After the survival of the events of an
 unendurable campaign, when the spirits of both parties,
 broken by the variety of their dangers and hardships, were still drooping,
 before the blare of the trumpets had ceased or the soldiers been assigned to
 their winter quarters, the gusts of raging Fortune brought new storms upon the
 commonwealth through the misdeeds, many and notorious, of Gallus Caesar.
 
 He had been raised, at the very beginning of mature manhood,
 by an unexpected promotion from the utmost depths of wretchedness to princely
 heights, and overstepping the bounds of the authority conferred upon him, by
 excess of violence was causing trouble everywhere. For by his relationship to
 the imperial stock, and the affinity which he even then had with the name of
 Constantius, he was
 raised to such a height of presumption that, if he had been more powerful, he
 would have ventured (it seemed) upon a course hostile to the author of his good
 fortune.

To his cruelty his wife was besides
 a serious incentive, a woman beyond measure presumptuous because of her kinship
 to the emperor, and previously joined in marriage by her father Constantine
 with his brother's son, King Hanniballianus. She, a Megaera
 in mortal guise, constantly aroused the
 savagery of Gallus, being as insatiable as he in her thirst for human blood.
 The pair in process of time gradually became more expert in doing harm, and
 through underhand and crafty eavesdroppers, who had the evil habit of lightly
 adding to their information and wanting to learn only what was false and
 agreeable to them, they fastened upon innocent victims false charges of
 aspiring to royal power or of practising magic.

There stood out among their lesser atrocities, when their unbridled power
 had already surpassed the limits of unimportant delinquencies, the sudden and
 awful death of one Clematius, a nobleman of Alexandria. This man's
 mother-in-law, it was said, had a violent passion for her son-in-law, but was unable to seduce him; whereupon, gaining entrance to the
 palace by a back door, she presented the queen with a valuable necklace, and
 thus secured the dispatch of his death-warrant to Honoratus, at that time Count
 of the East; and so Clematius, a man contaminated by no guilt, was put to
 death without being allowed to protest or even to open his lips.

After the perpetration of this impious deed,
 which now began to arouse the fears of others also, as if cruelty were given
 free rein, some persons were adjudged guilty on the mere shadow of suspicion
 and condemned. Of these some were put to death, others punished by the
 confiscation of their property and driven from their homes into exile, where,
 having nothing left save tears and complaints, they lived on the doles of
 charity; and since constitutional and just rule had given place to cruel
 caprice, wealthy and famous houses were being closed.

And no words of an accuser, even though bribed, were required amid
 these accumulations of evils, in order that these crimes might be committed, at
 least ostensibly, under the forms of law, as has sometimes been done by cruel
 emperors; but whatever the implacable Caesar had resolved upon was rushed to
 fulfilment, as if it had been carefully weighed and determined to be right and
 lawful.

It was further devised that sundry
 low-born men, whose very insignificance made them little to be feared, should
 be appointed to gather gossip in all quarters of Antioch and
 report what they had heard. These, as if travellers, and in disguise, attended
 the gatherings of distinguished citizens, and gained entrance to the houses of
 the wealthy in the guise of needy clients; then, being secretly admitted to the
 palace by a back door, they reported whatever they had been able to hear or
 learn, with one accord making it a rule to add inventions of their own and make
 doubly worse what they had learned, but suppressing the praise of Caesar which
 the fear of impending evils extorted from some against their will.

And sometimes it happened that if the head of a
 household, in the seclusion of his private apartments, with no confidential
 servant present, had whispered something in the ear of his wife, the emperor
 learned it on the following day, as if it were reported by Amphiaraus or
 Marcius, those famous seers of old. And so even the walls, the only sharers of secrets, were
 feared.

Moreover, his fixed purpose of
 ferreting out these and many similar things increased, spurred on by the queen,
 who pushed her husband's fortunes headlong to sheer ruin, when she ought
 rather, with womanly gentleness, to have recalled him by helpful counsel to the
 path of truth and mercy, after the manner of the wife of that savage emperor Maximinus, as we have related in our
 account of the acts of the Gordians.

Finally, following an unprecedented and
 destructive course, Gallus also ventured to commit the atrocious crime which,
 to his utter disgrace, Gallienus is said to have once hazarded at Rome. Taking
 with him a few attendants with concealed weapons, he used to roam at evening
 about the inns and street-corners, inquiring of every one in Greek, of which he
 had remarkable command, what he thought of the Caesar. And this he did boldly
 in a city where the brightness of
 the lights at night commonly equals the resplendence of day. At last, being
 often recognized, and reflecting that if he continued that course he would be
 conspicuous, he appeared only in broad daylight, to attend to matters which he
 considered important. And all this conduct of his caused very deep sorrow to
 many.

Now at that time Thalassius was the
 Praetorian Prefect at court, a man who was
 himself of an imperious character. He, perceiving that Gallus' temper was
 rising, to the peril of many, did not try to soothe it by ripe counsel, as
 sometimes high officials have moderated the ire of princes; but rather roused
 the Caesar to fury by opposing and reproving him at unseasonable times; very
 frequently he informed the emperor of Gallus' doings, exaggerating them and
 taking pains—whatever his motive may have been—to do it openly. Through this
 conduct the Caesar was soon still more violently enraged, and
 as if raising higher, as it were, the standard of his obstinacy, with no regard
 for his own life or that of others, he rushed on with uncontrollable
 impetuosity, like a swift torrent, to overthrow whatever opposed him.

And indeed this was not the only calamity to
 afflict the Orient with various disasters. For the Isaurians too,
 whose way it is now to keep the peace and now put everything in turmoil by
 sudden raids, abandoned their occasional secret plundering expeditions and, as
 impunity stimulated for the worse their growing boldness, broke out in a
 serious war. For a long time they had been inflaming their warlike spirits by
 restless outbreaks, but they were now especially exasperated, as they declared,
 by the indignity of some of their associates, who had been taken prisoner,
 having been thrown to beasts of prey in the shows of the amphitheatre at
 Iconium, a town of Pisidia—an outrage without precedent.

And, in the words of Cicero, as even wild animals,
 when warned by hunger, generally return to the place where they were once fed,
 so they all, swooping like a whirlwind down from their steep and rugged
 mountains, made for the districts near the sea; and hiding themselves there in
 pathless lurking-places and defiles as the dark nights were coming on-the moon
 being still crescent and so not shining with full brilliance—they watched the
 sailors. And when they saw that they were buried in sleep, creeping on all
 fours along the anchor-ropes and making their way on tiptoe
 into the boats, they came upon the crew all unawares, and since their natural
 ferocity was fired by greed, they spared no one, even of those who surrendered,
 but massacred them all and without resistance carried off the cargoes, led
 either by their value or by their usefulness.

This however did not continue long; for when the fate of those whom they had
 butchered and plundered became known, no one afterwards put in at those ports,
 but avoiding them as they would the deadly cliffs of Sciron, they
 coasted along the shores of Cyprus, which lie opposite to the crags of Isauria.

Then presently, as time went on and
 nothing came their way from abroad, they left the sea-coast and withdrew to
 that part of Lycaonia that borders on Isauria; and there, blocking the roads
 with close barricades, they lived on the property of the provincials and of
 travellers.

Anger at this aroused the
 soldiers quartered in the numerous towns and fortresses which lie near those
 regions, and each division strove to the best of its power to check the
 marauders as they ranged more widely, now in solid bodies, sometimes even in
 isolated bands. But the soldiers were defeated by their strength and numbers;
 for since the Isaurians were born and brought up amid the steep and winding
 defiles of the mountains, they bounded over them as if they were a smooth and
 level plain, attacking the enemy with missiles from a distance and terrifying
 them with savage howls.

And sometimes our
 infantry in pursuing them were forced to scale lofty slopes, and when they lost
 their footing, even if they reached the very summits by catching hold of
 underbrush or briars, the narrow and pathless tracts allowed
 them neither to take order of battle nor with mighty effort to keep a firm
 footing; and while the enemy, running here and there, tore off and hurled down
 masses of rock from above, they made their perilous way down over steep slopes;
 or if, compelled by dire necessity, they made a brave fight, they were
 overwhelmed by falling boulders of enormous weight.

Therefore extreme caution was shown after that, and when the
 marauders began to make for the mountain heights, the soldiers yielded to the
 unfavourable position. When, however, the Isaurians could be found on level
 ground, as constantly happened, they were allowed neither to stretch out their
 right arms nor poise their weapons, of which each carried two or three, but
 they were slaughtered like defenceless sheep.

Accordingly these same marauders, distrusting
 Lycaonia, which is for the most part level, and having learned by repeated
 experience that they would be no match for our soldiers in a stand-up fight,
 made their way by retired by-paths into Pamphylia, long unmolested, it is true,
 but through fear of raids and massacres protected everywhere by strong
 garrisons, while troops were spread all over the neighbouring country.

Therefore they made great haste, in order
 by extreme swiftness to anticipate the reports of their movements, trusting in
 their bodily strength and activity; but they made their way somewhat slowly to
 the summits of the hills over winding trails. And when, after overcoming
 extreme difficulties, they came to the steep banks of the Melas, a deep and
 eddying stream, which surrounds the inhabitants like a wall and protects them, the lateness of the night increased their alarm, and they
 halted for a time, waiting for daylight. They thought, indeed, to cross without
 opposition and by their unexpected raid to lay waste all before them; but they
 endured the greatest hardships to no purpose.

For when the sun rose, they were prevented from crossing by the size of the
 stream, which was narrow but deep. And while they were hunting for fishermen's
 boats or preparing to cross on hastily woven hurdles, the legions that were
 then wintering at Side poured out and fell upon them in swift attack. And
 having set up their standards near the river-bank, the legions drew themselves
 up most skilfully for fighting hand to hand with a close formation of shields;
 and with perfect ease they slew some, who had even dared to cross the river
 secretly, trusting to swimming, or in hollowed out tree trunks.

From there, after trying the skill of our soldiers
 even to a final test without gaining anything, dislodged by fear and the
 strength of the legions, and not knowing what direction to take, they came to
 the neighbourhood of the town of Laranda.

There they were refreshed with food and rest, and after their fear had left
 them, they attacked some rich villages; but since these were aided by some
 cohorts of cavalry, which chanced to come up, the enemy withdrew without
 attempting any resistance on the level plain; but as they retreated, they
 summoned all the flower of their youth that had been left at home.

And since they were distressed by severe hunger,
 they made for a place called Palaea, near the sea, which was protected by a
 strong wall. There supplies are regularly stored even to-day,
 for distribution to the troops that defend the whole frontier of Isauria.
 Therefore they invested that fortress for three days and three nights; but
 since the steep slope itself could not be approached without deadly peril, and
 nothing could be effected by mines, and no method of siege was successful, they
 withdrew in dejection, ready, under the pressure of extreme necessity, to
 undertake even tasks beyond their powers.

Accordingly, filled with still greater fury, to which despair and famine added
 fuel, with increased numbers and irresistible energy they rushed on to destroy
 Seleucia, the metropolis of the province, which Count Castricius was holding
 with three legions steeled by hard service.

Warned of their approach by trusty scouts, the officers of the garrison gave
 the watchword, according to regulations, and in a swift sally led out the
 entire force; and having quickly crossed the bridge over the river Calycadnus,
 whose mighty stream washes the towers of the city walls, they drew up their men
 in order of battle. And yet no one charged or was allowed to fight; for they
 feared that band on fire with madness, superior in numbers, and ready to rush
 upon the sword, regardless of their lives.

Consequently, when the army came into view afar off, and the notes of the
 trumpeters were heard, the marauders stopped and halted for a while; then,
 drawing their formidable swords, they came on at a slower pace.

And when the unperturbed soldiers made ready to meet
 them, deploying their ranks and striking their shields with their spears, an
 action which rouses the wrath and resentment of the combatants, they intimidated the nearest of the enemy by their very gestures.
 But as they were eagerly rushing to the fray, their leaders called them back,
 thinking it inadvisable to risk a doubtful combat when fortifications were not
 far distant, under the protection of which the safety of all could be put on a
 solid foundation.

In this conviction, then,
 the warriors were led back within the walls, the entrances to the gates on all
 sides were barred, and they took their place on the battlements and pinnacles
 with rocks gathered from every hand and weapons in readiness, so that, if
 anyone should force his way near to the walls, he might be overwhelmed by a
 shower of spears and stones.

Still, the
 besieged were greatly troubled by the fact that the Isaurians, having captured
 some boats which were carrying grain on the river, were abundantly supplied
 with provisions, while they themselves had already exhausted the regular stores
 and were dreading the deadly pangs of approaching famine.

When the news of this situation spread abroad, and
 repeated messages dispatched to Gallus Caesar had roused him to action, since
 the Master of the Horse was at the time
 too far removed from the spot, orders were given to Nebridius, Count of the
 East. He quickly got together troops
 from every side and with the greatest energy was hastening to rescue this great
 and strategically important city from danger. On learning this, the freebooters
 departed without accomplishing anything more of consequence, and scattering
 (after their usual fashion) made for the trackless wastes of the high
 mountains.

When affairs had reached this stage in
 Isauria, the king of Persia, involved in war
 with his neighbours, was driving back from his frontiers a number of very wild
 tribes which, with inconsistent policy, often make hostile raids upon his
 territories and sometimes aid him when he makes war upon us. One of his
 grandees, Nohodares by name, having received orders to invade Mesopotamia
 whenever occasion offered, was carefully reconnoitring our territory, intending
 a sudden incursion in case he found any opening.

And as all the districts of Mesopotamia, being exposed to frequent
 raids, were protected by frontier-guards and country garrisons, Nohodares,
 having turned his course to the left, had beset the remotest parts of Osdroene,
 attempting a novel and all but unprecedented manœuvre; and if he had succeeded,
 he would have devastated the whole region like a thunderbolt. Now what he
 planned was the following.

The town of Batne, founded in Anthemusia in
 early times by a band of Macedonians, is separated by a short space from the
 river Euphrates; it is filled with wealthy traders when, at the yearly
 festival, near the beginning of the month of September, a great crowd of every
 condition gathers for the fair, to traffic in the wares sent from India and
 China, and in other articles that are regularly brought there in great
 abundance by land and sea.

This district the
 above-mentioned leader made ready to invade, on the days set for this
 celebration, through the wilderness and the grass-covered banks of the river
 Abora; but he was betrayed by information given by some of
 his own soldiers, who, fearing punishment for a crime which they had committed,
 deserted to the Roman garrison. Therefore, withdrawing without accomplishing
 anything, he languished thereafter in inaction.

The Saracens, however, whom we never found
 desirable either as friends or as enemies, ranging up and down the country, in
 a brief space of time laid waste whatever they could find, like rapacious kites
 which, whenever they have caught sight of any prey from on high, seize it with
 swift swoop, and directly they have seized it make off.

Although I recall having told of their customs in my
 history of the emperor Marcus, and
 several times after that, yet I will now briefly relate a few more particulars
 about them.

Among those tribes whose original
 abode extends from the Assyrians to the cataracts of the Nile and the frontiers
 of the Blemmyae all alike are warriors of equal rank, half-nude, clad in dyed
 cloaks as far as the loins, ranging widely with the help of swift horses and
 slender camels in times of peace or of disorder. No man ever grasps a
 plough-handle or cultivates a tree, none seeks a living by tilling the soil,
 but they rove continually over wide and extensive tracts without a home,
 without fixed abodes or laws; they cannot long endure the same sky, nor does
 the sun of a single district ever content them.

Their life is always on the move, and they have mercenary wives, hired under
 a temporary contract. But in order that there may be some semblance of
 matrimony, the future wife, by way of dower, offers her
 husband a spear and a tent, with the right to leave him after a stipulated
 time, if she so elect: and it is unbelievable with what ardour both sexes give
 themselves up to passion.

Moreover, they
 wander so widely as long as they live, that a woman marries in one place, gives
 birth in another, and rears her children far away, without being allowed any
 opportunity for rest.

They all feed upon game
 and an abundance of milk, which is their main sustenance, on a variety of
 plants, as well as on such birds as they are able to take by fowling; and I
 have seen many of them who were wholly unacquainted with grain and wine.

So much for this dangerous tribe. Let us
 now return to our original theme.

While this was happening in the East,
 Constantius was passing the winter at Arelate, where he gave entertainments in
 the theatre and the circus with ostentatious magnificence. Then, on the 10th of
 October, which completed the thirtieth year of his reign, giving greater weight to his arrogance and accepting
 every false or doubtful charge as evident and proven, among other atrocities he
 tortured Gerontius, a count of the party of Magnentius, and visited him with the sorrow of exile.

And, as an ailing body is apt to be affected even by
 slight annoyances, so his narrow and sensitive mind, thinking that every sound
 indicated something done or planned at the expense of his safety, made his victory 
 lamentable through the murder of innocent men.

For if anyone of the military commanders or ex-officials, or one of high rank in his own community, was accused even by rumour of
 having favoured the party of the emperor's opponent, he was loaded with chains
 and dragged about like a wild beast. And whether a personal enemy pressed the
 charge or no one at all, as though it was enough that he had been named,
 informed against, or accused, he was condemned to death, or his property
 confiscated, or he was banished to some desert island.

Moreover his harsh cruelty, whenever the
 majesty of the empire was said to be insulted, and his angry passions and
 unfounded suspicions were increased by the bloodthirsty flattery of his
 courtiers, who exaggerated everything that happened and pretended to be greatly
 troubled by the thought of an attempt on the life of a prince on whose safety,
 as on a thread, they hypocritically declared that the condition of the whole
 world depended.

And he is even said to have
 given orders that no one who had ever been punished for these or similar
 offences should be given a new trial after a writ of condemnation had once been presented to him in the usual
 manner, which even the most inexorable emperors commonly allowed. And this
 fatal fault of cruelty, which in others sometimes grew less with advancing age,
 in his case became more violent, since a group of flatterers intensified his
 stubborn resolution.

Prominent among these was the state secretary
 Paulus, a native of Spain, a kind of
 viper, whose countenance concealed his character, but who was extremely clever
 in scenting out hidden means of danger for others. When he had been sent to
 Britain to fetch some officers who had dared to conspire with Magnentius, since
 they could make no resistance he autocratically exceeded his instructions and,
 like a flood, suddenly overwhelmed the fortunes of many, making his way amid
 manifold slaughter and destruction, imprisoning freeborn men and even degrading
 some with handcuffs; as a matter of fact, he patched together many accusations
 with utter disregard of the truth, and to him was due an impious crime, which
 fixed an eternal stain upon the time of Constantius.

Martinus, who was governing those provinces as substitute for the
 prefects, deeply deplored the woes suffered by innocent men; and after often
 begging that those who were free from any reproach should be spared, when he
 failed in his appeal he threatened to retire, in the hope that, at least
 through fear of this, that malevolent man-hunter might finally cease to expose
 to open danger men naturally given to peace.

Paulus thought that this would interfere with his profession, and being a
 formidable artist in devising complications, for which reason he was nicknamed
 The Chain, since the substitute continued to defend those
 whom he was appointed to govern, Paulus involved even him in the common peril,
 threatening to bring him also in chains to the emperor's court, along with the
 tribunes and many others. Thereupon Martinus, alarmed at this threat, and
 thinking swift death imminent, drew his sword and attacked
 that same Paulus. But since the weakness of his hand prevented him from dealing
 a fatal blow, he plunged the sword which he had already drawn into his own
 side. And by that ignominious death there passed from life a most just ruler,
 who had dared to lighten the unhappy lot of many.

After perpetrating these atrocious crimes, Paulus, stained with
 blood, returned to the emperor's camp, bringing with him many men almost
 covered with chains and in a state of pitiful filth and wretchedness. On their
 arrival, the racks were made ready and the executioner prepared his hooks and
 other instruments of torture. Many of the prisoners were proscribed, others
 driven into exile; to some the sword dealt the penalty of death. For no one
 easily recalls the acquittal of anyone in the time of Constantius when an
 accusation against him had even been whispered.

Meanwhile Orfitus was governing the eternal
 city with the rank of Prefect, and with an arrogance beyond the limits of the
 power that had been conferred upon him. He was a man of wisdom, it is true, and
 highly skilled in legal practice, but less equipped with the adornment of the
 liberal arts than became a man of noble rank. During his term of office serious
 riots broke out because of the scarcity of wine; for the people, eager for an
 unrestrained use of this commodity, are roused to frequent and violent
 disturbances.

Now I think that some foreigners who will perhaps read this work
 (if I shall be so fortunate) may wonder why it is that when the narrative turns
 to the description of what goes on at Rome, I tell of nothing save dissensions,
 taverns, and other similar vulgarities. Accordingly, I shall briefly touch upon
 the reasons, intending nowhere to depart intentionally from the truth.

At the time when Rome first began to rise
 into a position of world-wide splendour, destined to live so long as men shall
 exist, in order that she might grow to a towering stature, Virtue and Fortune,
 ordinarily at variance, formed a pact of eternal peace; for if either one of
 them had failed her, Rome had not come to complete supremacy.

Her people, from the very cradle to the end of their
 childhood, a
 period of about three hundred years, carried on wars about her walls. Then,
 entering upon adult life, after many toilsome wars, they crossed the Alps and
 the sea. Grown to youth and manhood, from every region which the vast globe
 includes, they brought back laurels and triumphs. And now, declining into old
 age, and often owing victory to its name alone, it has come to a quieter period
 of life.

Thus the venerable city, after
 humbling the proud necks of savage nations, and making laws, the everlasting
 foundations and moorings of liberty, like a thrifty parent, wise and wealthy,
 has entrusted the management of her inheritance to the Caesars, as to her
 children.

And although for
 some time the tribes have been inactive and the centuries at peace, and there are no contests for votes but the tranquillity of
 Numa's time has returned, yet throughout all regions and parts of the earth she
 is accepted as mistress and queen; everywhere the white hair of the senators
 and their authority are revered and the name of the Roman people is respected
 and honoured.

But this magnificence and splendour of the
 assemblies is marred by the rude worthlessness of a few, who do not consider
 where they were born, but, as if licence were granted to vice, descend to sin
 and wantonness. For as the lyric poet Simonides tells us, one who is going to live happy and in accord with perfect reason ought
 above all else to have a glorious fatherland.

Some of these men eagerly strive for statues, thinking that by them they can be
 made immortal, as if they would gain a greater reward from senseless brazen
 images than from the consciousness of honourable and virtuous conduct. And they
 take pains to have them overlaid with gold, a fashion first introduced by
 Acilius Glabrio, after his skill and his arms
 had overcome King Antiochus. But how
 noble it is, scorning these slight and trivial honours, to aim to tread the
 long and steep ascent to true glory, as the bard of Ascra expresses it,
 is made clear by Cato the Censor. For when he was asked why he alone
 among many did not have a statue, he replied: I would
 rather that good men should wonder why I did not deserve one than (which is
 much worse) should mutter 'Why was he given one?'

Other men, taking great pride in coaches
 higher than common and in ostentatious finery of apparel, sweat under heavy
 cloaks, which they fasten about their necks and bind around their very throats,
 while the air blows through them because of the excessive lightness of the
 material; and they lift them up with both hands and wave them with many
 gestures, especially with their left hands, in order that the over-long fringes and the tunics embroidered with
 party-coloured threads in multiform figures of animals may be conspicuous.

Others, though no one questions them,
 assume a grave expression and greatly exaggerate their wealth, doubling the
 annual yield of their fields, well cultivated (as they think), of which they
 assert that they possess a great number from the rising to the setting sun;
 they are clearly unaware that their forefathers, through whom the greatness of
 Rome was so far flung, gained renown, not by riches, but by fierce wars, and
 not differing from the common soldiers in wealth, mode of life, or simplicity
 of attire, overcame all obstacles by valour.

For that reason the eminent Valerius Publicola was buried by a contribution of
 money, and through the aid of
 her husband's friends the needy wife of 
 Regulus and her children were supported. And the daughter of Scipio received her dowry from the public treasury,
 since the nobles blushed to look upon the beauty of this marriageable maiden
 long unsought because of the absence of a father of modest means.

But now-a-days, if as a stranger
 of good position you enter for the first time to pay
 your respects to some man who is well-to-do and therefore puffed up, at first you will be greeted as if you
 were an eagerly expected friend, and after being asked many questions and
 forced to lie, you will wonder, since the man never saw you before, that a
 great personage should pay such marked attention to your humble self as to make
 you regret, because of such special kindness, that you did not see Rome ten
 years earlier.

When, encouraged by this
 affability, you make the same call on the following day, you will hang about
 unknown and unexpected, while the man who the day before urged you to call
 again counts up his clients, wondering who you are or whence you came. But when
 you are at last recognized and admitted to his friendship, if you devote
 yourself to calling upon him for three years without interruption, then are
 away for the same number of days, and return to go through with a similar
 course, you will not be asked where you were, and unless you abandon the quest
 in sorrow, you will waste your whole life to no purpose in paying court to the
 blockhead.

And when, after a sufficient interval of
 time, the preparation of those tedious and unwholesome banquets begins, or the
 distribution of the customary doles, it is debated with anxious deliberation
 whether it will be suitable to invite a stranger, with the exception of those
 to whom a return of hospitality is due; and if, after full and mature
 deliberation, the decision is in the affirmative, the man who is invited is one
 who watches all night before the house of the charioteers, or who is a professional
 dicer, or who pretends to the knowledge of certain secrets.

For they avoid learned and serious people as unlucky
 and useless, in addition to which the announcers of names, who are wont to
 traffic in these and similar favours, on receiving a bribe, admit to the doles
 and the dinners obscure and low-born intruders.

But I pass over the gluttonous banquets and
 the various allurements of pleasures, lest I should go too far, and I shall
 pass to the fact that certain persons hasten without fear of danger through the
 broad streets of the city and over the upturned stones of the pavements as if
 they were driving post-horses with hoofs of fire (as the saying is), dragging
 after them armies of slaves like bands of brigands and not leaving even Sannio
 at home, as the comic writer says. And many matrons, imitating them, rush about through all quarters of
 the city with covered heads and in closed litters.

And as skilful directors of battles place in the van dense throngs
 of brave soldiers, then light-armed troops, after them the javelin-throwers,
 and last of all the reserve forces, to enter the action in
 case chance makes it needful, just so those who have charge of a city
 household, made conspicuous by wands grasped in their right hands, carefully
 and diligently draw up the array; then, as if the signal had been given in
 camp, close to the front of the carriage all the weavers march; next to these
 the blackened service of the kitchen, then all the rest of the slaves without
 distinction, accompanied by the idle plebeians of the neighbourhood; finally,
 the throng of eunuchs, beginning with the old men and ending with the boys,
 sallow and disfigured by the distorted form of their members; so that, wherever
 anyone goes, beholding the troops of mutilated men, he would curse the memory
 of that Queen Samiramis of old, who was the first of all to castrate young
 males, thus doing violence, as it were, to Nature and wresting her from her
 intended course, since she at the very beginning of life, through the primitive
 founts of the seed, by a kind of secret law, shows the ways to propagate
 posterity.

In consequence of this state of things, the
 few houses that were formerly famed for devotion to serious pursuits now teem
 with the sports of sluggish indolence, re-echoing to the sound of singing and
 the tinkling of flutes and lyres. In short, in place of the philosopher the
 singer is called in, and in place of the orator the teacher of stagecraft, and
 while the libraries are shut up forever like tombs, water-organs are
 manufactured and lyres as large as carriages, and flutes and instruments heavy
 for gesticulating actors.

At last we have reached such a state of
 baseness, that whereas not so very long ago, when there was fear of a scarcity
 of food, foreigners were driven neck and crop from the city, and those who practised the
 liberal arts (very few in number) were thrust out without a breathing space,
 yet the genuine attendants upon actresses of the mimes, and those who for the
 time pretended to be such, were kept with us, while three thousand dancing
 girls, without even being questioned, remained here with their choruses, and an
 equal number of dancing masters.

And,
 wherever you turn your eyes, you may see a throng of women with curled hair,
 who might, if they had married, by this time, so far as age goes, have already
 produced three children, sweeping the pavements with their feet to the point of
 weariness and whirling in rapid gyrations, while they represent the innumerable
 figures that the stage-plays have devised.

Furthermore, there is no doubt that when
 once upon a time Rome was the abode of all the virtues, many of the nobles
 detained here foreigners of free birth by various kindly attentions, as the
 Lotuseaters of Homer did by the sweetness of
 their fruits.

But now the vain arrogance of
 some men regards everything born outside the pomerium of our city as worthless, except the
 childless and unwedded; and it is beyond belief with what various kinds of
 obsequiousness men without children are courted at Rome.

And since among them, as is natural in the
 capital of the world, cruel disorders gain such heights that all the healing
 art is powerless even to mitigate them, it has been provided, as a means of
 safety, that no one shall visit a friend suffering from such a disease, and by
 a few who are more cautious another sufficiently effective remedy has been
 added, namely, that servants sent to inquire after the condition of a man's
 acquaintances who have been attacked by that disorder should not be readmitted
 to their masters' house until they have purified their persons by a bath. So
 fearful are they of a contagion seen only by the eyes of others.

But yet, although these precautions are so strictly
 observed, some men, when invited to a wedding, where gold is put into their
 cupped right hands, although the strength of their limbs is impaired, will run
 even all the way to Spoletium. Such
 are the habits of the nobles.

But of the multitude of lowest condition and
 greatest poverty some spend the entire night in wineshops, some lurk in the
 shade of the awnings of the theatres, which Catulus in his aedileship, imitating Campanian wantonness, was the first to
 spread, or they quarrel with one another in their games at dice, making a
 disgusting sound by drawing back the breath into their resounding nostrils; or,
 which is the favourite among all amusements, from sunrise until evening, in
 sunshine and in rain, they stand open-mouthed, examining minutely the good points or the defects of charioteers and their horses.

And it is most remarkable to see an
 innumerable crowd of plebeians, their minds filled with a kind of eagerness,
 hanging on the outcome of the chariot races. These and similar things prevent
 anything memorable or serious from being done in Rome. Accordingly, I must
 return to my subject.

His lawlessness now more widely extended,
 Caesar became offensive to all good men, and henceforth showing no restraint,
 he harassed all parts of the East, sparing neither ex-magistrates nor the chief
 men of the cities, nor even the plebeians.

Finally, he ordered the death of the leaders of the senate of Antioch in a single writ, enraged because when
 he urged a prompt introduction of cheap prices at an unseasonable time, since
 scarcity threatened, they had made a more vigorous reply then was fitting. And
 they would have perished to a man, had not Honoratus, then count-governor
 of the East, opposed him with firm
 resolution.

This also was a sign of his
 savage nature which was neither obscure nor hidden, that he delighted in cruel
 sports; and sometimes in the Circus, absorbed in six or seven contests, he
 exulted in the sight of boxers pounding each other to death and drenched with
 blood, as if he had made some great gain.

Besides this, his propensity for doing harm was inflamed and incited by a
 worthless woman, who, on being admitted to the palace (as she had demanded) had
 betrayed a plot that was secretly being made against him by
 some soldiers of the lowest condition. Whereupon Constantina, exulting as if
 the safety of her husband were now assured, gave her a reward, and seating her
 in a carriage, sent her out through the palace gates into the public streets,
 in order that by such inducements she might tempt others to reveal similar or
 greater conspiracies.

After this, when Gallus was on the point of
 leaving for Hierapolis, ostensibly to take part in the campaign, and the
 commons of Antioch suppliantly besought him to save them from the fear of a
 famine, which, through many difficulties of circumstance, was then believed to
 be imminent, he did not, after the manner of princes whose widely extended
 power sometimes cures local troubles, make any arrangements or command the
 bringing of supplies from neighbouring provinces; but to the multitude, which
 was in fear of the direst necessity, he delivered up Theophilus, consular
 governor of Syria, who was standing near by, constantly repeating the
 statement, that no one could lack food if the governor did not wish it.

These words increased the audacity of the
 lowest classes, and when the lack of provisions became more acute, driven by
 hunger and rage, they set fire to the pretentious house of a certain Eubulus, a
 man of distinction among his own people; then, as if the governor had been
 delivered into their hands by an imperial edict, they assailed him with kicks
 and blows, and trampling him under foot when he was half-dead, with awful
 mutilation tore him to pieces. After his wretched death each man saw in the end
 of one person an image of his own peril and dreaded a fate
 like that which he had just witnessed.

At
 that same time Serenianus, a former general, through whose inefficiency Celse
 in Phoenicia had been pillaged, as we have described, was justly and legally tried for high treason, and it was
 doubtful by what favour he could be acquitted; for it was clearly proved that
 he had enchanted by forbidden arts a cap which he used to wear, and sent a
 friend of his with it to a prophetic shrine, to seek for omens as to whether
 the imperial power was destined to be firmly and safely his, as he desired.

At that time a twofold evil befell, in
 that an awful fate took off Theophilus, who was innocent, and Serenianus, who
 was deserving of universal execration, got off scotfree, almost without any
 strong public protest.

Constantius, hearing of these events from
 time to time, and being informed of some things by Thalassius, who, as he had now learned, had died a natural death,
 wrote in flattering terms to the Caesar, but gradually withdrew from him his
 means of defence. He pretended to be anxious, since soldiers are apt to be
 disorderly in times of inaction, lest they might conspire for Gallus'
 destruction, and bade him be satisfied with the palace troops only and those of the guards, besides the Targeteers and the
 Household troops. He further ordered Domitianus, a former state treasurer,
 and now prefect, that when he came into
 Syria, he should politely and respectfully urge Gallus, whom he had frequently
 summoned, to hasten to return to Italy.

But when Domitianus had quickened his pace because
 of these instructions and had come to Antioch, passing by the gates of the
 palace in contempt of the Caesar, on whom he ought to have called, he went to
 the general's quarters with the usual pomp, and having for a long time pleaded
 illness, he neither entered the palace nor appeared in public, but remaining in
 hiding he made many plots for Gallus' ruin, adding some superfluous details to
 the reports which from time to time he sent to the emperor.

At last, being invited to the palace and admitted to
 the council, without any preliminary remarks he said inconsiderately and
 coolly: Depart, Caesar and know that, if you delay, I shall at once
 order your supplies and those of your palace to be cut off. Having
 said only this in an insolent tone, he went off in a passion, and although
 often sent for, he never afterwards came into Gallus' presence.

Caesar, angered at this and feeling that such
 treatment was unjust and undeserved, ordered his faithful guards to arrest the prefect. When this became known, Montius,
 who was then quaestor, a spirited man
 but somewhat inclined to moderate measures, having in view the public welfare,
 sent for the foremost members of the palace troops and addressed them in mild
 terms, pointing out that such conduct was neither seemly nor expedient and
 adding in a tone of reproof that if they approved of this course, it would be
 fitting first to overthrow the statues of Constantius and
 then plan with less anxiety for taking the life of the prefect.

On learning this, Gallus, like a serpent attacked by
 darts or stones, waiting now for a last expedient and trying to save his life
 by any possible means, ordered all his troops to be assembled under arms, and
 while they stood in amazement, he said, baring and gnashing his teeth,
 Stand by me, my brave men, who are like myself in danger. Montius with a kind of strange and unprecedented
 arrogance in this loud harangue of his accuses us of being rebels and as
 resisting the majesty of Augustus, no doubt in anger because I ordered an
 insolent prefect, who presumes to ignore what proper conduct requires, to be
 imprisoned, merely to frighten him.

With no further delay the soldiers, as often
 eager for disturbance, first attacked Montius, who lodged close by, an old man
 frail of body and ill besides, bound coarse ropes to his legs, and dragged him
 spread-eagle fashion without any breathing-space all the way to Caesar's
 headquarters.

And in the same access of rage
 they threw Domitianus down the steps, then bound him also with ropes, and tying
 the two together, dragged them at full speed through the broad streets of the
 city. And when finally their joints and limbs were torn asunder, leaping upon
 their dead bodies, they mutilated them in a horrible manner, and at last, as if
 glutted, threw them into the river.

Now
 these men, reckless to the point of madness, were roused to such atrocious
 deeds as they committed by a certain Luscus, curator of the city. He suddenly
 appeared and with repeated cries, like a bawling leader of porters, urged them
 to finish what they had begun. And for that not long
 afterwards he was burned alive.

And because Montius, when about to breathe
 his last in the hands of those who were rending him, cried out upon Epigonus
 and Eusebius, but without indicating their profession or rank, men of the same
 name were sought for with great diligence. And in order that the excitement
 might not cool, a philosopher Epigonus from Cilicia was arrested, and a
 Eusebius, surnamed Pittacas, a vehement orator, from Edessa, although it was
 not these that the quaestor had implicated, but some tribunes of forges,
 who had promised arms in case a
 revolution should be set on foot.

In those
 same days Apollinaris, son-in-law of Domitianus, who a short time before had
 been in charge of Caesar's palace, being sent to Mesopotamia by his
 father-in-law, inquired with excessive interest among the companies of soldiers
 whether they had received any secret messages from Gallus which indicated that
 he was aiming higher; but when he heard what had happened at Antioch, he
 slipped off through Lesser Armenia and made for Constantinople, but from there
 he was brought back by the guards and kept in close confinement.

Now, while these things were happening,
 attention was drawn at Tyre to a royal robe that had been made secretly, but it
 was uncertain who had ordered it or for whose use it was made. Consequently the
 governor of the province at that time, who was the father of Apollinaris and of
 the same name, was brought to trial as his accomplice; and many others were gathered together from various cities and were bowed down
 by the weight of charges of heinous crimes.

And now, when the clarions of internal
 disaster were sounding, the disordered mind of Caesar, turned from
 consideration of the truth, and not secretly as before, vented its rage; and
 since no one conducted the usual examination of the charges either made or
 invented, or distinguished the innocent from association with the guilty, all
 justice vanished from the courts as though driven out. And while the legitimate
 defence of cases was put to silence, the executioner (trustee of plunderings),
 hoodwinking for execution, and confiscation of property ranged everywhere
 throughout the eastern provinces. These I think it now a suitable time to
 review, excepting Mesopotamia, which has already been described in connection
 with the account of the Parthian wars, and Egypt,
 which we will necessarily postpone to another time.

After one passes the summits of Mount Taurus,
 which on the east rise to a lofty height, Cilicia spreads out in widely
 extended plains, a land abounding in products of every kind; and adjoining its
 right side is Isauria, equally blest with fruitful vines and abundant grain,
 being divided in the middle by the navigable river Calycadnus.

This province too, in addition to many towns, is
 adorned by two cities; Seleucia, the work of king Seleucus, and Claudiopolis,
 which Claudius Caesar founded as a colony. For Isaura, which was formerly too
 powerful, was long ago overthrown as a dangerous rebel, and barely shows a few
 traces of its former glory.

Cilicia, however,
 which boasts of the river Cydnus, is ennobled by Tarsus, a fair city; this is
 said to have been founded by Perseus, son of Jupiter, and Danaë, or else by a
 wealthy and high-born man, Sandan by name, who came from Ethiopia. There is
 also Anazarbus, bearing the name of its founder, and Mobsuestia, the abode of
 that famous diviner Mobsus. He, wandering from his fellow-warriors the
 Argonauts when they were returning after carrying off the golden fleece, and
 being borne to the coast of Africa, met a sudden death. Thereafter his heroic
 remains, covered with Punic sod, have been for the most part effective in
 healing a variety of diseases.

These two
 provinces, crowded with bands of brigands, were long ago, during the war with
 the pirates, sent under the yoke by the proconsul Servilius and made to pay tribute. And these regions
 indeed, lying, as it were, upon a promontory, are separated from the eastern
 continent by Mount Amanus.

But the frontier
 of the East, extending a long distance in a straight line, reaches from the
 banks of the Euphrates to the borders of the Nile, being bounded on the left by
 the Saracenic races and on the right exposed to the waves of the sea. Of this
 district Nicator Seleucus took possession and greatly increased it in power,
 when by right of succession he was holding the rule of Persia after the death
 of Alexander of Macedon; and he was a successful and efficient king, as his surname Nicator indicates.

For by taking advantage of the great number of men whom he ruled for a long
 time in peace, in place of their rustic dwellings he built cities of great
 strength and abundant wealth; and many of these, although they are now called
 by the Greek names which were imposed upon them by the will of their founder,
 nevertheless have not lost the old appellations in the Assyrian tongue which
 the original settlers gave them.

And first after Osdroene, which, as has been
 said, I have omitted from this account, Commagene, now called Euphratensis,
 gradually lifts itself into eminence; it is famous for the great cities of Hierapolis, the ancient
 Ninus, and Samosata.

Next Syria spreads for a distance over a
 beautiful plain. This is famed for Antioch, a city know to all the world, and
 without a rival, so rich is it in imported and domestic commodities; likewise
 for Laodicia, Apamia, and also Seleucia, most flourishing cities from their
 very origin.

After this comes Phoenicia, lying at the foot
 of Mount Libanus, a region full of charm and beauty,
 adorned with many great cities; among these in attractiveness and the renown of
 their names Tyre, Sidon and Berytus are conspicuous, and equal to these are
 Emissa and Damascus, founded in days long past.

Now these provinces, encircled by the river Orontes, which, after
 flowing past the foot of that lofty mountain Cassius, empties into the
 Parthenian Sea, 
 were taken from the realms of the Armenians by Gnaeus
 Pompeius, after his defeat of Tigranes, and brought
 under Roman sway.

The last region of the Syrias is Palestine,
 extending over a great extent of territory and abounding in cultivated and
 well-kept lands; it also has some splendid cities, none of which yields to any
 of the others, but they rival one another, as it were, by plumb-line.
 These are Caesarea, which Herodes built in honour of the emperor Octavianus, Eleutheropolis, and Neapolis, along with Ascalon and Gaza, built in a
 former age.

In these districts no navigable
 river is anywhere to be seen, but in numerous places natural warm springs gush
 forth, adapted to many medicinal uses. But these regions also met with a like
 fate, being formed into a province by Pompey, after he had defeated the Jews
 and taken Jerusalem, but left to the jurisdiction of a
 governor.

Adjacent to this region is Arabia, which on
 one side adjoins the country of the Nabataei, a land producing a rich variety
 of wares and studded with strong castles and fortresses, which the watchful
 care of the early inhabitants reared in suitable and readily defended defiles,
 to check the inroads of neighbouring tribes. This region also has, in addition
 to some towns, great cities, Bostra, Gerasa and Philadelphia, all strongly
 defended by mighty walls. It was given the name of a province, assigned a
 governor, and compelled to obey our laws by the emperor Trajan, who, by frequent victories crushed the arrogance of its
 inhabitants when he was waging glorious war with Media and the Parthians.

Cyprus, too, an island far removed from the
 mainland, and abounding in harbours, besides having numerous towns, is made
 famous by two cities, Salamis and Paphos, the one celebrated for its shrines of
 Jupiter, the other for its temple of Venus. This Cyprus is so fertile and so
 abounds in products of every kind, that without the need of any help from
 without, by its native resources alone it builds cargo ships from the very keel
 to the topmast sails, and equipping them completely entrusts them to the deep.

Nor am I loth to say that the Roman
 people in invading that island showed more greed than justice; for King
 Ptolemy, 
 our ally joined to us by a treaty, without any fault of his, merely because of
 the low state of our treasury was ordered to be proscribed, and in consequence
 committed suicide by drinking poison; whereupon the island was made tributary
 and its spoils, as though those of an enemy, were taken aboard our fleet and
 brought to Rome by Cato. I shall now
 resume the thread of my narrative.

Amid this variety of disasters Ursicinus, to
 whose attendance the imperial command had attached me, was summoned from
 Nisibis, of which he was in charge, and was compelled, in spite of his
 reluctance and his opposition to the clamorous troops of flatterers, to
 investigate the accusations in the deadly strife. He was in fact a warrior,
 having always been a soldier and a leader of soldiers, but far removed from the
 wranglings of the forum; accordingly, worried by fear of the
 danger which threatened him, seeing the corrupt accusers and judges with whom
 he was associated all coming forth from the same holes, he informed Constantius
 by secret letters of what was going on furtively or openly, and begged for aid,
 that through fear of it the well-known arrogance of the Caesar might subside.

But by too great caution he had fallen
 into worse snares, as we shall show later, since his rivals patched up
 dangerous plots with Constantius, who was in other respects a moderate emperor,
 but cruel and implacable if anyone, however obscure, had whispered in his ear
 anything of that kind, and in cases of that nature unlike himself.

Accordingly, on the day set for the fatal
 examinations the master of the horse took his seat, ostensibly as a judge,
 attended by others who had been told in advance what was to be done; and here
 and there shorthand writers were stationed who reported every question and
 every answer posthaste to Caesar; and by his cruel orders, instigated by the
 queen, who from time to time poked her face through a curtain, many were done
 to death without being allowed to clear themselves of the charges or to make
 any defence.

First of all, then, Epigonus and
 Eusebius were brought before them and ruined by the affinity of their names;
 for Montius, as I have said, at the very end
 of his life had accused certain tribunes of forges called by those names of
 having promised support to some imminent enterprise.

And Epigonus, for his part, was a philosopher only in his attire, as
 became evident; for when he had tried entreaties to no purpose, when his sides
 had been furrowed and he was threatened with death, by a
 shameful confession he declared that he was implicated in plans which never
 existed, whereas he had neither seen nor heard anything; he was wholly
 unacquainted with legal matters. Eusebius on the contrary, courageously denied
 the charges, and although he was put upon the rack, he remained firm in the
 same degree of constancy, crying out that it was the act of brigands and not of
 a court of justice.

And when, being
 acquainted with the law, he persistently called for his accuser and the usual
 formalities, Caesar, being informed of his demand and regarding his freedom of
 speech as arrogance, ordered that he be tortured as a reckless traducer. And
 when he had been so disembowelled that he had no parts left to torture, calling
 on Heaven for justice and smiling sardonically, he remained unshaken, with
 stout heart, neither deigning to accuse himself nor anyone else; and at last,
 without having admitted his guilt or been convicted, he was condemned to death
 along with his abject associate. And he was led off to execution unafraid,
 railing at the wickedness of the times and imitating the ancient stoic Zeno,
 who, after being tortured for a long time, to induce him to give false witness,
 tore his tongue from its roots and hurled it with its blood and spittle into
 the eyes of the king of Cyprus, who was putting him to the question.

After this, the matter of the royal robe was
 investigated, and when those who were employed in dyeing purple were tortured
 and had confessed to making a short sleeveless tunic to cover the chest, a man
 named Maras was brought in, a deacon, as the Christians call
 them. A letter of his was presented, written in Greek to the foreman of a
 weaving plant in Tyre, strongly urging him to speed up a piece of work; but
 what it was the letter did not say. But although finally Maras also was
 tortured within an inch of his life, he could not be forced to make any
 confession.

So when many men of various
 conditions had been put to the question, some things were found to be doubtful
 and others were obviously unimportant. And after many had been put to death,
 the two Apollinares, father and son, were exiled; but when they had come to a
 place called Craterae, namely, a villa of theirs distant twenty-four miles from
 Antioch, their legs were broken, according to orders, and they were killed.

After their death Gallus, no whit less
 ferocious than before, like a lion that had tasted blood, tried many cases of
 the kind; but of all of these it is not worth while to give an account, for
 fear that I may exceed the limits which I have set myself, a thing which I
 certainly ought to avoid.

While the East was enduring this long
 tyranny, as soon as the warm season began, Constantius, being in his seventh
 consulship with Gallus in his second, set out from Arelate for Valentia, to make war upon the brothers
 Gundomadus and Valomarius, kings of the Alamanni, whose frequent raids were
 devastating that part of Gaul which adjoined their frontiers.

And while he delayed there for a long time, waiting for supplies, the transport of which from Aquitania
 was hindered by spring rains of unusual frequency and by rivers in flood,
 Herculanus came there, one of his body-guard, the son of Hermogenes, formerly
 commander of the cavalry and, as we have before related, torn to pieces in a riot of the people at Constantinople. When
 this man gave a true account of what Gallus and his wife had done, the emperor,
 grieving over the past disasters and made anxious by fear of those to come,
 concealed the distress that he felt as long as he could.

The soldiers, however, who in the meantime had been
 assembled at Châlon, 
 began to rage with impatience at the delay, being the more incensed because
 they lacked even the necessities of life, since the usual supplies had not yet
 been brought.

Therefore Rufinus, who was at
 that time praetorian prefect, 
 was exposed to extreme danger; for he was forced to go in person before the
 troops, who were aroused both by the scarcity and by their natural savage
 temper, and besides were naturally inclined to be harsh and bitter towards men
 in civil positions, in order to pacify them and explain why the
 convoy of provisions was interrupted.

This
 was a shrewd plan, cunningly devised with set purpose, in order that by a plot
 of that kind the uncle of Gallus might
 perish, for fear that so very powerful a man might whet the boldness of his
 nephew and encourage his dangerous designs. But great precautions were taken,
 and when the design was postponed, Eusebius, the grand chamberlain,
 
 was sent to Châlon taking gold with him; when this had been
 secretly distributed among the turbulent inciters of rebellion, the rage of the
 soldiers abated and the safety of the prefect was assured. Then an abundant
 supply of food arrived and the camp was moved on the appointed day.

And so, after surmounting many difficulties, over
 paths many of which were heaped high with snow, they came near to Rauracum
 on the banks of the river
 Rhine. There a great force of the Alamanni opposed them, and hurling weapons
 from all sides like hail, by their superior numbers prevented the Romans from
 making a bridge by joining boats together. And when that was obviously
 impossible, the emperor was consumed with anxious thought and in doubt what
 course to take.

But lo! a guide acquainted
 with the region unexpectedly appeared, and, in return for money, pointed out by
 night a place abounding in shallows, where the river could be crossed. And
 there the army might have been led over, while the enemy's attention was turned
 elsewhere, and devastated the whole country without opposition, had not a few
 men of that same race, who held military positions of high rank, informed their
 countrymen of the design by secret messengers, as some thought.

Now the shame of that suspicion fell upon Latinus,
 count in command of the bodyguard, Agilo, tribune in charge
 of the stable, and Scudilo, commander of the targeteers, who were then highly regarded as having in their hands the
 defence of the state.

But the savages, taking such counsel as the
 immediate circumstances demanded, since the obstinacy which inspired a bold
 resistance was diminished perhaps because the auspices were
 unfavourable or because the authority of the sacrifices forbade an engagement,
 sent their chiefs to sue for peace and pardon for their offences.

Therefore the envoys of both kings were detained and
 the matter was discussed for a long time in secret; and since there was general
 agreement in the opinion that peace which was asked for on reasonable
 conditions ought to be granted, and that it would be expedient to do so under
 the present circumstances, the emperor summoned an assembly of the army,
 intending to say a few words appropriate to the occasion; and taking his place
 upon a tribunal, surrounded by a staff of high officials, he spoke after this
 fashion:

"Let no one, I pray, be surprised, if after
 going through the toil of long marches and getting together great quantities of
 supplies, I now, when approaching the abode of the savages, with my confidence
 in you leading the way, as if by a sudden change of plan have turned to milder
 designs.

For each one of you, according to
 his rank and judgment, upon consideration will find it to be true, that the
 soldier in all instances, however strong and vigorous of body, regards and
 defends only himself and his own life. The commander, on the other hand, has
 manifold duties, since he aims at fairness to all; and being the guardian of
 others' safety, he realises that the interests of the people look to him wholly
 for protection and that therefore he ought eagerly to seize upon all remedies
 which the condition of affairs allows, as though offered to him by the favour
 of Heaven.

To put the matter, then, in a few
 words, and to explain why I have wished you all to be present 
 here together, my loyal fellow-soldiers, receive with favourable ears what I
 shall briefly set forth; for perfect truth is always simple.

The kings and peoples of the Alamanni, in dread of
 the rising progress of your glory, which fame, growing greatly, has spread
 abroad even among the dwellers in far off lands, through the envoys whom you
 see with bowed heads ask for peace and indulgence for past offences. This I,
 being cautious, prudent, and an advisor of what is expedient, think ought to be
 granted them (if I have your consent), for many reasons. First, to avoid the
 doubtful issue of war; then, that we may gain friends in place of enemies, as
 they promise; again, that without bloodshed we may tame their haughty
 fierceness, which is often destructive to the provinces; finally, bearing in
 mind this thought, that not only is the enemy vanquished who falls in battle,
 borne down by weight of arms and strength, but much more safely he who, while
 the trumpet is silent, of his own accord passes under the yoke and learns by
 experience that Romans lack neither courage against rebels nor mildness towards
 suppliants.

In short, I await your decision
 as arbiters, as it were, being myself convinced as a peace-loving prince, that
 it is best temperately to show moderation while prosperity is with us. For,
 believe me, such righteous conduct will be attributed, not to lack of spirit,
 but to discretion and humanity.

No sooner had he finished speaking than the
 whole throng, fully in agreement with the emperor's wish,
 praised his purpose and unanimously voted for peace. They were influenced
 especially by the conviction, which they had formed from frequent campaigns,
 that his fortune watched over him only in civil troubles, but that when foreign
 wars were undertaken, they had often ended disastrously. After this a treaty
 was struck in accordance with the rites of the Alamanni, and when the ceremony
 had been concluded, the emperor withdrew to Mediolanum for his winter
 quarters.

There having laid aside the burden of other
 cares, Constantius began to consider, as his most difficult knot and
 stumbling-block, how to uproot the Caesar by a mighty effort. And as he
 deliberated with his closest friends, in secret conferences and by night, by
 what force or by what devices that might be done before the Caesar's assurance
 should be more obstinately set upon throwing everything into disorder, it
 seemed best that Gallus should be summoned by courteous letters, under pretence
 of very urgent public business, to the end that, being deprived of support, he
 might be put to death without hindrance.

But
 this view was opposed by the groups of fickle flatterers, among whom was
 Arbitio, a man keen and eager in plotting treachery, and Eusebius, at that time
 grand chamberlain, who was sufficiently
 inclined to mischief, and it occurred to them to say that, if Caesar left the
 East, it would be dangerous to leave Ursicinus there, since he would be likely to think of a loftier station, if there were on one
 to restrain him.

And this faction was
 supported by the other royal eunuchs, whose love of gain at that time was
 growing beyond mortal limits. These, while performing duties of an intimate
 nature, by secret whispers supplied fuel for false accusations. They
 overwhelmed that most gallant man with the weight of a grave suspicion,
 muttering that his sons, who were now grown up, were beginning to have imperial
 hopes, being popular because of their youth and their handsome persons and
 through their knowledge of many kinds of weapons, and bodily activity gained
 amidst daily army exercises, besides being known to be of sound judgment; that
 Gallus, while naturally savage, had been incited to deeds of cruelty by persons
 attached to his person, to the end that, when he had incurred the merited
 detestation of all classes, the emblems of empire might be transferred to the
 children of the master of the horse.

When these and similar charges were dinned
 into the emperor's anxious ears, which were always attentive and open to such
 gossip, the turmoil of his mind suggesting many plans, he at last chose the
 following as the best. First, in the most complimentary terms he directed
 Ursicinus to come to him, under pretence that, because of the urgent condition
 of affairs at the time, they might consult together and decide what increase of
 forces was necessary in order to crush the attacks of the Parthian tribes,
 which were threatening war.

And that
 Ursicinus might not suspect any unfriendly action, in case he should come,
 Count Prosper was sent to be his substitute until his return. So, when the
 letter was received and abundant transportation facilities
 were furnished, we hastened at full speed to Mediolanum.

After this the next thing was to summon
 Caesar and induce him to make equal haste, and in order to remove suspicion,
 Constantius with many feigned endearments urged his sister, the Caesar's wife,
 at last to satisfy his longing and visit him. And although she hesitated,
 through fear of her brother's habitual cruelty, yet she set forth, hoping that,
 since he was her own brother, she might be able to pacify him. But after she
 had entered Bithynia, at the station called Caeni Gallicani, she was carried
 off by a sudden attack of fever. After her death the Caesar, considering that
 the support on which he thought he could rely had failed him, hesitated in
 anxious deliberation what to do.

For in the
 midst of his embarrassments and troubles his anxious mind dwelt on this one
 thought, that Constantius, who measured everything by the standard of his own
 opinion, was not one to accept any excuse or pardon mistakes; but, being
 especially inclined to the ruin of his kin, would secretly set a snare for him
 and punish him with death, if he caught him off his guard.

But in such a critical situation and anticipating the
 worst if he were not on the watch, he secretly aimed at the highest rank, if
 any chance should offer; but for a twofold reason he feared treachery on the
 part of those nearest to his person, both because they stood in dread of him as
 cruel and untrustworthy, and because they feared the fortune of Constantius
 which in civil discords usually had the upper hand.

Amid this huge mass of anxieties he received
 constant letters from the emperor, admonishing and begging
 him to come to him and covertly hinting that the commonwealth could not be
 divided and ought not to be, but that each ought to the extent of his powers to
 lend it aid when it was tottering, doubtless referring to the devastation of
 Gaul.

To this he added an example of not so
 very great antiquity, that Diocletian and his colleague
 were obeyed by their Caesars as by attendants, who
 did not remain in one place but hastened about hither and thither, and that in
 Syria Galerius, clad in purple, walked for nearly a mile before the chariot of
 his Augustus when the latter was angry with him.

After many other messengers came Scudilo,
 tribune of the targeteers, a skilled artist in persuasion, under the cloak of a
 somewhat rough nature. He alone of all, by means of flattering words mingled
 with false oaths, succeeded in persuading Gallus to set out, constantly
 repeating with hypocritical expression that his cousin would ardently wish to
 see him, that being a mild and merciful prince he would overlook anything that
 was done through inadvertence; that he would make him a sharer in his rank, to
 be a partner also in the labours which the northern provinces, for a long time
 wearied, demanded.

And since, when the fates
 lay hands upon men, their senses are apt to be dulled and blunted, Gallus was
 roused by these blandishments to the hope of a better destiny, and leaving
 Antioch under the lead of an unpropitious power, he proceeded to go straight
 from the smoke into the fire, as the old proverb has it; and
 entering Constantinople as if in the height of prosperity and security, he
 exhibited horse-races and crowned Thorax the charioteer as victor.

On learning this Constantius was enraged
 beyond all human bounds, and lest by any chance Gallus should become uncertain
 as to the future and should try in the course of his journey to take measures
 for his own safety, all the soldiers in the towns through which he would pass
 were purposely removed.

And at that time
 Taurus, who had been sent to Armenia as quaestor, boldly passed that way
 without addressing him or going to see him. Others, however, visited him by the
 emperor's orders, under pretext of various matters of business, but really to
 take care that he should not be able to make any move or indulge in any secret
 enterprise; among these was Leontius, then quaestor and later prefect of the
 city, Lucillianus, as count commander of the household troops, and a tribune of
 the targeteers called Bainobaudes.

Thus,
 after covering long distances over level country, he had entered Hadrianopolis,
 a city in the region of Mt. Haemus, formerly called Uscudama, and for twelve
 days was recovering his strength, exhausted by his exertions. There he learned
 that certian Theban legions that were passing the winter in near-by towns had
 sent some of their comrades to encourage him by faithful and sure promises to
 remain there, since they were full of confidence in their strength and were
 posted in large numbers in neighbouring encampments; but owing to the watchful
 care of those about him, he could not steal an opportunity of seeing them or
 hearing the message that they brought.

Then,
 as letter followed letter, urging him to leave, making use of
 ten public vehicles, as was directed, and leaving behind all his attendants
 with the exception of a few whom he had brought with him to serve in his
 bedroom and at his table, he was driven to make haste, being without proper
 care of his person and urged on by many, railing from time to time at the
 rashness which had reduced him, now mean and abject, to submit to the will of
 the lowest of mankind.

Yet all this time,
 whenever nature allowed him sleep, his senses were wounded by frightful
 spectres that shrieked about him, and throngs of those whom he had slain, led
 by Domitianus and Montius, would seize him and fling him to the claws of the
 Furies, as he imagined in his dreams.

For
 the mind, when freed from the bonds of the body, being always filled with
 tireless movement, from the underlying thoughts and worries which torment the
 minds of mortals, conjures up the nocturnal visions to which we give the name of phantasies.

And thus with the way opened by the sad
 decree of fate, by which it was ordained that he should be stripped of life and
 rank, he hurried by the most direct way and with relays of horses and came to
 Petobio, a town of Noricum. There all the secret plots were revealed and Count
 Barbatio suddenly made his appearance—he had commanded the household troops
 under Gallus—accompanied by Apodemius, of the secret service, and at the head of soldiers whom Constantius had chosen because they
 were under obligation to him for favours and could not, he
 felt sure, be influenced by bribes or any feeling of pity.

And now the affair was being carried on with
 no disguised intrigue, but where the palace stood without the walls Barbatio
 surrounded it with armed men. And entering when the light was now dim and
 removing the Caesar's royal robes, he put upon him a tunic and an ordinary
 soldier's cloak, assuring him with frequent oaths, as if by the emperor's
 command, that he would suffer no further harm. Then he said to him: Get
 up at once, and having unexpectedly placed him in a private
 carriage, he took him to Histria, near the town of Pola, where in former times,
 as we are informed, Constantine's son Crispus was killed.

And while he was kept there in closest confinement,
 already as good as buried by fear of his approaching end, there hastened to him
 Eusebius, at that time grand chamberlain, Pentadius, the secretary, and
 Mallobaudes, tribune of the guard, to compel
 him by order of the emperor to inform them, case by case, why he had ordered
 the execution of all those whom he had put to death at Antioch.

At this, o'erspread with the pallor of Adrastus,
 he was able to say only that he had
 slain most of them at the instigation of his wife Constantina, assuredly not knowing that when the mother of Alexander the
 Great urged her son to put an innocent man to death and said again and again,
 in the hope of later gaining what she desired, that she had carried him for
 nine months in her womb, the king made this wise answer: Ask some other
 reward, dear mother, for a man's life is not to be weighed against any
 favour.

On hearing this the emperor, smitten with
 implacable anger and resentment, rested all his hopes of
 securing his safety on destroying Gallus; and sending Serenianus, who, as I
 have before shown, had been charged with high treason and acquitted by some
 jugglery or other, and with him Pentadius the secretary and Apodemius of the
 secret service, he condemned him to capital punishment. Accordingly his hands
 were bound, after the fashion of some guilty robber, and he was beheaded. Then
 his face and head were mutilated, and the man who a little while before had
 been a terror to cities and provinces was left a disfigured corpse.

But the justice of the heavenly power was everywhere
 watchful; for not only did his cruel deeds prove the ruin of Gallus, but not
 long afterwards a painful death overtook both of those whose false
 blandishments and perjuries led him, guilty though he was, into the snares of
 destruction. Of these Scudilo, because of an abscess of the liver,
 vomited up his lungs and so died;
 Barbatio, who for a long time had invented false accusations against Gallus,
 charged by the whispers of certain men of aiming higher than the mastership of
 the infantry, was found guilty and by an unwept end made atonement to the
 shades of the Caesar, whom he had treacherously done to death.

These and innumerable other instances of the
 kind are sometimes (and would that it were always so!) the work of Adrastia,
 the chastiser of evil deeds and the rewarder of good
 actions, whom we also call by the second name of Nemesis. She is, as it were,
 the sublime jurisdiction of an efficient divine power, 
 dwelling, as men think, above the orbit of the moon; or as others define her,
 an actual guardian presiding with universal sway over the destinies of
 individual men. The ancient theologians, regarding her as the daughter of
 Justice, say that from an unknown eternity she looks down upon all the
 creatures of earth.

She, as queen of causes
 and arbiter and judge of events, controls the urn with its lots and causes the changes of
 fortune, and sometimes she gives our plans a different result than that at which
 we aimed, changing and confounding many actions. She too, binding the vainly
 swelling pride of mortals with the indissoluble bond of fate, and tilting
 changeably, as she knows how to do, the balance of gain and loss, now bends and
 weakens the uplifted necks of the proud, and now, raising the good from the
 lowest estate, lifts them to a happy life. Moreover, the storied past has given
 her wings in order that she might be thought to come to all with swift speed;
 and it has given her a helm to hold and has put a wheel beneath her feet, in
 order that none may fail to know that she runs through all the elements and
 rules the universe.

By this untimely death, although himself
 weary of his existence, the Caesar passed from life in the twenty-ninth year of
 his age, after a rule of four years. He was born in Etruria at Massa in the
 district of Veternum, being the son of Constantius, the brother of the emperor
 Constantine, and Galla, the sister of Rufinus and Cerealis, who were
 distinguished by the vesture of consul and prefect.

He
 was conspicuous for his handsome person, being well proportioned, with
 well-knit limbs. He had soft golden hair, and although his beard was just
 appearing in the form of tender down, yet he was conspicuous for the dignity of
 greater maturity. But he differed as much from the disciplined character of his
 brother Julian as did Domitian, son of Vespasian, from his brother Titus.

Raised to the highest rank in Fortune's
 gift, he experienced her fickle changes, which make sport of mortals, now
 lifting some to the stars, now plunging them in the depths of Cocytus. But
 although instances of this are innumerable, I shall make cursory mention of
 only a few.

It was this mutable and fickle
 Fortune that changed the Sicilian Agathocles from a potter to a king, and
 Dionysius, once the terror of nations, to the head of an elementary school, at
 Corinth.

She it was that raised Andriscus
 of
 Adramyttium, who was born in a fullery, to the title of the Pseudo-Philip, and
 taught the legitimate son of Perseus the blacksmith's trade as a means of
 livelihood.

She, too, delivered Mancinus, after his
 supreme command, to the Numantians, Veturius to the cruelty of the Samnites,
 and Claudius to the Corsicans, and she subjected Regulus to the savagery of the
 Carthaginians. Through her injustice Pompey, after he had gained the surname
 Great by his glorious deeds, was butchered in Egypt to give
 the eunuchs' pleasure.

Eunus, too, a
 workhouse slave, commanded an army of runaways in Sicily. How many Romans of
 illustrious birth at the nod of that same arbiter of events embraced the knees
 of a Viriathus or a Spartacus! How many heads dreaded by all nations has the fatal
 excutioner lopped off! One is led to prison, another is elevated to
 un-looked-for power, a third is cast down from the highest pinnacle of rank.

But if anyone should desire to know all
 these instances, varied and constantly occurring as they are, he will be mad
 enough to think of searching out the number of the sands and the weight of the
 mountains.

So far as I could investigate the truth, I
 have, after putting the various events in clear order, related what I myself
 was allowed to witness in the course of my life, or to learn by meticulous
 questioning of those directly concerned. The rest, which the text to follow
 will disclose, we shall set forth to the best of our ability with still greater
 accuracy, feeling no fear of critics of the prolixity of our work, as they
 consider it; for conciseness is to be praised only when it breaks off ill-timed
 discursiveness, without detracting at all from an understanding of the course
 of events.

Hardly had Gallus been wholly stripped in
 Noricum, when Apodemius, a fiery inciter of disorder so long as he lived,
 seized and carried off Caesar's shoes, and with such swift relays of horses
 that he killed some of them by over-driving, was the first to arrive in Milan
 as an advance informer. Entering the palace, he cast the shoes at Constantius'
 feet, as if they were the spoils of the slain Parthian king. And on the arrival
 of the sudden tidings, which showed that an apparently hopeless and difficult
 enterprise had been carried out to their satisfaction with perfect ease, the
 highest court officials, as usual turning all their desire to please into
 flattery, extolled to the skies the emperor's valour and good fortune, since at
 his beck two princes, though at different times, Veteranio to wit and Gallus, had been cashiered like common soldiers.

So Constantius, elated by this extravagant
 passion for flattery, and confidently believing that from now on he would be
 free from every mortal ill, swerved swiftly aside from just conduct so
 immoderately that sometimes in dictation he signed himself My
 Eternity, and in writing with his own hand called himself lord of
 the whole world—an expression which, if used by others, ought to have been
 received with just indignation by one who, as he often asserted, laboured with
 extreme care to model his life and character in rivalry with those of the
 constitutional emperors.

For even if he ruled
 the infinity of worlds postulated by Democritus, of which Alexander the Great
 dreamed under the stimulus of Anaxarchus, yet from reading or hearsay he should
 have considered that (as the astronomers unanimously teach) 
 the circuit of the whole earth, which to us seems endless, compared with the
 greatness of the universe has the likeness of a mere tiny point.

And now, after the pitiful downfall of the
 murdered Caesar, the trumpet of court trials sounded and Ursicinus was
 arraigned for high treason, since jealousy, the foe of all good men, grew more
 and more dangerous to his life.

For he fell
 victim to this difficulty, that the emperor's ears were closed for receiving
 any just and easily proved defence, but were open to the secret whispers of
 plotters, who alleged that Constantius' name was got rid of throughout all the
 eastern provinces and that the above-mentioned general was longed for both at
 home and abroad as being formidable to the Persian nation.

Yet in the face of events this high-souled hero stood
 immovable, taking care not to abase himself too abjectly, but lamenting from
 his heart that uprightness was so insecure, and the more depressed for the
 single reason that his friends, who had before been numerous, had deserted him
 for more powerful men, just as lictors are in the habit of passing, as custom
 requires, from magistrates to their successors.

Furthermore, he was attacked with the blandishments of counterfeit courtesy
 by Arbitio, who kept openly calling him his colleague and a brave man, but who
 was exceedingly shrewd in devising deadly snares for a
 straightforward character and was at that time altogether too powerful. For
 just as an underground serpent, lurking below the hidden entrance to its hole,
 watches each passer-by and attacks him with a sudden spring, so he, through
 envy of others' fortune even after reaching the highest military position,
 without ever being injured or provoked kept staining his conscience from an
 insatiable determination to do harm.

So, in
 the presence of a few accomplices in the secret, after long deliberation it was
 privately arranged with the emperor that on the following night Ursicinus
 should be carried off far from the sight of the soldiers and slain without a
 trial, just as in days gone by it is said that Domitius Corbulo was murdered, a
 man who had been a loyal and prudent defender of the provinces amid the
 notorious corruption of Nero's time.

When
 this had been so arranged and the persons appointed for it were awaiting the
 allotted time, the emperor changed his mind in the direction of mercy, and
 orders were given to postpone the wicked deed until after a second
 consultation.

But then the artillery of slander was turned
 against Julian, the future famous emperor, lately brought to account, and he
 was involved, as was unjustly held, in a two-fold accusation: first, that he
 had moved from the estate of Macellum, situated in Cappadocia, into
 the province of Asia, in his desire for a liberal education; and, second, that he had visited his brother
 Gallus as he passed through Constantinople.

And although he cleared himself of these implications
 and showed that he had done neither of these things without warrant, yet he
 would have perished at the instigation of the accursed crew of flatterers, had
 not, through the favour of divine power, Queen Eusebia befriended him; so he
 was brought to the town of Comum, near Milan, and after abiding there for a
 short time, he was allowed to go to Greece for the sake of perfecting his
 education, as he earnestly desired.

Nor were
 there wanting later actions arising from these occurrences which one might say
 had a happy issue, since the accusers were justly punished, or their charges
 came to naught as if void and vain. But it sometimes happened that rich men,
 knocking at the strongholds of the mighty, and clinging to them as ivy does to
 lofty trees, bought their acquittal at monstrous prices; but poor men, who had
 little or no means for purchasing safety, were condemned out of hand. And so
 both truth was masked by lies and sometimes false passed for true.

At that same time Gorgonius also, who had
 been appointed the Caesar's head chamberlain, was brought to trial; and
 although it was clear from his own confession that he had been a party in his
 bold deeds, and sometimes their instigator, yet through a plot of the eunuchs
 justice was overshadowed with a clever tissue of lies, and he slipped out of
 danger and went his way.

While these events were taking place at
 Milan, troops of soldiers were brought from the East to Aquileia together with
 several courtiers, their limbs wasting in chains as they drew feeble breaths
 and prayed to be delivered from longer life amid manifold miseries. For they
 were charged with having been tools of the savagery of Gallus, and it was
 through them, it was believed, that Domitianus and Montius were torn to pieces
 and others after them were driven to swift destruction.

To hear their defence were sent Arbetio and Eusebius,
 then grand chamberlain, both given to inconsiderate boasting, equally unjust
 and cruel. They, without examining anyone carefully or distinguishing between
 the innocent and the guilty, scourged and tortured some and condemned them to
 banishment, others they thrust down to the lowest military rank, the rest they
 sentenced to suffer death. And after filling the tombs with corpses, they
 returned as if in triumph and reported their exploits to the emperor, who in
 regard to these and similar cases was openly inflexible and severe.

Thereupon and henceforth Constantius, as if to upset
 the predestined order of the fates, more eagerly opened his heart and laid it
 bare to the plotters, many in number. Accordingly, numerous gossip - hunters
 suddenly arose, snapping with the jaws of wild beasts at even the highest
 officials, and afterwards at poor and rich indifferently, not like those
 Cibyrate hounds of Verres fawning upon the tribunal of
 only one governor, but afflicting the members of the whole
 commonwealth with a visitation of evils.

Among these Paulus and Mercurius were easily the leaders, the one a Persian by
 origin, the other born in Dacia; Paulus was a notary, Mercurius, a former
 imperial steward, was now a treasurer. And in fact this Paulus, as was told
 before, was nicknamed the Chain, because
 he was invincible in weaving coils of calumny, exerting himself in a wonderful
 variety of schemes, just as some expert wrestlers are in the habit of showing
 excessive skill in their contests.

But
 Mercurius was dubbed Count of Dreams, because, like a slinking,
 biting cur, savage within but peacefully wagging its tail, he would often worm
 his way into banquets and meetings, and if anyone had told a friend that he had
 seen anything in his sleep, when nature roams more freely, Mercurius would give
 it a worse colour by his venomous skill and pour it into the open ears of the
 emperor; and on such grounds a man, as though really chargeable with inexpiable
 guilt, would be beaten down by a heavy burden of accusation.

Since rumour exaggerated these reports and gave them
 wide currency, people were so far from revealing their nightly visions, that on
 the contrary they would hardly admit in the presence of strangers that they had
 slept at all, and certain scholars lamented that they had not been born near
 Mount Atlas, where it is said that dreams are not seen ; but how that happens we may leave to those who are most versed
 in natural science.

Amid these dire aspects of trials and
 tortures there arose in Illyricum another disaster, which 
 began with idle words and resulted in peril to many. At a dinner-party given by
 Africanus, governor of Pannonia Secunda, at Sirmium, certain men who were deep in their cups and
 supposed that no spy was present freely criticized the existing rule as most
 oppressive; whereupon some assured them, as if from portents, that the desired
 change of the times was at hand; others with inconceivable folly asserted that
 through auguries of their forefathers it was meant for them.

One of their number, Gaudentius, of the secret
 service, a dull man but of a hasty disposition,
 had reported the occurrence as serious to Rufinus, who was then chief steward
 of the praetorian prefecture, a man always eager for extreme measures and
 notorious for his natural depravity.

Rufinus
 at once, as though upborne on wings, flew to the emperor's court and inflamed
 him, since he was easily influenced by such suspicions, to such excitement that
 without any deliberation Africanus and all those present at the fatal table
 were ordered to be quickly hoisted up and carried out. That done, the dire
 informer, more strongly desirous of things forbidden, as is the way of mankind,
 was directed to continue for two years in his present service, as he had
 requested.

So Teutomeres, of the emperor's
 bodyguard, was sent with a colleague to seize
 them, and loading them with chains, as he had been ordered, he brought them all
 in. But when they came to Aquileia, Marinus, an ex-drillmaster and now a tribune, who was on furlough at the 
 time, the originator of that mischievous talk and besides a man of hot temper,
 being left in a tavern while things necessary for their journey were preparing,
 and chancing upon a long knife, stabbed himself in the side, at once plucked
 forth his vitals, and so died.

The rest were
 brought to Milan and cruelly tortured; and since they admitted that while
 feasting they had uttered some saucy expressions, it was ordered that they be
 kept in close confinement with some hope (though doubtful) of acquittal. But the members of the
 emperor's guard, after being sentenced to leave the country for exile, since
 Marinus with their connivance had been allowed to die, at the suit of Arbetio
 obtained pardon.

The affair thus ended, war was declared on
 the . . . and Lentienses, tribes of the Alamanni, who
 often made extensive inroads through the Roman frontier defences. On that
 expedition the emperor himself set out and came to Raetia and the Campi Canini;
 and after long and
 careful deliberation it seemed both honorable and expedient that, while he
 waited there with a part of the soldiers, Arbetio, commander of the cavalry,
 with the stronger part of the army should march on, skirting
 the shores of Lake Brigantia, in order to
 engage at once with the savages. Here I will describe the appearance of this
 place as briefly as my project allows.

Between the defiles of lofty mountains the
 Rhine rises and pours with mighty current over high rocks, without receiving
 tributary streams, just as the Nile with headlong descent pours over the
 cataracts. And it could be navigated from its very source, since it overflows
 with waters of its own, did it not run along like a torrent rather than a
 quietly flowing river.

And now rolling to
 level ground and cutting its way between high and widely separated banks, it
 enters a vast round lake, which its Raetian neighbour calls Brigantia;
 this is four hundred and sixty stades long
 and in breadth spreads over an almost equal space; it is inaccessible through
 the bristling woods of the gloomy forest except where that old-time practical
 Roman ability, in spite of the opposition of the savages, the nature of the
 region, and the rigour of the climate, constructed a broad highroad.

Into this pool, then, the river bursts roaring with
 frothing eddies, and cleaving the sluggish quiet of the waters, cuts through
 its midst as if with a boundary line. And as if the element were divided by an
 everlasting discord, without increasing or diminishing the volume which it
 carried in, it emerges with name and force unchanged, and without thereafter
 suffering any contact it mingles with Ocean's flood.

And what is exceeding strange, neither is the
 lake stirred by the swift passage of the waters nor is the hurrying river
 stayed by the foul mud of the lake, and though mingled they cannot be blended
 into one body; but if one's very sight did not prove it to be so, one would not
 believe it possible for them to be kept apart by any power.

In the same way the river Alpheus, rising in Arcadia
 and falling in love with the fountain Arethusa, cleaves the Ionian Sea, as the
 myth tells us, and hastens to the retreat of the beloved nymph.

Arbetio did not wait for the coming of messengers to announce the
 arrival of the savages, although he knew that a dangerous war was on foot, and
 when he was decoyed into a hidden ambuscade, he stood immovable, overwhelmed by
 the sudden mischance.

For the enemy sprang
 unexpectedly out of their lurking-places and without sparing pierced with many
 kinds of weapons everything within reach; and in fact not one of our men could
 resist, nor could they hope for any other means of saving their lives than
 swift flight. Therefore the soldiers, bent on avoiding wounds, straggled here
 and there in disorderly march, exposing their backs to blows. Very many
 however, scattering by narrow by-paths and saved from danger by the protecting
 darkness of the night, when daylight returned recovered their strength and
 rejoined each his own company. In this mischance, so heavy and so unexpected,
 an excessive number of soldiers and ten tribunes were lost.

As a result the Alamanni, elated in spirit, came on
 more boldly the following day against the Roman works; and while the morning
 mist obscured the light they rushed about with drawn swords,
 gnashing their teeth and giving vent to boastful threats. But the targeteers
 suddenly sallied forth, and when they were
 driven back by the opposition of the enemy's battalions, and were at a
 standstill, with one mind they called out all their comrades to the fight.

But when the majority were terrified by
 the evidence of the recent disaster, and Arbetio hesitated, believing that the
 sequel would be dangerous, three tribunes sallied forth together: Arintheus,
 lieutenant-commander of the heavy-armed bodyguard, Seniauchus, leader of a
 squadron of the household cavalry, and Bappo, an officer
 of the veterans.

They with the soldiers under their command,
 devoting themselves on behalf of the common cause, like the Decii of old,
 poured like a torrent upon the enemy, and not in a
 pitched battle, but in a series of swift skirmishes, put them all to most
 shameful flight. And as they scattered with broken ranks and encumbered by
 their haste to escape, they exposed themselves unprotected, and by many a
 thrust of swords and spears were cut to pieces.

And many, as they lay there, slain horse and man together, seemed
 even then to be sitting fast upon the back of their mounts. On seeing this, all
 who had been in doubt about going into battle with their comrades poured forth
 from the camp, and careless of all precaution trod under foot the horde of
 savages, except those whom flight had saved from death,
 trampling on heaps of dead bodies and drenched with the blood of the slain.

The battle thus done and ended, the
 emperor returned in triumph and joy to Milan, to pass the winter.

Now there arises in this afflicted state of
 affairs a storm of new calamities, with no less mischief to the provinces; and
 it would have destroyed everything at once, had not Fortune, arbitress of human
 chances, brought to an end with speedy issue a most formidable uprising.

Since through long neglect Gaul was
 enduring bitter massacres, pillage, and the ravages of fire, as the savages
 plundered at will and no one helped, Silvanus, an infantry commander thought
 capable of redressing these outrages, came there at the emperor's order; and
 Arbetio urged by whatever means he could that this should be hastened, in order
 that the burden of a perilous undertaking might be imposed upon an absent
 rival, whose survival even to this time he looked upon as an affliction.

A certain Dynamius, superintendent of the
 emperor's pack-animals, had asked Silvanus for letters of recommendation to his friends, in
 order to make himself very conspicuous, as if he were one of
 his intimates. On obtaining this request, for Silvanus, suspecting nothing, had
 innocently granted it, he kept the letters, intending to work some mischief at
 the proper time.

So when the abovementioned
 commander was traversing Gaul in the service of the government and driving
 forth the savages, who had now lost their confidence and courage, this same
 Dynamius, being restless in action, like the crafty man he was and practised in
 deceit, devised a wicked plot. He had as abettors and fellow conspirators, as
 uncertain rumours declared, Lampadius, the praetorian prefect, and Eusebius, former keeper of the privy
 purse, who had been nicknamed
 Mattyocopus, and Aedesius, late master of the rolls, all of whom the said prefect had arranged to have called
 to the consulship as his nearest friends. With a sponge he effaced the lines of
 writing, leaving only the signature intact, and wrote above it another text far
 different from the original, indicating that Silvanus in obscure terms was
 asking and urging his assistants within the palace or without official
 position, including both Tuscus Albinus and many more, to help him, aiming as
 he was at a loftier position and soon to mount to the imperial throne.

This packet of letters, thus forged at his
 pleasure to assail the life of an innocent man, the prefect received from
 Dynamius, and coming into the emperor's private room at an
 opportune time and finding him alone, secretly handed it to him, accustomed as
 he was eagerly to investigate these and similar charges. Thereby the prefect
 hoped that he would be rewarded by the emperor, as a most watchful and careful
 guardian of his safety. And when these letters, patched together with cunning
 craft, were read to the consistory, orders were given that those
 tribunes whose names were mentioned in the letters should be imprisoned, and
 that the private individuals should be brought to the capital from the
 provinces.

But Malarichus, commander of the
 gentiles, was at once struck with the unfairness of the procedure, and
 summoning his colleagues, vigorously protested, exclaiming that men devoted to
 the empire ought not to be made victims of cliques and wiles. And he asked that
 he himself—leaving as hostages his relatives and having Mallobaudes, tribune of
 the heavy-armed guard, as surety for his return—might be commissioned to go
 quickly and fetch Silvanus, who was not entering upon any such attempt as those
 most bitter plotters had trumped up. Or as an alternative, he asked that he
 might make a like promise and that Mallobaudes be allowed to hurry there and
 perform what he himself had promised to do.

For he declared that he knew beyond question that, if any outsider should be
 sent, Silvanus, being by nature apprehensive, even when there was nothing
 alarming, would be likely to upset the peace.

But although his advice was expedient and
 necessary, yet he was talking vainly to the winds. For by Arbetio's advice
 Apodemius, an inveterate and bitter enemy of every patriot,
 was sent with a letter to recall Silvanus. He, caring little for what might
 happen, on arriving in Gaul, departed from the instructions given him on his
 setting out and remained there without either interviewing Silvanus or citing
 him to come to court by delivering the letter; and associating with himself the
 fiscal agent of the province, as if the said infantry commander were proscribed
 and now to be executed, he abused his dependents and slaves with the arrogance
 of an enemy.

In the meantime, however, while
 Silvanus' presence was awaited and Apodemius was disturbing the peace,
 Dynamius, in order to maintain the credibility of his wicked inventions with a
 stronger argument, had made up a letter tallying with the one which he had
 presented to the emperor through the prefect, and sent it to the tribune of the
 Cremona armory, in the name of Silvanus and Malarichus; in this letter the
 tribune, as one privy to their secret designs, was admonished to prepare
 everything with speed.

When the tribune had
 read this, hesitating for a long time and puzzling as to what in the world it
 meant (for he did not remember that the men whose letter he had received had
 ever talked with him about any confidential business), he sent the identical
 letter back to Malarichus by the carrier who had brought it, and with him a
 soldier, begging Malarichus to explain openly what he wanted, and not so
 enigmatically. For he declared that, being a somewhat rude and plain man, he
 had not understood what had been obscurely intimated.

Malarichus, on unexpectedly receiving this, being even then
 troubled and sad, and grievously lamenting his own lot and
 that of his fellow-countryman Silvanus, called together the Franks, who at that
 time were numerous and influential in the palace, and now spoke more boldly,
 raising an outcry over the disclosure of the plot and the unveiling of the
 deceit by which their lives were avowedly aimed at.

And on learning this, the emperor decided that the matter should be
 investigated searchingly through the medium of his council and all his
 officers. And when the judges had taken their seats, Florentius, son of
 Nigrinianus, at the time deputy master of the offices, on scrutinizing the script with greater care, and finding a kind
 of shadow, as it were, of the former letters, perceived what had been done, namely, that the earlier text had been
 tampered with and other matter added quite different from what Silvanus had
 dictated, in accordance with the intention of this patched-up forgery.

Accordingly, when this cloud of deceit
 had broken away, the emperor, learning of the events from a faithful report,
 deprived the prefect of his powers, and gave orders that he should be put under
 examination; but he was acquitted through an energetic conspiracy of many
 persons. Eusebius, however, former count of the privy purse, on being put upon the rack, admitted that this had been
 set on foot with his cognizance.

Aedesius, who maintained with stout denial
 that he had known nothing of what was done, got off scot-free. And so at the
 close of the business all those were acquitted whom the incriminating report
 had forced to be produced for trial; in fact Dynamius, as if given distinction
 by his illustrious conduct, was bidden to govern Etruria and Umbria with the
 rank of corrector.

Meanwhile Silvanus, stationed at Cologne and
 learning from his friends' constant messages what Apodemius was undertaking to
 the ruin of his fortunes, knowing the pliant mind of the fickle emperor, and
 fearing lest he should be condemned to death absent and unheard, was put in a
 most difficult position and thought of entrusting himself to the good faith of
 the savages.

But he was prevented by
 Laniogaisus, at that time a tribune, whom I have earlier stated to have been
 the sole witness of Constans' death, while he was serving as a subaltern.
 He assured Silvanus that the Franks, whose fellow-countryman he was,
 would kill him or on receipt of a bribe betray him. So Silvanus, seeing no
 safety under present conditions, was driven to extreme measures, and having
 gradually spoken more boldly with the chief officers, he aroused them by the
 greatness of the reward he promised; then as a temporary expedient he tore the
 purple decorations from the standards of the cohorts and the
 companies, and so mounted to the imperial dignity.

And while this was going on in Gaul, as the
 day was already drawing to its close, an unexpected messenger reached Milan,
 openly declaring that Silvanus, aiming higher than the command of the infantry,
 had won over his army and risen to imperial eminence.

Constantius, struck down by the weight of this unexpected mischance
 as by a thunderbolt of Fate, called a council at about midnight, and all the
 chief officials hastened to the palace. And when no one's mind or tongue was
 equal to showing what ought to be done, mention in subdued tones was made of
 Ursicinus, as a man conspicuous for his sagacity in the art of war, and one who
 had been without reason provoked by serious injustice. And when he had been
 summoned by the master of ceremonies (which is the more honourable way) and had entered the
 council chamber, he was offered the purple to kiss much more graciously than
 ever before. Now it was the emperor Diocletian who was the first to introduce
 this foreign and royal form of adoration, whereas we have read that always
 before our emperors were saluted like the higher officials.

So the man who shortly before with malicious
 slander was called the maelstrom of the East and a seeker after acquisition of
 imperial power through his sons, then became a most politic leader and mighty
 fellow-soldier of Constantine's, and the only person to 
 extinguish the fire; but he was really being attacked under motives honourable,
 to be sure, but yet insidious. For great care was being taken that Silvanus
 should be destroyed as a very brave rebel; or, if that should fail, that
 Ursicinus, already deeply gangrened, should be utterly annihilated, in order
 that a rock so greatly to be dreaded should not be left.

Accordingly, when arrangements were being made for
 hastening his departure, and the general undertook the refutation of the
 charges brought against him, the emperor, forestalling him by a mild address,
 forbade it, declaring that it was not the time for taking up the defence of a
 disputed case, when the urgency of pressing affairs which should be mitigated
 before it grew worse, demanded that parties should mutually be restored to
 their old-time harmony.

Accordingly, after a
 many-sided debate, this point was chiefly discussed, namely, by what device
 Silvanus might be led to think that the emperor even then had no knowledge of
 his action. And they invented a plausible means of strengthening his
 confidence, advising him in a complimentary letter to receive Ursicinus as his
 successor and return with his dignities unimpaired.

After this had been thus settled, Ursicinus was ordered to set
 forth at once, accompanied (as he had requested) by some tribunes and ten of
 the body-guard, to assist the exigencies of the state. Among these I myself was
 one, with my colleague Verinianus; all the rest were relatives and friends.

And when he left, each of us
 attended him for a long distance in fear only for our own safety. But although
 we were, like gladiators, cast before ravening wild beasts, yet
 reflecting that melancholy events after all have this good sequel, that they
 give way to good fortune, we admired that saying of Tully's, delivered even
 from the inmost depths of truth itself, which runs as follows: And
 although it is most desirable that our fortune always remain wholly
 favourable, yet that evenness of life does not give so great a sense of
 satisfaction as when, after wretchedness and disaster, fortune is recalled
 to a better estate.

Accordingly, we hastened by forced marches,
 since the commander-in-chief of the army, in his zeal, wished to appear in the
 suspected districts before any report of the usurpation had made its way into
 Italy. But for all our running haste, Rumour had flown before us by some aerial
 path and revealed our coming; and on arriving at Cologne we found everything
 above our reach.

For since a great crowd
 assembled from all sides gave a firm foundation to the enterprise so timidly
 begun, and large forces had been mustered, it seemed, in view of the state of
 affairs, more fitting that our general should
 complaisantly favour the upstart 
 emperor's purpose and desire to be strengthened in the growth of his power by
 deceptive omens; to the end that by means of manifold devices of flattery his
 feeling of security might be made more complete, and he
 might be caught off his guard against anything hostile.

But the issue of this project seemed difficult; for
 special care had to be observed that the onsets should take advantage of the
 right moment, neither anticipating it nor falling short of it. Since if they
 should break out prematurely, we were all sure to suffer death under a single
 sentence.

However, our general, being kindly received
 and forcing himself-since our very commission bent our necks-formally to
 reverence the high-aiming wearer of the purple, was welcomed as a distinguished
 and intimate friend. In freedom of access and honourable place at the royal
 table he was so preferred to others that he came to be confidentially consulted
 about the most important affairs.

Silvanus
 took it ill that while unworthy men were raised to the consulship and to high
 positions, he and Ursicinus alone, after having toiled through such heavy and
 repeated tasks for the government, had been so scorned that he himself had been
 cruelly harassed in an unworthy controversy through the examination of friends
 of his, and summoned to trial for treason, while Ursicinus, haled back from the
 East, was delivered over to the hatred of his enemies; and these continual
 complaints he made both covertly and openly.

We however were alarmed, in spite of these and similar speeches, at the
 uproarious complaints of the soldiers on every hand, pleading their destitution
 and eager to burst through the passes of the Cottian Alps with all speed.

Amid this perplexing distress of spirit we
 kept casting about in secret investigation for some plan 
 likely to have results; and in the end, after often changing our minds through
 fear, we resolved to search with the greatest pains for discreet
 representatives, to bind our communication with solemn oaths, and try to win
 over the Bracchiati and Cornuti, troops wavering in their allegiance and ready
 to be swayed by any influence for an ample bribe.

Accordingly, the matter was arranged through some common soldiers
 as go-betweens, men who through their very inconspicuousness were suited to
 accomplish it; and just as sunrise was reddening the sky, a sudden group of
 armed men, fired by the expectation of rewards, burst forth; and as usually
 happens in critical moments, made bolder by slaying the sentinels, they forced
 their way into the palace, dragged Silvanus from a chapel where he had in
 breathless fear taken refuge, while on his way to the celebration of a
 Christian service, and butchered him with repeated sword-thrusts.

So fell by this manner of death a general of
 no slight merits, who through fear due to the slanders in which he was ensnared
 during his absence by a clique of his enemies, in order to save his life had
 resorted to the uttermost measures of defence.

For although he held Constantius under obligation through gratitude for that
 timely act of coming over to his side with his soldiers before the battle of
 Mursa, yet he feared him as
 variable and uncertain, although he could point also to the valiant deeds of
 his father Bonitus, a Frank it is true, but one who in the civil war often
 fought vigorously on the side of Constantine against the soldiers of Licinius.

Now it had happened that before anything of the kind was set on foot in Gaul, the people at
 Rome in the Great Circus (whether excited by some story or by some presentiment
 is uncertain) cried out with a loud voice: Silvanus is
 vanquished.

Accordingly, when Silvanus had been slain at
 Cologne, as has been related, the emperor learned of it with inconceivable joy,
 and swollen with vanity and pride, ascribed this also to the prosperous course
 of his own good fortune, in accordance with the way in which he always hated
 brave and energetic men, as Domitian did in times gone by, yet tried to
 overcome them by every possible scheme of opposition.

And so far was he from praising conscientious service, that he
 actually wrote that Ursicinus had embezzled funds from the Gallic treasury,
 which no one had touched. And he had ordered the matter to be closely examined,
 questioning Remigius, who at that time was already auditor of the general's
 office of infantry supplies, and whose fate it was, long afterwards, in the
 days of Valentinian, to take his life with the halter because of the affair of
 the embassy from Tripoli.

After this turn of affairs, Constantius, as
 one that now touched the skies with his head and would control all human
 chances, was puffed up by the grandiloquence of his flatterers, whose number he
 himself increased by scorning and rejecting those who were not adepts in that
 line; as we read of Croesus, that he drove
 Solon headlong out of his kingdom for the reason that he did not know how to
 flatter; and of Dionysius, that he threatened the poet Philoxenus with death, because when the tyrant
 was reading aloud his own silly and unrythmical verses, and
 every one else applauded, the poet alone listened unmoved.

But this fault is a pernicious nurse of vices. For
 praise ought to be acceptable in high places only when opportunity is also
 sometimes given for reproach of things ill done.

And now after this relief the usual trials
 were set on foot, and many men were punished with bonds and chains, as
 malefactors. For up rose that diabolical informer Paulus, bubbling over with
 joy, to begin practising his venomous arts more freely; and when the
 councillors and officers (as was ordered) inquired into the matter, Proculus,
 Silvanus' adjutant, was put upon the rack. Since he was a puny and sickly man,
 every one feared that his slight frame would yield to excessive torture, and
 that he would cause many persons of all conditions to be accused of heinous
 crimes. But the result was not at all what was expected.

For mindful of a dream, in which he was forbidden
 while asleep, as he himself declared, to strike a certain innocent person,
 although tortured to the very brink of death, he neither named nor impeached
 anyone, but steadfastly defended the action of Silvanus, proving by credible
 evidence that he had attempted his enterprise, not driven on from ambition, but
 compelled by necessity.

For he brought
 forward a convincing reason, made clear by the testimony of many persons,
 namely, that four days before Silvanus assumed the badges
 
 of empire, he paid the soldiers and in Constantius' name exhorted them to be
 brave and loyal. From which it was clear that if he were planning to
 appropriate the insignia of a higher rank, he would have bestowed so great a
 quantity of gold as his own gift.

After him
 Poemenius, doomed like evil doers, was haled to execution and perished; he was
 the man (as we have told above) who was
 chosen to protect his fellow-citizens when Treves closed its gates against
 Decentius Caesar. Then the counts Asclepiodotus, Lutto and Maudio
 were put to death, and many others, since the obduracy of the times made an
 intricate investigation into these and similar charges.

While the dire confusion was causing these
 calamities of general destruction, Leontius, governor of the Eternal City, gave
 many proofs of being an excellent judge; for he was prompt in hearing cases,
 most just in his decisions, by nature kindly, although for the sake of
 maintaining his authority he seemed to some to be severe and too apt to
 condemn.

Now the first device for stirring up
 rebellion against him was very slight and trivial. For when the arrest of the
 charioteer Philoromus was ordered, all the commons followed, as if to defend
 their own darling, and with a formidable onslaught set upon
 the governor, thinking him to be timid. But he, firm and resolute, sent his
 officers among them-seized some and put them to the torture, and then without
 anyone protesting or opposing him he punished them with exile to the islands.

And a few days later the people again,
 excited with their usual passion, and alleging a scarcity of wine, assembled at
 the Septemzodium, a much frequented
 spot, where the emperor Marcus Aurelius erected a Nymphaeum of pretentious style. Thither the
 governor resolutely proceeded, although earnestly entreated by all his legal
 and official suite not to trust himself to the self-confident and threatening
 throng, which was still angry from the former disturbance; but he, hard to
 frighten, kept straight on, so boldly that a part of his following deserted
 him, though he was hastening into imminent danger.

Then, seated in his carriage, with every appearance of confidence he
 scanned with keen eyes the faces of the crowds in their tiers, raging on all
 sides of him like serpents, and allowed many insults to be hurled at him; but
 recognising one fellow conspicuous among the rest, of huge stature and
 redheaded, he asked him if he were not Peter, surnamed Valuomeres, as he had
 heard. And when the man had replied in insolent tones that he was none other,
 the governor, who had known him of old as the ringleader of the malcontents, in
 spite of the outcries of many, gave orders to bind his hands behind him and
 hang him up.

On seeing him aloft, vainly begging for the
 aid of his fellows, the whole mob, until then crowded
 together, scattered through the various arteries of the city and vanished so
 completely that this most doughty promoter of riots had his sides well flogged,
 as if in a secret dungeon, and was banished to Picenum. There later he had the
 hardihood to offer violence to a maiden of good family, and, under sentence of
 the governor Patruinus, suffered capital punishment.

During the administration of this Leontius, a
 priest of the Christian religion, Liberius by name, by order of Constantius
 was brought before
 the privy council on the charge of opposing the emperor's commands and the
 decrees of the majority of his colleagues in an affair which I shall run over
 briefly.

Athanasius, at that time bishop of
 Alexandria, was a man who exalted himself above his calling and tried to pry
 into matters outside his province, as persistent rumours revealed; therefore an
 assembly which had been convoked of members of that same sect—a synod, as they
 call it—deposed him from the rank that he held.

For it was reported that, being highly skilled in the interpretation of
 prophetic lots or of the omens indicated by birds, he had sometimes foretold
 future events; and besides this he was also charged with other practices
 repugnant to the purposes of the religion over which he presided.

Liberius, when directed by the emperor's order to
 depose him from his priesthood by endorsing the official decree, though holding
 the same opinion as the rest strenuously objected, crying out that it was the
 height of injustice to condemn a man unseen and unheard, thus, of course,
 openly defying the emperor's will.

For although Constantius, who was always
 hostile to Athanasius, knew that the matter had been carried out, yet he strove
 with eager desire to have it ratified also by the higher power of the bishop of
 the Eternal City; and since he could not obtain this,
 Liberius was spirited away, but only with the greatest difficulty and in the
 middle of the night, for fear of the populace, who were devotedly attached to
 him.

This, then, was the situation at Rome, as the
 preceding text has shown. But Constantius was disquieted by frequent messages
 reporting that Gaul was in desperate case, since the savages were ruinously
 devastating everything without opposition. And after worrying for a long time
 how he might forcibly avert these disasters, while himself remaining in Italy
 as he desired—for he thought it risky to thrust himself into a far—distant
 regionhe at length hit upon the right plan and thought of associating with
 himself in a share of the empire his cousin Julian, who not so very long before had been summoned from the district
 of Achaia and still wore his student's cloak.

When Constantius, driven by the weight of
 impending calamities, admitted his purpose to his intimates, openly declaring
 (what he had never done before) that in his lone state he was giving way before
 so many and such frequent crises, they, being trained to
 excessive flattery, tried to cajole him, constantly repeating that there was
 nothing so difficult that his surpassing ability and a good fortune so nearly
 celestial could not overcome as usual. And several, since the consciousness of
 their offences pricked them on, added that the title of
 Caesar ought henceforth to be avoided, rehearsing what had happened under
 Gallus.

To them in their obstinate resistance
 the queen alone opposed herself, whether she dreaded journeying to a far
 country or with her native intelligence took counsel for the common good, and
 she declared that a kinsman ought to be preferred to every one else. So, after
 much bandying the matter to and fro in fruitless deliberations, the emperor's
 resolution stood firm, and setting aside all bootless discussion, he decided to
 admit Julian to a share in the imperial power.

So when he had been summoned and had arrived, on an appointed day all his
 fellow-soldiers there present were called together, and a platform was erected
 on a lofty scaffolding, surrounded by the eagles and the standards. On this
 Augustus stood, and holding Julian by the right hand, in a quiet tone delivered
 the following address:

We stand before you, valiant defenders of our country, to avenge the
 common cause with one all but unanimous spirit; and how I shall accomplish
 this I shall briefly explain to you, as impartial judges. After the death of those rebellious tyrants whom
 mad fury drove to attempt the designs which they projected, the savages, as
 if sacrificing to their wicked Manes with Roman blood, have forced our
 peaceful frontier and are over-running Gaul, encouraged
 by the belief that dire straits beset us throughout our far-flung empire.
 If this evil therefore, which is
 already creeping on beyond set bounds, is met by the accord of our and your
 wills while time permits, the necks of these proud tribes will not swell so
 high, and the frontiers of our empire will remain inviolate. It remains for
 you to confirm with happy issue the hope of the future which I cherish.
 This Julian, my cousin as you know,
 rightly honoured for the modesty through which he is as dear to us as
 through ties of blood, a young man of ability which is already conspicuous,
 I desire to admit to the rank of Caesar, and that this project, if it seems
 advantageous, may be confirmed also by your assent.

As he was attempting to say more to this
 effect, the assembly interrupted and gently prevented him, declaring as if with
 foreknowledge of the future that this was the will of the supreme divinity
 rather than of any human mind.

And the
 emperor, standing motionless until they became silent, went on with the rest of
 his speech with greater assurance: Since, then, said he,
 your joyful acclaim shows that I have your approval also, let this
 young man of quiet strength, whose temperate behaviour is rather to be
 imitated than proclaimed, rise to receive this honour conferred upon him by
 God's favour. His excellent disposition, trained in all good arts, I seem to
 have fully described by the very fact that I have chosen him. Therefore with
 the immediate favour of the God of Heaven I will invest him with the
 imperial robes.

This he said and then, after having clothed
 Julian in the ancestral purple and proclaimed him Caesar
 to the joy of the army, he thus addressed him, somewhat melancholy in aspect as
 he was, and with careworn countenance:

My brother, dearest to me of all men, you have received in your prime
 the glorious flower of your origin; with increase of my own glory, I admit,
 since I seem to myself more truly great in bestowing almost equal power on a
 noble prince who is my kinsman, than through that power itself. Come, then, to share in pains and perils, and
 undertake the charge of defending Gaul, ready to relieve the afflicted
 regions with every bounty. And if it becomes necessary to engage with the
 enemy, take your place with sure footing amid the standard-bearers
 themselves; be a thoughtful advisor of daring in due season, animate the
 warriors by taking the lead with utmost caution, strengthen them when in
 disorder with reinforcements, modestly rebuke the slothful, and be present
 as a most faithful witness at the side of the strong, as well as of the
 weak. Therefore, urged by the great
 crisis, go forth, yourself a brave man, ready to lead men equally brave. We
 shall stand by each other in turn with firm and steadfast affection, we
 shall campaign at the same time, and together we shall rule over a pacified
 world, provided only God grants our prayers, with equal moderation and
 conscientiousness. You will seem to be present with me everywhere, and I
 shall not fail you in whatever you undertake. In fine, go, hasten, with the
 united prayers of all, to defend with sleepless care the post assigned you,
 as it were, by your country herself.

After this address was ended, no one held
 his peace, but all the soldiers with fearful din struck their shields against
 their knees (this is a sign of complete approval; for when, on the contrary,
 they smite their shields with their spears it is an indication of anger and
 resentment), and it was wonderful with what
 great joy all but a few approved Augustus' choice and with due admiration
 welcomed the Caesar, brilliant with the gleam of the imperial purple.

Gazing long and earnestly on his eyes, at
 once terrible and full of charm, and on his face attractive in its unusual
 animation, they divined what manner of man he would be, as if they had perused
 those ancient books, the reading of which discloses from bodily signs the
 inward qualities of the soul. And that he might be regarded with the greater respect, they neither
 praised him beyond measure nor less than was fitting, and therefore their words
 were esteemed as those of censors, not of soldiers.

Finally, he was taken up to sit with the emperor in his carriage
 and conducted to the palace, whispering this verse from the Homeric song :
 
 
 By purple death I'm seized and fate supreme. 
 
 
 This happened on the sixth of November of the year when Arbetio and Lollianus
 were consuls.

Then, within a few days,
 Helena, the maiden sister of Constantius, was joined in the bonds of wedlock to
 the Caesar; and when everything had been prepared which the
 imminence of his departure demanded, taking a small suite, he set out on the
 first of December, escorted by Augustus as far as the spot marked by two
 columns, lying between Laumello and Pavia, and came by direct marches to Turin.
 There he was staggered by serious news, which had lately been brought to the
 emperor's court but had purposely been kept secret, for fear that the
 preparations might come to nothing.

The news
 stated that Cologne, a city of great renown in Lower Germany, after an
 obstinate siege by the savages in great force, had been stormed and destroyed.

Overwhelmed by sorrow at this, the first
 omen, as it were, of approaching ills, he was often heard to mutter in
 complaining tones that he had gained nothing, except to die with heavier work.

But when he reached Vienne and entered
 the city, all ages and ranks flocked together to receive him with honour, as a
 man both longed for and efficient; and when they saw him afar off, the whole
 populace with the immediate neighbourhood, saluted him as a commander gracious
 and fortunate, and marched ahead of him with a chorus of praise, the more
 eagerly beholding royal pomp in a legitimate prince. And in his coming they
 placed the redress of their common disasters, thinking that some helpful spirit
 had shone upon their desperate condition.

Then an old woman, who had lost her sight, on inquiring who had entered and
 learning that it was the Caesar Julian, cried out that he would repair the
 temples of the Gods.

Now, since—as the lofty bard of Mantua said
 of old—a greater work undertake, a greater train of events ariseth before me, I think now a
 suitable time to describe the regions and situation of the Gauls, for fear that
 amid fiery encounters and shifting fortunes of battle I may treat of matters
 unknown to some and seem to follow the example of slovenly sailors, who are
 forced amid surges and storms to mend their worn sails and rigging, which might
 have been put in order with less danger.

The
 ancient writers, in doubt as to the earliest origin of the Gauls, have left an
 incomplete account of the matter, but later Timagenes, 
 a true Greek in accuracy as well as language, collected out of various books
 these facts that had been long forgotten; which, following his authority, and
 avoiding any obscurity, I shall state clearly and plainly.

Some asserted that the people first seen in these
 regions were Aborigines, called Celts from the name of a beloved king, and
 Galatae (for so the Greek language terms the Gauls) from the name of his
 mother. Others stated that the Dorians, following the earlier Hercules, settled in
 the lands bordering on the Ocean.

The Drysidae say that a part of the people
 was in fact indigenous, but that others also poured in from the remote islands
 and the regions across the Rhine, driven from their homes by continual wars and
 by the inundation of the stormy sea.

Some
 assert that after the destruction of Troy a few of those who fled from the
 Greeks and were scattered everywhere occupied those regions, which were then
 deserted.

But the inhabitants of those
 countries affirm this beyond all else, and I have also read it inscribed upon
 their monuments, that Hercules, the son of Amphytrion, hastened to destroy the
 cruel tyrants Geryon and Tauriscus, of whom one oppressed Spain, the other,
 Gaul; and having overcome them both that he took to wife some high-born women
 and begat numerous children, who called by their own names the districts which
 they ruled.

But in fact a people of Asia from
 Phocaea, to avoid the severity of Harpalus, prefect of king Cyrus, set sail for Italy. A part of them
 founded Velia in Lucania, the
 rest, Massilia in the region of Vienne. Then in
 subsequent ages they established no small number of towns, as their strength
 and resources increased. But I must not discuss varying opinions, which often
 causes satiety.

Throughout these regions men
 gradually grew civilised and the study of the liberal arts flourished,
 initiated by the Bards, the Euhages and the Druids. Now, the Bards sang to the sweet strains
 of the lyre the valorous deeds of famous men composed in heroic verse, but the Euhages, investigating the sublime,
 attempted to explain the secret laws of nature. The Druids, being loftier than
 the rest in intellect, and bound together in fraternal organisations, as the
 authority of Pythagoras determined, were elevated by their investigation of
 obscure and profound subjects, and scorning all things human, pronounced the
 soul immortal.

This country of Gaul, because of its lofty
 chains of mountains always covered with formidable snows, was formerly all but
 unknown to the inhabitants of the rest of the globe, except where it borders on
 the coast; and bulwarks enclose it on every side, surrounding it naturally, as
 if by the art of man.

Now on the southern
 side it is washed by the Tuscan and the Gallic Sea; where it looks up to the
 heavenly Wain, it is separated from the wild nations by the channels of the
 Rhine. Where it lies under the west-sloping sun it is bounded by
 the Ocean and the Pyrenaean heights; and where it rises towards the East it
 gives place to the bulk of the Cottian Alps. There King Cottius, after the
 subjugation of Gaul, lay hidden alone in their defiles, trusting to the
 pathless ruggedness of the region; finally, when his
 disaffection was allayed, and he was admitted to the emperor Octavian's
 friendship, in lieu of a remarkable gift he built with great labour short cuts
 convenient to travellers, since they were midway between other ancient Alpine
 passes, about which I shall later tell what I have learned.

In these Cottian Alps, which begin at the town of
 Susa, there rises a lofty ridge, which scarcely anyone can cross without
 danger.

For as one comes from Gaul it falls
 off with sheer incline, terrible to look upon because of overhanging cliffs on
 either side, especially in the season of spring, when the ice melts and the
 snows thaw under the warmer breath of the wind; then over precipitous ravines
 on either side and chasms rendered treacherous through the accumulation of ice,
 men and animals descending with hesitating step slide forward, and waggons as
 well. And the only expedient that has been devised to ward off destruction is
 this: they bind together a number of vehicles with heavy ropes and hold them
 back from behind with powerful efforts of men or oxen at barely a snail's pace;
 and so they roll down a little more safely. And this, as we have said, happens
 in the spring of the year.

But in winter the
 ground, caked with ice, and as it were polished and therefore slippery, drives
 men headlong in their gait and the spreading valleys in level places, made
 treacherous by ice, sometimes swallow up the traveller. Therefore those that
 know the country well drive projecting wooden stakes along the safer spots, in
 order that their line may guide the traveller in safety. But if these are
 covered with snow and hidden, or are overturned by the
 streams running down from the mountains, the paths are difficult to traverse
 even with natives leading the way.

But from
 the peak of this Italian slope a plateau extends for seven miles, as far as the
 post named from Mars ; from there on another loftier height,
 equally difficult to surmount, reaches to the peak of the Matrona, so called from an accident to a noble lady. After that a
 route, steep to be sure, but easier to traverse extends to the fortress of
 Briançon.

The tomb of the prince, who, as we
 said, built these roads, is at Susa next to the walls, and his shades are
 devoutly venerated for a double reason: because he had ruled his subjects with
 a just government, and when admitted to alliance with the Roman state, procured
 eternal peace for his nation.

And although
 this road which I have described is the middle one, the short cut, and the more
 frequented, yet there are also others, constructed long before at various
 times.

Now the first of these the Theban
 Hercules, when travelling leisurely to destroy
 Geryon and Tauriscus, constructed near the Maritime Alps and gave them the name
 of the Graian Alps. And in like manner he consecrated the
 castle and harbour of Monaco to his lasting memory. Then, later, after the
 passage of many centuries, the name Pennine was devised for these Alps for the
 following reason.

Publius Cornelius Scipio,
 father of the elder Africanus, when the Saguntines,
 famous both for their catastrophies and their loyalty, were besieged by the
 Africans with persistent obstinacy, wishing to help them, crossed to Spain
 with a fleet manned by a strong army. But as the city had been destroyed by a
 superior force, and he was unable
 to overtake Hannibal, who had crossed the Rhone three days before and was
 hastening to the regions of Italy, by swift sailing he crossed the intervening
 space-which is not great-and watched at Genoa, a town of Liguria, for
 Hannibal's descent from the mountains, so that if chance should give him the
 opportunity, he might fight with him in the plain while exhausted by the
 roughness of the roads.

At the same time,
 having an eye to the common welfare, he advised his brother, Gnaeus Scipio, to
 proceed to Spain and hold off Hasdrubal, who was planning to burst forth in
 like manner from that quarter. But Hannibal learned of this from deserters, and
 being of a nimble and crafty wit, came, under the guidance of natives from
 among the Taurini, through the Tricasini and the extreme edge of the Vocontii
 to the passes of the Tricorii. Starting out from there, he made another road,
 where it hitherto had been impassable; he hewed out a cliff which rose to a
 vast height by burning it with flames of immense power and crumbling it by
 pouring on vinegar; then he marched along the river Druentia, dangerous with its
 shifting eddies, and seized upon the district of Etruria. So much about the
 Alps; let us now turn to the rest of the country.

In early times, when these regions lay in
 darkness as savage, they are thought to have been threefold, 
 divided into Celts (the same as the Gauls), the Aquitanians, and the Belgians,
 differing in language, habits and laws.

Now
 the Gauls (who are the Celts) are separated from the Aquitanians by the Garonne
 river, which rises in the hills of the Pyrenees, and after running past many
 towns disappears in the Ocean.

But from the
 Belgians this same nation is separated by the Marne and the Seine, rivers of
 identical size; they flow through the district of Lyons, and after encircling
 in the manner of an island a stronghold of the Parisii called Lutetia,
 they unite in one channel, and flowing on together pour
 into the sea not far from Castra Constantia.

Of all these nations the Belgae had the
 reputation in the ancient writers of being the most valiant, for the reason
 that being far removed from civilised life and not made effeminate by imported
 luxuries, they warred for a long time with the Germans across the Rhine.

The Aquitanians, on the contrary, to whose
 coasts, as being near at hand and peaceable, imported wares are conveyed, had
 their characters weakened to effeminacy and easily came under the sway of Rome.

All the Gauls, ever since under the
 perpetual pressure of wars they yielded to the dictator Julius, have been governed by an
 administration divided into four parts. Of these Gallia Narbonensis by itself
 comprised the districts of Vienne and Lyons; the second had
 control of all Aquitania; Upper and Lower Germany, as well as the Belgians,
 were governed by two administrations at that same time.

But now the provinces over the whole extent of Gaul
 are reckoned as follows: The first province (beginning on the western front) is
 Lower, or Second, Germany, fortified by the wealthy and populous cities of
 Cologne and Tongres.

Next comes First, or
 Upper, Germany where besides other free towns are Mayence and Worms and Spires
 and Strasburg, famous for the disasters of the savages.

After these the First province of Belgium
 displays Metz and Treves, splendid abode of the emperors.

Adjoining this is the Second province of
 Belgium, in which are Amiens, a city eminent above the rest, and Chalôns
 and Rheims.

In the Seine province we see Besançon and Augst, more important than its
 many other towns. The first Lyonnese province is made famous by Lyons,
 Châlon-sur-Saône, Sens, Bourges, and Autun with its huge ancient walls.

As for the second Lyonnese province,
 Rouen and Tours make it distinguished, as well as Evreux and Troyes. The Graian
 and Pennine Alps, not counting towns of lesser note, have Avenche, a city now
 abandoned, to be sure, but once of no slight importance, as is even yet evident
 from its half-ruined buildings. These are the goodly provinces and cities of
 Gaul.

In Aquitania, which trends towards the
 Pyrenees mountains and that part of the Ocean which extends 
 towards Spain, the first province is Aquitania, much adorned by the greatness
 of its cities; leaving out numerous others, Bordeaux and Clermont are
 conspicuous, as well as Saintorige and Poitiers.

The Nine Nations 
 are
 ennobled by Auch and Bazas. In the Narbonese province Eauze, Narbonne, and
 Toulouse hold the primacy among the cities. The Viennese province rejoices in
 the distinction conferred by many cities, of which the most important are
 Vienne itself, Aries and Valence; and joined to these is Marseilles, by whose
 alliance and power we read that Rome was several times supported in severe
 crises.

Near these are Aix-en-Provence,
 Nice, Antibes, and the Isles d'Hyères.

And
 since we have reached these parts in the course of our work, it would be
 unfitting and absurd to say nothing of the Rhone, a river of the greatest
 celebrity. Rising in the Pennine Alps from a plenteous store of springs, the
 Rhone flows in headlong course towards more level places. It hides its banks
 with its own stream and bursts into the lagoon called Lake Leman. This it
 flows through, nowhere mingling with the water outside, but gliding along the
 surface of the less active water on either hand, it seeks an outlet and forces
 a way for itself by its swift onset.

From
 there without any loss of volume it flows through Savoy and the Seine Province, and,
 after going on for a long distance, it grazes the Viennese Province on the left
 side and the Lyonnese on the right side. Next, after describing many meanders,
 it receives the Arar, which they call the Sauconna,
 flowing between Upper Germany and the Seine Province,
 and gives it its own name. This point is the beginning of Gaul, and from there
 they measure distances, not in miles but in leagues.

After this the Rhone, enriched by the tributary waters of the
 Isère, carries very large craft, which are frequently wont to be tossed by
 gales of wind, and having finished the bounds which nature has set for it, its
 foaming waters are mingled with the Gallic Sea through a broad bay which they
 call Ad Gradus at about the
 eighteenth milestone distant from Arles. Let this suffice for the topography of
 the region; I shall now describe the appearance and manners of its people.

Almost all the Gauls are of tall stature,
 fair and ruddy, terrible for the fierceness of their eyes, fond of quarrelling,
 and of overbearing insolence. In fact, a whole band of foreigners will be
 unable to cope with one of them in a fight, if he call in his wife, stronger
 than he by far and with flashing eyes; least of all when she swells her neck
 and gnashes her teeth, and poising her huge white arms, proceeds to rain
 punches mingled with kicks, like shots discharged by the twisted cords of a
 catapult.

The voices of most of them are
 formidable and threatening, alike when they are good-natured or angry. But all
 of them with equal care keep clean and neat, and in those districts,
 particularly in Aquitania, no man or woman can be seen, be she never so poor, in soiled and ragged clothing, as elsewhere.

All ages are most fit for military
 service, and the old man marches out on a campaign with a courage equal to that
 of the man in the prime of life; since his limbs are toughened by cold and
 constant toil, and he will make light of many formidable dangers. Nor does
 anyone of them, for dread of the service of Mars, cut off his thumb, as in
 Italy : there they
 call such men murci, or cowards.

It is a race greedy for wine, devising numerous drinks similar to wine, and
 some among them of the baser sort, with wits dulled by continual drunkenness
 (which Cato's saying pronounced a voluntary kind of madness) rush about in
 aimless revels, so that those words seem true which Cicero spoke when defending
 Fonteius : The
 Gauls henceforth will drink wine mixed with water, which they once thought
 poison.

These regions, and especially those bordering
 on Italy, came gradually and with slight effort under the dominion of Rome;
 they were first essayed by Fulvius, then undermined
 in petty battles by Sextius, and finally subdued by
 Fabius Maximus, on whom the full completion of this
 business (when he had vanquished the formidable tribe of the Allobroges)
 conferred that surname. 
 6. Now the whole of Gaul (except where, as the authority of Sallust informs us, it
 was impassable with marshes), after losses on both sides during ten years of
 war the dictator Caesar subdued and joined to us in an 
 everlasting covenant of alliance. I have digressed too far, but I shall at last
 return to my subject.

After Domitianus was dispatched by a cruel
 death, his successor Musonianus governed the East
 with the rank of pretorian prefect, a man famed for his command of both
 languages, from which he won higher distinction than was expected.

For when Constantine was closely investigating the
 different religious sects, Manichaeans and the like, and no suitable
 interpreter could be found, he chose him, as a person recommended to him as
 competent; and when he had done that duty skilfully, he wished him to be called
 Musonianus, whereas he had hitherto had the name of Strategius. From that
 beginning, having run through many grades of honour, he rose to the prefecture,
 a man intelligent in other respects and satisfactory to the provinces, mild
 also and well-spoken, but on any and every occasion, and especially (which is
 odious) in hard-fought lawsuits and under all circumstances greedily bent upon
 filthy lucre. This became clearly evident (among many other instances) in the
 investigations set on foot regarding the death of Theophilus, governor of
 Syria, who, because of the betrayal of Gallus Caesar, was torn to pieces in an
 onslaught of the rabble upon him; on which occasion sundry poor men were
 condemned, although it was known that they had been away when this happened,
 while the wealthy perpetrators of the foul crime were set free after being
 stripped of their property.

He was matched by Prosper, who was at that
 time still representing the cavalry commander in Gaul and held military authority there, an abject coward and,
 as the comic poet says, scorning artifice in thieving and plundering openly.

While these men were in league and enriching
 themselves by bringing mutual gain one to the other, the Persian generals
 stationed by the rivers, while their king was busied in the farthest bounds of
 his empire, kept raiding our territories with predatory bands, now fearlessly
 invading Armenia and sometimes Mesopotamia, while the Roman officers were
 occupied in gathering the spoils of those who paid them obedience.

While the linked course of the fates was
 bringing this to pass in the Roman world, Julian Caesar at Vienne was admitted
 by Augustus, then consul for the
 eighth time, into the fellowship of the consular fasti. Urged on by his native
 energy, he dreamed of the din of battle and the slaughter of savages, already
 preparing to gather up the broken fragments of the province, if only fortune
 should at last aid him with her favouring breeze.

Accordingly, since the great deeds that he had the courage and good
 fortune to perform in Gaul surpass many valiant achievements of the ancients, I
 shall describe them one by one in progressive order, 
 endeavouring to put in play all the resources of my modest ability, if only
 they will suffice.

Now whatever I shall tell
 (and no wordy deceit adorns my tale, but untrammelled faithfulness to fact,
 based upon clear proofs, composes it) will almost belong to the domain of the
 panegyric.

For some law of a higher life
 seems to have attended this youth from his noble cradle even to his last
 breath. For with rapid strides he grew so conspicuous at home and abroad that
 in his foresight he was esteemed a second Titus, son of Vespasian, in the
 glorious progress of his wars as very like Trajan, mild as Antoninus Pius, and
 in searching out the true and perfect reason of things in harmony with Marcus
 Aurelius, in emulation of whom he moulded his conduct and his character.
 5. And since (as the authority of Cicero informs us) 
 we take delight in the loftiness of all noble arts, as we do of trees,
 but not so much in their roots and stumps, just so the beginnings of
 his surpassing ability were then veiled by many overshadowing features. Yet
 they ought to be preferred to his many admirable later achievements, for the
 reason that while still in early youth, educated like Erechtheus in Minerva's retreat, and drawn from the peaceful shades
 of the Academy, not from a soldier's tent, to the dust of battle, he vanquished
 Germany, subdued the meanders of the freezing Rhine, here shed the blood of
 kings breathing cruel threats, and there loaded their arms with chains.

Accordingly, while he was passing a busy
 winter in the above-mentioned town, in the thick of
 rumours which kept persistently flying about, he learned that the walls of the
 ancient city of Autun, of wide circuit, to be sure, but weakened by the decay
 of centuries, had been besieged by a sudden onset of the savages; and then,
 though the force of soldiers garrisoned there was paralysed, it had been
 defended by the watchfulness of veterans who hurried together forits aid, as it
 often happens that the extreme of desperation wards off imminent danger of
 death.

Therefore, without putting aside his
 cares, and disregarding the servile flattery with which his courtiers tried to
 turn him to pleasure and luxury, after making adequate preparation he reached
 Autun on the 24th of June, like some experienced general, distinguished for
 power and policy, intending to fall upon the savages, who were straggling in
 various directions, whenever chance should give opportunity.

Accordingly, when he held a council, with men present
 who knew the country, to decide what route should be chosen as a safe one,
 there was much interchange of opinion, some saying that they ought to go by
 Arbor others by way of Saulieu
 and Cora. 4. But when some remarked that Silvanus,
 commander of the infantry, with 8000 reserve troops had shortly before passed
 (though with difficulty) by roads shorter but mistrusted because of the heavy
 shade of the branches, the Caesar with the greater confidence made a strong resolve to emulate the daring of that hardy man.

And to avoid any delay, he took only the cuirassiers
 and the
 crossbowmen, who were far from suitable to
 defend a general, and traversing the same road, he came to Auxerre.

There with but a short rest (as his custom was) he
 refreshed himself and his soldiers and kept on towards Troyes; and when troops
 of savages kept making attacks on him, he sometimes, fearing that they might be
 in greater force, strengthened his flanks and reconnoitered; sometimes he took
 advantage of suitable ground, easily ran them down and trampled them under
 foot, capturing some who in terror gave themselves up, while the remainder
 exerted all their powers of speed in an effort to escape. These he allowed to
 get away unscathed, since he was unable to follow them up, encumbered as he was
 with heavy-armed soldiers.

So, as he now had
 firmer hope of success in resisting their attacks, he proceeded among many
 dangers to Troyes, reaching there so unlooked for, that when he was almost
 knocking at the gates, the fear of the widespread bands of savages was such,
 that entrance to the city was vouchsafed only after anxious debate.

And after staying there a short time, out of
 consideration for his tired soldiers, he felt that he ought not to delay, and
 made for the city of Rheims. There he had ordered the whole army to assemble
 with provisions for a month and to await his coming; the place was commanded by
 Ursicinus' successor Marcellus, and Ursicinus himself was directed to serve in
 the same region until the end of the campaign.

Accordingly, after the expression of many various
 opinions, it was agreed to attack the Alamannic horde by way of the Ten Cantons
 with closed ranks; and the soldiers went on in that
 direction with unusual alacrity.

And because
 the day was misty and overcast, so that even objects close at hand could not be
 seen, the enemy, aided by their acquaintance with the country, went around by
 way of a crossroad and made an attack on the two legions bringing up the rear
 of the Caesar's army. And they would nearly have annihilated them, had not the
 shouts that they suddenly raised brought up the reinforcements of our allies.

Then and thereafter, thinking that he
 could cross neither roads nor rivers without ambuscades, Julian was wary and
 hesitant, which is a special merit in grett commanders, and is wont both to
 help and to save their armies.

Hearing
 therefore that Strasburg, Brumath, Saverne, Seltz, Speyer, Worms, and Mayence
 were held by the savages, who were living on their lands (for the towns
 themselves they avoid as if they were tombs surrounded by nets), he
 first of all seized Brumath, but while he was still approaching it a band of
 Germans met him and offered battle.

Julian
 drew up his forces in the form of a crescent, and when the fight began to come
 to close quarters, the enemy were overwhelmed by a double danger; some were
 captured, others were slain in the very heat of the battle, and the rest got
 away, saved by recourse to speed.

Accordingly, as after this no one offered
 resistance, Julian decided to go and recover Cologne, which had been destroyed
 before his arrival in Gaul. In all that region
 there is no city to be seen and no stronghold, except that at the Confluence, a
 place so called because there the river Moselle mingles with the Rhine, there
 is the town of Remagen and a single tower near Cologne itself.

So, having entered Cologne, he did not stir from there until he had overawed
 the Frankish kings and lessened their pugnacity, had made a peace with them
 which would benefit the state meanwhile, and had recovered that very strongly
 fortified city.

Pleased with these
 first-fruits of victory, he passed through the land of the Treveri, and went to
 winter at Sens, a town which was then convenient. There, bearing on his
 shoulders, as the saying is, the burden of a flood of wars, he was distracted by manifold cares—how the soldiers who had
 abandoned their usual posts might be taken back to danger-points, how he might
 scatter the tribes that had conspired to the hurt of the Roman cause, and how
 to see to it that food should not fail his army as it was about to range in
 different directions.

As he was anxiously weighing these problems,
 a host of the enemy attacked, fired with increased hope of taking the town, and
 full of confidence because they had learned from the statements of deserters
 that neither the targeteers nor the gentiles 
 were at hand; for they had been distributed in the towns, so as to be more
 easily provisioned than before.

So, having
 shut the city gates and strengthened a weak section of the walls, Julian could
 be seen day and night with his soldiers among the bulwarks and battlements,
 boiling over with rage and fretting because however often he tried to sally
 forth, he was hampered by the scanty numbers of the troops at hand. Finally,
 after a month the savages withdrew crestfallen, muttering that they had been
 silly and foolish to have contemplated the blockade of the city.

But—a thing to be regarded as a shameful situation
 —while Caesar was in
 jeopardy, Marcellus, master of the horse, although he was stationed in
 neighbouring posts, postponed sending him reinforcements; whereas even if the
 city alone was endangered, to say nothing of the prince's presence there, it
 ought to have been saved from the hardships of blockade by the intervention of
 a large force.

Once relieved of this fear,
 Caesar provided with the greatest efficiency and with unfailing solicitude that
 some rest should follow the long continued toil of the soldiers, a short one
 perhaps, but enough, at least, to restore their strength; and yet that region,
 a wilderness in its extreme destitution through having often
 been ravaged, provided very little suitable for rations.

But when this too had been provided for by his
 ever-watchful care, a happier hope of success was shed upon him, and with
 spirits revived he rose to the achievement of numerous enterprises.

First, then (and a hard thing to accomplish)
 he imposed moderation on himself, and kept to it, as if he were living bound by
 the sumptuary laws which were brought to Rome from the Edicts, that is,
 the wooden tablets, of Lycurgus;
 and when they had long been observed, but were going out of use, the dictator
 Sulla gradually renewed them, taking account of one
 of the sayings of Democritus, that a pretentious table is set by Fortune, a
 frugal one by Virtue.

Furthermore, Cato of
 Tusculum, whose austere manner of living conferred upon him the surname
 Censorius, wisely defined that point, saying: Great care about food
 implies great neglect of virtue.

Lastly, though he constantly read the booklet
 which Constantius, as it sending a stepson to the university, had written with
 his own hand, making lavish provision for what should be spent on Caesar's
 table, he forbade the ordering and serving of pheasants and
 of sow's matrix and udders, contenting himself with the coarse and ordinary
 rations of a common soldier.

So it came about that he divided his nights
 according to a threefold schedule—rest, affairs of state, and the Muses, a
 course which Alexander the Great, as we read, used to practise; but Julian was
 far more self-reliant. For Alexander used to set a bronze basin beside his
 couch and with outstretched arm hold a silver ball over it, so that when the
 coming of sleep relaxed the tension of his muscles, the clanging of the ball as
 it fell might break off his nap.

