Q. Sosius Falco, C. Erucius Clarus. (A.D. 193 = a.u. 946 = First of
Severus, from the Calends of June).
I. Septimius Severus Aug. (II), D. Clodius Septimius Albinus Caes. (A.D.
194 = a.u. 947 = Second of Severus).
Scapula Tertullus, Tineius Clemens. (A.D. 195 = a.u. 948 = Third of
Severus).
C. Domitius Dexter (II), L. Valerius Messala Priscus. (A.D. 196 = a.u. 949
= Fourth of Severus).
[Sidenote:--1--] Severus upon becoming emperor in the manner described
punished with death the | Pretorians | who had contrived the fate of
Pertinax. Before reaching Rome he summoned those remaining [Pretorians],
surrounded them in a plain while they still did not know what was going
to happen to them, and having reproached them long and bitterly for
their transgression against their emperor he relieved them of their
arms, took away their horses, and expelled them from Rome. The majority
reluctantly proceeded to throw away their arms and let their horses go,
and scattered uninjured, in their tunics. One man, as his horse refused
to leave him, but kept following him and neighing, slew both the beast
and himself. To the spectators it seemed that the horse also was glad to
die.
When he had attended to this matter Severus entered Rome; he went as far
as the gates on horseback and in cavalry costume, but from that point on
changed to citizen's garb and walked. The entire army, both, infantry and
cavalry, in full armor accompanied him. The spectacle proved the most
brilliant of all that I have witnessed, for the whole city had been decked
with wreaths of blossoms and laurel and besides being adorned with richly
colored stuffs blazed with lights and burning incense. The population,
clad in white and jubilant, gave utterance to many hopeful expressions.
The soldiers were present, conspicuous by their arms, as if participating
[Footnote: Reading [Greek: pompeyontes] (Dindorf, after Bekker).] in some
festival procession, and we, too, were walking about in our best attire.
The crowd chafed in their eagerness to see him and to hear him say
something, as if his voice had been somehow changed by his good fortune,
and some of them held one another up aloft to get a look at him from a
higher position.
[Sidenote:--2--] Having entered in this style he began to make us rash
promises, such as the good emperors of old had given, to the effect that
he would not put any senator to death. He not only took oath concerning
this matter, but what was of greater import he also ordered it ratified by
public decree, and passed an ordinance that both the emperor and the
person who helped him in any such deed should be considered an
enemy,--themselves and also their children. Yet he was himself the first
to break the law and instead of keeping it caused the death of many
persons. Even Julius Solon himself, who framed this decree according to
imperial mandate, was a little later murdered. The emperor did many things
that were not to our liking. [He was blamed for making the city turbulent
by the multitude of soldiers and he oppressed the commonwealth by
excessive expenditure of funds: he was blamed most of all for placing his
hope of safety in the strength of his army and not in the good-will of his
companions.] But some found fault with him especially because, whereas it
had been the custom for the body-guard to be drawn from Italy, Spain,
Macedonia and Noricum only,--a plan which furnished men more distinguished
in appearance and of simpler habits,--he had abolished this method, [He
ruled that any vacancies should be filled from all the legions alike; this
he did with the idea that he should find them as a result more conversant
with military practices and should be setting up warfare as a kind of
prize for the excellent. As a matter of fact he incidentally ruined all
the most reliable men of military age in Italy, who turned their attention
to robbery and gladiatorial fighting in place of the service that had
previously claimed it.] and filled the city with a throng of motley
soldiers, most savage in appearance, most terrifying in their talk, and
most uncultured to associate with.
