of which he doubtless had previous indications. A mule bore a mule in
Rome and a sow had a little pig with four ears and two tongues and eight
feet. A great earthquake occurred, blood flowed from a pipe, and bees
formed honeycombs in the Forum Boarium. The hunting-theatre was smitten
with thunderbolts on the very day of the Vulcanalia [Footnote: August
twenty-third.] and such a blaze ensued that all its upper circumference
and the whole circuit of construction and the ground-level were burned
and thereupon the rest of it caught fire and fell in ruins. No human aid
availed against the conflagration, though every possible stream of water
was directed upon the blaze, nor could the downpour from the sky, which
came in great amount and violence, accomplish anything. The force of
both kinds of water was exhausted by the power of the thunderbolts, and
to a certain extent, at least, the building only received additional
injury; [Footnote: Reading [Greek: prosesineto](Bekker).] wherefore the
gladiatorial spectacle was held in the stadium for many years.
This naturally seemed to foreshow what was to be. There were other fires
besides and imperial possessions were burned especially often during his
reign,--a thing which in itself has always been regarded as of ill omen;
but the fact that it seemed to have overthrown the horse-race of Vulcan
had a direct bearing upon the emperor. This accordingly gave rise to a
feeling that something out of the ordinary was in process of
consummation, and the idea was strengthened by the behavior on that same
day of the Tiber, which rose until it invaded the Forum and the roads
leading to it with such impetus as to sweep away even human beings. And
a woman, as I have heard, grim and gigantic, was seen by some persons
and declared that these disasters were insignificant as compared with
what was destined to befall them.
[Sidenote:--26--] And so it proved, for the evil did not confine itself
to the City alone, but took possession of the whole world under its
dominion, with whose inhabitants the theatre was customarily filled. The
Romans, defeated, gave up their war against the barbarians and likewise
received great detriment from the greed and factional differences of the
soldiers. The progress of both these evils I am now to describe.]
Macrinus, seeing that Artabanus was exceedingly angry at the way he had
been treated and had invaded Mesopotamia with a large force, at first of
his own accord sent him the captives and used friendly language, urging
him to accept peace and laying the blame for the past upon Tarautas. But
the other would not entertain his proposition and furthermore bade him
build up the forts and demolished cities, abandon Mesopotamia entirely
and offer satisfaction in general, but particularly for the damage to
the royal tombs. [For, trusting in the large force that he had gathered
and despising Macrinus as an unworthy emperor, he gave reign to his
wrath and expected that even without the Roman's consent he could
accomplish whatever he wished.] Macrinus had no opportunity to think it
over, but, meeting the enemy already on the way to Nisibis, was defeated
in a battle begun by the soldiers about water, while encamped opposite
each other. And he came very near losing the rampart itself, but some
armor-bearers and baggage-carriers happened along and saved it. In their
confidence, they had started out ahead and made a rush upon the
barbarians; and the unexpectedness of their sally was of advantage to
them, making them appear to be armed soldiers and not mere helpers. But
the [lacuna] both was not present then and [lacuna] the night [lacuna]
the camps [lacuna] and the Romans followed on. The enemy, perceiving the
noise that they made in going out, suspected [lacuna] flight, but seeing
them at a glance [lacuna] the Romans barbarians [lacuna] forced by their
[lacuna] and the flight of Macrinus, they became dejected and were
conquered. And as a result [lacuna] from Mesopotamia especially [lacuna]
they overran Syria [lacuna] he abandoned.
[Sidenote: A.D. 218 (_a.u._ 971)] This took place at the season under
consideration: but in the autumn and winter, during which Macrinus and
Adventus became consuls, they no longer came to blows with each other
but kept up an interchange of envoys and heralds until they had reached
an agreement.