But Julian
 could wake up as often as he wished, without any artificial means. And when the
 night was half over, he always got up, not from a downy couch or silken
 coverlets glittering with varied hues, but from a rough blanket and rug, which
 the simple common folk call susurna. 
 Then he
 secretly prayed to Mercury, whom the teaching of the theologians stated to be
 the swift intelligence of the universe, arousing the activity of men's minds;
 and in spite of such great lack of material things he paid diligent heed to all
 his public duties.

And after bringing these
 (as his lofty and serious tasks) to an end, he turned to the exercise of his
 intellect, and it is unbelievable with what great eagerness he sought out the
 sublime knowledge of all chiefest things, and as if in search of some sort of
 sustenance for a soul soaring to loftier levels, ran through all the
 departments of philosophy in his learned discussions.

But yet, though he gained full and exhaustive
 knowledge in this sphere, he did not neglect more humble subjects, studying
 poetry to a moderate degree, and rhetoric (as is shown by the undefiled
 elegance and dignity of his speeches and letters) as well as the varied history
 of domestic and foreign affairs. Besides all this he had at his command
 adequate fluency also in Latin conversation.

If, then, it is true (as divers writers report) that King Cyrus and the lyric
 poet Simonides, and Hippias of Elis, keenest of the sophists, had such powerful
 memories because they had acquired that gift by drinking certain potions, we
 must believe that Julian, when only just arrived at manhood, had drained the
 entire cask of memory, if such could be found anywhere. These, then, were the
 nightly evidences of his self-restraint and his virtues.

But how he passed his days in brilliant and
 witty conversation, in preparation for war or in the actual clash of battle, or
 in lofty and liberal improvements in civil administration, shall later be shown
 in detail, each in its proper place.

When
 this philosopher, being a prince, was forced to practise the rudiments of
 military training and learn the art of marching rhythmically in pyrrhic measure
 to the harmony of the pipes, he often used to call on Plato's name, quoting
 that famous old saying: 
 A pack-saddle is put on an ox; that is surely no burden for me.

When the agents had
 been summoned by his order on a festal day to his council chamber, to receive
 their gold with the rest, one of the company took it, not
 (as the custom is) in a fold of his mantle, but in both his open hands.
 Whereupon the emperor said, It is seizing, not accepting, that agents
 understand.

When approached by the parents of a girl who
 had been assaulted, he ordered that her ravisher, if convicted, should be
 banished; and when they complained of the indignity suffered in that he was not
 punished with death, the emperor merely replied: The laws may censure my
 clemency, but it is right for an emperor of very merciful disposition to
 rise above all other laws.

When he was on the point of leaving on a
 campaign, many persons would appeal to him, as having grievances; but he used
 to recommend them to the provincial governors for their hearings. On his return
 he would inquire what had been decided in each case, and with his native
 kindliness would mitigate the punishment of the offences.

Last of all, not to speak of the victories in which
 he routed the savages, who often fell with spirits unbroken, what good he did
 to Gaul, labouring as it was in utmost destitution, appears most clearly from
 this fact: when he first entered those parts, he found that twenty-five pieces
 of gold were demanded by way of tribute from
 every one as a poll- and land-tax; but when he left, seven only for full
 satisfaction of all duties. And on account of this (as if clear sunshine had
 beamed upon them after ugly darkness), they expressed their joy in gaiety and
 dances.

To conclude, we know that to the
 very end of his reign, and of his life, he observed this rule profitably, not
 to remit arrears of tribute by so-called indulgencies. For he
 had learned that by so doing he would somewhat better the
 condition of the rich, since it is generally known that poor people at the very
 beginning of the tax-levying are forced to pay in full without easement.

However, in the midst of these courses of
 wise governing, worthy of the imitation of good emperors, the fury of the
 savages had blazed forth again more than ever.

And as wild beasts accustomed to live by plundering when their guards are
 slack do not cease even when these guards are removed and stronger ones put in
 their place, but ravening with hunger rush upon flocks or herds without regard
 for their own lives: so they too, when they had used up all that they had
 seized by pillage, urged on by hunger, were continually driving off booty, and
 sometimes perishing of want before finding anything.

These were the events in Gaul during that
 year dubious in prospect, but successful in outcome. But in the court of the
 Augustus envy kept barking on every side at Arbetio, as one that would soon
 attain the highest rank and had already prepared the insignia of imperial
 dignity; and a certain count, Verissimus by name, assailed him with unbridled
 outcry, openly charging that although he had risen from the common soldiery to
 the chief military command, he was not satisfied even with this, but thinking
 it was a slight thing, was aiming at the imperial position.

But in particular one Dorus,
 ex-surgeon of the targeteers, kept pursuing him; he it was who (as I stated)
 when promoted under Magnentius to be
 centurion in charge of works of art at Rome, accused
 Adelphius, prefect of the city, of aiming at a higher station.

And when the matter came to an investigation, and
 everything needful for the business was at hand, a proof of the charges was
 looked for; when suddenly, as if by an irregular vote, at the instance of the chamberlains (as persistent rumour reported)
 both those persons under restraint as implicated were released from their
 fetters; Dorus disappeared, and Verissimus at once held his peace, just as when
 on the stage the curtain is lowered and put away.

At that same time Constantius, apprised by
 approaching rumour that when Caesar was blockaded at Sens, Marcellus had not
 brought aid, discharged the latter from the army
 and commanded him to depart to his home. Whereupon Marcellus, as if staggered
 by a grievous insult, began to contrive a plot against Julian, presuming on
 Augustus, whose ears were open to every slander.

And so, when Marcellus was on his way, Eutherius,
 the head chamberlain, was sent immediately after him, to confute him in case he
 should trump up anything. But Marcellus, unware of this, presently came to
 Milan, blustering and making trouble, being a vain talkative fool and all but
 mad; and when admitted to the council, he charged Julian with being arrogant
 and already fitting himself with stronger pinions, so as to soar up higher; for
 thus he spoke with a mighty movement of his body to match his words.

While he was freely forging these accusations,
 Eutherius (as he requested) was brought in, and being commanded to say what he
 wished, modestly and in few words showed that the truth was veiled with lies.
 For while the commander of the heavy-armed infantry (as was believed)
 deliberately held back, Caesar, who had long been blockaded in Sens, had by his
 watchful energy driven back the barbarians; and Eutherius staked his own head
 on the promise that Julian would be a loyal servitor to his superior, so long
 as he should live.

The subject prompts me to add a few facts
 about this same Eutherius, perhaps hardly to be credited, for the reason that
 if a Numa Pompilius or a Socrates should give any good report of a eunuch, and
 should back their statements by a solemn oath, they would be charged with
 having departed from the truth. But among brambles roses spring up, and among
 savage beasts some are tamed. Accordingly, I shall give a brief summary of the
 chief facts known about him.

He was born in
 Armenia of free parents, but when still very young he was kidnapped by hostile
 tribesmen in that neighbourhood, who gelded him and sold him
 to some Roman traders, who brought him to Constantine's palace. There, as he
 grew up, he gradually gave evidence of virtuous living and intelligence. He
 received as much training in letters as might suffice for one of that station;
 conspicuous for his remarkable keenness in devising and solving difficult and
 knotty problems, he had extraordinary powers of memory; he was eager to do
 kindnesses and full of sound counsel. And if the emperor Constans had listened
 to him in times past, when Eutherius had grown up and was already mature, and
 urged honourable and upright conduct upon him, he would have been guilty of no
 faults, or at least of only pardonable ones.

When he had become head chamberlain,
 he would sometimes criticise even Julian, as
 trained in the manners of Asia and therefore inconstant. Finally going into
 retirement, but afterwards summoned to the palace, always temperate and
 especially consistent, he so cultivated the noble virtues of loyalty and
 self-restraint that he was never charged, as the rest have been, with having
 disclosed a secret, unless it were to save another's life, or to have been
 kindled with a desire to increase his wealth.

The result was, that when he presently retired to Rome and grew old there in a
 permanent home, he carried about with him a good conscience as his companion;
 he was honoured and loved by all classes, whereas that type of man, after
 amassing wealth by iniquitous means, usually seeks out secret lurking-places,
 like creatures of darkness shunning the sight of the multitude they have
 wronged.

In unrolling many records of the
 past, to see to which of the eunuchs of old I ought to
 compare him, I could find none. True, there were in times gone by those that
 were loyal and virtuous (although very few), but they were stained with some
 vice or other. For along with the excellent qualities which anyone of them had
 acquired by studious endeavour or natural ability he was either extortionate or
 despicable for his cruelty, or prone to do mischief, or too subservient to the
 rulers, or insolent through pride of power; but of one so well equipped in
 every direction I confess I have neither read nor heard, although I have relied
 on the abundant testimony of our age.

But if
 haply any curious student of ancient history should confront me with
 Menophilus, the eunuch of Mithridates, king of Pontus, let this reminder recall
 to him that nothing was recorded of Menophilus save this one fact, that in the
 supreme crisis he made a glorious showing.

The aforesaid king, after having been defeated in a mighty battle by Pompey and
 the Romans, fled to the kingdom of Colchis; he left his grown daughter,
 Dryptina by name, who was afflicted with a grievous disease, in the fortress of
 Sinhorium under the charge of this Menophilus. He, resorting to every healing
 remedy, entirely cured the girl and was guarding her in complete security for
 her father, when the fortress in which he was beleagured began to be blockaded
 by Mallius Priscus, the Roman commander's lieutenant-general; and when
 Menophilus learned that its defenders were thinking of surrender, fearing lest,
 to her father's reproach, the high-born girl might be taken alive and suffer
 outrage, he killed her and then plunged the sword into his
 own vitals. Now let me return to
 the point from which I digressed.

After Marcellus had been worsted, as I have
 said, and had returned to Serdica, his
 native place, in the camp of Augustus, under pretext of upholding his imperial
 majesty, many abominable acts were committed.

For if anyone consulted a soothsayer about the squeaking of a shrew-mouse, the
 meeting with a weasel on the way, or any like portent, or used some old wife's
 charm to relieve pain (a thing which even medical authority allows), he was
 indicted (from what source he could not guess), was haled into court, and
 suffered death as the penalty.

At about that time a certain slave, Danus by
 name, was accused by his wife on trifling charges merely to intimidate him;
 this woman was approached by Rufinus, who had come to know her in some way or
 other. He was the man who had given certain information that he had learned
 through Gaudentius, one of the agents, and had
 caused the death of Africanus, then governor-general of Pannonia, along with
 his guests, as I have related; he was even then, because
 of his obsequiousness, chief steward of the praetorian prefecture.

This Rufinus (as he kept boastfully saying) led the
 fickle woman, first into shameful relations with him, and
 then into a dangerous deceit; he induced her by a tissue of lies to charge her
 guiltless husband with high treason, and to allege that he had stolen a purple
 robe from Diocletian's tomb and with several accomplices was concealing it.

And having thus framed these matters to
 the destruction of many persons, Rufinus himself, in hope of greater profit,
 flies to the emperor's camp, to stir up his customary scandals. And when the
 fact was divulged, Mavortius, then praetorian prefect, a man of high
 resolution, was bidden to look into the charge with a keen investigation,
 having associated with him, to hear the case in common, Ursulus, count of the
 largesses, likewise a man of praiseworthy
 severity.

So when the affair had been
 exaggerated, after the standard of the times, and after the torture of many
 persons nothing was discovered, and the judges were hesitating in perplexity,
 at last truth, crushed to earth, breathed again, and at the point of necessity
 the woman confessed that Rufinus was the contriver of the whole plot, and did
 not even keep back the shame of her adultery. And at once the laws were
 consulted and the judges, unanimous in their love of right and justice,
 condemned them both to death.

Constantius, on
 learning this, raged and lamented, as if the defender of his own life had
 perished; he sent fast horsemen and commanded Ursulus in threatening terms to
 return to the court. And when he had come there and wished to approach the
 emperor, the courtiers tried to keep him from being able to appear in defence
 of the truth. But he, scorning those who would hold him back, burst through fearlessly and, entering the council-chamber, with frank
 speech and bold heart told what had been done; and by this confidence having
 stopped the mouths of the flatterers, he delivered both the prefect and himself
 from a grave danger.

Then a thing happened in Aquitania which fame
 bruited more widely abroad. A crafty old fellow who was invited to a sumptuous
 and elegant banquet, such as are very frequent in that country, noticed that
 the purple borders of the linen couch-covers were so very broad that the skill
 of the attendants made them seem all one piece, and that the table was covered
 with similar cloths; and by turning the front part of his cloak inward with
 both hands, he so adorned its whole structure, that it resembled an emperor's
 garment ; and this action ruined a rich estate.

With like malice a certain member of the
 secret service in Spain, who also was invited to a dinner, when he heard the
 slaves who were bringing in the evening lights cry (as the manner is):
 May we conquer, 
 gave the expression a serious meaning, and wickedly destroyed a noble
 house.

These and similar actions kept growing more
 and more common, for the reason that Constantius, who was excessively timid and
 fearful for his life, always anticipated that a knife was at his throat, like
 that famous Sicilian despot, Dionysius, who because of that
 same infirmity actually taught his daughters to be barbers, in order that he
 might not trust the shaving of his cheeks to an outsider; and he surrounded the
 little house in which he used to sleep, with a deep trench and spanned it with
 a knockdown bridge, 
 the planks and pins of which he took apart and carried with him when he went
 off to bed; and reassembled them at daybreak, when he was on his way out.

These trumpet-blasts of internal revolt
 were likewise
 increased by powerful courtiers, to the end that they might lay claim to the
 property of condemned persons and incorporate it with their own, and thus have
 the means of encroaching widely on their neighbours.

For as clear proofs bore witness, the first of all to open the jaws
 of those nearest to him was Constantine, but it was Constantius who fattened
 them with the marrow of the provinces.

For
 under him the leading men of every rank were inflamed with a boundless
 eagerness for riches, without consideration for justice or right; among the
 civil functionaries first came Rufinus, the praetorian prefect; among the
 military, Arbetio, master of the horse, and the head-chamberlain Eusebius, . .
 . anus, the
 quaestor, and in Rome itself the members of the Anician family, whose younger
 generation, striving to outdo their forefathers, could never be satisfied with
 even much greater possessions.

But the Persians in the East, rather by
 thieving and robbery than (as their former manner was) in set battles, kept
 driving off booty of men and animals; sometimes they got away with their loot,
 being unexpected; often they lost it, over-marched by the great number of our
 soldiers; occasionally they were not allowed to see anything at all which could
 be carried off.

None the less, Musonianus,
 the praetorian prefect, a man (as I have said before) gifted with many
 excellent accomplishments, but corrupt and easy to turn from the truth by a
 bribe, inquired into the designs of the Persians through emissaries of his who
 were adepts in deceit and incrimination; and he took into his counsels on this
 subject Cassianus, duke of Mesopotamia, who had been toughened by various
 campaigns and dangers.

When the two had
 certain knowledge from the unanimous reports of their scouts that Sapor, on the
 remotest frontiers of his realm, was with difficulty and with great bloodshed
 of his troops driving back hostile tribesmen, they made trial of Tamsapor, the
 commander nearest to our territory, in secret interviews through obscure
 soldiers, their idea being that, if chance gave an opportunity, he should by
 letter advise the king finally to make peace with the Roman emperor, in order
 that by so doing he might be secure on his whole western frontier and could
 rush upon his persistent enemies.

Tamsapor
 consented and relying on this information, reported to the king that
 Constantius, being involved in very serious wars, entreated and begged for
 peace. But while these communications were being sent to the
 Chionitae and Euseni, in whose territories Sapor was passing the winter, a long
 time elapsed.

While these events were so being arranged in
 the Orient and in Gaul in accordance with the times, Constantius, as if the
 temple of Janus had been closed and all his enemies overthrown, was eager to
 visit Rome and after the death of Magnentius to celebrate, without a title, a
 triumph over Roman blood.

For neither in
 person did he vanquish any nation that made war upon him, nor learn of any
 conquered by the valour of his generals; nor did he add anything to his empire;
 nor at critical moments was he ever seen to be foremost, or among the foremost;
 but he desired to display an inordinately long procession, banners stiff with
 gold work, and the splendour of his retinue, to a populace living in perfect
 peace and neither expecting nor desiring to see this or anything like it.

Perhaps he did not know that some of our
 ancient commanders in time of peace were satisfied with the attendance of their
 lictors; but when the heat of battle could tolerate no inaction, one, with the
 mad blast of the winds shrieking, entrusted himself to a fisherman's skiff;
 another, after the example
 of the Decii, vowed his life for the commonwealth; a third in his own person together with common soldiers
 explored the enemy's camp; in short, various among them
 became famous through splendid deeds, so that they commended their glories to
 the frequent remembrance of posterity.

So soon, then, as much had been disbursed in
 regal preparation, and every sort of man had been rewarded according to his
 services, in the second prefecture of Orfitus he passed through Ocriculi,
 elated with his great honours and escorted by formidable troops; he was
 conducted, so to speak, in battle array and everyone's eyes were riveted upon
 him with fixed gaze.

And when he was nearing
 the city, as he beheld with calm countenance the dutiful attendance of the
 senate and the august likenesses of the patrician stock, he thought, not like
 Cineas, the famous envoy of Pyrrhus, that a throng of kings was assembled
 together, but that the sanctuary of the whole world was present before him.

And when he turned from them to the
 populace, he was amazed to see in what crowds men of every type had flocked
 from all quarters to Rome. And as if he were planning to overawe the Euphrates
 with a show of arms, or the Rhine, while the standards preceded him on each
 side, he himself sat alone upon a golden car in the resplendent blaze of
 shimmering precious stones, whose mingled glitter seemed to form a sort of
 shifting light.

And behind the manifold
 others that preceded him he was surrounded by dragons, woven out of purple thread and bound to the golden and
 jewelled tops of spears, with wide mouths open to the breeze and hence hissing
 as if roused by anger, and leaving their tails winding in the wind.

And there marched on either side 
 twin lines of infantrymen with shields and crests gleaming with glittering
 rays, clad in shining mail; and scattered among them were the full-armoured
 cavalry (whom they call clibanarii), 
 all masked, furnished with protecting
 breastplates and girt with iron belts, so that you might have supposed them
 statues polished by the hand of Praxiteles, not men. Thin circles of iron
 plates, fitted to the curves of their bodies, completely covered their limbs;
 so that whichever way they had to move their members, their garment fitted, so
 skilfully were the joinings made.

Accordingly, being saluted as Augustus with favouring shouts, while hills and
 shores thundered out the roar, he never stirred, but showed himself as calm and
 imperturbable as he was commonly seen in his provinces.

For he both stooped when passing through lofty gates
 (although he was very short), and as if his neck were in a vice, he kept the
 gaze of his eyes straight ahead, and turned his face neither to right nor to
 left, but (as if he were a lay figure) neither did he nod when the wheel jolted
 nor was he ever seen to spit, or to wipe or rub his face or nose, or move his
 hands about.

And although this was
 affectation on his part, yet these and various other features of his more
 intimate life were tokens of no slight endurance, granted to him alone, as was
 given to be understood.

Furthermore, that
 during the entire period of his reign he neither took up anyone to sit beside
 him in his car, nor admitted any private person to be his colleague in the
 insignia of the consulship, as other anointed princes did, and many like habits
 which in his pride of lofty conceit he observed as though
 they were most just laws, I pass by, remembering that I set them down when they
 occurred.

So then he entered Rome, the home of empire
 and of every virtue, and when he had come to the Rostra, the most renowned
 forum of ancient dominion, he stood amazed; and on every side on which his eyes
 rested he was dazzled by the array of marvellous sights. He addressed the
 nobles in the senate-house and the populace from the tribunal, and being
 welcomed to the palace with manifold attentions, he enjoyed a longed-for
 pleasure; and on several occasions, when holding equestrian games, he took
 delight in the sallies of the commons, who were neither presumptuous nor
 regardless of their old-time freedom, while he himself also respectfully
 observed the due mean.

For he did not (as in
 the case of other cities) permit the contests to be terminated at his own
 discretion, but left them (as the custom is) to various chances. Then, as he
 surveyed the sections of the city and its suburbs, lying within the summits of
 the seven hills, along their slopes, or on level ground, he thought that
 whatever first met his gaze towered above all the rest: the sanctuaries of
 Tarpeian Jove so far surpassing as things divine excel those of earth; the
 baths built up to the measure of provinces; the huge bulk of the amphitheatre,
 strengthened by its framework of Tiburtine stone, to
 whose top human eyesight barely ascends; the Pantheon like a rounded
 city-district, vaulted over in lofty beauty; and the exalted heights which rise with platforms to
 which one may mount, and bear the likenesses of former emperors; the Temple of the
 City, the Forum of Peace, 
 the Theatre of Pompey, the
 Oleum, the Stadium, and amongst these the other adornments of
 the Eternal City.

But when he came to the
 Forum of Trajan, a construction unique under the heavens, as we believe, and
 admirable even in the unanimous opinion of the gods, he stood fast in
 amazement, turning his attention to the gigantic complex about him, beggaring
 description and never again to be imitated by mortal men. Therefore abandoning
 all hope of attempting anything like it, he said that he would and could copy
 Trajan's steed alone, which stands in the centre of the vestibule, carrying the
 emperor himself.

To this prince Ormisda, who
 was standing near him, and whose departure from Persia I have described above,
 replied with native wit: First, Sire, said
 he, command a like stable to be built, if you can; let the steed which
 you propose to create range as widely as this which we see. When
 Ormisda was asked directly what he thought of Rome, he said that he took
 comfort 
 in this fact alone, that he had learned that even there men
 were mortal.

So then, when the emperor had
 viewed many objects with awe and amazement, he complained of Fame as either
 incapable or spiteful, because while always exaggerating everything, in
 describing what there is in Rome, she becomes shabby. And after long
 deliberation what he should do there, he determined to add to the adornments of
 the city by erecting in the Circus Maximus an obelisk, the provenance and
 figure of which I shall describe in the proper place.

Meanwhile Constantius' sister Helena, wife
 of Julian Caesar, had been brought to Rome under pretence of affection, but the
 reigning queen, Eusebia, was plotting against her; she herself had been
 childless all her life, and by her wiles she coaxed Helena to drink a rare
 potion, so that as often as she was with child she should have a miscarriage.

For once before, in Gaul, when she had
 borne a baby boy, she lost it through this machination: a midwife had been
 bribed with a sum of money, and as soon as the child was born cut the umbilical
 cord more than was right, and so killed it; such great pains and so much
 thought were taken that this most valiant man might have no heir.

Now the emperor desired to remain longer in
 this most majestic abode of all the world, to enjoy freer repose and pleasure;
 but he was alarmed by constant trustworthy reports, stating that the Suebi were
 raiding Raetia and the Quadi Valeria, 
 while the Sarmatians, a tribe most accomplished in
 brigandage, were laying waste Upper Moesia and Lower Pannonia. Excited by this
 news, on the thirtieth day after entering Rome he left the city on May 29th,
 and marched rapidly into Illyricum by way of Tridentum. 21.
 From there he sent Severus, a general toughened by long military experience, to
 succeed Marcellus, and ordered Ursicinus to come to him. The latter received
 the letter with joy and came to Sirmium with his
 companions; and after long deliberations about the peace which Musonianus had
 reported might be established with the Persians, Ursicinus was sent back to the
 Orient with the powers of commander-in-chief; the elder members of our company
 were promoted to the command of his soldiers, while we younger men were
 directed to escort him and be ready to perform whatever he should direct on
 behalf of the commonwealth.

But Julianus Caesar, after having passed a
 troubled winter at Sens, in the year when the
 emperor was consul for the ninth time and he for the second, with the threats
 from the Germans thundering on every side, stirred by favourable omens hastened
 to Rheims. He felt the greater eagerness and pleasure because Severus was
 commanding the army, a man neither insubordinate nor overbearing but well known for his long excellent record in the army, who
 had followed Julian as he advanced straight ahead, as an obedient soldier
 follows his general.

From another direction
 Barbatio, who had been promoted after Silvanus' death to the command of the
 infantry, came from Italy at the emperor's order with twenty-five thousand
 soldiers to Augst.

For it was planned and
 carefully arranged beforehand that the Alamanni, who were raging beyond their
 customary manner and ranging more afield, should be driven into straits as if
 with a pair of pliers by twin forces of our soldiers, and cut to pieces.

But while these well-laid plans were being
 hurried on, the Laeti, a savage tribe skilled in seasonable raids, passed
 secretly between the encampments of both armies and made an unlooked for attack
 on Lyons; and with their sudden onset they would have sacked and burned the
 town, had they not been driven back from the closed gates but made havoc of
 whatever they could find outside the town.

This disaster was no sooner known than Caesar, with quick grasp of the
 situation, sent three squadrons of brave light cavalry and watched three roads,
 knowing that the raiders would doubtless burst forth by them; and his ambuscade
 was not in vain.

For all who passed out by
 those roads were butchered and all their booty recovered intact, and only those
 escaped unharmed who made their way undisturbed past the rampart of Barbatio;
 being allowed so to slip by because Bainobaudes, the tribune, and Valentinian, afterwards emperor, who with the cavalry troops they
 commanded had been ordered to attend to that matter, were forbidden by Cella,
 tribune of the targeteers, who had come to the campaign as Barbatio's
 colleague, to watch the road over which they were informed that the Germans
 would return.

And not content with that, the
 infantry commander, who was a coward and a persistent detractor of Julian's
 reputation, knowing that what he had ordered was against the interests of the
 Roman cause (for when Cella was charged with this, he confessed it), deceived
 Constantius in his report and pretended that these same tribunes had come,
 under the pretext of public business, to tamper with the soldiers whom he had
 been commanding; and for that reason they were cashiered and returned to their
 homes in a private capacity.

At that same time the savages who had
 established their homes on our side of the Rhine, were alarmed by the approach
 of our armies, and some of them skilfully blocked the roads (which are
 difficult and naturally of heavy grades) by barricades of felled trees of huge
 size; others, taking possession of the islands which are scattered in numbers
 along the course of the Rhine, with wild and mournful cries heaped insults upon
 the Romans and Caesar. Whereupon he was inflamed with a mighty outburst of
 anger, and in order to catch some of them, asked Barbatio for seven of the
 ships which he had got ready for building bridges with the intention of
 crossing the river; but Barbatio burned them all, in order that he might be
 unable to give any help.

Finally Julian, learning from the report of some scouts just captured, that now
 in the heat of summer the river could be forded, with words of encouragement
 sent the light-armed auxiliaries with Bainobaudes, tribune of the Cornuti, to
 perform a memorable feat, if fortune would favour them; and they, now wading
 through the shallows, now swimming on their shields, which they put under them
 like canoes, came to a neighbouring island and landing there they butchered everyone
 they found, men and women alike, without distinction of age, like so many
 sheep. Then, finding some empty boats, they rowed on in these, unsteady as they
 were, and raided a large number of such places; and when they were sated with
 slaughter, loaded down with a wealth of booty (a part of which they lost
 through the force of the current) they all came back safe and sound.

And the rest of the Germans, on learning of this,
 abandoned the islands as an unsafe refuge and carried off into the interior
 their families, their grain, and their rude treasures.

From here Julian turned aside to repair the fortress
 called Tres Tabernae, destroyed not long before by the enemy's obstinate
 assault, the rebuilding of which ensured that the Germans could not approach
 the interior of Gaul, as they had been wont to do. And he both finished this
 work sooner than was expected and, for the garrison that was to be stationed
 there, he stored up food for the needs of a whole year, gathered together by
 the hands of the soldiers, not without fear of danger, from the savages' crops.

And not content with that alone, he
 gathered for himself also rations to serve for twenty days.
 For the warriors the more willingly made use of what they had won by their own
 right hands, being greatly incensed because from the supplies which had just
 been brought them they could get nothing, since Barbatio had arrogantly
 appropriated a part of them, when they were passing near him; and piled in a
 heap what remained over and burned it. Whether he did this like an empty-headed
 fool, or at the emperor's bidding brazenly perpetrated his many abominable
 acts, has remained obscure up to this time.

However, it was current rumour everywhere, that Julian was not chosen to
 relieve the distress of Gaul, but that he might meet his death in the cruellest
 of wars, being even then (as it was thought) inexperienced and one who could
 not stand even the clash of arms.

While the
 fortifications of the camp were rapidly rising and part of the soldiers were
 garrisoning the country posts, part gathering in grain warily for fear of
 ambush, a horde of savages, outstripping by their extraordinary speed any
 rumour of their coming, with a sudden attack set upon Barbatio and the army he
 commanded, which was (as has been said) separated from the Gallic camp; and
 they followed them in their flight as far as Augst, and as much farther as they
 could; then, after seizing the greater part of his baggage and pack-animals,
 together with the camp-followers, they returned home again.

And Barbatio, as if he had ended the campaign
 successfully, distributed his soldiers in winter quarters and returned to the
 emperor's court, to frame some charge against Caesar, as was his custom.

When this disgraceful panic had been spread
 abroad, the kings of the Alamanni, Chonodomarius and Vestralpus, as well as
 Urius and Ursicinus, together with Serapio and Suomarius and Hortarius,
 collected all the flower of their forces in one spot and having ordered the
 horns to sound the war note, approached the city of Strasburg, thinking that
 Caesar had retired through fear of the worst, whereas he was even then busily
 employed in his project of completing the fort.

Moreover, as they tossed their heads proudly, their confidence was increased
 by a deserter from the targeteers; who, in fear of punishment for a crime he
 had committed, went over to them after the departure of his defeated leader,
 and informed them that only thirteen thousand soldiers had stayed with Julian;
 and in fact that was the number of his followers, while savage ferocity was
 arousing the frenzy of battle on every side.

Through this deserter's frequent repetition of that statement their confidence
 was raised still higher; they sent delegates to Caesar and imperiously enough
 commanded him to depart from the lands which they had won by valour and the
 sword. But he, a stranger to fear, neither lost his temper nor felt aggrieved,
 but laughing at the presumption of the savages, he detained the envoys until
 the work of fortification was ended and remained steadfast in the same attitude
 of resolution.

Now King Chonodomarius was raising general
 disturbance and confusion, making his presence felt everywhere without limit, a
 leader in dangerous enterprises, lifting up his brows in pride, being as he was
 conceited over frequent successes.

For he
 both met Decentius Caesar on equal terms and defeated him, and had destroyed
 and sacked many wealthy cities, and for a long time freely overran Gaul without
 opposition. To strengthen his confidence, there was added besides the recent
 rout of a general superior in numbers and strength.

For the Alamanni, on seeing the devices of
 their shields, realised that these soldiers, who had given ground before a few
 of their brigands, were the men in fear of whom they had at times in the past
 scattered and fled with heavy losses, before coming to close quarters. All this
 caused Julian worry and anxiety, because at the instance of urgent necessity,
 with the partner of his danger gone, he was forced with only a few (though
 brave) troops to meet swarming tribes.

Already the beams of the sun were reddening
 the sky, and the blare of the trumpets was sounding in unison, when the
 infantry forces were led out at a moderate pace, and to their flank were joined
 the squadrons of cavalry, among whom were the cuirassiers and the archers, a formidable branch of the service.

And since from the place where the Roman standards
 had begun advancing, the distance to the enemy's camp was figured to be
 fourteen leagues—that is, twenty-one miles—Caesar had proper regard for both
 advantage and security, and having recalled his outposts, who had already gone ahead, and having proclaimed silence by the usual
 announcements, with his native calmness of speech he addressed the soldiers,
 who stood about him in companies, as follows:

Regard for maintaining our common safety (to speak most sparingly) urges
 me, a Caesar far from pusillanimous, to urge and entreat you, fellow
 soldiers, to have confidence in our mature and sturdy courage, and to choose
 for all of us rather the path of caution, not the over-hasty and doubtful
 one, if we are to withstand or to repulse what we have to expect. For in the midst of peril, while it is proper
 that young men should be energetic and daring, they should also (when
 occasion requires) be docile and circumspect. Let me therefore in few words
 detail what my opinion is and see if you will give me leave, and your just
 anger upholds it. The day is already
 nearing noon; we are exhausted by the fatigue of the march; steep and blind
 paths will receive us; the moon is waning and the night will be relieved by
 no stars; the country is fairly ablaze with heat and relieved by no supply
 of water. If anyone should grant us the ability to pass through all this
 comfortably, what are we to do when the enemy's swarms rush upon us,
 refreshed as they will be with rest and food and drink? What strength can we
 have, when our limbs are enfeebled with hunger, thirst and toil, to offer
 resistance? Therefore, since even the
 most difficult situations have often been met by timely arrangement, and
 when suitable advice has been taken in good part, heaven-sent remedies have
 frequently restored the condition of affairs which threatened ruin, here, I ask of you, protected by a rampart and a trench
 and with our sentinels picketed, let us rest and for the present enjoy sleep
 and food suitable to the occasion; and then (with God's leave be it spoken)
 let us advance our triumphant eagles and victorious standards at the first
 break of day.

The soldiers did not allow him to finish
 what he was saying, but gnashed and ground their teeth and showed their
 eagerness for battle by striking their spears and shields together, and
 besought him that they might be led against an enemy who was already in sight,
 trusting in the favour of God in Heaven, in their own self-confidence, and in
 the tried valour of their lucky general; and (as the event showed) a sort of
 helpful guardian spirit was urging them to the fray, so long as he could be at
 hand.

To add to this eagerness there was the
 full approval of the high command and especially of Florentius, the praetorian
 prefect, who judged that though it was risky, they must none the less fight
 with hope of success while the savages were standing massed together; but if
 they scattered, the resentment of our soldiers, who, he said, are inclined by
 their native hotness of temper towards insubordination, would be impossible to
 withstand; for that victory (as they thought) should be wrested from their
 hands they would hardly endure without recourse to the last extremity.

Furthermore, our men's confidence had
 been increased by a twofold consideration, since they recalled that during the
 year just elapsed, when the Romans were ranging freely all through the country
 beyond the Rhine, not a man was seen to defend his own home 
 or to make a stand against them; but after blocking the paths everywhere with a
 thick barricade of felled trees, the savages, frost-bitten by winter climate,
 had much ado to live, moving far out of the way; and once the emperor had
 entered into their country they did not dare either to resist or show
 themselves, and obtained peace by suppliant entreaties.

But no one noticed that now the state of the case
 was changed, since then they were threatened with ruin from three sides; the
 emperor was menacing them by way of Raetia, Caesar was near at hand and would
 not allow them to slip out anywhere, and their neighbours (whom civil strife
 had made their enemies) were all but treading on their necks while they were
 hemmed in on all sides. But later, peace was granted and the emperor had
 departed; the source of their quarrels having disappeared, the border tribes
 were now in agreement; and the shameful departure of the Roman commander had
 greatly increased the savageness implanted in them by nature.

In another way also the Roman situation was made
 worse in consequence of the following occurrence: there were two brothers of
 royal blood, who, bound by the obligation of the peace which they had obtained
 from Constantius the year before, dared neither to raise a disturbance nor to
 make any move; but a little later, when one of them, Gundomadus, who was the
 stronger of the two and truer to his promise, had been treacherously murdered,
 all his tribe made common cause with our enemies, and at once the subjects of
 Vadomarius (against his will, as he insisted) united with the armies of the
 savages who were clamouring for war.

So, since the whole army, from the highest
 to the lowest, agreed that then was the suitable time to fight, and did not in
 the least abate their inflexibility of spirit, one of the standard bearers
 suddenly cried: Forward, most fortunate of all Caesars, whither your
 lucky star guides you; in you at last we feel that both valour and good
 counsel are in the field. Leading the way for us like a lucky and valiant
 commander, you will find what the soldier will accomplish when his strength
 is called out to the full, under the eyes of a warlike general, the
 immediate witness of his achievements, if only the favour of the supreme
 deity be present.

On hearing this no delay was permitted, but
 the army moved forward and approached a hill of gentle slope, covered with
 grain already ripe, and not far distant from the banks of the Rhine. From its
 top three of the enemy's cavalry scouts galloped off and hastened to their
 troops, to bring speedy word of the Roman army's approach. But one infantryman,
 who could not keep up with them, was caught through the quickness of our men,
 and reported that the Germans had been crossing the river for three days and
 three nights.

When our leading officers
 espied them, now near at hand, taking their places in close wedge-formation,
 they halted and stood fast, making a solid line, like an impregnable wall, of
 the vanguard, the standard bearers, and the staff-officers; and with like wariness the enemy held their ground in
 wedge-formation.

And
 when (just as the above mentioned deserter had told us) they saw all our
 cavalry opposite them on the right flank, they put all their strongest cavalry
 forces on their left flank in close order. And among them here and there they
 intermingled skirmishers and light-armed infantry, as safe policy certainly
 demanded.

For they realised that one of
 their warriors on horseback, no matter how skilful, in meeting one of our
 cavalry in coat-of-mail, must hold bridle and shield in one hand and brandish
 his spear with the other, and would thus be able to do no harm to a soldier
 hidden in iron armour; whereas the infantry soldier in the very hottest of the
 fight, when nothing is apt to be guarded against except what is straight before
 one, can creep about low and unseen, and by piercing a horse's side throw its
 unsuspecting rider headlong, whereupon he can be slain with little trouble.

Having made this arrangement, they
 provided their right flank with secret and puzzling ambuscades. Now all these
 warlike and savage tribes were led by Chonodomarius and Serapio, kings higher
 than all the rest in authority.

And
 Chonodomarius, who was in fact the infamous instigator of the whole
 disturbance, rode before the left wing with a flame-coloured plume on his
 helmet, a bold man, who relied upon his mighty muscular strength, a huge figure
 wherever the heat of battle was looked for; erect on his foaming steed, he
 towered with a lance of formidable size; made conspicuous above others by the
 gleam of his armour, he was both a doughty soldier and a skilful general beyond
 all the rest.

But the right wing was led by
 Serapio, who was still a young man with downy cheeks, but
 his ability outran his years; he was the son of Mederichus, Chonodomarius'
 brother, a man of the utmost treachery all his life; and he was so named
 because his father, who had for a long time been kept as a hostage in Gaul and
 had been taught certain Greek mysteries, changed his son's original native name
 of Agenarichus to that of Serapio.

These were followed by the kings next in
 power, five in number, by ten princes, with a long train of nobles, and 35,000
 troops levied from various nations, partly for pay and partly under agreement
 to return the service.

And now as the trumpets blared ominously,
 Severus, the Roman general in command of the left wing, on coming near the
 trenches filled with soldiers, from which it had been arranged that the men in
 concealment should rise up suddenly and throw everything into confusion, halted
 fearlessly, and being somewhat suspicious of ambuscades, made no attempt either
 to draw back or to go further.

On seeing
 this, Caesar, who was courageous in the face of the greatest dangers,
 surrounded himself with an escort of two hundred horsemen, as the violence of
 this affair demanded, and with word and action urged the lines of infantry to
 deploy with swift speed.

And since to
 address them all at once was impossible, both on account of the wide extent of
 the field and the great numbers of the multitude that had been brought together
 (and besides he avoided the heavy burden of jealousy, for fear of seeming to
 have affected that which the emperor supposed to be due to himself alone)
 without thought of his own safety he flew past the enemy's
 weapons and by these and similar speeches animated the soldiers, strangers as
 well as acquaintances, to deeds of valour.

There has come now, comrades, the real time for fighting, which you and
 I have long since desired, and which you were just now demanding, when you
 were tumultuously calling for your weapons.

Also, when he had come to others, who were
 stationed behind the standards and in the extreme rear, he said: Behold,
 fellow-soldiers, the long-hoped-for day is now here, forcing us all to wash
 away the old-time stains and restore its due honour to the majesty of Rome.
 These are the savages whom madness and excessive folly have driven on to the
 ruin of their fortunes, doomed as they are to be overwhelmed by our
 might.

In the same way, as he arranged in better
 order others who were experienced by long practice in warfare, he cheered them
 with with such words of encouragement as these: Let us bestir ourselves,
 brave soldiers, and by seasonable valour do away with the reproaches
 inflicted upon our cause, in consideration of which I have hesitatingly
 accepted the title of Caesar.

But whenever he saw any soldiers who were
 calling for the battle-signal out of season, and foresaw that they would by
 their riotous actions break discipline, he said: "I beg of you, do not mar the
 glory of our coming victory by following too eagerly the enemy whom you are
 about to put to flight; and let none yield ground before the extremity of need.
 For I shall surely abandon those who are likely to flee, but I shall be
 inseparably present with those who shall wound their foemen's backs, provided that it be done with regard for judgment and caution.

While he kept often repeating these and
 other words to the same effect, he placed the greater part of his army opposite
 the forefront of the savages, and suddenly there was heard the outcry of the
 German infantry, mingled with indignation, as they shouted with one accord that
 their princes ought to leave their horses and keep company with them, for fear
 that they, if anything adverse should occur, abandoning the wretched herd,
 would easily make shift to escape.

On
 learning of this, Chonodomarius at once sprang down from his horse, and the
 rest, following his example, did the same without delay; for not one of them
 doubted that their side would be victorious.

So, when the call to battle had been
 regularly given on both sides by the notes of the trumpeters, they began the
 fight with might and main; for a time missiles were hurled, and then the
 Germans, running forward with more haste than discretion, and wielding their
 weapons in their right hands, flew upon our cavalry squadrons; and as they
 gnashed their teeth hideously and raged beyond their usual manner, their
 flowing hair made a terrible sight, and a kind of madness shone from their
 eyes. Against them our soldiers resolutely protected their heads with the
 barriers of their shields, and with sword thrusts or by hurling darts
 threatened them with death and greatly terrified them.

And when in the very crisis of the battle the
 cavalry formed massed squadrons valiantly and the infantry stoutly protected
 their flanks by making a front of their bucklers joined fast
 together, clouds of thick dust arose. Then there were various manœuvres, as our
 men now stood fast and now gave ground, and some of the most skilful warriors
 among the savages by the pressure of their knees tried to force their enemy
 back; but with extreme determination they came to hand-to-hand fighting,
 shield-boss pushed against shield, and the sky re-echoed with the loud cries of
 the victors or of the falling. And although our left wing, marching in close
 formation had driven back by main force the onrushing hordes of Germans and was
 advancing with shouts into the midst of the savages, our cavalry, which held
 the right wing, unexpectedly broke ranks and fled; but while the foremost of
 these fugitives hindered the hindmost, finding themselves sheltered in the
 bosom of the legions, they halted, and renewed the battle.

Now that had happened for the reason that while the
 order of their lines was being re-established, the cavalry in coat-of-mail,
 seeing their leader slightly wounded and one of their companions slipping over
 the neck of his horse, which had collapsed under the weight of his armour,
 scattered in whatever direction they could; the cavalry would have caused
 complete confusion by trampling the infantry under foot, had not the latter,
 who were packed close together and intertwined one with the other, held their
 ground without stirring. So, when Caesar had seen from a distance that the
 cavalry were looking for nothing except safety in flight, he spurred on his
 horse and held them back like a kind of barrier.

On recognising him by the purple ensign of a dragon, fitted to the
 top of a very long lance and spreading out like the slough
 of a serpent, the tribune of one of the squadrons stopped, and pale and struck
 with fear rode back to renew the battle.

Whereupon Caesar, as is the custom to do in times of panic, rebuked them mildly
 and said: Whither are we fleeing, my most valiant men? Do you know not
 that flight never leads to safety, but shows the folly of a useless effort?
 Let us return to our companions, to be at least sharers in their coming
 glory, if it is without consideration that we are abandoning them as they
 fight for their country.

By his tactful way of saying this he
 recalled them all to perform their duty as soldiers, following (though with
 some difference) the example of Sulla of old. For when he had led out his
 forces against Mithradates' general Archelaus and was being exhausted by the
 heat of battle and deserted by all his men, he rushed to the front rank, caught
 up a standard, flung it towards the enemy, and cried: Go your way, you
 who were chosen to be companions of my dangers, and to those who ask you
 where I, your general, was left, answer truthfully: ' Fighting alone in
 Boeotia, and shedding his blood for all of us.

Then the Alamanni, having beaten and
 scattered our cavalry, charged upon the front line of the infantry, supposing
 that their courage to resist was now lost and that they would therefore drive
 them back.

But as soon as they came to close
 quarters, the contest continued a long time on equal terms. For the Cornuti and
 the Bracchiati, toughened by long experience in fighting, at once intimidated
 them by their gestures, and raised their mighty battle-cry. This shout in the
 very heat of combat rises from a low murmur and gradually
 grows louder, like waves dashing against the cliffs. Then a cloud of hissing
 javelins flew hither and thither, the dust arose with steady motion on both
 sides and hid the view, so that weapon struck blindly on weapon and body
 against body.

But the savages, thrown into
 disorder by their violence and anger, flamed up like fire, and hacked with
 repeated strokes of their swords at the close-jointed array of shields, which
 protected our men like a tortoise-formation.

On learning this, the Batavians, with the
 Kings 
 (a formidable band) came at
 the double quick to aid their comrades and (if fate would assist) to rescue
 them, girt about as they were, from the instant of dire need; and as their
 trumpets pealed savagely, they fought with all their powers.

But the Alamanni, who enter eagerly into wars, made
 all the greater effort, as if to destroy utterly everything in their way by a
 kind of fit of rage. Yet darts and javelins did not cease to fly, with showers
 of iron-tipped arrows, although at close quarters also blade clashed on blade
 and breastplates were cleft with the sword; the wounded too, before all their
 blood was shed, rose up to some more conspicuous deed of daring.

For in a way the combatants were evenly matched; the
 Alamanni were stronger and taller, our soldiers disciplined by long practice;
 they were savage and uncontrollable, our men quiet and wary, these relying on
 their courage, while the Germans presumed upon their huge size.

Yet frequently the Roman, seem to have been a select
 body of household troops. The Batavians had no kings at this time. driven from his post by the weight of armed men, rose up
 again; and the savage, with his legs giving way from fatigue, would drop on his
 bended left knee and even thus attack his foe, a proof of extreme resolution.

And so there suddenly leaped forth a
 fiery band of nobles, among whom even the kings fought, and with the common
 soldiers following they burst in upon our lines before the rest; and opening up
 a path for themselves they got as far as the legion of the Primani, which was
 stationed in the centrea strong feature called praetorian camp; there our
 soldiers, closely packed and in fully-manned lines. stood their ground fast and
 firm, like towers, and renewed the battle
 with greater vigour; and being intent upon avoiding wounds, they protected
 themselves like murmillos, and with drawn swords pierced the enemy's
 sides, left bare by their frenzied rage.

But
 the enemy strove to lavish their lives for victory and kept trying to break the
 fabric of our line. But as they fell in uninterrupted succession, and the
 Romans now laid them low with greater confidence, fresh savages took the places
 of the slain; but when they heard the frequent groans of the dying, they were
 overcome with panic and lost their courage.

Worn out at last by so many calamities, and now being eager for flight alone,
 over various paths they made haste with all speed to get away, just as sailors
 and passengers hurry to be cast up on land out of the midst
 of the billows of a raging sea, no matter where the wind has carried them; and
 anyone there present will admit that it was a means of escape more prayed for
 than expected.

Moreover, the gracious will
 of an appeased deity was on our side, and our soldiers slashed the backs of the
 fugitives; when sometimes their swords were bent, and no weapons were at hand
 for dealing blows, they seized their javelins from the savages themselves and
 sank them into their vitals; and not one of those who dealt these wounds could
 with their blood glut his rage or satiate his right hand by continual
 slaughter, or take pity on a suppliant and leave him.

And so a great number of them lay there pierced with mortal wounds,
 begging for death as a speedy relief; others half-dead, with their spirit
 already slipping away, sought with dying eyes for longer enjoyment of the
 light; some had their heads severed by pikes heavy as beams, so that they hung
 down, connected only by their throats; some had fallen in their comrades' blood
 on the miry, slippery ground, and although their persons were untouched by the
 steel, they were perishing, buried beneath the heaps of those who kept falling
 above them.

When all this had turned out so
 very successfully, our victorious troops pressed on with greater vigour,
 blunting the edges of their swords with stroke after stroke, while gleaming
 helms and shields rolled about under foot. At last the savages, driven on by
 the utmost extremity, since the heaps of corpses were so high as to block their
 passage, made for the only recourse left, that of the river, which now almost
 grazed their backs.

And since our indefatigable soldiers, running fast even under their
 armour, pressed upon them as they fled, some of them, thinking that by their
 skill in swimming they could save themselves from the dangers, committed their
 lives to the waves. Whereupon Caesar, with swift intelligence foreseeing what
 might happen, joined with the tribunes and higher officers in restraining
 shouts, forbidding any of our men in their over-eager pursuit of the enemy to
 entrust themselves to the eddying flood.

As
 a result it was seen that they stood on the banks and transfixed the Germans
 with various kinds of darts; and if any of them by his speed escaped this
 death, he would sink to the bottom of the river through the weight of his
 struggling body.

And just as in some
 theatrical scene, when the curtain displays many wonderful sights, so now one
 could without apprehension see how some who did not know how to swim clung fast
 to good swimmers; how others floated like logs when they were left behind by
 those who swam faster; and some were swept into the currents and swallowed up,
 so to speak, by the struggling violence of the stream; some were carried along
 on their shields, and by frequently changing their direction avoided the steep
 masses of the onrushing waves, and so after many a risk reached the further
 shores. And at last the reddened river's bed, foaming with the savages' blood,
 was itself amazed at these strange additions to its waters.

While this was thus going on, King
 Chonodomarius found means to get away by slipping through the heaps of corpses
 with a few of his attendants, and hastened at top speed towards the camp which he had boldly pitched near the Roman
 fortifications of Tribunci and Concordia,
 his purpose being to embark in some boats which he
 had sometime before got ready for any emergency, and hide himself away in some
 secret retreat.

And since he could not reach
 his own territories except by crossing the Rhine, he covered his face for fear
 of being recognised and slowly retired. But when he was already nearing the
 river-bank and was skirting a lagoon which had been flooded with marsh water,
 in order to get by, his horse stumbled on the muddy and sticky ground and he
 was thrown off; but although he was fat and heavy, he quickly escaped to the
 refuge of a neighbouring hill. But he was recognised (for he could not conceal
 his identity, being betrayed by the greatness of his former estate); and
 immediately a cohort with its tribune followed him with breathless haste and
 surrounded the wooded height with their troops and cautiously invested it,
 afraid to break in for fear that some hidden ambush might meet them among the
 dark shadows of the branches.

On seeing them
 he was driven to the utmost fear and surrendered of his own accord, coming out
 alone; and his attendants, two hundred in number, with three of his closest
 friends, thinking it a disgrace to survive their king, or not to die for their
 king if an emergency required it, gave themselves up to be made prisoners.

And as the savages are by nature humble
 in adversity and overbearing in success, subservient as he now was to another's
 will he was dragged along pale and abashed, tongue-tied by the consciousness of
 his crimes—how vastly different from the man who, after
 savage and woeful outrages, trampled upon the ashes of Gaul and threatened many
 dire deeds.

So the battle was thus finished by the
 favour of the supreme deity; the day had already ended and the trumpet sounded;
 the soldiers, very reluctant to be recalled, encamped near the banks of the
 Rhine, protected themselves by numerous rows of shields, and enjoyed food and
 sleep.

Now there fell in this battle on the
 Roman side two hundred and forty-three soldiers and four high officers:
 Bainobaudes, tribune of the Cornuti, and also Laipso; and Innocentius,
 commander of the mailed cavalry, and one unattached tribune, whose name is not
 available to me. But of the Alamanni there were counted six thousand corpses
 lying on the field, and heaps of dead, impossible to reckon, were carried off
 by the waves of the river.

Thereupon, since
 Julian was a man of greater mark than his position, and more powerful in his
 deserts than in his command, he was hailed as Augustus by the unanimous
 acclamation of the entire army; but he rebuked the soldiers for their
 thoughtless action, and declared with an oath that he neither expected nor
 desired to attain that honour.

And to
 enhance their rejoicing over their success, he called an assembly and offered
 rewards, and then courteously gave orders that Chonodomarius should be brought
 before him; the king at first bowed down and then humbly prostrated himself on
 the ground; and when he begged for forgiveness in his native tongue, he was
 told to be of good courage.

And a few days
 later he was conducted to the emperor's court and thence
 sent to Rome; there in the Castra Peregrina, which is on the Caelian Hill, he
 died from senile decay.

On the successful outcome of these exploits,
 so numerous and so important, some of the courtiers in Constantius' palace
 found fault with Julian, in order to please the emperor himself, or facetiously
 called him Victorinus, on the ground that, although he was modest in making
 reports whenever he led the army in battle, he often mentioned defeats of the
 Germans.

And between piling on empty praise,
 and pointing to what was clearly evident, they as usual puffed up the emperor,
 who was naturally conceited, by ascribing whatever was done anywhere in the
 world to his favourable auspices.

As a
 consequence, he was elated by the grandiloquence of his sycophants, and then
 and later in his published edicts he arrogantly lied about a great many
 matters, frequently writing that he alone (although he had not been present at
 the action) had both fought and conquered, and had raised up the suppliant
 kings of foreign nations. If, for example, when he himself was then in Italy,
 one of his generals had fought bravely against the Persians, he would make no
 mention of him in the course of a very long account, but would send out letters
 wreathed in laurel to the detriment of the provinces, indicating with odious self-praise that he had fought
 in the front ranks.

In short, there are
 extant statements filed among the public records of this emperor, in which
 ostentatious reports are given, of his boasting and exalting himself to the
 sky. When
 this battle was fought near Strasburg, although he was
 distant forty days' march, in his description of the fight he falsely asserts
 that he arranged the order of battle, and stood among the standard-bearers, and
 drove the barbarians headlong, and that Chonodomarius was brought to him,
 saying nothing (Oh, shameful indignity!) of the glorious deeds of Julian, which
 he would have buried in oblivion, had not fame been unable to suppress his
 splendid exploits, however much many people would have obscured them.

After this conclusion of the variety of
 events which I have now summarised the young warrior, with mind at ease, since
 the Rhine flowed on peacefully after the battle of Strasburg, took care to keep
 birds of prey from devouring the bodies of the slain; and he gave orders that
 they should all be buried without distinction. Then, having dismissed the
 envoys, who (as we have related) had brought some insolent messages before the
 battle, he returned to Savernes.

From there
 he ordered the booty, with all the captives, to be taken to Metz and kept there
 until his return; he was himself planning to go to Mayence with the purpose of
 building a bridge, crossing the Rhine, and searching out the 
 savages on their own ground, since he had left none of them in our territory;
 but he was opposed by the protests of the army. However, by his eloquence and
 the charm of his language he won them over and converted them to his will. For
 their affection, warmer after their experiences with him, prompted them to
 follow willingly one who was a fellow-soldier in every task, a leader brilliant
 in his prestige, and accustomed to prescribe more drudgery for himself than for
 a common soldier, as was clearly evident. And as soon as they came to the place
 above mentioned, crossing the river on the bridges which they made, they
 possessed themselves of the enemy's country.

But the savages, thunderstruck at the vastness of the feat, since they little
 expected that they could be molested, settled as they were amid undisturbed
 peace, gave anxious thought to what might threaten their own fortunes, in view
 of the destruction of the others; and so under pretence of a prayer for peace,
 with the purpose of avoiding the brunt of the first onslaught, they sent envoys
 with set speeches, to declare the harmonious validity of the treaties with
 them; but for some unknown design that they suddenly formed they changed their
 minds, and by other messengers whom they forced to come post haste, they
 threatened our men with most bitter warfare, unless they should withdraw from
 their territory.

On learning this from a sure source, Caesar
 at the first quiet of nightfall embarked eight hundred soldiers on small, swift
 boats, so that they might go up the Rhine for a distance of twenty stadia,
 disembark, and with fire and sword lay waste whatever they
 could find.

This arrangement thus made, at
 the very break of day the savages were seen drawn up along the hill-tops, and
 the soldiers in high spirits were led up to the higher ground; but they found
 no one there (since the enemy, suspecting this, had hastily decamped), and then
 great columns of smoke were seen at a distance, revealing that our men had
 burst in and were devastating the enemy's territory.

This action broke the Germans' spirit, and abandoning the ambuscades
 which they had laid for our men in narrow and dangerous places, they fled
 across the river, Menus by name, to bear aid to their
 kinsfolk.

For, as is apt to happen in times
 of doubt and confusion, they were panic-stricken by the raid of our cavalry on
 the one side, and on the other by the sudden onset of our infantry, who had
 rowed up the river in their boats; and with their knowledge of the ground they
 had quick recourse to flight. Upon their departure our soldiers marched on
 undisturbed and plundered farms rich in cattle and crops, sparing none; and
 having dragged out the captives, they set fire to and burned down all the
 houses, which were built quite carefully in Roman fashion.

After having advanced approximately ten miles, they
 came to a forest formidable with its forbidding shade and their general stood
 in hesitation for some time, being informed by the report of a deserter that
 large forces were lurking in some hidden underground passages and
 wide-branching trenches, ready to burst forth when they saw an opportunity.

Yet they all ventured to draw near with
 the greatest confidence, but found the paths heaped with
 felled oak and ash-trees and a great quantity of fir. And so they warily
 retreated, their minds hardly containing their indignation, as they realised
 that they could not advance farther except by long and difficult detours.

And since the rigorous climate was trying
 to them and they struggled in vain with extreme difficulties (for the autumnal
 equinox had passed, and in those regions the fallen snows covered mountains and
 plains alike) they took in hand a memorable piece of work.

And while there was no one to withstand them, with
 eager haste they repaired a fortress which Trajan had built in the territory of
 the Alamanni and wished to be called by his name, and which had of late been
 very forcibly assaulted. There a temporary garrison was established and
 provisions were brought thither from the heart of the savages' country.

When the enemy saw these preparations
 rapidly made for their destruction, they quickly assembled, dreading the
 completion of the work, and with prayers and extreme abasement sent envoys and
 sued for peace. And Caesar granted this for the space of ten months, since it
 was recommended by every kind of consideration, and he could allege very many
 plausible reasons for it; for doubtless he appreciated with his keen mind that
 the stronghold which, beyond any possible hope, he had seized without
 opposition, ought to be fortified with artillery on the walls and powerful
 appliances of war.

Confiding in this peace,
 three very savage kings finally appeared, though still somewhat apprehensive
 since they were of the number of those who had sent aid to the vanquished at Strasburg; and they took oath in words formally drawn up
 after the native manner that they would not disturb the peace, but would keep
 the agreement up to the appointed day, since that was our pleasure, and leave
 the fortress untouched; and they would even bring grain in on their shoulders,
 in case the defenders would let them know that they needed any; both of which
 things they did, since fear curbed their treacherous disposition.

In this memorable war, which in fact
 deserves to be compared with those against the Carthaginians and the Teutons,
 but was achieved with very slight losses to the Roman commonwealth, Caesar took
 pride as a fortunate and successful general. And one might well believe his
 detractors, who pretended that he had acted so courageously on all occasions
 because he chose rather to perish fighting gloriously than to be put to death
 like a condemned criminal (as he expected), after the manner of his brother
 Gallus-had he not with equal resolution, even after Constantius' death,
 increased his renown by marvellous exploits.

Matters thus being firmly settled, so far as
 circumstances would permit, he returned to winter quarters and found the
 following sequel to his exertions. Severus, master of the horse, while on his
 way to Rheims by way of Cologne and Juliers, fell in with some very strong
 companies of Franks, to the number (as appeared later) of
 six hundred light-armed skirmishers, who were plundering the districts
 unprotected by garrisons; the favourable opportunity that had roused their
 boldness to the point of action was this, that they thought that while Caesar
 was busily employed among the retreats of the Alamanni, and there was no one to
 prevent them, they could load themselves with a wealth of booty. But in fear of
 the army, which had now returned, they possessed themselves of two strongholds,
 which had long since been left empty, and there defended themselves as well as
 they could.

Julian, disturbed by the novelty
 of the act, and guessing what might come of it if he passed by leaving them
 unmolested, halted his army and made his plans to surround the strongholds,
 which the river Meuse flows past; and for fifty-four days (namely in the months
 of December and January) the delays of the siege were dragged out, while the
 savages with stout hearts and incredible resolution withstood him.

Then Caesar, being very shrewd and fearing that the
 savages might take advantage of some moonless night and cross the frozen river,
 gave orders that every day, from near sunset to the break of dawn, soldiers
 should row up and down stream in scouting vessels, so as to break up
 the cakes of ice and let no one get an opportunity of easy escape. And because
 of this device, since they were worn out by hunger, sleeplessness, and extreme
 desperation, they surrendered of their own accord and were
 sent at once to Augustus' court.

A large
 troop of Franks had set out to rescue them from their danger; but on learning
 that they had been captured and carried off, without venturing on anything
 further they retired to their strongholds. And Caesar after these successes
 returned to Paris to pass the winter.

Now since it was expected that a great number
 of tribes with greater forces would make head together, our cautious commander,
 weighing the doubtful issue of wars, was perplexed with great burdens of
 anxiety. So, thinking that during the truce, short though it was and full of
 business, some remedy might be found for the calamitous losses incurred by the
 land-holders, he set in order the system of taxation.

And whereas Florentius, the praetorian prefect, after having
 reviewed the whole matter (as he asserted) stated that whatever was lacking in
 the poll-tax and land-tax accounts he supplied out of special levies, Julian,
 knowing about such measures, declared that he would rather lose his life than
 allow it to be done.

For he knew that the
 incurable wounds of such arrangements, or rather derangements (to speak more truly) had often driven provinces to
 extreme poverty—a thing which (as will be shown later) was the complete ruin of
 Illyricum.

For this reason, though the praetorian
 prefect exclaimed that it was unbearable that he should
 suddenly become distrusted, when Augustus had conferred upon him the supreme
 charge of the state; Julian calmed him by his quiet manner, and by an exact and
 accurate computation proved that the amount of the poll-tax and land-tax was
 not only sufficient, but actually in excess of the inevitable requirements for
 government provisions.

But when long
 afterwards an increase of taxation was nevertheless proposed to him, he could
 not bring himself to read it or sign it, but threw it on the ground. And when
 he was advised by a letter of Augustus, after the prefect's report, not to act
 so meticulously as to seem to discredit Florentius, he wrote back that it would
 be a cause for rejoicing if the provincials, harried as they were on every
 side, might at least have to furnish only the prescribed taxes, not the
 additional amounts, which no tortures could wring from the poverty-stricken.
 And so it came to pass then and thereafter, that through the resolution of one
 courageous spirit no one tried to extort from the Gauls anything beyond the
 normal tax.

Finally, contrary to precedent,
 Caesar by entreaty had obtained this favour from the prefect, that he should be
 entrusted with the administration of the province of Second Belgium, which was
 overwhelmed by many kinds of calamities, and indeed with the proviso that no
 agent either of the prefect or of the governor should force anyone to pay the
 tax. So every one whom he had taken under his charge was relieved by this
 comforting news, and without being dunned they brought in their dues before the
 appointed date.

During these first steps towards the
 rehabilitation of Gaul, and while Orfitus was still conducting his second
 praefecture, an obelisk was set up at Rome in the Circus Maximus; and of it,
 since this is a suitable place, I shall give a brief account.

The city of Thebes, founded in primitive times and
 once famous for the stately structure of its walls and for the hundred
 approaches formed by its gates, was called by its builders from that feature
 Hecatompylos, or
 Hundred-gated Thebes; and from this name the province
 is to this day called the Thebaid.

When
 Carthage was in its early career of wide expansion, Punic generals destroyed
 Thebes by an unexpected attack; and when it was afterwards rebuilt, Cambyses,
 that renowned king of Persia, all his life covetous of others' possessions, and
 cruel, overran Egypt and attacked Thebes, in the hope of carrying off therefrom
 its enviable wealth, since he did not spare even gifts made to the gods.

But while he was excitedly running about
 among the plundering troops, tripped by the looseness of his garments he fell
 headlong; and his own dagger, which he wore fastened to his right thigh, was
 unsheathed by the sudden force of the fall and wounded him almost mortally.

Again, long afterwards, when Octavian was
 ruling Rome, Cornelius Gallus, procurator of Egypt, drained the city by extensive embezzlements; and
 when on his return he was accused of peculation and the robbery of the
 province, in his fear of the bitterly exasperated nobility, 
 to whom the emperor had committed the investigation of the case, he drew his
 sword and fell upon it. He was (if I am right in so thinking) the poet Gallus,
 whom Vergil laments in a way in the latter part of the Bucolics 
 and celebrates in gentle verse.

In this city, amid mighty shrines and
 colossal works of various kinds, which depict the likenesses of the Egyptian
 deities, we have seen many obelisks, and others prostrate and broken, which
 kings of long ago, when they had subdued foreign nations in war or were proud
 of the prosperous condition of their realms, hewed out of the veins of the
 mountains which they sought for even among the remotest dwellers on the globe,
 set up, and in their religious devotion dedicated to the gods of heaven.

Now an obelisk is a very hard stone,
 rising gradually somewhat in the form of a turning-post to a lofty height;
 little by little it grows slenderer, to imitate a sunbeam; it is four-sided,
 tapers to a narrow point, and is polished by the workman's hand.

Now the infinite carvings of characters called
 hieroglyphics, which we see cut into it on every side, have been made known by
 an ancient authority of primeval wisdom.

For by engraving many kinds of birds and
 beasts, even of another world, in order that the memory of their achievements
 might the more widely reach generations of a subsequent age, they registered
 the vows of kings, either promised or performed.

For not as nowadays, when a fixed and easy series of letters expresses whatever the mind of man may conceive, did the
 ancient Egyptians also write; but individual characters stood for individual
 nouns and verbs; and sometimes they meant whole phrases.

The principle of this thing for the time it will
 suffice to illustrate with these two examples: by a vulture they represent the
 word nature, because, as natural history records, no males can
 be found among these birds; and under
 the figure of a bee making honey they designate a king, showing
 by this imagery that in a ruler sweetness should be combined with a sting as
 well; and there are many similar instances.

And because sycophants, after their fashion,
 kept puffing up Constantius and endlessly dinning it into his ears that,
 whereas Octavianus Augustus had brought over two obelisks from the city of
 Heliopolis in Egypt, one of which was set up in the Circus Maximus, the other
 in the Campus Martius, as for this one recently brought in, he neither ventured
 to meddle with it nor move it, overawed by the difficulties caused by its
 size-let me inform those who do not know it that that early emperor, after
 bringing over several obelisks, passed by this one and left it untouched
 because it was consecrated as a special gift to the Sun God, and because being
 placed in the sacred part of his sumptuous temple, which might not be profaned,
 there it towered aloft like the peak of the world.

But Constantine, 
 making little account of that, tore the huge mass from its foundations; and
 since he rightly thought that he was committing no sacrilege
 if he took this marvel from one temple and consecrated it at Rome, that is to
 say, in the temple of the whole world, he let it lie for a long time, while the
 things necessary for its transfer were being provided. And when it had been
 conveyed down the channel of the Nile and landed at Alexandria, a ship of a
 size hitherto unknown was constructed, to be rowed by three hundred oarsmen.

After these provisions, the aforesaid
 emperor departed this life and the urgency of the enterprise waned, but at last
 the obelisk was loaded on the ship, after long delay, and brought over the sea
 and up the channel of the Tiber, which seemed to fear that it could hardly
 forward over the difficulties of its outward course to the walls of its
 foster-child the gift which the almost unknown Nile had sent. But it was
 brought to the vicus Alexandri distant three miles from the
 city. There it was put on cradles and carefully drawn through the
 Ostian Gate and by the Piscina Publica and brought into the Circus Maximus.

After this there remained only the
 raising, which it was thought could be accomplished only with great difficulty,
 perhaps not at all. But it was done in the following manner: to tall beams
 which were brought and raised on end (so that you would see a very grove of
 derricks) were fastened long and heavy ropes in the likeness of a manifold web
 hiding the sky with their excessive numbers. To these was attached that
 veritable mountain engraved over with written characters, and it was gradually
 drawn up on high through the empty air, and after hanging
 for a long time, while many thousand men turned wheels resembling millstones,
 it was finally placed in the middle of the circus and capped by a bronze
 globe gleaming with gold-leaf; this was immediately struck by a bolt of the
 divine fire and therefore removed and replaced by a bronze figure of a torch,
 likewise overlaid with gold-foil and glowing like a mass of flame.

And subsequent generations have brought over other
 obelisks, of which one was set up on the Vatican, another in the gardens of Sallust, and two at the mausoleum of Augustus.

Now the text of the characters cut upon the
 ancient obelisk which we see in the Circus I
 add below in its Greek translation, following the work of Hermapion. The translation of the
 first line, beginning on the South side, reads as follows:

The Sun speaks to King Ramestes. I have granted to thee that thou
 shouldst with joy rule over the whole earth, thou whom
 the Sun loveth—and powerful Apollo, lover of truth, son of Heron, god-born,
 creator of the world, whom the Sun hath chosen, the doughty son of Mars,
 King Ramestes. Unto him the whole earth is made subject through his valour
 and boldness. King Ramestes, eternal child of the Sun. 
 
 SECOND LINE.

Mighty Apollo, seated upon truth, Lord of the Diadem, who hath
 gloriously honoured Egypt as his peculiar possession, who hath beautified
 Heliopolis, created the rest of the world, and adorned with manifold honours
 the Gods erected in Heliopolis—he whom the Sun loveth. 
 
 THIRD LINE.

"Mighty Apollo, child of the Sun,
 all-radiant, whom the Sun hath chosen and valiant Mars endowed; whose blessings
 shall endure forever; whom Ammon loveth, as having filled
 his temple with the good fruits of the date palm; unto whom the Gods have given
 length of life.
 
 Apollo, mighty son of Heron, Ramestes, king of
 the world, who hath preserved Egypt by conquering other nations; whom the
 Sun loveth; to whom the Gods have granted length of life; Lord of the world,
 Ramestes ever-living. 
 
 
 WEST SIDE, SECOND LINE.

The Sun, great God, Lord of Heaven; I have granted to thee life hitherto
 unforeseen. Apollo the mighty, Lord incomparable of the Diadem, who hath set
 up statues of the Gods in this kingdom, ruler of Egypt, and he adorned
 Heliopolis just as he did the Sun himself, Ruler of Heaven; he finished a
 good work, child of the Sun, the king ever-living. 
 
 THIRD LINE.

The God Sun, Lord of Heaven, to Ramestes the king. I have granted to
 thee the rule and the authority over all men; whom Apollo, lover of truth,
 Lord of seasons, and Vulcan, father of the Gods, hath chosen for Mars. King
 all-gladdening, child of the Sun and beloved of the Sun. 
 
 EAST SIDE, FIRST LINE.

The great God of Heliopolis, heavenly, mighty Apollo, son of Heron, whom
 the Sun hath loved, whom the Gods hath honoured, the ruler over all the
 earth, whom the Sun hath chosen, a king valiant for Mars, whom Ammon loveth,
 and he that is all-radiant, having set apart the king eternal ; and
 so on.

In the consulship of Datianus and Cerealis,
 while all provisions in Gaul were being made with very careful endeavour, and
 dismay due to past losses halted the raids of the savages, the king of Persia
 was still encamped in the confines of the frontier tribes; and having now made
 a treaty of alliance with the Chionitae and Gelani, the fiercest warriors of
 all, he was on the point of returning to his own territories, when he received
 Tamsapor's letter, stating that the Roman emperor begged and entreated for
 peace.

Therefore, imagining that such a step
 would not be attempted unless the fabric of the empire were weakened, he
 swelled with still greater pride, embraced the name of peace, and proposed hard
 conditions; and dispatching one Narseus with gifts as his envoy, he sent a
 letter to Constantius, in no wise deviating from his native haughtiness, the
 tenor of which, as we have learned, was as follows:—

"I Sapor, King of Kings, partner with the
 Stars, brother of the Sun and Moon, to my brother Constantius Caesar offer most
 ample greeting.
 
 I rejoice and at last take pleasure that you have returned to the best
 course and acknowledged the inviolable sanction of justice, having learned
 from actual experience what havoc has been caused at various times by
 obstinate covetousness of what belongs to others. Since therefore the consideration of truth ought to be free and
 untrammelled, and it befits those in high station to
 speak as they feel, I shall state my proposal in brief terms, recalling that
 what I am about to say I have often repeated. That my forefathers' empire reached as far as the river Strymon
 and the boundaries of Macedonia even your own ancient records bear witness;
 these lands it is fitting that I should demand, since (and may what I say
 not seem arrogant) I surpass the kings of old in magnificence and array of
 conspicuous virtues. But at all times right reason is dear to me, and
 trained in it from my earliest youth, I have never allowed myself to do
 anything for which I had cause to repent. 
 And therefore it is my duty to recover Armenia with Mesopotamia, which
 double-dealing wrested from my grandfather. That principle shall never be
 brought to acceptance among us which you exultantly maintain, that without
 any distinction between virtue and deceit all successful events of war
 should be approved. Finally, if you wish
 to follow my sound advice, disregard this small tract, always a source of
 woe and bloodshed, so that you may rule the rest in security, wisely
 recalling that even expert physicians sometimes cauterize, lance, and even
 cut away some parts of the body, in order to save the rest sound for use;
 and that even wild beasts do this: for when they observe for what possession
 they are being relentlessly hunted, they give that up of their own accord,
 so as afterwards to live free from fear. 
 This assuredly I declare, that if this
 embassy of mine returns unsuccessful, after the time of the winter reat is past I shall gird myself with all my strength and
 with fortune and the justice of my terms upholding my hope of a successful
 issue, I shall hasten to come on, so far as reason permits.

After this letter had long been pondered,
 answer was made with upright heart, as they say, and circumspectly, as
 follows:—

"I, Constantius, victor by land and sea,
 perpetual Augustus, to my brother King Sapor, offer most ample greeting.
 
 I rejoice in your health, and if you will, I shall be your friend
 hereafter; but this covetousness of yours, always unbending and more widely
 encroaching, I vehemently reprobate. You
 demand Mesopotamia as your own and likewise Armenia, and you recommend
 lopping off some members of a sound body, so that its health may afterwards
 be put upon a firm footing—advice which is rather to be refuted than to be
 confirmed by any agreement. Therefore listen to the truth, not obscured by
 any juggling, but transparent and not to be intimidated by any empty
 threats. My praetorian prefect, thinking
 to undertake an enterprise conducing to the public weal, entered into
 conversations with a general of yours, through the agency of some
 individuals of little worth and without consulting me, on the subject of
 peace. This we neither reject nor refuse, if only it take place with dignity
 and honour, without at all prejudicing our self-respect or our majesty.
 For at this time, when the sequence of
 events (may envy's breezes be placated!) has beamed in manifold form upon
 us, when with the overthrow of the usurpers the whole
 Roman world is subject to us, it is absurd and silly to surrender what we
 long preserved unmolested when we were still confined within the bounds of
 the Orient. 
 Furthermore, pray make an end of those
 intimidations which (as usual) are directed against us, since there can be
 no doubt that it was not through slackness, but through self-restraint that
 we have sometimes accepted battle rather than offered it, and that when we
 are set upon, we defend our territories with the most valiant spirit of a
 good conscience; for we know both by experience and by reading that while in
 some battles, though rarely, the Roman cause has stumbled, yet in the main
 issue of our wars it has never succumbed to defeat.

This embassy having been sent back without
 obtaining anything—for no fuller answer could be made to the king's unbridled
 greed—after a very few days it was followed by Count Prosper, Spectatus, tribune and secretary, and likewise, at the suggestion of Musonianus,
 the philosopher Eustathius,
 as a master of
 persuasion; they carried with them letters of the emperor and gifts, and
 meanwhile planned by some craft or other to stay Sapor's preparations, so that
 his northern provinces might not be fortified beyond the possibility of
 attack.

In the midst of these uncertainties the
 Juthungi, a branch of the Alamanni bordering on Italian territory, forgetful of
 the peace and the treaty which they had obtained by their prayers, were laying
 waste Raetia with such violence as even to attempt the besieging of towns,
 contrary to their habit.

To drive them back
 Barbatio was sent with a strong force; he had been promoted in place of
 Silvanus to be infantry commander. He was a coward but a fluent speaker, and
 having thoroughly roused the enthusiasm of the soldiers he utterly defeated a
 large number of the foe, so that only a small remnant, who for fear of danger
 had taken to flight, barely escaped and returned to their homes, not without
 tears and lamentations.

In this battle, we
 are assured, Nevitta, commander of a troop of cavalry and afterwards consul,
 was present and conducted himself
 manfully.

At that same time fearful earthquakes
 throughout Asia, Macedonia, and Pontus with their repeated shocks shattered
 numerous cities and mountains. Now among the instances of manifold disaster was
 pre-eminent the collapse of Nicomedia, the metropolis of Bithynia; and of the
 misfortune of its destruction I shall give a true and concise account.

On the twenty-fourth of August, at the first
 break of day, thick masses of darkling clouds overcast the face of the sky,
 which had just before been brilliant; the sun's splendour was dimmed, and not
 even objects near at hand or close by could be discerned, so restricted was the
 range of vision, as a foul, dense mist rolled up and settled over the ground.

Then, as if the supreme deity were hurling
 his fateful bolts and raising the winds from their very quarters, a mighty tempest of
 raging gales burst forth; and at its onslaught were heard the groans of the
 smitten mountains and the crash of the wave-lashed shore; these were followed
 by whirlwinds and waterspouts, which, together with a terrific earthquake,
 completely overturned the city and its suburbs.

And since most of the houses were carried down the slopes of the hills, they
 fell one upon another, while everything resounded with the vast roar of their
 destruction. Meanwhile the highest points re-echoed all manner of outcries, of
 those seeking their wives, their children, and whatever near kinsfolk belonged
 to them.

Finally, after the second hour, but
 well before the third, the air, which was now bright and clear, revealed the
 fatal ravages that lay concealed. For some who had been crushed by the huge
 bulk of the debris falling upon them perished under its very weight; some were
 buried up to their necks in the heaps of rubbish, and might
 have survived had anyone helped them, but died for want of assistance; others
 hung impaled upon the sharp points of projecting timbers.

The greater number were killed at one blow, and where
 there were just now human beings, were then seen confused piles of corpses.
 Some were imprisoned unhurt within slanting houseroofs, to be consumed by the
 agony of starvation. Among these was Aristaenetus, vice-governor of the
 recently created diocese which Constantius, in honour of his wife, Eusebia, had
 named Pietas; by this kind of mishap he slowly panted out his life amid
 torments.

Others, who were overwhelmed by the
 sudden magnitude of the disaster, are still hidden under the same ruins; some
 who with fractured skulls or amputated arms or legs hovered between life and
 death, imploring the aid of others in the same case, were abandoned, despite
 their pleas and protestations.

And, the greater part of the temples and
 private houses might have been saved, and of the population as well, had not a
 sudden onrush of flames, sweeping over them for five days and nights, burned up
 whatever could be consumed.

I think the time has come to say a few words
 about the theories which the men of old have brought together about
 earthquakes; for the hidden depths of the truth itself have neither been
 sounded by this general ignorance of ours, nor even by the everlasting
 controversies of the natural philosophers, which are not yet ended after long
 study.

Hence in the books of ritual
 and in those which are in conformity with the
 pontifical priesthood, nothing is said about
 the god that causes earthquakes, and this with due caution, for fear that by
 naming one deity instead of another, since it is not clear which of them thus shakes the earth, impieties
 may be perpetrated.

Now earthquakes take
 place (as the theories state, and among them Aristotle is perplexed and
 troubled) either in the tiny recesses of the earth, which in Greek we call
 σύριγγαι, 
 under the excessive pressure of surging
 waters; or at any rate (as Anaxagoras asserts) through the force of the winds,
 which penetrate the innermost parts of the earth; for when these strike the
 solidly cemented walls and find no outlet, they violently shake those stretches
 of land under which they crept when swollen. Hence it is generally observed
 that during an earthquake not a breath of wind is felt where we are, because
 the winds are busied in the remotest recesses of the earth.

Anaximander says that when the earth dries up after
 excessive summer drought, or after soaking rainstorms, great clefts open,
 through which the upper air enters with excessive violence; and the earth,
 shaken by the mighty draft of air through these, is stirred from its very
 foundations. Accordingly such terrible disasters happen either in seasons of
 stifling heat or after excessive precipitation of water from heaven. And that
 is why the ancient poets and theologians call Neptune (the power of the watery
 element) Ennosigaeos and Sisichthon.

Now earthquakes take place in four ways; for
 they are either brasmatiae, 
 or upheavings, which lift up the ground from far within, like a tide
 and force upward huge masses, as in Asia Delos came to the surface, and Hiera,
 Anaphe, and Rhodes, called in former ages Ophiusa and Pelagia, and once
 drenched with a shower of gold; also Eleusis in Boeotia, Vulcanus in the Tyrrhenian Sea, and many more
 islands. Or they are climatiae 
 which rush along to one side and obliquely,
 levelling cities, buildings, and mountains. Or they are chasmatiae, or gaping, which with their intensive movement suddenly
 open abysses and swallow up parts of the earth; as in the Atlantic Ocean an
 island more extensive than all Europe, and in the Crisaean
 Gulf, Helice and Bura; and in the Ciminian district of Italy the town
 of Saccumum; these were all sunk into the deep abysses of Erebus, and lie
 hidden in eternal darkness.

Among these
 three sorts of earthquakes the mycematiae 
 are heard with a threatening roar, when the elements
 break up into their component parts and clash of their own accord, or slide
 back when the ground settles. For then of necessity the crashing and rumbling
 of the earth must resound like the bellowing of a bull. But to return to the
 episode which we began.

Now Caesar, while wintering in Paris,
 hastened with the greatest diligence to forestall the Alamanni, who were not
 yet assembled in one body, but were all venturesome and cruel to the point of
 madness after the battle of Strasburg; and while waiting for the month of July,
 when the campaigns in Gaul begin, he was for a long time in much anxiety. For
 he could not leave until the grain supply was brought up from Aquitania during
 the mild summer season, after the breaking up of the cold weather and frost.

But as careful planning is victorious over
 nearly all difficulties, he turned over in his mind many various possibilities;
 and this at last he found to be the only one, namely, without waiting for the
 height of the season, to fall upon the savages before he was looked for. And
 having settled on this plan, he had the grain allowance for twenty days taken
 from what was to be consumed in the winter quarters, and baked up to serve for
 some time; he put this hard-tack (as they commonly call it) on the backs of his
 willing soldiers, and relying on this supply he set out under favourable
 auspices (as he did before), thinking that within the fifth or sixth month two
 urgent and inevitable campaigns might be brought to completion.

After these preparations he first of all aimed at the
 Franks, those namely whom custom calls the Salii, who once had the great assurance to venture to
 fix their abodes on Roman soil at Toxiandria. But when he had reached Tongres,
 a deputation of the aforesaid people
 met him, expecting to find the commander even then in winter quarters; and they
 offered peace on these terms, that while they remained quiet, as in their own
 territories, no one should attack or molest them. After having fully discussed
 the matter and proposed in reply some puzzling conditions, as if intending to
 remain in the same district until they returned, he gave these envoys gifts and
 dismissed them.

But quicker than a flash he
 followed them up after their departure, and sending his general Severus along
 the river bank, fell upon the whole troop suddenly and smote them like a
 thunderstorm; at once they took to entreaties rather than to resistance, and he
 turned the outcome of his victory into the timely direction of mercy by
 receiving them in surrender with their property and their children.

The Chamavi also had ventured to make a similar attempt; with the
 same rapidity he attacked these, killed a part of them, and a part, who
 resisted stoutly and were taken alive, he put in irons; others, who made tracks
 for home in headlong flight, he allowed for the time to get away unharmed, in
 order not to tire his soldiers by a long chase. A little later they sent
 delegates to make supplication and to provide for their safety, and as they lay
 prostrate on the ground before his eyes he granted them peace on condition that
 they should return unmolested to their homes.

So, as everything was proceeding in
 accordance with his prayers, he made haste with watchful solicitude to put the
 well-being of the provinces in every way on a firm footing; and he planned to
 repair (as time would permit) three forts situated in a straight line along the
 banks overhanging the river Meuse, which had long since been overthrown by the
 obstinate assaults of the savages; and they were immediately restored, the
 campaign being interrupted for a short time.

And to the end that speed might make his wise policy safe, he took a part of
 the seventeen days' provisions, which the soldiers, when they marched forward
 on their expedition carried about their necks, and stored it in those same
 forts, hoping that what had been deducted might be replaced from the harvests
 of the Chamavi.

But it turned out far
 otherwise; for the crops were not yet even ripe, and the soldiers, after using
 up what they carried, could find no food anywhere; and resorting to outrageous
 threats, they assailed Julian with foul names and opprobrious language, calling
 him an Asiatic, a Greekling and a deceiver, and a
 fool with a show of wisdom. And as some are usually to be found among the
 soldiers who are noteworthy for their volubility, they kept bawling out such
 words as these and many others to the same purport:

Where are we being dragged, robbed of the hope of a
 better lot? We have long endured hardships of the bitterest kind to bear, in
 the midst of snows and the pinch of cruel frosts; but now (Oh shameful
 indignity!), when we are pressing on to the final destruction of the enemy
 it is by hunger, the most despicable form of death, that we are wasting
 away. And let no man imagine us incitors
 to mutiny; we protest that we are speaking for our lives alone, asking for
 neither gold nor silver, which we have not been able to handle or even look
 upon for a long time, and which are denied us just as if it were against our
 country that we had been convicted of having undertaken so much toil and
 danger.

And they had good reason for their
 complaints. For through all their career of laudable achievements, and the
 critical moments of hazard, the soldiers, though worn out by their labours in
 Gaul, had received neither donative nor pay from the very day that Julian was
 sent there, for the reason that he himself had no funds available anywhere from
 which to give, nor did Constantius allow any to be expended in the usual
 manner.

And it was evident that this was done
 through malice rather than through niggardliness, from the fact that when this
 same Julian was asked by a common soldier, as they often do, for money for a
 shave, and had given him some small coin, he was assailed for it with
 slanderous speeches by Gaudentius, who was then a secretary. He
 had remained in Gaul for a long time to watch Julian's actions, and Caesar
 afterwards ordered that he be put to death, as will be shown in the proper
 place.

At length, after the mutiny had been quelled,
 not without various sorts of fair words, they built a pontoon bridge and
 crossed the Rhine; but when they set foot in the lands of the Alamanni,
 Severus, master of the horse, who had previously been a warlike and energetic
 officer, suddenly lost heart.

And he that had
 often encouraged one and all to brave deeds, now advised against fighting and
 seemed despicable and timid—perhaps through fear of his coming death, as we
 read in the books of Tages or of Vegoe that those who are shortly to be struck by lightning are so dulled in
 their senses that they can hear neither thunder nor any louder crashes
 whatsoever. And contrary to his usual custom, he had marched so lazily that he
 intimidated the guides, who were leading the way rapidly, and threatened them
 with death unless they would all agree, and unanimously make a statement, that
 they were wholly ignorant of the region. So they, being thus forbidden, and in
 fear of his authority, on no occasion went ahead after that.

Now in the midst of these delays Suomarius,
 king of the Alamanni, of his own initiative met the Romans unexpectedly with
 his troops, and although he had previously been haughty and cruelly bent upon
 harming the Romans, at that time on the contrary he thought
 it an unlooked-for gain if he were allowed to keep what belonged to him. And
 inasmuch as his looks and his gait showed him to be a suppliant, he was
 received and told to be of good cheer and set his mind at rest; whereupon he
 completely abandoned his own independence and begged for peace on bended knee.

And he obtained it, with pardon for all
 that was past, on these terms: that he should deliver up his Roman captives and
 supply the soldiers with food as often as it should be needed, receiving
 security for what he brought in just like
 any ordinary contractor. And if he did not present it on time, he was to know
 that the same amount would again be demanded of him.

When this, which was properly arranged, had
 been carried out without a hitch, since the territory of a second king,
 Hortarius by name, was to be attacked and nothing seemed to be lacking but
 guides, Caesar had given orders to Nestica, a tribune of the targeteers, and
 Charietto, a man of extraordinary bravery, to take great pains to seek out and
 catch one and bring him in captive. Quickly a young Alamann was seized and led
 in, and on condition of having his life spared he promised to show the way.

He led and the army followed, but it was
 prevented from going forward by a barricade of tall felled trees. But when they
 finally, by long and circuitous detours, reached the spot, every man in the
 army, wild
 with anger, joined in setting the fields on fire and raiding flocks and men;
 and if they resisted, they butchered them, without
 compunction.

The king was overwhelmed by
 these calamities, and when he saw the numerous legions and the ruins of his
 villages which they had burned down, now fully convinced that the final wreck
 of his fortunes was at hand, he too begged for pardon and under the solemn
 sanction of an oath promised that he would do what might be ordered. Being
 bidden to restore all prisoners—for that was insisted on with special
 earnestness—he did not keep faith but held back a large number and gave up only
 a few.

On learning this, Julian was roused to
 righteous indignation, and when the king came to receive presents, as was
 usual, he would not release his four attendants, on whose aid and loyalty he
 chiefly relied, until all the captives returned.

Finally the king was summoned by Caesar to an interview and
 reverenced him with trembling eyes; and overcome at the sight of the conqueror,
 he was forced to accept these hard terms, namely, that inasmuch as it was
 fitting that after so many successes the cities also should be rebuilt which
 the violence of the savages had destroyed, the king should furnish carts and
 timber from his own supplies and those of his subjects. And when he had
 promised this and taken oath that if he did any disloyal act, he should expiate
 it with his heart's blood, he was allowed to return to his own domains. For as
 to supplying grain, as Suomarius did, he could not be coerced, for the reason
 that his country had been ravaged to the point of ruin, and nothing to give to
 us could be found.

So those kings, who in times past were
 inordinately puffed up with pride, and accustomed to enrich
 themselves with the spoils of our subjects, put their necks, now bowed down,
 under the yoke of Roman dominion, and ungrudgingly obeyed our commander, as if
 born and brought up among our tributaries. And after this conclusion of events
 the soldiers were distributed among their usual posts and Caesar returned to
 winter quarters.

Presently, when all this became known at
 Constantius' court—for it was necessary that Caesar, like any subordinate,
 should render an account to Augustus of all his acts—all those who had the
 chief influence in the palace and were now past masters in flattery turned
 Julian's well-devised and successful achievements into mere mockery by endless
 silly jests of this sort: This fellow, a nanny-goat and no man, is
 getting insufferable with his victories, jibing at him for being
 hairy, and calling him a chattering mole and an ape in
 purple, and a Greekish pedant, and other names like
 these; and by ringing bells, so to speak, in the ears of an emperor eager to
 hear these and similar things, they tried to bury his merits with shameless
 speeches, railing at him as a lazy, timid, unpractical person, and one who
 embellished his ill success with fine words; all of which did not take place
 then for the first time.

For as the greatest
 glory is always habitually subject to envy, we read that
 even against the renowned leaders of ancient days faults and charges were
 trumped up, even if none could be discovered, by spiteful persons incensed by
 their brilliant exploits.

As, for example,
 Cimon, the son of Miltiades, was accused of incest, although often before and
 particularly near the river Eurymedon in Pamphylia he annihilated a countless
 host of the Persians, and compelled a nation always swollen with pride to sue
 humbly for peace. Likewise Scipio Aemilianus was accused of inactivity by the
 malice of his rivals, although by his effective vigilance two most powerful
 cities, bent on the destruction of Rome, were razed to the ground.

And also even in the case of Pompey, some malevolent
 critics, who after much search found nothing for which he could be blamed,
 noted these two laughable and silly facts: that in a certain characteristic way
 he used to scratch his head with one finger, and that for some time, to cover
 up an ugly ulcer, he wore a white bandage tied around his leg; the one of these
 things he did, they affirmed, because he was dissipated, the other because he
 planned a revolution, snarling at him with the somewhat pointless reason, that
 it mattered not what part of his body he bound with the emblem of kingly
 majesty 
 —and this to a man than whom, as the clearest of proofs show; none was more
 valiant or circumspect with regard to his country.

While these things were thus happening, at
 Rome Artemius, who held the office of vice-prefect, also
 succeeded Bassus, who a short time after he had been promoted to
 be prefect of the city had died a natural death. His administration suffered
 from mutinous disturbances, but had no remarkable incident which is worth
 relating.

As Augustus meanwhile was taking his winter
 rest at Sirmium, frequent serious reports showed that the Sarmatians and the
 Quadi, who were in agreement because they were neighbours and had like customs
 and armour, had united and were raiding the Pannonias and
 Second Moesia in detached bands.

These
 people, better fitted for brigandage than for open warfare, have very long
 spears and cuirasses made from smooth and polished pieces of horn, fastened
 like scales to linen shirts; most of their horses are made
 serviceable by gelding, in order that they may not at sight of mares become
 excited and run away, or when in ambush become unruly and betray their riders
 by loud neighing.

And they run over very
 great distances, pursuing others or themselves turning their backs, being mounted on swift and obedient horses and leading one,
 or sometimes even two, to the end that an exchange may keep up the strength of
 their mounts and that their freshness may be renewed by alternate periods of
 rest.

And so, when the spring equinox was past, the
 emperor mustered a strong force of soldiers and set out under the guidance of a
 more propitious fortune; and although the river Ister was in flood since the
 masses of snow and ice were now melted, having come to the most suitable place,
 he crossed it on a bridge built over the decks of ships and invaded the
 savages' lands with intent to lay them waste. They were outwitted by his rapid
 march, and on seeing already at their throats the troops of a fighting army,
 which they supposed could not yet be assembled owing to the time of year, they
 ventured neither to take breath nor make a stand, but to avoid unlooked-for
 destruction all took to precipitate flight.

The greater number, since fear clogged their steps, were cut down; if speed
 saved any from death, they hid in the obscure mountain gorges and saw their
 country perishing by the sword; and they might undoubtedly have protected her,
 had they resisted with the same vigour that had marked their flight.

This took place in that part of Sarmatia which faces
 Second Pannonia, and with equal courage our soldiers, like a tempest, laid
 waste the enemies possessions round about Valeria, burning and plundering everything before them.

Greatly disturbed by the vastness of this disaster,
 the Sarmatians abandoned their plan of hiding, and forming in three divisions,
 under pretence of suing for peace they planned to attack our
 soldiers with little danger, so that they could neither get their weapons ready
 nor parry the force of wounds, nor turn to flight, which is the last recourse
 in times of stress.

Furthermore the Quadi,
 who had often been their inseparable companions in raids, came at once to share
 the perils of the Sarmatians; but their ready boldness did not help them
 either, rushing as they were upon evident hazards.

For after very many of them had been cut down, the part that could
 save themselves escaped by paths familiar to them, and our army, their strength
 and courage aroused by this success, formed in closer order and hastened to the
 domain of the Quadi. They, dreading from their past disaster what impended,
 planned to sue suppliantly for peace and confidently presented themselves
 before the emperor, who was somewhat too lenient towards those and similar
 offences; and on the day named for settling the terms in like fashion, Zizais,
 a tall young man who was even then a royal prince, drew up the ranks of the
 Sarmatians in battle array to make their petition. And on seeing the emperor he
 threw aside his weapons and fell flat on his breast, as if lying lifeless. And
 since the use of his voice failed him from fear at the very time when he should
 have made his plea, he excited all the greater compassion; but after several
 attempts, interrupted by sobbing, he was able to set forth only a little of
 what he tried to ask.

At last, however, he
 was reassured and bidden to rise, and getting up on his knees and recovering
 the use of his voice, he begged that indulgence for his offences, and pardon,
 be granted him. Upon this the throng was admitted to make
 its entreaties, but mute terror closed their lips, so long as the fate of their
 superior was uncertain. But when he was told to get up from the ground and gave
 the long awaited signal for their petition, all threw down their shields and
 spears, stretched out their hands with prayers, and succeeded in many ways in
 outdoing their prince in lowly supplication.

Their superior had also brought with therest of the Sarmatians Rumo, Zinafer
 and Fragiledus, who were petty kings, and a number of nobles, to make like
 requests, which they hoped would be granted. They, though overjoyed that their
 lives were spared, offered to make up for their hostile acts by burdensome
 conditions, and would have willingly submitted themselves with their
 possessions, their children, their wives, and the whole of their territories to
 the power of the Romans. However, kindness combined with equity prevailed, and
 when they were told to retain their homes without fear, they returned all their
 Roman prisoners. They also brought in the hostages that were demanded and
 promised from that time on to obey orders with the utmost promptness.

Encouraged by this instance of mercy,
 there hastened to the spot with all their subjects the prince Araharius, and
 Usafer, a prominent noble, who were leaders of the armies of their countrymen;
 one of them ruled a part of the Transiugitani and the Quadi, the other some of
 the Sarmatians, peoples closely united by the same frontiers and like savagery.
 Since the emperor feared their people, lest under pretence of striking a treaty
 they might suddenly rise to arms, he separated the united divisions and bade
 those who were interceding for the Sarmatians to withdraw
 for a time, while the case of Araharius and the Quadi was being considered.

When these presented themselves in the
 manner of criminals, standing with bended bodies, and were unable to clear
 themselves of serious misdeeds, in fear of calamities of the worst kind they
 gave the hostages which were demanded, although never before had they been
 forced to present pledges for a treaty.

When
 they had been justly and fairly disposed of, Usafer was admitted to make
 supplication, although Araharius stoutly objected and insisted that the terms
 which he himself had obtained ought to be valid also for the other as his
 partner, although Usafer was of inferior rank and accustomed to obey his
 commands.

But after a discussion of the
 question, orders were given that the Sarmatians (as permanent dependents of the
 Romans) should be freed from the domination of others and should present
 hostages as bonds for keeping the peace; an offer which they gladly accepted.

Moreover, after this there offered
 themselves a very great number of kings and nations, coming together in
 companies, and begged that swords be poised at their very throats,
 as soon as they learned that Araharius had got off scot-free. And they
 too in the same way gained the peace which they sought, and sooner than was
 expected they summoned from the innermost parts of the kingdom and brought in
 as hostages the sons of eminent men, and also our prisoners (as had been
 stipulated), from whom they parted with as deep sighs as they did from their
 own countrymen.

These affairs once set in order, his
 attention was turned to the Sarmatians, who were deserving rather of pity than
 of anger; and to them this situation brought an incredible degree of
 prosperity; so that the opinion of some might well be deemed true, that fortune
 is either mastered or made by the power of a prince 18. The natives of this
 realm were once powerful and noble, but a secret conspiracy armed their slaves
 for rebellion; and since with savages all right is commonly might, they
 vanquished their masters, being their equals in courage and far superior in
 number.

The defeated, since fear prevented
 deliberation, fled to the Victohali, who
 dwelt afar off, thinking that to submit to protectors (considering their evil
 plight) was preferable to serving slaves. Bewailing this situation, after they
 had gained pardon and been assured of protection they asked that their freedom
 be guaranteed; whereupon the emperor, deeply moved by the injustice of their
 condition, in the presence of the whole army called them together, and
 addressing them in gracious terms, bade them yield obedience to none save
 himself and the Roman generals.

And to give
 their restoration to freedom an increase of dignity, he set over them as their
 king Zizais, a man even then surely suited for
 the honours of a conspicuous fortune and (as the result showed) loyal; but no
 one was allowed, after these glorious achievements, to leave the place, until
 (as had been agreed) the Roman prisoners should come back.

After these achievements in the savages' country,
 the camp was moved to Bregetio, to the end that there also
 tears or blood might quench what was left of the war of the Quadi, who were
 astir in those regions. Then their prince Vitrodorus, son of King Viduarius,
 and Agilimundus, his vassal, along with other nobles and officials governing various nations, seeing the army in the heart of their
 kingdom and native soil, prostrated themselves before the marching soldiers,
 and having gained pardon, did what was ordered, giving their children as
 hostages by way of pledge that they would fulfil the conditions imposed upon
 them. Then, drawing their swords, which they venerate as gods, they swore that
 they would remain loyal.

When these events had been brought to a
 successful issue, as has been told, the public welfare required that the
 standards quickly be transported to the Limigantes, former slaves of the
 Sarmatians, for it was most
 shameful that they had with impunity committed many infamous outrages. For as
 if forgetting the past, when the free Sarmatians rebelled, those others also
 found the opportunity most favourable and broke over the Roman frontier, for
 this outrage alone making common cause with their masters and enemies.

Nevertheless, it was determined after
 driving out their former masters; according to others, the Limigantes were a
 tribe of the Sarmatians. after deliberation that this act
 also should be punished less severely than the heinousness of their crimes
 demanded, and vengeance was confined to transferring them to remote places,
 where they would lose the opportunity of molesting our territories; yet the
 consciousness of their long series of misdeeds warned them to fear danger.

Accordingly, suspecting that the weight of
 war would be directed against them, they got ready wiles and arms and
 entreaties. But at the first sight of our army, as if smitten by a stroke of
 lightning and anticipating the utmost, after having pleaded for life they
 promised a yearly tribute, a levy of their able youth, and slavery; but they
 were ready, as they showed by gestures and expression, to refuse if they should
 be ordered to move elsewhere, trusting to the protection of the situation in
 which they had established themselves in security, after driving out their
 masters.

For the Parthiscus rushing into those lands with winding course, mingles with
 the Hister. But while it flows alone and unconfined,
 it slowly traverses a long expanse of broad plain; near its mouth, however, it
 compresses this into a narrow tract, thus protecting those who dwell there from
 a Roman attack by the channel of the Danube, and making them safe from the
 inroads of other savages by the opposition of its own stream; for the greater
 part of the country is of a marshy nature, and since it is flooded when the
 rivers rise, is full of pools and overgrown with willows, and therefore
 impassable except for those well acquainted with the region. Besides this the
 larger river, enclosing the winding circuit of an island, which almost reaches
 the mouth of the Parthiscus, separates it from connection
 with the land.

So, at the emperor's request,
 they came with their native arrogance to their bank of the river, not, as the
 event proved, intending to do what they were bidden, but in order not to appear
 to have feared the presence of the soldiers; and there they stood defiantly,
 thus giving the impression that they had come there to reject any orders that
 might be given.

But the emperor, suspecting
 that this might happen, had secretly divided his army into several bands, and
 with swift speed enclosed them, while they were delaying, within the lines of
 his own soldiers; then standing with a few followers on a loftier mound,
 protected by the defence of his guards, in mild terms he admonished them not to
 be unruly.

But they, wavering in uncertainty
 of mind, were distracted different ways, and with mingled craft and fury they
 thought both of entreaties and of battle; and preparing to sally out on our men
 where we lay near to them, they purposely threw forward their shields a long
 way, so that by advancing step by step to recover them they might without any
 show of treachery gain ground by stealth.

When the day was now declining to evening and
 the waning light warned them to do away with delay, the soldiers lifted up
 their standards and rushed upon them in a fiery attack. Thereupon the foe
 massed themselves together, and, huddled in close order, directed all their
 attack against the emperor himself, who, as was said, stood on higher ground,
 charging upon him with fierce looks and savage cries.

The furious madness of this onset so angered our
 army that it could not brook it, and as the savages hotly menaced the emperor
 (as was said), they took the form of a wedge (an order which the soldier's
 naive parlance calls the pig's head, ) and scattered them with a hot charge;
 then on the right our infantry slaughtered the bands of their infantry, while
 on the left our cavalry poured into the nimble squadrons of their cavalry.

The praetorian cohort, which stood before
 Augustus and was carefully guarding him, fell upon the breasts of the resisting
 foe, and then upon their backs as they took flight. And the savages with
 invincible stubbornness showed as they fell, by their awful shrieking, that
 they did not so much resent death as the triumph of our soldiers; and besides
 the dead many lay about hamstrung and thus deprived of the means of flight,
 others had their right hands cut off, some were untouched by any steel but
 crushed by the weight of those who rushed over them; but all bore their anguish
 in deep silence.

And amid their varied
 torments not a single man asked for pardon or threw down his weapon, or even
 prayed for a speedy death, but they tightly grasped their weapons, although
 defeated, and thought it less shameful to be overcome by an enemy's strength
 than by the judgement of their own conscience, while sometimes they
 were heard to mutter that what befell them was due to fortune, not to their
 deserts. Thus in the course of half an hour the decision of this battle was
 reached, and so many savages met a sudden death that the victory alone showed
 that there had been a fight.

Hardly yet had the hordes of the enemy been
 laid low, when the kinsfolk of the slain, dragged from their humble cots, were
 led forth in droves without regard to age or sex, and abandoning the
 haughtiness of their former life, were reduced to the abjectness of servile
 submission; and only a brief space of time had elapsed, when heaps of slain and
 throngs of captives were to be seen.

Then,
 excited by the heat of battle and the fruits of victory, our soldiers roused
 themselves to destroy those who had deserted the battle or were lurking in
 concealment in their huts. And these, when the soldiers had come to the spot
 thirsting for the blood of the savages, they butchered after tearing to pieces
 the light straw; and no
 house, even though built with the stoutest of timbers, saved a single one from
 the danger of death.

Finally, when
 everything was in flames and none could longer hide, since every means of
 saving their lives was cut off, they either fell victims to fire in their
 obstinacy, or, fleeing the flames and coming out to avoid one torture, fell by
 the enemy's steel.

Yet some escaped the
 weapons and the fires, great as they were, and plunged into the depths of the
 neighbouring river, hoping through skill in swimming to be able to reach the
 opposite banks; of these the most lost their lives by drowning, others were
 pierced by darts and perished, in such numbers that the whole course of the
 immense river foamed with the blood that flowed everywhere in abundance.
 Thus with the aid of two elements the wrath
 and valour of the victors annihilated the Sarmatians.

Then it was decided, after this course of
 events, that every hope and comfort of life should be taken
 from all, and after their homes had been burned and their families carried off,
 orders were given that boats should be brought together, for the purpose of
 hunting down those whom the opposite bank had kept aloof from our army.

And at once, for fear that the ardour of
 the warriors might cool, light-armed troops were put into skiffs, and taking
 the course which offered the greatest secrecy, came upon the lurking-places of
 the Sarmatians; and the enemy were deceived as they suddenly came in sight,
 seeing their native boats and the manner of rowing of their own country.

But when from the glittering of the
 weapons afar off they perceived that what they feared was approaching, they
 took refuge in marshy places; but the soldiers, following them still more
 mercilessly, slew great numbers of them, and gained a victory in a place where
 it seemed impossible to keep a firm footing or venture upon any action.

After the Amicenses had been scattered and all but wholly destroyed, the army immediately
 attacked the Picenses, so named
 from the adjoining regions, who had been put on their guard by the disasters to
 their allies, which were known from persistent rumours. To subdue these (for it
 was hard to pursue them, since they were scattered in divers places, and
 unfamiliarity with the roads was a hindrance) they resorted to the help of the
 Taifali and likewise of
 the free Sarmatians.

And as consideration of
 the terrain made it desirable to separate the troops of the allies, our
 soldiers chose the tracts near Moesia, the Taifali undertook those next to
 their own homes, and the free Sarmatians occupied the lands
 directly opposite to them.

The Limigantes having now suffered this fate, and terrified by the example of
 those who had been conquered and suddenly slain, hesitated long with wavering
 minds whether to die or plead, since for either course they had lessons of no
 slight weight; finally, however, the urgency of an assembly of the older men
 prevailed, and the resolve to surrender. Thus to the laurels of various
 victories there was added also the entreaties of those who had usurped freedom
 by arms; and such of them as survived bowed their necks with prayers before
 their former masters, whom they had despised as vanquished and weak, but now
 saw to be the stronger.

And so, having received a safe-conduct, the
 greater number of them forsook the defence of the mountains and hastened to the
 Roman camp, pouring forth over the broad and spacious plains with their
 parents, their children and wives, and as many of their poor possessions as
 haste allowed them to snatch up in time.

And
 those who (as it was supposed) would rather lose their lives than be compelled
 to change their country, since they believed mad licence to be freedom, now
 consented to obey orders and take other quiet and safe abodes, where they could
 neither be harried by wars nor affected by rebellions. And these men, being
 taken under protection according to their own wish (as was believed) remained
 quiet for a short time; later, through their inborn savagery they were aroused
 to an outrage which brought them destruction, as will be
 shown in the proper place.

Through this successful sequel of events
 adequate protection was provided for Illyricum in a twofold manner; and the
 emperor having in hand the greatness of this task fulfilled it in both ways.
 The unfaithful were laid low and trodden under foot, but exiled peoples
 (although equally unstable) who yet seemed likely to act with somewhat more
 respect, were at length recalled and settled in their ancestral homes. And as a
 crowning favour, he set over them, not some low-born king, but one whom they
 themselves had previously chosen as their ruler, a man eminent for his mental
 and physical gifts.

After such a series of successes
 Constantius, now raised above any fear, by the unanimous voice of the soldiers
 was hailed a second time as Sarmaticus, after the name of the conquered people;
 and now, on the point of departure, he called together all the cohorts,
 centuries, and maniples, and standing on a tribunal, surrounded by standards,
 eagles and a throng of many officers of high rank, he addressed the army with
 these words, being greeted (as usual) with the acclaim of all:

The recollection of our glorious deeds, more grateful to brave men than
 any pleasure, moves me to rehearse to you, with due modesty, what abuses we
 most faithful defenders of the Roman state have corrected by the fortune of
 victory vouchsafed us by Providence both before our battles and in the very
 heat of combat. For what is so noble, or so justly worthy to be commended to
 the memory of posterity, as that the soldier should rejoice in his valiant deeds, and the leader in the sagacity of his
 plans. Our enemies in their madness were
 overrunning all Illyricum, with arrogant folly despising us in our absence,
 while we were defending Italy and Gaul, and in successive raids were laying
 waste our farthest frontiers, crossing the rivers now in dug-out canoes
 and sometimes on foot; they did not
 trust to engagements nor to arms and strength, but, as is their custom, to
 lurking brigandage, with the craft and various methods of deceit dreaded
 also by our forefathers from our very first knowledge of the race. These
 outrages we, being far away, endured as well as they could be borne, hoping
 that any more serious losses could be obviated by the efficiency of our
 generals. But when, encouraged by
 impunity, they mounted higher and burst forth in destructive and repeated
 attacks upon our provinces, after securing the approaches to Raetia and by
 vigilant guard ensuring the safety of Gaul, leaving no cause of fear behind
 us, we came into Pannonia, intending, if it should please eternal God, to
 strengthen whatever was tottering. And sallying forth when all was ready (as
 you know) and spring was well advanced, we took in hand a mighty burden of
 tasks: first, to build a close-jointed bridge, without being overwhelmed by
 a shower of missiles, a work which was easily completed; and when we had
 seen and set foot upon the enemy's territories, without any loss of our men
 we laid low the Sarmatians who, with spirits regardless of death attempted
 to resist us. And when with like impudence the Quadi bore aid to the
 Sarmatians and rushed upon the ranks of our noble legions, we trod them under foot. The latter, after grievous losses,
 having learned amid their raids and menacing efforts at resistance what our
 valour could effect, cast aside the protection of arms and offered hands
 that had been equipped for battle to be bound behind their backs; and seeing
 that their only safety lay in entreaties, they prostrated themselves at the
 feet of a merciful Augustus, whose battles they had often learned to have
 come to a happy issue. These barely
 disposed of, we vanquished the Limigantes as well with equal valour, and
 after many of them had been slain, avoidance of danger forced the rest to
 seek the protection of their lairs in the marshes. When these enterprises were brought to a successful issue, the
 time for seasonable mildness was at hand. The Limigantes we forced to move
 to remote places, so that they could make no further attempts to destroy our
 subjects, and very many of them we spared. And over the free Sarmatians we
 set Zizais, knowing that he would be devoted and loyal to us, and thinking
 it better to appoint a king for the savages than to take one from them; and
 it added to the happiness of the occasion, that a ruler was assigned them
 whom they had previously chosen and accepted. Hence a fourfold prize, the fruit of a single campaign, was won
 by us and by our country: first, by taking vengeance on wicked robbers;
 then, in that you will have abundant booty taken from the enemy; for valour
 ought to be content with what it has won by toil and a strong arm.
 We ourselves have ample wealth and
 great store of riches, if our labours and courage have preserved safe and
 sound the patrimonies of all; for this it is that beseems
 the mind of a good prince, this accords with prosperous successes.
 Lastly, I also display the spoil of an
 enemy's name, surnamed as I am Sarmaticus for the second time, a title not
 undeserved (without arrogance be it said), which you have with one accord
 bestowed upon me. 
 
 After this speech was thus ended, the entire assembly with more enthusiasm than
 common, since the hope of betterment and gains had been increased, broke out
 into festal cries in praise of the emperor, and in customary fashion calling
 God to witness that Constantius was invincible, went back to their tents
 rejoicing. And when the emperor had been escorted to his palace and refreshed
 by two days' rest, he returned in triumphal pomp to Sirmium, and the companies
 of soldiers went back to the quarters assigned them.

On these very same days Prosper, Spectatus,
 and Eustathius, who had been sent as envoys to the Persians (as we have shown
 above), approached the king on his return to
 Ctesiphon, bearing letters and gifts from the emperor, and
 demanded peace with no change in the present status. Mindful of the emperor's
 instructions, they sacrificed no whit of the advantage and
 majesty of Rome, insisting that a treaty of friendship ought to be established
 with the condition that no move should be made to disturb the position of
 Armenia or Mesopotamia.

Having therefore
 tarried there for a long time, since they saw that the king was most
 obstinately hardened against accepting peace, unless the dominion over those
 regions should be made over to him, they returned without fulfilling their
 mission.

Afterwards Count Lucillianus was
 despatched, together with Procopius, at that time state secretary, to
 accomplish the self-same thing with like insistence on the conditions; the
 latter afterwards, bound as it were by a knot of stern necessity, rose in
 revolution.

Such are the events of one and the same year
 in various parts of the world. But in Gaul, now that affairs were in a better
 condition and the brothers Eusebius and Hypatius had been honoured with the
 high title of consul, Julian, famed for his series of successes and in winter
 quarters at Paris, laid aside for a time the cares of war and with no less
 regard made many arrangements leading to the well-being of the provinces,
 diligently providing that no one should be overloaded with a burden of tribute;
 that the powerful should not grasp the property of others,
 or those hold positions of authority whose private estates were being increased
 by public disasters; and that no official should with
 impunity swerve from equity.

And this last
 abuse he reformed with slight difficulty, for the reason that he settled
 controversies himself whenever the importance of the cases or of the persons
 required, and distinguished inflexibly between right and wrong.

And although there are many praiseworthy instances of
 his conduct in such cases, yet it will suffice to cite one, as a sample of his
 acts and words.

Numerius, shortly before
 governor of Gallia Narbonensis, was accused of embezzlement, and Julian
 examined him with unusual judicial strictness before his tribunal publicly,
 admitting all who wished to attend. And when the accused defended himself by
 denying the charge, and could not be confuted on any point, Delphidius, a very
 vigorous speaker, assailing him violently and, exasperated by the lack of
 proofs, cried: Can anyone, most mighty Caesar, ever be found guilty, if
 it be enough to deny the charge? And Julian was inspired at once to
 reply to him wisely: Can anyone be proved innocent, if it be enough to
 have accused him? And this was one of many like instances of
 humanity.

But being on the point of entering upon an
 urgent campaign, since he considered that some districts of
 the Alamanni were hostile and would venture on outrages unless they also were
 overthrown after the example of the rest, he was anxious and doubtful with what
 force and with what speed (as soon as prudence gave an opportunity) he might
 anticipate the news of his coming and invade their territories unexpected.

And after thinking over many varied plans
 he at last decided to try the one which the outcome proved to be expedient.
 Without anyone's knowledge he had sent Hariobaudes, an unattached tribune of
 tried fidelity and courage, ostensibly as an envoy to Hortarius, a king already
 subdued, with the idea that he could easily go on from there to the frontiers
 of those against whom war was presently to be made, and find out what they were
 plotting; for he was thoroughly acquainted with the language of the savages.

When the tribune had fearlessly set out to
 execute these orders, Julian, since the season of the year was favourable,
 called together his soldiers from all quarters for a campaign, and set forth;
 and he thought that above all things he ought betimes to attend to this,
 namely, before the heat of battle to enter the cities long since destroyed and
 abandoned, regain and fortify them, and even build granaries in place of those
 that had been burned, in which he could store the grain which was regularly
 brought over from Britain; and both things were accomplished sooner than anyone
 expected.

For not only did the granaries
 quickly rise, but a sufficiency of food was stored in them; and the cities were
 seized, to the number of seven: Castra Herculis, Quadriburgium, Tricensima
 and Novesium, Bonna, 
 Antennacum and Vingo,
 where by a happy stroke of fortune the prefect
 Florentius also appeared unexpectedly, leading a part of the forces and
 bringing a store of provisions sufficient to last a long time.

After this had been accomplished, one
 pressing necessity remained, namely, to repair the walls of the recovered
 cities, since even then no one hindered; and it is evident from clear
 indications that the savages through fear, and the Romans through love for
 their commander, at that time served the public welfare.

The kings, according to the compact of the preceding
 year, sent in their wagons an abundance of building material, and the auxiliary
 soldiers, who always disdain such tasks, induced to diligent compliance by
 Julian's fair words, willingly carried on their shoulders timbers fifty feet or
 more in length, and in the work of building rendered the greatest service.

While these works were being pushed on with
 diligence and success, Hariobaudes returned after examining into everything,
 and reported what he had learned. After his arrival all came at top speed to
 Mayence; and there, when Florentius and Lupicinus (successor to Severus)
 strongly insisted that they ought to build a bridge at that place and cross the
 river, Caesar stoutly opposed, declaring that they
 ought not to set foot in the lands of those who had submitted, for fear that
 (as often happens) through the rudeness of the soldiers, destroying everything
 in their way, the treaties might be abruptly broken.

However, the Alamanni as a whole, against
 whom our army was marching, thinking danger to be close at hand, with threats
 warned king Soumarius, a friend of ours through a previous
 treaty, to debar the Romans from passing over; for his territories adjoined the
 opposite bank of the Rhine. And when he declared that he could not resist
 single-handed, the savages united their forces and came to the neighbourhood of
 Mayence, intending with might and main to prevent our army from crossing the
 river.

Therefore for a twofold reason what
 Caesar had advised seemed fitting, namely, that they should not ravage the
 lands of peaceful natives, nor against the opposition of a most warlike people
 construct the bridge with loss of life to many of our men, but should go
 to the
 place best suited for building a bridge.

This step the enemy observed with the greatest care, slowly marching along the
 opposite bank; and when from afar they saw our men pitching their tents, they
 themselves also passed sleepless nights, keeping guard with watchful diligence
 to prevent an attempt at crossing.

Our
 soldiers, however, on coming to the appointed place rested, protected by a
 rampart and a trench, and Caesar, after taking counsel with Lupicinus, ordered
 trusty tribunes to provide with stakes three hundred light-armed troops, who as
 yet were wholly unaware what was to be done or where they were to go.

And having been brought together when
 night was well advanced, all were embarked whom forty scouting boats (as many as were available at the time) would hold, and
 ordered to go down stream so quietly that they were even to keep their oars
 lifted for fear that the sound of the waters might arouse the savages; and
 while the enemy were watching our campfires, the soldiers 
 were ordered with nimbleness of mind and body to force the opposite bank.

While this was being done with all haste,
 Hortarius, a king previously allied with us, not intending any disloyalty but
 being a friend also to his neighbours, invited all the kings, princes, and
 kinglets to a banquet and detained them until the third watch, prolonging the
 feasting after the native fashion. And as they were leaving the feast, it
 chanced that our men unexpectedly attacked them, but were in no way able to
 kill or take any of them, aided as they were by the darkness and their horses,
 which carried them off wherever panic haste drove them; they did, however, slay
 the lackeys or slaves, who followed their masters on foot, except such as the
 darkness of the hour saved from danger.

When word at last came of the crossing of
 the Romans, who then, as in former campaigns, expected to find rest from their
 labours wherever they should succeed in finding the enemy, the panic-striken
 kings and their peoples, who were watching with eager intentness and dreading
 the building of the bridge, shuddering with fear, took to their heels in all
 directions; and their unbridled anger now laid aside, they hastened to
 transport their kindred and their possessions to a greater distance. And at
 once every difficulty was removed, the bridge was built, and before the anxious
 nations expected it our soldiers appeared in the land of the savages, and were
 passing through the realms of Hortarius without doing any damage.

But when they reached the territories of kings that
 were still hostile, they burned and pillaged everything, 
 ranging without fear through the midst of the rebel country.
 After firing the fragile huts that sheltered them, killing a great number of
 men, and seeing many falling and others begging for mercy, our soldiers reached
 the region called Capillacii or Palas where boundary stones marked the
 frontiers of the Alamanni and the Burgundians. There they encamped with the
 design of capturing Macrianus and Hariobaudus, kings and own brothers, before
 they took alarm; for they, perceiving the ruin that threatened them, had come
 with anxious minds to sue for peace.

The
 kings were at once followed also by Vadomarius, whose abode was over against
 the Rauraci, and since he presented a letter of the emperor Constantius, in
 which he was strongly commended, he was received kindly (as was fitting), since
 he had long before been taken by Augustus under the protection of the Roman
 empire.

And Macrianus indeed, when admitted
 with his brother among the eagles and ensigns, was amazed at the variety and
 splendour of the arms and the forces, things which he saw then for the first
 time, and pleaded for his subjects. But Vadomarius, who was familiar with our
 affairs (since he lived near the frontier) did indeed admire the equipment of
 the splendid array, but remembered that he had often seen the like from early
 youth.

Finally, after long deliberation, by
 the unanimous consent of all, peace was indeed granted to Macrianus and
 Hariobaudus; but to Vadomarius, who had come to secure his own safety, but at the same time as an envoy and intercessor, begging for peace
 in behalf of the kings Urius, Ursicinus and Vestralpus, no immediate reply
 could be given, for fear that (since savages are of unstable loyalty) they
 might take courage after the departure of our army and not abide by a peace
 secured through others.

But when they
 themselves also, after the burning of their harvests and homes and the capture
 or death of many men, sent envoys and made supplication as if they too had
 committed these sins against our people, they won peace on the same terms; and
 among these conditions it was especially stressed that they should give up all
 the prisoners whom they had taken in their frequent raids.

While in Gaul the providence of Heaven was
 reforming these abuses, in the court of Augustus a tempest of sedition arose,
 which from small beginnings proceeded to grief and lamentation. In the house of
 Barbatio, then commander of the infantry forces, bees made a conspicuous swarm;
 and when he anxiously consulted men skilled in prodigies about this, they
 replied that it portended great danger, obviously inferring this from the
 belief, that when these insects have made their homes and
 gathered their treasures, they are only driven out by smoke and the wild
 clashing of cymbals.

Barbatio had a wife,
 Assyria by name, who was talkative and indiscreet. She, when her husband had
 gone forth on a campaign and was worried by many fears because of what he
 remembered had been foretold him, overcome by a woman's folly, confided in a
 maidservant skilled in cryptic writing, whom she had acquired from the estate
 of Silvanus. Through her Assyria wrote at this untimely moment to her husband,
 entreating him in tearful accents that when, after Constantius' approaching
 death, he himself had become emperor, as he hoped, he should not cast her off
 and prefer marriage with Eusebia, who was then queen and was conspicuous among
 many women for the beauty of her person.

After this letter had been sent with all possible secrecy, the maidservant, who
 had written it at her mistress' dictation, as soon as all had returned from the
 campaign took a copy of it and ran off to Arbetio in the first quiet of the
 night; and being eagerly received, she handed over the note.

Arbetio, who was of all men most clever in framing an
 accusation, trusting to this evidence reported the matter to the emperor. The
 affair was investigated, as usual, without delay or rest, and when Barbatio
 admitted that he had received the letter, and strong evidence proved that the
 woman had written it, both were beheaded.

When they had been executed, far-reaching inquisitions followed, and many
 suffered, the most innocent as well as the guilty. Among these also Valentinus,
 formerly captain of the guard and then a tribune, was
 suspected with many others of being implicated and, although wholly ignorant of
 what had been done, was tortured several times, but survived. And so, as
 compensation for his wrongs and his peril, he gained the position of a general
 in Illyricum.

Now the aforesaid Barbatio was a somewhat
 boorish fellow, of arrogant intentions, who was hated by many for the reason
 that, while he commanded the household troops under Gallus Caesar, he was a
 perfidious traitor; and after Gallus' death, puffed up with pride in his higher
 military rank, he made like plots against Julian, when he became Caesar; and to
 the disgust of all good men he chattered into the open ears of the Augustus
 many cruel accusations.

He surely was unaware
 of the wise saying of Aristotle of old, who, on sending his disciple and
 relative Callisthenes to King Alexander, charged him repeatedly to speak as
 seldom and as pleasantly as possible in the presence of a man who had at the
 tip of his tongue the power of life and death.

And it should not cause surprise that men, whose minds we regard as akin to
 the gods, sometimes distinguish what is advantageous from what is harmful; for
 even unreasoning animals are at times wont to protect their lives by deep
 silence, as appears from this well-known fact.

The geese, when leaving the east because of heat and flying westward, no
 sooner begin to traverse Mount Taurus, which abounds in eagles, than in fear of
 those mighty birds they close their beaks with little stones, so that even
 extreme necessity may not call forth a clamour from them; and after they have
 passed over those same hills in speedier flight, they cast
 out the pebbles and so go on with greater peace of mind.

While at Sirmium these matters were being
 investigated with all diligence, the fortune of the Orient kept sounding the
 dread trumpets of danger; for the king of Persia, armed with the help of the
 savage tribes which he had subdued, and burning with superhuman desire of
 extending his domain, was preparing arms, forces, and supplies, embroiling his
 plans with infernal powers and consulting all superstitions about the future;
 and having assembled enough of these, he planned with the first mildness of
 spring to overrun everything.

And when news
 of this came, at first by rumours and then by trustworthy messengers, and great
 dread of impending disasters held all in suspense, the forge of the courtiers,
 hammering day and night at the instigation of the eunuchs on the same anvil (as
 the saying is), held up Ursicinus to the suspicious and timid emperor as a
 grim-visaged gorgon, often reiterating these and similar charges: that he,
 having on the death of Silvanus been sent as if in default of better men, to
 defend the east, was panting for higher honours.

Furthermore, by this foul and excessive flattery very many strove to
 purchase the favour of Eusebius, then head-chamberlain, upon whom (if the truth
 must be told) Constantius greatly depended, and who was vigorously attacking
 the safety of the aforesaid commander of the cavalry for a
 double reason: because he alone of all was not, like the rest, adding to
 Eusebius' wealth, and would not give up to him his house at Antioch, which the
 head-chamberlain most importunately demanded.

Eusebius then, like a viper swelling with abundant poison and arousing its
 multitudinous brood to mischief when they were still barely able to crawl, sent
 out his chamberlains, already well grown, with directions that, amid the duties
 of their more private attendance, with the soft utterances of voices always
 childish and persuasive they should with bitter hatred batter the reputation of
 that brave man in the too receptive ears of the prince. And they promptly did
 what they were ordered.

Through disgust with
 these and their kind, I take pleasure in praising Domitian of old, for
 although, unlike his father and his brother, he drenched the memory of his name
 with indelible detestation, yet he won distinction by a most highly approved
 law, by which he had under heavy penalties forbidden anyone within the bounds
 of the Roman jurisdiction to geld a boy; for if this had not happened, who could endure the
 swarms of those whose small number is with difficulty tolerated?

However, Eusebius proceeded warily, lest (as he
 pretended) that same Ursicinus, if again summoned to court, should through fear
 cause general disturbance, but actually that he might, whenever chance should
 give the opportunity, be haled off to execution.

While they held these plots in abeyance and
 were distracted by anxious thoughts, and I was staying for a time at Samosata,
 the famous seat of the former kingdom of Commagene, on a
 sudden repeated and trustworthy rumours were heard of new commotions; and of
 these the following chapter of my history shall tell.

There was a certain Antoninus, at first a
 rich merchant, then an accountant in the service of the governor of
 Mesopotamia, and finally one of his body-guard, a man of experience and
 sagacity, who was widely known throughout all that region. This man, being
 involved in great losses through the greed of certain powerful men, found on
 contending against them that he was more and more oppressed by unjust means,
 since those who examined the case were inclined to curry favour with men of
 higher position. Accordingly, in order not to kick against the pricks, he
 turned to mildness and flattery and acknowledged the debt, which by collusion
 had been transferred to the account of the privy purse. And then, planning to
 venture upon a vast enterprise, he covertly pried into all parts of the entire
 empire, and being versed in the language of both tongues, busied himself with calculations, making record of what troops
 were serving anywhere or of what strength, or at what time expeditions would be
 made, inquiring also by tireless questioning whether supplies of arms,
 provisions, and other things that would be useful in war were at hand in
 abundance.

And when he had
 learned the internal affairs of the entire Orient, since the greater part of
 the troops and the money for their pay were distributed through Illyricum,
 where the emperor was distracted with serious affairs, and as the stipulated
 time would soon be at hand for paying the money which he was compelled by force
 and threats to admit by written bond that he owed, foreseeing that he must be
 crushed by all manner of dangers on every side, since the count of the
 largesses through
 favour to his creditor was pressing him more urgently, he made a great effort
 to flee to the Persians with his wife, his children, and all his dear ones.

And to the end that he might elude the
 sentinels, he bought at no great price a farm in Iaspis, a place washed by the
 waters of the Tigris. And since because of this device no one ventured to ask
 one who was now a landholder with many attendants his reason for coming to the
 utmost frontier of the Roman empire, through friends who were loyal and skilled
 in swimming he held many secret conferences with Tamsapor, then acting as
 governor of all the lands across the river, whom he already knew; and when
 active men had been sent to his aid from the Persian camp, he embarked in
 fishing boats and ferried over all his beloved household in the dead of night,
 like Zopyrus, that famous betrayer of Babylon, but with the opposite intention.

After affairs in Mesopotamia had been brought
 to this pass, the Palace gang, chanting the old refrain with a view to our
 destruction, at last found an opportunity for injuring the most valiant of men,
 aided and abetted by the corps of eunuchs, who are always
 cruel and sour, and since they lack other offspring, embrace riches alone as
 their most dearly beloved daughters.

So it
 was decided that Sabinianus, a cultivated man, it is true, and well to-do,
 but unfit for war,
 inefficient, and because of his obscurity still far removed from obtaining
 magisterial rank, should be sent to govern the eastern regions; but that
 Ursicinus should return to court to command the infantry and succeed Barbatio:
 to the end that by his presence there that eager inciter to revolution (as they
 persisted in calling him) might be open to the attacks of his bitter and
 formidable enemies.

While this was being done in the camp of
 Constantius, after the manner of brothels and the stage, and the distributors
 
 were scattering the price of suddenly purchased power through the homes of the
 powerful, Antoninus was conducted to the king's winter quarters and received
 with open arms, being graced with the distinction of the turban, an honour
 shared by those who sit at the royal table and allowing men of merit among the
 Persians to speak words of advice and to vote in the assemblies. Thus, not with
 poles or tow-rope (as the saying is), that is, not by ambiguous or obscure
 subterfuges, but under full sail he attacked his country, urging on the
 aforesaid king, as long ago Maharbal chided the slowness of Hannibal, and kept
 insisting that he could win victories, but not take advantage of them.