[Sidenote:--3--] The signs which led him to expect the sovereignty were
these. When he had been registered in the senate-house, it seemed to him
in a vision that a she-wolf suckled him, as was the case with Romulus. On
the occasion of his marrying Julia, Faustina, the wife of Marcus, prepared
their bedchamber in the temple of Venus opposite the palace; and once,
when he was asleep, water gushed from his hand as from a spring; and when
he was governor of Lugdunum, the whole Roman domain approached and greeted
him,--all this in dreams, I mean. At another time he was taken by some one
to a point affording a wide view; and as he gazed from it over all the
earth and all the sea he laid his fingers on them as one might on some
instrument [Footnote: Compare Plato, Republic, 399 C.] capable of all
harmonies, and they answered to his touch. Again, he thought that in the
Roman Forum a horse threw Pertinax, who was already mounted, but readily
took him on its back. These things he had already learned from dreams, but
in his waking hours he had, while a youth, ignorantly seated himself upon
the imperial chair. This accident, taken with the rest, indicated
rulership to him in advance.
[Sidenote:--4--] Upon attaining that condition he erected a heroum to
Pertinax and commanded that his name should be repeated in the course of
all prayers and of all oaths. A gold image of him was ordered brought into
the hippodrome on a car drawn by elephants and three gilded thrones for
him conveyed into the remaining theatres. His funeral, in spite of the
time elapsed since his death, took place as follows:
In the Forum Romanum a wooden platform was constructed hard by the stone
one, upon which was set a building without walls but encompassed by
columns, with elaborate ivory and gold decoration. In it a couch of
similar material was placed, surrounded by heads of land and sea
creatures, and adorned with purple coverlets interwoven with gold. Upon it
had been laid a kind of wax image of Pertinax, arrayed in triumphal
attire. A well-formed boy was scaring the flies away from it with peacock
feathers, as though it were really a person sleeping. While it was lying
there in state, Severus, we senators, and our wives approached, clad in
mourning garb. [Footnote: Reading [Greek: penthikos] (Sylburgius,
Boissevain et al)..] The ladies sat in the porticos, and we under the open
sky. After this there came forward, first, statues of all the famous
ancient Romans, then choruses of boys and men, intoning a kind of mournful
hymn to Pertinax. Next were all the subject nations, represented by bronze
images, attired in native garb. And the guilds in the City itself,--those
of the lictors and the scribes and the heralds, and all others of the
sort,--followed on. Then came images of other men who were famous for some
deed or invention or brilliant trait. Behind them were the cavalry and
infantry in armor, the race-horses, and all the funeral offerings that the
emperor and we and our wives, together with distinguished knights and
peoples and the collegia of the city, had sent. They were accompanied by
an altar, entirely gilded, the beauty of which was enhanced by ivory and
Indic jewels. [Sidenote:--5--] When these had gone by, Severus mounted the
Platform of the Beaks and read a eulogy of Pertinax. We shouted our
approval many times in the midst of his discourse, partly praising and
partly bewailing Pertinax, but our cries were loudest when he had ceased.
Finally, as the couch was about to be moved, we all together uttered our
lamentations and all shed tears. Those who carried the bier from the
platform were the high priests and the officials who were completing their
term of office, as well as any that had been appointed for the ensuing
year. These gave it to certain knights to carry. The rank and file of us
went ahead of the bier, some beating our breasts and others playing on the
flute some dirge-like air; the emperor followed behind all, and in this
order we arrived at the Campus Martius. Here there had been built a pyre,
tower-shaped and triple pointed, adorned with ivory and gold together with
certain statues. On its very summit was lodged a gilded chariot that
Pertinax had been wont to drive. Into this the funeral offerings were cast
and the bier was placed in it, and next Severus and the relatives of
Pertinax kissed the image. Our monarch ascended a tribunal, while we the
senate, except officials, took our places on the benches, that with safety
and convenience alike we might view what went on. The magistrates and the
equestrian order, arrayed in a manner becoming their station, besides the
cavalry of the army and the infantry, passed in and out performing
intricate evolutions, both traditional and newly invented. Then at length
the consuls applied fire to the mound, which being done an eagle flew up
from it. In this way was immortality secured for Pertinax [who (although
bodies of men engaged in warfare usually turn out savage and those given
to peace cowardly) excelled equally in both departments, being an enemy to
dread, yet shrewd in the arts of peace. His boldness, wherein bravery
appears, he displayed towards foreigners and rebels, but his clemency,
wherewith is mingled justice, towards friends and the orderly elements of
society. When advanced to preside over the destinies of the world, he was
never ensnared by the increase of greatness so as to show himself in some
things more subservient and in others more haughty than was fitting. He
underwent no change from the beginning to the very end, but was august
without sullenness, gentle without humiliating lowliness, prudent, yet did
no injury, just without inquisitorial qualities, a close administrator
without stinginess, highminded, but devoid of boasts.]
