The Roman History of Ammianus Marcellinus Part 57

17. Their ideas of civility are such that a stranger had better kill a man's brother than send an excuse to them if he be asked to dinner; for a senator fancies that he has suffered a terrible grievance, equal to the loss of his entire patrimony, if any guest be absent, whom, after repeated deliberations, he has once invited.

18. Some of them, if they have gone any distance to see their estates in the country, or to hunt at a meeting collected for their amus.e.m.e.nt by others, think they have equalled the marches of Alexander the Great, or of Caesar; or if they have gone in some painted boats from Lake Avernus to Pozzuoli or Cajeta, especially if they have ventured on such an exploit in warm weather. Where if, amid their golden fans, a fly should perch on the silken fringes, or if a slender ray of the sun should have pierced through a hole in their awning, they complain that they were not born among the Cimmerians.

19. Then, when they come from the bath of Silva.n.u.s, or the waters of Mamaea, which are so good for the health, after they come out of the water, and have wiped themselves with cloths of the finest linen, they open the presses, and take out of them robes so delicate as to be transparent, selecting them with care, till they have got enough to clothe eleven persons; and at length, after they have picked out all they choose, they wrap themselves up in them, and take the rings which they had given to their attendants to hold, that they might not be injured by the damp; and then they depart when their fingers are properly cooled.

20. Again, if any one having lately quitted the military service of the emperor, has retired to his home.[169] ...

21. Some of them, though not many, wish to avoid the name of gamblers, and prefer to be called dice-players; the difference being much the same as that between a thief and a robber. But this must be confessed that, while all friendships at Rome are rather cool, those alone which are engendered by dice are sociable and intimate, as if they had been formed amid glorious exertions, and were firmly cemented by exceeding affection; to which it is owing that some of this cla.s.s of gamblers live in such harmony that you might think them the brothers Quintilii.[170]

And so you may sometimes see a man of base extraction, who knows all the secrets of the dice, as grave as Porcius Cato when he met with a repulse which he had never expected nor dreamt of, when a candidate for the praetorship, with affected solemnity and a serious face, because at some grand entertainment or a.s.sembly some man of proconsular rank has been preferred to himself.

22. Some lay siege to wealthy men, whether old or young, childless or unmarried, or even with wives and children (for with such an object no distinction is ever regarded by them), seeking by most marvellous tricks to allure them to make their wills; and then if, after observing all the forms of law, they bequeath to these persons what they have to leave, being won over by them to this compliance, they speedily die.[171]

23. Another person, perhaps only in some subordinate office, struts along with his head up, looking with so slight and pa.s.sing a glance upon those with whom he was previously acquainted, that you might fancy it must be Marcus Marcellus just returned from the capture of Syracuse.

24. Many among them deny the existence of a superior Power in heaven, and yet neither appear in public, nor dine, nor think that they can bathe with any prudence, before they have carefully consulted an almanac, and learnt where (for example) the planet Mercury is, or in what portion of Cancer the moon is as she pa.s.ses through the heavens.

25. Another man, if he perceives his creditor to be importunate in demanding a debt, flies to a charioteer who is bold enough to venture on any audacious enterprise, and takes care that he shall be hara.s.sed with dread of persecution as a poisoner; from which he cannot be released without giving bail and incurring a very heavy expense. One may add to this, that he includes under this head a debtor who is only so through the engagements into which he has entered to avoid a prosecution, as if he were a real debtor, and that he never lets him go till he has obtained the discharge of the debt.

26. On the other side, a wife, who, as the old proverb has it, hammers on the same anvil day and night, to compel her husband to make his will, and then the husband is equally urgent that his wife shall do the same.

And men learned in the law are procured on each side, the one in the bedchamber, and his opponent in the dining-room, to draw up counter-doc.u.ments. And under their employ are placed ambiguous interpreters of the contracts of their victims, who, on the one side, promise with great liberality high offices, and the funerals of wealthy matrons; and from these they proceed to the obsequies of the husbands, giving hints that everything necessary ought to be prepared; and[172]

... as Cicero says, "Nor in the affairs of men do they understand anything good, except what is profitable; and they love those friends most (as they would prefer sheep) from whom they expect to derive the greatest advantage."[173]

27. And when they borrow anything, they are so humble and cringing, you would think you were at a comedy, and seeing Micon or Laches; when they are constrained to repay what they have borrowed, they become so turgid and bombastic that you would take them for those descendants of Hercules, Cresphontes and Temenus. This is enough to say of the senatorial order.

