5. But we see that the country now, the district being in the form of a crescent, resembles a splendid theatre; it is bounded on the west by mountains, on the abrupt summit of which are the thickly wooded passes of the Succi, which separate Thrace from Dacia.

6. On the left, or northern side, the heights of the Balkan form the boundary, as in one part does the Danube also, where it touches the Roman territory: a river with many cities, fortresses, and castles on its banks.

7. On the right, or southern side, lies Mount Rhodope; on the east, the country is bounded by a strait, which becomes more rapid from being swollen by the waters of the Euxine sea, and proceeds onwards with its tides towards the AEgean, separating the continents of Europe and Asia by a narrow space.

8. At a confined corner on the eastward it joins the frontier of Macedonia by a strait and precipitous defile named Acontisma; near to which are the valley and station of Arethusa, where one may see the tomb of Euripides, illustrious for his sublime tragedies; and Stagira, where we are told that Aristotle, who as Cicero says pours from his mouth a golden stream, was born.

9. In ancient times, tribes of barbarians occupied these countries, differing from each other in customs and language. The most formidable of which, from their exceeding ferocity, were the Odrysaeans, men so accustomed to shed human blood, that when they could not find enemies enough, they would, at their feasts, when they had eaten and drunk to satiety, stab their own bodies as if they belonged to others.

10. But as the republic grew in strength while the authority of the consular form of government prevailed, Marcus Didius, with great perseverance, attacked these tribes which had previously been deemed invincible, and had roved about without any regard either to divine or human laws. Drusus compelled them to confine themselves to their own territories; Minucius defeated them in a great battle on the river Maritza, which flows down from the lofty mountains of the Odrysaeans; and after those exploits, the rest of the tribes were almost destroyed in a terrible battle by Appius Claudius the proconsul. And the Roman fleets made themselves masters of the towns on the Bosporus, and on the coast of the Sea of Marmora.

11. After these generals came Lucullus; who was the first of all our commanders who fought with the warlike nation of the Bessi: and with similar vigour he crushed the mountaineers of the district of the Balkan, in spite of their obstinate resistance. And while he was in that country the whole of Thrace was brought under the power of our ancestors, and in this way, after many doubtful campaigns, six provinces were added to the republic.

12. Of these provinces the first one comes to, that which borders on the Illyrians, is called by the especial name of Thrace; its chief cities are Philippopolis, the ancient Eumolpias, and Beraea; both splendid cities. Next to this the province of the Balkan boasts of Hadrianople, which used to be called Uscudama, and Anchialos, both great cities. Nest comes Mysia, in which is Marcianopolis, so named from the sister of the emperor Trajan, also Dorostorus, and Nicopolis, Odyssus.

13. Next comes Scythia, in which the chief towns are Dionysiopolis, Tomis, and Calatis. The last of all is Europa; which besides many municipal towns has two principal cities, Apri and Perinthus, which in later times has received the name of Heraclea. Beyond this is Rhodope, in which are the cities of Maximianopolis, Maronea, and AEnus, after founding and leaving which, it was thought AEneas proceeded onwards to Italy, of which, after long wanderings, he became master, expecting by the auspices to enjoy there perpetual prosperity.

14. But it is certain, as the invariable accounts of all writers represent, that these tribes were nearly all agricultural, and, that living on the high mountains in these regions above mentioned, they are superior to us in health, vigour, and length of life; and they believe that this superiority arises from the fact, that in their food they for the most part abstain from all that is hot; also that the constant dews besprinkle their persons with a cold and bracing moisture, and that they enjoy the freshness of a purer atmosphere; and that they are the first of all tribes to feel the rays of the morning sun, which are instinct with life, before they become tainted with any of the foulness arising from human things. Having discussed this matter let us now return to our original narrative.

V.

Sec. 1. After Procopius had been overpowered in Phrygia, and all material for domestic discords had thus been removed, Victor, the commander of the cavalry, was sent to the Goths to inquire, without disguise, why a nation friendly to the Romans, and bound to it by treaties of equitable peace, had given the support of its arms to a man who was waging war against their lawful emperor. And they, to excuse their conduct by a valid defence, produced the letters from the above-mentioned Procopius, in which he alleged that he had assumed the sovereignty as his due, as the nearest relation to Constantine's family; and they asserted that this was a fair excuse for their error.

2. When Victor reported this allegation of theirs, Valens disregarding it as a frivolous excuse, marched against them, they having already got information of his approach. And at the beginning of spring he assembled his army in a great body, and pitched his camp near a fortress named Daphne, where having made a bridge of boats he crossed the Danube without meeting any resistance.

3. And being now full of elation and confidence, as while traversing the country in every direction he met with no enemy to be either defeated or even alarmed by his advance; they having all been so terrified at the approach of so formidable a host, that they had fled to the high mountains of the Serri, which were inaccessible to all except those who knew the country.

4. Therefore, that he might not waste the whole summer, and return without having effected anything, he sent forward Arinthaeus, the captain of the infantry, with some light forces, who seized on a portion of their families, which were overtaken as they were wandering over the plains before coming to the steep and winding defiles of the mountains. And having obtained this advantage, which chance put in his way, he returned with his men without having suffered any loss, and indeed without having inflicted any.

5. The next year he attempted with equal vigour again to invade the country of the enemy; but being checked in his advance by the inundations of the Danube, which covered a wide extent of country, he remained near the town of Capri, where he pitched a camp in which he remained till the autumn. And from thence, as he was prevented from undertaking any operations on account of the magnitude of the floods, he retired to Marcianopolis into winter quarters.

6. With similar perseverance he again invaded the land of the barbarians a third year, having crossed the river by a bridge of boats at Nivors; and by a rapid march he attacked the Gruthungi, a warlike and very remote tribe, and after some trivial skirmishes, he defeated Athanaric, at that time the most powerful man of the tribe, who dared to resist him with what he fancied an adequate force, but was compelled to flee for his life. And then he returned himself with his army to Marcianopolis to spend the winter there, as the cold was but slight in that district.

7. After many various events in the campaigns of three years, there arose at last some very strong reasons in the minds of the barbarians for terminating the war. In the first place, because the fear of the enemy was increased by the continued stay made by the emperor in that country. Secondly, because as all their commerce was cut off they began to feel great want of necessaries. So that they sent several embassies with submissive entreaties for pardon and peace.

8. The emperor was as yet inexperienced, but still he was a very just observer of events, till having been captivated by the pernicious allurements of flattery, he subsequently involved the republic in an ever-to-be-lamented disaster; and now taking counsel for the common good, he determined that it was right to grant them peace.

9. And in his turn he sent to them Victor and Arinthaeus, who at that time were the commanders of his infantry and cavalry; and when they sent him letters truly stating that the Goths were willing to agree to the conditions which they had proposed, he appointed a suitable place for finally settling the terms of the peace. And since Athanaric alleged that he was bound by a most dreadful oath, and also forbidden by the strict commands of his father ever to set foot on the Roman territory, and as he could not be brought to do so, while, on the other hand, it would be unbecoming and degrading for the emperor to cross over to him, it was decided by negotiation that some boats should be rowed into the middle of the river, on which the emperor should embark with an armed guard, and that there also the chief of the enemy should meet him with his people, and conclude a peace as had been arranged.

10. When this had been arranged, and hostages had been given, Valens returned to Constantinople, whither afterwards Athanaric fled, when he was driven from his native land by a faction among his kinsmen; and he died in that city, and was buried with splendid ceremony according to the Roman fashion.

VI.

Sec. 1. In the mean time, Valentinian being attacked with a violent sickness and at the point of death, at a secret entertainment of the Gauls who were present in the emperor's army, Rusticus Julianus, at that time master of the records, was proposed as the future emperor; a man as greedy of human blood as a wild beast, seeming to be smitten with some frenzy, as had been shown while governing Africa as proconsul.

2. For in his prefecture of the city, a post which he was filling when he died, fearing a change in the tyranny through the exercise of which he, as if in a dearth of worthy men, had been raised to that dignity, he was compelled to appear more gentle and merciful.

3. Against his partisans others with higher aims were exerting themselves in favour of Severus, who at that time was captain of the infantry, as a man very fit for such a dignity, who, although rough and unpopular, seemed yet more tolerable than the other, and worthy of being preferred to him by any means that could be devised.

4. But all these plans were formed to no purpose; for in the meantime, the emperor, through the variety of remedies applied, recovered, and would scarcely believe that his life had been saved with difficulty. And he proposed to invest his son Gratian, who was now on the point of arriving at manhood, with the ensigns of the imperial authority.

5. And when everything was prepared, and the consent of the soldiers secured, in order that all men might willingly accept the new emperor, immediately upon the arrival of Gratian, Valentinian advancing into the open space, mounted the tribune, and surrounded by a splendid circle of nobles and princes, and holding the boy by his right hand, showed him to them all, and in the following formal harangue recommended their intended sovereign to the army.