[Sidenote:--6--] Now Severus made a campaign against Niger. The latter was
an Italian, one of the knights, remarkable for nothing either very good or
very bad, so that one could either greatly praise or greatly censure him.
[Wherefore he had been assigned to Syria by Commodus.] He had as a
lieutenant, together with others, Aemilianus, who [by remaining neutral
and watching the course of events] was thought to surpass all the senators
of that day in understanding and in experience of affairs; for he had been
tested in many provinces. [These conditions and the fact that he was a
relative of Albinus had made him conceited.]
[Sidenote:--7--] [Niger was not in general a well-balanced man and though
he had very great abilities still fell into error. But at this time he was
more than usually elated, so that he showed how much he liked those who
called him "the new Alexander"; and when one man asked, "Who gave you
permission to do this?" he pointed to his sword and rejoined, "This did."
When the war broke out Niger had gone to Byzantium and from that point
conducted a campaign against Perinthus. He was disturbed, however, by
unfavorable omens that came to his notice. An eagle perched upon a
military shrine and remained there till captured, in spite of attempts
to scare it away. Bees made wax around the military standards and about
his images most of all. For these reasons he retired to Byzantium.]
[Sidenote: A.D. 194 (a.u. 947)] Now Aemilianus while engaged in conflict
with some of the generals of Severus near Cyzicus was defeated by them and
slain. After this, between the narrows of Nicaea and Cius, they had a
great war of various forms. Some battled in close formation on the plains;
others occupied the hill-crests and hurled stones and javelins at their
opponents from the higher ground; still others got into boats and
discharged their bows at the enemy from the lake. At first the adherents
of Severus, under the direction of Candidus, were victorious; for they
found their advantage in the higher ground from which they fought. But the
moment Niger himself appeared a pursuit in turn was instituted by Niger's
men and victory was on their side. Then Candidus caught hold of the
standard bearers and turned them to face the enemy, upbraiding the
soldiers for their flight; at this his followers were ashamed, turned
back, and once more conquered those opposed to them. Indeed, they would
have destroyed them utterly, had not the city been near and the night a
dark one.
The next event was a tremendous battle at Issus, near the
so-called Gates. In this contest Valerianus and Anullinus [Footnote: _P.
Cornelius Anullinus._] commanded the army of Severus, whereas Niger was
with his own ranks and marshaled them for war. This pass, the Cilician
"Gates", [Footnote: Compare Xenophon's _Anabasis_, I, 4, 4-5.] is so
named on account of its narrowness. On the one side rise precipitous
mountains, and on the other sheer cliffs descend to the sea. So Niger had
here made a camp on a strong hill, and he put in front heavy-armed
soldiers, next the javelin slingers and stone throwers, and behind all the
archers. His purpose was that the foremost might thrust back such as
assailed them in hand-to-hand conflict, while the others from a distance
might be able to bring their force into play over the heads of the others.
