The Roman History of Ammianus Marcellinus Part 48

2. Some of the ancients, fearing this kind of criticism, though they composed accounts of various actions in a beautiful style, forbore to publish them, as Tully, a witness of authority, mentions in a letter to Cornelius Nepos. However, let us, despising the ignorance of people in general, proceed with the remainder of our narrative.

3. The course of events being terminated so mournfully, by the death of two emperors at such brief intervals, the army, having paid the last honours to the dead body which was sent to Constantinople to be interred among the other emperors, advanced towards Nicaea, which is the metropolis of Bithynia, where the chief civil and military authorities applied themselves to an anxious consideration of the state of affairs, and as some of them were full of vain hopes, they sought for a ruler of dignity and proved wisdom.

4. In reports, and the concealed whispers of a few persons, the name of Equitius was ventilated, who was at that time tribune of the first cla.s.s of the Scutarii; but he was disapproved by the most influential leaders as being rough and boorish; and their inclinations rather tended towards Januarius, a kinsman of Julian, who was the chief commissary of the camp in Illyric.u.m.

5. However, he also was rejected because he was at a distance; and, as a man well qualified and at hand, Valentinian was elected by the unanimous consent of all men, and the manifest favour of the Deity. He was the tribune of the second cla.s.s of the Scutarii, and had been left at Ancyra, it having been arranged that he should follow afterwards. And, because no one denied that this was for the advantage of the republic, messengers were sent to beg him to come with all speed; and for ten days the empire was without a ruler, which the soothsayer Marcus, by an inspection of entrails at Rome, announced to be the case at that moment in Asia.

6. But in the meanwhile, to prevent any attempt to overturn what had been thus settled, or any movement on the part of the fickle soldiers to set aside the election in favour of some one on the spot, Equitius and Leo, who was acting as commissary under Dagalaiphus the commander of the cavalry, and who afterwards incurred great odium as master of the offices,[157] strove with great prudence and vigilance to establish, to the best of their power, what had been the decision of the whole army, they being also natives of Pannonia, and partisans of the emperor elect.

7. When Valentinian arrived in answer to the summons he had received, either in obedience to omens which guided him in the prosecution of the affair, as was generally thought, or to repeated warnings conveyed in dreams, he would not come into public or be seen by any one for two days, because he wished to avoid the biss.e.xtile day of February which came at that time, and which he knew to have been often an unfortunate day for the Roman empire: of this day I will here give a plain explanation.

8. The ancients who were skilled in the motions of the world and the stars, among whom the most eminent are Meton, Euctemon, Hipparchus, and Archimedes, define it as the period of the revolving year when the sun, in accordance with the laws which regulate the heavens, having gone through the zodiac, in three hundred and sixty-five days and nights, returns to the same point: as, for instance, when, after having moved on from the second degree of the Ram, it returns again to it after having completed its circuit.

9. But the exact period of a year extends over the number of days above mentioned and six hours more. And so the correct commencement of the next year will not begin till after midday and ends in the evening. The third year begins at the first watch, and lasts till the sixth hour of the night. The fourth begins at daybreak.

10. Now as the beginning of each year varies, one commencing at the sixth hour of the day, another at the same hour of the night, to prevent the calculation from throwing all science into confusion by its perplexing diversity, and the months of autumn from sometimes being found to come in the spring, it has been settled that those six hours which in a period of four years amount to twenty-four shall be put together so as to make one day and night.

11. And after much consideration it has been so arranged with the concurrence of many learned men, that thus the revolutions of the year may come to one regular end, removed from all vagueness and uncertainty, so that the theory of the heavens may not be clouded by any error, and that the months may retain their appointed position.

12. Before their dominions had reached any wide extent, the Romans were for a long time ignorant of this fact, and having been for many years involved in obscure difficulties, they were in deeper darkness and error than ever, when they gave the priests the power of intercalating, which they, in profligate subservience to the interests of the farmers of the revenue, or people engaged in lawsuits, effected by making additions or subtractions at their own pleasure.