28. And let us come to the idle and lazy common people, among whom some, who have not even got shoes boast of high-sounding names; calling themselves Cimessores, Statarii, Semicupae, Serapina, or Cicimbricus, or Gluturiorus, Trulla, Lucanicus, Pordaca, or Salsula,[174] with numbers of other similar appellations. These men spend their whole lives in drinking, and gambling, and brothels, and pleasures, and public spectacles; and to them the Circus Maximus is their temple, their home, their public a.s.sembly; in fact, their whole hope and desire.[175]

29. And you may see in the forum, and roads, and streets, and places of meeting, knots of people collected, quarrelling violently with one another, and objecting to one another, and splitting themselves into violent parties.

30. Among whom those who have lived long, having influence by reason of their age, their gray hairs and wrinkles, are continually crying out that the republic cannot stand, if in the contest which is about to take place, the skilful charioteer, whom some individual backs, is not foremost in the race, and does not dextrously shave the turning-post with the trace-horses.

31. And when there is so much ruinous carelessness, when the wished-for day of the equestrian games dawns, before the sun has visibly risen, they all rush out with headlong haste, as if with their speed they would outstrip the very chariots which are going to race; while as to the event of the contest they are all torn asunder by opposite wishes, and the greater part of them, through their anxiety, pa.s.s sleepless nights.

32. From hence, if you go to some cheap theatre, the actors on the stage are driven off by hisses, if they have not taken the precaution to conciliate the lowest of the people by gifts of money. And if there should be no noise, then, in imitation of the people in the Tauric Chersonese, they raise an outcry that the strangers ought to be expelled (on whose a.s.sistance they have always relied for their princ.i.p.al support), using foul and ridiculous expressions; such as are greatly at variance with the pursuits and inclinations of that populace of old, whose many facetious and elegant expressions are recorded by tradition and by history.

33. For these clever gentlemen have now devised a new method of expressing applause, which is, at every spectacle to cry out to those who appear at the end, whether they are couriers, huntsmen, or charioteers--in short, to the whole body of actors, and to the magistrates, whether of great or small importance, and even to nations, "It is to your school that he ought to go." But what he is to learn there no one can explain.

34. Among these men are many chiefly addicted to fattening themselves up by gluttony, who, following the scent of any delicate food, and the shrill voices of the women who, from c.o.c.kcrow, cry out with a shrill scream, like so many peac.o.c.ks, and gliding over the ground on tiptoe, get an entrance into the halls, biting their nails while the dishes are getting cool. Others fix their eyes intently on the tainted meat which is being cooked, that you might fancy Democritus, with a number of anatomists, was gazing into the entrails of sacrificed victims, in order to teach posterity how best to relieve internal pains.

35. For the present this is enough to say of the affairs of the city; now let us return to other events which various circ.u.mstances brought to pa.s.s in the provinces.

V.

-- 1. In the third consulship of the emperors a vast mult.i.tude of Saxons burst forth, and having crossed the difficult pa.s.sage of the ocean, made towards the Roman frontier by rapid marches, having before often battened on the slaughter of our men. The first storm of this invasion fell upon the count Nannenus, who was in command in that district, being a veteran general of great merit and experience.

2. He now engaged in battle with a host which fought as if resolved on death; but when he found that he had lost many of his men, and that he himself, having been wounded, would be unequal to a succession of battles, he sent word to the emperor of what was necessary, and prevailed on him to send Severus, the commander of the infantry, to aid him at this crisis.

3. That general brought with him a sufficient body of troops, and when he arrived in the country he so arrayed his men that he terrified the barbarians, and threw them into such disorder, even before any battle took place, that they did not venture to engage him, but, panic-stricken at the brilliant appearance of the standards and eagles, they implored pardon and peace.