The detachment on the left and that on the right were defended by the
sea-crags and by the forest, which had no issue. This is the way in which
he arranged his army, and he stationed the beasts of burden close to it,
in order that none of them should be able to flee in case they should wish
it. Anullinus after making all this out placed in advance the heavier part
of his force and behind it his entire light-armed contingent, to the end
that the latter, though discharging their weapons from a distance might
still retard the progress of the enemy, while the solidity of the advance
guard rendered the upward passage safe for them. The cavalry he sent with
Valerianus, bidding him, so far as he could, go around the forest and
unexpectedly fall upon the troops of Niger from the rear. When they came
to close quarters, the soldiers of Sevents placed some of their shields in
front of them and held some above their heads, making a testudo, and in
this formation they approached the enemy. So the battle was a drawn one
for a long while, but eventually Niger's men got decidedly the advantage
both by their numbers and by the topography of the country. They would
have been entirely victorious, had not clouds gathered out of a clear sky
and a wind arisen from a perfect calm, while there were crashes of thunder
and sharp flashes of lightning and a violent rain beat in their faces.
This did not trouble Severus's troops because it was behind them, but
threw Niger's men into great confusion since it came right against them.
Most important of all, the opportune character of this occurrence infused
courage in the one side, which believed it was aided by Heaven, and fear
in the other, which felt that the supernatural was warring against them;
thus it made the former strong even beyond its own strength and terrified
the latter in spite of real power. Just as they were fleeing Valerianus
came in sight. Seeing him, they turned about, and after that, as Anullinus
beat them back, retreated once more. Then they wandered about, running
this way and that way, to see where they could break through.
[Sidenote:--8--] It turned out that this was the greatest slaughter to
take place during the war in question. Two myriads of Niger's followers
perished utterly. The fact was indicated also by the priest's vision.
While Severus was in Pannonia, the priest of Jupiter saw in a vision a
black man force his way into the emperor's camps and meet his death by
superior numbers. And by turning the name of Niger into Greek people
recognized that he was the one meant by the "black" person mentioned.
Directly Antioch had been captured (not long after) Niger fled from it,
making the Euphrates his objective point, for he intended to seek refuge
among the barbarians. His pursuers, however, overtook him; he was taken
and had his head struck off. This head Severus sent to Byzantium and
caused to be reared on a cross, that the sight of it might incline the
Byzantines to his cause. The next move of Severus was to mete out justice
to those who had belonged to Niger's party. [Of the cities and individuals
he chastised some and rewarded others. He executed no Roman senator, but
deprived most of them of their property and confined them on islands. He
was merciless in his search for money. Among other measures he exacted
four times the amount that any individuals or peoples had given to Niger,
whether they had done so voluntarily or under compulsion. He himself
doubtless perceived the injustice of it,] [Footnote: The MS. text is
faulty, and the translation, ventured independently, corresponds
approximately to a suggestion by van Herwerden in Boissevain's edition.]
but as he required great sums, he paid no attention to the common talk.
[Sidenote:--9--] Cassius Clemens, a senator, while on trial before Severus
himself, did not hide the truth but spoke with such frankness as the
following report will show:
"I," he said, "was acquainted with neither you nor Niger, but as I found
myself in his part of the world, I accepted the situation heartily, not
with the idea of being hostile to you but with the purpose of deposing
Julianus. I have, then, committed no wrong in this, since I labored
originally for the same ends as you, nor should I be censured for failing
to desert the master whom I had once secured by the will of Heaven and for
not transferring my allegiance to you. You would not yourself have liked
to have your intimate circle and fellow judges here betray your cause and
go over to him. Examine therefore not our bodies nor our names but the
events themselves. For in every point in which you condemn us you will be
passing sentence upon yourself and your associates. However secure you may
be from conviction in any suit or by any court finding, still, in the
report of men, of which an eternal memory shall survive, you will be
represented as making against yourself the same charges as have led to
punishment [Footnote: Supplying, with Reiske, [Greek: soi [Lacuna]
kolasthaenai].] in the case of others."--Severus admired this man for his
frankness and allowed him to keep half his property.
[Many who had never even seen Niger and had not cooperated with him were
victims of abuse on the charge that they had been members of his party.]
[Sidenote: A.D. 195 (a.u. 948)] [Sidenote:--10--] The Byzantines performed
many remarkable deeds both during the life and after the death of Niger.
