubique tribunis,
2 ducibus et militibus. denique totum eius exercitum,
qui sub Heliogabalo magna ex parte torpuerat, ad suam
3militarem disciplinam retraxit. quod Alexandro, ut
diximus, optimo quidem imperatori, sed tamen cuius
aetas ab initio contemni potuerit, gravissimum fuit.
4 nam cum in Gallia esset et non longe ab urbe quadam
castra posuisset, subito inmissis militibus, ut quidam
dicunt, ab ipso, ut alii, tribunis barbaris, Alexander
ad matrem fugiens interemptus est Maximino iam
5 imperatore appellate, et causam quidem Alexandri
interimendi alii aliam fuisse dicunt. quidam enim
Mamaeam dicunt auctorem fuisse, ut filius deserto
1 digito uideretur P.
1 Of. c. xxviii. 8 ; his size is also commented on by Herodian ;
see vi. 8. 1 ; vii. 1. 2.
2 This is incorrect. He was put in command of all the re-
cruits in the army on the Rhine (probably with the title of
praefectus tironum) ; see Alex., lix. 7 and Herodian, vi. 8. 2.
3 Probably Mainz ; see note to Alex., lix. 6.
4 A detailed account of the mutiny of the recruits, their
326
THE TWO MAXIMINI VI. 8— VII. 5
He was of such size, so Cord us reports, that men
said he was six inches over eight feet in height 1 ; and
his thumb was so huge that he used his wife's brace-
let for a ring. Other stories are reported almost as
common talk — that he could drag waggons with his
hands and move a laden cart by himself, that if he
struck his horse with his fist, he loosened its teeth,
or with his heel, broke its legs, that he could crumble
tufaceous stone and split saplings, and that he was
called, finally, by some Milo of Croton, by others
Hercules, and by others Antaeus.
VII. When these things had now made him
a distinguished man, Alexander, a good judge of
great worth, to his own destruction put him in
command of the entire army.2 Everyone, everywhere,
was pleased — tribunes, generals, and men. So now
Alexander's whole army, which had fallen into a
lethargy to a great extent under Elagabalus, Maxi-
minus brought back to his own standard of discipline.
And this, as we have said, proved a very serious thing
for Alexander — a very good emperor, to be sure, but
one whose youth from the very beginning could
readily make him an object of contempt. For when
he was in Gaul, and had pitched camp not far from
a certain city,3 of a sudden the soldiers were incited
against him — some say by Maxim inus, others say by
the barbarian tribunes — , and as he fled to his mother
he was slain, while Maximinus had already been
hailed emperor.4 And, indeed, some say the cause of
Alexander's death was one thing, others say another.
For some maintain that Mamaea was the prime cause,
acclamation of Maximinus as Imperator, and the murder of
Alexander is given in Herodian, vi. 8-9. See also Alex., lix.
7-8.
327
THE TWO MAXIMINI
bello Germanico orientem peteret, atque ideo mili-
6tes in seditionem prorupisse. quidam, quod ille
nimis severus esset et voluisset ita in Gallia legiones
exauctorare ut exauctoraverat in oriente.
VIII. Sed occiso Alexandro Maximinus primus l e
corpora militari et nondum senator sine decreto senatus
Augustus ab exercitu appellatus est filio sibimet in
participatum dato ; de quo pauca quae nobis sunt
2cognita mox dicemus. Maximinus autem ea fuit
semper astutia, ut milites non modo 2 virtute regeret
sed etiam praemiis et lucris amantissimos redderet.
3, 4 numquam ille annonam cuiuspiam tulit. numquam
sivit ut 3 quis in exercitu miles faber aut alterius rei,
ut plerique sunt, artifex esset, solis venationibus
6 legiones frequenter exercens. sed inter has virtutes
tarn crudelis fuit, ut ilium alii Cyclopem, alii Busirem,
alii Scirona, nonnulli Phalarem, multi Typhona vel
6Gygam4 vocarent. senatus eum tantum timuit, ut
1 primus Ursinus (cf. Eutrop., ix. 1; Victor, Caes., xxv.);
primum P, Peter. 2 modo ins. by Damste' ; om. in P and
Peter. 3 ut om. in P. 4 Gygam Peter ; gigantam P.
aThis seems to be a blundering statement of the fact that
the uprising which resulted in his death was due, at least in
part, to his attempt to end the war by negotiations ; see note
to Alex., lix. 1.
2 See notes to Alex., xii. 5.
3 He was later accepted by the senate, and, on the 25th
March, 235, received the usual honours ; see C.I.L., vi. 2001 ;
2009.
4 His name was C. Julius Verus Maximus according to the
testimony of coins and inscriptions, whereas in this biography
and in Victor, Caes., xxv. 2, he is incorrectly called Maxi-
miDus. He was made Caesar in 236, and was given the title
Princeps luventutis ; see Cohen, iv2, p. 525 f., nos. 10-15.
He never received the title Augustus.
328
THE TWO MAXIMINI VII. 6— VIII. 6
as she wished her son to leave the Germanic war and
go to the East, and on that account the soldiers
broke out in mutiny.1 Others say that Alexander
was too strict and had wished to discharge the legions
in Gaul as he had done in the East.2
VIII. However that may be, after Alexander was
killed, Maximinus was the first man from the body of
the soldiers and not yet a senator to be acclaimed
Augustus by the army without a decree of the
senate,3 and his son was made his colleague.4 And
about the latter we shall tell later on 5 the few things
that we know. Now Maximinus was always clever
enough not to rule the soldiers by force alone ; on
the contrary, he made them devoted to him by re-
wards and riches. He never took away any man's
rations ; he never let any man in his army work as
a smith or artisan, which most of them are, but kept
the legions busy only with frequent hunting. Along
with these virtues, however, went such cruelty that
some called him Cyclops, some Busiris,6 and others
Sciron,7 not a few Phalaris,8 and many Typhon 9 or
Gyges.10 The senate was so afraid of him that prayers
8 See c. xxvii.-xxxiii.
6 A mythical king of Egypt wno sacrificed strangers to
Zeus.
7 A robber who lived on the coast near the border of Attica
and Megaris ; he is said to have been killed by Theseus.
8 Tyrant of Agrigentum in Sicily about 560 B.C. He used
to roast condemned persons in a bronze bull and finally him-
self met with this same fate.
9 Also called Typhoeus, a hundred-headed Titan, son of
Gaia and Tartarus, struck with lightning by Zeus and buried
under Aetna.
10 Also called Gyas ; a giant with a hundred arms, the son
of Gaia and Uranus.
329
THE TWO MAXIMINI
vota in templis publice privatimque mulieres etiam
cum suis liberis facerent, ne ille umquam urbem
7 Romam videret. audiebant enim alios in crucem
sublatos, alios animalibus nuper occisis inclusos, alios
feris obiectos, alios fustibus elisos, atque omnia haec
sine dilectu dignitatis, cum videretur disciplinam velle
regere militarem, cuius exemplo civilia etiam corri-
Sgere voluit. quod non convenit principi qui velit
diligi. erat enim ei persuasum nisi crudelitate im-
9perium non teneri. simul et verebatur ne propter
humilitatem generis barbarici a nobilitate contemne-
lOretur. meminerat praeterea se Romae etiam a servis
nobilium contemptum esse, ita ut ne a procuratori-
11 bus quidem eorum videretur ; et, ut se habent
stultae opiniones, tales eos contra se l sperabat futures,
cum iam imperator esset. tantum valet conscientia
IX. degeneris animi. nam ignobilitatis tegendae causa
omnes conscios generis sui interemit, nonnullos etiam
amicos, qui ei saepe misericordiae paupertatis causa
2pleraque donaverant. neque enim fuit crudelius
animal in terris, omnia sic in viribus suis ponens quasi
3 non posset occidi. denique cum immortalem se
prope crederet ob magnitudinem corporis virtutisque,
1 se om. in P.
1 His natural brutality seems to have been increased by
the revolts described in c. x.-xi., but this highly-coloured
account seems to be much exaggerated. His cruelty is com-
mented on briefly by Herodian, vii. 1, 12.
330
THE TWO MAXIMINI VIII. 7— IX. 3
were made in the temples both publicly and privately,
and even by women together with their children,
that he should never see the city of Rome. For
they kept hearing that he hung men on the cross,
shut them in the bodies of animals newly slain, cast
them to wild beasts, dashed out their brains with
clubs, and all this for no desire for personal authority
but because he seemed to wish military discipline
to be supreme, and wished to amend civil affairs on
that pattern.1 All of which does not become a
prince who wishes to be loved. As a matter of fact,
he was convinced that the throne could not be held
except by cruelty. He likewise feared that the
nobility, because of his low barbarian birth, would
scorn him. remembering in this connection how he
had been scorned at Rome bv the verv slaves of the
* »
nobles, so that not even their stewards would admit
him to their presence ; and as is always the way
with fatuous beliefs, he expected them to be the
same toward him now that he was emperor. So
powerful is the mere consciousness of a low-born
spirit. IX. For to hide the lowness of his birth
he put to death all who had knowledge of it, some
of whom, indeed were friends who had often pitied
him for his poverty and made him many presents.
And never was there a more savage animal on earth
than this man who staked everything on his own
strength, as though he could not be killed. Eventu-
allv, indeed, when he almost believed himself im-
• "
mortal because of his great size and courage, a certain
actor, they say, recited Greek verses in a theatre
331
THE TWO MAXIMINI
mimus quidam in theatre praesente illo dicitur versus
Graecos dixisse, quorum haec erat Latina sententia :
4 " Et qui ab uno non potest occidi, a multis occiditur.
elephans grandis est et occiditur,
leo fortis est et occiditur,
tigris fortis est et occiditur ;
cave mtiltos, si singulos non times."
5 et haec imperatore ipso praesente iam dicta sunt. sed
cum interrogaret amicos, quid mimicus scurra dixisset,
dictum est ei quod antiques versus cantaret contra
homines asperos scriptos ; et ille, ut erat Thrax et
6 barbarus, credidit. nobilem circa se neminem passus
est, prorsus ut Spartaci aut Athenionis exemplo im-
7 peraret.1 praeterea omnes Alexandri ministros variis
8 modis interemit et 2 dispositionibus eius invidit. et
dum suspectos habet amicos ac ministros eius, crude-
lior factus est.
X. Cum esset ita moratus, ut ferarum more viveret,
tristior et inmanior factus est factione Magni cuiusdam
consularis viri contra se parata, qui cum multis mili-
tibus et centurionibus ad eum confodiendum- coiisilium
Sinierat, cum in se imperium transferre cuperet. et
1 imperaret Baehrens, Lessing ; imperabat P, Peter,
ins. by Petschenig ; om. in P and Peter.
1 A Thracian gladiator, who in 73 B.C. collected an army oi
gladiators, slaves, and desperadoes. He defeated several
Roman generals but was finally overcome by Marcus Crassus.
2 A Cilician slave, who led a slave-revolt in Sicily in 104
B.C. and tern rized the island. He was finally defeated by
Manius Aquillius in 101 or 100 B.C.
3 Herodian (vii. 1, 3) relates that he sent away all of Alex-
S32
THE TWO MAXIMINI IX. 4— X. 2
while he was present, the sense of which in Latin
was this :
And he who cannot be slain by one, is slain by many.
The elephant is huge, and he is slain ;
The lion is brave, and he is slain ;
The tiger is brave, and he is slain ;
Beware of many together, if you fear not one alone.
And this was recited while the Emperor himself was
present. But when he asked his friends what the
clown on the stage had said, they told him that he
was simply singing some old verses written against
violent men, and he, being a Thracian and a barbar-
ian, believed them. He suffered no nobleman at all
to be near his person, ruling in this respect precisely
like Spartacus l or Athenio.2 He put all of Alex-
ander's ministers to death in one way or another and
disregarded his directions.3 And while he held
Alexander's friends and ministers under suspicion,
he became more cruel.
X. And now when he had already taken on the
life and character of a wild beast, he was made still
harsher and more savage by a revolt which Magnus,
a certain man of consular rank, plotted against him.4
This man had entered into a conspiracy with a
number of soldiers and centurions to stab Maximinus,
ander's friends and counsellors, not wishing to have any
noblemen in the army. This was prol ably the result of the
revolts described in c. x.-xi.
4 This account of the conspiracy is similar to that given
by Herodian (vii. 1, 4-8), who, however, adds that all the
senators in the army joined in it. Herodian also casts doubt
on its genuineness, but there seems to be no good reason for
supposing it to have been invented by Maximinus.
333
THE TWO MAXIMINI
genus factionis fuit tale : cum ponte iuncto in Ger-
manos transire Maximinus vellet, placuerat ut con-
trarii cum eo transirent, pons postea solveretur, ille
in barbarico circumventus occideretur, imperium
3 Magnus arriperet. nam omnia bella coeperat agere,
et quidem fortissime, statim ut factus est imperator,
peritus utpote rei militaris, volens existimationem de
se habitam tenere et ante omnes Alexandri gloriam,
4 quern ipse occiderat, vincere. quare imperator etiam
in exercitio cottidie milites detinebat eratque in armis
ipse, manu x exercitui et corpore multa semper osten-
5deiis. et istam quidem factionem Maximinus ipse
finxisse perhibetur, ut materiam crudelitatis augeret.
6 denique sine iudicio, sine accusatione, sine delatore,
sine defensore omnes interemit, omnium bona sustulit
et plus quattuor milibus 2 hominum occisis se satiare
non potuit.
XI. Fuit etiam sub eodem factio desciscentibus
sagittariis Osrhoenis ab eodem ob amorem Alexandri
et desiderium, quern a Maximino apud eos occisum
2 esse constabat, nee aliud persuader! potuerat. denique
etiam ipsi Titum,3 unum ex su:s, sibi ducem atque
imperatorem fecerunt, quern Maximinus privatum
3iam dimiserat. quern quidem et purpura circumde-
derunt, regio adparatu ornarunt et quasi sui milites
lmanu Cas., Peter ; magnus P. z milibus Jordan, Peter;
militibus P. 3 Titum Salm., Peter ; ticum P.
1 See note to Alex., Ixi. 8. This account of the revolt agrees
with Herodian's narrative, except that Herodian calls the leader
Quartinus, a consularis, and his assassin Macedo ; see Herodian,
vii. 1, 9-10. A biography of this " Titus " is given in Trig.
Tyr., xxxii.
334
THE TWO MAXIMINI X. 3— XI. 3
wishing thereby to get the imperial power for him-
self. It was a conspiracy of this sort : Maximinus
wished to make a bridge and cross over against the
Germans, and it was resolved that the conspirators
should cross over with him and then, breaking the
bridge behind them, surround Maximinus on the
barbarians' side and kill him, while Magnus seized
the throne. For Maximinus had begun waging all
manner of wars — and very valiantly, too — as soon as
he had been made emperor, inasmuch as he was
skilled in the art of war and wished, on the one hand,
to guard the reputation he had already won, and, on
the other, to surpass in everyone's eyes the glory of
Alexander, whom he had slain. For this reason,
even as emperor he engaged his soldiers in exercise
every day, and, indeed, himself appeared in armour
and demonstrated many points to the army with his
own hand and body. But about that revolt it is
asserted that Maximinus himself invented it in order
to make an occasion for barbarity. At any rate,
without judge, accusation, prosecutor, or defence he
put all of them to death and confiscated their pro-
perty, and even after slaying over four thousand men
he was not yet content.
XL There was also in his reign a revolt of the
Osroenian bowmen,1 who rebelled against him through
love of Alexander and regret for his loss, having agreed
among themselves that Maximinus had certainly slain
him ; nor could they be persuaded otherwise. They
accordingly made one of their number, a certain Titus,
whom Maximinus had already discharged from the
army, their general and emperor. Indeed, they girt
him with the purple, furnished him with royal pomp,
and barred access to him like the soldiers of a king,
335
THE TWO MAXIMINI
4 obsaepserunt, et invitum quidem. sed hie dormiens
domi suae ab uno ex amicis suis inter fectus est, qui
sibi doluit ilium esse praepositum, Macedonio nomine,
qui eum Maximino prodidit quique caput eius ad
5 imperatorem detulit. sed Maximinus primo ei gratias
egit, postea tamen ut proditorem odio habuit et occidit.
6 his rebus in dies inmanior fiebat, ferarum more, quae
vulneratae magis exulcerantur.
7 Post haec transiit in Germaniam cum omni exercitu
et Mauris et Osrhoenis et Parthis et omnibus quos
Ssecum Alexander ducebat ad bellum. et ob hoc
maxime orientalia secum trahebat auxilia, quod nulli
magis contra Germanos quam expediti sagittarii valent.
gmirandum autem adparatum belli Alexander habuit,
XII. cui Maximinus multa dicitur addidisse. ingressus
igitur Germaniam Transrhenanam per triginta1 vel
quadraginta 2 milia barbarici soli vicos incendit,3
greges abegit, praedas sustulit, barbarorum plurimos
interemit, militem divitem reduxit, cepit innumeros,
et nisi Germani omnes 4 ad paludes et silvas con-
fugissent, omnem Germaniam in Romanam ditionem
2redegisset. ipse praeterea manu sua multa faciebat,
cum etiam paludem ingressus circumventus esset a
Germanis, nisi eum sui 5 cum suo equo inhaerentem
3 liberassent. habuit enim hoc barbaricae temeritatis,
1 triginta Salm., Peter; trecento, P. 2quadringenta P.
8 incendit om. in P. 4 omnes Eyssenhardt ; amnes P ; a
campis Peter. 5eum sui om. in P; cum suo equo
haerentem P, Peter1 ; eum sui equo inhaerente Peter2.
1 His campaign in Germany is described in Herodian, vii. 2.
aSee Alex., Ixi. 8 and note.
3 His campaign seems to have been in Wiirttemberg. An
336
THE TWO MAX1MINI XI. 4— XII. 3
all, it must be said, against his will. But while this
Titus was sleeping at his home, he was slain by one
of his friends, Macedonius by name, who resented his
preferment above himself, and so betrayed him to
Maximinus and brought the Emperor his head. And
at first Maximinus gave him thanks, but later on,
hating him as a traitor, he killed him. Through these
events, then, he became fiercer day by day, as wild
animals grow more savage with their wounds.
After these events he crossed over into Germany l
with the whole army and with the Moors, Osroenians,
Parthians, and all the other forces that Alexander
took when he went to war.2 He took these eastern
auxiliaries with him chiefly for the reason that no
forces are more useful against Germans than light
bowmen. And truly Alexander had constructed a
splendid war-machine, and Maximinus, they say,
greatly added to it. XII. He marched, then, into Ger-
many across the Rhine, and throughout thirty or forty
miles of the barbarians' counlry 3 he burned villages,
drove away flocks, slew numbers of the barbarians
themselves, enriched his own soldiers, and took a host
of captives, and, had not all the Germans fled to the
swamps and forests, he would have brought all Ger-
many under Roman sway. He himself did much
with his own hand, especially when he rode into a
swamp 4 and would have been cut off by the Germans
had not his men extricated him as he was mired with
his horse. For he had that barbaric rashness which
inscription of Maximinus, found at Tubingen, seems to be a
relic of his occupation of the country; see G.I.L., xiii., 9083.
4 According to Herodian, vii. 2, 6, it was to encourage his
men in the pursuit.
337
THE TWO MAXIMINI
ut putaret imperatorem manum etiam suam semper
4 debere. denique quasi navale quoddam proelium in
palude fecit plurimosque illic interemit.
6 Victa igitur Germania litteras Romam ad senatum
et populum misit se dictante conscriptas, quarum
6 sententia haec fuit : " Non possumus tantum, patres
conscnpti, loqui quantum fecimus. per quadraginta
vel l quinquaginta milia Germanorum vicos incendi-
mus, greges abduximus, captivos abstraximus, armatos
occidimus, in palude pugnavimus. pervenissemus ad
silvas, nisi altitude paludium nos transire non per-
7 misisset." Aelius Cordus dicit hanc omnino ipsius
8 orationem fuisse. credibile est ; quid enim in hac
9 est quod non posset barbarus miles ? qui pari sententia
et ad populum scripsit sed maiore reverentia, idcirco
quod senatum oderat, a quo se contemni multum
lOcredebat. iussit praeterea tabulas pingi ita ut erat
bellum ipsum gestum et ante Curiam proponi, ut facta
11 eius pictura loqueretur. quas quidem tabulas post
mortem eius senatus et deponi iussit et exuri.
XIII. Fuerunt et alia sub eo bella plurima ac2
proelia, ex quibus semper primus victor revertit et cum
2 ingentibus spoliis atque captivis. exstat oratio eiusdem
missa ad senatum, cuius hoc exemplum est : " Brevi
tempore, patres conscripti, tot bella gessi quot nemo
1 uel ins. by Peter ; om. in P. 2 ac ins. by Peter ; om.
in P.
1 He himself assumed the cognomen Germanicus Maximus
and gave it to his son ; see the inscriptions in Dessau, Ins. Sel.,
488-490, and the coins in Cohen, iv2, p. 505 f. He also issued
coins with the legend Victoria Germanica, Cohen, iv2, p. 515 f .,
nos. 105-116.
338
THE TWO MAXIMINI XII. 4— XIII. 2
made him think that even the emperor always owed
the help of his own hand. In the end, a sort of naval
battle was fought in the swamp, and very many
were slain.
And when he had thus conquered Germany,1 he
despatched a letter,2 written to dictation, to the senate
and people at Rome, the purport of which was this :
" We cannot, Conscript Fathers, tell you all that we
have done. Throughout an area of forty or fifty miles
we have burned the villages of the Germans, driven
off their flocks, carried away captives, killed men in
arms, and fought a battle in a swamp. And we should
have pushed on to the forests, had not the depth of
the swamps prevented our crossing." Aelius Cordus
says that this oration was entirely his own ; and
it is easily believed. For what is there in it of which
a barbarian soldier were not capable ? He wrote
likewise to the people, to the same effect but with
greater respect, this because of his hatred of the senate,
by which, he believed, he was mightily despised. He
gave orders, furthermore, for pictures to be painted
and hung up before the Senate-house, illustrating the
conduct of the war, in order that the art of painting,
too, might tell of his exploits. But after his death
the senate caused these pictures to be taken down
and burned.
XIII. There were many other wars and battles in
his reign, and from them all he always returned
triumphant with immense plunder and numerous
captives. We have an oration of his, sent to the
senate, whereof this is a sample : " In a short time,
Conscript Fathers, I have waged more wars than any
* Fictitious. Herodian merely says that one was sent.
339
THE TWO MAXIMINI
veterum. tantum praedae in Romanum solum attuli
quantum sperari non potuit. tantum captivorum ad-
duxi ut vix sola Romana sufficiant." reliqua orationis
ad hanc rem non l necessaria.
3 Pacata Germania Sirmium venit, Sarmatis inferre
bellum parans atque animo concupiens usque ad
Oceanum septentrionales partes in Romanam ditionem
4 redigere ; quod fecisset, si vixisset, ut Herodianus
dicit, Graecus scriptor, qui ei, quantum videmus, in
odium Alexandri plurimum favit.
5 Sed cum Romani eius crudelitatem ferre non pos-
sent, quod delatores evocaret, accusatores inmitteret,
crimina fingeret, innocentes occideret, damnaret
omnes quicumque in iudicium venissent, ex ditissimis
hominibus pauperrimos faceret nee aliunde nisi malo
alieno pecuniam quaereret, deinde sine delicto con-
sulares viros et duces multos interimeret, alios siccis
vehelis exhiberet, alios in custodia detineret, nihil
denique praetermitteret, quod ad crudelitatem videre-
6tur operari, contra eum defectionem pararunt. nee
solum Romani, sed, quia et in milites saeviebat,
exercitus qui in Africa erant subita et ingenti sedi-
1 non ins. by Eyssenhardt and Peter ; om. in P.
1 Mod. Mitrowitz on the lower Save near its junction with
the Danube.
2Herodian says nothing about an intended invasion of
Sarmatia. Some sort of a war, however, must have been
waged north of the Danube, for in his inscriptions of 237 and
238 he and Maximus bear the titles Sarmaticus Maximus and
Dacicus Maximus; see Dessau, Ins. SeL, 488-489. Perhaps
these campaigns are the bella mentioned in § 1.
3 vii. 2, 9.
4 According to Herodian, vii. 3, 4, they were thus brought
to him while in Pannonia from all parts of the Empire.
340
THE TWO MAXIMINI XIII. 3-6
of the ancients ever did. I have carried away more
plunder than a man could hope for, and 1 have brought
back so many captives that the lands of Rome scarce
suffice to hold them." The rest of the oration is un-
necessary for this narrative.
Germany now being set at peace, he went to
Sirmium l with the intention of waging war against
the Sarmatians 2 ; and indeed in his heart he desired
to bring all the northern regions up to the Ocean
under Roman sway. And he would have done it had
he lived, so Herodian says 3 ; though Herodian was
always well disposed to Maximinus, through hatred,
as far as we can see, of Alexander.
But by this time the Romans could bear his
barbarities no longer — the way in which he called up
informers and incited accusers, invented false offences,
killed innocent men, condemned all whoever came to
trial, reduced the richest men to utter poverty and
never sought money anywhere save in some other's
ruin, put many generals and many men of consular
rank to death for no offence, carried others about in
waggons without food and drink,4 and kept others in
confinement, in short neglected nothing which he
thought might prove effectual for cruelty — and, unable
to suffer these things longer, they rose against him in
revolt.5 And not only the Romans, but, because he
had been savage to the soldiers also, the armies which
were in Africa rose in sudden and powerful rebellion
8 The rapacity of Maximinus is regarded by Herodian also as
the chief cause of the revolt which led to his overthrow ; see
vii. 3, 5-6. His exactions seem to have been due, not to
personal greed, but to the need of money for his northern
campaigns.
THE TWO MAXIMIN1
tione Gordianum senem, virum gravissimum, qui erat
pro consule, imperatorem fecerunt. cuius factionis
hie ordo fuit.
XIV. Erat fisci procurator in Libya, qui omnes Maxi-
mini studio spoliaverat ; hie per rusticanam plebem,
deinde et quosdam milites iiiteremptus est superantes l
eos qui rational em in honorem Maximini defendebant.
2 sed cum viderent auctores caedis eius acrioribus re-
mediis sibi subveniendum esse, Gordianum procon-
sulem, virum, utdiximus, venerabilem, natu grandiorem,
omni virtutum genere florentem, ab Alexandro ex
senatus consulto in Africam missum, reclamantem et
se terrae adfligentem, opertum purpura imperare
coegerunt, instantes cum gladiis et cum omni genere
3 telorum. et primo quidem invitus Gordianus purpuram
sumpserat ; postea vero, cum vidit neque filio neque
familiae suae tutum id esse, volens suscepit imperium
et appellatus est omnibus Afris Augustus cum filio
4 apud oppidum Thysdrum. inde propere a Cartha-
ginem venit cum pompa regali et protectoribus et
fascibus laureatis, unde Romam ad senatum litteras
misit, quae occiso Vitaliano, duce militum praetorian-
orum, in odium Maximini gratanter acceptae sunt.
5 appellati etiam Gordianus senex et Gordianus iuvenis
1 superantes Editor (of. Herodian, vii. 4, 6); per P; -\-per
Peter. 2 propere Peter ; per P.
1 Gordian I. ; see Gord., ii. 2 f.
2 This narrative of the revolt in Africa agrees with the
account given in Gord., vii.-x., but it is less detailed. Both are
evidently taken from Herodian, vii. 4-7.
;' On rationalis see note to Alex., xlv. 6.
4 Gordian IE. ; see Gord., iv. 2 and note.
5 About 175 km. S.E. of Carthage, near the coast.
6 He was assassinated by the quaestor and the soldiers whom
342
THE TWO MAXIMINI XIV. 1-5
and hailed the aged and venerable Gordian1 who was
proconsul there, as emperor. This rebellion came
into being in the following manner.2
XIV. There was a certain imperial steward in
Libya, who in his zeal for Maximinus had despoiled
every one ruthlessly, until finally the peasantry,
abetted by a number of soldiers, slew him, after over-
coming those who out of respect for Maximinus
defended the agent of the privy-purse.3 But soon
the promoters of this murder saw that they must
seek relief through sharper remedies, and so, coming
to the proconsul Gordian, a man, as we have said,
worthy of respect, well-born, eminent in every virtue,
whom Alexander had sent to Africa by senatorial
decree, and threatening him with swords and every
other kind of weapon, they forced him, though he
cried out against it and cast himself on the ground, to
assume the purple and rule. In the beginning, it is
true, Gordian took the purple much against his will ;
but later, when he saw that this course was unsafe
for his son 4 and family, he willingly undertook to rule,
and at the town of Thysdrus 5 he, together with his
son, was proclaimed Augustus by all the Africans.
From here he went speedily to Carthage with royal
pomp and guards and laurelled fasces, and sent letters
to the senate at Rome. And the senate, after the
murder of Vitalianus,6 the prefect of the guard,
received these with rejoicing because of their hatred
for Maximinus,7 and proclaimed both the elder and
Gordian sent to Rome with his letter to the senate ; see Gord.t
x. 5-8 ; Herodian, vii. 6, 5-9.
7 The assassins of Vitalianus spread the rumour that Maxi-
minus had been killed, and thereupon all his statues were
demolished by the mob ; see Gord., xiii. 5-6 ; Herodian, vii. 6,
y— 7, i.
343
THE TWO MAXIMINI
XV. a senatu August!, interfecti deinde omnes delatores,
omnes accusatores, omnes amici Maximini. interfectus
est Sabinus praefectus urbis percussus in populo.
2 Ubi haec gesta sunt, senatus magis timens Maxi-
minum aperte ac libere hostes appellat Maximinum et
Seius filium. litteras deinde mittit ad omnes provin-
cias, ut communi saluti libertatique subveniant ; quae
4auditae sunt ab omnibus, denique ubique amici et
administratores et duces, tribuni et milites Maximini
6 interfecti sunt; paucae civitates fidem hosti publico
servaverunt, quae proditis iis qui missi ad eos fuerant
ad Maximinum cito per indices detulerunt.
6 Litterarum senatus exemplum hoc fuit : "Senatus
populusque Romanus per Gordianos principes a tris-
tissima belua liberari coeptus proconsul ibus, praesidi-
bus, legatis, ducibus, tribunis, magistratibus ac singulis
civitatibus et municipiis et oppidis et vicis et castellis
salutem, quam mine primum recipere coepit, dicit.
7 dis faventibus Gordianum proconsularem, virum sanc-
tissimum et gravissimum senatorem, principem me-
ruimus, Augustum appellavimus, nee solum ilium, sed
etiam in subsidium rei publicae filium eius Gordianum
Snobilem iuveiiem. vestrum nunc est consentire ad
salutem rei publicae obtinendam et ad scelera defen-
dendaet ad illam beluam atque illius amicos, ubicumque
1 They revoked the honours conferred on him, according to
Herodian, vii. 7, 2. Both this statement and that of the vita
are tantamount to saying that the senate deposed him, as it
had done Didius Julianus ; see Did. Jul., viii. 7. Similarly,
Nero, after his deposition, was formally declared a hostis by
the senate ; see Suetonius, Nero, xlix. 2.
2 Neither this document nor the following " senatus con-
tultum " is in Herodian, and both are evidently fictitious. An
S44
THE TWO MAXIMINI XV. 1-8
the younger Gordian August!. XV. Then all the
informers and accusers and all Maximinus' friends
were put to death, and Sabinus, the prefect of the
city, was beaten by the populace and slain.
And when this had been done, the senate, now
fearing Maximinus all the more, openly and freely
proclaimed him and his son enemies of the state.1 It
next despatched letters to all the provinces, asking
their aid for the common safety and liberty ; and all
of them gave heed. Lastly Maximinus' friends and
administrators, generals, tribunes, and soldiers were
everywhere put to death. A few communities, how-
ever, remained loyal to the public enemy ; these
betrayed the messengers who had been sent to them
and promptly handed them over to Maximinus
by means of informers.
The following is a specimen of the letters that the
senate sent out 2 : " The senate and Roman people,
now beginning to be delivered from a most savage
monster by the two princes Gordian, to the pro-
consuls, governors, legates, generals, tribunes, magis-
trates, and several states, municipalities, towns,
villages, and fortified places, wish prosperity, which
they are now just beginning to regain for themselves.
With the help of the gods we have obtained the pro-
consul Gordian, a most righteous man and eminent
senator, as emperor. We have given to him the title
of Augustus, and not only to him, but also, for the
further safeguarding of the state, to that excellent
man Gordian his son. It is now your part to unite,
that the state may be made secure, that evil doings
may be repelled, and that the monster and his friends,
entirely different and equally spurious version of the " senatus
consultum " is given in Gord., xi.
345
THE TWO MAXIMINI
9 fuerint, persequendos. a nobis etiam Maximinus cum
filio suo hostis est iudicatus."