4. The question of granting it to them was long discussed, with variety of opinion, between the Roman commanders; but at last, as it seemed for the advantage of the republic, a truce was granted, and after they had agreed to the conditions proposed, one of which was that they should furnish a number of young men suitable for military service, the Saxons were permitted to withdraw, but without their baggage, and to return to their own country.

5. But when they, being now freed from all fear, were preparing to return, some of our infantry were sent forward, who secretly laid an ambuscade in a certain hidden defile, from which they would easily be able to attack them as they pa.s.sed. But the matter turned out very differently from what was expected.

6. For some of our men being roused by the noise of the Saxons, sprang from their ambush unseasonably; and being suddenly seen, while they were hastening to establish themselves, the barbarians, with a terrible yell, put them to flight. Presently, however, they halted in a solid body, and being now driven to extremities, were compelled to fight, though their strength was far from great. The slaughter was great, and they would have been all cut off to a man, had not a column of cuira.s.sier cavalry, which had been similarly placed in ambuscade at a place where the road divided, in order there also to attack the barbarians in their pa.s.sage, been roused by the uproar, and come up suddenly.

7. Then the battle raged more fiercely, and with dauntless b.r.e.a.s.t.s the Romans pressed forward on all sides, and with drawn swords hemmed in their enemies, and slew them; nor did any of them ever return home, for not one survived the slaughter. And although an impartial judge will blame the action as treacherous and disgraceful, still if he weighs all the circ.u.mstances, he will not regret that a mischievous band of robbers was at length destroyed when such an opportunity presented itself.

8. After these affairs had been consummated thus successfully, Valentinian revolving in his mind a great variety of opinions, was filled with anxious solicitude, considering and contemplating different measures for breaking the pride of the Allemanni and their king Macria.n.u.s, who were incessantly and furiously disturbing the republic with their restless movements.

9. For that ferocious nation, though from its earliest origin diminished by various disasters, yet continually revives, so that it might be considered as having been free from attacks for many ages. At last, after the emperor had considered and approved of one plan after another, it was finally determined to excite the Burgundians to attack them, the Burgundians being a warlike people, with an immense population of active youths, and therefore formidable to all their neighbours.

10. And the emperor sent repeated letters to their chiefs by some silent and trustworthy messengers, to urge them to attack the Allemanni at a certain fixed time, and promising that he likewise would cross the Rhine with the Roman legions, and attack their forces when in disorder, and seeking to escape the unexpected attack of the Burgundians.

11. The letters of the emperor were received with joy, for two reasons: first, because for many ages the Burgundians had looked upon themselves as descended from the Romans; and secondly, because they had continual quarrels with the Allemanni about their salt-pits and their borders. So they sent against them some picked battalions, which, before the Roman soldiers could be collected, advanced as far as the banks of the Rhine, and, while the emperor was engaged in the construction of some fortresses, caused the greatest alarm to our people.

12. Therefore, after waiting for some time, Valentinian having failed to come on the appointed day as promised, and finding that none of his engagements were performed, they sent amba.s.sadors to the court, requesting a.s.sistance to enable them to return in safety to their own land, and to save them from exposing their rear unprotected to their enemies.

13. But when they perceived that their request was virtually refused by the excuses and pleas for delay with which it was received, they departed from the court in sorrow and indignation; and when the chiefs of the Burgundians received their report, they were very furious, thinking they had been mocked; and so they slew all their prisoners and returned to their native land.

14. Among them their king is called by one general name of "Hendinos,"

and according to a very ancient custom of theirs, is deposed from his authority if under his government the state meets with any disaster in war; or if the earth fails to produce a good crop; in the same way as the Egyptians are accustomed to attribute calamities of that kind to their rulers. The chief priest among the Burgundians is called "the Sinistus." But he is irremovable and not exposed to any such dangers as the kings.

15. Taking advantage of this favourable opportunity, Theodosius, the commander of the cavalry, pa.s.sed through the Tyrol and attacked the Allemanni, who, out of fear of the Burgundians, had dispersed into their villages. He slew a great number, and took some prisoners, whom by the emperor's command he sent to Italy, where some fertile districts around the Po were a.s.signed to them, which they still inhabit as tributaries.