For having been brought up in their midst, as a man well informed on all matters, finding eager
 hearers, desirous of having their ears tickled, who did not praise him but like
 Homer's Phaeacians admired him in silence, he would rehearse the history of the
 past forty years. He showed that after constant successes in war, especially at
 Hileia and Singara, where that
 furious contest at night took place and our troops were cut to pieces with
 great carnage, as if some fetial priest were intervening to stop the fight, the Persians did
 not yet reach Edessa nor the bridges of the Euphrates, in spite of being
 victorious; whereas trusting to their prowess and their splendid successes,
 they ought so to have extended their kingdom as to rule over all Asia,
 especially at a time when through the continual commotions of civil wars Rome's
 stoutest soldiers were shedding their blood on two sides.

With these and similar speeches from time to
 time at banquets, where after the old Greek custom they used to consult about
 preparations for war and other serious affairs, the deserter kept sober and
 fired the already eager king, so soon as winter was over, at once to take the
 field, trusting to his good fortune, and Antoninus himself confidently promised
 to aid him in many important ways.

At about that same time Sabinianus, puffed up
 by his suddenly acquired power, entered the confines of Cilicia and handed his
 predecessor the emperor's letter, which directed him to make all haste to the
 court, to be invested with a higher rank; and that too at a crisis when, even
 if Ursicinus were living in Thule, the weight of affairs with good reason demanded that he be sent for,
 well acquainted as he was with the old-time
 discipline and with the Persian methods of warfare from long experience.

The rumour of this action greatly
 disquieted the provinces, and the senates and peoples of the various cities,
 while decrees and acclamations came thick and fast, laid hands on him and all
 but held fast their public defender, recalling that though he had been left to
 protect them with weak and ease loving soldiers, he had for ten years suffered
 no loss; and at the same time they feared for their safety on learning that at
 a critical time he had been deposed and a most inefficient man had come to take
 his place.

We believe (and in fact there is
 no doubt of it) that Rumour flies swiftly through the paths of air, since it
 was through her circulation of the news of these events that the Persians held
 council as to their course of action. And after long debate
 to and fro it was decided, on the advice of Antoninus, that since Ursicinus was
 far away and the new commander was lightly regarded, they should give up the
 dangerous sieges of cities, pass the barrier of the Euphrates, and push on with
 the design of outstripping by speed the news of their coming and seizing upon
 the provinces, which in all previous wars (except in the time of Gallienus)
 had been untouched and had grown rich
 through long-continued peace; and Antoninus promised that with God's favour he
 would be a most helpful leader in this enterprise.

When this plan had been commended and approved by unanimous consent,
 all turned their attention to such things as must be amassed with speed; and so
 the preparation of supplies, soldiers, weapons, and other equipment which the
 coming campaign required, went on all winter long.

We meanwhile lingered for a time on this side the
 Taurus, and then in accordance with our orders were hastening to the regions of
 Italy and had come to the vicinity of the river Hebrus, which flows down from the mountains of
 the Odrysae; there we received the emperor's dispatch, which without offering
 any excuse ordered us to reb to Mesopotamia without any attendants and take
 charge of a perilous campaign, after all power had been transferred to another.

This was devised by the mischievous
 moulders of the empire with the idea that, if the Persians were baffled and
 returned to their own country, the glorious deed would be
 attributed to the ability of the new leader; but if Fortune proved
 unfavourable, Ursicinus would be accused as a traitor to his country.

Accordingly, after careful consideration,
 and long hesitation, we returned, to find Sabinianus a man full of haughtiness,
 but of insignificant stature and small and narrow mind, barely able to endure
 the slight noise of a banquet without shameful apprehension, to say nothing of
 the din of battle.

Nevertheless, since scouts, and deserters
 agreeing with them, most persistently declared that the enemy were pushing all
 their preparations with hot haste, while the manikin yawned, we hastily marched to Nisibis, to prepare what was useful, lest the Persians, masking their
 design of a siege, might surprise the city when off its guard.

And while within the walls the things that required
 haste were being pushed vigorously, smoke and gleaming fires constantly shone
 from the Tigris on past Castra Maurorum and Sisara and all
 the neighbouring country as far as the city, in greater number than usual and
 in a continuous line, clearly showing that the enemy's bands of plunderers had
 burst forth and crossed the river.

Therefore, for fear that the roads might be blocked, we hastened on at full
 speed, and when we were within two miles, we saw a fine-looking boy, wearing a
 neck-chain, a child eight years old (as we guessed) and the son of a man of
 position (as he said), crying in the middle of the highway;
 his mother, while she was fleeing, wild with fear of the pursuing enemy, being
 hampered and agitated had left him alone. While I, at the command of my
 general, who was filled with pity, set the boy before me on my horse and took
 him back to the city, the pillagers, after building a rampart around the entire
 wall, were ranging more widely.

And because
 the calamities of a siege alarmed me, I set the boy down within a half-open
 postern gate and with winged speed hastened breathless to our troop; and I was
 all but taken prisoner.

For a tribune called
 Abdigildus was fleeing with his camp-servant, pursued by a troop of the enemy's
 cavalry. And while the master made his escape, they caught the slave and asked
 him (just as I passed by at full gallop) who had been appointed governor. And
 when they heard that Ursicinus had entered the city a short time before and was
 now on his way to Mount Izala, they killed their informant and a great number,
 got together into one body, followed me with tireless speed.

When through the fleetness of my mount I had
 outstripped them and come to Amudis, a weak fortress, I found our men lying
 about at their ease, while their horses had been turned out to graze. Extending
 my arm far forward and gathering up my cloak and waving it on high, I showed by
 the usual sign that the enemy were near, and joining with them I was hurried
 along at their pace, although my horse was now growing tired.

We were alarmed, moreover, by the fact that it was
 full moon at night and by the level stretch of plain, which (in case any
 pressing emergency surprised us) could offer no hiding-places, since neither trees nor shrubs were to be seen, but nothing except short
 grass.

Therefore we devised the plan of
 placing a lighted lantern on a single pack-animal, binding it fast, so that it
 should not fall off, and then turning loose the animal that carried the light
 and letting him go towards the left without a driver, while we made our way to
 the mountain heights lying on the right, in order that the Persians, supposing
 that a tallow torch was carried before
 the general as he went slowly on his way, should take that course rather than
 any other; and had it not been for this stratagem, we should have been
 surrounded and captured and come into the power of the enemy.

Saved from this danger, we came to a wooded
 tract planted with vineyards and fruitbearing orchards, called Meiacarire,
 so named from its cold springs. There all the inhabitants had decamped,
 but we found one soldier hiding in a remote spot. He, on being brought before
 the general, because of fear gave contradictory answers and so fell under
 suspicion. But influenced by threats made against him, he told the whole truth,
 saying that he was born at Paris in Gaul and served in a cavalry troop; but in
 fear of punishment for a fault that he had once committed he had deserted to
 the Persians. Then, being found to be of upright character, and to have married
 and reared children, he was sent as a spy to our territories and often brought
 back trustworthy news. But now he had been sent out by the
 grandees Tamsapor and Nohodares, who had led the bands of pillagers, and was
 returning to them, to report what he had learned. After this, having added what
 he knew about what the enemy were doing, he was put to death.

Then with our anxious cares increasing we
 went from there as quickly as circumstances allowed to Amida, a city afterwards notorious
 for the calamities which it suffered. 
 And when our scouts had returned there, we found in the scabbard of a sword a
 parchment written in cipher, which had been brought to us by order of
 Procopius, who, as I said before, had previously been sent as an envoy to the
 Persians with Count Lucillianus. In this, with intentional obscurity, for fear
 that, if the bearers were taken and the meaning of the message known, most
 disastrous consequences would follow, he gave the following message:—

Now that the envoys of the Greeks have been sent far away and perhaps
 are to be killed, that aged king, not content with Hellespontus, will bridge
 the Granicus and the Rhyndacus and come to invade Asia with many nations. He is
 naturally passionate and very cruel, and he has as an instigator and abetter
 the successor of the former Roman emperor Hadrian; unless Greece takes heed, it is all
 over with her and her dirge chanted.

This writing meant that the king of the
 Persians had crossed the rivers Anzaba and Tigris, and, urged on by Antoninus,
 aspired to the rule of the entire Orient. When it had been
 read, with the greatest difficulty because of its excessive ambiguity, a
 sagacious plan was formed.

There was at that time in Corduene, which
 was subject to the Persian power, a satrap called Jovinianus on Roman soil, a
 youth who had secret sympathy with us for the reason that, having been detained
 in Syria as a hostage and allured by the charm of liberal studies, he felt a
 burning desire to return to our country.

To
 him I was sent with a centurion of tried loyalty, for the purpose of getting
 better informed of what was going on; and I reached him over pathless mountains
 and through steep defiles. After he had seen and recognized me, and received me
 cordially, I confided to him alone the reason for my presence. Thereupon with
 one silent attendant who knew the country he sent me to some lofty cliffs a
 long distance from there, from which, unless one's eyesight was impaired, even
 the smallest object was visible at a distance of fifty miles.

There we stayed for two full days, and at dawn of
 the third day we saw below us the whole circuit of the lands (which we
 call ὁρίζοντες 
 ) filled with innumerable troops with the king
 leading the way, glittering in splendid attire. Close by him on the left went
 Grumbates, king of the Chionitae, a man of moderate strength, it is true, and with
 shrivelled limbs, but of a certain greatness of mind and
 distinguished by the glory of many victories. On the right was the king of the
 Albani, of equal rank, high in
 honour. After them came various leaders, prominent in reputation and rank,
 followed by a multitude of every degree, chosen from the flower of the
 neighbouring nations and taught to endure hardship by long continued training.

How long, storied Greece, will you
 continue to tell us of Doriscus, the city of Thrace, and of the armies drawn up
 in troops within enclosures and numbered? For I am too cautious, or (to
 speak more truly) too timid, to exaggerate anything beyond what is proven by
 trustworthy and sure evidence.

After the kings had passed by Nineveh, a
 great city of Adiabene, and after sacrificing victims in the middle of the
 bridge over the Anzaba and finding the omens favourable, had crossed full of
 joy, I judged that all the rest of the throng could hardly enter in three days;
 so I quickly returned to the satrap and rested, entertained with hospitable
 attentions.

Then I returned, again passing
 through deserted and solitary places, more quickly pb n=451> than could be
 expected, led as I was by the great consolation of necessity, and cheered the
 spirits of those who were troubled because they were informed that the kings,
 without any detour, had crossed on a single bridge of boats.

Therefore at once swift horsemen were sent to
 Cassianus, commander in Mesopotamia, and to Euphronius, then governor of the
 province, to compel the peasants with their households and all their flocks to
 move to safer quarters, directing also that the city of Carrhae should quickly
 be abandoned, since the town was surrounded only by weak fortifications; and in
 addition that all the plains be set on fire, to prevent the enemy from getting
 fodder.

These orders were executed without
 delay, and when the fires had been kindled, the mighty violence of that raging
 element consumed all the grain, which was filled out on the now yellowing
 stalk, and every kind of growing plant, so utterly that from the very banks of
 the Tigris all the way to the Euphrates not a green thing was to be seen. At
 that time many wild beasts were burned up, especially lions, which are
 excessively savage in those regions and usually perish or are gradually blinded
 in the following manner.

Amid the reed-beds
 and thickets of the Mesopotamian rivers lions range in countless numbers; and
 during the moderate winter, which is there very mild, they are always harmless.
 But when the sun's rays have brought the season of burning heat, in regions
 parched by drought they are tormented both by the sultry breath of the sun and
 by crowds of gnats, swarms of which fill all parts of that land. And since
 these same insects make for the eyes, as the moist and
 shining parts of the body, and settling along the eyelids bite them, those same
 lions, after suffering long torture, either plunge into the rivers, to which
 they flee for protection, and are drowned, or after losing their eyes, which
 they dig out by constantly scratching them with their claws, become frightfully
 savage. And were it not for this, the entire Orient would be overrun by such
 beasts.

While the plains were burning (as was said),
 tribunes were sent with the guard and fortified the nearer bank of the
 Euphrates with towers, sharp stakes, and every kind of defence, planting
 hurling-engines in suitable places, where the river was not full of eddies.

While these preparations were being hastened,
 Sabinianus, that splendid choice of a leader
 in a deadly war, when every moment should have been seized to avert the common
 dangers, amid the tombs of Edessa, as if he had nothing to fear when he had
 made his peace with the dead, and acting with the wantonness of a life free
 from care, in complete inaction was being entertained by his soldiers with a
 pyrrhic dance, in which music accompanied the gestures
 of the performers— conduct ominous both in itself and in its occasion, since we
 learn that these and similar things that are ill-omened in word and deed ought
 to be avoided by every good man as time goes on as foreboding coming troubles.

Meanwhile the kings passed by Nisibis as an unimportant halting place, and since fires
 were spreading because of the variety of dry fuel, to avoid a scarcity of
 fodder were marching through the grassy valleys at the foot of the mountains.

And now they had come to a hamlet called
 Bebase, from which as far as the town of Constantina, which is a hundred miles distant, everything is parched by
 constant drought except for a little water to be found in wells. There they
 hesitated for a long time what to do, and finally were planning to cross, being
 confident of the hardiness of their men, when they learned from a faithful
 scout that the Euphrates was swollen by the melted snows and overflowing in
 wide pools, and hence could not be forded anywhere.

Therefore, being unexpectedly disappointed in the hope that they
 had conceived, they turned to embrace whatever the chance of fortune should
 offer; and on holding a council, with reference to the sudden urgent
 difficulties of their present situation, Antoninus, on being bidden to say what
 he thought, began by advising that they should turn their march to the right,
 in order to make a long detour through regions abounding in all sorts of
 supplies, and still untouched by the Romans in the belief that the enemy would
 march straight ahead, and that they should go under his
 guidance to the two garrison camps of Barzalo and Claudias: for there the river
 was shallow and narrow near its source, and as yet increased by no tributaries,
 and hence was fordable and easy to cross.

When this proposition had been heard and its author 
 commended and bidden to lead them by the way that he knew, the whole army
 changed its intended line of march and followed its guide.

When this was known through trustworthy
 scouts, we planned to hasten to Samosata, in order to cross the river from
 there and break down the bridges at Zeugma and Capersana, and so (if fortune
 should aid us at all) repel the enemy's attacks.

But there befell a terrible disgrace, which deserves to be buried in
 utter silence. For about seven hundred horsemen, belonging to two squadrons who
 had recently been sent to the aid of Mesopotamia from Illyricum, a spiritless
 and cowardly lot, were keeping guard in those parts. And dreading a night
 attack, they withdrew to a distance from the public roads at evening, when all
 the paths ought to be better guarded.

This
 was observed by the Persians, and about twenty thousand of them, under the
 command of Tamsapor and Nohodares, passed by the horsemen unobserved, while
 these were overcome with wine and sleep, and hid themselves with arms behind
 some high mounds near Amida.

And presently, when we were on the point of
 going to Samosata (as has been said) and were on our way while it was still
 twilight, from a high point our eyes caught the gleam of shining arms, and an
 excited cry was raised that the enemy were upon us; then the
 usual signal for summoning to battle was given and we halted in close order,
 thinking it prudent neither to take flight when our pursuers were already in
 sight, nor yet (through fear of certain death) to engage with a foe far
 superior in cavalry and in numbers.

Finally,
 after it became absolutely necessary to resort to arms, while we were
 hesitating as to what ought to be done, some of our men ran forward rashly and
 were killed. And as both sides pressed forward, Antoninus, who was
 ostentatiously leading the troops, was recognised by Ursicinus and rated with
 chiding language; and after being called traitor and criminal, Antoninus took
 off the tiara which he wore on his head as a token of high honour, sprang from
 his horse, and bending his body so that he almost touched the ground with his
 face, he saluted Ursicinus, calling him patron and lord, clasping his hands
 together behind his back, which among the Assyrians is a gesture of
 supplication.

Then, Pardon me, 
 said he, most illustrious Count, since it is from necessity and not
 voluntarily that I have descended to this conduct, which I know to be
 infamous. It was unjust duns, as you know, that drove me mad, whose avarice
 not even your lofty station, which tried to protect my wretchedness, could
 check. As he said these words he withdrew from sight, not turning
 about, but respectfully walking backwards until he disappeared, and presenting
 his breast.

While all this took place in the course of
 half an hour, our soldiers in the rear, who occupied the higher part of the
 hill, cry out that another force, of heavy-armed cavalry,
 was to be seen behind the others, and that they were approaching with all
 possible speed.

And, as is usual in times of
 trouble, we were in doubt whom we should, or could, resist, and pushed onward
 by the weight of the vast throng, we all scattered here and there, wherever
 each saw the nearest way of escape; and while every one was trying to save
 himself from the great danger, we were mingled in scattered groups with the
 enemy's skirmishers.

And so, now scorning any
 desire for life and fighting manfully, we were driven to the banks of the
 Tigris, which were high and steep. From these some hurled themselves headlong,
 but entangled by their weapons stuck fast in the shoals of the river; others
 were dragged down in the eddying pools and swallowed up; some engaged the enemy
 and fought with varying success; others, terrified by the dense array of
 hostile ranks, sought to reach the nearest elevations of Mount Taurus.

Among these the commander himself was
 recognised and surrounded by a horde of warriors, but he was saved by the speed
 of his horse and got away, in company with Aiadalthes, a tribune, and a single
 groom.

I myself, having taken a direction apart
 from that of my comrades, was looking around to see what to do, when
 Verennianus, one of the guard, came up with an arrow in his thigh; and while at
 the earnest request of my colleague I was trying to pull it out, finding myself
 surrounded on all sides by the foremost Persians, I moved ahead at breathless
 speed and aimed for the city, which from the point where we were attacked lay
 high up and could be approached only by a single very narrow
 ascent; and this was made still narrower by mills which had been built on the
 cliffs for the purpose of making the paths.

Here, mingled with the Persians, who were
 rushing to the higher ground with the same effort as ourselves, we remained
 motionless until sunrise of the next day, so crowded together that the bodies
 of the slain, held upright by the throng, could nowhere find room to fall, and
 that in front of me a soldier with his head cut in two, and split into equal
 halves by a powerful sword stroke, was so pressed on all sides that he stood
 erect like a stump.

And although showers of
 weapons from all kinds of artillery flew from the battlements, nevertheless the
 nearness of the walls saved us from that danger, and when I at last entered the
 city by a postern gate I found it crowded, since a throng of both sexes had
 flocked to it from the neighbouring countryside. For, as it chanced, it was at
 that very time that the annual fair was held in the suburbs, and there was a
 throng of country folk in addition to the foreign traders.

Meanwhile there was a confusion of varied cries,
 some bewailing their lost kindred, others wounded to the death, many calling
 upon loved ones from whom they were separated and could not see because of the
 press.

This city was once very small, but
 Constantius, when he was still a Caesar, in order that the neighbours might have a secure place of refuge, at the same time that he
 built another city called Antoninupolis, surrounded Amida with strong walls and
 towers; and by establishing there an armoury of mural artillery, he made it a
 terror to the enemy and wished it to be called after his own name.

Now, on the south side it is washed by the winding
 course of the Tigris, which rises near-by; where it faces the blasts of Eurus
 it looks down on Mesopotamia's plains; where it is exposed to the north wind it
 is close to the river Nymphaeus and lies under the shadow of the peaks of
 Taurus, which separate the peoples beyond the Tigris from Armenia; opposite the
 breath of Zephyrus it borders on Gumathena, a region rich alike in fertility
 and in tillage, in which is the village called Abarne, famed for its warm baths
 of healing waters. Moreover, in the very heart of Amida, at the foot of the
 citadel, a bountiful spring gushes forth, drinkable indeed, but sometimes
 malodorous from hot vapours.

Of this town the
 regular garrison was formed by the Fifth Legion, Parthica, along with a force
 of no mean size of natives. But at that time six additional legions, having
 outstripped the advancing horde of Persians by rapid marches, were drawn up
 upon its very strong walls. These were the soldiers of Magnentius and
 Decentius, whom, after finishing the campaigns of the civil
 wars, the emperor had forced, as being untrustworthy and turbulent, to come to
 the Orient, where none but foreign wars are to be feared; also the soldiers of
 the Thirtieth, and the Tenth, also called
 Fortenses, and the
 Superventores and Praeventores with Aelianus, who was then a
 count; these troops, when still raw recruits, at the urging
 of the same Aelianus, then one of the guard, had made a sally from Singara (as
 I have said ) and slain great numbers of
 the Persians while they were buried in sleep.

There were also in the town the greater part of the comites
 sagittarii 
 (household archers), that is to
 say, a squadron of horsemen so-named, in which all the freeborn foreigners
 serve who are conspicuous above the rest for their prowess in arms and their
 bodily strength.

While the storm of the first attack was thus
 busied with unlooked-for undertakings, the king with his own people and the
 nations that he was leading turned his march to the right from the place called
 Bebase, as Antoninus had recommended, through Horre and Meiacarire and Charcha,
 as if he would pass by Amida; but when he had come near two fortresses of the
 Romans, of which one is called Reman and the other Busan, he learned from the
 information of deserters that the wealth of many people had been brought there
 and was kept in what were regarded as lofty and safe fortifications; and it was
 added that there was to be found there with a costly outfit a beautiful woman
 with her little daughter, the wife of a certain Craugasius of Nisibis, a man
 distinguished among the officials of his town for family, reputation, and
 influence.

Accordingly the king, with a haste
 due to his greed for seizing others' property, attacked the fortresses with fiery confidence, whereupon the defenders, overcome with
 sudden panic and dazzled by the variety of arms, surrendered themselves and all
 those who had taken refuge with the garrison; and when ordered to depart, they
 at once handed over the keys of the gates. When entrance was given, whatever
 was stored there was brought out, and the women, paralysed with fear, were
 dragged forth with the children clinging to their mothers and experiencing
 grievous woes at the beginning of their tender years.

And when the king by inquiring whose wife the lady was had found
 that her husband was Craugasius, he allowed her, fearing as she did that
 violence would be offered her, to approach nearer without apprehension; and
 when she had been reassured and covered as far as her very lips with a black
 veil, he courteously encouraged her with sure hope of regaining her husband and
 of keeping her honour unsullied. For hearing that her husband ardently loved
 her, he thought that at this price he might purchase the betrayal of Nisibis.

Yet finding that there were others also
 who were maidens and consecrated to divine service according to the Christian
 custom, he ordered that they be kept uninjured and allowed to practise their
 religion in their wonted manner without any opposition; to be sure he made a
 pretence of mildness for the time, to the end that all whom he had heretofore
 terrified by his harshness and cruelty might lay aside their fear and come to
 him of their own volition, when they learned from recent instances that he now
 tempered the greatness of his fortune with kindliness and gracious
 deportment.

The king, rejoicing in the wretched
 imprisonment of our men that had come to pass, and anticipating like successes,
 set forth from there, and slowly advancing, came to Amida on the third day.

And when the first gleam of dawn appeared,
 everything so far as the eye could reach shone with glittering arms, and
 mail-clad cavalry filled hill and dale.

The
 king himself, mounted upon a charger and overtopping the others, rode before
 the whole army, wearing in place of a diadem a golden image of a ram's head set
 with precious stones, distinguished too by a great retinue of men of the
 highest rank and of various nations. But it was clear that he would merely try
 the effect of a conference on the defenders of the walls, since by the advice
 of Antoninus he was in haste to go elsewhere.

However, the power of heaven, in order to compress the miseries of the whole
 Roman empire within the confines of a single region, had driven the king to an
 enormous degree of self-confidence, and to the belief that all the besieged
 would be paralysed with fear at the mere sight of him, and would resort to
 suppliant prayers.

So he rode up to the gates
 attended by his royal escort, and while with too great assurance he came so
 near that even his features could clearly be recognised, because of his conspicuous adornment he became the target of arrows and
 other missiles, and would have fallen, had not the dust hidden him from the
 sight of his assailants, so that after a part of his garment was torn by the
 stroke of a lance he escaped, to cause the death of thousands at a later time.

In consequence of this attack he raged as
 if against sacrilegious violators of a temple, and declaring that the lord of
 so many kings and nations had been outraged, he pushed on with great effort
 every preparation for destroying the city; but when his most distinguished
 generals begged that he would not under stress of anger abandon his glorious
 enterprises, he was
 appeased by their soothing plea and decided that on the following day the
 defenders should again be warned to surrender.

And so, at the first dawn of day, Grumbates,
 king of the Chionitae, wishing to render courageous service to his lord, boldly
 advanced to the walls with a band of active attendants; but a skilful observer
 caught sight of him as soon as he chanced to come within range of his weapon,
 and discharging a ballista, pierced both cuirass and breast of Grumbates' son,
 a youth just come to manhood, who was riding at his father's side and was
 conspicuous among his companions for his height and his handsome person.

Upon his fall all his countrymen scattered
 in flight, but presently returned in well-founded fear that his body might be
 carried off, and with harsh outcries roused numerous tribes to arms; and on
 their onset weapons flew from both sides like hail and a fierce fight ensued.

After a murderous contest, protracted to
 the very end of the day, at nightfall the body, which had
 with difficulty been protected amid heaps of slain and streams of blood, was
 dragged off under cover of darkness, as once upon a time before Troy his
 companions contended in a fierce struggle over the lifeless comrade
 of the Thessalian leader.

By this death the palace was saddened,
 and all the nobles, as well as the father, were stunned by the sudden calamity;
 accordingly a truce was declared and the young man, honoured for his high birth
 and beloved, was mourned after the fashion of his own nation. Accordingly he
 was carried out, armed in his usual manner, and placed upon a large and lofty
 platform, and about him were spread ten couches bearing figures of dead men, so
 carefully made ready that the images were like bodies already in the tomb. For
 the space of seven days all men by communities and companies feasted (lamenting the young prince) with dances and the
 singing of certain sorrowful dirges.

The
 women for their part, woefully beating their breasts and weeping after their
 wonted manner, loudly bewailed the hope of their nation cut off in the bloom of
 youth, just as the priestesses of Venus are often seen to weep at the annual
 festival of Adonis, which, as the mystic lore of religion tells us, is a kind
 of symbol of the ripened grain.

After the body had been burned and the ashes
 collected and placed in a silver urn, since the father had
 decided that they should be taken to his native land to be consigned to the
 earth, they debated what it was best to do; and it was resolved to propitiate
 the spirit of the slain youth by burning and
 destroying the city; for Grumbates would not allow them to go farther while the
 shade of his only son was unavenged.

Accordingly, after two days had been given to rest, a large force was sent to
 devastate the rich, cultivated fields, which were unprotected as in time of
 peace; then the city was begirt by a fivefold line of shields, and on the
 morning of the third day gleaming bands of horsemen filled all places which the
 eye could reach, and the ranks, advancing at a quiet pace, took the places
 assigned them by lot.

The Persians beset the
 whole circuit of the walls. The part which faced the east fell to the lot of
 the Chionitae, the place where the youth so fatal to us was slain, whose shade
 was destined to be appeased by the destruction of the city. The Gelani were
 assigned to the southern side, the Albani guarded the quarter to the north, and
 to the western gate were opposed the Segestani, the bravest warriors of all.
 With them, making a lofty show, slowly marched the lines of elephants,
 frightful with their wrinkled bodies and loaded with armed men, a hideous
 spectacle, dreadful beyond every form of horror, as I have often declared.

Beholding such innumerable peoples, long got
 together to set fire to the Roman world and bent upon our destruction, we
 despaired of any hope of safety and henceforth strove to end our lives
 gloriously, which was now our sole desire.

And so from sunrise until the day's end the battle lines stood fast. as though rooted in the same spot; no sound was heard, no
 neighing of horses; and they withdrew in the same order in which they had come,
 and then refreshed with food and sleep, when only a small part of the night
 remained, led by the trumpeters' blast they surrounded the city with the same
 awful ring, as if it were soon to fall.

And
 hardly had Grumbates hurled a bloodstained spear, following the usage of his
 country and the custom of our fetial priest, than the army with clashing
 weapons flew to the walls, and at once the lamentable tempest of war grew
 fiercer, the cavalry advancing at full speed as they hurried to the fight with
 general eagerness, while our men resisted with courage and determination.

Then heads were shattered, as masses of
 stone, hurled from the scorpions, crushed many of the enemy; others were
 pierced by arrows, some were struck down by spears and the ground strewn with
 their bodies, while others that were only wounded retreated in headlong flight
 to their companions.

No less was the grief
 and no fewer the deaths in the city, since a thick cloud of arrows in compact
 mass darkened the air, while the artillery which the Persians had acquired from
 the plunder of Singara inflicted still more wounds.

For the defenders, recovering their strength and returning in relays
 to the contest they had abandoned, when wounded in their great ardour for
 defence fell with destructive results; or if only mangled, they overturned in
 their writhing those who stood next to them, or at any rate, so long as they
 remained alive kept calling for those who had the skill to pull out the arrows implanted in their bodies.

Thus slaughter was piled upon slaughter and
 prolonged to the very end of the day, nor was it lessened even by the darkness
 of evening, with such great determination did both sides fight.

And so the night watches were passed under the
 burden of arms, while the hills re-echoed from the shouts rising from both
 sides, as our men praised the power of Constantius Caesar as lord of the world
 and the universe, and the Persians called Sapor saansaan and
 pirosen, which being interpreted is king of
 kings and victor in wars.

And before the dawn of the fifth day the
 signal was given on the trumpets and the countless forces were aroused anew
 from all sides to battles of equal heat, rushing to the strife like birds of
 prey; and the plains and dales as far and as wide as the eye could reach
 revealed nothing save the flashing arms of savage nations.

Presently a shout was raised and all rushed blindly
 forward, a vast shower of weapons flew from the walls, and as might be
 supposed, not one that fell among that dense throng of men was discharged in
 vain. For since so many ills hedged us about, we burned, not with the desire of
 saving our lives, but, as I have said, of dying bravely; and from the beginning
 of the day until the light was dim we fought with more fury than discretion,
 without a turn of the battle to either side. For the shouts of those who would
 terrify and of those who feared constantly rang out, and such was the heat of
 battle that scarcely anyone could stand his ground without a wound.

At length night put an end to the bloodshed and
 satiety of woes had brought both sides a longer rest from
 fighting; for even when time for rest was given us, constant toil and
 sleeplessness sapped the little strength that remained, and we were terrified
 by the blood and the pale faces of the dying, to whom not even the last
 consolation of burial could be given because of the confined space; for within
 the limits of a city that was none too large there were shut seven legions, a
 promiscuous throng of strangers and citizens of both sexes, and a few other
 soldiers, to the number of 120,000 in all.

Therefore each cured his wounds according to his ability or the supply of
 helpers; some, who were severely hurt, gave up the ghost slowly from loss of
 blood; others, pierced through by arrows, after vain attempts to relieve them,
 breathed out their lives, and were cast out when death came; others, whose
 limbs were gashed everywhere, the physicians forbade to be treated, lest their
 sufferings should be increased by useless infliction of pain; still others
 plucked out the arrows and through this doubtful remedy endured torments worse
 than death.

While the fight was going on at Amida with
 such determination on both sides, Ursicinus, grieving because he was dependent
 upon the will of another, who was then of greater authority in the command of
 the soldiers, frequently admonished Sabinianus, who was still clinging to his
 graves, that, getting together
 all his skirmishers, he should hasten by secret paths along the foot of the
 mountains, so that with the help of these light-armed troops (if fortune was at all favourable) he might surprise the
 pickets and attack the night-watches of the enemy, who had surrounded the walls
 in wide extent, or by repeated assaults distract the attention of those who
 were stoutly persisting in the siege.

These
 proposals Sabinianus opposed as dangerous, publicly offering as a pretext
 letters of the emperor, which expressly directed that whatever could be done
 should be effected without injury to the soldiers anywhere, but secretly in his
 inmost heart keeping in mind that he had often been instructed at court to out off from his predecessor, because of his burning
 desire for glory, every means of gaining honour, even though it promised to
 turn out to the advantage of the state.

Such
 great haste was made, even though attended with the destruction of the
 provinces, that this valiant warrior should not receive mention as author of,
 or participant in, any noteworthy action. Therefore, alarmed by this unhappy
 situation, Ursicinus often sent us scouts, although because of the strict guard
 no one could easily enter the town, and attempted many helpful things; but he
 obviously could accomplish nothing, being like a lion of huge size and terrible
 fierceness which did not dare to go to save from danger his whelps that were
 caught in a net, because he had been robbed of his claws and teeth.

But within the city, where the quantity of
 corpses scattered through the streets was too great to admit of burial, a
 plague was added to so many ills, fostered by the contagious infection of
 maggotin-fested bodies, the steaming heat, and the weakness of the populace
 from various causes. The origin of diseases of this kind I shall briefly set
 forth.

Philosophers and eminent physicians have told
 us that an excess of cold or heat, or of moisture or dryness, produces plagues.
 Hence those who dwell in marshy or damp places suffer from coughs, from
 affections of the eyes, and from similar complaints; on the other hand, the
 inhabitants of hot climates dry up with the heat of fever. But by as much as
 the substance of fire is fiercer and more effective than the other elements, by
 so much is drought the swifter to kill.

Therefore when Greece was toiling in a ten years' war in order that a foreigner
 might not evade the penalty
 for separating a royal pair, a scourge of this kind raged and many men perished
 by the darts of Apollo, who is
 regarded as the sun.

And, as Thucydides
 shows, that calamity which, at the beginning
 of the Peloponnesian war, harassed the Athenians with a grievous kind of
 sickness, gradually crept all the way from the torrid region
 of Africa and laid hold upon Attica.

Others
 believe that when the air, as often happens, and the waters are polluted by the
 stench of corpses or the like, the greater part of their healthfulness is
 spoiled, or at any rate that a sudden change of air causes minor ailments.

Some also assert that when the air is made
 heavy by grosser exhalations from the earth, it checks the secretions that
 should be expelled from the body, and is fatal to some; and it is for that
 reason, as we know on the authority of Homer as well as from many later experiences, that when such a pestilence has
 appeared, the other animals besides man, which constantly look downward, are
 the first to perish.

Now the first kind of
 plague is called endemic, and causes those who live in places that are too dry
 to be cut off by frequent fevers. The second is epidemic, which breaks out at
 certain seasons of the year, dimming the sight of the eyes and causing a
 dangerous flow of moisture. The third is loemodes, 
 which is also periodic, but deadly from its winged
 speed.

After we had been exhausted by this
 destructive plague and a few had succumbed to the excessive heat and still more
 from the crowded conditions, at last on the night following the tenth day the
 thick and gross exhalations were dispelled by light showers, and sound health
 of body was regained.

But meanwhile the restless Persian was
 surrounding the city with sheds and mantlets, and mounds began to be raised and
 towers were constructed; these last were lofty, with ironclad fronts, and on
 the top of each a ballista was placed, for the purpose of driving the defenders
 from the ramparts; yet not even for a moment did the skirmishing by the
 slingers and archers slacken.

There were with
 us two Magnentian legions, recently brought from Gaul (as I have said)
 and composed of brave, active men, experienced
 in battle in the open field, but to the sort of warfare to which we were
 constrained they were not merely unsuited, but actually a great hindrance; for
 whereas they were of no help with the artillery or in the construction of
 fortifications, they would sometimes make reckless sallies and after fighting
 with the greatest confidence return with diminished numbers, accomplishing just
 as much as would the pouring of a single handful of water (as the saying is)
 upon a general conflagration.

Finally, when
 the gates were very carefully barred, and their officers forbade them to go
 forth, they gnashed their teeth like wild beasts. But in the days that followed
 (as I shall show) their efficiency was conspicuous.

In a remote part of the walls on the southern side, which looks down
 on the river Tigris, there was a tower rising to a lofty height, beneath which
 yawned rocks so precipitous that one could not look down without shuddering dizziness. From these rocks subterranean arches
 had been hollowed out, and skilfully made steps led through the roots of the
 mountain as far as the plateau on which the city stood, in order that water
 might be brought secretly from the channel of the river, a device which I have
 seen in all the fortifications in those regions which border on streams.

Through these dark passages, left
 unguarded because of their steepness, led by a deserter in the city who had
 gone over to the opposite side, seventy Persian bowmen from the king's
 bodyguard who excelled in skill and bravery, protected by the silence of the
 remote spot, suddenly one by one in the middle of the night mounted to the
 third story of the tower and there concealed themselves; in the morning they
 displayed a cloak of red hue, which was the signal for beginning battle, and
 when they saw the city surrounded on all sides with the floods of their forces,
 emptying their quivers, and throwing them at their feet, with a conflagration
 of shouts and yells they sent their shafts in all directions with the utmost
 skill. And presently all the Persian forces in dense array attacked the city
 with far greater fury than before.

We were
 perplexed and uncertain where first to offer resistance, whether to those who
 stood above us or to the throng mounting on scaling-ladders and already laying
 hold of the very battlements; so the work was divided among us and five of the
 lighter ballistae were moved and placed over against the tower, rapidly pouring
 forth wooden shafts, which sometimes pierced even two men at a time. Some of
 the enemy fell, severely wounded; others, through fear of
 the clanging engines, leaped off headlong and were dashed to pieces.

This being so quickly accomplished and the engines
 restored to their usual places, with a little greater confidence all ran
 together to defend the walls.

And since the
 wicked deed of the deserter increased the soldiers' wrath, as if they were
 entering a level ground in a sham fight they used such strength of arm as they
 hurled their various weapons, that as the day inclined towards noon the enemy
 were scattered in bitter defeat, and lamenting the death of many of their
 number, retreated to their tents through fear of wounds.

Fortune thus breathed upon us some hope of
 safety, since a day had passed without harm to us and with disaster to the
 enemy; so the remainder of that day was devoted to rest, for refreshing our
 bodies. But at the arrival of the following dawn we saw from the citadel a
 countless throng which after the capture of the fortress of Ziata was being
 taken to the enemy's camp; for in that stronghold, which was both capacious and
 well fortified (it has a circuit of ten stadia) a multitude of people of all
 sorts had taken refuge.

For other
 fortifications also were seized and burned during those same days, and from
 them many thousands of men had been dragged, and were following into slavery,
 among them many feeble old men, and women already advanced in years, who, when
 they gave out for various reasons, discouraged by the long march and abandoning the desire to live, were left behind with their
 calves or hams cut out.

The Gallic soldiers, seeing these throngs of
 wretches, with a reasonable, but untimely, impulse demanded that the
 opportunity be given them of encountering the enemy, threatening death to the
 tribunes who forbade them, and to the higher officers, if they in their turn
 prevented them.

And just as ravening beasts
 in cages, roused to greater fierceness by the odour of carrion, in hope of
 getting out dash against the revolving bars, so did they hew with swords at the gates, which (as I said
 above) were locked, being exceedingly anxious lest, if the city should be
 destroyed, they also might perish without any glorious action, or if it were
 saved from peril, they should be said to have done nothing worth while, as
 Gallic greatness of heart demanded; and yet before this they had made frequent
 sallies and attempted to interfere with the builders of mounds, had killed
 some, and had suffered the like themselves.

We, at our wit's end and in doubt what
 opposition ought to be made to the raging Gauls, at last chose this course as
 the best, to which they reluctantly consented: that since they could no longer
 be restrained, they should wait for a while and then be allowed to attack the
 enemy's outposts, which were stationed not much farther than a bowshot away,
 with the understanding that if they broke through them, they might keep right
 on. For it was apparent that, if their request were granted, they would deal
 immense slaughter.

While preparations for
 this were going on, the walls were being vigorously defended by various kinds
 of effort: by toil and watchfulness and by placing engines
 so as to scatter stones and darts in all directions. However, two lofty mounds
 were constructed by a troop of Persian infantry, and the storming of the city
 was being prepared with slowly built siege-works; and in opposition to these
 troops our soldiers also with extreme care were rearing earthworks of great
 height, equal in elevation to those of the enemy and capable of supporting the
 greatest possible weight of fighting men.

Meanwhile the Gauls, impatient of delay,
 armed with axes and swords rushed out through an opened postem gate, taking
 advantage of a gloomy, moonless night and praying for the protection of heaven,
 that it might propitiously and willingly aid them. And holding their very
 breath when they had come near the enemy, they rushed violently upon them in
 close order, and having slain some of the outposts, they butchered the outer
 guards of the camp in their sleep (since they feared nothing of the kind), and
 secretly thought of a surprise attack even on the king's quarters, if a
 favourable fortune smiled on them.

But the
 sound of their cautious advance, slight though it was, and the groans of the
 dying were heard, and many of the enemy were roused from sleep and sprang up,
 while each for himself raised the call to arms. Our soldiers stood rooted to
 the spot, not daring to advance farther; for it no longer seemed prudent, when
 those against whom the surprise was directed were aroused, to rush into open
 danger, since now throngs of raging Persians were coming to battle from every
 side, fired with fury.

But the Gauls faced
 them, relying on their strength of body and keeping their
 courage unshaken as long as they could, cut down their opponents with the
 sword, while a part of their own number were slain or wounded by the cloud of
 arrows flying from every side. But when they saw that the whole weight of peril
 and all the troops of the enemy were turned against one spot, although not one
 of them turned his back, they made haste to get away; and as if retreating to
 music, they were gradually forced out beyond the rampart, and being now unable
 to withstand the bands of foemen rushing upon them in close order, and excited
 by the blare of trumpets from the camp, they withdrew.

And while many clarions sounded from the city, the
 gates were thrown open to admit our men, if they could succeed in getting so
 far, and the hurling-engines roared constantly, but without discharging any
 missiles, in order that since those in command of the outposts, after the death
 of their comrades were unaware of what was going on behind them, the men
 stationed before the walls of the city might abandon their unsafe position, and
 the brave men might be admitted through the gate without harm.

By this device the Gauls entered the gate
 about daybreak in diminished numbers, a part severely others slightly wounded
 (the losses of that night were four hundred); and if a mightier fate had not
 prevented, they would have slain, not Rhesus nor the Thracians encamped before
 the walls of Troy, but the king of the Persians in his own
 tent, protected by a hundred thousand armed men.

In honour of their officers, as leaders in these brave deeds, after
 the destruction of the city the emperor ordered statues in
 full armour to be made and set up in a frequented spot at Edessa, and they are
 preserved intact to the present time.

When on the following day the slaughter was
 revealed, and among the corpses of the slain there were found grandees and
 satraps, and dissonant ories and tears bore witness to the disasters in this or
 that place, everywhere mourning was heard and the indignation of the kings at
 the thought that the Romans had forced their way in through the guards posted
 before the walls. And as because of this event a truce of three days was
 granted by common consent, we also gained time to take breath.

Then the enemy, horrified and maddened by the
 unexpected mishap, set aside all delay, and since force was having little
 effect, now planned to decide the contest by siege-works; and all of them,
 fired with the greatest eagerness for battle, now hastened to meet a glorious
 death or with the downfall of the city to make offering to the spirits of the
 slain.

And now through the zeal of all the
 preparations were completed, and as the morning star shone forth various kinds
 of siege-works were brought up, along with ironclad towers, on the high tops of
 which ballistae were placed, and drove off the defenders who were busy lower
 down.

And day was now dawning, when mail-clad
 soldiers underspread the entire heaven, and the dense forces moved forward, not
 as before in disorder, but led by the slow notes of the
 trumpets and with no one running forward, protected too by pent-houses and
 holding before them wicker hurdles.

But when
 their approach brought them within bowshot, though holding their shields before
 them the Persian infantry found it hard to avoid the arrows shot from the walls
 by the artillery, and took open order, and almost no kind of dart failed to
 find its mark; even the mail-clad horsemen were checked and gave ground, and
 thus increased the courage of our men.

However, because the enemy's ballistae, mounted as they were upon iron-clad
 towers, were effective from their higher place against those lower down, on
 account of their different position they had a different result and caused
 terrible carnage on our side; and when evening was already coming on and both
 sides rested, the greater part of the night was spent in trying to devise a
 remedy for this awful slaughter.

And at last, after turning over many plans,
 we resolved upon a plan which speedy action made the safer, namely, to oppose
 four scorpions to those
 same ballistae; but while they were being moved exactly opposite and cautiously
 put in place (an act calling for the greatest skill) the most sorrowful of days
 dawned upon us, showing as it did formidable bands of Persians along with
 troops of elephants, than whose noise and huge bodies the human mind can
 conceive nothing more terrible.

And while we
 were hard pressed on every side by weight of armed men, siege-works, and
 monsters, round stones hurled at intervals from the battlements by the iron
 arms of our scorpions shattered the joints of the towers,
 and threw down the ballistae and those who worked them in such headlong
 fashion, that some perished without injury from wounds, others were crushed to death by
 the great weight of debris. The elephants, too, were driven back with great
 violence, for they were surrounded by firebrands thrown at them from every
 side, and as soon as these touched their bodies, they turned tail and their
 drivers were unable to control them. But though after that the siege-works were
 burned up, there was no cessation from strife.

For even the king of the Persians himself, who is never compelled to take
 part in battles, aroused by these storms of ill-fortune, rushed into the thick
 of the fight like a common soldier (a new thing, never before heard of) and
 because he was more conspicuous even to those who looked on from a distance
 because of the throng of his body-guard, he was the mark of many a missile; and
 when many of his attendants had been slain he withdrew, interchanging the tasks
 of his tractable forces, and at the end of the day, though terrified by the
 grim spectacle neither of the dead nor of the wounded he at last allowed a
 brief time to be given to rest.

But night put an end to the conflict; and
 having taken a nap during the brief period of rest, the
 king, as soon as dawn appeared, boiling with wrath and resentment and closing
 his eyes to all right, aroused the barbarians against us, to win what he hoped
 for; and when the siege-works had been burned (as I have shown) they attempted
 battle over high mounds close to the walls, whereupon our men erected heaps of
 earth on the inside as well as they could with all their efforts, and under
 difficulties resisted with equal vigour.

For a long time the sanguinary battle
 remained undecided, and not a man anywhere through fear of death gave up his
 ardour for defence; and the contest had reached a point when the fate of both
 parties was governed by some unavoidable hap, when that mound of ours, the
 result of long toil, fell forward as if shattered by an earthquake. Thus the
 gulf which yawned between the wall and the heap built up outside was made a
 level plain, as if by a causeway or a bridge built across it, and opened to the
 enemy a passage blocked by no obstacles, while the greater part of the soldiers
 that were thrown down ceased fighting, being either crushed or worn out.

Nevertheless others rushed to the spot
 from all sides, to avert so sudden a danger; but in their desire for haste they
 impeded one another, while the boldness of the enemy was increased by their
 very success.

Accordingly, by the king's
 command all the warriors were summoned and there was a hand-to-hand contest
 with drawn swords; blood streamed on all sides from the vast carnage; the
 trenches were blocked with bodies and so a broader path was furnished. And now
 the city was filled with the eager rush of the enemy's forces, and since all hope of defence or of flight was cut off, armed and unarmed
 alike without distinction of sex were slaughtered like so many cattle.

Therefore when the darkness of evening was
 coming on and a large number of our soldiers, although adverse fortune still
 struggled against them, were joined in battle and thus kept busy, I hid with
 two others in a secluded part of the city, and under cover of a dark night made
 my escape through a postern gate at which no guard was kept; and, aided by my
 familiarity with desert places and by the speed of my companions, I at length
 reached the tenth milestone.

At the
 post-house there we got a little rest, and when we were making ready to go
 farther and I was already unequal to the excessive walking, to which as a
 gentleman I was unused, I met a terrible sight, which however furnished me a
 most timely relief, worn out as I was by extreme weariness.

A groom, mounted on a runaway horse without saddle or
 bit, in order not to fall off had tied the rein by which, in the usual manner,
 the horse was guided, tightly to his left hand; and afterwards, being thrown
 off and unable to loose the knot, he was torn limb from limb as he was dragged
 through desert places and woods, while the animal, exhausted by running, was
 held back by the weight of the dead body; so I caught it and making timely use
 of the service of its back, with those same companions I with difficulty
 reached some springs of sulphurous water, naturally hot.

And since the heat had caused us parching thirst, for
 a long time we went slowly about looking for water. And we fortunately found a
 deep well, but it was neither possible to go down into it
 because of its depth, nor were there ropes at hand; so taught by extreme need,
 we cut the linen garments in which we were clad into long strips and from them made a great rope. To the
 extreme end of this we tied the cap which one of us wore under his helmet, and
 when this was let down by the rope and sucked up the water after the manner of
 a sponge, it readily quenched the thirst by which we were tormented.

From there we quickly made our way to the Euphrates
 river, planning to cross to the farther bank by a boat which long continued
 custom had kept in that vicinity for the transport of men and animals.

But lo! we saw afar off a scattered band
 of Romans with cavalry standards, pursued by a great force of Persians; and we
 could not understand how they appeared so suddenly behind us as we went along.

Judging from this instance, we believe
 that the famous sons of earth did not come forth from the bosom
 of the land, but were born with extraordinary swiftness —those so-called
 sparti, who, because they were seen unexpectedly in sundry places, were thought
 to have sprung from the earth, since antiquity gave the matter a fabulous
 origin.

Alarmed by this danger, since now
 all hope of life depended upon speed, through thickets and woods we made for
 the higher mountains, and came from there to the town of Melitina in lesser
 Armenia, where we presently found and accompanied an
 officer, who was just on the point of leaving; and so we returned unexpectedly
 to Antioch.

But the Persians, since the rapidly
 approaching end of autumn and the rising of the unfavourable constellation of
 the Kids prevented them from marching
 farther inland, were thinking of returning to their own country with their
 prisoners and their booty.

But in the midst
 of the slaughter and pillage of the destroyed city Count Aelianus and the
 tribunes, by whose efficient service the walls had been so long defended and
 the losses of the Persians increased, were shamefully gibbeted; Jacobus and
 Caesius, paymasters of the commander of the cavalry, and other officers of the
 bodyguard, were led off with their hands bound behind their backs; and those
 who had come from across the Tigris were
 hunted down with extreme care and butchered to a man, highest and lowest
 without distinction.

But the wife of Craugasius, who retained her
 chastity inviolate and was honoured as a woman of rank, grieved that she was
 likely to see another part of the world without her husband, although from
 present indications she had reason to hope for a loftier fortune.

Therefore, looking out for her own interests and
 foreseeing long beforehand what would happen, she was tormented by two-fold anxiety, dreading both separation from her husband
 and marriage with another. Accordingly, she secretly sent a slave of hers, who
 was of tried fidelity and acquainted with the regions of Mesopotamia, to go
 over Mount Izala between the strongholds of Maride and Lorne to Nisibis, and
 take a message to her husband and certain tokens of their more private life,
 begging him that on hearing what had happened he should come to live happily
 with her.

When this had been arranged, the
 messenger, being lightly equipped, made his way with quick pace through forest
 paths and thickets and entered Nisibis. There giving out that he had seen his
 mistress nowhere, that she was perhaps slain, and that he himself, taking
 advantage of an opportunity to escape, had fled from the enemy's camp, he was
 accordingly disregarded as of no consequence. Thereupon he told Craugasius what
 had happened and then, after receiving assurance that if it could safely be
 done he would gladly follow his wife, the messenger departed, bearing to the
 woman the desired news. She on hearing it begged the king through his general
 Tamsapor that, if the opportunity offered before he left the Roman territory,
 he would graciously give orders that her husband be received under his
 protection.

The sudden departure, contrary to every one's
 expectation, of the stranger, who had returned by the right of postliminium and immediately vanished without anyone's
 knowledge, aroused the suspicions of the general Cassianus and the other
 important officials in Nisibis, who assailed Craugasius with dire threats,
 loudly insisting that the man had neither come nor gone
 without his wish.

He, then, fearing a charge
 of treason and greatly troubled lest through the coming of the deserter it
 should become known that his wife was alive and treated with great respect, as
 a blind sought marriage with another, a maiden of high rank, and, under
 pretence of preparing what was needed for the wedding-banquet, went to a
 country house of his eight miles distant from the city; then, at full gallop he
 fled to a band of Persian pillagers that he had learned to be approaching. He
 was received with open arms, being recognized from the story that he told, and
 five days later was brought to Tamsapor, and by him taken to the king. And
 after recovering his property and all his kindred, as well as his wife, whom he
 had lost after a few months, he held the second place after Antoninus, but was,
 as the eminent poet says, next by a long interval.

For Antoninus, aided by his talent and his
 long experience of the world, had available plans at hand for all his
 enterprises, while Craugasius was by nature most simple, yet of an equally
 celebrated reputation. And these things happened not long afterward.

But the king, although making a show of ease
 of mind in his expression, and to all appearance seeming to exult in the
 destruction of the city, yet in the depths of his heart was greatly troubled,
 recalling that in unfortunate sieges he had often suffered sad losses, and had
 sacrificed far more men himself than he had taken alive of ours, or at any rate
 had killed in the various battles, as happened several times at Nisibis and at
 Singara; and in the same way, when he had invested Amida for
 seventy-three days with a great force of armed men, he lost 30,000 warriors, as
 was reckoned a little later by Discenes, a tribune and secretary, the more
 readily for this difference: that the corpses of our men soon after they are
 slain fall apart and waste away, to such a degree that the face of no dead man
 is recognisable after four days, but the bodies of the slain Persians dry up
 like tree-trunks, without their limbs wasting or becoming moist with
 corruption-a fact due to their more frugal life and the dry heat of their
 native country.

While these storms were swiftly passing one
 after the other in the extreme East, the eternal city was fearing the disaster
 of a coming shortage of grain, and from time to time Tertullus, who was prefect
 at the time, was assailed by the violent
 threats of the commons, as they anticipated famine, the worst of all ills; and
 this was utterly unreasonable, since it was no fault of his that food was not
 brought at the proper time in the ships, which unusually rough weather at sea
 and adverse gales of wind drove to the nearest harbours, and by the greatness
 of the danger kept them from entering the Port of Augustus.

Therefore that same prefect, since he had
 often been disquieted by uprisings, and the common people, in fear of imminent
 destruction, were now raging still more cruelly, being
 shut off from all hope of saving his life, as he thought, held out his little
 sons to the wildly riotous populace, who had however been wont to take a
 sensible view of such accidents, and said with tears:

Behold your fellow citizens, who with you (but may the gods of heaven
 avert the omen!) will endure the same fate, unless a happier fortune shine
 upon us. If therefore you think that by the destruction of these no heavy
 calamity can befall you, here they are in your power. Through pity
 at this sight the mob, of their own nature inclined to mercy, was appeased and
 held its peace, awaiting with patience the fortune that should come.

And presently by the will of the divine power that
 gave increase to Rome from its cradle and promised that it should last forever,
 while Tertullus was sacrificing in the temple of Castor and Pollux at Ostia, a
 calm smoothed the sea, the wind changed to a gentle southern breeze, and the
 ships entered the harbour under full sail and again crammed the storehouses
 with grain.

In the midst of such troubles Constantius,
 who was still enjoying his winter rest at Sirmium, was disturbed by fearful and
 serious news, informing him of what he then greatly dreaded, namely, that the
 Sarmatian Limigantes, who (as we have already pointed out) had driven their masters from their ancestral abodes, having
 gradually abandoned the places which for the public good had
 been assigned them the year before for fear that they (as they are inconstant)
 might attempt some wrongful act, had seized upon the regions bordering upon
 their frontiers, were ranging freely in their native fashion, and unless they
 were driven back would cause general confusion.

The emperor, believing that these outrages
 would soon be pushed to greater heights if the matter were postponed, assembled
 from every quarter a great number of soldiers most eager for war and took the
 field before spring had yet fully come; he was the more eager for action from
 two considerations: first, because an army glutted with the rich booty of the
 past summer, by the hope of similar booty would be confidently encouraged to
 achieve successful enterprises, and because under Anatolius, who at that time was prefect of Illyricum, all necessary
 supplies had been brought together even ahead of time and were still coming in
 without trouble to anyone.

For never under
 the management of any other prefect up to the present time, as was generally
 agreed, had the northern provinces so abounded in all blessings, since by his
 kindly and skilful correction of abuses they were relieved of the great cost of
 the courier-service, which had closed homes without number, and there was
 considerable hope of freedom from the income tax. The dwellers in those parts
 might have lived thereafter happy and untroubled without grounds for complaint,
 had not later the most hated forms of taxation that could be imagined,
 criminally amplified by both tax-payers and tax-collectors, since the latter hoped to gain the protection of the governors in their
 efforts and the former hoped for safety if all were impoverished, resulted
 finally in proscriptions and the suicide of the wretched victims.

Well, then, the emperor (as I have said), in
 order to improve the pressing situation, set out with splendid equipment and
 came to Valeria, once a part of Pannonia, but made into a province and named in
 honour of Valeria, the daughter of Diocletian. There, with his army encamped
 along the banks of the river Hister, he watched the savages, who
 before his coming, under pretext of friendship but really intending secretly to
 devastate the country, were planning to enter Pannonia in the dead of winter,
 when the snows are not yet melted by the warmth of spring and so the river can
 be crossed everywhere, and when our soldiers would with difficulty, because of
 the frosts, endure life in the open.

Then having quickly sent two tribunes to the
 Limigantes, each with an interpreter, by courteous questioning he tried to find
 out why they had left their homes after the treaty of peace which had been
 granted to them at their own request, and were thus roaming at large and
 disturbing the frontiers, notwithstanding orders to the contrary.

They gave some frivolous and unsatisfactory excuses,
 since fear forced them to lie, and begged for pardon, entreating the emperor to
 forget his anger and allow them to cross the river and come to him, in order to
 inform him of the difficulties that they were suffering. They were ready to
 take up far distant lands, but within the compass of the Roman world, if he would allow them, in order that wrapped in lasting
 repose and worshipping Quiet (as a saving goddess), they might submit to the
 burdens and the name of tributaries.

When this was known after the return of the
 tribunes, the emperor, exulting in the accomplishment without any toil of a
 task which he thought insuperable, admitted them all, being inflamed with the
 desire for greater gain, which his crew of flatterers increased by constantly
 dinning it into his ears that now that foreign troubles were quieted, and peace
 made everywhere, he would gain more child-producing subjects and be able to
 muster a strong force of recruits; for the provincials are glad to contribute
 gold to save their bodies, a hope which has more than once proved
 disastrous to the Roman state.

Accordingly, having placed a rampart near
 Acimincum and erected a high mound in the
 manner of a tribunal, ships carrying some light-armed legionaries were ordered
 to patrol the channel of the river near the banks, with one Innocentius, a
 field-measurer, who had recommended the plan, in order that, if they should see
 the savages beginning disorder, they might attack them in the rear, when their
 attention was turned elsewhere.

But although
 the Limigantes knew that these plans were being hastened, yet they stood with
 bared heads, as if composing nothing save entreaties, but
 meditating deep in their hearts quite other things than their attitude and
 their words suggested.

And when the emperor was seen on the high
 tribunal and was already preparing to deliver a most mild address, intending to
 speak to them as future obedient subjects, one of their number, struck with
 savage madness, hurling his shoe at the tribunal, shouted Marha,
 marha (which is their warcry), and the rude crowd following him
 suddenly raised a barbarian banner and with savage howls rushed upon the
 emperor himself.

He, looking down from his
 high place and seeing everything filled with a mob running about with missiles,
 and death already imminent from their drawn swords and javelins, in the midst
 as he was of the enemy and of his own men, and with nothing to indicate whether
 he was a general or a common soldier, since there was no time for hesitation or
 delay mounted a swift horse and galloped off at full speed.

However, a few of his attendants, while they were
 trying to keep off the savages, who poured upon them like a stream of fire,
 were either wounded to the death or trampled down by the mere weight of those
 who rushed over them; and the royal seat with its golden cushion was seized
 without resistance.

But when presently it was heard that the
 emperor had all but been drawn into extreme peril and was not yet on safe
 ground, the soldiers considered it their first duty to aid him (for they
 thought him not yet free from danger of death); so, with greater confidence
 because of their contempt of the enemy, although the attack was so sudden that they were only partly armed, with a loud battle
 cry they plunged into the bands of the savages, who were regardless of their
 lives.

And so eagerly did our forces rush
 forth in their desire to wipe out the disgrace by valour, at the same time
 venting their wrath on the treacherous foe, that they butchered everything in
 their way, trampling under foot without mercy the living, as well as those
 dying or dead; and before their hands were sated with slaughter of the savages,
 the dead lay piled in heaps.

For the rebels
 were completely overthrown, some being slain, others fleeing in terror in all
 directions; and a part of them, who hoped to save their lives by vain
 entreaties, were cut down by repeated strokes. And after all had been killed
 and the trumpets were sounding the recall, some of our men also, though few,
 were found among the dead, either trampled under foot in the fierce attack or,
 when they resisted the fury of the enemy and exposed their unprotected sides,
 destroyed by the fatal course of destiny.

But conspicuous above the rest was the death of Cella, tribune of the
 Targeteers, who at the beginning of the fight was first to rush into the thick
 of the Sarmatian forces.

After this cruel carnage Constantius, having
 made such arrangements for the safety of the frontiers as considerations of
 urgency recommended, returned to Sirmium after taking vengeance on a
 treacherous foe. Then, having quickly attended to what the pressing necessities
 of the time required, he set out from there and went to Constantinople, in
 order that being now nearer the Orient he might remedy the disaster which he
 had suffered at Amida, and by supplying the army there with
 reinforcements might with an equally strong force check the inroads of the
 Persian king; for it was clear that the latter (unless the will of heaven and
 the supreme efforts of many men repelled him) would leave Mesopotamia behind
 and seek a wider field for his arms.

Yet in the midst of these anxieties, as if it
 were prescribed by some ancient custom, in place of civil wars the trumpets
 sounded for alleged cases of high treason; and to investigate and punish these
 there was sent that notorious state-secretary Paulus, often called Tartareus. He was
 skilled in the. work of bloodshed, and just as a trainer of gladiators seeks
 profit and emolument from the traffic in funerals and festivals, so did he from the rack or the executioner.

Therefore, as his determination to do harm
 was fixed and obstinate, he did not refrain from secret fraud, devising fatal
 charges against innocent persons, provided only he might continue his
 pernicious traffic.

Moreover, a slight and trivial occasion gave
 opportunity to extend his inquisitions indefinitely. There is a town called
 Abydum, situated in the remotest part of the Thebais ; here the oracle of a god called in that place Besa in
 days of old revealed the future and was wont to be honoured in the ancient ceremonials of the adjacent regions.

And since some in person, a part through others, by sending a
 written list of their desires, inquired the will of the deities after definitely stating
 their requests, the papers or parchments containing their petitions sometimes
 remained in the shrine even after the replies had been given.

Some of these were with malicious intent sent to the
 emperor who (being narrow-minded), although deaf to other very serious matters,
 on this point was softer than an earlobe, as the proverb has it; and being suspicious and petty, he grew
 furiously angry. At once be admonished Paulus to proceed quickly to the Orient,
 conferring on him, as a leader renowned for his experience, the power of
 conducting trials according to his good pleasure.

A commission was also given to Modestus (at that very time count in
 the Orient) a man fitted for these and similar affairs. For Hermogenes of
 Pontus, at that time praetorian prefect, was rejected as being of too mild a
 temper.

Off went Paulus (as he was ordered) in
 panting haste and teeming with deadly fury, and since free rein was given to
 general calumny, men were brought in from almost the whole world, noble and
 obscure alike; and some of them were bowed down with the weight of chains,
 others wasted away from the agony of imprisonment.

As the theatre of torture and death Scythopolis was chosen, a city
 of Palestine which for two reasons seemed more suitable than any other: because
 it is more secluded, and because it is midway between Antioch and Alexandria,
 from which cities the greater number were brought to meet
 charges.

Among the first, then, to be summoned was
 Simplicius, son of Philippus, a former prefect and consul, who was indicted for
 the reason that he had (as was said) inquired about gaining imperial power; and
 by a note 
 of the emperor, who in such cases never condoned a fault or an error because of
 loyal service, he was ordered to be tortured; but, protected by some fate, he
 was banished to a stated place, but with a whole skin.

Then Parnasius (ex-prefect of Egypt), a
 man of simple character, was brought into such peril that he was tried for his
 life, but he likewise was sent into exile; he had often been heard to say long
 before this, that when, for the purpose of gaining a certain office, he left
 Patrae, a town of Achaia where he was born and had his home, he had dreamt that
 many shadowy figures in tragic garb escorted him.

Later Andronicus, known for his liberal studies and the fame of his
 poems, was haled into court; but since he had a clear conscience, was under no
 suspicion, and most confidently asserted his innocence, he was acquitted.

Also Demetrius, surnamed Cythras, a
 philosopher of advanced years, it is true, but hardy of body and mind, being
 charged with offering sacrifice several times, could not
 deny it; he declared, however, that he had done so from
 early youth for the purpose of propitiating the deity, not of trying to reach a
 higher station by his investigations; for he did not know of anyone who had
 such aspirations. Therefore, after being long kept upon the rack, supported by
 his firm confidence he fearlessly made the same plea without variation;
 whereupon he was allowed to go without further harm to his native city of
 Alexandria.

These and a few others a just fate in
 alliance with truth saved from imminent danger. But as these charges made their
 way further by entangling snares extended endlessly, some died from the
 mangling of their bodies, others were condemned to further punishment and had
 their goods seized, while Paulus was the prompter of these scenes of cruelty,
 supplying as if from a storehouse many kinds of deception and cruelty; and on
 his nod (I might almost say) depended the life of all who walk the earth.

For if anyone wore on his neck an amulet
 against the quartan ague or any other complaint, or was accused by the
 testimony of the evil-disposed of passing by a grave in the evening, on the
 ground that he was a dealer in poisons, or a gatherer of the horrors of tombs
 and the vain illusions of the ghosts that walk there, he was condemned to
 capital punishment and so perished.

In fact,
 the matter was handled exactly as if many men had importuned Claros, 
 the oaks of Dodona, and the once famous oracles of Delphi with regard to the death of the emperor.

Therefore the palace band of courtiers, ingeniously fabricating shameful
 devices of flattery, declared that he would be immune to ordinary ills, loudly
 exclaiming that his destiny had appeared at all times powerful and effective in
 destroying those who made attempts against him.

And that into such doings strict
 investigation was made no man of good sense will find fault. For we do not deny
 that the safety of a lawful prince, the protector and defender of good men, on
 whom depends the safety of others, ought to be safeguarded by the united
 diligence of all men; and in order to uphold him the more strongly when his
 violated majesty is defended, the Cornelian laws exempted no one of whatever estate from examination by torture, even
 with the shedding of blood.

But it is not seemly for a prince to rejoice
 beyond measure in such sorrowful events, lest his subjects should seem to be
 ruled by despotism rather than by lawful power. And the example of Tully ought
 to be followed, who, when it was in his power to spare or to harm, as he
 himself tells us, sought excuses for
 pardoning rather than opportunities for punishing; and that is the province of
 a mild and considerate official.

At that same time in Daphne, that charming
 and magnificent suburb of Antioch, a portent was born, horrible to see and to
 report: an infant, namely, with two heads, two sets of
 teeth, a beard, four eyes and two very small ears; and this misshapen birth
 foretold that the state was turning into a deformed condition.

Portents of this kind often see the light, as
 indications of the outcome of various affairs; but as they are not expiated by
 public rites, as they were in the time of our forefathers, they pass by unheard
 of and unknown.

In these days the Isaurians, who had long
 been quiet after the acts of which an account is given above and the attempted siege of the city of Seleucia, gradually
 coming to life again just as snakes are wont to dart forth from their holes in
 the spring time, sallying forth from their rocky and inaccessible mountain
 fastnesses, and massed together in dense bands, were harrying their neighbours
 with thefts and brigandage, eluding the frontier-defences of our soldiers by
 their skill as mountaineers and from experience easily running over rocks and
 through thickets.

In order to quiet them by
 force or by reason, Lauricius was sent as governor with the added rank of
 count; being a man skilled in statesmanship, he corrected many evils by threats
 rather than by actual severity, so that for a long time, while he governed the
 province, nothing occurred which was thought deserving of punishment.

Such was the course of events throughout
 Illyricum and the Orient. But in Britain in the tenth consulship of Constantius
 and the third of Julian raids of the savage tribes of the Scots and the Picts,
 who had broken the peace that had been agreed upon, were laying waste the
 regions near the frontiers, so that fear seized the provincials, wearied as
 they were by a mass of past calamities. And Julian, who was passing the winter
 in Paris and was distracted amid many cares, was afraid to go to the aid of
 those across the sea, as Constans once did (as I have told), for fear of leaving Gaul without a
 ruler at a time when the Alamanni were already roused to rage and war.

Therefore he decided that Lupicinus,
 who was at that time 
 commander-in-chief, should be sent to settle the troubles either by argument or
 by force; he was indeed a warlike man and skilled in military affairs, but one
 who raised his brows like horns and ranted in the tragic buskin (as the saying is), and about whom men
 were long in doubt whether he was more covetous or more cruel.

Therefore, taking the light-armed auxiliaries, to wit
 the Aeruli, the Batavians, and two
 companies of Moesians, in the dead of winter the leader aforesaid came to
 Boulogne, and after procuring ships and embarking all his troops, he waited for
 a favourable breeze and then sailed to Richborough, which lay opposite, and
 went on to London, intending there to form his plans according to the situation
 of affairs and hasten quickly to take the field.

While this was going on, Ursicinus, after the
 storming of Amida, had returned to the emperor's service as commander of the
 infantry; for, as I have said, he succeeded Barbatio. There he was met by detractors, who at first spread whispered
 slanders, then openly added false charges.

These the emperor, since he judged most matters according to his prejudices and
 was ready to listen to secret attackers, took seriously and appointed Arbitio
 and Florentius, master of the
 offices, to investigate as judges the reasons for the destruction of Amida.

These men rejected the
 evident and plausible reasons, and fearing that Eusebius, then head
 chamberlain, would take offence if they admitted evidence which clearly showed
 that what had happened was the result of the persistent inaction of Sabinianus,
 they turned from the truth and examined into trivial matters far remote from
 the business in hand.

The accused, exasperated at this injustice,
 said: Although the emperor despises me, the importance of the present
 business is such, that it cannot be examined into and punished, except by
 the judgement of the prince; yet let him know, as if from the words of a
 seer, that so long as he grieves over what he has learned on no good
 authority to have happened at Amida, and so long as he is swayed by the will
 of eunuchs, not even he in person with all the flower of his army will be
 able next spring to prevent the dismemberment of Mesopotania.

When this had been reported and much had been
 added in a malicious light, Constantius was angered beyond measure; and without
 sifting the matter or allowing the details of which he was ignorant to be
 explained, he ordered the victim of the calumnies to give up his command in the
 army and go into retirement. And by an extraordinary advancement Agilo, a
 former tribune of the household troops and of the targeteers, was promoted to his place.

At that same time, throughout the regions of
 the East the heaven was seen to be overcast with dark mist,
 through which the stars were visible continually from the first break of day
 until noon. It was an additional cause of terror when the light of heaven was
 hidden and its orb removed utterly from the sight of the world, that the
 timorous minds of men thought that the darkening of the sun lasted too long;
 but it
 thinned out at first into the form of the crescent moon, then growing to the
 shape of the half-moon, and was finally fully restored.

This phenomenon never takes place so clearly as when
 the moon, after its shifting courses, brings back its monthly journey to the same starting-point
 after fixed intervals of time; that is to say, when the entire moon, in the abode of the same sign of the
 zodiac, is found in a perfectly straight line directly under the sun, and for a
 brief time stands still in the minute points which the science of geometry
 calls parts of parts.

And although the revolutions and movements of
 both heavenly bodies, as the searchers 
 for intelligible causes had observed, after the course of the moon is
 completed, meet at one and the
 same point always at the same distance from each other, yet the sun is not always eclipsed at such times, but
 only when the moon (by a kind of fiery plumb-line) is directly opposite the sun and interposed between its orb and our
 vision.

In short, the sun is hidden and his
 brightness suppressed, when he himself and the orb of the moon, the lowest of
 all the heavenly bodies, accompanying each other and each
 keeping its proper course, maintaining the relation of height between them and
 being in conjunction, as Ptolemy wisely and elegantly expresses it have come
 to the points which in Greek we call ἀναβιβάζοντας and καταβιβάζοντας 
 ἐκλειπτικοὶ σύνδεσμοι 
 (that is, eclipse nodes). And if they merely graze the spaces adjacent
 to these nodes, the eclipse will be partial.

If, on the other hand, they stand in the nodes themselves which closely unite
 the ascent and the descent, the heaven will be overcast with thicker darkness,
 so that because of the density of the air we cannot see even objects which are
 near and close at hand.

Now it is thought that two suns are seen, if
 a cloud, raised higher than common and shining brightly from its nearness to
 the eternal fires, reflects a second brilliant orb,
 as if from a very clear mirror.

Let us now turn to the moon. Then only does
 she suffer a clear and evident eclipse, when, rounded out with her full light
 and opposite the sun, she is distant from its orb by 180 degrees (i.e. is in
 the seventh sign). But although this happens at
 every full moon, yet there is not always an eclipse.

But since the moon is situated near the movement of the earth, and
 is the most remote from heaven of all that celestial beauty, she sometimes puts
 herself directly under the disc that strikes upon her,
 and is overshadowed and hidden for a time by the
 interposition of the goal of darkness ending in a narrow cone; 
 and then she is wrapped in masses of darkness, when the sun, as if encompassed
 by the curve of the lower sphere, cannot light her with its rays, since the
 mass of the earth is between them; for that she has no light of her own has
 been assumed on various grounds.

And when under the same sign she meets the
 sun in a straight line, she is obscured (as was said) and her brightness is
 wholly dimmed; and this in Greek is called the moon's σύνοδος.

Now she is thought to be born, when she has the sun above her with a slight deviation from the
 plumbline, so to speak. But her rising, which is still very slender, first
 appears to mortals when she has left the sun and advanced to the second sign.
 Then having progressed farther and now having abundant light, she appears with
 horns and is called μηνοειδής. 
 But
 when she begins to be separated from the sun by a long distance and has arrived
 at the fourth sign and the sun's rays are turned towards her, she gains greater
 brilliance, and is called in the Greek tongue διχόμηνις, 
 a form which shows a
 half-circle

Then, proceeding to the greatest
 distance and attaining the fifth sign, she shows the figure called amphicyrtos, and has humps on both sides. But when she has taken a place directly
 opposite the sun she will gleam with full light, making her home in the seventh
 sign; and still keeping her place in that same sign, but advancing a little she
 grows smaller, the process which we call ἀπόκρουσις 
 ; and she repeats the same forms as she grows old,
 and it is maintained by the unanimous
 learning of many men that the moon is never seen in eclipse except at the time
 of her mid-course.

But when we said that the sun had its course
 now in the ether and now in the world below, it must be understood that the
 heavenly bodies (so far as the universe is concerned) neither set nor rise, but
 that they seem to do so to an eyesight whose fixed situation is on the earth;
 this is kept hanging in space by some inner force and in its relation to the
 universe is like a tiny point; and that now we seem to see the stars, whose
 order is eternal, fixed in the sky, and often through the imperfection of human
 vision we think that they leave their places. But let us now return to our
 subject.

When Constantius was hastening to lend aid to
 the Orient, which was likely soon to be disturbed by the inroads of the
 Persians, as deserters reported in agreement with our scouts, he was tormented
 by the valorous deeds of Julian, which increasingly frequent report was
 spreading abroad through the mouths of divers nations, carrying the great glory of his mighty toils and achievements after the overthrow of several
 kingdoms of the Alamanni, and the recovery of the Gallic towns, which before
 had been destroyed and plundered by the savages whom he himself had made
 tributaries and subjects.

Excited by these
 and similar exploits, and fearing that their fame would grow greater, urged on
 besides, as was reported, by the prefect Florentius, he sent Decentius, the tribune and secretary, at once to
 take from Julian his auxiliaries, namely, the Aeruli and Batavi and the Celts with the Petulantes, as well as three hundred picked men from each of the
 other divisions of the army; and he ordered him to hasten their
 march under the pretext that they might be able to be on hand for an attack on
 the Parthians early in the spring.

for speeding the departure of the auxiliaries
 and the divisions of three hundred Lupicinus alone was called upon (for that he
 had crossed over to Britain was not yet known at court); but the order to
 select the most active of the targeteers and the gentiles and personally lead them to the emperor was given to Sintula,
 then Julian's chief stable-master.

Julian kept silence and submitted to this,
 leaving everything to the will of his more powerful associate. One thing,
 however, he could neither overlook nor pass over in silence, namely, that those
 men should suffer no inconvenience who had left their abodes beyond the Rhine
 and come to him under promise that they should never be led to regions beyond
 the Alps; for he declared that it was to be feared that the barbarian volunteer
 soldiers, who were often accustomed to come over to our side under conditions
 of that kind, might on having knowledge of this thereafter be kept from so
 doing. But his words were to no purpose.

For
 the tribune, considering Caesar's remonstrances of little moment, carried out
 the orders of Augustus, chose the strongest and most active of the light-armed
 troops, and made off with them, while they were filled with hope of better
 fortunes.

And because Julian was anxious as to what
 ought to be done about the remaining troops which he had been ordered to send,
 and turned over many plans in his mind, he decided that the business ought to
 be managed with circumspection, pressed as he was on one side by savage
 barbarians and on the other by the authority of the emperor's orders; and since the absence of his commander of the cavalry
 in particular increased his uncertainty, he urged
 the prefect to return to him; the latter had gone some
 time before to Vienne, ostensibly to get supplies, but actually to escape
 troubles in the camp.

For he bore in mind
 that it was in accordance with his own report, which he was thought to have
 sent some time before, that warlike troops, already formidable to the
 barbarians, were to be withdrawn from the defence of Gaul.

So when he received Julian's letter, urging and
 begging him to hasten to come and aid his country by his counsels, he most
 emphatically refused; for his mind was disturbed with fear for the reason that
 Julian's letter plainly indicated that the prefect ought never to be separated from his commander in the stress
 of dangerous times. And Julian added that if Florentius hesitated to do his
 duty, he would himself of his own accord lay down the emblems of princely
 power, thinking it more glorious to meet death by order, than that the ruin of
 the provinces should be attributed to him. But the obstinate resolution of the
 prefect prevailed, and with the greatest emphasis he refused to obey these
 reasonable demands.

However, amid this delay of the absent
 Lupicinus and of the prefect, who feared mutinies of the soldiers, Julian,
 deprived of the aid of counsellors and wavering in anxious hesitation, thought
 the following plan the best: he called out all the soldiers in the usual manner
 from the posts in which they were passing the winter, and
 arranged to hasten them on their way.

Scarcely was this known, when someone in the camp of the Petulantes secretly
 threw on the ground a libellous letter, which among many other things contained
 the following: We verily are driven to the ends of the earth like
 condemned criminals, and our dear ones, whom we freed from their former
 captivity after mortal battles, will again be slaves to the
 Alamanni.

When this note was brought to headquarters
 and read, Julian, although he found the complaints reasonable, nevertheless
 ordered them to set out with their families for the Orient, giving them the
 privilege of using the wagons of the courier-service. And when there was considerable hesitation as to what route they should
 take, it was decided, at the suggestion of the secretary Decentius, that they
 should all go by way of Paris, where Julian still lingered, having as yet made
 no move. And it was so done.

And when the
 soldiers arrived Caesar met them in the suburbs, and, in his usual manner
 praising those whom he personally knew, and reminding each one of his valiant
 deeds, with mild words he encouraged them to go with cheerful step to Augustus,
 where there was great and extensive power, and they would get worthy rewards
 for their toil.

And in order to treat with
 greater honour those who were going far away, he invited their officers to
 dinner and bade them make any request that was in their minds. And since they
 were so liberally entertained, they departed anxious and filled with twofold
 sorrow: because an unkindly fortune was depriving them
 both of a mild ruler and of the lands of their birth. But though possessed by
 this sorrow, they were apparently consoled and remained quiet in their
 quarters.

But no sooner had night come on
 than they broke out in open revolt, and, with their minds excited to the extent
 that each was distressed by the unexpected occurrence, they turned to arms and
 action; with mighty tumult they all made for the palace, and wholly surrounding it, so that no one could possibly get out, with
 terrifying outcries they hailed Julian as Augustus, urgently demanding that he
 should show himself to them. They were compelled to wait for the appearance of
 daylight, but finally forced him to come out; and as soon as they saw him, they
 redoubled their shouts and with determined unanimity hailed him as
 Augustus.

He, however, with unyielding resolution,
 opposed them one and all, now showing evident displeasure, again begging and
 entreating them with outstretched hands that after many happy victories nothing
 unseemly should be done, and that ill timed rashness and folly should not stir
 up material for discord. And when he had at last quieted them, with mild words
 he addressed them as follows:

Let your anger, I pray you, cease for a time. Without dissension or
 attempts at revolution what you demand shall easily be obtained. And since
 it is the charm of your native land that holds you back and you dread
 strange places with which you are unacquainted, return at
 once to your homes; you shall see nothing beyond the Alps, since that is
 displeasing to you, and this I will justify to Augustus to his entire
 satisfaction, since he is willing to listen to reason and is most
 discreet.

After this the shouts continued none the
 less on every side, and since all insisted with one and the same ardour and
 with loud and urgent outcries mingled with abuse and insults, Caesar was
 compelled to consent. Then, being placed upon an infantryman's shield 
 and raised on high, he was hailed by all as Augustus and bidden to bring out a
 diadem. And when he declared that he had never had one, they called for an
 ornament from his wife's neck or head.

But
 since he insisted that at the time of his first auspices it was not fitting for
 him to wear a woman's adornment, they looked about for a horse's trapping, so
 that being crowned with it he might display at least some obscure token of a
 loftier station. But when he declared that this also was shameful, a man called
 Maurus, afterwards a count and defeated at the pass of Succi, but then a standard-bearer of the Petulantes, took off the neck-chain which he wore as
 carrier of the dragon and boldly placed it on Julian's head. He,
 driven to the extremity of compulsion, and perceiving that he could not avoid
 imminent danger if he persisted in his resistance, promised each man five gold
 pieces 
 and a pound of silver.

When this was done, troubled with no less
 anxiety than before and with quick intuition foreseeing the future, he neither
 wore a diadem, nor dared to appear anywhere or attend to any of the serious
 matters that were most pressing.

But when he
 had withdrawn to seclusion and retirement, alarmed by the change in his
 fortunes, one of the decurions of the palace, which is a position of dignity,
 hastened at rapid pace to
 the camp of the Petulantes and Celts, and wildly cried that a shameful crime
 had been committed, in that the man whom the day before their choice had
 proclaimed Augustus had been secretly done to death.

Upon hearing this the soldiers, who were equally excited by all
 news, known to be true or not, some brandishing darts, others with naked swords
 and uttering threats, rushing forth from different sides and in disorder (as is
 usual in a sudden commotion) quickly filled the palace. The fearful uproar
 alarmed the guards, the tribunes, and the count in command of the household
 troops, Excubitor by name, and in fear of treachery from the fickle soldiers
 they scattered in dread of sudden death and vanished from sight.

The armed men, however, seeing the perfect quiet,
 stood motionless for a time, and on being asked what was the cause of the
 ill-advised and sudden commotion, they kept silence for a long time, being in
 doubt as to the new emperor's safety; and they would not leave until they were
 admitted to the council chamber and had seen him resplendent in the imperial
 garb. These preserved order and acted as adjutants to the emperor.

Yet, hearing of these events the troops also
 that had gone before under the lead of Sintula (as I have said), now free from anxiety returned with him to Paris. Then
 proclamation was made that on the following day all should assemble in the
 plain, and the ruler appeared in greater state than common and took his place
 on the tribunal, surrounded by the standards, eagles, and banners, and for
 greater safety hedged about with bands of armed cohorts.

And after a brief silence, during which from his high
 position he surveyed the faces of those present, on finding them all eager and
 joyous, using simple words in order to be understood, he stirred them as by the
 blare of clarions, speaking as follows:

The difficulties of the situation, ye brave and faithful defenders of my
 person and of the state, who with me have often risked your lives for the
 welfare of the provinces, require and entreat, since by your firm resolve
 you have advanced your Caesar to the pinnacle of all human power, that I
 should touch briefly on a few matters, in order to devise just and wise
 remedies for those changed conditions. 
 Hardly had I come to my growth, when (as you know) I assumed the purple, so
 far as appearance goes, and was committed by Heaven's will to your
 protection. Since then I have never been thwarted in my purpose of right
 living, and I have been closely observed with you in all your toils, when
 through the widespread arrogance of foreign nations, after the destruction
 of cities and the loss of countless thousands of our men, incalculable
 disaster was overrunning the few regions that were left
 half ruined. It is needless, methinks, to rehearse how often in raw winter
 and under a cold sky, when lands and seas are exempt from the labours of
 Mars, we repelled the hitherto invincible Alamanni and broke their strength.
 But this surely it is right neither to
 pass by nor consign to silence, that when that happiest of days dawned near
 Argentoratus, which in a sense brought lasting freedom to the Gauls, while I
 hastened about amid showers of weapons, you, upheld by your might and by
 long experience, overcame the enemy, rushing on like mountain torrents,
 either striking them down with the steel or plunging them in the river's
 depths; and that too with but few of our number left upon the field, whose
 funerals we honoured with plentiful praise rather than with grief.
 After such great and glorious exploits,
 posterity, I believe, will not be silent about your services to your
 country, which are now well known to all nations, if you defend with courage
 and resolution the man whom you have honoured with a higher title of
 majesty, in case any adverse fortune should assail him. And to the end that a sound course of conduct may
 be maintained, that the rewards of brave men may remain free from
 corruption, and that secret intrigue may not usurp honours, this I declare
 in the presence of your honorable assembly: that no civil official, no
 military officer, shall reach a higher rank through anyone supporting him
 beyond his merits, and that none who tries to intrigue for another shall
 escape without dishonour.

Through confidence in this promise the
 soldiers of lower rank, who had long had no share in honours 
 and rewards, were inspired with greater hope; rising to their feet and clashing
 their spears against their shields with mighty din, almost with one voice they
 acclaimed the emperor's words and plans.

And
 at once, lest even an instant should be allowed to interfere with so resolved a
 purpose, the Petulantes and Celts begged in behalf of certain commissaries
 that they might be sent as governors to whatever provinces
 they might choose; and when the request was denied, they withdrew neither
 offended nor ill-humoured.

But in the night before he was proclaimed
 Augustus, as the emperor told his nearer and more intimate friends, a vision
 appeared to him in his sleep, taking the form in which the guardian spirit of
 the state is usually portrayed, and in a tone of reproach spoke as follows:
 Long since, Julian, have I been secretly watching the vestibule of
 your house, desiring to increase your rank, and I have often gone away as
 though rebuffed. If I am not to be received even now, when the judgements of
 many men are in agreement, I shall depart downcast and forlorn. But keep
 this thought in the depths of your heart, that I shall no longer abide with
 you.

While these things were being vigorously
 carried out in Gaul, that savage king of the Persians, since the urgency of
 Antoninus was doubled by the coming of Craugasius, burned with the desire of gaining possession of
 Mesopotamia while Constantius was busy at a distance with his army. So, having
 increased his arms and his power and crossed the Tigris in due form, he
 proceeded to attack Singara, a town which, in the opinion of those who had
 charge of that region, was abundantly fortified with soldiers and with all
 necessities.

The defenders of the city, as
 soon as they saw the enemy a long way off, quickly closed the gates and full of
 courage ran to the various towers and battlements, and got together stones and
 engines of war; then, when everything was prepared, they all stood fast under
 arms, ready to repulse the horde, in case it should try to come near the
 walls.

Accordingly, the king on his arrival, through
 his grandees, who were allowed access, tried by peaceful mediation to bend the
 defenders to his will. Failing in this, he devoted the entire day to quiet, but
 at the coming of next morning's light he gave the signal by raising the
 flame-coloured banner, and the city was assailed on every side; some brought
 ladders, others set up engines of war; the greater part, protected by the
 interposition of penthouses and mantlets, tried to approach the walls and
 undermine their foundations.

Against this
 onset the townsmen, standing upon their lofty battlements, from a distance with
 stones and all kinds of missile weapons tried to repel those who boldly strove
 to force an entrance.

The battle raged for several days with
 uncertain outcome, and on both sides many were killed and wounded. Finally, in
 the heat of the mighty conflict, just as evening was coming
 on, among many engines a ram of uncommon strength was brought up, which with
 rapidly repeated blows battered the round tower where (as we have related)
 the city was breached in
 the former siege.

To this spot the people
 flocked and the battle went on in dense array; from all sides flew firebrands
 with blazing torches and fiery darts to set fire to the great menace,
 while the showers of arrows and slingshots
 from both sides never ceased. But the sharp head of the ram overcame every
 attempt at defence, penetrating the joints of the new-laid stones, which were
 still moist and therefore weak.

And while the
 combat still went on with fire and sword, the tower collapsed and a way was
 made into the city; the defenders, scattered by the great danger, abandoned the
 place; the Persian hordes, raising shouts and yells, rushed from all sides and
 without opposition filled every part of the city; and after a very few of the
 defenders had been slain here and there, all the rest were taken alive by
 Sapor's order and transported to the remotest parts of Persia.

This city was defended by two legions, the
 First Flavian and the First Parthian, as well as by a considerable number of
 natives, with the help of some horsemen who had hastily taken refuge there
 because of the sudden danger. All these (as I have said) were led off with
 hands bound, and none of our men could aid them.

For the greater part of the army was in camp guarding Nisibis, which
 was a very long distance off; besides, even in former days no one had ever been
 able to aid Singara when in trouble, since all the
 surrounding country was dried up from lack of water. And although in early
 times a stronghold had been established there as a convenient place for
 learning in advance of sudden outbreaks of the enemy, yet this was a detriment
 to the Roman cause, since the place was several times taken with the loss of
 its defenders.

After the destruction of the city the king
 prudently turned aside from Nisibis, doubtless remembering what he had often
 suffered there, and marched to the
 right by side roads to Bezabde, which its early founders also called Phaenicha,
 hoping to gain entrance into the place by force or by winning the defenders
 with flattering promises. Bezabde was a very strong fortress, placed upon a
 hill of moderate height which sloped towards the banks of the Tigris, and where
 it was low and therefore exposed to danger it was fortified with a double wall.
 For the defence of the place three legions were assigned, the Second Flavian,
 the Second Armenian, and also the Second Parthian with a great number of bowmen
 of the Zabdiceni, on whose soil, at that time subject to us, this town was
 situated.

On his first attack the king himself, with a
 troop of horsemen gleaming in full armour and himself
 towering above the rest, rode about the circuit of the camp, and with
 over-boldness advanced to the very edge of the trenches. But becoming the
 target of repeated missiles from the ballistae and of arrows, he was protected
 by a close array of shields placed side by side as in a tortoise-mantlet, and
 got away unhurt.

However, he suppressed his
 anger for the time being, and sending heralds in the usual manner, courteously
 urged the besieged, taking regard for their lives and their hope for the
 future, to put an end to the blockade by a timely surrender, unbar their gates
 and come forth, presenting themselves as suppliants to the conqueror of the
 nations.

When these heralds dared to come
 close, the defenders of the walls spared them for the reason that they had
 brought in close company with them some freeborn men who had been taken
 prisoner at Singara and were recognised by the garrison. In pity for these men
 no one hurled a weapon; but to the offer of peace no answer was made.

Then a truce was granted for a whole day and night, but before the
 beginning of the next day the entire force of the Persians fiercely attacked
 the rampart, uttering cruel threats and roaring outcries; and when they had
 boldly advanced close up to the walls, they began to fight with the townsmen,
 who resisted with great vigour.

And for this
 reason a large number of the Parthians were wounded, because, some carrying
 scaling ladders, others holding hurdles of osiers before them, they all rushed
 within range as though blinded; and our men were not unscathed. For clouds of
 arrows flew thick and fast, and transfixed the defenders as
 they stood crowded together. After sunset the two parties separated with equal
 losses, but just before dawn of the following day, while the trumpets sounded
 on one side and the other, the struggle was renewed with much greater ardour
 than before, and on either side equally great heaps of dead were to be seen,
 since both parties fought most obstinately.

But on the following day, which after
 manifold losses had by common consent been devoted to rest, since great terror
 encircled the walls and the Persians had no less grounds for fear, the chief
 priest of the sect of Christians indicated by signs and nods that he wished to
 go forth; and when a pledge had been given that he would be allowed to return
 in safety, he came as far as the king's tent.

There being given permission to say what he wished, with mild words he advised
 the Persians to return to their homes, declaring that after the lamentable
 losses on both sides it was to be feared that perhaps even greater ones might
 follow. But it was in vain that he persisted in making these and many similar
 pleas, opposed as they were by the frenzied rage of the king, who roundly swore
 that he would not leave the place until the fortress had been destroyed.

But the bishop incurred the shadow of a
 suspicion, unfounded in my opinion, though circulated confidently by many, of
 having told Sapor in a secret conference what parts of the wall to attack, as
 being slight within and weak. And in the end there seemed to be ground for
 this, since after his visit the enemy's engines deliberately battered those
 places which were tottering and insecure from decay, and that too with spiteful exultation, as if those who directed them were
 acquainted with conditions within.

And though the narrow footpaths yielded
 difficult access to the walls, and the rams that had been prepared were moved
 forward with difficulty, since the fear of stones thrown by hand and of arrows
 kept them off, yet neither the ballistae nor the scorpions ceased, the former
 to hurl darts, the latter showers of stones and with them blazing wicker
 baskets, smeared with pitch and bitumen. Because of the constant fall of these
 as they rolled down the slope, the engines were halted as though held fast by
 deep roots, and the constant shower of fiery darts and brands set them on
 fire.

But in spite of all this, and though many
 fell on both sides, the besiegers were fired with the greater desire to destroy
 the town, defended though it was by its natural situation and by mighty works,
 before the winter season, believing that the king's rage could not be quieted
 until that was done. Therefore neither the great outpouring of blood nor the
 many mortal wounds that were suffered deterred the survivors from like
 boldness.

But after a long and destructive
 struggle, they finally exposed themselves to extreme peril, and as the enemy
 pushed on the rams, huge stones coming thick from the walls, and varied devices
 for kindling fire, debarred them from going forward.

However, one ram, higher than the rest, which was covered with wet
 bull's hide and therefore less exposed to danger from fire or darts, having
 gone ahead of all the others, made its way with mighty efforts to the wall.
 There, digging into the joints of the stones with its huge beak, it weakened a tower and overthrew it. As this fell with a mighty
 roar, those also who stood upon it were thrown down by its sudden collapse and
 either dashed to pieces or buried. Thus they perished by varied and
 unlooked-for forms of death, while the armed hordes of the enemy, finding the
 ascent safer, rushed into the town.

Then, while the din of the yelling Persians
 thundered on all sides in the terrified ears of the overmatched townsmen, a
 hotter fight raged within the walls, as bands of our soldiers and of the enemy
 struggled hand to hand; and since they were crowded body to body and both sides
 fought with drawn swords, they spared none who came in their way.

Finally the besieged, after long resisting imminent
 destruction, were at last with great difficulty scattered in all directions by
 the weight of the huge throng. After that the swords of the infuriated enemy
 cut down all that they could find, children were torn from their mothers'
 breasts and the mothers themselves were butchered, and no man recked what he
 did. Amid such scenes of horror that nation, greedier still for plunder,
 laden with spoils of every sort, and
 leading off a great throng of captives, returned in triumph to their tents.

The king, however, filled with arrogant joy,
 and having long burned with a desire of taking Phaenicha, since it was a very
 convenient stronghold, did not leave the place until he had firmly repaired the
 shattered parts of the walls, stored up an immense quantity of supplies, and
 stationed there an armed force of men distinguished for their high birth and
 renowned for their military skill. For he feared what
 actually happened, namely, that the Romans,
 taking to heart the loss of such a powerful stronghold, would strive with all
 their might to recover it.

Then, filled with greater confidence and
 inspired with the hope of accomplishing whatever he might undertake, after
 capturing some insignificant strongholds, he prepared to attack Virta, a
 fortress of great antiquity, since it was believed to have been built by
 Alexander of Macedon; it was situated indeed on the outer frontier of
 Mesopotamia, but was girt by walls with salient and re-entrant angles and made
 difficult of access by manifold devices.

But
 after resorting to every artifice, now tempting the defenders with promises,
 now threatening them with the cruelest punishments, sometimes preparing to
 build embankments and bringing up siege-engines, after suffering more losses
 than he inflicted, he at last gave up the vain attempt and departed.

These were the events of that year between
 the Tigris and the Euphrates. Constantius, learning of them through frequent
 reports and passing the winter in Constantinople for fear of a Parthian
 invasion, with particular care furnished the eastern frontier with all kinds of
 warlike equipment; he also got together arms and recruits, and by the addition
 of vigorous young men gave strength to the legions, whose steadiness in action
 had often been conspicuously successful in oriental
 campaigns. Besides this, he asked the Scythians for auxiliaries, either for pay
 or as a favour, intending in the late spring to set out from Thrace and at once
 occupy the points of danger.

Meanwhile Julian, who had taken up his winter
 quarters at Paris, was in anxious suspense, dreading the outcome of the step
 which he had taken. For after long and careful consideration he was convinced
 that Constantius would never consent to what had been done, since in the
 emperor's eyes he was scorned as base and contemptible.

Therefore pondering well the dangers of beginning a
 revolution, he decided to send envoys to Constantius to inform him of what had
 happened; and he gave them a letter to the same purport, in which he more
 openly set forth and made clear what had been done, and what ought to be done
 later.

But yet he thought that Constantius
 had long since had news of the event through the reports of Decentius, who had
 come back some time before, and of the chamberlains, who had lately passed
 through on their way from Gaul after bringing the Caesar a part of his regular
 income. And although he reported the changed conditions, he did not write
 anything in a hostile tone nor in arrogant language, lest he should seem
 suddenly to have become full of haughtiness. The purport of the letter was as
 follows:

"I for my part have remained true to my
 principles, not less in my conduct than in the observance of agreements, so
 long as they remained in force, always keeping one and the
 same mind, as is clearly evident from many of my actions.

From the time when you first made me Caesar and
 exposed me to the dread tumults of war, content with the power committed to me,
 I filled your ears (like a trusty servant) with constant reports of successful
 achievements proceeding to my heart's desire, never attributing anything at all
 to my own perils; and yet it is clear from constant proofs that in the contests
 with the widely scattered and often interallied Germans I was in toil, always
 seen first of all, and in rest from toil, last.

"But if now, with your kind indulgence be it
 said, there has been any change (as you think), it is the soldiers, exhausting
 themselves without profit in many cruel wars, who have in rebellious fashion
 carried out a resolve of long standing, being impatient of a leader of the
 second rank, since they thought that no recompense for their unremitting toil
 and repeated victories could be made by a Caesar.

To their anger at neither winning increase in rank nor receiving the
 annual pay was added the unlooked-for order, that men accustomed to cold
 regions should go to the remotest parts of the eastern world and be dragged
 away destitute and stripped of everything, separated from their wives and
 children. Angered by this beyond their wonted manner, they gathered together at
 night and beset the palace, shouting loudly again and again 'Julianus
 Augustus.'

I was horrified (I confess it) and
 withdrew; and holding aloof as long as I could, I tried to save myself by
 remaining in hiding and concealment. But when no respite was given, protected by the rampart of a free conscience (so to say), I
 went forth and stood before them all, supposing that the outbreak could be
 quieted by my authority or by persuasive words.

But their excitement was most unusual, and they went so far that
 when I tried to overcome their obstinacy by entreaties, they rushed upon me and
 threatened me with instant death. Overcome at last, and thinking to myself that
 if I were slain another would perhaps willingly be proclaimed emperor, I
 yielded, expecting that I could thus quiet their armed violence.

"This is a full account of what took place,
 and I pray that you will receive it in a spirit of peace. Do not suspect that
 anything different was done, or listen to malicious and pernicious whisperers,
 whose habit it is to excite dissension between princes for their own profit;
 but rejecting flattery, the nurse of vices, turn to justice, the most excellent
 of all virtues, and accept in good faith the fair conditions which I propose,
 convincing yourself that this is to the advantage of the rule of Rome as well as to ourselves,
 who are united by the tie of blood and by our lofty position.

And pardon me: I am not so desirous that these
 things which are reasonably demanded should be done, as that they should be
 approved by you as expedient and right, and for the future also I shall eagerly
 receive your instructions.

What ought to be done I will reduce to a few
 words. I will furnish Spanish horses for your chariots, and to be mingled with
 the household troops and the targeteers some young men of the Laeti, a tribe of
 barbarians on this side of the Rhine, or at any rate from those of them who
 voluntarily come over to us. And this I promise to do to the
 end of my life, with not only a willing but an eager spirit.

As praetorian prefects your clemency shall appoint
 for us those who are known for their justice and their merits; the promotion of
 the other civil officials and military officers, as well as of my bodyguard, is
 properly to be left to my decision. For it would be folly, since it can be
 prevented from happening, that those should be attached to an emperor's person
 whose character and inclinations are unknown to him.

"This at least I would declare without any
 hesitation: the Gauls, since they have been harassed by long continued troubles
 and grievous misfortunes, cannot voluntarily or under compulsion send recruits
 to foreign and distant countries, for fear that, if they lose all their young
 manhood, downcast as they are by the memory of their past afflictions, even so
 they may perish from despair at what may befall hereafter.

Furthermore, it will not be expedient to draw from
 here auxiliaries to be opposed to the Parthian nations, since the onsets of the
 barbarians are not yet checked and (if you will permit me to speak the truth)
 these provinces which have been vexed with constant calamities need aid
 themselves from without, and valiant aid too.

In urging these measures I have written (I think) to the advantage of
 the state both in my requests and in my demands. For I know, I do know, not
 to say anything more arrogantly than befits my authority, what wretched
 conditions, even when everything seemed already lost and without remedy,
 have been brought to a better state by the harmony of
 rulers yielding in turn to each other. Indeed, it is clear from the example
 of our forefathers that rulers who have these and similar designs are able
 somehow to find a way of living happily and successfully and of leaving to
 posterity and to all future time a happy memory of their lives.

Along with this letter he sent another of a
 more private nature to be delivered to Constantius secretly, which was written
 in a more reproachful and bitter tone; the content of this it was not possible
 for me to examine, nor if it had been, would it have been fitting for me to
 make it public.

To perform this mission two men of
 importance were chosen, Pentadius, the court marshal, and Eutherius, who was then head chamberlain.1 After
 delivering the letters they were to report what they saw without concealing
 anything and to deal confidently with the course of future events.

Meanwhile the odium of the enterprise had
 been increased by the flight of the prefect Florentius, who, as if anticipating
 the disturbances that would arise from the summoning of the soldiers (which was the subject of
 common talk) had purposely withdrawn to Vienne, alleging the need of provisions
 as his excuse for parting from Caesar, whom he had often treated rudely and
 consequently feared.

Then, on hearing that
 Julian had been raised to the eminence of an Augustus, having small hope or
 none at all for his life, he became afraid and tried by distance to avoid the
 dangers that he suspected. So, abandoning all his family, he left and came by
 slow stages to Constantius, and to show his guiltlessness of any fault, he
 assailed Julian with many charges as a traitor.

After his departure, Julian, considering the matter
 well and wisely, and wishing it to be known that he would have spared him even
 if he had been present, left his dear ones and his property unmolested, gave
 them the use of the public courier-service, and bade them ride in safety to the
 Orient.

The envoys followed with no less diligence,
 bearing with them the messages which I have mentioned and intent upon their
 journey; when, however, they fell in with higher officials they were covertly
 detained, but after suffering continual and serious delays as they passed
 through Italy and Illyricum, they at last crossed the Bosporus, and proceeding
 by slow stages found Constantius still tarrying in Cappadocia at Caesarea. This
 was a well-situated and populous city, formerly called Mazaca, situated at the
 foot of Mount Argaeus.

When the envoys were
 given audience, they presented their letters, but no sooner were they read than
 the emperor burst out in an immoderate blaze of anger, and looking at them
 askance in such a way that they feared for their lives, he ordered them to get
 out, asking no further questions and refusing to listen to anything.

Yet, though burning with anger, he was
 tormented by uncertainty whether it were better to order those troops in which
 he had confidence to march against the Persians or against
 Julian. After hesitating long and weighing the counsel given him, he yielded to
 the advice of some who persuaded him to his advantage, and ordered a march
 towards the Orient.

The envoys, however, he
 dismissed at once, and only ordered his quaestor Leonas to proceed at rapid
 pace to Gaul with a letter which he had given him for Julian, in which he
 declared that he accepted none of the changes, but charged him, if he had any
 regard for his own life and that of his friends, to drop his swelling pride and
 keep within the bounds of a Caesar's power.

And to the end that fear of his threats might bring this about the more easily,
 as an indication of confidence in his great strength in place of Florentius he
 promoted Nebridius, who was then quaestor of the aforesaid Caesar, to the rank
 of praetorian prefect, and the secretary Felix to that of master of the
 officies, besides making
 some other appointments. And indeed Gomoarius had been advanced to the rank of
 commander-in-chief, as successor to Lupicinus, before Constantius knew anything
 of this kind.

Accordingly, Leonas, having entered Paris, was received as an honoured and discreet
 person, and on the following day, when the prince had come to the field with a
 great number of soldiers and townsmen, whom he had purposely summoned, and was
 standing aloft on a tribunal in order to be more conspicuous from a high
 position, he ordered the letter to be handed to him. And after unrolling the
 scroll of the edict which had been sent, he began to read it from the
 beginning. And when he had come to the place where
 Constantius, rejecting all that had been done, declared that the power of a
 Caesar was enough for Julian, on all sides terrifying shouts arose:

Julianus Augustus, as was decreed by authority of the province,
 the soldiers, and the state—a state restored indeed, but still fearful of
 renewed raids of the savages.

On hearing this, Leonas returned in safety,
 with a letter of Julian to the same purport, and Nebridius alone was admitted
 to the prefecture; for Caesar in his letter had openly said that such an
 appointment would be in
 accordance with his wishes. As to the master of the offices, he had long before
 chosen for that office Anatolius, who previously had answered petitions, and
 some others, in accordance with what seemed to him expedient and safe.

But while matters were thus proceeding,
 Lupicinus was to be feared, although he was absent and even then in Britain,
 for he was a man of haughty and arrogant spirit and it was suspected that if he should learn of these things
 while across the sea, he would stir up material for a revolution; accordingly,
 a secretary was sent to Boulogne, to watch carefully and prevent anyone from
 crossing the strait. Because of this prohibition Lupicinus returned before
 hearing of anything that had happened, and so could cause no disturbance.

Julian, however, being now happier in his
 lofty station and in the confidence which the soldiers felt in him, in order
 not to become lukewarm or be accused of negligence and sloth, after sending
 envoys to Constantius set out for the frontier of Second Germany, and,
 thoroughly equipped with all the material that the business in hand demanded,
 drew near to the city of Tricensima.

Then crossing the Rhine, he suddenly invaded
 the territory of those Franks known as Atthuarii, a restless people, who even
 then were lawlessly overrunning the frontiers of Gaul. Having attacked them
 unexpectedly, when they feared no hostile demonstration and were quite off
 their guard, because they could remember no invasion of their land as yet by
 any emperor, protected as they were by rough and difficult roads, he defeated
 them with slight trouble; and after having captured or killed a great many,
 when the rest who survived begged for peace, he granted it on his own
 conditions, thinking this to be to the advantage
 of the neighbouring settlers.

From there he
 returned with equal speed by way of the river, and carefully examining and
 strengthening the defences of the frontier, he came as far as Augst; and there
 having recovered the places which the savages had formerly taken and were
 holding as their own, he fortified them with special care and 
 went by way of Besançon to Vienne, to pass the winter.

Such was the series of events in Gaul. While
 they were going on so successfully and so wisely, Constantius sent for Arsaces,
 king of Armenia, and after entertaining him with the greatest generosity
 forewarned and urged him to continue to be faithful and friendly to us.

For he heard that he had often been worked
 upon by the Persian king with deception, with threats, and with guile, to
 induce him to give up his alliance with the Romans and involve himself in the
 Persian's designs.

And the king, swearing
 with many an oath that he could sooner give up his life than his resolve, after
 receiving rewards returned to his kingdom with the retinue that he had brought
 with him; and after that he never dared to violate any of his promises, being
 bound to Constantius by many ties of gratitude, among which this was especially
 strong-that the emperor had given him to wife Olympias, daughter of Ablabius, a
 former praetorian prefect, and the betrothed of his brother Constans.

After the king had been sent off from
 Cappadocia, Constantius going by way of Melitena (a town of Lesser Armenia),
 Lacotena, and Samosata, crossed the Euphrates and came to Edessa. There he
 lingered for a long time, while he was waiting for the troops of soldiers that
 were assembling from all sides and for plentiful supplies of
 provisions; after the autumnal equinox he set out on his way to Amida.

When he came near the walls and surveyed only
 a heap of ashes, he wept and groaned aloud as he thought of the calamities the
 wretched city had endured. And Ursulus, the state-treasurer, who chanced to be
 there at the time, was filled with sorrow and cried: Behold with what
 courage the cities are defended by our soldiers, for whose abundance of pay
 the wealth of the empire is already becoming insufficient. And this
 bitter remark the throng of soldiers recalled later at Chalcedon and conspired
 for his destruction.

After this advancing in close order and
 coming to Bezabde, Constantius pitched his tents and encircled them with a
 palisade and with deep trenches. Then, riding about the circuit of the fort at
 a distance, he learned from many sources that the parts which before had been
 weakened by age and neglect had been restored to greater strength than ever.

And not wishing to leave anything undone
 that must be done before the heat of battle, he sent men of judgement and
 offered alternative conditions, urging the defenders of the walls either to
 give up the possessions of others without bloodshed and return to their own
 people, or to submit to the sway of Rome and receive increase of honours and
 rewards. And when with their native resolution they rejected these offers,
 being men of good birth and inured to perils and hardships, all the
 preparations for a siege were made.

Then in close array and urged on by the
 trumpets the soldiers most vigorously attacked the town on every side, and with
 the legions gathered together into various tortoise-formations and so advancing slowly and safely, they
 tried to undermine the fortifications; but since every sort of weapon was
 showered upon them as they came up, the connection of the shields was broken
 and they gave way, while the trumpets sounded the recall.

Then, after a single day's truce, on the third day,
 with the soldiers more carefully protected and amid loud outcries everywhere,
 they attempted from every quarter to scale the walls; but although the
 defenders were hidden within behind hair-cloth stretched before them, in order
 that the enemy might not see them, yet whenever necessity required they would
 fearlessly thrust out their right arms and attack the besiegers with stones and
 weapons.

But when the wicker mantlets
 went confidently on and
 were already close to the walls, great jars fell from above along with
 millstones and pieces of columns, by the excessive weight of which the
 assailants were overwhelmed; and since their devices for protection were rent
 asunder with great gaps, they made their escape with the greatest peril.

Therefore on the tenth day after the
 beginning of the siege, when the waning hope of our men was causing general
 dejection, it was decided to bring into action a ram of great size, which the
 Persians, after formerly using it to raze Antioch, had brought back and left at
 Carrae. The unlooked-for sight of this and the skilful manner in which it was
 put together would have daunted the besieged, who had already
 been almost reduced to seeking safety in surrender, had they not taken heart
 again and prepared defences against the menacing engine.

And after this they lacked neither rash courage nor
 good judgement. For although the ram, which was old and had been taken apart
 for ready transportation, was being set up with all skill and with every
 exertion of power, and was protected by the besiegers with a mantlet of great
 strength, yet the artillery and the showers of stones and sling-shots continued
 none the less to destroy great numbers on both sides. The massive mounds too
 were rising with rapid additions, the siege grew hotter every day, and many of
 our men fell for the reason that, fighting as they were under the emperor's
 eye, through the hope of rewards and wishing to be easily recognised they put
 off their helmets from their heads and so fell victims to the skill of the
 enemy's archers.

After this, days and nights
 spent in wakefulness made both sides more cautious. The Persians, too, when the
 height of the mounds had already become great, stricken with horror of the huge
 ram, which other smaller ones followed, all strove with might and main to set
 fire to them, constantly hurling firebrands and blazing darts. But their
 efforts were vain, for the reason that the greater part of the timbers were
 covered with wetted hides and rags, while in other places they had been
 carefully coated with alum, so that the fire fell on them without effect.

But these rams the Romans pushed forward with great
 courage, and although they had difficulty in protecting them, yet through their
 eagerness to take the town, they were led to scorn
 even
 imminent dangers.

And on the other hand the
 defenders, when the huge ram was already drawing near to shake down a tower
 which stood in its way, by a subtle device entangled its projecting iron end
 (which in fact has the shape of a ram's head) on both sides with very long
 ropes, and held it so that it might not move back and gather new strength, nor
 be able with good aim to batter the walls with repeated lunges; and in the
 meantime they poured down scalding-hot pitch. And the engines which had been
 brought up stood for a long time exposed to the huge stones and to the
 missiles.

And now, when the mounds were raised still
 higher, the garrison, fearing that destruction would soon be upon them unless
 they should rouse themselves, resorted to utter recklessness. Making a sudden
 rush through the gates, they attacked the foremost of our men, with all their
 strength hurling upon the rams firebrands and baskets made of iron and filled
 with flames.

But after fighting with
 shifting fortune the greater number were driven back within the walls without
 effecting anything. Then those same Persians, when they had taken their place
 on the bulwarks were assailed from the mounds, which the Romans had raised,
 with arrows, sling-shots, and fiery darts, which, however, though they flew
 through the coverings of the towers, for the most part fell without effect,
 since there were men at hand to put out the fires.

And when the fighting men on both sides
 became fewer, and the Persians were driven to the last extremity unless some
 better plan should suggest itself, a carefully devised sally
 from the fortress was attempted. A vast throng made a sudden rush, with still
 greater numbers of men carrying material for setting fires drawn up among the armed
 soldiers; then iron baskets filled with flames were hurled upon the woodwork,
 as well as faggots and other things best suited for kindling fires.

And because the pitch-black clouds of smoke made it
 impossible to see, the legions were roused to the fight by the clarion and in
 battle array advanced at rapid pace. Then, as their ardour for fighting
 gradually increased and they had come to hand-to-hand conflict, on a sudden all
 the siege-engines were destroyed by the spreading flames, except the greater
 ram; this, after the ropes which had been thrown from the walls and entangled
 it had been broken, the valiant efforts of some brave men barely rescued in a
 half-burned condition.

But when the darkness of night put an end to
 the fighting, the rest which was allowed the soldiers was not for long. For
 after being refreshed with a little food and sleep, they were aroused at the
 call of their officers and moved the siege-engines to a distance from the wall,
 preparing to fight with greater ease on the lofty earthworks, which were now finished and
 overtopped the walls. And in order that those who would defend the ramparts
 might the more readily be kept back, on the very highest part of each mound two
 ballistae were placed, through fear of which it was believed that no one of the
 enemy would be able even to put out his head.

When these preparations had been sufficiently made, just before dawn our men
 were drawn up in three divisions and tried an assault upon the walls, the cones of their helmets nodding in threatening wise and
 many carrying scaling-ladders. And now, while arms clashed and trumpets brayed,
 both sides fought with equal ardour and courage. And as the Romans extended
 their forces more widely and saw that the Persians were in hiding through fear
 of the engines placed upon the mounds, they attacked a tower with the ram; and
 in addition to mattocks, pickaxes, and crowbars the scaling- ladders also drew
 near, while missiles flew thick and fast from both sides.

The Persians, however, were more sorely troubled by
 the various missiles sent from the ballistae, which as if along a tight rope rushed down the artificial slopes of the earthworks.
 Therefore, thinking that their fortunes were now at their lowest ebb, they
 rushed to meet certain death, and distributing the duties of their soldiers in
 the midst of their desperate crisis, they left some behind to hold the walls,
 while a strong force secretly opened a postern gate and rushed out, drawn sword
 in hand, followed by others who carried concealed fires.

And while the Romans now pressed hard on those who
 gave way, and now met those who ventured to charge, the men who carried the
 fire-pans, stooping low and creeping along, pushed live coals into the joints
 of one of the mounds, which was built of the boughs of various kinds of trees,
 of rushes, and of bundles of cane. These, as soon as the dry fuel caught fire,
 at once burst into flame, and our soldiers only with extreme
 peril got away with their engines uninjured.

But when the coming of evening put an end to
 the fighting, and both sides withdrew for a brief rest, the emperor, divided
 between various plans and pondering them—since pressing reasons urged a longer
 attempt to destroy Phaenicha, a fortress opposed as an almost unsurmountable
 barrier to the enemy's inroads; but the lateness of the season dissuaded
 him—finally decided to stay there, and to carry on light skirmishes, thinking
 that perhaps the Persians would yield through lack of supplies. But the result
 was not what he looked for.

For when the
 fighting slackened, wet weather followed, dripping clouds with menacing
 darkness appeared, and the ground was so drenched with continual rains, that
 soft and sticky mud caused general trouble in that region of rich turf. And,
 besides all this, thunder and lightning with repeated crashes terrified the
 timorous minds of men.

More than this, rainbows were constantly
 seen; and how that phenomenon is wont to occur, a brief explanation will show.
 The warmer exhalations of the earth and its moist vapours are condensed into
 clouds; these are then dissipated into a fine spray, which, made brilliant by
 the sun's rays that fall upon it, rises swiftly and, coming opposite the fiery
 orb itself, forms the rainbow. And the bow is rounded into a great curve,
 because it extends over our world, which the science of natural philosophy
 tells us rests upon a hemisphere.

Its first colour, so far as mortal eye can
 discern, is yellow, the second golden or tawny, the third
 red, the fourth violet, and the last
 blue verging upon green.

It shows this
 combination of beautiful colours, as earthborn minds conceive, for the reason
 that its first part, corresponding in colour with the surrounding air, appears
 paler; the second is tawny, that is, somewhat more vivid than yellow; the third
 is red, because it is exposed to the brightness of the sun, and in proportion
 to alternation in the air absorbs its brilliance most purely, being just
 opposite; the
 fourth is violet, because receiving the brightness of the sun's rays with a
 thick rain of spray glittering between, through which it rises, it shows an
 appearance more like fire; and that colour, the more it spreads, passes over
 into blue and green.

Others think that the form of the rainbow
 appears to earthly sight when the rays of the sun penetrate a thick and lofty
 cloud and fill it with clear light. Since this does not find an outlet, it
 forms itself into a mass and glows from the intense friction; and it takes the
 colours nearest to white from the sun higher up, but the greenish shades from
 resemblance to the cloud just above it. The same thing usually happens with the
 sea, where the waters that dash upon the shore are white, and those further out
 without any admixture are blue.

And since the rainbow is an indication of a
 change of weather (as I have said), from sunny skies bringing up masses of
 clouds, or on the contrary changing an overcast sky to one that is calm and pleasant, we often read in the poets that Iris is sent from
 heaven when it is necessary to change the present condition of affairs. There
 are many other different opinions, which it would be superfluous to enumerate
 at present, since my narrative is in haste to return to the point from which it
 digressed.

For these and similar reasons the emperor
 wavered between hope and fear, since the severity of winter was drawing near
 and attacks were to be looked for in that trackless region, while also he
 feared mutiny of the exasperated soldiers. Besides this, his anxious mind was
 tormented by the thought that when, so to speak, the door of a rich house was
 open before him, he was returning without success.

Therefore abandoning his fruitless attempt,
 he returned to Syria, purposing to winter in Antioch, having suffered severely
 and grievously; for the losses which the Persians had inflicted upon him were
 not slight but terrible and long to be lamented. For it had happened, as if
 some fateful constellation so controlled the several events, that when
 Constantius in person warred with the Persians, adverse fortune always attended
 him. Therefore he wished to conquer at least through his generals, which, as we
 recall, did sometimes happen.

While Constantius was involved in this hard
 fortune of wars beyond the river Euphrates, Julian passed the time at Vienne,
 spending days and nights in making secure plans for the future, so far as his
 narrow means allowed, constantly gaining greater confidence, but always in
 doubt whether to try every means for inducing Constantius to come to an
 understanding, or to strike him with terror by attacking him first.

Anxiously weighing these alternatives, he feared
 Constantius both as a cruel friend and as frequently victor in civil troubles;
 and in particular his mind was made anxious and uncertain by the example of his
 brother Gallus, whom his own negligence and the combined deceit and perjury of
 certain men had betrayed.

Sometimes, however,
 he took courage to meet many urgent affairs, thinking it far safer to show
 himself an open enemy to one whose conduct he, as a sagacious prince, could
 infer from the past, for fear of being deceived by secret plots under cover of
 a feigned friendship.

Therefore, making light
 of the letter that Constantius had sent through Leonas, and recognising the authority of none of those whom his rival had
 promoted except Nebridius, being now an Augustus he celebrated quinquennial games; and he wore a magnificent diadem, set with gleaming gems, whereas at the beginning
 of his principate he had assumed and worn a cheap crown, like that of the
 director of a gymnasium attired in purple.

While these games were going on he had sent
 to Rome the remains of his deceased wife Helena, to be laid to rest in his
 villa near the city on the via Nomentana, where also her sister Constantina,
 formerly the wife of Gallus, was buried.

Moreover, now that Gaul was quieted, his
 desire of first attacking Constantius was sharpened and fired, since he
 inferred from many prophetic signs (in which he was an adept) and from dreams,
 that Constantius would shortly depart from life.

And since to an emperor both learned and
 devoted to all knowledge malicious folk attribute evil arts for divining future
 events, we must briefly consider how this important kind of learning also may
 form part of a philosopher's equipment.

The spirit pervading all the elements, seeing
 that they are eternal bodies, is always and everywhere strong in the power of
 prescience, and as the result of the knowledge which we acquire through varied
 studies makes us also sharers in the gifts of divina- tion; and the elemental
 powers, when propitiated by divers rites, supply mortals with words of
 prophecy, as if from the veins of inexhaustible founts. These prophecies are
 said to be under the control of the divine Themis, so named because she reveals
 in advance decrees determined for the future by the law of
 the fates, which the Greeks call τεθειμένα; 
 and therefore the ancient theologians
 gave her a share in the bed and throne of Jupiter, the life-giving power.

Auguries and auspices are not gained from the
 will of the fowls of the air which have no knowledge of future events (for that
 not even a fool will maintain), but a god so directs the flight of birds that
 the sound of their bills or the passing flight of their wings in disturbed or
 in gentle passage foretells future events. For the goodness of the deity,
 either because men deserve it, or moved by his affection for them, loves by
 these arts also to reveal impending events.

Those, too, who give attention to the
 prophetic entrails of beasts, which are wont to assume innumerable forms, know
 of impending events. And the teacher of this branch of learning is one named
 Tages, who (as the story goes) was seen suddenly to spring from the earth in
 the regions of Etruria.

Future events are further revealed when
 men's hearts are in commotion, but speak divine words. For (as the natural
 philosophers say) the Sun, the soul of the universe, sending out our minds from
 himself after the manner of sparks, when he has fired men mightily, makes them
 aware of the future. And it is for this reason that the Sibyls often say that
 they are burning, since they are fired by the mighty power of the flames.
 Besides these, the loud sounds of voices give many signs, as well as the
 phenomena which meet our eyes, thunder even and lightning, and the gleam of a
 star's train of light.

The faith in dreams, too, would be sure and
 indubitable, were it not that their interpreters are sometimes deceived in
 their conjectures. And dreams (as Aristotle declares) are certain and
 trustworthy, when the person is in a deep sleep and the pupil of his eye is
 inclined to neither side but looks directly forward.

And because the silly commons oftentimes object, ignorantly
 muttering such things as these: If there were a science of prophecy, why
 did one man not know that he would fall in battle, or another that he would
 suffer this or that : it will be enough to say, that a grammarian has
 sometimes spoken ungrammatically, a musician sung out of tune, and a physician
 been ignorant of a remedy, but for all that grammar, music, and the medical art
 have not come to a stop.

Wherefore Cicero
 has this fine saying, among others: The gods, says he,
 show signs of coming events. With regard to these if one err, it is
 not the nature of the gods that is at fault, but man's
 interpretation. 
 Therefore, that my
 discourse may not run beyond the mark (as the saying is) and weary my future
 reader, let us return and unfold the events that were foreseen.

At Paris, when Julian, still a Caesar, was
 shaking his shield while engaged in various exercises in the
 field, the sections of which the orb of the shield was fashioned fell apart
 and only the handle remained, which he held in the grasp of a strong hand.

And when all who were present were
 terrified by what seemed a direful omen, he said: Let no man be afraid;
 I hold firmly what I was holding. 
 Again at Vienne at a later time, when he went to sleep with a clear
 head, at night's dread mid a gleaming form appeared and recited to him plainly,
 as he lay almost awake, the following heroic verses, repeating them several
 times; and trusting to these, be believed that no difficulty remained to
 trouble him: 
 When Zeus the noble Aquarius' bound shall reach, And Saturn come to
 Virgo's twenty-fifth degree, Then shall Constantius, king of Asia, of
 this life So sweet the end attain with heaviness and grief.

Accordingly, he continued to make no change
 in his present condition, merely with calm and tranquil mind attending to
 everything that came up and gradually strengthening his position, to the end
 that his increase in rank might be attended also with a growth in power.

And in order to win the favour of all men
 and have opposition from none, he pretended to be an adherent of the Christian
 religion, from which he had long since secretly revolted; and making a few men
 sharers in his secrets, he was given up to soothsaying and auguries, and to
 other practises which the worshippers of the pagan gods have
 always followed.

And in order temporarily to
 conceal this, on the day of the festival which the Christians celebrate in the
 month of January and call the Epiphany, he went to their
 church, and departed after offering a prayer to their deity in the usual
 manner.

While these events were taking place, spring
 being now at hand, Julian was stirred by an unexpected piece of news, which
 turned him to sadness and grief. For he learned that the Alamanni had sallied
 forth from Vadomarius' canton, a quarter from which he looked for no danger
 since the conclusion of the treaty, and were devastating the regions bordering on Raetia,
 and, ranging widely with bands of plunderers, were leaving nothing untried.

Since to ignore this would arouse new
 causes for war, he sent a certain Libino, a count, with the Celts and
 Petulantes, who were wintering with him, to set matters in order according as
 conditions demanded.

When Libino had quickly
 come to the neighbour- hood of the town of Sanctio, he
 was seen from afar by the savages, who, already meditating battle, had hidden
 themselves in the valleys. Thereupon encouraging his men, who, though fewer in
 numbers, were inspired with an ardent longing for battle, he
 rashly attacked the Germans and at the beginning of the fighting was himself
 the first of all to fall. Since his death increased the confidence of the
 savages and fired the Romans with a desire to avenge their leader, an obstinate
 struggle ensued, in which our men, overcome by vast numbers, were put to flight
 after a few of them had been killed or wounded.

With this Vadomarius and his brother
 Gundomadus, who was also king, Constantius (as I have already said) had
 concluded a peace. When, after that event,
 Gundomadus died, Constantius, thinking that
 Vadomarius would be loyal to him, made him the secret and efficient executor of
 his plots (if rumour alone is to be trusted), and wrote to him that he should
 pretend to break the treaty of peace from time to time and attack the districts
 bordering on his domain; to the end that Julian, in fear of this, should
 nowhere abandon the defence of Gaul.

These
 commands Vadomarius obeyed (if it is right to believe the tale) and perpetrated
 this and similar outrages, wonderfully skilled as he was from the beginning of
 his life in deception and fraud, as he also showed later when governor of the
 province of Phoenicia. But when he was actually proved
 to be acting treacherously, he ceased his activities. For a secretary whom he
 had sent to Constantius was captured by the soldiers on guard, and when he was
 searched, to see if he carried anything, a letter from Vadomarius was found, in
 which besides many other things he had written this also:
 Your Caesar lacks discipline. 
 But he was
 constantly addressing Julian in letters as Lord, Augustus and God.

Julian, thinking that such actions, dangerous
 and dubious as they were, would break out into deadly mischief, directed all
 his thoughts to the one end of forcibly seizing Vadomarius while off his guard,
 in order to ensure his own safety and that of the provinces. And this was the
 plan that he formed.

He had sent to those
 regions his secretary, Philagrius, later Count of the Orient, in whose good judgement he had confidence, having
 already tested it; and, in addition to many other orders which he was to
 execute according as urgent affairs might require, he also gave him a sealed
 note with orders neither to open nor read it unless he saw Vadomarius on our
 side of the Rhine.

Philagrius went his way as
 ordered, and when he had arrived and was busy with sundry affairs, Vadomarius
 crossed the river, fearing nothing, as was natural in a time of profound peace,
 and pretending to know of no irregular doings. And on seeing the commander of
 the soldiers stationed there, he spoke briefly with him as usual; and in order
 to leave behind no suspicion on his departure, he even promised to come to a
 banquet of the commander's to which Philagrius also was
 invited.

The latter immediately upon entering
 and seeing the king recalled the words of his emperor, and offering as excuse
 some important and urgent piece of business, returned to his quarters; then,
 after reading the letter and learning what he was to do, he at once came back
 and took his place at table with the others.

As soon as the feast was ended, he laid a strong hand on Vadomarius and handed
 him over to the commander of the soldiers, to be closely confined in camp,
 having read to him the text of his orders; the king's companions he compelled
 to return to their homes, since no order touching them had been given.

The aforesaid king, however, was taken to
 the camp of the prince, and though now without any hope of pardon, since he had
 learned that his secretary had been taken and that what he had written to
 Constantius was now generally known, without even being addressed in
 reproachful terms he was sent to Spain. For the greatest precaution was taken
 lest, when Julian should withdraw from Gaul, that most savage king should not
 lawlessly disturb the condition of the provinces, which had been put in order
 with difficulty.

Although Julian was somewhat elated by this
 good fortune, in that the king, whom he dreaded when about to leave for far
 countries, had been apprehended sooner than he had expected, yet he did not at
 all relax his diligence, but planned an attack upon the savages who (as I have
 shown ) had slain the Count Libino and a few of
 his followers in battle.

And in order that no
 rumour of his coming might lead them to flee to more distant places, he crossed the Rhine in the deep silence of night with the
 lightest equipped of his auxiliary forces and surrounded them while they feared
 nothing of the kind. And when they were awakened by the clash of hostile arms
 and were looking about for their swords and spears, he flew upon them swiftly;
 some he slew, others, who begged for mercy and offered booty, he received in
 surrender, to the rest who remained there he granted peace when they sued for
 it and promised lasting quiet.

While performing these exploits with resolute
 courage, Julian, surmising what a mass of civil strife he had aroused, and
 wisely foreseeing that nothing was so favourable to a sudden enterprise as
 speedy action, thought that he would be safer if he openly admitted his revolt,
 and being uncertain of the loyalty of the troops, he first propitiated Bellona
 with a secret rite, and then, after calling the army to an assembly
 with the clarion, he took his place on a tribunal of stone, and now feeling
 more confident (as was evident), spoke these words in a louder voice than
 common:

"Long since, noble fellow-soldiers, I
 have believed in my secret thoughts that you, fired by your valiant deeds, have
 been waiting to learn how the events that are expected may be weighed and
 provided for beforehand. For it becomes the soldier reared amid great and
 glorious deeds to use his ears rather than his tongue, and for a leader of
 tried justice to have no other thoughts than those which can
 worthily be praised and approved. Therefore, that I may cast aside vague
 circumlocution and set forth what I have purposed, kindly attend, I pray you,
 to what I shall briefly run through.