[Sidenote:--27--] For Macrinus, through native cowardice (being a Moor
he was tremendously timorous) and by reason of the soldiers' lack of
discipline, did not dare to begin a war. On the contrary] he expended
for the sake of peace enormous amounts, in the shape of both gifts and
money, to Artabanus himself and to his assistants in the government, so
that the entire outlay came to five thousand myriads. [And the emperor
was not unwilling to effect a reconciliation, both for the reasons
mentioned and because his soldiers were extremely restive,--a condition
due to their having been away from home an unusual length of time, as
well as to the scarcity of food. No supplies were to be had from stores,
since there were no stores ready, nor from the country itself, because
part had been devastated and part was controlled by forts. Macrinus,
however, did not forward an exact account of all their proceedings to
the senate and consequently triumphal sacrifices were voted him and the
name of Parthicus was bestowed. But this he would not accept, being
apparently ashamed to adopt the appellation of an enemy by whom he had
been defeated.
Moreover, the war that had been waged in the regions of the Armenian
king subsided. Tiridates received the diadem sent him by Macrinus, and
got back his mother (whom Tarautas had confined in prison eleven
months), together with the booty captured from Armenia and all the
territory that his father possessed in Cappadocia, with hopes of
obtaining the annual payment often furnished by the Romans. And the
Dacians, after damaging parts of Dacia, held their hands in spite of a
desire for further conflict, and got back the hostages that Caracalla,
under the name of an alliance, had taken from them. This was the course
of these events.
[Sidenote:--28--] But a new war broke upon the heads of the Romans, and
no longer a foreign but a civil strife. It was the soldiers who were
responsible for the outbreak. They were somewhat irritated by their
setbacks, but their behavior was owing still more to the fact that they
would no longer endure any hard work if they could help it, but were
thoroughly out of training in every respect and wanted to have no
emperor that ruled with a firm hand but demanded that they get
everything without stint, and chose to perform no task that was fitting
for them. They were further angered by the cutting off of their pay and
the deprivation of prizes and exemptions (these last among the
privileges of the military), which they had gained from Tarautas, even
though they personally were not destined to be affected by these
measures. Their resolution was definitely strengthened by the delay
which they had undergone in practically one and the same spot while
wintering in Syria on account of the war. It should be stated that
Macrinus seemed to have shown good generalship and to have acted
sensibly in debarring the men in arms from no privilege, but preserving
to them intact all the rights allowed by his predecessor, whereas he
gave notice to such as intended to enlist anew that they would be
enrolled only upon the old schedule published by Severus. He hoped that
these recruits, entering the army a few at a time, would hold aloof from
rebellion, at first through peaceful inclinations and fear and later
through the influence of time and custom, and that by having no
corrupting effect upon the rest they would quiet them.
[Sidenote:--29--] If this had been done after the members of the army
had retired to their individual fortresses and were consequently
scattered, it would have been a correct move. Perhaps some of them would
not have shown indignation, believing that they would really be put at
no disadvantage because temporarily they suffered no loss: and even if
they had been vexed, yet, each body being few in number and subservient
to the commanders sent by the senate, they could have accomplished no
great harm. But, united in Syria, they suspected that they should be
liable to innovations if they separated;--for the time being they could
well believe they were being pampered on account of the demands of war.
And again [lacuna] So the others killed certain soldiers and ravaged
portions of Mesopotamia, and these men butchered not a few of their own
number and also overthrew their emperor; and, what is still worse, they
set up another similar ruler, by whom nothing was done save what was
evil and base. [Sidenote:--30--] It seems to me that this occurrence had
been foreshadowed more clearly, perhaps, than any previous event. A
very distinct eclipse of the sun [had taken place] about that time, [and
the comet-star was seen for a considerable period. And another]
luminary, whose tail extended from the west to the east, for several
nights caused us terrible alarm, so that this verse of Homer's was ever
on our lips:
"Rang the vast welkin with clarion calls, and Zeus heard the tumult."
[Footnote: From Homer's Iliad, XXI, verse 388.]