This city is favorably located with reference both to the continents and
to the sea that lies between them, and is strongly intrenched by the
nature of its position as well as by that of the Bosporus. The town sits
on high ground extending into the sea. The latter, rushing down from the
Pontus with the speed of a mountain torrent assails the headland and in
part is diverted to the right, forming there the bay and harbors. But the
greater part of the water passes on with great energy past the city itself
toward the Propontis. Moreover, the place had walls that were very strong.
Their face was constructed of thick squared stones, fastened together by
bronze plates, and the inner side of it had been strengthened with mounds
and buildings so that the whole seemed to be one thick wall and the top of
it formed a circuit betraying no flaws and easy to guard. Many large
towers occupied an exposed position outside it, with windows set close
together on every side so that those assaulting the fortification in a
circle would be cut off between them. Being built at a short distance from
the wall and not in a regular line, but one here and another there over a
rather crooked route, they were sure to command both sides of any
attacking party. Of the entire circuit the part on the land side reached a
great height so as to repel any who came that way: the portion next to the
sea was lower. There, the rocks on which it had been reared and the
dangerous character of the Bosporus were effective allies. The harbors
within the wall had both been closed with chains and their breakwaters
carried towers projecting far out on each side, making approach impossible
for the enemy. And, in fine, the Bosporus was of the greatest aid to the
citizens. It was quite inevitable that once any person became entangled in
its current he should willy-nilly be cast up on the land. This was a
feature quite satisfactory to friends, but impossible for foes to deal
with.
[Sidenote:--11--] It was thus that Byzantium had been fortified. The
engines, besides, the whole length of the wall, were of the most varied
description. In one place they threw rocks and wooden beams upon parties
approaching and in another they discharged stones and missiles and spears
against such as stood at a distance. Hence over a considerable extent of
territory no one could draw near them without danger. Still others had
hooks, which they would let down suddenly and shortly after draw up boats
and machines. Priscus, a fellow-citizen of mine, had designed most of
them, and this fact both caused him to incur the death penalty and saved
his life. For Severus, on learning his proficiency, prevented his being
executed. Subsequently he employed him on various missions, among others
at the siege of Hatra, and his contrivances were the only ones not burned
by the barbarians. He also furnished the Byzantines with five hundred
boats, mostly of one bank, but some of two banks, and equipped with beaks.
A few of them were provided with rudders at both ends, stern and prow, and
had a double quota of pilots and sailors in order that they might both
attack and retire without turning around and damage their opponents while
sailing back as well as while sailing forward.
[Sidenote:--12--] Many, therefore, were the exploits and sufferings of the
Byzantines, since for the entire space of three years they were besieged
by the armaments of practically the whole world. A few of their
experiences will be mentioned that seem almost marvelous. They captured,
by making an opportune attack, some boats that sailed by and captured also
some of the triremes that were in their opponents' roadstead. This they
did by having divers cut their anchors under water, after which they drove
nails into the ship's bottom and with cords attached thereto and running
from friendly territory they would draw the vessel towards them. Hence one
might see the ships approaching shore by themselves, with no oarsman nor
wind to urge them forward. There were cases in which merchants purposely
allowed themselves to be captured by the Byzantines, though pretending
unwillingness, and after selling their wares for a huge price made their
escape by sea.
[Sidenote: A.D. 196 (a.u. 949)] When all the supplies in the town had been
exhausted and the people had been set fairly in a strait with regard to
both their situation and the expectations that might be founded upon it,
at first, although beset by great difficulties (because they were cut off
from all outside resources), they nevertheless continued to resist; and to
make ships they used lumber taken from the houses and braided ropes of the
hair of their women. Whenever any troops assaulted the wall, they would
hurl upon them stones from the theatres, bronze horses, and whole statues
of bronze. When even their normal food supply began to fail them, they
proceeded to soak and eat hides. Then these, too, were used up, and the
majority, having waited for rough water and a squall so that no one might
man a ship to oppose them, sailed out with the determination either to
perish or to secure provender. They assailed the countryside without
warning and plundered every quarter indiscriminately. Those left behind
committed a monstrous deed; for when they grew very faint, they turned
against and devoured one another.