By Heaven's will united with you from the very beginning of my youth, I
 checked the constant inroads of the Alamanni and the Franks and their
 unending lust for plunder, and by our combined courage I made it possible
 for the Rhine to be crossed by Roman armies as often as they wished; and in
 standing firm against the clamour of rumours and the forcible invasions of
 mighty nations I relied, I assure you, on the support of your valour.
 Gaul, an eye-witness of these labours
 that we have performed, and now restored after many losses and long and
 grievous calamities, will hand down these achievements of ours to posterity
 through countless ages. But now that, forced by the
 authority of your choice and by stress of circumstances, I have been raised
 to Augustan dignity, with your support and that of the deity (if fortune
 favours our enterprises), I am aiming higher at greater deeds, openly
 declaring that to an army whose justice and greatness in arms are renowned I
 have seemed in time of peace a mild and self-controlled leader, and in many
 wars against the united forces of nations, sagacious and prudent. Therefore, that we may with the closest unanimity
 of purpose forestall adverse events, follow my course of action, which is
 salutary (I think), since our intention and desire are in harmony with the
 welfare of the state; and while the regions of
 Illyricum are without greater garrisons, advancing with unobstructed course,
 let us meanwhile take possession of the utmost parts of Dacia, and from
 there learn by means of good success what ought to be done. In support of this plan do you, I pray, after the
 manner of those who trust their leaders, promise under oath
 your lasting and faithful accord; I for my part will strive diligently and
 anxiously that nothing be done rashly or with faint heart, and I will show,
 if any one require it, my conscience clean, in that I will undertake or try
 nothing willingly except what contributes to the common weal. This one thing I beg and implore: see to it that
 none of you under the impulse of growing ardour be guilty of injury to
 private citizens, bearing in mind that not so much the slaughter of
 countless foemen has made us famous as the prosperity and safety of the
 provinces, widely known through instances of virtuous conduct.

By this speech of the emperor, no less
 approved than the words of some oracle, the assembly was strongly moved. Eager
 for revolution, with one accord they mingled fear-inspiring shouts with the
 violent clash of shields, calling him a great and exalted leader and (as they
 knew from experience) a fortunate victor over nations and kings.

And when all had been bidden to take the usual oath
 of allegiance, aiming their swords at their throats, they swore in set terms under pain of dire execrations, that
 they would endure all hazards for him, to the extent of
 pouring out their life-blood, if necessity required; their officers and all the
 emperor's closest advisers followed their example, and pledged loyalty with
 like ceremony.

Alone among all the prefect
 Nebridius, with a loyalty that was firm rather than prudent, opposed him,
 declaring that he could by no means be bound by an oath against Constantius, to
 whom he was indebted for many and repeated acts of kindness.

Upon hearing this the soldiers who were standing
 near, inflamed with anger, rushed upon him to slay him; but the emperor, at
 whose knees he had fallen, covered him with his general's cloak. Then Julian
 returned to the palace. And when he saw that Nebridius had preceded him and was
 lying there as a suppliant, begging that, to relieve his fears, the emperor
 would offer him his hand, Julian answered: Will any special honour be
 reserved for my friends, if you shall touch my hand?
 But depart in safety whithersoever you please. On hearing this,
 Nebridius withdrew unharmed to his home in Tuscany.

After taking these precautions, as the
 greatness of the enterprise demanded, Julian, knowing by experience the value
 of anticipating and outstripping an adversary in troublous times, having given written order for a march into Pannonia, advanced his camp and his standards, and unhesitatingly committed himself to whatever Fortune
 might offer.

It is now fitting to turn back to the past
 and give a brief account of what Constantius, who was wintering at Antioch,
 accomplished in peace and in war, while the events just described were taking
 place in Gaul.

Among many others of
 conspicuous distinction there were also appointed to greet the emperor when he
 came from abroad some illustrious tribunes. Therefore when Constantius, on his
 return from Mesopotamia, was received with this attention, Amphilochius, a
 former tribune from Paphlagonia, who had served long before under Constans and
 was under well-founded suspicion of having sown the seeds of discord between
 the deceased brothers, having dared to appear somewhat arrogantly, as if
 he also ought to be admitted to this service, was recognised and forbidden. And
 when many raised an outcry and shouted that he ought not to be allowed longer
 to look upon the light of day, being a stiff-necked traitor, Constantius, milder than usual on this occasion, said: Cease to
 trouble a man who is, I believe, guilty, but has not yet been openly
 convicted; and remember that if he has committed anything of that kind, so
 long as he is in my sight he will be punished by the judgement of his own
 conscience, from which he will be unable to hide. And that was the
 end of it.

On the next day, at the games in
 the Circus, the same man was looking on from a place opposite the emperor,
 where he usually sat. And when the expected contest began and a sudden shout
 was raised, the railing on which with many others be was leaning broke, and he
 with all the rest fell to the ground; and while a few were slightly injured, he
 alone was found to have suffered internal injuries and to have given up the
 ghost, whereat Constantius rejoiced greatly, as if he had a knowledge of future
 events also.

At that same time Constantius took to wife
 Faustina, having long since lost Eusebia, sister of the ex-consuls Eusebius and
 Hypatius, a lady distinguished before many others for beauty of person and of
 character, and kindly in spite of her lofty station, through whose
 well-deserved favour (as I have shown) Julian was saved
 from dangers and declared Caesar.

During those same days, attention was paid to
 Florentius also, who had left Gaul through fear of a change of government, and
 he was sent to take the place of Anatolius, praetorian prefect in Illyricum,
 who had recently died; and with Taurus, who was likewise praetorian prefect in
 Italy, he received the insignia of the highest magistracy.

Nevertheless, equipment for foreign and civil
 wars continued to be made, the number of squadrons of cavalry was increased,
 and with equal zeal levies were ordered throughout the provinces and
 reinforcements enrolled for the legions; every order and profession was
 burdened, supplying clothing, arms, and hurling-engines, nay even gold and
 silver, and an abundance of provisions of all kinds as well as various sorts of
 beasts of burden.

And since from the king of
 the Persians, who had regretfully been forced back into his own territories by
 the difficulty of the winter season, now that the mild weather had set in a
 more powerful attack was feared, envoys were sent to the kings and satraps
 beyond the Tigris with generous gifts, to admonish and exhort them all to be
 loyal to us and attempt no deceit or fraud.

But above all Arsaces and Meribanes, kings of Armenia and of Hiberia, were
 bribed with splendidly adorned garments and gifts of many kinds, since they
 would be likely to cause damage to Roman interests, if when affairs were already dubious they
 should revolt to the Persians.

In the midst
 of such urgent affairs Hermogenes died and
 Helpidius was promoted to the prefecture, a man born in Paphlagonia, ordinary
 in appearance and speech, but of a simple nature, so averse to bloodshed and so
 mild that once when Constantius had ordered him to torture an innocent man in
 his presence, he quietly asked that his office might be taken from him and
 these matters left to more suitable men, to be carried out according to the
 sovereign's mind.

Therefore, Constantius, wavering amid the
 difficulty of pressing affairs, was in doubt what course to pursue, considering
 long and anxiously whether to go to distant lands against Julian, or to repel
 the Parthians, who (as they threatened) were soon about to cross the Euphrates;
 and after hesitating and often taking counsel with his generals, he at last
 inclined to this plan: that after finishing, or at any rate quieting, the
 nearer war, and leaving no one to fear behind his back, after overrunning
 Illyricum and Italy (as he thought), he should take Julian (like a hunter's
 prey) in the very beginning of his enterprises; for so he kept continually
 declaring, to calm the fear of his men.

Nevertheless, that he might not grow lukewarm or seem to have neglected the
 other side of the war, spreading everywhere the terror of his coming; and
 fearing lest Africa should be invaded in his absence, a province advantageous
 to the emperors for all occasions, as if he were on the point of leaving the
 regions of the East, he sent to Africa by sea the secretary Gaudentius, who (as
 I have hinted before) had been for some time in Gaul to watch the actions of
 Julian.

For he hoped that Gaudentius would be able to
 accomplish everything with prompt obedience for two reasons: both because he
 feared the adverse side, which he had offended, and because he would be eager
 to take advantage of this opportunity to commend himself to
 Constantius, who he thought would undoubtedly be the victor; for at that time
 there was no one at all who did not hold that firm conviction.

So when Gaudentius came there, mindful of the
 emperor's injunctions, he informed Count Cretio and the other commanders by
 letter what was to be done, assembled the bravest soldiers from every hand,
 brought over light-armed skirmishers from both the Mauritanian provinces, and
 closely guarded the shores lying opposite to Aquitania and Italy.

And Constantius made no mistake in adopting
 that plan, for so long as he lived none of his opponents reached those lands,
 although the coast of Sicily which extends from Lilybaeum to Pachynum was
 guarded by a strong armed force, which was ready to cross quickly, if an
 opportunity should offer.

When these and other less important and
 trifling matters had been arranged as Constantius thought would be to his
 advantage under the circumstances, he was informed by messages and letters of
 his generals that the Persian forces had united with their haughty king at
 their head, and were already drawing near to the banks of the Tigris, but that
 where they were intending to break through was uncertain.

Aroused by this news, Constantius left his winter
 quarters as speedily as pos- sible, in order to act from nearer at hand and so
 be able to anticipate the coming attempts. He gathered from all sides cavalry
 and the flower of his infantry, on which he relied, and crossing the Euphrates
 by Capersana on a bridge of boats, proceeded to
 Edessa, a city strongly fortified and well supplied with provisions; there he
 waited for a time, until scouts or deserters should give
 information of the moving of the enemy's camp.

Meanwhile Julian, leaving Augst after
 finishing the business of which we have already spoken, sent Sallustius,
 who had been
 advanced to the rank of prefect, back to Gaul, bidding Germanianus take the
 place of Nebridius; he also made Nevitta
 commander of the cavalry, fearing Gomoarius as an old-time traitor,
 who (as he had heard), when leading the targeteers, secretly betrayed his
 prince, Veteranio. To Jovius, of whom I made mention in connection with the
 actions of Magnentius, he gave the quaestorship,
 and to Mamertinus the charge of the sacred largesses; he put Dagalaifus in
 command of the household troops, and assigned many others, whose services and
 loyalty he knew, to military commands on his own authority.

He intended then to make his way through the Marcian
 woods and along the roads near the banks of the
 river Danube, but being exceedingly uncertain amid the sudden changes of
 events, he feared lest his small retinue might bring him into contempt and lead
 the populace to oppose him.

To prevent this
 from happening, he devised an ingenious plan: he divided his army and sent one
 part with Jovinus and Jovius to march rapidly along the familiar roads of
 Italy; the others were assigned to Nevitta, the commander of the cavalry, to advance through the middle of Raetia; to the end
 that, being spread over various parts of the country, they might give the
 impression of a huge force and fill everything with alarm. For this was what
 Alexander the Great had done, and many other skilful generals after him,
 when occasion so required.

He also charged them, when they left, to
 be on their guard as they marched, as if the enemy were to meet them at once,
 and at night to keep watch and ward, so as not to be surprised by a hostile
 attack.

When these arrangements had thus been made
 (suitably, as it seemed), he proceeded to go farther on by the method through which he had
 often broken through the country of the savages, relying upon a series of
 successes.

And when he came to the place
 where he learned that the river was navigable, embarking in boats, of which by
 a fortunate chance there was a good supply, he was carried down the channel of
 the river as secretly as possible; and he escaped notice because, being
 enduring and strong and having no need of choice food, but content with a
 scanty and simple diet, he passed by the towns and fortresses without entering
 them, taking as his model that fine saying of Cyrus of old, who on coming to
 an inn and being asked by the host what viands he should
 prepare, replied: Nothing but bread, for I hope to dine near a
 stream.

But Rumour, which with a thousand tongues, as
 men say, strangely exaggerates the truth, spread herself abroad with many
 reports throughout all Illyricum, saying that Julian, after overthrowing a
 great number of kings and nations in Gaul, was on the way with a numerous army
 and puffed up by sundry successes.

Alarmed by
 this news, the pretorian prefect Taurus speedily retreated, as if avoiding a
 foreign enemy, and using the rapid changes of the public courier-service, he
 crossed the Julian Alps, at the same stroke taking away with him Florentius,
 who was also prefect.

None the less, Count
 Lucillianus, who then commanded the troops stationed in those regions, with
 headquarters at Sirmium, having some slight intelligence of Julian's move,
 gathered together such forces as regard for speedy action allowed to be
 summoned from the neighbouring stations and planned to resist him when he
 should arrive.

But Julian, like a meteor or a
 blazing dart, hastened with winged speed to his
 goal; and when he had come to Bononea, distant
 nineteen miles from Sirmium, as the moon was waning and therefore making dark
 the greater part of the night, he unexpectedly landed, and at once sent
 Dagalaifus with a light- armed force to summon Lucillianus, and if he tried to
 resist, to bring him by force.

The prefect
 was still asleep, and when he was awakened by the noise and confusion and saw
 himself surrounded by a ring of strangers, he understood the situation and,
 overcome with fear on hearing the emperor's name, obeyed his
 command, though most unwillingly. So the commander of the cavalry, just now so
 haughty and self-confident, following another's behest, was set upon the first
 horse that could be found and brought before the emperor like a base captive,
 scarcely keeping his wits through terror.

But
 when at first sight of Julian he saw that the opportunity was given him of
 bowing down to the purple, taking heart at last and no longer in fear for his
 life, he said: Incautiously and rashly, my Emperor, you have trusted
 yourself with a few followers to another's territory. To which
 Julian replied with a bitter smile: Reserve these wise words for
 Constantius, for I have offered you the emblem of imperial majesty, not as
 to a counsellor, but that you might cease to fear.

Then, after getting rid of Lucillianus,
 thinking that it was no time for delay or for inaction, bold as he was and
 confident in times of peril, he marched to the city, which he looked on as
 surrendered. And advancing with rapid steps, he had no sooner come near the
 suburbs, which were large and extended to a great distance, than a crowd of
 soldiers and people of all sorts, with many lights, flowers, and good wishes,
 escorted him to the palace, hailing him as Augustus and Lord.

There, rejoicing in his success and in the good omen,
 and with increased hope of the future, since he believed
 that following the example of a populous and famous metropolis the other cities
 also would receive him as a health- giving star, he gave chariot races on the
 following day, to the joy of the people. But with the dawn of the third day,
 impatient of delay, he hastened along the public highways, and since no one
 ventured to oppose him, placed a force in the pass of Succi, and
 entrusted its defence to Nevitta, as a faithful officer. And it will now be
 suitable in a brief digression, to describe the situation of this place.

The closely united summits of the lofty
 mountain ranges Haemus and Rhodope, of which the one rises immediately from the
 banks of the Danube and the other, from those of the Axius, on our side, end with swelling hills in a narrow pass, and
 separate Illyricum and Thrace. On the one side they are near to the midlands of
 Dacia and to Serdica, on the other they look
 down upon Thrace and Philippop- olis, great and famous cities; and as if nature
 had fore-knowledge that the surrounding nations must come under the sway of
 Rome, the pass was purposely so fashioned that in former times it opened
 obscurely between hills lying close together, but afterwards, when our power
 rose to greatness and splendour, it was opened even for the passage of carts;
 and yet it could sometimes be so closed as to check the attempts of great
 leaders and mighty peoples.

The part of this
 pass, which faces Illy- ricum, since it rises more gently, is sometimes easily
 surmounted, as though it kept no guard. But the opposite
 side, over against Thrace, precipitous and falling sheer downward, is made
 difficult on both sides by rough paths, and is hard to get over even when there
 is no opposition. At the foot of these heights on both sides lie spacious
 plains, the upper one extending as far as the Julian Alps, the other so flat and open that there is
 no hindrance to its habitation as far as the strait and the Propontis.

After these arrangements had been made in a
 matter so momentous and so urgent, the emperor, leaving the commander of the
 cavalry there, returned to Naessus (a
 well-supplied town), from which he might without hindrance attend to everything
 that would contribute to his advantage.

There
 he made Victor, the writer of history, whom he had seen at Sirmium and had bidden to
 come from there, consular governor of Pannonia Secunda, and honoured him with a
 statue in bronze, a man who was a model of temperance, and long afterwards
 prefect of the City.

And now, lifting himself higher and believing
 that Constantius could never be brought into harmony with him, he wrote to the
 senate a sharp oration full of invective, in which he specifically charged
 Constantius with disgraceful acts and faults. When these were read in the
 House, while Tertullus was still acting as prefect, the striking independence
 of the nobles was manifest as well as their grateful affection; for with complete agreement they one
 and all shouted: We demand reverence for your own creator.

Then he passed on to abuse the memory of
 Constantine as an innovator and a disturber of the ancient laws and of customs
 received of old, openly charging that he was the very first to advance
 barbarians even to the rods and robes of consuls. In so doing he showed neither
 good taste nor consideration; for instead of avoiding a fault which he so
 bitterly censured, he himself soon afterwards joined to Mamertinus as colleague
 in the consulship Nevitta, a
 man neither in high birth, experience, nor renown comparable with those on whom
 Constantine had conferred the highest magistracy, but on the contrary
 uncultivated, somewhat boorish, and (what was more intolerable) cruel in his
 high office.

While Julian was thinking of these and like
 matters and troubled by important and grave affairs, terrifying and unexpected
 news came to him of the monstrous and daring acts of certain men, which would
 check his eager advance, unless he could by watchful care repress these also
 before they came to a head. These shall be set forth briefly.

Two of Constantius' legions, which with one
 cohort of bowmen he had found at Sirmium, being not yet sure
 of their loyalty he had sent to Gaul under colour of urgent necessity. These
 were slow to move, through dread of the long march and of the Germans, our
 fierce and persistent foes, and were planning a rebellion, aided and abetted by
 Nigrinus, a native of Mesopotamia and commander of a troop of horsemen. Having
 arranged the plot by secret conferences and added to its strength by profound
 silence, on arriving at Aquileia, a well-situated and prosperous city,
 surrounded by strong walls, with hostile intent they suddenly closed its gates,
 supported in this revolt by the native population, because of the dread which
 was even then connected with the name of Constantius.

And having closed the entrances and posted
 armed men on the towers and bulwarks, they made ready whatever would be helpful
 in the coming contest, meanwhile living free from care or restraint; and by so
 daring an act they roused the neighbouring Italians to side with Constantius,
 whom they thought to be still living.

When Julian learned of this, being still at
 Naessus, and fearing no trouble from behind him, he recalled reading and
 hearing that this city had indeed oftentimes been besieged, but yet had never
 been razed nor had ever surrendered. Therefore he hastened
 with the greater earnestness to win it to his side either by craft or by sundry
 kinds of flattery before any greater mischief should arise.

Hence he ordered Jovinus, a commander of the horse,
 who was coming over the Alps and had entered Noricum, to return with speed, in
 order to quench in any way he could the fire that had broken out. Also, that
 nothing might be wanting, he gave orders that all soldiers who followed the
 court or the standards should be detained as they passed through that same town,
 in order to give help according to their
 powers.

These arrangements made, he himself, learning
 not long afterwards of the death of Constantius, hastily traversed Thrace and
 entered Constantinople. And being often advised that the said siege would be
 long rather than formidable, he assigned Immo with his other officers to that
 task and then ordered Jovinus to go and attend to other matters of greater
 urgency.

And so when Aquileia was surrounded with a
 double line of shields, it was thought best in the
 unanimous opinion of the generals to try, partly by threats and partly by fair
 words, to induce the defenders to surrender; but when after much debate to and
 fro their obstinacy became immensely greater, the conference ended without
 result.

And since now nothing was looked for
 except battle, both sides refreshed themselves with food and sleep; at daybreak
 the sound of the trumpets roused them to slay one another, and raising a shout
 they rushed to battle with more boldness than discretion.

Then the besiegers, pushing before them
 mantlets and closely-woven hurdles, advanced slowly and cautiously, and with a
 great number of iron tools tried to undermine the walls. Many carried scaling-
 ladders made to match the height of the walls, but when they could all but
 touch the ramparts, some were crushed by stones that were hurled down upon
 them, others were pierced with whizzing darts; and as the survivors gave way,
 they carried with them all the rest, whom fear of a like fate turned from their
 purpose of fighting.

This first encounter
 raised the courage of the besieged, who felt confident of still greater
 success, and made light of what remained to do; with settled and resolute minds
 they placed artillery in suitable places and with unwearied labour kept guard
 and attended to other measures of safety.

On
 the other side the assailants, though anxious and fearful of danger, yet from
 shame of seeming spiritless and slack, seeing that assault by open force
 effected little, turned to the devices of the besiegers' art. And since a
 suitable place could nowhere be found for moving up rams, for bringing engines
 to bear, or for digging mines, the fact that the river Natesio flows by the city only a short
 distance off suggested a device as worthy of admiration as those of old.

With eager speed they built wooden towers
 higher than the enemy's ramparts and placed each upon three
 ships strongly fastened together. On these stood armed men, who, with forces
 gathered from near at hand strove with combined and equal courage to dislodge
 the defenders; and below, light-armed skirmishers issued forth from the lower
 rooms of the towers and threw out little bridges, which they had made
 beforehand, and hastened to cross on them. Thus they worked in unison, in order
 that while those stationed above on both sides assailed each other in turn with
 missiles and stones, those who had crossed by the bridges might without
 interference tear down a part of the wall and open an approach into the heart
 of the city.

But the result of this well-laid plan was
 unsuccessful. For
 when the towers were already drawing near, fire-darts steeped in pitch were
 hurled at them and they were assailed as well with reeds, faggots, and all
 kinds of kindling material. When by the rapidly spreading fire and the weight
 of the men who stood precariously upon them the towers toppled and fell into
 the river, some of the soldiers were killed on their very tops, pierced by
 missiles from the distant engines.

Meanwhile
 the foot-soldiers, left alone after the death of their companions on the ships,
 were crushed by huge stones, except a few whom speed of foot through the
 encumbered passageways saved from death. Finally, after the conflict had lasted
 until evening, the usual signal for retreat was given; whereupon both sides
 withdrew and spent what remained of the day with different feelings.

For the laments of the besiegers, as they grieved
 for the death of their comrades, encouraged the defenders to hope that they were now getting the upper hand, although they, too, had
 a few losses to mourn. Yet, in spite of this, no time was lost, and after a
 whole night, during which enough food and rest to recover their strength was
 allowed, the battle was renewed at daybreak at the sound of the trumpet.

Then some with their shields raised over
 their heads, to be less hampered in fighting, others carrying ladders on their
 shoulders as before, rushed forward in fiery haste, exposing their breasts to
 wounds from many kinds of weapons. Still others tried to break the iron bars of
 the gates, but were assailed in their turn with fire or slain by great stones
 hurled from the walls. Some, who boldly tried to cross the moat, taken unawares
 by the sudden onslaughts of those that secretly rushed forth through the
 postern gates, either fell, if overbold, or withdrew wounded. For the return to
 the walls was safe and a rampart before the walls covered with turf protected
 from all danger those who lay in wait.

But although the besieged, who had no help
 other than that of the walls, excelled in endurance and the arts of war, yet
 our soldiers, selected from the better companies, unable to bear the long
 delay, went about all the suburbs, diligently seeking for places where they
 could force an entrance into the city by main strength or by their artillery.

But when this proved impossible,
 prevented by the greatness of the difficulties, they began to conduct the siege
 with less energy, and the garrison troops, leaving behind only the sentinels
 and pickets, ransacked the neighbouring fields, got an
 abundance of all suitable things, and gave their comrades a large share of
 their plunder; and in consequence, by drinking immoderately and stuffing
 themselves with rich food, they lost their vigour.

When Julian, who was still wintering in
 Constantinople, heard from the report of Immo and his colleagues what had
 happened, he devised a shrewd remedy for the troubles; he at once sent Agilo,
 commander of the infantry, who was well known at that time, to Aquileia, hoping
 that the sight of so distinguished a man, and the announcement through him of
 Constantius' death, might put an end to the blockade.

Meanwhile, that the siege of Aquileia might
 not be interrupted, it was decided, since all the rest of their toil had come
 to nothing, to force a surrender of the vigorous defenders by thirst. And when
 the aqueducts had been cut off, but in spite of that they resisted with still
 greater confidence, with a mighty effort the river was turned from its course;
 but that also was done in vain. For when the means of drinking more greedily
 were diminished, men whom their own rashness had beleaguered lived frugally,
 and contented themselves with water from wells.

While these events were taking place with
 the results already told, Agilo (as he was ordered) came to them, and covered
 by a close array of shields drew near confidently; but after giving a detailed
 and true account of the death of Constantius and the establishment of Julian's
 rule, he was overwhelmed with endless abuse as a liar. And no one believed his
 account of what had happened until he was admitted alone
 within the walls under a pledge of safe conduct and repeated what he had said,
 adding a solemn oath that it was true.

When
 this was heard, the gates were opened, and after their long torment all poured
 forth and gladly met the peace-making general. Trying to excuse themselves,
 they presented Nigrinus as the author of the whole outrage, along with a few
 others, asking that by the execution of these men the crime of treason and the
 woes of their city might be expiated.

Finally, a few days later, after the affair had been more thoroughly
 investigated before Mamertinus, the praetorian prefect, then sitting in
 judgement, Nigrinus as the chief instigator of the war was burned alive. But
 after him Romulus and Sabostius, senators of Aquileia, being convicted of
 having sown the seeds of discord without regard to its dangerous consequences,
 died by the executioner's sword. All the rest, whom compulsion, rather than
 inclination, had driven to this mad strife, escaped unpunished. For so the
 emperor, naturally mild and merciful, had decided on grounds of justice.

Now these things happened later. But Julian
 was still at Naessus, beset by deep cares, since he feared many dangers from
 two quarters. For he stood in dread lest the soldiers besieged at Aquileia
 should by a sudden onset block the passes of the Julian Alps, and he should
 thus lose the provinces and the support which he daily expected from them.

Also he greatly feared the forces of the
 Orient, hearing that the soldiers dispersed over Thrace had been quickly
 concentrated to meet sudden violence and were approaching
 the frontiers of Succi under the lead of the count Martianus. But in spite of
 this he himself also, acting with an energy commensurate with the pressing mass
 of dangers, assembled the Illyrian army, reared in the toil of Mars and ready
 in times of strife to join with a warlike commander.

Nor did he at so critical a time disregard the interests of private
 persons, but he gave ear to their suits and disputes, especially those of the
 senators of the free towns, whom he was much inclined to favour, and unjustly
 invested many of them with high public office.

There it was that he found Symmachus and Maximus, two distinguished senators, who had been sent by the
 nobles as envoys to Constantius. On their return he received them with honour,
 and passing over the better man, in place of Tertullus
 made Maximus prefect of the eternal city, to please Rufinus Vulcatius,
 whose nephew he knew him to be. Under this
 man's administration, however, there were supplies in abun- dance, and the
 complaints of the populace, which were often wont to arise, ceased altogether.

Then, to bring about a feeling of
 security in the crisis and to encourage those who were submissive, he promoted
 Mamertinus, the pretorian prefect in Illyricum, to the consulship, as well as
 Nevitta; and that too although he had lately beyond measure blamed Constantine
 as the first to raise the rank of base foreigners.

While by these and similar means Julian,
 wavering between hope and fear, was planning new measures, Constantius at
 Edessa, troubled by the varying reports of his scouts, was hesitating between
 two different courses, now preparing his soldiers for battle in the field, now,
 if opportunity should offer, planning a second siege of Bezabde, with the
 prudent design of not leaving the flank of Mesopotamia unprotected when he was
 presently about to march to the north.

But in
 this state of indecision he was kept back by many delays, since the Persian
 king was waiting on the other side of the Tigris until the signs from heaven
 should warrant a move; for if Sapor had crossed the river and found no one to
 oppose him, he could easily have penetrated to the Euphrates; besides this,
 since he was keeping his soldiers in condition for civil war, he feared to
 expose them to the dangers of an attack upon a walled city, knowing by
 experience the strength of its fortifications and the energy of its
 defenders.

However, in order not to be wholly inactive,
 nor be criticised for slackness, he ordered Arbitio and Agilo, commanders of
 the cavalry and of the infantry, to sally forth promptly with strong forces,
 not with a view of provoking the Persians to battle, but to draw a cordon on
 our bank of the Tigris and be on the watch to see where the impetuous king
 might break through. Moreover, he often warned them by word
 of mouth and in writing that if the enemy's horde should begin to cross, they
 were to retreat quickly.

Now, while these
 generals were guarding the frontiers assigned them, and the hidden purposes of
 that most deceitful nation were being observed, he himself with the stronger
 part of his army was attending to urgent affairs (getting ready for battle) and
 now and then sallying forth to protect the towns. But the scouts and deserters who appeared from time to
 time brought conflicting accounts, being uncertain what would happen, because
 among the Persians plans are communicated to none save the grandees, who are
 reticent and loyal, and with whom among their other gods Silence is honoured.

Moreover, the aforesaid generals kept sending
 for the emperor and begging that reinforcements be sent to them. For they
 declared that the attack of a most energetic king could not be met, unless all
 the forces were united at one point.

During these anxious proceedings frequent and
 trusty messengers arrived, from whose clear and faithful reports it was learned
 that Julian, having in swift course passed through Italy and Illyricum, had
 meanwhile seized the pass of Succi, where he was awaiting auxiliaries summoned
 from every quarter, in order to invade Thrace attended by a great force of
 soldiers.

When this was known, Constantius,
 though overwhelmed with sorrow, was sustained by the one comforting thought,
 that in civil strife he had always come off victor; but while the present
 situation made it most difficult to decide upon a plan, he resolved, as the
 best course, gradually to send his soldiers on in advance in the public conveyances, in order the sooner to meet the dread and
 imminent peril.

This plan met with general
 approval and the troops set out lightly equipped, as was ordered. But as he was
 carrying out this arrangement, word came next morning that the king with the
 entire force under his command had returned home, since the auspices put an end
 to his enterprise; relieved therefore of fear, Constantius recalled all the
 troops, except those that formed the usual defence of Mesopotamia, and quickly
 returned to the city of Nicopolis.

There, being still uncertain as to the
 outcome of his main enterprise, as soon as the army had come together he
 summoned all the centuries, maniples, and cohorts to an assembly; and when the
 trumpets sounded and the plain was filled with the multitude, in order to make
 them the more inclined to carry out his orders, he took his place upon a high
 tribunal with a larger retinue than common, and assuming an expression of calm
 confidence, addressed them as follows:

"Being always careful by no act or word,
 however slight, to allow myself to do anything inconsistent with faultless
 honour, and like a cautious steersman putting my helm up or down according to
 the movements of the waves, I am now constrained, dearly beloved soldiers, to
 confess to you my mistake, or rather (if I may be allowed to use the right
 word) my kindheartedness, which I believed would be profitable to the interests
 of all. Therefore, that you may the more readily know the ground for convoking
 this assembly, hear me, I pray you, with unprejudiced and favourable ears.

"At the time when Magnentius, whom your
 valorous deeds overthrew, was obstinately bent upon making general confusion in
 the state, I raised my cousin Gallus to the high rank of Caesar and sent him to
 defend the Orient. When he by many deeds abominable to witness and to rehearse
 had forsaken the path of justice, he was punished by the laws' decree.

And would to Heaven that Envy, that
 busiest inciter of trouble, had been content with that, in order that only this
 one recollection of grief now past, but unaccompanied by dangers, might
 disquiet me. But now another blow has fallen, more to be lamented, I might
 venture to say, than those that went before, which the aid of Heaven through
 your native valour will make harmless.

Julian, to whom we entrusted the defence of Gaul while you were fighting the
 foreign nations that raged around Illyricum, presuming upon some trivial
 battles which he fought with the half-armed Germans, exulting like a madman,
 has involved in his ambitious cabal a few auxiliaries, whom their savagery and
 hopeless condition made ready for a destructive act of recklessness; and he has
 conspired for the hurt of the state, treading under foot Justice, the mother
 and nurse of the Roman world, who, as I readily believe from experience and
 from the lessons of the past, will in the end, as the punisher of evil deeds,
 take vengeance on them, and will blow away their proud spirits like ashes.

What, then, remains but to meet the storms that have been raised, with
 the purpose of crushing by the remedies of speed the madness of the growing
 war before it attains greater strength? For there is no
 doubt that through the present help of the most high Deity, by whose eternal
 verdict the ungrateful are condemned, the sword that has impiously been
 whetted must inevitably be turned to the destruction of those who, not
 provoked, but made greater by many favours, have risen to endanger the
 guiltless. For, as my mind presages, and
 as Justice promises, who will aid right purposes, I give you my word that,
 when we come hand to hand, they will be so benumbed with terror as to be
 able to endure neither the flashing light of your eyes nor the first sound
 of your battle-cry.

After these words all were led to his
 opinion, and brandishing their spears in anger they first replied with many
 expressions of good will, and then asked to be led at once against the rebel.
 This mark of favour turned the emperor's fear into joy; he at once dissolved
 the assembly and ordered Arbitio, whom he already knew from former experiences
 to be successful before all others in quelling civil wars, to go before him on
 his march with the lancers, the mattiarii, and the companies of light armed troops;
 also Gomoarius with the Laeti, to
 oppose the coming advance of the enemy in the pass of Succi, a man chosen
 before others because he was a bitter enemy of Julian, who had treated him with
 contempt in Gaul.

In this welter of adverse events Constantius'
 fortune, already wavering and at a standstill, showed clearly by signs almost
 as plain as words, that a crisis in his life was at hand. For at night he was
 alarmed by apparitions, and when he was not yet wholly sunk in sleep, the ghost
 of his father seemed to hold out to him a fair child; and when he took it and
 set it in his lap, it shook from him the ball which he held in his right hand and threw it
 to a great distance. And this foretold a change in the state, although the
 seers gave reassuring answers.

After that he
 admitted to his more intimate attendants that, as though forsaken, he ceased to
 see a kind of secret something which he used to think occasionally appeared to
 him, though somewhat dimly; and it was supposed that a sort of guardian spirit,
 assigned to protect his life, had deserted him, since he was destined quickly
 to leave this world.

For the theologians
 maintain that there are associated with all men at their birth, but without
 interference with the established course of destiny, certain divinities of that
 sort, as directors of their conduct; but they have been seen by only a very
 few, whom their manifold merits have raised to eminence.

And this oracles and writers of distinction have
 shown; among the latter is also the comic poet Menander, in whom we read these
 two senarii: 
 
 A daemon is assigned to every man 
 At birth, to be the leader of his life.

Likewise from the immortal poems of Homer
 we are given
 to understand that it was not the gods of heaven that spoke with brave men, and
 stood by them or aided them as they fought, but that guardian spirits attended
 them; and through reliance upon their special support, it is said, that
 Pythagoras, Socrates, and Numa Pompilius became famous; also the earlier Scipio,
 and (as some believe)
 Marius and Octavianus, who first had the title of Augustus conferred upon him,
 and Hermes Trismegistus, Apollonius of Tyana, and
 Plotinus, who
 ventured to discourse on this mystic theme, and to present a profound
 discussion of the question by what elements these spirits are linked with men's
 souls, and taking them to their bosoms, as it were, protect them (as long as
 possible) and give them higher instruction, if they perceive that they are pure
 and kept from the pollution of sin through association with an immaculate
 body.

Constantius, therefore, having reached
 Antiochia by forced marches, intending (as was his custom) 
 eagerly to encounter civil disturbances at their outset, and having made all
 his preparations, was in immoderate haste to set out, although many opposed it,
 but only by murmurs; for no one dared openly to dissuade or to forbid him.

When autumn was already waning he began
 his march, and on coming to a suburban estate called Hippocephalus, distant
 three miles from the city, he saw in broad daylight on the right side of the
 road the corpse of a man with head torn off, lying stretched out towards the
 west. Terrified by the omen,
 although the fates were preparing his end, he kept on with the greater
 determination and arrived at Tarsus. There he was taken with a slight fever,
 but in the expectation of being able to throw off the danger of his illness by
 the motion of the journey he kept on over difficult roads to Mobsucrenae, the
 last station of Cilicia as you go from here, situated at the foot of Mount
 Taurus; but when he tried to start again on the following day, he was detained
 by the increasing severity of the disease. Gradually the extreme heat of the
 fever so inflamed his veins that his body could not even be touched, since it
 burned like a furnace; and when the application of remedies proved useless, as
 he breathed his last he lamented his end. However, while his mind was still
 unimpaired he is said to have designated Julian as the successor to the throne.

Then the death-rattle began and he was
 silent, and after a long struggle with life now about to leave him, he died on
 the fifth of October, in the thirty-eighth year of his reign
 at the age of forty- four years and a few months.

After this followed the last mournful call to
 the deceased, and grief and wailing broke out; then those who held the first
 rank in the royal court considered what they should do, or what they ought to
 attempt. And after a few had been sounded secretly as to the choice of an
 emperor, at the suggestion of Eusebius (as was reported), whom the
 consciousness of his guilt pricked, since Julian's nearness made an attempt at
 revolution inadvisable, Theolaifus and Aligildus, 
 at that time counts, were sent to him, to report the death of his kinsman, and
 beg him to lay aside all delay and come to take over the Orient, which was
 ready to obey him.

However, rumour and an
 uncertain report had it that Constantius had made a last will, in which (as I
 have said) he wrote down Julian as his heir and gave commissions and legacies
 to those who were dear to him.

Now he left
 his wife with child, and the posthumous daughter to whom she afterwards gave
 birth was called by his name, and when she grew up was united in marriage with
 Gratianus.

Observing, therefore, a true distinction
 between his good qualities and his defects, it will be fitting to set forth his
 good points first. He always
 maintained the dignity of imperial majesty, and his great
 and lofty spirit disdained the favour of the populace. He was exceedingly
 sparing in conferring the higher dignities, with few exceptions allowing no
 innovations in the way of additions to the administrative offices; and he never
 let the military lift their heads too high.

Under him no leader of an army was advanced
 to the rank of clarissimus. For they were (according to
 my personal recollection) all perfectissimi. 
 The governor of a province never officially met a commander of the cavalry, nor was the latter
 official allowed to take part in civil affairs. But all the military and civil
 officials always looked up to the praetorian prefects with the old-time
 respect, as the peak of all authority.

In the
 maintenance of the soldiers he was exceedingly careful; somewhat critical at
 times in evaluating services, he bestowed appointments at court by the
 plumb-line, as it were. Under him no one who was to hold a high position was
 appointed to a post in the palace suddenly or untried, but a man who after ten
 years was to be marshal of the court, or head treasurer, or to fill any similar
 post, was thoroughly known. It very rarely happened that any military officer
 passed to a civil magistracy, and on the other hand, none were put in command
 of soldiers who had not grown hardy in the dust of battle.

He made great pretensions to learning,
 but after failing in rhetoric
 because of dullness of mind, he turned to making verses, but accomplished
 nothing worth while.

By a prudent and
 temperate manner of life and by moderation in eating and drinking he maintained
 such sound health that he rarely suffered from illnesses, but such as he had
 were of a dangerous character. For that abstinence from dissipation and luxury
 have this effect on the body is shown by repeated experience, as well as by the
 statements of physicians.

He was content with
 little sleep when time and circumstances so required. Throughout the entire
 span of his life he was so extraordinarily chaste, that not even a suspicion
 could be raised against him even by an ill-disposed attendant on his private
 life, a charge which malice, even if it fails to discover it, still trumps up,
 having regard to the unrestrained liberty of supreme power.

In riding, in hurling the javelin, and especially in
 the skilful use of the bow, and in all the exercises of the foot-soldiers, he
 was an adept. That no one ever saw him wipe his mouth or nose in public, or
 spit, or turn his face in either direction, or
 that so long as he lived he never tasted fruit, I leave unmentioned, since it
 has often been related.

Having given a succinct account of his
 merits, so far as I could know them, let us now come to an enumeration of his
 defects. While in administrative affairs he was comparable to other emperors of
 medium quality, if he found any indication, however
 slight or groundless, of an aspiration to the supreme power, by endless
 investigations, in which he made no distinction between right and wrong, he
 easily surpassed the savagery of Caligula, Domitian, and Commodus. For it was
 in rivalry of the cruelty of those emperors that at the beginning of his reign
 he destroyed root and branch all who were related to him by blood and race.

To add to the sufferings of the wretches
 who were reported to him for impairment of, or insult to, his majesty, his
 bitterness and angry suspicions were stretched to the uttermost in all such
 cases. If anything of the kind was bruited abroad, he gave himself up to
 inquisitions with more eagerness than humanity, and appointed for such trials
 merciless judges; and in the punishment of some he tried to make their death
 lingering, if nature allowed, in some particulars being even more ruthless than
 Gallienus in such inquisitions.

As a matter
 of fact, he was the object of many genuine plots of traitors, such as Aureolus,
 Postumus, Ingenuus, Valens surnamed Thessalonicus, and several others, yet he
 often showed leniency in punishing crimes which would bring death to the
 victim; but he also tried to make false or doubtful cases appear well-founded
 by excessively violent tortures.

And in such
 affairs he showed deadly enmity to justice, although he made a special effort
 to be considered just and merciful. And as sparks flying from a dry forest even
 with a light breeze of wind come with irresistible course and bring danger to
 rural villages, so he also from trivial causes roused up a
 mass of evils, unlike that revered prince Marcus, 
 who, when Cassius had mounted to imperial heights in Syria, and a packet of
 letters sent by him to his accomplices had fallen into the emperor's hands
 through the capture of their bearer, at once ordered it to be burned unopened,
 in order that, being at the time still in Illyricum, he might not know who were
 plotting against him, and hence be forced to hate some men against his will.

And, as some right- thinking men believed,
 it would have been a striking indication of true worth in Constantius, if he
 had renounced his power without bloodshed, rather than defended it so
 mercilessly.

And this Tully also shows in a
 letter to Nepos, in which he taxes Caesar with cruelty, saying: For
 happiness is nothing else than success in noble actions. Or, to express it
 differently, happiness is the good fortune that aids worthy designs, and one
 who does not aim at these can in no wise be happy. Therefore, in lawless and
 impious plans, such as Caesar followed, there could be no happiness.
 Happier, in my judgement, was Camillus in exile than was Manlius at that same time,
 even if (as he had desired) he had succeeded in making himself king.

Heraclitus the Ephesian also agrees with this, when he
 reminds us that the weak and cowardly have sometimes, through the mutability of
 fortune, been victorious over eminent men; but that the most conspicuous praise
 is won, when high-placed power sending, as it were, under
 the yoke the inclination to harm, to be angry, and to show cruelty, on the
 citadel of a spirit victorious over itself has raised a glorious trophy.

Now, although this emperor in foreign wars
 met with loss and disaster, yet he was elated by his success in civil conflicts
 and drenched with awful gore from the internal wounds of the state. It was on
 this unworthy rather than just or usual ground that in Gaul and Pannonia he erected triumphal arches
 at great expense commemorating the
 ruin of the provinces, and added records of his deeds,
 that men might read of him so long as those monuments could last.

He was to an excessive degree under the influence of
 his wives, and the shrill-voiced eunuchs, and certain of the court officials,
 who applauded his every word, and listened for his yes or
 no, in order to be able to agree with him.

The bitterness of the times was increased by
 the insatiate extortion of the tax-collectors, who brought him more hatred than
 money; and to many this seemed the more intolerable, for the reason that he
 never investigated a dispute, nor had regard for the welfare of the provinces,
 although they were oppressed by a multiplicity of taxes and tributes. And
 besides this, he found it easy to take away exemptions which he had once
 given.

The plain and simple religion of the Christians
 he obscured by a dotard's superstition, and by subtle and
 involved discussions about dogma, rather than by seriously trying to make them
 agree, he aroused many controversies; and as these spread more and more, he fed
 them with contentious words. And since throngs of bishops hastened hither and
 thither on the public post-horses to the various synods, as they call them,
 while he sought to make the whole ritual conform to his own will, he cut the
 sinews of the courier-service.

His bodily appearance and form were as
 follows: he was rather dark, with bulging eyes and sharp-sighted; his hair was
 soft and his regularly shaven cheeks were neat and shining; from the meeting of
 neck and shoulders to the groin he was unusually long, and his legs were very
 short and bowed, for which reason he was good at running and leaping.

When the corpse of the deceased emperor had
 been washed and placed in a coffin, Jovianus, who was at that time still an
 officer in the bodyguard, was ordered to escort it with regal pomp to
 Constantinople, to be interred beside his kinsfolk.

And as he sat in the carriage that bore the remains, samples of the
 soldiers' rations ( probae, as they themselves call them) were
 presented to him, as they commonly are to emperors, and the public courier-horses were shown to him,
 and the people thronged about him in the customary manner. These and similar
 things foretold imperial power for the said Jovianus, but of an empty and
 shadowy kind, since he was merely the director of a funeral procession.

While Fortune's mutable phases were causing
 these occurrences in a different part of the world, Julian in the midst of his
 many occupations in Illyricum was constantly prying into the entrails of
 victims and watching the flight of birds, in his eagerness to foreknow the
 result of events; but he was perplexed by ambiguous and obscure predictions and
 continued to be uncertain of the future.

At
 length, however, Aprunculus, a Gallic orator skilled in soothsaying, afterwards
 advanced to be governor of Gallia Narbonensis, told him what would happen,
 having learned it (as he himself declared) from the inspection of a liver which
 he had seen covered with a double lobe. And
 although Julian feared that it might be a fiction conformable to his own
 desire, and was therefore troubled, he himself saw a much more evident sign
 which clearly foretold the death of Constantius. For at the very moment when
 that emperor died in Cilicia, a soldier who lifted Julian with his right hand
 to mount his horse slipped and fell to the ground; and Julian at once cried in
 the hearing of many: The man has fallen who raised me to my high
 estate.

But although he knew that these were
 favourable signs, yet as if standing fast upon his guard he remained within the
 confines of Dacia, and even so was troubled with many fears. For he did not deem it prudent to trust the predictions which might
 perhaps be fulfilled by contraries.

Amid this state of suspense the envoys
 Theolaifus and Aligildus, who had been sent to him, suddenly appeared and reported the death of Constantius, adding
 that with his last words he had made Julian the successor to his power.

On learning this, and being now saved from
 the fret of dangers and the throes of war's anxieties, he was hugely elated.
 And now believing in the prophecies, and knowing by experience that speed had
 often been helpful to his enterprises, he ordered a march into Thrace, quickly
 broke camp, and passing the slope of Succi, made
 for Philippopolis, the ancient Eumolpias,
 followed with eager step by all who were under his command.

For they perceived that the throne, which they were
 on their way to usurp in the face of the greatest dangers, had beyond their
 hope been granted to him by the ordinary course of law. And as rumour is wont
 to exaggerate all novelties, he hastened on from there, now raised still
 higher, as though in some chariot of Triptolemus, which the poets of old,
 because of its swift turnings, represented as drawn through the air by winged
 dragons; and dreaded by land and sea and opposed by no
 delays, he entered Heraclea, also called Perinthus.

When this was presently known at Constantinople, all ages and sexes
 poured forth, as if to look upon someone sent down from heaven. And so he was
 met on the eleventh of December with the respectful attendance of the senate
 and the unanimous applause of the people, and surrounded by troups of soldiers
 and citizens he was escorted as if by an army in line of battle, while all eyes
 were turned upon him, not only with a fixed gaze, but also with great
 admiration.

For it seemed almost like a dream
 that this young man, just come to his growth, 
 of small stature but conspicuous for great deeds, after the bloodstained
 destruction of kings and nations had passed from city to city with unlooked-for
 speed; that increasing in power and strength wherever he went, he had easily
 seized upon all places as swiftly as rumour flies, and finally had received the
 imperial power, bestowed upon him by Heaven's nod without any loss to the
 state.

Shortly after this Salutius Secundus was
 raised to the rank of praetorian prefect, and
 given, as a trustworthy official, the chief oversight of the inquisitions that
 were to be set on foot; and with him were associated Mamertinus, Arbitio, Agilo, and Nevitta, and also Jovinus, lately advanced to be commander of the cavalry in
 Illyricum.

These crossed
 all to Chalcedon, and in the presence of the generals and tribunes of the
 Joviani and the Herculiani examined the
 cases with more passion than was just and right, with the exception of a few, in which the evidence showed that the
 accused were most guilty.

At first they
 banished to Britain Palladius, formerly chief marshal of the court, who was
 brought before them merely on the suspicion of having made certain charges to
 Constantius against Gallus, when he held the same office under the said Gallus,
 who was at the time Caesar.

Then Taurus,
 who had been praetorian prefect, was exiled to
 Vercellum, although before judges who could
 distinguish justice from injustice his action might have appeared deserving of
 pardon. For what sin did he commit, if in fear of a storm that had arisen he
 fled to the protection of his emperor? And the decisions that were passed upon
 him were read not without great horror in the public protocol, which contained
 this beginning: In the consulate of Taurus and Florentius, when Taurus
 was summoned to court by the criers.

Pentadius also was threatened with the same
 fate, against whom the charge was made, that, being sent by Constantius he took
 down in shorthand the answers that Gallus had made to the many questions put to
 him when his ruin was approaching. But since he justified himself, he finally
 got off unpunished.

With like injustice
 Florentius (son of Nigrinianus), then chief marshal of the court, was
 imprisoned in the Dalmatian island of Boae. For a second Florentius, a former
 praetorian prefect and consul at the time, being alarmed by the sudden change
 in the state, saved himself from danger with his wife, lay hid for a long time,
 and could not return until after the death of Julian; yet he was condemned to
 death in his absence.

In like manner
 Euagrius, count of the privy purse, and Saturninus, former steward of the
 Household, and Cyrinus, a former secretary, were all exiled. But for the death
 of Ursulus, count of the sacred largesses, Justice herself seems to me to have
 wept, and to have accused the emperor of ingratitude. For when Julian was sent
 as Caesar to the western regions, to be treated with extreme niggardliness,
 being granted no power of making any donative to the soldiers to the end that
 he might be exposed to more serious mutinies of the army, this very Ursulus
 wrote to the man in charge of the Gallic treasury, ordering that whatever the
 Caesar asked for should be given him without hesitation.

After Ursulus' death Julian found himself the object
 of the reproaches and curses of many men, and thinking that he could excuse
 himself for the unpardonable crime, he declared that the man had been put to
 death without his knowledge, alleging that his taking off was due to the anger
 of the soldiers, who remembered his words (which we have reported before
 ) when he saw the ruins of Amida.

From this it was clear that Julian was
 timorous, or that he did not know what was fitting, when he put Arbitio, who
 was always untrustworthy and excessively haughty, in charge of these
 inquisitions, while the others, including the officers of the legions, were present merely for show; for Arbitio was a man whom he knew
 above all others to be a threat to his own safety, 
 as was to be expected of one who had taken a valiant part in the victories of
 the civil wars.

But, although these acts which I have
 mentioned displeased even Julian's supporters, yet those which follow were
 executed with proper vigour and severity.

For Apodemius, of the imperial secret service, who, as we have said, showed unbridled eagerness for the death of
 Silvanus and Gallus, was burned alive, as well as Paulus the notary, surnamed
 Catena, a man to be mentioned
 by many with groans, who thus met the fate which was to have been hoped for.

Eusebius besides, who had been made
 Constantius' grand chamberlain, a man full of pride and cruelty, was condemned
 to death by the judges. This man, who had been raised from the lowest station
 to a position which enabled him almost to give orders like those of the emperor
 himself, and in
 consequence had become intolerable, Adrastia, the judge of human acts,
 had plucked by the ear (as the saying is) and
 warned him to live with more restraint; and when he demurred, she threw him
 headlong, as if from a lofty cliff.

After this the emperor turned his attention
 to the palace attendants, and dismissed all who belonged to that class or could
 be included in it, but not like a philosopher claiming to
 research into truth.

For he might have been
 commended if he had at least retained some, few though they were, who were of
 modest behaviour or known to be of virtuous character. But it must be admitted
 that the major part of those creatures maintained a vast nursery of all the
 vices, to such a degree that they infected the state with evil passions, and
 rather by their example than by their license in wrong-doing injured many.

For some of them, fattened on the robbery
 of temples and scenting out gain from every source, on being raised from abject
 poverty at one bound to enormous wealth, knew no limit to bribery, robbery, and
 extravagance, always accustomed as they were to seize the property of others.

Hence sprang the seeds of a dissolute
 life, perjury, and disregard for good name, and their mad pride stained their
 honour by shameful gains.

Meanwhile, gluttony
 and deep abysses of banquets grew apace, and the place of triumphs
 won in battle was taken by those gained at the table. The lavish use of silk
 and of the textile arts increased, and more anxious attention to the kitchen.
 Showy sites for richly adorned houses were eagerly sought, of such dimensions
 that if the consul Quinctius 
 had owned as much in farmland, he would have lost the glory of his poverty even
 after his dictatorship.

To these conditions, shameful as they were,
 were added serious defects in military discipline. In place of the war-song the
 soldiers practised effeminate ditties; the warriors' bed was not a stone (as in days of yore), but feathers and folding couches; their
 cups were now heavier than their swords (for they were ashamed to drink from
 earthenware); they even procured houses of marble, although it is written in
 the records of old that a Spartan soldier was severely punished because during
 a campaign he dared to be seen under a roof.

Moreover, the soldiers of those times were so insolent and rapacious towards
 their countrymen, and so cowardly and weak in the presence of the enemy, that
 having acquired riches by patronage and idleness, they were adepts in
 distinguishing the varieties of gold and gems, contrary to the usage even of
 recent times.

For it is well known that under
 Caesar Maximianus, when a fortified camp of the Persian king was pillaged, a
 common soldier after finding a Parthian jewel-box containing pearls, threw away
 the gems in ignorance of their value, and went his way, quite satisfied with
 the beauty of the leather alone.

It happened at that same time that a barber,
 who had been summoned to trim the emperor's hair, appeared in splendid attire.
 On seeing him, Julian was amazed, and said: I sent for a barber, not a
 fiscal agent. However, he asked the man what his trade brought him
 in; to which the barber replied twenty daily allowances of bread, and the same amount of fodder for pack-animals
 (these they commonly call capita ), as well as a heavy
 annual salary, not to mention many rich perquisites.

Incensed by this, Julian discharged all attendants of that kind (as
 being not at all necessary to him), as well as cooks and
 other similar servants, who were in the habit of receiving almost the same
 amount, giving them permission to go wherever they wished.

Although Julian from the earliest days of his
 childhood had been more inclined towards the worship of the pagan gods, and as
 he gradually grew up burned with longing to practise it, yet because of his
 many reasons for anxiety he observed certain of its rites with the greatest
 possible secrecy.

But when his fears were
 ended, and he saw that the time had come when he could do as he wished, he
 revealed the secrets of his heart and by plain and formal decrees ordered the
 temples to be opened, victims brought to the altars, and the worship of the
 gods restored.

And in order to add to the
 effectiveness of these ordinances, he summoned to the palace the bishops of the
 Christians, who were of conflicting opinions, and the people, who were also at
 variance, and politely advised them to lay aside their differences, and each
 fearlessly and without opposition to observe his own beliefs.

On this he took a firm stand, to the end that, as
 this freedom increased their dissension, he might afterwards have no fear of a
 united populace, knowing as he did from experience that no wild beasts are such
 enemies to mankind as are most of the Christians in their deadly hatred of one
 another. And he often used to say: 
 Hear me, to whom the Alamanni and the Franks have given ear, 
 thinking that in this he was imitating a saying of the earlier emperor Marcus.
 But he did not observe that the two cases were very different.

For Marcus, as he was passing through Palestine on
 his way to Egypt, being often disgusted with the malodorous and rebellious
 Jews, is reported to have cried: O Marcomanni, O Quadi, O Sarmatians, at
 last I have found a people more unruly than you.

At this same time, induced by sundry rumours,
 there came a number of Egyptians, a contentious
 race of men, by custom always delighting in intricate litigation, and
 especially eager for excessive indemnification if they had paid anything to a
 collector of debts, either for the purpose of being relieved of the debt, or at
 any rate, to bring in what was demanded of them more
 conveniently by postponing it; or eager to charge wealthy men with extortion
 and threaten them with court proceedings.

All
 these, crowding together and chattering like jays, unseasonably interrupted the
 emperor himself, as well as the praetorian prefects, demanding after almost
 seventy years moneys that they declared that they had paid, justly or
 otherwise, to many individuals.

And, since
 they prevented any other business from receiving attention, the emperor issued
 an edict, in which he bade them all go to Chalcedon; and he promised that he
 would himself also shortly come there, to settle all their
 claims.

After they had crossed, orders were
 given to the captains of ships going to or coming from that port not to dare to
 give an Egyptian passage; and since that order was strictly observed, this
 obstinate attempt at blackmail vanished, and they all returned to their homes,
 disappointed in the hopes that they had entertained.

Thereupon a law was passed, as if at the proposal of Justice
 herself, which provided that no advocate at court should be troubled about
 payments which it was recognised that he had justly received.

And so the first of January came, when the
 consular annals took on the names of Mamertinus and Nevitta; and the emperor
 showed himself especially condescending by going on foot to their inauguration
 in company with other high officials, an action which some commended but others
 criticised as affected and cheap.

Then, when Mamertinus gave games in the
 Circus and the slaves that were to be manumitted were led in by the assistant
 master of ceremonies, the emperor himself, with too great haste,
 pronounced the usual formula, that it be done according to law;
 and on being reminded that the
 jurisdiction that day belonged to another, he fined himself ten pounds of gold, as
 guilty of an oversight.

Meanwhile, he came frequently into the senate
 house to give attention to various matters with which the many changes in the
 state burdened him. And when one day, as he was sitting in judgement there, and
 it was announced that the philosopher Maximus had come from
 Asia, he started up in an undignified manner, so far forgetting himself that he
 ran at full speed to a distance from the vestibule, and after having kissed the
 philosopher and received him with reverence, brought him back with him. This
 unseemly ostentation made him appear to be an excessive seeker for empty fame,
 and to have forgotten that splendid saying of Cicero's, which narrates the
 following in criticising such folk:

Those very same philosophers inscribe their names on the very books
 which they write on despising glory, so that even when they express scorn of
 honour and fame, they wish to be praised and known by name.

Not long after this, two former members of
 the secret service who were among those who had been discharged approached the
 emperor confidently and promised to point out the hiding-place of Florentius
 on condition that their military rank be
 restored to them. But he rebuked
 them and called them informers, adding that it was not worthy of an emperor to be led by indirect information to bring back a man
 who had concealed himself through fear of death, and who perhaps would not be
 allowed to remain long in hiding without hope of pardon.

Present at all these events was Praetextatus,
 a senator of noble
 character and old-time dignity, whom Julian had chanced to find engaged in
 private business at Constantinople and on his own initiative had appointed
 governor of Achaia with proconsular authority.

But, although he was so diligently engaged in
 reforming civil abuses, he did not on that account neglect military affairs,
 but put in command of the soldiers men approved by long trial; nay more, he
 repaired all the cities throughout Thrace as well as the fortifications on the
 borders, and took particular pains that the troops posted along the banks of
 the Danube, who, as he heard, were meeting inroads of the savages with
 watchfulness and valour, should lack neither arms and clothing nor pay and
 supplies.

While he was so arranging these
 matters, tolerating no slackness in action, his intimates tried to persuade him
 to attack the neighbouring Goths, who were often deceitful and treacherous; but
 he replied that he was looking for a better enemy; that for the Goths the
 Galatian traders were enough, by whom they were offered for sale everywhere
 without distinction of rank.

While he was attending to these and similar
 affairs he gained a reputation among foreign nations for eminence in bravery,
 sobriety, and knowledge of military affairs, as well as of all noble qualities;
 and his fame gradually spread and filled the entire world.

Then, since the fear of his coming
 extended widely over neighbouring and far distant nations, deputations hastened
 to him from all sides more speedily than usual: on one side, the peoples beyond
 the Tigris and the Armenians begged for peace; on another, the Indian nations
 as far as the Divi and the Serendivi vied with
 one another in sending their leading men with gifts ahead of time; on the
 south, the Moors offered their services to the Roman state; from the north and
 the desert regions, through which the Phasis flows to the sea, came embassies
 from the Bosporani and other hitherto unknown peoples, humbly asking that on
 payment of their annual tribute they might be
 allowed to live in peace within the bounds of their native lands.

Now is a fitting time (I think), since the
 history of a great prince has opportunely brought us to these places, to give
 some account of the remote parts of Thrace, and of the topography of the Pontic
 sea, with clearness and accuracy, partly from my own observation and partly
 from reading.

Athos, that lofty mountain in
 Macedonia through which the Medic ships once passed, and Caphereus, the headland of Euboea where
 Nauplius, Looking eastward. father of Palamedes, wrecked the
 Argive fleet, although they face each other at a long distance
 apart, separate the Aegean and the Thessalian seas. The Aegean gradually grows larger, and on the right, where it
 is of wide extent, is rich in islands through the Sporades and Cyclades,
 so-called because they are all grouped about Delos, famous as the cradle of the
 gods. On the left, it washes Imbros and Tenedos,
 Lemnos and Thasos, and when the wind is strong, dashes violently upon Lesbos.

From there, with back-flowing current,
 it laves the temple of Apollo Sminthius, the Troad, and Ilium,
 famed for the death of heroes, and forms the bay of Melas, facing the
 west wind, at the entrance of which is seen Abdera, the home of Protagoras and
 Democritus, and the bloodstained dwelling of the Thracian Diomedes,
 and the vales through which the Hebrus flows into it, and Maronea and Aenos, a city which Aeneas began
 under unfavourable auspices, but presently abandoned it and hastened on to
 ancient Ausonia under the guidance of the gods.

After this, the Aegean gradually grows
 narrower and flows as if by a kind of natural union into the Pontus; and
 joining with a part of this it takes the form of the Greek
 letter φ . Then it separates Hellespontus from the
 province of Rhodopa and flows past Cynossema, where
 Hecuba is supposed to be buried, and Coela, Sestos and Callipolis.3 On the
 opposite side it washes the tombs of Achilles and Ajax, and Dardanus and
 Abydus, from which Xerxes built a bridge and crossed the sea on foot; then
 Lampsacus, which the Persian king gave to Themistocles as a gift, and Parion, founded by
 Paris, the son of lasion.

Then swelling on
 both sides into the form of a half-circle and giving a view of widely separated
 lands, it laves with the spreading waters of the Propontis, on the eastern side Cyzicus and Dindyma, where
 there is a sacred shrine of the Great Mother, and Apamia
 and Cius, where Hylas was pursued and carried off by the nymph, and Astacus, in a later age called after King Nicomedes.
 Where it turns to the westward it beats upon the
 Cherronesus and Aegospotami, where Anaxagoras predicted a rain of stones from
 heaven, and Lysimachia and the
 city which Hercules founded and dedicated to the name of his comrade Perinthus;

and in order to keep the form of the
 letter φ full and complete, in the very middle of the circle lies the oblong island of
 Proconesos, and Besbicus.

After reaching the extreme end of this part,
 it
 again contracts into a narrow strait, and flowing between Europe and Bithynia,
 passes by Chalcedon, Chrysopolis, and some obscure stations.

Its left bank, however, is looked down upon by the port of Athyras
 and Selymbria, and Constantinople, the ancient Byzantium, a colony of the
 Athenians, and the promontory
 Ceras, which bears a tower built high and giving light to ships ; therefore a very cold wind which often blows from
 that quarter is called Ceratas.

After being broken in this fashion and coming
 to an end through the mingling of the two seas, it now grows quieter and
 spreads out into the form of a flat of water extending in width and length as
 far as the eye can reach.

The complete voyage around its shores, as
 one would encircle an island, is a distance of 23,000 stadia, as
 is asserted by Eratosthenes, Hecataeus, Ptolemy, and other very accurate
 investigators of such problems; and according to the testimony of all
 geographers it has the form of a drawn Scythian bow.

And where the sun rises from the eastern
 ocean it comes to an end in the marshes of the Maeotis ; where it inclines towards
 the west it is bounded by Roman provinces; where it looks up to the Bears it
 breeds men of varying languages and habits; on the southern side it slopes
 downward in a gentle curve.

Over this vast
 space are scattered cities of the Greeks, all of which, with a few exceptions,
 were founded at varying periods by the Milesians, who were themselves colonists
 of the Athenians. The Milesians in much earlier times were established among
 other Ionians in Asia by Nileus, the son of that Codrus who (they say)
 sacrificed himself for his country in the Dorian war.

Now the tips of the bow on both sides are
 represented by the two Bospori lying opposite to each other, the Thracian
 and the Cimmerian; and they are called
 Bospori, as the poets say, because the daughter of Inachus, when she was changed
 into a heifer, once crossed through them to the Ionian sea.

The right-hand curve of the Thracian
 Bosporus begins with the shore of Bithynia, which the men of
 old called Mygdonia, containing the provinces of Thynia and Mariandena, and
 also the Bebrycians, who were delivered from the cruelty of Amycus through the
 valour of Pollux; and a remote station, a place where the menacing harpies
 fluttered about the seer Phineus and filled him with fear. Along these
 shores, which curve into extensive bays, the rivers Sangarius and Phyllis,
 Lycus and Rheba pour into the sea; opposite them are the dark Symplegades, twin
 rocks rising on all sides into precipitous cliffs, which were wont in ages past
 to rush together and dash their huge mass upon each other with awful crash, and
 then to recoil with a swift spring and return to what they had struck.
 If even a bird should fly between these swiftly
 separating and clashing rocks, no speed of wing could save it from being
 crushed to death.

But these cliffs, ever
 since the Argo, first of all ships, hastening to
 Colchis to carry off the golden fleece, had passed between them unharmed, have
 stood motionless with their force assuaged and so united that no one of those
 who now look upon them would believe that they had ever been separated, were it
 not that all the songs of the poets of old agree about the story.

Beyond one part of Bithynia extend the
 provinces of Pontus and Paphlagonia, in which are the great cities of Heraclea,
 Sinope, Polemonion and Amisos, as well as Ties and Amastris, all owing their
 origin to the activity of the Greeks; also Cerasus, from
 which Lucullus brought the fruits so-named. There are also two islands,
 on which are situated the celebrated cities of Trapezus and Pityus.

Beyond these places is the Acherusian cave, which
 the natives call Mychopontion, and the port of Acone, besides the rivers Acheron (also called the Arcadius), Iris,
 Thybris, and hard by, the Parthenius, all of which flow with swift course into
 the sea. The next river to these is the Thermodon, flowing from Mount Armonius
 and gliding through the Themiscyraean groves, to which the Amazons were forced
 to migrate in days of yore for the following reason.

The Amazons of old, after having by constant
 losses worn out their neighbours, and devastated them by bloody raids, had
 higher aspirations; and considering their strength and feeling that it was too
 great merely for frequent attacks upon their neighbours, being carried away
 besides by the headstrong heat of covetousness, they broke through many nations
 and made war upon the Athenians. 
 But after a bitter contest they were scattered in all directions, and since the
 flanks of their cavalry were left unprotected, they all perished.

Upon the news of their destruction the remainder,
 who had been left at home as unfit for war, suffered extreme hardship; and in
 order to avoid the deadly attacks of their neighbours, who paid them like for
 like, they moved to a quieter abode on the Thermodon. Thereafter their
 descendants, who had greatly increased, returned, thanks to their numerous
 offspring, with a very powerful force, and in later times
 were a cause of terror to peoples of divers nationalities.

Not far from there the hill called Carambis
 lifts itself with gentle slope, rising towards the Great Bear of the north, and
 opposite this, at a distance of 2500 stadia, is Criumetopon, a promontory of Taurica. From this point the whole seacoast, beginning
 at the river Halys, as if drawn in a straight line, has the form of the string
 joined to the two tips of the bow.

Bordering
 on these regions are the Dahae, the fiercest of all warriors, and the Chalybes,
 by whom iron was first mined and worked. Beyond these are open plains,
 inhabited by the Byzares, Sapires, Tibareni, Mossynoeci, Macrones and Philyres,
 peoples not known to us through any intercourse.

A short distance from these are the tombs of famous men, in which
 are buried Sthenelus, Idmon, and Tiphys; the first of these was a
 companion of Hercules, mortally wounded in the war with the Amazons, the second
 the augur of the Argonauts, the third the careful steersman of that same craft.

After passing the places mentioned, one
 comes to the grotto of Aulion and the river Callichorus, which owes its name to the fact that Bacchus, when he had after three
 years vanquished the peoples of India, returned to those regions, and on the
 green and shady banks of that river renewed the former orgies and dances;
 some think that this kind of festival was
 also called trieterica.

Beyond these territories
 are the populous districts of the Camaritae, and the Phasis in impetuous course borders on the Colchians, an ancient
 race of Egyptian origin. There, among other cities, is Phasis, which gets its name from the
 river, and Dioscurias, well known even to this day, said to have been founded
 by Amphitus and Cercius of Sparta, the charioteers of Castor and Pollux, and
 founders of the nation of the Heniochi.

A short distance from these are the Achaei,
 who, after the end of an earlier war at Troy (not the one which was fought
 about Helen, as some writers have asserted), being carried out of their course
 by contrary winds to Pontus, and meeting enemies everywhere, were unable to
 find a place for a permanent home; and so they settled on the tops of mountains
 covered with perpetual snow, where, compelled by the rigorous climate, they
 became accustomed to make a dangerous living by robbery, and hence became later
 beyond all measure savage. About the Cercetae, who adjoin them, we have no
 information worth mentioning.

Behind these dwell the inhabitants of the
 Cimmercian Bosporus, where Milesian cities are, and Panticapaeum, the mother,
 so to speak, of all; this the river Hypanis washes, swollen with its own and
 tributary waters.

Next, at a considerable
 distance, are the Amazons, who extend to the Caspian Sea and live about the
 Tanaïs, which rises among the crags of Caucasus,
 flows in a course with many windings, and after separating
 Europe from Asia vanishes in the standing pools of the Maeotis.

Near this is the river Ra, on whose banks grows a plant of the same name, the root of
 which is used for many medicinal purposes.

Beyond the Tanais the Sauromatae have a
 territory of wide extent, through which flow the never - failing rivers
 Maraccus, Rombites, Theophanes and Totordanes. However, there is also another
 nation of the Sauromatae, an enormous distance away, extending along the shore
 which receives the river Corax and pours it far out into the Euxine Sea.

Nearby is the Maeotic Gulf of wide circuit, from whose abundant springs a great body of
 water bursts through the narrows of Panticapes into the Pontus. On its right
 side are the islands Phanagorus and Hermonassa, founded by the industry of the
 Greeks.

Around these farthest and most
 distant marshes live numerous nations, differing in the variety of their
 languages and customs: the Ixomatae, Maeotae, Iazyges, Roxolani, Halani,
 Melanchlaenae, and with the Geloni, the Agathyrsi, in whose country an
 abundance of the stone called adamant is found; and farther beyond are other
 peoples, who are wholly unknown, since they are the remotest of all men.

But near the left side of the Maeotis is
 the Cherronesus, full
 of Greek colonies. Hence the inhabitants are quiet and 
 peaceful, plying the plough and living on the products of the soil.

At no great distance from these are the
 Tauri, divided into various kingdoms, among whom the Arichi, the Sinchi, and
 the Napaei are terrible for their ruthless cruelty, and since long continued
 license has increased their savageness, they have given the sea the name of
 Inhospitable; but in irony it is called
 by the contrary name of Pontus εὔξεινος, 
 just as we Greeks call a fool εὐήθης, 
 and night εὐφρόνη, and the Furies εὐμενίδες.

For these peoples offer human victims to the
 gods and sacrifice strangers to Diana, whom they call Orsiloche, and affix the
 skulls of the slain to the walls of her temple, as a lasting memorial of their
 valorous deeds.

In this Tauric country is the island of
 Leuce, entirely uninhabited and
 dedicated to Achilles. And if any happen to be carried to that island, after
 looking at the ancient remains, the temple, and the gifts consecrated to that
 hero, they return at evening to their ships; for it is said that no one can
 pass the night there except at the risk of his life. At that place there are
 also springs and white birds live there resembling halcyons, of whose origin
 and battles in the Hellespont I shall speak at the
 appropriate time.

Now
 there are some cities in the Taurica, conspicuous among which are Eupatoria,
 Dandace, and Theodosia, with other smaller towns, which are not contaminated
 with human sacrifices.

So far the peak of the bow is thought to
 extend; the remainder of it, gently curved and lying under the Bear in the
 heavens, we shall now follow as far as the left side of the Thracian Bosporus,
 as the order demands, with this warning; that while the bows of all other races
 are bent with the staves curved, in those of the Scythians alone, or the
 Parthians, since a straight rounded handle
 divides them in the middle, the ends are bent downwards on both sides and far
 apart, presenting the
 form of a waning moon.

Well then, at the very beginning of this
 district, where the Riphaean mountains sink to the plain, dwell the Aremphaei,
 just men and known for their gentleness, through whose country flow the rivers
 Chronius and Visula. Near them are the Massagetae, Halani, and Sargetae, as
 well as several other obscure peoples whose names and customs are unknown to
 us.

Then at a considerable distance the
 Carcinitian gulf opens up, with a river of the same name, and the grove of
 Trivia, sacred in those regions.

Next the Borysthenes, 
 rising in the mountains of the Nervii, rich in waters from its own springs,
 which are increased by many tributaries, and mingle with the sea in
 high-rolling waves. On its well-wooded banks are the cities
 of Borysthenes and Cephalonesus and the altars consecrated to Alexander the
 Great and Augustus Caesar.

Then, a long
 distance away, is a peninsula inhabited by the Sindi, people of low birth, who
 after the disaster to their masters in Asia got possession of their wives and property. Next to these
 is a narrow strip of shore which the natives call ʼἀχιλλέως δρόμος, memorable in times past for the exercises of
 the Thessalian leader. And next to it is the city Tyros, a colony of the Phoenicians, washed
 by the river Tyras.

Now in the middle space of the bow, which,
 as I have said, is widely rounded out and is fifteen days' journey for an
 active traveller, are the European Halani, the Costobocae, and innumerable
 Scythian tribes, which extend to lands which have no known limit. Of these,
 only a small part live on the fruits of the earth; all the rest roam over
 desert wastes, which never knew plough nor seeds, but are rough from neglect
 and subject to frosts; and they feed after the foul manner of wild beasts.
 Their dear ones, their dwellings, and their poor belongings they pack upon
 wains covered with the bark of trees, and when the fancy takes them they change
 their abode without trouble, wheeling their carts to the place which has
 attracted them.

But when we have come to another bend,
 abounding in harbours, which forms the last part of the curve of the bow, the
 island of Peuce juts forth, and around
 this dwell the Trogodytae, the Peuci, and other lesser tribes. Here is Histros,
 once a powerful city, and Tomi, Apollonia, Anchialos, and
 Odessos, besides many other cities which lie along the Thracian coast.

But the river Danube, rising near Augst,
 and the mountains near the Raetian frontier, extends over a wide tract,
 and after receiving sixty tributaries, nearly all of which are navigable,
 breaks through this Scythian shore into the sea through seven mouths.

The first of these, as their names are
 interpreted in the Greek tongue, is the aforesaid island of Peuce, the second Naracustoma, the third Calonstoma, the fourth Pseudostoma;
 but the Borionstoma and Stenostoma are far smaller than the others; the seventh
 is muddy and black like a swamp.

Now the entire Pontus throughout its whole
 circuit is misty, has sweeter waters than the other seas, and is full of shoals, since
 the air is often thickened and condensed from the evaporation of moisture, and
 is tempered by the great masses of water that flow into it; and, because the
 many rivers that pour into it from every side bring in mud and clods, it rises
 in shoals that are full of ridges.

And it is
 a well-known fact that fish from the remotest bounds of our sea come in schools to this retreat for
 the purpose of spawning, in order that they may rear their young more
 healthfully in its sweet waters, and that in the refuge of the hollows, such as
 are very numerous there, they may be secure from voracious sea-beasts; for in
 the Pontus nothing of that kind has ever been seen, except small and harmless
 dolphins.

But the part of that same Pontic
 gulf which is scourged by the north wind and by frosts is so completely bound
 in ice, that neither are the courses of the rivers believed to flow beneath the
 ice, nor can men or animals keep their footing on the treacherous and slippery
 surface, a defect which an unmixed sea never has, but only one which is mingled
 with water from rivers. But since I have been carried somewhat farther than I
 expected, let us hasten on to the rest of our story.

Another thing was added, to crown the present joys, something
 long hoped for it is true, but delayed by an extensive complex of
 postponements. For it was announced by Agilo and Jovius, who was later
 quaestor, that the defenders of Aquileia, through
 weariness of the long siege and having learned of the death of Constantius, had
 opened their gates, come out, and surrendered the instigators of the revolt;
 that these were burned alive (as was told above), and
 all the rest obtained indulgence and pardon for their offences.

But Julian, elated by his success, now felt
 more than mortal aspirations, since he had been
 tried by so many dangers and now upon him, the undisputed ruler of the Roman
 world, propitious Fortune, as if bearing an earthly horn of plenty,
 was bestowing all glory and prosperity; also adding this to the records
 of his former victories, that so long as he was sole ruler he was disturbed by
 no internal strife and no barbarians crossed his frontiers; but all nations,
 laying aside their former eagerness for repeated attacks, as ruinous and liable
 to punishment, were fired with a wonderful desire of sounding his praises.

Therefore, after everything that the times
 and the changed circumstances demanded had been arranged with careful
 deliberation, and the soldiers had by numerous addresses and by adequate pay
 been roused to greater readiness for carrying out the coming enterprises,
 exulting in the favour of all men, he hastened to go to Antioch, leaving
 Constantinople supported by great increase of strength; for it was there that
 he was born, and he loved and cherished the city as his natal place.

Accordingly, having crossed the strait, and passed by Chalcedon and Libyssa, where Hannibal the Carthaginian was buried, he came to Nicomedia, a
 city famed of old and so enlarged at the great expense of earlier emperors,
 that because of the great number of its private and
 public buildings it was regarded by good judges as one of the regions, so to
 speak, of the Eternal City.

When he saw that its walls had sunk into a pitiful heap of ashes,
 showing his distress by silent tears he went with lagging step to the palace:
 and in particular he wept over the wretched state of the city because the
 senate and the people, who had formerly been in a most flourishing condition,
 met him in mourning garb. And certain of them he recognised, since he had been
 brought up there under the bishop Eusebius, whose distant relative
 he was.

Having here also in a similar way
 generously furnished many things that were necessary for repairing the damage
 done by the earthquake, he went on past Nicaea to the borders of Gallograecia.
 From there he made a detour to the right and turned to Pessinus,
 in order to visit the ancient shrine of the Great Mother. It was from that
 town, in the second Punic war, that at the direction of the Cumaean verses
 her image was
 brought to Rome by Scipio Nasica.

Of its arrival in Italy, along with other
 matters relating to the subject, I have given a brief account by way of
 digression in telling of the acts of the emperor Commodus. But why the town was called by that 
 name writers of history are not in agreement;

for some have maintained that since the image of the goddess fell from heaven,
 the city was named from πεσεῖν, which is the
 Greek word meaning to fall. 
 
 Others say that Ilus, son of Tros, king of Dardania, gave the place that name. But Theopompus 
 asserts that it was not Ilus who did it, but Midas, the once mighty king of Phrygia.

Then, after Julian had worshipped the deity
 and propitiated her with victims and vows, he returned to Ancyra. And as he continued his journey from there, the multitude
 annoyed him, some demanding the return of what had been wrested from them by
 violence, others complaining that they had unjustly been forced onto the boards
 of senators, while some, without regard to their own
 danger, exerted themselves to the point of madness to involve their opponents
 in charges of high treason.

But he, a judge
 more severe than a Cassius, or a Lycurgus, weighed the evidence in
 the cases with impartial justice and gave every man his due, never deviating
 from the truth, and showing particular severity towards calumniators, whom he
 hated because he had experienced the impudent madness of 
 many such folk even to the peril of his life, while he was still a humble
 private citizen.

Of his patience in such
 matters it will suffice to give this single example, although there are many
 others. A certain man with great vehemence charged an enemy of his, with whom
 he was at bitter odds, of being guilty of high treason; and when the emperor
 ignored it, he repeated the same charge day after day. At last, on being asked
 who it was that he accused, he replied that it was a wealthy citizen. On
 hearing this, the emperor said with a smile: On what evidence have you
 come to this conclusion?

And the man answered: He is making
 himself a purple robe out of a silk cloak ; and when after this he was bidden to depart in silence, but
 unpunished, as a low fellow making a serious charge against another of the same
 sort, he was none the less insistent. Whereupon Julian, wearied and disgusted
 with the man's conduct, seeing his treasurer nearby, said to him: Have a
 pair of purple shoes given to this dangerous chatterbox, to take to his
 enemy (who he says, so far as I can understand, has had a cloak of that
 colour sewn for him), in order that he may be able to learn what
 insignificant rags amount to without great power.

But, although such conduct was laudable and
 worthy of imitation by good rulers, it was on the contrary hard and censurable
 that under his rule anyone who was sought by the curiales, 
 
 even though protected by special privileges, by length of service in the army,
 or by proof that he was wholly ineligible by birth for such a position, could
 with difficulty obtain full justice; so that many of them 
 through fear bought immunity from annoyance by secret and heavy bribes.

Thus proceeding on his way and arriving at
 the Gates, a place which separates
 the Cappadocians from the Cilicians, he received with a kiss the governor of
 the province, Celsus by name, whom he had known since his student days in Athens, gave
 him a seat in his carriage, and took him with him into Tarsus.

But hastening from there to visit Antioch, fair
 crown of the Orient, he reached it by the usual roads; and as he neared the
 city, he was received with public prayers, as if he were some deity, and he
 wondered at the cries of the great throng, who shouted that a lucky star had
 risen over the East.

Now, it chanced that at
 that same time the annual cycle was completed and they were celebrating, in the
 ancient fashion, the festival of Adonis (beloved by Venus, as the poet's tales
 say), who was slain by the death-dealing tusk of a boar-a festival which is
 symbolic of the reaping of the ripe fruits of the field. And it seemed a
 gloomy omen, as the emperor now for the first time entered the great city, the
 residence of princes, that on all sides melancholy wailing was heard and cries
 of grief.

It was here that he gave a proof
 of his patience and mildness, slight, it is true, but surprising. He hated a
 certain Thalassius, a former assistant master of petitions, who had plotted against
 his brother Gallus. When this man had been prohibited from greeting the emperor
 and attending at court among the other dignitaries, 
 some enemies of his, with whom he had a suit in the forum, gathered together
 next day a huge throng of his remaining foes and approaching
 the emperor, shouted: Thalas- sius, your majesty's enemy, has lawlesslyrobbed us
 of our goods.

But, although Julian believed that this was
 an opportunity to ruin the man, he replied: I know that the person to
 whom you refer has given me just cause for offence, but it is proper for you
 to keep silence until he gives satisfaction to me, his opponent of higher
 rank. And he ordered the prefect who was sitting in judgement not to
 listen to their charge until he himself was reconciled with Thalassius, which
 shortly happened.

Passing the winter there to his heart's
 content, he was meanwhile carried away by no incitements of the pleasures in
 which all Syria abounds; but as if for recreation devoting his attention to
 cases at law, not less than to difficult and warlike affairs, he was distracted
 by many cares, as with remarkable willingness to receive information he
 deliberated how he might give each man his due by righteous decisions, bringing
 the guilty to order with moderate punishments and protecting the innocent with
 the safety of their property.

And, although
 in arguing cases he was sometimes untimely, asking at some inopportune moment
 what the religion of each of the litigants was, yet it cannot be found that in
 the decision of any suit he was inconsistent with equity, nor could he ever be
 accused because of a man's religious views, or for any other cause, of having
 deviated from the straight path of justice.

For that is desirable and proper judgement, when, after
 examination of all the circumstances, just is distinguished from unjust; and
 that he might not depart from this, he was as careful as of dangerous rocks.
 Now this he was able to accomplish for the reason that, recognising the
 hastiness of his somewhat excitable disposition, he allowed his prefects and
 associates freely to curb his impulses, when they led him away from what was
 fitting, by a timely admonition; and at times he showed that he regretted his
 errors and was glad to be corrected.

And when
 the defenders of causes greeted him with the greatest applause, declaring that
 he understood perfect justice, he is said to have replied with emotion:
 I should certainly rejoice and show my joy, if I were praised by
 those whom I knew to have also the power to blame me in case I was wrong in
 deed or word.

But it will suffice, in place of many
 examples of the clemency that he showed in judicial processes, to set down this
 one, which is neither out of place nor ill-chosen. When a certain woman had
 been brought before the court, and contrary to her expectation saw that her
 accuser, who was one of the court servants that had been discharged, wore his
 girdle, she loudly complained at
 this act of insolence. Whereupon the emperor said: Go on with your
 charge, woman, if you think that you have been wronged in any way; for this
 man has thus girt himself in order to go through the mire the more easily
 ;
 it can do little harm to your cause.

And these and similar instances led to the
 belief, as he himself constantly affirmed, that the old goddess of Justice,
 whom Aratus takes up to heaven because she was displeased with the vices of mankind, had returned to
 earth during his reign, were it not that sometimes Julian followed his own
 inclination rather than the demands of the laws, and by occasionally erring
 clouded the many glories of his career.

For
 after many other things, he also corrected some of the laws, removing
 ambiguities, so that they showed clearly what they demanded or forbade to be
 done. But this one thing was inhumane, and ought to be buried in eternal
 silence, namely, that he forbade teachers of rhetoric and literature to
 practise their profession, if they were followers of the Christian
 religion.

At about that same time, that notorious
 state- secretary Gaudentius, who (as I said before) 
 had been sent to Africa by Constantius to oppose Julian there, and also
 Julianus, a former vice-governor, an intemperate partisan of the same faction,
 were brought back in chains and punished with death.

Then, too, Artemius, sometime military commander in Egypt,
 since the Alexandrians heaped upon him a mass of
 atrocious charges, suffered capital punishment. After him
 the son of Marcellus, at one time commander of the cavalry and infantry,
 was publicly executed, on the ground that he had
 aspired to the throne. Finally, even Romanus and Vincentius, tribunes of the
 first and the second corps of the targeteers, were convicted of designs beyond
 their powers and exiled.

Hardly had a brief time elapsed, when the
 Alexandrians, on learning of the death of Artemius, whom they dreaded, for fear
 that he would return with his power restored (for so he had threatened) and do
 harm to many for the wrong that he had suffered, turned their wrath against the
 bishop Georgius, who had often, so to speak, made them feel his poisonous
 fangs.

The story goes that he was born in a
 fullery at Epiphania, a town of Cilicia, and flourished to the ruin of many people. Then,
 contrary to his own advantage and that of the commonwealth, he was ordained
 bishop of Alexandria, a city which on its own impulse, and without ground, is
 frequently roused to rebellion and rioting, as the oracles themselves show.

To the frenzied minds of these people
 Georgius himself was also a powerful incentive by pouring, after his
 appointment, into the ready ears of Constantius charges against many, alleging
 that they were rebellious against his authority; and, forgetful of his calling,
 which counselled only justice and mildness, he descended to the informer's
 deadly practices.

And, among other matters,
 it was said that he maliciously informed Constantius also of
 this, namely, that all the edifices standing on the soil of the said city had
 been built by its founder, Alexander, at great public cost, and ought justly to
 be a source of profit to the treasury.

To
 these evil deeds he had added still another, which soon after drove him
 headlong to destruction. As he was returning from the emperor's court and
 passed by the beautiful temple of the Genius, 
 attended as usual by a large crowd, he turned his eyes straight at the temple,
 and said: How long shall this sepulchre stand? On hearing this,
 many were struck as if by a thunderbolt, and fearing that he might try to
 overthrow even that building, they devised secret plots to destroy him in
 whatever way they could.

And lo! on the
 sudden arrival of the glad news that told of the death of Artemius, all the
 populace, transported by this unlooked-for joy, grinding their teeth and
 uttering fearful outcries, made for Georgius and seized him, maltreating him in
 divers ways and trampling upon him; then they dragged him about spread-eagle
 fashion, and killed him.

And with him Dracontius, superintendent of
 the mint, and one Diodorus, who had the honorary rank of count, were dragged about with ropes fastened to their legs
 and both killed; the former, because he overthrew an altar, newly set up in the mint, of which he had charge; the other,
 because, while overseer of the building of a church, he arbitrarily cut off the
 curls of some boys, thinking that this also was a fashion belonging to the
 pagan worship.

Not content with this, the
 inhuman mob loaded the mutilated bodies of the slain men upon camels and carried them to the shore; there they burned them on a
 fire and threw the ashes into the sea, fearing (as they shouted) that their
 relics might be collected and a church built for them, as for others who, when
 urged to abandon their religion, endured terrible tortures, even going so far
 as to meet a glorious death with unsullied faith; whence they are now called
 martyrs.
 And these wretched men who were dragged off to cruel torture might have been
 protected by the aid of the Christians, were it not that all men without
 distinction burned with hatred for Georgius.

The emperor, on hearing of this abominable deed, was bent upon taking
 vengeance, but just as he was on the point of inflicting the extreme penalty
 upon the guilty parties, he was pacified by his intimates, who counselled
 leniency. Accordingly, he issued an edict expressing, in the strongest terms,
 his horror at the outrage that had been committed, and threatened extreme
 measures in case in the future anything was attempted contrary to justice and
 the laws.

Meanwhile, Julian was preparing a campaign
 against the Persians, which he had long before planned with lofty strength of
 mind, being exceedingly aroused to punish their misdeeds in the past, knowing
 and hearing as he did that this savage people for almost
 three score years had branded the Orient with the cruelest records of murder
 and pillage, and had often all but annihilated our armies.

He was inflamed besides with a twofold longing for
 war, first, because he was tired of inactivity and dreamed of clarions and
 battle; and then, exposed as he had been in the first flower of his youth to
 warfare with savage nations, while his ears were still warm with the prayers of kings and princes who (as it was
 believed) could more easily be vanquished than led to hold out their hands as
 suppliants, he burned to add to the tokens of his glorious victories the
 surname Parthicus.

But his idle and envious detractors,
 seeing these mighty and
 hasty preparations, cried out that it was shameful and ruinous that through the
 exchange of one man for another so many untimely disturbances should be set on foot; and
 they devoted all their efforts to putting off the campaign. And they repeatedly
 said, in the presence of those who they thought could repeat to the emperor
 what they had heard, that if he did not conduct himself with more moderation in
 his excessive prosperity and success, like plants that grow rank from too great
 fertility, he would soon find destruction in his own good fortune.

But though they kept up this agitation long and
 persistently, it was in vain that they barked around a man as unmoved by secret
 insults, as was Hercules by those of the Pygmies, or by those of the Lindian peasant Thiodamas.

But Julian, being a man of uncommonly high
 spirit, no less carefully considered the importance of his campaign, and used
 every effort to make corre- sponding preparations.

Nevertheless, he drenched the altars with the
 blood of an excessive number of victims, sometimes offering up a hundred oxen
 at once, with countless flocks of various other animals, and with white birds
 hunted out by land and sea; to such a degree that almost every
 day his soldiers, who gorged themselves on the abundance of meat, living
 boorishly and corrupted by their eagerness for drink, were carried through the
 squares to their lodgings on the shoulders of passers-by from the public
 temples, where they indulged in banquets 
 that deserved punishment rather than indulgence; especially the Petulantes
 and the Celts, whose wilfulness at that
 time had passed all bounds.

Moreover, the
 ceremonial rites were excessively increased, with an expenditure of money
 hitherto unusual and burdensome. And, as it was now allowed without hindrance,
 everyone who professed a knowledge of divination, alike the learned and the
 ignorant, without limit or prescribed rules, were permitted to question the
 oracles and the entrails, which sometimes disclose the future; and from the
 notes of birds, from their flight, and from omens, the truth was sought with
 studied variety, if anywhere it might be found.

While these things were thus going on, as if in time
 of peace, Julian devoted to many interests, entered upon a new way of
 consultation, and thought of opening the prophetic springs of the Castalian
 fount; this, it is said, Caesar Hadrian had blocked up with a huge
 mass of stones, for fear that (as he himself had learned from the prophetic
 waters that he was destined to
 become emperor), others also might get similar information. And Julian, after
 invoking the god, decided that the bodies which had been buried around the
 spring, 
 should be moved to another place, under the same ceremonial with which the
 Athenians had purified the island of Delos.

At that same time, on the twenty-second of
 October, the splendid temple of the Daphnaean Apollo, which that hot-tempered
 and cruel king Antiochus Epiphanes had built, and with it the statue of the god, a copy of that of the Olympian
 Zeus and
 of equal size, was reduced to ashes by a sudden fire.

The unexpected destruction of this shrine
 by so terrible an accident inflamed the emperor with such anger, that he
 ordered stricter investigations than usual to be made, and the greater church
 at Antioch to be closed. For he suspected that the Christians had done the
 deed, aroused by jealousy and unwillingness to see the temple enclosed by a
 magnificent colonnade.

It was said, however,
 though on very slight evidence, that the cause of the burning of the temple was
 this: the philosopher Asclepiades, whom I have mentioned in the history of
 Magnentius, when he had come to that suburb
 from abroad to visit Julian, placed before the lofty
 feet of the statue a little silver image of the Dea Caelestis, which he always carried
 with him wherever he went, and after lighting some wax tapers as usual, went
 away. From these tapers after midnight, when no one could be present to render
 aid, some flying sparks alighted on the woodwork, which was very old, and the
 fire, fed by the dry fuel, mounted and burned whatever it could reach, at
 however great a height it was.

In that year
 also, just as the winter season was at hand, there was such a fearful scarcity
 of water that some brooks dried up, as well as springs which had before over-
 flowed with plentiful jets of water; but later these were restored to their
 former condition.

Then, on the second of
 December, just before evening, the rest of Nicomedia was wholly destroyed by an earthquake, as well as a good part of
 Nicaea.

Although these disasters filled the prince
 with sorrow and anxiety, yet he did not neglect the urgent duties that remained
 to be done before the longed- for time of battle arrived. All the same, amid
 such weighty and serious affairs, it did seem superfluous, that with no
 satisfactory reason for such a measure, but merely from a desire for
 popularity, he wished to lower the price of commodities; although sometimes, when this matter is not properly regulated, it is
 wont to cause scarcity and famine.

And,
 although the senate at Antioch clearly pointed out that this could not be done
 at the time when he ordered it, he in no wise gave up his plan, since he
 resembled his brother Gallus, though without his cruelty. Therefore raging
 against them one by one as recalcitrant and stubborn, he composed an invective,
 which he entitled The Antiochian or Misopogon, 
 in which he enumerated in a hostile spirit the faults of the
 city, including more than were justified. After this, finding that he was the
 object of many jests, he was forced at the time to disregard them, but was
 filled with suppressed wrath.

For he was
 ridiculed as a Cercops, as a dwarf, spreading his narrow shoulders and displaying a
 billy-goat's beard, taking mighty strides as if he
 were the brother of Otus and Ephialtes, whose height Homer
 describes as enormous. He was also called by many a slaughterer instead of high-priest, in jesting allusion to his many
 offerings; and in fact he was fittingly criticised because for the sake of
 display he improperly took pleasure in carrying the sacred emblems in place of
 the priests, and in being attended by a company of women. But although he was
 indignant for these and similar reasons, he held his peace, kept control of his
 feelings, and continued to celebrate the festivals.

Finally, on a previously appointed festal
 day, he ascended Mount Casius, a wooded
 hill rising on high with a rounded contour, from which at the second cock-crow
 the sun is first seen to rise And as he was offering sacrifice
 to Jove, he suddenly caught sight of a man lying flat upon the ground, and in
 suppliant words begging for life and pardon. And when Julian asked who he was,
 the man answered that he was the ex-governor Theodotus of Hierapolis; that when
 in company with other dignitaries he was escorting Constantius as he set out
 from his city, he shamefully flattered him, in the belief that he would
 unquestionably be victorious, begging him with feigned tears and wailing to
 send them the head of Julian, that ungrateful rebel, just as he remembered that
 the head of Magnentius had been paraded about.

Upon hearing this, the emperor answered: I heard of this speech of
 yours long ago from the mouths of many; but go to your home carefree,
 relieved of all fear by the mercy of your prince, who (as
 the philosopher advised) of his own accord and willingly strives to diminish the
 number of his enemies and increase that of his friends.

When he left there after completing the
 sacred rites, a letter was presented to him from the governor of Egypt,
 reporting that after laborious search for a new Apis bull, they had finally,
 after a time, been able to find one, which (in the belief of the people of that
 region) is an indication of prosperity, fruitful crops, and various
 blessings.

About this matter it will be in place to give
 a brief explanation. Among the animals consecrated by ancient religious
 observance, the better known are Mnevis and Apis. Mnevis is consecrated to the Sun,
 but about him there is nothing noteworthy to be said; Apis to the moon.
 Apis, then, is a bull
 distinguished by natural marks of various forms, and most of all conspicuous for the image of a crescent moon
 on his right side. When this bull, after its destined span of life,
 is plunged in the sacred fount and dies (for it is
 not lawful for him to prolong his life beyond the time prescribed by the secret
 authority of the mystic books), there is slain with the same ceremony a cow,
 which has been found with special marks and presented to him. After his death
 another Apis is sought amid public mourning; and if it has
 been possible to find one, complete with all its marks, it is taken to Memphis,
 famed for the frequent presence of the god Aesculapius.

And when he has been led into the city by a hundred
 priests and conducted to his chamber, he begins to be an object of worship; and
 it is said that by manifest signs he gives indications of coming events; and
 some of those who approach him he evidently rejects by unfavourable signs, as
 once (so we read) he turned away from Caesar Germanicus when he offered him
 food, and thus prophesied what soon after came to pass.

Accordingly, since the occasion seems to
 demand it, let us touch briefly on matters Egyptian, of which I discoursed at
 length in connection with the history of the emperors Hadrian and Severus,
 telling for the most part what I myself had
 seen.

The Egyptian nation is the most ancient
 of all, except that in antiquity it vies with the Scythians. It is bounded on the south by the Greater Syrtes, the
 promontories Phycus and Borion, by the Garamantes and various other nations. Where it looks directly east it
 extends to Elephantine and Meroë, cities of the Aethiopians, to the Catadupi
 and the Red Sea, and to the
 Scenitic Arabs, whom we now call the Sercacens. On the north it forms part of the boundless tract from
 which Asia and the provinces of Syria take their beginning. On the west its
 boundary is the Issiac Sea, which some have called the Parthenian.

Now it will be in place to touch briefly on
 the most helpful of all rivers, the Nile, which Homer calls the Aegyptus,
 and then to describe other remarkable things to be found in
 those lands.

The origin of the sources of the
 Nile (so at least I am wont to think) will be unknown also to future ages, as
 it has been up to the present. But, since the poets' tales and dissenting
 geographers give varying accounts of this unknown subject, I shall succinctly
 set forth such of their views as in my opinion approach the truth.

Some natural philosophers affirm that in the tracts
 lying beneath the north, when the cold winters freeze everything, great masses
 of snow are congealed; that afterwards when these are melted by the heat of the
 blazing sun, they form clouds filled with flowing moisture, which are then
 driven towards the south by the Etesian winds, and when melted by the excessive warmth, are believed to
 cause the rich overflow of the Nile.

Others
 assert that it is by the Aethiopian rains, which are said to fall in abundance
 in those regions in the season of torrid heat, that its floods are raised at
 the appointed season of the year; but both these reasons seem to be out of harmony with the truth. For it is reported that in
 the land of the Aethiopians rains fall either not at all or at long intervals
 of time.

Another, more widespread opinion is,
 that when the Prodromoi blow and after them the
 Etesians for forty-five consecutive days, since they drive back the course of
 the river and check its speed, it swells with overflowing waves; and while the
 contrary wind blows against it, it increases more and more, since on the one
 side the force of the wind hurls it back and on the other the flow of its
 perennial springs forces it onward; and rising high it covers everything, and
 hiding the ground, over the low-lying plains it has the appearance of a sea.

But King Juba, relying
 upon the testimony of Punic books, thinks that the Nile rises in a mountain
 situated in Mauritania and looking down upon the ocean, and he says that this
 is proved by the fact that in those marshes are found fishes, plants, and animals like those of the Nile.

But the river, flowing through the regions
 of Aethiopia, and going under various names, which many nations have given it
 in its course over the earth, swelling with its rich flood, comes to the
 cataracts, which are steep rocks, from which it plunges headlong rather than
 flows; for which reason the Ati, who formerly lived nearby, since their hearing
 was impaired by the continual roar, were forced to change their abode to a
 quieter spot.

Flowing more gently from
 there, through seven mouths, each of which has the
 appearance of an uninterrupted river, and is equally usable, it empties into
 the sea without being increased by any tributaries in Egypt. And besides many
 streams which flow from the main channel and fall into others nearly as great,
 seven are full of surges and navigable, and to them the ancients gave the
 following names: the Heracleotic, Sebennytic, Bolbitic, Pathmitic, Mendesian,
 Tanitic, and Pelusiac.

Rising, then, in the quarter which has been
 mentioned, it passes from the marshes as far as the cataracts and
 forms many islands, some of which (it is said) extend over such wide-spread
 spaces that the stream hardly leaves each of them behind on the third day.

Of these two are famous, namely Meroë and
 Delta, the latter clearly so-called from the form of the triangular letter.
 
 But when the sun has begun to ride through the sign of the Crab, the river
 increases until it passes into the Balance ; then, flowing at high water
 for a hundred days, the river becomes smaller, and as the weight of its waters
 decreases, it shows the plains that before were navigable for boats now
 suitable for riders on horseback.

However,
 too great a rise of the Nile is as harmful to the crops as too small a one is
 unfruitful. For if it soaks the land for too long a time with an excess of
 water, it delays the cultivation of the fields; but if the rise is too small,
 it threatens a bad harvest. No landowner has ever wished for a higher rise than
 sixteen cubits. But if there is a more moderate rise, seeds sown on a place where the soil is very rich sometimes return an
 increase of nearly seventy-fold. And it is the only river that does not raise a
 breeze.

Egypt abounds also in many animals, some of
 which are terrestrial, some aquatic; and there are others which live both on
 land and in the water, and hence are called amphibious. And on the dry plains
 roebucks feed and antelopes and spinturnicia, 
 laughable for their utter ugliness, and other
 monsters, which it is not worth while to enumerate.

Now among aquatic animals crocodiles abound
 everywhere in that region, a destructive four-footed monster, a curse to the
 land, accustomed to both elements. It has no tongue, and moves only its upper
 jaw; its teeth are arranged like those of a comb, and whatever it meets it
 persistently attacks with destructive bites. It produces its young from eggs
 resembling those of geese.

And, if besides
 the claws with which it is armed it also had thumbs, its strength would be
 great enough to overturn even ships; for it sometimes attains a length of
 eighteen cubits. At night it remains quiet in the water; in the daytime it suns
 itself on land, trusting to its hide, which is so strong that its mail-clad
 back can hardly be pierced by the bolts of artillery.

Now, savage as these same beasts always are, during the seven
 festal days on which the priests at Memphis celebrate the birthday of the Nile,
 as if by a kind of military truce they lay aside all their 
 fierceness and become mild.

Besides those
 that lose their lives through accident, some are destroyed by creatures
 resembling dolphins, which are found in that same river and with sawlike dorsal
 fins tear the crocodiles' soft bellies; and others die in the following manner.

The trochilus, a little bird, as it looks
 for bits of food, flutters and plays about the crocodile as it lies
 outstretched, and pleasantly tickling its cheeks, makes its way as far as its
 throat. Seeing this going on, a water rat, a kind of ichneumon, enters the
 opening of the crocodile's mouth, to which the bird has shown the way, and
 after lacerating its belly and tearing its vitals to pieces, forces its way
 out.

Yet daring as this monster is towards those
 who run from it, when it sees that it has a daring opponent it is most
 timorous. It has sharper sight when on land, and during the four winter months
 it is said to take no food.

Hippopotami also, or river-horses, are produced in those parts, animals sagacious beyond all
 unreasoning beasts, with cloven hooves like horses and short tails. Of their
 cunning it will suffice for the present to give two instances.

This monster makes its lair amid a thick growth of
 high and rough reeds and with watchful care looks about for a time of quiet;
 when free means are offered, it goes forth to feed upon the cornfields. And
 when it has finally begun to return, gorged with food, it
 walks backward and makes several paths, for fear that hunters, following the
 lines of one direct course, may find and stab it without difficulty.

Also, when by excessive greed it has made its belly
 bulge and grown sluggish, it rolls its thighs and legs on freshly cut reeds, in
 order that the blood flowing from its wounded feet may relieve its repletion;
 and it keeps the injured parts covered with mud until the raw places scab over.

This monstrous and once rare kind of
 beast the Roman people first saw when Scaurus was aedile, the father of that
 Scaurus in whose defence Cicero spoke and
 bade the Sardinians also to conform with the authority of the whole world in
 their judgement of so noble a family; and for many ages after that more
 hippopotami were often brought to Rome. But now they can nowhere be found,
 since, as the inhabitants of those regions conjecture, they were forced from
 weariness of the multitude that hunted them to take refuge in the land of the
 Blemmyae.

Among Egyptian birds, the variety of which
 is countless, the ibis is sacred, harmless, and beloved for the reason that by
 carrying the eggs of serpents to its nestlings for food it destroys and makes
 fewer those destructive pests.

These same birds meet the winged armies of
 snakes which issue from the marshes of Arabia, producing deadly poisons, and
 before they leave their own lands vanquish them in battles
 in the air, and devour them. And it is said of those birds that they lay their
 eggs through their beaks.

Egypt also breeds innumerable serpents,
 surpassing all their destructive kind in fierceness: basilisks, amphisbaenae,
 scytalae, acontiae, dipsades, vipers, and many others, all of which are easily surpassed in size and beauty by
 the asp, which never of its own accord leaves the bed of the Nile.

Many and great things there are in that land
 which it is worth while to see; of these it will be in place to describe a few.
 Everywhere temples of vast size have been erected. The Pyramids have been
 enrolled among the seven wonders of the world, and of their slow and difficult
 construction the historian Herodotus tells us. These are
 towers higher than any others which can be erected by human hands, extremely
 broad at the base and tapering to very pointed summits.

The figure pyramid has that name among geometers
 because it narrows into a cone after the manner of fire, which in our language
 is called πῦρ; for their size, as they mount to
 a vast height, gradually becomes slenderer, and also they
 cast no shadows at all, in accordance with a principle of mechanics.

There are also subterranean fissures and
 winding passages called syringes, which,
 it is said, those acquainted with the ancient rites, since they had
 fore-knowledge that a deluge was coming, and feared that the memory of the
 ceremonies might be destroyed, dug in the earth in many places with great
 labour; and on the walls of these caverns they carved many kinds of birds and
 beasts, and those countless forms of animals which they called hierographic
 writing.

Then comes Syene, where at the solstice, to which the sun extends its summer
 course, its rays surround all upright bodies and do not allow their shadows to
 extend beyond the bodies themselves. At that time if one
 fixes a stake upright in the earth, or looks at a man or a tree standing
 anywhere, he will observe that the shadows are lost in the outer circumference
 of the figures. The same thing is said to happen at Meroë, a part of Aethiopia
 lying next to the equinoctial circle, where for ninety days the shadows fall on
 the side opposite to ours, for which reason those who dwell there are called
 Antiscii.

But since there are many such wonders, which
 extend beyond the plan of my little work, let me refer them
 to lofty minds, since I wish to tell a few things about the provinces.

In early times Egypt is said to have had
 three provinces: Egypt proper, Thebais, and Libya. To these later times have
 added two: Augustamnica being taken from Egypt, and Pentapolis from the dryer
 part of Libya.

Now Thebais has these among cities that are
 especially famous: Hermopolis, Coptos and Antinoü, which Hadrian
 founded in honour of his favourite Antinoiis; for hundred-gated
 Thebes everyone knows.

In Augustamnica is the famous city of
 Pelusium, which Peleus, the father of Achilles, is said to have founded, being
 bidden by order of the gods to purify himself in the lake which washes the
 walls of that city, when after the murder of his brother, Phocus by name, he
 was hounded by the dread forms of the furies; also Cassium, where is the tomb of Pompey
 the Great, and Ostracine, and Rhinocorura.

In Pentapolis-Libya is Cyrene, an ancient
 city, but deserted, founded by the Spartan Battus, and Ptolemais, and Arsinoe, also called Teuchira, and Darnis and Berenice, which two they call Hesperidae

But in dry Libya are Paraetonion,
 Chaerecla, Neapolis, and a few small towns.

Egypt itself, which from the time when it was
 joined with the Roman empire has been governed by prefects in place of kings,
 is adorned by the great cities of Athribis, Oxyrynchus, Thumis, and
 Memphis, to say nothing of many lesser towns.

But the crown of all cities is Alexandria,
 which is made famous by many splendid things, through the wisdom of its mighty
 founder and by the cleverness of the architect Dinocrates. The latter, when
 laying out its extensive and beautiful walls, for lack of lime, of which too
 little could at the time be found, sprinkled the whole line of its circuit with
 flour, which chanced to be a sign that later the
 city would abound with a plentiful store of food.

There healthful breezes blow, the air is calm and mild, and as the
 accumulated experience of many ages has shown, there is almost no day on which
 the dwellers in that city do not see a cloudless sun.

Since this coast in former times, because of its treacherous and
 perilous approaches, involved seafarers in many dangers, Cleopatra devised a lofty tower in the harbour, which from its
 situation is called the Pharos and furnishes the means of showing lights to
 ships by night; whereas before that, as they came from the Parthenian or the
 Libyan sea past flat and low shores, seeing no landmarks of mountains or signs
 of hills, they were dashed upon the soft, tenacious sandbanks and wrecked.

This same queen built the Heptastadium,
 remarkable alike for its great size and for the incredible
 speed with which it was constructed, for a well-known and sufficient reason.
 The island of Pharos, where Proteus, as Homer relates in lofty language, lived with his herd of
 seals, lay a mile from the shore of the city, and was subject to tribute by the
 Rhodians.

When they had come one day to
 collect this tax, which was excessive, the queen, who was ever skilled in
 deception, under pretence of a solemn festival, took the same tax-collectors
 with her to the suburbs, and gave orders that the work should be completed by
 unremitting toil. In seven days, by building dams in the sea near the shore,
 the same number of stadia were won for the land; then the queen rode to the
 spot in a carriage drawn by horses, and laughed at the Rhodians, since it was
 on islands and not on the mainland that they imposed a duty.

There are besides in the city temples
 pompous with lofty roofs, conspicuous among them the 
 Serapeum, which, though feeble words merely belittle it, yet is so adorned with
 extensive columned halls, with almost breathing statues, and a great number of
 other works of art, that next to the Capitolium, with which revered Rome
 elevates herself to eternity, the whole world beholds nothing more magnificent.

In this were invaluable libraries, and
 the unanimous testimony of ancient records declares that 700,000 books, brought
 together by the unremitting energy of the Ptolemaic kings, were burned in the
 Alexandrine war, when the city was sacked under the dictator Caesar.

At a distance of twelve miles from
 Alexandria is Canopus, which, according to the statements of ancient writers,
 got its name from the burial there of Menelaiis' steersman. The place is most
 delightful because of its beautiful pleasure-resorts, its soft air and
 healthful climate, so that anyone staying in that region believes that he is
 living outside of this world, as oftentimes he rears the winds that murmur a
 welcome with sunny breath.

But Alexandria herself, not gradually (like
 other cities), but at her very origin, attained her wide extent; and for a long
 time she was greviously troubled by internal dissensions, until at last, many
 years later under the rule of Aurelian, the quarrels
 of the citizens turned into deadly strife; then her by Caesar has been greatly
 exaggerated. Strabo, who visited Alexandria twenty-three years later, found the
 Museum intact. The Bruchion library was destroyed A.D. 272; the Serapeum in
 A.D. 391. 400,000 volumes were destroyed in the Alexandrine war. See especially
 J. W. White, The Scholia on the Aves of Aristophanes, 
 Introd. walls were destroyed and she lost the greater part
 of the district called Bruchion, which had long been the
 abode of distinguished men.

From there came
 Aristarchus, eminent in thorny problems of
 grammatical lore, and Herodian, a most accurate
 investigator in science and Saccas Ammonius, the teacher of Plotinus, and
 numerous other writers in many famous branches of literature. Among these
 Didymus Chalcenterus was conspicuous for the abundance of his diversified
 knowledge, although in those six books in which he sometimes unsuccessfully
 criticises Cicero, imitating the scurrilous writers of Silli, he makes the same impression on
 learned ears as a puppy-dog barking from a distance with quavering voice around
 a lion roaring awfully.

And although very
 many writers flourished in early times as well as these whom I have mentioned,
 nevertheless not even to-day is learning of various kinds silent in that same
 city; for the teachers of the arts show signs of life, and the geometrical
 measuring-rod brings to light whatever is concealed, the stream of music is not
 yet wholly dried up among them, harmony is not reduced to silence, the
 consideration of the motion of the universe and of the stars is still kept warm
 with some, few though they be, and there are others who are skilled in numbers;
 and a few besides are versed in the knowledge which reveals the course of the fates.

Moreover,
 studies in the art of healing, whose help is often required in this life of
 ours, which is neither frugal nor sober, are so enriched from day to day, that
 although a physician's work itself indicates it, yet in place of every
 testimony it is enough to commend his knowledge of the art, if he has said that
 he was trained at Alexandria.

But enough on
 this point. If one wishes to investigate with attentive mind the many
 publications on the knowledge of the divine, and the origin of divination, he
 will find that learning of this kind has been spread abroad from Egypt through
 the whole world,

There, for the first time,
 long before other men, they discovered the cradles, so to speak, of the various
 religions, and now carefully guard the first beginnings of worship, stored up
 in secret writings.

Trained in this wisdom,
 Pythagoras, secretly honouring the gods, made whatever he said or believed
 recognised authority, and often showed his golden thigh at Olympia,
 and let himself be seen from time to time talking
 with an eagle.

From here Anaxagoras foretold
 a rain of stones, and by handling mud from a well predicted an earthquake.
 Solon, too, aided by the opinions of the Egyptian priests, passed laws in
 accordance with the measure of justice, and thus gave also to Roman law its
 greatest support. On this source, Plato
 drew and after visiting Egypt, traversed higher regions,
 and rivalled Jupiter in lofty language, gloriously
 serving in the field of wisdom.

Now the men of Egypt are, as a rule,
 somewhat swarthy and dark of complexion, and rather gloomy-looking, slender and hardy, excitable in all their movements, quarrelsome, and
 most persistent duns. Any one of them would blush if he did not, in consequence
 of refusing tribute, show many stripes on his body; and as yet it has been
 possible to find no torture cruel enough to compel a hardened robber of that
 region against his will to reveal his own name.

Moreover, it is a well-known fact, as the
 ancient annals show, that all Egypt was formerly ruled by their ancestral
 kings; but after Antony and Cleopatra were vanquished in the sea-fight at
 Actium, the country fell into the power of Octavianus Augustus and received the
 name of a province. We acquired
 the dryer part of Libya by the last will of King Apion; we received Cyrene,
 with the remaining cities of Libya-Pentapolis, through the generosity of
 Ptolemy. After this long
 digression, I shall return to the order of my narrative.

These were the events of that year, to pass
 over minor details. But Julian, who had already been consul three times,
 assumed the chief magistracy for the fourth time, taking as his colleague in
 the office Sallustius, prefect of Gaul. And for a private
 citizen to be associated with the reigning emperor seemed an innovation which
 no one recalled to have been made since Diocletian and Aristobulus.

And although he weighed every possible
 variety of events with anxious thought, and pushed on with burning zeal the
 many preparations for his campaign, yet turning his activity to every part, and
 eager to extend the memory of his reign by great works, he planned at vast cost
 to restore the once splendid temple at Jerusalem, which after many mortal
 combats during the siege by Vespasian and later by Titus, had barely been
 stormed. He had entrusted the speedy performance of this work to Alypius of
 Antioch, who had once been vice-prefect of Britain.

But, though this Alypius pushed the work on with vigour, aided by
 the governor of the province, terrifying balls of flame kept bursting forth
 near the foundations of the temple, and made the place inaccessible to the
 workmen, some of whom were burned to death; and since in this way the element
 persistently repelled them, the enterprise halted.

At that same time envoys were sent to him
 from the eternal city, men illustrious by birth and approved by the services of
 a commendable life, on whom the emperor conferred various honours. Apronianus
 he appointed prefect of Rome, and Octavianus 
 proconsular governor of Africa; to Venustus he entrusted the vice-governorship
 of Spain, Rufinus Aradius he raised to the rank of Count of the Orient in room
 of his uncle Julian, who had recently died.

When these matters had been arranged as planned, he was alarmed by an omen
 which, as the result showed, was most trustworthy. For when Felix, head of the
 public treasury, had suddenly died of a haemorrhage, and Count Julian had
 followed him to the grave, the people as they looked at the public
 inscriptions, uttered the names as Felix, Julianus and Augustus.

Another unlucky thing had happened before
 this; for just on the Kalends of January, as the emperor was mounting the steps
 of the temple of the Genius, one of the college of priests
 who was older than the rest suddenly, without being pushed, fell and died of
 the unlooked-for accident. The bystanders—whether through ignorance or desire
 to flatter is uncertain— said that this surely pointed to Sallustius, the elder
 of the two consuls; but (as was evident) it showed that death was approaching,
 not the man of greater age, but the higher in rank.

Besides these, other lesser signs also indicated from time to time
 what came to pass. For amid the very beginning of the 
 preparations for the Parthian campaign word came that Constantinople had been
 shaken by an earthquake, which those skilled in such matters said was not a
 favourable omen for a ruler who was planning to invade another's territory. And
 so they tried to dissuade Julian from the untimely enterprise, declaring that
 these and similar signs ought to be disregarded only in the case of attack by
 an enemy, when the one fixed rule is, to defend the safety of the State by
 every possible means and with unremitting effort. Just at that time it was
 reported to him by letter, that at Rome the Sibylline books had been consulted
 about this war, as he had ordered, and had given the definite reply that the
 emperor must not that year leave his frontiers.

Meanwhile, however, embassies from many
 nations which promised aid were cordially received and sent back; for the
 emperor with laudable confidence replied, that it was by no means fitting for
 the Roman State to defend itself by means of foreign aid, since its duty was
 rather by its power to protect its friends and allies, if necessity forced them
 to apply for help.

Arsaces only, the king of
 Armenia, did he order to muster a strong army and
 await his orders, since he would shortly learn to what place he was to march
 and what he ought to push forward. Thereupon, as soon as regard for prudence offered the opportunity, he hastened to invade the
 enemy's country, outstripping the report of his coming; and spring had barely
 arrived, when he ordered all to cross the Euphrates, sending marching orders
 to every division of his army.

As soon as this was known, all hastened from their
 winter quarters, and having crossed as their written orders directed, they
 dispersed to their several posts and awaited the coming of the emperor. He
 himself, when on the point of leaving Antioch, appointed as governor of Syria a
 certain Alexander of Heliopolis, who was hot-tempered and cruel; and he said
 that the man did not deserve the post, but was the kind of judge proper for the
 avaricious and rebellious people of Antioch.

And when a crowd of all conditions of men escorted him as he was leaving the
 city, wishing him a successful march and a glorious return, and begging that in
 the future he might be more placable and mild, since the anger which their
 attacks and insults had aroused was not yet assuaged, he replied harshly,
 saying that they would never see him again.

For he said that he had arranged when the campaign was finished to return by a
 shorter route to Tarsus in Cilicia for the purpose of wintering, and that he
 had written to Memorius, the governor of that city, to prepare everything that
 was necessary for his use. And this not long afterwards came to pass; for his
 body was brought back there, and he was buried in a suburb of the city with
 simple rites, as he himself had directed.

And when the season was now sunny, he set out
 on the fifth of March, and came by the usual route to Hierapolis. There, as he was entering the gates of
 the great city, a colonnade on his left suddenly collapsed and crushed with a
 great weight of timbers and tiles fifty soldiers who were encamped under it,
 besides wounding many more.

Then, uniting all
 his forces, he marched to Mesopotamia so rapidly that, since no report of his
 coming had preceded him (for he had carefully guarded against that), he came
 upon the Assyrians unawares. Finally, having crossed the Euphrates on a bridge
 of boats, he arrived with his army and his Scythian auxiliaries at Batnae,
 a town of Osdroëne, where he met with a sad
 portent.

For when a great throng of ostlers,
 in order to get fodder as usual, had taken their place near a very high stack
 of chaff (such as are commonly constructed in that country), since many at once
 laid hold on what they wanted, the heap was broken and gave way, and fifty men
 at once met death by being buried under the huge mass that fell upon them.

Departing from there in sorrow, by a forced
 march he came to Carrae, an ancient town, notorious for the disaster of the
 Crassi and the Roman army. From there two
 different royal highways lead to Persia: the one on the left through Adiabene
 and over the Tigris; the other, on the right, through 
 Assyria and across the Euphrates.

Having
 delayed there several days for necessary preparations, and to offer sacrifices
 according to the native rites to the Moon, which is religiously venerated in
 that region, before the altar, with no witness present, Julian is said secretly
 to have handed his purple mantle to his relative Procopius, and to have ordered
 him boldly to assume the rule, if he learned that the emperor had died among
 the Parthians.

Here, as Julian slept, his
 mind was disturbed by dreams, which made him think that some sorrow would come
 to him. Therefore, both he himself and the interpreters of dreams, considering
 the present conditions, declared that the following day, which was the
 nineteenth of March, ought to be carefully watched. But, as was afterwards
 learned, it was on that same night that the temple of the Palatine Apollo,
 under the prefecture of Apronianus, was burned in the eternal city; and if it
 had not been for the employment of every possible help, the Cumaean books
 also would have been destroyed by the raging flames.

After these matters were thus arranged, just
 as Julian was busy with the army and in getting supplies of every kind, it was
 reported to him by scouts who arrived in breathless haste, that some bands of
 the enemy's horsemen had suddenly broken through a part of the neighbouring
 frontier and carried off booty.

Startled by
 this cruel disaster, Julian (as he had previously planned) instantly put 30,000
 picked men under the command of the aforesaid Procopius, and
 joined to him with equal powers Sebastianus, formerly a military commander in
 Egypt, and now a count, with orders to keep for the present on this side of the
 Tigris and to watch carefully everywhere and see that nothing unexpected should
 happen on the unprotected side, such as he had heard had often occurred. And he
 gave the order that (if it could be done to greater advantage) they should join
 King Arsaces, march with him through Corduene and Moxoëne, lay waste in passing
 by Chiliocomum, a fruitful region of Media, and other places, and meet him while he was still in
 Assyria, so as to aid him in cases of necessity.

After these arrangements had thus been made,
 he himself feigned a march across the Tigris, an expedition for which he had
 also ordered supplies to be carefully prepared, but then turned to the right
 and, after passing a quiet night, called next morning for the mount which he
 usually rode. And when the horse, called Babylonius, was brought to him, it was
 laid low by a missile from the artillery, and as it rolled on the ground in
 unbearable pain, it scattered about its ornaments, which were adorned with gold
 and precious stones. Delighted by this omen, Julian cried out amid expressions
 of joy from the bystanders, that Babylon had fallen to the ground, stripped of
 all its adornments.

Then delaying for a time,
 in order to confirm the omen by favourable signs from victims, he came to the
 fortified camp of Davana at the source of the river Belias, a tributary of the
 Euphrates. Here we rested and took food, and on the following day arrived at
 Callinicum, a strong fortress, and most welcome because of its rich trade. There, on the twenty-seventh of March, the day on which at Rome
 the annual procession in honour of the Mother of the Gods takes place, and the
 carriage in which her image is carried is washed, as it is said, in the waters
 of the Almo, he celebrated the usual rites in the ancient fashion and spent the
 night in peaceful sleep, happy and full of confidence.

The next day he marched on from there along the brow
 of the river-banks, since the waters were rising from streams flowing in on all
 sides, and kept on with his armed force until he came to an outpost, where he
 encamped. There the princes of the Saracen nations as suppliants on bended
 knees presented him with a golden crown and did obeisance to him as lord of the
 world and of its peoples; and they were gladly received, since they were
 adapted for guerilla warfare.

And while he
 was giving them audience his fleet arrived, equal to that of the mighty king
 Xerxes, under the command of the tribune Constantianus and Count Lucillianus;
 and the broad Euphrates was almost too narrow for it, consisting as it did of a
 thousand cargo-carriers of varied construction, and bringing an abundance of
 supplies, weapons, and also siege-engines; there were besides fifty warships
 and an equal number which were needed for making bridges.

What I have just said suggests that I should,
 as briefly as my modest ability permits, give a concise
 description of engines of this kind, for the benefit of those who are
 unacquainted with them; and I shall first explain the form of the ballista.

Between two posts along, strong iron baris
 fastened, and projects like a great ruler; from its smooth, rounded surface,
 which in the middle is highly polished, a squared staff extends to a
 considerable distance, hollowed out along its length with a narrow groove, and
 bound there with a great number of twisted cords. To this two wooden rollers
 are very firmly attached, and near one of them stands the gunner who aims the
 shot. He carefully places in the groove of the projecting iron bar a wooden
 arrow, tipped with a great iron point. When this is done, strong young men on
 both sides quickly turn the rollers and the cords.

When its point has reached the outermost ropes, the arrow, driven by
 the power within, flies from the ballista out of sight, sometimes emitting sparks because of the excessive heat.
 And it often happens that before the weapon is seen, the pain of a mortal wound
 makes it felt.

The scorpion, which is now-a-days called the
 wild ass, has the following form. Two posts of oak or holm-oak are hewn out and
 slightly bent, so that they seem to stand forth like humps. These are fastened
 together like a sawing-machine and bored through on both sides with fairly
 large holes. Between them, through the holes, strong ropes are bound, holding
 the machine together, so that it may not fly apart.

From the middle of these ropes a wooden arm rises obliquely, pointed
 upward like the pole of a chariot, and is twined around with cords in
 such a way that it can be raised higher or depressed. To the top of this arm,
 iron hooks are fastened, from which hangs a sling of hemp or iron. In front of
 the arm is placed a great cushion of hair-cloth stuffed with fine chaff, bound
 on with strong cords, and placed on a heap of turf or a pile of sundried
 bricks; for a heavy machine of this kind, if placed upon a stone wall, shatters
 everything beneath it by its violent concussion, rather than by its weight.

Then, when there is a battle, a round
 stone is placed in the sling and four young men on each side turn back the bar
 with which the ropes are connected and bend the pole almost flat. Then finally
 the gunner, standing above, strikes out the pole-bolt, which holds the
 fastenings of the whole work, with a strong hammer, thereupon the pole is set
 free, and flying forward with a swift stroke, and meeting the soft hair-cloth,
 hurls the stone, which will crush whatever it hits.

And the machine is called tormentum as all
 the released tension is caused by twisting ( torquetur );
 and scorpion, because it has an upraised sting; modern times have given it the
 new name onager, because when wild asses are pursued by
 hunters, by kicking they hurl back stones to a distance, either crushing the
 breasts of their pursuers, or breaking the bones of their skulls and shattering
 them.

Now we shall come to the ram. A tall fir or
 mountain ash is selected, to the end of which is fastened a long, hard iron;
 this has the appearance of a projecting ram's head, and it is this shape which
 has given the machine its name. This is suspended between
 ironbound beams running across on both sides, so that it hangs from a third
 beam like the pan of a balance. Then a number of men, as great as the length of
 the pole permits, draw it back and then shove it forward again with powerful
 blows, just as a ram charges and retreats, to break everything in its way. As
 this is renewed with the force of a repeated stroke of lightning, buildings are
 cracked and shattered as the structure of their walls is destroyed.

If this kind of engine is worked with full vigour,
 the strongest cities, after their walls have been stripped of defenders, are
 laid open, and the siege is thus brought to an end.

In place of these devices of rams, which,
 because they are now so frequent, are in less esteem, a machine is made, well
 known to the historians, which we Greeks call helepolis. It was through the constant
 employment of this engine that Demetrius, the son of King Antigonus, after
 taking Rhodes and other cities gained the name of Poliorcetes.

It is built in the following manner: a huge
 mantlet is constructed of strong planks of great
 length fastened together with iron nails, and covered with ox-hides and hurdles
 of green twigs; and over these is spread mud, in order to protect it from fire
 and falling missiles.

On its front side are
 set very sharp, three-pronged spear-points,
 of the form which our painters and sculptors give to
 thunderbolts, made heavy with iron weights, so that whatever it attacks it
 shatters with the projecting points.

This
 powerful mass is guided by numerous soldiers within by means of wheels and
 ropes, and by their united efforts is brought up to the weaker part of the
 walls; and unless the strength of the defenders above is too great, it shatters
 the walls and opens great breaches.

But fire-darts (a kind of missile) are made
 in this form: the shaft is of reed, and between this and the point is a
 covering of bands of iron; it looks like a woman's distaff for making linen
 threads. It is skilfully hollowed out on the lower side with many openings, and
 in the cavity fire and some inflammable matter are placed.

And if it is shot slowly from a somewhat loose bow
 (for it is extinguished by too swift a flight) and has stuck anywhere, it burns
 persistently, and water poured upon it rouses the fire to still greater heat;
 and there is no way of extinguishing it except by sprinkling it with dust. So
 much for mural engines, of which I have described only a few. Now let us return
 to the course of our narrative.

After having received the auxiliaries of the
 Saracens, which they offered him with great willingness, the emperor marched at
 quick step to Cercusium, a very safe and skilfully built fortress, whose walls are washed by the Abora and Euphrates rivers,
 which form a kind of island, and entered it at the beginning of the month of
 April.

This place, which was formerly small
 and exposed to danger, Diocletian, alarmed by a recent experience,
 encircled with walls and lofty towers, at the
 time when he was arranging the inner lines of defence on the very frontiers of
 the barbarians, in order to prevent the Persians from overrunning Syria, as had
 happened a few years before with great damage to the provinces.

For once upon a time at Antioch, amid deep silence,
 an actor of mimes, who with his wife had been presented in stage-plays,
 was presenting some scenes from everyday life. And while all the people were
 amazed at the charm of the performance, the wife suddenly cried: Is it a
 dream, or are the Persians here? Whereupon all the people turned
 their heads about and then fled in all directions, to avoid the arrows that
 were showered upon them from the citadel. Thus the city was set on fire, and
 many people who were carelessly wandering about, as in time of peace, were
 butchered; neighbouring places were burned and devastated, and the enemy, laden
 with plunder, returned home without the loss of a single man. Mareades, who had
 inconsiderately brought the Persians there to the destruction of his own
 people, was burned alive. This took place in the time of Gallienus.

But while Julian was lingering at Cercusium,
 to the end that his army with all its followers might cross the Abora on a
 bridge of boats, he received a sorrowful letter from Sallustius, prefect of
 Gaul, begging that the campaign against the Parthians might
 be put off, and that Julian should not thus prematurely, without having yet
 prayed for the protection of the gods, expose himself to inevitable
 destruction.

But the emperor, disregarding
 his cautious counsellor, pushed confidently on, since no human power or virtue
 has ever been great enough to turn aside what the decrees of fate had ordained.
 Immediately upon crossing the bridge he ordered it to be destroyed, so that no
 soldier in his own army might entertain hope of a return.

Here also, with like fatality, an unfavourable omen
 appeared: the outstretched corpse of a certain attendant slain by the hand of
 an executioner, whom the resident prefect 
 Salutius had condemned to death because, after promising to supply additional
 provisions within a designated time, he had been prevented by an accident from
 keeping his word. But on the day after the wretched man had been executed
 another fleet arrived, as he had promised, bringing an abundance of
 supplies.