It was brought about in the following way:
Mæsa, the sister of Julia Augusta, had two daughters, Soæmias and
Mammæa, by her husband Julius, an ex-consul. She had also two male
grandchildren. One was Avitus, the child of Soæmias and Varius
Marcellus, a man of the same race,--he was from Apamea,--who had been
occupied in procuratorships, had been enrolled in the senate, and soon
after died. The other was Bassianus, the child of Mammæa and Gessius
Marcianus, who was himself also a Syrian, from a city called Arca, and
had been assigned to various positions as procurator. Now Mæsa at home
in Emesa her life [lacuna] her sister Julia, with whom she had made her
abode during the entire period of the latter's reign, having perished.
For Avitus, after governing in Asia, sent by Caracalla from Mesopotamia
into Cyprus, was seen to be limited to the position of adviser to some
magistrate who suffered from old age and sickness; and again [lacuna]
him, when [lacuna] he died, one Eutychianus, that had given satisfaction
in games and exercises, and for that reason [lacuna] who [lacuna]
[Sidenote:--31--] [lacuna] upon [lacuna] becoming aware of the strong
dislike of the soldiers for Macrinus [lacuna] wall [lacuna] and partly
persuaded by the Sun, whom they name Elagabalus and worship devotedly,
and by some other prophecies, he undertook to overthrow Macrinus and put
up Avitus, the grandson of Mæsa and a mere child, as emperor in his
stead. And he accomplished both projects, although he had himself as yet
not fully reached manhood and had as helpers only a few freedmen and
soldiers [lacuna] and Emesenian senators [lacuna] pretending that he was
a natural son of Tarautas and arraying him in clothing which the latter
had worn when a child, Cæsar by the [lacunæ] introduced into the camp at
night, without the knowledge of his mother or his grandmother, and at
dawn on the sixteenth of May he persuaded the soldiers, who were eager
to get some starting-point for an uprising, to revolt. Julianus, the
prefect, learning this (for he happened to be not far distant), caused
both a daughter and a son-in-law of Marcianus, together with some
others, to be assassinated. Then, after collecting as many of the
soldiers remaining as he could in the short time at his disposal, he
made an attack upon what was, to all intents and purposes, a most
hostile fortress. [Sidenote:--32--] He might have taken it that very
day, for the Moors sent to Tarautas according to the terms of alliance
fought most valiantly for Macrinus, who was a countryman of theirs, and
even broke through some of the gates. But he refused the opportunity,
either because he was afraid to rush in or because he expected that he
could win the men inside to surrender voluntarily. As no propositions
were made to him, and they furthermore built up all the gates during the
night, so that they were now in a securer position, he again assaulted
the place but effected nothing. For they carried Avitus (whom they were
already saluting as "Marcus Aurelius Antoninus") all about upon the
ramparts, and exhibited some likeness of Caracalla when a child as
bearing some resemblance to their new ruler, declaring that the latter
was truly Caracalla's child and his proper successor in the imperial
office. "Why do you do this, fellow-soldiers?" they exclaimed. "Why do
you thus fight against your benefactor's son?" By this means they
corrupted all the soldiers with Julianus, especially as the troops were
anxious to have a change, so that the attackers killed their commanders,
save Julianus (for he effected his escape), and surrendered themselves
to the False Antoninus. For when an attempt to restrain them was made by
their centurions and the other subordinates, and they were, as a result,
hesitating, Eutychianus sent Festus (thus--according to the cubicularius
of Tarautas--was one of the Cæsarians named) [Footnote: The text is
emended in accordance with a tentative suggestion of Boissevain.] and
persuaded them to kill all such officers and offered as a prize to each
soldier who should slay his man the victim's property and military rank.
The boy also harangued them from the wall with fictitious statements,
praising his "father" and [lacuna] Macrinus, as [lacuna]
[Fourteen lines are lacking.]