6. "This imperial robe which I wear is a happy indication of your good will towards me when you adjudged me superior to many illustrious men. Now, with you as the partners of my counsels and the favourers of my wishes, I will proceed to a seasonable work of affection, relying on the protecting promises of God, to whose eternal assistance it is owing that the Roman state stands and ever shall stand unshaken.

7. "Listen, I beseech you, O most gallant men, with willing minds to my desire, recollecting that these things which the laws of natural affection sanction, we have in this instance not only wished to accomplish with your perfect cognizance, but we have also desired to have them confirmed by you as what is proper for us and likely to prove beneficial.

8. This, my grown-up son Gratian, to whom all of you bear affection as a common pledge, who has long lived among your own children, I am, for the sake of securing the public tranquillity on all sides, about to take as my colleague in the imperial authority, if the propitious will of the ruler of heaven and of your dignity, shall co-operate with a parent's affection. He has not been trained by a rigid education from his very cradle as we ourselves have; nor has he been equally taught to endure hardships; nor is he as yet, as you see, able to endure the toils of war; but in his disposition he is not unworthy of the glorious reputation of his family, or the mighty deeds of his ancestors, and, I venture to say, he is likely to grow up equal to still greater actions.

9. "For as I often think when contemplating, as I am wont to do, his manners and passions though not yet come to maturity, he is so furnished with the liberal sciences, and in all accomplishments and graces, that even now, while only entering on manhood, he will be able to form an accurate judgment of virtuous and vicious actions. He will so conduct himself that virtuous men may see that they are appreciated; he will be eager in the performance of noble actions; he will never desert the military standards and eagles; he will cheerfully bear heat, snow, frost, and thirst; he will, if necessity should arise, never shrink from fighting in defence of his country; he will expose his life to save his comrades from danger, and (and this is the highest and greatest work of piety) he will love the republic as his own paternal and ancestral home."

10. Before he had finished his speech, every soldier hastened to anticipate his comrades as well as his position permitted him, in showing that these words of the emperor met with their cheerful assent. And so, as partakers in his joy, and as convinced of the advantage of his proposal, they declared Gratian emperor, mingling the propitious clashing of their arms with the loud roar of the trumpets.

11. When Valentinian saw this, his confidence increased; he adorned his son with a crown and with the robes befitting his now supreme rank, and kissed him; and then thus addressed him, brilliant as he appeared, and giving careful attention to all his words:—

12. "You wear now," said he, "my Gratian, the imperial robe, as we have all desired, which has been conferred on you with favourable auspices by my will and that of our comrades. Therefore now, considering the weight of the affairs which press upon us, gird yourself up as the colleague of your father and your uncle; and accustom yourself to pass fearlessly with the infantry over the Danube and the Rhine, which are made passable by the frost, to keep close to your soldiers, to devote your blood and your very life with all skill and deliberation for the safety of those under your command; to think nothing unworthy of your attention which concerns any portion of the Roman empire.

13. "This is enough by way of admonition to you at the present moment, at other times I will not fail to give further advice. Now you who remain, the defenders of the state, I entreat, I beseech you to preserve with a steady affection and loyalty your youthful emperor thus intrusted to your fidelity."

14. These words of the emperor were accepted and ratified with all possible solemnity; Eupraxius, a native of Mauritania Caesariensis, at that time master of the records, led the way by the exclamation, "The family of Gratian deserves this." And being at once promoted to be quaestor, he set an example of judicious confidence worthy of being imitated by all wise men; especially as he in no wise departed from the habits of his fearless nature, but was at all times a man of consistency and obedient to the laws, which, as we have remarked, speak to all men with one and the same voice under the most varied circumstances. He at this time was the more steady in adhering to the side of justice which he always espoused, because on one occasion when he had given good advice, the emperor had attacked him with violence and threats.

15. After this, the whole assembly broke out into praises of both emperors, the elder and the new one; and especially of the boy, whose brilliant eyes, engaging countenance and person, and apparent sweetness of disposition, recommended him to their favour. And these qualities would have rendered him an emperor worthy to be compared to the most excellent princes of former times, if fate had permitted, and his relations who even then began to overshadow his virtue, before it was firmly rooted, with their own wicked actions.

16. But in this affair, Valentinian went beyond the custom which had been established for several generations, in making his brother and his son, not Caesar, but emperors; acting indeed in this respect with great kindness. Nor had any one yet ever created a colleague with powers equal to his own, except the emperor Marcus Aurelius, who made his adopted brother Verus his colleague in the empire without any inferiority of power.

VII.

A.D. 368.

Sec. 1. After these transactions had been thus settled to the delight both of the prince and of the soldiers, but a few days intervened; and then Avitianus, who had been deputy, accused Mamertinus, the prefect of the praetorium, of peculation, on his return from the city whither he had gone to correct some abuses.

2. And in consequence of this accusation he was replaced by Rufinus, a man accomplished in every respect, who had attained the dignity of an honourable old age, though it is true that he never let slip any opportunity of making money when he thought he could do so secretly.

3. He now availed himself of his access to the emperor to obtain permission for Orfitus, who had been prefect of the city, but who was now banished, to receive back his property which had been confiscated, and return home.

4. And although Valentinian was a man of undisguised ferocity, he nevertheless, at the beginning of his reign, in order to lessen the opinion of his cruelty, took all possible pains to restrain the fierce impetuosity of his disposition. But this defect increasing gradually, from having been checked for some time, presently broke out more unrestrained to the ruin of many persons; and his severity was increased by the vehemence of his anger. For wise men define passion as a lasting ulcer of the mind, and sometimes an incurable one, usually engendered from a weakness of the intellect; and they have a plausible argument for asserting this in the fact that people in bad health are more passionate than those who are well; women, than men; old men, than youths; and people in bad circumstances than the prosperous.

5. About this time, among the deaths of many persons of low degree, that of Diocles, who had previously been a treasurer of Illyricum, was especially remarked; the emperor having had him burnt alive for some very slight offence, as was also the execution of Diodorus, who had previously had an honourable employment in the provinces, and also that of three officers of the vicar prefect of Italy, who were all put to death with great cruelty because the count of Italy had complained to the emperor that Diodorus had, though in a constitutional manner, implored the aid of the law against him; and that the officers, by command of the judge, served a summons on him as he was setting out on a journey, commanding him to answer to the action according to law. And the Christians at Milan to this day cherish their memory, and call the place where they were buried, the tomb of the innocents.

6. Afterwards, in the affair of a certain Pannonian, named Maxentius, on account of the execution of a sentence very properly commanded by the judge to be carried out immediately, he ordered all the magistrates of these towns to be put to death, when Eupraxius, who at that time was quaestor, interposed, saying, "Be more sparing, O most pious of emperors, for those whom you command to be put to death as criminals, the Christian religion honours as martyrs, that is as persons acceptable to the deity."

7. And the prefect Florentius, imitating the salutary boldness of Eupraxius, when he heard that the emperor was in a similar manner very angry about some trifling and pardonable matter, and that he had ordered the execution of three of the magistrates in each of several cities, said to him, "And what is to be done if any town has not got so many magistrates? It will be necessary to suspend the execution there till there are a sufficient number for the purpose."

8. And besides this cruel conduct there was another circumstance horrible even to speak of, that if any one came before him protesting against being judged by a powerful enemy, and requiring that some other judge might hear his case, he always refused it; and however just the arguments of the man might be, he remitted his cause to the decision of the very judge whom he feared. And there was another very bad thing much spoken of; namely, that when it was urged that any debtor was in such absolute want as to be unable to pay anything, he used to pronounce sentence of death on him.

9. But some princes do these and other similar actions with the more lofty arrogance, because they never allow their friends any opportunity of setting them right in any mistake they make, either in a plan or in its execution; while they terrify their enemies by the greatness of their power. There can be no question of mistake or error raised before men who consider whatever they choose to do to be in itself the greatest of virtues.

VIII.

Sec. 1. Valentinian having left Amiens, and being on his way to Treves in great haste, received the disastrous intelligence that Britain was reduced by the ravages of the united barbarians to the lowest extremity of distress; that Nectaridus, the count of the sea-coast, had been slain in battle, and the duke Fullofaudes had been taken prisoner by the enemy in an ambuscade.

2. This news struck him with great consternation, and he immediately sent Severus, the count of the domestic guards, to put an end to all these disasters if he could find a desirable opportunity. Severus was soon recalled, and Jovinus, who then went to that country, sent forward Provertuides with great expedition to ask for the aid of a powerful army; for they both affirmed that the imminence of the danger required such a reinforcement.

3. Last of all, on account of the many formidable reports which a continual stream of messengers brought from that island, Theodosius was appointed to proceed thither, and ordered to make great haste. He was an officer already distinguished for his prowess in war, and having collected a numerous force of cavalry and infantry, he proceeded to assume the command in full confidence.

4. And since when I was compiling my account of the acts of the emperor Constantine, I explained as well as I could the movement of the sea in those parts at its ebb and flow, and the situation of Britain, I look upon it as superfluous to return to what has been once described; as the Ulysses of Homer when among the Phaeacians hesitated to repeat his adventures by reason of the sufferings they brought to mind.