Setting out from there we came to a place
 called Zaitha, which means Olive tree. Here we saw, conspicuous
 from afar, the tomb of the Emperor Gordianus, of whose deeds from early
 childhood, his successful campaigns, and his treacherous murder we have spoken
 at the appropriate time.

When Julian had there, in accordance with his
 native piety, made offerings to the deified emperor, and was on his way to Dura
 (a deserted town), he saw a troop of soldiers in the distance and halted. And
 while he was in doubt what they were bringing, they presented him with a lion
 of huge size, which had attacked their line and had been
 slain by a shower of arrows. Elated by this omen, as if he now had surer hope
 of a successful outcome, the emperor pushed on with proud confidence, but since
 the breeze of fortune is uncertain, the result turned out otherwise; for the
 death of a king was foretold, but of which king was uncertain.

And, in fact, we read of other ambiguous oracles, the
 meaning of which only the final results determined: as, for example, the truth
 of the Delphic prediction which declared that Croesus, after crossing the river
 Halys, would overthrow a mighty kingdom; and another which in veiled language designated the sea as the place
 for the Athenians to fight against the Medes; and a later one than these,
 which was in fact true, but none the less ambiguous:
 Aeacus' son, I say, the Roman people can conquer.

However, the Etruscan soothsayers, who
 accompanied the other adepts in interpreting prodigies, since they were not
 believed when they often tried to prevent this campaign, now brought out their
 books on war, and showed that this sign was adverse and prohibitory to a prince
 invading another's territory, even though he was in the right.

But they were spurned by the opposition of the
 philosophers, whose authority was then highly valued, but who were sometimes in
 error and very persistent in matters with which they had little acquaintance.
 They, indeed, advanced as a specious argument for establishing belief in their
 knowledge, that when the former Caesar Maximianus was
 already on the point of engaging with Narseus, king of the Persians, in the
 same way a lion and a huge boar that had been killed were brought to him, and
 that he came back safely after conquering the enemy. And there was no idea at
 all that such a portent threatened destruction to the invader of another's
 territory, although Narseus had first seized Armenia, which was subject to
 Roman jurisdiction.

Likewise, on the
 following day, which was the seventh of April, as the sun was already sloping
 towards its setting, starting with a little cloud thick darkness suddenly
 filled the air and daylight was removed; and after much menacing thunder and
 lightning a soldier named Jovian, with two horses which he was bringing back
 after watering them at the river, was struck dead by a bolt from the sky.

Upon seeing this, Julian again called in
 the interpreters of omens, and on being questioned they declared emphatically
 that this sign also forbade the expedition, pointing out that the thunderbolt
 was of the advisory kind; for so those are
 called which either recommend or dissuade any act. And so much the more was it
 necessary to guard against this one. because it killed a soldier of lofty name
 as well as war-horses, and because places which were struck
 in that manner—so the books on lightning declare— must neither be looked upon nor trodden.

The philosophers, on the other hand, maintained that
 the brilliance of the sacred fire which suddenly appeared signified nothing at
 all, but was merely the course of a stronger mass of air sent downward from the
 aether by some force; or if it did give any sign, it foretold an increase in renown for the emperor, as he was beginning a glorious
 enterprise, since it is well known that flames by their very nature mount on
 high without opposition.

So when the bridge had been broken down (as
 was said before) and all had crossed, the emperor thought that the most urgent
 of all his duties was to address the soldiers, who were advancing confidently
 through trust in themselves and their leader. Therefore, when the signal had
 been given with the trumpets, and all the centuries, cohorts and maniples had
 come together, he took his place upon a mound of earth, surrounded by a ring of
 high officials, and with calm countenance and favoured with the unanimous
 devotion of all, spoke as follows:

Seeing the great vigour and eagerness that animate you, my valiant
 soldiers, I have resolved to address you, in order to explain in full detail
 that this is not the first time—as some evil-minded men mutter—that the
 Romans have invaded the Persian kingdom. For not to mention Lucullus and
 Pompey, who, passing through the Albani and the Massagetae, whom we now call
 the Alani, broke into this nation also and came to the Caspian Sea, we know
 that Ventidius, the lieutenant-general of Antony, inflicted
 innumerable sanguinary defeats in this region. But to leave ancient times, I will disclose what recent history
 has transmitted to us. Trajan, Verus, and Severus returned from here
 victorious and adorned with trophies, and the younger Gordianus,
 whose monument we just now looked
 upon with reverence, would have come back with equal glory, after
 vanquishing the Persian king and putting him to flight at Resaina, had he not been struck down by an impious wound
 inflicted by the faction of Philippus, the praetorian prefect, and a few
 wicked accomplices, in the very place where he now lies buried. But his
 shade did not long wander unavenged, for as if their deeds were weighed in
 the scales of Justice, all who had conspired against him perished by
 agonising deaths. 
 Those emperors, indeed, their own desire,
 inclined as they were to lofty enterprises, drove to undertake noteworthy
 exploits, but we are urged on to our present purpose by the pitiful fate of
 recently captured cities, by the unavenged shades of armies destroyed, by
 the great disasters that have been suffered, and by the loss of many a camp.
 For everybody's desires are one with ours to make good the past and give
 strength to our country by making this side of her domain safe, and thus
 leave to future generations material for singing our praises. Everywhere shall I, with the help of the eternal
 deity, be by your side, as emperor, as leader, and as fellow horseman, and (as I think) under favourable auspices. But if fickle
 fortune should overthrow me in any battle, I shall be content with having
 sacrificed myself for the Roman world, after the example
 of the Curtii and Mucii of old and the noble family of the Decii. We must wipe out a most mischievous nation, on whose
 sword-blades the blood of our kinsmen is not yet dry. Our forefathers spent many ages in eradicating
 whatever caused them trouble. Carthage was conquered in a long and difficult
 war, but our distinguished leader feared that she might survive the victory. Scipio utterly destroyed
 Numantia, after undergoing many vicissitudes in its
 siege. Rome laid Fidenae low, in order
 that no rivals of her power might grow up, and for that same reason crushed
 Falerii and Veil; and even trustworthy
 ancient histories would have difficulty in convincing us that those cities
 were ever powerful. 
 This I have set forth from my knowledge
 of ancient records; it remains for each of you, putting aside the desire for
 plunder, which has often tempted the Roman soldier, to keep with the army on
 its march, and when battle must be joined, to follow each his own standard,
 remembering that if anyone falls behind, he will be left hamstrung. For I fear nothing, save the craft and treachery of the
 over-cunning enemy. Finally, I promise
 one and all that when, after this, affairs shall be
 brought to a successful conclusion, waiving all prior rights of princes, who
 by reason of their full powers think that whatever they have said or
 resolved is just, I will give to anyone who demands it an account of what
 has been rightly or wrongly undertaken. 
 Therefore rouse, I pray you, at once rouse your courage, both in the
 anticipation of great success, since you will undergo whatever difficulty
 arises on equal terms with me, and with the conviction that victory must
 always attend the just cause.

After the speech had been brought to this
 most welcome conclusion, the warriors, exulting in the fame of their leader,
 and still more greatly fired with the hope of success, lifted their shields on
 high and cried that nothing would be dangerous or difficult under a leader who
 imposed more toil upon himself than on the common soldiers.

In particular, the Gallic troops showed this feeling
 by joyful shouts, remembering how often under his command, and as he ran about
 from company to company, they had seen some nations overcome and others reduced
 to entreaties.

Affairs have reached a point where I am led
 in a rapid digression to explain the topography of the Persian kingdom,
 carefully compiled from the descriptions of the nations, in only a few of which
 the truth has been told, and that barely. My account,
 however, will be a little fuller, which will be to the advantage of complete
 knowledge. For anyone who aims at extreme brevity in telling of the unknown
 tries to discover what he ought to leave out rather than what he may explain
 more clearly.

This kingdom, which was once small and for
 reasons which we have often given was called before by various names, after the
 fates had taken off Alexander the Great at Babylon, took its name from the
 Parthian Arsaces, a man of low birth; he had been a brigand chief during his younger
 days, but since his ideals gradually changed for the better, by a series of
 brilliant exploits he rose to greater heights.

After many glorious and valiant deeds, and after he had conquered Seleucus
 Nicator, successor of the said Alexander, on whom his many victories had
 conferred that surname, and had driven out the Macedonian garrisons, he passed his life in
 quiet peace, and was a mild ruler and judge of his subjects.

Finally, after all the neighbouring lands had been
 brought under his rule, by force, by regard for justice, or by fear, and he had
 filled Persia with cities, with fortified camps, and with strongholds, and to
 all the neighbouring peoples, which she had previously feared, he had made her
 a constant cause of dread, he died a peaceful death in middle life. And nobles
 and commons rivalling each other in agreement, he was placed among the stars
 according to the sacred custom of their country; and (as they believe) he was
 the first of all to be so honoured.

Hence to
 this very day the over-boastful kings of that race suffer themselves to be
 called brothers of the Sun and Moon, and just as for our emperors the title of Augustus is beloved and coveted, so to the Parthian
 kings, who were formerly low and obscure, there fell the very greatest increase
 in distinction, won by the happy auspices of Arsaces.

Hence they venerate and worship Arsaces as a god, and their regard
 for him has been carried so far, that even down to the memory of our time only
 a man who is of the stock of Arsaces (if there is one anywhere) is preferred to
 all in mounting the throne. Even in any civil strife, which constantly arises
 among them, everyone avoids as sacrilege the lifting of his hand against an
 Arsacid, whether he is bearing arms or is a private citizen.

It is well known that this nation, after
 vanquishing many peoples by its power, extended its domain as far as the
 Propontis and Thrace, but through the arrogance of
 its haughty leaders, who lawlessly extended their raids to a great distance, it
 was weakened by severe losses: first through Cyrus, who crossed the Bosporus
 with an army of incredible size, but was completely annihilated by the Scythian
 queen Tomyris, the fierce avenger of her sons.

Later, when Darius, and after him Xerxes,
 changed the use of the elements and
 attacked Greece, almost all their forces were destroyed by land and sea, and
 they themselves barely found a safe return; not to mention the wars of
 Alexander and the passing by his will and testament of the whole nation to the
 jurisdiction of a single successor.

After this was done and a long time had
 passed, during which the Roman commonwealth was governed by consuls and later
 brought under the sway of the Caesars, these nations carried on wars with us
 from time to time, and sometimes the contest was equal, at other times they
 were conquered, and occasionally they came off victorious.

I shall now describe the lie of the land—so
 far as my purpose allows—briefly and succinctly. These regions extend to a wide
 area in length and breadth, and run all along the Persian Gulf, which
 has many islands and peoples all round. The entrance to this sea (they say) is
 so narrow that from Harmoz, the promontory of Carmania, the other headland
 opposite it, which the natives call Maces, may be seen without difficulty.

After one has passed through this narrow
 strait, a wide expanse of sea opens, which is favourable to navigation as far
 as the city of Teredon, where after many losses the
 Euphrates mingles with the deep. The entire
 gulf is bounded by a shore of 20,000 stadia, which is rounded as if turned on a
 lathe. All along the coast is a throng of cities and villages, and many ships
 sail to and fro.

After passing the strait
 which has been mentioned, one comes to the bay of Carmania facing the east.
 Then, a long distance to the south, the bay of Canthicus opens, and not far off
 is another, called Chalites, facing the setting sun. Next, after one has
 skirted many islands, few of which are well known, those
 bays unite with the Indian ocean, which is first of all to receive the glowing
 sun when it rises, and is itself also exceedingly warm.

And as the pens of geographers have drawn it, the
 whole circuit just described has this form. In the northern direction, to the
 Caspian Gates it
 borders on the Cadusii, on many tribes of the Scythians, and on the Arimaspse,
 wild, one-eyed men. On the west it touches Armenia, Niphates, the Asiatic Albani, the Red Sea, and the Scenitic Arabs, whom men of later
 times called the Saracens. Under the
 southern heaven it looks down on Mesopotamia. Opposite the eastern front it extends to the Ganges river, which
 cuts through India and empties into the southern ocean.

Now there are in all Persia these greater
 provinces, ruled by vitaxae, or commanders of cavalry, by kings, and by
 satraps-for to enumerate the great number of smaller districts would be
 difficult and superfluous-namely, Assyria, Susiana, Media, Persis, Parthia,
 Greater Carmania, Hyrcania, Margiana, the Bactriani, the Sogdiani, the Sacae,
 Scythia at the foot of Imaus, and beyond the same
 mountain, Serica, Aria, the Paropanisadae, Drangiana, Arachosia, and
 Gedrosia.

Nearest to us of all the provinces is
 Assyria, famous for its large population, its size, and the abundance and great
 variety of its products. This province once spread over great and prosperous
 peoples and districts, then it was combined under a single name, and to-day the
 whole region is called Assyria. There, besides a great
 abundance of berries and common fruits, bitumen is found near the lake called
 Sosingites, in whose bed the Tigris is swallowed up, and then, after flowing
 under ground, and traversing a long distance, appears again.

Here naphtha also is produced, a glutinous substance
 which looks like pitch. This too is similar to bitumen, and even a little bird,
 if it lights upon it, is prevented from flying, sinks, and disappears utterly.
 And when fluid of this kind catches fire, the mind of man will find no means of
 putting it out, except dust.

In these regions there is also to be seen a
 cleft in the earth, from which rises a
 deadly exhalation, which with its foul odour destroys every living creature
 that comes near it. If this pestilential stuff, rising from a kind of deep
 well, should spread out widely from its opening before rising on high, it would
 by its fetid odour have made the surrounding country a desert.

A similar opening was formerly to be seen (as some
 say) at Hierapolis in Phrygia. And from this also a noxious vapour with a
 penetrating stench came forth and was destructive to whatever came near it,
 excepting only eunuchs; and the reason for this may be left to natural
 philosophers to determine.

Also at the temple of Jupiter Asbamaeus in
 Cappadocia, where that famous philosopher Apollonius is said to have been 
 born near the town of Tyana, a spring may be seen, flowing from a pool, which
 now is filled with an abundance of water, and again sucks itself back, and so
 never swells beyond its banks.

Within this area is Adiabena, called Assyria
 in ancient times, but by long custom changed to this name because, lying
 between the navigable rivers Ona and Tigris it could never be approached by a
 ford; for we Greeks for transire say διαβαίνειν. At least, this is the opinion of the
 ancients.

But I myself say that there are
 two perpetually flowing rivers to be found in these lands, the Diabas and
 Adiabas, which I myself have
 crossed, and over which
 there are bridges of boats; and therefore it is to be assumed that Adiabena was
 named from them, as from great rivers Egypt was named, according to Homer, as well as
 India, and the Euphratensis, before my time called Commagena; likewise from the
 Hiberus, Hiberia (now Hispania), and the province of Baetica
 from the noble river Baetis.

In this Adiabena is the city of Ninus,
 which once possessed the
 rule over Persia, perpetuating the name of Ninus, once a most powerful king and
 the husband of Semiramis; also Ecbatana, 
 Arbela, and Gaugamela, where Alexander, after various other battles,
 overthrew Darius in a hot contest.

But in all Assyria there are many cities,
 among which Apamia, formerly called Mesene, and Teredon, Apollonia and Vologessia,
 and many similar ones are conspicuous. But these three are especially
 magnificent and widely known: Babylon, whose
 walls Semiramis built with bitumen 
 (for the ancient king Belus built the citadel), and Ctesiphon, which Vardanes
 founded long ago; and later king Pacorus 
 strengthened it with additional inhabitants and with walls, gave it a Greek
 name, and made it the crowning ornament of Persia. And finally there is
 Seleucia, the splendid work of Seleucus Nicator.

When this city was stormed by the generals of Verus Caesar (as I
 have related before), the statue of Apollo Comaeus was torn from its
 place and taken to Rome, where the priests of the gods set it up in the temple
 of the Palatine Apollo. And it is said that, after this same statue had been
 carried off and the city burned, the soldiers in ransacking the temple found a
 narrow crevice; this they widened in the hope of finding something valuable;
 but from a kind of shrine, closed by the occult arts of the Chaldaeans, the
 germ of that pestilence burst forth, which after generating the virulence of
 incurable diseases, in the time of the same Verus and of Marcus Antoninus
 polluted everything with contagion and death, from the frontiers of Persia all
 the way to the Rhine and to Gaul.

Near these is the land of the Chaldaeans,
 the foster-mother of the old-time philosophy—as they themselves say—where the
 true art of divination first made its appearance. Now the most important rivers
 that flow through those lands, besides the others that I have mentioned, are
 the Marses, the Royal River, and the Euphrates, greatest of
 all. The last-named divides into three branches, all of which are navigable,
 forms several islands, and often thoroughly waters the fields through the
 diligence of the farmers, and prepares them
 for the ploughshare and for tree-culture.

Neighbours to these lands are the Susiani,
 who have few cities. Conspicuous among them, however, is Susa, often the
 residence of the kings, and Arsiana, Sele, and Aracha. The others are small and
 little known. On the other hand, many rivers flow through this region; most
 notable among them are the Oroates, Harax, and Mosaeus, which along the narrow
 sandy tract that separates the Caspian from the Red Sea overflow into a great
 number of pools.

On the left Media extends, bordering on the
 Hyrcanian Sea. Of this province we read that
 before the reign of the elder Cyrus and the growth in Persia's power, it was
 the queen of all Asia, after it had overcome Assyria, whose many provinces, changed in
 name to Agropatena, it possessed by the right of conquest.

It is a warlike nation, and most of all to be feared
 next to the Parthians, by whom alone it is surpassed, and its territory has the
 form of a rectangle. The inhabitants of these lands as a
 whole dwell in a most spacious country, overhung by very lofty mountains, which
 they call Zagrus, Orontes, and Iasonius.

Those who dwell on the western side of the
 lofty mountain Coronus abound in fields of grain and
 vineyards, enjoy the fertility of a productive
 soil, and are rich in rivers and clear springs.

Their green meadows produce a noble breed of horses, on which their
 chiefs (as the writers of old say, and as I myself have seen) when entering
 battle are wont to ride full of courage. These horses they call Nesaean.

Therefore Media abounds in rich cities, in
 villages built up like towns, and in a great number of inhabitants; it is (to
 speak briefly) the richest residence of the kings.

In these parts are the fertile fields of the
 Magi, about whose sects and pursuits—since we have chanced on this point—it
 will be in place to give a few words of explanation. According to Plato, the most
 eminent author of lofty ideas, magic, under the mystic name of hagistia, 
 is thepurest worship of the gods. To the science of this, derived from
 the secret lore of the Chaldaeans, in ages long past the Bactrian Zoroaster
 made many
 contributions, and after him the wise king Hystaspes, 
 the father of Darius.

When Zoroaster had boldly made his way into
 the unknown regions of Upper India, he reached a wooded wilderness, whose calm
 silence the lofty intellects of the Brahmins control. From their teaching he
 learned as much as he could grasp of the laws regulating the movements of the
 earth and the stars, and of the pure sacrificial rites. Of what he had learned
 he communicated something to the understanding of the Magi, which they, along
 with the art of divining the future, hand on from generation to generation to
 later times.

From that time on for many ages
 down to the present a large class of men of one and the same descent have
 devoted themselves to the service of the gods. The Magi also say (if it is
 right to believe them) that they guard on ever-burning braziers a fire sent
 down from heaven in their country, and that a small portion of it, as a good
 omen, used to be carried before the Asiatic kings.

The number of Magi of this origin in old times was very small, and
 the Persian potentates made regular use of their services in the worship of
 their gods. And it was sin to approach an altar, or touch a sacrificial victim,
 before one of the Magi, with a set form of prayer, poured the preliminary
 libations. But they gradually increased in number and became a strong clan,
 with a name of their own; they possessed country residences, which were
 protected by no great walls, and they were
 allowed to live in accordance with their own laws, and through respect for
 religion were held in high esteem.

From this
 seed of the Magi, as the ancient records relate, seven men after the death of
 Cambyses mounted the Persian throne, but (we are told), they
 were overthrown by the party of Darius, who made himself king by the neighing
 of a horse.

In this neighbourhood the Medic oil is made.
 If a missile is smeared with this oil and shot somewhat slowly from a loosened
 bow (for it is extinguished by a swift flight), wherever it lands it burns
 persistently; and if one tries to put it out with water, he makes it burn the
 more fiercely, and it can be quelled in no other way than by throwing dust upon
 it.

Now, the oil is made in this way. Those who
 are skilled in such matters take oil of general use, mix it with a certain
 herb, and let it stand for a long time and thicken, until it gets magic power
 from the material. Another kind, like a thicker sort of oil, is native to
 Persia, and (as I have said) is called in that
 language naphtha.

In these lands are many scattered cities;
 greater than all the rest are Zombis, Patigran and Gazaca. Conspicuous for their
 wealth and their mighty walls are Heraclia, Arsacia, Europos, Cyropolis and Ecbatana, all situated at the foot of Mount
 Iasonius in the land of the Syromedi.

Many streams flow through this country, of
 which the greatest are the Choaspes, Gyndes, Amardus, Charinda, Cambyses, and Cyrus. To this last, a
 great and beautiful river, the elder Cyrus, that lovable king, when he was
 hastening on his way to seize the realms of the Scythians, gave that name in
 place of its older one, because it is valiant, as he himself also was said to
 be, and forcing its way with the exercise of great power, as he did, flows into
 the Caspian Sea.

Beyond these tracts, but extending farther
 to the south, next to the seacoast lies Old Persia, rich in small fruits,
 date-palms, and an abundance
 of excellent water. For many rivers flow through it into the above-mentioned
 gulf, the greatest of which are the Batradites, Rogomanius, Brisoana, and Bagrada.

But the inland cities are the greater -and it is
 uncertain for what reason they built nothing conspicuous along the
 seacoast-notable among which are Persepolis, Ardea, Habroatis,
 and Tragonice. But only three islands are to be seen there: Tabiana, Fara, and
 Alexandria.

Near these to the north are the Parthians,
 dwelling in lands abounding in snow and frost. Their land is cut by Choatres
 river, more copious than the rest, and the following cities are more important
 than the others: Oenunia, Moesia, Charax, Apamia,
 Artacana, and Hecatompylos, from which place one reckons along
 the Caspian Sea to the Caspian Gates 1040 stadia.

There the inhabitants of all the districts are savage and warlike,
 and take such pleasure in war and conflict, that one who loses his life in
 battle is regarded as happy beyond all others. For those who depart from this
 life by a natural death they assail with insults, as degenerate and
 cowardly.

On the south-eastern border of these are the
 Happy Arabs, so-called because they are rich in the fruits of the
 field, as well as in cattle, dates, and many varieties of perfumes. A great
 part of their lands border to the right on the Red Sea, and on the left form
 the boundary of the Persian Sea, and the people know how to avail themselves of
 all the advantages of both elements.

On that
 coast there are both many anchorages and numerous safe harbours, trading cities
 in an uninterrupted line, uncommonly splendid and richly adorned residences of
 their kings, natural hot springs of remarkable curative powers, a conspicuous
 abundance of brooks and rivers, and a very salubrious climate; so that to men
 of good judgement they evidently lack nothing for supreme happiness.

And while they have an abundance of towns, inland
 and on the coast, as well as fruitful plains and valleys, yet the choicest
 cities are Geapolis and Nascos, Baraba, and also Nagara,
 Maephe, Taphra, and Dioscuris. Moreover, in both seas, and near to the
 shore, there are many islands, which it is not worth while to enumerate. The
 most prominent among them is Turgana, on which there
 is said to be a great temple of Serapis.

Beyond the frontier of this people Greater
 Carmania rises with lofty peaks, extending as far as the Indian Sea, supplied
 with products of the soil and fruit trees, but far inferior in fame and in
 extent to the lands of the Arabs; however, the country is no less rich in
 rivers, and equally blest with a fertile soil.

The rivers better known than the rest are the Sagareus, Saganis, and
 Hydriacus. There are also cities which, though few in number, are very rich in
 all that contributes to the maintenance and enjoyment of life. Conspicuous
 among them are Carmana, mother city of them all, Portospana, Alexandria, and
 Hermupolis.

Proceeding inland, one meets with the
 Hyrcanians, whose coast the sea of the same name washes. Among them, since the leanness of their soil kills the
 seeds, less attention is given to agriculture, but they live upon game, of
 which there is a monstrous great variety and abundance. There are also many
 thousand tigers, and numerous other wild beasts, and by what kind of devices
 they are usually taken I recall that I gave an account long ago.

But for all that, they are not unacquainted
 with the plough-tail, but some districts, where the soil is richer, are covered
 over with sown fields. Groves of trees, too, are not lacking
 in places suited for planting them, and many people support themselves by
 commerce on the sea.

Here are two rivers well known by name, the
 Oxus and the Maxera, over which tigers, driven by hunger, sometimes swim and
 unexpectedly cause great losses to the neighbouring places. They also have some
 strong cities, among lesser towns; two are on the sea, Socanda and Saramanna,
 and others inland, Asmurna, Sale, and, better known than these, Hyrcana.

Over against this people to the north the
 Abii are said to dwell, a most kindly race, accustomed to trample on all mortal
 things, on whom, as Homer sings as part of his tale, Jupiter looks with favour
 from the mountains of Ida.

Next after the Hyrcanians the Margiani have
 found homes, a people all but wholly surrounded by lofty hills, and thus
 separated from the sea. And although the greater part of their soil, from
 dearth of water, is a desert, they nevertheless have some towns; but Iasonion,
 Antiochia, and Nigaea
 are better known than the others.

The lands next to these the Bactriani
 possess, a nation formerly warlike and very powerful, and always at odds with
 the Persians, until they reduced all the peoples about them to submission and
 incorporated them under their own name. In ancient times they were ruled by
 kings who were formidable even to Arsaces.

Many parts of this land, like Margiana, are
 widely separated from the coast, but rich in vegetation; and the herds which
 graze on their plains and mountains are thickset, with strong limbs, as appears
 from the camels brought from there by Mithridates and seen for the first time
 by the Romans at the siege of Cyzicus.

Several peoples are subject to these same
 Bactrians, notably the Tochari, and like Italy the country is watered by many
 rivers. Of these, the Artamis and Zariaspes first unite, as well as the Ochus
 and Orgomanes, and when joined they increase the mighty flow of the Oxus with
 their combined waters.

There are also cities here which are laved by other rivers, but
 they recognise these as their betters: namely, Chatracharta, Alicodra, Astatia,
 Menapila, and Bactra itself, from which the kingdom and the nation have derived
 their name.

Next the Sogdiani dwell at the foot of the
 mountains which they call the Sogdii, through whose territories two rivers flow
 which are navigable by ships, the Araxates and the Dymas. These streams rush headlong
 over mountains and valleys into a level plain and form a lake, Oxia by name,
 which is both long and broad. Here among other towns Alexandria, Cyreschata,
 and the metropolis,
 Drepsa, are famous.

Next to these are the Sacae, a tribe of
 savages, inhabiting a rough country rich only for cattle, and hence without
 cities. It is overhung by the mountains Ascanimia and Comedus, along the base
 of which and through a village, which they call Lithinos Pyrgos, a very long road extends, which is the route taken by
 the traders who journey from time to time to the land of the Seres.

Along the slopes and at the foot of the
 mountains which they call Imavi and Apurii, various Scythian tribes dwell
 within the Persian territories, bordering on the Asiatic Sarmatians and
 reaching to the outermost side of the Halani. These, as if living in a nook of
 the world, and brought up in solitude, are widely scattered, and are accustomed
 to common and poor food.

And various other
 tribes dwell in these parts, which at present I think it superfluous to
 enumerate, since I am hastening on to another topic. It is necessary only to
 know, that among these nations, which because of the extreme roughness of their
 land are almost inaccessible, there are some mild and kindly folk, such as the
 Iaxartae and the Galactophagi, whom the bard Homer
 mentions in this verse : 
 
 Of the Galactophagi and Abii, righteous men.

Now, among the many rivers of this land,
 which nature either joins with larger streams or by their own flow carries on
 to the sea, the Rhymmus, Iaxartes and Daicus are celebrated. But there are only
 three cities which the region is known to have, namely, Aspabota, Chauriana,
 and Saga.

Beyond these lands of both Scythias,
 towards the east, the summits of lofty
 walls form a circle
 and enclose the Seres, remarkable for the richness
 and extent of their country. On the west they are bounded by the Scythians, and
 on the north and the east they extend to a snowclad waste; on the south they
 reach India and the Ganges. There are mountains there, called Anniba,
 Nazavicium, Asmira, Emodon, and Opurocorra.

Through this land, consisting of a plain of wide extent, surrounded
 on all sides by precipitous cliffs, two rivers of famous name, the Oechartis
 and the Bautis, flow in a somewhat
 slow course. The nature of the various tracts is unlike, being now open and
 flat and now descending in gentle slopes; and therefore the land overflows in
 grain, flocks, and orchards.

On this very
 fruitful soil dwell various peoples, of which the Anthropophagi, Anibi, Sizyges
 and Chardi lie towards the north and the snows. Towards the rising sun are the
 Rabannae, Asmirae, and the Essedones, the most famed of all; close to them, on
 the west, are the Athagorae, and the Aspacarae. In the south are the Baetae,
 dwelling on the slopes of high mountains. They are famed for cities which,
 though not numerous, are large and prosperous; the greatest of these, Asmira,
 Essedon, Asparata, and Sera, are beautiful and well known.

The Seres themselves live a peaceful
 life, for ever unacquainted with arms and warfare; and since to gentle and
 quiet folk ease is pleasurable, they are troublesome to none of their
 neighbours. Their climate is agreeable and healthful, the sky is clear, the
 winds gentle and very pleasant. There is an abundance of well-lighted woods,
 the trees of which produce a substance which they work with frequent
 sprinkling, like a kind of fleece; then from the wool-like material, mixed with
 water, they draw out very fine threads, spin the yarn, and make sericum,
 formerly for the use of the nobility, but nowadays
 available even to the lowest without any distinction.

The Seres themselves are frugal beyond all others, live a quiet
 life, and avoid intercourse with the rest of mortals. And when strangers, in
 order to buy threads or anything else, cross the river, their wares are laid
 out and with no exchange of words their value is estimated by the eye alone;
 and they are so abstemious, that they hand
 over their own products without themselves getting any foreign ware in
 return.

Beyond the Seres live the Ariani, exposed to
 the blasts of the north wind; through their lands flows a river called the
 Arias, large enough to carry ships, which forms a great lake called by the same
 name. Moreover, this same Aria has many cities, among which the following are
 renowned: Vitaxa Sarmatina, Sotira, Nisibis, and Alexandria, from which the
 voyage to the Caspian Sea is reckoned as fifteen hundred stadia.

Neighbours to these places are the Paro-
 panisadae, facing the Indi on the east, and the Caucasus on the west;
 they themselves also dwell on the slopes of the mountains and through their
 country (besides some smaller rivers) flows the Gordomaris, rising in Bactria.
 And they also have some cities, of which the better-known are Agazaca,
 Naulibus, and Ortospana, from which the distance along the bank of the river to
 the frontiers of Media next to the Caspian Gates is 2200 stadia.

Joining the aforesaid are the Drangiani,
 connected with them by hills. Their land is washed by the river Arabius,
 so-called from the place of its rise. Among other towns they are proud
 of two, Prophthasia and Ariaspe, because of their wealth and fame.

Then, opposite to these, we see Arachosia,
 on the right facing the Indi. From a much smaller river, flowing out from the
 mighty Indus, from which the whole region takes its name, Arachosia receives an
 abundance of water; this river forms a lake, called Arachotoscrene. Here also among insignificant cities, are Alexandria, Arbaca, and Choaspa.

Now far within Persia lies Gedrosia, on the
 right reaching the frontiers of the Indi; it is made fertile by the Artabius,
 in addition to smaller streams. Here the Arbitani mountains come to an end, and from their bases flow other rivers, which mingle
 with the Indus, losing their names through the size of the greater stream. But
 here, too, there are famous cities, in addition to islands; but Ratira and
 Gynaecon limen 
 are more highly esteemed than the rest.

But we would not give a detailed account of
 the seacoast at the extremities of Persia, and wander too far from our subject.
 So it will be enough to say that the sea extending from the Caspian mountains
 along the northern side to the above-mentioned strait is 9000 stadia; but the
 southern frontier, from the mouths of the river Nile to where Carmania begins,
 is reckoned at 14,000 stadia.

Among these many men of differing tongues
 there are varieties of persons, as well as of places. But, to describe their
 bodily characteristics and their customs in general, they are almost all
 slender, somewhat dark, or of a leaden pallor, with eyes grim as goats',
 eyebrows joined and curved in the form of a half-circle, not uncomely beards,
 and long, shaggy hair. All of them without exception, even at banquets and on
 festal days, appear girt with swords; an old Greek custom which, according to
 the trustworthy testimony of Thucydides, the Athenians
 were the first to abandon.

Most of them are
 extravagantly given to venery, and are hardly contented with a multitude of
 concubines; they are free from
 immoral relations with boys. Each man according to his means contracts many or few
 marriages, whence their affection, divided as it is among various objects,
 grows cold. They avoid as they would the plague splendid and luxurious
 banquets, and especially, excessive drinking.

Except for the kings' tables, they have no
 fixed hours for meal-times, but every man's belly is, as it were, his sundial;
 when this gives the call, they eat whatever is at hand,
 and no one, after he is satisfied, loads himself with superfluous food.

They are immensely moderate and cautious, so
 much so that they sometimes march through an enemy's gardens and vineyards
 without coveting or touching anything, through fear of poison or magic arts.

Besides this, one seldom sees a Persian
 stop to pass water or step aside in response to a call of nature; so
 scrupulously do they avoid these and other unseemly actions.

On the other hand, they are so free and easy, and
 stroll about with such a loose and unsteady gait, that one might think them
 effeminate; but, in fact, they are most gallant warriors, though rather crafty
 than courageous, and to be feared only at long range. They are given to empty
 words, and talk madly and extravagantly. They are boastful, harsh and
 offensive, threatening in adversity and prosperity alike, crafty, haughty,
 cruel, claiming the power of life and death over slaves and commons. They flay
 men alive, either bit by bit or all at once, and no servant who waits upon
 them, or stands at table, is allowed to open his mouth, either to speak or to
 spit; to such a degree, after the skins are spread,
 are the mouths of all fettered.

They stand in special fear of the laws, among which
 those dealing with ingrates and deserters are particularly severe; and some
 laws are detestable, namely, those which provide that because of the guilt of a
 single person all his relatives are put to death.

For the office of judge, upright men of
 proved experience are chosen, who have little need of advice from others;
 therefore they ridicule our custom, which at times places eloquent men, highly
 skilled in public law, behind the backs of judges without learning. But that one judge was forced to take his seat on the
 skin of another who had been condemned to death for injustice is either a fiction
 of antiquity, or, if once customary, has long since been given up.

Through military training and discipline, through
 constant exercise in warfare and military manoeuvres, which we have often
 described, they cause dread even to great armies; they rely especially on the
 valour of their cavalry, in which all the nobles and men of rank undergo hard
 service; for the infantry are armed like the murmillones, 
 
 and they obey orders like so many horse-boys. The whole throng of them always
 follows in the rear, as if doomed to perpetual slavery, without ever being
 supported by pay or gifts. And this nation, so bold and so well trained for the
 dust of Mars, would have brought many other peoples under the yoke in addition
 to those whom they fully subdued, were they not constantly
 plagued by domestic and foreign wars.

Most
 of them are so covered with clothes gleaming with many shimmering colours, that
 although they leave their robes open in front and on the sides, and let them
 flutter in the wind, yet from their head to their shoes no part of the body is
 seen uncovered. To the use of golden armlets and neckchains, gems, and
 especially pearls, of which they possess a great number, they first became
 accustomed after their victory over Lydia and Croesus.

It remains for me to speak briefly about the
 origin of this gem. Among the Indians and the
 Persians pearls are found in strong, white sea-shells, being conceived at a
 definite time of the year by mixture with dew. For at that time they desire, as
 it were, a kind of copulation, and by often opening and shutting quickly they
 take in moisture by sprinkling with moonlight. Thereby becoming pregnant, they
 each bear two or three small pearls, or else uniones, 
 so called because the shell-fish, when opened, sometimes yield only one
 pearl, but in that case they are of greater size.

And it is a proof that they are of ethereal origin, rather than
 that they are conceived and fed from nourishment derived from the sea, that
 when drops of morning dew fall upon these gems, they make them brilliant and
 round, but the dew of evening, on the contrary, makes them irregular, red, and
 sometimes spotted; and they become large or small under varying conditions,
 according to the quality of what they have taken in. Very often the shell-fish close through fear of thunderstorms, and either
 produce imperfect stones or none at all; or at any rate, it melts away as the
 result of abortion.

Their taking is
 difficult and dangerous, and their price is high, for the reason that they
 avoid shores that are usually frequented, to escape the snares of the
 pearlfishers, as some believe, and hide amid solitary rocks and the lairs of
 sea-hounds.

That this kind of gem is found and gathered
 in the lonely bays of the Britannic Sea, although of less value than these, is well known to us.

After thus testing the spirit of the
 soldiers, who with unanimous eagerness and the usual acclaim
 called God to witness that so successful a prince could not be vanquished,
 Julian, believing that their main purpose must speedily be accomplished, cut
 short the night's rest and
 ordered the trumpets to give the signal for the march. And having made every
 preparation which the difficulties of a dangerous war demanded, just as the
 clear light of day was appearing he passed the frontiers of 
 Assyria, riding in a lofty spirit above all others from rank to rank, and
 firing every man with a desire to rival him in deeds of valour.

And being a general trained by experience and study
 of the art of war, and fearing lest, being unacquainted with the terrain, he
 might be entrapped by hidden ambuscades, he began his march with his army in
 order of battle. He also arranged to have 1500 mounted scouts riding a little
 ahead of the army, who advancing with caution on both flanks, as well as in
 front, kept watch that no sudden attack be made. He himself in the centre led
 the infantry, which formed the main strength of his entire force, and ordered
 Ncvitta on the right with several legions to skirt the banks of the Euphrates.
 The left wing with the cavalry he put in charge of Arintheus and Ormisda, to be led in close
 order through the level fields and meadows. Dagalaifus and Victor brought up
 the rear, and last of all was Secundinus, 
 military leader in Osdruena.

Then in order to fill the enemy (if they
 should burst out anywhere), even when they saw him from afar, with fear of a
 greater force than he had, by a loose order he so extended the ranks of horses
 and men, that the hindermost were nearly ten miles distant from the
 standard-bearers in the van. This is the wonderful device that Pyrrhus, the
 famous king of Epirus, is said often to have used; for he was most skilful in
 choosing suitable places for his camp, and able to disguise the look of his forces
 so that the enemy might think them greater or fewer as it suited him.

His packs, servants, unarmed attendants, and
 every kind of baggage he placed between two divisions of the rank and file, in
 order that they might not be carried off (as often happens) by a sudden attack,
 if they were left unprotected. The fleet, although the river along which it
 went winds with many a bend, was not permitted to lag behind or get ahead.

After making a march of two days in this
 manner, we approached the deserted city of Dura, situated on the river bank.
 Here so many herds of deer were found, some of which were slain with arrows,
 others knocked down with heavy oars, that all ate to satiety; but the greater
 number of the animals, accustomed to rapid swimming, leaped into the river and
 with a speed that could not be checked escaped to their familiar deserts.

Then, after completing a leisurely march of
 four days, just as evening was coming on Count Lucillianus, with a thousand
 light-armed troops embarked in ships, was sent, by the emperor's order, to
 capture the fortress of Anatha, which, like many
 others, is girt by the waters of the Euphrates. The ships, according to orders,
 took suitable positions and blockaded the island, while a misty night hid the
 secret enterprise.

But as soon as daylight
 appeared, a man who went out to fetch water, suddenly catching sight of the
 enemy, raised a loud outcry, and by his excited shouts called the defenders to
 arms. Then the emperor, who from an elevated point had
 been looking for a site for a camp, with all possible haste crossed the river,
 under the protection of two ships, followed by a great number of boats carrying
 siege-artillery.

But on drawing near the
 walls he considered that a battle must be accompanied by many dangers, and
 accordingly, partly in mild terms, partly in harsh and threatening language, he
 urged the defenders to surrender. They asked for a conference with Ormizda, and
 were induced by his promises and oaths to expect much from the mercy of the
 Romans.

Finally, driving before them a
 garlanded ox, which with them indicates the acceptance of peace, they came down
 in suppliant guise. At once the whole fortress was set on fire; Pusaeus, its
 commander, later a general in Egypt, was given the rank of tribune. As for the
 rest, they were treated kindly, and with their families and possessions were
 sent to Chalcis, a city of Syria.

Among them
 was a soldier who, when in former times Maximianus made an inroad into the
 Persian territory, had been left in these parts because of illness; he was then
 a young man, whose beard was just beginning to grow. He had been given several
 wives (as he told us) according to the custom of the country, and was on our
 arrival a bent old man with numerous offspring. He was overjoyed, having
 advised the surrender, and when taken to our camp, he called several to witness
 that he had known and declared long ago that he, when nearly a hundred years
 old, would find a grave on Roman soil. After this the Saracens, to the
 emperor's great delight, brought in some skirmishers belonging to a division
 of the enemy, and after receiving rewards were sent back
 to engage in like activities.

On the following day another thing happened,
 this time a disaster. For a hurricane arose, which stirred up numerous
 whirlwinds and caused such general confusion, that many tents were rent asunder
 and numerous soldiers were prevented by the force of the gale from keeping a
 firm footing and were hurled to the ground on their faces or on their backs. On
 that same day another equally dangerous thing happened. For the river suddenly
 overflowed its banks and some grain-ships were sunk, since the sluices built of
 masonry, which served to hold in or let out the water used for irrigating the
 fields, were broken through; but whether this was a device of the enemy or was
 due to the weight of the waters could not be learned.

After storming and burning the first city to
 which we had come, and moving the prisoners to another place, the hopes of the
 army were raised to fuller confidence and with loud shouts they rose to praise
 the prince, convinced that even now the protection of the god of heaven would
 be with them.

And for one who was traversing unknown
 regions greater precautions against hidden dangers were necessary, since the
 craft and many wiles of the nation were to be feared. Therefore the emperor,
 with light-armed skirmishers, now took his place at the head of the army, and
 now brought up the rear; and in order that no hidden danger might escape his
 notice, he scanned the rough thickets and valleys, using either his native
 affability or threats to keep his men from scattering too loosely or too far.

However, he allowed the enemy's fields,
 abounding in fruits of every kind, to be set on fire with their crops and huts,
 but only after each man had fully supplied himself with everything that he
 needed; and in this way the safety of their foes was impaired before they knew
 it.

For the warriors gladly made use of what
 they had won with their own hands, thinking that their valour had found new
 granaries; and they were delighted to have
 an abundance of provisions and at the same time save the food that was carried
 in the ships.

At this place a drunken
 soldier, who had rashly and without orders crossed to the opposite bank, was
 seized by the enemy before our eyes and killed.

After these successful operations we reached
 a fortress called Thilutha, situated in the middle of the river, a place rising
 in a lofty peak and fortified by nature's power as if by the hand of man. Since
 the difficulty and the height of the place made it impregnable, an attempt was
 made with friendly words (as was fitting) to induce the inhabitants to
 surrender; but they insisted that such defection then would be untimely. But
 they went so far as to reply, that as soon as the Romans by further advance had
 got possession of the interior, they also would go over to the victors, as
 appendages of the kingdom.

After this, as our
 ships went by under their very walls, they looked on in
 respectful silence without making any move. After passing this place we came to
 another fortress, Achaiachala by name, also protected by the encircling river,
 and difficult of ascent; there too we received a similar refusal and went on.
 The next day another castle, which because of the weakness of its walls had
 been abandoned, was burned in passing.

Then
 during the following two days we covered 200 stadia and arrived at a place
 called Baraxmalcha. From there we crossed the river and entered the city of
 Diacira, 
 seven miles distant. This place was without inhabitants, but rich in grain and
 fine white salt; there we saw a temple, standing on a lofty citadel. After
 burning the city, and killing a few women whom we found, we passed over a
 spring bubbling with bitumen and took possession of the town of Ozogardana,
 which the inhabitants had likewise deserted through fear of the approaching
 army. Here a tribunal of the emperor Trajan was to be seen.

After burning this city also, and taking two
 days' rest, towards the end of the night which followed the second day, the
 Surena, who among
 the Persians has won the highest rank after the king, and the Malechus,
 Podosaces by name, phylarch of the Assanitic
 Saracens, a notorious brigand, who with every kind of cruelty had long raided
 our territories, laid an ambuscade for Ormizda, who, as they had
 learned (one knew not from what source), was on the point of
 setting out to reconnoitre. But their attempt failed, because the river at that
 point is narrow and very deep, and hence could not be forded.

At daybreak the enemy were already in sight, and we
 then saw them for the first time in their gleaming helmets and bristling with
 stiff coats of mail; but our soldiers rushed to battle at quick step, and fell
 upon them most valiantly. And although the bows were bent with strong hand and
 the flashing gleam of steel added to the fear of the Romans, yet anger whetted
 their valour, and covered with a close array of shields they pressed the enemy
 so hard that they could not use their bows.

Inspired by these first-fruits of victory, our soldiers came to the village of
 Macepracta, where the half-destroyed traces of walls were seen; these in early times had a wide extent, it was said,
 and protected Assyria from hostile inroads.

Here a part of the river is drawn off by large canals which take the water into
 the interior parts of Babylonia, for the use of the fields and the neighbouring
 cities; another part, Naarmalcha by name, which
 being interpreted means the kings' river, flows past Ctesiphon.
 Where it begins, a tower of considerable height rises, like the Pharos.
 Over this arm of the
 river all the infantry crossed on carefully constructed bridges.

But the cavalry with the pack-animals swam across in
 full armour where a bend in the river made it less deep and rapid; some of them
 were carried off by the current and drowned, others were 
 assailed by the enemy with a sudden shower of arrows; but a troop of
 auxiliaries, very lightly equipped for running, sallied forth, followed hard on
 the backs of the flying foe, and like so many birds of prey, struck them
 down.

When this undertaking also had been
 accomplished with glory, we came to the large and populous city of Pirisabora,
 surrounded on all sides by the river. The emperor, after riding up and
 inspecting the walls and the situation, began the siege with all caution, as if
 he wished by mere terror to take from the townsmen the desire for defence. But
 after they had been tried by many conferences, and not one could be moved
 either by promises or by threats, the siege was begun. The walls were
 surrounded by a triple line of armed men, and from dawn until nightfall they
 fought with missiles.

Then the defenders,
 who were strong and full of courage, spread over the ramparts everywhere loose
 strips of haircloth to check the force of the missiles, and themselves
 protected by shields firmly woven of osier and covered with thick layers of
 rawhide, resisted most resolutely. They looked as if they were entirely of
 iron; for the plates exactly fitted the various parts of their bodies and fully
 protecting them, covered them from head to foot.

And again and again they earnestly demanded an interview with
 Ormizda, as a fellow countryman and of royal rank, but when he came near they
 assailed him with insults and abuse, as a traitor and a deserter. This tedious
 raillery used up the greater part of the day, but in the first stillness of
 night many kinds of siege-engines were brought to bear and 
 the deep trenches began to be filled up.

When the defenders, who were watching intently, made this out by the still
 uncertain light, and besides, that a mighty blow of the ram had breached a
 corner tower, they abandoned the double walls of the city and took possession
 of the citadel connected with them, which stood on a precipitous plateau at the
 top of a rough mountain. The middle of this mountain rose to a lofty height,
 and its rounded circuit had the form of an Argolic shield, except that on the north side, where its roundness
 was broken, cliffs which descended into the current of the Euphrates still more
 strongly protected it. On this stronghold, battlements of walls rose high, and
 were built of bitumen and baked brick, a kind of structure (as is well known)
 than which nothing is safer.

And now the
 soldiers with greater confidence rushed through the city, seeing it deserted,
 and fought fiercely with the inhabitants, who from the citadel showered upon
 them missiles of many kinds. For although those same defenders were hard
 pressed by our catapults and ballistae, they in turn set up on the height
 strongly stretched bows, whose wide curves extending on both sides were bent so
 pliably that when the strings were let go by the fingers, the iron- tipped
 arrows which they sent forth in violent thrusts crashed into the bodies exposed
 to them and transfixed them with deadly effect.

Nevertheless both armies fought with clouds of stones thrown by
 hand; neither side gave way, but the hot fight continued with great
 determination from dawn until nightfall, and ended indecisively. Then, on the
 following day, they continued the battle most fiercely, many
 fell on both sides, and their equal strength held the victory in balance.
 Whereupon the emperor, hastening to try every lucky throw amid the mutual
 slaughter, surrounded by a band in wedge-formation, and protected from the fall
 of arrows by shields held closely together, in swift assault with a company of
 vigorous warriors, came near the enemy's gate, which was heavily overlaid with
 iron.

And although he and those who shared
 in his peril were assailed with rocks, bullets from slings, and other missiles,
 nevertheless he often cheered on his men as they tried to break in the leaves
 of the folding gates, in order to affect an entrance, and he did not withdraw
 until he saw that he must soon be overwhelmed by the volleys that were being
 hurled down upon him.

After all, he got back
 with all his men; a few were slightly wounded, he himself was unhurt, but bore
 a blush of shame upon his face. For he had read that Scipio Aemilianus,
 accompanied by the historian Polybius of Megalopolis in Arcadia and thirty soldiers, had
 undermined a gate of Carthage in a like attack. But the admitted credibility of
 the writers of old upholds the recent exploit.

For Aemilianus had come close up to the
 gate, and it was protected by an arch of masonry, under which he was safely
 hidden while the enemy were trying to lift off the masses of stone ; and he broke into the city when it
 was stripped of its defenders. But Julian attacked an exposed place, and was
 forced to retreat only when the face of heaven was darkened by fragments of
 mountains and other missiles showered upon him; and then with difficulty.

These actions went on in haste and
 confusion, and since it was evident that the construction of mantlet-sheds and
 mounds was greatly interfered with by other pressing matters, Julian gave
 orders that the engine called helepolis should quickly be built, by the use of which, as I have
 said above, King Demetrius overcame many cities and won the name of
 Poliorcetes.

To this huge mass, which would rise above
 the battlements of the lofty towers, the defenders turned an attentive eye, and
 at the same time considering the resolution of the besiegers, they suddenly
 fell to their prayers, and standing on the towers and battlements, and with
 outstretched hands imploring the protection of the Romans, they craved pardon
 and life.

And when they saw that the works
 were discontinued, and that those who were constructing them were attempting
 nothing further, which was a sure sign of peace, they asked that an opportunity
 be given them of conferring with Ormizda.

When this was granted, and Mamersides, commander of the garrison, was let down
 on a rope and taken to the emperor, he obtained (as he besought) a sure promise
 of life and impunity for himself and his followers, and was allowed to return.
 When he reported what he had accomplished, all the people of both sexes, since
 everything that they desired had been accepted, made peace with trustworthy
 religious rites. Then the gates were thrown open and they came out, shouting
 that a potent protecting angel had appeared to them in the person of a Caesar
 great and merciful.

The prisoners numbered
 only 2500; for the rest of the population, in anticipation of a siege, had crossed the river in small boats and made off. In this
 citadel there was found a great abundance of arms and provisions; of these the
 victors took what they needed and burned the rest along with the place
 itself.

The day after these events the serious news
 came to the emperor, while he was quietly at table, that the Persian leader
 called the Surena had unexpectedly attacked three
 squadrons of our scouting cavalry, had killed a very few of them, including one
 of their tribunes, and carried off a standard.

At once roused to furious anger, Julian hurried forth with an armed
 force,—his safest course lay in his very speed-and routed the marauders in
 shameful confusion; he cashiered the two surviving tribunes as inefficient and
 cowardly, and following the ancient laws, discharged and put to death ten
 of the soldiers who had fled from the field.

Then, after the city was burned (as has been
 told), Julian mounted a tribunal erected for the purpose and thanked the
 assembled army, urging them all to act in the same way in the future, and
 promised each man a hundred pieces of silver. But when he perceived that the smallness of the promised sum excited a mutinous uproar, he was roused to deep indignation
 and spoke as follows:

Behold the Persians, said he, abounding in wealth of
 every kind. The riches of this people can enrich you, if we show ourselves
 brave men of united purpose. But from endless resources (believe me, pray)
 the Roman empire has sunk to extremest want through those men who (to enrich
 themselves) have taught princes to buy peace from the barbarians with gold.
 
 The treasury has been pillaged, cities
 depopulated, provinces laid waste. I have neither wealth nor family
 connections (although I am of noble birth), only a heart that knows no fear;
 and an emperor who finds his sole happiness in the training of his mind will
 feel no shame in admitting an honourable poverty. For the Fabricii too,
 though poor in worldly goods, conducted serious wars and were rich in glory.
 All this you may possess in abundance,
 if you fearlessly follow God's lead and your general's, who will be careful
 (so far as human foresight can provide), and if you act with moderation; but
 if you oppose me and repeat the shameful scenes of former revolts, go to it
 now! I alone, as becomes a commander,
 having reached the end of a career of great deeds, will die standing on my
 feet, indifferent to a life which one little fever may take from me; or at
 any rate I will abdicate, since I have not lived such a life that I cannot
 some time be a private citizen. And I may say with pride and joy that we have with us thoroughly tried generals, perfect in their
 knowledge of every kind of warfare.

By this address of an emperor self-contained
 amid prosperity and adversity the soldiers were quieted for the time, and,
 gaining confidence through the anticipation of better days, they promised to be
 obedient and compliant. With unanimous applause they lauded his leadership and
 high spirit to the skies; and when such utterances are sincere and come from
 the heart, it is usually shown by a slight clashing of shields.

After this they retired to their tents and (so far as
 the circumstances allowed) refreshed themselves with food and sleep. It gave
 courage to the army besides that Julian constantly took oath, not by those dear
 to him, but by the great deeds that he planned, saying: As I hope to
 send the Persians under the yoke ; As I hope to restore the
 shattered Roman world. Just as Trajan is said sometimes to have
 emphasized a statement by the oaths: As I hope to see Dacia reduced to
 the form of a province ; As I hope to cross the Hister and the
 Euphrates on bridges ; and many other oaths of the same kind.

Next, after a march of fourteen miles, we
 came to a place where the fields are made fertile by an abundance of water; but
 the Persians, having learned in advance that we should take that route, had
 broken the dykes and allowed the water to flow everywhere without restraint.

Therefore, as the ground was covered far
 and wide with standing pools, the emperor gave the soldiers another day of
 rest, and went on himself; and after overcoming many dangers, he made such
 bridges as he could from bladders, as well as boats from the trunks of palm trees, and so got
 his army across, though not without difficulty.

In these regions there are many fields,
 planted with vineyards and various kinds of fruits. Here too palm trees are
 wont to grow, extending over a wide expanse as far as Mesene and the great sea, in mighty
 groves. And wherever anyone goes, one constantly sees palm branches with and
 without fruit, 
 and from their yield an abundance of honey and wine is made. The palms themselves are said to couple, and the sexes may
 easily be distinguished.

It is also said that the female trees
 conceive when smeared with the seeds of the male, and they assert that the
 trees take pleasure in mutual love, and that this is evident from the fact that
 they lean towards each other, and cannot be parted even by gales of wind. And
 if the female tree is not smeared in the usual way with the seed of the male,
 it suffers abortion and loses its fruit before it is ripe. And if it is not
 known with what male any female tree is in love, her trunk is smeared with her
 own perfume, and the
 other tree by a law of nature is attracted by the sweet odour. It is
 from these signs that the belief in a kind of copulation is created.

Abundantly supplied with food of that kind,
 our army passed by several islands, and where formerly there was dread of
 scarcity there was now serious danger of over-eating. Finally, they were
 assailed by a hidden attack of the enemy's archers, but not unavenged; and came
 to a place where the main body of the Euphrates is divided into many small
 streams.

In this tract a city which, because of its
 low walls, had been abandoned by its Jewish inhabitants, was burned by the
 hands of the angry soldiers. This done, the emperor went on farther, still more
 hopeful because of the gracious aid of the deity, as he interpreted it.

And when he had come to Maiozamalcha, a
 great city surrounded by strong walls, he pitched his tents and took anxious
 precautions that the camp might not be disturbed by a sudden onset of the
 Persian cavalry, whose valour in the open field was enormously feared by all
 peoples.

After making this provision,
 attended by a few light-armed soldiers and himself also marching on foot,
 Julian planned to make a careful examination of the position of the city; but
 he fell into a dangerous ambuscade, from which he escaped only with difficulty
 and at the risk of his life.

For through a
 secret gate of the town ten armed Persians came out, and after crossing the
 lower slopes on bended knees made a sudden onslaught on our men. Two with drawn
 swords attacked the emperor, whose bearing made him
 conspicuous, but he met their strokes by lifting up his shield. Thus protected,
 with great and lofty courage he plunged his sword into the side of one
 assailant, while his followers with many a stroke cut down the other. The rest,
 of whom some were wounded, fled in all directions. After stripping the two of
 their arms, Julian returned to the camp with the spoils, bringing back his
 companions uninjured, and was received by all with great joy.

Torquatus once took from a prostrate foe his golden neck-chain;
 Valerius, 
 afterwards surnamed Corvinus, laid low a bold and bragging Gaul with the aid of
 a crow, and by these glorious deeds they gained fame with posterity. We do not
 begrudge the praise; let this fine exploit also be added to the records of the
 past.

On the following day bridges were built and
 the army led across, and a camp was measured off in another and more
 advantageous place and girt by a double palisade, since (as I have said) Julian
 feared the open plains. Then he began the siege of the town, thinking that it
 would be dangerous to advance farther, and leave behind him an enemy whom he
 feared.

While great preparations were being made for
 the siege, the Surena, who was in command of the enemy, made an attack on the
 pack-animals, which were grazing in the palm-groves; but he was met by our
 scouting-cohorts, and after loss of a few of the men, was baffled by our forces
 and withdrew.

The inhabitants of two cities,
 which were on islands made by the winding river, alarmed and
 distrustful of their strength, tried to make their way to the walls of
 Ctesiphon; some of them slipped off through the thick woods, others crossed the
 neighbouring pools in their boats made from hollowed trees, thinking this their
 only hope and the best means for making the long journey which confronted them,
 if they were to reach that distant land.

Some
 of them, who offered resistance, were slain by our troops, who also rushed
 about everywhere in skiffs and boats and from time to time brought in others as
 prisoners. For Julian had provided with balanced care, that while the infantry
 were besieging the town, the cavalry forces, divided into detachments, should
 give their attention to driving off booty; and through this arrangement the
 soldiers, without burdening the provincials at all, fed upon the vitals of the
 enemy.

And now the emperor, having surrounded, with
 a triple line of shields, the town,
 which had a double wall about it, assailed it with all his might, in the hope
 of gaining his end. But necessary as the attack was, so was it very difficult
 to bring it to a successful issue. For on every side the approaches were
 surrounded by high and precipitous cliffs and many windings made them doubly
 perilous and the town inaccessible, especially since the towers, formidable for
 both their number and their height, rose to the same elevation as the eminence
 of natural rock which formed the citadel, while the sloping plateau overlooking
 the river was fortified with strong battlements.

Added to this was an equally serious disadvantage, in that the
 large and carefully chosen force of the besieged could not by any enticements be led to surrender, but resisted as though resolved either
 to be victorious or to die amid the ashes of their native city. But our
 soldiers could with difficulty be kept from the attack, mutinously pressing on
 and demanding a pitched battle even in the open field; and when the trumpet
 sounded the recall, they continually tormented themselves with spirited
 attempts to assail the enemy.

However, the judgement of our leaders
 overcame their extreme violence; the work was divided, and each man undertook
 with all speed the task assigned him. For here lofty embankments were being
 raised, there others were filling up the deep ditches; elsewhere long passages
 were being constructed in the bowels of the earth, and those in charge of the
 artillery were setting up their hurling engines, soon to break out with deadly
 roar.

Nevitta and Dagalaifus had charge of
 the mines and mantelets; the opening of the attack, and the protection of the
 artillery from fire or sallies was undertaken by the emperor in person.
 And when all the preparations for destroying the city had been completed with
 much painful toil, and the soldiers demanded battle, the general named Victor,
 who had reconnoitred the roads as far as Ctesiphon, returned and reported that
 he had found no obstacles.

Upon this all the
 soldiers were wild with joy, and aroused to greater confidence awaited under
 arms the signal for battle.

And now, as the trumpets sounded their
 martial note, both sides raised a loud shout. The Romans were the first with
 repeated onslaughts and threatening roars to attack the foe,
 who were covered with plates of iron as if by a thin layer of feathers, and
 were full of confidence since the arrows flew back as they struck the folds of
 the hard iron; but at times the covering of joined shields, with which our men
 skilfully covered themselves as if by the protection of irregularly shaped
 arches, because of their continual movements yawned apart. The Persians, on the
 other hand, obstinately clinging to their walls, tried with every possible
 effort to avoid and baffle the death-dealing attacks.

But when the besiegers, carrying before them hurdles of wicker
 work, were already threatening the walls, the enemy's slingers and archers,
 others even rolling down huge stones, with torches and fiery shafts tried to keep them at a distance; then ballistae
 adapted for wooden arrows were bent and plied with screaming sound, sending
 forth showers of missiles; and scorpions, hauled to various places by skilled
 hands, hurled round stones.

But after renewed and repeated contests, as
 the heat increased towards the middle of the day and the sun burnt like fire,
 both sides, though intent upon the preparation of the siege-works and eager for
 battle, were forced to retire worn out and drenched with sweat.

With the same fixity of purpose, the
 contending parties on the following day also carried on the battle persistently
 with contests of various kinds, and separated on equal terms and with
 indecisive result. But in the face of every danger, the emperor, in closest
 company with combatants, urged on the destruction of the city, lest by
 lingering too long about its walls, he should be forced to abandon his greater
 projects.

But in case
 of dire necessity nothing is so trifling that it may not at times, even
 contrary to expectation, tip the balance in some great undertaking. For when,
 as often, the combatants were on the point of separating and the fighting
 slackened, a more violent blow from a ram which had shortly before been brought
 up shattered a tower which was higher than all the rest and strongly built of
 kiln-dried brick; and in its fall it carried with it amid a tremendous crash
 the adjacent side of the wall.

Thereupon,
 according to changes of the situation, the vigour of the besiegers and in turn
 the energy of the besieged was shown by splendid deeds. For nothing seemed too
 hard for our soldiers, inflamed as they were with wrath and resentment, nothing
 was formidable or terrible in the eyes of the defenders as they joined issue
 for their lives. For it was not until the fight had raged for a long time
 without result and blood had been shed in much slaughter on both sides, that
 the close of the day brought it to an end and the combatants then yielded to
 fatigue.

While this was going on in the light of day
 and before the eyes of all, it was reported to the emperor, who kept a watchful
 eye on everything, that the legionary soldiers to whom the laying of the mines
 had been assigned, having completed their underground passages and supported
 them by beams, had made their way to the bottom of the foundations of the
 walls, and were ready to sally out when he himself should give the word.

Therefore, although the night was far
 advanced, the trumpets sounded, and at the given signal for 
 entering battle they rushed to arms. And, as had been planned, the fronts of
 the wall were attacked on two sides in order that while the defenders were
 rushing here and there to avert the danger, the clink of the iron tools digging
 at the parts close by might not be heard, and that with no hindrance from
 within, the band of sappers might suddenly make its appearance.

When these matters were arranged as had been
 determined, and the defenders were fully occupied, the mines were opened and
 Exsuperius, a soldier of a cohort of the Victores, leaped out; next came
 Magnus, a tribune and Jovianus, a notary, followed by the whole daring band.
 They first slew those who were found in the room through which they had come
 into daylight; then advancing on tiptoe they cut down all the watch, who,
 according to the custom of the race, were loudly praising in song the justice
 and good fortune of their king.

It was
 thought that Mars himself (if it is lawful for the majesty of the gods to
 mingle with mortals) had been with Luscinus, when he
 stormed the camp of the Lucanians; and this was believed because in the heat of
 battle an armed warrior of formidable size was seen carrying scaling-ladders,
 and on the following day, when the army was reviewed, could not be found,
 although he was sought for with particular care; whereas, if he had been a
 soldier, from consciousness of a memorable exploit he would have presented
 himself of his own accord. But although then the doer of that noble deed was
 wholly unknown, on the present occasion those who had fought valiantly were
 made conspicuous by gifts of siege-crowns, and according to the
 ancient custom were commended in the presence of the assembled army.

At last the city, stripped of its defenders,
 laid open with many breaches and on the point of falling, was entered, and the
 violence of the enraged soldiers destroyed whatever they found in their way,
 without distinction of age or sex; others, in fear of imminent death, being
 threatened on one side by fire, on the other by the sword, shedding their last
 tears voluntarily hurled themselves headlong from the walls, and with all their
 limbs shattered endured for a time a life more awful than death, until they
 were put out of their misery.

Nabdates,
 however, the commandant of the garrison, with eighty followers, was dragged out
 alive, and when he was brought before the emperor, who was happy and inclined
 to mercy, orders were given that he be spared unharmed with the others and kept
 in custody.
 Then when the booty was divided according to the estimate of merit and hard
 service, the emperor, being content with little, took only a dumb boy who was
 offered to him, who was acquainted with sign- language and explained many
 things in which he was skilled by most graceful gestures, and was valued at
 three pieces of gold; and this he considered a reward for the victory that
 he had won that was both agreeable and deserving of gratitude.

But as to the maidens who were taken prisoners (and
 they were beautiful, as is usual in Persia, where the women excel in that
 respect) he refused to touch a single one or even to look on her, following the
 example of Alexander and Africanus, who avoided such conduct, lest those who
 showed themselves unwearied by hardships should be unnerved by passion.

In the course of these contests a builder on
 our side, whose name I do not recall, happened to be standing behind a
 scorpion, when a stone which one of the gunners had fitted insecurely to the
 sling was hurled backward. The unfortunate man was thrown on his back with his
 breast crushed, and killed; and his limbs were so torn asunder that not even
 parts of his whole body could be identified.

The emperor was on the point of leaving the
 spot, when a trustworthy informant reported that in some dark and hidden pits
 near the walls of the destroyed city, such as are numerous in those parts, a
 band of the enemy was treacherously lying in wait, intending to rush out
 unexpectedly and attack the rear of our army.

At once a band of foot soldiers of tried valour was sent to dislodge them,
 and when they could neither force an entrance through the openings nor lure to
 battle those hidden within, .they gathered straw and faggots and piled them
 before the entrances of the caves. The smoke from this, becoming thicker the
 narrower the space which it penetrated, killed some by suffocation; others
 scorched by the blast of fires, were forced to come out and met a swift death;
 and so, when all had fallen victims to steel or flame, our men quickly returned
 to their standards. Thus a great and populous city,
 destroyed by Roman strength and valour, was reduced to dust and ruins.

After these glorious deeds we passed over a
 series of bridges, made necessary by the union of many streams, and came to two
 fortresses built with special care. Here a son of the Persian king, who had
 come from Ctesiphon with some magnates and an armed force, tried to prevent
 Count Victor, who was leading our van, from crossing the river; but on seeing
 the throng of soldiers that followed, he retreated.

Then going on, we came to groves and fields
 rich with the bloom of many kinds of fruits; there we found a palace built in
 Roman style, with which we were so pleased that we left it untouched.

There was also in that same region an
 extensive round tract, enclosed by a strong fence and containing the wild
 beasts that were kept for the king's entertainment: lions with flowing manes,
 boars with bristling shoulders, and bears savage beyond all manner of madness
 (as they usually are in Persia), and other choice animals of enormous size; our
 cavalry burst the fastenings of the gates and butchered them all with
 hunting-spears and showers of missiles.

This
 district is fruitful in fields of grain and in cultivation. Not far from it is Coche, which they call Seleucia; there a camp was hastily fortified, and the entire army because of the
 convenience of water and fodder rested for two days. But the emperor went on
 ahead with some light-armed skirmishers, in order to visit a deserted city
 destroyed in former days by the emperor Carus ; in this there is an ever
 flowing spring forming a great pool which empties into the Tigris. There he saw
 the impaled bodies of many kinsmen of the man who (as I have already said)
 had surrendered the city of Pirisabora.

Here too Nabdates, who (as I have said)
 was dragged with eighty men from a hiding-place in a captured city,
 was burned alive, because
 early in the beginning of the siege he had secretly promised to betray the
 town, but had fought most vigorously, and after obtaining an unhoped-for pardon
 had gone to such a pitch of insolence as to assail Ormisda with every kind of
 insult.

We had gone on some distance, when we were
 shocked by a sad misfortune. For while three cohorts of light-armed skirmishers
 were fighting with a band of Persians which had burst forth from the suddenly
 opened gates of a town, others who had
 sallied forth from the opposite side of the river, cut off and butchered the
 pack-animals that followed us, along with a few foragers who were carelessly
 roaming about.

The emperor left the spot in a
 rage, grinding his teeth, and was already nearing the vicinity of Ctesiphon,
 when he came upon a lofty, well-fortified stronghold. He ventured to approach
 and examine the place, riding up to the walls with a few followers and thinking that he was not recognized; but when with
 somewhat too great rashness he appeared within arrow-shot, he could not escape
 recognition, and was at once exposed to a rain of various missiles and all but
 met death from a mural engine. But only his armour-bearer, who was close at his
 side, was wounded; he himself was protected by a close array of shields, and so
 escaped the great danger and went his way.

Fearfully enraged because of this, he
 resolved to besiege the fortress, and its garrison was intent upon a vigorous
 resistance, trusting to their position, which was all but inaccessible, and
 believing that the king, who was rapidly advancing with an impressive force,
 would shortly make his appearance.

Already
 the mantlets and all the other equipment required for a siege were being made
 ready, when, as the night chanced to be clear and the bright moonlight clearly
 revealed everything to those who stood upon the battlements, near the end of
 the second watch a throng quickly gathered and burst from the suddenly opened
 gates, and falling unawares on one of our cohorts, killed a great number,
 including also a tribune who tried to avert the danger.

While this was going on, the Persians, in the same
 way as before, attacked a part of our men from the opposite side of the river,
 killed some, and took a few alive. And from fear, and at the same time because
 they thought that the enemy had gained greater numbers, our men for a time were
 held irresolute; but when they had recovered their courage, had armed
 themselves as well as they could in the confusion, and our army, aroused by the
 trumpets' blast, was hastening to the spot with threatening
 cries, the attacking force retreated in terror, though without loss.

The emperor, roused to bitter anger, reduced the
 surviving members of the cohort, who had shown no spirit in resisting the
 marauders' attack, to the infantry service (which is more burdensome) with loss of rank.

This set him afire to destroy the fortress before
 which he had been so endangered, and he devoted
 his energies and thoughts to that end, never himself leaving the van, in order
 that by fighting among the foremost he might by his personal example rouse the
 soldiers to deeds of valour, as the witness and judge of their conduct. And so
 when he had exposed himself valiantly and long to extreme peril, after using
 every kind of attack and weapons, through the unanimous valour of the besiegers that same
 fortress was at last taken and destroyed by fire.

After this, in consideration of the difficult tasks already
 performed and those which impended, the army, exhausted by excessive toil, was
 given a rest and many kinds of provisions were distributed in abundance.
 However, after that time the palisade of the camp was more carefully
 constructed with a close array of stakes and a deep moat, since there was fear
 of sudden sallies and other secret attempts from Ctesiphon, which was now not
 far distant.

Then we came to an artificial river, by name
 Naarmalcha, meaning the kings' river, 
 which at that time was dried
 up. Here in days gone by Trajan, and after him Severus, had with immense effort
 caused the accumulated earth to be dug out, and had made a great canal, in
 order to let in the water from the Euphrates and give boats and ships access to
 the Tigris.

It seemed to Julian in all respects safest to
 clean out that same canal, which formerly the Persians, when in fear of a
 similar invasion, had blocked with a huge dam of stones. As soon as the canal
 was cleared, the dams were swept away by the great flow of water, and the fleet
 in safety covered thirty stadia and was carried into the channel of the Tigris.
 Thereupon bridges were at once made, and the army crossed and pushed on towards
 Coche.

Then, so that a timely rest might
 follow the wearisome toil, we encamped in a rich territory, abounding in
 orchards, vineyards, and green cypress groves. In its midst is a pleasant and
 shady dwelling, displaying in every part of the house, after the custom of that
 nation, paintings representing the king killing wild beasts in various kinds of
 hunting; for nothing in their country is painted or sculptured except slaughter
 in divers forms and scenes of war.

Since thus far everything had resulted as he
 desired, the Augustus now with greater confidence strode on to meet all
 dangers, hoping for so much from a fortune which had never failed him that he
 often dared many enterprises bordering upon rashness. He unloaded the stronger
 ships of those which carried provisions and artillery, and manned them each
 with eight hundred armed soldiers; then keeping by him the stronger part of the
 fleet, which he had formed into three divisions, in the first quiet of night he
 sent one part under Count Victor with orders speedily to cross the river and
 take possession of the enemy's side of the stream.

His generals in great alarm with unanimous entreaties tried to
 prevent him from taking this step, but could not shake the emperor's
 determination. The flag was raised according to his orders, and five ships
 immediately vanished from sight. But no sooner had they reached the opposite
 bank than they were assailed so persistently with firebrands and every kind of
 inflammable material, that ships and soldiers would have been consumed, had not
 the emperor, carried away by the keen vigour of his spirit, cried out that our
 soldiers had, as directed, raised the signal that they were already in
 possession of the shore, and ordered the entire fleet to hasten to the spot
 with all the speed of their oars.

The result
 was that the ships were saved uninjured, and the surviving soldiers, although
 assailed from above with stones and every kind of missiles, after a fierce
 struggle scaled the high, precipitous banks and held their position
 unyieldingly.

History acclaims Sertorius
 for swimming
 across the Rhone with arms and cuirass; but on this occasion
 some panic-stricken
 soldiers, fearing to remain behind after the signal had been given, lying on
 their shields, which are broad and curved, and clinging fast to them, though
 they showed little skill in guiding them, kept up with the swift ships across
 the eddying stream.

The Persians opposed to
 us serried bands of mail-clad horsemen in such close order that the gleam of
 moving bodies covered with closely fitting plates of iron dazzled the eyes of
 those who looked upon them, while the whole throng of horses was protected by
 coverings of leather. The calvalry was backed up by companies of infantry, who,
 protected by oblong, curved shields covered with wickerwork and raw hides,
 advanced in very close order. Behind these were elephants, looking like walking
 hills, and, by the movements of their enormous bodies, they threatened
 destruction to all who came near them, dreaded as they were from past
 experience.

Hereupon the emperor, following
 Homeric tactics, filled the space between the lines with the weakest of the infantry,
 fearing that if they formed part of the van and shamefully gave way, they might
 carry off the rest with them; or if they were posted in the rear behind the
 centuries, they might run off at will with no one to check them. He himself
 with the light-armed auxiliaries hastened now to the front, and now to the
 rear.

So, when both sides were near enough to
 look each other in the face, the Romans, gleaming in their
 crested helmets and swinging their shields as if to the rhythm of the
 anapaestic foot, advanced slowly; and the light-armed skirmishers opened the
 battle by hurling their javelins, while the earth everywhere was turned to dust
 and swept away in a swift whirlwind.

And
 when the battle-cry was raised in the usual manner by both sides and the
 trumpets' blare increased the ardour of the men, here and there they fought
 hand-to-hand with spears and drawn swords; and the soldiers were freer from the
 danger of the arrows the more quickly they forced their way into the enemy's
 ranks. Meanwhile Julian was busily engaged in giving support to those who gave
 way and in spurring on the laggards, playing the part both of a valiant
 fellow-soldier and of a commander.

Finally,
 the first battle-line of the Persians began to waver, and at first slowly, then
 at quick step, turned back and made for the neighbouring city with their armour
 well heated up. Our soldiers pursued them, wearied
 though they also were after fighting on the scorching plains from sunrise to
 the end of the day, and following close at their heels and hacking at their
 legs and backs, drove the whole force with Pigranes, the Surena, and Narseus,
 their most distinguished generals, in headlong flight to the very walls of
 Ctesiphon.

And they would have pressed in
 through the gates of the city, mingled with the throng of fugitives, had not
 the general called Victor, who had himself received a flesh-wound in the
 shoulder from an arrow, raising his hand and shouting,
 restrained them; for he feared that the excited soldiers, if they rashly
 entered the circuit of the walls and could find no way out, might be overcome
 by weight of numbers.

Let the poets of old sing of Hector's
 battles and extol the valour of the Thessalian leader; 
 let long ages tell of Sophanes, Aminias, Callimachus, Cynaegirus, those glorious high lights of
 the Medic wars: but not less distinguished was the valour of some of our
 soldiers on that day, as is shown by the admission of all men.

After their fear was past, trampling on the
 overthrown bodies of their foes, our soldiers, still dripping with blood
 righteously shed, gathered at their emperor's tent, rendering him praise and
 thanks because he had won so glorious a victory, everywhere without recognition
 whether he was leader or soldier, and considering the welfare of others rather
 than his own. For as many as 2500 Persians had been slain, with the loss of
 only seventy of our men.

Julian addressed many of them by name, whose
 heroic deeds performed with unshaken courage he himself had witnessed, and
 rewarded them with naval, civic, and camp crowns.

Fully convinced that similar successes would
 follow these, he prepared to offer many victims to Mars the Avenger; but of ten
 fine bulls that were brought for this purpose nine, even before they were
 brought to the altar, of their own accord sank in sadness to the ground; but
 the tenth broke his bonds and escaped, and after he had been
 with difficulty brought back and sacrificed, showed ominous signs. Upon seeing
 these, Julian in deep indignation cried out, and called Jove to witness, that
 he would make no more offerings to Mars; and he did not sacrifice again, since
 he was carried off by a speedy death.

Having held council with his most
 distinguished generals about the siege of Ctesiphon, the opinion of some was
 adopted, who felt sure that the undertaking was rash and untimely, since the
 city, impregnable by its situation alone, was well defended; and, besides, it
 was believed that the king would soon appear with a formidable force.

So the better opinion prevailed, and the
 most careful of emperors, recognizing its advantage, sent Arintheus with a band
 of light-armed infantry, to lay waste the surrounding country, which was rich
 in herds and crops; Arintheus was also bidden, with equal energy to pursue the
 enemy, who had been lately scattered and concealed by impenetrable by-paths and
 their familiar hiding-places.

But Julian, ever driven on by his eager
 ambitions, made light of words of warning, and upbraiding his generals for
 urging him through cowardice and love of ease to loose his hold on the Persian
 kingdom, which he had already all but won; with the river on
 his left and with ill-omened guides leading the way, resolved to march rapidly
 into the interior.

And it seemed as if
 Bellona herself lighted the fire with fatal torch, when he gave orders that all
 the ships should be burned, with the exception of twelve of the smaller ones,
 which he decided to transport on wagons as helpful for making bridges. And he
 thought that this plan had the advantage that the fleet, if abandoned, could
 not be used by the enemy, or at any rate, that nearly 20,000 soldiers would not
 be employed in transporting and guiding the ships, as had been the case since
 the beginning of the campaign.

Then, as every man murmured, in fear for his
 life, and manifest truth made clear, that if the dryness of the country or high
 mountains made it necessary to retreat, they could not return to the waters;
 and as the deserters, on being put to the torture, openly confessed that they
 had used deceit, orders were given to use the greatest efforts of the army to
 put out the flames. But the frightful spread of the fire had already consumed
 the greater number of the ships, and only the twelve could be saved unharmed
 which had been set aside to be kept.

By this disaster the fleet was needlessly
 lost, but Julian, trusting to his united army, since none of the soldiers was
 distracted by other duties, and now stronger in numbers, advanced into the
 interior, where the fruitful country furnished an abundance of supplies.

On learning this the enemy, in order to
 torment us with hunger, set fire to the plants and the ripe grain; and we,
 being prevented from advancing by the conflagration, were forced to stay in a
 permanent camp until the flames should die down. The
 Persians, too, began to harass us at long range, now purposely spreading out,
 sometimes opposing us in close order, so that from a distance it seemed as if
 the king's aid had already arrived; and we were led to think that it was for
 that reason that they had made such bold attacks and unusual attempts.

Yet the emperor and the soldiers were
 troubled for this reason—that since the ships had been rashly destroyed, there
 was no means of making a bridge; and the movements of the advancing enemy could
 not be halted, whose approach was shown by the bright gleam of their armour,
 which skilfully fitted every limb. And there was also another great evil, in
 that the reinforcements that were awaited under Arsaces and our other generals
 did not appear, being hindered by the reasons already mentioned.

Under these conditions, in order to reassure
 the anxious soldiers, the emperor gave orders that some of the prisoners, who
 were naturally slender, as almost all the Persians are, besides being now thin
 from exhaustion, should be placed before them; then, looking towards our men,
 he said: Behold those whom your heroic hearts think to be men, mere ugly
 she-goats disfigured with filth, who, as abundant experience has shown,
 throw away their arms and take to flight before they come
 to grips.

After these words the prisoners were led
 away, and a council was held to discuss the situation. And after much
 interchange of opinion, the inexperienced mob crying that we must return by the
 way we had come, and the emperor steadfastly opposing them, while he and many
 others pointed out that it was out of the question to go back through a flat
 country of wide extent where all the fodder and crops had been destroyed, and
 where what remained of the burnt villages was hideous from the utmost
 destitution; moreover, since the frosts of winter were now melting the whole
 soil was soaked, and the streams had passed the bounds of their banks and
 become raging torrents.

Still another
 difficulty faced the undertaking, in that in those lands heated by the sun's
 rays, every place is filled with such swarms of flies and gnats that their
 flight hides the light of day and the sight of the stars that twinkle at night.

And since human wisdom availed nothing,
 after long wavering and hesitation we built altars and slew victims, in order
 to learn the purpose of the gods, whether they advised us to return through
 Assyria, or to march slowly along the foot of the mountains and unexpectedly
 lay waste Chiliocomum, situated near Corduena; but on inspection of the organs
 it was announced that neither course would suit the signs.

Nevertheless it was decided, since all hope of
 anything better was cut off, to seize upon Corduena. Accordingly, on the
 sixteenth day of June, camp was broken, and the emperor was
 on his way at break of day, when smoke or a great whirling cloud of dust was
 seen; so that one was led to think that it was herds of wild asses, of which
 there is a countless number in those regions, and that they were travelling
 together so that pressed body to body they might foil the fierce attacks of
 lions.

Some believed that Arsaces and our
 generals were coming at last, aroused by the reports that the emperor was
 besieging Ctesiphon with great forces; and some declared that the Persians had
 waylaid us.

Under such uncertain conditions,
 in order that no disaster might befall, the trumpets called the ranks together
 and we encamped in a grassy valley near a stream; and after measuring off a
 camp we rested in safety behind a multiple row of shields arranged in a circle.
 For, not until evening, because of the thick dust, could we make out what it
 was that we saw so dimly.

Now this night, which was lighted by the
 gleam of no stars, we passed as is usual in difficult and doubtful
 circumstances, as fear prevented anyone from daring to sit down or to close his
 eyes in sleep. But no sooner had the first light of day appeared, than the
 glittering coats of mail, girt with bands of steel, and the
 gleaming cuirasses, scen from afar, showed that the king's forces were at hand.

Our soldiers, inflamed by this sight,
 since only a small stream separated them from the enemy, were in haste to
 attack them, but the emperor restrained them; however, a fierce fight took
 place not far from our very rampart between our outposts and those of the
 Persians, in which Machameus, general of one of our battalions, fell. His
 brother Maurus, later a general in Phoenicia, tried to protect him, and after
 cutting down the man who had killed his brother, he terrified all who came in
 his way, and although he was himself partly disabled by an arrow through his
 shoulder, by main strength he succeeded in bringing off Machameus, already pale
 with approaching death, from the fray.

And when, because of the almost unendurable
 heat and the repeated attacks, both sides were growing weary, finally the
 enemy's troops were utterly routed and fled in all directions. As we withdrew
 from the spot, the Saracens followed us for some distance but were forced to
 retreat through fear of our infantry; a little later they joined with the main
 body of the Persians and attacked with greater safety, hoping to carry off the
 Romans' baggage; but on seeing the emperor they returned to the cavalry held in
 reserve.

Leaving this region we came to an
 estate called Hucumbra, where contrary to our expectation we refreshed
 ourselves for two days, procuring everything that was useful and an abundance
 of grain; then we moved on after immediately burning everything except such
 things as time allowed us to carry off.

On the following day, as the army was
 advancing more quietly, the Persians unexpectedly attacked the last division,
 which on that day chanced to have the duty of bringing up the rear, and would
 have slain them with little trouble, had not our cavalry, who were near by,
 quickly noticed this, and, spreading widely over the open valleys, prevented so
 great a disaster, inflicting wounds on those who came up with them.

In this battle Adaces, a distinguished satrap, fell;
 he had once been sent as an envoy to the emperor Constantius and kindly
 received. The man who killed him brought his armour to Julian and received the
 reward which he deserved.

On that same day
 the legions made complaint of the cavalry troop of the Tertiaci, on the ground
 that just as they themselves were forcing their way into the opposing lines of
 the enemy, the Tertiaci had gradually given way and so had damped the ardour of
 almost the entire army.

At this the emperor
 was roused to righteous indignation, had their standards taken from them and
 their lances broken, and forced all those who were charged with running away to
 march with the packs, baggage, and prisoners; but their leader, who alone had
 fought bravely, was given the command of another troop, whose tribune was found
 guilty of having shamefully left the field.

Also four other tribunes of the cavalry were dismissed for similar disgraceful
 conduct; for in view of the impending difficulties the emperor contented
 himself with this mild form of punishment.

We then advanced for seventy stadia, while
 every kind of supplies grew less, since the grass and grain
 had been burned and every man had to snatch from the very flames whatever
 produce and fodder he could carry.

Leaving
 this place as well, the whole army had come to a district called Maranga, when
 near daybreak a huge force of Persians appeared with Merena, general of their
 cavalry, two sons of the king, and many other magnates.

Moreover, all the companies were clad in iron, and
 all parts of their bodies were covered with thick plates, so fitted that the
 stiff joints conformed with those of their limbs; and the forms of human faces
 were so skilfully fitted to their heads, that, since their entire bodies were
 plated with metal, arrows that fell upon them could lodge only where they could
 see a little through tiny openings fitted to the circle of the eye, or where
 through the tips of their noses they were able to get a little breath.

Of these some, who were armed with pikes,
 stood so motionless that you would think them held fast by clamps of bronze.
 Hard by, the archers (for that nation has especially trusted in this art from
 the very cradle) were
 bending their flexible bows with such wide-stretched arms that the strings
 touched their right breasts, while the arrow-points were close to their left
 hands; and by a highly skilful stroke of the fingers the arrows flew hissing
 forth and brought with them deadly wounds.

Behind them the gleaming elephants, with their awful figures and savage, gaping
 mouths could scarcely be endured by the faint-hearted; and their trumpeting,
 their odour, and their strange aspect alarmed the horses
 still more.

Seated upon these, their drivers
 carried knives with handles bound to their right hands, remembering the
 disaster suffered at Nisibis; and if the strength of the driver proved no match
 for the excited brute, that he might not turn upon his own people (as happened
 then) and crush masses of them to the ground, he would with a mighty stroke cut
 through the vertebra which separates the head from the neck. For long ago
 Hasdrubal, brother of Hannibal, discovered that in that way brutes of this kind
 could quickly be killed.

Although these sights caused no little fear,
 the emperor, guarded by troops of armed men and with his trustworthy generals,
 full of confidence, as the great and dangerous power of the enemy demanded,
 drew up his soldiers in the form of a crescent with curving wings to meet the
 enemy.

And in order that the onset of the
 bowmen might not throw our ranks into confusion, he advanced at a swift pace,
 and so ruined the effectiveness of the arrows. Then the usual signal for
 battle was given, and the Roman infantry in close order with mighty effort
 drove the serried ranks of the enemy before them.

And in the heat of the combat that followed, the clash of shields,
 the shouts of the men, and the doleful sound of the whirring arrows continued
 without intermission. The plains were covered with blood and dead bodies, but
 the Persian losses were greater; for they often lacked endurance in battle and
 could with difficulty maintain a close contest man to man, since they were
 accustomed to fight bravely at long range, but if they
 perceived that their forces were giving way, as they retreated they would shoot
 their arrows back like a shower of rain and keep the enemy from a bold pursuit.
 So by the weight of great strength the Parthians were driven back, and when the
 signal for retreat was given in the usual manner, our soldiers, long wearied by
 the fiery course of the sun, returned to their tents, encouraged to dare
 greater deeds of valour in the future.

In this battle (as was said) the loss of the
 Persians was clearly the greater, while that of our men was very slight. But
 noteworthy among the various calamities of the combats was the death of
 Vetranio, a valiant fighter, who
 commanded the legion of the Zianni.

After this three days were devoted to a
 truce, while each man gave attention to his own wound or his neighbour's, but
 since we were without supplies we were tormented by hunger that was already
 unendurable; and because grain and fodder had everywhere been burned, and both
 men and animals experienced extreme danger, a great part of the food which the
 pack-animals of the tribunes and generals carried was distributed even to the
 lowest soldiers, who were in dire want.

And
 the emperor, who had no dainties awaiting him, after the manner of princes, but
 a scant portion of porridge under the low poles of a humble tent—a meal which
 would have been scorned even by one who served as a common 
 soldier- regardless of himself
 distributed through the tents of the poorer of his men whatever was demanded
 for his own needs.

Moreover, when he was
 forced for a time to indulge in an anxious and restless sleep, he threw it off
 in his usual manner, and, following the example of Julius Caesar, did some
 writing in his tent. Once when in the darkness of night he was intent upon the
 lofty thought of some philosopher, he saw somewhat dimly, as he admitted to his
 intimates, that form of the protecting deity of the state which he had seen in
 Gaul when he was rising to Augustan dignity, but now
 with veil over both head and horn of plenty, sorrowfully passing out through
 the curtains of his tent.

And although for a
 moment he remained sunk in stupefaction, yet rising above all fear, he
 commended his future fate to the decrees of heaven, and now fully awake, the
 night being now far advanced, he left his bed, which was spread on the ground,
 and prayed to the gods with rites designed to avert their displeasure. Then he
 thought he saw a blazing torch of fire, like a falling star, which furrowed
 part of the air and disappeared. And he was filled with fear lest the
 threatening star of Mars had thus visibly shown itself.

That fiery brilliance was of the kind that we
 call διάσσων, 
 which never falls anywhere or touches the earth; for anyone
 who believes that bodies can fall from heaven is rightly considered a layman,
 or a fool. But this sort of thing
 happens in many ways, and it will be enough to explain a few of them.

Some believe that sparks glowing from the ethereal force, are not strong enough to go very far and
 then are extinguished; or at least that beams of light are forced into thick
 clouds, and because of the heavy clash throw out sparks, or when some light has
 come in contact with a cloud. For this takes the form of a star, and falls
 downward, so long as it is sustained by the strength of the fire; but,
 exhausted by the greatness of the space which it traverses, it loses itself in
 the air, passing back into the substance whose friction gave it all that heat.

Accordingly, before dawn the Etruscan
 soothsayers were hastily summoned, and asked what this unusual kind of star
 portended. Their reply was, that any undertaking at that time must be most
 carefully avoided, pointing out that in the Tarquitian books, under the rubric On signs from heaven 
 it was written, that when a meteor was seen in the sky, battle ought not to be
 joined, or anything similar attempted.

When
 the emperor scorned this also, as well as many other signs, the soothsayers
 begged that at least he would put off his departure for some hours; but even
 this they could not gain, since the emperor was opposed to the whole science of
 divination, but since day had now
 dawned, camp was broken.

When we marched on from this place, the
 Persians, since their frequent losses made them dread regular battles with the
 infantry, laid ambuscades, and secretly attended us, from the high hills on
 both sides watching our companies as they marched, so that the soldiers,
 suspicious of this, all day long neither raised a palisade nor fortified
 themselves with stakes.

And while the flanks
 were strongly protected and the army, as the nature of the ground made
 necessary, advanced in square formation, but with the battalions in open order,
 it was reported to the emperor, who even then unarmed had gone forward to
 reconnoitre, that the rear guard had suddenly been attacked from behind.

Excited by the misfortune, he forgot his coatof-
 mail, and merely caught up a shield in the
 confusion; but as he was hastening to bring aid to those in the rear, he was
 recalled by another danger— the news that the van, which he had just left, was
 just as badly off.

While he was hastening to
 restore order there without regard to his own peril, a Parthian band of mailed
 cavalry on another side attacked the centre companies, and quickly overflowed
 the left wing, which gave way, since our men could hardly endure the smell and
 trumpeting of the elephants, they were trying to end the battle with pikes and volleys of arrows.

But while the emperor rushed hither and thither amid the foremost ranks of
 the combatants, our light-armed forces leaped forth upon them, and as the
 Persians turned in flight, they hacked at their legs and backs, and those of
 the elehants.

Julian, careless of his own
 safety, shouting and raising his hands tried to make it clear to his men that
 the enemy had fled in disorder, and, to rouse them to a still more furious
 pursuit, rushed boldly into the fight. His guards, who had
 scattered in their alarm, were crying to him from all sides to get clear of the
 mass of fugitives, as dangerous as the fall of a badly built roof, when
 suddenly—no one knows whence —a cavalryman's spear grazed the skin of his arm, pierced
 his ribs, and lodged in the lower lobe of his liver.

While he was trying to pluck this out with his right hand, he felt
 that the sinews of his fingers were cut through on both sides by the sharp
 steel. Then he fell from his horse, all present hastened to the spot, he was
 taken to camp and given medical treatment.

And soon, as the pain diminished somewhat, he ceased to fear, and fighting with
 great spirit against death, he called for his arms and his horse in order by
 his return to the fight to restore the confidence of his men, and troubling
 nothing about himself, to show that he was filled with great anxiety for the
 safety of the others; with the same vigour, though under different conditions,
 with which the famous leader Epaminondas, when mortally wounded at Mantinia and
 carried from the field, took particular care to ask for his shield. And when he saw it near him, he died of his
 terrible wound, happy; for he who gave up his life without fear dreaded the
 loss of his shield.

But since Julian's
 strength was not equal to his will, and he was weakened by great loss of blood,
 he lay still, having lost all hope for his life because, on inquiry, he learned
 that the place where he had fallen was called Phrygia. 
 For he had heard that it was fate's decree that he should die there.

But when the emperor had been taken to his tent, the
 soldiers, burning with wrath and grief, with incredible vigour rushed to avenge
 him, clashing their spears against their shields, resolved even to die if it
 should be the will of fate. And although the high clouds of dust blinded the
 eyes, and the burning heat weakened the activity of their limbs, yet as though
 discharged by the loss of their
 leader, without sparing themselves, they rushed upon the swords of the enemy.

On the other hand, the exulting Persians
 sent forth such a shower of arrows that they prevented their opponents from
 seeing the bowmen. Before them slowly marched the elephants, which with their
 huge size of body and horrifying crests, struck terror into horses and men.
 Further off, the trampling of the combatants, the groans of the falling, the
 panting of the horses, and the ring of arms were heard, until finally both
 parties were weary of inflicting wounds and the darkness of night ended the
 battle.

On that day fifty Persian grandees
 and satraps fell, besides a great number of common soldiers, and among them the
 distinguished generals Merena and Nohodares
 were slain. The
 boastfulness of antiquity may view with amazement the twenty battles of
 Marcellus in various places; it may add Sicinius
 Dentatus, honoured
 with a multitude of military crowns; it may besides admire Sergius, who (they say) was wounded twenty-three times in different battles, and
 whose last descendant Catiline tarnished the glorious renown of these victories
 with an indelible stain. Yet the joy in our success was marred by sorrow.

For while the fight went on everywhere after
 the withdrawal of the leader, the right wing of the army was exhausted, and
 Anatolius, at that time chief marshal of the court, was killed. Salutius, the
 prefect, was in extreme danger, but was saved by the help of his adjutant, and
 by a fortunate chance escaped death, while Phosphorius, a councillor who
 chanced to be at his side, was lost. Some of the court officials and soldiers, amid many dangers, took refuge in a neighbouring
 fortress, and were able to rejoin the army only after three days.

While all this was going on, Julian, lying
 in his tent, addressed his disconsolate and sorrowful companions as follows:
 Most opportunely, friends, has the time now come for me to leave this
 life, which I rejoice to return to Nature, at her demand, like an honourable
 debtor, not (as some might think) bowed down with sorrow, but having learned
 from the general conviction of philosophers how much happier the soul is
 than the body, and bearing in mind that whenever a better condition is
 severed from a worse, one should rather rejoice than
 grieve. Thinking also of this, that the gods of heaven themselves have given
 death to some men of the greatest virtue as their supreme reward. But this gift, I know well, was given to me, that I might not
 yield to great difficulties, nor ever bow down and humiliate myself; for
 experience teaches me that all sorrows overcome only weaklings, but yield to
 the steadfast. I do not regret what I
 have done, nor does the recollection of any grave misdeed torment me; either
 when I was consigned to the shade and obscurity, or after I attained the
 principate, I have preserved my soul, as taking its origin from relationship
 with the gods, stainless (in my opinion), conducting civil affairs with
 moderation, and making and repelling wars only after mature deliberation.
 And yet success and well-laid plans do not always go hand in hand, since
 higher powers claim for themselves the outcome of all enterprises.
 Considering, then, that the aim of a
 just rule is the welfare and security of its subjects, I was always, as you
 know, more inclined to peaceful measures, excluding from my conduct all
 license, the corrupter of deeds and of character. On the other hand, I
 depart rejoicing that, so often as the state, like an imperious parent, has
 exposed me deliberately to dangers, I have stood four-square, accustomed as
 I am to tread under foot the storms of fate. And I shall not be ashamed to admit, that I learned long ago
 through the words of a trustworthy prophecy, that I should perish by the
 sword. And therefore I thank the eternal power that I
 meet my end, not from secret plots, nor from the pain of a tedious illness,
 nor by the fate of a criminal, but that in the mid-career of glorious renown
 I have been found worthy of so noble a departure from this world. For he is
 justly regarded as equally weak and cowardly who desires to die when he
 ought not, or he who seeks to avoid death when his time has come. So much it will be enough to say, since my vital
 strength is failing. But as to the choice of an emperor, I am prudently
 silent, lest I pass over some worthy person through ignorance, or if I name
 someone whom I consider suitable, and perhaps another is preferred, I may
 expose him to extreme danger. But as an honourable foster-child of our
 country, I wish that a good ruler may be found to succeed me.

After having spoken these words in a calm
 tone, wishing to distribute his private property to his closer friends, as if
 with the last stroke of his pen, he called for Anatolius, his chief
 court-marshal. And when the prefect Salutius replied He has been
 happy, he understood that he had been slain, and he who recently
 with such courage had been indifferent to his own fate, grieved deeply over
 that of a friend.

Meanwhile, all who were
 present wept, where- upon even then maintaining his authority, he chided them,
 saying that it was unworthy to mourn for a prince who was called to union with
 heaven and the stars.

As this made them all
 silent, he himself engaged with the philosophers Maximus and Priscus in an intricate discussion about the nobility of the
 soul. Suddenly the wound in his
 pierced side opened wide, the pressure of the blood checked
 his breath, and after a draught of cold water for which he had asked, in the
 gloom of midnight he passed quietly away in the thirty-second year of his age.
 Born in Constantinople, he was left alone in childhood by the death both of his
 father Constantius (who, after the decease of his brother Constantinus, met his
 end with many others in the strife for the succession to the throne)
 and of his mother Basilina, who came from an old and noble
 family.

He was a man truly to be numbered with the
 heroic spirits, distinguished for his illustrious deeds and his inborn majesty.
 For since there are, in the opinion of the philosophers, four principal
 virtues, 
 moderation, wisdom, justice, and courage and corresponding to these also some
 external characteristics, such as knowledge of the art of war, authority, good
 fortune, and liberality, these as a whole and separately Julian cultivated with
 constant zeal.

In the first place, he was so conspicuous for
 inviolate chastity that after the loss of his wife 
 it is well known that he never gave a thought to love: bearing in mind what we
 read in Plato, that Sophocles, the tragic poet, when he was
 asked, at a great age, whether he still had congress with women, said no,
 adding that he was glad that he had escaped from this passion as from some mad
 and cruel master.

Also, to
 give greater strength to this principle, Julian often repeated the saying of
 the lyric poet Bacchylides, whom he delighted to read, who declares that as a
 skilful painter gives a face beauty, just so chastity gives charm to a life of
 high aims. This blemish in the mature strength of manhood he avoided with such
 care, that even his most confidential attendants never (as often happens)
 accused him even of a suspicion of any lustfulness.

Moreover, this kind of self-restraint was
 made still greater through his moderation in eating and sleeping, which he
 strictly observed at home and abroad. For in time of peace the frugality of his
 living and his table excited the wonder of those who could judge aright, as if
 he intended soon to resume the philosopher's cloak. And on his various
 campaigns, he was often seen partaking of common and scanty food, sometimes
 standing up like a common soldier.

As soon as
 he had refreshed his body, which was inured to toil, by a brief rest in sleep,
 he awoke and in person attended to the changing of the guards and pickets, and
 after these serious duties took refuge in the pursuit of learning.

And if the nightly lamps amid which he worked could
 have given oral testimony, they would certainly have borne witness that there
 was a great difference between him and some other princes, since they knew that
 he did not indulge in pleasure, even to the extent which nature demanded.

Then there were very many proofs of his
 wisdom, of which it will suffice to mention a few. He was thoroughly skilled in
 the arts of war and peace, greatly inclined to courtesy, and claiming for himself only so much deference as he thought preserved him
 from contempt and insolence. He was older in virtue than in years. He gave
 great attention to the administration of justice, and was sometimes an
 unbending judge; also a very strict censor in regulating conduct, with a calm
 contempt for riches, scorning everything mortal; in short, he often used to
 declare that it was shameful for a wise man, since he possessed a soul, to seek
 honour from bodily gifts.

By what high qualities he was distinguished
 in his administration of justice is clear from many indications: first, because
 taking into account circumstances and persons, he was awe-inspiring but free
 from cruelty. Secondly, because he checked vice by making examples of a few,
 and also because he more frequently threatened men with the sword than actually
 used it.

Finally, to be brief, it is well
 known that he was so merciful towards some open enemies who plotted against
 him, that he corrected the severity of their punishment by his inborn
 mildness.

His fortitude is shown by the great number
 of his battles and by his conduct of wars, as well as by his endurance of
 excessive cold and heat. And although bodily duty is demanded from a soldier,
 but mental duty from a general, yet he once boldly met a savage enemy in battle
 and struck him down, and when our men gave ground,
 he several times alone checked their flight by opposing his breast to them. When destroying the
 king- doms of the raging Germans and on the burning sands of Persia he added to
 the confidence of his soldiers by fighting among the
 foremost.

There are many notable evidences
 of his knowledge of military affairs: the sieges of cities and fortresses,
 undertaken amid the extremest dangers, the varied forms in which he arranged
 his lines of battle, the choice of safe and healthful places for camps, the
 wisely planned posting of frontier guards and field pickets.

His authority was so well established that, being
 feared as well as deeply loved as one who shared in the dangers and hardships
 of his men, he both in the heat of fierce battles condemned cowards to
 punishment, and, while he was still only a Caesar, he controlled his men even without
 pay, when they were fighting with savage tribes, as I have long ago said. And
 when they were armed and mutinous, he did not fear to address them and threaten
 to return to private life, if they continued to be insubordinate.

Finally, one thing it will be enough to know in
 token of many, namely, that merely by a speech he induced his Gallic troops,
 accustomed to snow and to the Rhine, to traverse long stretches of country and
 follow him through torrid Assyria to the very frontiers of the Medes.

His success was so conspicuous that for a
 long time he seemed to ride on the shoulders of Fortune herself, his faithful
 guide as he in victorious career surmounted enormous difficulties. And after he
 left the western region, so long as he was on earth all nations preserved
 perfect quiet, as if a kind of earthly wand of Mercury were pacifying them.

There are many undoubted tokens of his generosity. Among these are his very light imposition of
 tribute, his remission of the crown-money, the cancellation of many debts made great
 by long standing, the impartial
 treatment of disputes between the privy purse and private persons, the
 restoration of the revenues from taxes to various states along with their
 lands, except such as previous high officials had alienated by a kind of legal
 sale; furthermore, that he was never eager to increase his wealth, which he
 thought was better secured in the hands of its possessors; and he often
 remarked that Alexander the Great, when asked where his treasures were, gave
 the kindly answer, in the hands of my friends.

Having set down his good qualities, so many
 as I could know, let me now come to an account of his faults, although they can
 be summed up briefly. In disposition ho was somewhat inconsistent, but he
 controlled this by the excellent habit of submitting, when he went wrong, to
 correction.

He was somewhat talkative, and
 very seldom silent; also too much given to the consideration of omens and
 portents, so that in this respect he seemed to equal the emperor Hadrian.
 Superstitious rather than truly religious, he sacrificed innumerable victims
 without regard to cost, so that one might believe that if he had returned from
 the Parthians, there would soon have been a scarcity of cattle; like the Caesar
 Marcus, of whom (as we learn) the following Greek
 distich was written: 
 We the white steers do Marcus Caesar greet. 
 Win once again, and death we all must meet.

He delighted in the applause of the mob, and
 desired beyond measure praise for the slightest matters, and the desire for
 popularity often led him to converse with unworthy men.

But yet, in spite of this, his own saying
 might be regarded as sound, namely, that the ancient goddess of Justice, whom
 Aratus raised to heaven because of her impatience
 with men's sins, returned to earth again during his rule, were it not that
 sometimes he acted arbitrarily, and now and then seemed unlike himself.

For the laws which he enacted were not
 oppressive, but stated exactly what was to be done or left undone, with a few
 exceptions, For example, it was a harsh law that forbade Christian rhetoricians and grammarians to teach, unless they
 consented to worship the pagan deities.

And
 also it was almost unbearable that in the municipal towns he unjustly allowed
 persons to be made members of the councils, who, either as foreigners, or
 because of personal privileges or birth, were wholly Exempt from such
 assemblies.

The figure and proportion of his body were
 as follows. He was of medium stature. His hair lay smooth as if it had been
 combed, his beard was shaggy and trimmed so as to end in a point, his eyes were
 fine and full of fire, an indication of the acuteness of his mind. His eyebrows
 were handsome, his nose very straight, his mouth somewhat large with a
 pendulous lower lip. His neck was thick and somewhat bent, his shoulders large
 and broad. Moreover, right from top to toe he was a man of straight well-proportioned bodily frame and as a result was strong and
 a good runner.

And since his detractors alleged that he had
 stirred up the storms of war anew, to the ruin of his country, they should know
 clearly through the teachings of truth, that it was not Julian, but
 Constantine, who kindled the Parthian fires, when he confided too greedily in
 the lies of Metrodorus, as I explained fully some time
 ago.

This it was that caused the annihilation of
 our armies, the capture so often of whole companies of soldiers, the
 destruction of cities, the seizure or overthrow of fortresses, the exhaustion
 of our provinces by heavy expenses, and the threats of the Persians which were
 soon brought into effect, as they claimed everything as far as Bithynia and the
 shores of the Propontis.

But in Gaul, where
 barbarian arrogance grew apace, as the Germans swarmed through our territories,
 and the Alps were on the point of being forced with the resulting devastation
 of Italy, after the inhabitants had suffered many unspeakable woes, nothing was
 left save tears and fears, since the recollection of the past was bitter and
 the anticipation of what threatened was sadder still: all this that young man,
 sent to the western region, a Caesar in name only,
 wholly corrected
 with almost incredible speed, driving kings before him like common slaves.

And in order to restore the Orient with
 similar energy, he attacked the Persians, and he would have won from them a
 triumph and a surname, if the decrees of heaven had been in accord with his
 plans and his splendid deeds.

And although
 we know that some men thoughtlessly laugh at experience to such an extent that
 they sometimes renew wars when defeated, and go to sea again after shipwreck,
 and return to meet difficulties to which they have often yielded, there
 are some who blame a prince who had been everywhere victorious for trying to
 equal his past exploits.

After this there was no time for laments or
 tears. For after caring for Julian's body as well as the means at hand and the
 circumstances allowed, in order that he might be laid to rest in the place
 which he had previously chosen, at dawn of the following day, which was the twenty-seventh of
 June, with the enemy swarming about us on every side, the generals of the army
 assembled, and having called in the commanders of the legions and of the
 squadrons of cavalry, they consulted about choosing an emperor.

They were divided into turbulent 
 factions, for Arintheus and Victor, with the other survivors of the palace
 officials of Constantius, looked around for a suitable man from their party; on
 the other hand, Nevitta and Dagalaifus, as well as the chiefs of the Gauls,
 sought such a man among their fellow-soldiers.

After some discussion, all by general agreement united on Salutius, and when
 he pleaded illness and old age, one of the soldiers of higher rank, perceiving Salutius' determined
 opposition, said: What would you do if the emperor (as often happens)
 had in his absence committed to you the conduct of this war? Would you not
 put aside everything else and save the soldiers from the threatening
 dangers? Do that now, and if we are permitted to see Mesopotamia, the united
 votes of both armies will
 decide upon a lawful emperor.

During this delay, which was slight
 considering the importance of the matter, before the various opinions had been
 weighed, a few hot-headed soldiers (as often happens in an extreme crisis)
 chose an emperor in the person of Jovianus, commander of the household troops, who had claims for some slight consideration
 because of the services of his father. For he was the son of Varronianus, a
 well- known count, who not long since, after ending
 his military career, had retired to a quieter life.

Now Jovian, as soon as he had been clothed in the imperial robes and
 suddenly brought out from his tent, already hastening through the ranks of the
 soldiers, who were getting ready to march.

And since the army extended for four miles, those in the 
 van, on hearing some men shouting Jovianus Augustus, repeated
 the same sounds much more loudly; for struck by the near relationship of the
 name, since it differed in only one letter, 
 they thought that Julian had recovered and was being brought out amid the usual
 great acclaim. But when Jovianus a taller and bent men was seen advancing, they
 suspected what had happened, and all burst into tears and lamentation.

But if any onlooker of strict justice with
 undue haste blames such a step taken in a moment of extreme danger, he will,
 with even more justice, reproach sailors, if after the loss of a skilled pilot,
 amid the raging winds and seas, they committed the guidance of the helm of
 their ship to any companion in their peril, whoever he might be.

When this had been done as described, as if by the
 blind decree of fortune, the standard-bearer of the Joviani, formerly commanded by
 Varronianus, who was at odds with the new emperor even when he was still a
 private citizen, just as he had been a persistent critic of his father, fearing
 danger from an enemy who had now risen above the ordinary rank, deserted to the
 Persians. And as soon as he had the opportunity of telling what he knew to
 Sapor, who was already drawing near, he informed the king that the man whom he
 feared was dead, and that an excited throng of camp-followers had chosen a mere
 shadow of imperial power in the person of Jovian, up to that time one of the
 bodyguard, and a slothful, weak man. On hearing this news, for which he had
 always longed with anxious prayers, the king, elated by the unexpected good
 fortune, added a corps of the royal cavalry to the army
 opposed to us and hastened on, ordering an attack upon the rear of our
 army.

While these arrangements were being made on
 both sides, in Jovian's behalf victims were killed, and
 when the entrails were inspected it was announced that he would ruin
 everything, if he remained within the rampart of his camp (as he thought of
 doing), but would be victor if he marched out.

But when we accordingly were just beginning to leave, the Persians attacked
 us, with the elephants in front. By the unapproachable and frightful stench of
 these brutes horses and men were at first thrown into confusion, but the
 Joviani and Herculiani, after killing a few of the beasts, bravely resisted
 the mail clad horsemen.

Then the legions of
 the Jovii and the Victores came to the aid of their struggling companions and
 slew two elephants, along with a considerable number of the enemy. On our left
 wing some valiant warriors fell, Julianus, Macrobius and Maximus, tribunes of
 the legions which then held first place in our army.

Having buried these men as well as the pressing conditions allowed,
 when towards nightfall we were coming at rapid pace to a fortress called
 Sumere, we recognized the corpse of Anatolius 
 lying in the road, and it was hastily committed to the
 earth. Here, too, we recovered sixty soldiers with some court officials, who
 (as I have related above) bad taken refuge in
 a deserted stronghold.

On the next day we pitched our camp in the
 best place we could find, a broad plain in a valley; it was surrounded as if by
 a natural wall, and had only one exit, which was a wide one, and all about it
 we set stakes with sharp ends like the points of swords.

On seeing this, the enemy from the wooded heights
 assailed us with weapons of all kinds and with insulting language, as traitors
 and murderers of an excellent prince. For they also had heard from the mouths
 of deserters, in consequence of an unfounded rumour, that Julian had been
 killed by a Roman weapon.

Finally, some troops of horsemen meanwhile
 ventured to break through the praetorian gate and to come near the very tent of
 the emperor, but with the loss of many killed and wounded they were vigorously
 driven back.

Then we set out on the following night and
 took possession of the place called Charcha; 
 here we were safe because there were mounds along the banks, constructed by
 men's hands to prevent the Saracens from continually making raids on Assyria,
 and no one harassed our lines, as had been done before this.

And from here, having completed a march of thirty
 stadia, on the first of July we reached a city called Dura. 
 Our horses were tired, and their riders, who marched on foot and fell to the
 rear, were surrounded by a throng of Saracens, and would at
 once have perished, had not some squadrons of our light-armed cavalry brought
 help to them in their distress.

We found
 these Saracens hostile for the reason that they had been prevented by Julian's
 order from receiving pay and numerous gifts, as in times past, and when they complained to
 him, had received the simple reply that a warlike and watchful emperor had
 steel and not gold.

In this place the
 persistence of the Persians delayed us for four days. For when we began to
 march, they followed us, and by frequent onsets forced us to turn back; if we
 halted to do battle with them, they little by little retired and harassed us by
 continual delays. But now (since to those who are in fear of the worst even
 false reports are commonly welcome) the rumour was circulated that the
 frontiers of our possessions were not far distant; whereupon the army, with
 mutinous bluster, demanded that they be allowed to cross the Tigris.

The emperor, as well as the generals, opposed them,
 and pointing to the river, which was in flood, since the dog-star had already
 risen, begged them not to trust themselves to the dangerous currents, declaring
 that very many could not swim, and adding that scattered bands of the enemy had
 beset the banks of the swollen stream in various places.

But when these warnings, though several times
 repeated, had no effect, and the loud shouts of the excited soldiers threatened
 violence, Jovian reluctantly consented that the Gauls, mingled with the
 northern Germans, should enter the river first of all, to the end that if these
 were swept away by the force of the stream, the obstinacy of
 the rest might be broken down; or if they accomplished their purpose without
 harm, the rest might try to cross with greater confidence.

For this attempt the most skilful men were chosen,
 who from early childhood were taught in their native lands to cross the
 greatest of all rivers. and as soon as the quiet of night gave an opportunity
 for concealment, as if starting all together in a race, they gained the opposite bank more quickly than could have
 been expected, and after trampling under foot and killing a great number of the
 Persians, who had been posted to guard the places, but from a feeling of
 security were buried in quiet sleep, they raised their hands and waved their
 mantles, to show that their bold attempt had succeeded.

When this was seen from afar, the soldiers, now
 eager to cross, were delayed only by the promise of the pontoon builders to
 make bridges of bladders from the hides of slain animals.

While these vain attempts were being made,
 King Sapor, both when far away and when he had come near, learned from the true
 accounts of scouts and deserters of the brave deeds of our men and the shameful
 defeats of his army, accompanied by a greater loss of
 elephants than he had ever known in his reign; also that the Roman army, inured
 to constant hardship after the loss of their glorious leader, were looking out
 (as they said), not for their safety, but for revenge, and would end the
 difficulties of their situation by either a decisive victory or a glorious
 death.

This news filled his mind with fear
 for many reasons: for he knew by experience that the troops scattered in great
 numbers through the provinces could easily be assembled by one little ticket,
 and he was aware
 that his own subjects, after the loss of so many men were in a state of extreme
 panic, and, besides, that in Mesopotamia a Roman army had been left which was
 not much smaller.

More than all, it dulled his anxious mind
 that five hundred men together in one swim had crossed unharmed the swollen
 river, had slain his guards, and had roused their comrades who had remained
 behind to similar boldness.

Meanwhile our men, since the raging waters
 prevented bridges from being made, and everything edible had been used up,
 passed two days in wretchedness, deprived of everything useful; excited by
 hunger and wrath, they were in a state of frenzy and eager to lose their lives
 by the sword rather then by starvation, the most shameful kind of death.

However, the eternal power of God in heaven
 was on our side, and the Persians, beyond our hopes, took the first step and
 sent as envoys for securing peace the Surena and another
 magnate, being themselves also low in their minds, which the fact that the
 Roman side was superior in almost every battle shook more and more every day.

Nevertheless, they offered conditions
 which were difficult and involved, for they pretended that from feelings of
 humanity the most merciful of kings would allow the remnants of the army to
 return, if the emperor and his most distinguished generals would comply with
 his demands.

In reply to this Arintheus
 was sent to him with the prefect Salutius, but,
 while a deliberate discussion was going on as to what ought to be determined,
 four days passed by, full of torments from hunger and worse than any death.

If the emperor, before letting these
 envoys go, had used this space of time to withdraw gradually from the enemy's
 territories, he could surely have reached the protection of Corduena, a rich region belonging to us, and distant only a hundred
 miles from the spot where all this took place.

Now the king obstinately demanded the lands
 which (as he said) were his and had been taken from him long ago by Maximianus;
 but, in fact, as the negotiations showed, he required as our ransom five
 provinces on the far side of the Tigris: Arzanena, 
 Moxoëna, and Zabdicena, 
 as well as Rehimena and Corduena with fifteen fortresses,
 besides Nisibis, Singara and Castra
 Maurorum, a very important stronghold.

And whereas it would have been better to fight ten
 battles than give up any one of these, the band of flatterers pressed upon the
 timid emperor, harping upon the dreaded name of Procopius,
 
 and declaring that if he returned on learning of the death of Julian, he
 would with the fresh troops under his command easily and without opposition
 make himself emperor.

Jovian, inflamed by
 these dangerous hints too continually repeated, without delay surrendered all
 that was asked, except that with difficulty he succeeded in bringing it about
 that Nisibis and Singara should pass into control of the Persians without their
 inhabitants, and that the Romans in the fortresses that were to be taken from
 us should be allowed to return to our protection.

To these conditions there was added another which was destructive
 and impious, namely, that after the completion of these agreements, Arsaces,
 our steadfast and faithful friend should
 never, if he asked it, be given help against the Persians. This was contrived
 with a double purpose, that a man who at the emperor's order had devastated Chiliocomum might be punished, and that the
 opportunity might be left of presently invading Armenia without opposition. The
 result was that later this same Arsaces was taken alive, and that the Parthians amid various dissensions and disturbances
 seized a great tract of Armenia bordering on Media, along with Artaxata.

When this shameful treaty was concluded,
 lest anything contrary to the agreements should be done during the truce,
 distinguished men were given on both sides as hostages: from our side Nemota,
 Victor, and Bellovaedius, tribunes of famous
 corps, and from the opposite party Bineses, one of the
 distinguished magnates, and three satraps besides of no obscure name.

And so a peace of thirty years was made
 and consecrated by the sanctity of oaths; but we returned by other routes, and
 since the places near the river were avoided as rough and uneven, we suffered
 from lack of water and food.

But the peace which was granted under
 pretence of humanity caused the destruction of many, who, tormented by hunger
 up to their last breath, and so going ahead unnoticed by the army, were either, being
 unskilled in swimming, swallowed up in the depths of the river, or if they
 mastered the power of the stream and reached the opposite bank, were seized by
 the Saracens or Persians (who, as I said shortly before, had been routed by the
 Germans), and were either cut down like so many
 cattle, or led off farther inland to be sold.

But as soon as the trumpets' blast openly gave the signal for crossing the
 river, it was remarkable with what great eagerness and haste they rushed into
 all kinds of danger. Each man strove to outstrip all others and hastened to
 save himself from so many terrors; some used the hastily constructed rafts,
 holding to their horses as they swam here and there, others
 seated themselves on bladders, still others under the pressure of necessity
 found various other helps and rushed in an oblique direction into the waves of
 the onrushing waters.

The emperor himself
 with a few others crossed in the small boats, which, as I have said, survived
 the burning of the fleet, and ordered the same craft to go back and forth,
 until we were all transported. At last all of us (except those who were
 drowned) reached the opposite bank, saved from danger by the favour of the
 supreme deity after many difficulties.

While the fear of impending disasters
 oppressed us, we learned from the report of our scouting cavalry, that the
 Persians, too far off to be seen, were making a bridge, in order that when all
 hostilities should cease after the conclusion of the treaty of peace, and our
 men were marching carelessly, they might attack the sick and the animals which
 had long been exhausted; but when they found that they were discovered, they
 gave up their wicked design.

Relieved now
 from this anxiety and hastening on by forced marches, we approached Hatra, an
 old city lying in the midst of a desert and long since abandoned. The warlike
 emperors Trajan and Severus tried at various
 times to destroy it, but almost perished with their armies; I have related
 these acts also in telling of their careers.

Here we learned that on a plain extending for seventy miles through dry regions
 only water that was salt and ill-smelling could be found, and nothing to eat
 except southernwood, wormwood, dragonwort and other plants of the most wretched sort. Therefore the vessels which we carried with us were
 filled with fresh water, and by killing camels and other pack animals we
 provided ourselves with food, unwholesome though it was.

And after completing a march of six days and
 finding not even grass as the solace of their extreme necessity, Cassianus, the
 duke commanding the army in
 Mesopotamia, and the tribune Mauricius (who had been sent long before for
 the purpose) came to a Persian stronghold called Ur and brought food from
 the supplies which the army left with Procopius and Sebastianus had saved by
 frugal living.

From here another Procopius, a
 state-secretary, and the military tribune Memoridus were sent to the lands of
 Illyricum and Gaul, to announce the death of Julian, and the elevation of
 Jovian (after Julian's decease) to Augustan rank.

To them the emperor had also given instructions to hand his
 father-in-law Lucillianus, who after his dismissal from the
 army had retired to a life of leisure and was then living at Sirmium, the
 commission as commander of the cavalry and infantry which he had delivered to
 them, and urge him to hasten to Milan, in order to attend to any difficulties
 there, or if (as was now rather to be feared) any new dangers should arise, to
 resist them.

To these instructions the
 emperor had added a secret letter, in which he also directed Lucillianus to
 take with him some men selected for their tried vigour and
 loyalty, with the view of making use of their support as the condition of
 affairs might suggest.

And he took the
 prudent step of appointing Malarichus, who also was even then living in Italy
 in a private capacity, as successor to Jovinus, commander of the cavalry in
 Gaul, sending him the insignia of that rank. Thereby he aimed at a double
 advantage: first, in getting rid of a general of distinguished service and
 therefore an object of suspicion; and, second, the hope that a man of slight
 expectations, when raised to a high rank, might show great zeal in supporting
 the position of his benefactor, which was still uncertain.

Also the men who were commissioned to carry out
 these plans were ordered to set the course of events in a favourable light, and
 wherever they went, to agree with each other in spreading the report that the
 Parthian campaign had been brought to a successful end. They were to hasten
 their journey by adding night to day, to put into the hands of the governors
 and the military commanders of the provinces the messages of the new emperor,
 to secretly sound the sentiments of all of them, and to return speedily with
 their replies, in order that as soon as it was learned how matters stood in the
 distant provinces, timely and careful plans might be made for safeguarding the
 imperial power.

Meanwhile rumour, the swiftest messenger of
 sad events, outstripping these messengers, flew through provinces and nations,
 and most of all struck the people of Nisibis with bitter grief; when they
 learned that their city had been surrendered to Sapor, whose
 anger and hostility they feared, recalling as they did what constant losses he
 had suffered in his frequent attempts to take their city.

For it was clear that the entire Orient might have
 passed into the control of Persia, had not this city with its advantageous
 situation and mighty walls resisted him. Nevertheless, however much the unhappy
 people were tormented with great fear of the future, yet they could sustain
 themselves with one slight hope, namely, that the emperor would, of his own
 accord or prevailed upon by their entreaties, keep the city in its present
 condition, as the strongest bulwark of the Orient.

While varied rumours were spreading the news
 of the course of events everywhere, in the army, since the few provisions which
 (as I have said) we had brought with us were used up, we should have been
 forced to resort to human bodies, had not the flesh of the slain pack-animals
 held out for a time; but the result was, that many arms and packs were thrown
 away; for we were so wasted by fearful hunger, that if anywhere a modius
 of flour was found (which
 seldom happened) it was sold for ten gold-pieces, and that was considered a cheap price.

Setting out from there, we came to
 Thilsaphata, where Sebastianus and Procopius, with the tribunes and officers of
 the soldiers which had been entrusted to them for the defence of Mesopotamia,
 came out to meet us as formal usage required. And after having been courteously
 received, they joined our march.

After this
 we went on more speedily, and looking eagerly at Nisibis, the emperor made a
 permanent camp outside of the city; but in spite of the
 earnest request of many of the populace to enter and take up his residence in
 the palace as was usual with the emperors, he obstinately refused, from shame
 that during his own stay within its walls the impregnable city should be handed
 over to the enemy.

There, as the darkness of
 evening was then approaching, Jovianus, chief among all the secretaries, who
 (as I have already said ) at the siege of the
 city of Maiozamalcha had with others been first to come out through the mine,
 was taken from the dining-table, led to a secluded spot, thrown headlong into a
 dry well, and crushed by a great number of stones that were thrown upon him.
 The reason for this undoubtedly was that, after Julian's death, he too was
 named by a few as worthy of the throne, and that after the election of Jovian
 he had not acted with moderation, but was overheard whispering this and that
 about some business, and from time to time had even invited military officers
 to his table.

On the following day Bineses, one of the
 Persians, who (as I have said) was eminent beyond all others, hastening to fulfil the orders of his king, 
 urgently demanded what had been promised. Therefore, with the permission of the
 Roman emperor, he entered the city and raised the flag of his nation on the top
 of the citadel, announcing to the citizens their sorrowful departure from their
 native place.

And when all were commanded to
 leave their homes at once, with tears and outstretched hands they begged that
 they might not be compelled to depart, declaring that they alone, without aid
 from the empire in provisions and men, were able to defend their hearths,
 trusting that Justice herself would, as they had often found, aid them in
 fighting for their ancestral dwelling-place. But suppliantly as the council and
 people entreated, all was spoken vainly to the winds, since the emperor (as he
 pretended, while moved by other fears) did not wish to incur the guilt of
 perjury.

Thereupon Sabinus, distinguished
 among his fellow-citizens for his wealth and high birth, declared in
 impassioned language that Constantius once, when the flames of a cruel war were
 raging, had been defeated by the Persians and finally had been driven in flight
 with a few followers to the unprotected post of Hibita, where he was obliged to
 live on a bit of bread which he begged from an old peasant woman; yet up to his
 last day he had lost nothing, whereas Jovian at the beginning of his
 principate, had abandoned the defences of provinces whose bulwarks had remained
 unshaken from the earliest times.

But when
 nothing came of this, since the emperor the more stoutly maintained the
 sanctity of his oath; and when for a time he had refused the crown that was
 offered him but was finally forced to accept it, one Silvanus, a pleader at the bar, was bold enough to say: Thus may you be
 crowned, O emperor, by the rest of the cities, Exasperated by these
 words, the emperor gave orders that all must leave the walls within three days,
 they the while expressing horror at such a condition of affairs.

Accordingly, men were appointed to drive them
 out, and threatened with death all who hesitated to leave. Lamentation and
 grief filled the city, and in all its parts no sound save universal wailing was
 to be heard; the matrons tore their hair, since they were to be sent into exile
 from the homes in which they were born and reared; mothers who had lost their
 children, and widows bereft of their husbands, mourned that they were driven
 far from the ashes of their loved ones; and the weeping throng embraced the
 doors or the thresholds of their homes.

Then
 the various roads were filled with people going wherever each could find
 refuge. In their haste many secretly carried off such of their own property as
 they thought they could take with them, disregarding the rest of their
 possessions, which, though many and valuable, they were obliged to leave behind
 for lack of pack-animals.

You are here justly censured, O Fortune of
 the Roman world! that, when storms shattered our country, you did snatch the
 helm from the hands of an experienced steersman and entrust it to an untried youth, who, since he was known during his previous life for no
 brilliant deeds in that field, cannot be justly either blamed or praised.

But what grieved the very heart of every
 patriotic citizen was this, that fearful of a rival to his power and bearing in mind that it was in Gaul and Illyricum that many
 men had taken the first steps to loftier power, in his haste to outstrip the
 report of his coming, under pretext of avoiding perjury he committed an act
 unworthy of an emperor, betraying Nisibis, which ever since the time of King
 Mithridates' reign had resisted with all its might the occupation of the Orient
 by the Persians.

For never (I think) since the founding of our
 city can it be found by a reader of history that any part of our territory has
 been yielded to an enemy by an emperor or a consul; but that not even the
 recovery of anything that had been lost was ever enough for the honour of a
 triumph, but only the increase of our dominions.

Hence it was that triumphs were refused to Publius Scipio for the recovery of Spain; to Fulvius, when
 Capua was overcome after long contests, and to Opimius, when, after shifting
 fortunes of war, the people of Fregellae, at that time our deadly enemies, were
 forced to surrender.

In fact, the ancient
 records teach us that treaties made in extreme necessity with shameful
 conditions, even when both parties had taken oath in set terms, were at once
 annulled by a renewal of war. For example, when in days of old our legions were
 sent under the yoke at the Caudine Forks in Samnium ; when Albinus in Numidia devised a shameful peace ; and when Mancinus, the
 author of a disgracefully hasty treaty, was surrendered to the people of
 Numantia.

So then, after the inhabitants had been
 withdrawn, and the city had been handed over, the tribune 
 Constantius was sent to deliver the strongholds, with the surrounding country,
 to the Persian grandees. Then Procopius was sent with the remains of Julian, in
 order to inter him, as he had directed when still alive, in the suburb of Tarsus.

Procopius set out to fulfil his mission, but immediately after burying the body he disappeared and in spite of
 the most careful search could not be found anywhere, until long afterwards he
 suddenly appeared at Constantinople, clad in the purple.

After this business had been thus attended
 to, we came by long marches to Antioch; where for successive days, as though
 the divinity were angered, many fearful portents were seen, which those skilled
 in such signs declared would have sad results.

For the statue of the Caesar Maximianus, which stood in the vestibule of the
 royal palace, suddenly dropped the brazen ball, in the form of the globe of
 heaven, which it was holding, the beams of
 the council hall gave forth an awful creaking, and in broad daylight comets
 were seen, about which the views of those versed in natural history are at
 variance.

