The Roman History of Ammianus Marcellinus Part 58

12. So now a new messenger was sent to Gaul with an account of this fresh disaster; and his intelligence roused the emperor to great anger.

So Palladius, his secretary, who had also the rank of tribune, was sent at once to liquidate the pay due to the soldiers, who were dispersed over Africa, and to examine into all that had taken place in Tripoli, he being an officer whose report could be trusted.

13. But while all these delays took place from the continual deliberations held on the case, and while the people of Tripoli were still waiting for the answer, the Asturians, now still more insolent after their double success, like birds of prey whose ferocity has been sharpened by the taste of blood, flew once more to attack them; and having slain every one who did not flee from the danger, they carried off all the spoil which they had previously left behind, cutting down all the trees and vines.

14. Then a certain citizen named Mychon, a man of high station and great influence, was taken prisoner in the district outside of the city; but before they could bind him he gave them the slip, and because an attack of gout rendered him unable to effect his escape, he threw himself down a dry well, from which he was drawn up by the barbarians with his ribs broken, and was conducted near to the gates of the city, where he was ransomed by the affection of his wife, and was drawn up to the battlements of the wall by a rope; but two days afterwards he died.

15. These events encouraged the pertinacity of the invaders, so that they advanced and attacked the very walls of Leptis, which resounded with the mournful wailings of the women, who were terrified in an extraordinary manner and quite bewildered, because they had never before been blockaded by an enemy. And after the city had been besieged for eight days continuously, during which many of the besiegers were wounded, while they made no progress, they retired much discouraged to their own country.

16. In consequence of these events, the citizens, being still doubtful of their safety, and desirous of trying every possible resource, before the amba.s.sadors who had been first sent had returned, sent Jovinus and Pancratius to lay before the emperor a faithful account of the sufferings which they had endured, and which they themselves had seen: these envoys found the former amba.s.sadors, Severus and Flaccia.n.u.s, at Carthage; and on asking them what they had done, they learnt that they had been referred for a hearing to the deputy and the count. And immediately after this Severus was attacked by a dangerous illness and died; but notwithstanding what they had heard, the new amba.s.sadors proceeded on their journey to the court.

17. After this, when Palladius arrived in Africa, the count, who knew on what account he had come, and who had been warned before to take measures for his own safety, sent orders to the princ.i.p.al officers of the army by certain persons who were in his secrets, to pay over to him, as being a person of great influence, and being the person most nearly connected with the princ.i.p.al n.o.bles of the palace, the chief part of the money for the soldiers' pay which he had brought over, and they obeyed him.

18. So he, having been thus suddenly enriched, reached Leptis; and that he might arrive at a knowledge of the truth, he took with him to the districts that had been laid waste, Erecthius and Aristomenes, two citizens of great eloquence and reputation, who freely unfolded to him the distress which their fellow-citizens and the inhabitants of the adjacent districts had suffered. They showed him everything openly; and so he returned after seeing the lamentable desolation of the province: and reproaching Roma.n.u.s for his inactivity, he threatened to report to the emperor an accurate statement of everything which he had seen.

19. He, inflamed with anger and indignation, retorted that he also should soon make a report, that the man who had been sent as an incorruptible secretary had converted to his own uses all the money which had been sent out as a donation to the soldiers.

20. The consequence was that Palladius, being hampered by the consciousness of his flagitious conduct, proceeded from henceforth in harmony with Roma.n.u.s, and when he returned to court, he deceived Valentinian with atrocious falsehoods, affirming that the citizens of Tripoli complained without reason. Therefore he was sent back to Africa a second time with Jovinus, the last of all the amba.s.sadors (for Pancratius had died at Treves), in order that he, in conjunction with the deputy, might inquire into everything connected with the second emba.s.sy. And besides this, the emperor ordered the tongues of Erecthius and Aristomenes to be cut out, because this same Palladius had intimated that they made some malignant and disloyal statements.

21. The secretary, following the deputy, as had been arranged, came to Tripoli. When his arrival was known, Roma.n.u.s sent one of his servants thither with all speed, and Caecilius, his a.s.sessor, who was a native of the province; and by their agency (whether they employed bribery or deceit is doubtful) all the citizens were won over to accuse Jovinus, vigorously a.s.serting that he had never issued any of the commands which he had reported to the emperor; carrying their iniquity to such a pitch, that Jovinus himself was compelled by them to confess, to his own great danger, that he had made a false report to the emperor.

22. When these events were learnt from Palladius on his return, Valentinian, being always inclined to severe measures, commanded the execution of Jovinus as the author of such a report, and of Caelestinus, Concordius, and Lucius, as privy to it, and partners in it. He also commanded Ruricius, the president, to be put to death for falsehood; the charge against him being aggravated by the circ.u.mstance that his report contained some violent and intemperate expressions.