5. It will be sufficient here to mention that at that time the Picts, who were divided into two nations, the Dicalidones and the Vecturiones, and likewise the Attacotti, a very warlike people, and the Scots were all roving over different parts of the country and committing great ravages. While the Franks and the Saxons who are on the frontiers of the Gauls were ravaging their country wherever they could effect an entrance by sea or land, plundering and burning, and murdering all the prisoners they could take.

6. To put a stop to these evils, if a favourable fortune should afford an opportunity, the new and energetic general repaired to that island situated at the extreme corner of the earth; and when he had reached the coast of Boulogne, which is separated from the opposite coast by a very narrow strait of the sea, which there rises and falls in a strange manner, being raised by violent tides, and then again sinking to a perfect level like a plain, without doing any injury to the sailors. From Boulogne he crossed the strait in a leisurely manner, and reached Richborough, a very tranquil station on the opposite coast.

7. And when the Batavi, and Heruli, and the Jovian and Victorian legions who followed from the same place, had also arrived, he then, relying on their number and power, landed and marched towards Londinium, an ancient town which has since been named Augusta; and dividing his army into several detachments, he attacked the predatory and straggling bands of the enemy who were loaded with the weight of their plunder, and having speedily routed them while driving prisoners in chains and cattle before them, he deprived them of their booty which they had carried off from these miserable tributaries of Rome.

8. To whom he restored the whole except a small portion which he allotted to his own weary soldiers; and then joyful and triumphant he made his entry into the city which had just before been overwhelmed by disasters, but was now suddenly re-established almost before it could have hoped for deliverance.

9. This success encouraged him to deeds of greater daring, and after considering what counsels might be the safest, he hesitated, being full of doubts as to the future, and convinced by the confession of his prisoners and the information given him by deserters, that so vast a multitude, composed of various nations, all incredibly savage, could only be vanquished by secret stratagems and unexpected attacks.

10. Then, by the publication of several edicts, in which he promised them impunity, he invited deserters and others who were straggling about the country on furlough, to repair to his camp. At this summons numbers came in, and he, though eager to advance, being detained by anxious cares, requested to have Civilis sent to him, to govern Britain, with the rank of proprefect, a man of quick temper, but just and upright; and he asked at the same time for Dulcitius, a general eminent for his military skill.

IX.

Sec. 1. These were the events which occurred in Britain. But in another quarter, from the very beginning of Valentinian's reign, Africa had been overrun by the fury of the barbarians, intent on bloodshed and rapine, which they sought to carry on by audacious incursions. Their licentiousness was encouraged by the indolence and general covetousness of the soldiers, and especially by the conduct of Count Romanus.

2. Who, foreseeing what was likely to happen, and being very skilful in transferring to others the odium which he himself deserved, was detested by men in general for the savageness of his temper, and also because it seemed as if his object was to outrun even our enemies in ravaging the provinces. He greatly relied on his relationship to Remigius, at that time master of the offices, who sent all kinds of false and confused statements of the condition of the country, so that the emperor, cautious and wary as he plumed himself on being, was long kept in ignorance of the terrible sufferings of the Africans.

3. I will explain with great diligence the complete series of all the transactions which took place in those regions, the death of Ruricius the governor, and of his lieutenants, and all the other mournful events which took place, when the proper opportunity arrives.

4. And since we are able here to speak freely, let us openly say what we think, that this emperor was the first of all our princes who raised the arrogance of the soldiers to so great a height, to the great injury of the state, by increasing their rank, dignity, and riches. And (which was a lamentable thing, both on public and private accounts) while he punished the errors of the common soldiers with unrelenting severity, he spared the officers, who, as if complete licence were given to their misconduct, proceeded to all possible lengths of rapacity and cruelty for the acquisition of riches, and acting as if they thought that the fortunes of all persons depended directly on their nod.

5. The framers of our ancient laws had sought to repress their pride and power, sometimes even condemning the innocent to death, as is often done in cases when, from the multitude concerned in some atrocity, some innocent men, owing to their ill luck, suffer for the whole. And this has occasionally extended even to the case of private persons.

6. But in Isauria the banditti formed into bodies and roamed through the villages, laying waste and plundering the towns and wealthy country houses; and by the magnitude of their ravages they also greatly distressed Pamphylia and Cilicia. And when Musonius, who at that time was the deputy of Asia Minor, having previously been a master of rhetoric at Athens, had heard that they were spreading massacre and rapine in every direction, being filled with grief at the evil of which he had just heard, and perceiving that the soldiers were rusting in luxury and inactivity, he took with him a few light-armed troops, called Diogmitae, and resolved to attack the first body of plunderers he could find. His way led through a narrow and most difficult defile, and thus he fell into an ambuscade, which he had no chance of escaping, and was slain, with all the men under his command.

7. The robber bands became elated at this advantage, and roamed over the whole country with increased boldness, slaying many, till at last our army was aroused, and drove them to take refuge amid the recesses of the rocks and mountains they inhabit. And then, as they were not allowed to rest, and were cut off from all means of obtaining necessary supplies, they at last begged for a truce, as a prelude to peace, being led to this step by the advice of the people of Germanicopolis, whose opinions always had as much weight with them as standard-bearers have with an army. And after giving hostages as they were desired, they remained for a long time quiet, without venturing on any hostilities.

8. While these events were taking place, Praetextatus was administering the prefecture of the city in a noble manner, exhibiting numerous instances of integrity and probity, virtues for which he had been eminent from his earliest youth; and thus he obtained what rarely happens to any one, that while he was feared, he did not at the same time lose the affection of his fellow-citizens, which is seldom strongly felt for those whom they fear as judges.

9. By his authority, impartiality, and just decisions, a tumult was appeased, which the quarrels of the Christians had excited, and after Ursinus was expelled complete tranquillity was restored, which best corresponded to the wishes of the Roman people; while the glory of their illustrious governor, who performed so many useful actions, continually increased.

10. For he also removed all the balconies, which the ancient laws of Rome had forbidden to be constructed, and separated from the sacred temples the walls of private houses which had been improperly joined to them; and established one uniform and proper weight in every quarter, for by no other means could he check the covetousness of those who made their scales after their own pleasure. And in the adjudication of lawsuits he exceeded all men in obtaining that praise which Cicero mentions in his panegyric of Brutus, that while he did nothing with a view to please anybody, everything which he did pleased everybody.

X.

Sec. 1. About the same time, when Valentinian had gone forth on an expedition very cautiously as he fancied, a prince of the Allemanni, by name Rando, who had been for some time preparing for the execution of a plan which he had conceived, with a body of light-armed troops equipped only for a predatory expedition, surprised and stormed Mayence, which was wholly destitute of a garrison.

2. And as he arrived at the time when a great solemnity of the Christian religion was being celebrated, he found no obstacle whatever in carrying off a vast multitude of both men and women as prisoners, with no small quantity of goods as booty.

3. After this, for a short interval a sudden hope of brighter fortune shone upon the affairs of Rome. For as king Vithicabius, the son of Vadomarius, a bold and warlike man, though in appearance effeminate and diseased, was continually raising up the troubles of war against us, great pains were taken to have him removed by some means or other.

4. And because after many attempts it was found impossible to defeat him or to procure his betrayal, his most confidential servant was tampered with by one of our men, and by his hand he lost his life; and after his death, all hostile attacks upon us were laid aside for a while. But his murderer, fearing punishment if the truth should get abroad, without delay took refuge in the Roman territory.

5. After this an expedition on a larger scale than usual was projected with great care and diligence against the Allemanni, to consist of a great variety of troops: the public safety imperatively required such a measure, since the treacherous movements of that easily recruited nation were regarded with continual apprehension, while our soldiers were the more irritated, because, on account of the constant suspicion which their character awakened, at one time abject and suppliant, at another arrogant and threatening, they were never allowed to rest in peace.

6. Accordingly, a vast force was collected from all quarters, well furnished with arms and supplies of provisions, and the count Sebastian having been sent for with the Illyrian and Italian legions which he commanded, as soon as the weather got warm, Valentinian, accompanied by Gratian, crossed the Rhine without resistance. Having divided the whole army into four divisions, he himself marched with the centre, while Jovinus and Severus, the two captains of the camp, commanded the divisions on each side, thus protecting the army from any sudden attack.

7. And immediately under the guidance of men who knew the roads, all the approaches having been reconnoitred, the army advanced slowly through a most extensive district, the soldiers by the slowness of their march being all the more excited to wish for battle, and gnashing their teeth in a threatening manner, as if they had already found the barbarians. And as, after many days had passed, no one could be found who offered any resistance, the troops applied the devouring flame to all the houses and all the crops which were standing, with the exception of such supplies for their own magazines as the doubtful events of war compelled them to collect and store up.

8. After this the emperor advanced further, with no great speed, till he arrived at a place called Solicinium, where he halted, as if he had suddenly come upon some barrier, being informed by the accurate report of his advanced guard that the barbarians were seen at a distance.