XVI. Senatus consultum autem hoc fuit : Cum ven-
tum esset in Aedem Castorum die VI kal. luliarum, ac-
ceptas litteras lunius Silanus consul ex Africa Gordiani
2 imperatoris, patris patriae, proconsulis recitavit : " In-
vitum me, patres conscripti, iuvenes, quibus Africa
tuenda commissa est, ad imperium vocarunt. sed
intuitu vestri necessitatem libens sustineo. vestrum
est aestimare quid velitis. nam ego usque ad senatus
Siudicium incertus et varius fluctuabo." lectis litteris
statim senatus adclamavit : " Gordiane Auguste, di te
servent. felix imperes, tu nos liberasti. salvus im-
peres, tu nos liberasti. per te salva res publica. omnes
4tibi gratias aginius." item consul rettulit : "Patres
conscripti, de Maximinis quid placet ? ' responsum
est : " Hostes, hostes. qui eos occiderit, praemium
5 merebitur." item consul dixit : " De amicis Maximini
quid videtur ? " adclamatum est: " Hostes, hostes.
6 qui eos occiderit, praemium merebitur." item adcla-
matum est : " Inimicus senatus in crucem tollatur.
hostis senatus ubicumque feriatur. inimici senatus
vivi exurantur. Gordiani Augusti, di vos servent.
7 ambo feliciter agatis, ambo feliciter imperetis. nepoti
Gordiani praeturam decernimus, nepoti Gordiani con-
1 At the southern corner of the Forurn ; three of its columns
are still standing.
2 This date is incorrect ; see note to Max.-Balb., xv. 7.
3 For other acclamations see note to Alex., vi. 1.
4 See c. xx. 2 and note.
346
THE TWO MAXIMINI XV. 9— XVI. 7
wherever they be, may be hunted down. We have
pronounced Maximinus and his son enemies of the
state."
XVI. This was the senate's decree : After they
had assembled in the Temple of Castor and Pollux l on
the sixth day before the Kalends of July,2 Julius 26 June,
Silanus, the consul, read the letter which had been 238
received from Africa from Gordian the proconsul,
emperor and father of his country : " Conscript
Fathers, the young men, to whom was entrusted
Africa to guard, against my will have called on me to
rule. But having regard to you, I am glad to endure
this necessity. It is yours to decide what you wish.
For myself, I shall waver to and fro in uncertainty
until the senate has decided." As soon as the letter
was read the senate forthwith cried out 3 : " Gordian
Augustus, may the gods keep you ! May you rule
happily ; you have delivered us. May you rule
safely ; you have delivered us. Through you the
state is made safe. All of us, we thank you." So
then the consul put the question : " Concerning the
Maximini, Conscript Fathers, what is your pleasure ? "
They replied, "Enemies, enemies! He who slays
them shall have a reward." Again the consul spoke :
"Concerning the friends of Maximinus, what seems
good ? " And they cried out, " Enemies, enemies 1
He who slays them shall have a reward." And then
they cried out : " Let the foe of the senate be hanged
on a cross. Let the senate's enemy everywhere be
smitten. Let the senate's foes be burned alive.
Gordiani Augusti, may the gods keep you ! Luckily
may you live ! Luckily may you rule ! We decree
the grandson of Gordian 4 the praetorship, we promise
the grandson of Gordian the consulship. Let the
347
THE TWO MAXIMINI
sulatum spondemus. nepos Gordiani Caesar appel-
letur. tertius Gordianus praeturam accipiat."
XVII. Ubi hoc senatus consultum Maximinus ac-
cepit, homo natura ferus, sic exarsit, ut non hominem
2 sed beluam putares. iaciebat se in parietes, nonnum-
quam terrae se prosternebat, exclamabat incondite,
arripiebat gladium, quasi senatum posset occidere,
conscindebat vestem regiam, aulicos l verberibus ad-
ficiebat, et nisi de medio recessisset, ut quidam sunt
Sauctores, oculos filio adulescentulo sustulisset. causa
autem iracundiae contra filium haec. fuit, quod eum
Romam ire iusserat, cum primum imperator factus
est, et ille patris nimio amore neglexerat. putabat
autem quod, si ille Romae fuisset, nihil 2 ausurus esset
4 senatus.3 ardentem igitur iracundia amici intra cubi-
5culum receperunt. sed cum furorem suum tenere
non posset, ut oblivionem cogitationis acciperet, vino
se primo die obruisse dicitur eo usque ut quid actum
6 esset ignoraret. alia die admissis amicis, qui eum
videre non poterant sed tacebant atque4 factum
senatus tacite laudabant, consilium habuit quid facto
7 opus esset. de 5 consilio ad contionem processit, in qua
contione multa in Afros, multa in Gordianum, plura
in senatum dixit, cohortatusque milites ad communes
iniurias vindicandas.
1 aulicos Kellerbauer; alios P, Peter. *et nihil P, Peter.
* senatus om. in P. 4 atque Obrecht; et qui P, Peter.
8 sed P.
1The highly coloured description that follows is entirely
lacking in Herodian and is probably an invention. Herodian
says " ffKvQpwirds re $v Kal tv psyaXous <f>poi>TLffi," and adds that
for two days he remained in private, consulting with his friends,
348
THE TWO MAXIMINI XVII. 1-7
grandson of Gordian be called Caesar. Let the third
Gordian take the praetorship."
XVII. When this decree of the senate reached
Maximinus, being by nature passionate, he so flamed
with fury that you would have thought him not a man
but a wild beast.1 He dashed himself against the
walls, sometimes he threw himself upon the ground,
he screamed incoherently aloud, he snatched at his
sword as though he could slaughter the senate then
and there, he rent his royal robes, he beat the palace-
attendants, and, had not the youth retreated, certain
authorities affirm, he would have torn out his young
son's eyes. He was enraged with his son, as it
happened, because he had ordered him to go to Rome
when he was first declared emperor, and this the
youth, because of his excessive fondness for his father,
had not done. And now Maximinus imagined that
if he had been at Rome the senate would have dared
none of this. Blazing with rage, then, his friends got
him to his room. But still he could not control his
fury, and finally, to get oblivion from his thoughts, he
so soaked himself with wine on that first day, they
say, that he did not know what had been done. On
the next day, admitting his friends — and they indeed
could not bear to see him, but stood silent and silently
commended what the senate had done, — he held a
council as to what he should do. From the council
he proceeded to an assembly, and there said much
against the Africans, much against Gordian, and more
against the senate, urging his soldiers to avenge their
common wrongs.
and on the third day made a speech to the soldiers, whioh his
friends had prepared for him ; see Herodian, vii. 8, 1-3.
349
THE TWO MAXIMINI
XVIII. Contiodenique omnis militaris fuit, cuiushoc
exemplum est: "Conmilitones, rem vobis notam pro-
ferimus. Afri fidem fregerunt. nam quando tenuerunt ?
Gordianus senex debilis et morti vicinus sumpsit im-
2 perium. sanctissimi autem patres conscript! illi, qui et
Romulum et Caesarem occiderunt, me hostem iudica-
verunt, cum pro his pugnarem et ipsis vincerem, nee
solum me sed etiam vos et omnes qui mecum l sentiunt,
et Gordianos, patrem ac filium, Augustos vocarunt.
3 ergo si viri estis, si vires habetis, eamus contra senatum
4et Afros, quorum omnium bona vos habebitis." dato
igitur stipendio, et quidem ingenti, Romam versus
cum exercitu proficisci coepit.
XIX. Sed Gordianus in Africa primum a Capeliano
quodam agitari coepit, cui Mauros regenti successorem
2 dederat. contra quern filium iuvenem cum misisset,
acerrima pugna interfecto filio ipse laqueo vitam finiit,
sciens et in Maximino multum esse roboris et in Afris
3 nihil virium, multum quin immo perfidiae. tune Cape-
lianus victor pro Maximino omnes Gordiani mortui2
partium in Africa interemit atque proscripsit nee
cuiquam pepercit, prorsus ut ex animo Maximini vide-
4retur haec facere. civitates denique subdidit,3 fana
1 Here ends the portion of this Vita that has been trans-
ferred in P to Max.-Balb., viii. 2; see note to o. v. 3.
^mortui Lenze ; metu P, Peter; metu del. by Gas. 3 sub-
didit Peter ; subtit P1 ; subuertit P corr.
1 This speech bears no resemblance to that attributed to him
by Herodian. Still another version is given in Gord., xiv. 1-4.
2 An allusion to the proverbial bad faith of the ancient
Carthaginians; see Livy, xxi. 4, 9 (of Hannibal), perfidia plus
quam Punica. See also Gord., xiv. 1 ; xv. 1 ; xvi. 3.
3 According to one version of the myth, Romulus was
murdered by the senators ; see Livy, i. 16, 4.
350
THE TWO MAXIMINI XVIII. 1— XIX. 4
XVIII. His speech was altogether that of a soldier,1
this being the general purport of it : " Fellow soldiers,
we are revealing something you already know. The
Africans have broken faith. When did they ever
keep it ? 2 Gordian, a feeble old man on the brink of
death, has assumed the imperial office. Those most
sacred Conscript Fathers, who murdered Romulus 3
and Caesar, have pronounced me a public enemy, me,
who fought for them and conquered for them too ;
and not only me but you also, and all who stand with
me. The Gordians, both father and son, they have
called Augusti. If you are men, then, if there is any
might in you, let us march now against the senate
and the Africans, and you shall have the goods of
them all." He then gave them a bounty — and a
huge one, too — and turning towards Rome began to
march thither with his army.
XIX. But now Gordian began to be harassed ill
Africa by a certain Capelianus,4 whom he had deposed
from the governorship of the Moors. And when
finally he sent his son against him, and his son after
a desperate battle was killed, the old man hanged
himself, well knowing that there was much strength
in Maximinus and in the Africans none, nay rather
only a great faculty for betraying. And forthwith
Capelianus, the victor, in the name of Maximinus slew
and outlawed all of the dead Gordian's party in Africa,
sparing none. Indeed, he seemed to perform these
duties quite in Maximinus' own temper. He over-
threw cities, ravaged shrines, divided gifts among his
4 He was governor of Numidia, which adjoined the province
of Africa on the east. A fuller account of his overthrow of the
Gordians is given in Gord., xv.-xvi. and Herodian, vii. 9.
351
THE TWO MAXIMINI
diripuit, donaria militibus divisit, plebem et principes
5civitatum concidit. ipse praeterea militum animos
sibi conciliabat, proludens ad imperium, si Maximinus
perisset.
XX. Haec ubi Romam nuntiata sunt senatus,
Maximini et naturalem et iam necessariam crudeli-
tatera timens mortuis duobus Gordianis, Maximum ex
praefecto urbi et qui plurimas dignitates praecipue
gessisset, ignobilem genere sed virtutibus clarum, et
Balbinum,1 moribus delicatiorem, imperatores creavit.
2quibus a populo Augustis appellatis per milites et
etmdem populum etiam parvulus nepos Gordiani
3 Caesar est dictus. tribus igitur imperatoribus contra
4 Maximinum fulta res publica est. horum tamen
Maximus vita se verier, prudentia gravior, virtute con-
5 stantior. denique ipsi contra Maximinum et senatus
6 et Balbinus bellum crediderunt. profecto igitur ad
bellum Maximo contra Maximinum Balbinus Romae
bellis intestinis et domesticis seditionibus urguebatur
1 et Balbinum om. in P1 ; et Clodium Balbinum (of. Gord.,
x. 1 ; xxii. 1) P corr., Peter.
1 The senate had previously, after the deposition of Maxi-
minus (c. xv. 2), appointed a commission of XXviri reipublicae
curandae to provide for the defence of Italy in the absence of
the newly-named emperors, see c. xxxii. 3 ; Gord., x. 1-2 ; xxii.
1; C.I.L. xiv. 3902; Dessau, Ins. Sel, 1186.
2M. Clodius Pupienus Maximus, one of the XXviri. For
his " biography " see Max.-Balb., v.-vi.
3D. Caelius Calvinus Balbinus, also one of the XX viri.
He is incorrectly called Clodius Balbinus in Gord., x. 1 ; xxii. 1.
For his " biography" see Max.-Balb., vii.
4 Afterwards Gordian III. ; see Gord. xxii. f.
8 Also described in Mar.-Balb., ix.-x. A much fuller account
is given by Herodian (vii. 10, 5 — 12, 4), whose narrative differs
from that of the Historia Augusta in placing the first riot (as
352
THE TWO MAXIMINI XIX. 5— XX. 6
soldiers, and slaughtered common folk and nobles in
the cities. At the same time he strove to win over
the affections of his soldiers, playing for the imperial
power himself in the event that Maximinus perished.
XX. When news of these events was brought to
Rome, the senate, fearing Maximinus' barbarity —
natural at all times and inevitable now that the two
Gordians were dead, — elected two other emperors,1
Maximus,2 who had been prefect of the city and
had held many other offices with distinction before
that, humble by birth but eminent by his virtues, and
Balbinus,3 who was somewhat fonder of pleasure.
These were acclaimed August i by the people ; and by
the soldiers and the same people the little grandson of
Gordian 4 was hailed as Caesar. With three emperors,
therefore, was the state propped against Maximinus.
Maximus, however, was the most rigorous of life, the
most sagacious, and the most uniformly courageous of
the three, so finally both the senate and Balbinus
entrusted the war against Maximinus to him. But
after Maximus had set out to war against Maximinus,
Balbinus was beset with civil war and domestic dis-
turbances at Rome,5 especially after two soldiers of
the praetorian guard were slain by the populace at the
a result of which the populace forced the senate to give the
young Gordian the name Caesar) before the departure of
Maximus. The second riot (which was subsequent to Maximus'
departure) was the result of the action of Gallicanus and
Maecenas, two senators, who assaulted some praetorian soldiers,
who had entered the Senate-house, and then incited the populace
to attack the guard. Fierce fighting ensued, which Balbinus
was powerless to prevent. The much abridged narrative in
the present passage has been rendered unintelligible by the
lacuna in the text. The two riots are hopelessly confused in
Gord., xxii. 7 — xxiii. 1.
353
THE TWO MAXIMINI
occisis praecipue1 . . . per populum Gallicano et
Maecenate. qui quidem populus a praetorianis
laniatus est, cum Balbinus resistere seditionibus non
satis posset, denique magna pars urbis incensa est.
7 Et recreatus quidem imperator fuerat Maximinus
audita morte Gordiani atque eius filii Capeliani
8 victoria, verum ubi aliud senatus consultum accepit,
quo Maximus et Balbinus et Gordianus impera-
tores appellati sunt, intellexit senatus odia esse
perpetua et se vere hostem omnium iudicio liaberi.
XXI.acrior denique Italiam ingressus est, ubi cum com-
perisset Maximum contra se missum, vehementius
2 saeviens quadrato agmine Emonam venit. * sed pro-
vincialium omnium consilium hoc fuit, ut sublatis
omnibus quae victum praebere possent intra civitates
se reciperent, ut Maximinus cum exercitu fame
3 urgueretur. denique ubi primum castra in campo
posuit neque quicquam commeatuum repperit, incensus
contra eum exercitus suus, quod fame in Italia
laboraret, in qua post Alpes recreari se posse credebat,
murmurare primum coepit, deinde etiam aliqua libere
4 dicere. haec cum vellet vindicare, multum exarsit
exercitus sed 2 odium taciturn in tempus distulit, quod
5 loco suo statim prodidit. plerique sane dicunt ipsam
Emonam vacuam et desertam inventam esse a Maxi-
mino, stulte laetante quod quasi sibi civitas tota
cessisset.
1 Peter suggests as a reading to fill the lacuna: praecipue
<duobus praetorianis a Gallicano et Maecenate et instigan-
tibus contra praetor ianos> [per] populum ; cf. Gord., xxii. 8.
2 sed Peter ; et P.
1 Mod. Laibach in Carniola. His advance from Sirmium
is described by Herodian, viii. 1, 1-4.
354
THE TWO MAXIMINI XX. 7— XXI. 5
instigation of Gallicanus and Maecenas. The popu-
lace, indeed, were cruelly butchered by the guard
when Balbinus proved unable to quell the uprising.
And in the end a great part of the city was burned.
Meanwhile the Emperor Maxirainus had been
greatly cheered by hearing of the death of Gordian
and Capelianus' victory over his son. But when he
received the second decree of the senate, in which
Maximus, Balbinus, and Gordian were declared
emperors, he then realized that the senate's hatred
for him was never to end and that everyone really
considered him an enemy. XXI. Hotter than ever,
then, he pushed on into Italy. He then learned that
Maximus had been sent against him, and in a violent
rage came up to Emona l in line of battle. But the
plan agreed on for all the provincials was this 2 : that
they should gather up everything that could be useful
for the commissariat and retire within the cities in
order that Maximinus and his army might be pinched
by famine. And, indeed, when he pitched camp on
the plain for the first time and found no prov;sions,
his army was incensed at him because they suffered
from hunger even in Italy, where they expected to
be refreshed after the Alps, and they began at first to
murmur and then indeed to speak out openly. And
when Maximinus attempted to punish this, the army
was much inflamed, but silently stored up its hate for
the moment and produced it again at the proper time.
Many authorities say that Maximinus found Emona
empty and abandoned, and foolishly rejoiced because
the entire city, as it seemed, had retreated before
him.3
2 See c. xxiii. 2 ; Max.-Balb. x. 1-2.
8 So Herodian, viii. 1, 5.
355
THE TWO MAXIMINI
6 Post hoc Aquileiam venit, quae contra eum armatis
circa muros dispositis portas clausit, nee propugnatio l
defuit Menophilo et Crispin o consularibus viris auctori-
XXII. bus. cum igitur frustraobsideret Aquileiam Maximinus,
legates in eandem urbem misit. quibus populus
paene consenserat, nisi Menophilus cum collega resti-
tisset, dicens etiam deum Belenum per haruspices
2 respondisse 2 Maximinum esse vincendum. unde
etiam postea Maximiniani milites iactasse dicuntur
Apollinem contra se pugnasse debere, nee illam
Maximi aut senatus sed deorum fuisse victoriam.
8 quod quidam idcirco ab his fictum esse dicunt,
quod erubescebant armati sic paene ab inermibus
4victi. ponte itaque cupis facto Maximinus fluvium
6 transiit et de proximo Aquileiam obsidere coepit. in-
gens autem oppugnatio et discrimen tune fuit, cum
se cives sulphure et flammis ceterisque huiusmodi
propugnaculis a militibus defenderent ; quorum alii
nudabantur armis, aliorum vestes incendebantur,
aliorum oculi exstinguebantur, diruebantur etiam
6 machinamenta. inter haec Maximinus cum filio
adulescente, quern Caesarem appellaverat, circumire
muros, quantum a teli iactu satis tutus esse posset,
1 propugnatio Salm., Peter; oppugnatio P. *pondiss6
P ; spopondisse Edit, princ.
1 They had been sent to Aquileia for that purpose by the
senate ; see Max.-Palb. xii. 2 ; Herodian, viii. 1, 5.
2 A deity worshipped in several places in Venetia and the
Carnic Alps, as many inscriptions in his honour testify. To
judge from § 2 and Herodian (viii. 3, 8), he was akin to Apollo.
3 The Sontius, mod. Isonzo. According to Herodian, it was
sixteen miles from Aquileia, and as it was swollen by the melt-
356
THE TWO MAXIMINI XXI. 6— XXII. 6
After this he came to Aquileia, which shut its
gates against him and posted armed men about the
walls. Nor did the defence lack vigour, being con-
ducted by Menophilus and Crispinus,1 both men of
consular rank. XXII. So when Maximinus found he
was besieging Aquileia in vain, he sent envoys to the
city. And the people had almost yielded to them, had
not Menophilus and his colleague opposed it, saying
that the god Belenus 2 had declared through the sooth-
sayers that Maximinus would be conquered. Whence
afterwards the soldiers of Maximinus boasted, it is
said, that Apollo must have fought against them,
and that really victory belonged not to the senate
and Maximus but to the gods. But, on the other
hand, it is said that they advanced this theory because
they blushed, armed men as they were, to have been
defeated by men practically unarmed. At any rate,
after making a bridge of wine-casks, Maximinus
crossed the river 3 and began to invest Aquileia closely.
And terrible then was both the assault and the danger,
for the townsmen defended themselves from the
soldiers with sulphur, fire, and other defensive de-
vices of this same kind 4 ; and of the soldiers some
were stripped of their arms, others had their clothing
burned, and some were blinded, while the investing
engines were completely destroyed. Amid all this
Maximinus, with his young son whom he had entitled
Caesar, strode about the walls, just far enough off to
be safe from the throw of javelins, and besought now
ing snow and the bridge had been destroyed by the natives it
delayed Maximinus for three days ; see viii. 4, 1-4.
4 In c. xxxiii. 1 ; Max.-Balb., xi. 3; xvi. 5 the picturesque
(but probably unhistoric) detail is added that the women of
Aquileia gave their hair for bowstrings.
357
THE TWO MAXIMINI
7nunc suos verbis, mine oppidanos rogare. verum
nihil profecit. nam multa et in eum crudelitatis
causa et in filium, qui speciosissimus erat, probra
conge sta sunt.
XXIII. Quare Maximinus sperans suorum ignavia
bellura trahi duces suos interemit, eo tempore quo
minime oportebat. unde sibi milites etiam iratiores
2reddidit. hue accedebat quod deficiebatur com-
meatibus, quia senatus ad omnes provincial et
portuum custodes litteras dederat, ne aliquid com-
Smeatuum in Maximini potestatem veniret. miserat
praeterea per omnes civitates praetorios et quaestorios
viros, qui ubique custodias agerent et omnia contra
4 Maximinum defenderent. effectum denique est ut
5 obsessi angustias obsidens ipse pateretur. nuntiabatur
inter haec orbem terrarum consensisse in iodiura
6 Maximini. quare timentes milites, quorum adfectus
in Albano monte erant, medio forte die, cum a proelio
quiesceretur, et Maximinum et filium eius in tentorio
positos occiderunt eorumque capita praefixa contis
7 Aquileiensibus demonstrarunt. in oppido igitur
vicino statim Maximini statuae atque imagines
depositae sunt, et eius praefectus praetorii occisus
est cum amicis clarioribus. missi etiam Romam
capita sunt eorum.
XXIV. Hie finis Maximinorum fuit, dignus crude-
litate patris, indignus bonitate filii. quibus mortuis
ingens laetitia provincialium, dolor gravissimus
barbarorum.
1 See Max.-Balb., x. 1.
2 The Legio II. Parthica; see note to Carac., ii. 7.
3 Another version is given in c. xxxii. 5.
4 Especially the Pannonian and Thracian soldiers, who had
made him emperor ; see Herodian, viii. 6, 1.
358
THE TWO MAXIMINI XXII. 7— XXIV. 1
his own men, now the men of the town. But it pro-
fited him nothing. For against him, because of his
cruelty, and against his son, who was a most beautiful
creature, the townsmen merely hurled abuse.
XX I II. And so now Maximinus, flattering himself
that the war was being prolonged by the cowardice of
his men, put his generals to death, just at the time
when he could least afford to do so ; by which act he
made his soldiers still further enraged against him. In
addition to that, "he now ran short of provisions, be-
cause the senate had sent letters to all the provinces
and to the overseers of ports to prevent any provisions
coming into Maximinus' power. It had sent praetors
and quaestors throughout all the cities, moreover, to
keep guard everywhere and defend everything against
Maximinus.1 Finally, it came to pass that he him-
self, while besieging, suffered the distress of one be-
sieged. At this juncture it was announced that the
whole world was agreed in hatred of Maximinus.
And so some of the soldiers, whose wives and children
were on the Alban Mountain,2 becoming fearful, in the
middle of the day, when they rested from the fighting,
slew Maximinus and his son as they lay in their tent,3
and putting their heads on poles, showed them to the
citizens of Aquileia. And thereupon in the neigh-
bouring town the statues and portraits of Maximinus
were immediately thrown down and his prefect of
the guard, together with his more notable friends,
were slain. Their heads were sent to Rome.
XXIV. This was the end of the Maximini, worthy
the cruelty of the father, unworthy the goodness of
the son. Among the provincials there was tremendous
rejoicing at their death, but among the barbarians4
the most grievous sorrow.
359
THE TWO MAXIMINI
2 Sed milites interfectis publicis hostibus recepti
sunt ab oppidanis rogantes, et primum ita ut ante
imagines Maximi et Balbini et Gordiani adorarent,
cum omnes dicerent priores Gordianos in deos relates.
3 post hoc ingens ex Aquileia commeatus in castra,
quae laborabant fame, propere 1 traductus refectisque 2
militibus alia die ad contionem ventum est, et omnes
in Maximi et Balbini verba iurarunt, Gordianos priores
divos appellantes.
4 Dici vix potest quanta laetitia fuerit, cum Romam
per Italiam caput Maximini ferretur, occurrentibus
5 cunctis ad gaudium publicum. et Maximus quidem,
quern multi Pupienum putant, apud Ravennam bellum
parabat per Germanorum auxilia. qui ubi 3 comperit
consensisse exercitum sibi et collegis suis, occisos
6autem esse Maximinos, statim 4 dimissis Germanorum
auxiliis, quae sibi contra hostem paraverat, Romam
laureatas litteras misit. quae in urbe 5 ingentem
laetitiam fecerunt, ita ut omnes per aras et templa
7 et sacella et loca religiosa gratias agerent. Balbinus
autem, homo timidior natura et qui, cum Maximini
nomen audiret, etiam tremeret, hecatomben fecit
iussitque per omnes civitates pare sacrificio supplicari.
sdeinde Maximus Romam venit senatumque ingressus
1 propere Peter1, Jordan ; p P ; pretio Peter2. 2 refectisque.
Peter ; fecistisque P. 3 qui ubi P, Novdk ; at que ibi Peter.
*quare statim P, Peter; quare del. by Eyssenhardt and
Novak. 5 urbe Damste" ; urbem P, Peter.
1 On their deification see Max.-Balb., iv. 1-3.
2 See note to c. xxxiii. 4. 3 See Max.-Balb., xi. 1.
4 This is an error, for they came to Borne with him ; see
Max.-Balb., xiii. 5.
6 See note to Alex., Iviii. 1.
6 See Max.-Balb., xi. 4-6.
860
THE TWO MAXIMINI XXIV. 2— XXIV. 8
And now that the public enemies were slain, the
soldiers were taken in by the townsfolk at their own
request — but on condition that they would worship
before the portraits of Maximus and Balbinus and also
of Gordian, for all told them that the elder Gordians
had been placed among the gods.1 This done, a
mighty store of provisions was speedily carried from
Aquileia to the camp, which was suffering from
hunger, and after the soldiers were refreshed, on a
later day they came to an assembly. And there
they all swore allegiance to Maximus and Balbinus,
and hailed the elder Gordians as divine.
One can scarcely describe how great the joy was
when the head of Maximinus was carried through
Italy to Rome. From all sides folk came running as
to a public holiday. Maximus, whom many call
Pupienus,2 was at Ravenna, preparing with the aid of
German auxiliaries for war3; but when he learned
that the army had come over to himself and his col-
leagues, and that the Maximini were slain, he at once
dismissed the German auxiliaries,4 whom he was get-
ting ready against the enemy, and sent a laurelled
letter5 to Rome. And this caused unbounded re-
joicing in the city ; indeed at altars, temples, shrines,
and holy places everywhere, everyone offered up
thanks. As for Balbinus, a somewhat timid soul by
nature, who trembled when he heard Maximinus' very
name, he sacrificed a hecatomb 6 and gave orders
that the gods should be worshipped with an equal
sacrifice in every town. Soon thereafter Maximus
came to Rome,7 and after going into the senate,8
7 He went first to Aquileia to receive the surrender of
Maximinus' army ; see Max.-Balb., xii. 3.
8 See Max.-Balb., xiii. 1-2.
361
THE TWO MAXIMINI
actis sibi gratiis contionem habuit, atque inde in
Palatium cum Balbino et Gordiano victores se rece-
perunt.
XXV. Interest scire quale senatus consultum fuerit
vel qui dies urbis, cum est nuntiatus interemptus
- Maximinus. iam primum is, qui ex Aquileiensi Romam
missus fuerat, tanto impetu mutatis animalibus
cucurrit, ut quarta die Romam veniret, cum apud
3 Ravennam Maximum reliquisset. et forte dies
ludorum erat, cum subito sedente Balbino et Gordiano
theatrum nuntius ingressus est, atque, antequam
aliquid indicaretur, omnis populus exclamavit, " Maxi-
4 minus occisus est." ita et nuntius praeventus et
imperatores, qui aderant, gaudium publicum nutu et
5consensu indicaverunt. soluto igitur spectaculo
omnes statim ad suas religiones convolarunt, atque
inde ad senatum principes, populus ad contionem
cucurrerunt.
XXVI. Senatus consultum hoc fuit : Recitatis in
senatu per Balbinum Augustum litteris adclamavit se-
2 natus : " Hostes populi Romani ] di persequuntur. lup-
piter optime, tibi gratias. Apollo venerabilis, tibi
gratias. Maxime Auguste, tibi gratias. Balbine Au-
guste, tibi gratias. Divis Gordianis templa decernimus.
tf Maximini nomen olim erasum nunc aniinis eradendum.
hostis publici caput in profluentem abiciatur. corpus
eius nemo sepeliat. qui senatui mortem minatus est, ut
:So P, Peter1; <^senatus> hostes, populi B.
Kellerbauer, Peter 2.
1 These acclamations cannot, of course, be properly called a
senatus consultum. On acclamations see note to Alex., vi. 1.
2 i.e. from the public records and his inscriptions, as in
362
THE TWO MAXIM1NI XXV. 1— XXVI. 3
where thanks were offered him, he held an assembly,
whence he and Balbinus and Gordian victoriously be-
took themselves to the Palace.
XXV. It is of interest to know what sort of decree
the senate passed and what the day was in the city,
when it was announced that Maximinus was slain.
For, in the first place, the messenger who had been
sent to Rome from Aquileia, by changing his horses
managed to gallop with such speed that he reached
Rome on the third day after leaving Maximus at
Ravenna. As it happened, games were being held
that day, when suddenly, while Balbinus and Gordian
were seated, the messenger entered the theatre ; and
at once, before he uttered a word, the people cried out
with one voice, " Maximinus is dead ! ' Thus the mes-
senger was anticipated and the Emperors, who were
present, by nodding in assent expressed the public
rejoicing. The performance, then, being brought to a
close, everyone immediately rushed to his religious
duties, and thereafter the nobles sped to the Senate-
house, the people to the assembly.
XXVI. The decree of the senate was as follows : *
After the Emperor Balbinus Augustus had read the
letter, the senate cried : " The gods take vengeance
on the foes of the Roman people. Most great Jupiter,
we give you thanks. Revered Apollo, we give you
thanks. Maximus Augustus, we give you thanks.
Balbinus Augustus, we give you thanks. We decree
temples for the Deified Gordians. The name of Maxi-
minus, previously expunged,2 is now to be stricken
from our hearts. Let the head of the public foe be
cast into running water. Let no man bury his body.
Dessau, Ins. SeL, 487-489. This measure was probably included
in the formal act of deposition ; see c. xv. 2.
363
THE TWO MAXIMINI
merebatur, occisus est. qui senatui vincula minatus est,
4 ut debebat, interemptus est. saiictissirai imperatores,
gratias vobis agimus. Maxime, Balbine, Gordiane, di
vos servant, victores hostium omnes desideramus.
praesentiam Maximi omnes desideramus. Balbine
Auguste, di te servent. praesentem annum consules
vos ornetis. in loco Maximini Gordianus sufficiatur."
5 post rogatus sententiam Cuspidius Celerinus haec
verbi habuit : " Patres conscript!, eraso nomine Maxi-
minorum appellatisque divis Gordianis victoriae causa
principibus nostris Maximo, Balbino et Gordiano sta-
tuas cum elephantis decernimus, currus triumphales
decernimus, statuas equestres decernimus, tropaea de-
6cernimus." post haec misso senatu supplicationes
7 per totam urbem decretae. victores principes in
Palatium se receperunt, de quorum vita in alio libro
deinceps dicemus.
MAXIMINUS IUNIOR
XXVII. De l huius genere superius dictum est, ipse
autem pulchritudinis fuit tantae, ut passim amatus sit
a procacioribus feminis. noiinullae etiam optaverunt
2de eo concipere. proceritatis videbatur posse illius
esse, ut ad paternam staturam perveniret, si quidem
anno vicensimo et primo periit, in ipso flore iuventutis,
ut aliqui autem dicunt octavo decimo, litteris et
Graecis et Latinis imbutus ad primam disciplinam.
1 de om. in P.
1 Otherwise unknown.
864
THE TWO MAXIMINI XXVI. 4— XXVII. 2
He who threatened death to the senate is slain as he
deserved. He who threatened chains for the senate
is killed as he deserved. Most reverend Emperors,
we offer you thanks. Maximus, Balbinus, Gordian,
may the gods keep you ! victorious over your foes, we
all desire your presence. We all desire the presence
of Maximus. Balbinus Augustus, may the gods keep
you ! Honour the present year by being this year's
consuls. In the place of Maximinus let Gordian be
chosen." After this, Cuspidius Celerinus,1 being
asked for his opinion, spoke thus : " Conscript Fathers,
having expunged the name of the Maximini and
deified the Gordians, in honour of the victory we
decree to our princes Maximus, Balbinus, and Gordian
statues with elephants, triumphal cars, equestrian
statues, and trophies of victory". After this, the
senate being dissolved, supplications were ordered
throughout the whole city. The princes betook them
victoriously to the Palace, but of their lives we shall
write later in another book.