13. And from this mode of proceeding many other expedients were adopted, all of which were fallacious, and which I think it superfluous now to enumerate. But when they were given up, Octavia.n.u.s Augustus, in imitation of the Greeks, corrected these disorderly arrangements and put an end to these fluctuations, after great deliberation fixing the duration of the year at twelve months and six hours, during which the sun with its perpetual movement runs through the whole twelve signs, and concludes the period of a whole year.

14. This rule of the biss.e.xtile year, Rome, which is destined to endure to the end of time, established with the aid of the heavenly Deity. Now let us return to our history.

II.

-- 1. When this day, so little fit in the opinion of many for beginning any great affair, had pa.s.sed, at the approach of evening, by the advice of the prefect Sall.u.s.t, an order was issued by general consent, and with the penalty of death attached to any neglect of it, that no one of higher authority, or suspected of aiming at any objects of ambition, should appear in public the next morning.

2. And when, while the numbers who allowed their own empty wishes to torment them were weary of the slowness of time, the night ended at last, and daylight appeared, the soldiers were all a.s.sembled in one body, and Valentinian advanced into the open s.p.a.ce, and mounting a tribunal of some height which had been erected on purpose, he was declared ruler of the empire as a man of due wisdom by this a.s.sembly, bearing the likeness of a comitia, with the unanimous acclamations of all present.

3. Presently he was clothed with the imperial robe, and crowned, and saluted as Augustus with all the delight which the pleasure of this novelty could engender; and then he began to harangue the mult.i.tude in a premeditated speech. But as he put forth his arm to speak more freely, a great murmur arose, the centuries and maniples beginning to raise an uproar, and the whole ma.s.s of the cohorts presently urging that a second emperor should be at once elected.

4. And though some people fancied that this cry was raised by a few corrupt men in order to gain the favour of those who had been pa.s.sed over, it appeared that that was a mistake, for the cry that was raised did not resemble a purchased clamour, but rather the unanimous voice of the whole mult.i.tude all animated with the same wish, because recent examples had taught them to fear the instability of this high fortune.

Presently the murmurs of the furious and uproarious army appeared likely to give rise to a complete tumult, and men began to fear that the audacity of the soldiers might break out into some atrocious act.

5. And as Valentinian feared this above everything, he raised his hand firmly with the vigour of an emperor full of confidence, and venturing to rebuke some as obstinate and seditious, he delivered the speech he had intended without interruption.

6. "I exult, O ye gallant defenders of our provinces, and boast and always shall boast that your valour has conferred on me, who neither expected nor desired such an honour, the government of the Roman empire, as the fittest man to discharge its duties. That which was in your hands before an emperor was elected, you have completed beneficially and gloriously, by raising to this summit of honour a man whom you know by experience to have lived from his earliest youth to his present age with honour and integrity. Now then I entreat you to listen with quietness to a few plain observations which I think will be for the public advantage.

7. "So numerous are the matters for the consideration of an emperor, that I neither deny nor even doubt that it is a desirable thing that he should have a colleague of equal power to deal with every contingency.

And I myself, as a man, do also fear the great acc.u.mulation of cares which must be mine, and the various changes of events. But still we must use every exertion to insure concord, by which even the smallest affairs give strength. And that is easily secured if, your patience concurring with your equity, you willingly grant me what belongs to me in this matter. For Fortune, the ally of all good counsels, will I trust aid me, while to the very utmost of my ability and power, I diligently search for a wise and temperate partner. For as wise men lay it down, not only in the case of empire where the dangers are frequent and vast, but also in matters of private and everyday life, a man ought rather to take a stranger into his friendship after he has had opportunities of judging him to be wise, than to ascertain his wisdom after he has made him his friend.