9. They, seeing no way of preserving their safety unless they defended themselves by a speedy battle, trusting in their acquaintance with the country, with one consent occupied a lofty hill, abrupt and inaccessible in its rugged heights on every side except the north, where the ascent was gentle and easy. Our standards were fixed in the usual manner, and the cry, "To arms!" was raised; and the soldiers, by the command of the emperor and his generals, rested in quiet obedience, waiting for the raising of the emperor's banner as the signal for engaging in battle.

10. And because little or no time could be spared for deliberation, since on one side the impatience of the soldiers was formidable, and on the other the Allemanni were shouting out their horrid yells all around, the necessity for rapid operations led to the plan that Sebastian with his division should seize the northern side of the hill, where we have said the ascent was gentle, in which position it was expected that, if fortune favoured him, he would be able easily to destroy the flying barbarians. And when he, as had been arranged, had moved forward first, while Gratian was kept behind with the Jovian legion, that young prince being as yet of an age unfit for battle or for hard toil, Valentinian, like a deliberate and prudent general, took off his helmet, and reviewed his centuries and maniples, and not having informed any of the nobles of his secret intentions, and having sent back his numerous body of guards, went forward himself with a very small escort, whose courage and fidelity he could trust, to reconnoitre the foot of the hill, declaring (as he was always apt to think highly of his own skill) that it must be possible to find another path which led to the summit besides that which the advanced guard had reported.

11. He then, as he advanced by a devious track over ground strange to him, and across pathless swamps, was very nearly being killed by the sudden attack of a band placed in an ambuscade on his flank, and being driven to extremities, only escaped by spurring his horse to a gallop in a different direction over a deep swamp, so at last, after being in the most imminent danger, he rejoined his legions. But so great had been his peril that his chamberlain, who was carrying his helmet, which was adorned with gold and precious stones, disappeared, helmet and all, while the man's body could never be found, so that it could be known positively whether he were alive or dead.

12. Then, when the men had been refreshed by rest, and the signal for battle was raised, and the clang of warlike trumpets roused their courage, two youths of prominent valour, eager to be the first to encounter the danger, dashed on with fearless impetuosity before the line of their comrades. One was of the band of Scutarii, by name Salvius, the other, Lupicinus, belonging to the Gentiles. They raised a terrible shout, brandished their spears, and when they reached the foot of the rocks, in spite of the efforts of the Allemanni to repel them, pushed steadily on to the higher ground; while behind them came the main body of the army, which following their lead over places rough with brambles and rugged, at last, after vast exertions, reached the very summit of the heights.

13. Then again, with great spirit on both sides, the conflict raged with spears and swords. On our side the soldiers were more skilful in the art of war; on the other side the barbarians, ferocious but incautious, closed with them in the mighty fray; while our army extending itself, outflanked them on both sides with its overlapping wings, the enemy's alarm being increased by our shouts, the neighing of the horses, and the clang of trumpets.

14. Nevertheless they resisted with indomitable courage, and the battle was for some time undecided; both sides exerted themselves to the utmost, and death was scattered almost equally.

15. At last the barbarians were beaten down by the ardour of the Romans, and being disordered and broken, were thrown into complete confusion; and as they began to retreat they were assailed with great effect by the spears and javelins of their enemies. Soon the retreat became a flight, and panting and exhausted, they exposed their backs and the back sinews of their legs and thighs to their pursuers. After many had been slain, those who fled fell into the ambuscade laid for them by Sebastian, who was posted with his reserve at the back of the mountain, and who now fell unexpectedly on their flank, and slew numbers of them, while the rest who escaped concealed themselves in the recesses of the woods.

16. In this battle we also suffered no inconsiderable loss. Among those who fell was Valerian, the first officer of the domestic guards, and one of the Scutarii, named Natuspardo, a warrior of such pre-eminent courage that he might be compared to the ancient Sicinius or Sergius.

17. After these transactions, accompanied with this diversity of fortune, the army went into winter quarters, and the emperor returned to Treves.

XI.

Sec. 1. About this time, Vulcatius Rufinus died, while filling the office of prefect of the praetorium, and Probus was summoned from Rome to succeed him, a man well known to the whole Roman world for the eminence of his family, and his influence, as well as for his vast riches, for he possessed a patrimonial inheritance which was scattered over the whole empire; whether acquired justly or unjustly it is not for us to decide.

2. A certain good fortune, as the poets would represent it, attended him from his birth, and bore him on her rapid wings, exhibiting him sometimes as a man of beneficent character, promoting the interests of his friends, though often also a formidable intriguer, and cruel and mischievous in the gratification of his enmities. As long as he lived he had great power, owing to the magnificence of his gifts and to his frequent possession of office, and yet he was at times timid towards the bold, though domineering over the timid; so that when full of self-confidence he appeared to be spouting in the tragic buskin, and when he was afraid he seemed more abased than the most abject character in comedy.

3. And as fishes, when removed from their natural element, cannot live long on the land, so he began to pine when not in some post of authority which he was driven to be solicitous for by the squabbles of his troops of clients, whose boundless cupidity prevented their ever being innocent, and who thrust their patron forward into affairs of state in order to be able to perpetrate all sorts of crimes with impunity.

4. For it must be confessed that though he was a man of such magnanimity that he never desired any dependent or servant of his to do an unlawful thing, yet if he found that any one of them had committed a crime, he laid aside all consideration of justice, would not allow the case to be inquired into, but defended the man without the slightest regard for right or wrong. Now this is a fault expressly condemned by Cicero, who thus speaks: "For what difference is there between one who has advised an action, and one who approves of it after it is performed? or what difference does it make whether I wished it be done, or am glad that it is done?"

5. He was a man of a suspicious temper, self-relying, often wearing a bitter smile, and sometimes caressing a man the more effectually to injure him.

6. This vice is a very conspicuous one in dispositions of that kind, and mostly so when it is thought possible to conceal it. He was also so implacable and obstinate in his enmities, that if he ever resolved to injure any one he would never be diverted from his purpose by any entreaties, nor be led to pardon any faults, so that his ears seemed to be stopped not with wax but with lead.

7. Even when at the very summit of wealth and dignity he was always anxious and watchful, and therefore he was continually subject to trifling illnesses.

8. Such was the course of events which took place in the western provinces of the empire.

XII.

Sec. 1. The King of Persia, the aged Sapor, who from the very commencement of his reign had been addicted to the love of plunder, after the death of the Emperor Julian, and the disgraceful treaty of peace subsequently made, for a short time seemed with his people to be friendly to us; but presently he trampled under foot the agreement which he had made with Jovian, and poured a body of troops into Armenia to annex that country to his own dominions, as if the whole of the former arrangements had been abolished.

2. At first he contented himself with various tricks, intrigues, and deceits, inflicting some trifling injuries on the nation which unanimously resisted him, tampering with some of the nobles and satraps, and making sudden inroads into the districts belonging to others.

3. Afterwards by a system of artful cajolery fortified by perjury, he got their king Arsaces into his hands, having invited him to a banquet, when he ordered him to be seized and conducted to a secret chamber behind, where his eyes were put out, and he was loaded with silver chains, which in that country is looked upon as a solace under punishment for men of rank, trifling though it be; then he removed him from his country to a fortress called Agabana, where he applied to him the torture, and finally put him to death.

4. After this, in order that his perfidy might leave nothing unpolluted, having expelled Sauromaces, whom the authority of the Romans had made governor of Hiberia, he conferred the government of that district on a man of the name of Aspacuras, even giving him a diadem, to mark the insult offered to the decision of our emperors.

5. And after these infamous actions he committed the charge of Armenia to an eunuch named Cylaces, and to Artabannes, a couple of deserters whom he had received some time before (one of them having been prefect of that nation, and the other commander in-chief); and he enjoined them to use every exertion to destroy the town of Artogerassa, a place defended by strong walls and a sufficient garrison, in which were the treasures, and the wife and son of Arsaces.

6. These generals commenced the siege as they were ordered. And as it is a fortress placed on a very rugged mountain height, it was inaccessible at that time, while the ground was covered with snow and frost: and so Cylaces being an eunuch, and, as such, suited to feminine manoeuvres, taking Artabannes with him, approached the walls; after having received a promise of safety, and he and his companion had been admitted into the city, he sought by a mixture of advice and threats to persuade the garrison and the queen to pacify the wrath of the implacable Sapor by a speedy surrender.

7. And after many arguments had been urged on both sides, the woman bewailing the sad fortune of her husband, these men, who had been most active in wishing to compel her to surrender, pitying her distress, changed their views; and conceiving a hope of higher preferment, they in secret conferences arranged that at an appointed hour of the night the gates should be suddenly thrown open, and a strong detachment should sally forth and fall upon the ramparts of the enemy's camp, surprising it with sudden slaughter; the traitors promising that, to prevent any knowledge of what was going on, they would come forward to meet them.

8. Having ratified this agreement with an oath, they quitted the town, and led the besiegers to acquiesce in inaction by representing that the besieged had required two days to deliberate on what course they ought to pursue. Then in the middle of the night, when they were all soundly asleep in fancied security, the gates of the city were thrown open, and a strong body of young men poured forth with great speed, creeping on with noiseless steps and drawn swords, till they entered the camp of the unsuspecting enemy, where they slew numbers of sleeping men, without meeting with any resistance.