MAXIMINUS THE YOUNGER.
XXVII. The descent of the younger Maximinus *
has been related above. He himself was so beautiful
that the more wanton of women loved him indiscrimin-
ately, and not a few desired to be gotten with child
by him. He gave such promise of height, moreover,
that he might have reached his father's stature had
he not perished in his twenty-first year, in the very
flower of his youth, or, as some say, in his eighteenth.
Even so, he was well versed in Greek and Latin
2 On the correct form of his name and his titles see note to
c. viii. 1.
365
THE TWO MAXIMINI
3nam usus est magistro Graeco litteratore Fabillo,
cuius epigrammata Graeca multa et exstant, maxima
4 in imaginibus ipsius pueri. qui versus Graecos fecit
ex illis Latinis Vergilii, cum ipsum puerum de-
scriberet :
Qualis ubi Oceani perfusus lucifer unda
extulit os sacrum caelo tenebrasque resolvit,
talis erat iuvenis patrio sub nomine clarus.
Sgrammatico Latino usus est Philemone, iuris perito
Modestino, oratore Titiano, filio Titiani senioris, qui
provinciarum libros pulcherrimos scripsit et qui dictus
est simia temporis sui, quod cuncta esset imitatus.
habuit et Graecum rhetorem Eugamium sui temporis
clarum.
6 Desponsa illi erat lunia Fadilla, proneptis Antonini ;
quam postea accepit Toxotius, eiusdem familiae sena-
tor, qui periit post praeturam, cuius etiam poemata
7 exstant. manserunt autem apud earn arrae regiae,
quae tales (ut lunius Cordus loquitur, qui harum
1 Fabillus, like Philemon and Eugamius, mentioned in § 5,
is otherwise unknown.
2 Aeneid, viii. 589 and 591, describing Pallas, son of Evan-
der; the third line is not in the Aeneid.
3 Perhaps Herennius Modestinus, a jurist and a pupil of
Ulpian ; see Digesta, xlvii. 2, 52, 20.
4 Probably Julius Titianus, whose Cliorogr aphid (Servius on
Vergil, Aen.t iv. 42) is probably the provinciarum libri of this
passage. In Ausonius, Epist., i. 1 he is named as the author
of letters of famous women and dubbed Oratorum Simia. The
son is included in a list of imperial tutors in Ausonius, Grat.
Actio, vii. 31 ; he is probably the translator of fables men-
tioned by Ausonius, Epist., xvi. 78.
6 Not otherwise known, and probably, in view of the general
366
THE TWO MAXIMINI XXVII. 3-7
letters, for he got his first schooling under the
Greek man of letters Fabillus,1 many of whose Greek
epigrams are extant today, chiefly on statues of the
boy himself. This Fabillus also made Greek verses
from those Latin lines of Vergil, meaning to describe
this same boy :
"Like to the star of the morning when he, new-
bathed in Ocean,
Raises his holy face and scatters the darkness from
heaven,2
So did the young man seem, fair-famed in the name
of his father."
Latin grammar he studied under Philemon, jurispru-
dence under Modestinus,3 and oratory under Titianus,
the son of that elder Titianus 4 who wrote a very
beautiful work on the provinces and was called the ape
of his age because he imitated everything. He em-
ployed also the Greek rhetorician Eugamius, who was
famous in his day.
Junia Fadilla,5 the great-granddaughter of Antoni-
nus, was betrothed to him ; but afterwards she was
espoused by Toxotius, a senator of the same family,
who died after serving his praetorship, certain poems
of his being extant today. The regal betrothal-gifts
that he had presented her with, however, she kept.
Junius Cordus, who was an investigator of these things,
character of this vita, to be regarded as apocryphal, as is also
Toxotius. At the end of the fourth century the Toxotii were
prominent in Roman society, and on the theory that the name
was introduced here in honour of them, its presence has been
used as an argument for the contention that the Historic,
Augusta is a work of the late fourth century ; see Dessau,
Hermes, xxiv., p. 351.
367
THE TWO MAXIMINI
Srerura persecutor est1) fuisse dicuntur : monolinum
de albis novem, reticulum cum 2 prasinis undecim,
dextrocherium cum costula de hyacinthis quattuor.
praeter vestes auratas et omnes regias 3 ceteraque
insignia sponsaliorum.
XXVIII. Adulescens autem ipse Maximinus super-
biae fuit insolentissimae, ita ut etiam, cum pater suus,
homo crudelissimus, plerisque honoratisadsurgeret, ille
2 resideret, vitae laetioris, vini parcissimus, cibi avidus,
maxime silvestris, ita ut nonnisi aprunam, anates,
3 grues et omnia captiva ederet. infamabant eum ob
nimiam pulchritudinem amici Maximi et Balbini et
Gordiani et maxime senatores, qui speciem illam
velut divinitus lapsam incorruptam esse noluerimt.
4denique illo tempore quo circum Aquileiam muros
circumiens cum patre deditionem urbis petebat, nihil
aliud ei quam spurcities obiecta est, quae longe ab
5 illius fuit vita, vestibus tarn adcuratus fuit ut nulla
Bmulier nitidior esset in mundo. amicis paternis
inmane quantum obsecutus est, sed ut donaret ac
71argiretur. nam in salutationibus superbissimus erat
et manum porrigebat et genua sibi osculari patiebatur,
nonnumquam etiam pedes ; quod numquam passus
est senior Maximinus, qui dicebat : " Di prohibeant,
ut quisquam ingenuorum pedibus meis osculum figat."
8 et quoniam ad Maximinum seniorem revertimur, res
iucunda praetereunda non est. nam cum esset Maxi-
minus pedum, ut diximus, octo etprope semis, calcia-
mentum eius, id est campagum regium, quidam in
h. r. persecutor est Lenze ; h. r. persecutores P;
. r. persecutor est Petschenig, Peter 3. 2 cum ins.
by Peter ; om. in P. 3 omnes regias P, Damste", Lenze j
gemmis ornatas Peter.
368
THE TWO MAXIMINI XXVII. 8— XXVIII. 8
says that they were such as these : a necklace of nine
pearls ; a net-work cap with eleven emeralds ; a
bracelet with a row of four sapphires ; and besides
these, gowns worked with gold, all of them royal, and
other betrothal pledges.
XXVIII. The young man Maximinus was most ex-
cessively insolent ; indeed, when even his father, a
very hard man, rose to greet many distinguished men,
he remained seated. He was fond of gay living, very
sparing in the use of wine, but voracious in respect
to food, especially game, eating only boar's flesh, ducks,
cranes, and everything that is hunted. The friends of
Maximus, Balbinus and Gordian, and particularly the
senators, spoke ill of him because of his excessive
beauty ; for they were not willing that his beauty, fallen,
as it were, from heaven, should be pure. Indeed, that
time when he walked about the walls of Aquileia with
his father, asking its surrender, nothing but filthy in-
sinuations were hurled at him,1 — though far removed
from his real life. He was very careful of his dress,
and no woman was more elegantly groomed. It was
monstrous how his father's friends fawned on him,
in hopes chiefly of gifts or largess. For he was ex-
ceedingly haughty at his levees — he stretched out his
hand, and suffered his knees to be kissed, and some-
times even his feet. This the elder Maximinus never
permitted ; for he said " God forbid that any free
man should ever print a kiss on my feet". And
while we are speaking of the elder Maximinus we
should not forbear to mention this amusing thing : as
we have said,2 Maximinus was almost eight and a half
feet tall ; and certain men deposited a shoe of his,
1 See c. xxii. 6—7. 2 See c. vi. 8.
369
THE TWO MAXIMINI
luco, qui est inter 1 Aquileiam et Arciam, posuerunt,
quod constitit pede maius fuisse hominis vestigii
9mensura. unde etiam vulgo tractum est, cum de
longis et ineptis hominibus diceretur "caliga Maxi-
10 mini." quod idcirco indidi, ne qui Cordum legeret
me praetermisisse crederet aliquid quod ad rem2
pertineret. sed redeam ad filium.
XXIX. De hoc adulescente Alexander Aurelius ad
matrem suam scribit Mamaeam, cupiens ei sororem
2suam Theocliam dare, in haec verba : " Mi mater,
si Maximinus senior, dux noster et quidem optimus,
non aliquid in se barbarum contineret, iam ego
sMaximino iuniori Theocliam tuam dedissem. sed
timeo ne soror mea Graecis munditiis erudita bar-
barum socerum ferre non possit, quamvis ipse adules-
cens et pulcher et scholastic us et ad Graecas mun-
4ditias eruditus esse videatur. haec quidem cogito,
sed te tamen consulo, utrum Maximinum, Maximini
filium, generum velis an Messallam ex familia nobili,
oratorem potentissimum eundemque doctissimum et,
nisi fallor, in rebus bellicis, si adplicetur, fortem
sfuturum." haec Alexander de Maximino. de quo
nos nihil amplius habemus dicere.3
6 Sane ne quid praetermissum esse videatur, etiam
epistulam indidi patris Maximini, imperatoris iam
facti, qui dicit idcirco se etiam filium suum appellasse
1 inter om. in P. 2 rem P, Peter1 ; patrem Kellerbauer,
Peter 2. 3 So Peter ; quod dicere P, def . by Petschenig.
1 Unknown.
2 i.e. Severus Alexander. There is no mention elsewhere of
a sister of his named Theoclia, and, like Junia Fadilla (xxvii.
6) she is probably apocryphal.
3 This letter is obviously spurious, since the incorrect form
370
THE TWO MAXIMINI XXVIII. 9— XXIX. 6
that is, one of his royal boots, in a grove which lies
between Aquileia and Arcia,1 because, forsooth, they
agreed that it was a foot longer than the measure of
any foot of man. Whence also is derived the vulgar
expression, used for lanky and awkward fellows, of
" Maximinus' boot ". I have put this down lest any
one who reads Cordus should believe that I have over-
looked anything which pertained to my subject. But
now let me return to the son.
XXIX. Aurelius Alexander2 wished to give him
his sister Theoclia in marriage and wrote to his mother
Mamaea these words concerning the youth : " Mother,
were there not an element of the barbarian in the char-
acter of the elder Maximinus — he who is our general,
and a very good one, too^ — I had already married your
Theoclia to Maximinus3 the younger. But I am
afraid that such a product of Greek culture as my
sister could not endure a barbarian father-in-law, how-
ever much the young man himself seems handsome
and learned and polished in Greek elegance. This
is what I think ; but nevertheless I ask your advice.
Tell me, do you wish Maximinus, the son of Maximinus,
for a son-in-law, or Messalla, who is a scion of a noble
house, a very powerful speaker, very learned, and, if
I mistake not, a man who would prove himself gallant
on the field if occasion should arise ? " Thus Alexander
on Maximinus. As for us, we have nothing further
to say of him.
And yet — lest we seem to have omitted anything
at all — I have set down a letter written by his father
Maximinus, when he had now become emperor, in
of the young man's name is given here, as elsewhere in the
Historia Augusta; see note to c. viii. 1.
371
THE TWO MAXIMINI
imperatorem, ut videret, vel in pictura vel in veritate,
7 quails esset iunior Maximinus in purpura. fuit autem
talis epistula : " Ego cum propter adfectum, quern
pater filio debet, Maxim inum meum imperatorem
appellari permisi, turn etiam, ut populus Romanus et
senatus ille antiquus iuraret se numquam pulchriorem
8 imperatorem habuisse." usus autem est idem adules-
cens et aurea lorica exemplo Ptolemaeorum, usus
est et argentea, usus et clipeo gemmato inaurato et
9 hasta inaurata. fecit et spathas argenteas, fecit etiam
aureas et omnino quicquid eius pulchritudinem posset
iuvare. fecit et galeas gemmatas, fecit et bucculas.
10 Haec sunt quae de puero sciri et dici decuit. reli-
qua qui volet nosse de rebus Veneriis et amatoriis,
quibus eum Cordus aspergit, eundem legat ; nos enim
hoc loco finem libri faciemus, ad alia, ut iubetur velut
publico iure, properantes.
XXX. Omina sane imperii haec fuerunt : serpens
dormienti caput circumdedit. posita ab eodem vitis
intra annum ingentes uvas purpureas attulit et mirae
2 magnitudinis facta est. scutum eius sub sole arsit.
lanceola sic fissa est fulmine ut tota etiam per ferrum
finderetur et duas partes faceret ; quando dixerunt haru-
spices duos imperatores non diuturnos ex una domo
372
THE TWO MAXIMINI XXIX. 7— XXX. 2
which he says that he had proclaimed his son emperor
in order to see, either in painting or actuality, what
the younger Maximinus would look like in the purple.
The letter itself was of this nature : " I have let my
Maximinus be called emperor, not only because of the
fondness which a father owes a son, but also that the
Roman people and that venerable senate maybe able to
take an oath that they have never had a more handsome
emperor ". After the fashion of the Ptolemies this
youth wore a golden cuirass ; he had also a silver one.
He had a shield, moreover, inlaid with gold and
jewels, and also a gold-inlaid spear. He had silver
swords made for him, too, and gold ones as well, every-
thing, in fact, which could enhance his beauty —
helmets inset with precious stones and cheek-pieces
done in the same fashion.
These are the facts which can be known and related
of the boy with propriety. But whoever desires to
know the rest, about the sexual and amorous affairs
with which Cordus bespatters him, let him read
Cordus ; as for us, we make an end of our book here,
and hasten on, as though bidden by a public duty,
to other things.
XXX. The omens that he would be emperor were
these : A snake coiled about his head as he was
sleeping. A grape-vine which he planted produced
within a year huge clusters of purple grapes, and
grew to an astounding size. His shield blazed in the
sun. A small lance of his was split by lightning and
in such a manner that the whole of it, even through
the iron, was cleft and fell into two halves. And
from this the soothsayers declared that from the one
house there would spring two emperors of the same
name, whose reign would be of no long duration.
373
THE TWO MAXIMINI
Siisdem nominibus futures, lorica patris eius non, ut
solet, ferrugine sed tota purpureo colore infecta a
4 plurimis visa est. filio autem haec fuerunt : cum
grammatico daretur, quaedara parens sua libros Home-
5 ricos omnes purpureos dedit aureis litteris scriptos. ipse
puerulus cum ad cenam ab Alexandro esset rogatus in
patris honorem, quod ei deesset vestis cenatoria, ipsius
6 Alexandri accepit. cum infans esset, subito per publi-
cum veniente vehiculo Antoiiini Caracalli, quod
vacuum erat, conscendit et sedit, et vix aegreque a
7 mulionibus carrucariis deturbatus est. nee defuerunt
qui cavendum infantem dicerent Caracal lo. turn ille
dixit, "Longe est, ut mihi iste succedat." erat enim
illo tern pore inter ignobiles et nimis parvus.
XXXI. Mortis omina haec fuerunt : venienti contra
Maximum et Balbinum Maximino cum filio, mulier
quaedam passis crinibus occurrit lugubri habitu et ex-
clamavit " Maximini, Maximini, Maximini," neque
quicquam amplius dixit et mortua est. videbatur enim
2dicere voluisse " Succurrite." canes circa tentorium
eius in secunda mansione ultra duodecim ulularunt et
animam quasi flendo posuerunt ac prima luce mortui
3 sunt deprehensi. lupi 1 quingenti simul ingressi sunt
in earn urbem in quam - se Maximinus contulerat ;
plerique dicunt Emonam, alii Archimeam, certe quae
4deserta a civibus venienti Maximino patuit. longum
est omnia persequi, quae qui scire desiderat, is velim,
1 lupi urbem P; urbem del. by Peter. 2quam Damste* ;
qua P, Peter.
1 See c. xxi. 1 and 5. a Unknown.
374
THE TWO MAXIMINI XXX. 3— XXXI. 4
His father's cuirass — many saw it — was stained not
with rust, as is usual, but all over with a purple colour.
These omens, moreover, occurred for the son : When
he was sent to a grammarian, a certain kinswoman
of his gave him the works of Homer all written in
letters of gold on purple. And while he was yet a
little boy, he was asked to dinner by Alexander as a
compliment to his father, and, being without a dinner-
robe, he wore one of Alexander's. When still an
infant, moreover, he mounted up into a carriage of
Antoninus Caracalla's that unexpectedly came down
the public way, seeing it empty, and sat down; and only
with great ado was he routed out by the coachmen.
Nor were there lacking then those who told Caracalla
to beware of the child. But he said, " It is a far
chance that this fellow will succeed me ". For at
that time he was of the undistinguished crowd and
very young.
XXXI. The omens of his death were these : When
Maximinus and his son were marching against Maxi-
mus and Balbiiius they were met by a woman with
dishevelled hair and woeful attire, who cried out,
"Maximini, Maximini, Maximini," and said no more,
and died. She wished to add, it seemed, "Help
me ! ' And at their next halting-place hounds, more
than twelve of them, howled about his tent, drawing
their breath with a sort of sobbing, and at dawn were
found dead. Five hundred wolves, likewise, came in
a pack into that town whither Maximinus had betaken
himself — Emona,1 many say, others Archimea2; at
any rate, it was one which was left abandoned by its
inhabitants when Maximinus approached. It is a
lengthy business to enumerate all these things ; and
if anyone desires to know them, let him, as I have
S75
THE TWO MAXIMINI
ut saepe dixi, legat Cordum, qui haec omnia usque
ad fabellam scripsit.
6 Sepulchra eorum mil la exstant. in profluentem
enim cadavera eorum missa sunt, et capita eorum in
Campo Martio insultante populo exusta.
XXXII. Scribit Aelius Sabinus, quod praetermitten-
dum non fuit, tantam pulchritudinem oris fuisse in filio,
ut etiam caput eius mortui iam nigrum, iam sordens, iam
maceratum, diffluente tabo, vel umbra pulchri oris l
2videretur. denique cum ingens gaudium esset, quod
caput Maximini videretur, prope par maeror erat,
3 quod et filii pariter portaretur. addidit Dexippus
tantum odium fuisse Maximini, ut interfectis Gordi-
anis viginti viros senatus creaverit, quos opponeret
Maximino. in quibus fuerunt Balbinus et Maximus,
4 quos contra eum principes fecerunt. idem addidit in
conspectu Maximini iam deserti a militibus et prae-
5fectum praetorio ipsius et filium eius occisum. nee
desunt historici qui dicant ipsum Maximinum, ubi
desertus est et ubi filium interemptum ante oculos
suos vidit, manu sua se interfecisse, ne quid ei mulie-
bre contingeret.
XXXIII. Praetereundum ne illud quidem est quod
tanta fide Aquileienses contra Maximinum pro senatu
fuerunt, ut funes de capillis muliebribus facerent, cum
2 deessent nervi ad sagittas emittendas. quod aliquando
1 umbra pulchri oris Haupt, Peter2 ; umbrae pulchrioris P,
Peter1.
1 Otherwise unknown.
2 See note to Alex., xlix. 8.
376
THE TWO MAXIMINI XXXI. 5— XXXIII. 2
often said, read Cordus, who has related them all, to
the point of telling idle tales.
They have no tombs. For their corpses were cast
into running water and their heads, while the mob
capered, were burned in the Campus Martius.
XXXII. Aelius Sabinus1 has written, and we must
not omit it, that such was the beauty of the son's face
that even in death his head, now black, and dirty,
shrunken, and running with putrid gore, seemed still
the shadow, as it were, of a beautiful face. And in-
deed, though there was great joy at seeing the head
of Maximinus, there was almost equal grief when the
son's head was carried with it. Dexippus2 says that
Maximinus was hated so thoroughly that when the
Gordians perished the senate elected twenty men to
oppose him.3 Among these were Maximus and Bal-
binus, and these two they made emperors against him.
This same Dexippus says also that Maximinus' prefect
of the guard and his son were slain before his eyes,
after his soldiers had deserted him. And there are
not lacking historians who say that Maximinus also,
after he had been deserted and had seen his son
slain before his eyes, killed himself with his own
hand,4 that nothing womanish might attach to him.
XXXIII. Nor can we fail to mention the extra-
ordinary loyalty displayed by the Aquileians in de-
fending the senate against Maximinus. For, lacking
bow-strings with which to shoot their arrows, they
made cords of the women's hair.5 It is said that this
once happened at Rome as well, whence it was that
8 See note to c. xx. 1.
4 See c. xxiii. 6 and note.
B See note to c. xxii. 5.
377
THE TWO MAXIMINI
Romae dicitur factum, unde in honorem matronarum
templum Veneri Calvae senatus dicavit.
Sane quod nullo in loco tacendum est, cum et
Dexippus et Arrianus et multi alii Graeci scripserunt
Maximum et Balbinum imperatores contra Maximinum
factos, Maximum autem cum exercitu missum et apud
Ravennam bellum parasse, Aquileiam autem nisi
victorem non vidisse : Latini scriptores non Maximum
sed Pupienum contra Maximinum apud Aquileiam
3 pugnasse dixerunt eundemque vicisse. qui error unde
natus sit, scire non possum, nisi forte idem est Pupie-
4 nus qui Maximus. quod ideo testatum posui, ne quis
me hoc nescisse crederet, quod re vera magnum stupo-
rem ac miraculum crearet.1
1 crearet Peter 2 ; creatP; quod . . . creat del. by Eyssen-
hardt and Peter1.
1 i.e. the Bald. Her temple at Rome is mentioned by Lac-
tantius, Inst., i. 20, 27. Various legends accounting for her
name are lecorded by Servius, note to Vergil, Aen., i. 720.
One of these agrees with the incident alluded to in the present
passage, assigning it to the siege of the Capitoline Hill by
the Gauls in 382 B.C. In reality the name seems to be due
to the existence of a bald female statue, regarded as Venus ;
see Wissowa, in Pauly-Wissowa, RealencyL, iii. 1408.
S78
THE TWO MAXIMINI XXXIII. 3-4.
the senate, in honour of the matrons, dedicated the
temple of Venus Calva.1
We can by no means be silent about the following
point. For although Dexippus, Arrianus,2 and many
other Greek writers have said that Maximus and Bal-
binus were set up as emperors against Maximinus,
and that Maximus, being sent out with the army,
prepared for war at Ravenna, and did not see Aquileia
until after he was victorious,3 Latin writers have said
that it was not Maximus but Pupienus who fought
Maximinus at Aquileia and beat him. Whence this
error arose I cannot say, unless it be that Maximus
and Pupienus were one and the same.4 At any rate,
I have set this statement down with its authorities,
in order that no one may believe that I did not know
it — which indeed would cause great wonder and
amazement !
2 i.e. Herodian ; see note to c. i. 4.
3 See note to c. xxiv. 8.
4 In Max.-Balb. the author seems sometimes to be aware
that the two names refer to the same person (on his name
see note to c. xx. 1), and sometimes to doubt the identifica-
tion, especially in Max.-Balb., i. 2; xv. 4-5; xvi. 7; xviii.
where the question is fully discussed. In Victor (Caes. , xxvi. —
xxvii.) and Eutropius (ix. 2), and presumably in their source
(probably the Latini scriptores) he is always called Pupienus.
379
GORDIANI TRES
IULII CAPITOLINI
I. Fuerat quidem consilium, venerabilis August e, ut
singulos quosque imperatores exemplo multorum
2libris singulis ad tuam Clementiam destinarem. nam
id multos fecisse vel ipse videram vel lectione con-
3 ceperam. sed improbum visum est vel Pietatem tuam
multitudine distinere librorum vel meum laborem
4 plurimis voluminibus occupare. quare tres Gordianos
hoc libro conexui, consulens et meo labori et lectioni
tuae, ne cogereris plurimos codices volvendo unam
Stamen paene historiam lectitare. sed ne ego, qui
longitudinem librorum fugi multitudinemque verbo-
rum, in earn incurrisse videar, quam me urbane
declinare confingo, iam rem adgrediar.
II. Gordiani non, ut quidam imperiti scriptores
loquuntur, duo sed tres fuerunt, idque docente Arriano,
scriptore Graecae historiae, docente item Dexippo,
1 i.e. Gordian I, the proconsul of Africa, acclaimed emperor
in 238, Gordian II, his son (see note to c. iv. 2), and Gordian
III, his grandson, emperor 238-244, all of whom are treated
in this biography. On the other hand, Victor (Caes.t xxvii)
and Eutropius (ix. 2), and presumably also their common
source, knew of only two Gordians, combining the second and
the third into one person.
380
THE THREE GORDIANS
BY
JULIUS CAPITOLINUS
I. It had been my plan, revered Augustus, following
the example of many writers, to present each separate
emperor to Your Clemency, each in a separate book.
For I have either seen for myself that many writers
have done this, or I have so understood from my
reading. It did not seem proper, however, either to
perplex Your Piety with a multitude of books or to
expend my own labour on many volumes. For this
reason in this book I have bound the three Gordians
together, having a care both for my own labour and
for your reading, lest you be compelled to unroll
many volumes and yet read scarcely one story. But let
not me, who have always fled long books and many
words, seem to run into the very thing I pretend
cleverly to avoid ; and so to my subject !
II. There were not, as certain uninformed writers
maintain, two Gordians, but three.1 These writers
might have learned this from Arrianus,2 the, writer
of Greek history, and likewise from Dexippus,3 the
3 i.e. Herodian ; see note to Maxim. , i. 4.
8 See note to Alex., xlix. 3.
381
THE THREE GORDIANS
Graeco auctore, potuerunt addiscere, qui, etiamsi
2 breviter, ad fidem tamen omnia persecuti sunt. horum
Gordianus senior, id est primus, natus est patre
Maecio Marullo, matre Ulpia Gordiana, originem
paternam ex Gracchorum l genere habuit, maternam
ex Traiani imperatoris, patre, avo, proavo consulibus,
socero, prosocero et item alio prosocero et duobus
Sabsoceris consulibus. ipse consul ditissimus ac po-
tentissimus, Romae Pompeianam domum possidens,
in provinciis tan turn terrarum habens quantum nemo
4 privatus. post2 consulatum, quern egerat cum Alex-
andro, ad proconsulatum Africae missus est ex senatus
consulto.
III. Sed priusquam de imperio eius loquar, dicam
2pauca de moribus. adulescens cum esset Gordianus,
de quo sermo est, poemata scripsit, quae omnia exstant,
et quidem cuncta ilia quae Cicero, id est 3 Marium et
Aratum et Alcyonas et Uxorium et Nilum. quae
quidem ad hoc scripsit ut Ciceronis poemata nimis
3 antiqua viderentur. scripsit praeterea, quemadmodum
1 graecorum P. zpost consulatum Peter2; ipsos con-
sulatum P. *id est Peter; et de P.
1 Called in his inscriptions M. Antonius Gordianus Sempro-
nianus Romanus Africanus; see Dessau, Ins. SeL, 493. The
last two cognomina were probably conferred on him on his
accession to power (see c. ix. 3-4), that of Sempronianus is
perhaps responsible for the claim that he was descended
from the Gracchi. Nothing of his ancestry is known except
what is related here.
2 The famous house built by Pompey on the Carinae, i.e.
the western slope of the Esquiline Hill ; see Suetonius,
Tiberius, xv. After Pompey's death it became the property
of Marcus Antonius, and, later, of the Emperor Tiberius. It
382
THE THREE GORDIANS II. 2— III. 3
Greek writer, both of whom have investigated the
whole question, briefly perhaps, but still conscientiously .
Of the three, Gordian the elder,1 that is the first,
was the son of Maecius Marullus and Ulpia Gordiana.
On his father's side he traced his descent from the
house of the Gracchi, on his mother's from the
Emperor Trajan. His own father, his grandfather,
and his great-grandfather, his wife's father and grand-
father, and likewise another of his wife's grandfathers
and two of her great-great-grandfathers, were consuls.
He himself as consul was most rich and powerful ; at
Rome he owned the House of Pompey,2 and in the
provinces more land than any other subject. After
his consulship, which he served with Alexander,3 he
was sent out as proconsul to Africa by decree of the
senate.
III. But before I tell of his rule, I shall speak a
little of his character. When the Gordian of whom
we are speaking was a young man, he wrote poetry,
all of which has been preserved.4 As a matter of
fact, all the subjects were those which Cicero also
treated, that is, Marius, Aratusy Alcyonae, Uxorius and
M/M,v.5 And he wrote these in order that Cicero's
poems might seem out of date. Besides these, just as
was ornamented with the beaks of ships, presumably trophies
of Pompey's war against the pirates, and hence it is called in
c. iii. 6 domus rostrata; see c. iii. 6 and Cicero, Philippicae,
ii. 28, 68.
3 See c. iv. 1 and note.
4 His poetry is unknown except for this reference.
5 Cicero's Epic on Marius is quoted by himself in de
Legibus, i. 2 and de Divinatione, i. 106. By Aratus is meant
his translation of Aratus' famous poem, the ^aivS^va. A
fragment from the Alcyonae is preserved in Nonius Marcellus
s.v. fraevius. The others are unknown.
383
THE THREE GORDIANS
Vergilius Aeneidos et Statius Achilleidos et multi alii
Alexandriados,1 ita etiam ille Antoniniados, hoc est
Antoninum Piura et Antoninum Marcum versibus
disertissimis libris triginta vitam illorum et bella et
4publice privatimque gesta perscribens. et haec
quidem puerulus. postea vero ubi adolevit, in Athe-
naeo controversias declamavit, audientibus etiam
imperatoribus suis.
6 Quaesturam magnificentissimam gessit. aedilitatis
suae tempore duodecim populo Romano munera, id
est per singulos menses singula de suo exhibuit, ita ut
gladiatorum nonnumquam quingena paria exhiberet,
6 numquam minus centenis qu inquagenis. feras Libycas
una die centum exhibuit, ursos una die mille. exstat
silva eius memovabilis, quae picta est in domo rostrata
Cn. Pompei, quae ipsius et patris eius et proavi fuit,
7 quam Philippi temporibus vester fiscus invasit. in qua
pictura etiam nunc continentur cervi palmati ducenti
mixtis Britannis, equi feri triginta, oves ferae centum,
alces decem, tauri Cypriaci centum, struthiones Mauri
miniati trecenti, onagri triginta, apri centum quin-
Squaginta, ibices ducenti, dammae ducenti. haec
autem omnia populo rapienda concessit die muneris,
quod sextum edebat.
IV. Praeturam nobilem gessit. post iuris dic-
tionem consulatum primum iniit cum Antonino Cara-
1 Alexandriados Unger, Peter2; elidos P1; ylidos P corr.
Hiados Jordan.
1 See also c. iv. 7.
2 See note to Pert., xi. 3.
*i.e. lions ; see Ovid, Fasti, ii. 209 ; v. 178.
4 See note to o. ii. 3.
384
THE THREE GORDIANS III. 4— IV. 1
Vergil wrote an Aeneid, Statius an Achilleid, and many
others Alexandriads, he wrote an Antoniniad — the lives,
that is, of Antoninus Pius and Marcus Antoninus,
most learnedly versified in thirty books, wherein
he recounted their wars and other doings both public
and private.1 And all this he did as a young boy.
Later on, when he grew to manhood, he declaimed
and disputed at the Athenaeum,'2 at times in the
presence of his emperors.
He served his quaestorship most splendidly. When
he was aedile he gave the Roman people twelve ex-
hibitions, that is one for each month, at his own ex-
pense ; at times, indeed, he provided five hundred
pairs of gladiators, and never less than a hundred
and fifty. He produced a hundred wild beasts of
Libya3 at once, and likewise at one time a thousand
bears. There exists also today a remarkable wild-
beast hunt of his, pictured in Gnaeus Pompey's
" House of the Beaks " 4 ; this palace belonged to him
and to his father and grandfather before him until your
privy-purse took it over in the time of Philip.5 In
this picture at the present day are contained two
hundred stags with antlers shaped like the palm of a
hand, together with stags of Britain, thirty wild
horses, a hundred wild sheep, ten elks, a hundred
Cyprian bulls, three hundred red Moorish ostriches,
thirty wild asses, a hundred and fifty wild boars, two
hundred chamois, and two hundred fallow deer. And
all these he handed over to the people to be killed
on the day of the sixth exhibition that he gave.
IV. He served a famous praetorship. Then, after
administering the law, he entered upon his first
6 i.e. Philippus (Arabs), emperor 244-249.
385
THE THREE GORDIANS
callo, secundum cum Alexandro. filios duos habuit,
ilium consularem qui cum ipso Augustus appellatus
est, qui iuxta Carthaginem in Africa bello absumptus
est, et filiam Maeciam Faustinam, quae nupta est
8 lunio Balbo, consulari viro. in consulatibus clarior fuit
sui temporis consulibus, ita ut ei Antoninus invideret,
modo praetextas eius, modo latum clavum,1 modo
4 circenses ultra imperatorium mirans modum. palma-
tam tunicam et togam pictam primus Romanorum
privatus suam propriam habuit, cum ante imperatores
etiam vel de Capitolio acciperent vel de Palatio.
