the gods cohabit under the form of marriage, himself lived from first to
last most licentiously. [He married many women] and had liaisons with
many more [without any lawful title], yet it was not that he cared about
them; he simply wanted to imitate their actions when he should lie with
his lovers [and get accomplices in his excesses by returning to them
indiscriminately]. He used his body for doing and allowing many unheard
of things which no one would endure telling or hearing, but his most
conspicuous acts, which it would be impossible to conceal, were the
following. He would go by night, wearing a wig of long hair, into the
taverns and ply the trade of a female huckster. He frequented the
notorious brothels, drove out the prostitutes, and prostituted himself.
Finally, he set aside a room in the palace and there committed his
indecencies, standing all the time naked at the door of it, as the
harlots do, and shaking the curtain, which was fastened by gold rings,
the while in a soft and melting voice he solicited the passers-by.
Certain persons had been given special orders to let themselves be
attracted to his abode. For, as in other matters, so in this business,
too, he had numerous detectives through whom he sought out the persons
who could please him most by their foulness. He would collect money from
his Patrons and put on airs over his gains: he would also dispute with
his associates in this shameful occupation, saying that he had more
lovers than they and took in more money. [Sidenote:--14--] This is the
way he behaved to all alike that enjoyed his services. But he had,
besides, one chosen man whom he accordingly desired to appoint Cæsar.
Also, arrayed in the Green uniform, he drove a chariot privately and at
home,--if one can call that place home where contests were conducted by
the foremost of his suite [and knights and Cæsarians], the very
prefects, his grandmother, his mother, his women, and likewise several
members of the senate, including Leo, the præfectus urbi, and where they
watched him playing charioteer and begging gold coin like any vagabond,
and bowing down before the managers of the games and the members of the
factions.
[Now in trying anybody in court he really did have the appearance of a
man, but everywhere else his actions and the quality of his voice showed
the wantonness of youth. For instance, he used to dance not only in the
orchestra but more or less also while walking, performing sacrifice,
greeting friends or making speeches.
And finally (to go back now to the story which I began) he was bestowed
in marriage and was termed wife, mistress, queen. He worked in wool,
sometimes wore a hair-net, painted his eyes [daubing them with white
lead and alkanet], and once he shaved his chin and celebrated a festival
to mark the event. After that he went with smooth face, because it would
help him appear like a woman, and he often reclined while greeting the
senators. [Sidenote:--15--] "Her" husband was Hierocles, a Carian slave
[once the favorite of Gordius], from whom he had learned
chariot-driving. It was in this connection, also, that by a most
unexpected chance he won the imperial approbation. At a horse-race
Heirocles fell out of his chariot just opposite the seat of
Sardanapalus, losing his helmet in his fall. Being still beardless and
adorned with a crown of yellow hair, he attracted the attention of the
prince and was at once carried hastily to the palace; and by his
nocturnal feats he captivated Sardanapalus more than ever and rose to
still greater power. Consequently his influence became even greater than
his patron's and it was thought a small thing that his mother, while
still a slave, should be brought to Rome by soldiers and be numbered
among the wives of ex-consuls. Certain other persons, too, were not
seldom honored by the emperor and became powerful, some because they had
joined in his uprising and others because they committed adultery with
him. For he was anxious to have the reputation of committing adultery,
that in this respect, too, he might imitate the most lascivious women;
and he would often get caught voluntarily and in the very act. Then, for
his conduct, he would be brutally abused by his husband and would be
beaten, so that he had black eyes. His affection for this "husband" was
no light inclination, but a serious matter and a firmly fixed passion,
so much so that he did not become vexed at any such harsh treatment, but
on the contrary loved him the more for it and actually wished to appoint
him Cæsar;--he threatened his grandmother when she interfered, and
chiefly on this man's account he became at odds with the soldiers. It
was this that was destined to lead his destruction.
[Sidenote:--16--] As for Aurelius Zoticus, a native of Smyrna, whom they
also called "Cook" (from his father's trade), he incurred the
sovereign's thorough love and thorough hatred, and consequently his life
was saved. This Aurelius had a body that was beautiful all over, as if
ready for a gymnastic contest, and he surpassed everybody in the size of
his private parts. The fact was reported to the emperor by those who
were on the lookout for such features and the man was suddenly snatched
away from the games and taken to Rome, accompanied by an immense
procession, larger than Abgarus had in the reign of Severus or Tiridates
in that of Nero. He was appointed cubicularius before he had been even
seen by the emperor, [was honored by the name of his grandfather,
Avitus, was adorned with garlands as at a festival,] and entered the
palace the center of a great glare of lights. Sardanapalus, on seeing
him, rose with modesty; the newcomer addressed him, as was usual, "My
Lord Emperor, hail!" whereupon the other, bending his neck so as to
assume a ravishing feminine pose, and turning his eyes wide open upon
him, answered without hesitation: "Call me Not Lord, for I am a Lady."