8. This unexpected treachery of his officers, and the loss thus inflicted on the Persians, caused a terrible quarrel between us and Sapor; and another cause for his anger was added, as the Emperor Valens received Para, the son of Arsaces, who at his mother's instigation had quitted the fortress with a small escort, and had desired him to stay at Neo-Caesarea, a most celebrated city on the Black Sea, where he was treated with great liberality and high respect. Cylaces and Artabannes, being allured by this humanity of Valens, sent envoys to him to ask for assistance, and to request that Para might be given them for their king.

10. However, for the moment assistance was refused them; but Para was conducted by the general Terentius back to Armenia, where he was to rule that nation without any of the insignia of royalty; which was a very wise regulation, in order that we might not be accused of breaking our treaty of peace.

11. When this arrangement became known, Sapor was enraged beyond all bounds, and collecting a vast army, entered Armenia and ravaged it with the most ferocious devastation. Para was terrified at his approach, as were also Cylaces and Artabannes, and, as they saw no other resource, fled into the recesses of the lofty mountains which separate our frontiers from Lazica; where they hid in the depths of the woods and among the defiles of the hills for five months, eluding the various attempts of the king to discover them.

12. And Sapor, when he saw that he was losing his labour in the middle of winter, burnt all the fruit trees, and all the fortified castles and camps, of which he had become master by force or treachery, and also burnt Artogerassa, which had long been blockaded by his whole army, and after many battles was taken through the exhaustion of the garrison; and he carried off from thence the wife of Arsaces and all his treasures.

13. For these reasons, Arinthaeus was sent into these districts with the rank of count, to aid the Armenians if the Persians should attempt to harass them by a second campaign.

14. At the same time, Sapor, with extraordinary cunning, being either humble or arrogant as best suited him, under pretence of an intended alliance, sent secret messengers to Para to reproach him as neglectful of his own dignity, since, with the appearance of royal majesty, he was really the slave of Cylaces and Artabannes. On which Para, with great precipitation, cajoled them with caresses till he got them in his power, and slew them, sending their heads to Sapor in proof of his obedience.

15. When the death of these men became generally known, it caused such dismay that Armenia would have been ruined without striking a blow in its own defence, if the Persians had not been so alarmed at the approach of Arinthaeus that they forbore to invade it again, contenting themselves with sending ambassadors to the emperor, demanding of him not to defend that nation, according to the agreement made between them and Jovian.

16. Their ambassadors were rejected, and Sauromaces, who, as we have said before, had been expelled from the kingdom of Hiberia, was sent back with twelve legions under the command of Terentius; and when he reached the river Cyrus, Aspacuras entreated him that they might both reign as partners, being cousins; alleging that he could not withdraw nor cross over to the side of the Romans, because his son Ultra was as a hostage in the hands of the Persians.

17. The emperor learning this, in order by wisdom and prudence to put an end to the difficulties arising out of this affair, acquiesced in the division of Hiberia, allowing the Cyrus to be the boundary of the two divisions: Sauromaces to have the portion next to the Armenians and Lazians, and Aspacuras the districts which border on Albania and Persia.

18. Sapor, indignant at this, exclaimed that he was unworthily treated, because we had assisted Armenia contrary to our treaty, and because the embassy had failed which he had sent to procure redress, and because the kingdom of Hiberia was divided without his consent or privity; and so, shutting as it were, the gates of friendship, he sought assistance among the neighbouring nations, and prepared his own army in order, with the return of fine weather, to overturn all the arrangements which the Romans had made with a view to their own interests.

[160] Cabillonum is Chalons-sur-Soane, in Burgundy; Catalauni is Chalons-sur-Marne, in Champagne.

[161] These seem to have been a tribe of the Batavi; but some editors give, as a various reading, Hastarii, which may be translated, a detachment of lancers.

[162] Probably the church of Santa Maria Maggiore; but see note in Gibbon, ch. xxv. (vol. iii. p. 91, Bohn).

[163] See Iliad, ix. 5:—

Borees kai zephyros tote Threkethen aeton Elthont' exopines.

Thus translated by Pope:—

"As from its cloudy dungeon, issuing forth A double tempest of the west and north Swells o'er the sea from Thracia's frozen shore, Heaps waves on waves, and bids th' AEgean roar."

[164] The contents of the sixty-third book of Livy record that C. Porcius Cato lost his whole army in a campaign against the Scordisci, who were a Pannonian tribe; but neither Livy nor any other writer, except Ammianus, mentions that Cato himself was killed.



BOOK XXVIII.

ARGUMENT.

I. Many persons, even senators and women of senatorial family are accused at Rome of poisonings, adultery, and debauchery, and are punished.—II. The Emperor Valentinian fortifies the whole Gallic bank of the Rhine with forts, castles, and towers; the Allemanni slay the Romans who are constructing a fortification on the other side of the Rhine.—The Maratocupreni, who are ravaging Syria, are, by the command of Valens, destroyed with their children and their town.—III. Theodosius restores the cities of Britain which had been laid waste by the barbarians, repairs the fortresses, and recovers the province of the island which is called Valentia.—IV. Concerning the administration of Olybrius and Ampelius as prefects of the city: and concerning the vices of the Roman senate and people.—V. The Saxons, after a time, are circumvented in Gaul by the manoeuvres of the Romans. Valentinian having promised to unite his forces with them, sends the Burgundians to invade Germany; but they, finding themselves tricked and deceived, put all their prisoners to the sword, and return home.—VI. The ravages inflicted in the province of Tripoli, and on the people of Leptis and OEa, by the Asturians, are concealed from Valentinian by the bad faith of the Roman count; and so are not properly avenged.

I.

A.D. 368.

Sec. 1. While the perfidy of the king was exciting these unexpected troubles in Persia, as we have related above, and while war was reviving in the east, sixteen years and rather more after the death of Nepotianus, Bellona, raging through the eternal city, destroyed everything, proceeding from trifling beginnings to the most lamentable disasters. Would that they could be buried in everlasting silence, lest perhaps similar things may some day be again attempted, which will do more harm by the general example thus set than even by the misery they occasion.

2. And although after a careful consideration of different circumstances, a reasonable fear would restrain me from giving a minute account of the bloody deeds now perpetrated, yet, relying on the moderation of the present age, I will briefly touch upon the things most deserving of record, nor shall I regret giving a concise account of the fears which the events that happened at a former period caused me.

3. In the first Median war, when the Persians had ravaged Asia, they laid siege to Miletus with a vast host, threatening the garrison with torture and death, and at last reduced the citizens to such straits, that they all, being overwhelmed with the magnitude of their distresses, slew their nearest relations, cast all their furniture and movables into the fire, and then threw themselves in rivalry with one another on the common funeral pile of their perishing country.

4. A short time afterwards, Phrynichus made this event the subject of a tragedy which he exhibited on the stage at Athens; and after he had been for a short time listened to with complacency, when amid all its fine language the tragedy became more and more distressing, it was condemned by the indignation of the people, who thought that it was insulting to produce this as the subject of a dramatic poem, and that it had been prompted not by a wish to console, but only to remind them to their own disgrace of the sufferings which that beautiful city had endured without receiving any aid from its founder and parent. For Miletus was a colony of the Athenians, and had been established there among the other Ionian states by Neleus, the son of that Codrus who is said to have devoted himself for his country in the Dorian war.

5. Let us now return to our subject. Maximinus, formerly deputy prefect of Rome, was born in a very obscure rank of life at Sopianae, a town of Valeria; his father being only a clerk in the president's office, descended from the posterity of those Carpi whom Diocletian removed from their ancient homes and transferred to Pannonia.

6. After a slight study of the liberal sciences, and some small practice at the bar, he was promoted to be governor of Corsica, then of Sardinia, and at last of Tuscany. From hence, as his successor loitered a long while on his road, he proceeded to superintend the supplying of the eternal city with provisions, still retaining the government of the province; and three different considerations rendered him cautious on his first entrance into office, namely:—

7. In the first place, because he bore in mind the prediction of his father, a man pre-eminently skilful in interpreting what was portended by birds from whom auguries were taken, or by the note of such birds as spoke. And he had warned him that though he would rise to supreme authority, he would perish by the axe of the executioner; secondly, because he had fallen in with a Sardinian (whom he himself subsequently put to death by treachery, as report generally affirmed) who was a man skilled in raising up evil spirits, and in gathering presages from ghosts; and as long as that Sardinian lived, he, fearing to be betrayed, was more tractable and mild; lastly, because while he was slowly making his way through inferior appointments, like a serpent that glides underground, he was not yet of power sufficient to perpetrate any extensive destruction or executions.

8. But the origin of his arriving at more extensive power lay in the following transaction: Chilo, who had been deputy, and his wife, named Maxima, complained to Olybrius, at that time prefect of the city, asserting that their lives had been attacked by poison, and with such earnestness that the men whom they suspected were at once arrested and thrown into prison. These were Sericus, a musician, Asbolius, a wrestling master, and Campensis, a soothsayer.