* * * * *
[Sidenote:--33--] [lacuna] those left to be restored to their original
property and status as citizens. But the most effective means by which
he attached them to himself was his promise to give each and every one
unlimited amounts of money, and to restore the exiles,--an act which
would seem to make him out in truth a legitimate son of Tarautas
[lacuna]
* * * * *
[Fourteen lines are lacking.]
[Sidenote:--34--] [lacuna] Marcianus [lacuna] Macrinus [lacuna] (for
Marcellus was dead) he put this person to death; but, lacking courage to
proceed further on his own responsibility without Macrinus, he sent for
the latter. Macrinus came quickly to the Alban soldiers at Apamea and
appointed his son emperor in spite of the lad's being but ten years old,
in order that with this excuse he might mollify the soldiers by various
means, chief among which should be the promise of five thousand denarii;
he assigned them a thousand each on the spot and restored to the rest
complete allowances of food and everything else of which they had been
deprived: in this way he hoped to appease them. With this same end in
view he bestowed upon the populace a dinner worth one hundred and fifty
denarii a head before revealing to them anything about the uprising; for
he wanted it to be thought that he was banqueting them not because of
that event but to show honor to his son. And on that occasion first one
of the revolted soldiers approached him carrying the head of Julianus
(who had been found somewhere in hiding and slain), in many linen cloths
and tied up very strongly indeed with ropes, pretending it was the head
of the False Antoninus. He had sealed the package with the finger ring
of Julianus. After doing that the soldier ran out when the head was
uncovered. Macrinus, upon discovering what had been done, no longer
dared either to stay where he was or to assault the fortification, but
returned to Antioch with all speed. So the Alban legion and the rest who
were wintering in that region likewise revolted. The opposing parties
continued their preparations and both sides sent messengers and letters
to the provinces and to the legions. As a result perturbation was caused
in many places by the first communication of each side about the other
and by the constant messages contradicting each other. In the course of
the uncertainty numerous letter-carriers on both sides lost their lives,
and numbers of those who had slain the followers of Antoninus, or had
not immediately attached themselves to their cause, were censured. Some
perished on this account and some merely incurred a small loss. Hence I
will pass over most of this (it is all very much alike and permits of no
considerable description in detail) and will give a summary of what took
place in Egypt.
[Sidenote:--35--] The governor of that country was Basilianus, whom
Macrinus had also made prefect in place of Julianus. Some interests were
managed also by Marius Secundus, although he had been created senator by
Macrinus and was at the head of affairs in Phoenicia. In this way both
of them were dependent upon Macrinus and for that reason put to death
the runners of the False Antoninus. As long, therefore, as the outcome
of the business was still in dispute, they and the soldiers and the
individuals were in suspense, some wishing and praying and reporting one
thing and others the opposite, as always in factional disturbances. When
the news of the defeat of Macrinus arrived, a riot of some magnitude
followed, in which many of the populace and not a few of the soldiers
were destroyed. Secundus found himself in a dilemma; and Basilianus,
fearing that he should lose his life instanter, effected his escape
from Egypt. After coming to the vicinity of Brundusium in Italy he was
discovered, having been betrayed by a friend in Rome to whom he had sent
a secret message asking for food. So he was later taken back to
Nicomedea and executed.