5 equos Siculos centum, Cappadoces centum permit-
tentibus imperatoribus factionibus divisit. et per haec
populo satis carus, qui semper talibus commovetur.
6 Cordus dicit in omnibus civitatibus Campaniae, Etru-
riae, Umbriae, Flaminiae, Piceni de proprio ilium per
quadriduum ludos scaenicos et iuvenalia edidisse.
7 scripsit et laudes soluta oratione omnium Antoninorum
1 clauum om. in P.
1 According to his coins, he was consul only once ; see
Cohen, v2, p. 2, nos. 2-3. If he held that office in the same
year as Caracalla, it was in 213. The statement that he was
consul with Alexander (also in c. ii. 4) is accordingly incorrect.
It may be the result of confusion with his son, who held the
consulship during Alexander's reign ; see c. xviii. 5.
2 He had the same name as his father, M. Antonius
Gordianus Sempronianus Romanus Africanus ; see Dessau,
Ins. Sel.t 493. Though he had held the consulship, he was
serving as his father's legatus in Africa, and with his father
was acclaimed Augustus in the province and later by the
senate in Rome; see c. ix. 6; Maxim., xiv. 3-5. A "bio-
graphy " of him is given in c. xvii.-xxi.
3 See c. xv.-xvi.
4 The mother of Gordian III ; see c. xxii. 4. Neither her
name nor her husband's is found elsewhere.
386
THE THREE GORDIANS IV. 2-7
consulship with Antoninus Caracalla, his second with
Alexander.1 He had two children, one the son
who attained consular rank and was named Augustus
with himself2 and perished in the war in Africa near
Carthage,3 the other a daughter, Maecia Faustina by
name,4 who was married to Junius Balbus, a man of
consular rank. His consulships were more brilliant
than those of any other man of his time ; even
Antoninus envied him, ad miring now his togas, now
his broad stripe/ and now his games, which surpassed
the imperial games themselves. He was the first
Roman subject to possess for his own a tunic em-
broidered with palms 6 and a gold-embroidered toga ;
for previously even the emperors had gotten theirs
either from the Capitol or the Palace.7 With the
emperors' permission he distributed a hundred Sicilian
and a hundred Cappadocian horses among the
factions.8 And he endeared himself greatly to the
people, who are always touched by acts of this nature.
Cordus 9 says that he gave stage-plays and Juvenalia10
in all the cities of Campania, Etruria, Umbria,
Flaminia, and Picenum, for four days at his own ex-
pense. He wrote prose eulogies also of all the
6 See note to Com., iv. 7.
6 Worn in the period of the republic by triumphant generals
under the toga picta (on which see note to Cl. Alb., ii. 5).
7 i e. when made consul ; see Alex., xl. 8. The triumphal
vestments were kept in the temple of Jupiter on the Capitolium
and brought out when needed.
8 On the circus-factions see note to Ver., iv. 8.
9 See Intro, to Vol. i., p. xviii.
10 Scenic games, first given by Nero to commemorate the
shaving his beard for the first time ; see Dio, Ixi. 19 ; Tacitus
Annals, xiv. 15. Juvenalia, including a wild-beast hunt, were
also given by Domitian ; see Dio, Ixvii. 14. 3.
387
THE THREE GORDIANS
qui ante eum fuerunt. tantum autem Antoninos
dilexit ut sibi quoque, ut multi dicunt, Antonini, ut
plerique autem adserunt, Antonii nomen adscripserit.
8 iam illud satis constat quod filium, Gordianum nomine,
Antonini signo inlustraverit, cum apud praefectum
aerarii more Romano professus filium publicis actis
eius nomen insereret.
V. Post consulatum proconsul Africae factus est
adnitentibus cunctis, qui Alexandri imperium etiam
in Africa clarum per proconsulis dignitatem haberi
2 atque esse voluerunt. exstat epistula ipsius Alexandri,
qua senatui gratias agit, quod Gordianum ad Africam
Sproconsulem destinaverit. cuius hoc exemplum est:
"Neque gratius mihi quicquam, patres conscripti,
neque dulcius potuistis efficere, quam ut Antoninum
Gordianum proconsulem ad Africam mitteretis, virum
nobilem, magnanimum, disertum, iustum, continen-
4 tern, bonum " et reliqua. ex quo adparet quantus vir
5eo tempore Gordianus fuerit. amatus est ab Afris ita
ut nemo antea proconsulum, ita ut eum alii Scipionem,
Catonem alii, multi Mucium ac Rutilium aut Laelium
Gdicerent. exstat eorum adclamatio, quae a lunio in
1 See c. iii. 3.
2 The statement is frequently made and again frequently
contradicted that the Gordians bore the name Antoninus ; see
c. ix. 5; xvii. 1-2; M acr. , iii. 5 ; Heliog., xviii. 1; xxxiv. 6-7.
It is, of course, wholly incorrect, for none of them ever had
this name. The origin of the error is perhaps the easy
confusion between Antonius and Antoninus, or, again, the
tendency to bestow the name Antoninus on all emperors.
3 See Marc., ix. 7.
4 Under Alexander; see Maxim., xiv. 2.
6 The presence of the name Antoninus as given to Gordian
is sufficient proof that this letter is a forgery.
388
THE THREE GORDIANS IV. 8— V. 6
Antonines who had preceded him. He admired
the Antonines marvellously l ; many say that he him-
self assumed the name Antoninus or, as more declare,
Antonius.2 And certainly there is no doubt that he
embellished his son with the name Antoninus, when,
after the Roman custom, he acknowledged him be-
fore the prefect of the Treasury and entered his
name in the public records.3
V. After his consulship he was appointed proconsul
of Africa4 through the efforts of all those who desired
Alexander's reign to seem and to be brilliant in Africa
through the splendour of its proconsul. Indeed there
still exists a letter of Alexander's in which he thanks
the senate for electing Gordian proconsul for Africa.
It runs in this style . " You could have done nothing
more pleasing or agreeable to me, Conscript Fathers,
than to send Antoninus 5 Gordian as proconsul to
Africa, for he is well-born, high-minded, eloquent, just,
moderate, virtuous," and so on. It is clear from this
how great a man Gordian was even at that time. He
was beloved by the Africans as no other proconsul
ever had been before ; some called him Scipio, others,
Cato, and many, Mucius,6 Rutilius,7 and Laelius.8 An
acclamation of theirs which Junius 9 noted down has
been preserved. For when on one occasion he was
6Q. Mucius Scaevola, consul 95 B.C. He distinguished
himself by his administration of Asia in 98, and his name
became proverbial as that of a righteous governor. He was
also a famous jurist and the teacher of Cicero.
7 P. Rutilius Rufus, consul 105 B.C., a friend of Scaevola and
his legate in Asia.
8C. Laelius Sapiens, consul 140 B.C., the famous friend of
Scipio Africanus the younger.
9 i.e. Cordua.
389
THE THREE GORDIANS
7 litteras l relata est. nam cum quadam die factum im-
peratorium legeret atque a proconsulibus Scipionibus
coepisset, adclamatum est, " Novo Scipioni, vero Scipi-
oni, Gordiano proconsuli." haec et alia frequenter
audivit.
VI. Et erat quidem longitudine Romana, canitie
decora et pompali vultu, ruber magis quam candidus,
facie bene lata, oculis, ore, fronte verendus. corporis
2 qualitate subcrassulus. moribus ita moderatus ut
nihil possis dicere, quod ille aut cupide aut inmodeste
3 aut nimie fecerit. adfectus suos unice dilexit, filium
et nepotem ultra morem, filiara et neptem religiose.
4 socero suo Annio Severe tantum detulit, ut in familiam '2
eius quasi filium migrasse se crederet, numquam cum
eo laverit, numquam illo praesente sederit ante
5 praeturam. consul cum esset, aut in domo eius semper
mansit aut, si in Pompeiana domo, ad ilium vel mane
6 vel sero processit. vini parcus, cibi parcissimus, vestitu
nitidus, lavandi cupidus, ita ut et quarto et quinto in
7 die lavaret aestate, hieme secundo. somni plurimi,
ita ut in tricliniis, si forte apud amicos ederet, etiam
sine pudore dormiret. quod videbatur facere per
naturam, non per ebrietatem atque luxuriem.
VII. Sed boni mores nihil ei profuerunt. hac enim
vita venerabilis, cum Platone semper, cum Aristotele,
1 litteras Jordan, Lessing ; litteris P, Peter. 2 familiam
Damste' ; familia P, Peter.
1 He had been consul, according to c. ii. 2, but is otherwise
unknown.
390
THE THREE GORDIANS V. 7— VII. 1
reading an imperial act and began with the mention
of the proconsuls Scipio, the people shouted, "The
new Scipio, the true Scipio, the proconsul Gordian ".
He was often greeted with these and similar
acclamations.
VI. In height he was characteristically Roman.
He was becomingly gray, with an impressive face,
more ruddy than fair. His face was fairly broad, his
eyes, his countenance, and his brow such as to
command respect. His body was somewhat stocky.
In character he was temperate and restrained ; there
is nothing you can say that he ever did passionately,
immoderately, or excessively. His affection for his
kin was remarkable, for his son and grandson beyond
the ordinary, for his .daughter and granddaughter
most devoted. He was as deferential to his father-in-
law Annius Severus l as though he considered that he
had passed over into his family as a son ; he never
washed himself in his company, he never sat in his
presence until he became praetor. And when he was
consul either he always remained at the old man's
house, or, if he stayed at the House of Pompey, he
went either at morning or evening to see him. He
was sparing in the use of wine, very sparing in the
use of food. His dress was elegant. He was fond of
bathing ; indeed, during the summer, he would bathe
four or five times a day, in the winter twice. His love
of sleep was enormous ; he would doze off even at
table, if he were dining with friends, and without any
embarrassment. This he seemed to do at nature's
bidding and not because of intoxication or wantonness.
VII. But all his virtuous behaviour profited him
nothing. For this old man, worthy of respect as such
a life had made him, who passed his days with Plato
391
THE THREE GORDIANS
cum Tullio, cum Vergilio ceterisque veteribus agens
alium quam merebatur exitum passus est.
2 Nam cum temporibus Maximini, hominis saevi
atque truculent!, pro consule Africam regeret, filio 1
iam ex consulibus sibimet legato a senatu dato, cumque
quidam rationalis acrius contra plurimos Afrorum
saeviret quam Maximinus ipse pateretur, proscribens
plurimos, interficiens multos et sibi ultra procuratorem
omnia vindicans, retunsus delude a proconsule atque
legato nobilibus et consularibus viris ipsis minaretur
excidium, Afri tarn insolentes iniurias ferre nequi-
verunt et primum ipsum rationalem adiunctis sibi
Splerisque militibus occiderunt. occiso deinde eo,
cum iam orbis terrarum odio contra Maximinum
arderet, coeperunt cogitare quemadmodum seditio
inter Maximinianos et rusticos vel Afros orta placare-
4tur. tune quidam Mauritius nomine, potens apud
Afros decurio, iuxta Thysdrum nobilissima posthac
oratione apud plebem vel urbanam vel rusticanam in
VHI.agro suo velut contionabundus est locutus : " Gratias
dis inmortalibus, cives, quod occasioned dederunt, et
quidem necessariam, providendi nobis contra hominem
2furiosissimum Maximinum. nos enim, qui procura-
torem eius moribus et vitae consimilem occidimus,
1 filio ins. by Salm. and Peter ; om. in P.
1 For parallel accounts of the bestowal of tbe imperial
power on Gordian see Maxim., xiii. 5 — xv. 5 and Herodian, vii.
4-7. It took place in February or March, 238.
2 On rationalis see Alex., xlv. 6.
3 Neither his name nor his speech is included in Herodian 's
narrative.
4 i.e. member of the curia, or local senate of a provincial
town having the rights of a colony or a municipality.
392
THE THREE GORDIANS VII. 2— VIII. 2
and Aristotle, Cicero and Vergil, finally suffered an
end other than that he deserved.
For, in the time of Maximinus, a grim and savage
man, he was ruling Africa as proconsul,1 and his son
was with him as his legate, having been so appointed
by the senate from among the consuls. Now there
was a certain agent of the privy-purse,2 who ran riot
against a great number of Africans even more violently
than Maximiiius himself allowed. He outlawed a
great many, he -put many to death, he assumed all
powers in excess even of a tax-gatherer's ; and when
he was finally restrained by the proconsul and legate
he threatened those noble consular men with death.
The Africans at length were unable to suffer these
unwonted injuries any longer, and so, with the aid of
a number of soldiers, they first killed him. Then, after
he was killed and while the whole world was blazing
with hatred of Maximinus, his slayers began to take
counsel how this conflict which had arisen between
the agents of Maximinus and the peasants, or rather
the Africans, might go unpunished. Then a certain
fellow, Mauritius3 by name, a municipal councillor,4
who had great influence with the Africans, held a sort
of assembly on his farm near Thysdrus 5 and made a
most notable oration to the people of the town and
the country, saying : VIII. " Let us give thanks to the
immortal gods, citizens, that they have given us a
chance, and truly a needed one, of protecting our-
selves against that madman Maximinus. We have
slain a tax-gatherer of his, one patterned after himself
in character and conduct, and unless we make an
emperor of our own we are lost. Wherefore, since
* See note to Maxim., xiv. 3.
393
THE THREE GORDIANS
3 nisi facto imperatore salvi esse non possumus. quo-
circa, si placet, quoniam non longe est nobilissimus
vir pro consule cum filio, consulari legato, quorum
utrique mortem pestis ilia est minata, sublata de
vexilJis purpura imperatores eos dicemus adhibitisque
4insignibus Romano iure firmabimus." tune adcla-
matum est, "Aequum est, iustum est. Gordiane
Auguste, di te servent. feliciter imperes, cum filio
imperes."
5 His actis propere veritum est ad oppidum
Thysdrum, inventusque sen ex venerabilis post iuris
dictionem iacens in lectulo, qui circumfusus purpura
6 humi se abiecit ac retrectans elevatus est. et cum
aliud facerenihil posset, evitandi periculi gratia, quod
a Maximinianis dubie, a fautoribus necessario l im-
minebat, imperatorem se appellari senex passus est.
IX. erat autem iam octogenarius et plurimis provinciis, ut
diximus, ante praefuerat ; populo Romano ita com-
mendatus suis actibus erat ut toto dignus videretur
2 imperio. de rationali quidem occiso Gordianus 2
ante nescierat. sed ubi rem comperit, iam mortis
vicinus et filio magis timens, maluit honestas causas
habere moriendi quam dedi vinculis et carceri
Maximini.
3 Appellate igitur Gordiano imperatore iuvenes, qui
auctores huius facinoris erant, statuas Maximini
deiecerunt, imagines perfregerunt, nomen publicitus
1 So Peter2, following Herodian, vii. 5, 5 ; quod Maximi-
nianti necessario fautoribus dubie P. 2So Baehrens ; alii
quidem occiso . . . Gordianus P, Peter.
1 So also Herodian, vii. 5, 2; he was 79 according to Zon-
aras, xii. 17.
2 See c. v. 1.
394
THE THREE GORDIANS VIII. 3— IX. 3
not far off there is a man of noble blood, a proconsul,
and with him his son, a consular legate, both of whom
that pest has threatened with death, we shall hail
them emperors, if it please you, taking the purple
from the standards, and giving them their proper
trappings make them secure by Roman law." Where^
upon they shouted, " It is good, it is right. Gordian
Augustus, may the gods keep you safe ! Rule happily,
rule with your son."
Upon this, they came hastily to the town of Thys-
drus, and there they found the venerable old man
returned from the law-courts and lying on a couch.
They girt him straightway with the purple, but he
would have none of it and cast himself on the ground ;
and they lifted him up still refusing. But when he
saw that he could do nothing else, for the sake of
escaping from a danger which threatened him for
certain at the hands of his supporters and only doubt-
fully from the Maximinians, the old man suffered
himself to be acclaimed emperor. IX. He was then
eighty years of age,1 and, as we have said,2 had ruled
many provinces before ; and he had so commended
himself to the Roman people by his conduct in these
that they thought him worthy of ruling the whole
empire. With regard to the killing of the agent,
Gordian had had no previous knowledge. But when
he learned of the act, being now near to death and
fearing greatly for his son, he preferred to die
honourably rather than be handed over to the chains
and prison-cell of Maximinus.
However, having now acclaimed Gordian emperor,
the young men who were the authors of the deed
proceeded to cast down the statues of Maximinus,
break his busts, and publicly erase his name.
395
THE THREE GORDIANS
eraserunt. ipsum etiam Gordianum Africanum
4appellaverunt. addunt quidam African! cognomen-
turn Gordiano idcirco inditum, non quod in Africa
imperare coepisset, sed quod de Scipionum familia
Boriginem traheret. in plurimis autem libris invenio
et hunc Gordianum et filium eius pariter imperatores
appellatos et Antoninos cognominatos, in aliis l vero
Antonios.
6 Post hoc Carthaginem ventum cum pompa regali et
fascibus laureatis, filiusque legatus patris, exemplo
Scipionum, ut Dexippus Graecae historiae scriptor2
7 auctor est, pari 3 potestate succinctus est. missa
deinceps legatio Romam est cum litteris Gordianorum
haec, quae gesta fuerant in Africa, indicans, quae per
Valeriaiium, principem senatus, qui postea imperavit,
Sgratanter accepta est. missae sunt et ad amicos
nobiles litterae, ut homines potentes et rem probarent
et amiciores fierent ex amicis.
X. Sed tanta gratulatione factos contra Maximi-
num imperatores senatus accepit, ut non solum gesta
haec probarent sed etiam viginti viros eligerent, inter
quos erat Maximus sive Pupienus et Clodius Balbinus.
qui ambo imperatores sunt creati, posteaquam
2Gordiani duo in Africa interempti sunt. illos sane
lin aliis Peter ; alii P. 2 scriptor ins. by Eyssenhardt
and Peter ; om. in P. 3pari Peter; erased in P ; erarii P
corr. ; rari B.
1 See note to c. ii. 2.
2 This explanation is, of course, wholly incorrect. Accord-
ing to c. ii. 2 he claimed descent from the Gracchi.
3 See note to c. iv. 7.
4 An allusion to the fact that Scipio Africanus the elder was
396
THE THREE GORDIANS IX. 4— X. 2
They also gave Gordian the name Africanus.1 Some
add that he was granted this honorary name, not be-
cause he became emperor in Africa, but because he
was descended from the family of the Scipios.2 In
most books, moreover, I find that Gordian and his son
were declared emperors with equal rank and both
given the name Antoninus ; certain other books,
however, say that they were given the name
Antonius.3
After this, with kingly pomp and laurelled fasces,
they came to Carthage, and there his son — who, after
the example of the Scipios,4 as Dexippus the writer
of Greek history says, was his father's legate — was in-
vested with equal power. Upon this an embassy was
despatched to Rome, bearing letters from the Gordiaus
to announce all that had taken place in Africa, which
was received by Valerian, the chief of the senate
(who was afterwards emperor5), with rejoicing.
Letters were sent also to their noble friends, in order
that powerful men might support their action and from
friends might become still greater friends.
X. But the senate received them so joyfully as
emperors against Maximinus that not only did it ratify
all that had been already done but further elected
twenty men6 — including Maximus, known also as
Pupienus,7 and Clodius Balbinus,8 both of whom were
made emperors after the two Gordians were slain in
the legate of his brother L. Scipio Asiaticus (Asiagenus) in
the campaign against Antiochus III. in 190 B.C.
6 253-260. According to Zosimus, i. 14, he was sent to
Rome from Africa as the envoy of the Gordians. He is not
mentioned by Herodian.
6 See Maxim., xx. 1 and note.
7 See note to Maxim., xxxiii. 3.
8 Clodius is an error; see note to Maxim., xx. 1.
397
THE THREE GORDIANS
viginti senatus ad hoc creaverat, ut divideret his
Italicas regiones contra Maximinum pro Gordianis
Stuendas. tune legationes a Maximino Romam
4 venerunt abolitionem praeteritorum spondentes. sed
vicit Gordianorum legatio, quae bona omnia pollice-
batur, ita ut eidem crederetur et ingens militibus
stipendiura et populo agros atque congiaria promit-
5tenti. usque adeo autem magis Gordianis quam
Maximinis est creditum, ut Vitalianus quidam, qui
praetorianis militibus praeerat, per audacissimos
quaestorem et milites iussu senatus occideretur, quod
se antea crudeliter egerat, et tune eius magis
inmanitas timebatur, arnica et familiaris moribus
6 Maximini. de cuius morte haec fabella fertur. fictae
sunt litterae Maximini, signatae quasi eiusdem anulo,
et missi cum quaestore milites, qui eas ferrent, ad-
dentes quaedam praeter litteras secreto esse dicenda.
7longam igitur porticum petiverunt, et cum ille ea
quae sibi erant secreto dicenda perquireret, hortanti-
bus ut prius signum inspiceret epistulae, dum con-
Ssiderat, interemptus est. persuasum deinde est
militibus iussu Maximini Vitalianum interemptum.
peractisque rebus in Castris Gordianorum et litterae
et vultus sunt propositi.
XI. Interest, ut senatus consultum, quo1 Gordiani
imperatores appellati sunt et Maximinus hostis, litteris
1 quo om. in P.
1 See Max.-Balb., i. — ii.
2 There is no mention of this in Maxim., xvii. — xv'iii. or in
Herodian.
398
THE THREE GORDIANS X. 3— XI. 1
Africa l — among whom the districts of Italy were
portioned out to be guarded for the Gordiaiis against
Maximinus. Embassies then came to Rome from
Maximinus 2 promising to redress the past. But the
embassy of the Gordians overcame them. For they
promised all good things ; they promised a huge
bounty to the soldiers and fields and a largess to the
people, and they were trusted. In fact, so much
more trust was placed in the Gordians than in the
Maximini, that Vitalianus, the prefect of the guard,
was put to death at the senate's command, a quaestor
and some soldiers performing the deed with great
daring. This Vitalianus had conducted himself with
great cruelty before ; and now they feared some
greater piece of savagery pleasing and agreeable to
one of Maximinus' character. The following story is
related about his death.3 A forged letter, purporting
to come from Maximinus and sealed as if with his
ring, was brought to Vitalianus by soldiers in charge
of a quaestor, who added that there was further in-
formation, not in the letter, to be imparted in secret.
They retired, therefore, to a distant portico, where he
inquired what it was that was to be told him secretly.
But first they urged him to look at the seal on the
letter, which he did. And while he was regarding it,
they cut him down, and then persuaded the soldiers
that he had been slain by command of Maximinus.
And when this affair had been settled, the letters and
images of the Gordians were displayed in the Camp.
XL I think it my duty to set down in writing the
decree of the senate in which the Gordians were
3 So also Herodian, vii. 6, 5-9. His death is merely
mentioned in Maxim., xiv. 4.
399
THE THREE GORDIANS
2propagetur. non legitimo sed indicto senatus die
consul iam domi conventus cum praetoribus, aedilibus
Settribunis plebis venit in Curiam. praefectus urbi,
cui nescio quid redoluerat, et qui publicas litteras
non acceperat, a conventu se abstinuit. sed profuit,
nam consul ante solitas adclamationes, priusquam
aliquid in Maximinum feliciter diceretur, ait :
4 " Patres conscripti, Gordiani duo, pater et filius, ambo
ex consulibus", unus vester pro consul e, alter vester
legatus, magno Afrorum consilio imperatores sunt
5 appellati. gratias igitur agamus Thysdritanae iuven-
tuti, gratias Carthaginiensi populo semper devoto ; ab
6 inmani nos beiua, ab ilia fera vindicaverunt. quid
timide auditis ? quid circumspicitis ? quid cunctamini ?
7 hoc est quod semper optastis. hostis est Maximinus ;
di facient ut esse iam desinat, et Gordiani senis
felicitatem atque prudentiam, iuvenis virtutem atque
Sconstantiam laeti .experiamus." post haec litteras
legit Gordianorum ad senatum et ad se missas. tune
adclamavit l senatus : " Di, vobis gratias. liberati ab
hostibus sumus, sic 2 penitus liberemur. Maximinum
hostem omnes iudicamus. Maximinum cum filio dis
lOinferis devovemus. Gordianos Augustos appellamus.
Gordianos principes agnoscimus. imperatores de
1 adclamauit Peter ; clamauit P. 2 sic Mommsen ; si P,
Peter.
1 A " senatus consultum " — consisting of a letter from the
Gordians to the senate and the senate's acclamations — which
purports to commemorate this same occasion is given in
Maxim., xvi. The two " documents " differ entirely and both
are, undoubtedly, forgeries.
2 His name was Junius Silanus according to Maxim., xvi. 1.
400
THE THREE GORDIANS XI. 2-10
declared emperors and Maximinus a public enemy.1
On an extraordinary, not a regular, day for the meeting
of the senate, the consul, having foregathered at his
own home with the praetors, the aediles, and the tri-
bunes of the people, came to the Senate-house. The
prefect of the city, who had somehow got wind of some-
thing and had not received the official notice, kept away
from the meeting. But as it turned out, that was
as well, for before the usual acclamations were made
or anything was said favourable to Maximinus, the
consul 2 cried : " Conscript Fathers, the two Gordians,
father and son, both ex-consuls, the one your pro-
consul, the other now your legate, have been declared
emperors by a great assembly in Africa. Let us give
thanks, then, to the young men of Thysdrus, and
thanks also to the ever loyal people of Carthage ;
they have freed us from that savage monster, from
that wild beast. Why do you hear me with quaking ?
Why do you look around ? Why do you delay ?
This is what you have always hoped for. Maximinus
is our enemy ; the gods shall bring it to pass that he
may now cease to be, and that we with joyful hearts
may enjoy the happy sagacity of the elder Gordian,
the intrepid virtue of the younger." After this he
read the letters which the Gordians had sent to the
senate and to himself. And then the senate cried
aloud 3 : " We thank you, O gods. We are freed
from our enemies ; so may we be wholly freed ! We
adjudge Maximinus an enemy. We consign Maxi-
minus and his son to the gods below. We call the
Gordians Augusti. We recognize the Gordians as
princes. May the gods keep safe the senate's
8 For other acclamations see note to Alex., vi. 1.
401
THE THREE GORDIANS
senatu di conservent, imperatores nobiles victores
videamus, imperatores nostros Roma videat. hostes
publicos qui Occident, praemium meretur."
XII. Dicit lunius Cordus taciturn senatus con-
sultum fuisse. quod quale sit aut quare sic appel-
2latum, brevi exponam : omnino exemplum senatus
consulti taciti non aliud est hodie, quam quo vestra
dementia convocatis ad interiora maioribus ea dis-
ponit quae non sunt omnibus publicanda. de quibus
adiurare etiam soletis, ne quis ante rem completam
Squicquam vel audiat vel intellegat. hunc autem
morem apud veteres necessitates publicae reppere-
runt, ut, si forte aliqua vis ab hostibus inmineret,
quae cogeret vel humilia captare consilia vel aliqua
constituere, quae non prius oporteret dici quam effici,
vel si nollent ad amicos aliqua permanare, senatus
consultum taciturn fieret, ita ut non scribae, non servi
publici, non censuales illis actibus interessent,
senatores exciperent, senatores omnium officia cen-
sualium scribarumque complerent, ne quid forte
4proderetur. factum est ergo senatus consultum
taciturn, ne res ad Maximinum perveniret.
XIII. Sed statim ilia, ut se habent hominum
mentes, eorum dumtaxat qui erubescunt per se ea
non agnosci quae sciunt, et qui humiles se putant, si
commissa non prodant, omnia comperit Maximinus,
ita ut exemplum senatus consulti taciti acciperet,
1 It is haid to know how much of all this learned discussion
about the senatus consultum taciturn is true. No other instance
of such a secret document is known.
2 The clerks attached to the bureau of the magister censuum,
who was charged with the duty of assessing the property of the
4.02
THE THREE GORDIANS XII. 1— XIII. 1
emperors, may we see our noble emperors victorious,
may Rome see our emperors ! Whoever shall kill the
public enemies shall get a reward."
XII. Junius Cordus says that this was a secret
decree of the senate.1 Just what this is, and why it
is so called, I shall briefly explain. Today the equiva-
lent of a secret decree of the senate is, in general,
nothing more than the action of those inner councils
of elders by which Your Clemency settles those affairs
which are not to be published abroad. You are
accustomed to take oath when discussing these matters,
moreover, that no one shall hear or know anything of
them until the business is completed. But among the
ancients the custom was introduced in the interests of
the state, that, if by any chance violence threatened
at the hands of their enemies, which forced them
either to adopt ignoble counsels or resolve on things
which should not be disclosed until they were ready to
be put into effect, or if they were unwilling for certain
measures to be divulged to friends, the senate passed
a secret decree. At these sessions not even the clerks
or public servants or officers of the Census2 were
present ; the senators took over and the senators per-
formed the duties of all the clerks and officers of the
Census, lest anything by any chance should be
betrayed. To prevent news of it reaching Maximiiius,
therefore, this decree of the senate was made secret.
XIII. But as is the way with the minds of men — of
such of them, at least, as blush if any knowledge of
theirs does not become known and consider it abj ect not
to betray a trust — Maximinus straightway learned every-
thing. Indeed, he got a copy of the senate's secret
senators for the purpose of taxation. Certain minor police and
clerical functions seem to have been added to their duties.
403
THE THREE GORDIANS
2 quod numquam an tea fuerat factitatum. exstat
denique eius epistula ad praefectum urbi tails :
" Senatus consultum taciturn nostrorum illorum
principum legi, quod tu, praefectus urbi, factum esse
fortasse non nosti, nam nee interfuisti. cuius exem-
plum ad te misi, ut scires quoraodo Romanam rem
3pablicam regeres.'' enarrari autem non potest, quae
commotio fuerit Maximini, cum audivit contra se
4 Africam descivisse. nam senatus auctoritate percepta
incurrere in parietes, vestem scindere, gladium
arripere, quasi omnes posset occidere, prorsus furere
videbatur.
5 Praefectus urbi acceptis litteris acrioribus populum
et milites adlocutus est, dicens Maximinum iam
Goccisum. ex quo gaudium maius fuit, statimque
deiectae sunt statuae atque imagines eius qui hostis
7 fuerat iudicatus. usus est sane senatus pendeiite
bello potestate qua debuit. nam delatores, ca^umni-
atores, procuratores et omnem illam faecem1 Maxi-
Sminianae tyrannidis occidi iussit. atque parum fuit
quod senatus iudicaverat, illud populi iudicium fuit
9 quod occisi tracti sunt et in cloacam missi. tune et
praefectus urbi Sabinus, consularis vir, fuste iam
percussus occisus et in publico derelictus est.
XIV. Haec ubi comperit Maximinus, statim cohor-
tatus est milites hoc genere contionis : " Sacrati con-
militones, immo etiam mi consecranei et quorum
1 faecem Eyssenhardt, Peter ; facem P.
1 See Maxim., xvii. 1-3 and note.
2 According to the more credible account in Herodian, vii. 6,
9, this rumour was circulated by the assassins of Vitalianus.
3 See Maxim., xv. 1 ; Hercdian, vii. 7, 3-4.
4 For other versions of this speech see note to Maxim., xviii. 1.
404-
THE THREE GORDIANS XIII. 2— XIV. 1
decree — a thing that had never previously occurred.
There is a letter of his to the city-prefect which says :
" I have read the senate's secret decree about those
emperors of ours ; perhaps you, being city-prefect, did
not know it had been passed, for you were not present
OD that occasion. I have sent you a copy, however,
hoping that you may learn how to rule the common-
wealth of Rome." The fury that shook Maximinus
when he learned that Africa had revolted from him
is impossible to describe.1 For when he finally com-
prehended the decree of the senate, he dashed himself
against the walls, he rent his garments, he snatched
his sword as though he could slay them in a body,
he seemed, indeed, to go wholly mad.
The prefect of the city now got even more violent
letters and made an address to the people and the
soldiers, wherein he said that Maximinus had been
slain.2 Upon this great rejoicing arose and the statues
and portraits of the public enemy were immediately
cast down. The senate, moreover, employed the
powers which belonged to it for impending war.
Informers, false accusers, personal agents, in fact all
the filth of the Maximinian despotism, it ordered to
be put to death.3 But this, the senate's decision,
was not enough ; the people decided that after they
were put to death they should be dragged about and
cast into the sewer. Then also Sabinus, the prefect of
the city and a man of consular rank, was beaten with
a club and slain; his corpse was left lying in the
streets.