9. But as the affair began to cool on account of the long-continued violence of some illness with which Olybrius was attacked, the persons who had laid the complaint, becoming impatient of delay, presented a petition in which they asked to have the investigation of their charge referred to the superintendent of the corn-market; and, from a desire for a speedy decision, this request was granted.

10. Now, therefore, that he had an opportunity of doing injury, Maximin displayed the innate ferocity which was implanted in his cruel heart, just as wild beasts exhibited in the amphitheatre often do when at length released from their cages. And, as this affair was represented first in various ways, as if in a kind of prelude, and some persons with their sides lacerated named certain nobles, as if by means of their clients and other low-born persons known as criminals and informers, they had employed various artifices for injuring them. This infernal delegate, carrying his investigations to an extravagant length, presented a malicious report to the emperor, in which he told him that such atrocious crimes as many people had committed at Rome could not be investigated nor punished without the severest penalties.

11. When the emperor learnt this he was exasperated beyond measure, being rather a furious than a rigorous enemy to vice; and accordingly, by one single edict applying to causes of this kind, which in his arrogance he treated as if they partook of treason, he commanded that all those whom the equity of the ancient law and the judgment of the gods had exempted from examination by torture, should, if the case seemed to require it, be put to the rack.

12. And in order that the authority to be established, by being doubled and raised to greater distinction, might be able to heap up greater calamities, he appointed Maximin proprefect at Rome, and gave him as colleague in the prosecution of these inquiries, which were being prepared for the ruin of many persons, a secretary named Leo, who was afterwards master of the ceremonies. He was by birth a Pannonian, and by occupation originally a brigand, as savage as a wild beast, and insatiable of human blood.

13. The accession of a colleague so much like himself, inflamed the cruel and malignant disposition of Maximin, which was further encouraged by the commission which conferred this dignity on them; so that, flinging himself about in his exultation, he seemed rather to dance than to walk, while he studied to imitate the Brachmans who, according to some accounts, move in the air amid the altars.

14. And now the trumpets of intestine discords sounded, while all men stood amazed at the atrocity of the things which were done. Among which, besides many other cruel and inhuman actions so various and so numerous that it is impossible for me to relate them all, the death of Marinus, the celebrated advocate, was especially remarkable. He was condemned to death on a charge which was not even attempted to be supported by evidence, of having endeavoured by wicked acts to compass a marriage with Hispanilla.

15. And since I think that perhaps some persons may read this history who, after careful investigation, will object to it that such and such a thing was done before another; or again that this or that circumstance has been omitted, I consider that I have inserted enough, because it is not every event which has been brought about by base people that is worth recording; nor, if it were necessary to relate them all, would there be materials for such an account, not even if the public records themselves were examined, when so many atrocious deeds were common, and when this new frenzy was throwing everything into confusion without the slightest restraint; and when what was feared was evidently not a judicial trial but a total cessation of all justice.

16. At this time, Cethegus, a senator, who was accused of adultery, was beheaded, and a young man of noble birth, named Alypius, who had been banished for some trivial misconduct, with some other persons of low descent, were all publicly executed; while every one appeared in their sufferings to see a representation of what they themselves might expect, and dreamt of nothing but tortures, prisons, and dark dungeons.

17. At the same time also, the affair of Hymetius, a man of very eminent character, took place, of which the circumstances were as follows. When he was governing Africa as proconsul, and the Carthaginians were in extreme distress for want of food, he supplied them with corn out of the granaries destined for the Roman people; and shortly afterwards, when there was a fine harvest, he without delay fully replaced what he had thus consumed.

18. But as at the time of the scarcity ten bushels had been sold to those who were in want for a piece of gold, while he now bought thirty for the same sum, he sent the profit derived from the difference in price to the emperor's treasury. Therefore, Valentinian, suspecting that there was not as much sent as there ought to have been as the proceeds of this traffic, confiscated a portion of his property.

19. And to aggravate the severity of this infliction, another circumstance happened about the same time which equally tended to his ruin. Amantius was a soothsayer of pre-eminent celebrity at that period, and having been accused by some secret informer of being employed by this same Hymetius to offer a sacrifice for some evil purpose, he was brought before a court of justice and put to the rack; but in spite of all his tortures, he denied the charge with steadfast resolution.

20. And as he denied it, some secret papers were brought from his house, among which was found a letter in the handwriting of Hymetius, in which he asked Amantius to propitiate the gods by some solemn sacrifices to engage them to make the disposition of the emperor favourable to him; and at the end of the letter were found some reproachful terms applied to the emperor as avaricious and cruel.

21. Valentinian learnt these facts from the report of some informers, who exaggerated the offence given, and with very unnecessary vigour ordered an inquiry to be made into the affair; and because Frontinus, the assessor of Hymetius, was accused of having been the instrument of drawing up this letter, he was scourged with rods till he confessed, and then he was condemned to exile in Britain. But Amantius was subsequently convicted of some capital crimes and was executed.

22. After these transactions, Hymetius was conducted to the town of Otricoli, to be examined by Ampelius, the prefect of the city, and deputy of Maximin; and when he was on the point of being condemned, as was manifest to every one, he judiciously seized an opportunity that was afforded to him of appealing to the protection of the emperor, and being protected by his name, he came off for the time in safety.

23. The emperor, however, when he was consulted on the matter, remitted it to the senate, who examined into the whole affair with justice, and banished him to Boae, a village in Dalmatia, for which they were visited with the wrath of the emperor, who was exceedingly enraged when he heard that a man whom in his own mind he had condemned to death had been let off with a milder punishment.

24. These and similar transactions led every one to fear that the treatment thus experienced by a few was intended for all: and that these evils should not, by being concealed, grow greater and greater till they reached an intolerable height, the nobles sent a deputation consisting of Praetextatus, formerly a prefect of the city, Venustus, formerly deputy, and Minervius, who had been a consular governor, to entreat the emperor not to allow the punishments to exceed the offences, and not to permit any senator to be exposed to the torture in an unprecedented and unlawful manner.

25. But when these envoys were admitted into the council chamber, Valentinian denied that he had ever given such orders, and insisted that the charges made against him were calumnies. He was, however, refuted with great moderation by the praetor Eupraxius; and in consequence of this freedom, the cruel injunction that had been issued, and which had surpassed all previous examples of cruelty, was amended.

26. About the same time, Lollianus, a youth of tender age, the son of Lampadius, who had been prefect, being accused before Maximin, who investigated his case with great care, and being convicted of having copied out a book on the subject of the unlawful acts (though, as his age made it likely, without any definite plan of using it), was, it seemed, on the point of being sentenced to banishment, when, at the suggestion of his father, he appealed to the emperor; and being by his order brought to court, it appeared that he had, as the proverb has it, gone from the frying-pan into the fire, as he was now handed over to Phalangius, the consular governor of Baetica, and put to death by the hand of the executioner.

27. There were also Tarratius Bassus, who afterwards became prefect of the city, his brother Camenius, a man of the name of Marcian, and Eusapius, all men of great eminence, who were prosecuted on the ground of having protected the charioteer Auchenius, and being his accomplices in the act of poisoning. The evidence was very doubtful, and they were acquitted by the decision of Victorinus, as general report asserted; Victorinus being a most intimate friend of Maximin.

28. Women too were equally exposed to similar treatment. For many of this sex also, and of noble birth, were put to death on being convicted of adultery or unchastity. The most notorious cases were those of Claritas and Flaviana; the first of whom, when conducted to death, was stripped of the clothes which she wore, not even being permitted to retain enough to cover her with bare decency; and for this the executioner also was convicted of having committed a great crime, and burnt to death.

29. Paphius and Cornelius, both senators, confessed that they had polluted themselves by the wicked practice of poisoning, and were put to death by the sentence of Maximin; and by a similar sentence the master of the mint was executed. He also condemned Sericus and Asbolius, who have been mentioned before; and because while exhorting them to name any others who occurred to them, he had promised them with an oath that they should not themselves be punished either by fire or sword, he had them slain by violent blows from balls of lead. After this he also burnt alive Campensis the soothsayer, not having in his case bound himself by any oath or promise.

30. Here it is in my opinion convenient to explain the cause which brought Aginatius headlong to destruction, a man ennobled by a long race of ancestors, as unvarying tradition affirms, though no proof of his ancestral renown was ever substantiated.

31. Maximin, full of pride and arrogance, and being then also prefect of the corn-market, and having many encouragements to audacity, proceeded so far as to show his contempt for Probus, the most illustrious of all the nobles, and who was governing the provinces with the authority of prefect of the praetorium.

32. Aginatius, being indignant at this, and feeling it a hardship that in the trial of causes Olybrius had preferred Maximin to himself, while he was actually deputy at Rome, secretly informed Probus in private letters that the arrogant and foolish man who had thus set himself against his lofty merits, might easily be put down if he thought fit.