For some think that they are so called
 because they are numerous stars united in one body, 
 and send out writhing fires resembling hair. Others believe that they take fire from the dryer
 exhalations of the earth, which gradually rise higher. Others again think that
 the rays streaming from the sun are prevented by the interposition of a heavier
 cloud from going downward, and when the brightness is suffused through the
 thick substance, it presents to men's eyes a kind of star-spangled light. Yet
 others have formed the opinion that this phenomenon occurs when an unusually
 high cloud is lit up by the nearness of the eternal fires, or at any rate, that
 comets are stars like the rest, the appointed times of whose rising and setting
 are not understood by
 human minds. Many other theories about comets are to be found in the writings
 of those who are skilled in knowledge of the universe; but from discussing
 these I am prevented by my haste to continue my narrative.

The emperor lingered for a time at Antioch,
 bowed down by the weight of divers cares, but pursued by an extraordinary
 desire for getting out of the place. Accordingly, he left there on a day in the
 dead of winter, sparing neither horse nor man, although many signs (as has been
 said) forbade, and entered Tarsus, the famous city of Cilicia, of whose origin
 I have already spoken.

Though in excessive haste to leave that
 place, he determined to adorn the tomb of Julian, situated just outside the walls on the road which
 leads to the passes of Mount Taurus. But his remains and ashes, if anyone then
 showed sound judgement, ought not to be looked on by the
 Cydnus, although it is a beautiful and clear
 stream, but to perpetuate the glory of his noble deeds they should be laved by
 the Tiber, which cuts through the eternal city and flows by the memorials of
 the deified emperors of old.

After this the emperor left Tarsus, and
 making long marches arrived at Tyana, a town of Cappadocia, where on their
 return the secretary Procopius and the tribune Memoridus met him. They gave him
 an account of their missions, beginning (as order demanded) with the entry of
 Lucillianus with the tribunes Seniauchus and Valentinianus, whom he had taken
 with him, into Mediolanum; but on learning that Malarichus refused to accept
 the position he had
 gone at full speed to Rheims.

Then, as if
 that nation were in profound peace, he ran off the track (as the saying is),
 and quite out of season, since everything was not yet secure, devoted his
 attention to examining the accounts of a former actuary. This man, being
 conscious of deceit and wrong-doing, fled for refuge to the army and falsely
 asserted that Julian was still alive and that a man of no distinction had
 raised a rebellion; in consequence of his falsehoods a veritable storm broke
 out among the soldiery, and Lucillianus and Seniauchus were killed. For
 Valentinianus, who was shortly afterwards emperor, in terror and not knowing
 where to turn, was safely gotten out of the way by Primitivus, his
 guest-friend.

This sad news was followed by
 another message, this time a happy one, namely, that soldiers sent by Jovian,
 heads of the divisions, as camp parlance termed them, were on the way,
 reporting that the Gallic army embraced with favour the rule of Jovian.

On receipt of this news Valentinian, who had
 returned with the others, was entrusted with the command of the second division
 of the targeteers, and Vitalianus, formerly a soldier in the division of the
 Eruli, was made a member of the household troops; long afterwards he was raised
 to the rank of Count, but suffered a defeat in Illyricum. Arintheus was hastily
 sent to Gaul, bearing letters to Jovinus, urging him to act firmly in holding
 his position; he was also bidden to punish the originator of the disturbance
 and to send the ringleaders in the rebellion in fetters to the court.

After these arrangements had been made as
 seemed expedient, the officers of the Gallic troops had audience with the
 emperor at Aspuna, a small town of Galatia; when they entered the council
 chamber, the news which they brought was heard with pleasure, and after
 receiving rewards, they were ordered to return to their posts.

When the emperor had entered Ancyra, after
 the necessary arrangements for his procession had been made, so far as the
 conditions allowed, he assumed the consulship, taking as his colleague in the
 office his son Varronianus, who was still a small child ;
 and his crying and obstinate resistance to being carried, as usual, on the
 curule chair, were an omen of what presently occurred.

From here also the destined day for ending
 his life drove Jovian swiftly on. For when he had come to Dadastana, which
 forms the boundary between Bithynia and Galatia, he was found dead that night.
 As to his taking-off, many doubtful points have come up.

For it is said that he was unable to endure the
 unwholesome odour of a recently plastered bedroom, or that his head was swollen
 from the burning of a great amount of charcoal and so he died, or at any rate
 that he had a fit of acute indigestion from an immoderate amount of food of
 different kinds. At all events he died in
 the thirty-third year of his age. The end
 of his life was like that of Scipio Aemilianus, but so far as I know no investigation
 was made of the death of either.

He walked with a dignified bearing; his
 expression was very cheerful. His eyes were gray. He was so unusually tall that
 for some time no imperial robe could be found that was long enough for him. He
 took as his model Constantius, often spending the afternoon in some serious
 occupation, but accustomed to jest in public with his intimates.

So too he was devoted to the Christian doctrine and
 sometimes paid it honour. He was only moderately educated, of a kindly nature,
 and (as appears from the few promotions that he made) inclined to select state
 officials with care. But he was an immoderate eater, given to wine and women,
 faults which perhaps he would have corrected out of regard for the imperial dignity.

It was said that
 his father, Varronianus, learned what would happen long beforehand from the
 suggestion of a dream, and trusted the information to two of his confidential
 friends, adding the remark that the consular robe would be conferred also on himself. But although one prophecy was
 fulfilled, he could not attain the other prediction. For after learning of the
 elevation of his son, he was overtaken by death before seeing him again.

And since it was foretold to the old man
 in a dream that the highest magistracy awaited one of that name, his grandson
 Varronianus, then still a child, was (as I have before related) made consul
 together with his father Jovianus.

Having narrated the course of events with the
 strictest care up to the bounds of the present epoch, I had already determined
 to withdraw my foot from the more familiar tracks, partly to avoid the dangers
 which are often connected with the truth, and partly to escape unreasonable
 critics of the work which I am composing, who cry out as if wronged, if one has
 failed to mention what an emperor said at table, or left
 out the reason why the common soldiers were led before the standards for
 punishment, or because in an ample account of regions he ought not to have been
 silent about some insignificant forts; also because the names of all who came
 together to pay their respects to the city-praetor were not given, and many similar matters, which are not in
 accordance with the principles of history; for it is wont to detail the high
 lights of events, not to ferret out the trifling details of unimportant
 matters. For whoever wishes to know these may hope to be able to count the
 small indivisible bodies which fly through space, and to which we give the name
 of atoms.

This is what some of the writers of
 old feared, who during their lifetime set down their knowledge of various
 historical events with eloquent pen, but did not publish them while they lived:
 as also Cicero, a witness worthy of respect, declares in a letter to Cornelius
 Nepos. Accordingly, disregarding the
 ignorance of the vulgar, let us hasten to continue our narrative.

So this ferocity of changeable circumstances
 came to a lamentable end after the death of three emperors at short intervals;
 and the body of the deceased prince was embalmed and sent to Constantinople, to
 be laid to rest among the remains of the Augusti. But the army marched on
 towards Nicaea, which is the metropolis of the Bithynian cities; and the
 principal civil and military leaders, busied with important cares for the
 general welfare, and some of them puffed up with vain hopes,
 were looking about for a ruler who had long been proved and possessed
 dignity.

And rumour, in the obscure whispers of a few,
 touched on the name of Aequitius, who was at that time tribune of the first
 division of the targeteers, but he did not find favour in the judgement of the
 more important authorities, because he was rude and somewhat boorish. Then
 fickle favour was transferred to Januarius, a relative of Jovian, who had
 charge of the commissary department in Illyricum.

He also was rejected because he was living far away, and under the
 inspiration of the powers of heaven Valentinian was chosen without a dissenting
 voice, as being fully up to the requirements and suitable; he was commander of
 the second division of the targeteers, and had been left behind at Ancyra, to
 follow later according to orders. And as it was agreed without contradiction
 that this was to the advantage of the state, envoys were sent to urge him to
 hasten his coming; but for ten days no one held the helm of the empire, which
 the soothsayer Marcus, on inspection of the entrails at Rome, had declared to
 have happened at that time.

Meanwhile, however, to prevent any
 interference with the decision that had been made, and to keep the fickle
 temper of the soldiers, who are always ready for a change, from turning towards
 someone who was on the spot, Aequitius made earnest efforts, and with him Leo;
 the latter was still holding the office of military paymaster under Dagalaifus,
 commander of the cavalry, and later played a deadly part as chief-marshal of
 the court. Both endeavoured, so far as their efforts could prevail, being Pannonians and adherents of the emperor elect, to maintain the
 decision which the whole army had made.

When the emperor arrived in answer to the
 summons, informed either by presentiments about the task he must fulfil (as was
 given to be understood) or by repeated dreams, he did not let himself be seen
 next day, nor would he appear in public, avoiding the bisextile day of the month of February, which dawned at that time and (as he had
 heard) had sometimes been unlucky for the Roman state. Of this day I will give
 a clear explanation.

The extent of the revolving year is
 completed, according to the calculations of men of old who were versed in the
 movements of the universe and the stars, of whom the most eminent are Meton,
 Euctemon, Hipparchus, and Archimedes, when the sun, in accordance with the
 eternal law of the heavenly bodies, has traversed the signs of the heaven which
 in Greek are called ζωδιακός, the zodiac, and
 after the course of 365 days and nights returns to the same turning-point; that
 is (for instance) when it has started from the second degree of the Ram and
 after completing its course has returned to the same place.

But the true length of a year ends, in the said 365
 days and six hours besides, at high noon, and the first day of the next year
 will extend from the end of the sixth hour to evening. The third year begins
 with the first watch and ends with the sixth hour of the night. The fourth goes
 on from midnight until broad daylight.

Therefore, in order that this computation because of the 
 variations in the beginning of the year (since one year commences after the
 sixth hour of the day and another after the sixth hour of the night) may not
 confuse all science by a disorderly diversity, and an autumnal month may not
 sometimes be found to be in the spring, it was decided to combine those series of six
 hours, which in four years amounted to twenty-four, into one day and an added
 night.

And after deep consideration, by the
 agreement of manylearned men it was arranged that the completion of the year's
 course has a single definite end, and is neither changeable nor uncertain; so
 that the reckoning of the sun's course no longer appears beclouded by any
 error, and the months retain their appointed seasons.

The Romans were long ignorant of all this, since their realm was
 not yet widely extended, and for many centuries they were involved in obscure
 difficulties; and they wandered in still deeper darkness of error when they
 gave over the power of intercalation to the priests, who lawlessly served the
 advantage of tax-collectors or of parties in litigation by arbitrarily
 subtracting or adding days.

From this
 beginning many other errors arose, which I think it superfluous to mention
 here. These were done away with by Octavianus Augustus who, following the Greeks,
 corrected the confusion and brought order into this inconsistency by adopting
 after great deliberation the arrangement of twelve months and six hours, during
 which the sun in its eternal course through the twelve signs
 completes a whole year.

This reason for the
 bisextile year 
 Rome, which will live even through the centuries, with the
 aid of the divine power approved and firmly established. Now let us go on to
 the rest of our narrative.

When the day unfavourable (as some think) for
 beginning great enterprises had passed, just as evening was coming on, at the
 motion of the prefect Salutius it was promptly and unanimously decided that,
 under penalty of death, no one who held high authority, or had been suspected
 of aiming at a higher station, should appear in public on the following
 morning.

And when to the chagrin of many,
 tormented by their vain hopes, the night ended and day at last appeared, the
 whole army was assembled. Then Valentinian appeared on the plain, was allowed
 to mount a tribunal raised on high and after the custom of elections was chosen
 by the favourable votes of all present as a man of serious purpose, to be the
 ruler of the empire.

Then, wearing the
 imperial robes and a coronet, with all the praises which the charm of novelty
 could call forth he was hailed as Augustus, and was already getting ready to
 make the speech he had prepared. But as he bared his arm, in
 order to speak more conveniently, a threatening murmur arose, as the centuries
 and maniples made a loud noise and all the common maniples clashed their
 shields and all the common soldiers persistently urged that a second emperor
 should at once be named.

But although some
 thought that a few had been bribed to do this, in favour of those who had been
 passed over, yet such a suspicion seemed to have no ground, for the reason that
 the shouts which were heard were not purchased, but came unanimously as an
 expression of the wish of the whole throng, since from a recent example
 they dreaded the frailty of
 lofty fortunes. Then the whispers of the uproarious army seemed likely to be
 succeeded by a violent outbreak, and men began to fear the recklessness of the
 soldiers, who sometimes break out in deeds of violence.

Since Valentinian more than all others feared lest
 this should happen, quickly raising his hand, with the authority of an emperor
 who was full of confidence, he had the courage to upbraid some of them as
 rebellious and intractable. Then, without further interruption, he delivered
 the speech which he had prepared:—

"I rejoice, brave defenders of our provinces,
 and I maintain and always shall maintain that it is your services that have
 bestowed on me, rather than another, the rule of the Roman world, which I
 neither hoped for nor desired.

The task,
 then, which was placed in your hands before the ruler of the empire was chosen
 you carried out expediently and gloriously, by raising to the pinnacle of
 honours one whom from his earliest youth until the present prime of life you
 know by experience to have lived with distinction and
 uprightness. Therefore, I beg of you, listen with friendly ears while I tell
 you in simple words what I think is best for the common welfare.

That to meet all chances necessity demands the choice
 of a colleague with equal powers, at the demands of much varied reasoning I
 neither doubt nor dispute, since I myself also, as a man, fear masses of cares
 and varied changes of circumstances. But with all our strength we must strive
 for harmony, through which even the weakest states grow strong; and this will
 easily be attained, if your calmness combined with fairness willingly allows me
 what belongs to my position.

For Fortune (I
 hope) which aids good purposes, so far as I can accomplish this and effect it,
 will give me after careful search a man of sober character. For as the philosophers teach us, not only in
 royal power, where the greatest and most numerous dangers are found, but also
 in the relations of private and everyday life, a stranger ought to be admitted
 to friendship by a prudent man only after he has first tested him; not tested
 after he has been admitted to friendship.

This I promise you with the hope of a happier future. Do you, while the winter
 rest allows, retain your firmness and loyalty of conduct and refresh your
 strength of spirit and body: then be sure that you will receive without delay
 what is your due because
 of your imperial nomination of myself.

Having finished his address, to which his
 unexpected assumption of authority had given greater weight, the emperor gained
 the favour of the soldier received five aurei. The
 custom was finally abolished by Justinian. whole assembly;
 and even those who shortly before were with excited cries making another demand
 followed his advice and escorted him to the imperial quarters, surrounded by
 eagles and standards, with a splendid retinue of various ranks, and already an
 object of fear.

While the changing lots of the fates were
 unfolding these events in the Orient, Apronianus, prefect of the eternal city,
 a just and strict official, among urgent cares with which that office is often
 burdened, made it his first main effort that the sorcerers, who at that time
 were becoming few in number, should be arrested, and that those who, after
 having been put to the question, were clearly convicted of having harmed
 anybody, after naming their accomplices, should be punished with death; and
 that thus through the danger to a few, the remainder, if any were still in
 concealment, might be driven away through dread of a similar fate.

In this work he is said to have shown special
 activity for the following reason, namely, that after his appointment by
 authority of Julian, when he was still living in Syria, he had lost one eye on
 the way, and suspecting that he had been attacked by wicked arts, with
 justifiable but extraordinary resentment he tracked out these and other crimes
 with great energy. In this he seemed cruel to some because more than once
 during the races in the ampitheatre, while throngs of people were crowding in,
 he in- vestigated the greatest crimes.

Finally, after many punishments of the kind,
 a charioteer called Hilarinus
 was convicted on his own confession of having entrusted his son, who had barely
 reached the age of puberty, to a mixer of poisons to be instructed in certain
 secret practices forbidden by law, in order to use his help at home without
 other witnesses; and he was condemned to death. But since the executioner was
 lax in guarding him, the man suddenly escaped and took refuge in a chapel of
 the Christian sect; however, he was at once dragged from there and beheaded.

But efforts were still made to check these
 and similar offences, and none, or at any rate very few, who were engaged in
 such abominations defied the public diligence. But later, long-continued
 impunity nourished these monstrous offences, and lawlessness went so far that a
 certain senator followed the example of Hilarinus, and was convicted of having
 apprenticed a slave of his almost by a written contract to a teacher of evil
 practices to be initiated into criminal secrets; but he bought escape from the
 death penalty, as current gossip asserted, for a large sum of money.

And this very man, after being freed in the manner
 alleged, although he ought to be ashamed of his life and his offence, has made
 no effort to get rid of the stain on his character, but as if among many wicked
 men he alone was free from any fault, mounts a caparisoned horse and rides over
 the pavements, and even now is followed by great bands of slaves, by a new kind
 of distinction aiming to draw special attention to himself. Just as we hear of
 Duillius of old, that after that glorious sea-fight, he assumed the privilege,
 when he returned home after a dinner, of having a
 flute-player play soft music before him.

However, under this Apronianus there was such
 a constant abundance of all necessary articles of food, that there never arose
 even the slightest murmur about a scarcity of victuals—a thing which constantly
 happens in Rome.

Now Valentinian was chosen emperor in
 Bithynia (as we have said before). He gave the signal for the march for the
 next day but one, and assembling the chief civil and military officials, as if
 ready to follow safe and sound advice rather than his own inclination, inquired
 who ought to be chosen as partner in the rule. When all the rest were silent,
 Dagalaifus, at that time commander of the cavalry, boldly answered: If
 you love your relatives, most excellent emperor, you have a brother; if it
 is the state that you love, seek out another man to clothe with the
 purple.

The emperor, angered by this, but keeping
 silence and concealing his thoughts, forcing the pace, entered Nicomedia on the
 first of March, and appointed his brother Valens chief of his stable with the
 rank of tribune.

Then, on his arrival in
 Constantinople, after much counsel with himself, considering that he was
 already unequal to the amount of pressing business and
 believing that there was no room for delay, on the twenty-eighth of March he
 brought the aforesaid Valens into one of the suburbs and
 with the consent of all (for no one ventured to oppose) proclaimed him
 Augustus. Then he adorned him with the imperial insignia and put a diadem on
 his head, and brought him back in his own carriage, thus having indeed a lawful
 partner in his power, but, as the further course of our narrative will show,
 one who was as compliant as a subordinate.

No sooner were these arrangements perfected
 without disturbance than both emperors were seized with violent and lingering
 fevers; but as soon as their hope of life was assured, being more successful m
 investigating various matters than in settling them, they commissioned
 Ursatius, the chief-marshal of the court, a rough Dalmatian, and Viventius of
 Siscia, who was then quaestor, to make a strict
 investigation of what they suspected to be the cause of these diseases.
 Persistent rumour had it, that their purpose was, by asserting that they had
 been harmed by secret sorcery, to rouse hatred of the memory of the emperor
 Julian and his friends. But this charge was easily shown to have nothing in it,
 since no evidence of such plots was found, even in a single word.

At this time, as if trumpets were sounding
 the war-note throughout the whole Roman world, the most savage peoples roused
 themselves and poured across the nearest frontiers. At the
 same time the Alamanni were devastating Gaul and Raetia, the Sarmatae and Quadi
 Pannonia, while the Picts, Saxons, Scots, and Attacotti were harassing the Britons with con- stant disasters. The
 Austoriani and other Moorish tribes raided Africa more fiercely than ever and
 predatory bands of Goths were plundering Thrace and Pannonia.

The king of the Persians was laying hands on Armenia,
 hastening with mighty efforts to bring that country again under his sway, under
 the false pretext that after the death of Jovian, with whom he had concluded a
 treaty of peace, nothing ought to prevent his recovery of what he claimed had
 formerly belonged to his forefathers.

So, then, the emperors spent the winter
 quietly in perfect harmony, the one eminent through the choice that had fallen
 upon him, the other joined with him in the office, but only in appearance.
 After hastening through Thrace, they came to Naessus, where in a suburb called Mediana, distant three miles from the
 city, they shared the generals between them in view of their coming separation.

To Valentinian, in accordance with whose
 wish the matter was settled, fell Jovinus, who had
 previously been promoted by Julian to be commander of the cavalry in Gaul, and Dagalaifus, whom
 Jovian had raised to the same rank. But it was arranged that Victor, who had
 also been promoted by the decision of the aforesaid emperor, should follow
 Valens to the Orient, and with him Arintheus was associated. For Lupicinus, who
 also had formerly been made commander of the cavalry by Jovian, was already in
 charge of the eastern provinces.

At the same
 time Aequitius, who was not yet a
 commander-in-chief, but only a count, was put in charge
 of the army in Illyricum, and Serenianus, who some time before had been retired
 from service, being a Pannonian girded on his sword and was joined with Valens in command
 of a part of the bodyguard. After matters had been thus arranged, the troops
 also were divided between the two emperors.

And when after this the two brothers had
 entered Sirmium, after sharing the places of residence according to the wishes
 of the superior, Valentinian went off to Mediolanum, Valens to Constantinople.

The Orient was governed by Salutius with
 the rank of prefect, Italy with Africa and Illyricum by Mamertinus, and the
 Gallic provinces by Germanianus.

Living
 therefore in the cities named, the emperors for the first time assumed the
 consular robes; and this whole year brought heavy losses to the Roman state.

For the Alamanni broke through the
 frontiers of Germany, being unusually hostile for the following reason: when
 their envoys had been sent to the headquarters, in order as usual to receive
 the regular appointed gifts, smaller and cheaper ones were
 given them, which they received with indignation and threw away as unworthy of
 them. And being roughly treated by Ursatius, who was then court-marshal, a
 hot-tempered and cruel man, they returned home, and exaggerating what had
 happened, aroused the savage peoples, on the ground that they had been
 grievously insulted.

And about that time, or not much later, in
 the Orient Procopius had started a revolution. This and the Alamannic revolt
 were reported to Valentinian on one and the same day about the first of
 November as he was on his way to Paris.

Then Valentinian ordered Dagalaifus to go in
 haste to meet the Alamanni, who after devastating places near the frontier had
 withdrawn to a distance without the loss of a man. But as to checking the
 attempt of Procopius before it became ripe, he was distracted by doubt and
 anxiety, being especially troubled because he did not know whether Valens was
 alive or whether his death had led Procopius to aspire to the throne.

For Aequitius knew of the matter only
 from the report of the tribune Antonius, who commanded the soldiers in central
 Dacia and gave a vague account of the affair from that which he himself had
 heard; and Aequitius himself had not yet heard anything trustworthy, and so
 merely reported the circumstance to the emperor in simple words.

Upon hearing the news, Valentinian, after raising
 the said Aequitius to the rank of a commander-in- chief, decided to go back to Illyricum, lest
 the rebel after rushing through Thrace and being already formidable should
 invade Pannonia with a hostile army. For he was greatly
 alarmed by a recent example, recalling that Julian a short time before, making
 light of an emperor who had
 been victor in all civil wars, contrary to all hope and expectation had passed
 with incredible speed from city to city.

But
 his eager longing to return was modified by the advice of his confidential
 friends, who advised, nay begged him, not to give up Gaul to the savages who
 threatened destruction, and not under that pretext to abandon provinces which
 needed strong support. These were supported by deputations from famous cities,
 who begged that he should not leave unprotected in such hard and doubtful times
 cities which by his presence he could save from the greatest dangers, since the
 glory of his name would strike fear into the Germans.

At last, after giving careful thought to what was expedient, he
 followed the view of the majority, often repeating that Procopius was only his
 own and his brother's enemy, but the Alamanni were enemies of the whole Roman
 world; and so he resolved for the present nowhere to leave the boundaries of
 Gaul.

And having returned as far as Rheims,
 and feeling anxious about Africa, for fear that it might suddenly be invaded,
 he decided that Neoterius, afterwards consul but at that
 time a secretary, should go to protect that province, and also Masaucio, an
 officer of the household troops, bearing in mind that, having had long training
 there under his father, the former Count Cretio, he
 knew all the suspected places; and he joined with them Gaudentius, an officer
 of the targeteers, a loyal man who long had been known to him.

Because, then, at one and the same time
 lamentable storms arose on both sides, we shall set down the single events in
 their proper place, first giving an account of a part of what took place in the
 Orient, then of the wars with the savages: since most of the events both in the
 west and in the east took place in the same months; for I fear that by
 hastening to return from one place to another by leaps and bounds we might
 confuse everything and involve the course of events in the deepest
 darkness.

Procopius was born in Cilicia of a distinguished family and correspondingly
 educated, and for the reason that he was related to Julian, who was afterwards emperor, he was conspicuous from his first
 entry into a public position; and as he was somewhat strict in his life and
 character, although retiring and silent, he served for a long time with
 distinction as state-secretary and tribune, and already had prospects of
 attaining the highest positions. But when after the death of Constantius he
 became through the change in the situation a relative of the emperor,
 he aimed higher and entered the order of counts;
 and it was evident that, if ever he had the opportunity, he would be a
 disturber of the public peace.

When Julian
 invaded Persia, he left Procopius in Mesopotamia, in association with
 Sebastianus, who was given the same rank, with a strong
 force of soldiers, and ordered him (as rumour
 darkly whispered, for no one vouched for the truth of the report) to act in
 accordance with the conditions that arose, and if he learned that the Roman
 power in Persia was weakened, to take measures quickly to have himself named
 emperor.

Procopius followed these directions
 with moderation and prudence, but when he learned that Julian had been mortally
 wounded and died, and that Jovian had been raised to the rule of the empire,
 and that the false report was circulated that Julian had with the last breath
 of his failing life declared that it was his wish that Procopius should be
 entrusted with the helm of the state, he feared that on that account he might
 be put to death without a trial. Accordingly, he withdrew from public sight;
 and he was in special fear after the death of Jovianus, the chief of all the
 secretaries, because he had learned that after Julian's death Jovianus had been
 named by a few soldiers as worthy of imperial power, and that from that time on
 he had been suspected of rebellious designs and had suffered a cruel death.

And because Procopius had learned that he was
 being tracked with extreme care, in order to avoid the weight of greater hatred
 he retreated to still more remote and secret places. Then hearing that Jovianus
 was diligently hunting for his hiding-places, and being already thoroughly
 wearied of living the life of a wild beast—for being cast down from a lofty
 station to a lower condition and confined to desert places, he actually
 suffered from hunger and was deprived of intercourse with mankind—under the
 compulsion of extreme necessity he came by round-about ways
 to the vicinity of Chalcedon.

There, since it
 seemed to him a safe refuge, he hid himself with the
 most loyal of his friends, a certain Strategius, a soldier of the court guards
 who rose to be a senator, often going as secretly as possible to
 Constantinople, as was afterwards known from the testimony of that same
 Strategius when frequent investigations were held of the accomplices in the
 cabal.

And so, after the fashion of some
 clever spy, being unrecognizable because of his unkempt appearance and his
 leanness, he gathered the gossip, which was then becoming frequent, of many
 who, since men are always discontented with present conditions, were finding
 fault with Valens, as being inflamed with a desire of seizing the property of
 others.

To the emperor's cruelty deadly
 incentive was given by his father-in- law Petronius, who from the command of the Martensian legion
 had by
 a sudden jump been promoted to the rank of patrician. He was a man ugly in spirit and in appearance, who,
 burning with an immoderate longing to strip everyone without distinction,
 condemned guilty and innocent alike, after exquisite tortures, to fourfold
 indemnities, looking up debts going back to the time of the emperor Aurelian,
 and grieving excessively if he was
 obliged to let any one escape unscathed.

Along with his intolerable character he had this additional incentive to his
 devastations, that while he was enriching himself through the woes of others,
 he was inexorable, cruel, savage and fearlessly
 hardhearted, never capable of giving or receiving reason, more hated than
 Cleander, who, as we read, when prefect under the
 emperor Commodus, in his haughty madness had ruined the fortunes of many men;
 more oppressive than Plautianus, also a
 prefect under Severus, who with superhuman arrogance would have caused general
 confusion, if he had not perished by the avenging sword.

These lamentable occurrences, which under Valens,
 aided and abetted by Petronius, closed the houses of the poor and the palaces
 of the rich in great numbers, added to the fear of a still more dreadful
 future, sank deeply into the minds of the provincials and of the soldiers, who
 groaned under similar oppression, and with universal sighs everyone prayed
 (although darkly and in silence) for a change in the present condition of
 affairs with the help of the supreme deity.

All this Procopius observed from his hiding-
 place, and thinking that when a more favourable turn of fortune should occur,
 the crown of supreme power could be gained with little trouble, he lay in wait
 like a beast of prey, ready to leap forth at once on seeing anything which he
 could seize.

And while he was burning with
 impatience to hasten his designs, fate offered him this most timely
 opportunity. For Valens at the end of winter hastened to Syria and had already
 crossed the frontier of Bithynia, when he learned from the reports of his
 generals that the Gothic tribes, at that time unassailed
 and therefore very savage, were conspiring together and making
 preparations to invade the Thracian provinces. On learning this, in order that
 he himself might reach his destination without hindrance, Valens ordered a
 sufficient reinforcement of cavalry and infantry to be sent to the places where
 inroads of the savages were feared.

And so,
 since the emperor was removed to a distance, Procopius, worn out by
 long-continued troubles, and thinking that even a cruel death would be more
 merciful than the evils by which he was tormented, hazarded at one cast all
 perils whatsoever; and without fear now of suffering the worst, led by a
 desperate resolve he essayed the bold deed of hastening to tempt the legions of
 Divitenses and the Younger Tungricani, who had
 been ordered with other troops to hasten to the urgent service in Thrace, and
 as usual were to remain for two days in Constantinople. This he did by hastening to appeal to
 certain acquaintances that he had among those same troops; but because it would
 be dangerous and difficult to speak with all, he confided in only a few.

These men, enticed by the hope of great
 rewards, promised under the sanctity of an oath that they would do everything
 that he wished, guaranteeing also the favour of their comrades, with whom they
 held an important place in giving advice, since they were the highest paid
 and
 the most deserving.

So, as had been agreed,
 as soon as the sun's rays illumined the day, the aforesaid
 Procopius, full of conflicting emotions, went to the Anastasian Baths, named
 for the sister of Constantine, where he knew that the
 legions had their quarters. There he learned from the confidants of his secrets
 that their whole number in a meeting by night had united in his support. Then,
 after a pledge of safety was willingly given him, he was received by the throng
 of venal soldiers and treated indeed with honour, although he seemed in a way
 to be held as a prisoner; for just as once before, after the death of Pertinax,
 the praetorians took up Julianus, when he was a bidder for the imperial power, so now also these
 troops, with an eye to every possible gain, defended Procopius, as he plotted
 to enter upon his ill-starred rule.

So there he stood rather wasted (you would
 think that he had come up from the lower world), and because a purple robe
 could nowhere be found, he was dressed in a gold-embroidered tunic, like an
 attendant at court, but from foot to waist he looked like a page in the service
 of the palace ;
 he wore purple shoes on his feet, and bore a lance, and a small piece of purple
 cloth in his left hand; just as sometimes on the stage you might think that a
 splendidly decorated figure was suddenly made to appear as the curtain was
 raised, or through some mimic deception.

Raised in a laughable 
 manner to this dishonour of all honours, he ad- dressed
 his supporters with servile flattery, and promised them ample riches and
 dignities as the first-fruits of his principate. Then he appeared in public,
 surrounded by a number of armed men, and now advancing with more confidence and
 with upraised standards, attended with a fearful din of shields mournfully
 clashing together, which the soldiers from fear of his being pelted from
 housetops with stones or pieces of tile held closely joined together over the
 very crests of their helmets.

And as he advanced more boldly, the people neither opposed nor favoured him; nevertheless, they were
 aroused by the sudden charm of novelty which is inborn in most of the commons,
 and they were still more strongly moved because they one and all (as we have
 already said) hated Petronius, who was enriching himself by violence, and was
 reviving transactions that were long since buried, and debts of the misty past
 brought up again against all classes.

Accordingly, when the said Procopius had
 mounted the tribunal, and all were filled with amazement, fearing the gloomy
 silence, and believing (as indeed he had expected) that he had merely come to a
 steeper road to death, since a trembling which pervaded all his limbs hindered
 his speaking, he stood for a long time without a word.
 Finally, he beganwith broken and dying utterance to say a little, justifying
 his action by his relationship with the imperial family; then at first by the
 low whispers of a few, who had been hired for the purpose, later by the
 tumultuous acclamations of the people, he was hailed as emperor in disorderly
 fashion, and hastily went on to the Senate House. There finding none of the
 distinguished senators, but only a few persons of low rank, with rapid steps he
 hastened to the palace and entered it with ill-omened step.

Certainly some may wonder that so laughable
 a reign, rashly and blindly begun, broke out into such lamentable disasters to
 the state, if perchance they are unacquainted with previous instances, and
 think that this happened for the first time.

It was thus that Andriscus of Adramytium, a man
 born to the lowest condition, raised himself to the title of a Pseudophilippus
 and added to the Macedonian wars a third, full of danger. It was thus, when the
 emperor Macrinus was living at Antioch, that Heliogabalus Antoninus burst forth from Emesa. Thus, by the unexpected uprising of Maximinus, Alexander
 was murdered
 with his mother Mamaea. Thus in Africa the elder Gordian was hurried to the
 throne, but when he found himself entangled in the terror of coming dangers,
 ended his life with the noose.

Thus the dealers in cheap dainties, the
 palace attendants, or those who had once been such, and former soldiers who had
 now retired to a more peaceful mode of life, a part unwillingly, others
 voluntarily, were induced to participate in the uncertainties of this unusual
 enterprise. But some, thinking that
 anything was safer than the present condition, secretly left the city and went
 at rapid pace to the emperor's camp.

All these were outstripped by the swift
 course of Sophronias, at that time a secretary and later city-prefect in
 Constantinople. He met Valens just as he was on the point of leaving Caesarea
 in Cappadocia, in order to go to his residence at Antioch, since the oppressive
 heat in Cilicia was already somewhat diminished, and after telling him what had
 happened, induced him, discouraged by this event and amazed, as was natural at
 such a crisis, to go to Galatia, in order to take hold of affairs while they
 were still unsettled.

While Valens was hastening on by forced
 marches, Procopius with strictest attention was busy day and night, and brought
 forward certain emissaries, who with crafty assurance pretended that they had
 come, some from the Orient, others from Gaul, and falsely
 announced that Valentinian was dead and that everything was open to the new and
 beloved emperor.

And because attempts at
 revolution, even though audaciously begun, are sometimes wont to be
 strengthened by quick action, accordingly, that nothing might be neglected
 which could arouse fear, Nebridius, recently promoted to be praetorian prefect
 in place of Salutius by the party of Petronius, and Caesarius, prefect of the
 city of Constantinople, were thrown into chains. Phronimius was ordered to take charge of the city with the usual powers, and
 Euphrasius was made chief-marshal of the court; both were Gauls, distinguished
 for their training in the noble arts. The direction of military affairs was
 entrusted to Gomoarius and Agilo, who were recalled to service —being an unwise
 appointment, as the result of their treachery revealed.

Therefore because it was feared that Count
 Julius, who commanded the military forces in
 Thrace, if he should hear of the attempt, would march from the neighbouring
 posts to crush the rebels, an effective plan was devised. For a letter was
 extorted by violence from Nebridius, who was still in prison, in which it was
 pretended that by Valens' order Julius was to discuss serious measures relating
 to the disturbances among the barbarians; and so he was summonedto
 Constantinople and there held in strict confinement. Through this clever trick
 the warlike nations of Thrace were now won over without bloodshed, and this
 powerful support was gained by the rebellious venture.

After this had been effected with such happy success,
 Araxius by soliciting the favour of the court became
 praetorian prefect, under pretext that he was supported by his son-in-law
 Agilo; and many others were employed in various services at court or in
 administrative posts in the provinces, some against their will, others because
 they offered themselves and paid for the positions.

And as commonly happens in times of civil strife, some rose from the
 dregs of the people, led by desperation or by blind ambitions, while on the
 other hand some men of distinguished origin fell from their high estate even to
 death and exile.

When through these and like conditions the
 party seemed firmly established, it remained to muster a sufficient force of
 soldiers, and a thing which in public disturbances has often times hampered
 bold enterprises even when their origin was justified, was managed with ease.

For some divisions of cavalry and infantry
 which had been raised for the campaign in Thrace passed that way; they were
 received courteously and generously, and when they were all united in one body,
 there was already the appearance of an army. Eager for the riches
 that were promised, they swore allegiance to Procopius with dire penalties for
 disloyalty, promising to stand by him and protect him with their lives.

There was found, besides, a very
 favourable means of winning them over, namely, that Procopius took in his arms
 the little daughter of Constantius, whose memory they honoured, and carried her
 about, claiming kinship with the former emperor. And he
 gained another timely advantage in that Faustina, the girl's mother, happened
 to be present when he had received some insignia forming a part of the imperial
 adornment.

Also he added another stroke
 which was to be hastened with swift energy; for certain men chosen for their
 foolhardy daring were sent to take possession of Illyricum; these set out
 relying on no other aid than their impudence, using for their purpose
 goldpieces bearing the image of the new emperor and trying other devices for
 enticement; but Aequitius, the military commander in those regions, seized them
 and put them to death in various ways.

Then,
 through fear of similar attempts, Aequitius blockaded the three narrow passes
 leading to the northern provinces, one through Dacia Ripensis, a second, the best known, through Succi,
 the third through Macedonia, and called
 Acontisma. And in consequence of these prudent
 measures, the usurper of illegitimate power was disappointed in his vain hope
 of seizing Illyricum and lost a great source of material for the war.

While these things were thus going on,
 Valens, shocked by the terrible news and already returning through Galatia, on
 hearing what had happened at Constantinople advanced with distrust and fear.
 His sudden terror made him unfit for all ways of precaution, and his spirit had
 sunk so low that he even thought of casting aside his imperial robes as a heavy
 burden; and he would actually have done so, had he not been kept by the
 remonstrances of his intimates from the shameful intention and given courage by
 the advice of better men; accordingly, he ordered two
 legions, named the Jovii and the Victores, to go on ahead and attack the rebels
 in their camp.

When these were already
 approaching, Procopius himself, having returned from Nicaea, to which place he
 had gone shortly before, with the Divitenses and a promiscuous rabble of
 deserters which he had got together in a brief space of time, hastened to
 Mygdus, a place laved by the river Sangarius.

There the legions were already advancing upon each other, ready for battle,
 when Procopius rushed alone between them, while they were exchanging volleys,
 as if he wished to challenge the enemy. And by a stroke of good fortune as if
 he recognised in the enemy's lines a certain Vitalianus—whether he actually
 knew him is a matter of doubt—he saluted him courteously in Latin, and called
 him forward in a friendly fashion. Then he held out his hand to him and kissed
 him, to the amazement of all on both sides, and cried out:

So this is the old loyalty of Roman armies and their oaths bound by firm
 religious rites! Is this your pleasure, my brave men? All this mass of Roman
 swords uplifted for strangers! That a base Pannonian should shake and
 trample upon the world, to gain a throne which he never so much as dared to
 pray for, we groan over your wounds and ours! No, no—follow rather the house
 of your own royal line, one who has taken up arms with the greatest justice,
 not in order to seize what is another's, but to restore himself to the
 possession of his ancestral majesty.

Through these calm words, all the men who
 had come to fight hotly against him were pacified, and willingly went over to
 his side with the eagles and the tips of their standards
 lowered; and in place of terrible shouts that the barbarians call barritus
 he was hailed as emperor; all crowded about him in the customary
 manner, and in harmony escorted him back to the camp, swearing, in the
 soldiers' manner, by Jupiter that Procopius would be invincible.

To this success of the rebels was added
 another still happier event. For a tribune called Rumitalca, who had been won
 over to the party of Procopius and given the charge of the palace, upon a
 carefully devised plan crossed the sea with his soldiers and came to the place
 formerly called Drepanum, now Helenopolis, and then with unexpected speed seized Nicaea.

To besiege this city Valens sent, besides
 others skilled in that kind of fighting, Vadomarius, a former general and king
 of the Alamanni, and went on himself to Nicomedia. Leaving that place, he
 carried on the siege of Chalcedon with great vigour, from the walls of which
 city insults were hurled at him and he was derisively addressed as Sabaiarius.
 Now sabaia is a drink of the poorer people in Illyricum, a
 liquor made from barley or some other grain.

Finally, worn out by scarcity of supplies and
 the very obstinate resistance of the defenders, he was already pre- paring to
 depart, when those who had meanwhile been blockaded at Nicaea suddenly opened
 the gates and rushed out, and after slaying a great part of the besiegers,
 headed by their bold leader, Rumitalca, hastened eagerly on with the purpose of
 surrounding Valens from the rear; for he had not left the suburb of Chalcedon.
 And they would have been successful, if the emperor had not from an earlier
 rumour learned of the danger that threatened him, and by a hasty retreat by way
 of the Sunonian lake and the many windings of the river Gallus outwitted the enemy, who were close upon
 his heels in vain pursuit. And by this mischance Bithynia also fell into the
 power of Procopius.

When Valens had returned thence by rapid
 marches to Ancyra and learned that Lupicinus with a
 force not to be despised was drawing near from the Orient, his hopes for better
 success were aroused, and he sent his best general Arintheus to attack the enemy.

When
 Arintheus reached Dadastana, the station where, as we have said, Jovian died, he suddenly saw Hyperechius and his forces
 opposed to him; he had before been merely in charge of the
 commander's supplies (that is, a servant of his belly and gullet), but
 Procopius had entrusted him as a friend with the command of a band of
 auxiliaries. And scorning to overcome in battle so despicable a man, relying on
 his authority and his imposing stature, Arintheus ordered the enemy themselves
 to put their leader in irons; and thus this shadow of a commander was taken
 prisoner by the hands of his own men.

While affairs were proceeding in this way, a
 certain Venustus, an attendant on the state-treasury under Valens, who had been
 sent long before to Nicomedia, in order to distribute into the soldiers' hands
 the money that had been raised for the pay of those stationed in various parts
 of the Orient, hearing of this unfortunate occurrence, and seeing that the time
 was unfavourable for his task, quickly made his way to Cyzicus with the money
 he had received.

There he chanced to meet
 Serenianus, at that time commander of the household troops, who had been sent
 to protect the treasures there; and since the city had an impregnable circuit
 of walls, and was known because of its old monuments, he tried to hold it,
 relying on the hastily formed garrison. Procopius had appointed a strong force
 to storm that city, in order to join Hellespontus to his side now he held
 Bithynia.

However, the success of the work
 was delayed because often whole masses of the besiegers were slain by arrows,
 slingshots, and other missiles, and through the skill of the garrison the
 entrance to the port had been barred by a very strong iron chain, which was
 fastened to the land on both sides, so that even the
 armoured ships of the enemy could not force their way in.

This chain, after various efforts of the soldiers and
 their leaders, who were exhausted by the hot fighting, was broken through by a
 tribune called Aliso, a distinguished and skilful warrior, in the following
 manner. He fastened together three boats and built upon them a protective
 covering after this fashion: in front stood armed men on the thwarts with their
 shields held close together over their heads, those behind them stooped down
 somewhat lower, and those in the third rank gradually lower still, so that,
 since the hindermost rested on their hams, the whole gave the appearance of an
 arched building. This kind of device, used in battles against walls, has this
 form in order that the volleys of missiles and rocks, gliding down the sloping
 side, may flow off like showers of rain.

Thus Aliso, defended for the time being from the volleys of missiles, being a
 man of great bodily strength, placed a block underneath and struck the chain
 heavy blows with an axe, breaking it in such a way that it fell apart and
 opened a broad entrance; and by this result the city was exposed unprotected to
 the enemy's attack. Because of this, when the ring-leader of the whole
 rebellion was later killed, and the members of his party were cruelly treated,
 this same tribune, being allowed to keep his life and his position in the army
 in view of his brilliant exploit, was slain long afterwards in Isauria at the
 hands of a predatory band.

When Cyzicus had been opened to him by this
 martial stroke, Procopius quickly hastened to the city; he pardoned all who had
 opposed him, except Serenianus alone, who was by his order
 put in irons and taken to Nicaea to be closely guarded.

And immediately afterwards Ormisdas, a mature young
 man, son of the royal prince of the same name, was given the rank of
 proconsul, and therewith according to ancient usage the control of civil and
 military affairs. This man acted with great mildness, in accordance with his
 disposition, and when he was on the point of being seized by a sudden onset of
 the soldiers whom Valens had sent through by-paths of Phrygia, he made his
 escape with such vigorous courage, that he embarked on board a ship which he
 had got ready in case of danger, and carried off his wife safely amid volleys
 of arrows when she followed him and was all but taken prisoner; she was a rich
 and distinguished matron, whose high reputation and commendable firmness later
 saved her husband amid extreme dangers.

By this victory Procopius was elated, beyond
 what is lawful for mortals, and forgetting that any happy man, if Fortune's
 wheel turns, may before evening become most wretched, he ordered the house of
 Arbitio, full of priceless furniture, to be completely stripped. Hitherto he
 had spared it as if it were his own, believing that the man was on his side;
 but he had been incensed because he had summoned Arbitio several times to come
 to him and Arbitio had put him off, pleading the infirmities of age and
 illness.

And although for this reason the
 usurper feared serious consequences, nevertheless, since he could now boldly
 invade the oriental provinces without opposition, in fact even with the free
 consent of all—as those provinces were eager to see any change, from their dislike of the strict rule under which they were
 then held—for the purpose of winning over some cities of Asia and surrounding
 himself with men skilled in raising money (as likely to be helpful to him in
 the numerous great battles which he expected) he slothfully delayed and became
 blunt, just as a sharp sword might.

Exactly
 so formerly Pescennius Niger, when
 often summoned by the Roman people to aid them in their expectation of extreme
 need, while he was delaying a long time in Syria, was defeated by Severus at
 the Issic Gulf (which is in Cilicia, where Alexander routed Darius), and driven
 from the field lost his life in a suburb of Antioch at the hands of a common
 soldier.

This is what happened in the mid-winter of
 the consulship of Valentinian and Valens. But when the
 highest magistracy passed to Gratianus, who was as yet a private citizen, and to
 Dagalaifus, after the beginning of spring Valens called forth his troops and
 joining with him Lupicinus and a strong force of auxiliaries, he hastened to
 Pessinus, formerly a town of Phrygia, now of Galatia.

Having safely garrisoned this place in
 order to suffer no surprise in those parts, he marched along the foot of the
 lofty mountain called Olympus, and over rocky paths,
 towards Lycia, planning to attack Gomoarius, while he
 loitered there half asleep,

But he was met with general and obstinate
 resistance, for this reason in particular—that his enemy (as has been
 mentioned) both on the march and when they were almost in battle array, carried
 about with him in a litter the little daughter of Constantius, and her mother Faustina;
 and thereby had inflamed the passions of the soldiers to fight more bravely in
 defence of the imperial stock, with which he claimed that he himself was
 connected. Just so once the Macedonians, when on the point of engaging with the
 Illyrians, placed their king, who was still an infant, in his cradle behind the
 battle line, and from fear that he might be taken prisoner, beat down their
 adversaries with greater valour.

Against this crafty device the emperor aided
 his wavering cause by a clever expedient; for he urged the ex-consul Arbitio,
 who had long been in retirement, to come to him, in order that respect due to
 one of Constantine's generals might calm the savage spirits of the rebels; and
 so it turned out.

For Arbitio, who was older
 than the rest and of higher rank, showing to many who were inclined to
 rebellion his venerable gray hair, called Procopius a public brigand, while he
 pleaded with the soldiers who had followed the usurper's delusion as with his
 children and comrades in his former labours; and he begged them rather to obey
 him, as a parent who was known for his successful campaigns, than a profligate
 wretch who was already on the point of being deserted and was approaching his
 fall.

Gomoarius, on
 learning of this, might have eluded the enemy and returned safely whence he had
 come; but since the emperor's camp was conveniently near, he went over to it
 under pretext of being a prisoner, pretending that he had been surrounded by a
 throng of the enemy who had suddenly appeared.

Fired with eagerness at this, Valens marched
 on to Phrygia, and the two sides had already joined battle near Nacolia, when
 Agilo at the critical point in the contest turned traitor by suddenly going
 over to the enemy; then many others followed him who were already brandishing
 their pikes and swords, and deserted to the emperor with their standards and
 with their shields reversed, which is the most evident sign of defection.

By this sight, unexpected by all, Procopius
 was bereft of every aid to safety; so he took to flight and sought a
 hiding-place in the surrounding woods and mountains, followed by Florentius and
 the tribune Barchalba, who from the time of Constantius had gained fame in the
 fiercest wars, and had been led to treason by necessity, not by inclination.

The greater part of the night had passed.
 The moon, brightly shining from its evening rise until dawn, increased the fear
 of Procopius; and since on all sides the opportunity for escape was cut off and
 he was completely at a loss, he began, as is usual in extreme necessity, to
 rail at Fortune as cruel and oppressive; and so, overwhelmed as he was by many
 anxieties, he was suddenly tightly bound by his companions and at daybreak was
 taken to the camp and handed over to the emperor, silent and terror- stricken.
 He was at once beheaded, and so put an end to the rising
 storm of civil strife and war. His fate was like that of Perpenna
 of old, who after killing Sertorius at table, for a short
 time was in possession of the rule, but was dragged from the thickets where he
 had hidden himself, brought before Pompey, and by his order put to death.

In the same heat of resentment Florentius
 and Barchalba, who had brought Procopius in, were at once put to death without
 consideration of reason. For if they had betrayed a legitimate prince, even
 Justice herself would declare that they were justly executed; but if he whom
 they betrayed was a rebel and a disturber of the public peace, as he was said
 to be, they ought to have been given great rewards for a noteworthy deed.

Procopius departed this life at the age of
 forty years and ten months. Personally he was a tall man and not bad looking;
 he was somewhat dark complexioned, and walked with his gaze always fixed on the
 ground. In his secretive and gloomy nature he was like that Crassus who, as Lucilius and Cicero declare, laughed
 only once in his life; but the surprising thing is, that throughout all his
 life he was not stained with bloodshed.

At about the same time Marcellus, an officer
 of the guard and a relative of Procopius, commanding the
 garrison at Nicaea and learning of the betrayal of the usurper by the soldiers
 and his consequent death, at the fearful hour of midnight unexpectedly attacked
 Serenianus, who was imprisoned within the palace, and
 killed him; and his death saved the lives of many.

For if this man of rude nature, burning with a cruel desire to hurt,
 had survived the victory, being dear to Valens because of their likeness of
 character and their common fatherland, and well aware of the secret wishes of a
 prince inclined to cruelty, he would have caused the death of many innocent
 people.

After killing Serenianus, Marcellus quickly
 got possession of Chalcedon, and, supported by the cheers of a few, whom their
 worthlessness and desperation drove to crime, seized the shadow of a fatal
 principate. He was deceived by two ideas, first because the kings of the Goths,
 who had now been conciliated, had sent three thousand men to the aid of Procopius, led by his show of relationship
 to Constantius, and Marcellus thought that these men could for a small sum be
 brought over to his side; and secondly, because he had not yet learned what had
 happened in Illyricum.

In the midst of this great confusion
 Aequitius, who had learned from trustworthy sources that the whole burden of
 the war had been transferred to Asia, marched through the pass of Succi and
 with all his might tried to open Philippopolis, formerly Eumolpias, which had been closed by the enemy's garrison; for that
 city was very favourably situated and, if left in his rear, could hinder his
 attempt, if he should be compelled to hasten to Haemimontus 
 in order to bring reinforcements to Valens; for he had not
 yet learned what had happened at Nacolia.

But learning a little later of the vain
 presumption of Marcellus, he at once sent bold and active soldiers who seized
 him and imprisoned him as a guilty slave. A few days later the usurper was
 brought out, his body was soundly scourged, and after his accomplices had been
 similarly treated, he was put to death: a man who deserves credit only for
 making away with Serenianus, who was cruel as Phalaris, and loyal to Procopius
 because of the accursed science which for vain reasons he pretended to have.

Through the death of the leader
 the horrors of war were rooted out; but many were
 punished more severely than their errors or faults demanded, especially the
 defenders of Philippopolis, who surrendered the city and themselves most
 reluctantly, and only when they saw the head of Procopius, which was being
 taken to Gaul.

Some, however, through the
 influence of those who interceded for them, were treated more leniently, among
 them notably Araxius, who in the very heat of the conflagration had solicited
 and gained the prefecture; he, through the
 intercession of his son-in-law Agilo, was deported to an island, but soon
 afterwards made his escape.

Euphrasius,
 however, and also Phronimius were sent to the west and left to the decision of
 Valentinian. Euphrasius was
 pardoned, but Phronimius was banished to the Chersonesus, 
 receiving a severer punishment for the same offence because
 he had been well regarded by the deified Julian, whose noteworthy merits both
 the imperial brothers depreciated, without
 being his equal or anywhere near it.

To these events were added other more serious
 matters, far more to be feared than those of wartime. For executioner,
 instruments of torture, and bloody inquisitions raged without any distinction
 of age or of rank through all classes and orders, and under the mantle of peace
 
 abominable robbery was carried on, while all cursed the ill-omened victory,
 which was worse than any war, however destructive.

For amid arms and clarions, equality of condition makes dangers
 lighter; the force of martial valour either destroys what it attacks, or
 ennobles it; and death (if it comes) is attended with no sense of shame and
 brings with it at once an end of life and of suffering. But when the laws and
 statutes are pretexts for impious designs, and judges take their seats in false
 imitation of the character of a Cato or a Cassius, but everything is decided according to the will of men of swollen
 powers, and by their caprice the question of the life or death of all those who
 come before them is weighed, then, destruction results that is deadly and
 sudden.

For when any one at that time had
 become powerful for any reason, and having almost royal authority and being consumed with longing to seize the goods of others, accused
 some clearly guiltless person, he was welcomed as an intimate and loyal friend,
 who was to be
 enriched by the ruin of other men.

For the
 emperor, rather inclined himself to do injury, lent his ear to accusers,
 listened to death-dealing denunciations, and took unbridled joy in various
 kinds of executions; unaware of that saying of Cicero's which asserts that
 those are unlucky who think that they have power to do anything they wish.

This implacability in a cause which was
 most just, but where victory brought shame, delivered many innocent victims to the torturers, either placing them
 on the rack until they were bowed down or exposing them to the sword-stroke of a
 cruel executioner. It would have been better for them (if nature allowed it),
 to lose even ten lives in battle, rather than though free from all blame, with
 lacerated sides, amid general groans to suffer punishment for alleged treason,
 with their bodies first mutilated, a thing which is more awful than any death.

When finally ferocity was overcome by the
 grief that it caused, and had burnt itself out, the most distinguished men
 suffered proscription, exile, and other punishments which seem lighter to some,
 terrible though they are; and in order that another might be enriched, a man of
 noble birth and perhaps richer in deserts was deprived of
 his patrimony and driven headlong into banishment, there to waste away from
 sorrow, or to support his life by beggary; and no limit was set to the deadly
 cruelties, until the emperor and his nearest friends were glutted with wealth
 and bloodshed.

While that usurper 
 of whose many deeds and his death we have told, still survived, on the
 twenty-first of July in the first consulship of Valentinian with his brother,
 horrible phenomena suddenly spread through the entire
 extent of the world, such as are related to us neither in fable nor in truthful
 history.

For a little after daybreak,
 preceded by heavy and repeated thunder and lightning, the whole of the firm and
 solid earth was shaken and trembled, the sea with its rolling waves was driven
 back and withdrew from the land, so that in the abyss of the deep thus revealed
 men saw many kinds of sea-creatures stuck fast in the slime; and vast mountains
 and deep valleys, which Nature, the creator, had hidden in the unplumbed
 depths, then, as one might well believe, first saw the beams of the sun.

Hence, many ships were stranded as if on
 dry land, and since many men roamed about without fear in the little that
 remained of the waters, to gather fish and similar things with their hands, the roaring sea, resenting, as it were,
 this forced retreat, rose in its turn; and over the boiling shoals it dashed
 mightily upon islands and broad stretches of the mainland, and levelled
 innumerable buildings in the cities and wherever else they were found; so that
 amid the mad discord of the elements the altered face of the
 earth revealed marvellous sights.

For the
 great mass of waters, returning when it was least expected, killed many
 thousands of men by drowning; and by the swift recoil of the eddying tides a
 number of ships, after the swelling of the wet element subsided, were seen to
 have foundered, and the lifeless bodies of shipwrecked persons lay floating on
 their backs or on their faces.

Other great ships, driven by the mad blasts,
 landed on the tops of buildings (as happened at Alexandria), and some were
 driven almost two miles inland, like a Laconian ship which I myself in passing
 that way saw near the town of Mothone, yawning apart through long decay.

While throughout the Orient the changing course of events was developing as we have narrated, the Alamanni,
 after the sad losses and wounds which they had suffered from their frequent
 battles with Julianus Caesar, having at last renewed their strength (which yet
 did not equal its old vigour), and being an object of dread for the reasons
 which we have mentioned above, were already overleaping the frontiers of Gaul. And
 immediately after the first of January, while throughout those icebound regions
 the grim season of winter bristled, they hurried forth in divisions,
 and, without
 restraint a host was ranging everywhere.

Charietto, who was then commanding general
 throughout both Germanies, along with soldiers eager for war, set out to meet
 their first division, taking as a partner in the campaign Severianus, who was
 also a general, an aged and feeble man, who at Cabillona commanded the Divitenses and Tungricani.

Accordingly, when the force had been more
 closely united in one, and with the speed of haste they had built a bridge over
 a small stream, the Romans, on seeing the savages at a distance, assailed them
 with arrows and other light missiles, which the enemy vigorously returned throw
 for throw.

But when the forces came to close
 quarters and fought with drawn swords, our men's lines were broken by the foe's
 fiercer onset, and found no means either of resisting or of acting bravely. And
 when they Severianus, who had been thrown from his horse and pierced through by
 a missile, they were all terrified and put to flight.

Lastly Charietto himself, by boldly opposing his body and by
 reproachful words, held back his retreating men, and by confidence caused by
 his long stand, tried to wipe out shame and disgrace; but fell pierced by a
 fatal shaft.

After his death the standard of
 the Eruli and Batavians was taken, which the barbarians with insulting cries
 and dancing with joy frequently raised on high and displayed, until after hard
 struggles it was recovered.

The news of this disaster was received with
 extreme grief, and Dagalaifus was sent from Paris to make good
 the defeat; but since he delayed for a long time under pretext that it was
 impossible for him to attack the barbarians while they were scattered over
 various places, he was recalled a little later in order to receive the consular
 insignia with Gratianus, who was still a private
 citizen. Then Jovinus, commander of the cavalry, was appointed to the task, and
 after being most thoroughly equipped and prepared, carefully guarding both
 wings of his army, he arrived near a place called Scarponna; there he suddenly fell upon a great throng
 of the savages, took them by surprise before they could arm themselves, and in
 a short time utterly annihilated them.

Then
 he led on his soldiers, rejoicing in the glory of this bloodless victory, to
 destroy the second division of the enemy; and the glorious leader was advancing
 slowly, when he learned from a trustworthy scouting party, that after
 plundering the neighbouring farmhouses a predatory band was resting near the
 river. On coming nearer, and being hidden in a valley
 concealed by a thick growth of trees, he saw that some were bathing, others
 were reddening their hair after their national custom, and still others were
 drinking.

So taking advantage of this most
 favourable time, he suddenly gave the signal with the clarions and broke into
 the robbers' camp, while on the other hand the Germans, merely uttering
 boastfully vain threats and shouts, were pressed so hard by the victor that
 they could not gather up their arms, which were lying about here and there, nor
 form in line, nor rally for a stout resistance. Therefore most of them fell,
 run through by pikes and swords, except such as took to their 
 heels and found shelter on the winding and narrow paths.

His confidence now increased by this
 successful stroke, the result of both valour and good fortune, Jovinus led on
 his soldiers, sending ahead an efficient scouting party, and hastily advanced
 against the remaining third division; and when by a rapid march he came near
 Châlons, he found the enemy fully ready for
 battle.

Having measured off a stockade to
 suit the conditions, and refreshed his men with food and sleep, so far as time
 allowed, at the first coming of dawn he drew up his line of battle in the open
 plain; and he extended it with such skilful art, that the Romans, who were
 inferior in number (though equal in strength), by occupying a greater space
 appeared to be as numerous as the enemy.

And so, when the signal had been given by the
 trumpet and they began to engage at close quarters, the Germans stood amazed,
 terrified by the fearful sight of the gleaming standards. For a while their
 ardour was blunted, but they quickly recovered and prolonged the fighting to
 the end of the day; and our vigorously attacking soldiers would have gained the
 fruit of victory without loss, had not Balchobaudes, tribune of the heavy-armed
 guard, a man by nature both boastful and cowardly, withdrawn in disorder at the
 approach of evening. And if the rest of the cohorts had followed his example
 and left the field, the affair would have come to such a sad ending that not
 one of our number could have survived to tell what had happened.

But the soldiers resisted with bold energy and
 courage, and were so superior in strength that they wounded 4000 of the enemy
 and killed 6000 more, while they themselves lost not more
 than 1200, and had only 200 wounded.

When
 therefore the battle was now broken off by the coming of night, and the wearied
 soldiers had recovered their strength, their distinguished general towards
 daybreak led forward his army in square formation ; and finding that the savages had slipped away
 under cover of darkness, free from worry about ambuscades he followed them over
 the open and easy plains, trampling underfoot the dying, and the contracted
 bodies of those whom, since the severity of the cold had drawn their wounds
 together, the extreme pain had taken off.

Then, after advancing farther but returning on finding none of the enemy, he
 learned that the Ascarii (whom he himself had sent by another
 route to plunder the tents of the Alamanni) had captured a king of the hostile
 army with a few of his followers, and had gibbeted him. Angered at this, he
 decided to punish the tribune who had ventured to take this action without
 consulting higher authority; and he would have condemned him to death, if it
 had not been clear from convincing evidence that the cruel deed had been
 committed through passion to which soldiers are prone.

When Jovinus returned to Paris after these
 brilliant victories, Valentinian went out joyfully to meet him, and shortly
 afterwards made him consul; and, you may be sure it added
 to his great happiness that he had received at that same time the head of
 Procopius, sent to him by Valens.

Besides these battles, many others less
 worthy of mention were fought in various parts of Gaul, which it would be
 superfluous to describe, both because their results led to nothing worth while,
 and because it is not fitting to spin out a history with insignificant
 details.

At this time or a little earlier
 a new form of portent appeared in Annonarian Tuscany,
 and how it would turn
 out even those who were skilled in interpreting prodigies were wholly at a loss
 to know. For in the town of Pistoria, at about the
 third hour of the day, in the sight of many persons, an ass mounted the
 tribunal and was heard to bray persistently, to the amazement both of all who
 were present and of those who heard of it from the reports of others; and no
 one could guess what was to come, until later the portended event came to pass.

For one Terentius, born in that city, a
 fellow of low origin and a baker by trade, by way of reward because he had
 brought Orfitus, an ex-prefect, into court on the charge of embezzlement, held
 the position of governor in that province. Emboldened by this, he proceeded to stir up many disturbances, and being convicted
 of cheating in a matter of business with some ship-captains, as was
 reported, he met death at the hands of the executioner when
 Claudius was city-prefect.

However, long before this happened,
 Apronianus was succeeded by Symmachus, a
 man worthy to be classed among the conspicuous examples of learning and
 moderation, through whose efforts the sacred city enjoyed an unusual period of
 quiet and prosperity, and prides itself on a handsome bridge, which
 Symmachus himself, by the decision of our mighty emperors, dedicated, and to
 the great joy of the citizens, who proved ungrateful, as the result most
 clearly showed.

For after some years had
 passed, they set fire to Symmachus' beautiful house in the Transtiberine
 district, spurred on by the fact that a common fellow among the plebeians had
 alleged, without any informant or witness, that the prefect had said that he
 would rather use his own wine for quenching lime-kilns than sell it at the price
 which the people hoped for.

Symmachus was succeeded as prefect of the
 city by Lampadius, a former praetorian prefect, a man who
 took it very ill if even his manner of spitting was not praised, on the ground
 that he did that also with greater skill than anyone else; but yet he was
 sometimes strict and honest.

When this man,
 in his praetorship, gave magnificent games and made very rich largesses, being
 unable to endure the blustering of the commons, who often
 urged that many things should be given to those who were unworthy of them,
 in
 order to show his generosity and his contempt of the mob, he summoned some
 beggars from the Vatican and presented
 them with valuable gifts.

But of his vanity,
 not to digress too far, it will suffice to give this single instance,
 insignificant indeed, but something to be shunned by high officials. For
 through all quarters of the city which had been adorned at the expenses of
 various emperors, he had his own name inscribed, not as the restorer of old
 buildings, but as their founder. From this fault the emperor Trajan also is
 said to have suffered, and for that reason he was jestingly called
 wall-wort.

As prefect, Lampadius was disturbed by
 frequent outbreaks, the greatest of all being when a mob, composed of the dregs
 of the populace, by throwing fire-brands and fire-darts upon his house near the
 Baths of Constantine would have burned it, had not his friends and neighbours
 quickly rushed to the spot and driven them off by pelting them with stones and
 tiles from the house-tops.

He himself,
 terrified by such violence in the first stages of a growing tumult, fled to the
 Mulvian bridge — which the elder Scaurus is said to
 have built—as though to wait there for the cessation of the tumult, which a serious cause had aroused.

For when preparing to erect new buildings or restoring old ones, he
 did not order materials to be obtained from the usual taxes, but if there was need of iron, lead, bronze, or
 anything of the kind, attendants were set on, in order that they might, under
 pretence of buying the various articles, seize them without paying anything. In
 consequence, he was barely able by swift flight to avoid the anger of the
 incensed poor, who had repeated losses to lament.

As his successor came Viventius, a former court-chancellor, a just and prudent man of Pannonia, whose
 administration was quiet and mild, and rich in an abundance of everything. But
 he, too, was alarmed by sanguinary outbreaks of the factions of the people,
 which were caused by the following affair.

Damasus and Ursinus, burning with a superhuman desire of seizing the bishopric,
 engaged in bitter strife because of their opposing interests; and the
 supporters of both parties went even so far as conflicts ending in bloodshed
 and death. Since Viventius was able neither to end nor to diminish this strife,
 he was compelled to yield to its great violence, and retired to the suburbs.

And in the struggle Damasus was
 victorious through the efforts of the party which favoured him. It is a
 well-known fact that in the basilica of Sicininus, where the assembly of the
 Christian sect is held, in a single day a hundred and thirty-seven corpses of
 the slain were found, and that it was only with difficulty that the long-continued frenzy of the people was afterwards
 quieted.

Bearing in mind the ostentation in city
 life, I do not deny that those who are desirous of such a thing ought to
 struggle with the exercise of all their strength to gain what they seek; for
 when they attain it, they will be so free from care that they are enriched from
 the offerings of matrons, ride seated in carriages, wearing clothing chosen
 with care, and serve banquets so lavish that their entertainments outdo the
 tables of kings.

These men might be truly
 happy, if they would disregard the greatness of the city behind which they hide
 their faults, and live after the manner of some provincial bishops, whose
 moderation in food and drink, plain apparel also, and gaze fixed upon the
 earth, commend them to the Eternal Deity and to his true servants as pure and
 reverent men. But this will be a sufficient digression; let me now return to
 the course of events.

While the above-mentioned events were taking
 place in Gaul and Italy, a new campaign was set on foot in Thrace. For Valens,
 in accordance with the desire of his brother, whom he consulted and by whose
 will he was guided, took up arms against the Goths, influenced by a just
 reason, namely, that they had sent aid to Procopius, when he began his civil
 war. It will be fitting, then, to sketch hastily in a brief digression the
 early history and the topography of those regions.

A description of Thrace would be easy, if the
 pens of the earlier writers agreed; but since their obscurity and their
 differences lend no aid to a work whose aim is truth, it will suffice to set
 forth what I myself remember to have seen.

That this land formerly consisted of a boundless expanse of gentle plains and
 lofty mountains, we know from the immortal testimony of Homer, who imagines
 that the north and west winds begin to blow from there; but this is either a fable, or
 else in former times the widely extended tracts marked out to be the home of
 barbarian tribes were all included under the name of Thrace.

A part of these were inhabited by the Scordisci,
 who are now
 widely separated from those same provinces: a people formerly cruel and savage,
 and, as ancient history declares, accustomed to offer up their prisoners as
 victims to Bellona and Mars, and from their hollowed skulls greedily to drink
 human blood. By their savageness the Roman state was often sorely troubled and
 after many lamentable calamities finally lost a whole army with its commander.

But, as we now see them, those same places,
 formed in the shape of a crescent moon, present the appearance of a beautiful
 theatre. At its western summit are the steep mountains through which the narrow
 pass of Succi opens, separating Thrace from Dacia.

The left side, towards the northern
 stars, is shut in by the lofty heights of Mount Haemus and the Hister,
 which, where it washes Roman soil, borders on many cities, fortresses, and castles.

On the right, which is the south side, extend the cliffs of Rhodope,
 and where the morning star rises it is bounded by the strait which flows with
 an abundance of water from the Euxine, and going on with alternating current to
 the Aegaean, opens a narrow cleft between the lands.

But on the eastern corner the land is connected with the frontiers
 of Macedonia by a steep and narrow pass, which is called Acontisma. Next to this is the postingstation of Arethusa, in which
 is to be seen the tomb of Euripides, noted for his lofty tragedies, and Stagira, known as the
 birthplace of Aristotle, who, as Cicero says, poured forth a golden
 stream.

These regions also were occupied in
 former times by barbarians, who differed from one another in customs and
 language. Of these the Odrysae are noted for their savage cruelty beyond all
 others, being so habituated to the shedding of human blood that when there were
 no enemies at hand, at their feasts, after a satiety of food and drink they
 plunged the sword into the bodies of their own countrymen, as if they were
 those of foreigners.

But when our country increased in power, and
 the rule of consuls was in full sway, Marcus Didius, with great determination,
 checked these tribes that before had been always invincible and were roaming
 about without civilization or laws. Drusus confined them within their own
 bounds. Minucius utterly defeated them in a battle near the river Hebrus, which
 flows from the high mountains of the Odrysae, and after these
 the survivors were completely annihilated by the proconsul Appius Claudius in a
 hot fight. Indeed, the Roman
 fleets took possession of the towns situated on the Bosphorus and the
 Propontis.

After these came General
 Lucullus, who was the first of all to
 encounter the savage tribe of the Bessi and in the same onslaught overcame the
 Haemimontani in spite of their stout resistance. While he threatened that region, all parts of Thrace passed
 under the sway of our forefathers, and in this way, after dangerous campaigns,
 six provinces were won for the republic.

The first of these on the side bordering on
 Illyricum is called Thrace in the narrower sense, and is adorned by the
 splendid cities of Philippopolis, formerly Eumolpias, and Beroea. After this, Haemimontus
 has Hadrianopolis, also once called Uscudama, and Anchialos, both great and rich cities. Then comes Mysia, with Marcianopolis (so name from the sister of the emperor
 Trajan). Dorostorus, Nicopolis, and Odessus. Hard by is Scythia, in which the
 more famous towns are Dionysopolis, Tomi, and Callatia. Europa, the remotest
 province of all, in addition to various towns, is conspicuous for two cities,
 Apri and Perinthus, in later times called Heraclea.

Rhodopa, next
 to this, has Maximianopolis, Maronea and Aenus, which Aeneas 
 founded and abandoned, and after long
 wanderings under continued good auspices, reached Italy.

Now it is well known, as constant reports
 have spread abroad, that almost all the country folk who dwell in the high
 mountains throughout the lands just described surpass us in health and
 strength, and in the prerogative (so to speak) of prolonging life; and it is
 thought that this is due to abstinence from a conglomeration of diet and from
 hot baths, and a lasting freshness knits their bodies through cold sprinklings
 with dew; and they enjoy the sweetness of a purer air; further they are first
 of all to feel the rays of the sun, which are by their own nature life-giving,
 before they are infected with any stains from human affairs. After having thus
 given an account of these matters, let us return to our task.

After Procopius had been vanquished in Phrygia, and the source of internal strife lulled to rest, Victor,
 commander of the cavalry, was sent to the Goths, in order to get clear
 information why a people friendly to the Romans and bound by the treaties of a
 long-continued peace had lent support to a usurper who was making war on the
 legitimate emperors. They, in order to excuse their action by a strong defence,
 presented a letter from the said Procopius, in which he
 asserted that he had assumed the sovereignty that was due him as nearly related
 to the family of Constantine; and they
 maintained that their error was pardonable.

When this was learned from the report of the aforesaid Victor, Valens, taking little account of so trivial an
 excuse, marched against the Goths, who already knew of the coming activity.
 Getting his army together at the beginning of spring, he measured off a camp
 near the fortress called Daphne; and having made a bridge of planks
 over the gangways of ships, he crossed the river Hister without any opposition.

And now he was exalted in confidence,
 since, as he hastened hither and thither, he found no one whom he could conquer
 or terrify; for all had been struck with fear at the approach of the soldiers
 with their splendid equipment, and made for the mountains of the Serri, which
 are lofty and inaccessible except to those who are thoroughly familiar with
 them.

Therefore, to avoid wasting the whole
 summer and returning without accomplishing anything, he sent Arintheus,
 commander of the infantry, with plundering bands and seized some of the
 families which could be captured before they reached the steep and winding
 mountainregions and while they were still wandering over the level plains. And
 after having attained only this, which was what chance offered him, he returned
 harmlessly with his men, without having inflicted or suffered serious harm.

In the following year, having attempted with equal energy to invade the enemy's territory, he was prevented by
 extensive floods of the Danube and remained inactive, near a
 village of the Carpi in a permanent camp which he had made, until the end of
 autumn. And since he was cut off by the extent of the waters from doing
 anything, he returned from there to Marcianopolis for winter quarters.

With like persistence in the third year also
 he made a bridge of boats to cross the river at Novidunum and forced his
 way into the barbarian territory; and after continuous marches he attacked the
 warlike people of the Greuthungi, who lived very far off, and after some slight
 contests Athanaricus, at that time their most
 powerful ruler, who dared to resist with a band which he believed to be more than
 sufficient for himself, was forced to flee, in fear of utter destruction. Then
 he himself with all his men returned to Marcianopolis as a suitable place
 (considering that region) for passing the winter.

After the many vicissitudes of these three
 years timely opportunities arose for ending the war. First, because the long stay of the emperor was increasing the enemy's
 fears; secondly, because the savages, since commerce was cut off, were so
 distressed by extreme scarcity of the necessities of life that they often sent
 suppliant deputations to beg for pardon and peace.

The emperor was indeed inexperienced, but very reasonable as yet in
 his judgment of conditions, until he was led astray by the fatal blandishments
 of his flatterers and inflicted on his country losses ever to be lamented;
 therefore, consulting for the common welfare, he decided that
 peace ought to be granted.

Accordingly, he in
 his turn sent as envoys Victor and Arintheus, of whom one then commanded the
 cavalry and the other the infantry, and when their trustworthy report had
 informed him that the Goths agreed to the conditions which he offered, a
 convenient place was appointed for concluding peace. But since Athanaricus
 declared that he was bound by an oath accompanied by a fearful imprecation, and thus prevented by his father's orders
 from ever setting foot on Roman soil, and since he could not be induced to do
 so, and it was unbecoming and degrading for the emperor to cross to him, it was
 decided by those of good judgment that ships should be rowed into mid-stream,
 one carrying the emperor with his guard, the other the Gothic ruler with his
 men, and that thus a treaty of peace should be struck, as had been agreed.

When this had been arranged and hostages
 received, Valens returned to Constantinople, where later Athanaricus, driven
 from his native land by a faction of his kinsmen, died a natural death and was
 buried after our fashion with splendid rites.

Meanwhile, when Valentinian was attacked by a
 severe illness and was at the point of death, the Gauls who were at court in
 the emperor's service, at a secret conference demanded that
 Rusticus Julianus, then master of the rolls, should be made emperor: a man who,
 as if smitten by a blast of madness, was as greedy for human blood as a wild
 beast, as he showed when governing Africa with proconsular power.

For as prefect of the city, in the
 administration of which office he died, through fear of the precarious
 situation of the tyrant, through whose choice he had risen to that high position as if for the
 lack of worthy men, he was compelled to assume the appearance of mildness and
 clemency.

Against these Gauls some with
 higher aims strove in the cause of Severus, then commander of the infantry, as
 a man fitted for attaining that rank; and, although he was strict and feared,
 yet he was more endurable and in every way to be preferred to the aforenamed
 aspirant.

But while these designs were being agitated
 to no purpose, the emperor was restored with the help of numerous remedies; and
 observing that he was hardly yet rescued from the danger of death, he purposed to bestow the imperial
 insignia upon his son Gratianus, who had by this time nearly reached the age of
 puberty.

And when everything was ready, when the
 soldiers had been won over to accept this with willing minds, and Gratianus had
 appeared, the emperor advanced into the plain and mounted the tribunal; then,
 surrounded by a brilliant assemblage of men of high rank, he took the boy by
 the hand, led him into their midst, and commended the future emperor to the
 army in the following public address:—

It is a propitious sign of your devotion to me that I parade this robe
 of imperial rank, by which I have been judged preferable to other men, many
 and distinguished; so taking you as partners in my plans and favourers of my
 wishes, I shall proceed to an act of dutiful affection, which is timely
 since the god, through whose eternal aid the Roman state will endure
 unshaken, now promises success. Therefore,
 my valiant men, accept I pray you with friendly minds my heart's desire,
 convinced that we have wished this action, which the duties of affection
 sanction, not only to be brought to your knowledge, but also to be confirmed
 by your approval as agreeable to you and likely to be advantageous.
 This son of mine, Gratianus, now become
 a man, has long lived among your children, and you love him as a tie between
 you and me; therefore, in order to secure the public peace on all sides, I
 plan to take him as my associate in the imperial power, if the propitious
 will of the god of heaven and of your dignity shall support what a father's
 love suggests. He has not been, as we have been, brought up in a severe
 school from his very cradle, nor trained in the endurance of adversity, and
 (as you see) he is not yet able to endure the dust of Mars; but, in harmony
 with the glory of his family and the great deeds of his forefathers, he will
 forthwith rise (I speak with moderation, in fear of Nemesis) to greater
 heights. For as I am wont to think, when I
 consider, as I often do, his character and his inclinations, although they
 are not yet fully developed: when he enters on the years of youth, since he
 has been instructed in the liberal arts and in the pursuit of skilful
 accomplishments, he will weigh with impartial justice the
 value of right and wrong actions; he will so conduct himself that good men
 will know that he understands them; he will rush forward to noble deeds and
 cling close to the military standards and eagles; he will endure sun and
 snow, frost and thirst, and wakeful hours; he will defend his camp, if
 necessity ever requires it; he will risk his life for the companions of his
 dangers; and, what is the first and highest duty of loyalty, he will know
 how to love his country as he loves the home of his father and
 grandfather.

The emperor had not yet ended his address
 when his words were received with joyful acclaim, and the soldiers, each
 according to his rank and feeling, striving to outdo the others, as though
 sharers in this prosperity and joy, hailed Gratianus as Augustus, with loud
 shouts mingled with the favouring clash of arms.

On perceiving this, Valentinian, filled with greater joy and
 confidence, adorned his son with the crown and the robes of supreme rank, and
 kissed him; then, resplendent as Gratianus was and listening attentively to his
 father's words, Valentinian addressed him as follows:—

Behold, my dear Gratian, you now wear, as we have all hoped, the
 imperial robes, bestowed upon you under favourable auspices by my will and
 that of our fellow-soldiers. Therefore prepare yourself, considering the
 weight of your urgent duties, to be the colleague of your father and your
 uncle and accustom yourself fearlessly to make your way with the infantry
 over the ice of the Danube and the Rhine, to keep your place close beside
 your soldiers, to give your life's blood, with all thoughtfulness, for those under your command, and to think nothing alien to
 your duty, which affects the interests of the Roman empire. This will suffice for the present by way of
 admonition; for the future I shall not cease to advise you. Now for the rest
 I turn to you, great defenders of our country, whom I beg and implore with
 firm affection to watch over your emperor, not yet grown up, thus entrusted
 to your loyalty.

After these words had been ratified with all
 solemnity, Eupraxius, a Moor of Caesariensis, then master of the rolls, was the
 first of all to cry out: The house of Gratianus is worthy of
 this ; whereupon he was at once advanced to the quaestorship. He was
 a man who left many proofs of noble self-confidence worthy of imitation by
 sensible men, one who never deviated from the principles of a fearless nature,
 but was always firm andresembled the laws, which, as we know, in the manifold
 cases in court speak with one and the same voice; and he then remained truer to the side of justice which he had
 espoused, even when the emperor, becoming arbitrary, assailed him with threats
 when he gave him good advice.

After this,
 all rose up to praise the elder and the younger emperor, and especially the
 boy, who was recommended by the fierier gleam of his eyes, the delightful charm
 of his face and his whole body, and the noble nature of his heart; these
 qualities would have completed an emperor fit to be compared with the choicest
 rulers of the olden time, had this been allowed by the fates 
 and by his intimates, who, by evil actions, cast a cloud over his virtue, which
 was even then not firmly steadfast.
 16. However, in this affair Valentinian overstepped the usage established of
 old, in that he named his brother and his son, not Caesar, but Augustus,
 generously enough. For before that no one had appointed a colleague of equal
 power with himself except the emperor Marcus, who made his adopted brother Verus his partner, but
 without any impairment of his own imperial majesty.

Scarcely had a few days passed since these
 affairs were settled according to the desire of the emperor and the soldiers,
 when Mamertinus, the praetorian
 prefect, on his
 return from Rome, to which he had gone to correct certain abuses, was charged
 with peculation by Avitianus, a former deputy governor.

Therefore he was displaced by Vulcatius
 Rufinus, a man excellent in all respects, who seemed to be displaying the crown
 of an honoured old age, except that he never let slip a favourable opportunity for gain, if
 there was hope of concealment.

As soon as he
 gained the imperial ear, he brought it about that Orfitus, a former prefect of
 Rome, was freed from banishment, and, after restoration
 of his lost patrimony, was restored to his home.

Valentinian was known to be a cruel man, and
 although in the early part of his reign, in order to lessen
 his reputation for harshness, he sometimes strove to keep his savage impulses
 under his mind's control, yet the fault, as yet lurking and postponed, little
 by little broke forth without restraint and caused the destruction of many men;
 and was increased by fierce outbreaks of hot anger. For the philosophers define
 anger as a long-continued, sometimes permanent, ulcer of the mind, usually
 caused by weakness of the intellect; and they give for their opinion the
 plausible ground that the sickly are more inclined to anger than the sound,
 women than men, the old than the young, and the wretched than the fortunate.

Most conspicuous, however, at that time was
 the death (among the executions of other persons of low rank ) of Diodes, former head of the
 state treasury in Illyricum, whom the emperor ordered to be burned to death
 because of some small offences; and also that of Diodorus, former state agent,
 and of three attendants of the deputy-governor of Italy; all these suffered
 cruel execution because the commanding general complained to the emperor that
 Diodorus had implored the aid of the law against him, as was his right,
 and that the officials, by order of the judge, had ventured to summon him as
 he was going on a journey, to answer to the action according to law. The memory
 of these victims is still honoured by the Christians in Milan, who call the place where they are
 buried The Place of the Innocents .

Later, in the affair of a certain Maxentius
 of Pannonia, when the judge had rightly commanded a speedy execution, the
 emperor ordered the death of the decurions of three towns; but Eupraxius, who
 was then quaestor, intervened, saying: Act more mercifully, most dutiful
 emperor, for these men whom you order to be put to death as criminals the
 Christian religion will honour as martyrs (that is to say, as beloved of
 God).

Eupraxius' helpful self-confidence was
 imitated by the prefect Florentius 
 when he heard that, because of some pardonable offence, the emperor had flown
 into a passion and ordered the execution likewise of three decurions in each of
 a number of cities; for he said: What is to be done, then, if any town
 does not have so many decurions? To the rest this also
 should be added, that they shall be killed, when the town has them.

To this ruthlessness was added another thing,
 dreadful to do or even to tell of, namely, that if anyone came before him to
 avoid being tried before some powerful enemy, and asked that another judge be
 assigned him, the request was denied and the man was sent back to the person
 whom he feared, however many just reasons for the change he might present.
 Still another horrible thing was talked about; for when he learned that any
 debtor could pay nothing because of the pressure of
 want, the emperor ruled that he ought to be put to death.

That some princes commit these and similar
 arbitrary acts with lofty arrogance is because they do not allow their friends
 the opportunity of dissuading them from unjust designs or deeds, and that
 because of their great power they make their enemies afraid to speak. No
 correction is possible of the perverse actions of those who believe that what
 they desire to do must be the highest virtue.

Having set out then from Amiens and hastening to Treves, 
 Valentinian was alarmed by serious news which showed that Britain was brought
 into a state of extreme need by a conspiracy of the savages, that Nectaridus,
 the commanding general of the seacoast region, had been killed, and that
 another general, Fullofaudes, had been ambushed by the enemy and taken
 prisoner.

This report aroused great horror,
 and the emperor sent Severus, who at that time was still commander of the
 household troops, to set right the disasters, if chance should offer the
 desired opportunity. But he was recalled a little later, and Jovinus . . .
 having set out for the same regions, allowed them to return at quick step,
 intending to seek the support of a strong army; for he declared that this was
 demanded by the pressing necessities of the situation.

Finally, because of the many alarming things which constant rumours reported about that same island,
 Theodosius, a man most favourably known for his services in war, was chosen to
 be sent there with all speed, and having enrolled legions and cohorts of
 courageous young men, he hastened to depart, preceded by brilliant
 expectations.

And, since in giving an account of the
 history of the emperor Constans I described the ebb and flow of the ocean
 and the situation of Britain, as well as my powers permitted, I have
 thought it superfluous to unfold again what has once been set forth, just as
 Homer's Ulysses among the Phaeacians shrinks from repeating the
 details of his adventures because of the excessive difficulty of the task.

It will, however, be in place to say, that at that time the Picts, divided into two tribes, called Dicalydones
 and
 Verturiones, as well as the Attacotti, a warlike race of men, and the Scots,
 were ranging widely and causing great devastation; while the Gallic regions,
 wherever anyone could break
 in by land or by sea, were harassed by the Franks and their neighbours, the
 Saxons, with cruel robbery, fire, and the murder of all who were taken
 prisoners.

In order to prevent these outrages, if
 favourable fortune gave an opportunity, that most energetic leader hastened to
 the world's end, and reached the coast of Bononia, which
 from the spacious lands opposite is separated only by a narrow space of a sea
 wont in turn to swell with dreadful surges, and again, without any danger for
 sailors, to sink to the form of a level plain. From there he quietly crossed
 the strait and landed at Rutupiae, a quiet haven on the opposite coast.

When the Batavi, Heruli, Jovii, and
 Victores, who followed him, had arrived, troops confident in their strength, he
 began his march and came to the old town of Lundinium, 
 which later times called Augusta. There he divided his troops into many parts
 and attacked the predatory bands of the enemy, which were ranging about and
 were laden with heavy packs; quickly routing those who were driving along
 prisoners and cattle, he wrested from them the booty which the wretched
 tribute-paying people had lost.

And when all
 this had been restored to them, except for a small part which was allotted to
 the wearied soldiers, he entered the city, which had previously been plunged
 into the greatest difficulties, but had been restored more quickly than rescue
 could have been expected, rejoicing and as if celebrating an ovation.

While he lingered there, encouraged by the
 successful outcome to dare greater deeds, he carefully considered what plans
 would be safe; and he was in doubt about his future course, since he learned
 from the confessions of the captives and the reports of deserters that the
 widely scattered enemy, a mob of various natives and frightfully savage, could
 be overcome only by secret craft and unforeseen attacks.

Finally, he issued proclamations, and under promise
 of pardon summoned the deserters to return to service, as well as many others
 who were wandering about in various places on furlough. In consequence of this
 demand and strongly moved by his offer, most returned, and
 Theodosius, relieved of his anxious cares, asked that Civilis be sent to him to
 govern Britain as deputy-prefect, a man of somewhat fiery temper, but steadfast
 in justice and uprightness, and also Dulcitius, a general distinguished for his
 knowledge of the art of war.

This is what was happening in Britain. But Africa from the very beginning of Valentinian's reign was sore
 distressed by the madness of the savages, who made daring forays, and were
 eager for wholesale bloodshed and robbery. This evil was increased by the
 slackness of the army and its greed for seizing the property of others; and
 especially by the conduct of the governor, Romanus by name.

He, having an eye to the future and being an adept in
 shifting odium to others, was hated by many because of his savage disposition,
 but especially for his haste to outdo the enemy in devastating the provinces.
 He relied especially on his relationship with Remigius, then chief marshal of
 the court, who sent in false and contradictory reports; hence the emperor, in
 spite of the great caution which in his own opinion he exhibited, for a long
 time remained unaware of the lamentable losses of the people of Africa.

The complete series of events in those
 regions, the death of the governor Ruricius and of the ambassadors and the
 other mournful occurrences I shall set forth carefully when my plan calls for
 it.

But since I have a free opportunity of saying
 what I think, I shall declare openly that Valentinian was the first of all
 emperors to increase the arrogance of the military, to the injury of the commonwealth, by raising their rank
 and power to excess; moreover (a thing equally to be deplored, both publicly
 and privately), he punished the peccadilloes of the common soldiers with
 unbending severity, while sparing those of higher rank; so that these assumed
 that they had complete licence for their sins, and were aroused to shameful and
 monstrous crimes. In consequence, they are so arrogant as to believe that the
 fortunes of all without distinction are dependent on their nod.

In order to diminish their bluster and
 self-importance, the lawgivers of old were of the opinion that sometimes even
 some innocent persons should be punished with death. And this often happens
 when, because of the wrongdoings of any multitude, through the injustice of
 fate, some guiltless persons suffer; for that sometimes has applied to the
 trials of private citizens.

Now in Isauria bands of brigands were over- running the neighbouring places, harassing towns and rich villas with unrestrained pillage, and
 inflicting great losses on Pamphylia and the Cilicians. Musonius, the deputy-governor of Asia at that time, who had formerly been a teacher of
 rhetoric in Attic Athens, perceived that, since no one resisted them, they were
 devastating everything with utter destruction; so at last, finding the
 situation deplorable and that the luxury of the soldiers made their aid
 administer all the parts (dioceses) of his province, the vicarius took his place. feeble, he gathered
 together a few half-armed troops, whom they call Diogmitæ, and attempted to attack. one band of the marauders, if the
 opportunity should offer. But in passing down through a narrow and winding pass
 he came into an ambuscade from which he could not escape, and was slain there
 with those whom he was leading. When the brigands, highly elated by this
 success, with greater confidence extended their raids in various directions, at
 last our troops were called out and after killing some of them drove the rest
 to the rocky retreats in the mountains where they live. Then, since no
 opportunity was revealed there for taking rest or finding anything fit for
 food, they called a truce and asked that peace be granted them, following the
 advice of the Germanicopolitani, whose opinions were
 always decisive with them, as if they were those of the standard-bearers in
 battle. Then they gave the hostages that were demanded, and remained quiet for
 a long time, without venturing on any hostile act.

Meanwhile Praetextatus, who with high
 distinction acted as prefect of the city of Rome, through repeated acts of honesty and
 uprightness, for which he was famous from early youth, attained what rarely
 falls to a man's lot; for although he was feared by his fellow-citizens, he did
 not lose their love, which as a rule is apt to be less strong towards officials
 who are dreaded.

Through his authority and
 his decisions based upon justice and truth the outbreak which was stirred up by
 the quarrels of the Christians was quelled, and after
 the banishment of Ursinus profound quiet reigned, which most
 suited the wish of the citizens of
 Rome; and the fame of this illustrious ruler increased because of his many
 salutary measures.

For he removed all the
 Maeniana, 
 the building of which in Rome was forbidden by early laws also, and he
 separated from the sacred buildings the walls of private houses, which had been
 irreverently built against them. He established standard weights in every
 quarter of the city, since otherwise the greed of many, who rigged up their
 balances after their own inclination, could not be dealt with. And in the
 examination of legal cases he deserved above all others the distinction which
 Cicero mentions in the commendation of Brutus, that although he did nothing to
 gain favour, yet everything that he did was looked upon with favour.

At about this same time, Valentinian had
 begun his campaign with wariness, as he himself thought, when a
 prince of the Alamanni called Rando, after long preparation for his design,
 with a lightarmed band equipped for plundering, secretly made his way into
 Mogontiacus, which had no garrison.

And since he chanced to find that a festival of the
 Christian religion was being celebrated, he was
 not hindered in carrying off defenceless men and women of
 every kind of station along with no small amount of household goods.

Then, after a brief interval, the hope of
 better fortune unexpectedly dawned upon the Roman state. For since King
 Vithicabius, son of Vadomarius, who was somewhat weak and sickly in appearance,
 but valiant and vigorous, again and again kindled the flames of war against us,
 no efforts were spared to dispose of him by any possible manner of death.

And because after several attempts he
 could in no way be overcome or treacherously surrendered, he was slain by the
 perfidy of an attendant on his private life through the earnest solicitation of our men; and after his death
 the enemy's raids slackened somewhat. But the assassin, through fear of the
 punishment which he dreaded in case the affair should become known, hastened to
 take refuge on Roman soil.

After this, with especially diligent care and
 with troops of various kinds, a more serious campaign than common was prepared
 against the Alamanni, since the public safety imperiously demanded it; for from
 a race that so easily recovered its strength treacherous attacks were to be
 feared; and the soldiers were equally incensed against them, since the
 untrustworthy nature of an enemy who was at one time abject and suppliant and
 soon afterwards threatening the worst, allowed them no rest or cessation from
 warfare.

Therefore a mighty mass of troops was
 assembled from all quarters and carefully provided with arms and supplies of
 food, Count Sebastianus was summoned with the
 Illyrian and Italian legions which he commanded, and as soon
 as the warm season began, Valentinian with Gratianus crossed the Main. Seeing
 no one, the emperor divided his army and advanced in square formation with
 himself in the centre and the generals 
 Jovinus and Severus guarding the flanks on both sides, in order that they might
 not be exposed to a sudden attack.

Then,
 guided by men who knew the roads, and carefully reconnoitering the approaches,
 they at once marched slowly onward, through a widely extended tract of country,
 while the soldiers, more and more eager for battle, ground their teeth in a
 threatening way, as if they had already come upon the savages. But since after
 the lapse of several days no one could be found to oppose them, all the
 cornfields and dwellings which they saw were laid waste by devouring flames
 kindled by a band of the cohorts, with the exception of such foodstuffs as
 doubt about the outcome of affairs forced them to gather and keep.

After this the emperor went on at slower pace, and
 when he had come near a place called Solicinium, he halted as if checked by some barrier, since he
 was reliably informed by the scouting troops in the van that the savages had
 been seen at a distance.

And, in fact, the
 enemy, seeing no way left to save their lives except to defend themselves by a
 swift onset, trusting to their knowledge of the ground and in general agreement
 with one another, had stationed themselves on a lofty mountain, 
 surrounded on all sides by rocky and precipitous heights and inaccessible
 except on the northern side, where it has an easy and gentle slope. At once our
 standards were planted in the usual manner, while everywhere
 the call to arms was sounded; but, at the command of the emperor and his
 generals, the well-disciplined soldiers stood fast, waiting for the raising of the banner, which
 was the signal that it was the fit time to begin the battle.

Therefore, because little or no time for
 deliberation was given, since on one side the impatience of our soldiers was
 alarming, and on the other the Alamanni were yelling dreadfully all round, need
 for quick action made this plan advisable: that Sebastianus with his men should
 seize the northern part of the mountains, which (as we have said) had a gentle
 slope, in order that, if fortune should so decree, they might with little
 trouble strike down the Germans as they fled. The plan thus agreed upon was
 hastily carried out, and Gratianus, whose youth was even then unequal to
 battles and toil, was kept back with the legion of the Joviani, while
 Valentinian, as a deliberate and cautious leader, with uncovered head surveyed
 the centuries and maniples; and without taking anyone of the higher officers
 into his confidence he dismissed his throng of attendants, and with a few
 companions, known to him for their energy and fidelity, hastened off to inspect
 the foot of the hills, declaring (for he had a lofty opinion of his own
 judgment) that another wav besides that which the scouts had seen could be
 found leading to the steep heights.

Then, as
 he was making his way by devious paths over unknown places and marshy bogs, a
 band of the enemy placed in ambush in a hidden spot would have slain him by a
 sudden attack, had he not resorted to the last means of safety, put spurs to
 his horse, ridden away through the slippery mud, and taken
 refuge in the bosom of his legions after an imminent danger to which he was so
 very close that the chamberlain who carried the emperor's helmet, adorned with
 gold and precious stones, completely disappeared together with the helmet
 itself, and could be found later neither alive nor dead.

Then, after the troops had been given a rest
 for recovering their strength, and the standard had been raised, which is
 accustomed to rouse men to battle, urged on by the menacing blare of trumpets
 they advanced to the attack with bold confidence. Two choice young warriors,
 Salvius and Lupicinus, the one a targeteer, the other belonging to the troop of
 gentiles, at the very beginning of the
 struggle, at once dashed forward before the others, urging on the battle with
 terrifying shouts. Brandishing their lances, they came to the opposing mass of
 rocks, and while the Alamanni were trying to push them back and they were
 striving to mount higher, the whole weight of our army came up, and, led by the
 same champions through places rough and shaggy with thickets, by a mighty
 effort scrambled up to the lofty heights.

Then with bitterness of spirit on both sides the conflict was essayed with
 levelled lances; on one side soldiers more skilled in the art of war, on the
 other the savages, fierce but reckless, joined in hand-to-hand conflict.
 Finally, our army, extending its lines and encircling the enemy on both flanks,
 began to cut them down, terrified as they were by the din, by the neighing of
 horses, and by the blare of trumpets.

Nevertheless, the foe took courage and resisted, and the contest continued with
 mighty struggles, the fortune of battle being for a long time
 undecided, while dire death and mutual destruction accompanied the fighting.

But at last the Alamanni were thrown into
 confusion by the impetuosity of the Romans, and, disordered from fear, the
 foremost were mingled with the hindermost, and as they turned and fled they
 were pierced through by our javelins and pikes. At last, in panting and
 exhausted flight they exposed to their pursuers their hams, calves and backs.
 Then, after many had been laid low, Sebastianus, who had been posted with his
 reserve troops at the back of the mountains, surrounded a part of the fugitives
 on their exposed flank and slaughtered them; the rest in scattered flight took
 refuge in their haunts in the forests.

In this battle some of our fathers also were
 not insignificant persons. Among them were Valerianus, first officer of all the
 household troops, and Natuspardo, one of the targeteers, a warrior so
 distinguished that he may be compared with Sicinius and Sergius of old. After finishing the campaign with these varied
 fortunes, the soldiers returned to their winter quarters, and the emperors to
 Treves.

In the course of this time Vulcacius Rufinus
 ended his life while still in office, and Probus
 was summoned
 from Rome to fill the office of praetorian prefect, a man known for the
 distinction of his family, his influence, and his great wealth, throughout the
 whole Roman world, in almost all parts of which he possessed estates here and
 there, whether justly or unjustly is not a question for my humble judgement.

This man was
 carried on the swift wings—as the poets' fancy expresses it-of a kind of
 congenital good fortune, which showed him to be now generous and ready to
 advance his friends, but sometimes a cruel schemer, working harm by his deadly
 jealousies. And although he had great power so long as he lived, because of the
 sums that he gave away and his constant resumption of offices, yet he was
 sometimes timid when boldly confronted, though arrogant against those who
 feared him; so that in his moments of confidence he seemed to thunder from
 tragic buskin, and when he was afraid, to be more humble than any wearer of the
 slipper.

And as the finny tribe, when removed from its own element, does not breathe very long on
 dry land, so he pined away when not holding prefectures; these he was compelled
 to seek because of the constant lawlessness of certain families which on
 account of their boundless avarice were never free from guilt, and in order to
 carry out their many evil designs with impunity, plunged their patron into
 affairs of state.

Now it must be admitted that he had such
 natural greatness of spirit that he never ordered a client or a slave to do
 anything illegal; but, on the other hand, if he learned that any one of them
 had committed any crime, even though Justice herself cried out against the man,
 without investigating the matter and without regard to honour and virtue, he
 defended him. That is a fault which Cicero censures in the
 following words: For what difference is there between
 one who advises an act and one who approves it? Or what does it matter
 whether I wished anything to happen or rejoice that it has happened?

Yet he was suspicious, and fortified by his
 own character; he could smile rather bitterly and sometimes resorted to
 flattery in order to work harm.

He had,
 moreover, what is a conspicuous evil in such characters, especially when one
 thinks to be able to conceal it, in that he was so merciless and unbending,
 that if he had made up his mind to injure anyone, he could not be made to
 relent nor induced to pardon errors; indeed, his ears seemed to be stopped, not
 with wax, but with
 lead. At the very height of riches and honours he was worried and anxious, and
 hence always troubled with slight illnesses. This was the course of events
 throughout the western regions.

Now the king of the Persians, the famous Sapor, now aged, and from the
 very outset of his reign given over to the pleasure of plunder, after the death
 of the emperor Julian and the shameful treaty of peace that was struck,
 for a time appeared with his subjects to be
 friendly to us. But then, trampling under foot the promise of the pact made
 under Jovian, he laid his hand on Armenia, with
 the intention of bringing the country under his sway, as if all force of the
 agreements that had been made was at an end.

At first he tried to accomplish his purpose through various arts of deception,
 and he inflicted slight losses on this powerfully populous nation, by soliciting some of the grandees and satraps and surprising
 others by unexpected forays.

Then, by
 carefully calculated flattery mingled with perjury, King Arsaces himself was
 tricked; for after being invited to a banquet he was taken according to orders
 to a secret rear-door; there, after his eyes had been gouged out, he was bound
 in silver chains, which among that people is regarded as a consolation, though
 an empty one, for the punishment of men of rank, and then he was banished to a
 fortress called Agabana, where after being tortured he was slain by the penal
 steel.

After this, in order to leave nothing
 unstained by treachery, Sapor drove out Sauromaces, who by Rome's authority had
 been given the rule of Hiberia, and appointed a certain Aspacures to govern that same people; and besides
 he bestowed on him the crown, in order to show his contempt of our authority.

After thus effecting these abominable
 designs, he entrusted Armenia to Cylaces, a eunuch, and to Arrabannes, both of
 whom he had long before received as deserters—of these the former was said to
 have been previously a governor in that nation, the latter, a
 commander-in-chief-giving them orders to use all care to destroy Artogerassa, a
 powerful town with strong walls, which guarded the treasury of Arsaces, as well
 as his son and his wife.

These leaders began the siege according to
 their orders. And since they could not gain access to the fortress, which was
 situated on a rough mountain, because the weather was then stiff with snow and
 frost, Cylaces, being a eunuch and skilled in cajoling like a woman, in company
 with Arrabannes, having first obtained a pledge that their
 lives would be spared, came quickly up to the very walls; and when at his
 request he was allowed to enter with his colleague, he persuaded the defenders
 and the queen, also using threats, that by a speedy surrender they should try
 to mollify the violent nature of Sapor, who was a man of unexampled cruelty.

After this there was much discussion pro
 and con and the queen lamented the cruel fate of her husband; whereupon the
 most zealous inciters to the act of perfidy were turned to pity and changed
 their plan. Encouraged by the hope of greater rewards, in secret conferences they arranged that at an appointed hour
 of the night the gates should suddenly be thrown open and a strong force should
 sally forth and suddenly attack the enemy's camp with murderous intent; and
 they promised to see to it that their attempt should not be known.

When this promise had been confirmed by an oath, they
 left the city, and by asserting that the besieged had asked that two days be
 allowed them to consider what course they ought to take, they brought over the
 besiegers into inaction. Then, in the watches of the night when all men, free
 from care, are in deep sleep, and snoring, the gate of the city was unbarred,
 young warriors rushed quickly out, with noiseless step and drawn swords crept
 up to the camp, where men were in no fear of danger, then rushed in, and
 without opposition butchered a great many as they lay asleep.

This unexpected treachery and the unforeseen
 slaughter of the Persians aroused reasons for frightful hatred between
 ourselves and Sapor, which was made still worse because Papa, son of Arsaces,
 at the persuasion of his mother, had departed with a few followers from the fortified town
 and been received by the emperor
 Valens, who advised that he stay a while at Neocaesarea, a wellknown city of
 Pontus Polemoniacus, where he was to receive liberal support
 and education.
 This act of clemency encouraged Cylaces and Arrabannes to send envoys to Valens
 to ask that he aid them and give them the said Papa as their king.

The aid, however, was denied them for the time, but
 Papa was sent back to Armenia through the general Terentius, that he might rule the land for a time, but without any emblems
 of royal rank; a condition which was complied with for a legitimate reason,
 namely, that we might not be charged with breaking the treaty and violating the
 peace.

On learning of this course of events, Sapor
 was filled with superhuman wrath, and mustering greater forces began to
 devastate Armenia with open pillage. By his coming Papa, as well as Cylaces and
 Arrabannes, were seized with such fear that, after looking about and seeing no
 help from any source, they sought the refuge of the high mountains which
 separate our territory from Lazica. There they remained concealed in the deep woods
 and defiles of the hills for five months, and eluded the many attempts which
 the king made to find them.

Since Sapor saw,
 as the winter stars were galling, that he was wasting his labour to no
 purpose, after burning the fruit-bearing trees and the fortified castles and
 strongholds that he had taken by force or by betrayal, he blockaded Artogerassa
 with the whole weight of his forces and after some battles of 
 varying result and the exhaustion of the defenders, forced his way into the
 city and set it on fire, dragging out and carrying off the wife and the
 treasures of Arsaces.

For these reasons Count Arintheus
 was sent to those
 parts with an army, to render aid to the Armenians in case the Persians should
 try to harass them in a second campaign.

Meanwhile Sapor, who was immensely crafty
 and according to his advantage either humble or arrogant, under pretence of a
 future alliance, upbraided Papa through secret messengers as regardless of his
 own interests in being the slave of Cylaces and Arrabannes under the semblance
 of royal power. Papa, in headlong haste, and using the allurements of
 flattering blandishments, had the two men killed, and, when they were slain,
 sent their heads to Sapor as a sign of his submission.

The news of this disaster spread widely and
 all Armenia would have been lost for lack of defenders, had not the Persians,
 terrified by the coming of Arintheus, postponed a second invasion of the land.
 For the present they contented themselves with merely sending envoys to the
 emperor, asking that, in accordance with the agreement that Jovian had made
 with Sapor, he should not defend
 that nation.

This proposal was rejected, and
 Sauromaces, who (as I have already said) 3had been driven from the throne of
 Hiberia, was sent back there with Terentius and twelve legions. And when he had
 nearly reached the river Cyrus, Aspacures begged him
 that they should, being cousins, 
 rule the country with conjoint authority, pleading that he
 could not withdraw or go over to the Roman side, for the reason that his son
 Ultra was still held in the condition of a hostage by the Persians.

When the emperor learned of this, in order
 by a prudent plan to appease the disturbances that would be aroused from this
 affair also, he consented to a division of Hiberia with the river Cyrus as the
 boundary line. Sauromaces was to hold the part of that country bordering on
 Armenia and the Lazi, and Aspacures the part next to Albania and the Persians.

At this Sapor was greatly incensed,
 declaring that he was shamefully treated in that help was given to the
 Armenians contrary to the provisions of the treaties, and that the deputation
 which he had sent to remonstrate against this had come to nothing; also,
 because without his consent or knowledge it had been decided to divide the
 kingdom of Hiberia. Accordingly, having bolted, as it were, the door to
 friendship, he sought aid from the neighbouring nations and got his own army
 ready, in order that with the opening of mild weather he might overturn
 everything that the Romans had contrived to their own interests.

While among the Persians (as I have already
 related) the perfidy of the king was arousing
 unexpected disturbances, and in the eastern regions wars were
 rising with renewed strength, somewhat more than sixteen years after the death
 of Nepotianus, Bellona, raging throughout the Eternal City, set all
 ablaze, being aroused from insignificant beginnings to lamentable massacres;
 and I could wish that everlasting silence had consigned these to oblivion, lest
 haply at some time similar crimes should be attempted, which might do more harm
 from their general example and precedent than through the offences themselves.

And although, after long consideration of
 various circumstances, well-grounded dread restrained me from giving a minute
 account of this series of bloody deeds, yet I shall, relying on the better
 morals of the present day, set forth briefly such of them as are worthy of
 notice and I shall not be sorry to tell concisely what I have feared from
 events of antiquity.

When in the first Medic
 war the Persians had plundered Asia, they besieged Miletus with mighty forces,
 threatened the defenders with death by torture, and drove the besieged to the
 necessity, overwhelmed as they all were by a weight of evils, of killing their
 own dear ones, consigning their movable possessions to the flames, and each one
 striving to be first to throw himself into the fire, to burn on the common
 funeral pyre of their country.

Soon after
 this, Phrynichus composed a play with this disaster as its plot, which he put
 upon the stage at Athens in the lofty language of tragedy. At first he was
 heard with pleasure, but as the sad story went on in too tragic style, the
 people became angry and punished him, thinking that 
 consolation was not his object but blame and reproach, when he had the bad
 taste to include among stage-plays a portrayal even of those sufferings which a
 well-beloved city had undergone, without receiving any support from its
 founders. For Miletus was a colony of
 the Athenians founded by Nileus, the son of Codrus (who is said to have
 sacrificed himself for his country in the Dorian war) and by other Ionians.

But let us come to our subject.
 Maximinus, who formerly held the office of vice- prefect at Rome, was born at Sopianae, a town of Valeria,
 of very humble
 parents, his father being an accountant in the governor's office and
 sprung from ancestors who were Carpi, a people whom Diocletian drove from its
 ancient abode and transferred to
 Pannonia.

Maximinus, after some slight study
 of the liberal arts, and after acting as a pleader without acquiring
 distinction, became governor of Corsica, also of Sardinia, and finally of
 Tuscia. then, because his successor lingered too
 long on the way, although transferred to the charge of the city's grain supply, he
 retained also the rule of Tuscia, and at the beginning acted with moderation,
 for a three-fold reason.

First, because the
 prophecies of his father were still warm in his ears, a man exceedingly skilful in interpreting omens from
 the flight or the notes of birds, who declared he would attain to high power,
 but would die by the sword of the executioner; secondly, because he had got
 hold of a man from Sardinia who was highly skilled in calling
 up baneful spirits and eliciting predictions from the ghosts of the dead. This
 man he himself afterwards put to death, so the rumour went, in a treacherous
 fashion,—so long as he survived, Maximinus was more yielding and mild, for fear
 that he might be betrayed—finally, because while creeping through low places
 like a serpent under ground he could not yet stir up causes for death on a larger
 scale.

The first opportunity to widen the sphere of
 his operations arose from the following affair. Chilo, a former
 deputy-governor, and his wife Maxima made complaint before Olybrius, at that
 time prefect of the city, declaring that their life
 had been attempted by poison; and they managed that those whom they suspected
 should at once be seized and put in prison. The accused were an organ-builder
 Sericus, a wrestler Asbolius,
 and a soothsayer Campensis.

But as the affair
 languished because of a severe illness with which Olybrius was long affected,
 those who had brought the charge, impatient of delay, presented a petition,
 asking that the examination of the dispute should be turned over to the prefect
 of the grain supply; and from a desire for a speedy decision this was granted.

Thus Maximinus gained the power of doing
 harm and poured out the natural cruelty implanted in his hard heart, as often
 happens with wild beasts in the amphitheatre, when they break in pieces the
 back-gates and are at last set free.
 And while the business was being looked into in many ways, as if in a kind of
 preliminary practice, and some persons, whose sides had been torn into furrows,
 had named certain nobles as having, through their clients and
 other common people who were notorious as malefactors and informers, made use
 of men skilled in harmful practices, the hellish judge, going beyond his
 last 
 (as the saying is), in a malicious report to the emperor informed him
 that the offences which many men had committed at Rome could not be
 investigated or punished except by severer measures. 11. On hearing
 this, the emperor, in anger, being rather a cruel than a strict foe of vices,
 gave one general judicial sentence to cover cases of the kind, which he
 arbitrarily fused with the design of treason, and ruled that all those whom the
 justice of the ancient code and the edicts of deified emperors had made exempt
 from inquisitions by torture should, if circumstances demanded, be examined
 with torments. 12. And that with doubled power and higher rank Maximinus might
 patch together a greater heap of calamities, the emperor gave him a temporary
 appointment as acting prefect at Rome; 
 and he associated with him in the investigation of these charges which
 were being devised for the peril of many the secretary Leo, afterward
 chief-marshal of the court, a Pannonian and a
 grave-robber, snorting forth cruelty
 from the grinning jaws of a wild beast, and no less insatiable in his thirst
 for human blood than Maximinus. 13. The persistent natural bent of Maximinus to
 cruel conduct was increased by the coming of a colleague of the same character
 and by the charm of a commission conferring lofty rank. Therefore, full of joy,
 he turned his steps this way and that, seeming to dance rather than walk, and
 seeking to imitate the Brahmins, who march (as some say)
 above the earth among their altars.

And now, as the trumpets sounded the signal
 for the murder of citizens and all were stupified by the horrible situation,
 besides many harsh and merciless acts, which because of their variety and
 number cannot be enumerated, the execution of Marinus, a public advocate, was
 conspicuous. This man was accused of having dared by forbidden arts to try to
 gain a certain Hispanilla as his wife, and when the truthfulness of the
 evidence had been perfunctorily examined, Maximinus condemned him to death.

And since I think that perchance some of
 my readers by careful examination may note and bring it against me as a
 reproach that this, and not that, happened first, or that those things which
 they themselves saw are passed over, I must satisfy them to this extent: that
 not everything which has taken place among persons of the lowest class is worth
 narrating; and if this were necessary to be done, even the arrays of facts to
 be gained from the public records themselves would not suffice, when there was
 such a general fever of evils, and a new and unbridled madness was mingling the
 highest with the lowest; for it was clearly evident that it was not a judicial
 trial which was to be feared, but a suspension of legal proceedings.

Then Cethegus, a senator, was accused of
 adultery and beheaded, Alypius, a young man of noble birth, was banished for a
 trifling fault, and others of lower rank were publicly put to death; and every
 one, seeing in their unhappy fate the picture (as it were) of
 his own danger, dreamt of the torturer and of fetters and lodgings of
 darkness.

At the same time, the case of Hymetius also,
 a man of distinguished character, was tried, of which we know this to have been
 the course of events. When he was governing Africa as proconsul he took from
 the storehouses grain intended for the Roman people and sold it to the
 Carthaginians, who were by that time worn out from lack of food, and a little
 later, when the crops were again abundant, without any delay completely
 restored what he had taken.

Moreover, since
 ten bushels had been sold to the needy for one gold-piece, while he himself now
 bought thirty, he sent
 the profit from the difference in price to the emperor's treasury. And so Valentinian, suspecting that he had sent less
 than he should have sent as the result of his trafficking, punished him with a
 fine of a part of his property.

To add to
 his calamity, this also had happened at that same time, which was not less
 fatal. The soothsayer Amantius, at that time especially notorious, was betrayed
 on secret evidence of having been employed by the said Hymetius, for the
 purpose of committing certain criminal acts, to perform a sacrifice; but when
 brought to trial, although he stood bent double upon the rack, he denied it with obstinate insistence.

Upon his denial, his secret papers were
 brought from his house and a memorandum in the handwriting of Hymetius was
 found, begging him that by carrying out a solemn sacrifice he should prevail
 upon the deity to make the emperors milder towards him; and at the end of the document were read
 some reproaches of Valentinian as avaricious and cruel.

When the emperor learned this from the report of the
 judges, who gave what had been done a harsh interpretation, he issued orders
 that the affair should be investigated with excessive strictness. And since
 Frontinus, an adviser of the said Hymetius, was charged with having drawn up the form of
 prayer that was made, he was mangled with rods, and having confessed his guilt,
 was exiled to Britain; but Amantius was later found guilty of a capital crime
 and executed.

After this course of events
 Hymetius was taken to the town of Ocriculum, to
 be heard by Ampelius, prefect of the city, and
 Maximinus, the deputy-prefect; and when it was evident that he would
 immediately be condemned to death, he boldly appealed to the emperor's
 protection, when the opportunity was given him, and, defended under the refuge
 of that name, saved his life.

When the
 emperor was consulted about this matter, he referred the business to the senate. And when
 they had weighed the case in the scales of justice and learned the truth and
 had exiled the accused to Boae, 
 a place in Dalmatia, they could hardly bear the wrath of the emperor, who was
 greatly incensed on learning that a man whom he had intended to be condemned to
 death had been punished with a milder sentence.

On account of this occurrence and many
 others of the same kind, the fate which was seen to overtake a few persons
 began to be feared by all. And lest, by so many evils that were ignored, and
 gradually creeping on, the mass of troubles should be increased, by resolution
 of the nobles envoys were sent to the emperor. These were Praetextatus,
 former prefect of the city, Venustus, a
 one-time deputy-prefect, and Minervius, who had
 been a consular governor. They were to ask that punishments should be inflicted
 that were not too severe for the offences, and that no
 senator should, in a fashion neither practised nor permitted, be subjected to
 torture.

When the deputation had been
 admitted to the council-chamber and had presented their request, Valentinian
 said that he had never made such a decree, and cried out that he was the victim
 of calumny. But the quaestor Eupraxius mildly
 contradicted him, and through his freedom of speech the cruel order, which
 surpassed all examples of harshness, was rescinded.

At about that same time Lollianus, a youth
 just growing his first beard, son of the ex-prefect Lampadius, as the result of a strict examination by Maximinus, was
 convicted of having written a book on destructive magic arts, when adult age
 had not yet endowed him with sound judgment. And when it was feared that he
 would be exiled, by his father's advice he appealed to the emperor and was
 ordered to be taken to his court; but he went from the smoke (as the saying is)
 into the fire; for he was handed over to Phalangius, consular
 governor of Baetica, and died at the hand of the dread
 executioner.

Besides these also Tarracius Bassus,
 afterwards prefect of the city, his brother Camenius, a
 certain Marcianus, and Eusaphius, all men of senatorial rank, were brought to
 trial on the ground that they were said to be making much of the charioteer
 
 Auchenius, and were his accomplices in the use of poisons; but because the
 evidence was even then doubtful, they were acquitted, as widespread rumour
 declared, through the influence of Victorinus, who was the closest friend of
 Maximinus.

Not even women were more immune from similar
 calamities. For many of high birth belonging to this sex too were charged with
 the disgrace of adultery or of fornication, and put to death. Conspicuous among
 these were Charitas and Flaviana, of whom the latter, when she was led to
 death, was stripped of the clothing which she wore, being allowed not even to
 keep sufficient covering for the secret parts of her body. But for that reason
 the executioner was convicted of having committed a monstrous crime, and was
 burned alive.

Nay more, two senators, Paphius and
 Cornelius, both of whom confessed to having disgraced themselves by the wicked
 practices of poisons, by the sentence of the same Maximinus were put to death.
 Even the head of the mint perished by a like fate. But
 Sericus and Asbolius, mentioned above, because when he
 urged them to name indiscriminately such accomplices as they wished, he had
 declared on oath that he would order no one to be punished
 with fire or steel, he killed with heavy blows of lead. And after this he consigned the soothsayer Campensis to the
 flames, being bound in his case by no oath.

It is, I think, fitting now to set forth the
 cause which drove Aginatius headlong to death, a man of noble descent from his
 early ancestors, as persistent report declared; for as to this there is no
 trustworthy documentary evidence.

Maximinus,
 breathing blasts of arrogance, while he was still prefect of the grain supply,
 and finding no slight incentives to his audacity, went so far as to insult
 Probus, the most distinguished man among all
 the highest officials, and governing several provinces with the rank of
 praetorian prefect.

Aginatius, filled with
 indignation at this, and resentful because Maximinus, in conducting
 examinations, was preferred to him by Olybrius, although he himself was
 vice-prefect of Rome, secretly informed Probus in a confidential communication
 that the worthless man, one who
 quarrelled with high merits, could easily be brought low, if Probus decided
 that it should be done.

This letter Probus,
 as some maintained, without the knowledge of anyone except the bearer,
 sent to Maximinus, fearing him as a man already very highly
 trained in wickedness and in favour with the emperor. On reading the letter
 that savage man fell into such a blaze of anger, that from then on he set all
 devices in motion against Aginatius, after the manner of a serpent crushed by a
 wound from some unknown person.

There was
 added to this another more powerful impulse to treacherous attacks, which
 ruined the said Aginatius. For he accused Victorinus after
 his death of having sold decisions of Maximinus during his lifetime, although he himself had
 received no contemptible legacies from Victorinus' will; and with like
 impudence he threatened Anepsia also, Victorinus's widow, with charges and
 litigious suits.

The woman, fearful of these
 troubles, and wishing to protect herself by the help of Maximinus, pretended
 that her husband in a will which he had made shortly before his death had left
 him 3000 pounds of silver. Maximinus then, enflamed with excessive greed—for he
 was not free from that vice also—demanded half of her inheritance. But by no
 means content even with this, which he thought too little, he devised another
 plan, honourable and safe (as he thought), and in order not to lose the
 opportunity which was offered him for profiting from rich estate, he asked for
 the hand of the step-daughter of Victorinus (Anepsia's own child) for his son;
 and this was quickly secured with the woman's consent.

Through these and other equally lamentable
 crimes, which were a blot on the fair aspect of the Eternal City, this man, to
 be named only with groans, made his violent way over the ruins of many
 fortunes, passing beyond the limits afforded by the courts. For he is said to
 have had a cord hanging from a secluded window of his palace, the lower end of
 which could pick up certain seemingly incriminating charges, supported, it is
 true, by no evidence, but nevertheless likely to injure many innocent persons.
 And sometimes he ordered Mucianus and
 Barbarus, his attendants, who were most skilled in deception, severally to be
 cast out of his house.

These two then, as if bewailing the fate by
 which they pretended to be overwhelmed, exaggerated the cruelty of the judge
 and often repeated the assertion that the accused had no other means of saving
 their lives than by charging men of high rank with serious crimes; for they
 declared that by involving such men in the same accusations with themselves
 they could easily secure an acquittal.

Because of this, with a ruthlessness now
 passing all bounds, the hands of very many were bound in fetters, and men of
 noble birth were seen in mourning garb and in distress. And none of them could
 rightly be blamed, since very often when waiting upon him with bodies bent so
 as almost to touch the ground, they constantly heard that brigand with the
 heart of a wild beast shout that no one could be found innocent without his
 consent.

Such words, which accomplishment
 quickly followed, would surely have terrified men like Numa Pompilius, and a
 Cato. For, in fact, the business was conducted in such a way that some people
 could not even contemplate the ills of others with dry eyes, a thing which
 often happens in the many difficult trials of life.

Nevertheless, the iron-hearted judge, often as he deviated from law
 and justice, was endurable in what may be called one special thing. For at
 times he could be prevailed upon to show mercy to some; although this, we read
 in the following passage in Cicero, is almost a
 vice: For, he says, when anger is implacable, there is
 extreme severity; but if it yields to entreaties, the greatest inconstancy:
 yet the latter, as a choice of evils, is to be preferred to
 severity.

After this, Maximinus received a successor,
 and was summoned to the emperor's
 court, as Leo had been before him; and there,
 being promoted to the praetorian prefecture, he was no whit milder, but like
 the basilisk, was harmful even from a distance.

At
 that time, or not much earlier, the brooms with which the assembly-hall of the
 nobles was swept were seen to bloom, and this was an omen that some men of the
 most despised station would be raised to high rank in the offices of state.

Although it is high time to return to the
 course of the history which we have begun, yet, in order not to interfere with
 the connection of events, I shall linger over a few of the wrongful acts
 committed by the iniquity of the vice-prefects in the city, since it was
 according to the nod and wish of Maximinus that they were done by those same
 subordinates—I might say attendants .

After him came Ursicinus, inclined to milder measures; he, wishing
 to be prudent and kindly, had referred to the Court the information that Esaias
 (with others who had been imprisoned because of adulterous relations with
 Rufina) was trying to bring a charge of treason against her husband, Marcellus,
 a former agent of the state. In consequence, Ursicinus was despised as inactive
 and unfit for the vigorous prosecution of such matters, and was forced to
 withdraw from his deputyship.

To him
 succeeded Simplicius of Hemona, a former teacher of literature and later an adviser of Maximinus, a man who during the administration of the
 prefecture was neither proud nor arrogant, but excited fear by his sidelong
 glance, and in language of studied moderation plotted severity for many. And
 first he put to death Rufina, with all who were implicated in, or aware of, the
 adultery that she had committed, whose case (as we have previously said)
 Ursicinus had referred to the Court; and then many
 others, regardless of whether they were guilty or innocent.

For vying in bloody rivalry with Maximinus, as his
 leader, he strove to outdo him in cutting the sinews of
 distinguished families, imitating Busiris of old, and Antaeus and Phalaris
 to such a degree that he seemed to lack only the
 Agrigentine bull of the last-named.

Amid these and such acts so perpetrated a
 matron called Hesychia, who because of an attempted crime was committed to an
 official's attendant to be guarded at his house, and was in fear of much cruel
 treatment, pressed her face in the feather bed on which she was lying and so
 stopped her nose and her breath and gave up the ghost.

There was added to these another no less
 cruel evil. For Eumenius and Abienus, both of senatorial rank, being accused
 under Maximinus of improper conduct with Fausiana, a woman of position, after
 the death of Victorinus, under whose protection they lived with less anxiety,
 terrified by Simplicius' coming who with threats planned no less cruelty than Maximinus, fled to secret retreats.

But after Fausiana had been found guilty, a charge
 was made against them also; but though summoned by edicts, they kept themselves in still
 closer concealment, and Abienus remained hidden for a long time in the house of
 Anepsia. But as unexpected chances often aggravate lamentable disasters, a
 slave of Anepsia, Sapaudulus by name, seized with resentment because his wife
 had been flogged, went by night to
 Simplicius and reported the matter; then attendants were sent and dragged the
 accused, whose whereabouts had been pointed out, from their hiding-places.

And Abienus, assailed with an additional
 accusation of improper relations which he was said to have had with Anepsia,
 was punished with death. But the woman, that she might have strong hope of
 retaining her life by putting off her punishment, declared that she had been
 worked upon by evil arts and had suffered violence in the house of Aginatius.

Simplicius gave the emperor a spiteful
 account of what had been done, and Maximinus, who was at court, and, for the
 reason which I have given above, was hostile to
 Aginatius, while his hatred was set ablaze with his rise in power, strongly
 urged the emperor to give him a warrant for putting Aginatius to death; and
 this the mad and powerful instigator easily brought to pass.

But Maximinus, fearing the weight of greater hatred,
 if a man of patrician stock should die by the sentence of Simplicius, who was
 his adviser and his friend, kept back the emperor's order for some time, in
 perplexity and doubt as to whom he would find most trustworthy and efficient in
 carrying out the cruel design.

At last, since like and like readily flock together, a Gaul called Doryphorianus was found, reckless to the point of
 insanity, on whom, since he promised to accomplish the business in a short
 time, he arranged to have the post of deputy conferred. Accordingly, he gave
 him with the epistle of Augustus a letter of
 advice instructing the savage but inexperienced man how he might quickly and
 without any hindrance destroy Aginatius, who, if he gained any possible
 respite, would perhaps make his escape.

Doryphorianus, as had been ordered, hastened to Rome by long days' journeys,
 and at the beginning of his administration cast about with great energy, to see by what act of violence he could
 without anyone's help destroy a senator of conspicuous lineage. And on learning
 that Aginatius had long since been found, and was under guard in his own villa,
 he arranged personally to examine him, and Anepsia as well, as the chief of the
 guilty persons, in the midst of the horrors of night, when men's minds are
 commonly dulled in the bonds of terrors: as among countless other instances is
 shown by Homer's Ajax, who wished rather to die
 by daylight than endure the additional suffering of dread by night.

And since the judge, nay, rather the godless
 brigand, intent only on keeping his promise, carried everything to excess,
 having ordered Aginatius to be put to the question, he caused a whole train of executioners to enter, and amid the gloomy clanking of
 chains had the slaves, who were already drooping through long continued filth
 and neglect, tortured to the very verge of death, to give evidence to endanger
 their master's life: a thing which our merciful laws forbade to be done in a
 trial for fornication.

Finally, when
 tortures already almost mortal had extorted from a maid-servant a few ambiguous
 words, without fully examining the trustworthiness of the testimony, he ordered
 Aginatius to be led off to execution, hastily and without a hearing, although
 with loud cries he called upon the emperors' names. Accordingly he was hoisted
 up and put to death; and Anepsia was executed on a
 like sentence. While Maximinus was thus busied in person when he was in Rome
 and through his emissaries when he acted from a distance, the Eternal City wept
 bitterly for its dead.

But the final curses of his victims did not
 sleep. For, under Gratian, as shall be told later at the proper time,
 not only did this same Maximinus,
 because of his intolerable arrogance, fall victim to the executioner's sword,
 but Simplicius also was beheaded in Illyricum. Doryphorianus, too, was charged
 with a capital crime and thrown into the prison called Tullianum, 
 but Gratian, at the suggestion of his mother, had him taken from there, and on
 his return home put him to death with tremendous tortures. But let us return to
 the point from which we made this digression. This, if I may say so, was the
 state of affairs in Rome.

But Valentinian, meditating important and useful plans, fortified the entire Rhine from the beginnings of Raetia
 as far as the strait of the Ocean with great earthworks, erecting lofty
 fortresses and castles, and towers at frequent intervals, in suitable and
 convenient places as far as the whole length of Gaul extends; in some places
 also works were constructed even on the farther bank of the river, which flows by the lands of the savages.

Finally, when he considered that a lofty and secure
 fortification (which he himself had built from its very foundations) since a
 river called the Nicer flowed at its foot could
 gradually be undermined by the immense force of the waters, he even thought of
 turning the course of the stream in a different direction; and after he had
 hunted up men skilled in hydraulic work, the difficult task was begun with a
 great force of soldiers.

For during many days
 beams of oak were bound together and placed in the bed of the river; but although they
 were fastened again and again by great piles driven close to them on both
 sides, they were forced from their place by the rising waters, and finally were
 swept away by the force of the current and lost.

Yet finally the day was won by the efficient superviion of the
 emperor and the labour of his obedient soldiers, who as they
 worked were often sunk chin-deep in the water; and at last, though not without
 danger to some of the men, the defensive works, relieved of the pressure of the
 snarling river, are now strong.

Being joyful and exultant because of these
 and similar successes, the emperor then, considering the time of year and the
 state of the season, as became a dutiful prince devoted himself to those
 matters which would be helpful to the commonwealth. And thinking it most
 suitable for accomplishing what he had in mind, he planned hastily to build a
 fortification on the farther side of the Rhine on Mount Pirus, which is in the country of the savages. And in order
 that speed might make the accomplishment of the work secure, through Syagrius,
 at that time a secretary, afterwards prefect and consul, 
 he ordered the general Arator to try to speed that work, while deep quiet
 reigned everywhere.

The general at once
 crossed the river with the secretary, as was ordered, and, with the soldiers
 under his command, had begun to dig the foundations, when Hermogenes was
 appointed as his successor. At the same moment some chiefs of the Alamanni arrived, fathers of the
 hostages whom we were holding in accordance with the treaty as important
 pledges of the continued permanence of peace.

They on bended knees begged that the Romans, whose fortune consistent
 trustworthiness had raised to skies, should not, regardless of their security,
 be led astray by a perverse error, and, treading their
 promises under foot, enter upon an unworthy undertaking.