[Sidenote:--13--] This was the condition of the men in the city. The rest,
when they had laden their boats with more than the latter could bear, set
sail after waiting this time also for a great storm. They did not succeed,
however, in making any use of it. The Romans, noticing [Sidenote: A.D. 196
a.u. 949] that their vessels were overheavy and depressed almost to the
water's edge, put out against them. They assailed the company, which was
scattered about as wind and flood chose to dispose them, and really
engaged in nothing like a naval contest but crushed the enemy's boats
mercilessly, striking many with their boat-hooks, ripping up many with
their beaks, and actually capsizing some by their mere onset. The victims
were unable to do anything, however much they might have wished it: and
when they attempted to flee in any direction either they would be sunk by
force of the wind, which encountered them with the utmost violence, or
else they would be overtaken by the enemy and destroyed. The inhabitants
of Byzantium, as they watched this, for a time called unceasingly upon the
gods and kept uttering now one shout and now another at the various
events, according as each one was affected by the spectacle or the
disaster enacted before his eyes. But when they saw their friends
perishing all together, the united throng sent up a chorus of groans and
wailings, and thereafter they mourned for the rest of the day and the
whole night. The entire number of wrecks proved so great that some drifted
upon the islands and the Asiatic coast, and the defeat became known by
these relics before it was reported. The next day the Byzantines had the
horror increased even above what it had been. For, when the surf had
subsided, the whole sea in the vicinity of Byzantium was covered with
corpses and wrecks with blood, and many of the remains were cast up on
shore, with the result that the catastrophe, now seen in its details,
appeared even worse than when in process of consummation.
[Sidenote:--14--] The Byzantines straightway, though against their will,
surrendered their city. The Romans executed all the soldiers and
magistrates except the pugilist who had greatly aided the Byzantines and
injured the Romans. He perished also, for in order to make the soldiers
angry enough to destroy him he immediately hit one with his fist and with
a leap gave another a violent kick.
Severus was so pleased at the capture of Byzantium that to his soldiers in
Mesopotamia (where he was at this time) he said unreservedly: "We have
taken Byzantium, too!" He deprived the city of its independence and of its
civil rank, and made it tributary, confiscating the property of the
citizens. He granted the town and its territory to the Perinthians, and
the latter, treating it after the manner of a village, committed
innumerable outrages. So far he seemed in a way to be justified in what he
did. His demolition of the walls of the city grieved the inhabitants no
more than did the loss of that reputation which the appearance of the
walls had caused them to enjoy; and incidentally he had abolished a strong
Roman outpost and base of operations against the barbarians from the
Pontus and Asia. I was one that viewed the walls after they had fallen,
and a person would have judged that they had been taken by some other
people than the Romans. I had also seen them standing and had heard them
"speak." There were seven towers extending from the Thracian gates to the
sea. If a man approached any of these but the first, it was silent; but if
he shouted a few words at that one or threw a stone at it, it not only
echoed and spoke itself but caused the second to do the same thing. In
this way the sound passed through them all alike, and they did not
interrupt one another, but all in their proper turn, one receiving the
impulse from the one before it, took up the echo and the voice and sent it
on.
DIO'S ROMAN HISTORY
76
Severus's war against the Osrhoeni, Adiabeni, and Arabians (chapters 1-3).
Severus's war against Albinus Caesar (chapters 4, 5).
How Albinus was vanquished by Severus and perished (chapters 6, 7).
The arrogance of Severus after his victory (chapters 7, 8).
Severus's Parthian expedition (chapter 9).
How he besieged the Atreni, but found his endeavors fruitless (chapters
10-12).
How he started for Egypt: and about the source of the Nile (chapter 13).
About the power and tyrannous conduct of Plautianus (chapters 14-16).