8. "This, in hopes of a happier fortune, I promise. Do you, retaining your steadiness of conduct and loyalty, recruit the vigour of your minds and bodies while rest in your winter quarters allows you to do so. And you shall soon receive what is your due on my nomination as emperor."

9. Having finished this speech, to which his unexpected authority gave weight, the emperor by it brought all over to his opinion. And even those who a few minutes before with loud voices demanded something different, now, following his advice, surrounded him with the eagles and standards, and, forming a splendid and formidable escort of all cla.s.ses and ranks of the army, conducted him to the palace.

III.

-- 1. While the decisions of Fate were rapidly bringing these events to pa.s.s in the East, Ap.r.o.nia.n.u.s, the governor of Rome, an upright and severe judge, among the grave cases by which that prefecture is continually oppressed, was labouring with most particular solicitude to suppress the magicians, who were now getting scarce, and who, having been taken prisoners, had been, after being put to the question, manifestly convicted by the evidence of their accomplices of having injured some persons. These he put to death, hoping thus, by the punishment of a few, to drive the rest, if any were still concealed, out of the city through fear of similar treatment.

2. And he is said to have acted thus energetically because having been promoted by Julian while he was still in Syria, he had lost one eye on his journey to take possession of his office, and he suspected that this was owing to his having been the object of some nefarious practices; therefore with just but unusual indignation he exerted great industry in searching out these and similar crimes. This made him appear cruel to some persons, because the populace were continually pouring in crowds into the amphitheatre while he was conducting the examination of some of the greatest criminals.

3. At last, after many punishments of this kind had been inflicted, he condemned to death the charioteer Hilarinus, who was convicted on his own confession of having intrusted his son, who was but a very young boy, to a sorcerer to be taught some secret mysteries forbidden by the laws, in order that he might avail himself of unlawful a.s.sistance without the privity of any one. But, as the executioner held him but loosely he suddenly escaped and fled to a Christian altar, and had to be dragged from it, when he was immediately beheaded.

4. But soon ample precautions were taken against the recurrence of this and similar offences, and there were none or very few who ventured afterwards to insult the rigour of the public law by practising these iniquities. But at a later period long impunity nourished atrocious crimes; and licentiousness increased to such a pitch that a certain senator followed the example of Hilarinus, and was convicted of having almost articled by a regular contract one of his slaves to a teacher of the black art, to be instructed in his impious mysteries, though he escaped punishment by an enormous bribe, as common report went.

5. And, as it was said, having thus procured an acquittal, though he ought to have been ashamed even to have such an accusation, he took no pains to efface the stain, but as if, among a lot of infamous persons, he were the only one absolutely innocent, he used to ride on a handsomely caparisoned horse through the streets, and is still always attended by a troop of slaves, as if by a new and curious fashion he were desirous to attract particular observation, just as Duilius in ancient times after his glorious naval victory became so arrogant as to cause a flute-player to precede him with soft airs when he returned to his house after any dinner-party.

6. Under this same Ap.r.o.nia.n.u.s all necessaries were so abundant in Rome that not the slightest murmur because of any scarcity of supplies was ever heard, which is very common at Rome.

IV.

-- 1. But in Bithynia, Valentinian, as we have already mentioned, having been declared emperor, having fixed the next day but one for beginning his march, a.s.sembled his chief officers, and, as if the course which he preferred was to follow their advice, inquired whom they recommended him to take for his colleague; and when no one made him any answer, Dagalaiphus, who at that time was commander of the cavalry, boldly answered "If, O excellent emperor, you love your own kindred, you have a brother; if you love the republic, then seek the fittest man to invest."

2. Valentinian was offended with this speech, but kept silence, and dissembled his displeasure and his intentions. And having made a rapid journey he reached Nicomedia on the first of March, where he appointed his brother Valens master of the horse with the rank of tribune.