But, since they said these and similar things to no
 purpose, as they were not listened to, and perceived that they would receive no
 peaceful nor mild reply, they withdrew, weeping at the fate of their sons.
 Scarcely had they left the place, when a band of barbarians who were awaiting
 the reply to be made (as they were given to understand) at that time to their
 chiefs, dashing forth from the hollow defile of a neighbouring hill, attacked
 our soldiers, who were half-nude and still carrying earth, and quickly
 drawing their swords were cutting them down; and with them also both leaders
 were slain.

Not a single man survived to tell
 what had happened, except Syagrius. He, after all the others had been slain,
 returned to the court, but by sentence of the angry emperor he was cashiered
 and went to his home, being considered by a cruel judgment to have deserved
 this because he alone had escaped.

Meanwhile throughout Gaul there spread, to
 the ruin of many, a savage frenzy for brigandage, which kept watch of the
 frequented roads and fell indiscriminately upon everything profitable that fell
 in its way. Finally, in addition to many others who fell victim to such
 ambuscades, Constantianus, chief of the imperial stables, a relative by marriage of
 Valentinian and own brother to Cerealis and Justina, was surprised by an
 unexpected attack and presently slain.

But at a distance from there, as if the
 furies were stirring up similar troubles, the Maratocupreni, a fierce race of
 brigands, were ranging about on every side; they dwelt in a village of the same
 name situated near Apamia in Syria, were exceedingly numerous, skilled in
 crafty wiles, and dreaded because they roamed about quietly under the guise of
 honourable traders and soldiers, and fell upon rich houses, estates, and towns.

No one could guard against their
 unexpected coming, since they did not assail previously chosen places, but
 various quarters and those that were far removed, breaking out wherever the
 wind took them—the same reason that makes the Saxons feared before all other
 enemies for their sudden raids. But although these
 confederate bands destroyed the property of many, and, driven by the gadfly of
 the madness which they had conceived, caused lamentable slaughter, being no
 less greedy for blood than for booty, yet for fear that by giving a minute
 account of their deeds I may somewhat delay the direct course of my project, it
 will suffice to tell of this one destructive and welldevised stroke of theirs.

A united body of these godless men, disguised as the retinue of a state
 treasurer, and one of them as that official himself, in the darkness of
 evening, preceded by the mournful cry of a herald, entered a city and beset
 with swords the fine house of a distinguished citizen, as if he had been
 proscribed and condemned to death. They seized all his valuable furniture, and
 since the servants were struck with sudden fear, and in
 their bewilderment did not defend their master, they killed many of them, and
 before the return of daylight departed at quick step.

But when, after being enriched by the booty of many men, they
 abandoned the sweet pleasure of robbery, which was interrupted by a movement of
 the emperor's forces, they were crushed, and perished to the last man. Even
 their children, who were still small, in order that they might not grow up to
 follow the example of their fathers, were destroyed in the same fate; and the
 houses which they had built in showy fashion at the sorrowful expense of others
 were torn down. These things, then, happened in the connection in which they
 have been told.

But Theodosius, that leader of celebrated name, filled
 with courageous vigour sallied forth from Augusta, which was earlier called
 Lundinium, with a force which he had mustered with energy and skill, and
 rendered the greatest aid to the troubled and confused fortunes of the Britons. He secured
 beforehand everywhere the places suitable for ambushing the savages, requiring
 nothing of the common soldiers in which he himself did not smartly take the
 first tasks. In this way, while he performed the duties of an active common
 soldier and observed the care of a distinguished general, after having routed
 and put to flight various tribes which an insolence fostered
 by impunity was inflaming with a desire to attack the Romans, he completely
 restored the cities and strongholds which had been founded to secure a long
 period of peace, but had suffered repeated misfortunes.

But while he was thus engaged, a dread event
 had taken place, which would have resulted in grave danger, if it had not been
 crushed in the very beginning of its attempt.

A certain Valentinus, born in Valeria, a part of Pannonia, a man of haughty
 spirit, brother-in-law of that pernicious vice-governor Maximinus, who was
 afterwards prefect, had been exiled to Britain because of a serious crime.
 There, impatient of quiet like a noxious beast, he roused himself to new and
 destructive plans, nursing a certain grudge against Theodosius, since he
 perceived that he was the only one who could resist his abominable designs.

However, after a good deal of looking
 about secretly and openly, driven by the swelling gale of his vast ambition, he
 began to tempt exiles and soldiers by promising for bold deeds as enticing
 rewards as his circumstances at the time permitted.

And already the time for carrying out the plans was near at hand,
 when that leader, eager for deeds of daring, learning
 of this from a prearranged source, resolved with lofty heart to punish those who were found
 guilty: Valentinus indeed, along with a few of his closest associates, he had
 consigned to the general Dulcitius, to be
 punished with death; but with the military knowledge in which he surpassed all
 his contemporaries, he divined future dangers, and as to the rest of the
 conspirators forbade the carrying on of investigations, lest
 by spreading fear among many the disturbances in the provinces, which had just
 been lulled to sleep, should be revived.

Then, after the danger had been wholly
 removed, since it was common knowledge that propitious fortune had failed him
 in none of his undertakings, he turned his attention to making many necessary
 improvements, restoring the cities and defences, as we have said, and
 protecting the frontiers by sentinels and outposts. And so completely did he
 recover a province which had passed into the enemy's hands and restore it to
 its former condition, that, in the words of his report, it had a legitimate
 governor; and it was henceforth called Valentia, in accordance with the emperor's wish, who, one might almost say,
 celebrated an ovation in his joy on hearing the priceless news.

In the midst of such important events the Arcani, a class of men established in early times,
 about which I said something in the history of Constans, had gradually become corrupted, and consequently he removed
 them from their posts. For they were clearly convicted of having been led by
 the receipt, or the promise, of great booty at various times to betray to the
 savages what was going on among us. For it was their duty to hasten about hither and thither over long spaces, to give
 information to our generals of the clashes of rebellion among neighbouring
 peoples.

After the above-mentioned affairs and other
 similar ones had been so brilliantly managed, Theodosius was summoned to the
 court, leaving the provinces dancing for joy, after distinguishing himself by
 many helpful victories like Furius Camillus or Papirius Cursor. And because of
 his general popularity he was escorted as far as the strait. where he crossed
 with a light wind, and came into the emperor's company. He was received with joy and words of praise,
 and succeeded to the position of Jovinus, commander of the cavalry forces, whom the emperor
 Valentinian considered to be lacking in energy.

After long lasting and serious dispersion
 from affairs in Rome, constrained by the great mass of foreign events, I
 shall return to a brief account of these, beginning with the prefecture of
 Olybrius, which was exceedingly peaceful and mild; for he
 never allowed himself to be turned from humane conduct, but was careful and
 anxious that no word or act of his should ever be found harsh. He severely
 punished calumny, cut down the profits of the privy-purse wherever it was
 possible, fully and impartially distinguished justice from injustice, and
 showed himself most lenient towards those wbom he governed.

But a cloud was thrown over all these merits
 by a fault which indeed was not harmful to the community, but yet was a stain
 on a high official; for almost his whole private life, since he was inclined to
 luxury, he spent in playhouses and love affairs, though the latter were neither
 unlawful nor incestuous.

After him Ampelius 
 governed the city, a man who himself also lusted after pleasures. Born at
 Antioch, he had been formerly marshal of the court, was twice raised to the
 rank of proconsul, and then, long
 afterwards, to the high honour of the prefecture. Although admirable in other
 respects and well suited to gaining the favour of the people, he was
 nevertheless sometimes hard, and I wish he had been steadfast of purpose; for
 he could have corrected in part, even though to a small extent, the incitements
 of appetite and gross gluttony, if he had not let himself be turned to laxity
 and thus lost enduring fame.

For he gave
 orders that no wine-shop should be opened before the fourth hour, that no one of the common people should
 heat water, that up to a fixed hour of the
 day no victualler should offer cooked meat for sale, and that
 no respectable man should be seen chewing anything in public.

These shameful acts, and others worse than these,
 had, by being constantly overlooked, blazed up to such unbridled heights that
 not even that celebrated Cretan Epimenides, if, after the manner
 of myth, he had been called up from the lower world and returned to our times,
 would have been able single-handed to purify Rome; such was the stain of
 incurable sins that had overwhelmed most people.

And first, as often, according to the
 quantity of topics, I shall give an account of the delinquencies of the nobles and then of
 the common people, condensing the events in a rapid disgression.

Some men, distinguished (as they think) by famous
 fore-names, pride themselves beyond measure in being called Reburri, Flavonii,
 Pagonii, Gereones, and Dalii, along with Tarracii and Pherrasii, and many other
 equally fine-sounding indications of eminent ancestry.

Others, resplendent in silken garments, as though
 they were to be led to death, or as if (to speak without any evil omen) they were bringing up
 the rear preceded by an
 army, are followed by a throng of slaves drawn up in troops, amid noise and
 confusion.

When such men, each attended by
 fifty servants, have entered the vaulted rooms of a bath, they shout in
 threatening tones: Where on earth are our attendants? If they
 have learned that an unknown courtesan has suddenly appeared, some woman who
 has been a common prostitute of the crowd of our city, some old strumpet, they
 all strive to be the first to reach her, and caressing the new-comer, extol her
 with such disgraceful flattery as the Parthians do Samiramis, the Egyptians
 their Cleopatras, the Carians Artemisia, or the people of 
 Palmyra Zenobia. And those who stoop to do such things are men in the time of
 whose forefathers a senator was punished with the censor's brand of infamy, if
 he had dared, while this was still considered unseemly, to kiss his wife in the
 presence of their own daughter.

Some of these men, when one begins to salute
 them breast to breast, like menacing bulls turn to one side their heads, where
 they should be kissed, and offer their flatterers their knees to kiss or their
 hands, thinking that quite enough to ensure them a happy life; and they believe
 that a stranger is given an abundance of all the duties of courtesy, even
 though the great men may perhaps be under obligation to him, if he is asked
 what hot baths or waters he uses, or at what house he has been put up.

And although they are so important and, in
 their own opinion, such cultivators of the virtues, if they learn that someone
 has announced that horses or chariots are coming from anywhere whatever, they
 hover over this same man and ask him questions as anxiously as their ancestors
 looked up to the two sons of Tyndareus, when they filled everything with joy
 by announcing those famous victories of olden days.

Their houses are frequented by idle
 chatterboxes, who with various pretences of approval applaud every word of the
 man of loftier fortune, emulating the witty flatteries of the parasites in the
 comedies. For just as the parasites puff up boastful 
 soldiers by attributing to them the sieges and battles against thousands of
 enemies, comparing them with the heroes of old, so these also, admiring the
 rows of columns hanging in the air with lofty facade, and the walls gleaming
 with the remarkable colours of precious stones, raise these noble men to the
 gods.

Sometimes at their banquets the scales
 are even called for, in order to weigh the fish, birds, and dormice that are served, whose great
 size they commend again and again, as hitherto unexampled, often repeating it
 to the weariness of those present, especially when thirty secretaries stand
 near by, with pen-cases and small tablets, recording these same items, so that
 the only thing lacking seems to be a schoolmaster.

Some of them hate learning as they do
 poison, and read with attentive care only Juvenal and Marius Maximus,
 in their boundless idleness
 handling no other books than these, for what reason it is not for my humble
 mind to judge.

Whereas, considering the greatness of their
 fame and of their parentage, they ought to pore over many and varied works;
 they ought to learn that Socrates, when condemned to death and thrown into
 prison, asked a musician, who was skilfully rendering a song 
 of the lyric poet Stesichorus, that he might be taught to do this while there
 was still time. And when the musician asked of what use that could be to him,
 since he was to die on the following day, Socrates replied: In order
 that I may know something more before I depart from life.

But a few among them are so strict in
 punishing offences, that if a slave is slow in bringing the hot water, they
 condemn him to suffer three hundred lashes; if he has intentionally killed a
 man, although many people insist that he be condemned to death, his master will
 merely cry out: What should a worthless fellow do, notorious for wicked
 deeds? But if he dares to do anything else like that hereafter, he shall be
 punished.

But the height of refinement with these men
 at present is, that it is better for a stranger to kill any man's brother than
 to decline his invitation to dinner. For a senator thinks that he is suffering
 the loss of a rich property, if the man whom he has, after considerable
 weighing of pros and cons, invited once, fails to appear at his table.

Some of them, if they make a longish journey
 to visit their estates, or to hunt by the labours of others, think that
 they have equalled the marches of Alexander the Great or of Caesar; or if they
 have sailed in their gaily-painted boats from the Lake of Avernus to Puteoli,
 it is the adventure of the golden fleece, especially if they
 should dare it in the hot season. And if amid the gilded fans flies have
 lighted on the silken fringes, or through a rent in the hanging curtain a
 little ray of sun has broken in, they lament that they were not born in the
 land of the Cimmerians.

Then when they come from the bath of
 Silvanus or from the healing waters of Mamaea, as any one of them
 emerges he has himself dried with the finest linens, opens the presses and
 carefully searches amongst garments shimmering with shifting light, of which he
 brings enough with him to clothe eleven men. At length, some are chosen and he
 puts them on; then he takes back his rings, which, in order that the dampness
 may not injure them, he has handed to a servant, and after his fingers have
 been as good as measured to receive them, he departs.

And, indeed, if any veteran has recently
 retired because of his years from service with the emperor, such a company of
 admirers attend him that . . . is considered to be the leader of the old song;
 the others quietly listen to what he says. He alone, like the father of a
 family, tells irrelevant stories and entertaining tales, and
 in most of them cleverly deceiving his hearers.

Some of these, though few in number, shrink
 from the name of gamblers, and therefore desire to be called rather tesserarii, 
 persons who differ
 from each other only as much as thieves do from brigands. But this must be
 admitted, that while all friendships at Rome are lukewarm, those alone which
 are formed at the gambling table, as if they were gained by glorious toil, have
 a bond of union and are united by complete firmness of exceeding affection;
 whence some members of these companies are found to be so harmonious that you
 would take them for the brothers Quintilius. And so you may see a man of low station, who is
 skilled in the secrets of dice-playing, walking abroad like Porcius Cato
 after his unexpected and unlooked-for
 defeat for the praetorship, with a set expression of dignity and sorrow because
 at some great banquet or assemblage a former proconsul was given a higher place
 of honour.

Some lie in wait for men of wealth, old or
 young, childless or unmarried, or even for those who have wives or children—for
 no distinction is observed in this respect—enticing them by wonderful trickeries to make their wills; and when they have set their
 last decisions in order and left some things to these men, to humour whom they
 have made their wills in their favour, they forthwith die; so that you would
 not think that the death was brought about by the working of the allotment of
 destiny, nor could an illness easily be proved by the testimony of witnesses;
 nor is the funeral of these men attended by any mourners.

Another, who attained some rank, moderate
 though it be, walking with neck puffed up, looks askance at his former
 acquaintances, so that you might think that a Marcellus was returning after the
 taking of Syracuse.

Many of them, who deny that there are higher
 powers in heaven, neither appear in public nor eat a meal nor think they can
 with due caution take a bath, until they have critically examined the calendar
 and learned where, for
 example, the planet Mercury is, or what degree of the constellation of the Crab
 the moon occupies in its course through the heavens.

Another, if he finds a creditor of his
 demanding his due with too great urgency, resorts to a charioteer
 who is
 all too ready to dare any enterprise, and causes the creditor to be charged
 with being a poisoner; and he is not let off until he has surrendered the bill
 of indebtedness and paid heavy costs. And besides, the accuser has the
 voluntary debtor put in prison as if he were his property, and does not set
 him free until he acknowledges the debt.

In another place a wife by hammering day and
 night on the same anvil—as the old proverb has it —drives
 her husband to make a will, and the husband insistently urges his wife to do
 the same. Skilled jurists are brought in on both sides, one in a bedroom, the
 other, his rival, in the dining-room to discuss disputed points. These are
 joined by opposing interpreters of horoscopes, on the one side making
 profuse promises of prefectures and the burial of rich matrons, on the other
 telling women that for their husbands' funerals now quietly approaching they
 must make the necessary preparations. And a maid-servant bears witness, by
 nature somewhat pale,. . . As Cicero says: 
 They know of nothing on earth that is good unless it brings gain. Of
 their friends, as of their cattle, they love those best from whom they hope
 to get the greatest profit.

When these people seek any loan, you will
 see them in slippers like a Micon or a Laches; when they
 are urged to pay, they wear such lofty buskins and are so arrogant that you
 would think them Cresphontes and Temenus, the famous Heraclidae. So much for the senate.

Let us now turn to the idle and slothful
 commons. Among them some who have no shoes are conspicuous as though they had
 cultured names, such as the Messores, Statarii, Semicupae and Serapini, and
 Cicymbricus, with Gluturinus and Trulla, and Lucanicus with Porclaca and
 Salsula, and countless others.

These spend all their life with wine and
 dice, in low haunts, pleasures, and the games. Their temple, their dwelling,
 their assembly, and the height of all their hopes is the Circus Maximus. You
 may see many groups of them gathered in the fora, the cross-roads, the streets,
 
 and their other meeting-places, engaged in quarrelsome arguments with one
 another, some (as usual) defending this, others that.

Among them those who have enjoyed a surfeit of life, influential
 through long experience, often swear by their hoary hair and wrinkles that the
 state cannot exist if in the coming race the charioteer whom each favours is
 not first to rush forth from the barriers, and fails to round the turning-point
 closely with his ill-omened horses.

And when there is such a dry
 rot of thoughtlessness, as soon as the longed-for day of the chariot-races
 begins to dawn, before the sun is yet shining clearly they
 all hasten in crowds to the spot at top speed, as if they would outstrip the
 very chariots that are to take part in the contest; and torn by their
 conflicting hopes about the result of the race, the greater number of them in
 their anxiety pass sleepless nights.

If from there they come to worthless
 theatrical pieces, any actor is hissed off the boards who has not won the
 favour of the low rabble with money. And if this noisy form of demonstration is
 lacking, they cry in imitation of the Tauric race that all strangers—on whose aid they have always depended and
 stood upright —ought to be driven from the city. All this in foul and absurd terms,
 very different from the expressions of their interests and desires made by your
 commons of old, of whose many witty and happy sayings tradition tells us.

And it has now come to this, that in place
 of the lively sound of approval from men appointed to applaud, at every public
 show an actor of afterpieces, a beast-baiter, a charioteer, every kind of
 player, and the magistrates of higher and lower rank, nay even matrons, are
 constantly greeted with the shout You should be these fellows'
 teachers! ; but what they ought to learn no one is able to
 explain.

The greater number of these gentry, given
 over to over-stuffing themselves with food, led by the charm of the odour of cooking and by the shrill voices of the women, like a flock of peacocks
 screaming with hunger, stand even from cockcrow beside the
 pots on tip-toe and gnaw the ends of their fingers as they wait for the dishes to cool. Others hang over the nauseous mass
 of half-raw meat, while it is cooking, watching it so intently that one would
 think that Democritus with other dissectors was examining the internal organs of
 dismembered animals and showing by what means future generations might be cured
 of internal pains.

But enough for the present of this account
 of affairs in the city. Now let us return to the other events which were caused
 by various incidents in the provinces.

In the third consulship of the two Augusti a horde of Saxons 
 broke out, and after overcoming the dangers of the Ocean advanced at rapid pace
 towards the Roman frontier, having often been glutted
 with the slaughter of our people. The storm of this first inroad was met by
 Nannenus, the general in charge of those regions, a leader approved by long
 experience in wars.

But meeting then with a
 people resolved to fight to the death, after he had lost some
 of his men and had himself been wounded, he perceived that he would be unequal
 to frequent contests with them. Accordingly, having reported to the emperor
 what ought to be done, he managed that Severus, commander of the infantry,
 should come to help him in his difficult
 situation. 3. When he, bringing forces adequate for the purpose, had reached
 the spot and the troops had been drawn up in divisions, he so terrified and
 confused the arrogant barbarians before the struggle began, that they did not
 oppose him in strife, but, dazzled by the gleam of the standards and eagles,
 begged for pardon and peace. 4. And after a long and varied discussion, since
 it seemed to be in the interest of the state, a truce was agreed upon, and in
 accordance with the conditions that were proposed the Saxons gave us as
 hostages many young men fit for military service, and then were allowed to
 depart and return without hindrance to the place from which they had come. 5.
 When they thought themselves now free from all fear and were preparing to
 return, foot-soldiers were secretly sent and laid an ambuscade in a secluded
 valley, from which they could attack the Saxons with slight trouble as they
 passed by. But the result was far otherwise than was hoped. 6. For, excited by
 the sound of the approaching Saxons, some of our men rushed out before the
 proper time; on their sudden appearance the savages raised terrible howls, and
 while the Romans were hastening to steady themselves, they were put to flight.
 Presently, however, they halted and massed themselves together, and as their
 dangerous plight gave them strength (though somewhat impaired), they were forced to fight; but after suffering great losses they
 were routed and would have perished to a man, had not a troop of mail-clad
 horsemen, which had been similarly stationed on another side, near a byway, to
 cause danger to the savages as they passed by, been aroused by their cries of
 terror, and quickly come to their aid.

Then
 the contest became hotter and the Romans with fortified courage pressed upon
 the Saxons from all sides, surrounded them, and slew them with their drawn
 swords; not one of them could again return to his native home, not a single one
 was allowed to survive the slaughter of his comrades. And although some just
 judge will condemn this act as treacherous and hateful, yet on careful
 consideration of the matter he will not think it improper that a destructive
 band of brigands was destroyed when the opportunity at last offered.

After these affairs had been so successfully
 concluded, Valentinian, turning over various thoughts in his mind, was oppressed
 by anxious care, as he thought over many plans and considered by what devices
 he might break the arrogance of the Alamanni and their king Macrianus,
 who without limit or measure was confusing
 the Roman state by his restless disturbances.

For this savage nation, although from its very cradle weakened by a variety of
 disasters, so often recovers its youthful strength, that people think it has
 been unassailed for long ages. And the emperor finally decided, after favouring
 first one plan and then another, to bring about their destruction through the
 Burgundians, a warlike people, rich in the strength of countless young warriors, and therefore a cause of terror to all their
 neighbours.

Accordingly, he often sent
 letters to their kings through silent and loyal messengers, urging them to
 attack the Alamanni at an appointed time, and promising that he too would cross
 the Rhine with the Roman armies and, if the Alamanni tried to avoid the
 unexpected weight of armed forces, would intercept them in their panic.

The emperor's letters were gladly received
 for two reasons: first, because the Burgundians know that they are descendants
 of the Romans from ancient times; and then, since they frequently quarrelled with the
 Alamanni about salt-pits and boundaries. They therefore
 sent their choicest troops, which, before our soldiers were gathered together,
 advanced as far as the banks of the Rhine; and while the emperor was still
 occupied with the building of fortifications, they caused the very greatest
 alarm to our people.

And so they halted for
 a time, but when Valentinian did not appear on the appointed day, as he had
 agreed, and they saw that none of his promises had been fulfilled, they sent
 envoys to the emperor's camp, demanding that support be given them for their
 return to their homes, in order that they might not expose their unprotected
 rear to the enemy.

And when they perceived
 that by subterfuges and delays their request was practically denied, they went
 off from there in sorrow and indignation. And their kings, 
 on learning what had happened, furious at being mocked, killed all their
 prisoners and returned to their native lands.

In their country a king is called by the
 general name Hendinos, and, according to an ancient custom, lays down his power
 and is deposed, if under him the fortune of war has wavered, or the earth has
 denied sufficient crops; just as the Egyptians commonly blame their rulers for
 such occurrences. On the other hand the chief priest among the Burgundians is
 called Sinistus, holds his power for life, and is exposed to no such dangers as
 threaten the kings.

Taking advantage of this very timely
 occasion, Theodosius, at that time commander of the cavalry, made an attack through Raetia upon the Alamanni, who through
 fear of the aforesaid people were scattered; he
 killed many of them, and by the emperor's order sent all his prisoners to
 Italy, where they received fertile cantons, and now live as our subjects on the
 banks of the Po.

From here, as if moving to another part
 of the world, let us come to the sorrows of the African province of
 Tripolis, over which (I think) even Justice herself has wept; and from what
 cause these blazed out like flames will appear when my narrative is
 completed.

The Austoriani, who are neighbours to
 those regions, are savages, always ready for sudden raids and accustomed to
 live by murder and robbery. These were subdued for a time, but then returned to
 their natural turbulence, for which they seriously alleged this reason:-

A certain man of their country, Stachao by
 name, when he was wandering freely in our territory, it being a time of peace,
 committed some violations of the laws, among which the most conspicuous was,
 that he tried by every kind of deceit to betray the province, as was proved by most
 trustworthy testimony. Accordingly he was burned to death.

To avenge his execution, under the pretext
 that he was a countryman of theirs and had been unjustly condemned, like beasts
 aroused by madness, they sallied forth from their homes while Jovian was still
 ruling, and, fearing to come near Lepcis, a city strong in its walls and
 population, they encamped for three days in the fertile districts near the
 city. There they slaughtered the peasants, whom sudden fear had paralysed or
 had compelled to take refuge in caves, burned a great deal of furniture which
 could not be carried off, and returned laden with immense spoils, taking with
 them also as prisoner one Silva, the most eminent of the local magistrates, who
 chanced to be found in the country with
 his wife and children.

The people of Lepcis, greatly alarmed by this
 sudden calamity, before the evils which the insolence of the barbarians
 threatened should increase, implored the protection of
 Romanus, the newlypromoted commanding-general for Africa. As soon as he
 arrived, leading his military forces, and was asked to lend his aid in these
 troubles, he declared that he would not move his camp unless provisions in
 abundance should first be brought and 4000 camels equipped.

The unhappy citizens were stupified by this answer,
 and declared that after suffering from fires and pillage they could not procure
 a remedy for their tremendous losses by providing such enormous supplies.
 Whereupon the general, after deluding them by spending forty days there,
 marched away without actually attempting anything.

The people of Tripolis, disappointed in this
 hope and fearing the worst, when the lawful day for the popular assembly (which
 with them comes once a year) had arrived, appointed Severus and Flaccianus as
 envoys, who were to take to Valentinian golden statues of Victory because of
 his accession to power, and to tell him fearlessly of the lamentable ruin of
 the province.

As soon as Romanus heard of
 this, he sent a swift horseman to Remigius, the chief-marshal of the court, a
 relative of his by marriage and a partner in his robberies, asking him to see to it
 that the investigation of this affair should be assigned by the emperor's
 authority to the deputy governor Vincentius and himself.

The envoys came to the court, and being given
 audience with the emperor, stated orally what they had suffered; and they
 presented decrees, containing a full account of the whole affair. Since the
 emperor, after reading these, neither believed the communication of the
 marshal, who countenanced the misdeeds of Romanus, nor the
 envoys, who gave contrary testimony, a full investigation was promised, but it
 was put off, in the way in which supreme powers are usually deceived among the distractions to which the
 powerful are liable.

While the people of Tripolis were long in
 astate of anxiety and suspense, looking for some aid from the emperor's
 military support, the hordes of barbarians again came up, given confidence by
 what had happened before; and after overrunning the territory of Lepcis and Oea
 with death and devastation, went away again,
 laden with vast heaps of booty; a number of decurions were put to death, among whom the former high-priest
 Rusticianus and the aedile Nicasius were conspicuous.

But the reason why this inroad could not be prevented was that,
 although at the request of the envoys the charge of military affairs also had
 been entrusted to the governor Ruricius, it was
 soon afterwards transferred to Romanus.

When
 now the news of this newly inflicted catastrophe was sent to Gaul, it greatly
 angered the emperor. Accordingly, Palladius, a tribune and secretary, was sent
 to pay the wages that were due the soldiers in various parts of Africa, and to
 investigate and give a fully trustworthy report of what had happened at
 Tripolis.

However, during such delays caused by
 consultations and waiting for replies, the Austoriani, made insolent by two
 successful raids, flew to the spot like birds of prey made more savage by the
 incitement of blood, and after slaying all those who did not escape danger by
 flight, carried off the booty which they had previously left behind, besides
 cutting down the trees and vines.

Then one Mychon, a highborn and powerful townsman, was caught in
 the suburbs but gave them the slip before be was bound; and because he was lame
 and it was wholly impossible for him to make good his escape, he threw himself
 into an empty well; but the barbarians pulled him out with his rib broken, and
 placed him near the city gates; there, at the pitiful entreaties of his wife,
 he was ransomed but was drawn up by a rope to the battlements, and died after
 two days.

Then the savage marauders, roused
 to greater persistence, assailed the very walls of Lepcis, which re-echoed with
 the mournful wailing of the women, who had never before been besieged by an
 enemy, and were half-dead with a terror to which they were unused. But after
 blockading the city for eight days together, during which some of the besiegers
 were wounded without accomplishing anything, they returned in saddened mood to
 their own abodes.

Because of this the citizens, despairing of
 being saved and resorting to the last hope, although the envoys they had
 already sent had not yet returned, dispatched Jovinus and Pancratius to give
 the emperor a trustworthy account of what they had seen and had personally
 suffered. These envoys, by inquiring of those mentioned above (Severus, whom
 they met at Carthage, and Flaccianus), what they had done, learned that they
 had been ordered to make their report to the deputy and the general. Of these
 Severus was at once attacked by a painful illness and died; but the
 aforementioned envoys nevertheless hastened by long marches to the court.

After this, Palladius had entered Africa,
 and Romanus, intending to block in advance the purpose for which he had come,
 in order to secure his own safety, had ordered the officers of the companies
 through certain confidants of his secrets, that they should hand over to
 Palladius the greater part of the pay which he had brought, since be was an
 influential man and in close relations with the highest officials of the
 palace; and so it was done.

Palladius
 immediately, being thus enriched, proceeded to Lepcis, and in order to succeed
 in ferreting out the truth, he took with him to the devastated regions two
 eloquent and distinguished townsmen, Erechthius and Aristomenes, who freely
 told him of their own troubles and those of their fellow-citizens and
 neighbours.

They openly showed him
 everything, and after he had seen the lamentable ashes of the province, he
 returned, and reproaching Romanus for his inactivity, threatened to give the
 emperor a true report of everything that he had seen. Then Romanus, filled with
 anger and resentment, assured him that he also would then at once report that
 Palladius, sent as an incorruptible notary, had diverted to his own profit all
 the money intended for the soldiers.

Therefore, since his conscience was witness to disgraceful acts, Palladius then
 came to an understanding with Romanus, and on his return to the palace, he
 misled Valentinian by the atrocious art of lying, declaring that the people of
 Tripolis had no cause for complaint. Accordingly, he was sent again to Africa
 with Jovinus, the last of all the envoys (for Pancratius had died at Treves),
 in order with the deputy to examine in person the value of
 the work of the second deputation also. Besides this, the emperor gave orders
 that the tongues of Erechthius and Aristomenes should be cut out, since the
 aforesaid Palladius had intimated that they had made some offensive
 statements.

The secretary, following the deputy, as had
 been arranged, came to Tripolis. As soon as Romanus learned of this, with all
 speed he sent his attendant thither, and with him an adviser of his, Caecilius
 by name, a native of that province. Through these all the townspeople were
 inducedwhether by bribes or deceit is uncertain-to make grave charges against
 Jovinus, positively declaring that they had given him no commission to report
 what he had reported to the emperor. In fact, their dishonesty went so far that
 even Jovinus himself was forced to endanger his own life by confessing that he
 had lied to the emperor.

When this was known through Palladius, who had now returned, Valentinian, being rather inclined to severity, gave
 orders that Jovinus, as the originator of the false statement, with
 Caelestinus, Concordius, and Lucius as accomplices and participants, should
 suffer capital punishment; further, that Ruricius, the governor, should suffer
 death as the author of a false report, the following also being counted against him—that there were read in
 his report certain expressions of his which seemed immoderate.

Ruricius was executed at Sitifis, the rest were
 punished at Utica through sentence of the deputy-governor Crescens. Flaccianus,
 however, before the death of the other envoys, was heard by the deputy and the
 general; and when he stoutly defended his life, he was all
 but killed by the angry soldiers, who rushed upon him with shouts and abusive
 language; for they declared against him that the Tripolitani could not possibly
 be defended for the reason that they themselves had declined to furnish what
 was necessary for the campaign.

And for this
 reason Flaccianus was imprisoned, until the emperor, who had been consulted
 about him, should make up his mind what ought to be done. But he bribed his
 guards—so it was permissible to believe—and made his escape to the city of
 Rome, where he kept in hiding until he passed away by a natural death.

In consequence of this remarkable end of the
 affair, Tripolis, though harassed by disasters from without and from within,
 remained silent, but not without defence; for the eternal eye of Justice
 watched over her, as well as the last curses of
 the envoys and the governor. For long afterwards the following event came to pass: Palladius was dismissed from service, and
 stript of the haughtiness with which he swelled, and retired to a life of
 inaction.

And when Theodosius, that famous
 leader of armies, had come into Africa to put an end to the dangerous attempts
 of Firmus, and, as he had been ordered, examined the
 moveable property of the outlawed Romanus, there was found also among his
 papers the letter of one Meterius, containing the words, Meterius to
 Romanus his Lord and patron, and at the end, after much matter that
 would here be irrelevant: The disgraced Palladius salutes you, and says
 that he was deposed for no other reason than that in the cause of the people
 of Tripolis he spoke to the sacred ears what was not true.

When this letter had been
 sent to the Palace and read, Meterius, on being seized by order of Valentinian,
 admitted that the letter was his. Therefore Palladius was ordered to be
 produced, but thinking of the mass of crimes that he had concocted, at a
 halting-station, as darkness was coming on, noticing the absence of the guards,
 who on a festal day of the Christian religion were spending the whole
 night in church, he knotted a noose about his neck and strangled himself.

When this favourable turn of fortune was
 fully known and the instigator of the awful troubles put to death, Erechthius
 and Aristomenes, who, when they learned that it had been ordered that their
 tongues should be cut out, as over-lavishly
 used, had withdrawn to far remote and hidden places, now hastened from
 concealment; and when the emperor Gratian—for Valentinian had died—was given
 trustworthy information of the abominable deception, they were sent for trial
 to the proconsul Hesperius and the deputy Flavianus.
 These officials, being men of impartial justice combined
 with most rightful authority, having put Caecilius to the torture, learned from
 his open confession that he himself had persuaded his citizens to make trouble
 for the envoys by false statements. This investigation was followed by a
 report, which disclosed the fullest confirmation of the acts which had been
 committed; to this no reply was made.

And that these dramas should leave no awful tragic effect untried, this also was added after the 
 curtain had dropped. 
 Romanus, setting out to the Palace, brought with him Caecilius, who intended to
 accuse the judges of having been biased in favour of the province; and being
 received with favour by Merobaudes, he had sought that some more witnesses whom he needed
 should be produced.

When these had come to
 Milan, and had shown by credible evidence that they had been brought there
 under false pretences to satisfy a grudge, they were discharged and returned to
 their homes. Nevertheless, in Valentinianus' lifetime, in consequence of what
 we have stated above, Remigius also after retiring into private life strangled
 himself, as I shall show in the proper place.

At the end of the winter Sapor, king of the Persian nations, made immoderately arrogant by the confidence inspired
 by his former battles, having filled up the number of his army and greatly
 strengthened it, had sent his mailed horsemen, archers, and mercenary soldiers
 to invade our territories.

To meet these
 forces the general Trajanus and Vadomarius, the former king of the Alamanni,
 advanced with very powerful forces, appointed by the
 emperor's order to observe the policy of keeping off the Persians rather than
 attacking them.

When they had come to
 Vagabanta, a favourable place for the legions,
 they met unwillingly the swift attacks of the enemy's cavalry fiercely rushing
 upon them, and purposely retreated, in order not to be first to wound anyone of
 their adversaries and thus be judged guilty of violating the treaty; but at
 last, driven by extreme necessity, they engaged in battle, and, after slaying
 many of the Persians, came off victorious.

But during the delay which followed, several skirmishes were tried by both
 sides, which ended with varying results; and an armistice having been concluded
 by common consent, and the summer having ended, the leaders of both sides
 departed in different directions, still at enmity with each other. Now the king
 of the Parthians returned home, to spend the winter in
 Ctesiphon; but the Roman emperor entered Antioch. And while the latter was
 staying there, free from anxiety from foreign foes for the time, he almost fell
 victim to domestic treason, as an account of the series of events will
 show.

A certain Procopius, a turbulent man, always given over to a lust for disturbances, had charged two courtiers named
 Anatolias and Spudasius, about whom orders had been given that money of which
 they had defrauded the treasury be exacted of them, with having attempted the
 life of Count Fortunatianus, notorious as being a tiresome dunner. He, being
 hot-tempered, was immediately aroused to a mad degree of wrath, and by the
 authority of the office which he held, handed over a certain Palladius, a man of low birth, as
 one who had been hired as a poisoner by the afore-mentioned courtiers, and an
 interpreter of the fates by horoscope, Heliodorus by name, to the court of the
 praetorian prefecture, in order that they might be forced to tell what they
 knew about the matter.

But when they came to
 a vigorous investigation of the deed, or the attempt, Palladius boldly cried
 out that those matters about which they were inquiring were trivial and
 negligible; that if he were allowed to speak, he would tell of other things
 more important and fearful, which had already been plotted with great
 preparations, and unless foresight were used would upset the whole state. And
 on being bidden to tell freely what he knew, he uncoiled an endless cable of
 crimes, declaring that the ex-governor Fidustius, and Pergamius, with Irenaeus,
 by detestable arts of divination, had secretly learned the name of the man who
 was to succeed Valens.

Fidustius was seized
 on the spot—for he chanced to be near by —and was brought up secretly, and on
 being faced with the informer, he did not attempt to veil with any denial a
 matter already publicly known, but disclosed the deadly details of the whole
 plot; he freely admitted that he had, with Hilarius and Patricius, men skilled
 in divination, of whom the former had served in the household troops, sought
 information about the succession, and that the predictions inspired by secret
 arts had both foretold the naming of an excellent prince, and for the
 questioners themselves a sad end.

And while
 they were in doubt who there was at the time that was
 superior to all in strength of character, it seemed to them that Theodorus
 surpassed all others; he had already gained
 second rank among the secretaries, and was in fact such a man as they thought
 him. For he was born of a clan famous in olden times in Gaul, liberally
 educated from earliest childhood, and so eminent for his modesty, good sense,
 refinement, charm, and learning that he always seemed superior to every office
 and rank that he was holding, and was
 dear alike to high and low. He was also almost the only man whose mouth was
 closed by no fear of danger, since he bridled his tongue and reflected on what
 he was going to say.

Fidustius, already
 tortured almost to death, also added to this that Theodorus had learned all
 these prophecies from information which he himself had given him through
 Euserius, a man of remarkable learning and highly honoured; for shortly before
 that he had governed Asia with the rank of vice-prefect.

When Euserius also was put in prison, and the record
 of what had been done had been read to the emperor as usual, Valens' monstrous
 savagery spread everywhere like a fiercely blazing torch, and was increased by
 the base flattery of many men, and in particular by that of Modestus,
 who was then praetorian prefect.

This man, being daily terrified by the thought of a
 successor, by tricking Valens, who was somewhat simple-minded, with veiled but
 clever flattery tried to wheedle over the emperor's favour in various ways,
 calling his rough, crude words 'choice Ciceronian posies';
 and to increase his vanity he declared that, if Valens should order it, even
 the stars could be brought down and displayed for him.

Accordingly, orders were given that
 Theodorus also should be with swift dispatch hurried there from Constantinople, to which he had gone
 on domestic business, and while he was being brought back, as the result of
 sundry preliminary trials, which were carried on day and night, a number of
 men, conspicuous for their rank and high birth, were brought from widely
 separated places.

And, since neither the
 public dungeons, already full to overflowing, nor private houses could contain
 the throngs of prisoners, although they were crammed together in hot and
 stifling crowds, and since the greater number of them were in irons, they all
 dreaded their own fate and that of their nearest relatives.

Finally Theodorus himself also arrived, half dead
 with fear and in mourning garb, and when he had been hidden in a remote part of
 the country, and everything was
 ready that the coming inquiries required, the trumpets were already sounding
 the signal for the murder of citizens.

And because that man does not seem less
 deceitful who knowingly passes over what has been done, than one who invents
 things that never happened, I do not deny—and in fact there is no doubt about
 it—that Valens' life, not only often before through secret conspiracies, but
 also on this occasion, was plunged into extreme danger, and that a sword was
 almost driven into his throat by the soldiers; it was thrust away and turned
 aside by the hand of Fate only because she had destined him to suffer lamentable disasters in Thrace.

For when he was quietly sleeping after
 midday in a wooded spot between Antioch and Seleucia, he was attacked by
 Sallustius, then one of the targeteers; but although at other times many men
 often eagerly made plots against his life, he escaped them all, since the
 limits of life assigned him at his very birth curbed these monstrous attempts.

The same thing sometimes happened during
 the reigns of Commodus and Severus, whose life was often attempted with extreme
 violence, until finally the one, after escaping many varied dangers within the
 palace, as he was entering the pit of the amphitheatre to attend the games, was
 dangerously wounded with a dagger by the senator Quintianus, a man of unlawful
 ambition, and almost disabled; 
 the other, when far advanced in years, would have been stabbed by the centurion
 Saturninus (who at the instigation of the prefect Plautianus made an unexpected
 attack on him as he lay in bed) had not his young son borne him aid.

Therefore Valens also deserved excuse for taking
 every precaution to protect his life, which treacherous foes were trying in
 haste to take from him. But it was inexcusable that, with despotic anger, he
 was swift to assail with malicious persecution guilty and innocent under one
 and the same law, making no distinction in their deserts; so that while there
 was still doubt about the crime, the emperor had made up his mind about the
 penalty, and some learned that they had been condemned to death before knowing
 that they were under suspicion.

This
 persistent purpose of his increased, spurred on as it was both by his own greed
 and that of persons who frequented the court at that time, and opened the way
 to fresh desires, and if any mention of mercy was made—which
 rarely happened—called it slackness. These men through their bloodthirsty
 flatteries perverted in the worst possible direction the character of a man who
 carried death at the tip of his tongue, and blew everything down with an untimely hurricane, hastening to
 overturn utterly the richest houses.

For he
 was exposed and open to the approach of plotters through his dangerous tendency
 to two faults: first, he was more prone to intolerable anger, when to be angry
 at all was shameful; secondly, in his princely pride he did not condescend to
 sift the truth of what, with the readiness of access of a man in private life,
 he had heard in secret whispers, but accepted as true and certain.

The result was that many innocent persons under the
 appearance of mercy were thrust forth from their homes, and driven headlong
 into exile; and their property, which was consigned to the treasury, the
 emperor himself turned to his own profit, while the condemned, worn out by the privations of fearful
 poverty, were reduced to beggary—and that is a fate to avoid which the wise old
 poet Theognis advises us actually to hurl ourselves into the sea.

And even if anyone should admit that these
 things were right, yet their excess alone was hateful. Whence it was observed
 that the maxim is true, that no sentence is more cruel than
 one which conceals great severity under the guise of mercy.

Accordingly, when the highest officials, to
 whom the investigations had been entrusted together with the praetorian
 prefect, had been called together, the racks were made taut, the leaden weights
 were brought out along with
 the cords and the scourges. The whole place echoed with the horrible cries of a
 savage voice, as those who did the awful work shouted amid the clanking of
 chains: Hold him; clamp; tighten; away with him.

And, since I have seen many condemned after
 horrible tortures, but everything is a jumble of confusion as in times of
 darkness, I shall, since the complete recollection of what was done has escaped
 me, give a brief and summary account of what I can recall.

First, after some unimportant questions,
 Pergamius was called in, betrayed (as has been said) by Palladius of having foreknowledge of certain things through
 criminal incantations. Since he was very eloquent and was prone to say
 dangerous things, while the judges were in doubt what ought to be asked first
 and what last, he began to speak boldly, and shouted out in an endless flood
 the names of a very large number of men as accomplices, demanding that some be
 produced from all but the ends of the earth, to be accused of great crimes. He,
 as the contriver of too hard a task, was punished with death; and after him
 others were executed in flocks; then finally they came to
 the case of Theodorus himself, as if to the dusty arena of an Olympic contest.

And that same day, among very many
 others, this sad event also happened, that Salia, shortly before master of the
 treasures in Thrace, when he was brought out of
 prison to be heard, just as he was putting his foot into his shoe, as if under
 the stroke of great terror suddenly falling upon him, breathed his last in the
 arms of those who held him.

Well then, when the court was ready to act,
 while the judges called attention to the provisions of the laws, but
 nevertheless regulated their handling of the cases according to the wish of the
 ruler, terror seized upon all. For Valens had entirely swerved from the
 high-way of justice, and had now learned better how to hurt; so he broke out
 into frenzied fits of rage, like a wild beast trained for the arena if it sees
 that anyone brought near to the barrier has made his escape.

Then Patricius and Hilarius were brought in
 and ordered to give a connected account of what had happened. In the beginning
 they were at variance with each other, but when their sides had been furrowed
 and the tripod which they were in the habit of using was brought in, they were
 driven into a corner, and gave a true account of the whole business, which they
 unfolded from its very beginning. First Hilarius said:

O most honoured judges, we constructed from laurel twigs under dire
 auspices this unlucky little table which you see, in the likeness of the
 Delphic tripod, and having duly consecrated it by secret
 incantations, after many long-continued rehearsals we at length made it
 work. Now the manner of its working, whenever it was consulted about hidden
 matters, was as follows. It was placed in
 the middle of a house purified thoroughly with Arabic perfumes; on it was
 placed a perfectly round plate made of various metallic substances. Around
 its outer rim the written forms of the twenty-four letters of the alphabet
 were skilfully engraved, separated from one another by carefully measured
 spaces. Then a man clad in linen
 garments, shod also in linen sandals and having a fillet wound about his
 head, carrying twigs from a tree of good omen, after propitiating in a set
 formula the divine power from whom predictions come, having full knowledge
 of the ceremonial, stood over the tripod as priest and set swinging a
 hanging ring fitted to a very fine linen thread and consecrated with mystic arts. This ring, passing over the
 designated intervals in a series of jumps, and falling upon this and that
 letter which detained it, made hexameters corresponding with the questions
 and completely finished in feet and rhythm, like the Pythian verses which we
 read, or those given out from the oracles of the Branchidae. 
 When we then and there inquired, 'what
 man will succeed the present emperor'?, since it was said that he would be
 perfect in every particular, and the ring leaped forward
 and lightly touched the two syllables θεο, 
 adding the next letter, then one of those present cried out
 that by the decision of inevitable fate Theodorus was meant. And there was
 no further investigation of the matter; for it was agreed among us that he
 was the man who was sought.

And when Hilarius had laid the knowledge of
 the whole matter so clearly before the eyes of the judges, he kindly added that
 Theodorus was completely ignorant of what was done. After this, being asked
 whether they had, from belief in the oracles which they practised, known
 beforehand what they were now suffering, they uttered those familiar verses
 which clearly announced that this work of inquiring into the superhuman would
 soon be fatal to them, but that nevertheless the Furies, breathing out death
 and fire, threatened also the emperor himself and his judges. Of these verses
 it will suffice to quote the last three: 
 
 Avenged will be your blood. Against them too 
 Tisiphonê's deep wrath arms evil fate, 
 While Ares rages on the plain of Mimas. 
 
 When these verses had been read, both were terribly torn by the hooks
 of the torturers and taken away senseless.

Later, in order wholly to lay bare this factory of the crimes that had been
 meditated, a group of distinguished men was led in, comprising the very heads
 of the undertaking. But since each one had regard for nothing but himself, and
 tried to shift his ruin to another, by permission of the inquisitors Theodorus
 began to speak; at first lying prostrate in a humble
 prayer for pardon, but then, when compelled to talk more to the point, he
 declared that he had learned of the affair through Euserius and tried more than
 once to report it to the emperor, but was prevented by his informant, who
 assured him that no illicit attempt to usurp the throne, but some inevitable
 will of fate, would realize their hopes without effort on their part.

Then Euserius, under bloody torture, made
 the same confession, but Theodorus was convicted by a letter of his own written
 in ambiguous and tortuous language to Hilarius, in which he did not hesitate
 about the matter, but only sought an opportunity to attain his desire, having
 already a strong confidence begotten from the soothsayers.

When these had been removed after this
 information, Eutropius, then governing Asia with proconsular authority,
 was summoned on the charge of complicity in the plot. But he escaped without
 harm, saved by the philosopher Pasiphilus, who, although cruelly tortured to
 induce him to bring about the ruin of Eutropius through a false charge, could
 not be turned from the firmness of a steadfast mind.

There was, besides these, the philosopher Simonides, a young man,
 it is true, but of anyone within our memory the strictest in his principles.
 When he was charged with having heard of the affair through Fidustius and saw
 that the trial depended, not on the truth, but on the nod of one man, he said
 that he had learned of the predictions, but as a man of firm purpose he kept
 the secret which had been confided to him.

After all these matters had been examined
 with sharp eye, the emperor, in answer to the question put by the judges, under
 one decree ordered the execution of all of the accused; and in the presence of
 a vast throng, who could hardly look upon the dreadful sight without inward
 shuddering and burdening the air with laments—for the woes of individuals were
 regarded as common to all—they were all led away and wretchedly strangled
 except Simonides; him alone that cruel author of the verdict, maddened by his
 steadfast firmness, had ordered to be burned alive.

Simonides, however, ready to escape from life as from a cruel
 tyrant, and laughing at the sudden disasters of human destiny, stood unmoved
 amid the flames; imitating that celebrated philosopher Peregrinus, surnamed
 Proteus, who, when he had determined to depart from life, at the
 quinquennial Olympic festival, in the sight of all Greece, mounted a funeral
 pyre which he himself had constructed and was consumed by the flames.

And after him, in the days that followed,
 a throng of men of almost all ranks, whom it would be difficult to enumerate by
 name, involved in the snares of calumny, wearied the arms of the executioners
 after being first crippled by rack, lead, and scourge. Some were punished
 without breathing-space or delay, while inquiry was being made whether they
 deserved punishment; everywhere the scene was like a slaughtering of
 cattle.

Then, innumerable writings and many heaps of
 volumes were hauled out from various houses and under the eyes of the judges
 were burned in heaps as being unlawful, to allay the indignation at the executions, although the greater number were treatises on the
 liberal arts and on jurisprudence.

And not so very long afterward that famous
 philosopher Maximus, a man with a great reputation for learning, through whose
 rich discourses Julian stood out as an emperor well stored as regards
 knowledge, was alleged to have heard the verses of the aforesaid oracle. And he
 admitted that he had learnt of them, but out of regard for his philosophical
 principles had not divulged secrets, although he had volunteered the prediction
 that the consultors of the future would themselves perish by capital
 punishment. Thereupon he was taken to his native city of Ephesus and there
 beheaded; and taught by his
 final danger he came to know that the injustice of a judge was more formidable
 than any accusation.

Diogenes also was
 entangled in the snares of an impious falsehood. He was a man born of noble
 stock, eminent for his talent, his fearless eloquence, and his charm; he was a
 former governor of Bithynia, but was now punished with death in order that his
 rich patrimony might be plundered.

Lo! even
 Alypius also, former vice-governor of Britain, a man amiable and gentle, after living in leisure and
 retirement—since even as far as this had injustice stretched her hand—was made
 to wallow in utmost wretchedness; he was accused with his son Hierocles, a
 young man of good character, as guilty of magic, on the sole evidence of a
 certain Diogenes, a man of low origin, who was tortured with every degree of
 butchery, to lead him to give testimony agreeable to the emperor, or rather to
 the instigator of the charge. Diogenes, when not enough of
 his body was left for torture, was burned alive; Alypius himself also, after
 confiscation of his goods, was condemned to exile, but recovered his son, who
 was already being led to a wretched death, but by a lucky chance was reprieved.

During all this time, the notorious
 Palladius, the fomenter of all these troubles, who, as we said at first, was
 taken in custody by Fortunatianus, being by the very lowness of his condition
 ready to plunge into anything, by heaping disaster on disaster, had drenched
 the whole empire with grief and tears.

For
 having gained leave to name all whom he desired, without distinction of
 fortune, as dabbling in forbidden practices, like a hunter skilled in observing
 the secret tracks of wild beasts, he entangled many persons in his lamentable
 nets, some of them on the ground of having stained themselves with the
 knowledge of magic, others as accomplices of those who were aiming at treason.

And in order that even wives should have
 no time to weep over the misfortunes of their husbands, men were immediately
 sent to put the seal on the houses, and during the examination of the furniture of the
 householder who had been condemned, to introduce privily old-wives'
 incantations or unbecoming love-potions, contrived for the
 ruin of innocent people. And when these were read in a court where there was no
 law or scruple or justice to distinguish truth from falsehood, without
 opportunity for defence young and old without discrimination were robbed of
 their goods and, although they were found stained by no fault, after being
 maimed in all their limbs were carried off in litters to execution.

As a result, throughout the oriental provinces owners
 of books, through fear of a like fate, burned their entire libraries; so great
 was the terror that had seized upon all. Indeed, to speak briefly, at that
 time we all crept about as if in Cimmerian darkness, feeling the same fears as the guests of the Sicilian Dionysius,
 who, while filled to repletion with banquets more terrible than any possible
 hunger, saw with a shudder the swords hanging over their heads from the
 ceilings of the rooms in which they reclined and held only by single
 horsehairs.

At that time Bassianus also, one of a most
 illustrious family and serving as a secretary of the first class, was accused of trying to gain foreknowledge of higher power, although
 he himself declared that he had merely inquired about the sex of a child which
 his wife expected; but by the urgent efforts of the kinsfolk by whom he was
 defended, he was saved from death; but he was stripped of his rich
 patrimony.

Amid the crash of so many ruins Heliodorus,
 that hellish contriver with Palladius of all evils, being a mathematician
 (in the parlance
 of the vulgar) and pledged by secret instructions from the imperial court,
 after he had been cajoled by every enticement of kindness to induce him to
 reveal what he knew or could invent, now put forth his deadly stings.

For he was most solicitously pampered with
 the choicest foods, and earned a great amount of contributed money for presents
 to his concubines; and so he strode about anywhere and everywhere, displaying
 his grim face, which struck fear into all. And his assurance was the greater
 because, in his capacity as chamberlain, he constantly and openly visited the
 women's apartments, to which, as he himself desired, he freely resorted,
 displaying the warrants of the Father of
 his People, which were to be a cause of
 grief to many.

And through these warrants
 Heliodorus instructed Palladius (as though he were an advocate in public
 law-suits) what to put at the beginning of his speech, in order the more easily
 to make it effective and strong, or with which figures of rhetoric he ought to
 aim at brilliant passages.

And since it would be a long story to tell
 all this gallows-bird contrived, I will recount this one case, showing with
 what audacious confidence he smote the very pillars of the patriciate. For made
 enormously insolent by secret conferences with people of the
 court, as has been said, and through his very worthlessness easy to be hired to
 commit any and every crime, he accused that admirable pair of consuls, the two
 brothers Eusebius and Hypatius 
 (connections by marriage of the late emperor Constantius) of having aspired to
 a desire for a higher fortune, and of having made inquiries and formed plans
 about the sovereignty; and he added to the path which
 he had falsely devised for his fabrication that royal robes had even been made
 ready for Eusebius.

Eagerly drinking this
 in, the menacing madman, to whom nothing ought to have
 been permitted, since he thought that everything, even what was unjust, was
 allowed him, inexorably summoned from the farthest boundaries of the empire all
 those whom the accuser, exempt from the laws, with profound assurance had
 insisted ought to be brought before him, and ordered a calumnious trial to be
 set on foot.

And when in much-knotted bonds
 of constriction justice had long been trodden down and tied tightly, and the
 wretched scoundrel persisted in his strings of assertions, severe tortures
 could force no confession, but showed that these distinguished men were far
 removed even from any knowledge of anything of the kind. Nevertheless, the
 calumniator was as highly honoured as before, while the accused were punished
 with exile and with fines; but shortly afterwards they were recalled, had their
 fines remitted, and were restored to their former rank and honour
 unimpaired.

Yet after these so lamentable events Valens
 acted with no more restraint or shame; since excessive power does not reflect
 that it is unworthy for men of right principles, even to the disadvantage of
 their enemies, willingly to plunge into crime, and that nothing is so ugly as
 for a cruel nature to be joined to lofty pride of power.

But when Heliodorus died (whether naturally
 or through some deliberate violence is uncertain;
 I would rather not say too late : I only wish that even the facts
 did not speak to that effect!) his body was carried out by the undertakers, and
 many men of rank, clad in mourning, were ordered to precede it, including the
 brothers who had been consuls.

Thereby the entire rottenness of the folly
 of the empire's ruler was then completely revealed; for although he was
 earnestly besought to refrain from this inexcusable insult, yet he remained so inflexible that he seemed to have stopped
 his ears with wax, as if he were going to pass
 the rocks of the Sirens.

At last, however,
 he yielded to insistent prayers, and ordered that some persons should precede
 the ill-omened bier of the body-snatcher to the tomb, marching with bare heads and feet,
 some also with folded hands. My
 mind shrinks from recalling, during that suspension of justice, how many men of
 the highest rank, especially exconsuls, after having carried the staves of
 honour and worn purple robes, and having their names made known to all the
 world 10 in the Roman calendar, were seen exposed to
 humiliation.

Conspicuous among all of these
 was our Hypatius, a man recommended from his youth by noble virtues, of quiet
 and calm discretion, and of a nobility and gentleness measured as it were by
 the plumb-line; he
 conferred honour on the fame of his ancestors and himself gave glory to posterity by the admirable acts of his two
 prefectures.

At the time Valens added this also to the
 rest of his glories, that while in other instances he was so savagely cruel as
 to grieve that the great pain of his punishments could not continue after
 death, yet
 he spared the tribune Numerius, a man of surpassing wickedness! This man was
 convicted at that same time on his own confession of having dared to cut open
 the womb of a living woman and take out her unripe offspring, in order to evoke
 the ghosts of the dead and consult them about a change of rulers; yet Valens,
 who looked on him with the eye of an intimate friend, in spite of the murmurs
 of the whole Senate gave orders that he should escape unpunished, and retain
 his life, his enviable wealth, and his military rank unimpaired.

O noble system of wisdom, by heaven's gift
 bestowed upon the fortunate, thou who hast often ennobled even sinful natures!
 How much wouldst thou have corrected in those dark days, if it had been
 permitted Valens to learn through you that royal power—as the philosophers
 declare—is nothing else than the care for others' welfare; that it is the duty of a good ruler to restrain his power, to
 resist unbounded desire and implacable anger, and to know—as the dictator
 Caesar used to say—that the recollection of cruelty is a wretched support for old age. And therefore, if
 he is going to pass judgment affecting the life and breath of a human being,
 who forms a part of the world and completes the number of living things, he
 ought to hesitate long and greatly and not be carried away by headlong passion
 to a point where what is done cannot be undone; of which we have a very well-known instance in olden times.

A woman of Smyrna confessed before Dolabella,
 the proconsul of Asia,
 that she had poisoned her husband and her own son by him, because (as she said)
 she had discovered that they had killed her son by a former marriage; but she
 was ordered to appear again two days later. Since the council, to
 which according to custom the matter was referred, uncertain what distinction
 ought to be made between revenge and crime, hesitated to decide, she was sent
 before the Areopagites, those strict judges at Athens, whose justice is said to
 have decided disputes even among the gods. They, after having considered the case, ordered the woman to appear
 before them with her accuser a hundred years later, since they did not wish
 either to acquit a poisoner or punish an avenger of her kindred; for that is
 never thought late which is the last of all things.

After these various deeds of injustice which
 have already been mentioned, and the marks of torture shamefully branded upon
 the bodies of such free men as bad survived, the never-closing eye of Justice,
 the eternal witness and avenger of all things, was watchfully attentive. For
 the last curses of the murdered, moving the eternal godhead through the just
 ground of their complaints, had kindled the firebrands of Bellona; so that the
 truth of the oracle was confirmed, which had predicted that no crimes would go
 unpunished.

While these events, which have just been described, during the cessation of the Parthian storm were being spread
 abroad at Antioch in the form of internal troubles, the awful band of the
 Furies, after making a rolling flood of manifold disasters, left that city and
 settled on the shoulders of all Asia, in the following way.

A certain Festinus of Tridentum, a man of the lowest
 and most obscure parentage, was admitted by Maximinus even into the ties of affection which true brothers show, for he
 had been his boon companion and with him had assumed the manly gown. By decree
 of the fates this man passed over to the Orient, and there in the
 administration of Syria, and after serving as master of the rolls, he left behind him praiseworthy examples of
 mildness and of respect for law; and when later he was advanced to the governorship of Asia with proconsular authority, he
 sailed to glory with a fair wind, as the saying is.

But hearing that Maximinus planned to wipe out all decent men, from
 that time on he decried his actions as dangerous and shameful. But when he
 learned that Maximinus, merely through the recommendation of the deaths of
 those whom he had impiously slain, had attained the honour of prefect contrary
 to his deserts, he was aroused to similar deeds and hopes. Like an actor,
 suddenly changing his mask, he conceived the desire of doing harm and stalked
 about with intent and cruel eyes, imagining that the prefecture would soon be
 his if he also should have stained himself with the punishment of the innocent.

And although many of the various acts
 which he committed were very harsh, to express it mildly, yet it will suffice
 to mention a few which are familiar and generally known, and done in emulation
 of those which had taken place in Rome. For the principle of good or bad deeds
 is the same everywhere, even if the greatness of the situation is not the same.

He executed a philosopher called Coeranius,
 a man of no slight merit, after he had resisted tortures of savage cruelty,
 because in a letter to his wife of a personal nature he had added in Greek:
 But do you take note and crown the house door, which is a
 common proverbial expression, used in order that the hearer may know that
 something of greater importance than usual is to be done.

There was a simple-minded old woman who was in the
 habit of curing intermittent fevers with a harmless charm. He caused her to be
 put to death as a criminal, after she had been called in
 with his own knowledge and had treated his daughter.

Among the papers of a distinguished townsman, of which an
 examination had been ordered for some business reason, the horoscope of a
 certain Valens was found; when the person concerned was asked why he had cast
 the nativity of the emperor, he defended himself against the false charge by
 saying that he had had a brother named Valens, and that he had died long ago.
 He promised to show this by proofs of full credibility, but they did not wait
 for the truth to be discovered, and he was tortured and butchered.

In the bath a young man was seen to touch
 alternately with the fingers of either hand first the marble and then his breast, and to count
 the seven vowels, thinking it a helpful
 remedy for a stomach trouble. He was haled into court, tortured and
 beheaded.

At this point, as I turn my pen to Gaul, the
 order and series of events is a turmoil, since we find Maximus, who is now
 prefect, in the midst of many cruel deeds; for being in possession of extensive
 power, he was added as an ill-omened incentive to the emperor,
 who united with the majesty of his position
 unendurable tyranny. Therefore, whoever ponders what I have told, should also
 carefully weigh the rest which are passed over in silence; and, like a
 reasonable person, he will pardon me for not including
 everything which deliberate wickedness committed by exaggerating the importance
 of the charges.

For Valentinian, who was
 naturally savage, as bitterness (which is a foe to righteous conduct) increased
 in him after the coming of the aforesaid Maximinus, having no one to give
 better advice or to restrain him, was carried as if by surging waves and
 tempests from one cruel act to another; to such a degree that, when he was in a
 passion, often his voice and expression, his gait and his colour, were changed.
 For his cruelty we have the testimony of various sure pieces of evidence, of
 which it will suffice to set down a few.

A well-grown youth of the class called pages
 was posted, holding in leash a Spartan hound, to watch for game
 at a hunt; but he let the dog loose before the designated time, because the
 animal in an effort to escape leaped at him in a rush and bit him; for that he
 was beaten to death with cudgels and buried the same day.

A man in charge of a smithy brought to the emperor a
 breastplate artistically embellished, and expected a reward for it; but
 Valentinian ordered him to be put to death with equal cruelty because the piece
 of iron
 armour had a little less weight than he had stipulated. An elder of the
 Christian faith from Epirus, who was a favourite of Octavianus, the former proconsul, . . . and the author of the
 charges was sent back, although somewhat tardily, to his home.

Constantianus, an officer
 of the stable, was sent to Sardinia to test
 horses to be used for military service, and because he had dared to exchange a
 few of them, he was stoned to death by the emperor's order. Athanasius, a
 favourite charioteer of the day, so suspected by him for his general
 light-mindedness that he was ordered to be burned alive if he should try
 anything of the kind, not long afterward used magic arts and was charged
 therewith; and without indulgence being granted to a man who was an artist in
 entertainments, he was condemned to be burned to death.

Africanus, a busy pleader of cases at law in the
 city, after governing a province, aspired to the rule of another; but when
 Theodosius, general of the cavalry, supported him in his request, the kind
 emperor gave this somewhat boorish reply: Go, general, and change his
 head for him, since he wants a change in his province. And by this
 pronouncement an eloquent man lost his life
 merely for hastening, like many, for advancement.

Claudius and Sallustius, of the Jovian legion, who had advanced as
 far as the rank of tribune, were accused by a fellow whose low origin in itself
 made him an object of contempt, on the ground that when Procopius had aspired
 to the imperial power they had spoken some good words for him; but although
 constant inquisitions revealed nothing, the emperor ordered the generals of the
 cavalry, who were hearing the case, to drive Claudius into exile and condemn
 Sallustius to death, promising to pardon the latter on his way to execution.
 But when this had been done according to the directions,
 Sallustius' life was not spared and Claudius was not freed from the sorrow of
 banishment until after the death of the aforesaid Valentinian . . . decidedly refused, although they
 were repeatedly tortured.

Accordingly,
 although inquisitions followed thick and fast, and some died in consequence of
 excessive torture, not even a trace of the alleged crimes was found. In this
 business even the bodyguards who had been sent to arrest persons . . .
 were beaten to death with cudgels, contrary to all
 precedent.

My mind shrinks from enumerating all the
 cases, and at the same time I dread seeming to give the impression of purposely
 having sought out merely the defects of a prince who was a very proper man in
 other ways. Yet one thing it is just neither to pass over nor to leave
 unmentioned, namely this, that having two savage, man-eating she-bears, one
 called Goldflake and the other Innocence, he looked after them with such
 extreme care that he placed their cages near his own bedroom, and appointed
 trustworthy keepers, who were to take particular care that the beasts'
 lamentable savageness should not by any chance be destroyed. Finally, after he
 had seen the burial of many corpses of those whom Innocence had torn to pieces,
 he allowed her to return to the forest unhurt, as a good and faithful servant,
 in the hope that she would have cubs like herself . . .

These, then, are undeniable indications of
 Valentinian's character and his blood-thirsty tendency. But, on the other hand,
 no one, not even one of his persistent detractors, will reproach him with lack
 of ingenuity in behalf of the state, especially if one bears in mind that it
 was a more valuable service to check the barbarians by frontier defences than
 to defeat them in battle. And when he had given . . . if any of the enemy made a move, he was seen from
 above from the watchtowers, and overcome.

But among many other cares, his first and
 principal aim was to capture alive by violence or by craft King Macrianus,
 just as, long
 before, Julian took Vadomarius; for Macrianus, amid the frequent changes in the
 policy followed towards him, had increased in power, and now was rising against
 our countrymen with full-grown strength. Accordingly, having first provided
 what the circumstances and the time demanded, and having learned from the
 reports of deserters where the said king, who expected no hostile move, could
 be seized, Valentinian threw a pontoon across the Rhine as quietly as his means
 allowed, lest anyone should interfere with the bridge while it was being put
 together.

And first
 Severus, who commanded the infantry forces, took the lead by marching against
 Mattiacae Aquae; but alarmed when he considered the small number of his
 soldiers, he halted, fearing that he might be unable to resist the onrushing
 hordes of the enemy, and so might be overcome by them.

There he chanced to find some of the traders leading
 slaves intended for sale, and because he suspected that they would quickly run
 off and report what they had seen, he took their wares from them and killed them all.

Then the generals, encouraged by the arrival of additional
 troops, encamped, with a view to a very short stay, since no one had a
 pack-animal or a tent, except the emperor, for whom a rug and a rough blanket
 sufficed for such a shelter. Then, after
 delaying for a time on account of the darkness of night, as soon as the
 morning-star uprose, since the campaign called for haste, they advanced
 farther, led by guides who knew the roads; and a large force of cavalry was
 ordered to precede them under command of Theodosius, that nothing might be
 unobserved . . . was
 lying at the time; but he was prevented by the continuous noise made by his
 men; for although he constantly commanded them to abstain 
 from plundering and setting fires, he could not make them obey. For the
 crackling flames and the dissonant shouts awakened the king's attendants, and
 suspecting what had happened, they placed him in a swift wagon and hid him in a
 narrow pass of the precipitous hills.

Valentinian was robbed of this glory, 
 not by his own fault or that of his generals, but by the indiscipline of the
 soldiers, which has often caused the Roman state heavy losses; so, after
 reducing the enemy's territory to ashes for fifty miles, he returned sadly to Treves.

There, as a lion, because he has lost a deer or a goat, gnashes his
 empty jaws, just when the forces of the enemy were broken and scattered by
 fear, in place of Macrianus he made Fraomarius king of the Bucinobantes, a
 tribe of the Alamanni dwelling opposite Mainz. And soon afterwards, since a
 recent invasion had utterly devastated that, canton, he transferred him to
 Britain with the rank of tribune, and gave him command of a troop of the Alamanni which at that
 time was distinguished for its numbers and its strength. Bitheridus, indeed,
 and Hortarius (chiefs of the same nation) he appointed to commands in the army;
 but of these Hortarius was betrayed by a report of Florentius, commander in
 Germany, of having written certain things to the detriment of the state to
 Macrianus and the chiefs of the barbarians, and after the truth was wrung from
 him by torture he suffered the penalty of death by burning.

Then amid . . . it has seemed best to give an account,
 without a break, of what happened next, lest while, amongst matters and places
 widely separated, others are intruded, the survey of many varying events may
 inevitably be confused.

Nubel, as a petty king, had great power among
 the Moorish peoples; on departing from life, besides legitimate sons he left
 some that were the offspring of concubines. Of the latter Zammac, who was
 beloved by the general called Romanus, was
 secretly murdered by his brother Firmus, an act which occasioned dissensions
 and wars. For Romanus, hastening with extreme zeal to avenge his death,
 resorted to many formidable means for the destruction of the assassin; and, as
 persistent rumours divulged, even at court vigorous measures were taken to make
 sure that the reports of Romanus, which heaped up many serious charges against
 Firmus, should be gladly received and read out to the emperor; and many voices
 united in supporting these reports. But, on the contrary, the arguments which
 Firmus through his friends frequently presented in his defence for the purpose
 of saving his life, although they were received, were long concealed; for
 Remigius, at that time marshal of the court, a relative and friend of Romanus,
 declared that amid the more important and pressing business
 of the emperor such trivial and superfluous communications could not be read
 until opportunity offered.

When the Moor perceived that these things
 were being done to break down his defence, he was now in dread of the worst;
 and fearing that the rebuttal which he offered would be set aside and he would
 be executed without a trial as dangerous and unruly, he revolted from the rule
 of the empire, and sought the help of neighbouring peoples . . . for
 devastating . . .

To avert this danger before an implacable
 enemy should increase in strength, Theodosius, commander of the cavalry, was
 sent with the aid of a small body of the court troops, since in his merits (as
 a man efficient in accomplishing his ends) he surpassed all others of his time.
 He might well be compared with Domitius Corbulo and Lusius of old, of whom the former
 under Nero, the latter during Trajan's reign, were famed for many brave deeds.

Then setting out from Arles under
 favourable auspices and crossing the sea with the fleet under his command,
 preceded by no report of his coming he landed on the coast of Sitifian
 Mauritania, which the
 natives call Igilgilitanum. There he chanced upon Romanus, whom he addressed
 courteously, and sent him to take charge of the guards and frontier defences,
 with a very slight rebuke for the conduct which made him apprehensive.

When Theodosius had departed to Caesarean Mauritania, he sent Gildo,
 the brother of Firmus, and Maximus to
 arrest Vincentius, who as second in command to Romanus participated in his
 insolence and thefts.

Then, after being
 joined by his troops somewhat tardily, since they were delayed by the long
 sea-voyage, he hastened to Sitifis, and gave orders that Romanus should, with
 his attendants, be handed over to the guard, to be kept in custody. During his
 stay in that town Theodosius was torn with twofold anxiety and turned over many
 things in his mind, considering by what way and by what devices he might lead
 his soldiers, who were accustomed to a cold climate, through lands parched with
 heat, or might capture an enemy who was a runabout, making sudden moves and
 trusting rather to secret ambuscades than to stand-up fights.

When this became known to Firmus, at first
 through uncertain rumour and then through definite information, overcome by the
 arrival of so brilliant a general, he sent envoys with a letter to ask pardon
 and indulgence for what had happened, declaring that he had not of his own
 volition taken a hasty step which he knew to be criminal, but because of unjust
 and outrageous treatment by Romanus, as he promised to show.

When the general had read the letter, he accepted
 hostages and promised peace; he then proceeded to the station called Pancharia,
 in order to review the legions which were guarding Africa
 and had been bidden to assemble in that place. There he aroused the hope of all
 by a lofty, but discreet, address, and returned to Sitifis, where he united the
 native troops and those which he himself had brought; then, impatient of
 further delay, he hastened with all speed to open the campaign.

But among many other excellent measures he made
 himself immensely more beloved by this—that he did not allow the provincials to
 furnish supplies for the army, declaring with splendid confidence that the
 harvests and stores of the enemy were the granaries of our valorous troops.

After these arrangements had thus been made
 to the joy of the land-owners, he marched to Tubusuptum, a town near Mount
 Ferratus, but declined to receive a second deputation from Firmus, because,
 contrary to the previous agreement, it had brought no hostages with it. From
 there he carefully examined into everything, so far as present circumstances
 allowed, and then advanced rapidly against the peoples of the Tyndenses and the
 Masinissenses, who were provided only with light arms and were led by Mascizel
 and Dius, brothers of Firmus.

When the enemy, active in all their limbs, were in sight, a fierce
 battle began after volleys of missiles from both sides; amid the groans of the
 dying and the wounded the mournful howls of the barbarians were heard, as they
 were taken prisoner or killed; and when the contest was ended, many fields were plundered and burned.

Among such disasters conspicuous were those to an estate called Petrensis,
 which its owner, Salmaces, a brother of Firmus had built up in the manner of a
 city, and which was utterly
 destroyed. The victor, elated by this success, with remarkable speed seized the
 town of Lamfoctum, situated among the aforesaid peoples, where he caused an
 abundance of provisions to be stored, so that if on penetrating farther into
 the country he met with a scarcity of food, he might order it to be brought
 from near at hand.

During the course of
 these events Mascizel, having recovered his strength by bringing in helpers
 from neighbouring tribes, engaged with our men; but when very many of his
 troops were routed, he himself barely escaped the danger of death through the
 swiftness of his horse.

Firmus, weakened by the losses of two
 battles and chafing in his inmost heart, in order not to neglect even one last
 measure, sent priests of the Christian sect with hostages to beg for peace.
 These were received courteously and, on their promise to furnish the
 necessities of life for the soldiers, as was ordered, they brought back a
 favourable reply and peace; whereupon the Moor himself, after sending presents,
 went with some confidence to the Roman general, mounted upon a horse that would
 prove useful in times of danger; and when he had come near, dazzled by the
 gleaming standards and the fear-inspiring expression of Theodosius, he sprang
 from his mount, and with bowed neck almost prostrate on the ground blamed with
 tears his rashness, and begged for pardon and peace.

Being received with a kiss, since the
 interests of the state so demanded, he was now filled with joyful hope,
 furnished a sufficient amount of provisions, left some of his relatives by way
 of hostages, and went away, after agreeing to fulfil his promise and return the
 captives which he had taken at the very beginning of the rebellion. Two days
 later, without hesitation, he restored, as had been ordered, the town of
 Icosium, of whose founders I spoke before, the military standards, and the
 priestly crown, as well as the
 rest of the booty which he had taken.

When after this our general had hurried
 through long marches and was now entering Tipasa, to envoys from the Mazices,
 who had joined with Firmus, and humbly begged for pardon, he replied with lofty
 spirit that he would at once take the field against them as traitors.

And when they, paralysed with fear of the
 imminent danger, had been ordered to return to their homes, he went on to
 Caesarea, formerly a powerful
 and famous city, the origin of which I have also fully discussed in my
 description of the topography of Africa. On entering the city, and finding it almost wholly
 burned down from widespread fires, and the pavingstones white with mould, he
 decided to station the first and second legions there for a time, with orders to clear away the heaps of ashes and keep guard there,
 to prevent the place from being devastated by a renewed attack of the
 savages.

When these events had been spread abroad by
 frequent and trustworthy rumours, the officials of the province and the tribune
 Vincentius came out of the hiding-places in which
 they had taken refuge, and at last, free from fear, quickly appeared before the
 general. He, after having seen and received them gladly, being then still at
 Caesarea, inquired carefully about the true state of affairs; he learned that
 Firmus, under pretence of fear and submission, was secretly forming the plan of
 throwing our army into confusion, as if by a sudden tempest, while it feared no
 hostile demonstration.

Therefore he turned
 from there and came to the municipal town of Sugabarritanum, on the slope of
 the Transcellian mountain, where he found the horsemen of the fourth cohort of
 archers, which had gone over to the rebel; and to show that he was content with
 a somewhat mild punishment, he degraded them all to the lowest class of the
 service; then he ordered them and a part of the Constantian infantry, with their tribunes, one of whom had placed his
 neckchain, in place of a diadem, on Firmus' head, to come to Tigaviae.

While this was going on, Gildo and
 Maximus returned, bringing Belles, one of the chiefs of the Mazices, and
 Fericius, prefect of the
 tribe, who had aided the party of the disturber of the public peace . . .

When this had been
 done according to order, at daybreak he himself came out, and finding the
 rebels surrounded by his army, he said: What think you, my devoted
 comrades, ought to be done with these abominable traitors? And
 acceding to the acclamation of those who asked that they should pay for it with
 their blood, he turned over those who served among the Constantiani to the
 soldiers, to be slain in the oldfashioned way. But he had the hands of the leaders of the archers cut off and punished
 the rest with death, following the example of that strictest of leaders Curio,
 who put an end by a punishment of that kind to the wildness of
 the Dardani, when, like the Lernaean hydra, they constantly gained new life.

But malevolent detractors, while praising
 that act of the olden time, find fault with this one as cruel and inhuman,
 declaring that the Dardani were murderous enemies and justly suffered the
 punishment which befell them, while these, on the contrary, were soldiers under
 the flag who had allowed themselves to commit a single fault and deserved to
 have been punished more leniently. But such folk we remind of what they perhaps
 do not know, that this cohort was harmful, not only in its action, but also in
 the example which it set.

The aforesaid
 Belles and Fericius, whom Gildo had brought, and Curandius, tribune of the
 archers, he ordered to be put to death, the last named on the ground that he
 never wished either to engage with the enemy himself or to encourage his men to
 fight. Moreover, Theodosius did this bearing in mind the saying of Cicero: Wholesome strength is better than a vain
 show of mercy.

Setting out from there, he came to an estate
 called Gaionatis, surrounded by a strong wall and hence a very safe refuge for
 the Moors. Against this he brought up his battering-rams and destroyed it,
 killing all the inhabitants and levelling the walls; then advancing over the
 Ancorarian mountain to Castellum Tingitanum, he attacked the Mazices, who were
 gathered together into one body and replied with missiles which came flying
 like hail.

And after both sides had rushed
 in to the attack, the Mazices, though a warlike and hardy race, could not
 resist the columns of our men, charging with all their strength and weapons,
 but involved in heavy losses at various points fled in shameful terror; and as
 they rushed to escape all were cut down except those who found a means of
 getting away, and later by abject prayers obtained the pardon which
 circumstances made it advisable to grant.

Suggen, when their leader . . . had succeeded Romanus, was
 ordered to go to Mauritania Sitifensis, in order to keep guard and prevent the
 province from being overrun, while he himself, encouraged by past successes,
 marched against the tribe of the Musones, which consciousness of their deeds of
 plunder and blood had joined with the enterprise of Firmus, since they hoped he
 would soon attain greater power.

Having advanced some distance, near the 373
 f. municipal town of Adda Theodosius learned that a great number of tribes,
 differing in civilization and in variety of language, but united in their
 purpose, were stirring up the beginnings of cruel wars, instigated and abetted through very great hope of rewards by a sister of
 Firmus named Cyria, who, abounding in wealth and in feminine persistence, had
 resolved to make great efforts to aid her brother.

Therefore Theodosius, fearing lest he should involve himself in an
 unequal contest, and if he confronted a vast horde with only a few troops—for
 he had under his command only 3500 armed men—might lose them all, wavered
 between the shame of retreat and the desire for battle; but at last he
 gradually withdrew and made off, with the horde pressing at his heels.

The foe, tremendously elated by this
 success, followed persistently . . . so that he found it necessary to
 fight; but he himself would have been killed and his army utterly annihilated,
 had not the enemy, attacking in disorder, seen afar off the auxiliaries of the
 Mazices, in the van of which were some Romans; so thinking that they were
 attacked by many columns, they turned in flight and opened to our men ways of
 escape which before had been blocked.

From
 there, leading his army safe and sound, Theodosius came to an estate called
 Mazucanus, where he burned a few deserters alive and mutilated the rest as he
 had the archers whose hands were cut off; and in
 the month of February he reached Tipasa.

There he made a long halt, and after the manner of the famous Lingerer of old took
 counsel with himself as the circumstances demanded, planning, if chance gave
 the opportunity, rather through strategy and discretion than by the danger of battle, to overthrow an enemy who was pugnacious
 and effective in the use of missiles.

Nevertheless he constantly sent men experienced in persuasion to the surrounding tribes, the Baiurae, Cantauriani,
 Avastomates, Cafaves, Bavares, and other neighbours, to entice them to an
 alliance, now by fear, now by bribes, and sometimes by promising pardon for
 their impudence with . . . intending by subterfuges and delays to overcome an enemy
 who foiled his attacks, as Pompey once vanquished Mithridates.

Therefore Firmus, to avoid imminent
 destruction, although he was protected by a strong body of troops, abandoned
 the army which he had got together at great expense; and when the quiet of
 night gave him the opportunity of concealment, he made his way into the far
 distant Caprariensian mountains, which are inaccessible because of their steep
 crags.

In consequence of his secret
 departure his army scattered and roamed about in small bands without a leader,
 thus giving our men the opportunity of invading their camp. After this was
 plundered and those who resisted were killed or received in surrender, the
 greater part of the country was devastated and our prudent leader put prefects
 of tried fidelity in charge of the peoples through whose country he was
 marching.

The public enemy, terrified by
 this unexpected confidence of the pursuit, quickly departed, accompanied by a
 few slaves, in order to provide for his safety; and to 
 prevent being impeded by any hindrance, he threw away packs containing valuable
 articles which he had carried off with him. For his wife, worn out by continual
 hardships and by dangers . . .

Theodosius, sparing none of the
 enemy who came near, after refreshing his soldiers with better food and their
 pay, as well as disposing of the Caprarienses and their neighbours the Abanni
 in a slight skirmish, hastened to the municipal town of Audia. But having learned from trustworthy sources
 that the savages had already taken possession of hills which extended upwards
 in all directions in winding masses, and could be penetrated by no one except
 natives who were thoroughly acquainted with the locality, he retreated and
 thereby during the cessation of hostilities, brief though it was, gave the
 enemy an opportunity of being strengthened by very numerous auxiliaries from
 the Aethiopians who dwelt near by.

When the
 foe, with united forces and threatening uproar, taking no thought for their own
 lives, rushed to battle, they drove off Theodosius in great terror at the
 fearful sight of their countless throngs. But he took courage and at once
 returned, bringing an abundance of provisions, and with his men in close order
 and brandishing their shields in a terrifying posture, met the enemy hand to
 hand.

Then, although the bands of raging
 savages, blaring some ferocious tune on their barbaric trumpets and also
 clashing their bucklers against their knees, were close upon
 him, nevertheless, like a careful and discreet warrior, though distrusting the
 small number of his men, he formed a hollow square and then advanced
 boldly. Then he fearlessly turned aside to a city called Conta, where Firmus,
 since it was a concealed and lofty fortress, had placed those of our men whom
 he had captured. But Theodosius recovered them all, and severely punished the
 traitors and the attendants of Firmus, as was his custom.

While he was thus most successful, with the
 aid of the mighty godhead, a trustworthy scout informed him that Firmus had
 fled to the Isaflenses; whereupon he invaded their lands, to demand the traitor
 as well as his brother Mazuca and the rest of his kinsfolk; and when his demand
 was refused, he declared war upon that race.

A fierce battle followed, since the savages were uncommonly ferocious; but he
 opposed his army to them in circular formation and the Isaflenses were so overcome by the weight of
 the onrushing troops that many of them were slain. Firmus himself, after
 fighting bravely and often risking his life, was carried off in headlong flight
 by his horse, which was accustomed to run swiftly over rocks and crags; but his
 brother Mazuca was fatally wounded and taken prisoner.

Theodosius gave orders to send Mazuca to Caesarea, a
 city on which the Moor had branded the savage marks of his evil deeds; but he
 tore open his wound and died. However, his head was torn off, leaving
 the rest of his body intact, and to the great joy of all who
 saw it was brought into the aforesaid city.

After this our famous general overcame the race of the Isaflenses, who still
 resisted, and, as justice demanded, inflicted many vexatious penalties upon
 them. There Evasius, an important citizen, Florus his son, and some others, who
 were clearly convicted of having aided the violator of peace by secret counsel,
 were burned alive.

Then Theodosius marched farther into the
 country, and with great courage attacked the tribe of the Iubaleni, to which he
 had learned that Nubel, the father of Firmus, belonged; but he was brought to a
 halt by the high mountains and the circuitous passes; and although he attacked
 the enemy and after killing many of them opened a way, yet dreading the high
 hills, so well adapted to ambuscades, he led his men back in safety to the
 fortress of Audia. There the wild race of the Iesalenses voluntarily
 surrendered, promising to furnish aid and provisions.

The mighty leader, exulting in these and
 similar glorious actions, then went in quest of the disturber of peace himself
 with a mighty effort of strength. To that end he made a long halt near the
 castle of Medianum, hoping that through many carefully devised plans Firmus
 might be betrayed into his hands.

While he
 was looking forward to this with perplexed thoughts and deep care, he found
 that his enemy had returned to the Isaflenses; whereupon he did not delay, as
 before, but attacked them with all the speed he could. Their king, Igmazen by
 name, who was highly regarded in those parts and notable for his resources,
 boldly came forward to meet him. What is your rank, said he, or what have you come here to do? Tell me. 
 Theodosius, with stern glance and resolute mind, replied: I am the
 general of Valentinian, lord of the world, sent to destroy a murderous
 robber. Unless you give him up at once, as the invincible emperor has
 ordered, you will perish utterly with the race over which you rule. 
 On hearing this, Igmazen, after heaping a flood of abuse upon the general,
 departed, full of wrath and resentment.

At
 the first appearance of the following daylight both armies, with threatening
 mien, advanced to meet each other in battle. Nearly 20,000 savages were
 stationed in the very van, with bands of reserves concealed behind them, in
 order that they might gradually rise up and surround our men with their
 unexpected numbers. Besides these there were a great many auxiliaries from the
 Iesalenses, who, as we have pointed out, had promised help and provisions to
 our side.

On the other hand, the Romans,
 although very few in number, nevertheless brave in spirit and encouraged by
 their former victories, pressed side to side in close order and with shields
 closely held together in the tortoise-formation, stood fast and resisted them; and the battle was
 continued from sunrise to the end of the day. A little before evening Firmus
 was seen, mounted on a tall horse, his purple cloak trailing out and spreading wide,
 urging our soldiers with loud shouts to take advantage of the opportunity and
 give up Theodosius, if they wished to be saved from the dangers to which they
 were exposed, calling him a fierce savage and a cruel deviser of inhuman
 punishments.

These unexpected words roused
 some to fight more fiercely but induced others to abandon
 the battle. Accordingly, when the first quiet of night came, and the landscape
 was wrapped in fear-inspiring darkness, the general returned to the stronghold
 of Duodia, and, reviewing his soldiers, rid himself by various forms of
 punishment of those whom panic and the words of Firmus had turned from their
 duty in the battle; some had their right hands cut off, others were burned
 alive.

And keeping watch by night with most
 vigilant care, he repulsed some of the barbarians who ventured to make an
 attempt on his camp after the setting of the moon, when they thought they could
 not be seen, or took prisoners those who rushed in too boldly. Then departing
 by quick marches and following by-paths, he attacked the Iesalenses from a
 quarter where they could least expect it, believing them to be of doubtful
 loyalty, and so devastated their lands that they were reduced to dire need;
 then he returned by way of the towns of Mauritania Caesariensis to Sitifis,
 where he tortured to the verge of death and then burned alive Castor and
 Martinianus, as sharers in the robberies and atrocities of Romanus.

After this the war with the Isaflenses was
 renewed; and when in the first engagement great numbers of the savages were put
 to flight or killed, their king Igmazen, who had before been accustomed to
 victory, wavering through fear of the present danger, and thinking that because
 of his unlawful associations no hope of life was left
 him if be made obstinate resistance, rushed forth alone and with all possible
 caution and secrecy from the scene of the battle. When he came into the
 presence of Theodosius, he humbly begged that the general
 would order Masilla, a chief of the Mazices, to appear before him.

When Masilla had been sent to Theodosius, as he had
 asked, the king through him, in a secret interview, urged the general, who by
 his own nature was inclined to resolution, that in order to provide himself
 with the means of accomplishing his desires, he should vigorously assail his
 fellow-countrymen, and by constant fighting reduce them to fear; he said that
 they were indeed inclined to favour the public enemy, but were wearied by their
 many losses.

Theodosius did as he was
 advised, and so wore out the Isaflenses by frequent contests, that they were
 falling like cattle; and Firmus himself secretly escaped, intending to hide in
 remote and lasting retreats; but while he was there planning flight, he was
 taken prisoner by Igmazen and kept in custody.

And since he had learned through Masilla of the secret negotiations, he saw
 that in his extremity only one remedy was left, and decided by a voluntary
 death to spurn with his foot the desire to live. Accordingly, having purposely
 filled his guards with wine and made them drunk, and in the silence of the
 night they were buried in sound sleep, he himself, kept awake by fear of the
 trouble which hung over him, with noiseless steps left his bed, by creeping on hands and knees got himself some distance off, and finding
 a rope which he had procured for the calamity of ending his life, he hung it
 from a nail fastened in the wall, and putting his neck in it breathed his last
 without the torments of a painful death.

This event troubled Igmazen, who lamented
 that he had been robbed of glory, in not having had the good fortune of
 bringing the usurper alive to the Roman camp. Therefore, after gaining a public
 pledge of safety through Masilla he placed the corpse of the dead man on his
 camel to bring it in; and on reaching the tents of the army, which were pitched
 near the fortress of Subicara, he transferred the body to a pack-animal and
 himself offered it to the exultant Theodosius.

The latter called together his soldiers and with them the populace, and
 asked them whether they recognized the features; and when he bad learned beyond
 any doubt that it was the face of Firmus, after a brief stay there he returned
 to Sitifis in the guise of a triumphing general, where he was received with
 applause and commendation by all, of every age and rank.

While the said general was panting through
 this dust of Mars throughout Mauritania and Africa, the Quadi, who had long
 been quiet, were suddenly aroused to an outbreak; they are a nation now not
 greatly to be feared, but were formerly immensely warlike and powerful, as is
 shown by their swift and sudden swoops in former times, their siege of Aquileia in company with the Marcomanni, the destruction of
 Opitergium, and many other bloody deeds performed
 in rapid campaigns; so that when they broke through the Julian Alps, the
 emperor Marcus Pius, of whom we have
 previously written, could with difficulty check
 them. And, for savages, they had a just cause of complaint.

For Valentinian from the very beginning of his reign
 burned with a desire of protecting his frontiers, which was indeed
 praiseworthy, but carried too far; for he ordered the building of a
 garrison-camp across the Danube in the very territories of the Quadi, as if
 they were already claimed for Roman rule. The natives, being indignant at this
 and cautious for their own interests, tried to prevent them for a time merely
 by a deputation and by whispered complaints.

But Maximinus, being prone to every kind of
 wickedness and unable to control his native arrogance, which was swollen still
 more by his prefecture, upbraided Aequitius, who was at the time commander of
 the cavalry in Illyricum, as rebellious and slothful in not yet having finished
 the work the earlier construction of which had been arranged; and he added, as
 if having regard for the general welfare, that if the rank of general
 in Valeria were given to his own son
 Marcellianus, the
 fortification would rise without any excuses.

Both objects were presently attained. When the newly appointed general had set
 out and had reached the spot, with unreasonable arrogance, as was to be
 expected of the son of such a father, without any words to
 soothe those whom the dreams of a design never actually carried out was driving
 from their country, he took up the work which had been begun a short time
 before, but was suspended because of the opportunity given for protesting.

Finally, when king Gabinius mildly asked
 that no new step should be taken, he pretended that he would assent, and with
 feigned kindness invited the king with others to a banquet. But as Gabinius was
 departing after the feast and suspected no treachery, Marcellianus, with
 abominable violation of the sacred duties of hospitality, had him murdered.

The report of so atrocious a deed at once
 spread abroad on all sides and roused the Quadi and the tribes round about them
 to madness. Weeping for the death of the king, they mustered and sent out
 devastating bands, which crossed the Danube while no hostility was anticipated,
 and fell upon the country people, who were busy with their harvest; most of
 them they killed, the survivors they led home as prisoners, along with a
 quantity of all kinds of domestic animals.

Surely at that time an irreparable crime would have been committed, to be
 numbered among the shameful disasters of Roman history; for the daughter of
 Constantius, when being conducted to marry Gratianus, was very nearly captured
 while she was taking food in a public villa called Pristensis, but (by the
 favour of the propitious godhead) Messalla, the governor of the province, was
 at hand and placed her in a state-carriage and took her in all haste back
 to Sirmium, twenty-six miles away.

After the princess was saved by this
 fortunate chance from the danger of wretched slavery, which, if it had been
 impossible to ransom the captive, would have branded the state with the
 greatest disaster, the Quadi, in company with the Sarmatians, ranged more
 widely; and being peoples most skilled in rapine and brigandage, they drove off
 as booty human beings of both sexes as well as cattle, exulting in the ashes of burned
 farmhouses and the sufferings of the slain inhabitants, whom they took by
 surprise and destroyed without any mercy.

So,
 when the dread of similar evils spread over the whole . neighbouring country,
 Probus, the praetorian prefect, then at Sirmium,
 being accustomed to no horrors of war and so overcome by the sorrowful and unusual sights that
 he barely raised his eyes, hesitated for a long time in doubt what action to
 take. And after he had equipped swift horses and determined on flight the next
 night, he thought of a safer plan and remained where he was.

For he had learnt that all those who were shut up
 within the walls would at once follow him, in order to take refuge in
 convenient hiding-places; and that if this should happen, the city, being
 without defenders, would fall into the hands of the enemy.

Therefore, soon calming his fear, he roused himself
 with vigorous effort to meet the urgent situation. He cleared out the moats, which were choked
 with rubbish, and being naturally inclined to building, since the walls through
 long-continued peace had in great part been neglected and had fallen, he raised
 them even to the completion of pinnacles of lofty towers.
 And the work was quickly finished, because he found that the materials
 which had long since been collected for
 the purpose of building a theatre were sufficient for what he was hastening to
 accomplish. Also to this excellent plan he added another equally useful by
 summoning a cohort of bowmen from the nearest station, to aid them in a siege,
 if one should come.

By these stumbling-blocks (so to speak)
 
 the barbarians were turned from attacking the city, having little skill in such
 refinements of warfare as well as being impeded by their packs of booty, and
 turned to the pursuit of Aequitins. And when they learned from the information
 of prisoners that he had gone to the remote spaces of Valeria, they quickly
 made their way thither, grinding their teeth and bent upon cutting his throat
 for this reason—that they believed that it was he who had brought their
 guiltless king to destruction.

When this
 became known, at headlong speed two legions were sent to meet them in battle,
 the Pannonica and the Moesiaca, a strong combination for fighting, which, if
 they had acted in harmony, would undoubtedly have come off victorious. But
 while they were hastening to attack the bands of plunderers separately, they
 were made ineffective by quarrels that broke out between them, and contended
 for honour and prestige.

When the
 Sarmatians, who were very keen-witted, learned of this, without waiting for the
 usual signal for battle, they attacked the Moesiaca first; and while the
 soldiers were somewhat slow in getting their arms ready because of the
 confusion, they killed a great number of them, and then with
 increased confidence broke through the line of the Pannonica. They thus threw
 the whole army into disorder, and with repeated attacks would almost have
 annihilated it, had not speedy flight saved some from the danger of death.

At the time of these losses due to a harsher
 fortune, Theodosius the younger, general in Moesia, a young man whose beard was
 then only just beginning to appear, afterwards a most glorious emperor,
 wore out by frequent engagements, drove back and
 defeated the Free Sarmatians (so called to distinguish them from their
 rebellious slaves )
 who were invading our territories from the other side, crushing them in densely
 packed conflicts; and so thoroughly did he overwhelm the hordes which converged
 in floods and resisted most bravely, that he sated the birds and beasts of prey
 with a veritable feast of many slain.

Therefore, the remainder, their arrogance
 now cooling down, feared lest the same leader, a man of ready valour (as was
 evident), on his first entrance into their territories should lay low or put to
 flight the invading hordes, or should lay ambuscades for them in the dark
 woods; so, after making many vain attempts from time to time to break through,
 they lost their confidence for battle and begged for indulgence and pardon for
 the past. And after being thus conquered for the time, they did nothing in
 violation of the conditions of the peace that was granted them, being
 especially struck with fear because a strong force of Gallic troops had been
 added to the defence of Illyricum.

At the time when these storms, so many and
 so terrible, were causing constant disturbances, while Claudius was governing
 the Eternal City, the Tiber, which cuts through the midst of our walled town and,
 with many drains and streams pouring into it, mingles with the Tyrrenian Sea,
 was swollen by an excessive rainfall, and extending beyond the appearance of a
 river, covered almost the whole place.

While all the remaining quarters of the
 city, which extend down to a gentler level, were under water, the mountains alone, and such buildings as were especially high, were protected from
 present danger. And since the height of the waters prevented movement anywhere
 on foot, a supply of food was furnished in abundance by boats and skiffs, for
 fear that many people might starve to death. But, in fact, when the stormy
 weather moderated, and the river, which had broken its bonds, returned to its usual course,
 all fear was dispelled and no further trouble was looked for.

This prefect himself passed his term of office in complete quiet, allowing no
 public discord over and above reasonable remonstrance ; and he restored many old buildings. Among others he built a huge
 colonnade near the Baths of Agrippa and called it the Portico of Good Outcome,
 because there is a temple to that deity to be
 seen near by.

Amid these troublesome disturbances, which
 the treachery of a general brought about by the atrocious murder of the king of
 the Quadi, a terrible crime was committed in the Orient, where Papa, king of the Armenians, was killed by
 secret plots. Of this matter, which was conceived by a nefarious plan, the
 following (as we have learned) was the original cause.

Some crafty men, who had often fattened themselves
 through losses sustained by the public, brought before Valens and maliciously
 exaggerated a patchwork of charges against this king, even then only just come
 to manhood. Among these was the general Terentius, a man who walked humbly and always wore a somewhat sad
 expression, but so long as he lived was a zealous abettor of dissensions.

He formed a cabal with a few of the
 gentiles who were in fear and suspense because of
 their misdeeds, and writing constantly to the court harped on the death of
 Cylaces and Arrabanes, adding that this same
 young king was aroused to acts of arrogance and was excessively cruel to his
 subjects.

Accordingly, under pretence that he
 was to take part in a consultation to be held at the time
 with regard to the present situation of affairs, the said Papa was summoned
 with the courtesy due to his royal rank; but at Tarsus in Cilicia he was put
 under guard as if it were doing him honour. And when he could
 neither get access to the emperor's quarters, nor learn the reason for his
 urgent coming, since all kept silence, he finally found out through secret
 information, that Terentius by letters was advising the Roman ruler at once to
 appoint another king of Armenia, to prevent a nation that was useful to us from
 going over to the side of the Persians through hatred of Papa and the
 expectation that he would return; for they were burning with the desire of
 seizing Armenia by force, or threats, or flattery.

The king, thinking over the matter, foresaw
 that he was threatened by a sad end. And being now aware of the plot, and
 seeing no other way to save himself except by a swift departure, at the advice
 of trusted friends he got together three hundred companions who had followed
 him from his native country; and when the greater part of the day had passed
 they mounted swift horses and set out with more boldness than discretion, as is
 usual under pressing and doubtful alarms, and fearlessly hastened away in close
 order.

The governor of the province, aroused
 by a message from the officer who guarded the gate, proceeded in eager haste
 and overtook the king in the suburbs. He earnestly besought him to remain; but
 since this request was not granted, he turned his back through fear of his
 life.

More than that, when a legion followed him a little later and overtook him, Papa charged
 back upon them with his bravest men, pouring in his arrows like a shower of
 sparks. He missed intentionally but put them to flight, so that the whole
 legion with its tribune was terrified and they all returned to the walls more
 briskly than they had come.

Then, freed from
 all fear, after completing two days and two nights of very toilsome marching,
 he came to the bank of the Euphrates; but since he had no boats he could not
 ford the eddying stream, so that many of his men, being unable to swim were
 terrified, and the king himself hesitated most of all. Indeed, he would have
 remained there, if he had not, amid the various plans suggested by all, been
 able to find an expedient which seemed safest in their dire necessity.

They took the beds which they found in the
 farmhouses and supported each of them upon two bladders, of which there was an abundant supply in the vine-producing
 fields. The prince himself and his most distinguished followers seated
 themselves each upon one of these, led their horses behind them, and by taking
 oblique courses avoided the high waves of the onrushing waters; and by this
 device, after extreme dangers, they at length reached the opposite bank.

All the rest, carried by their swimming
 horses, and often submerged and tossed about by the flood swirling around them,
 exhausted by the danger and the wetting, were thrown out on the opposite bank.
 There they refreshed themselves with a brief rest and went on more rapidly than
 on the days just past.

When this was reported, the emperor, greatly
 troubled by the flight of the king, and thinking that after escaping this snare
 he would break faith, sent Danielus and Barzimeres (the one a general, the
 other tribune of the targeteers) with a thousand nimble and light-armed
 archers, to call him back.

They, trusting to
 their knowledge of the region, since the king, though in haste, yet being a
 foreigner and unacquainted with the neighbourhood, kept making meanders and
 circles, got ahead
 of him by short cuts through the valleys. Then, dividing their forces, they
 beset the two nearest roads, which were separated by a distance of three miles,
 in order that, through whichever of the two he should pass, he might be caught
 off his guard; but the plan came to nothing through this chance event:

A wayfarer who was hastening towards the
 nearer bank
 of the river, seeing the ascent filled with armed soldiers, in order to avoid
 them took to a bypath between the two roads, rough with thickets and brambles;
 falling in with the wearied Armenians, and being led before the king, he told
 him in a private interview what he had seen; he was then detained, but not
 harmed.

Presently the king, pretending that
 there was nothing to fear, secretly sent a horseman on the road to the right
 with orders to secure lodging and food; but after he had gone a little way,
 another was ordered to go with all speed towards the left on a similar errand,
 but without knowing that the other horseman had been sent in a different
 direction.

After these helpful precautions,
 the king himself, with his followers—the wayfarer tracing his way back amongst
 the thickets through which he had come and showing a rough
 path very narrow indeed for a loaded pack-animal— left the soldiers behind him, and made his escape.
 They, after capturing his messengers, who had been sent merely to confuse the
 minds of those who were lying in wait for the king, were almost expecting him
 to rush into their open arms, like a wild beast at a hunt. But while they were waiting for his coming, he was
 restored safe and sound to his kingdom, where he was received with the greatest
 joy by his subjects; but thereafter he remained unmoved in true allegiance,
 bearing in silence all the wrongs that he had suffered.

After this, as soon as Danielus and
 Barzimeres, baffled, had returned, they were assailed with shameful reproaches
 as blunderers and slothful, and like venomous serpents whose bite had been
 blunted by the first attack, they sharpened their deadly fangs, intending as
 soon as they could and to the extent of their powers to injure him who had
 given them the slip.

And to palliate their
 fault or the deception which they had suffered from greater cleverness, they
 bombarded the ears of the emperor (most retentive of all gossip) with false
 charges against Papa, alleging that he was wonderfully skilled through the
 incantations of Circe in changing and weakening men's bodies; and they added that,
 having by arts of that kind spread darkness round himself, and by changing his own form and that
 of his followers, having passed through their lines, if he
 survived this trickery, he would cause sad troubles.

In this way the irreconcilable hatred of the
 emperor for Papa was increased, and plots were devised every day for taking his
 life either by violence or secretly; and to Trajanus, who was then in Armenia in command of the military forces, this
 work was entrusted through secret letters.

That general sought to win the king by treacherous flattery, now showing him
 letters of Valens as tokens of his calm state of mind, and now forcing himself
 upon his banquets; finally, when his plot was matured, he invited him with
 great respect to a luncheon. The king came, fearing no hostility, and took his
 place in the seat of honour granted him.

And
 when choice dainties were set before him, and the great building rang with the
 music of strings, songs, and wind-instruments, 
 the host himself, already heated with wine, went out, under pretence of a call
 of nature. Then a rude barbarian, fiercely glaring with savage eyes and
 brandishing a drawn sword, one of the class called scurrae, was sent in to kill the
 young man, who had already been cut off from any possibility of escape.

At this sight the young king, who, as it
 happened, was leaning forward beyond his couch, drew his dagger and was rising
 to defend his life by every possible means, but fell disfigured, pierced
 through the breast like some victim at the altar, foully slain by repeated
 strokes.

By such treachery was credulity
 basely deceived, and at a banquet, which ought to be respected even on the
 Euxine Sea, 
 before the eyes of the god of hospitality a stranger's blood was
 shed, which bespattered the spendid linen cloths with foaming gore, was more
 than enough to sate the guests, who scattered in utmost horror. If the dead can
 feel grief, the famous Fabricius Luscinus
 might groan at this arrogant act, when he recalled with what greatness of soul
 he rejected the promise of Demochares or (as some write) Nicias, the king's
 attendant, made in a secret conference; for he said that he would kill king
 Pyrrhus, who at that time was reducing Italy to ashes in cruel warfare, by mixing poison with his cups; but Fabricius warned
 the king in a letter to beware of his more intimate servants. Such a place of
 respect in those days of old-time justice was held by the conviviality even of
 an enemy's table.

True, some sought to
 excuse this recent extraordinary and shameful deed by the example of the
 assassination of Sertorius, but those flatterers perhaps did not know that no act which is
 proved to be contrary to law is justified because another crime was similar or
 went unpunished, as Demosthenes, eternal glory of Greece, declares.

These are the noteworthy events that took
 place in Armenia. But Sapor, after the former disaster to his men, on learning
 of the murder of Papa, whom he was making great efforts to
 enlist on his side, overwhelmed with heavy grief and with his fear increased by
 the activity of our army, sowed the seeds of greater troubles for himself.

Accordingly, he sent Arraces as an envoy
 to the emperor, advising him to withdraw entirely from Armenia, since it was a
 continual source of troubles; or if that was not acceptable, proposing as an
 alternative that abandoning the division of Hiberia and withdrawing the garrisons of the Roman part, he should allow
 Aspacures, whom Sapor had made ruler of that nation, to reign alone.

To this Valens made answer to this effect: that he
 could not repeal anything of that which had been agreed upon by common consent,
 but would maintain it with the utmost vigour. In reply to this noble utterance
 a letter was brought from the king when the winter was already nearly
 ended, giving trivial and arrogant reasons. For he asserted
 that the weeds of discord could not be pruned away by the roots except in the
 presence of those who had been witnesses to the conclusion of the peace with
 Jovian, some of whom (as he had learned) had since died.

After this the emperor's cares grew heavier. Now he was in condition rather to make a choice of plans than to
 discover any; and so, thinking it to be to the advantage of the State, he
 ordered Victor, commander of the cavalry, and Urbicius, general in Mesopotamia,
 to go quickly to the Persians, bearing an ultimatum in plain language: that it
 was criminal of a king who was just and contented with his own (as he boasted)
 wrongfully to covet Armenia, whose people had been granted permission to live
 independently; and that, unless the guard of soldiers given
 to Sauromaces should return without hindrance
 at the beginning of the following year (as had been agreed), Sapor would be
 forced to do against his will what he had refrained from doing of his own
 accord.

This embassy was indeed
 straightforward and frank, had its members not erred in one particular; for
 they accepted without orders some small territories that offered themselves to
 them in that same Armenia.
 On their return the Surena, who ranked next to the king, came and offered to
 the emperor these same lands that our envoys had recklessly taken.

He was received courteously and handsomely entertained, but was sent back without obtaining what he asked, and in
 consequence great preparations were made for war, in the expectation that when
 the winter grew milder the emperor would invade Persia with three armies and
 for that purpose was in great haste hiring mercenaries from the Scythians.

Accordingly Sapor, having failed to gain that
 for which he had vainly hoped, and exasperated even more than usual because he
 had learned that our ruler was perparing for a campaign, defied Valens' anger
 and instructed the Surena to recover by arms, in case anyone made opposition,
 the lands which Count Victor and Urbicius had taken over; also to do all
 possible harm to the soldiers appointed for the protection of Sauromaces.

These instructions were hastily carried
 out, as he had ordered, and could not be remedied or punished, since the Roman
 state was encompassed by another danger from all the Gothic peoples, who were
 lawlessly overrunning Thrace; these disasters can briefly be
 set forth, when I come also to that part of my narrative.

This is what happened in the eastern regions.
 During the course of these events the eternal power of Justice, the judge, sometimes tardy, but always strict, of right or
 wrong actions, avenged the disasters in Africa and the still unsatisfied and
 wandering shades of the envoys of Tripolis, in
 the following manner.

Remigius, who (as we
 have said ) favoured the general
 Romanus in his oppression of the provinces, after Leo had been appointed chief
 marshal of the court in his place, was now resting from public duties and gave
 himself up to rural life in his native place near Mayence.

While he was there passing a care-free life,
 Maximinus, the praetorian prefect, scorning
 him, now that he turned back to a life of leisure, and being wont to overrun
 all things like a dire pestilence, aspired to injure him in every possible
 manner. And in his desire to discover more secrets, he seized Caesarius, who
 had formerly been in the service of Remigius and later a secretary of the
 emperor, and tried by cruel tortures to learn what Remigius had done, and how
 much he had received for aiding the criminal acts of Romanus.

When Remigius (who, as has been said, was in
 retirement) learned of this, either driven by the consciousness of guilt or
 because the dread of false charges overcame his reason, he strangled himself,
 and so died.

In the year following these events, Gratianus
 was made consul as the colleague of Aequitius; and Valentinian, who after
 devastating several cantons of the Alamanni was building a fortification near
 Basle, which the neighbours call Robur, 
 received the report of the prefect Probus, telling of the devastation in
 Illyricum.

On reading this with careful attention, as
 became a cautious general, he was distracted by anxious reflections and sending
 the secretary Paternianus, gave the matter the most searching investigation. As
 soon as he received through him a true account of what had happened, he
 hastened to set out at once, in order (as he intended) to crush by the first
 clash of his arms the savages who had ventured to violate our frontier.

But since autumn was waning and many
 difficulties stood in the way, all the principal men at the court strove by
 entreaties and prayers to hold him back until the beginning of spring. In the first place,
 they urged that the roads, hardened with frost, where neither any growth of
 grass would be found for fodder nor anything else fit for the use of the army,
 could not be penetrated. In the second place, they set before him the alleged
 savagery of the kings bordering on Gaul, and most of all of Macrianus, who was
 formidable, and (as was well known) had been left unsubdued,
 and would actually attack even fortified
 cities.

Calling to mind these things and
 adding other salutary advice, they led the emperor to a better opinion, and at
 once (as was for the advantage of the state) the said king was courteously
 summoned to the vicinity of Mayence, being himself also inclined (as was
 evident) to accepting a treaty. And he arrived enormously puffed up in every
 way, as if he expected to be the supreme arbiter of peace, and on the day set
 for the conference, with head high uplifted, he stood at the very edge of the
 Rhine while the clashing shields of his countrymen thundered all about him.

On the other side the Augustus embarked on
 some river-boats, himself also hedged
 by a throng of military officers and conspicuous amid the brilliance of
 flashing standards, and cautiously approached the shore. Finally, the
 savages ceased their immoderate gesticulation and barbaric tumult, and after
 much had been said and heard on both sides, friendship was confirmed between
 them by the sanctity of an oath.

When this
 was accomplished, the king who had caused the disturbances withdrew pacified,
 henceforth to be our ally; and after that up to the very end of bis life he
 gave proof by noble conduct of a spirit of steadfast loyalty.

He found his death later in the land of the Franks;
 for while amid murderous devastation he penetrated that country too eagerly, he
 was lured into an ambush by the warlike king Mallobaudes and perished. But
 after the solemn ratification of the treaty Valentinian
 retired to Treves for winter quarters.

This is what took place throughout Gaul and
 Before the northern part of the empire. But in the regions of the East, amid
 the profound quiet of foreign affairs, destructive internal corruption was
 increasing through the friends and intimates of Valens, with whom advantage
 prevailed over honour. For diligent efforts were exerted to turn the emperor,
 as a severe man and eager to hear cases at law, from his desire to act as
 judge; for fear that as in the times of Julian, 
 if the defence of innocence should revive, the arrogance of powerful men, which
 under the licence that they had assumed was in the habit of always reaching out
 farther, might be checked.

On these and
 similar grounds many united in a common attempt at dissuasion and in particular
 the praetorian prefect Modestus, a
 man wholly subjected to the influence of the eunuchs of the court, of a boorish
 nature refined by no reading of the ancient writers. He, wearing a forced and
 deceptive expression, declared that the trivialities of private cases at law
 were beneath the dignity of the imperial majesty. Accordingly Valens, thinking
 that the examination of swarms of legal cases
 was devised to humble the loftiness of the royal power, in accordance with the advice
 of Modestus, abstained from it wholly, thereby opening the
 doors to robbery; and this grew stronger day by day through the wickedness of
 judges and advocates in collusion; for they sold their decisions of the cases
 of poorer people to officers in the army, or to powerful men within the palace,
 and thus gained either wealth or high position.

This trade of forensic oratory the great
 Plato defined as πολιτικῆς μορίου εἴδωλον (that
 is, the shadow of a small part of the science of government ) or as the fourth part of flattery; but Epicurus counts it among evil arts, calling it κακοτεχνία. > 
 Tisias says that it is the artist
 of persuasion, and Gorgias of Leontini agrees with him.

This art, thus defined by the men of old, the cunning
 of certain Orientals raised to a degree hateful to good men, for which reason
 it is even confined by the restraints of a time fixed beforehand. Therefore after having described in a very few words its
 unworthiness, with which I became acquainted while I was living in those parts,
 I shall return to the course of the narrative with which I began.

Formerly judgement-seats gained glory through
 the support of old-time refinement, when orators of fiery eloquence, devoted to
 learned studies, were eminent for talent and justice, and for the fluency and
 many adornments of their diction; for example Demosthenes, to hear whom, when
 he was going to speak, as the Attic records testify, the people were wont to
 flock together from all Greece ; and Callistratus, 
 to whom, when he pleaded in that celebrated case in defence of Oropos (which is
 a place in Euboea ) that same
 Demosthenes attached himself, forsaking the Academy and Plato; also, Hyperides,
 Aeschines, Andocides, Dinarchus, and the famous Antiphon of Rhamnus, who,
 according to the testimony of antiquity, was the first of all to accept a fee
 for conducting a defence.

Not less eminent
 among the Romans were men like Rutilius, Galba, and Scaurus, conspicuous for
 their life, their character, and their uprightness; and later in the various
 epochs of subsequent times many former censors and consuls, and men who had
 been honoured with triumphs, such as Crassus, Antonius, Philippus, Scaevola,
 and many others, after successful
 campaigns, after victories and trophies, distinguished themselves by civic
 services to the State, and winning laurels in the glorious contests of the
 Forum, enjoyed Fame's highest honours.

After
 these Cicero, the most eminent of them all, by the floods of his all-conquering
 oratory often saved the oppressed from the fiery ordeal of the courts, and
 declared: It might perhaps be pardonable to refuse to defend some men,
 but to defend them negligently could be nothing but criminal.

But now it is possible to see in all the
 regions of the Orient powerful and rapacious classes of men flitting from one
 forum to another, besieging the home hounds sagaciously picking up the tracks until they come to the very
 lairs of lawsuits.

Among these the first class consists of those
 who, by sowing the seeds of all sorts of quarrels, busy themselves with
 thousands of recognisances, wearing out the doors of widows and the thresholds
 of childless men; and if they have found even slight retreats of secret
 enmity, they rouse deadly hatred among discordant friends, kinsfolk, or
 relatives. And in these men their vices do not cool down in course of time, as
 do those of others, but grow stronger and stronger. Poor amid insatiable
 robbery, they draw the dagger of their talent to lead astray by crafty speeches the good faith of the
 judges, whose title is derived from justice.

By their persistence rashness tries to pass itself off as freedom of speech;
 and reckless audacity as firmness of purpose; a kind of empty flow of words as
 eloquence. By the perversity of these arts, as Cicero insists, it is a sin for
 the conscientiousness of a judge to be deceived. For he says: And since nothing in a state ought
 to be so free from corruption as the suffrage and judicial decisions, I do
 not understand why one who corrupts them by money deserves punishment, while
 one who corrupts them by his eloquence is even praised. For my part, I think
 that he does more evil who corrupts a judge by a speech than one who does so
 by money; for no one can corrupt a sensible man by money, but he can do so
 by words.

A second class consists of those who profess
 a knowledge of law, which, however, the self-contradictory statutes have
 destroyed, and reticent as if they were muzzled, in
 never-ending silence they are like their own shadows. These men, as though
 revealing destinies by nativities or interpreting a Sibyl's oracles, assume a
 solemn expression of severe bearing and try to make even their yawning
 saleable.

In order to seem to have a deeper knowledge
 of the law, they talk of Trebatius, 
 Cascellius, and Alfenus, and of the laws of the
 Aurunci and Sicani, which were long since forgotten and buried many
 ages ago along with Evander's mother. And if you pretend that you have purposely murdered your mother, they promise, if they have observed that
 you are a moneyed man, that their many recondite studies will
 secure an acquittal for you.

A third group consists of those who, in
 order to gain glory by their troublous profession, sharpen their venal tongues
 to attack the
 truth, and with shameless brow and base yelping often gain entrance wherever
 they wish. When the anxious judges are distracted by many cares, they tie up
 the business in an inexplicable tangle, and do their best to involve all peace
 and quiet in lawsuits and purposely by knotty inquisitions they deceive the
 courts, which, when their procedure is right, are temples of justice, when
 corrupted, are deceptive and hidden pits: and if anyone is deluded and falls
 into those pits, he will not get out except after many a term of years, when he
 has been sucked dry to his very marrow.

The fourth and last class, shameless,
 headstrong, and ignorant, consists of those who have broken away too soon from
 the elementary schools, run to and fro through the corners of the cities,
 thinking out mimiambic lines, rather
 than speeches suitable to win law-suits, wearing out the doors of the rich, and
 hunting for banquets and fine choice food.

When they have once devoted themselves to shady gain and to eagerness for money
 from any and every source, they urge all kinds of innocent people to involve
 themselves in vain litigations. And when they are allowed to defend suits,
 which rarely happens, amidst the very turning-points of the disputes they learn
 the name of their client and the purport of the business in hand from the mouth
 of the judge, and they so overflow with disarranged circumlocutions that in the
 foul hotchpotch you would think you were hearing a Thersites with his howling din.

But
 when they find themselves in the end unable to defend the charges, they turn to
 unbridled licence in abuse; and on this account, because of their constant
 insults of persons of rank, they are prosecuted and often condemned; and among
 them are some who are so ignorant that they cannot remember that they ever
 possessed a law-book.

And if in a circle of
 learned men the name of an ancient writer happens to be mentioned, they think
 it is a foreign word for some fish or other edible; but if any stranger asks
 for the orator Marcianus (for example), who
 was before unknown to him, at once they all pretend that
 their own name is Marcianus.

And they no
 longer have before their eyes any right, but as if sold to and enslaved by
 avarice, they understand nothing except endless licence in making demands. And
 if once they have caught anyone in their nets, they entangle him in a thousand
 toils, purposely defaulting by pretending sicknesses one after another; and
 they prepare seven plausible preambles in order that the useless reading of
 well-known law may be introduced, thus weaving swarms of long delays.

And when the contending parties are stripped of everything, and days, months
 and years are used up, at last the case, now worn out with age, is introduced,
 and those brilliant principals come forth, bringing with them other shadows of advocates. And when
 theyhave come within the barriers of the court, and the fortunes or safety of some one begins to be
 discussed, and they ought to work to turn the sword or ruinous loss from an
 innocent person, the advocates on both sides wrinkling their brows and waving
 their arms in semblance of the gestures of actors (so that they lack only the
 oratorical pipe of Gracchus behind them) stand for a long
 time opposite each other. At last, in accordance with a prearranged agreement,
 the one who is more confident in speech utters a kind of a sweet prologue,
 promising to emulate the ornamental language of a speech for
 Cluentius or Ctesiphon; and when all are wishing for the end, such is the method of his
 peroration that the advocates, after the semblance of a trial has gone on for
 three years, allege that they are not yet fully informed; and after they have
 obtained a further postponement, as if they had struggled with Antaeus
 of old, they persistently demand the
 pay for their danger and toil.

But yet, in spite of this, advocates suffer
 many inconveniences, not easy to be endured by a man who would live rightly.
 For, allured by the profits of their sedentary trade, they differ among themselves and become enemies, and they offend
 many by their outbursts of abusive ferocity (as has been said), which they blab
 out in a torrent when they have no arguments strong enough to fortify the
 weakness of the cases which have been entrusted to them.

And they have to deal with judges who sometimes are
 taught by the sophisms of Philistion or Aesopus, rather than reared in the discipline
 of your Aristides the Just or Cato. Such men, having bought public office for
 large sums of money, like tiresome creditors prying into the resources of every
 kind of fortune, shake out booty from other men's bosoms.

Finally, the profession of advocate has, with the
 rest, this serious and dangerous evil, which is native to almost all litigants,
 that although their cases may be lost by a thousand accidents, they think their ill-success lies wholly in the ability of their
 advocates, and they are accustomed to attribute the outcome of every contest to
 them; and they vent their anger not on the weakness of their case or the
 frequent injustice of the magistrate who decides it, but only on their
 defenders. But let us return to the point from which we made the
 digression.

When spring was already ripening,
 Valentinian moved from Trier and hastened by
 quick marches along the familiar roads; and when he came to the regions for
 which he was aiming, he was met by a deputation of the Sarmatians, who threw themselves at his feet and begged
 in peaceful terms that his visit might be favourable and merciful to them,
 since he would find that their countrymen were neither participants in, nor
 aware of, any outrage.

When they often
 repeated these same statements, after mature deliberation the emperor made this
 answer: that these acts must be investigated, in the place where they were said
 to have been committed, and punished in the light of the most reliable
 evidence. And when thereafter he entered Carnuntum, a town of the prefecture of
 Illyricum, now indeed deserted and in ruins, but very convenient for the leader
 of an army, he proceeded (whenever chance or design gave the
 opportunity) to check the attacks of the savages from a station near by.

And though he was a terror to all while his
 arrival was waited for, since he was likely in bitter anger to order at once
 the punishment of officials who through perfidy or desertion had exposed that
 side of Pannonia, yet on his arrival he became so mild that he neither made
 inquiry into the murder of King Gabinius, nor
 carefully investigated the wounds branded on the body of the state to learn
 through whose negligence or guilt they had come about. And indeed it was his
 way to be severe in punishing common people, but more lenient towards
 personages of higher rank, even when they deserved a severe rebuke in harsh
 words.

Probus alone he attacked with bitter
 
 hatred, never ceasing to threaten him from the first time he had seen him, nor
 showing him any mildness; and for this conduct there were obvious weighty
 reasons. Probus had then, not for the first time, attained the rank of
 praetorian prefect, and in his longing to prolong his tenure of office in many
 ways (I only wish that they had been justifiable), he relied more on flattery
 than on worth otherwise than the glory of his stock admonished him.

For considering the emperor's inclination to seek out
 ways of getting money from every quarter without distinction between right and
 wrong, he did not call him back when he strayed from the path of justice (as
 peace-loving counsellors have often done), but himself also followed the
 emperor on his devious and perverse course.

Hence resulted the grievous troubles of his subjects, and
 the ruinous items of imposts that had been instituted, long-continued
 practice in oppression finding one pretext after another, each more effective
 than the others, enfeebled and cut the sinews of the fortunes of rich and poor
 alike. Finally, the burden of tributes and the repeated increase in taxes
 compelled some of the most distinguished families, hounded by the fear of the
 worst, to leave their country; others, crushed by the severity of the dunning
 tax-collectors, having nothing to give, became permanent inmates of the
 prisons; and some of these, now weary of life and light, died by the noose as a
 welcome release.

These things, as persistent
 rumour maintained, went on thus with increasing treachery and
 ruthlessness; but Valentinian knew nothing of them, as if his ears were stopped
 with wax, being eager for indiscriminate gain even from the slightest things,
 and taking into consideration only what was offered. Yet perhaps he would have
 spared Pannonia, if he had
 known earlier of these lamentable sources of profit, of which he learned all
 too late from the following chance occurrence.

After the example of the rest of the provincials the Epirotes also were
 compelled by the prefect to send envoys to the emperor to offer him their
 thanks, and forced a philosopher
 called Iphicles, a man
 renowned for his strength of soul, against his own desire to go and perform
 that duty.

And he, when he came into the
 emperor's presence, being recognized and asked the reason for his coming, replied in Greek; and when the emperor asked explicitly
 whether those who sent him thought well of the prefect in their hearts, he
 said, as became a philosopher who made a profession of truth: With
 groans and against their will.

By these words the emperor was struck as by
 a dagger, and like a keen-scented hound he searched into all the conduct of the
 prefect, asking Iphicles in his native tongue about people whom he personally
 knew: where in the world, for example, was so and so who excelled his
 countrymen in honour and reputation; or another, who was rich; or still another
 of high rank. And when he learned that one had fallen victim to the noose, that
 another had gone across the sea, that a third had committed suicide or had died
 under the blows of the knout, he burned with
 tremendous rage, to which Leo, who was then chief marshal of the Court (oh,
 horror!), added blazing fuel, a man who himself aspired to the prefecture, in
 order to fall from a greater height. And if he had attained
 and ruled the office, in comparison with what he would have dared, the
 administration of a Probus would be praised to the skies!

And so the emperor remained at Carnuntum,
 where throughout the entire three summer months he was preparing arms and
 supplies, intending, if in anyway fortune favoured, to find opportunity to
 attack the Quadi, the instigators of the terrible uprising. It was in that town
 that Faustinus, nephew of Viventius, the praetorian prefect, when 
 serving as a state-secretary, after an investigation conducted by Probus, was
 first tortured and then put to death by the hand of the executioner. The charge
 was that he had killed an ass, as some of his accusers alleged, for use in
 secret arts, but as he himself declared, to strengthen the weakness of his
 hair, which was falling out.

According to another, who was also suborned
 to ruin him, when one Nigrinus in jest asked for an appointment as
 state-secretary, Faustinus laughed at the man and said: Make me emperor,
 if you want to get that office. Since this jest was unjustly
 interpreted, Faustinus himself, as well as Nigrinus and others, were put to
 death.

Valentinian now sent Merobaudes on ahead with the division of foot-soldiers under his
 command, and in company with Count Sebastianus, to plunder and burn the cantons
 of the barbarians; the emperor himself quickly moved his camp to Acincum,
 joined together boats for the sudden emergency,
 and having with swift energy made a bridge of planks upon them, crossed through
 another quarter into the territory of the Quadi. They indeed were watching for
 his coming from the steep mountains, to which most of them, in doubt and
 uncertain what was happening, had withdrawn with their families; but they were
 overcome with amazement when, contrary to their expectation, they saw the
 imperial standards in their territories.

Valentinian then advanced forcing the pace as far as occasion demanded, put to
 death without distinction of age all those who were still roaming about and
 were taken unawares by his sudden onset, burned the
 dwellings, and returned without losing a man of those whom he had led with him.
 He also lingered at Acincum, since the autumn was swiftly passing on, and being
 in lands where the cold weather always covered everything with ice, he looked
 about for suitable winter quarters; and he could find no convenient place
 except Savaria, although that
 town was then weak and had suffered from repeated misfortunes.

Therefore, setting this aside for a time, in spite of the great need for a halt,
 he quickly moved
 from there, marched along the banks of the river, and having protected his camp
 with an adequate force and with castles came to Bregitio. There the fate which had long been designed to end the
 emperor's labours foretold his approaching end by a repeated series of
 portents.

For a very few days before his
 arrival comets blazed in the heavens; these foreshadow the downfall of men of
 high position, and of their origin I have already given an account. Before that, at Sirmium, with sudden crash of the clouds,
 a thunderbolt fell and set fire to a part of the palace, the senate house, and
 the forum. Also at Savaria, where the emperor was still settled, an owl perched
 on the top of the imperial bath, and uttered notes foretelling death; and no
 skilful hand could bring it down with arrows or with stones, although many vied
 with one another in eager attacks upon it.

Again, when he was on his way from the aforesaid city to a campaign, he wished
 to go out through the same gate by which he had entered, in order to gain an
 omen that he would quickly return to Gaul; but while the neglected place was being cleared of accumulated debris, the iron-clad
 door which barred the exit was found to have fallen, and could not be removed
 by the greatest efforts of a large number of men; and to avoid wasting a day
 there, he was forced to go out by another gate.

And on the night before the day which was to deprive him of life,
 he had a vision (as men often do in their sleep); he saw his absent wife
 sitting with disordered hair and dressed in mourning attire; and it was
 possible to infer that she was his own Fortune, on the point of leaving him in
 the garb of sorrow.

Then the next morning,
 when he came out somewhat gloomy and with frowning brow, the horse that was
 brought to him would not allow him to mount, but reared its fore feet high in
 the air contrary to its usual manner; whereupon the emperor fell into one of
 his innate fits of anger and, being naturally cruel, ordered the groom's
 right hand, which as usual had supported
 him in leaping on to the animal, to be cut off. And the guiltless young man
 would have suffered a cruel fate, had not Cerealis, the tribune in charge of
 the stable, at the risk of his own life postponed the terrible wrong.

After this, envoys of the Quadi appeared,
 humbly begging for peace and forgetfulness of their past offences; and in order
 to obtain this without hindrance, they promised to provide
 recruits and some other things helpful to the Roman state.