[Sidenote:--36--] Macrinus wrote also to the senate about the False
Antoninus [as he did also to the governors everywhere], calling him
"boy" and saying that he was mad. He wrote also to Maximus, the
præfectus urbi, giving him such information as one might expect, and
further stating that the soldiers recently enlisted insisted upon
receiving all that they were wont to have before, and that the rest, who
had been deprived of nothing, made common cause with them in their anger
at what was withheld. And to omit a recital, he said, of all the many
means devised by Severus and his son for the ruin of rigid discipline,
it was impossible for the troops to be given their entire pay in
addition to the donatives which they were receiving; for the increase in
their pay granted by Tarautas amounted to seven thousand myriads
annually, and could not be given, partly because the soldiers and again
because [lacuna] righteous [lacuna] but the recognized expenditures
[lacuna] and the [lacuna] could he himself and the child as [lacuna]
himself [lacuna] and he commiserated himself upon having a son, but said
that he found it a solace in his disaster to think that he had outlived
the fratricide who attempted to destroy the whole world. He also added
to the missive something like the following: "I know that there are
many who are more anxious to have emperors killed than to have them
live, but this is one thing I can not say in respect to myself, that any
one could either desire or pray that I should perish." At which Fulvius
Diogenianus exclaimed: "We have all prayed for it!"
[Sidenote:--37--] The speaker was one of the ex-consuls, but not of very
sound mind, and consequently he caused himself as much exasperation as
he did other people. He also [lacuna] the subscription [lacuna] of
letter [lacuna] and to the [lacuna] leather it had been entrusted to
read [lacuna] and those [lacuna] and [lacuna] others and also [lacuna]
be sent [lacuna] directly as [lacuna] hesitating [lacuna] ordering
[lacuna] by the [lacuna] and both to others [lacuna] of foremost to the
[lacuna] any care for the common preserver [lacuna] over [lacuna] that
the False Antoninus finding in the chests of Macrinus not yet [lacuna]
he himself voluntarily [lacuna] published [lacuna] calumny [lacuna]
making with reference to the soldiers. And he marched so quickly against
him that Macrinus could with difficulty encounter him in a village of
the Antiochians one hundred and fifty stades distant from the city.
There, so far as the zeal of the Pretorians went, he had him conquered
(he had taken from them their breastplates scales and their grooved
shields and had thus rendered them lighter for the battle): but he was
beaten by his own cowardice, as Heaven had foreshown to him. For on that
day when his first letter about the imperial office was read to us a
pigeon had lighted upon an image of Severus (whose name he had applied
to himself) that stood in the senate-chamber. [And subsequently, when
the communication about his son was sent, we had convened, not at the
bidding of the consuls or the prætors (for they did not happen to be
present) but of the tribunes,--a practice which by this time had fallen
more or less into disuse. And he had not written even his name in the
preface of the letter, though he termed him Cæsar and emperor and
indicated that the contents emanated from them both. Also, in the
rehearsal of events, he mentioned the name Diadumenianus, but left out
that of Antoninus, though he had this title too. Such was the state of
these [Sidenote:--38--] affairs; and, by Jupiter, when he sent word
about the uprising of the False Antoninus, the consuls uttered certain
formulæ against him, as is regularly done under such circumstances, and
one of the prætors and another of the tribunes did the same. War was
declared and solemnly proclaimed against the usurper and his cousin and
their mothers and their grandmother, and immunity was granted to those
that had taken part in the uprising, in case they should submit,
according as Macrinus had promised them. For the conversation he had had
with the soldiers was read aloud.] As a result of this, we all condemned
still more strongly his abasement and folly. [For one thing] he was most
constantly calling himself "father" and Diadumenianus his "son," and he
kept holding up to reproach the age of the False Antoninus, though he
had designated as emperor his son, who was much younger. [Now in the
battle Gannys hurriedly took possession of the narrow place in front of
the village and disposed his soldiers in good order for warfare,
regardless of the fact that he was most inexperienced in military
matters. Of such surpassing importance is good fortune in comparison
with other qualifications, that it actually bestows understanding upon
the ignorant.] But his army made a very weak fight and the men would not
have stood their ground, had not Mæsa and Soæmias [for they were already
in the boy's retinue] leaped down from their vehicles and, rushing among
the fugitives, by their lamentations restrained them from flight, and
had not the lad himself been seen by them (by some divine disposition of
affairs) with drawn sword on horseback charging the enemy. Even so they
would have turned their backs again, had not Macrinus fled at sight of
their resistance.