23. Ruricius was executed at Sitifis; the rest were condemned at Utica by the sentence of the deputy Crescens. But before the death of the amba.s.sadors, Flaccia.n.u.s, while being examined by the deputy and the count, and while resolutely defending his own safety, was a.s.sailed with abuse, and then attacked with loud outcries and violence by the angry soldiers, and was nearly killed; the charge which they made against him being that the cause which had prevented the people of Tripoli from being defended was, that they had refused to furnish necessaries for the use of any expedition.

24. On this account he was thrown into prison, till the emperor could be consulted on his case, and should decide what ought to be done; but his gaolers were tampered with, as was believed, and he escaped from prison and fled to Rome, where he concealed himself for some time, till his death.

25. In consequence of this memorable catastrophe, Tripoli, which had been often hara.s.sed by external and domestic calamities, brought forward no further accusations against those who had left it undefended, knowing that the eternal eye of justice was awake, as well as the avenging furies of the amba.s.sadors and the president. And a long time afterwards the following event took place:--Palladius, having been dismissed from the military service, and stript of all that nourished his pride, retired into private life.

26. And when Theodosius, that magnificent commander of armies, came into Africa to put down Firmus, who was entertaining some pernicious designs, and, as he was ordered, began to examine the movable effects of Roma.n.u.s, he found among his papers a letter of a certain person named Meterius, containing this pa.s.sage: "Meterius, to his lord and patron, Roma.n.u.s;" and at the end of the letter many expressions unconnected with its general subject. "Palladius, who has been cashiered, salutes you. He who says he was cashiered for no other reason than that in the case of the people of Tripoli he made a false report to the sacred ears."

27. When this letter was sent to the court and read, Meterius was arrested by order of Valentinian, and confessed that the letter was his writing. Therefore Palladius also was ordered to appear, and reflecting on all the crimes he had committed, while at a halting place on the road, he watched an opportunity afforded him by the absence of his guards, as soon as it got dark (for, as it was a festival of the Christian religion, they pa.s.sed the whole night in the church), and hanged himself.

28. The news of this propitious event--the death of the princ.i.p.al cause of their sad troubles--being known, Erecthius and Aristomenes, who when they first heard that their tongues were ordered to be cut out for sedition, had escaped, now issued from their hiding-places. And when the emperor Gratian was informed of the wicked deceit that had been practised (for by this time Valentinian was dead), their fears vanished, and they were sent to have their cause heard before Hesperus the proconsul and Flavian the deputy, men whose justice was supported by the righteous authority of the emperor, and who, after putting Caecilius to the torture, learnt from his clear confession that he himself had persuaded the citizens to bring false accusations against the amba.s.sadors. These actions were followed by a report which gave the fullest possible account of all that had taken place, to which no answer was given.

29. And that the whole story might want nothing of tragic interest, the following occurrence also took place after the curtain had fallen.

Roma.n.u.s went to court, taking with him Caecilius, with the intent to accuse the judges as having been unduly bia.s.sed in favour of the province; and being received graciously by Merobaudes, he demanded that some more necessary witnesses should be summoned. And when they had come to Milan, and had shown by proofs which seemed correct, though these were false, that they had been falsely accused, they were acquitted, and returned home. Valentinian was still alive, when after these events which we have related, Remigius also retired from public life, and afterwards hanged himself, as we shall relate in the proper place.

[165] See the Iliad, XVIII. 1. 645, where Ajax prays:--

"Lord of earth and air, O King! O Father, hear my humble prayer!

Dispel this cloud, the light of heaven restore; Give me to see, and Ajax asks no more!

If Greece must perish, we thy will obey, But let us perish in the face of day."

POPE'S _Trans._, 1. 727, etc.

[166] See Gibbon, vol. III. p. 97 (Bohn's edition).

[167] This is an allusion to the story of Castor and Pollux bringing news of the victory gained at the battle of Regillus to Domitius (B.C.

496). The legend adds that they stroked his black beard, which immediately became red; from which he and his posterity derived the surname of aen.o.barbus.--See Dion. Hal. vi. 13.

[168] Marius Maximus was an author who wrote an account of the lives of the Caesars.

[169] -- 20 is mutilated, so that no sense can be extracted from the remainder of it.

[170] Two brothers who had been colleagues in several important offices, and who were at last put to death together by Commodus.

[171] The end of -- 22 is also mutilated.

[172] This pa.s.sage, again, seems hopelessly mutilated.

[173] Cicero, de Amicitia, c. xxi.

[174] These are not in reality n.o.ble names, but names derived from low occupations. Trulla is a dish; Salsula, belonging to pickles, &c.

[175] Compare Juvenal's description of the circ.u.mspect in his time:--

"Atque duas tantum resarexius optat Panem et Circenses."

BOOK XXIX.

ARGUMENT.