When it was decided that the envoys be received and
 allowed to return home with the grant of the truce for which they were asking
 (for neither lack of supplies nor the unfavourable time of year allowed further
 attacks upon them), on the advice of Aequitius they were admitted to the councilchamber. And as
 they stood there with bended limbs weak and stricken by fear, on being bidden
 to tell their mission, they gave the usual series of excuses and supported them
 by adding the pledge of an oath. They declared that there had been no common
 consent of the chiefs of their race in any wrong that had been done us, but
 that the hostile acts had been committed by bands of foreign brigands dwelling
 near the river; and they added, and maintained that it was a valid excuse for
 their conduct, that the building of a barrier, 
 which was begun both unjustly and without due occasion, roused their rude
 spirits to anger.

At this the emperor burst
 into a mighty fit of wrath, and being particularly incensed during the first
 part of his reply, he railed at the whole nation in noisy and abusive language,
 as ungrateful and forgetful of acts of kindness. Then he gradually calmed
 himself and seemed more inclined to mildness, when, as if struck by a bolt from
 the sky, he was seen to be speechless and suffocating, and his face was tinged with a fiery flush. On a sudden his blood was checked
 and the sweat of death broke out upon him.
 Then, that he might not fall before the eyes of a throng of the common sort,
 his body-servants rushed to him and led him into an inner
 chamber.

There he was laid upon a bed; but
 although he was drawing more feeble remnants of breath, the vigour of his mind
 was not yet lessened, and he recognized all those who stood about him, whom the
 chamberlains had summoned With all speed, in order to avert any suspicion that
 he had been murdered. And since all parts of his body were burning hot, it was
 necessary to open a vein, but no physician could be found, since he had sent
 them to various places, to give attention to the soldiers who were attacked by
 the plague.

At last however one was found,
 but although he repeatedly pierced a vein, he could not draw even a single drop
 of blood, since the emperor's inner parts were consumed by excessive heat, or
 (as some thought) because his body was dried up, since some passages for the
 blood (which we now all hemorrhoids) were closed and incrusted by he cold
 chills.

He felt the disease crushing him with
 a mighty force, and knew that the fated and of his life was at hand; and he
 tried to speak or give some orders, as was indicated by the gasps that often
 heaved his sides, 
 by the grinding of his teeth, and by movements of his arms as if of men
 fighting with the cestus; but finally his strength failed him, his body was
 covered with livid spots, and after a long struggle for life he breathed his
 last, in the fifty-fifth year of his age and the twelfth of his reign, less a
 hundred days.

It is now in place to go back and (as we have
 often done) in a brief epilogue run through the deeds of this emperor, from the
 very birth of his father to his own decease, without omitting to distinguish
 his faults or his good qualities, brought to light as they were by greatness of
 power, which is always wont to lay bare a man's inmost character.

His father, the elder Gratianus, was born at
 Cibalae, a town of Pannonia, of a humble family, and from his early boyhood was
 surnamed Funarius, because when he was not yet grown up and was
 carrying round a rope for sale, and five soldiers tried with all their might to
 tear it from him, he gave way not an inch; he thus rivalled Milo of Croton,
 from whom no possible exercise of strength could ever take an apple, when he
 held it tightly in his left or his right hand, as he often did.

Hence, because of his mighty strength of body and his
 skill in wrestling in the soldiers' fashion he became widely known, and
 after holding the position of one of the bodyguard and of a tribune, he
 commanded the army in Africa with the title of count. There he incurred the
 suspicion of theft, but he departed long afterwards and commanded the army in
 Britain with the same rank; and at last, after being honourably discharged, he
 returned to his home. While he was living there far from the noise and bustle,
 his property was confiscated by Constantius, on the ground that when civil
 discord was raging he was said to have shown hospitality to Magnentius when the
 usurper was hastening through Gratianus's land to carry out
 his designs.

Because of his father's services Valentinian
 was favoured from early youth, and being commended also by the addition of his
 own merits, he was clad in the insignia of imperial majesty at Nicaea. He took
 as his imperial colleague his brother Valens, to whom he was greatly attached
 both by the tie of fraternity and by sympathy, a man with an equal amount of
 excellent and bad qualities, as we shall point out in the proper place.

Valentinian, then, after suffering many
 annoyances and dangers while he was a private citizen, had no sooner begun to reign than he went to Gaul, to fortify the
 strongholds and cities lying near the rivers; for these were exposed to the
 raids of the Alamanni, who were raising their heads higher after learning of
 the death of the emperor Julian, who was absolutely the only one whom they
 feared after the death of Constans.

But
 Valentinian also was rightly dreaded by them, both because he increased the
 armies with a strong reinforcement and because he so fortified both banks of
 the Rhine with lofty castles and strongholds, that nowhere should an enemy be
 able to hurl himself at our territories unobserved.

And to pass over many things which he did
 with the authority of an established ruler, and the reforms that he effected
 either personally or through energetic generals, after admitting his son
 Gratianus to a share in his power, he secretly, since he could not do so
 openly, caused Vithicabius, king of the Alamanni, son of Vadomarius, a young man in the first bloom of manhood, to
 be stabbed, because he was rousing his people to rebellion
 and war. And joining battle with the Alamanni near a place called Solicinium,
 where, after falling
 into an ambuscade and all but losing his life, he could have utterly destroyed
 their entire army, had not swift flight saved a few of them under cover of
 darkness.

While he was accomplishing these exploits
 with due caution, the Saxons, who had already
 broken out into formidable madness and were always rushing wherever they
 pleased without reconnaisances, had then invaded the maritime districts, and
 had almost returned enriched with the spoils which they took; but by a device
 which was treacherous but expedient he overwhelmed and stripped of their booty
 the robbers thus forcibly crushed.

Again, when the Britons could not resist the
 hordes of enemies that were overrunning their country, he restored them to
 freedom and quiet peace with the hope of better conditions, and allowed almost
 none of the plunderers to return to his home.

With like effectiveness he also crushed
 Valentinus, the exile from Pannonia, who was trying to disturb the public peace
 in that province, before his design came to a head. 
 
 Next, he saved Africa from great dangers, when that country was in the throes
 of an unexpected disaster; for Firmus was unable to endure the greed and
 arrogance of the military officials and had aroused the Moorish tribes, whose
 ardour can always easily be fanned to any plan of dissension. 
 
 With equal courage he would have avenged the lamentable catastrophes in
 Illyricum, had he not been overtaken by death and left that
 important matter unfinished.

And although these successes which I have
 mentioned were brought about by his admirable generals, yet it is also well
 known that he himself, being a man of nimble mind and hardened by long
 experience in military life, performed very many exploits; and among these it
 would have been a most glorious feat if he had
 been able to take King Macrianus alive, who was at that time formidable. He had
 made great efforts to do so after he learned with grief and sorrow that the
 king had escaped from the Burgundians, whom Valentinian himself had aroused
 against the Alamanni.

This is a brief account of the emperor's
 deeds. Now, in the belief that posterity, being bound neither by fear nor by
 base flattery, is usually an uncorrupted judge of the past, I shall give a
 summary of his defects, to be followed by an account of his excellent
 qualities.

He sometimes assumed an appearance
 of mildness, although his hot temper made him more inclined to severity; for he
 evidently forgot that a ruler should avoid all excess, as he would a precipice.

For he was never found to be content with
 a mild punishment, but he continually ordered blood-thirsty investigations one
 after the other; and in his cruel inquisitions some were tortured even to the
 danger of their lives; in fact, he was so prone to cruelty that he never
 rescued from death any of those who had been capitally
 condemned, by merciful terms in a warrant which was presented for his
 subscription, although sometimes this has been done even by the most savage of
 princes.

And yet he could have contemplated
 many examples of the men of old, and might have imitated native and foreign
 instances of humanity and righteous mercy, which philosophers call the kind
 sisters of the virtues Of these it will suffice to mention the following.
 Artaxerxes, that mighty king of the Persians, whom the length of one of his
 limbs made known as Macrochir, with inborn
 mildness corrected various punishments which that cruel nation had always
 practised, by sometimes cutting off the turbans of the guilty, in lieu of
 their heads; and instead of cutting off men's ears for
 various offences, as was the habit of the kings, he sheared off threads hanging
 from their head-coverings. This moderation of character so won for him the
 contentment and respect of his subjects, that through their unanimous support
 he accomplished many noteworthy deeds, which are celebrated by the Greek
 writers.

A general of Praeneste in one of the
 Samnite wars had been ordered to hasten to his post, but had been slow to obey,
 and was summoned to expiate that misdeed; Papirius Cursor, who was dictator at
 the time, ordered the lictor to make ready his axe, and in sight of the man,
 who was overcome with terror and had given up hope of excusing himself, he gave
 orders that a bush seen near should be cut down, by a jest of this kind
 at the same time punishing and acquitting the man; and thereby he
 suffered no loss of respect, and he brought to an end the
 long and difficult wars of his fathers and was considered the only man capable
 of resisting Alexander the Great, if that king should have set foot on Italian
 soil.

Valentinian, who perhaps knew nothing of
 these instances, and did not consider that slowness to anger in rulers is
 always a solace for unhappy circumstances, increased the number of punishments
 by fire and sword, which a righteous spirit regards as the last resort in times
 of stress, as the splendid writer Isocrates says; there is an utterance of his for all time whereby he teaches that
 sometimes a ruler who has been overcome by arms ought to be pardoned, more than
 one who did not know what is just.

I think it
 was under the influence of this that Cicero made the glorious statement in his
 defence of Oppius: 
 and indeed, to have great power for the salvation of another has brought
 honour to many; to have had too little power to destroy him has never been a
 reproach to anyone.

The greed for greater possessions without
 distinguishing right from wrong, and of seeking advantages of various kinds
 through the shipwreck of others' lives, grew ever greater and became excessive
 in this emperor. This fault some tried to excuse by offering the example of the
 emperor Aurelian, declaring that as, when the treasury was 
 exhausted after Gallienus and the lamentable disasters to the state, he fell
 upon the rich like a torrent, so Valentinian, after the losses of the Parthian
 campaign, feeling the need of a vast quantity of expenditure in order to
 provide reinforcements and pay for his troops, mingled with cruelty the desire
 to amass excessive wealth, affecting not to know that there are some things
 which ought not to be done, even if one has the power to do them. In this he
 was quite unlike the famous Themistocles, for when after the fight with the
 Persians and the annihilation of their army 
 the Athenian was aimlessly strolling about, and saw golden bracelets and a
 neck-chain lying on the ground, he turned to one of his attendants who stood
 near by and said: Pick up these, since you are not Themistocles, 
 thus showing his scorn of any love of money in a noble leader.

Like instances of this same selfrestraint are found
 in abundance in Roman generals. Passing these by, since they are no indication
 of perfect virtue (for not to seize the property of others deserves no praise),
 I will give one certain indication (among many) of the integrity of the common
 people of early days. When Marius and Cinna had turned
 over to the Roman plebeians the rich dwellings of the proscribed to be
 plundered, the rough spiritof the commons, wont however to respect human
 misfortunes, so spared what had been gained by the toil of others that no one
 of the poor or of the lowest class was found who allowed himself, though
 permission was given him, to handle profits from the woes of his country.

Besides this there was a fire of envy in the
 very marrow of this same emperor, and knowing that most vices are wont to
 assume the appearance of virtues, he had ever upon his lips the saying, that
 malice of severity is the inseparable associate of rightful power. And as men
 of the highest position always think that everything is allowed them, and they
 are strongly inclined to suspect those who oppose them and to overthrow better
 men than themselves, so he hated the well dressed, the learned, the rich, and
 the high-born; and he depreciated brave men, in order to give the appearance of
 surpassing all men in good qualities, a fault, as we read, by which the emperor
 Hadrian was inflamed.

This same prince often denounced cowards,
 calling such men sullied, unclean, and deserving to be thrust down below the
 humblest estate; and yet he himself, in the presence of empty terrors,
 sometimes turned abjectly pale and dreaded in his inmost soul something that
 did not exist at all.

It was the knowledge
 of this that led Remigius, marshal of the court, when he perceived that the
 emperor was boiling with anger at something which had occurred, to hint among
 other things that some outbreaks of the barbarians threatened; and when
 Valentinian heard this, immediately he was so overcome with fear that he became
 as calm and mild as Antoninus the Good himself.

He never intentionally
 chose cruel judges, but if he had learned that Those whomhehad once advanced
 were acting cruelly, he
 maintained that he had found men like Lycurgus and Cassius,
 
 those ancient pillars of justice; and he often urged them in writing to punish
 even light offences with all severity.

Those
 in trouble, whom a reverse of fortune had befallen, found no refuge in the
 kindness of their prince, which has always been a longed-for haven, as it were,
 for those tossed on a stormy sea. For the purpose of a just rule (as the
 philosophers teach) is supposed to be the advantage and safety of its
 subjects.

It is fitting after this to pass to those
 acts of his which were praiseworthy and to be imitated by right-thinking men;
 and if he had regulated the rest of his conduct in accordance with these, his
 career would have been that of a Trajan or a Marcus. He was very indulgent towards the provincials and
 everywhere lightened the burden of their tributes; he was always timely in
 founding towns and establishing frontier defences. He was an excellent critic
 of military discipline, failing only in this, that while he punished even
 slight offences of the common soldiers, he suffered the serious offences of his
 higher commanders to go to excess, often turning a deaf ear to the complaints
 made against them. The result of this
 was turmoil in Britain, disaster in Africa, and the devastation of
 Illyricum.

In every observance of chastity he was pure
 at home and abroad; he was stained by the foul touch of no obscene feelings or
 lewdness; and for that reason he controlled the wantonness
 of the imperial court as if by a curb; and this course he could easily keep; he
 showed no indulgence to his own kindred, whom he either restrained in
 retirement or honoured with unimportant posts, with the exception of his
 brother, whom, compelled by press of circumstances, he admitted to a share in
 his own eminence.

He was most cautious in bestowing high
 official positions: under his rule no money-changer governed a province, no office was ever sold, except at the beginning
 of his reign, a time when it is usual for some crimes to be committed with
 impunity through reliance on the distractions of a new ruler.

In war, whether offensive or defensive, he
 was most skilful and careful, a veteran in the heat and dust of the
 battlefield. In council he was a foresighted persuader of what was right and a
 dissuader of wrong, most strict in examining all ranks of the military service.
 He wrote a neat hand, was an elegant painter and modeller, and an inventor of
 new kinds of arms. His memory was lively; so was his speech (although he spoke seldom),
 and he was vigorous therein, almost to the point of eloquence. He loved
 neatness, and enjoyed banquets that were choice but not extravagant.

Finally, his reign was distinguished by
 toleration, in that he remained neutral in religious differences neither
 troubling anyone on that ground nor ordering him to reverence this or that. He
 did not bend the necks of his subjects to his own belief by
 threatening edicts, but left such matters undisturbed as he found them.

His strong and muscular body, the gleam of
 his hair, his brilliant complexion, his grey eyes, with a gaze that was always
 sidelong and stern, his fine stature, and his regular features 
 completed a figure of regal charm and majesty.

After the last invocation of the emperor
 his body was prepared for burial, in order to be sent to Constantinople and
 interred among the remains of the deified rulers. Meanwhile the campaign that
 was approaching was suspended, and an uncertain outcome of the situation was
 feared, because of the cohorts serving in Gaul, which were not always of
 devoted loyalty to legitimate emperors, and regarded themselves as arbiters of
 the imperial power; and it was suspected that they might take the opportunity to venture on
 some new step; and this fact added some hopes of attempting a revolution—that
 Gratianus was still at Trier (where his father, when he was on the point of
 beginning his march, had arranged for him to stay) and even then knew nothing
 of what had happened.

When affairs were in
 this critical state, and all were equally in dread, and
 likely to share in whatever dangers that might arise, as if in the same boat,
 it was agreed in accordance with the advice of the
 highest officers, after having torn down the bridge, which they had previously
 built under necessity when invading the enemy's territory, that Merobaudes at
 once should be summoned by order of Valentinian when he
 was still alive.

He, being a sharp-wittedman,
 either guessing what had happened, or perhaps having learned it from the
 messenger who summoned him, and suspecting that the Gallic troops would violate
 the terms of peace, pretended that an order-ticket had been sent to him to
 return with the messenger, in order to guard the banks of the Rhine because the
 barbarians were getting wilder. And Sebastianus, who was still unaware of the
 emperor's death, he sent to a more distant post, which had been secretly
 ordered; for although Sebastianus was a quiet and peace-loving man, he stood in
 high favour with the troops, and hence he was particularly to be feared at that
 time.

Accordingly, after Merobaudes turned back,
 the matter of succession was carefully considered and the plan was unfolded
 that the boy Valentinianus, son of the deceased emperor and then four years old,
 should be summoned and given a share in the rule. He was at the time a hundred
 miles distant, living with his mother Justina at
 the country house called Murocincta.

When
 this had been approved by unanimous consent, the boy's uncle 
 Cerealis was immediately sent to the place, put him in a litter, and brought
 him to the camp; and on the sixth day after the passing of his father he was in
 due form declared emperor, and after the customary manner hailed as Augustus.

And although, while this was being done,
 there was some thought that Gratianus would take it amiss that another emperor
 was chosen without his permission, this fear later vanished and men lived free
 from care, since Gratianus, besides being a kindly and righteous man, loved his
 kinsman with great affection and saw to his education.

Meanwhile Fortune's rapid wheel, which is
 always interchanging adversity and prosperity, armed Bellona in the company of
 her attendant Furies, and transferred to the Orient melancholy events, the
 coming of which was foreshadowed by the clear testimony of omens and portents.

For after many true predictions of seers
 and augurs, dogs leaped back when wolves howled, night birds 
 rang out a kind of doleful lament, the sun rose in gloom and dimmed the clear
 morning light; at Antioch, in quarrels and riots of the common people, it
 became usual that whoever thought that he was suffering wrong shouted without
 restraint: Let Valens be burned alive! and the words of public
 criers were continually heard, directing the people to gather firewood, to set
 fire to the baths of Valens, in the building of which the emperor himself had
 taken such interest.

All this almost in plain
 speech showed that this kind of death 
 threatened him. Furthermore, the ghostly form of the king of Armenia and the
 piteous shades of those who shortly before had been executed in connection with
 the fall of Theodorus, shrieking horrible songs
 at night, in the form of dirges, tormented many with dire terrors.

A heifer was found lying lifeless with its windpipe
 cut, and its death was an indication of great and widespread sorrow from
 funerals of the people. Finally, when the old walls of Chalcedon were torn
 down, in order that a bath might be built at Constantinople, and the rows of
 stones were taken apart, there was found on a squared block hidden in the midst
 of the structure of the wall an inscription containing the following Greek
 verses, clearly revealing what was to happen:

When gaily through the city's festal streets 
 Shall whirl soft maidens in a happy dance, 
 When mournfully a wall shall guard a bath, 
 Then countless hordes of men spread far and wide 
 With warlike arms shall cross clear Istrus' stream 
 To ravage Scythia's fields and Mysia's land. 
 But mad with hope when they Pannonia raid, 
 There battle and life's end their course shall check.

'However, the seed and origin of all the ruin
 and various disasters that the wrath of Mars aroused, putting in turmoil all
 places with unwonted fires, we have found to be this. The people of the Huns,
 but little
 known from ancient records, dwelling beyond the Maeotic Sea near the ice-bound
 ocean, exceed every degree of savagery.

Since
 there the cheeks of the children are deeply furrowed with the steel from
 their very birth, in order that the growth of hair, when it appears at the
 proper time, may be checked by the wrinkled scars, they grow old without beards
 and without any beauty, like eunuchs. They all have compact, strong limbs and
 thick necks, and are so monstrously ugly and misshapen, that one might take
 them for two-legged beasts or for the stumps, rough-hewn into images, that are
 used in putting sides to bridges.

But although they have the form of men,
 however ugly, they are so hardy in their mode of life that they have no need
 of fire nor of savory food, but eat the roots of wild
 plants and the half-raw flesh of any kind of animal whatever, which they put
 between their thighs and the backs of their horses, and thus warm it a little.

They are never protected by any buildings,
 but they avoid these like tombs, which are set apart from everyday use. For not
 even a hut thatched with reed can be found among them. But roaming at large
 amid the mountains and woods, they learn from the cradle to endure cold,
 hunger, and thirst. When away from their homes they never enter a house unless
 compelled by extreme necessity; for they think they are not safe when staying
 under a roof.

They dress in linen cloth or in
 the skins of field-mice sewn together, and they wear the same clothing indoors
 and out. But when they have once put their necks into a faded tunic, it is not
 taken off or changed until by long wear and tear it has been reduced to rags
 and fallen from them bit by bit.

They cover
 their heads with round caps and protect their hairy legs with goatskins; their
 shoes are formed upon no lasts, and so prevent their walking with free step.
 For this reason they are not at all adapted to battles on foot, but they are
 almost glued to their horses, which are hardy, it is true, but ugly, and
 sometimes they sit them woman-fashion and thus perform their ordinary tasks.
 From their horses by night or day every one of that nation buys and sells, eats
 and drinks, and bowed over the narrow neck of the animal relaxes into a sleep
 so deep as to be accompanied by many dreams.

And when deliberation is called for about weighty matters,
 they all consult as a common body in that fashion. They are subject to no royal restraint, but they are
 content with the disorderly government of their important men, and led by them
 they force their way through every obstacle.

They also sometimes fight when provoked, and then they enter the battle drawn
 up in wedge-shaped masses, while their medley of voices makes a savage noise.
 And as they are lightly equipped for swift motion, and unexpected in action,
 they purposely divide suddenly into scattered bands and attack, rushing about
 in disorder here and there, dealing terrific slaughter; and because of their
 extraordinary rapidity of movement they are never seen to attack a rampart or
 pillage an enemy's camp.

And on this account
 you would not hesitate to call them the most terrible of all warriors, because
 they fight from a distance with missiles having sharp bone, instead of their
 usual points, joined to the
 shafts with wonderful skill; then they gallop over the intervening spaces and
 fight hand to hand with swords, regardless of their own lives; and while the
 enemy are guarding against wounds from the sabre-thrusts, they throw strips of
 cloth plaited into nooses over their opponents and so entangle them that they
 fetter their limbs and take from them the power of riding or walking.

No one in their country ever plows a field
 or touches a plow-handle. They are all without fixed abode, without hearth, or
 law, or settled mode of life, and keep roaming from place to place, like
 fugitives, accompanied by the wagons in which they live; in wagons their wives
 weave for them their hideous garments, in wagons they cohabit with their husbands, bear children, and rear them to the age of puberty.
 None of their offspring, when asked, can tell you where he comes from, since he
 was conceived in one place, born far from there, and brought up still farther
 away.

In truces they are faithless and
 unreliable, strongly inclined to sway to the motion of every breeze of new hope
 that presents itself, and sacrificing every feeling to the mad impulse of the
 moment. Like unreasoning beasts, they are utterly ignorant of the difference
 between right and wrong; they are deceitful and ambiguous in speech, never
 bound by any reverence for religion or for superstition. They burn with an
 infinite thirst for gold, and they are so fickle and prone to anger, that they
 often quarrel with their allies without provocation, more than once on the same
 day, and make friends with them again without a mediator.

This race of untamed men, without
 encumbrances, aflame with an inhuman desire for plundering others' property,
 made their violent way amid the rapine and slaughter of the neighbouring
 peoples as far as the Halani, once known as the Massagetae. And since we have
 come to this point, it is in place to tell of the origin and dwelling-place of
 this people also, and to point out the confused opinions of geographers, who
 after many different attempts to deal with the subject have at last come upon
 the core of the truth.

The Hister, filled
 to overflowing by a great number of tributaries, flows past the Sauromatians,
 and these extend as far as the river Tanais, which separates Asia from Europe. On the other side of this river
 the Halani, so called from the mountain
 range of the same name, inhabit the measureless wastes of Scythia; and
 by repeated victories they gradually wore down the peoples whom they met and
 like the Persians incorporated them under their own national name.

Among these the Nervii inhabit the interior of the
 country near the lofty, precipitous peaks nipped by the north winds and
 benumbed with ice and snow. Behind these are the Vidini and the Geloni, exceedingly savage races, who
 strip the skins from their slain enemies to make clothing for themselves and
 coverings for their horses in war. On the
 frontier of the Geloni are the Agathyrsi, who checker their bodies and dye
 their hair with a blue colour —the common people with a few small marks, but the nobles
 with more and broader spots of dye.

Beyond these are the Melanchlaenae
 and the Anthropophagi, who according to report lead a
 nomadic life and feed upon human flesh; and because of this abominable food
 they are left to themselves and all their former neighbours have moved to
 distant parts of the earth. And so the entire north-eastern tract, until one comes to the Seres, has remained uninhabitable.

In another part of the country, near the abodes of
 the Amazons, the Halani mount to the eastward, divided into
 populous and extensive nations; these reach as far as Asia, and, as I have
 heard, stretch all the way to the river Ganges, which flows through the
 territories of India and empties into the southern ocean.

Thus the Halani (whose various peoples it is
 unnecessary now to enumerate) are divided between the two parts of the earth, but
 although widely separated from each other and roaming over vast tracts, as
 Nomads do, yet in the course of time they have united under one name, and are,
 for short, all called Halani because of the similarity in their customs, their
 savage mode of life, and their weapons.

For
 they have no huts and care nothing for using the plowshare, but they live upon
 flesh and an abundance of milk, and dwell in wagons, which they cover with
 rounded canopies of bark and drive over the boundless wastes. And when they
 come to a place rich in grass, they place their carts in a circle and feed like
 wild beasts. As soon as the fodder is used up, they place their cities, as we
 might call them, on the wagons and so convey them: in the wagons the males have
 intercourse with the women, and in the wagons their babes are born and reared;
 wagons form their permanent dwellings, and wherever they come, that place they
 look upon as their natural home.

Driving
 their plow-cattle before them, they pasture them with their flocks, and they
 give particular attention to breeding horses. In that land the fields are
 always green, and here and there are places set thick with fruit trees. Hence,
 wherever they go, they lack neither food for themselves nor
 fodder for their cattle, because of the moist soil and the numerous courses of
 rivers that flow hard by them.

Therefore,
 all those who through age or sex are unfit for war remain close by the wagons
 and are occupied in light tasks; but the young men grow up in the habit of
 riding from their earliest boyhood and regard it as contemptible to go on foot;
 and by various forms of training they are all skilled warriors. From the same
 causes the Persians also, who are Scythians by origin,
 are highly expert in fighting.

Moreover, almost all the Halani are tall and
 handsome, their hair inclines to blond, by the ferocity of their glance they
 inspire dread, subdued though it is. They are light and active in the use of
 arms. In all respects they are somewhat like the Huns, but in their manner of
 life and their habits they are less savage. In their plundering and hunting
 expeditions they roam here and there as far as the Maeotic Sea and the
 Cimmerian Bosporus, and also to Armenia and Media.

Just as quiet and peaceful men find pleasure in rest, so the Halani
 delight in danger and warfare. There the man is judged happy who has sacrificed
 his life in battle, while those who grow old and depart from the world by a
 natural death they assail with bitter reproaches, as degenerate and cowardly;
 and there is nothing in which they take more pride than in killing any man
 whatever: as glorious spoils of the slain they tear off their heads, then strip
 off their skins and hang them upon their war-horses as
 trappings.

No temple or sacred place is to be seen in their country, not even a hut thatched
 with straw can be discerned anywhere, but after the manner of barbarians a
 naked sword is fixed in the ground and they reverently worship it as their god
 of war, the presiding deity of those lands over which they range.

They have a remarkable way of divining the
 future; for they gather very straight twigs of osier and sort them out at an
 appointed time with certain secret incantations, and thus clearly learn what
 impends.

They do not know the meaning of slavery,
 since all are born of noble blood, and moreover they choose as chiefs those men who are conspicuous for long experience as warriors. But
 let us return to what remains of our chosen subject.

The Huns, then, having overrun the
 territories of those Halani (bordering on the Greuthungi) to whom usage has
 given the surname Tanaites, killed and plundered many of them, and joined the
 survivors to themselves in a treaty of alliance; then in company with these
 they made the more boldly a sudden inroad into the extensive and rich cantons
 of Ermenrichus, 
 a most warlike monarch, dreaded by the neighbouring nations
 because of his many and varied deeds of valour.

He was struck with consternation at the violence of this sudden storm; for a
 long time he did his best to maintain a firm and continued stand, but since
 rumour gave wide currency to and exaggerated the horror of the impending
 dangers, he put an end to his fear of these great perils by a voluntary death.

After his demise Vithimiris was made king
 and resisted the Halani for a time, relying on other Huns, whom he had paid to
 take his side. But after many defeats which he sustained, he was overcome by
 force of arms and died in battle. In the name of his little son, Viderichus,
 the management of affairs was undertaken by Alatheus and Saphrax, experienced
 generals known for their courage; but since the stress of circumstances
 compelled them to abandon confidence in resistance, they cautiously retreated
 until they came to the river Danastius, which flows through the wide extent of plain between the
 Hister and the Borysthenes.

On learning of these unexpected events,
 Athanarichus, the chief of the Theruingi (against whom, as has been told
 before, because of aid which he had sent to
 Procopius, Valens had recently taken the field) attempted to stand his ground,
 and if he too should be attacked like the rest, was ready to put forth all his
 strength.

Accordingly, he established his
 camp near the banks of the Danastius, conveniently at some distance from the
 stockade of the Greuthungi, and sent Munderichus, afterwards in charge of the
 frontier throughout Arabia, with Lagarimanus and some other men of high rank,
 to a distance of twenty miles in advance, to observe the
 advance of the enemy, while he himself in the meantime, disturbed by no one,
 was preparing his army for battle.

But the
 result was far other than he expected. For the Huns, who are shrewd in arriving
 at conclusions, suspecting that there was some large force farther off,
 disregarded the troops which they had seen, and who had disposed themselves to
 rest, as if there was nothing to disturb them; then, when the moon broke into
 the darkness of night, they chose what seemed to be the best course, crossed
 the river by a ford, and fearing lest some informer should get ahead of them
 and frighten off the enemy who were at a distance, they made a swift attack on
 Athanaricus himself.

As he was stunned by
 their first onset, they forced him to take speedy refuge in the steep
 mountains, after losing a few of their own men. Athanaricus, troubled by this
 unexpected attack and still more through fear of what might come, had walls
 built high, skirting the lands of the Taifali from the banks of the river
 Gerasus 
 as far as the Danube, thinking that by this hastily but diligently constructed
 barrier his security and safety would be assured.

But while this well-planned work was being pushed on,
 the Huns swiftly fell upon him, and would have crushed him at once on their
 arrival had they not been so loaded down with booty that they gave up the
 attempt.
 Yet when the report spread widely among the other Gothic peoples, that a race
 of men hitherto unknown had now arisen from a hidden nook of the earth, like a
 tempest of snows from the high mountains, and was seizing or destroying
 everything in its way, the greater part of the people, who, 
 worn out by lack of the necessities of life, had deserted Athanaricus, looked
 for a home removed from all knowledge of the savages; and after long
 deliberation what abode to choose they thought that Thrace offered them a
 convenient refuge, for two reasons: both because it has a very fertile soil,
 and because it is separated by the mighty flood of the Hister from the fields
 that were already exposed to the thunderbolts of a foreign war ; and the rest of the
 nation as if with one mind agreed to this plan.

Therefore, under the lead of Alavivus, they took possession of the banks of the Danube, and sending envoys to
 Valens, with humble entreaty begged to be received, promising that they would
 not only lead a peaceful life but would also furnish auxiliaries, if
 circumstances required.

While this was
 happening in foreign parts, terrifying rumours spread abroad that the peoples
 of the north were stirring up new and uncommonly great commotions: that
 throughout the entire region which extends from the Marcomanni and the Quadi to
 the Pontus, a savage horde of unknown peoples, driven from their abodes by
 sudden violence, were roving about the river Hister in scattered bands with their families.

In the very beginning this news was viewed with contempt by our people, because
 wars in those districts were not ordinarily heard of by those living at a
 distance until they were ended or at least quieted for a time.

But when the belief in what had taken place gained
 strength, and was confirmed by the coming of the foreign envoys, who begged
 with prayers and protestations that an exiled race might be received on our
 side of the river, the affair caused more joy than fear; and experienced
 flatterers immoderately praised the good fortune of the prince, which
 unexpectedly brought him so many young recruits from the ends of the earth,
 that by the union of his own and foreign forces he would have an invincible
 army; also that instead of the levy of soldiers which was contributed annually
 by each province, there would accrue to the treasuries a vast amount of gold.

In this expectation various officials were sent with vehicles to transport
 the savage horde, and diligent care was taken that no future destroyer of the
 Roman state should be left behind, even if he were smitten with a fatal
 disease. Accordingly, having by the emperor's permission obtained the privilege
 of crossing the Danube and settling in parts of Thrace, they were ferried over
 for some nights and days embarked by companies in boats, on rafts, and in
 hollowed tree-trunks ; and
 because the river is by far the most dangerous of all and was then swollen by
 frequent rains, some who, because of the great crowd, struggled against the
 force of the waves and tried to swim were drowned; and they were a good
 many.

With such stormy eagerness on the part of
 insistent men was the ruin of the Roman world brought in. This at any rate is
 neither obscure nor uncertain, that the ill-omened officials who ferried the
 barbarian hordes often tried to reckon their number, but gave up their vain
 attempt; as the most distinguished of poets says: 
 Who wishes to know this would wish to know 
 How many grains of sand on Libyan plain 
 By Zephyrus are swept.

Well then, let the old tales revive of
 bringing the Medic hordes to Greece; for while they describe the bridging of
 the Hellespont, the quest of a sea at the foot of Mount Athos by a kind of
 mechanical severing, and the numbering of the
 armies by squadrons at Doriscus, later times have unanimously
 regarded all this as fabulous reading.

For
 after the countless swarms of nations were poured through the provinces,
 spreading over a great extent of plain and filling all regions and every
 mountain height, by this new evidence the trustworthiness also of old stories
 was confirmed. First Fritigern and Alavivus were received, and the emperor gave
 orders that they should be given food for their present needs and fields to
 cultivate.

During this time, when the barriers of our frontier were unlocked and the realm of savagery was
 spreading far and wide columns of armed 
 men like glowing ashes from Aetna, when our difficulties and imminent dangers
 called for military reformers who were most distinguished for the fame of their
 exploits: then it was, as if at the choice of some adverse deity, that men were
 gathered together and given command of armies who bore stained reputations. At
 their head were two rivals in recklessness: one was Lupicinus, commanding
 general in Thrace, the other Maximus, a pernicious leader.

Their treacherous greed was the source of all our
 evils. I say nothing of other crimes which these two men, or at least others
 with their permission, with the worst of motives committed against the foreign
 new-comers, who were as yet blameless; but one melancholy and unheard-of act
 shall be mentioned, of which, even if they were their own judges of their own case, they could not be acquitted by any excuse.

When the barbarians after their crossing
 were harassed by lack of food, those most hateful generals devised a
 disgraceful traffic; they exchanged every dog that their insatiability could
 gather from far and wide for one slave each, and among these were carried off
 also sons of the chieftains.

During these days also Vithericus, king of the Greuthungi, accompanied by Alatheus and
 Saphrax, by whose will he was ruled, and also by Farnobius, coming near to the
 banks of the Danube, hastily sent envoys and besought the emperor that he might be received with like kindness.

When these envoys were rejected, as the interests of
 the state seemed to demand, and were in doubt what course to take,
 Athanarichus, fearing a like fate, departed, remembering that he had some time
 before treated Valens with contempt when they were making a treaty of
 friendship, declaring that he was prevented by conscientious scruples from ever
 setting foot on Roman soil; and by this excuse he had forced the emperor to
 conclude peace in the middle of the river. 
 Fearing that the grudge caused by this still endured, Athanaricus withdrew with
 all his followers to Caucalanda, a place inaccessible because of high mountains
 and deep forests, from which he first drove out the Sarmatians.

But now the Theruingi, who had long since
 been permitted to cross, were still roaming about near the banks of the river,
 detained by a twofold obstacle, both because, through the ruinous negligence
 of the generals, they were not supplied with the necessaries of
 life, and also because they were purposely held back by an abominable kind of
 traffic.

When this became clear to them, they muttered
 that they were being forced to disloyalty as a remedy for the evils that
 threatened them, and Lupicinus, fearing that they might soon revolt, sent
 soldiers and compelled them to move out more quickly.

The Greuthungi took advantage of this
 favourable opportunity, and when they saw that our soldiers were busy
 elsewhere, and that the boats that usually went up and down the river and
 prevented them from crossing were inactive, they passed over the stream in
 badly made craft and pitched their camp at a long distance from Fritigern.

But he with his natural cleverness in
 foresight protecting himself against anything that might happen, in order to
 obey the emperor's commands and at the same time join with the powerful Gothic
 kings, advanced slowly and in leisurely marches arrived late at Marcianopolis.
 There another, and more atrocious, thing was done, which kindled the frightful
 torches that were to burn for the destruction of the state.

Having invited Alavivus and Fritigern to a
 dinner-party, Lupicinus posted soldiers against the main body of the barbarians
 and kept them at a distance from the walls of the town; and when they asked
 with continual entreaties that they might, as friendly people submissive to our
 rule, be allowed to enter and obtain what they needed for food, great wrangling
 arose between the inhabitants and those who were shut out, which finally
 reached a point where fighting was inevitable. Whereupon the barbarians,
 becoming wildly excited when they perceived that some of their kindred were
 being carried off by force, killed and despoiled a great troop of soldiers.

When the aforesaid Lupicinus learned by a
 secret message that this had happened, while he had long been reclining at the
 prodigal 
 table amid noisy entertainments and was drowsy and half drunk, guessing what
 the outcome would be, he put to death all the attendants of
 the two leaders, who as a guard of honour and to ensure their safety, were
 waiting for them before the general's quarters.

When the people who were besieging the walls heard this news, in their
 resentment they gradually increased their number to avenge their kings, who, as
 they thought, had been detained by force; and they uttered many savage threats.
 And since Fritigern was quickwitted and feared that he might be held with the
 rest as a hostage, he cried out that they would have to fight with heavy loss
 of life, unless he himself were allowed to go out with his companions to quiet
 the people, who, believing that their leaders had been slain under pretence of
 friendly entertainment, had blazed out into turbulence. And when this request
 was granted, they all departed. They were received with applause and
 rejoicing, and mounting horses hastened away, to set in motion the various
 incitements that lead to wars.

When report,
 that spiteful nurse of rumours, spread abroad what had happened, the whole
 nation of the Theruingi was fired with ardour for battle, and amid many fearful
 scenes, portentous of extreme dangers, after the standards had been raised
 according to their custom and the doleful sound of the trumpets had been heard,
 predatory bands were already rushing about, pillaging and burning the
 country-houses and making whatever places they could find a confusion of awful
 devastation.

Against them Lupicinus mustered all his
 soldiers in tumultuous speed, and advancing with more haste than discretion,
 halted nine miles from the city, ready to join battle. On seeing this the barbarians rushed recklessly on crowds of our men, dashed their shield's upon opponents'
 bodies, and with lance and sword ran through those who opposed them. And in the
 press of mad and bloody strife the tribunes and the greater part of the army
 perished, with the loss of their standards, except for their ill-omened leader,
 who, intent only upon saving himself by flight while the others were fighting,
 made for the town in hot haste. After this the enemy put on the Romans' arms
 and ranged about, devastating sundry places without opposition.

And since after many events the narrative
 has reached this point, I earnestly entreat my readers (if I ever have any) not
 to demand of me a strictly accurate account of what happened or the exact
 number of the slain, which there was no way of finding out. For it will be
 enough to describe simply the main points of events, without concealing the
 truth through any false statement, since faithful honesty is ever a requisite
 in giving an historical account.

Those who
 are unacquainted with ancient records say that the state was never before
 overspread by such a dark cloud of misfortune, but they are deceived by the
 horror of the recent ills which have overwhelmed them. For if they study
 earlier times or those which have recently passed, these will show that such
 dire disturbances have often happened. 12. The
 Teutones with the Cimbri, coming from unknown parts of the
 ocean, suddenly overflowed Italy, but after inflicting enormous disasters on
 our country, in the final battles they were overcome by our great generals, and
 being destroyed root and branch, they learned from the uttermost perils what
 warlike might combined with prudent discipline can accomplish.

Again, when Marcus was ruling the empire, the united
 madness of different tribes, after endless alarms of war, after the woes of
 captured and plundered cities, after the destruction of forces shaken by the
 death of their able leader, would have left only a small part of them
 unscathed.

But after calamitous losses the state was
 presently restored to its former condition, because the temperance of old times
 was not yet infected by the effeminacy of a more licentious mode of life, and
 did not crave extravagant feasts or shameful gains; but high and low alike with
 united ardour and in agreement hastened to a noble death for their country, as
 if to some quiet and peaceful haven.

Swarms of the Scythian peoples with two
 thousand ships broke through the Bosporus and the
 shores of the Propontis, and after crossing inflicted bitter losses by land and
 sea; but they lost the greater part of their number and were obliged to
 retreat.

Emperor Decius and Decius his son
 fell in battle with the barbarians. The
 cities of Pamphylia were beleaguered, very many islands laid waste, all Macedonia was given to the flames; for a long time
 the horde laid siege to Thessalonica and to Cyzicus as well. Anchialos was taken, and at
 the same time Nicopolis, which the emperor Trajan founded to commemorate his
 victory over the Dacians.

After many
 disasters had been suffered and many cruel calamities had been inflicted,
 Philippopolis was destroyed and
 a hundred thousand people (unless the histories are false) were butchered
 within her walls. Foreign foes roamed at will over Epirus, Thessaly and the
 whole of Greece; but after the illustrious general Claudius became emperor and
 after he had been snatched from us by a noble death, they were
 driven out by Aurelian, a vigorous man and a
 severe avenger of their sins, and remained quiet for long ages, except that
 afterwards single bands of robbers made raids into the neighbouring regions,
 but very rarely and to their own destruction. But let me go on with the
 narrative from which I digressed.

When this series of events was noised abroad
 by one message coming after another, Sueridus and Colias, Gothic chieftains,
 who had long since been received with their peoples and
 assigned to keep winter quarters at Hadrianopolis, considering their own
 welfare the most important thing of all, looked with indifference on all that
 took place.

But when on a sudden a letter
 came from the emperor, in which they were ordered to cross to Hellespontus,
 without any arrogance they asked for money for the journey, food, and a
 postponement of two days. At this the chief magistrate of the city was vexed—for he was
 incensed at them besides, because of the pillaging of his own property in his
 suburban villa; so he brought out and armed for their destruction all the
 lowest of the populace, along with the Armourers, of whom there is a large
 force there, 
 and ordering the horns to sound the alarm, threatened them all with the utmost
 punishment, if they did not leave at once, as had been ordered.

The Goths, shocked by this unexpected ill-treatment,
 and alarmed by the attack of the citizens, rather excited than well-considered,
 remained immovable; but when they were finally driven desperate by curses and
 abuse, and a few missiles were hurled at them, they broke out into open
 rebellion. They slew very many citizens, whom their too impudent attack had
 entrapped, and put to flight the rest, wounding them with various kinds of
 weapons. Then, plundering the dead bodies and arming themselves in the Roman
 equipment, they joined forces with Fritigern, whom they saw to be near at hand,
 as compliant allies, and beleaguered the city. visiting it with all the horrors
 of a siege. Remaining in this difficult situation for some time, they made
 scattered and promiscuous attacks; the conspicuous audacity of some perished
 unavenged, and many lost their lives from arrows or from
 stones whirled from slings.

Then Fritigern,
 seeing that his men, being inexperienced in conducting a siege, were carrying
 on the struggle with such loss of life, left a sufficient force there and
 persuaded the rest to go away without finishing the task; he reminded them that
 he kept peace with walls and advised them to attack and devastate the rich and
 fruitful parts of the country, which were still without protectors and could be
 pillaged without any danger.

They approved
 the counsel of the king, who they knew would be an active participator in the
 plan, and advancing cautiously they spread over every quarter of Thrace, while
 their prisoners or those who surrendered to them pointed out the rich villages,
 especially those in which it was said that abundant supplies of food were to be
 found. Besides their native self-confidence, they were encouraged especially by
 this help, that day by day great numbers of their countrymen flocked to them,
 including those who had been sold some time before by the traders, as well as
 many other persons, whom those who were half-dead with hunger when they first
 crossed into the country had bartered for a drink of bad wine or bits of the
 poorest of bread.

Besides these there were
 not a few who were expert in following out veins of gold, and who could no longer endure the heavy burden of
 taxes; these were welcomed with the glad consent of all, and rendered great
 service to the same, as they wandered through strange places, by pointing out
 hidden stores of grain, and the secret refuges and hiding-places of the
 inhabitants.

With such guides nothing that
 was not inaccessible and out of the way remained untouched.
 For without distinction of age or sex all places were ablaze with slaughter and
 great fires, sucklings were torn from the very breasts of their mothers and
 slain, matrons and widows whose husbands had been killed before their eyes were
 carried off, boys of tender or adult age were dragged away over the dead bodies
 of their parents.

Finally many aged men,
 crying that they had lived long enough after losing their possessions and their
 beautiful women, were led into exile with their arms pinioned behind their
 backs, and weeping over the glowing ashes of their ancestral homes.

This news, received from Thrace with great
 sorrow, distracted the emperor Valens with manifold cares. He quickly sent
 Victor, commander of the cavalry, to Persia, that he might, in view of great
 impending dangers, arrange about the status of Armenia 
 ; he himself, planning to leave Antioch at once and go to Constantinople in the
 meantime, sent on in advance Profuturus and Trajanus, both generals who had
 high aspirations, but were unfit for war.

When these men had come to places where it was more fitting in small divisions
 to diminish the enemy's numbers by stealthy and guerilla warfare, they turned
 to the ruinous and untimely plan of opposing to the barbarians, who were still
 breathing out madness, the legions brought from Armenia; these had indeed often
 given a good account of themselves in warfare, but were no
 match for the countless horde that had taken possession of the mountain heights
 as well as the plains.

These troops, who had
 not yet learned the power of unbridled madness combined with desperation, drove
 the enemy beyond the precipitous crags of Mount Haemus and forced them into the
 steep defiles, in order that shut up in deserted and solitary places, and
 finding nowhere an outlet, they might be worn out by long continued hunger;
 they themselves in the meantime would await the coming of the general
 Frigeridus, who was on his way with the Pannonian and the transalpine
 auxiliaries, since Gratian, at Valens' request, had directed him to take the
 field and bear aid to those who were harassed to the point of utter
 destruction.

After him Richomeres, then commander of the household troops, who had been moved from
 Gaul, also at the order of Gratian, hastened to Thrace at the head of some
 so-called cohorts, of which the greater part had deserted,
 induced (as some maintained) by Merobaudes, who feared that if Gaul
 should be deprived of its defences, it would be laid waste at will by raids
 from across the Rhine.

But since Frigeridus
 was disabled by an attack of gout, or at any rate, as his envious detractors
 alleged, feigned illness in order to avoid taking part in the hot contests,
 Richomeres by common consent took command of the whole force, and was joined by
 Profuturus and Trajanus, who were encamped near the town of
 Salices. Not far from there a countless mass of the barbarians
 had arranged their numerous wagons in the form of a circle, and as if enclosed
 in a space between city-walls, were enjoying their rich booty at their
 ease.

The Roman leaders, therefore, led by hopes
 for a more favourable turn of affairs, and intending to dare some glorious deed
 when chance brought the opportunity, were keenly watching for any movement that
 the Goths might attempt; making ready of course for this, that in case the
 enemy moved their camp to any other place, as they very frequently did, they
 might attack the hindermost in the rear, kill many of them with their pikes,
 and appropriate a great part of their spoils.

When the Goths perceived this, or were informed by the reports of deserters,
 through whom everything was made known to them, they remained for a long time
 in the same position. But overwhelmed with fear of the opposing army, and of
 the additional soldiers that they now expected to flock to it, by means of the
 message used by their race they summoned the predatory bands scattered over various places near
 by; these at once, in obedience to the orders of their chiefs, like fire-darts,
 returned with winged speed to
 their wagon city (as they themselves call it) and gave
 their countrymen an incentive to greater deeds of daring.

After this there was no rest for either side except
 for a short armistice. For upon the return of those whom necessity had called
 forth, the whole multitude, even then crowded within the
 ring of their defences, with frightful outcries and roused by their furious
 mood were all in haste with headlong eagerness to try the extremest dangers;
 and the chiefs of the nation who were present were in accord with them. But
 since these things took place when it was nearly sundown, and the coming of
 night kept them quiet against their wills and in sorrow, they took food at
 leisure, but remained sleepless.

For their
 part the Romans, on learning this, also spent the night without sleep, because
 they feared the enemy and their insane leaders as they might fear madly raging
 beasts; and although the outcome was doubtful, since they were considerably
 fewer in number, yet because of the greater justice of their cause they looked
 for success with unterrified minds.

Therefore the light of day had hardly
 appeared, when the trumpets on both sides sounded the call to take up arms, and
 the barbarians, after taking oath together according to their custom, tried to
 reach the heights, in order that from there by a swift rush down the slope like
 so many rollers they might overwhelm all before them. On seeing this, our
 soldiers hastened each to his own company, where they stood fast without moving
 about or leaving the ranks and rushing forward.

So, when both armies after advancing cautiously remained unmoved,
 the opposing warriors stared at each other with savage and sidelong glances.
 The Romans in unison sounded their war-cry, as usual rising from a low to a
 louder tone, of which the national name is barritus, 
 and thus roused
 themselves to mighty strength. But the barbarians sounded the glories of their
 forefathers with wild shouts, and amid this discordant
 clamour of different languages skirmishes were first tried.

And now, after attacking each other from a distance
 with javelins and other missiles, they came together menacingly for a
 hand-to-hand conflict; the shields were fixed side to side in the form of a
 tortoise-shed, and they stood foot to foot. The barbarians, who are always
 alert and nimble, threw at our men huge clubs, hardened in the fire, and ran their swords
 through the breasts of those who showed most resistance; thus they broke
 through the left wing. When this gave way, a strong troop of reserves bravely
 hastened to their aid from near at hand, and rallied them when death already
 sat upon their necks.

Then the battle grew
 hot and the slaughter was great; all the more active rushed into the thick of
 the fray and met their death from the arrows that flew like hail, or from the
 swords. Those who fled were pursued on this side and on that by troops of
 cavalry, who with mighty strength slashed at their heads and backs; and
 likewise on both sides by foot soldiers, hamstringing those who were in the
 toils of fear and had fallen.

And while the whole battlefield was
 covered with corpses, some were lying among them who were mortally wounded, and
 cherished a vain hope of life; some were smitten with a bullet from a sling or
 pierced with arrows tipped with iron; the heads of others were split through
 mid forehead and crown with swords and hung down on both shoulders, a most
 horrible sight.

But not yet wearied bythe
 obstinate struggle, both sides continued to assail each other without a
 decision, and felt no diminution at all of their native
 hardihood, so long as eager courage kept up their strength. But at last day
 gave way to evening and ended the murderous contests, and withdrawing in
 disorder wherever each one could, all the survivors returned in sorrow to their
 tents.

Finally, some of the dead, who were
 men of distinction, were buried in such manner as the present circumstances
 allowed; the bodies of the rest of the slain were devoured by the foul birds
 that are wont at such a time to feed upon corpses, as is shown by the plains
 even now white with bones. However,
 while it is a fact that the Romans, who, far fewer in number, struggled with
 that vast multitude, suffered great losses, yet lamentable was the distress
 with which they afflicted the barbarian horde.

When these disasters of battle were thus
 mournfully ended, our men sought retreat in the neighbouring city of
 Marcianopolis. The Goths, of their own accord, crowded within the winding line
 of wagons, did not venture to come out or show themselves for seven days, and
 our soldiers, having thus found an opportunity, shut in the other huge hordes
 of barbarians within the narrow passes of the Haemus range by building high
 barriers. They doubtless hoped that the dangerous mass of enemies, crowded
 together between the Hister and the waste places, and finding no way out, would perish from lack of food; for all the necessities of life
 had been taken to the strong cities, none of which the enemy even then
 attempted to besiege because of their complete ignorance of these and other
 operations of the kind.

After this Richomeres returned to Gaul, in order to bring aid from there because
 there was expectation of still greater tumult of war. All this took place in
 the consulships of Gratian and Merobaudes, the former for the fourth time,
 towards the coming of autumn.

Meanwhile Valens, on hearing of the sad
 results of the war and the pillage, sent Saturninus, who was temporarily given
 command of the cavalry, to render aid to Trajanus and Profuturus.

And it chanced at that same time, since everything
 that could serve as food throughout the lands of Scythia and Moesia had been
 used up, that the barbarians, driven alike by ferocity and hunger, strove with
 all their might to break out. And when after many attempts they were
 overwhelmed by the vigour of our men, who strongly opposed them amid the rugged
 heights, compelled by dire necessity they gained an alliance with some of the
 Huns and Halani by holding out the hope of immense booty.

As soon as Saturninus heard of this—for he
 had already arrived and was arranging a line of outposts and field pickets
 —he gradually gathered his forces together and
 prepared to retreat; his plan was not a foolish one-namely that suddenly the
 mass of barbarians, like a river that has burst its barriers and rushes forth
 with an awful drive of waters, might not with slight difficulty whirl to
 destruction one and all while keenly watching the points of 
 danger.

But scarcely were the passes open and
 our men conveniently gone, when the imprisoned barbarians, in disorder,
 wherever each man found no opposition, pressed on to set all in confusion; and
 unhindered they spread devastation over all the wide plains of Thrace,
 beginning at the very regions past which the Hister flows, and filling the
 whole country, as far as Rhodope and the strait which separates
 two great seas, with a most foul confusion of
 robbery, murder, bloodshed, fires, and shameful violation of the bodies of
 freemen.

Then there were to be seen and to
 lament acts most frightful to see and to describe: women driven along by
 cracking whips, and stupified with fear, still heavy with their unborn
 children, which before coming into the world endured many horrors; little
 children too clinging to their mothers. Then could be heard the laments of
 high-born boys and maidens, whose hands were fettered incruel captivity.

Behind these were led last of all grown-up
 girls and chaste wives, weeping and with downcast faces, longing even by a
 death of torment to forestall the imminent violation of their modesty. Among
 these was a freeborn man, not long ago rich and independent, dragged along like
 some wild beast and railing at thee, Fortune, as merciless and blind, since
 thou hadst in a brief moment deprived him of his possessions, and of the sweet
 society of his dear ones; had driven him from his home, which he saw fallen to
 ashes and ruins, and sacrificed him to a bloodthirsty victor, either to be torn
 limb from limb or amid blows and tortures to serve as a slave.

The barbarians, however, like savage beasts
 that had broken their cages, poured raging over the wide extent of Thrace and
 made for a town called Dibaltum, where they found
 Barzimeres, tribune of the targeteers, a leader experienced in the dust of
 warfare, with his own men, the Cornuti, and
 other companies of infantry, and fell upon him just as he was pitching his
 camp.

He at once, as the exigency of
 imminent destruction compelled him, ordered the trumpet to sound the attack,
 and having protected his flanks, charged out at the head of his brave soldiers,
 who were ready and armed for battle; and by his valiant resistance he would
 have withdrawn on equal terms, had not the charge of a large force of cavalry
 surrounded him when he was breathless from fatigue. And so he fell, after
 having slain not a few of the barbarians, whose losses were concealed by their
 great numbers.

After accomplishing this as related, the
 Goths, uncertain what to try next, sought for Frigeridus, with the intention of
 extirpating him, when they found him, as a powerful obstacle in their way; and
 after taking better food than usual and sleeping for a short time, they
 followed his trail like wild beasts; for they had learned that at Gratian's
 advice he had returned to Thrace, and, having constructed a
 fortification near Beroea, was watching the uncertain outcome of events.

And they indeed in rapid march hastened to the
 execution of their design. But he, knowing how both to command his soldiers and
 to preserve them, either suspected their purpose or had plain information of it
 from the report of the scouts that he had sent out; so he returned over lofty
 mountains and through dense forests to Illyricum, much uplifted in spirit by
 the passing great opportunity which an unhoped-for chance put in his way.

For while he was returning and, massed into wedge-formations, slowly
 advancing, he came upon the Gothic chieftain Farnobius, who was freely ranging
 about with his predatory bands and leading the Taifali, whom he had lately
 received as allies. Since our people (if it is proper to say so) through fear
 of these unknown peoples had dispersed, they crossed the river, intending to
 pillage the unprotected country.

When their
 bands suddenly came in sight, our careful leader prepared for a hand-to-hand
 conflict and opened an attack upon these marauders of both nations, which even
 then were threatening cruel carnage; he killed a large number and he would have
 slaughtered them all to the last man, leaving not even anyone to report the
 disaster, had he not, after the fall of Farnobius, before this a dreaded
 inciter of turmoil, and many others with him, spared the survivors in response
 to their earnest entreaties. But though he spared their 
 lives, he banished them to the neighbourhood of Mutina, Regium, and Parma,
 towns in Italy, where they were to work in the fields.

We have learned that these Taifali were a shameful
 folk, so sunken in a life of shame and obscenity, that in their country the
 boys are coupled with the men in a union of unmentionable lust, to consume the
 flower of their youth in the polluted intercourse of those paramours. We may
 add that, if any grown person alone catches a boar or kills a huge bear, he is
 purified thereby from the shame of unchastity.

This is what, throughout Thrace, the
 destructive storms of affairs swept together as autumn was verging upon winter. And
 this madness of the times, as if the Furies were stirring up the whole world,
 spread widely and made its way also to distant regions.

And now the Lentienses, an Alamannic race bordering
 on Raetia, by treacherous raids broke the treaty which had long since been
 concluded with them and made an
 attempt upon our frontier; the ruinous beginning of this disaster was the
 following occurrence.

One of their nation,
 who was serving among the emperor's armour-bearers, returned to his home
 because of pressing business, and being a loose talker, when many asked him
 what was going on in the palace, he told them that Gratian,
 summoned by his uncle Valens, would presently march towards the Orient, in
 order that with doubled forces he might repel the peoples dwelling on the
 border, who had conspired to destroy the Roman state.

The Lentienses greedily seized upon this information, and, looking
 on these acts from the point of view of neighbours of the frontier, and being
 swift and hasty in action, they formed themselves into predatory bands, and in
 the month of February tried to cross the Rhine, which was sufficiently frozen over to be passable.
 But the Celts, who were encamped near by with the Petulantes, with mighty
 strength turned them back with great slaughter, yet not without loss to
 themselves.

But although the Germans were
 forced to retire, being aware that the greater part of the army had gone ahead
 to Illyricum, where the emperor was soon expected to appear, they were fired
 with hotter rage; and planning still greater enterprises, they gathered into
 one place the inhabitants of all the villages, and with forty thousand armed
 men, or seventy thousand, as some boasted in order to exaggerate the emperor's
 glory, full of pride and confidence broke into our territory.

Gratian learned of this with great alarm,
 recalled the cohorts which he had sent on into Pannonia, brought together the
 others, which wise policy had kept in Gaul, and gave the command to Nannienus,
 
 a leader of valour and discretion; but he joined with him as
 a colleague of equal rank Mallobaudes, commander of the household troops and
 king of the Franks, a brave man, always ready for fighting.

Accordingly, while Nannienus weighed the changeable events of fortune
 and hence believed that they ought to act deliberately, Mallobaudes, carried
 away (as usual) by his strong eagerness for battle and impatient of
 postponement, was tormented with longing to go against the foe.

Therefore, when from the opposite side the terrifying
 battle-cry was heard, the signal was given by the horn-blowers and the battle
 began at Argentaria; and many were struck
 down on both sides by wounds from flying arrows and javelins.

But in the very heat of the fight, our soldiers,
 seeing the countless numbers of the enemy, and avoiding combat in the open.
 dispersed as best they could over the narrow pastures 
 planted with trees, and presently stood their ground with greater confidence;
 and gleaming with like 
 resplendence and brilliance of arms when seen from afar, they struck the
 barbarians with fear that the emperor was coming.

So the enemy turned in flight, sometimes however resisting, that
 they might not lose their last chance of safety; but they were so thoroughly
 defeated that from the above mentioned number it was estimated that not more
 than five thousand escaped under cover of the thick woods, and among other bold
 and brave men King Priarius also, the inciter of the deadly battles, was
 killed.

Gratian, filled with confidence at this
 happy success, and being already on his way to the regions of the east, turned his line of march to the left, secretly crossed the Rhine,
 and spurred on the more by sanguine hope, determined, if fortune favoured his
 attempt, utterly to destroy a race faithless and greedy for trouble.

When one urgent message after another brought this
 news to the Lentienses, who were almost annihilated by the disasters to their
 people and were stunned by the emperor's sudden arrival, they were in doubt
 what plan to adopt; and since they could find no respite, however short, from
 fighting, nor from any action or effort, in swift course they made for the
 hills, which were beset by pathless crags. There, taking their place round
 about on the sheer rocks, they tried to defend their possessions and their dear
 wives and children, whom they had brought with them, with all the strength that
 they possessed.

After consideration of the
 difficult situation, five hundred soldiers who were approved by experience as
 prudent in battle were selected from each legion, to be opposed to obstacles
 like those of city walls. Their confident spirit was all the greater because
 the emperor was seen actively engaged in the foremost ranks, and they strove to
 scale the mountains, expecting that if they should set foot on the higher
 places, they would at once and without a struggle carry them off, as if they
 were booty taken in the chase. But the battle, which began towards midday, was
 even overtaken by the darkness of night.

Both sides indeed suffered severe losses; our men slew many, but not a few of
 their own number fell, and at the same time the armour of the imperial guard,
 gleaming with gold and bright colours, was shattered by the
 heavy missiles 
 thickly cast upon it.

Then, after long conference with the men of
 highest rank, Gratian thought it dangerous and fruitless to struggle with
 untimely obstinacy against rugged jutting heights; opinions varied greatly, as
 was natural in such circumstances, but it was finally decided that, with the
 soldiers at rest, the barbarians should be shut in on all sides and exhausted
 by famine, since they were protected by the unevenness of the ground.

But when the Germans resisted with the
 same persistence, and, being acquainted with the country, made for other
 mountains, higher than those which they had occupied before, the emperor
 wheeled in that direction with his army, and with the same courage as before
 sought to find paths leading to the heights.

When the Lentienses perceived that he was determined with most earnest
 persistence to have their lives, they obtained mercy as the result of humble
 supplications, and surrendered; then giving their strong young manhood (as they
 were ordered) to be mingled with our recruits, they were allowed to go without
 punishment to their native lands.

Incredibly great energy and conspicuous
 rapidity were shown by Gratian, while he was hastening in another direction,
 when through the favour of the eternal deity he won this victory, which was at
 once seasonable and profitable, since it tamed the western nations. He was a
 young man of spendid character, eloquent, self-restrained, war-like, and
 merciful, and was already on his way to rivalry with the most distinguished
 emperors while yet a comely down was creeping over his
 cheeks, had not his natural inclination for unbecoming conduct, which was given
 free rein by his intimates, turned him to the frivolous pursuits of the emperor
 Commodus, although without that prince's thirst for blood.

For as that emperor felt superhuman exultation
 because he so often killed a great number of wild animals with javelins in the
 presence of the people, and slaughtered with various kinds of weapons in the
 arena of the amphitheatre a hundred lions that were let in together, without
 needing to inflict a second wound, just so Gratian also, while he pierced
 sharptoothed beasts with many an arrow-shot within the enclosures which are
 called vivaria, 
 neglected as of little moment
 many serious occurrences; and that too at a time when, even if Marcus Antoninus
 had been emperor, he could not without like-minded colleagues and most prudent
 counsel have mitigated the grievous disasters to our country.

Gratian, then, after making the arrangements
 which affairs and policy throughout Gaul demanded according to the trend of the
 times, and punishing the traitorous targeteer who had revealed to the
 barbarians that the emperor was hurrying to Illyricum, hastened next to go by
 long marches past the castle called Felix Arbor and past Lauriacum, to bring aid to the hard-pressed part of the country.

At that same time Frigeridus, who was
 carefully making many useful plans for the general security, and was hastening
 to fortify the pass of Succi, in
 order that the roving light-armed bands of the enemy might
 not, like torrents swollen by melting snow, roam at large over the northern
 provinces, was given a successor in the person of a general called Maurus,
 notoriously venal under a pretence of boldness, and changeable and unreliable
 in all his conduct. He it was who (as I have told in my narrative of previous
 events) when Caesar Julian was in doubt about the
 crown to be put upon his head, with haughty cleverness took off his neck-chain
 and boldly offered it to him for the purpose, being at the time one of Julian's
 bodyguard.

Thus even in the dizzy whirl of
 disasters a careful and active leader was removed,
 whereas he should have been recalled to active service at the demand of such
 important affairs, even if he had long since retired to a peaceful life.

It chanced that at that time Valens was at
 last called forth from Antioch, and after making the long journey arrived at
 Constantinople, where his stay was for only a very few days, 
 and he was disturbed by a slight outbreak of the populace. He gave the command
 of the infantry, which Trajanus had formerly held, to Sebastianus, a leader of
 recognized vigilance, who had shortly before been sent from Italy at his own
 request. He himself went to
 the imperial villa Melanthias and tried to win the favour
 of the soldiers by pay, supplies, and many flattering words.

Having commanded a march from there by written order,
 he came to the military post called Nice, where he learned
 from the report of scouts that the barbarians, laden with rich spoils, had
 returned from the lands at the foot of Rhodope to the neighbourhood of
 Hadrianopolis; they, on hearing that the emperor was on the march with a large
 force, were hastening to join their countrymen, who were staying in a permanent
 garrison near Beroea and Nicopolis. At once, as timeliness of the offered
 opportunity demanded, Sebastianus had been directed to choose three hundred
 soldiers from each legion and hasten to the spot, to do, as he promised,
 something advantageous to the state.

He
 advanced by rapid marches until he was seen near Hadrianopolis, when the gates
 were strongly barred, and he was not allowed to approach them; for the besieged
 feared that he came as one who had been captured by the enemy, and won over to
 their side, and some harm might be caused to the city; such as had happened
 through the general Acacius, when the troops of Magnentius had captured him by
 treachery, and brought about the opening of the fastnesses of the Julian Alps.

However, when Sebastianus was recognized,
 although late, and allowed to enter the city, his men were refreshed with such
 food and rest as were available; and on the following
 morning he sallied forth in secret haste. Just as evening was coming on some
 predatory bands of Goths suddenly came in sight near the river Hebrus,
 whereupon Sebastianus remained hidden for a time behind mounds and thickets;
 and when it was dark night he advanced with light step and fell upon them in
 their sleep, inflicting such a defeat upon them that all the rest perished
 except a few, whom swiftness of foot saved from death. He brought back
 countless booty, which was too great to be contained in the city and the broad
 plain about it.

Fritigern was greatly alarmed
 by this stroke, and feared lest the general, whom he had always heard to be
 successful, 
 might make an unexpected attack upon his scattered and heedless bands, which
 were intent only upon pillage, and utterly destroy them; he therefore recalled
 all his men to the vicinity of the town of Cabyle and quickly left that
 neighbourhood, in order that his people, by living in the open plains, might
 not suffer from famine or from secret attacks.

While this was going on in Thrace, Gratian,
 having informed his uncle by letter with what energy he had overthrown the
 Alamanni, sent on ahead by land all his baggage and packs, and descending the
 Danube with a band of light-armed troops, came to Bononia and
 entered Sirmium. Having delayed there for four days, he went on over the same
 river to the Camp of Mars, although attacked by intermittent
 fevers. In that region the Halani unexpectedly fell upon him, and he lost a few
 of his followers.

In those same days Valens was troubled for
 two reasons: first, by the news that the Lentienses had been defeated;
 secondly, because Sebastianus wrote from time to time exaggerating his
 exploits. He therefore marched forth from Melanthias, being eager to do some
 glorious deed to equal his young nephew, whose valiant exploits consumed him
 with envy. He had under his command a force made up of
 varying elements, but one neither contemptible, nor unwarlike; for he had
 joined with them also a large number of veterans, among whom were other
 officers of high rank and Trajanus, shortly before a commander-in-chief, whom
 he had recalled to active service.

And since
 it was learned from careful reconnoitring that the enemy were planning with
 strong guards to block the roads over which the necessary supplies were being
 brought, he tried competently to frustrate this attempt by quickly sending an
 infantry troop of bowmen and a squadron of cavalry, in order to secure the
 advantages of the narrow passes, which were near by.

During the next three days, when the barbarians, advancing at a slow
 pace and through unfrequented places, since they feared a sally, were fifteen
 miles distant from the city, and were making for
 the station of Nice, through some
 mistake or other the emperor was assured by his skirmishers that all that part
 of the enemy's horde which they had seen consisted of only ten thousand men, and carried away by a kind of rash ardour, he determined to
 attack them at once.

Accordingly, advancing
 in square formation, he came to the vicinity of a suburb of Hadrianopolis, where he made a strong
 rampart of stakes, surrounded by a moat, and impatiently waited for Gratian;
 there he received Richomeres, general of the household troops, sent in advance
 by Gratian with a letter, in which he said that he himself also would soon be
 there.

Since the contents besought him to
 wait a while for the partner in his dangers, and not rashly to expose himself
 alone to serious perils, Valens called a council of various of his higher
 officers and considered what ought to be done.

And while some, influenced by Sebastianus, urged him to give battle at once,
 the man called Victor, a commander of
 cavalry, a Sarmatian by birth, but foresighted and careful, with the support of many others recommended
 that his imperial colleague be awaited, so that, strengthened by the addition
 of the Gallic army, he might the more easily crush the fiery over-confidence of
 the barbarians.

However, the fatal insistence
 of the emperor prevailed, supported by the flattering opinion of some of his
 courtiers, who urged him to make all haste in order that Gratian might not have
 a share in the victory which (as they represented) was already all but won.

While the necessary preparations for the
 decisive battle were going on, a Christian presbyter (to
 use their own term), who had been sent by Fritigem as an envoy, in company with
 some humble folk came to the emperor's camp. He was
 courteously received and presented a letter from the same chieftain, openly
 requesting that to him and his people, whom the rapid forays of savage races
 had made exiles from their native lands, Thrace only should be granted as a
 habitation, with all its flocks and crops; and they promised lasting peace if
 this request were granted.

Besides this the
 aforesaid Christian, apparently a confidant and trusted friend of Fritigern,
 presented also a private letter of the same king, who, all too
 skilled in craft and in various forms of deception, informed Valens, pretending
 that he hoped soon to be his friend and ally, that he could not tame the
 savagery of his people, or entice them to adopt conditions favourable to the
 Roman state, unless the emperor should from time to time show them near at hand
 his army ready for battle, and through the fear aroused by the imperial name
 check their destructive eagerness for war. But as to the envoys, their
 sincerity was doubted, and they left without accomplishing their purpose.

But on the dawn of that day which is
 numbered in the calendar as the fifth before the Ides of August the army began its march with extreme haste, leaving all its
 baggage and packs near the walls of Hadrianopolis with a suitable guard of
 legions; for the treasury, and the insignia of imperial dignity besides,
 with the prefect
 and the emperor's council, were
 kept within the circuit of the walls.

So
 after hastening a long distance over rough ground, while the hot day was
 advancing towards noon, finally at the eighth hour they saw the wagons of the enemy,
 which, as the report of the scouts had declared, were arranged in the form of a
 perfect circle. And while
 the barbarian soldiers, according to their custom, uttered savage and dismal
 howls, the Roman leaders so drew up their line of battle that the cavalry on
 the right wing were first pushed forward, while the greater part of the
 infantry waited in reserve.

But the left
 wing of the horsemen (which was formed with the greatest difficulty, since very
 many of them were still scattered along the roads) was hastening to the spot at
 swift pace. And while that same wing was being extended, still without
 interruption, the barbarians were terrified by the awful din, the hiss of
 whirring arrows and the menacing clash of shields; and since a part of their
 forces under Alatheus and Saphrax was far away and, though sent for, had not
 yet returned, they sent envoys to beg for peace.

The emperor scorned these because of their low origin, demanding
 for the execution of a lasting treaty that suitable chieftains be sent;
 meanwhile the enemy purposely delayed, in order that during the pretended truce
 their cavalry might return, who, they hoped, would soon make their appearance;
 also that our soldiers might be exposed to the fiery summer heat and exhausted
 by their dry throats, while the broad plains
 gleamed with fires, which the enemy were feeding with wood and dry fuel, for
 this same purpose. 
 To that evil was added another deadly one, namely, that men and beasts were
 tormented by severe hunger.

Meanwhile Fritigern, shrewd to foresee the
 future and fearing the uncertainty of war, on his own initiative sent one of
 his common soldiers as a herald, requesting that picked men
 of noble rank be sent to him at once as hostages and saying that he himself
 would fearlessly meet the threats of his soldiers and do what was necessary.

The proposal of the dreaded leader was
 welcome and approved, and the tribune Aequitius, 
 then marshal of the court and a relative of Valens, with the general consent
 was chosen to go speedily as a surety. When he objected, on the ground that he
 had once been captured by the enemy but had escaped from Dibaltum, and
 therefore feared their unreasonable anger, Richomeres voluntarily offered his
 own services and gladly promised to go, thinking this also to be a fine act and
 worthy of a brave man. And soon he was on his way [bringing] proofs of his rank
 and birth. . . .

As he was on his way to the enemy's rampart,
 the archers and the targeteers, then under the command of one Bacurius of
 Hiberia and Cassio, had
 rushed forward too eagerly in hot attack, and were already engaged with their
 adversaries; and as their charge had been untimely, so their retreat was
 cowardly; and thus they gave an unfavourable omen to the beginning of the
 battle.

This unseasonable proceeding not
 only thwarted the prompt action of Richomeres, who was not allowed to go at
 all, but also the Gothic cavalry, returning with Alatheus and Saphrax, combined
 with a band of the Halani, dashed out as a thunderbolt does near high
 mountains, and threw into confusion all those whom they
 could find in the way of their swift onslaught, and quickly slew them.

On every side armour and weapons clashed, and
 Bellona, raging with more than usual madness for the destruction of the Romans,
 blew her lamentable war-trumpets; our soldiers who were giving way rallied,
 exchanging many encouraging shouts, but the battle, spreading like flames,
 filled
 their hearts with terror, as numbers of them were pierced by strokes of
 whirling spears and arrows.

Then the lines
 dashed together like beaked ships, pushing each other back and forth in turn,
 and tossed about by alternate movements, like waves at sea.
 And because the left wing, which had made its way as far as the very wagons,
 and would have gone farther if it had had any support, being deserted by the
 rest of the cavalry, was hard pressed by the enemy's numbers, it was crushed,
 and overwhelmed, as if by the downfall of a mighty rampart. The foot-soldiers
 thus stood unprotected, and their companies were so crowded together that
 hardly anyone could pull out his sword or draw back his arm. Because of clouds
 of dust the heavens could no longer be seen, and echoed with
 frightful cries. Hence the arrows whirling death from every side always found
 their mark with fatal effect, since they could not be seen beforehand nor
 guarded against.

But when the barbarians,
 pouring forth in huge hordes, trampled down horse and man, and in the press of
 ranks no room for retreat could be gained anywhere, and the increased crowding
 left no opportunity for escape, our soldiers also, showing extreme contempt of
 falling in the fight, received their death-blows, yet struck down their
 assailants; and on both sides the strokes of axes split helmet and breastplate.

Here one might see a barbarian filled with
 lofty courage, his cheeks contracted in a hiss, hamstrung or with right hand
 severed, or pierced through the side, on the very verge of death threateningly
 casting about his fierce glance; and by the fall of the combatants on both
 sides the plains were covered with the bodies of the slain strewn over the
 ground, while the groans of the dying and of those who had suffered deep wounds
 caused immense fear when they were heard.

In
 this great tumult and confusion the infantry, exhausted by their efforts and
 the danger, when in turn strength and mind for planning anything were lacking,
 their lances for the most part broken by constant clashing, content to fight
 with drawn swords, plunged into the dense masses of the foe, regardless of
 their lives, seeing all around that every loophole of escape was lost.

The ground covered with streams of blood
 whirled their slippery foothold from under them, so they could only strain
 every nerve to sell their lives dearly; and they opposed the onrushing foe with
 such great resolution that some fell by the weapons of their own comrades. Finally, when the whole scene was discoloured with the hue of
 dark blood, and wherever men turned their eyes heaps of slain met them, they
 trod upon the bodies of the dead without mercy.

Now the sun had risen higher, and when it had finished its course though
 Leo, and was passing into the house of the heavenly Virgo, scorched the Romans,
 who were more and more exhausted by hunger and worn out by thirst, as well as
 distressed by the heavy burden of their armour. Finally our line was broken by
 the onrushing weight of the barbarians, and since that was the only resort in
 their last extremity, they took to their heels in disorder as best they
 could.

While all scattered in flight over unknown
 paths, the emperor, hedged about by dire terrors, and slowly treading over
 heaps of corpses, took refuge with the lancers and the mattiarii, 
 who, so long as the vast numbers of the
 enemy could be sustained, had stood unshaken with bodies firmly planted. On
 seeing him Trajanus cried that all hope was gone, unless the emperor, abandoned
 by his body-guard, should at least be protected by his foreign auxiliaries.

On hearing this the general called Victor
 hastened to bring quickly to the emperor's aid the Batavi, who had been posted
 not far off as a reserve force; but when he could find none of them, he retired
 and went away. And in the same way Richomeres and Saturninus made their escape
 from danger.

And so the barbarians, their eyes blazing
 with frenzy, were pursuing our men, in whose veins the blood was chilled with
 numb horror: some fell without knowing who struck them down, others were buried beneath the mere weight of their assailants; some
 were slain by the sword of a comrade; for though they often rallied, there was
 no ground given, nor did anyone spare those who retreated.

Besides all this, the roads were blocked by many who
 lay mortally wounded, lamenting the torment of their wounds; and with them also
 mounds of fallen horses filled the plains with corpses. To these ever
 irreparable losses, so costly to the Roman state, a night without the bright
 light of the moon put an end.

At the first coming of darkness the emperor,
 amid the common soldiers as was supposed (for no one asserted that he had seen
 him or been with him), fell mortally wounded by an arrow, and presently
 breathed his last breath; and he was never afterwards found anywhere.
 For since a few of the foe were active for long in the
 neighbourhood for the purpose of robbing the dead, no one of the fugitives or
 of the natives ventured to approach the spot.

The Caesar Decius, we are told, met a similar fate; for when he was fiercely fighting with the barbarians and his
 horse, whose excitement he could not restrain, stumbled and threw him, he fell
 into a marsh, from which he could not get out, nor could his body be found.

Others say that Valens did not give up
 the ghost at once, but with his bodyguard 
 and a few eunuchs was taken to a peasant's cottage near by, well fortified in
 its second storey; and while he was being treated by unskilful hands, he was
 surrounded by the enemy, who did not know who he was, but was saved from the shame of captivity.

For
 while the pursuers were trying to break open the bolted doors, they were
 assailed with arrows from a balcony of the house; and fearing through the
 inevitable delay to lose the opportunity for pillage, they piled bundles of
 straw and firewood about the house, set fire to them, and burned it men and
 all.

From it one of the bodyguard leaped
 through a window, but was taken by the enemy; when he told them what had
 happened, he filled them with sorrow at being cheated of great glory, in not
 having taken the ruler of the Roman empire alive. This same young man, having
 later escaped and returned secretly to our army, gave this account of what had
 occurred.

When Spain had been recovered,
 with a similar disaster the second of the Scipios, we are told, was burned
 with a tower in which he had taken refuge and which the enemy had set on fire.
 This much, at any
 rate, is certain, that neither Scipio nor Valens had the fortune of burial
 which is death's final
 honour.

Amid this manifold loss of distinguished
 men, the deaths of Trajanus and Sebastianus stood out. With them fell
 thirty-five tribunes, without special assignments, and leaders of bodies of
 troops, as well as
 Valerianus and Aequitius, the one having charge of the stables, the other, of
 the Palace. Among these also Potentius lost his life in the first flower of his
 youth; he was tribune of the promoti, 
 respected by all good
 men and honoured both for his own services and those of his father Ursicinus,
 formerly a commander-in-chief. Certain it is that barely a
 third part of our army escaped.

The annals
 record no such massacre of a battle except the one at Cannae, although the
 Romans more than once, deceived by trickery due to an adverse breeze of
 Fortune, yielded for a time to illsuccess in their wars, and although the
 storied dirges of the Greeks have mourned over many a contest.

Thus then died Valens, at the age of almost
 fifty and after a reign of a little less than fourteen years.

Of his merits, as known to many, we shall now
 speak, and of his defects. He was a firm and faithful friend, severe in
 punishing ambitious designs, strict in maintaining discipline in the army and
 in civil life, always watchful and anxious lest anyone should elevate himself
 on the ground of kinship with him; he was excessively slow towards conferring
 or taking away official positions, very just in his rule of the provinces, each of which he
 protected from injury as he would his own house, lightening the burden of
 tributes with a kind of special care, allowing no increase in taxes, not
 extortionate in estimating the indebtedness from arrears, a harsh and bitter enemy of thievish officials and of those detected in peculation. Under no other emperor does the
 Orient recall meeting better treatment in matters of this kind.

Besides all this, he combined liberality with
 moderation, and although there are many instances of such conduct, yet it will
 suffice to set forth one. Since there are always at court some men who are
 greedy for others' possessions, if anyone, as often happens, claimed a lapsed
 estate or anything else of the kind, he distinguished clearly between
 justice and injustice, allowing those who intended to protest a chance to state
 their case; and if he gave it to the petitioner, he often added as sharers in
 the gifts gained three or four absentees, to the end that restless people might
 act with more restraint, when they saw that by this device the gain for which
 they were so greedy was diminished.

As to the
 public buildings which he restored or built from their very beginning in
 various cities and towns, in order not to be prolix I say nothing, but leaving
 this matter to the objects themselves to demonstrate it more obviously than I
 can. Such conduct is worthy, I think, of emulation by all good men; let me now
 run through his defects.

He was immoderately desirous of great wealth,
 and impatient of toil, rather affecting awesome austerity than possessing it,
 and somewhat inclined to cruelty; he had rather an uncultivated mind, and was
 trained neither in the art of war nor in liberal studies; he was ready to gain
 advantage and profit at the expense of others' suffering, and more intolerable
 when he attributed offences that were committed to contempt of, or injury to,
 the imperial dignity; then he vented his rage in bloodshed,
 and on the ruin of the rich.

It was
 unendurable also, that although he wished to appear to refer all controversies
 and judicial investigations to the laws, and entrusted the examination of such
 affairs to the regular judges as being specially selected men, nevertheless he
 suffered nothing to be done contrary to his own caprice. He was in other ways
 unjust, hot tempered, and ready to listen to informers without distinguishing
 truth from falsity—a shameful fault, which is very greatly to be dreaded even
 in these our private affairs of every-day occurrence.

He was a procrastinator and irresolute. His
 complexion was dark, the pupil of one of his eyes was dimmed, but in such a way as not to be noticed at a distance;
 his body was well-knit, his height neither above nor below the average; he was
 knock-kneed, and somewhat pot-bellied.

This will be enough to say about Valens, and
 it is fully confirmed by the testimony of records contemporary with me. But it
 is proper not to omit the following story. At the time of the oracle of the
 tripod, for which, as I have said, Patricius and
 Hilarius were responsible, he had heard of those three prophetic verses, of
 which the last is: 
 When in Mimas' plains the war-god Ares rages. 
 
 Being uneducated and
 rude, he disregarded them at first, but as his very great troubles increased he
 became abjectly timid, and in recalling that prediction used to shudder at the
 mention of Asia, where, as he heard from the mouths of learned men, Homer and
 Cicero have written of a mountain called Mimas, rising above
 the city of Erythrae.

Finally, after his death and the departure of
 the enemy, it is said that near the place where he was thought to have fallen a
 monument made of a heap of stones was found, to which was fastened a tablet
 engraved with Greek characters, showing that a distinguished man of old called
 Mimas was buried there.

After the murderous battle, when night had already spread darkness over the earth, the survivors departed, some to
 the right, others to the left, or wherever their fear took them, each seeking
 his nearest associates, for none could see anything save himself, and everyone
 imagined that the enemy's sword hung over his own head. Yet there were still
 heard, though from far off, the pitiful cries of those who were left behind,
 the death-rattle of the dying, and the tortured wails of the wounded.

But at daybreak the victors, like wild beasts
 roused to cruel ferocity by the provocative tang of blood, driven by the lure
 of a vain hope, made for Hadrianopolis in dense throngs, intending to destroy
 the city even at the cost of the utmost dangers; for they had heard through
 traitors and deserters that the most distinguished
 officials, the insignia of imperial fortune, and the treasures of Valens were
 hidden there, as within an impregnable fortress.

And in order that no delays meanwhile might cool their ardour, at
 the fourth hour of the day they had encircled the walls and were engaged in a most bitter struggle; for the
 besiegers with their natural ferocity rushed upon swift death, while on the
 other hand the defenders were encouraged to vigorous resistance with might and
 main.

And because a great number of soldiers
 and batmen had been prevented from entering the city with their beasts, they
 took their place close to the shelter of the walls and in the adjoining
 buildings, and made a brave fight considering their low position; and the mad
 rage of their assailants had lasted until the ninth hour of the day, when on a
 sudden three hundred of our infantry, of those who stood near the very
 breastworks, formed a wedge and went over to the barbarians.
 They were eagerly seized by the Goths, and (it is not known why) were
 immediately butchered; and from that time on it was noticed that not a man
 thought of any similar action, even when the outlook was most desperate.

Now, while this accumulation of
 misfortunes was raging, suddenly with peals of thunder rain poured from the
 black clouds and scattered the hordes roaring around the city; but they
 returned to the circular rampart formed by their wagons, and carried their measureless arrogance so far as to send an envoy
 with a threatening letter, ordering our men to surrender the city on receiving
 a pledge that their lives would be spared.

The messenger did not dare to enter the city, and the
 letter was delivered by a certain Christian and read: but it was scorned, as
 was fitting, and the rest of the day and the whole night were spent in
 preparing defensive works. For the gates were blocked from within with huge
 rocks, the unsafe parts of the walls were strengthened, artillery was placed in
 suitable places for hurling missiles or rocks in all directions, and a supply
 of water that was sufficient was stored nearby; for on the day before some of
 those who fought were tormented with thirst almost to the point of death.

The Goths on the other hand, bearing in mind
 the dangerous chances of war, and worried from seeing their bravest men
 stretched dead or wounded, while their strength was being worn away bit by bit,
 formed a clever plan, which Justice herself revealed.

For they enticed some of our subalterns, who had deserted to them
 the day before, to simulate flight, as if returning to their own side, and to
 manage to be admitted within the walls, and when let in, secretly to set fire
 to some part of the city; in order that as if a kind of secret signal had been
 raised, while the attention of the throng of the besieged was distracted with
 
 extinguishing the flames, the city, left undefended, might be broken into.

The subalterns went on their way as had
 been arranged, and when they had come near the moat, with outstretched hands
 and prayers they begged to be admitted, as being Romans. And they were let in,
 as there was no suspicion to prevent it; but on being questioned as to the plans of the enemy they varied in their answers.
 The result was that after being tortured in a bloody investigation they openly
 confessed with what purpose they had come, and were beheaded.

So, when all the preparations for battle had
 been made, the barbarians just before the beginning of the third watch, since
 the fear caused by their former wounds had died out, poured in more numerous
 masses upon the barred gates of the city, with the great persistency ofthose
 who are guarding against disaster. But with the soldiers the provincials and the court
 attendants rose up with all the greater vigour to overwhelm them, and such were
 the numbers of the foe that weapons of every kind, even though thrown at
 random, could not fall without effect.

Our
 men noticed that the barbarians were using the same missiles that had been
 hurled at them. And so it was ordered that the cords by which the barbs were
 fastened to the shaft should be partly severed before the arrows were shot from
 the bows; these during their flight kept their whole strength, and when they
 were fixed in the bodies of the enemy lost none of their effectiveness, or at
 any rate, if they found no mark, were at once broken.

But an entirely unexpected chance had great influence in the midst
 of this hot fight. A piece of artillery known as a scorpion, but
 called a wild ass in the language of the people, placed exactly opposite a great mass of the enemy,
 hurled a huge stone, and although it dashed to the ground without effect, yet
 the sight of it caused the enemy such great terror, that in their amazement at
 the strange spectacle they fled to a distance and tried to leave the place.

But at the
 order of their chiefs the horns sounded and the battle was renewed, and in the
 same way the Romans held the upper hand, since almost no bullet from the thong
 of a slinger, or any other missile when hurled, missed its mark. For the chiefs,
 inflamed by a desire to carry off the treasures which Valens had acquired by
 his ill-gotten gains took their place in the foremost ranks and were followed
 by the rest, who made a display of equalling the dangers of their superiors.
 For some were writhing mortally wounded, either crushed by great masses of
 stone, or with their breasts pierced with javelins; others who carried
 scaling-ladders and were preparing to mount the walls from every side were
 buried under their own burdens, as stones, fragments and whole drums of columns
 were thrown down upon them.

But until late
 in the day, not a man of the raging throng was turned by the awful sight of
 carnage from his desire to play a brave part, being excited by the numbers of
 the defenders who also fell, slain by all kinds of weapons, as they saw from
 afar with joy. So, without any rest or respite, the battle in defence of the
 walls and against the walls went on with great determination.

And since they no longer fought in any order, but
 rushed forward in detached groups (a sign of extreme discouragement) as the day
 was drawing towards evening all the enemy retired disconsolate to their tents,
 accusing one another of reckless folly because they had not, as Fritigern had earlier advised, wholly held aloof from the miseries of a
 siege.

After this the Goths gave their attention
 during the whole night-time, which was not long in the summer season, to caring
 for their wounds, using their native methods of treatment. When day broke
 again, their minds were led this way and that as to their plans, since they
 were in doubt whither they should turn; and after a great deal of talk and
 disagreement they decided to take possession of Perinthus, and afterwards of any neighbouring cities that were brimful of
 riches, of which they were given such full information by deserters that they
 knew even the interior of the houses, to say nothing of the cities. Following
 this decision, which they thought advantageous, they marched on slowly without
 opposition, devastating the whole district with pillage and fires.

After their timely departure, those who had
 been besieged in Hadrianopolis, having learned from scouts who had been found
 trustworthy that the neighbouring places were free from enemies, set out at
 midnight and avoiding the public highways and devising every effort for
 increasing their speed, hastened with the valuables which they were carrying
 still safe, through wooded and pathless places, some to Philippopolis and from
 there to Serdica, others to 
 Macedonia, in the hope of finding Valens in those regions (for it was wholly
 unknown to them that he had fallen in the midst of the storms of battle, or at
 any rate had taken refuge in a hut, where it was thought that he had been
 burned to death).

But the Goths, joined with the Huns and the
 Halani, exceedingly warlike and brave peoples, hardened to the difficulties of
 severe toils, whom the craft of Fritigern had won over to them by the
 attractions of wonderful prizes, set up their camp near Perinthus; but mindful
 of their previous disasters they did not indeed venture to approach or attempt
 the city itself, but reduced to utter ruin the fertile fields which extend far
 and wide about it, killing or capturing those who dwelt there.

From there they hastened in rapid march to
 Constantinople, greedy for its vast heaps of treasure, marching in square
 formations for fear of ambuscades, and intending to make many mighty efforts to
 destroy the famous city. But while they were madly rushing on and almost
 knocking at the barriers of the gates, the celestial power checked them by the
 following event.

A troop of Saracens (of
 whose origin and customs I have spoken at length in various places,
 ) who are more adapted
 to stealthy raiding expeditions than to pitched battles, and had recently been summoned to the city, desiring to attack the
 horde of barbarians of which they had suddenly caught sight, rushed forth
 boldly from the city to attack them. The contest was long and obstinate, and
 both sides separated on equal terms.

But the
 oriental troop had the advantage from a strange event, never witnessed before.
 For one of their number, a man with long hair and naked
 except for a loin-cloth, uttering hoarse and dismal cries, with drawn dagger
 rushed into the thick of the Gothic army, and after killing a man applied his
 lips to his throat and sucked the blood that poured out. The barbarians,
 terrified by this strange and monstrous sight, after that did not show their
 usual self-confidence when they attempted any action, but advanced with
 hesitating steps.

Then, as they went on,
 their courage was further broken when they beheld the oblong circuit of the
 walls, the blocks of houses covering a vast space, the beauties of the city
 beyond their reach, the vast population inhabiting it, and the strait near by
 that separates the Pontus from the Aegean; so the Goths destroyed the
 manufactories of warlike materials which they were preparing, and after
 suffering greater losses than they had inflicted they then departed and spread
 everywhere over the northern provinces, which they traversed at will as far as
 the foot of the Julian, or, as they were formerly called, the Venetic Alps.

At that time the
 salutary and swift efficiency of Julius, commander-in-chief of the troops
 beyond the Taurus, was conspicuous. For on learning of the ill-fated events in
 Thrace, by secret letters to their leaders, who were all Romans (a rare case in
 these times) he gave orders that the Goths who had been admitted before and
 were scattered through the various cities and camps, should be enticed to come
 without suspicion into the suburbs in the hope of receiving the pay that had
 been promised them, and there, as if on the raising of a banner, should all be
 slain on one and the same day. This prudent plan was carried
 out without confusion or delay, and thus the eastern provinces were saved from
 great dangers.

These events, from the principate of the
 emperor Nerva to the death of Valens, I, a former soldier and a Greek, have set
 forth to the measure of my ability, without ever (I believe) consciously
 venturing to debase through silence or through falsehood a work whose aim was
 the truth. The rest may be written by abler men, who are in the prime of life
 and learning. But if they chose to undertake such a task, I advise them to
 forge their tongues to
 the loftier style.
 
 The second part, written about 550 in barbarous Latin by another unknown
 author, under the title Item ex libris Chronicorum inter
 cetera, covers the period from 474 to 526, and deals mainly with the
 history of Theodoric. The writer was an opponent of Arianism, and he seems to
 have based his compilation on the Chronicle of
 Maximianus, bishop of Ravenna in 546, who died in 556. For this part we have,
 besides B, cod. Vaticanus Palatinus, Lat. n. 927 (P) of the twelfth century, in
 which the title appears as De adventu Oduachar regis
 Cyrorum 
 
 et Erulorum in Italia, et quomodo Rex Theodericus eum fuerit
 persecutus. The Excerpts as a whole furnish an
 introduction and a sequel to the narrative of Ammianus.

The Excerpta Valesiana are so-called because they were
 first published in Paris by Henricus Valesius in
 1636 from one manuscript, which is now in the Royal Library of Berlin (cod.
 Berolinensis, formerly cod. Philipp. 1885, Meermanianus). It belongs to the
 ninth century, and is cited by Gardthausen as M, by Mommsen as B. The Excerpts were reprinted by Hadrian Valesius in his
 edition of Ammianus of 1681, and they have been published in several subsequent
 editions of the. historian (in Wagner-Erfurdt with a commentary) and in the Chronica Minora I (Mon. Germ. Hist., Auctorum
 Antiquissimorum, IX ) of Mommsen, pp. 7–11 ( Pars
 Prior ) and 306 ff. ( Pars Posterior ). They are
 translated by C. Büchele (see Vol. I, p. xlix). I know of no commentary in
 English, and no English translation.
 The first part, composed about A.D. 390, is a biography of Constantine the
 Great from 305 to 337, under the title Origo Constantini
 Imperatoris. It is based upon good sources, and the anonymous author is
 regarded by Mommsen as Ammiano neque aetate neque auctoritate
 inferior. Although it corresponds to some extent with the account of
 Orosius, it is clear that it was not compiled from his History, although that
 work is often useful in determining the text.

Diocletian ruled with Herculius Maximianus for twenty
 years.

Constantius, grandson of the brother of
 that best of emperors Claudius, was first one of the emperor's bodyguard, then a tribune,
 and later, governor of Dalmatia. With Galerius he
 was appointed Caesar by Diocletian ; for he put away his
 former wife Helena and married Theodora, daughter of Maximianus, by whom he
 afterwards had six children, brothers of Constantine. But by his former wife Helena he
 already had a son Constantine, who was later the mightiest of emperors.

This Constantine, then, born of Helena, a
 mother of very common origin, and brought up in the town of Naissus, which he afterwards splendidly adorned, had but slight
 training in letters. He was held as a
 hostage by Diocletian and Galerius, and did valiant service under those emperors in Asia. After
 the abdication of Diocletian and Herculius, Constantius asked Galerius to
 return his son; but Galerius first exposed him to many dangers.

For when Constantine, then a young man, was serving
 in the cavalry against the Sarmatians, he seized by the hair and carried off a
 fierce savage, and threw him at the feet of the emperor Galerius. Then sent by
 Galerius through a swamp, he entered it on his horse and made a way for the
 rest to the Sarmatians, of whom he slew many and won the victory for Galerius.

Then at last Galerius sent him back to his
 father. But in order to avoid meeting Severus as he passed through Italy,
 Constantine crossed the Alps with the greatest haste, ordering the post-horses
 to be killed 
 as he went on; and he came up with his father Constantius at Bononia,
 which the Gauls formerly called
 Gesoriacum. But his father Constantius, after winning a victory over the Picts,
 died at York, and Constantine was unanimously hailed as Caesar by all the
 troops.

In the meantime, two other Caesars had been
 appointed, Severus and Maximinus; to Maximinus was
 given the rule of the Orient; Galerius retained Illyricum for himself, as well
 as the Thracian provinces and Bithynia; Severus received Italy and whatever
 Herculius had formerly governed.

But after Constantius died in Britain, and
 his son Constantine succeeded him, Maxentius, the son of Herculius, was
 suddenly hailed as emperor by the praetorian soldiers in the city of Rome. By
 order of Galerius, Severus took the field against Maxentius, but he was
 suddenly deserted by all his followers and fled to Ravenna. Thereupon Galerius,
 with a great army, came against Rome, threatening the destruction of the city,
 and encamped at Interamna near the Tiber.

Then he sent Licinius and Probus to the
 city as envoys, asking that the son-in-law, that is Maxentius, should attain
 his desires from the father-in-law, that is Galerius, at the price of requests
 rather than of arms. Galerius' proposal was scorned, and having learned that
 through Maxentius' promises many of his own men had been led to desert his
 cause, he was disturbed and turned back; and in order to furnish his men with
 whatever booty he could, he gave orders that the Flaminian Road should be
 plundered.

Maximianus 
 took refuge with Constantine. Then Galerius made Licinius a Caesar in Illyricum, and
 after that, leaving him in Pannonia, returned himself to Serdica, where he was
 attacked by a violent disease and wasted away so completely, that he died with
 the inner parts of his body exposed and in a state of corruption —a punishment for a most unjust persecution,
 
 which recoiled as a well-merited penalty upon the author of the iniquitous
 order. He ruled for nineteen years.

Severus Caesar was low both in character and
 in origin, given to drink, and hence a friend to Galerius. Accordingly Galerius
 made Caesars of him and Maximinus, without Constantine having knowledge of any
 such step. To this Severus were assigned some cities of Pannonia, Italy, and
 Africa. Through this chance Maxentius became emperor; for Severus was deserted
 by his men and fled to Ravenna.

Summoned to
 support his son Maxentius, Herculius came to Ravenna, deceived Severus by a
 false oath, gave him into custody, and took him to Rome in the condition of a
 captive; there he had him kept under guard in a villa belonging to the state,
 situated thirty miles from Rome on the Appian Road. When Galerius later went to Italy, Severus was
 executed; then his body was taken to a place eight miles from the city, and
 laid in the tomb of Gallienus.

Now Galerius
 was such a tippler that when he was drunk he gave orders such as ought not to
 be obeyed; and so, at the advice of his prefect, he directed that no one should
 execute any commands which he issued after luncheon.

Meanwhile Constantine, after defeating the
 tyrant's generals at Verona, went on to Rome.
 When he had reached the city, Maxentius came out and chose a plain above the Tiber as the place to do
 battle. There the usurper was defeated, and when all his men
 were put to flight, he was prevented from escaping by the crowd of fugitives,
 thrown from his horse into the river, and drowned. On the following day his
 body was recovered from the Tiber, and the head was cut off and taken to Rome.
 When his mother was questioned about his parentage, she admitted that he was
 the son of a Syrian. He ruled for six years.

Now Licinius was a native of New Dacia, and
 was of somewhat common origin. He was made emperor by
 Galerius, in order that he might take the field against Maxentius. But when
 Maxentius was overthrown and Constantine had recovered Italy, he made Licinius
 his colleague on condition that he should marry Constantine's sister Constantia
 at Mediolanum. After the celebration of the wedding Constantine went to Gaul,
 and Licinius returned to Illyricum.

Some
 time after that Constantine sent Constantius to Licinius, to persuade him to confer the rank of
 Caesar on Bassianus, who was married to a second sister of Constantine (named
 Anastasia), to the end that, after the manner of Maximianus, Bassianus might
 hold Italy and thus stand as a buffer between Constantine and Licinius.

But Licinius thwarted such an
 arrangement, and influenced by Bassianus' brother Senicio, who was loyal to
 Licinius, Bassianus took up arms against Constantine. But he was arrested in
 the act of accomplishing his purpose, and by order of Constantine was condemned
 and executed. When the punishment of Senicio was demanded as the instigator of
 the plot and Licinius refused, the harmony between the
 two emperors came to an end; an additional reason for the break was, that
 Licinius had overthrown the busts and statues of Constantine at Emona.
 Then the two emperors declared
 open war.

Their armies were led to the plain
 of Cibalae. Licinius had 35,000 infantry and
 cavalry; Constantine commanded 20,000. After an indecisive contest, in which
 20,000 of Licinius' foot soldiers and a part of his mail-clad horsemen were
 slain, he himself with a great part of his other cavalry made his escape under
 cover of night to Sirmium.

From there,
 taking with him his wife, his son, and his treasures, he went to Dacia and
 appointed Valens, who was commander on the frontier, to the rank of Caesar.
 Then, having through Valens mustered a large force at Hadrianopolis, a city of
 Thrace, he sent envoys to Constantine, who had established himself at Philippi,
 to treat for peace. When the envoys were sent back without accomplishing
 anything, the war was renewed and the two rivals joined battle on the plain of
 Mardia. After a long and indecisive struggle, the troops of Licinius gave way
 and night aided them to escape.

Thereupon
 Licinius and Valens, believing that Constantine (as turned out to be the case),
 in order to follow up his advantage, would advance farther in the direction of
 Byzantium, turned aside and made their way towards Beroea. As Constantine was eagerly
 pushing on, he learned that Licinius had remained behind him; and just then,
 when his men were worn out from fighting and marching, Mestrianus was sent to
 him as an envoy, to propose peace in the name of Licinius,
 who promised to do as he was bidden. Valens was ordered to return again to his
 former private station; when that was done, peace was concluded by both emperors, with the
 stipulation that Licinius should hold the Orient, Asia, Thrace, Moesia, and
 Lesser Scythia.

Then Constantine, having returned to
 Serdica, arranged with Licinius, who was elsewhere, that Crispus and
 Constantinus, sons of Constantine, and Licinius, son of Licinius, should be
 made Caesars, and that thus the rule should be carried on in harmony by both
 emperors. Thus Constantine and Licinius became colleagues in the consulship.

In the regions of the Orient, while Licinius
 and Constantine were consuls, Licinius was stirred by sudden madness and
 ordered that all the Christians should be driven from the Palace. 
 
 Soon war flamed out again between Licinius himself and Constantine.

Also, when Constantine was at Thessalonica, the
 Goths broke through the neglected frontiers, devasted Thrace and Moesia, and
 began to drive off booty. Then because of fear of Constantine and his check of
 their attack they returned their prisoners to him and peace was granted them.
 But Licinius complained of this action as a breach of faith, on the ground that
 his function had been usurped by another.

Finally, by using sometimes humble entreaties and sometimes arrogant threats,
 he aroused the deserved wrath of Constantine, During the interval before the
 civil war began, but while it was in preparation, Licinius 
 gave himself up to a frenzy of wickedness, cruelty, avarice and lust; he put
 many men to death for the sake of their riches, and violated their wives.

Now peace was broken by consent of both
 sides; Constantine sent Crispus Caesar with a large fleet to take possession of
 Asia, and on the side of Licinius, Amandus opposed him, likewise with naval
 forces.

Licinius himself had covered the
 slopes of a high mountain near Hadrianopolis with a huge army. Hither
 Constantine turned his march with his entire force. While the war went on
 slowly by land and sea, although Constantine's army had great difficulty in
 scaling the heights, at last his good fortune and the discipline of his army
 prevailed, and he defeated the confused and disorganised army of Licinius; but Constantine was slightly wounded in the thigh.

Then Licinius fled to Byzantium; and while his
 scattered forces were on the way to the city, Licinius closed it, and feeling
 secure against an attack by sea, planned to meet a siege from the land-side.
 But Constantine got together a fleet from Thrace. Then Licinius, with his usual
 lack of consideration, chose Martinianus as his Caesar.

But Crispus, with Constantine's fleet, sailed to Callipolis,
 where in a sea-fight he so
 utterly defeated Amandus that the latter barely made his escape with the help
 of the forces which he had left on shore. But Licinius' fleet was in part
 destroyed and in part captured.

Licinius,
 abandoning hope on the sea, by way of which he saw that he would be blockaded,
 fled with his treasures to Chalcedon. Constantine entered
 Byzantium, where he met Crispus and learned of his naval victory. Then Licinius
 began a battle at Chrysopolis, being especially aided by the Gothic auxiliaries
 which their prince Alica had brought; whereupon the army of Constantine was
 victorious, slaying 25,000 soldiers of the
 opposing side and putting the rest to flight.

Later, when they saw Constantine's legions coming in Liburnian galleys, the
 survivors threw down their arms and gave themselves up. But on the following
 day Constantia, sister of Constantine and wife of Licinius, came to her
 brother's camp and begged that her husband's life be spared, which was granted.
 Thus Licinius became a private citizen, and was entertained at a banquet by Constantine. Martinianus'
 life was also spared.

Licinius was sent to
 Thessalonica; but Constantine, influenced by the example of his father-in-law
 Herculius Maximianus, 
 for fear that Licinius might again, with disastrous consequences to the State,
 resume the purple which he had laid down, and also because the soldiers
 mutinously demanded his death, had him assassinated at Thessalonica, and Martinianus in Cappadocia. Licinius reigned nineteen years and was
 survived by his wife and a son. And yet, after all the other participants in
 the abominable persecution 
 had already perished, the penalty he deserved would surely
 demand this man also, a persecutor so far as he could act as such.

In commemoration of his splendid victory
 Constantine called Byzantium Constantinople after his own name; and as if it
 were his native city, he adorned it with great magnificence and wished to make
 it equal to Rome. Then he sought out new citizens for it from every quarter,
 and lavished such wealth on the city, that thereon he all but
 exhausted the imperial fortunes. There he also established a senate
 of the second rank, the members of which had the title of clari.

Then he began war against the Goths,
 rendering aid also to the Sarmatians, who had appealed to him for help.
 The result was that almost a hundred thousand of the
 Goths were destroyed by hunger and cold through Constantinus Caesar. Then he also received hostages, among whom was Ariaricus, the
 king's son.

When peace with the Goths had
 thus been secured, Constantine turned against the Sarmatians, who were showing
 themselves to be of doubtful loyalty. But the slaves of the Sarmatians rebelled
 against all their masters and drove them from the country. These Constantine
 willingly received, and distributed more than three hundred
 thousand people of different ages and both sexes through Thrace, Scythia,
 Macedonia, and Italy.

Constantine was also the first Christian
 emperor, with the exception of Philippus who seemed to me to have become a Christian merely in
 order that the one-thousandth year of Rome might be dedicated to Christ rather than to
 pagan idols. But from
 Constantine down to the present day all the emperors that have been chosen were
 Christians, with the exception of Julian, whose disastrous life forsook him in
 the midst of the impious plans which it was said that he was devising.

Moreover, Constantine made the change
 in a just and humane
 fashion; for he issued an edict that the temples should be closed without any
 shedding of pagan blood. Afterwards he destroyed the bravest and most populous
 of the Gothic tribes in the very heart of the barbarian territory; that is, in
 the lands of the Sarmatians.

Constantine also put down a certain
 Calocaerus, who tried to achieve a
 revolution in Cyprus. He made Dalmatius, son of his brother of the same name,
 a Caesar; Dalmatius' brother
 Hannibalianus he created King of Kings and ruler of the Pontic tribes,
 after giving him his daughter
 Constantiana in marriage. Then
 it was arranged that the younger Constantine should rule the Gallic provinces,
 Constantius Caesar the Orient, Constans Illyricum and Italy, while Dalmatius
 was to guard the Gothic coastline. While Constantine was planning to make war on
 the Persians, he died in an imperial villa 
 in the suburbs of Constantinople, not far from Nicomedia, leaving the State in
 good order to his sons. He was buried in Constantinople, after a reign of
 thirty-one years.

Now during the reign of Zeno Augustus
 at Constantinople, the patrician
 Nepos came to the
 Port of the city of Rome, deposed Glycerius, who was made a
 bishop, while Nepos himself became emperor at Rome. Presently Nepos came
 to Ravenna; he was followed by the patrician Orestes with an
 army, and in
 fear of his coming Nepos embarked on board a ship and fled to Salona, where he
 remained for five years; but later he was slain by his own men. Soon after
 Nepos left Rome Augustulus was made emperor and ruled for ten years.

Augustulus, who was called Romulus by his parents before he mounted the
 throne, was made emperor by his father, the patrician Orestes. Then Odoacar
 made his appearance with a force of Sciri and killed the patrician Orestes at
 Placentia, and his brother Paulus at the Pine Grove, outside the Classis at Ravenna.

Then he entered Ravenna, deposed Augustulus from his
 throne, but in pity for his tender years, granted him his life; and because of
 his beauty he also gave him an income of six thousand gold-pieces and sent him to Campania, to live there a free man with his relatives. Now his father Orestes was
 a Pannonian, who joined with Attila at the time when he came to Rome, and was
 made his secretary, a position from which he had advanced to the rank of
 patrician.

Then, after Zeno was made emperor by his son
 Leo, who was the offspring of the daughter
 of Leo the Great, Ariagne by name, he reigned for a year with his son Leo, and
 it was through Leo's merit that Zeno retained his power. But after sharing the
 rule with his son for one year, Zeno was emperor for fourteen years more; he
 was an Isaurian of high rank, trained to arms, and worthy to receive an
 emperor's daughter in marriage.

It is said
 of him that he was of even superhuman speed as a swift
 runner, since his kneepans were not attached
 to his knees, but moved freely. In the administration of the State he was in
 general most wise, but inclined to favour his own people.

A plot was made against him by Basiliscus,
 himself a senator of high distinction. As soon as Zeno learned of the plot, he took
 some of his wealth and went to Isauria. But soon after his departure
 Basiliscus, who, as was said, was plotting against him, seized upon the
 imperial power.

Basiliscus ruled for two years. Zeno
 strengthened the Isaurians within the province; then he sent to the city of
 Nova, where Theodoric, the general of the
 Goths and son of Walamericus, was stationed, and invited him to render him
 relief against Basiliscus. Then he came back to Constantinople after two years, brought an attacking
 force against the city, and laid siege to it.

But because the senate and people feared Zeno, to prevent the city from
 suffering any harm they deserted Basiliscus, opened the gates, and all
 surrendered to Zeno. Basiliscus fled to a church and took refuge within the
 baptistery with his wife and his sons. After Zeno had given him a pledge
 confirmed by oath that his blood would not be shed, he came out and was shut up with his wife and children in a
 dry cistern, 
 where they all died of cold.

Zeno remembered
 the affection felt for him by the senate and people; and
 therefore showed himself so generous to all that he earned the gratitude of
 every one. He upheld so well the senate and people of Rome, that statues were
 even erected to him in various parts of the city. His times were peaceful.

Odoacar, of whom we have made mention above,
 presently deposed Augustulus from the rule and was made
 king; he remained on the throne for thirteen years. His father was named Edico,
 and Odoacar is also mentioned in the
 books on The Life of
 Saint Severinus, a Pannonian monk, who gave him advice and predicted
 his future royal power.

In that place you
 find the following words: When some barbarians were on their way to Italy, they turned aside and went to
 Severinus' abode with a view to earning his benediction; among them also
 came Odoacar, who afterwards ruled in Italy, a youth of tall stature, but
 very poorly clad; and when he bowed his head, in order that it might not
 touch the roof of the very low cell, he learned from the man of God that he
 would attain glory. And as Odoacar bade him farewell, Severinus said: ' Go
 on to Italy; go on, now clad in paltry skins, but soon to be able to give
 great gifts to many '.

Meanwhile, as the servant of God had
 predicted to him, as soon as Odoacar entered Italy he received the royal power.
 At that same time, after becoming king, Odoacar recalled the prophecy which he
 had heard from the holy man, and at once addressed to him a friendly letter,
 wherein he respectfully offered to grant his wish, should he think
 there was anything worth while to ask. Accordingly the man of God, encouraged by so cordial a letter of the king, asked for the
 pardon of a certain Ambrosius, who was living in exile, and Odoacar
 gratefully granted his request.

After that, King Odoacar made war on the
 Rugi, and
 in a second campaign vanquished and utterly destroyed them. Then, since he was
 a man of good intentions and favoured the Arian sect, it happened that once, when in the
 presence of the holy man many nobles, as often happens, were praising and
 flattering the said king, as men will do, he asked what king they had
 extolled with such high commendations. And when they replied 'Odoacar,' he
 said 'Odoacar is safe for between thirteen and fourteen years,' thus, of
 course, indicating the years of his safe reign.

Zeno accordingly rewarded Theodoric for his
 support, made him a patrician and a consul, gave
 him a great sum of money, and sent him to Italy. Theodoric stipulated with him,
 that if Odoacar should be vanquished, in return for his own labours in
 Odoacar's place he should rule in his stead only until the arrival of Zeno.
 Therefore, when the patrician Theodoric came from the city of Nova with the
 Gothic people, he was sent by the emperor Zeno from the regions of the Orient,
 in order to defend Italy for him.

As Theodoric was on his way, Odoacar met him
 at the river Sontius, engaged in battle with
 him there, and was defeated and put to flight; he withdrew
 to Verona, and on the 27th of September made a fortified camp on a plain of
 moderate extent before the city. Theodoric followed him there, and joined
 battle with him; numbers fell on both sides: Odoacar, however, was overcome,
 and on the 30th of September fled to Ravenna.

Theodoric the patrician went on to
 Mediolanum, and the most of Odoacar's army surrendered to him, including Tufa,
 his general-in-chief, whom Odoacar had appointed, along with his other high
 officials, on the 1st of April. In that same year Tufa, the commanding general,
 was sent by Theodoric to Ravenna against Odoacar.

Tufa came to Faventia, and with the army with which he had been
 sent besieged Odoacar. The latter left Ravenna and came to Faventia, where Tufa
 handed over to him the high officers of the patrician Theodoric, who were put
 in irons and taken to Ravenna.

The consulship of Faustus and Longinus.
 When these were consuls, King Odoacar marched out from
 Cremona and went to Mediolanum. Then the Visigoths came to the help of
 Theodoric, and a battle was fought on the 11th of August on the bank of the
 river Addua, where many fell on both
 sides; Pierius, commander of the household troops, was slain, and Odoacar fled
 to Ravenna. The patrician Theodoric soon followed him, came to the Pine Grove,
 and made a camp there; then he kept Odoacar
 in a state of siege for three years in Ravenna, where the
 value of a modius of wheat rose to the price of six gold-pieces. And Theodoric sent Festus, the head of the senate,
 as an envoy to the emperor Zeno,
 hoping to be invested by him with the royal robe.

The consulship of
 Olybrius, vir clarissimus. In his consulship King
 Odoacar sallied forth from Ravenna by night, entered into the Pine Grove with
 the Heruli, and attacked the fortified camp of the patrician Theodoric. The
 losses were great on both sides, and Levila, Odoacar's commander-in-chief, fled
 and lost his life in the river Bedens ; Odoacar was defeated and fled to Ravenna on the
 15th of July. Then Odoacar was forced to give his son Thelanes to Theodoric as
 a hostage, first receiving a pledge that his blood would be spared.

So Theodoric entered Ravenna, and after
 several days Odoacar laid a snare for him: but Theodoric discovered him in the
 palace and forestalled him, then caught him off his guard and with his own hand
 slew him with a sword as he was coming into the Laurel Grove.

On the same day, all of Odoacar's army who
 could be found anywhere were killed by order of Theodoric, as well as all of
 his family. This same year the emperor Zeno died at Constantinople, and
 Anastasius was made emperor.

Now Theodoric had sent Faustus Niger as an
 envoy to Zeno. But when the news of the latter's death came,
 before the envoy returned, but after Theodoric had entered Ravenna and killed
 Odoacar, the Goths, without waiting for the command of the new emperor, made
 Theodoric their king.

For he was a most
 brave and warlike man, whose father, Walamir, was called King of the Goths; but
 Theodoric was his natural son; his mother was called in Gothic Ereriliva,
 but being a Catholic received at her baptism the name Eusebia.

Hence Theodoric was a man of great
 distinction and of good-will towards all men, and he ruled for thirty-three
 years. In his times Italy for thirty years enjoyed such good fortune that his
 successors also inherited peace.

For
 whatever he did was good. He so governed two races at the same time, Romans and
 Goths, that although he himself was of the Arian sect, he nevertheless made no
 assault on the Catholic religion; he gave games in the circus and the
 amphitheatre, so that even by the Romans he was called a Trajan or a
 Valentinian, whose times he took as a model; and by the Goths, because of his
 edict, in which he established justice, he was judged to be in all respects
 their best king. Military service for the Romans he kept on the same footing as
 under the emperors. He was generous with gifts and the distribution of grain,
 and although he had found the public treasury nothing but a haystack,
 by his efforts it was restored and made rich.

Although untrained in letters, he was
 nevertheless so wise that even now some of his sayings are
 regarded among the people as aphorisms, and for that reason I am glad to place
 on record a few out of many. He said, One who has gold and a demon
 cannot hide the demon. Also, A poor Roman plays the Goth, a
 rich Goth the Roman.

A certain man died, leaving a wife and a
 little son who did not know his mother. Her son, when a small boy, was taken
 from her by some one, carried to another province, and there brought up. When
 he became a youth, he somehow returned to his mother, who had now become
 betrothed to another man. When the mother saw her son, she embraced him,
 thanking God that she had seen her son again, and he lived with her for a
 month. And behold! the mother's betrothed came, and seeing the young man, asked
 who he was. She replied that he was her son. But when her betrothed learned
 that the youth was her son, he began to ask the return of the earnest-money
 and to say:
 Either deny that he is your son, or I certainly depart hence. 
 The mother yielded to her betrothed and began to deny her son, whom she herself
 had before acknowledged, saying: Leave my house, young man, since I took
 you up as a stranger. But he kept saying that he had come back to
 his mother and to the house of his father. To make a long story short, while
 this was going on the son appealed against his mother to the king, who ordered
 her to appear before him. And he said to her: Woman, your son appeals
 against you; what have you to say? Is he your son, or not? She
 replied: He is not my son, but I took him up as a
 stranger. And when the woman's son had told the whole story in order
 to the king, he again said to the woman: Is he your son, or not? 
 She said: He is not my son. The king said to her: How
 much property have you, woman? She replied: As much as a
 thousand gold-pieces. And when the king declared with an oath that
 he would not make anyone else than the young man himself her husband, and that
 she should receive no other husband, then the woman was disconcerted and
 confessed that the young man was her son. And there
 are many other things told of the king.

Afterwards Theodoric took to wife a Frankish woman named Augoflada. For
 before he began to reign he had a wife, 
 who had borne him daughters. One of these, called Areaagni, he gave in marriage
 in Gaul to Alaric, king of the Visigoths, and another daughter of his,
 Theodegotha, to Sigismund, son of King Gundebadus.

Theodoric, through Festus, made peace with
 the emperor Anastasius with regard to his assumption of the rule, and
 Anastasius sent back to him all the ornaments of the Palace, which Odoacar had
 transferred to Constantinople.

At that same time a dispute arose in the
 city of Rome between Symmachus and Laurentius; for both had been consecrated. But through God's ordinance
 Symmachus, who also deserved it, got the upper hand. After peace was made in
 the city of the Church, King Theodoric went to Rome and met Saint Peter with as much reverence as if he himself were a Catholic. The Pope Symmachus, and the entire
 senate and people of Rome amid general rejoicing met him outside the city.

Then coming to Rome and entering it, he
 appeared in the senate, and addressed the people at The Palm, 
 promising that with God's help he would keep inviolate whatever the former
 Roman emperors had decreed.

In celebration of his tricennalia 
 he entered the Palace in a triumphal procession for the entertainment
 of the people, and exhibited games in the Circus for the Romans. To the Roman
 people and to the poor of the city he gave each year a hundred and twenty
 thousand measures of grain, and for the restoration of the Palace and the rebuilding of the walls of the city he ordered two hundred
 pounds to be given each year from the chest that contained the tax on wine.

He also gave his own sister Amalafrigda
 in marriage to Transimundus, king of the Vandals. Liberius, whom he had
 appointed praetorian prefect at the beginning of his reign, he made a
 patrician, and appointed for him a successor. Now his successor in the administration of the prefecture was
 Theodorus, son of Basilus. Odoin, his general, made a plot against the king.

When Theodoric learned of it, he had
 Odoin beheaded in the palace which is called the Sessorium. 
 At the request of the people he gave orders that the words
 of the promise which he had made to them should be inscribed upon a bronze
 tablet and set up in a public place.

Then returning to Ravenna, five months
 later, he gave Amalabirga, another sister of his, in marriage to Herminifred, king of the Turingi, and in that
 way gained peace with all the nations round about. He was besides a lover of
 building and restorer of cities.

At Ravenna
 he repaired the aqueduct which the emperor Trajan had constructed, and thus
 brought water into the city after a long time. He completely finished the
 palace, but did not dedicate it. He completed the colonnades around the palace.
 He also built baths and a palace at Verona, and added a colonnade extending all
 the way from the gate to the Palace; besides that, he restored the aqueduct at
 Verona, which had long since been destroyed, and brought water into the city,
 as well as surrounding the city with new walls. Also at Ticinum he
 built a palace, baths, and an amphitheatre, besides 
 new city walls.

He also showed many favours to the other
 cities. And he so won the good-will of the neighbouring nations, that they
 offered to make treaties with him, in the hope that he would be their king.
 Indeed, merchants flocked to him from the various provinces, for his
 organization was such that if anyone wished to send
 consignments of gold or silver in his domain, it was deemed as good as if he
 were within the walls of a city.

And he
 followed this principle so fully throughout all Italy, that he gave no city a
 gate; and where there were already gates, they were never shut; and every one
 could carry on his business at whatever hour he chose, as if it were in
 daylight. In his time sixty measures of wheat were bought for a single
 gold-piece, and thirty amphorae of wine for the same
 price.

Now at that same time the emperor Anastasius
 had three grandsons, namely, Pompeius, Probus, and Hypatius. Considering which
 one of them he should make his successor, he invited them to have luncheon with
 him one day, and after luncheon to take their midday siesta within the palace,
 where he had a couch prepared for each of them. Under the pillow on one couch
 he ordered the symbol of royalty to be put, and decided that whichever of them
 chose that couch for his nap, in him he ought to recognise the one to whom he
 should later turn over the rule. One of the grandsons threw himself down on one
 couch, but the other two, from brotherly affection, took their places together
 on another, and so it happened that none of them slept on the couch where the
 emblem of royalty had been placed.

When
 Anastasius saw this, he began to ponder, and learning from it that none of them
 should rule, he began to pray to God that He would show him a sign, so that
 while he still lived he might know who should receive the royal power after his
 death. While he was considering the question with fasting and prayer, one night in a dream he saw a man, who advised him as follows:
 The person whose arrival shall first be announced to you tomorrow in
 your bedroom will be the one to receive your throne after you.

Now it chanced that Justinus, who was
 commander of the watch, on coming to a place whither he had been directed to go 
 by the emperor, was the first to be announced to him by his head-chamberlain.
 And when the king knew this, he began to thank God for having deigned to reveal
 to him who his successor should be.

These words he
 kept to himself, but one day, when the emperor was in a procession, and
 Justinus wished to pass along quickly on one side of the emperor, in order to
 put his followers in line, he trod on the emperor's cloak.

But the emperor only said to him: What is
 your hurry? 
 Then in the last
 days of his reign the devil tempted him, wishing him to follow the Eunomian
 sect; but the people
 of the faith checked him and even cried out to him in the church: You
 shall not hurl your puny lance against the Trinity. Not long
 afterwards Anastasius was taken ill and confined to his bed in the city of
 Constantinople, and ended his last day.

Now King Theodoric was without training in
 letters, and of such dull comprehension that for ten years of his reign he had
 been wholly unable to learn the four letters necessary for endorsing his
 edicts. For that reason he had a golden plate with slits
 made, containing the four letters legi ; then, if he wished to endorse anything, he placed the plate over the
 paper and drew his pen through the slits, so that only this subscription of his
 was seen.

Then Theodoric made Eutharicus consul and celebrated
 triumphs at Rome and at Ravenna. This Eutharicus was an excessively rough man,
 and an enemy to the Catholic faith.

After
 this, while Theodoric was remaining at Verona through fear of the neighbouring
 peoples, strife arose between the Christians and the Jews of the city of
 Ravenna; accordingly the Jews, being unwilling to be baptised, often in sport
 threw the holy water that was offered to them into the water of the river.
 Because of this the people were fired with anger, and without respect for the
 king, for Eutharicus, or for Peter, who was bishop at the time, they rose
 against the synagogues and presently set them on fire. And this same thing
 happened in a similar affair at Rome.

Presently the Jews hastened to Verona, where
 the king was, and there the head-chamberlain Triwane acted on their behalf; he,
 too, as a heretic favoured the Jews, and cajoled the king into taking action
 against the Christians. Accordingly Theodoric, on the presumption that they had
 resorted to arson, presently gave orders that the whole Roman population should furnish money for the rebuilding of the
 synagogues of Ravenna which had been burned; and that
 those who did not have anything from which they could give should be whipped
 through the
 streets of the city while a herald made proclamation of their offence. This was
 in substance the order given to Eutharicus, Cilliga, and the Bishop Peter, and
 thus it was carried out.

Shortly after that the devil found an
 opportunity to steal for his own a man who was ruling the state well and
 without complaint. For presently Theodoric gave orders that an oratory of St.
 Stephen, that is, a high altar, beside the springs in a suburb of the city of
 Verona, should be destroyed. He also forbade any Roman to carry arms, except a
 small pen-knife.

Also a poor woman of the
 Gothic race, lying in a colonnade not far from the palace at Ravenna, gave
 birth to four snakes; two of these in the sight of the people were carried up
 on clouds from west to east and then fell into the sea; the two others, which
 had but a single head, were taken away. A star with a train of fire appeared,
 of the kind called a comet, and shone for
 fifteen days. There were frequent earthquakes.

After this the king began from time to time,
 when he found an opportunity, to vent his rage upon the Romans. Cyprianus, who
 was then a referee, afterwards count of the
 privy purse and a master, was led by avarice to make a charge against the patrician Albinus, to
 the effect that he had sent to the emperor Justinus a letter hostile to
 Theodoric's rule. When Albinus was summoned and denied this,
 the patrician Boethius, who was master of ceremonies, said in the king's
 presence: The charge of Cyprianus is false, but if Albinus did that, so
 also have I and the whole senate with one accord done it; it is false, my
 Lord King.

Then Cyprianus, after some hesitation,
 produced false witnesses, not only against Albinus, but against his defender
 Boethius. Moreover, the king was plotting evil against the Romans and seeking
 an opportunity for killing them; hence he trusted the false witnesses rather
 than the senators.

Then Albinus and Boethius
 were imprisoned in the baptistery of a church. And the king summoned Eusebius,
 prefect of the city, to Ticinum, and pronounced sentence on Boethius without
 giving him a hearing. Presently at the Calventian estate, 
 where Boethius was confined, he had him put to a wretched death. He was tortured for a long
 time with a cord bound about his forehead so tightly that his eyes cracked in
 their sockets, and finally, while under torture, he was beaten to death with a
 cudgel.

Then the king, on his return to Ravenna,
 acted no longer as a friend of God, but as an enemy to His law; forgetful of
 all His kindness and of the favour which He had shown him, trusting to his own
 arm, believing, too, that the emperor Justinus stood in great fear of him, he
 sent and summoned to Ravenna Johannes, who at that time sat upon the apostolic
 throne, and said to him: Go to the emperor Justinus in Constantinople,
 and tell him among other things to restore those who have become reconciled
 and joined the Catholic Church.

To him the Pope Johannes replied:
 What you will do, O king, do quickly. Lo! here I stand before you.
 But this thing I will not promise you to do, nor will I give the emperor
 your command. But anything else which you may enjoin upon me with God's help
 I shall be able to obtain from him.

Thereupon the king in anger gave orders that
 a ship should be built, and that Johannes should be embarked on it with the
 other bishops; that is, Ecclesius of Ravenna, Eusebius of Fanum Fortunae,
 Sabinus of Campania,
 and two others; and with them the senators Theodorus, Importunus, and Agapitus,
 with another Agapitus. But God, who does not desert his faithful worshippers,
 conducted them in safety.

The emperor
 Justinus received the Roman bishop on his arrival as he would have received
 Saint Peter, gave him audience, and promised that he would do everything that
 was asked, except that those who had become reconciled and returned to the
 Catholic faith could by no means be restored to the Arians.

But while all this was going on, Symmachus,
 the head of the senate, whose daughter Boethius had married, was brought from
 Rome to Ravenna. There the king, fearing that through resentment at the death
 of his son-in-law, Symmachus might
 take some step in opposition to his rule, ordered him to be
 put to death under a false accusation.

Then
 Pope Johannes returned from Justinus; Theodoric received him in a hostile
 spirit, and ordered him to be deemed as one of his enemies; a few days later
 Johannes died. When the people were marching before his dead body, suddenly one
 of the crowd was possessed by a devil and fell down; but when they had come,
 with the coffin in which Johannes was carried, to the place where the stricken
 man lay, he suddenly got up sound and well and took his place in the front of
 the funeral procession. When the people and the senators beheld this, they
 began to take relics from the Pope's
 garments. Then the body was escorted out of the city attended by the great
 rejoicing of the people.

Then Symmachus, an advocate and a Jew, at the order of a tyrant rather than a king, announced on an
 appointed day, which was a Wednesday, the 26th of August, in the fourth
 indiction, under the
 consulship of Olybrius, that on the following Sabbath the Arians would take possession of the Catholic churches.

But He who does not allow his faithful worshippers
 to be oppressed by unbelievers soon brought upon Theodoric the same punishment
 that Arius, the founder of his religion, had suffered; for the king was seized
 with a diarrhea, and after three days of open bowels lost both his throne and
 his life on the very same day on which he rejoiced to attack the churches.

But before breathing his last he named his
 grandson Athalaric as his successor. During his lifetime he had made himself a
 mausoleum of squared blocks of stone, a work of
 extraordinary size, and sought out a huge rock to place upon it.