3. And after that, when he reached Constantinople, revolving many considerations in his mind, and considering that he himself was already overwhelmed with the magnitude of pressing business, he thought that the emergency would admit of no delay; and on the 28th of March he led Valens into the suburbs, where, with the consent of all men (and indeed no one dared to object), he declared him emperor, had him clothed in the imperial robes, and crowned with a diadem, and then brought him back in the same carriage with himself as the legitimate partner of his power, though in fact he was to be more like an obedient servant, as the remainder of my narrative will show.

4. After these matters had been thus settled without any interruption, the two emperors suffered a long time from a violent fever; but when out of danger (as they were more active in the investigation of evils than in removing them) they intrusted the commission to investigate the secret causes of this malady to Ursatius the master of the offices, a fierce Dalmatian, and to Juventius Siscia.n.u.s the quaestor, their real motive, as was constantly reported, being to bring the memory of Julian and that of his friends into odium, as if their illness had been owing to their secret malpractices. But this insinuation was easily disposed of, since not a word could be adduced to justify any imputation of such treason.

5. At this time the trumpet as it were gave signal for war throughout the whole Roman world; and the barbarian tribes on our frontier were moved to make incursion on those territories which lay nearest to them.

The Allemanni laid waste Gaul and Rhaetia at the same time. The Sarmatians and Quadi ravaged Pannonia. The Picts, Scots, Saxons, and Atacotti hara.s.sed the Britons with incessant invasions; the Austoriani and other Moorish tribes attacked Africa with more than usual violence.

Predatory bands of the Goths plundered Thrace.

6. The king of the Persians poured troops into Armenia, exerting all his power to reduce that people again into subjection to his authority; without any just cause, arguing, that after the death of Julian, with whom he had made a treaty of peace, there was nothing that ought to hinder him from recovering those lands which he could prove to have belonged in former times to his ancestors.

V.

A.D. 365.

-- 1. So after the winter had pa.s.sed off quietly, the two emperors in perfect harmony, one having been formally elected, and the other having been admitted to share that honour, though chiefly in appearance, having traversed Thrace, arrived at Nissa, where in the suburb which is known as Mediana, and is three miles from the city, they divided the counts between them as if they were going to separate.

2. To the share of Valentinian, by whose will everything was settled, there fell Jovinus, who had lately been promoted by Julian to be the commander of the forces in Gaul, and Dagalaiphus, on whom Jovian had conferred a similar rank; while Victor was appointed to follow Valens to the east: and he also had originally been promoted by the decision of Julian; and to him was given Ariathaeus as a colleague. For Lupicinus, who in like manner had sometime before been appointed by Jovian to command the cavalry, was defending the eastern districts.

3. At the same time Equitius received the command of the army of Illyric.u.m, with the rank not of general but of count; and Serenia.n.u.s, who sometime before had retired from the service, now, being a citizen of Pannonia, returned to it, and joined Valens as commander of the cohort of his guards. This was the way in which these affairs were settled, and in which the troops were divided.

4. After this, when the two brothers entered Sirmium, they divided their courts also, and Valentinian as the chief took Milan, while Valens retired to Constantinople.

5. Sall.u.s.t, with the authority of prefect, governed the East, Mamertinus Italy with Africa and Illyric.u.m, and Germania.n.u.s the provinces of Gaul.

6. It was in the cities of Milan and Constantinople that the emperors first a.s.sumed the consular robes. But the whole year was one of heavy disaster to the Roman state.

7. For the Allemanni burst through the limits of Germany, and the cause of their unusual ferocity was this. They had sent amba.s.sadors to the court, and according to custom they were ent.i.tled to regular fixed presents, but received gifts of inferior value; which, in great indignation, they threw away as utterly beneath them. For this they were roughly treated by Ursatius, a man of a pa.s.sionate and cruel temper, who at that time was master of the offices; and when they returned and related, with considerable exaggeration, how they had been treated, they roused the anger of their savage countrymen as if they had been despised and insulted in their persons.