33. These letters, as some affirm, Probus sent to Maximin, hardened as he was in wickedness, because he feared his influence with the emperor; letting none but the bearer know the business. And when he had read them, the cruel Maximin became furious, and henceforth set all his engines at work to destroy Aginatius, like a serpent that had been bruised by some one whom it knew.

34. There was another still more powerful cause for intriguing against him, which ultimately became his destruction. For he charged Victorinus, who was dead, and from whom he had received a very considerable legacy, with having while alive made money of the decrees of Maximin; and with similar maliciousness he had also threatened his wife Anepsia with a lawsuit.

35. Anepsia, alarmed at this, and to support herself by the aid of Maximin, pretended that her husband in a will which he had recently made, had left him three thousand pounds weight of silver. He, full of covetousness, for this too was one of his vices, demanded half the inheritance, and afterwards, not being contented with that, as if it were hardly sufficient, he contrived another device which he looked upon as both honourable and safe; and not to lose his hold of the handle thus put in his way for obtaining a large estate, he demanded the daughter of Anepsia, who was the stepdaughter of Victorinus, as a wife for his son; and this marriage was quickly arranged with the consent of the woman.

36. Through these and other atrocities equally lamentable, which threw a gloom over the whole of the eternal city, this man, never to be named without a groan, grew by the ruin of numerous other persons, and began to stretch out his hands beyond the limits of lawsuits and trials: for it is said that he had a small cord always suspended from a remote window of the praetorium, the end of which had a loop which was easily drawn tight, by means of which he received secret informations supported by no evidence or testimony, but capable of being used to the ruin of many innocent persons. And he used often to send his officers, Mucianus and Barbarus, men fit for any deceit or treachery, secretly out of his house.

37. Who then, as if bewailing some hardship which as they pretended had fallen upon them, and exaggerating the cruelty of the judge, with constant repetition assured those who really lay under execution that there was no remedy by which they could save themselves except that of advancing heavy accusation against men of high rank; because if such men were involved in such accusations, they themselves would easily procure an acquittal.

38. In this way, Maximin's implacable temper overwhelmed those yet in his power; numbers were thrown into prison, and persons of the highest rank were seen with anxious faces and in mourning attire. Nor ought any one of them to be blamed for bowing down to the ground in saluting this monster, when they heard him vociferating with the tone of a wild beast, that no one could ever be acquitted unless he choose.

39. For sayings like that, when instantly followed by their natural result, would have terrified even men like Numa, Pompilius, or Cato. In fact things went on in such a way that some persons never had their eyes dried of the tears caused by the misfortunes of others, as often happens in such unsettled and dangerous times.

40. And the iron-hearted judge, continually disregarding all law and justice, had but one thing about him which made him endurable; for sometimes he was prevailed upon by entreaties to spare some one, though this too is affirmed to be nearly a vice in the following passage of Cicero. "If anger be implacable, it is the extreme of severity; if it yield to entreaties, it is the extreme of levity; though in times of misfortune even levity is to be preferred to cruelty."

41. After these events, Leo arrived, and was received as his successor, and Maximin was summoned to the emperor's court and promoted to the office of prefect of the praetorium, where he was as cruel as ever, having indeed greater power of inflicting injury, like a basilisk serpent.

42. Just at this time, or not long before, the brooms with which the senate-house of the nobles was swept out were seen to flower, and this portended that some persons of the very lowest class would be raised to high rank and power.

43. Though it is now time to return to the course of our regular history, yet without neglecting the proper order of time, we must dwell on a few incidents, which through the iniquity of the deputy prefects of the city, were done most unjustly, being in fact done at the word and will of Maximin by those same officers, who seemed to look on themselves as the mere servants of his pleasure.

44. After him came Ursicinus, a man of a more merciful disposition, who, wishing to act cautiously and in conformity to the constitution, confronted a man named Esaias with some others who were in prison on a charge of adultery with Rufina; who had attempted to establish a charge of treason against Marcellus her husband, formerly in a situation of high trust. But this act led to his being despised as a dawdler, and a person little fit to carry out such designs with proper resolution, and so he was removed from his place of deputy.

45. He was succeeded by Simplicius of Emona, who had been a schoolmaster, but was now the assessor of Maximin. After receiving this appointment, he did not grow more proud or arrogant, but assumed a supercilious look, which gave a repulsive expression to his countenance. His language was studiously moderate, while he meditated the most rigorous proceedings against many persons. And first of all he put Rufina to death with all the partners of her adultery, and all who were privy to it, concerning whom Ursicinus, as we have related, had already made a report. Then he put numbers of others to death, without any distinction between the innocent and the guilty.

46. Running a race of bloodshed with Maximin, as if he had, as it were, been his leader, he sought to surpass him in destroying the noblest families, imitating Busiris and Antaeus of old, and Phalaris, so that he seemed to want nothing but the bull of Agrigentum.

47. After these and other similar transactions had taken place, a certain matron named Hesychia, who was accused of having attempted some crime, becoming greatly alarmed, and being of a fierce and resolute disposition, killed herself in the house of the officer to whom she was given in custody, by muffling her face in a bed of feathers, and stopping up her nostrils and so becoming suffocated.

48. To all these calamities another of no less severity was added. For Eumenius and Abienus, two men of the highest class, having been accused, during Maximin's term of office, of adultery with Fausiana, a woman of rank, after the death of Victorinus, under whose protection they were safe, being alarmed at the arrival of Simplicius, who was as full of audacity and threats as Maximin, withdrew to some secret hiding place.

49. But after Fausiana had been condemned they were recorded among the accused, and were summoned by public edict to appear, but they only hid themselves the more carefully. And Abrenus was for a very long time concealed in the house of Anepsia. But as it continually happens that unexpected accidents come to aggravate the distresses of those who are already miserable, a slave of Anepsia named Apaudulus, being angry because his wife had been flogged, went by night to Simplicius, and gave information of the whole affair, and officers were sent to drag them both from their place of concealment.

50. The charge against Abrenus was strengthened by another charge which was brought against him, of having seduced Anepsia, and he was condemned to death. But Anepsia herself, to get some hope of saving her life by at least procuring the delay of her execution, affirmed that she had been assailed by unlawful arts, and had been ravished in the house of Aginatius.

51. Simplicius with loud indignation reported to the emperor all that had taken place, and as Maximin, who was now at court, hated Aginatius for the reason which we have already explained, and having his rage increased against him at the same time that his power was augmented, entreated with great urgency that he might be sentenced to death; and such a favour was readily granted to this furious and influential exciter of the emperor's severity.

52. Then fearing the exceeding unpopularity which would fall upon him if a man of patrician family should perish by the sentence of Simplicius, who was his new assessor and friend, he kept the imperial edict for the execution by him for a short time, wavering and doubting whom to pitch upon as a trusty and efficient perpetrator of so atrocious a deed.

53. At length, as like usually finds like, a certain Gaul of the name of Doryphorianus was discovered, a man daring even to madness; and as he promised to accomplish the matter in a short time, he obtained for him the post of deputy, and gave him the emperor's letter with an additional rescript; instructing the man, who though savage had no experience in such matters, how, if he used sufficient speed, he would meet with no obstacle to his slaying Aginatius; though, if there were any delay, he would be very likely to escape.

54. Doryphorianus, as he was commanded, hastened to Rome by rapid journeys; and while beginning to discharge the duties of his new office, he exerted great industry to discover how he could put a senator of eminent family to death without any assistance. And when he learnt that he had been some time before found in his own house where he was still kept in custody, he determined to have him brought before him as the chief of all the criminals, with Anepsia, in the middle of the night; an hour at which men's minds are especially apt to be bewildered by terror; as, among many other instances, the Ajax of Homer[165] shows us, when he expresses a wish rather to die by daylight, than to suffer the additional terrors of the night.

55. And as the judge, I should rather call him the infamous robber, intent only on the service he had promised to perform, carried everything to excess, having ordered Aginatius to be brought in, he also commanded the introduction of a troop of executioners; and while the chains rattled with a mournful sound, he tortured the slaves who were already exhausted by their long confinement, till they died, in order to extract from them matter affecting the life of their master; a proceeding which in a trial for adultery our merciful laws expressly forbids.

56. At last, when the tortures which were all but mortal had wrung some hints from the maid-servant, without any careful examination of the truth of her words, Aginatius was at once sentenced to be led to execution, and without being allowed to say a word in his defence, though with loud outcries he appealed to and invoked the names of the emperors, he was carried off and put to death, and Anepsia was executed by a similar sentence. The eternal city was filled with mourning for these executions which were perpetrated either by Maximin himself when he was present in the city, or by his emissaries when he was at a distance.

57. But the avenging Furies of those who had been murdered were preparing retribution. For, as I will afterwards relate at the proper season, this same Maximin giving way to his intolerable pride when Gratian was emperor, was put to death by the sword of the executioner; and Simplicius also was beheaded in Illyricum. Doryphorianus too was condemned to death, and thrown into the Tullian prison, but was taken from thence by the emperor at his mother's suggestion, and when he was brought back to his own country was put to death with terrible torments. Let us now return to the point at which we left our history. Such, however, was the state of affairs in the city of Rome.