XIV. When Maximinus learned of these last
measures he at once assembled his troops and har-
angued them in the following manner 4 : " Consecrated
fellow-soldiers, or rather partakers of my consecration,
405
THE THREE GORDIANS
mecum plerique vere militatis, dum nos a Germania
Romanam defendimus maiestatem, dum nos Illyricum
a barbaris vindicamus, Afri fidem Punicam praesti-
2 terunt. nam duos nobis Gordianos, quorum alter senio
ita fractus est ut non possit adsurgere, alter ita luxurie
perditus ut debilitatem habeat pro senectute, impera-
3 tores fecerunt. et ne hoc parum esset, factum Afro-
rum nobilis ille senatus agnovit, et pro quorum liberis
arma portamus, hi contra nos viginti viros statuerunt
et omnes velut contra hostes sententias protulerunt.
4quin immo agite, ut viros decet. properandum est
ad urbem. nam et viginti viri consulares contra nos
lecti sunt, quibus resistendum est nobis fortiter agenti-
5 bus, vobis feliciter dimicantibus." lentas militum
mentes et non alacres animos hac contione et Maxi-
6 minus ipse cognovit, denique statim ad filium scrip-
sit, qui longe post sequebatur, ut adceleraret, lie quid
7 contra eum se absente milites cogitarent. litterarum
exemplum tale lunius Cordus edidit : " Refert ad te
stipator meus Tynchanius quae gesta cognovi vel in
Africa vel Romae, refert quae sint militum mentes.
Squaeso, quantum potes, properes, ne quid, ut solet,
militaris turba plus faciat. quid verear ex eo audies
quern ad te misi."
XV. Dum haec aguntur, in Africa contra duos Gor-
dianos Capelianus qui dam, Gordiano et in privata vita
semper adversus et ab ipso imperatore iam cum Mauros
Maximini iussu regeret veteranus dimissus, conlectis
1See note to Maxim., xviii. 1.
2 The governor of Numidia. For parallel accounts of the
defeat and overthrow of the Gordiaus see Maxim., xix. and
Herodian, vii. 9.
406
THE THREE GORDIANS XIV. 2— XV. 1
who have, most of you, fought with me wars that were
wars indeed, when we defended the majesty of Rome
from Germany, when we redeemed Illyricum from
the barbarians, the Africans have kept Punic faith.1
They have acclaimed the two Gordians emperors ; one
of whom is so broken with old age that he cannot rise,
the other so wasted with debauchery that exhaustion
serves him for old age. And lest this be not enough,
that glorious senate of ours has approved what the
Africans have done. They for whose children we
bear arms have set up twenty men against us, and
passed all such decrees against us as are passed against
a foe. Up ! then, as men should ; we must hasten to
the city. For against us twenty men, all of consular
rank, have been chosen ; they must be withstood, we
bravely leading, you happily fighting." But that this
harangue left his soldiers with indifferent feelings, and
not with quickened spirits, even Maximinus himself
realized. In fact, he at once wrote to his son, who
was following at a distance behind, to hasten speedily,
lest the soldiers devise some plot against him in his
absence. Junius Cordus gives the purport of the
letter thus : " My attendant Tynchanius is coming to
tell you my last advices on what has taken place in
Africa and Rome, and also how the soldiers feel. I
beseech you, hasten as fast as you can, lest this mob of
soldiers take further measures, as soldiers are wont
to do. What I fear, you will learn from him whom I
have sent you."
XV. But while all this was taking place, the Gor-
dians were attacked in Africa by a certain Capelianus.2
He had always been hostile to Gordian even in private
life, and now the Emperor himself dismissed him
when, as an old soldier, he was governing the Moors
407
THE THREE GORDIANS
Mauris et tumultuaria maim accepto a Gordiano suc-
cessore Carthaginem petiit, ad quern omnis fide Punica
2 Carthaginiensium populus inclinavit. Gordianus tamen
fortunam belli experiri cupiens filium suum iam natu
grandiorem, quadraginta et sex annos agentem, quem
tune legati loco, ut diximus, habuerat, contra Capeli-
anum et Maximinianos misit, virum de cuius moribus
3 suo loco dicemus. sed cum in re militari et Capeli-
anus esset audacior et Gordianus iunior non tarn exer-
citatus, quippe qui nobilitatis delicits tardabatur, pugna
commissa vincitur et in eodem bello interficitur.
XVI. Fertur autem tanta multitude Gordiani par-
tium in bello cecidisse, ut, cum diu quaesitum sit
2 corpus Gordiani iunioris, non potuerit inveniri. fuit
praeterea ingens, quae raro in Africa est, tempestas,
quae Gordiani exercitum ante bellum ita dissipavit ut
minus idonei milites proelio fierent, atque ita facilis
esset Capel;ani victoria.
3 Haec ubi comperit senior Gordianus, cum in Africa
nihil praesidii, et a Maximino multum timoris et fides
Punica perurgueret, et acerrime Capelianus instaret,
luctus deinde mentem atque animum fatigaret, laqueo
vitam finivit.
4 Hie exitus duorum Gordianorum fuit, quos ambos
senatus Augustos appellavit et postea inter divos
rettulit.
1See c. xviii-xix.
2 Herodian says nothing of this storm, but adds that Gor-
dian's men were untrained and inadequately armed ; see vii.
9, 5-6.
3 They reigned 20-22 days in February and March, 238.
4 See Max.-Balb., iv. 1-2.
408
THE THREE GORDIANS XV. 2— XVI. 4
by Maximinus' appointment. And so when Gordian
dismissed him, he gathered the Moors together and
with an irregular force of them came up to Carthage,
the people of which, with typical Punic faith, came
over to him. None the less, Gordian desired to
hazard the chances of war, and sent against them his
son, now well advanced in years (he was then forty-six
years old), and at that time his father's legate ; we
shall give a resume of his character in its proper place.1
But in military affairs not only was Capelianus the
bolder man, but the younger Gordian was less well
trained, placed at a disadvantage, as he was, by the
luxurious life of the nobility. When they joined battle,
accordingly, he was beaten, and in the same campaign
slain.
XVI. Such a host of Gordian's party fell in this
campaign, it is said, that the body of the younger
Gordian, although it was long searched for, could not
be found. There was a great storm, moreover, — a rare
thing in Africa — which scattered Gordian's army be-
fore the battle and also made the soldiers less fit for
the fight, and on this account Capelianus' victory was
the easier.2
And when the elder Gordian learned of this, seeing
there was no aid in Africa, and being distressed
with a great fear of Maximinus and by knowledge of
Punic faith, also because Capelianus was assailing him
very sharply, and because in the end the struggle had
wearied him in mind and soul, he took a rope and
hanged himself.
This was the end of two of the Gordians.3 Both
of them were named Augusti by the senate and after-
wards placed among the gods.4
409
THE THREE GORDIANS
GORDIANUS JUNIOR
XVII. Hie Gordiani senis, proconsulis Africae, films,
qui cum patre et ab Afris et a senatu Augustus ap-
pellatus est, litteris et moribus clarus fuit praeter
nobilitatem, quam,1 ut nonnulli, ab Antoninis, ut
2 plurimi, ab Antoniis duxit 2 ; si quidera argumento
ad probandam generis qualitatem alii hoc esse desi-
derant,3 quod Africanus Gordianus senior appellatus
est cognomine Scipionum, quod domum Pompeianam
in urbe habuit, quod Antoninorum cognomine semper
est nuncupatus, quod Antonium filium suum ipse sig-
nificari voluit in senatu ; quae singula videntur fa-
Smilias designare. sed ego lunium Cordum sequor, qui
dicit ex omnibus his familiis Gordianorum coaluisse
4 nobilitatem. idem igitur natus patri primus ex Fabia
Orestilla, Antonini pronepte, unde Caesarum quoque
5 familiam contingere videbatur. et primis diebus sui
natalis Antoninus est appellatus, mox in senatu An-
tonii4 nomen est editum, vulgo deinde Gordianus
haberi coeptus.
XVIII. In studiis gravissimae opinionis fuit, forma
conspicuus, memoriae singularis, bonitatis insignis,
adeo ut semper in scholis, si quis puerorum verbera-
lquam ins. in Edit, princ. and by Jordan ; om. in P and by
Peter. *ul nonnulli . . . duxit del. by Peter. 3desider-
ant P, Novak ; disserant Peter. 4 Antonii Ursinus, Peter;
Antonini P.
1 On the confusion of the names Antoninus and Antonius
as borne by the Gordians see note to c. iv. 7.
2 See c. ix. 3-4 and notes. 3 See c. ii. 3.
4 She is not otherwise known ; her father is called Annius
410
THE THREE GORDIANS XVII.— 1 XV11I. 1
GORDIAN THE SECOND.
XVII. This was the son of the old Gordian, the
proconsul of Africa. He too was named Augustus by
the Africans and the senate at the same time as his
father, and he was illustrious in culture and character
as well as in noble rank ; the last, according to many
writers, he derived from the Antonines, although
most say from the Antonii.1 Others adduce the
following facts as evidence to show the high quality
of his family — that the elder Gordian was called
Africanus, the honorary surname of the Scipios 2 ;
that he possessed the House of Pompey in the
city 3 ; that he was always given the surname of the
Antonines ; and that he himself expressed a desire
in the senate that his son should be known as
Antonius. Each of these, they believe, represents a
family connection. I, however, follow Junius Cordus,
who says that the nobility of the Gordians was derived
from all these families. At any rate, he was the first
offspring of his father, Gordian, and Fabia Orestilla,
the great-granddaughter of Antoninus,4 through whom
he seemed also to be linked with the family of the
Caesars. A few days after his birth he was given the
name Antoninus ; later, in the senate, he was publicly
named Antonius ; and the people finally began to call
him Gordian.
XVIII. He took his studies very seriously. In
person he was remarkably good looking ; his memory
was extraordinary. He was very kind of heart ;
indeed, when any of the boys was flogged at school,
Severus in c. vi. 4. Her alleged descent from Marcus Aurelius
is probably apocryphal and quite in keeping with the general
tendency to connect the Gordians with the Antonines.
411
THE THREE GORDIANS
2retur, ille lacrimas non teneret. Sereno Sammonico,
qui patris eius amicissimus, sibi autem praeceptor fuit,
nimis acceptus et cams usque adeo ut omnes libros
Sereni Sammonici patris sui, qui censebantur ad sexa-
ginta et duo milia, Gordiano l minori moriens ille re-
Slinqueret. quod eum ad caelum tulit, si quidera
tantae bibliothecae copia et splendore donatus in
famam hominum litterarum decore pervenit.
4 Quaesturam Heliogabalo auctore promeruit, idcirco
quod luxurioso imperatori lascivia iuvenis, non tamen
sluxuriosa neque infamis, praedicata est. praeturam
Alexandro auctore urbanam tenuit, in qua tantus
iuris dictionis gratia fuit ut statim consulatum, quern
6 pater sero acceperat, mereretur. Maximini seu eius-
dem Alexandri temporibus ad proconsulatum patris
missus legatus est obsecutus,a atque illic ea quae
superius dicta sunt contigerunt.
XIX. Fuit vini cupidior, semper tamen undecumque
conditi, nunc rosa, nunc mastice, nunc absentio ceter-
2isque rebus, quibus gula maxime delectatur. cibi
parcus, ita ut intra punctum temporis vel prandium,
3 si pranderet, vel cenam finiret. mulierum cupidissi-
mus ; habuisse enim decretas sibi concubinas viginti
et duas fertur. ex quibus omnibus ternos et quater-
41105 filios dereliquit. appellatusque est sui temporis
Priamus, quern vulgo iocantes, quod esset natura pro-
pensior, Priapum, non Priamum, saepe vocitarunt.
1 qui Gordiano P. 2 obsecutus P, Peter1, Bitschof sky ; ab
senatu Madvig, Peter2.
1 See Alex.y xxx. 2 and note.
2 See note to c. iv. 1. •' See c. vii. f.
4 The father of 50 sons ; see Iliad, xxiv. 495.
5 The god of fertility.
412
THE THREE GORDIANS XVIII. 2— XIX. 4
he could not restrain his tears. Serenus Sammoni-
cus,1 a great friend of his father's, was his tutor, and
a very beloved and agreeable one he was ; in fact,
when he died, he left the young Gordian all the books
that had belonged to his father, Serenus Sammonicus,
and these were estimated at sixty-two thousand.
And this raised him to the seventh heaven, for being
now possessed of a library of such magnitude and
excellence, thanks to the power of letters he became
famous among men.
He won his quaestorship upon the recommenda-
tion of Elagabalus ; for the wildness of the young man,
which was nevertheless neither extravagant nor de-
praved, had found him favour with that extravagant
emperor. He held the city-praetorship on the recom-
mendation of Alexander, and did so well in this office,
chiefly in administering the law, that he was im-
mediately given the consulship,2 which his father had
won late in life. And in the time either of Maximinus
or of this same Alexander, being sent to his father's
proconsular command, he served as his legate, and
then happened what has been related above.3
XIX. He was somewhat fond of wine, but always,
however, of wine in some way spiced, at one time with
roses, again with mastic, again with wormwood and
various other herbs — all of which are most pleasing
to the palate. He ate sparingly ; indeed he finished
his luncheon — if he lunched at all — or his dinner in
an instant. He was very fond of women ; indeed,
it is said that he had twenty-two concubines decreed
him, from all of whom he left three or four children
apiece. He was nicknamed, in fact, the Priam4 of
his age, but often the crowd jestingly called him not
Priam but Priapus,5 as being nearer to his character.
413
THE THREE GORDIANS
6vixit in deliciis, in hortis, in balneis, in amoenissimis
nemoribus, nee pater aspernatus est, saepissime di-
cens ilium quandoque in summa claritate cito esse
6 moriturum. nee tamen vita sua fortitudine a bonis l
umquam degeneravit, semperque inter inlustrissimos
fuit cives nee rei publicae ad consul tationem defuit.
7 denique etiam senatus libentissime ilium Augustum
8 appellavit atque in eo spem publicam posuit. vestitu
9 cultissimus, servis et omnibus suis carus. Cordus
dicit uxorem eum numquam habere voluisse. contra
Dexippus putat eius filium esse Gordianum tertium,
qui post hoc cum Balbino et Pupieno sive Maximo
puerulus est adeptus imperium.
XX. Cum senior Gordianus mathematicum ali-
quando consuleret de genitura huius, respondisse ille
dicitur hunc et filium imperatoris et patrem et 2 ipsum
2imperatorem futurum. et cum senior Gordianus
rideret, ostendisse constellationem mathematicum
ferunt et de libris veteribus dictasse, ita ut probaret
se vera dixisse. qui quidem et seni et iuveni et
diem et genus mortis et loca, quibus essent perituri,
4 obstinata constantia e veritate praedixit. quae omnia
postea Gordianus senior in Africa, iam imperator et
quando nihil timebat, narrasse perhibetur, de morte
quin etiam sua filiique et de genere mortis dixisse.
Scantabat praeterea versus senex, cum Gordianum
filium vidisset, hos saepissime :
1 So (in general) Salm. ; uita sua nee tamen fortitudinem
bonis P, regarded as corrupt by Peter2. 2 et om. in P.
1 See c. xxii. 4 and note.
2 Vergil, Aeneid, vi. 869-871, where they describe Marcellus,
414
THE THREE GORDIANS XIX. 5— XX. 5
He lived in revelry — in gardens, in baths, and in most
delightful groves. Nor did his father ever rebuke
him, but on the contrary very often said that sometime
soon he would die in the greatest eminence. Yet
in his manner of life he never was inferior to the good
in bravery, and he was ever among the most distin-
guished of citizens and never failed the common-
wealth with advice. And the senate, finally, entitled
him Augustus with the greatest joy and laid on him
the hopes of the state. He was very elegant in his
dress, and beloved by his slaves and entire household.
Cordus says that he was never willing to have a wife,
but Dexippus thinks that the third Gordian was his
son l — the boy, that is, who was afterwards made
emperor with Balbinus and Pupienus (or Maximus).
XX. At one time the elder Gordian consulted an
astrologer about his son's nativity, and the astrologer,
it is said, answered that the child would be both son
and father of an emperor, and that he also would be
emperor. Gordian laughed ; but then, they say, the
astrologer pointed out the constellation and read from
ancient books until he proved that he had spoken the
truth. This same astrologer, moreover, predicted
truthfully the day and the manner of the deaths of both
father and son, and the places where they would die,
all with stubborn firmness. In after days, it is said,
the elder Gordian recounted all of this in Africa, at
a time when he was emperor and had nothing to
fear — indeed, he spoke of his own death and his
son's and of the rr.anner in which they would die.
Often, too, the old man recited these verses when he
saw his son 2 :
Augustus' nephew and heir presumptive. They are also applied
to Aelius Verus, adopted son of Hadrian, in AeL, iv. 1-2.
415
THE THREE GORDIANS
Ostendent terris hunc tantum fata neque ultra
esse sinent. nimium vobis Romana propago
visa potens, super! , propria haec si dona fuissent.
6 Exstant dicta et soluta oratione et versibus Gordi-
ani iunioris, quae hodie ab eius adfinibus frequentantur,
non magna, non minima sed media et quae appareant l
hominis esse ingeniosi sed luxuriantis et suum de-
serentis ingenium.
XXI. Pomorum et holerum avidissimus fuit, ut,2 in
reliquo ciborum genere parcissimus, semper pomorum
2aliquid recentium devoraret. frigidarum percupidus
nee facile peraestatem nisi frigidas et quam plurimas
bibit. et erat corporis vasti, quare magis ad frigidas
urguebatur.
3 Haec de Gordiano iuniore digna memoratus com-
perimus ; non enim nobis talia dicenda sunt quae 3
lunius Cordus ridicule ac stulte composuit de volup-
4tatibus domesticis ceterisque infimis rebus, quae qui
velit scire, ipsum legat Cordum, qui dicit et quos
servos habuerit unusquisque priiicipum et quos
amicos et quot paenulas quotve chlamydes. quorum
etiam scientia nulli rei prodest, si quidem ea debeant
in historia poni ab historiographis quae aut fugienda
sint aut sequenda.
1 appareant Damst6 ; appareat P, Peter. 2 ut ins. by
Oberdick and Peter 2 ; om. in P and Peter 1. 3 dicenda sunt
quae Salm., Peter ; dicentes unoque P.
1 Nothing is known of these works.
416
THE THREE GORDIANS XX. 6— XXI. 4
" Him the fates only displayed to the circle of lands,
and no longer
Suffered to be. Too great, too great did Rome's
generations
Seem to you else, O Gods, had this gift really been
granted."
There are still in existence various things written by
the younger Gordian in both prose and verse,1 which
are often quoted by his kinsmen today. These are
neither good nor yet very bad, but rather mediocre.
They seem, in truth, the work of one who was really
talented but gave himself over to pleasure and wasted
his genius.
XXI. He was extremely fond of fruit and greens;
in fact, though very abstemious in his use of other
kinds of food, he was continually eating fresh fruit.
He had a craving for cold drinks,, and passed the
summer with great difficulty unless he drank cold
drinks and a great many of them. He was of huge
size, as a matter of fact, and this somewhat stimulated
his longing for cold drinks.
This is what we have discovered about the younger
Gordian that is worthy of mention. For we do not
think we need recount absurd and silly tales such as
Junius Cordus has written concerning his domestic
pleasures and petty matters of that sort. If any desire
to know these things, let them read Cordus ; Cordus
tells what slaves each and every emperor had and
what friends, how many mantles and how many
cloaks. Knowledge of this sort of thing does no one
any good. It is the duty of historians, rather, to set
down in their histories such things as are to be
avoided or sought after.
417
THE THREE GORDIANS
6 Sane quod praetermittendum esse non censui, quia
mirabile visum est, lectum apud Vulcatium Teren-
tianum, qui et ipse historiam sui temporis scripsit, in
litteras misi, Gordianum seniorem Augusti vultum
sic repraesentasse ut et vocem et morem et staturam
eiusdem ostentare videretur, filium vero Pompeio
simillimum visum, quamvis Pompeius obesi corporis
fuisse denegetur ; nepotem autem, cuius etiam nunc
imagines videmus, Scipionis Asiatic! faciem rettulisse.
quod pro sui admiratione tacendum esse non credidi.
GORDIANUS TERTIUS
XXII. Post mortem duorum Gordianorum senatus
trepidus et Maximinum vehementius timens ex viginti
viris, quos ad rem publicam tuendam delegerat,
Pupienum sive Maximum et Clodium Balbinum
2Augustos appellavit, ambos ex consulibus. tune
populus et milites Gordianum parvulum, annos agen-
tem, ut plerique adserunt, undecim, ut nonnulli,
tredecim, ut lunius Cordus dicit, sedecim (nam vicen-
simo et secundoanno eumperisseadserit), petiverunt,
8 ut Caesar appellaretur ; raptu?que ad senatum atque
inde1 in contione positus indumento impemtorio
tectus Caesar est nuncupatus.
1 inde ins. by Jordan and Peter ; om. in P.
1 Nothing is known of him. There is no reason for identify-
ing him, as has sometimes been done, with the Vulcacius
mentioned by Jerome (Apol. c. Rufinum, i. 16) as a com-
mentator to Cicero.
2 See Maxim., xx. 1 and notes; Max.-Balb.t i. — ii.
3 As the result of a riot on the part of the city-mob (with
whom Maximus was unpopular), instigated apparently by the
partisans of the Gordians ; see Herodian, vii. 10, 5-9 and note
to Maxim., xx. 6. In Max.-Balb., iii. 2-5 and viii. 3 the ac-
clamation of Gordian as Caesar is described as peaceful,
418
THE THREE GORDIANS XXI. 5— XXII. 3
But truly I have decided that I must not omit this,
which I read in Vulcatius Terentianus, l who wrote a
history of his time, because it seems a marvellous
thing. So I write it down. The elder Gordian
resembled the face of Augustus perfectly ; he seemed,
indeed, to have his very voice and mannerisms and
stature ; his son, in turn, seemed like to Pompey,
although it is true that Pompey was not obese of
person ; his grandson, finally, whose portraits we can
see today, bore the appearance of Scipio Asiaticus.
This, because of its very strangeness, I have decided
should not be passed over in silence.
GORDIAN THE THIRD
XXII. On the death of the two Gordians, the
senate, being now thoroughly agitated and in even
more violent terror of Maximinus, chose Pupienus
(or Maximus) and Clodius Balbinus, both ex-consuls,
from the twenty men whom they had elected to
protect the state, and declared them emperors.2 But
on this the populace and soldiers demanded that the
child Gordian should be made Caesar,3 he being then,
so most authorities declare, eleven years old ; some,
however, say thirteen,4 and Junius Cordus says sixteen
(for Cordus says that he was in his twenty-second year
when he died). At any rate, he was hurried to the
senate and thence taken to an assembly, and there
they clothed him in the imperial garments and hailed
him as Caesar.5
while in ix. 2-4 the riot is described as happening on a later
occasion.
4 This seems to be the correct figure ; so also Max.-Balb.,
iii. 4 ; Herodian, viii. 8, 8.
6 He is called Nobilissimus Caesar in the inscriptions of
Maximus and Balbinus, e.g. Dessau, Ins. Sel., 496.
419
THE THREE GORDIANS
4 Hie natus est, ut plures adserunt, ex filia Gordiani,
ut unus aut duo (nam araplius invenire non potui),
5 ex filio, qui in Africa periit. Gordianus scilicet
Caesar factus apud matrem educatus est et, cum
exstinctis Maximinis Maximus etiam et Balbinus
militari seditione interempti essent, qui biennio
imperaverant, Gordianus adulescens, qui Caesar ea-
tenus fuerat, et a militibus et populo et a senatu et
ab omnibus gentibus ingenti amore, ingenti studio
6 et gratia Augustus est appellatus. amabatur autem
merito avi et avunculi sive patris, qui ambo pro senatu
et pro populo Romano contra Maximinum arma
sumpserunt et militari1 vel morte vel necessitate
perierunt.
7 Post hoc veterani ad Curiam venerunt, ut discerent
Squid actum esset. ex quibus duo ingressi Capitolium,
cum illic senatus ageretur, ante ipsam aram a Galli-
cano ex consulibus et Maecenate ex ducibus inter-
9 empti sunt ; atque bellum intestinum ortum est, cum
essent armati etiam senatores, ignorantibus veteranis
quod Gordianus adulescens solus teneret imperium.
XXIII. Dexippus quidem adseverat ex filio Gordiani tertium
1 militaris P, Peter.
1 This is the correct version ; so also Max.-Balb., iii. 4 and
Herodian, vii. 10. 7. In his inscriptions he is called Divi
Gordiani nepos et Divi Gordiani sororis filius ; see e.g. Des-
sau, Ins. Sel., 498 and 500. In Victor (Caes., xxvii. 1) and
Eutropius (ix. 2) he is confused with Gordian II. ; see note to
c. i. 1. For the names of his parents see c. iv. 2.
a For the length of their rule see note to Max.-Balb., xv.
7 ; for their deaths see ib., xiv. 2-7.
3 Probably in June 238, according to the evidence of
papyri; see Pauly-Wissowa, Realencycl, i. 2621 f.
4 The connection haa become confused, probably by the
420
THE THREE GORDIANS XXII. 4— XXIII. 1
According to most authorities, he was the son of
Gordian' s daughter,1 but one or two (I have been un-
able to discover more) say that he was the child of
that son of Gordian who was killed in Africa. How-
ever this may be, after he was made Caesar he was
reared at his mother's house. But when Maximus
and Balbinus had ruled for two years after the death
of the Maximini 2 they were slain in a mutiny of the
soldiers, and the young Gordian, who had been Caesar
until ihen, was declared Augustus3 — the soldiers,
populace, senate, and all the peoples of the Empire
uniting with great love, great eagerness, and great
gratitude to do so. For they loved him exceedingly
because of his grandfather and uncle (or father), who
had both taken up arms in behalf of the senate and
Roman people against Maximinus and had both
perished, the one by a soldier's death, the other
through a soldier's despair.
After this * a body of veterans came to the Senate-
house to learn what had taken place. And two of
them, having gone up to the Capitol — for the senate
was meeting there, — were slain by Gallicanus, a
former consul, and Maecenas, a former general, be-
fore the very altar, and a civil war sprang up, in which
even the senators were armed ; for the veterans were
unaware that the young Gordian was holding the im-
perial power alone.5 XXIII. (Dexippus says that
insertion of the preceding paragraph ; this narrative should
follow immediately after § 3. The riot here described
(briefly alluded to in Maxim., xx. 6) took place during the
absence of Maximus in N. Italy and consequently before the
death of Maximus and Balbinus ; see Max.-Balb., x. 4-8 ;
Herodian, vii. 11.
6 This is incorrect ; he was only Caesar.
421
THE THREE GORDIANS
Gordianum esse natum.1 at posteaquam constitit
apud veteranos quoque solum Gordianum imperare,
inter populum et milites ac veteranos pax roborata est,
et hie finis belli intestini fuit, cum esset delatus
2Gordiano puero consulatus. sed indicium non diu
imperaturi Gordiani hoc fuit quod eclipsis solis facta
est, ut nox crederetur, neque sine luminibus accensis
Squicquam agi posset, post haec tamen voluptatibus
et deliciis populus Romanus vacavit, ut ea quae fuerant
aspere gesta mitigaret.
4 Venusto et Sabino consulibus inita est factio in
Africa contra Gordianum tertium duce Sabiniano ;
quern Gordianus per praesidem Mauretaniae obsessum
a coniuratis ita oppressit ut ad eum tradendum
Carthaginem omnes venirent et crimina confitentes
5 et veniam sceleribus postulantes. finita igitur sollici-
tudine in Africa Gordiano iam iterum et Pompeiano
6 consulibus bellum Persicum natum est. quando et
adulescens Gordianus, priusquam ad bellum proficis-
1 Dexippus . . . natum del. by Becker and Peter.
1 For 239. 2 Probably that of the 2nd April, 238.
3 The history of Herodian closes with the murder of
Maximus and Balbinus. From this point on, therefore,
422
THE THREE GORDIANS XXIII. 2-6
Gordian the third was the child of Gordian's son).
But shortly afterwards, when it was understood
among the veterans that Gordian was ruling alone, a
peace was confirmed between the populace and the
soldiers and veterans, and an end of the civil strife
was made when the boy was given the consulship.1
There was an omen, however, that Gordian was not
to rule for long, which was this : there occurred an
eclipse of the sun,2 so black that men thought it was
night and business could not be transacted without
the aid of lanterns. None the less, after it the popu-
lace devoted itself to spectacles and revelry, to dull
the memory of the hard things that had been done
before.
In the consulship of Venustus and Sabinus 3 a re- 240
volt broke out in Africa against Gordian the third
under the leadership of Sabinianus.4 But the gover-
nor of Mauretania, who was first beset by the COD
spirators, crushed it for Gordian so severely that all
of them came up to Carthage to surrender Sabinianus
and confessed their wrong and sought pardon for it.
When, however, this trouble in Africa had been
ended, a war broke out with the Persians 5 — this being
in the first consulship of Pompeianus and the second of 241
Gordian. But before setting; out for this war the
the biographer is dependent on some other source. The
exact statement of events and dates, as here and in § 5,
as well as c. xxvi. 3 and c. xxix. 1, suggests the use of an an-
nalistic work, which is probably the Chronicle of Dexippus ;
see note to Alex., xlix. 3. The material afforded by this work
was then padded in the usual manner with anecdotes and
spurious "documents."
4 Perhaps the governor of the province of Africa.
6 See c. xxvi. 3 f.
423
THE THREE GORDIANS
ceretur, et duxit uxorem filiam Misithei, doctissimi
viri, qutm causa eloquentiae dignum parentela sua
7putavit et praefectum statim fecit, post quod non
puerile iam et contemptibile videbatur imperium, si
quidem et optimi soceri consiliis adiuvaretur, et ipse
pro parte l aliquantulum saperet nee per spadones ac
ministros aulicos matris vel ignorantia vel 2 coniventia
venderetur.
XXIV. Exstat denique et soceri eius ad eum epistula
et ipsius Gordiani ad socerum, qua intellegitur eius
saeculum emendatius ac diligentius socero adiuvante
perfectum. quarum exemplum hoc est :
2 " Domino filio et Augusto Misitheus socer et prae-
fectus. evasisse nos gravem temporum macularn, qua
per spadones et per illos qui amici tibi videbantur
(erant autem vehementes inimici) omnia vendebantur,
voluptati est,3 et eo magis, quo tibi gratior emendatio
est, ut, si qua vitia fuerunt, tua non fuisse satis con-
Sstet, mi fili venerabilis. neque enim quisquam ferre
potuit datas eunuchis suffragantibus militum prae-
posituras, negatum laboribus praemium, aut inter-
emptos aut liberates pro libidine atque mercede quos
1 parte Peter ; pietate P. 2 uel om. in P. s est om.
in P.
1The correct form of his name was C. Furius Sabinius
Aquila Timesitheus, as it is preserved in an inscription, C.I.L.,
xiii. 1807 = Dessau, Ins. SeL, 1330. The origin of the in-
correct form Misitheus is uncertain. His daughter's name
was Furia Sabinia Tranquillina; see Dessau, Ins. SeL, 502-
504. Timesitheus was a member of the equestrian order and
had held many important procuratorships previous to his ap-
pointment as prefect of the guard. All the evidence points
to the belief that he was an able and conscientious official
424
THE THREE GORDIANS XXIII. 7— XXIV. 3
young Gordian took a wife, the daughter of Timesi-
theus,1 a most erudite man, whom Gordian considered
worthy of being his relation because of his powers of
eloquence and immediately made his prefect. After
this his rule seemed not in the least that of a child
or contemptible, since he was aided by the advice of
this excellent father-in-law, while he himself, on his
own account, developed considerable sagacity and
did not let his favours be sold by the eunuchs and
attendants at court through his mother's ignorance
or connivance.
XXIV. There is still in existence a letter from
Gordian to his father-in-law and also one from his
father-in-law to him, in which we can see how fault-
lessly and zealously he and his father-in-law strove
to perfect their age. This is a copy of the letters :
" To my imperial son and Augustus, from Timesi-
theus, his prefect and father-in-law. One serious
scandal of our age we have escaped ; the scandal, I
mean, that eunuchs and those who pretend to be your
friends (though really they are your worst enemies)
arrange all things for money. This is all the more
agreeable, and it should make this improvement more
pleasing to you too, because if there have been any
failings, it seems assured, my revered son, that they
have not been yours. For no one could bear it when
commissions in the army were given out on the
nomination of eunuchs, when labours were denied
their due reward, when men who should not have
and a skilful general, and the biographer is doubtless correct
in attributing to him the successes of the Persian campaign
(c. xxvii. 2) as weJl as in his general statement that he was
the mainstay of this reign ; see § 7 ; c. xxiv. 1 ; c. xxv. 5-7 ;
c. xxviii.
425
THE THREE GORDIANS
non decebat, vacuatum aerarium, per eos qui cottidie
insidiosissime frequentabant initas factiones, ut tu
decipereris, cum inter se de bonis pessimi quique
haberent ante consilia tibimet suggerenda, bonos
pellerent, detestandos insinuarent, omnes postremo
4tuas fabulas venderent. dis igitur gratias, quod
5 volente te 1 ipso emendata res est. delectat sane
boni esse principis socerum et eius qui omnia re-
quirat et omnia velit scire et qui pepulerit homines
per quos antea velut in auctione positus nundinal us
L »
est.