I. Theodorus, the secretary, aims at the imperial authority, and being accused of treason before Valens at Antioch, and convicted, is executed, with many of his accomplices.--II. In the East many persons are informed against as guilty of poisoning and other crimes; and being condemned (some rightly, some wrongfully), are executed.--III. In the West many instances occur of the ferocity and insane cruelty of the emperor Valentinian.--IV. Valentinian crosses the Rhine on a bridge of boats, but, through the fault of a soldier, fails in an attempt to surprise Macria.n.u.s, the king of the Allemanni.--V. Theodosius, the commander of the cavalry in Gaul, in several battles defeats Formus Maorus, the son of Nubelis Regulus, who had revolted from Valentinian; and, after having driven him to kill himself, restores peace to Africa.--VI. The Quadi, being provoked by the wicked murder of their king Galerius, in conjunction with the Sarmatians, lay waste both the Pannonias and Valeria with fire and sword, and destroy almost the whole of two legions--A dissertation on the city prefecture of Claudius.

I.

A.D. 371.

-- 1. At the conclusion of the winter, Sapor, king of Persia, being full of cruelty and arrogance from the confidence engendered by his former battles, having completed his army to its full number, and greatly strengthened it, sent out a force of cuira.s.siers, archers, and mercenary troops, to make an invasion of our territories.

2. Against this force, Count Trajan and Vadomarius, the ex-king of the Allemanni, advanced with a mighty army, having been enjoined by the emperor to remember his orders to act on the defensive rather than on the offensive against the Persians.

3. When they arrived at Vagabanta, a place well suited for the manoeuvres of the legions, they supported against their will a rapid charge which was made upon them by the squadrons of the enemy, and retreated with the design not to be the first to slay any of the hostile soldiers, and not to be looked upon as guilty of having broken the treaty. At last, under the pressure of extreme necessity, they came to an engagement with the barbarians, and after having slain a great number of them, were victorious.

4. During the cessation of regular operations which ensued, several slight skirmishes occurred through the impatience of both armies, which ended with different results; and at last the summer ended, and a truce was agreed to by common consent, and the two armies separated, though the generals were violently inflamed against each other. The king of Parthia, intending to pa.s.s the winter at Ctesiphon, returned to his own home, and the Roman emperor went to Antioch; and while he tarried there, in complete security from foreign enemies, he had very nearly perished through domestic treachery, as shall be related in the coming narrative.

5. A certain Procopius, a restless man, at all times covetous and fond of disturbances, had persuaded Anatolius and Spudasius, officers about the palace, who had been ordered to restore what they had appropriated from the treasury, to bring a plot against the Count Fortunatia.n.u.s, who was especially obnoxious as being represented to be the princ.i.p.al demander of this rest.i.tution. He, being a man of naturally harsh temper, was thereupon inflamed almost to insanity, and exercising the authority of the office which he filled, he delivered up to trial before the tribunal of the prefect a person of the lowest birth, named Palladius, for being a poisoner in the train of Anatolius and Spudasius; Heliodorus, also an interpreter of the Fates from the events which happened at any one's birth; with the intent that they should be compelled by torture to relate all that they knew.

6. And when they came with rigid scrutiny to inquire into what had been done or attempted, Palladius boldly exclaimed, that the matters now under investigation were trivial, and such as might well be pa.s.sed over; that he himself, if he might be allowed to speak, could bring forward some circ.u.mstances both formidable and more important, which, having been prepared with great exertion, would throw everything into confusion, if they were not provided against beforehand. Being ordered to explain without fear all he knew, he made a deposition at great length, affirming that Fidustius the president, and Pergamius and Irenaeus, had secretly learnt, by the detestable arts of magic, the name of the person who should become emperor after Valens.

7. Fidustius was at once arrested (for he happened by chance be on the spot), and being brought secretly before the emperor, when confronted with the informer, he did not attempt by any denial to throw a doubt on what was already revealed, but laid open the whole of this wretched plot; confessing in plain words, that he himself, with Hilarius and Patricius, men skilled in the art of soothsaying, of whom Hilarius had filled high offices in the palace, had held consultations about the future possessors of the empire; that by secret arts they had searched into the Fates, which had revealed to them the name of an excellent emperor, admonishing them at the same time that a miserable end awaited the investigators of these omens.[176]

8. And while they were hesitating, unable to decide who at that moment was superior to all other men in vigour of mind, Theodorus appeared to excel all the rest, a man who had already arrived at the second cla.s.s of secretaries. And in truth he deserved the opinion which they entertained of him; for he was descended from an ancient and ill.u.s.trious family in Gaul; he had been liberally educated from his earliest childhood; he was eminent for modesty, prudence, humanity, courtesy, and literature. He always appeared superior to the post or place which he was filling, and was equally popular among high and low, and he was nearly the only man whose tongue was never unbridled, but who always reflected on what he was going to say, yet without ever being restrained by any fear of danger.