II.

A.D. 369.

Sec. 1. Valentinian having several great and useful projects in his head, began to fortify the entire banks of the Rhine, from its beginning in the Tyrol to the straits of the ocean,[166] with vast works; raising lofty castles and fortresses, and a perfect range of towers in every suitable place, so as to protect the whole frontier of Gaul; and sometimes, by constructing works on the other side of the river, he almost trenched upon the territories of the enemy.

2. At last considering that one fortress, of which he himself had laid the very foundations, though sufficiently high and safe, yet, being built on the very edge of the river Neckar, was liable to be gradually undermined by the violent beating of its waters, he formed a plan to divert the river itself into another channel; and, having sought out some workmen who were skilful in such works and collected a strong military force, he began that arduous labour.

3. Day after day large masses of oaken beams were fastened together, and thrown into the channel, and by them huge piles were continually fixed and unfixed, being all thrown into disorder by the rising of the stream, and afterwards they were broken and carried away by the current.

4. However, the resolute diligence of the emperor and the labour of the obedient soldiery prevailed; though the troops were often up to their chins in the water while at work; and at last, though not without considerable risk, the fixed camp was protected against all danger from the violence of the current, and is still safe and strong.

5. Joyful and exulting in this success, the emperor, perceiving that the weather and the season of the year did not allow him any other occupation, like a good and active prince began to apply his attention to the general affairs of the republic. And thinking the time very proper for completing one work which he had been meditating, he began with all speed to raise a fortification on the other side of the Rhine, on Mount Piri, a spot which belongs to the barbarians. And as rapidity of action was one great means of executing this design with safety, he sent orders to the Duke Arator, through Syagrius, who was then a secretary, but who afterwards became prefect and consul, to attempt to make himself master of this height in the dead of the night.

6. The duke at once crossed over with the secretary, as he was commanded; and was beginning to employ the soldiers whom he had brought with him to dig out the foundations, when he received a successor, Hermogenes. At the very same moment there arrived some nobles of the Allemanni, fathers of the hostages, whom, in accordance with our treaty, we were detaining as important pledges for the long continuance of the peace.

7. And they, with bended knees entreated him not to let the Romans, with an improvident disregard of all safety (they whose fortune their everlasting good faith had raised to the skies), now be misled by a base error to trample all former agreements under foot, and attempt an act unworthy of them.

8. But since it was to no purpose that they used these and similar arguments, as they were not listened to, and finding that they had no chance of a conciliatory answer, they reluctantly returned, bewailing the loss of their sons; and when they were gone, from a secret hiding-place in a neighbouring hill a troop of barbarians sprang forth, waiting, as far as was understood, for the answer which was to be given to the nobles; and attacking our half-naked soldiers, who were carrying loads of earth, drew their swords and quickly slew them, and with them the two generals.

9. Nor was any one left to relate what had happened, except Syagrius, who, after they were all destroyed returned to the court, where by the sentence of his offended emperor he was dismissed the service; on which he retired to his own home; being judged by the severe decision of the prince to have deserved this sentence because he was the only one who escaped.

10. Meanwhile the wicked fury of bands of robbers raged through Gaul to the injury of many persons; since they occupied the most frequented roads, and without any hesitation seized upon everything valuable which came in their way. Besides many other persons who were the victims of these treacherous attacks, Constantianus, the tribune of the stable, was attacked by a secret ambuscade and slain; he was a relation of Valentinian, and the brother of Cerealis and Justina.

11. In other countries, as if the Furies were stirring up similar evils to afflict us on every side, the Maratocupreni, those most cruel banditti, spread their ravages in every direction. They were the natives of a town of the same name in Syria, near Apamea; very numerous, marvellously skilful in every kind of deceit, and an object of universal fear, because, under the character of merchants or soldiers of high rank, they spread themselves quietly over the country, and then pillaged all the wealthy houses, villages, and towns which came in their way.

12. Nor could any one guard against their unexpected attacks; since they fell not upon any previously selected victim, but in places in various parts, and at great distances, and carried their devastations wherever the wind led them. For which reason the Saxons were feared beyond all other enemies, because of the suddenness of their attacks. They then, in bands of sworn comrades, destroyed the riches of many persons; and being under the impulse of absolute fury, they committed the most mournful slaughters, being not less greedy of blood than of booty. Nevertheless, that I may not, by entering into too minute details, impede the progress of my history, it will be sufficient to relate one destructive device of theirs.

13. A body of these wicked men assembled in one place, pretending to be the retinue of a receiver of the revenue, or of the governor of the province. In the darkness of the evening they entered the city, while the crier made a mournful proclamation, and attacked with swords the house of one of the nobles, as if he had been proscribed and sentenced to death. They seized all his valuable furniture, because his servants, being utterly bewildered by the suddenness of the danger, did not defend the house; they slew several of them, and then before the return of daylight withdrew with great speed.

14. But being loaded with a great quantity of plunder, since from their love of booty they had left nothing behind, they were intercepted by a movement of the emperor's troop, and were cut off and all slain to a man. And their children, who were at the time very young, were also destroyed to prevent their growing up in the likeness of their fathers; and their houses which they had built with great splendour at the expense of the misery of others, were all pulled down. These things happened in the order in which they have been related.

III.

Sec. 1. But Theodosius, a general of very famous reputation, departed in high spirits from Augusta, which the ancients used to call Londinium, with an army which he had collected with great energy and skill; bringing a mighty aid to the embarrassed and disturbed fortunes of the Britons. His plan was to seek everywhere favourable situations for laying ambuscades for the barbarians; and to impose no duties on his troops of the performance of which he did not himself cheerfully set the example.

2. And in this way, while he performed the duties of a gallant soldier, and showed at the same time the prudence of an illustrious general, he routed and vanquished the various tribes in whom their past security had engendered an insolence which led them to attack the Roman territories; and he entirely restored the cities and the fortresses which through the manifold disasters of the time had been injured or destroyed, though they had been originally founded to secure the tranquillity of the country.

3. But while he was pursuing this career, a great crime was planned which was likely to have resulted in serious danger, if it had not been crushed at the very beginning.

4. A certain man named Valentine, in Valeria of Pannonia, a man of a proud spirit, the brother-in-law of Maximin, that wicked and cruel deputy, who afterwards became prefect, having been banished to Britain for some grave crime, and being a restless and mischievous beast, was eager for any kind of revolution or mischief, began to plot with great insolence against Theodosius, whom he looked upon as the only person with power to resist his wicked enterprise.

5. But while both openly and privily taking many precautions, as his pride and covetousness increased, he began to tamper with the exiles and the soldiers, promising them rewards sufficient to tempt them as far at least as the circumstances and his enterprise would permit.

6. But when the time for putting his attempt into execution drew near, the duke, who had received from some trustworthy quarter information of what was going on, being always a man inclined to a bold line of conduct, and resolutely bent on chastising crimes when detected, seized Valentine with a few of his accomplices who were most deeply implicated, and handed them over to the general Dulcitius to be put to death. But at the same time conjecturing the future, through that knowledge of the soldiers in which he surpassed other men, he forbade the institution of any examination into the conspiracy generally, lest if the fear of such an investigation should affect many, fresh troubles might revive in the province.

7. After this he turned his attention to make many necessary amendments, feeling wholly free from any danger in such attempts, since it was plain that all his enterprises were attended by a propitious fortune. So he restored cities and fortresses, as we have already mentioned, and established stations and outposts on our frontiers; and he so completely recovered the province which had yielded subjection to the enemy, that through his agency it was again brought under the authority of its legitimate ruler, and from that time forth was called Valentia, by desire of the emperor, as a memorial of his success.

8. The Areans, a class of men instituted in former times, and of whom we have already made some mention in recording the acts of Constans, had now gradually fallen into bad practices, for which he removed them from their stations; in fact they had been undeniably convicted of yielding to the temptation of the great rewards which were given and promised to them, so as to have continually betrayed to the barbarians what was done among us. For their business was to traverse vast districts, and report to our generals the warlike movements of the neighbouring nations.

9. In this manner the affairs which I have already mentioned, and others like them, having been settled, he was summoned to the court, and leaving the provinces in a state of exultation, like another Furius Camillus or Papirius Cursor, he was celebrated everywhere for his numerous and important victories. He was accompanied by a large crowd of well-wishers to the coast, and crossing over with a fair wind, arrived at the emperor's camp, where he was received with joy and high praise, and appointed to succeed Valens Jovinus, who was commander of the cavalry.

IV.

Sec. 1. I have thus made a long and extensive digression from the affairs of the city, being constrained by the abundance of events which took place abroad; and now I will return to give a cursory sketch of them, beginning with the tranquil and moderate exercise of the prefect's authority by Olybrius, who never forgot the rights of humanity, but was continually anxious and careful that no word or deed of his should ever be harsh or cruel. He was a merciless punisher of calumnies; he restrained the exactions of the treasury wherever he could; he was a careful discriminator of right and wrong; an equitable judge, and very gentle towards those placed under his authority.