XXV. Item Gordiani ad ipsum :
"Imperator Gordianus Augustus Misitheo patri et
praefecto. nisi di omnipotentes Romanum tuerentur
imperium, etiam nunc per emptos spadones velut in
2hasta positi venderemur. denique nunc demum
intellego, neque Feliciones praetorianis cohortibus
praeponi debuisse, neque Serapammoni quartam legi-
onem credendam fuisse, et, ut omnia dinumerare
mittam,2 multa non esse facienda quae feci ; sed dis
gratias, quod te insinuante, qui nihil vendis, didici ea
8 quae inclusus scire non poteram. quid enim facerem,
quod et mater nos 3 venderet et consilio cum Gaudiano
et Reverendo et Montano habito vel laudaret aliquos
vel vituperaret, et illorum consensu quasi testium
1 te Peter1 ; in te P. 2 ut . . . dinumerare mittam,
non fuisse Haupt, Peter2; ut . . . dinumercvem multa non
esse P. 3 et mater nos Petschenig ; ad mauros P ; Admau f
nos Peter.
1 This name and the others which immediately follow are
wholly unknown, and, like the letter itself, are probably
fictitious. For an attempt to prove that both letters were
426
THE THREE GORDIANS XXIV. 4— XXV. 3
been were slain or set free through caprice or bribery,
when the treasury was drained, when conspiracies
were fomented by those who moved cunningly about
you every day, that you, too, might be finally en-
snared, while all evil men settled beforehand among
themselves what to advise you about the righteous,
drove away the good, introduced the abominable,
and, in the end, sold all your secrets for a price.
Let the gods be thanked, then, that this evil has
been done away with, as you, too, desired ! Truly it
delights me to be the father-in-law of a worthy
emperor ; and of one, too, who inquires into every-
thing and wishes to know everything, and has driven
away the men who formerly sold him as though he
were set up in open market."
XXV. Likewise Gordian's letter to Timesitheus :
" From the Emperor Gordian Augustus to Timesi-
theus, his father-in-law and prefect. Were it not
that the mighty gods watch over the Roman Empire,
even now we should be sold by bought eunuchs as
though under the hammer. Now at last I know
that a Felicio l should not have been put in command
of the praetorian guard and that I should not have
entrusted the Fourth Legion to a Serapammon ; in
fact, to give no further examples, that I should not
have done much that I did do ; but now, the gods be
thanked, I have learned from suggestions by you,
who are incorruptible, what I could not know by
myself. For what could I do ? — since even our
mother was betraying us, she who used to take
counsel with Gaudianus, Reverendus, and Montanus
and then praise men or traduce them accordingly,
written by Timesitheus see K. F. W. Lehmann, Kaiser Gordian
in (Berlin, 1911), pp. 19 f., 65 f.
427
THE THREE GORDIANS
4 quod dixerat adprobaret1? mi pater, verum audias
velim : miser est imperator apud quern vera reticentur,
qui cum ipse publice ambulare non possit, necesse est
ut audiat et vel audita vel a plurimis roborata con-
firmet."
5 His epistulis intellectum est adulescentem soceri
Gconsiliis emendatum atque correctum. et Misithei
quidem epistulam Graecam quidam fuisse dicunt, sed
7 in hanc sententiam. tantum autem valuit eius gravitas
et sanctimonia, ut ex obscurissimo praeter nobilitatem
gestis etiam Gordianum clarum principem fecerit.
XXVI. Fuit terrae motus eo usque gravis imperante
Gordiano, ut civitates etiam terrae hiatu cum populis
deperirent. ob quae sacrificia per totam urbem totum-
2 que orbem terrarum ingentia celebrata sunt. et Cordus
quidem dicit inspectis libris Sibyllinis celebratisque
omnibus quae illic iussa videbantur mundanum malum
esse sedatum.
8 Sedato terrae motu Praetextato et Attico consulibus
Gordianus aperto lano gemino, quod signum erat in-
dicti belli, profectus est contra Persas cum exercitu
ingenti et tanto auro, ut vel auxiliis vel militibus
1 adprobaret sugg. by Peter ; adptobarem P.
1 The sanctuary of Janus, on the N.E. side of the Forum,
near the Senate-house, consisting of two arches, facing E.
and W., connected by side- walls.
2 They had apparently advanced into northern Mesopotamia
during the reign of Maximinus ; see Max-Balb.t xiii. 5;
Zonaras, xii. 18. Now, under their new king Sapor I,
son of Ardashir, the founder of the Sassanid dynasty (see
note to Alex,, Iv. 1), they crossed the Euphrates and threatened
Antioch — which, in spile of the statement in §§ 5-6, does not
seem to have been captured by them; see Mommsen,
428
THE THREE GORDIANS XXV. 4— XXVI. 3
and by their testimony as though by the evidence of
witnesses she would prove what she had said. My
father, I should like you to hear a true thing :
wretched is an emperor before whom men do not
speak out the truth, for since he himself cannot walk
out among the people he can only hear things, and
then believe either what he has heard or what the
majority have corroborated."
From these letters one can see how the young man
had been improved and bettered by his father-in-
law's counsel. Some say that Timesitheus' letter was
written in Greek but in any case to the above effect.
So great was the power, moreover, of his strength
of character and righteousness, that he rose from
great obscurity to make the Emperor Gordian illus-
trious not only for his noble birth but also for his
deeds.
XXVI. There was a severe earthquake in Gordian's
reign — so severe that whole cities with all their in-
habitants disappeared in the opening of the ground.
Vast sacrifices were offered through the entire city
and the entire world because of this. And Cordus
says that the Sibylline Books were consulted, and
everything that seemed ordered therein done;
whereupon this world-wide evil was stayed.
But after this earthquake was stayed, in the con-
sulship of Praetextatus and Atticus, Gordian opened 242
the twin gates of Janus,1 which was a sign that war
had been declared, and set out against the Persians 2
with so huge an army and so much gold as easily to
conquer the Persians with either his regulars or his
Provinces of the Rom. Emp.t Eng. Trans., ii. p. 98. Gordian's
departure from Rome was commemorated by coins with the
legend Profectio Aug(usti) ; see Cohen, v2, p. 54, no. 294.
429
THE THREE GORDIANS
4 facile Persas evinceret. fecit iter in l Moesiam atque
in ipso procinctu quicquid hostium in Thraciis fuit
^delevit, fugavit, expulit atque summovit. inde per
Syriam Antiochiam venit, quae a Persis iam tene-
batur. illic frequentibus proeliis pugnavit et vicit
6 Sapore Persarum rege summoto. et post Artaxansen
et Antiochiam recepit et Carrhas et Nisibin, quae
XXVII. omnia sub Persarum imperio erant. rex sane Per-
sarum tantum Gordianum principem timuit ut, cum
instructus esset et suis copiis et nostris, tamen civita-
tibus ipse praesidia sponte deduceret easque integras
suis civibus 2 redderet, ita ut nihil, quod ad eorum
2fortunas pertinet, adtaminaret. sed haec omnia per
Misitheum, socerum Gordiani eundemque praefectum,
3gesta sunt. effectum denique est ut Persae, qui iam
in Italia timebantur, in regnum suum pugnante
Gordiano redirent, totumque orientem Romana res
publica detineret.
4 Exstat oratio Gordiani ad senatum, qua de rebus
gestis 3 suis scribens Misitheo praefecto suo et socero
ingentes gratias agit. cuius partem indidi, ut ex eo
5 vera cognosceres : " Post haec, patres conscript), quae,
1 inter P. 2 ciuibus Jordan ; ciuitatibus P, Peter. 8 gestis
ins. by Jordan and Peter ; om. in P.
1 These were probably the Carpi and the Goths ; see Max.-
Balb.t xvi. 3 and notes. The Alani were probably associated
with them; see c. xxxiv. 4.
2 His passage of the Hellespont is commemorated by coins
with the legend Traiectus Aug(usti), Cohen, v2, p. 58 f., no.
342 f.
3 A decisive victory was gained at Resaina (mod. Ras-el-Ain)
in northern Mesopotamia between Carrhae and Nisibis; see
Ammianus Marcellinus, xxiii. 5, 17. From here he marched
430
THE THREE GORDIANS XXVI. 4— XXVII. 5
auxiliaries. He marched into Moesiaand there, even
while making ready, he destroyed, put to flight, ex-
pelled, and drove away whatever forces of the enemy
were in Thrace.1 From there 2 he marched through
Syria to Antioch, which was then in the possession of
the Persians. There he fought and won repeated
battles, and drove out Sapor, the Persians' king.3
After this he recovered Artaxanses,4 Antioch, Carrhae,
and Nisibis, all of which had been included in the
Persian empire. XXVII. Indeed the king of the
Persians became so fearful of the Emperor Gordian
that, though he was provided with forces both from
his own lands and from ours, he nevertheless evacuated
the cities and restored them unharmed to their
citizens; nor did he injure their possessions in any
way. All this, however, was accomplished by
Timesitheus, Gordian's father-in-law and prefect.
And in the end Gordian's campaign forced the
Persians, who were then dreaded even in Italy, to
return to their own kingdom, and the Roman power
occupied the whole of the East.
There is still in existence an oration of Gordian's
to the senate, wherein while writing of his deeds he
gives boundless thanks to his prefect and father-in-
law Timesitheus. I have set down a part of it, that
from this you may learn his actual words : " After
those deeds, Conscript Fathers, which were done
southward along the river Khabur, apparently having Ctesi-
phon as his objective (Zonaras, xii. 18), to its junction with
the Euphrates, near which he was killed. His conquest of
northern Mesopotamia is attested by the coins minted in his
honour by Edessa (mod. Urfa), Carrhae, Nisibis, and other
cities of that region ; see Cohen, v2, p. 86 f.
4 Unknown ; the text is probably corrupt.
431
THE THREE GORDIANS
dum iter agimus, gesta sunt quaeque ubique singulis
triumphis digna sunt actitata, etiam Persas, ut brevi
multa conectam, ab Antiochensium cervicibus, quas
iara nexas Persico ferro gerebant, et reges Persarum
Get leges amovimus. Carrhas deinde ceterasque urbes
imperio Romano reddidimus. Nisibin usque perveni-
mus et, si di faveriiit, Ctesiphonta usque veniemus.
7valeat tantum Misitheus praefectus et parens noster,
cuius ductu et dispositione et haec transegimus et
Sreliqua transigemus. vestrum est igitur supplica-
tiones decernere, nos dis commendare, Misitheo
gratias agere."
9 His in senatu lectis quadrigae elephantorum
Gordiano decretae sunt, utpote qui Persas vicisset,
ut triumpho Persico triumpharet, Misitheo autem
quadriga sex equorum et triumphalis cuvrus et titulus
lOhuiusmodi: " Misitheo emineiiti viro, parenti princi-
pum, praefecto praetorii et totius urbis,1 tutori rei
publicae senatus populusque Romanus vicera red-
didit."
XXVIII. Sed ista felicitas longior esse non potuit.
nam Misitheus, quantum plerique dicunt, artibus
Philippi, qui post eum praefectus praetorii est factus,
ut alii, morbo exstinctus est, herede Rom ana re
publica, ut quicquid eius fuerat vectigalibus urbis
2accederet. cuius viri tanta in re publica dispositio
rii, t totius urbis Pete^ ; praetotius
urbis P1 ; praetori totius urbis P corr. ; prae <^fecto prae "^>
torii, <^tutori^> totius urbis Peter2.
1 M. Julius Philippus (Arabs), a native, probably, of Philip-
p polis (mod. Shehba) in the Trachonitis in northern Arabia.
He succeeded to the post of Timesitheus (c. xxix.) and after the
murder of Gordian was emperor 244-249. The charge that he
432
THE THREE GORDIANS XXVII. 6— XXVIII. 2
while on our inarch and done everywhere in a manner
worthy of as many separate triumphs, we (to compress
much into little) removed from the necks of the
people of Antioch, which were bent under the Persian
yoke, the Persians, the kings of the Persians, and the
Persians' law. After this we restored Carrhae and
other cities also to the Roman sway. We have pene-
trated as far as Nisibis, and if it be pleasing to the
gods, we shall even get to Ctesiphon. Only may our
prefect and father-in-law Timesitheus prosper, for it
was by his leadership and his arrangements that we
accomplished these things and shall in the future
continue to accomplish them. It is now for you to
decree thanksgivings, to commend us to the gods,
and to give thanks to Timesitheus."
After this was read to the senate, chariots drawn by
four elephants were decreed for Gordian, in order that
he might have a Persian triumph inasmuch as he had
conquered the Persians, and for Timesitheus a six-horse
chariot and a triumphal car and the following inscrip-
tion : "To His Excellency Timesitheus, Father of
Emperors, Prefect of the Guard and of the entire City,
Guardian of the State, the senate and the Roman
people make grateful acknowledgment."
XXVIII. But such felicity could not endure. For,
as most say, through the plotting of Philip,1 who was
made prefect of the guard after him, or, as others say,
because of a disease, Timesitheus died, leaving the
Roman state as his heir. Everything that had been
his was added to the city's revenues. So excellent
was this man's management of public affairs that there
was responsible for the death of Timesitheus is repeated in
§§ 5-6. It is not substantiated by any evidence.
433
THE THREE GORDIANS
fuit ut nulla esset umquam civitas limitanea potior et
quae posset exercitum populi Roman! ac principem
ferre, quae totius anni in aceto, frumento et larido
atque hordeo et paleis conclita non haberet, minores
vero urbes aliae triginta dierum, aliae quadraginta,
nonnullae duum mensium, quae minimum, quindechn
3 dierum. idem cum esset praefectus, arma militum
semper inspexit. nullum senem militare passus est,
nullum puerum annonas accipere. castra omnia et
fossata eorum l circumibat, noctibus etiam pier unique
4 vigilias frequentabat. amabaturque ab omnibus, quod
sic et rem publicam amaret et principem. tribuiii
eum et duces usque adeo timuerunt et amarunt ut
neque vellent peccare neque ulla ex parte peccarent.
6 Philippus eum propter pleraque vehementer timuisse
fertur atque ob hoc per medicos insidias eius vitae
6 parasse, et quidem hoc genere : cum effusione alvi
Misitheus laboraret atque a medicis sistendi ventris
gratia poculum iuberetur accipere, mutatis quae fue-
rant parata id fertur datum quo magis solveretur.
atque ita exanimatus est.
XXIX. Quo mortuo Arriano et Papo consulibus in
eius locum praefectus praetorii factus est Philippus
Arabs, humili genere natus sed 2 superbus, qui se in
novitate atque inormitate fortunae non tenuit, ita ut
statim Gordiano, qui eum in locum parentis adsciverat,
insidias per milites faceret, quae tales fuerunt.
2 Misitheus tantum ubique, quantum diximus, habuerat
fossata eorum Salm., Peter ; fossatorum P. *sed om.
in P.
1So also Victor, Epit., xxviii. 4, where his father is charac-
terized as nobilissimus latronum ductor.
2 A similar, though briefer, account is given in Zosimus, i.
18, 3—19, 1 and Zonaras, xii. 18.
434
THE THREE GORDIANS XXVIII. 3— XXIX. 2
was nowhere a border city of major size, such as could
contain an army and emperor of the Roman people,
that did not have supplies of cheap wine, grain, bacon,
barley, and straw for a year ; other smaller cities had
supplies for thirty days, some for forty, and not a few
for two months, while the very least had supplies for
fifteen days. When he was prefect, likewise, he con-
stantly inspected his men's arms. He never let an old
man serve and he never let a boy draw rations. He
used to go over the camps and theirentrenchments,and
he even frequently visited the sentries during the night.
And because he so loved the emperor and the state,
everyone loved him. The tribunes and generals both
loved and feared him so much that they were unwilling
to do wrong and, for that matter, in no way did wrong.
Philip, they say, was mightily in fear of him for many
reasons and on this account plotted with the doctors
against his life. He did it in this way : Timesitheus,
as it happened, was suffering from diarrhoea and was
told by the doctors to take a potion to check it. And
then, they say, they changed what had been prepared
and gave him something which loosened him all the
more ; and thus he died.
XXIX. When he died, in the consulship of Arrianus
and Papus, Philippus Arabs was made prefect of the 243
guard in his place. This Philip was low-born l but
arrogant, and now could not contain himself in his
sudden rise to office and immoderate good fortune,
but immediately, through the soldiers, began to plot
against Gordian, who had begun to treat him as a
father. He did it in the following manner.2 As we
have said, Timesitheus had stored up such a quantity
of supplies everywhere, that the Roman administration
could not break down. But now Philip intrigued
435
THE THREE GORDIANS
conditorum ut vacillare dispositio Romana non pos-
set ; verum artibus Philippi primum naves frumen-
tariae sunt aversae, deinde in ea loca deducti sunt
3inilites in quibus annonari non posset, hinc Gordi-
ano infestos milites statim reddidit, non intellegentes
4 artibus Philippi iuvenem esse deceptum. sed Philippus
etiam hoc addidit ut rumorera per milites spargeret
adulescentem esse Gordianum, imperium non posse
regere, melius esse ilium imperare qui militem
5 gubernaret, qui rem publicam sciret. corrupit prae-
terea etiam principes, effectumque ut palam Philippus
gad imperium posceretur. amici Gordiani primum
vehementissime resistebant, sed cum milites fame
vincerentur, imperium Philippo mandatum est, ius-
sumque a militibus ut quasi tutor eius Philippus cum
eodem Gordiano pariter imperaret.
XXX. Suscepto igitur imperio, cum et Philippus
se contra Gordianum superbissime ageret, et ille se
imperatorem atque imperatorum prolem et virum
nobilissimae familiae recognosceret nee ferre posset
improbitatem hominis ignobilis, apud duces et milites
adstante praefecto Maecio Gordiano, adfini suo, in
tribunal! conquestus est, sperans posse imperium
2 Philippo abrogari. sed hac conquestione nihil egit,
cum ilium incusasset, quod immemor beneficiorum
3 eius sibi minus gratus exsisteret. et cum milites
rogasset, cum aperte duces ambisset, factione Philippi
4 minor apud omnes fuit. denique cum se videret
1 Otherwise unknown.
436
THE THREE GORDIANS XXIX. 3— XXX. 4
first to have the grain-ships turned away, and then
to have the troops moved to stations where they could
not get provisions. In this way he speedily got them
exasperated against Gordian, for they did not know
that the youth had been betrayed through Philip's in-
triguing. In addition to this, Philip spread talk among
the soldiers to the effect that Gordian was young and
could not manage the Empire, and that it were better
for someone to rule who could command the army
and understood public affairs. Besides this, he won
over the leaders, and finally brought it about that
they openly called him to the throne. Gordian's
friends at first opposed him vigorously, but when
the soldiers were at last overcome with hunger
Philip was entrusted with the sovereignty, and the
soldiers commanded that he and Gordian should rule
together with equal rank while Philip acted as a sort
of guardian.
XXX. Now that he had gained the imperial power
Philip began to bear himself very arrogantly towards
Gordian ; and he, knowing himself to be an emperor,
an emperor's son, and a scion of a most noble family,
could not endure this low-born fellow's insolence.
And so, mounting the platform, with his kinsman
Maecius Gordianus l standing by him as his prefect,
he complained bitterly to the officers and soldiers in
the hope that Philip's office could be taken from him.
But by this complaint — in which he accused Philip of
being unmindful of past favours and too little grateful
— he accomplished nothing. Next he asked the
soldiers to make their choice, after openly canvassing
the officers, but as a result of Philip's intriguing he
came off second in the general vote. And finally,
when he saw that everyone considered him worsted,
437
THE THREE GORDIANS
minorem haberi, petiit ut aequale saltern inter eos
6 esset imperium, nee impetravit. dehinc petiit ut
6 loco Caesaris haberetur, neque id obtimiit. petiit
etiam ut praefecti loco esset Philippe, quod et ipsum
7 negatum est. ultimae preces fuerunt, ut eum Philip-
pus pro duce haberet et pateretur vivere. ad quod
quidem paene consenserat Philippus, ipse tacitus sed
omnia per amicos agens nutibus atque consiliis.
8 verum cum secum ipse cogitaret amore populi Romani
et senatus circa Gordianum et totius Africae ac Syriae
totiusque orbis Romani, cum et nobilis esset et nepos
ac filius imperatorum et bellis gravibus totam rem
publicam liberasset, posse fieri ut flexa1 quanclo-
cumque militum voluntate Gordiano redderetur im-
perium repetenti,2 cum in Gordianum irae militum
famis causa vehementes essent, clamantem e conspectu
9duci iussit ac despoliari et occidi. quod cum primo
dilatum esset, post ut iussit impletum est. ita
Philippus impie non iure obtinuit imperium.
XXXI. hnperavit Gordianus annis sex. atque dum
haec agerentur, Argunt Scytharum rex finitimorurn
regna vastabat, maxime quod compererat Misitheum
perisse, cuius consilio res publica fuerat gubernata.
2 Philippus autem, ne a crudelitate naiicisci videretur
imperium, Romam litteras misit, quibus scripsit Gordi-
1 flexa Peter ; ficta P ; uicta Walter. 2 repetenti Peter1 ;
//// recenti P; re recenti B, Peter2.
1 Near Circesium at the junction of the Khabur and the
Euphrates ; see c. xxxiv. 2.
2 Probably to be identified with Argaithus, a Gothic leader,
who, according to Jordanes (de Reb. Goth., xvi.), devastated the
Dobrudja under Philip and laid siege to Marcianopolis. This
was evidently a renewal of the barbarian invasion which had
438
THE THREE GORDIANS XXX. 5— XXXI. 2
he asked that their power might at least be equal,
but he did not secure this either. After this he asked
to be given the position of Caesar, but he did not gain
this. He asked also to be Philip's prefect, and this,
too, was denied him. His last prayer was that Philip
should make him a general and let him live. And to
this Philip almost consented — not speaking himself,
but acting through his friends, as he had done through-
out, with nods and advice. But when he reflected that
through the love that the Roman people and senate,
the whole of Africa and Syria, and indeed the whole
Roman world, felt for Gordian, because he was nobly
born and the son and grandson of emperors and had
delivered the whole state from grievous wars, it was
possible, if the soldiers ever changed their minds,
that the throne might be given back to Gordian if he
asked for it again, and when he reflected also that the
violence of the soldiers' anger against Gordian was
due to hunger, he had him carried, shouting protests,
out of their sight and then despoiled and slain.1 At
first his orders were delayed, but afterwards it was
done as he had bidden. And in this unholy and
illegal manner Philip became emperor.
XXXI. Gordian reigned six years. And while the
preceding events were taking place, Argunt,2 the
king of the Scythians, was devastating the kingdoms
of his neighbours, chiefly because he had learned that
Timesitheus, by whose counsels the state had been
guided, was now dead.
And now, that he might not seem to have obtained
the imperial office by bloody means, Philip sent a
been temporarily checked by Gordian and Timesitheus on their
way to the East ; see note to c. xxvi. 4.
4-39
THE THREE GORDIANS
anum morbo perisse seque a cunctis militibus electum.
nee defuit ut senatus de his rebus, quas non noverat,
Sfalleretur. appellate igitur principe Philippo et
Augusto nuncupate Gordianum adulescentem inter
deos rettulit.
4 Fuit iuvenis laetus, pulcher, amabilis, gratus omni-
bus, in vita iucundus, in litteris nobilis, prorsus ut
Snihil praeter aetatem deesset imperio. amatus est a
populo et senatu et militibus ante Philippi factionem
6 ita ut nemo principum. Cordus dicit omnes milites
eum filium appellasse, ab omni senatu filium dictum,
omnem populum delicias suas Gordianum dixisse.
7 denique Philippus, cum eum interfecisset, neque
imagines eius tollere neque statuas deponere neque
nomen abradere, sed divum semper appellans etiam
apud ipsos milites, cum quibus factionem fecerat,
serio animo et peregrina calliditate veneratus est.
XXXII. Domus Gordianorum etiam nunc exstat,
2quam iste Gordianus pulcherrime exornavit. est
villa eorum Via Praenestina ducentas columnas in
tetrastylo l habens, quarum quinquaginta Carysteae,
quinquaginta2 Claudianae, quinquaginta Synnades,
1 tetrastylo Salm., Peter ; intrastylo P. 2 quinquaginta
om. in P.
1 So also Zosimus, i. 19, 1.
2 So also § 7 and Eutropius, ix. 2, 3. He is called Divus in
the fictitious inscription in c. xxxiv. 3, but this title does not
appear in any of his inscriptions or on any coin.
3 See c. ii. 3 and note.
4 Running E. by S. from Rome to Praeneste (mod. Pales-
trina).
5 From Carystos in Eubcea. It is now known as cipollino —
from cipolla, " onion," because of its wavy lines of white and
green.
440
THE THREE GORDIANS XXXI. 3— XXXII. 2
letter to Rome saying that Gordian had died of a
disease1 and that he, Philip, had been chosen em-
peror by all the soldiers. The senate was naturally
deceived in these matters of which it knew nothing,
and so it entitled Philip emperor and gave him the
name Augustus and then placed the young Gordian
among the gods.2
He was a light-hearted lad, handsome, winning,
agreeable to everyone, merry in his life, eminent in
letters ; in nothing, indeed, save in his age was he
unqualified for empire. Before Philip's conspiracy he
was loved by the people, the senate, and the soldiers
as no prince had ever been before. Cordus says that
all the soldiers spoke of him as their son, that he was
called son by the entire senate, and that all the
people said Gordian was their darling. And indeed
Philip, after he had killed him, did not remove his
portraits or throw down his statues or erase his name,
but always called him divine, even among the soldiers
with whom he had made his conspiracy, and wor-
shipped him with a mixture of a serious spirit and the
shrewdness of an alien.
XXXII. The house of the Gordians3 is still in
existence. This was embellished by this Gordian very
beautifully. There is also a villa of theirs on the
Praenestine Way,4 with two hundred columns in the
inner court, fifty of them of Carystian marble,5 fifty of
Claudian,6 fifty of Phrygian,7 and fifty of Numidian 8 —
6 Probably red porphyry from MODS Claudianus on the east
coast of Egypt.
'From Synnada in Phrygia. It is now known as pav-
onazetto ("peacock-marble"), because of its rich purple
markings.
8 Now known as giallo antico. It is golden-yellow in colour,
varying toward orange or pink.
441
THE THREE GORDIANS
Squinquaginta Numidicae pari mensura sunt. in qua
basilicae centenariae tres, cetera huic operi con-
venientia, et thermae quales praeter urbem, ut tune,
nusquam in orbe terrarum.
4 Familiae Gordiani hoc senatus decrevit ut a tutelis
atque a legationibus et a publicis necessitatibus, nisi
si vellent, posteri eius semper vacarent.
6 Opera Gordiani Romae nulla exstant praeter quae-
dam nymphia et balneas. sed balneae privatis ho-
minibus fuerunt et ab eo in usum privatum exornatae
6 sunt. instituerat porticum in Campo Martio sub colle
pedum mille, ita ut ab altera parte aeque l mille
pedum porticus fieret, atque inter eas pariter pate-
ret2 spatium pedum quingentorum ; cuius spatii hinc
alque inde viridiaria essent, lauro, myrto et buxo
frequentata, medium vero lithostrotum brevibus co-
lumnis altrinsecus positis et sigillis per pedes mille,
quod esset deambulatorium, ita ut in capite basilica
7 esset pedum quingentorum. cogitaverat praeterea
cum Misitheo, ut post basilicam thermas aestivas sui
nominis faceret, ita ut hiemales in principio porticuum
poneret, ne sine usu 3 essent vel viridiaria vel porticus.
8 sed haec omnia nunc privatorum et possessionibus et
hortis et aedificiis occupata sunt.
XXXIII. Fuerunt sub Gordiano Romae elephanti
triginta et duo, quorum ipse duodecim miserat,
Alexander decem, alces decem, tigres decem, leones
mansueti sexaginta, leopardi mansueti triginta, belbi,
1 aeque Petschenig ; qua P ; aequa Peter. 2 pariter
pateret Peter; parit>r et P. 3 <jie> sine usu Salm.,
Peter1 ; sine usu P ; intus Peter2.
are known.
2 Probably the Quirinal is meant.
442
THE THREE GORDIANS XXXII. 3— XXXIII. 1
all of equal size. In this same house there were three
basilicas one hundred feet long and other things
suitable to such a building, and there were baths that
could be equalled nowhere in the world save in the
city as it was at that time.
The senate passed a decree for the family of Gordian
to the effect that his descendants l need never serve
as guardians or on embassies or in public duties unless
they wished.
There are no public works of Gordian now in
existence in Rome save a few fountains and baths.
And these baths were built for commoners and were
therefore correspondingly equipped. He had pro-
jected, however, a portico on the Campus Martius,
just under the hill,2 a thousand feet long, intending
to erect another of equal length opposite to it with a
space of five hundred feet stretching evenly between.
In this space there were to be pleasure-parks on both
sides, filled with laurel, myrtle, and box-trees, and
down the middle a mosaic walk a thousand feet long
with short columns and statuettes placed on either
side. This was to be a promenade, and at the end
there was to be a basilica five hundred feet long.
Besides this, he had planned with Timesitheus to
erect summer-baths, named after himself, behind the
basilica, and to put winter-baths at the entrance to
the porticos, in order that the pleasure-parks and
porticos might not be without some practical use.
But all this is now - occupied by the estates and
gardens and dwellings of private persons.
XXXIII. There were thirty-two elephants at Rome
in the time of Gordian (of which he himself had sent
twelve and Alexander ten), ten elk, ten tigers, sixty
tame lions, thirty tame leopards, ten belbi or hyenas,
443
THE THREE GORDIANS
id est hyaenae, decem, gladiatorum fiscalium paria
mille, hippopotami sex, rhinoceros unus, argoleontes
decem, camelopardali decem, onagri viginti, equi feri
quadraginta, et cetera huius modi animalia innumera
et diversa ; quae omnia Philippus ludis saecularibus
2 vel dedit vel occidit.1 has autem omnes feras man-
suetas et praeterea efferatas parabat ad triumphum
Persicum. quod votum publicum nihil valuit. nam
omnia haec Philippus exhibuit saecularibus ludis et
muneribus atque circensibus, cum millesimum annum
in coiisulatu suo et filii sui celebravit.
4 Quod de C. Caesare memoriae traditum est, hoc
5 etiam de Gordiano Cordus evenisse perscribit. nam
omnes, quicumque ilium gladio adpetiverunt (qui
novem fuisse clicuntur), postea interemptis Philippis *
sua manu suisque gladiis et iisdem quibus ilium
percusserant interemisse se 3 dicuntur.
XXXIV. Trium igitur Gordianorum haec fuit vita,
qui omnes Augusti appellati sunt, duobus in Africa
2 interemptis, tertio in 4 Persidis finibus. Gordiano se-
pulchrum milites apud Circesium castrum fecerunt
in finibus Persidis, titulum huius modi addentes et
Graecis et Latinis et Persicis et ludaicis et Aegypti-
3 acis litteris, ut ab omnibus legeretur : " Divo Gor-
diano, victori Persarum, victori Gothorum, victori
1 quae omnia . . . occidit del. by Peter. a a Philippis P.
* se om. in P ; interisse Peter2. 4 tertio in ins. by Ursinus ;
om. in P and by Peter ; duobus . . . finibus del. by Peter.
1 Celebrated with great magnificence in April, 248.
8 i.e. Julius Caesar. Suetonius (Jul., Ixxxix.) relates that
hardly any died a natural death and that some slew themselves.
444
THE THREE GORDIANS XXXIII. 2— XXXIV. S
a thousand pairs of imperial gladiators, six hippo-
potami, one rhinoceros, ten wild lions, ten giraffes,
twenty wild asses, forty wild horses, and various other
animals of this nature without number. All of these
Philip presented or slew at the secular games. All
these animals, wild, tame, and savage, Gordian in-
tended for a Persian triumph ; but his official vow
proved of no avail, for Philip presented all of them
at the secular games, consisting of both gladiatorial
spectacles and races in the Circus, that were celebrated
on the thousandth anniversary of the founding of the
City,1 when he and his son were consuls.
Cordus writes that the same thing that is related of
Gaius Caesar2 happened to Gordian. For after the
two Philips were slain, all who had fallen upon
Gordian with the sword (there were nine of them, it
is said) are said to have slain themselves with their
own hands and swords, and those the same swords
with which they had stricken him.
XXXIV. This, then, was the life of the three Gor-
dians, all of whom were named Augustus, two of whom
perished in Africa, one within the confines of Persia.
The soldiers built Gordian a tomb near the camp at
Circesium,3 which is in the territory of Persia, and
added an inscription to the following effect in Greek,
Latin, Persian, Hebrew, and Egyptian letters, so that
all might read : " To the deified Gordian, conqueror
of the Persians, conqueror of the Goths, conqueror of
3 Twenty miles from Circesium (see note to c. xxx. 8), accord-
ing to Eutropius, ix. 2, 3 ; between Zaitha and Dura (on the
Euphrates below Gircesium), according to Ammianus Mar-
cellinus, xxiii. 5, 7. It seems to have been merely a cenotaph,
for according to Eutropius, I.e., Philip took Gordian's ashes-
back to Rome.