VI.

-- 1. Let us now migrate, as it were, to another quarter of the world, and proceed to relate the distresses of Tripoli, a province of Africa; distresses which, in my opinion, even Justice herself must have lamented, and which burst out rapidly like flames. I will now give an account both of them and of their causes.

2. The Asturians are barbarians lying on the frontier of this province, a people always in readiness for rapid invasions, accustomed to live on plunder and bloodshed; and who, after having been quiet for a while, now relapsed into their natural state of disquiet, alleging the following as the serious cause for their movements.

3. One of their countrymen, by name Stachao, while freely traversing our territories, as in time of peace, did some things forbidden by the laws; the most flagrant of his illegal acts being that he endeavoured, by every kind of deceit and intrigue, to betray the province, as was shown by the most undeniable evidence, for which crime he was burnt to death.

4. To avenge his death, the Asturians, claiming him as their clansman, and affirming that he had been unjustly condemned, burst forth from their own territory like so many mad wild beasts during the reign of Jovian, but fearing to approach close to Leptis, which was a city with a numerous population, and fortified by strong walls, they occupied the district around it, which is very fertile, for three days: and having slain the agricultural population on it, whom terror at their sudden inroad had deprived of all spirit, or had driven to take refuge in caves, and burnt a great quant.i.ty of furniture which could not be carried off, they returned home, loaded with vast plunder, taking with them as prisoner a man named Silva, the princ.i.p.al n.o.ble of Leptis, whom they found with his family at his country house.

5. The people of Leptis being terrified at this sudden disaster, not wishing to incur the further calamities with which the arrogance of the barbarians threatened them, implored the protection of Count Roma.n.u.s, who had recently been promoted to the government of Africa. But when he came at the head of an army, and received their request to come to their immediate a.s.sistance in their distress, he declared that he would not move a step further unless abundant magazines and four thousand camels were provided for his troops.

6. At this answer the wretched citizens were stupefied, and declared to him, that after the devastations and conflagrations to which they had been exposed, it was impossible for them to make such exertions, even for the reparation of the cruel disasters which they had suffered; and, after waiting forty days there with vain pretences and excuses, the count retired without attempting any enterprise.

7. The people of Tripoli, disappointed in their hopes, and dreading the worst extremities, at their next council day, appointed Severus and Flaccia.n.u.s amba.s.sadors to carry to Valentinian some golden images of victory in honour of his accession to the empire, and to state fully and boldly to him the miserable distress of the province.

8. When this step became known, Roma.n.u.s sent a swift horseman as a messenger to the master of the offices, Remigius, his own kinsman and his partner in plunder, bidding him take care, that by the emperor's decision, the investigation into this matter should be committed to the deputy and himself.

9. The amba.s.sadors arrived at the court, and having obtained access to the emperor, they, in a set speech, laid all their distresses before him, and presented him with a decree of their council in which the whole affair was fully set forth. When the emperor had read it, he neither trusted the report of the master of the offices, framed to defend the misconduct of the count, nor, on the other hand, did he place confidence in these men who made a contrary report; but promised a full investigation into the affair, which however was deferred in the manner in which high authorities are wont to let such matters give place to their more pleasant occupations and amus.e.m.e.nts.

10. While waiting in suspense and protracted anxiety for some relief from the emperor's camp, the citizens of Tripoli were again attacked by troops of the same barbarians, now elated with additional confidence by their past successes. They ravaged the whole territory of Leptis and also that of OEa, spreading total ruin and desolation everywhere, and, at last, retired loaded with an enormous quant.i.ty of spoil, and having slain many of our officers, the most distinguished of whom were Rusticia.n.u.s, one of the priests, and the aedile, Nicasius.

11. This invasion was prevented from being repelled by the fact, that at the entreaty of the amba.s.sadors, the conduct of the military affairs, which had at first been intrusted to Ruricius, the president, had been subsequently transferred to Count Roma.n.u.s.