445
THE THREE GORDIANS
Sarmatarum, depulsori Romanarum seditionum, victor!
4 Germanorum, sed non victor! Philipporum." quod
ideo videbatur additum, quia in campis Philippis ab
Alanis tumultuario proelio victus abscesserat, simul
5 etiam quod a Philippis videbatur occisus. quern
titulum evertisse Licinius dicitur eo tempore quo est
nanctus imperium, cum se vellet videri a Philippis
6originem trahere. quae omnia, Constantine maxime,
idcirco sum persecutus,1 ne quid tuae cognition! dees-
set, quod dignum scientia videretur.
1 secutus P.
1 The inscription as recorded here can hardly be authentic.
The statement that it had been destroyed before the vita was
•written is in itself suspicious, and the pun on Philippi is more
characteristic of the style of these biographers than of a
446
THE THREE GORDIANS XXXIV. 4-6
the Sarmatians, queller of mutinies at Rome, con-
queror of the Germans, but no conqueror of Philippi".1
This was added ostensibly because he had been
beaten by the Alani in a disorderly battle on the
plains of Philippi and forced to retreat ; but at the
same time it seemed to mean that he had been slain
by the two Philips. But Licinius,2 it is said, de-
stroyed this inscription at the time when he seized
the imperial power ; for he desired to have it appear
that he was descended from the two Philips. All of
this, great Constantine, I have investigated, in order
that nothing might be lacking to your knowledge
which seemed worth the knowing.
funerary inscription. Moreover, it is difficult to believe that
Gordian fought with the Alani as far south as Philippi in
Macedonia ; see c. xxvi. 4 and note.
2 See Heliog., xxxv. 6.
447
MAXIMUS ET BALBINUS
IULII CAPITOLINI
I. Interemptis in Africa Gordiano seniore cum fiHo,
cum Maximinus ad urbem furens veniret, ut quod
Gordiani Augusti appellati fuerant vindicaret, senatus
praetrepidus in aedem Concordiae VII idus lulias1
concurrit, Ludis Apollinaribus, remedium contra furo-
2rem hominis improbissimi requirens. cum igitur duo
consulares, et eminentes quidem viri, Maximus et
Balbinus (quorum Maximus a plerisque in historia
reticetur et loco eius Pupieni nomen infertur, cum et
Dexippus et Arrianus Maximum et Balbinum dicant
electos contra Maximinum post Gordianos), quorum
alter bonitate, virtute alter ac severitate clari habe-
bantur, ingressi essent Curiam ac praecipue timorem
Maximini adventu fronte ostenderent, referente con-
1 lulias Peter (cf. Maxim., xvi. 1) ; lunias P.
1See Maxim., xx. 1; Gord., xxii. 1.
8 See note to Pert., iv. 9.
*This date is incorrect ; see note on c. xv. 7.
46th-13th July.
•For their complete names see note to Maxim., xx. 1.
448
MAXIMUS AND BALBINUS
BY
JULIUS CAPITOLINUS
I. »Vhen the elder Gordian and his son were now
slain in Africa and Maximinus came raging toward
the city to take vengeance because the Gordians had
been named Augusti,1 the senate, in great terror, came
together in the Temple of Concord 2 on the seventh 9 July,
day before the Ides of July 3 — the time, that is, of 238
the Apollinarian Games4 — to seek some safeguard
against the fury of that evil man. When, then, two
men of consular rank, and of distinction too, Maximus
and Balbinus 5 (Maximus is not mentioned in many
histories, the name of Pupienus being inserted in his
place,6 but both Dexippus 7 and Arrianus 8 say that
Maximus and Balbinus were chosen against Maximinus
after the Gordians), the one noted for his goodness
the other for his courage and firmness — when these
two came into the Senate-house, showing plainly on
their brows their terror at Maximinus' coming, and
6 On this confusion see note to Maxim., xxxiii. 3.
7 See note to Alex , xlix. 3.
8 i.e. Herodian; see note to Maxim., i. 4.
449
MAXIMUS AND BALBINUS
sule de aliis rebus, qui primam sententiam erat dic-
Sturus sic exorsus est : " Minora vos sollicitant, et prope
aniles res ferventissimo terapore tractamus in Curia.
4 quid enim opus de restitutione templorum, de basilicae
ornatu, de therrais Titianis, de exaedificatione Amphi-
theatri agere, cum inmineat Maximinus, quern hostem
mecum ante dixistis, Gordiani duo, in quibus praesid-
ium fuerat, interempti sint, neque in praesenti ullum
5 sit auxilium, quo respirare possimus ? agite igitur,
patres conscripti, principes dicite. quid moramini ?
ne, dum singulatira pertimescitis, in timore potius
II. quam in virtute oppriraamini." post haec tacentibus
cunctis, cum Maximus, qui et natu grandior erat et
mentis et virtute ac severitate clarior, dicere senten-
tiam coepisset, qtiae ostenderet duos principes esse
faciendos, Vettius Sabinus ex familia Ulpiorum rogato
consule, ut sibi dicere atque interfari liceret, sic ex-
2 orsus est : " Scio, patres conscript!, hanc rebus novis
inesse oportere constantiam, ut rapienda sint consilia,
non quaerenda, verbis quin etiam plurimis abstinen-
3 dum sit atque sententiis, ubi res perurguent. cervices
suas quisque respiciat, uxorem ac liberos cogitet avitas
patriasque fortunas ; quibus omnibus inminet Maxim-
inus, natura furiosus, truculentus, inmanis, causa vero,
4ut sibi videtur, satis iusta truculentior. ille quadrate
agmine castris ubique positis ad urbem tcndit, vos
the S.W. slope of the Esquiline Hill, on part of the
site of Nero's Golden House. They were adjoined on the
north-east by the Baths of Trajan, with which they have fre-
quently been confused.
2 The Colosseum ; on its restoration by Elagabalus see
Heliog., xvii. 8.
3 See Maxim., xv. 2. 4 See note to c. xv. 2.
450
MAXIMUS AND BALBINUS I. 3— II. 4
the consul began to bring up other questions, he who
gave the first opinion began thus : " You are disturbed
with petty things ; while the world blazes we in the
Senate-house are busied with an old woman's cares.
For what is the use of our discussing the restoration
of temples, the embellishment of a basilica, and the
Baths of Titus,1 or building the Amphitheatre,2 when
Maximinus, whom you and I once declared a public
enemy,3 is upon us, the two Gordians, in whom was
our defence, are slain, and there is now no help
whereby we can be [relieved ? Come, then, Conscript
Fathers, appoint emperors. Why do you delay ? Do
not be overcome while fearing each for himself and
showing terror instead of courage." II. Upon this all
were silent ; but finally, when Maxim us, who was
older 4 and more famous by reason of his merits, his
courage, and his firmness, began to give his opinion,
maintaining that two emperors should be appointed,
Vettius Sabinus,5 one of the family of the Ulpii, asked
the consul that he might be permitted to interrupt
and speak, and thus began : " I am well aware, Con-
script Fathers, that in revolution we should be so
well agreed that plans should not be sought but
seized ; indeed, we should refrain from lengthy
words and opinions when events press. Let each
look to his own neck, let him think of his wife and
children, of his father's and his father's father's goods ;
all of these Maximinus threatens, by nature passionate,
fierce, and bloody, and now with just cause, so it
seems to him, still fiercer. In battle-order, with camps
pitched everywhere, he is coming towards the city ;
and you with sitting and consulting waste away the
8 See c. iv. 4.
451
MAXIMUS AND BALBINUS
Ssedendo et consultando diem teritis. longa oratione
opus non est ; faciendus est imperator, immo faciendi
sunt principes, unus qui res domesticas, alter qui bel-
licas curet, unus qui in urbe resideat, alter qui obviam
6 cum exercitu latronibus pergat. ego principes dico,
vos firmate, si placet, sin minus, meliores ostendite :
? Maximum igitur atque Balbinum, quorum unus in re
militari tantus est ut ignobilitatem generis splendore
virtutis texerit,1 alter ita clarus nobilitate est, ut et
morum lenitate rei publicae est 2 necessarius et vitae
sanctimonia, quam a prima aetate in studiis semper ac
8 litteris tenuit. habetis sententiam, patres conscripti,
mihi fortasse periculosiorem quam vobis, sed nee vobis
satis tutam, si non aut alios aut hos principes fece-
9ritis." post haec adclamatum est uno consensu :
!0 " Aequum est, iustum est. sententiae Sabini omnes
consentimus. Maxime et Balbine Augusti, di vos
servent. di vos principes fecerunt, di vos conservent.
vos senatum a latronibus vindicate, vobis bellum con-
11 tra latrones mandamus, hostis publicus Maximinus
cum filio pereat, hostem publicum vos persequimini.
felices vos iudicio senatus, felicem rem publicam
12vestro imperio. quod vobis senatus detulit fortiter
agite, quod vobis senatus detulit libenter accipite."
his atque aliis adclamationibus imperatores facti sunt
Maximus atque Balbinus.
2 Egressi igitur a senatu primum Capitolium escende-
3 runt ac rem divinam fecerunt. deinde ad Rostra
populum convocarunt. ubi cum orationem de sen-
1 ignobilitatem . . . texerit Lipsius, Damst6 (of. Maxim.,
xx. 1) ; nobilitatem . . . t«» lexerit P, Peter. *est Peter;
sit P.
On acclamations in the senate see note to Alex., vi. 1.
452
MAXIMUS AND BALBINUS II. 5— III. 8
day. There is no need for a long speech ; we must
make an emperor, nay we must make two princes,
one to manage the affairs of state, one to manage the
affairs of war ; one to stay at home, and one to go
out to meet these bandits with an army. J, then,
nominate for emperors — and do you confirm them, if
it please you, or if not, show me better ones — Maximus
and Balbinus, of whom one is so great in war that he
has concealed the lowness of his birth by the splendour
of his valour, the other, as he is illustrious of birth, so
he is dear to the state by reason both of his gentle char-
acter and of his blameless life, which from his earliest
years he has passed in study and in letters. Conscript
Fathers, you have my opinion — one more perilous
perchance to me than to you, but by no means safe
foryou unlessyou make these men or others emperors."
Upon this they cried out with one accord 1 : "It is
right, it is just. We agree with the opinion of
Sabinus, all of us. Maximus and Balbinus Augusti,
may the gods keep you ! The gods have made you
emperors ; may the gods keep you ! Save the senate
from the bandits ; we entrust you with the war against
the bandits. May the public enemy Maximinus and
his son perish ! Hunt down the public enemy. You
are happy in the judgment of the senate, the state
is happy in your rule. What the senate has given
you, perform stoutly ; what the senate has given you,
take gladly." III. With these and other acclamations
Maximus and Balbinus were made emperors.
Coming out from the senate, then, they first
mounted up to the Capitol and made sacrifice, and
then summoned the people to the Rostra. But there,
after they had delivered speeches about the senate's
decision and their own election, the Roman people,
453
MAXIMUS AND BALBINUS
atus sententia et de sua electione habuissent, populus
Romanus cum militibus, qui forte convenerant, ad-
clamavit, "Gordianum Caesarem omnes rogamus."
4 hie nepos erat Gordiani ex filia,1 annum agens
Squartum decimum, ut plerique dicunt. qui statim
raptus est et novo genere senatus consulti, cum eadem
die senatus consultum factum esset, inductus in
Curiam Caesar est appellatus.
IV. Prima igitur relatio principum fuit, ut duo
2 Gordiani divi appellarentur. aliqui autem unum
putant appellatum, seniorem videlicet, sed ego libris,
quos lunius Cordus affatim scripsit, legisse memini
Sambos in deos relates ; si quidem senior laqueo vitam
finivit, iunior autem in bello consumptus est, qui
utique maiorem meretur reverentiam, quod eum bel-
4lum rapuit. post has igitur relationes praefectura
urbi in Sabinum conlata2 est, virum gravem et Max-
imi moribus congruentem, praetoriana in Pinarium
Valentem.
6 Sed priusquam de actibus eorum loquar, placet
aliqua dici de moribus atque genere, non eo modo
quo lunius Cordus est persecutus 3 omnia, sed illo
quo Suetonius Tranquillus et Valerius Marcellinus,
1 After filia P reads qui est in Africa occisus ; del. by Peter.
^conlocata P. 3 persecutus Peter; prosecutus P.
1 On the not which accompanied this demand see note to
Gord., xxii. 2.
2 On his parentage see note to Gord., xxii. 4.
3 On his age see Gord., xxii. 2 and note.
4 Their deification was known at Aquileia at the time of
the surrender of Maximinus' army; see Maxim., xxiv. 2-3;
Herodian, viii. 6, 3. They are called Divi in inscriptions of
Maximus and Balbinus and of Gordian III ; see Dessau, Ins.
Z., 496-498; 500.
454
MAXIMUS AND BALBINUS III. 4— IV. 5
together with some soldiers who had by chance
assembled, cried out, "We all ask Gordian for Caesar".1
This was the grandson of Gordian by his daughter,2
being then, so most say, in his fourteenth year.3 And
so Gordian was hurried away, and by a new kind
of senatorial decree, passed on that very same day,
he was brought into the Senate-house and declared
Caesar.
IV. The first proposal, then, of the Emperors was
that the two Gordians be entitled divine.4 Some,
indeed, think that only one, namely the elder, was so
entitled ; but I remember having read in the books
which Juiiius Cordus wrote, of which there were
plenty, that both were placed among the gods. And
truly the elder put an end to his life by hanging him-
self, whereas the younger was destroyed in war, and
accordingly deserves greater respect because war took
him. At any rate, after these proposals were made,
the city-prefecture was given to Sabinus,5 a serious
man and suitable to one of Maximus' character, the
prefecture of the guird to Pinarius Valens.6
But before I speak of their acts it seems best to
tell of their characters and birth — not in the way
in which Junius Cordus sought eagerly after every-
thing,7 but rather as Suetonius Tranquillus8 and
Valerius Marcellinus did. For although Curius
5 See c. ii. 1.
6 A relative of Balbinus ; see c. v. 5. In o. xv. 6 the bio-
grapher rightly contradicts a statement that the young Gordian
III was made prefect of the guard.
7 See Intro, to Vol. i., p. xviii.
8 The author of the de Vita Caesarum, from Julius to
Domitian. Marcellinus and Fortunatianus are otherwise un-
known, unless the former is the Fabius Marcellinus mentioned
in Alex., xlviii. 6 and Prob., ii. 7.
455
MAXIMUS AND BALBINUS
quamvis Curius Fortunatianus, qui omnem hanc his-
toriam perscripsit, pauca contigerit, Cordus vero tarn
multa ut etiam pleraque et minus honesta perscripserit.
V. Maximo pater fuit Maximus, unus e plebe, ut
nonnulli dicunt faber ferrarius, ut alii raedarius
2 vehicularius fabricator, hunc suscepit ex uxore Prima
nomine, cui fratres quattuor pueri l fuerunt, quat-
tuor puellae, qui omnes intra pubertatem interierunt.
Snato Maximo carnem bubulam, et quidem multam,
aquila in cella eorum proiecisse fertur, quae angusto
patebat impluvio, eandemque, cum iaceret neque
quisquam adtingere auderet religionis timore, iterum
sustuiisse et in proximum sacellum, quod erat lovis
4 Praestitis, detulisse. id eo tempore nihil visum est
ominis habere, sed non sine causa factum probavit
imperium.
6 Pueritiam omnem in domo parentis2 Pinarii fecit,
quern statim ad praefecturam praetorii subvexit ubi
6 factus est imperator. operam grammatico ac 3 rhetori
non multam dedit, si quidem semper virtuti militari
7 et severitati studuit. ac tandem 4 militaris tribunus
fuit et multos egit numeros et postea praeturam,
sumptu Pescenniae Marcellinae, quae 5 ilium loco filii
8 suscepit et aluit. inde proconsulatum Bithyniae egit
Bet deinceps Graeciae ac tertio Narbonae. missus
1 pueri Salm., Peter; uiriP. 2 parentis Peter; patris P.
8 ac ins. by Peter ; om. in P. 4 tandem Gas. ; tamen P, Peter.
* queue, om. in P.
1 So also c. xiv. 1; xvi. 2; Maxim., xz. 1. On the other
hand, Herodian speaks of both Maximus and Balbinus as
patricians (fv-rrarplSai) ; see viii. 8, 1 and 4.
2 A Jupiter Praestes (i.e. "Protector") was worshipped at
Tibur (mod. Tivoli) ; see an inscription found there, C.I.L.,
xiv. 3555. No sanctuary of his at Rome, however, is known.
456
MAXIMUS AND BALBINUS V. 1-9
Fortunatianus, who wrote the history of all this
period, touched upon only a few things, Cordus wrote
so much as to include a great mass of detail, some of
which was not even decent.
V. The father of Maximus was also Maximus.
He was one of the plebs,1 and according to some, a
blacksmith, according to others, a carriage-maker.
He begot Maximus from a wife named Prima, together
with four brothers and four sisters, all of whom died
before the age of puberty. At Maximus' birth an
eagle, it is said, dropped a piece of beef — and a big
one, too — into their dwelling where a narrow aperture
lay open to the sky ; and later, when it lay there,
no one daring to touch it through superstitious fear,
it picked it up again and carried it off to the nearest
shrine, which was that of Jupiter Praestes.2 At the
time this did not seem anything of an omen ; it was
done, however, not without reason and showed his
future rule.
All his childhood he passed in the house of his
kinsman Pinarius, whom he promptly elevated, as
soon as he was made emperor, to the prefecture of
the guard. He paid little attention to grammar and
rhetoric, cultivating always a soldierly valour and
sternness. And at length he became military tribune
and commander of many detachments ; afterwards he
served a praetorship, the expenses of which were
borne by Pescennia Marcellina, who adopted and
supported him as a son. Thereafter he served as
proconsul of Bithynia, then of Greece, and thirdly of
Gallia Narbonensis.3 Besides this, he was sent out
as a special legate and crushed the Sarmatians in
'See note to Carac., v. 1.
457
MAXIMUS AND BALBINUS
praeterea legatus Sarmatas in Illyrico contudit atque
inde translatus ad Rhenum rem contra Germanos
10 satis feliciter gessit. post haec praefectus urbi
prudentissimus et1 ingeniosissimus et severissimus
11 adprobatus est. quare veluti nobili 2 senatus ei hom-
ini, quod non licebat, novae familiae imperium tamen
detulit, confessis omnibus eo tempore in senatu apti-
orem non esse, qui deberet principis nomeii accipere.
VI. Et quoniam etiam minora plerique desiderant,
fuit cibi avidus, vini parcissimus, ad rem Veneriam
nimis rarus, domi forisque semper severus, ita ut et
2 tristis cognomen acciperet. vultu gravissimus et retor-
ridus, statura procerus, corporis qualitate sanissimus,
moribus aspernabilis, ac tamen iustus neque umquam
usque ad exitum negotiorum vel inhumanus vel
Sinclemens. rogatus semper ignovit nee iratus est,
4 nisi ubi eum irasci decuit. factionibus se numquam
praebuit, iudicii tenax fuit neque aliis potius quam
6 sibi credidit. quare et a senatu multum dilectus est
et a populo timori habitus, si quidem sciebat populus
eius censoriam praefecturam, quam videbat posse in
imperio vehementius convalescere.
VII. Balbinus nobilissimus et iterum consul, rector
2provinciarum innnitarum. nam et Asiam et Africam
et Bithyniam et Galatiam et Pontum et Thracias et
let Cod. Admont., Petschenig; in P; om. by Eyssenhardt
and Peter. 2 nobili ins. by Lenze ; om. in P ; t ueluti Peter.
1 His governorship of Germany is mentioned by Herodian,
viii. 6, 6 ; 7,8.
2 Even to the extent that he became unpopular with the
city mob ; see Herodian, vii. 10, 4 and 6 (cf. c. viii. 2).
3 So also Herodian, vii. 10, 4 ; viii. 8, 4. Eutropius errone-
ously asserts the contrary ; see ix. 2, 1.
458
MAXIMUS AND BALBINUS V. 10— VII. 2
Illyricum ; from there he was transferred to the Rhine 1
and conducted a campaign against the Germans with
very happy results. After this he proved himself a
very sagacious, very able, and very unbending city-
prefect.2 And so, although he was a man of new
family, nevertheless, as though he were of noble birth,
the senate, though it was contrary to law, bestowed
on him the sovereignty — for all confessed that at that
time there was no man in the seriate fitter to receive
the title of prince.
VI. And since many desire even less important
details, he was fond of food, very sparing of wine, ex-
ceedingly continent in affairs of love, and both at
home and abroad always so stern as even to get the
name of gloomy. He was extremely grave and even
morose of countenance, tall of stature, veiy healthy
of body, repellent in manner, but none the less just,
and never, even to the end of his activities, either
cruel or unmerciful. When asked, he always granted
pardon and never grew angry except when it was
only proper to be angered. He never lent himself to
conspiracies ; he clung to an opinion and did not
trust others before himself. For these reasons he
was greatly beloved by the senate and held in awe
by the people ; indeed, the people were not unmind-
ful of his rigid conduct as prefect and saw that this
might even increase in vigour when he became
emperor.
VII. Balbinus was of very noble birth,3 twice con-
sul,4 and the ruler of innumerable provinces. Indeed,
he had managed the civil administration of Asia,
Africa, Bithynia, Galatia, Pontus, Thrace, and the
4 Consul for the second time in 213. The year of his first
consulship is uncertain.
459
MAXIMUS AND BALBINUS
Gallias civilibus administrationibus rexerat, ducto
nonnumquam exercitu, sed rebus bellicis minor fuerat
quam in civilibus ; attamen bonitate, nimia sanctitate
ac verecundia ingentem sibi amorem conlocaverat.1
3 familiae vetustissimae, ut ipse dicebat, a Balbo Cor-
nelio Theophane originera ducens, qui per Gnaeum
Pompeium civitatem meruerat, cum esset suae patriae
nobilissimus idemque historiae scriptor.
4 Statura aeque procerus, corporis qualitate con-
spicuus, in voluptatibus nimius. quern quidem adiu-
vabat divitiarum abundantia, nam erat a maioribus
dives et multa hereditatibus per se ipse collegerat.
5 eloquentia clarus, poemate 2 inter sui temporis poetas
6 praecipuus. vini, cibi, Veneriae avidus, vestitu cultus,
nee quicquam defuit3 quod ilium populo non com-
mendabilem redderet. amabilis etiam senatui fuit.
7 Haec de utriusque vita comperimus. denique non-
nulli, quemadmodum Catonem et Caesarem Sallustius
comparat, ita hos quoque comparandos piitarunt, ut
alterum severum, clementem alterum, bonum ilium,
istum constantem, ilium nihil largientem, hunc afflu.
1 conlocauerat P, Petschenig, Bitchofsky; conciliauerat
Peter. 2 poemate Jordan; poemata P; poeta Peter.
3 defuit ins. by Jordan and Peter : om. in P.
1 There were no legions stationed in any of these provinces.
Whatever troops he commanded must have been independent
auxiliary cohorts.
2 The biographer seems to have confused two men: L.
Cornelius Balbus of Cadiz (cos. 40 B. c.), who, having fought
under Pompey in Spain and so acquired Roman citizenship,
was afterwards a trusted subordinate of Caesar and became
well known through Cicero's speech in his behalf (the pro
460
MAXIMUS AND BALBINUS VII. 3-7
Gauls, and at times had commanded an army l ; he
was less capable in military affairs, however, than in
civil. Nevertheless, by his good, righteous, and
modest life, he won himself great love. He came of
a very ancient family — or so he himself asserted,
tracing his descent from Cornelius Balbus Theo-
phanes,2 who became a citizen through the aid of
Gnaeus Pompey ; this Balbus was very noble in his
own country and likewise a writer of history.
He was equally tall of stature, remarkable for the
excellence of his body and excessive in his pleasures.
In this he was encouraged by his abounding wealth ;
for he was rich by inheritance on the one hand, and
had himself accumulated a great deal through legacies
on the other. He was renowned for eloquence and in
poetry he ranked high among the poets of his time.3
He was fond of wine, of eating, and of love, elegant
in dress, nor was anything lacking to make him agree-
able to the people. He was pleasing also to the
senate.
This is what we have discovered about the lives of
each. Some, indeed, have thought that these two
should be compared in the fashion that Sallust com-
pares Cato and Caesar 4 — that the one was stern and
the other genial, the one virtuous and the other stead-
fast, the one by no means munificent, the other rich
Balbo) ; and Theophanes of Mitylene, who accompanied
Pompey on his campaign against Mithradates, wrote a history
of the war, and was in 62 B.C. rewarded with Boman
citizenship. The confusion is less strange because Balbus,
when a mature man, was adopted by Theophanes.
3 Nothing is known of his poetry.
4 An abbreviation of the comparison in Sallust, d& Con-
iuratione Catilinae, liv.
461
MAXIMUS AND BALBINUS
VIII. entem copiis omnibus dicerent. haec de moribus
atque genere.
Decretis ergo omnibus imperatoriis honoribus atque
insignibus, percepta tribunicia potestate, iure procon-
sular!, pontificatu maximo, patris etiam patriae nomine
2 inierunt imperium. sed dum in Capitolio rem divinam
faciimt, populus Romanus imperio Maximi contradixit.
time bant enim severitatem eius homines vulgares,1
quam et senatui acceptissimam et sibi adversissimam
Sesse credebant. quare factum est, ut diximus, ut
Gordianum adulescentulum principem peterent, qui
statim factus est. nee prius permissi sunt ad Palatium
stipatis armatis ire quam nepotem Gordiani Caesaris
4 nomine nuncuparunt. his gestis celebratisque sacris,
datis ludis scaeiiicis ludisque circensibus gladiatorio
etiam munere, Maximus susceptis votis in Capitolio
ad bellum contra Maximinum missus est cum exercitu
ingenti, praetorianis Romae manentibus.
6 Unde autem mos tractus sit, ut proficiscentes ad
bellum imperatores munus gladiatorium et venatus
6darent, breviter dicendum est. multi dicunt apud
veteres hanc devotionem contra hostes factam, ut
civium sanguine litato specie pugnarum se Nemesis
1Here follows in P the misplaced portion of the Vita
Maxim, beginning comperit Alexandrum, c. v. 3, and ending
omnes qui mecum, c. xviii. 2 ; see Intro, to Vol. i. p. xxxiii.
1 See note to Pius, iv. 7.
3 The old republican principle of colleagueship was so
strictly maintained that both Maximus and Balbinus bear this
title (previously never held by more than one man) in their
inscriptions and on their coins ; see Dessau, Ins. Sel. 496 and
Cohen, v2, p. 11, nos. 18-22, p. 17, nos. 26-31.
8 See c. iii. 3. 4 See Qord. , xxii. 2-3.
462
MAXIMUS AND BALBINUS VIII. 1-6
in all possessions. VIII. So much for their characters
and birth.
All the imperial titles and trappings having been
decreed them, they assumed the tribunician power, the
proconsular command,1 the office of Pontifex Maxi-
mus,2 and the name Father of his Country, and
entered upon their rule. But while they were at the
Capitol making sacrifice the Roman people objected
to the rule of Maximus. For the men of the crowd
feared his strictness, which, they believed, was very
welcome to the senate and very hostile to themselves.
And for this reason it came about, as we have related,3
that they demanded the youthful Gordian as their
prince ; and thus he was straightway entitled.
Indeed Maximus and BaJbinus were not suffered to
go to the Palace with armed attendants until they
had invested the grandson of Gordian with the name
of Caesar.4 And now, this being done, sacred rites
were performed, stage-plays and sports in the Circus
given, a gladiatorial show was presented,5 and Maxi-
mus, after assuming vows in the Capitol, set out with
a mighty army to war against Maximinus.6 The
praetorian guard, however, remained at Rome.
Whence this custom arose, that emperors setting
out to war gave an entertainment of gladiators and
wild beasts, we must briefly discuss. Many say that
among the ancients this was a solemn ritual performed
against the enemy in order that the blood of citizens
being thus offered in .sacrifice under the guise of
6 They also gave a largess to the people ; see the " Chrono-
grapher of 354 A.D. " (Mommsen, Oes. Schr., vii. p. 576) and
coins with the legend Liberalitas Augustorum, Cohen, v2,
p. 9 f., nos. 10-13, p. 15 f., nos. 14-18.
* See Maxim. , xx. 5-6.
463
MAXIMUS AND BALBINUS
7 (id est vis quaedam Fortunae) satiaret. alii hoc
litteris tradunt, quod veri similius credo, ituros ad
bellum Romanos debuisse pugnas videre et vulnera
et ferrum et nudos inter se coeuntes, ne in bello
armatos hostes timerent aut vulnera et sanguinem
perhorres cerent.
IX. Et Maximo quidem ad bellum profecto Romae
2praetoriani remanserunt. inter quos et populum
tanta seditio fuit ut ad bellum intestinum veniretur,
urbis Romae pars maxima incenderetur, templa foe-
darentur, omnes plateae cruore polluerentur, cum
Balbinus, homo lenior, seditionem sedare non posset.
3 nam ut 1 in publicum processit, manus singulis qui-
busque tetendit 2 et paene ictum lapidis passus est,
4 ut 3 alii dicunt, etiam fuste percussus est. neque
sedasset tumultum, nisi infantem Gordianum pur-
puratum ad populum longissimi hominis collo super-
positum produxisset. quo viso populus et milites
usque adeo placati sunt ut amore illius in concordiam
Sredirent. neque umquam quisquam in ilia aetate sic
amatus est merito avi et avunculi, qui pro populo
Romano contra Maximinum in Africa vitam fini-
1ut Damste" ; et P, Peter. 2 tetendit Madvig, Peter3;
tenuit P, Peter1. 3ut om. in P.
JThe biographer is wholly wrong in his explanation of the
origin of gladiatorial spectacles. They were brought to Rome
from Etruria and were always held in connection with im-
portant funerals as a substitute for the human sacrifices origin-
ally performed at the grave. H ere they are confused with the
devotio — a wholly different ceremony, by which a general
464
MAXIMUS AND BALBINUS VIII. 7— IX. 5
battle, Nemesis (that is a certain avenging power of
Fortune) might be appeased.1 Others have related
in books, and this I believe is nearer the truth, that
when about to go to war the Romans felt it necessary
to behold fighting and wounds and steel and naked
men contending among themselves, so that in war
they might not fear armed enemies or shudder at
wounds and blood.
IX. Now when Maximus set out to the war the
guard remained at Rome ; and between them and
the populace such a rioting broke out that it led to a
domestic war,2 to the burning of the greater part of
Rome, the defiling of the temples, and the pollution
of all the streets with blood — when Balbinus, a some-
what mild man, proved unable to quell the rioting.
For, going out in public, he stretched out his hands
to this person and that and almost suffered a blow
from a stone and, according to some, was actually
hit with a club ; nor would he have finally quelled
the disturbance had not the young Gordian, clothed
in the purple, been perched on the neck of a very
tall man and displayed to the people. When he
was seen, however, the populace and soldiers were
reconciled and through love of him returned to
harmony. No one in that age was ever so beloved ;
this was because of his grandfather and uncle, who
had died for the Roman people in Africa opposing
sacrificed himself or some of his men to the deities of the
Lower World in order to secure a victory ; see the story of
P. Decius Mus, Livy, viii. 9-10.
2 The account of this riot has been misplaced by the bio-
grapher. It took place in connexion with the acclamation
of Gordian III. as Caesar ; see c. iii. 3 ; Maxim., xx. 6 ; Gord.,
xxii. 2 and notes.
465
MAXIMUS AND BALBINUS
verant. tantum apud Romanes memoria bonarum
rerum valet.
X. Maximo igitur ad bellum profecto senatus per
omnes regiones consulares, praetorios, quaestorios,
aedilicios, tribunicios etiam viros misit, ita ut una-
quaeque civitas frumentum, arma et proptignacula
et muros pararet, ut per singulas urbes Maxim inus
2 fatigaretur. iussum tune tamen, ut omnia ex agris
in civitates colligerentur, ne quid hostis publicus
Sinveniret. scriptum est praeterea ad omnes pro-
vincias missis frumentariis iussumque ut quicumque
Maximinum iuvisset in hostium numero duceretur.
4 Inter haec Romae iterum seditiones inter populum
5 et milites ortae sunt. et cum mille edicta Balbinus
proponeret nee audiretur, veterani se in Castra Prae-
toria contulerunt cum ipsis praetorianis, quos coepit
6 populus obsidere. nee umquam ad amicitiam essent
7 redacti, nisi fistulas aquarias populus incidisset. in
urbe autem, priusquam dictum esset milites pacatos
venire, et tegulae de tectis iactae sunt et omnia quae l
Sin domibus erant vasa proiecta. atque ideo maior
pars civitatis periit et multorum divitiae. nam
latrones se militibus miscuerunt ad vastanda ea quae
norant ubi reperirent.
1 quae om. in P.
1 See Maxim., xix. ; Gord., xv.-xvi.
8 See Maxim., xxi. 2 ; xxiii. 2-3.
8 On frumentat ius see note to Hadr., xi. 4.
4 This riot was the result of an attack on some soldiers of
the guard by two senators ; see Maxim., xx. 6 ; Gord., xxii. 7-8
and note.
6 i.e. those which supplied the Camp. Thereupon the
466
MAXIMUS AND BALBINUS X. 1-8
Maximinus.1 So powerful among the Romans is the
memory of noble deeds.
X. And now, after Maximus had set out to the
war, the senate sent men of the rank of consul,
praetor, quaestor, aedile, and tribune throughout the
districts in order that each and every town should
prepare provisions, arms, defences, and walls so that
Maximinus should be harassed at each city.2 It
was further ordered that all supplies should be
gathered into the cities from the fields, in order that
the public enemy might find nothing. Couriers 3 were
sent out to all the provinces, moreover, with written
orders that whosoever aided Maximinus should be
placed in the number of public enemies.
At Rome, meanwhile, rioting between the populace
and soldiers broke out a second time.4 And after
Balbinus had issued a thousand edicts to which no
one listened, the veterans, together with the guard
itself, betook themselves to the Praetorian Camp,
where the populace besieged them. Nor would
amity have ever been restored had not the populace
cut the water-pipes.5 In the city, however, before
it was announced that the soldiers were coming
peacefully, tiles were cast down from the roofs
and all the pots in the houses were thrown out,
so that thereby the greater part of the city was
ruined and the possessions of many lost. For robbers
mingled with the soldiers and plundered things that
they knew where to find.
soldiers made a sally from the Camp and drove the populace
into the houses of the city, where they defended themselves
with stones and tiles until the soldiers set fire to the buildings ;
see Herodian, rii. 12, 3-7, which seems to give the correct
account.
467
MAXIMUS AND BALBINUS
XI. Cum haec Romae geruntur, Maximus sive
Pupienus apud Ravennam bellum parabat ingenti
adparatu, timens vehementissime Maximinum, de
quo saepissime dicebat se non contra hominem sed
2 contra Cyclopem bellum gerere. et Maximinus
quidem apud Aquileiam ita victus est ut a suis oc-
cideretur, caputque eius et filii perlatum est Raven-
3nam, quod a Maximo Romam transmissum est. non
tacenda hoc loco devotio est Aquileiensium pro
Romanis, qui etiam crines mulierum pro nervis ad
sagittas emittendas totondisse l dicuntur.
4 Tantum sane laetitiae fuit in Balbino, qui plus
timebat, ut hecatomben faceret, statim ut 2 Maximini
5caput atllatum est. hecatombe autem tale sacrificium
est : centum arae uno in loco caespiticiae exstruuntur,
6et ad eas centum sues, centum oves mactantur. iam,
si imperatorium sacrificium sit, centum leones, cen-
tum aquilae et cetera huius modi animalia centena
7feriuntur. quod quidem etiam Graeci quondam
fecisse dicuntur cum pestilentia laborarent, et a
multis imperatoribus id celebratum constat.
XII. His igitur peractis Balbinus cum summa gratu-
latione Maximum redeuntem e Ravennati cum exercitu
2integro et copiis exspectabat ; si quidem Maximinus
1 crines . . . emittendas totondisse P corr., Jordan; crines
. . . emittendasse P1 ; crinibus . . . emittendas usi esse
Peter. 2 ut om. in P.
1 See Maxim., xxiv. 5. 2 See Maxim., xxii. — xxiii.
3 See note to Maxim., xxii. 5.
4 So also Maxim., xxiv. 7 ; Herod ian, viii. 6, 8. The learned
discussion on the hecatomb (like that on the senatus consultum
taciturn, Gord. xii.) is pure invention. In the early period of
Greece a hecatomb was any large sacrifice; see Iliad, xxiii.
468
MAXIMUS AND BALBINUS XI. 1— XII. 2
XI. While this was taking place at Rome, Maximus
(or Pupienus) was at Ravenna1 making ready, with
an enormous equipment, for war. He feared Maxi-
minus mightily ; very often, indeed, in referring to
him he said that he was waging war against not a
man but a Cyclops. As it happened, however, Maxi-
minus was beaten so badly at Aquileia that he was
slain by his own men/2 and his head, with that of
his son, was brought to Ravenna, whence it was
despatched by Maximus to Rome. We must not
neglect to mention at this place the loyalty to the
Romans displayed by the citizens of Aquileia, for it is
said that they cut off their women's hair to make
bow-strings to shoot their arrows.3
Such was the joy of Balbinus, who was in even
greater terror, that he sacrificed a hecatomb as soon
as Maximinus' head was brought to him.* Now a
hecatomb is a sacrifice performed in the following
manner : a hundred altars made of turf are erected
at one place, and before them a hundred swine and
a hundred sheep are slaughtered. Furthermore, if it
be an emperor's sacrifice, a hundred lions, a hundred
eagles, and several hundreds of other animals of this
kind are slain. The Greeks, it is said, at one time
used to do this when suffering from a pestilence, and
it seems generally agreed that it was performed by
many emperors.
XII. When this sacrifice, then, had been per-
formed, Balbinus began looking for Maximus with the
greatest rejoicing as he returned from Ravenna with
his untouched army and supplies. For really Maxi-
146 f. ; Odyssey, iii. 7 and 59. Usually bulls and cows were
slaughtered, but sometimes small animals as well.
4-69
MAXIMUS AND BALBINUS
ab oppidaiiis Aquileiensibus et paucis qui illic erant
militibus ac Crispino ac Menophilo consularibus, qui
3 a senatu missi fuerant, victus est. ipse autem Maxi-
mus Aquileiam idcirco accesserat ut omnia tuta et
Integra usque ad Alpes relinqueret ac, si quae essent
barbarorum, qui Maximino faverant, reliquiae, com-
4 pesceret. missi sunt denique ad eum legati senatores
viginti, quorum nomina sunt apud Cordum (in his
consulares quattuor, praetorii octo, octo l quaestorii)
cum coronis et senatus consulto, in quo ei statuae
5auratae equestres decernebantur. ex quo quidem
Balbinus subiratus est, dicens Maximum minus quam
se laborasse, cum ipse domi tanta bella compressisset,
6ille autem otiosus apud Ravennam sedisset. sed
tantum valuit velle, ut Maximo, quia profectus est
contra Maximinum, etiam victoria decerneretur, quam
7 impletam ille nescivit. exercitu igitur suscepto Maxi-
mini ad urbem cum ingenti pompa et multitudine
Maximus venit, maerentibus militibus, quod eum
imperatorem quern ipsi delegerant perdiderant et
8 eos habebant, quos senatus legerat. nee dissimulari
poterat maeror, qui apparebat in frontibus singulorum ;
et iam quidem nee verbis abstinebatur, quamvis Maxi-
mus et apud milites saepe dixisset oblivionem prae-
1 octo om. in P.
1 See Herodian, viii. 7, 1-3 ; according to Herodian the
deputations that met him at Aquileia came from the various
cities of Italy.
2 Herodian (viii. 7, 7) relates that Maximus sent Maximinus'
troops back to their stations in the provinces.
3 See Maxim., xxiv. 8 ; Herodian, viii. 7, 8. Coins were
issued bearing the legend Victoria Aug(ustoruiri) ; see Cohen,
V2, p. 12, nos. 27-30, p. 18, nos. 37-41.
4 This statement is out of place here. In Herodian's
470
MAXIMUS AND BALBINUS XII. 3-8
minus was conquered by the townsfolk of Aquileia,
together with a few soldiers who were there and the
consulars Crispinus and Menophilus, who had been
sent thither by the senate, and Maximus had only
gone up to Aquileia,1 in order to leave everything
safe and undisturbed up to the Alps, and also, if there
were any of the barbarians who had favoured Maxi-
minus left, to suppress these. Twenty representa-
tives of the senate (their names are in Cordus), among
whom were four of the rank of consul, eight of the
rank of praetor, and eight of the rank of quaestor,
were sent out to meet him with crowns and a decree
of the senate in which equestrian statues of gold were
decreed him. At this, indeed, Balbinus was a little
nettled, saying that Maximus had had less toil than
he, since he had suppressed mighty wars at home,
while Maximus had sat tranquilly at Ravenna. But
such was the power of wishing, that to Maximus,
merely because he had set out against Maximinus,
a victory was decreed which he did not know
had been gained. At any rate, having taken up
Maximinus' army,2 Maximus came to the city with a
tremendous train and multitude,3 while the soldiers
grieved that they had lost the emperor whom they
themselves had chosen and now had emperors selected
by the senate.4 Nor could they hide their grief, but
snowed it severally on their faces ; and now they
no longer refrained from speech, although, in fact,
Maximus had previously often addressed the soldiers,
narrative it describes the feelings of Maximinus' army after its
surrender and before its dismissal by Maximus ; see Herodian,
viii. 7, 3. The biographer has confused this with the discon-
tent among the praetorian troops in Rome, which is described
by Herodian in viii. 8, 1-2.
471
MAXIMUS AND BALBINUS
teritorum esse debere et stipendia magna donasset et
auxilia in ea loca quae delegerant dimisisset. sed
animi militum semel imbuti odio refrenari nequeunt.
denique cum audissent senatus adclamationes, quae
milites tangerent, acriores contra Maximum et Bal-
binum exstiterunt, secum cottidie cogitantes quos
imperatores facere deberent.
XIII. Senatus consult! autem, quo moti sunt, haec
forma est : cum ingredient! urbem Maximo Balbinus
et Gordianus et senatus et populus Romanus obviam
processissent, adclamationes primum publicae fuerunt,
2 quae milites contingerent.1 inde in senatum itum
est, ubi post ilia quae communia solent esse festa
dictum est : " Sapienter electi principes sic agunt,
per imperitos electi principes sic pereunt ; >J cum con-
staret a militibus factum Maximinum, Balbinum
3 autem et Maximum a senatoribus. his auditis milites
gravius saevire coeperunt, in senatum praecipue, qui
sibi triumphare de militibus videbatur.
4 Et Balbinus quidem cum Maximo urbem cum
magna moderatione gaudente senatu et populo Ro-
mano regebant ; senatui plurimum deferebatur ; leges
optimas condebant, moderate causas audiebant, res
6 bellicas pulcherrime disponebant. et cum iam para-
turn esset ut contra Parthos Maximus proficisceretur,
Balbinus contra Germanos, puer autem Gordianus
Romae remaneret, milites occasionem quaerentes
1 contingerent P, Peter1 ; < non > contingerent Peter3.
1 This is, of course, not a senatus consultum. In Maxim.,
xxvi. 1 acclamations in the senate are similarly oalled a
senatus consultum.
2 i.e. the Persians ; see note to Gord., xxvi. 3.
3 See c. xvi. 3 and note.
472
MAXIMUS AND BALBINUS XII. 9— XIII. 5
saying that there ought to be a general forgetting of
the past, and had given them high pay and discharged
the auxiliaries at whatever place they had chosen.
But the minds of soldiers, once they are infected with
hate, cannot be restrained. And when they heard
the acclamations of the senate which referred to
them, they became even more bitter against Maxi-
mus and Balbinus and daily debated among them-
selves whom they ought to make emperor.
XIII. The decree of the senate by which they were
aroused was of this nature 1 : When Balbinus, Gordian,
the senate, and the Roman people went out to meet
Maximus as he entered the city, acclamations which
referred to the soldiers were made publicly first.
Thereafter they went to the Senate-house, and there,
after the ordinary acclamations which are usually
made, they said : " So fare emperors wisely chosen, so
perish emperors chosen by fools ". For it was under-
stood that Maximinus had been made ^emperor by
the soldiers, Maximus and Balbinus by the senators.
And when they heard this, the soldiers began to rage
even more furiously — especially at the senate, which
believed it was triumphing over the soldiers.
And now, to the great joy of the senate and Roman
people, Balbinus and Maximus began governing the
city, doing so with great moderation. They showed
great respect for the senate ; they instituted excellent
laws, they heard lawsuits with justice, they planned
the military policy of the state with great wisdom.
But when it was now arranged that Maximus should
set out against the Parthians 2 and Balbinus against
the Germans,3 while the young Gordian remained at
Rome, the soldiers, who were seeking an opportunity
of killing the Emperors, and at first could not find
473
MAXIMUS AND BALBINUS
occidendorum principum, cum primo vix invenire
possent, quia German! stipabant Maximum atque
XIV. Balbinum, cottidie ingravescebant. et erant quidem
discordiae inter Balbinum et Maximum, sed tacitae
et quae intellegerentur potius quam viderentur, cum
Balbinus Maximum quasi ignobilem contemneret,
2 Maximus Balbinum quasi debilem cal caret, qua re
occasio militibus data est intellegentibus facile dis-
cordes imperatores posse interfici. ludis denique
scaenicis, cum multi et milites et aulici occupati
essent, et in Palatio soli cum Germanis principes re-
3 mansissent, impetum in eos fecerunt. turbantibus
igitur militibus, cum primum nuntiatum esset Maximo
turbam illam tempestatemque vix evadi posse nisi ad
Germanos mitteretur, et forte in alia parte Palatii
Germani cum Balbino essent, mittit ad Balbinum
4 Maximus petens ut ei praesidium mitteret. sed ille
suspicatus quod contra se eos peteret, quern postu-
lare putabat1 monarchiam, primum frustratus est,
6 deinde usque ad litem perventum est. in hac tamen
seditione illis contendentibus milites supervenerunt
atque ambos eos nudatos vestibus regalibus de Palatio
cum iniuriis produxerunt et per mediam civitatem
ad Castra raptare voluerunt magna ex parte laniatos.
'que;n postulate puta^>bat Peter; quern postulabat P.
1 According to Herodian, viii. 7, 8, these were volunteers
who followed Maxirnus to Rome out of personal devotion to
him. Herodian also relates (viii. 8, 2) that their presence in
Rome aroused the anger of the city soldiers and was one of the
causes of the overthrow of the two Emperors. In Maxim.,
xxiv. G it is incorrectly stated that they were discharged by
Maximus at Ravenna.
474
MAXIMUS AND BALBINUS XIV. 1-5
because Maximus and Balbinus were ever atended
by a German guard,1 grew more menacing every
day, XIV. There was dissension, too, between Max-
imus and Balbinus2 — unspoken, however, and such
as could be surmised rather than seen — for Balbinus
scorned Maximus, as being humbly born, and Max-
imus despised Balbinus for a weakling. And this
fact gave the soldiers their opportunity, for they knew
that emperors at variance could be slain easily. So
finally, on the occasion of some scenic plays,3 when
many of the soldiers and palace-attendants were busy,
and the Emperors remained at the Palace alone with
the German guard, they made a rush at them. When
the soldiers thus began to riot it was announced
to Maximus that he could not escape from this
disturbance and commotion unless he summoned the
Germans, and they, as it happened, were in another
part of the Palace with Balbinus. He sent to
Balbinus, accordingly, asking him to send aid. But
Balbinus, suspecting that Maximus was asking for
the guard to use against himself, since he believed
that Maximus desired to rule alone, at first refused
and finally began to wrangle over it. And while they
were engaged in this dispute the soldiers came upon
them, and stripping them both of their royal robes
and loading them with insults, they dragged them
from the Palace. Thence, after handling them very
roughly, they started to hurry them through the
centre of the city to the Camp, but when they
2 So also Herodian, viii. 8, 4. His account of the overthrow
of Maximus and Balbinus agrees closely with this one and is
evidently its source.
3 According to Herodian, viii. 8, 3, this was the Agon
Capitolinus ; see note to Alex., xxxv. 4.
475
MAXIMUS AND BALBINUS
6 sed ubi compererunt Germanos ad defensionem illo-
rum supervenire, ambos occiderunt et in itinere medio
7 reliquerunt. inter haec Gordianus Caesar sublatus a
niilitibus imperator est appellatus (id est Augustus)1,
quia non erat alius in praesenti, insultantibus militi-
bus senatui et populo, qui se statim in Castra rece-
Sperunt. Germani sane, ne sine causa pugnarent
occisis iam imperatoribus suis, extra urbem, ubi suos
habebant, se coiituleiunt.
XV. Hunc finem habuerunt boni imperatores, in-
dignum vitae et moribus suis ; nam neque Maximo
sive Pupieno fortius neque Balbino benignius fuit
quicquam, quod in re ipsa intellegi potest. neque
enim, cum esset potestas, malos senatus eligeret.
2 hue accedit quod multis honoribus ac potestatibus
explorati sunt, cum alter bis consul et praefectus,
alter consul et praefectus ad imperium longaevi
pervenissent, amabiles senatui et populo etiam, qui
3 Maximum iam leviter pertimescebant. haec sunt
quae de Maximo ex Herodiano, Graeco scriptore,
magna ex parte collegimus.
4 Sed multi non a Maximo, verum a Pupieno impera-
tore victum apud Aquileiam Maximinum esse dixerunt,
et ipsum cum Balbino esse occisum, ita ut Maximi
Snomen praetereant. tanta est autem historicorum
inter se certantium 2 imperitia vel usurpatio, ut multi
eundem Maximum quern Pupienum velint dici, cum
1 id est Augustus del. by Eyssenhardt and Peter. 2 cer-
tantium Gas., Peter ; errantium P.
Balbinus' consulship see c. vii. 1. He was never
prefect of the city.
2 According to Zonaras, xii. 17, Balbinus was sixty years old
476
MAXIMUS AND BALBINUS XIV. 6— XV. 5
.earned that the Germans were following to defend
them, they slew them both and left them in
the middle of the street. In the meantime Gordian
Caesar was lifted up by the soldiers and hailed emperor
(that is, Augustus), there being no one else at hand ;
and then, jeering at the senate and people, the
soldiers betook themselves immediately to the Camp.
As for the German guard, not wishing to fight
needlessly now that their Emperors were slain, they
betook themselves to their quarters outside the city.
XV. This was the end of these good emperors, an
end unworthy of their life and characters. For never
was anyone braver than Maximus (or Pupienus) or
more kindly than Balbinus, as one may see from the
facts in the case, The senate did not choose unworthy
men when it had the power. And besides this, they
were tested by many honours and offices, for the one
was consul twice and prefect,1 the other consul and
prefect, and they were advanced in years2 when they
attained the sovereignty. They were beloved by the
senate and even by the people, although the latter
were slightly in awe of Maximus. This is the in-
formation we have gathered concerning Maximus,
chiefly from the Greek author Herodian.
Many, however, say that Maximinus was conquered
at Aquileia, not by Maximus, but by the Emperor
Pupienus, and that it was he, also, who was slain with
Balbinus ; they omit the name of Maximus altogether.3
Such is the ignorance, moreover, or the usage of these
disputing historians, that many desire to call Maximus
and Maximus seventy-four — a figure which it is hard to reconcile
with his personal conduct of the campaign against Maximinus.
3 On this question, which is further discussed in c. xvi. 7 and
rviii., see note to Maxim., xxxiii. 8.
477
MAXIMUS AND BALBINUS
Herodianus, vitae suae temporum scriptor, Maximum
dicat, Don Pupienum, cum et Dexippus, Graecorum
scriptor, Maximum et Balbinum imperatores dicat
factos contra Maximinum post Gordianos duos et a
6 Maximo victum Maximinum, non a Pupieno.1 his
accedit scriptorum imperitia, qua praefectum prae-
torii fuisse Gordianum parvulum dicunt, ignorantibus
multis collo saepe vectum ut militibus ostenderetur.
7 Imperarunt autem Maximus et Balbinus anno uno,
cum Maximinus imperasset cum flUo, ut quidam
dicunt, per triennium, ut alii per biennium.2
XVI. Domus Balbini etiam mine Romae ostenditur
in Carinis, magna et potens et ab eius familia hue
2 usque possessa. Maximus, quern Pupienum plerique
putant, summae tenuitatis sed virtutis amplissimae
fiiit.
8 Sub his pugnatum est a Car pis contra Moesos.
fuit et Scythici belli principium, fuit et Istriae
1 non Puppienus P. a After biennium the first Venice
edition reads : Nee reticendum est quod Maximus, cum et sibi et
Balbino deferretur iudicio senatus imperium, Balbino dixisse
fertur, ut Herodianus dicit, " Quid tu, Balbine, et ego mere-
bimur, cum hanc tarn immanem beluam exitio dederimus?'
cumque Balbinus dixisset, " Senatus populique Romani fcruen-
tissimum am&rem et orbis terrarum" dixisse fertur Maximus,
" Vereor ne militum odium sentiamus et mortem " ; om. in P
and rejected by Jordan and Peter; retained by Patzig, Byz.
Zeitschr., xiii. p. 45 f.
1 See c. iv. 4 and note. 3 See c. ix. 4.
3 For ninety-nine days, according to the " Chronographer of
854 " (Mommsen, Qes. Schr., vii. p. 576), and this seems to be
the correct figure. Their overthrow and the accession of
Gordian III. as sole emperor seem to have occurred in -June 238,
and accordingly their election to the throne is to be placed about
478
MAXIM US AND BALBINU5 XV. 6— XVI. 3
the same as Pupienus, although Herodian, who wrote
of his own lifetime, speaks of Maximus, not of
Pupienus, and Dexippus, the Greek author, says that
Maximus and Balbinus were made emperors against
Maximinus after the two Gordians. and that Maxi-
minus was conquered by Maximus, not by Pupienus.
In addit:on to this, they show their ignorance by say-
ing that the child Gordian was prefect of the guard,1
not knowing that he was often carried on a man's
neck to be displayed to the soldiers.2
Maximus and Balbinus reigned for one year,3 after
Maximinus and his son had reigned for two years,
according to some, for three according to others.4
XVI. Balbinus' house is shown in Rome to this dav
m
in the Carinae,5 large and impressive and still in the
possession of his family. Maximus, who many think
was Pupienus, was of slender substance, though of the
most ample courage.
In their reign the Carpi 6 waged war with the
Moesians. The Scythian ~ war began, and the
the loth March ; see v. Rohden in Pauly-Wissowa, Realencycl.,
i. 2621 f. According to this reckoning the dates in the senatus
confitlfa in c. i. 1 and Haxim., xvi. 1 are wholly incorrect and
evidently as fictitious as the " documents '' themsel~r:.
4 Three years, four months, and two days, according to the
" Chronographer of 354," i.e. from Jan. or Feb. 235 to April or
May 238.
5 i.e. "the Keels," the western slope of the Esquiline Hill.
" A Dacian tribe, which at the beginning of the third century
moved into Moldavia and -from this time on : : : k part in
barbarian invasions of Dacia and Moesia. They were driven
out of Roman territory by Philip in 245-247, but in company
with the Goths invaded Thrace and defeated and killed Decius
in 251. They were subdued by Aurelian in 272; see A~
. 4.
i.e. the Goths. These are the " Gennani " of c. yiii. 5.
479
MAXIMUS AND BALBINUS
excidium eo tempore, ut autem Dexippus dicit,
Istricae civitatis.
Dexippus Balbinum satis laudat et dicit forti animo
militibus occurrisse atque interfectum, ut mortem non
timeret, quern omnibus disciplinis instructum fuisse
dicit. Maximum vero negat eius modi virum fuisse
Squalem Graeci plerique dixerunt. addit praeterea
tantum1 contra Maximinum Aquileiensium odium
fuisse, ut de crinibus mulierum suarum arcubus
Gnervos facerent atque ita sagittas emitterent. Dexip-
pus et Herodianus, qui hanc principum historiam
persecuti sunt, Maximum et Balbinum fuisse principes
dicunt, delectos a senatu contra Maximinum post
interitum duorum in Africa Gordianorum, cum quibus
7etiam puer tertius Gordianus electus est. sed apud
Latinos scriptores plerosque Maximi nomen non
invenio et cum Balbino Pupienum imperatorem re-
perio, usque adeo ut idem Pupienus cum Maximino
apud Aquileiam pugnasse dicatur, cum memoratis
historicis adserentibus ne Maximus quidem contra
Maximinum pugnasse doceatur, sed resedisse apud
Ravennam atque illic patratam audisse victoriam ; ut
mihi videatur idem esse Pupienus qui Maximus
dicitur.
XVII. Quare etiam gratulatoriam epistulam sub-
didi, quae scripta est a consule sui temporis de
1 tantum om. in P.
1 Usually Istros ; an ancient city in the Dobrudja, originally
a colony of Miletus (Herodotus, ii. 33), conquered by Lucullua
in 72 B.C. (Eutropius, vi. 10). It seems to have been merely
480
MAXIMUS AND BALBINUS XVI. 4— XVII. 1
destruction of Istria 1 or, as Dexippus calls it, the
Istrian city, took place at the same time.
Dexippus praises Balbinus highly, and declares that
he rushed at the soldiers with a gallant spirit and so
died. He did not fear death, he says, being trained
in all the philosophical disciplines. Maximus, he
declares, was not the sort of man that most of the
Greeks said he was. He adds that such was the
hatred of the citizens of Aquileia for Maximinus that
they made strings for their bows from their women's
hair, and thus shot their arrows.2 Dexippus and
Herodian, who investigated the history of these
princes, say that Maximus and Balbinus were the
princes selected by the senate to oppose Maximinus
after the death of the two Gordians in Africa, and that
the third Gordian, the child, was chosen with them.
In the majority of the Latin authors, however, I do
not find the name of Maximus, and as emperor with
Balbinus I discover Pupienus ; indeed this same
Pupienus is said to have fought against Maximinus at
Aquileia, whereas, according to the testimony of the
afore-mentioned writers, we are told that Maximus
did not even fight against Maximinus but remained at
Ravenna and there learned that the victory had been
gained. And so it seems to me that Pupienus and
he who is called Maximus are the same.3
XVII. For this reason I have appended a con-
gratulatory letter that was written about Maximus
and Balbinus by a consul of their time. In it he
plundered and not destroyed by the Goths at this time, for it
is often mentioned subsequently.
3 See note to Maxim., xxii. 5.
8 On this question, which is also discussed in o. xv. 4-6 and
xviii., see note to Maxim,, xxxiii. 3.
481
MAXIMUS AND BALBINUS
Pupieno et Balbino, in qua laetatur redditam ab hs
post latrones improbos esse rem publicara :
2 tr Pupieno et Balbino Augustis Claudius lulianus.
cum primura lovis Optimi Maximi et deorum in-
mortalium senatusque iudicio et consensu generis
humani suscepisse vos rem publicam a nefarii latronis
scelere servandam regendamque Romanis legibus,
domini sanctissimi et invictissimi Augusti, quamquam
nondum1 ex divinis litteris, sed tamen ex senatus
consulto quod ad me Vir Clarissimus Celsus Aelianus
collega traiismiserat, comperissem ; gratulatus sum
urbi Romae, cuius ad salutem estis electi, gratulatus
senatui, cuius pro iudicio, quod in vos habuit,
reddidistis pristinam dignitatem, gratulatus Italiae,
quam cum maxime ab hostium vastatione defend-
itis, gratulatus provinciis, quas inexplebili avaritia
tyrannorum laceratas ad spem salutis reducitis,2
denique legionibus 3 ipsis et auxiliis, quae ubique
terrarum iam vultus vestros adorant, quod deposito
dedecore pristino nunc in vestro nomine dignam
3 Romani priiicipatus speciem receperunt. quocirca
nulla vox tarn 4 fortis, nulla oratio tarn felix, nullum
ingenium tam fecundum umquam fuerit, quod possit
4 publicam felicitatem digne exprimere. quae quanta
et cuius modi sit,5 iam in ipso exordio principitus
vestri cognoscere potuimus, qui leges Romanas
aequitatemque abolitam et clementiam, quae iam
nulla erat, et vitam et mores et libertatem et spem
lmodum P. 2 So Peter2 ; reducitis om. in P. 3de
legionibus P. *tam ins. by Gruter and Peter; om. in P.
• sit Lessing, Damste" ; sint P, Peter.
Otherwise unknown and, like the letter, probably fictitious.
482
MAXIM US AND BALBINUS XVII. 2-4
rejoices that they had restored the state after it had
been in the hands of wicked bandits.
" Claudius Julianus l to the Emperors Pupienus and
Balbinus. When first I learned that by choice of
Jupiter Optimus Maximus, of the immortal gods and
of the senate, together with the agreement of all
mankind, you had undertaken to preserve the state
from the sins of that impious bandit and rule it in
accordance with Roman law, my lords and most holy
and unconquerable Augusti, when first I learned this,
not yet from your own sacred proclamations but from
the decree of the senate that my illustrious 2 colleague
Celsus Aelianus forwarded to me, I felicitated the city
of Rome, that you had been chosen to preserve it ; I
felicitated the senate, that you, in return for its choos-
ing you, had restored to it its early dignity ; I felici-
tated Italy, that you are defending it particularly from
spoliation by the enemy ; I felicitated the provinces,
torn in pieces by the insatiable greed of tyrants, that
you are restoring them to some hope of safety ; I felici-
tated the legions, lastly, and the auxiliaries, which now
worship your images everywhere, that they have
thrust away their former disgrace and have now, in
your name, a worthy symbol of the Roman principate.
No voice will ever be so strong, no speech will ever
be so happy, no talent will ever be so fortunate, as
ever adequately to express the state's felicity. How
great this felicity is, and of what sort, we can see at
the very beginning of your reign. You have restored
Roman laws, you have restored justice that was
abolished, mercy that was non-existent, life, morality,
2 On this title see note to Ao. Cass., i. 1. Aelianus, like
Julianus, is almost certainly fictitious.
483
MAXIMUS AND BALBINUS
6
successionum atque heredum reduxistis. haec enu-
fimerare difficile est, nedum prosequi consentanea
dicendi dignitate. nam quod nobis vita per vos
reddita est, quam dimissis passim per provincias
carnificibus sceleratus l latro sic petiit ut se ordini
7 profiteretur iratum, quomodo dicam aut prosequar ?
praesertim cum mediocritas mea non modo publicam
felicitatem, sed ne peculiare quidem gaudium animi
mei possit exprimere, cum eos Augustos et principes
generis humani videam quorum antehac perpetuo
cultu mores et modestiam meam tamqnam veteribus
censoribus meis cuperem probata. et ut 2 haec esse
Sconfidam in priorum principum testimoniis, vestris
tamen ut gravioribus iudiciis gloriarer. di praestent
praestabuntque hanc orbi Romano felicitatem. nam
cum ad vos respicio, nihil aliud optare possum, quam
quod apud deos 3 dicitur victor Carthaginis precatus,
9 ut scilicet in eo statu rem publicam servarent in quo
tune esset, quod nullus melior inveniretur. ita ego
precor, ut in eo statu vobis rem publicam servent in
quo earn vos adhuc nutantem collocaritis."
2 XVIII. Haec epistula probat Pupienum eundem
esse qui a plerisque Maximus dicitur ; si quidem per
haec tempora apud Graecos non facile Pupienus, apud
Latinos non facile Maximus inveniatur, et ea, quae
gesta sunt contra Maximinum, modo a Pupieno modo
a Maximo acta dicantur.4
1 sceleratus Peter ; sicelatus P. 2ut ins. by Bitschofsky ;
oia. in P and by Peter. 3eos P. 4 After dicantur some
editors print : Sed Fortunatiano credamus, qui dicit Pupienum
dictum nomine suo, cognomine uero paterno Maximum, ut
omnium stupore legentibus aboliti uideantur ; rejected by
Jordan and Peter; retained (with emendations by Gas.) by
Patzig, Byz. Zeitschr., xiii. p. 49 f.
484
MAXIMUS AND BALBINUS XVII. 5— XVIII. 2
liberty, and the hope of heirs and successors. It is
difficult even to enumerate these things, and much
more to describe them with a fit dignity of speech.
How shall I tell or describe how you have restored
us our very lives, after that accursed bandit, sending
executioners everywhere throughout the provinces,
had sought them to the point of openly confessing
that he was enraged at our whole order, especially
when my insignificance cannot express even the per-
sonal rejoicing of my own mind, to say nothing of the
public felicity, and when I behold as Augusti and
lords of the human race those by the unwavering
elegance of whose lives I would like my own conduct
and sobriety to be approved as by the ancient censors ?
And though I might trust to have them approved by
the attestation of former princes, still I would glory
in your judgment as a weightier one. May the gods
preserve — and they will preserve — this felicity for
the Roman world ! For when I observe you, I can
hope for nothing else than what the conqueror of
Carthage l is said to have implored of the gods, namely,
that they preserve the state in the condition in which
it was then, since no better one could be found. And,
therefore, I pray that they may preserve this state,
that has tottered up to now, in the condition in which
you have established it,"
XVIII. This letter shows that Pupienus and he
whom most call Maximus were the same. Among
the Greeks, indeed, Pupienus is not easily discovered
in this period and among the Latins, Maximus ; but
what was done against Maximinus is sometimes related
as done by Pupienus, sometimes as by Maximus.
1«.«. Scipio Afrieanus the younger. The anecdote that
follows is bold by Valerius Maximus, iv. 1, 10.
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