Then Sardanapalus immediately took a bath with him, and, finding his
guest when stripped to correspond to the report of him, burned with even
greater lust, reposed upon his breast, and took dinner, like some loved
mistress, in his bosom. Hierocles began to fear that Zoticus would bring
the emperor into a greater state of subjection than he himself was able
to effect, and that he might suffer some terrible fate at his hands, as
often happens in the case of rival lovers. Therefore he had the
wine-bearers, who were well-disposed to him, administer some drug that
abated the visitor's ferocity. And so Zoticus after a whole night of
embarrassment, being unable to secure an erection, was deprived of all
that he had obtained, and was driven out of the palace, out of Rome, and
later out of the remainder of Italy; and this saved his life. [However,
the emperor drove himself to such a frenzy of lewdness that he asked the
physicians to contrive a woman's vagina in his person by means of an
incision, and held out to them the hope of great pay for this
achievement.]
[Sidenote:--17--] Sardanapalus himself was destined not much later to
receive his well-deserved pay for his own defilement. For his acting in
this way and for making himself the object of these actions he became
hated by the populace and by the soldiers to whom he was most attached,
and at last he was slain by them in the very camp.
¶The False Antoninus was despised and put out of the way by the
soldiers. When any persons, particularly if armed, have accustomed
themselves to feel contempt for their rulers, they set no limits on
their right to do what they please but keep their arms ready to use even
against the very man who gave them whatever rights they possess.
[Sidenote: A.D. 221 (_a.u._ 974)] This is how it happened. He introduced
his cousin Bassianus before the senate, and, having stationed Mæsa and
Soæmias on either hand, adopted him as his child. Then did he
congratulate himself on being suddenly the father of so large a child
(as if he surpassed him in age) and declared that he needed no other
offspring to keep his house free from despondency.
Elagabalus, he said, had ordered him to do this and further to call his
son's name Alexander. And I for my part am persuaded that it came about
in very truth by some divine intention, and I base my inference not upon
what he said but upon what was said to him by some one, viz., that an
Alexander would come from Emesa to succeed him, and again on what took
place in upper Moesia and in Thrace. [Sidenote:--18--] A little before
this a spirit, declaring that he was the famous Alexander of Macedon,
wearing his appearance and all his apparatus, started from the regions
near the Ister, appearing there in I know not what way. It traversed
Thrace and Asia, reveling in company with four hundred male attendants,
who were equipped with thyrsi and fawn-skins and did no harm. The fact
was admitted by all those who lived in Thrace at that time that lodgings
and all the provisions for It were provided at public expense. And no
one dared to oppose It either by word or by deed,--no governor, no
soldier, no procurator, no heads of provinces,--but It proceeded, as if
in a daylight procession prescribed by proclamation, to the confines of
Bithynia. Leaving that point, it approached the Chalcedonian land and
there, after performing some sacred rite by night and burying a wooden
horse, it vanished. These facts I ascertained while still in Asia, as I
stated, and before anything at all had been done about Bassianus in
Rome.
¶One day the same man said this: "I have no need of titles
derived, from war and blood. It suffices me to have you call me
'Pious' and 'Fortunate'."
¶The False Antoninus on receiving praise from the senate one
day remarked: "Yes, you love me and, by Jupiter, so does the
populace and likewise the foreign legions. But I do not satisfy
the Pretorians, to whom I keep giving so much."
[Sidenote: A.D. 222 (_a.u._ 975)] [Sidenote:--19--] So long as
Sardanapalus continued to love his cousin, he was safe. But, since he
was suspicious of all men, and learned that their favor was turning
solely and absolutely to the boy, he dared to change his mind and worked
in every way to effect his overthrow.
¶Some persons were conversing with the False Antoninus and
remarked how fortunate he was to be consul along with his son. He
rejoined: "I shall be more fortunate next year, for then I'm
going to be consul with my truly-begotten son."
The moment, though, that he tried to destroy him, he not only
accomplished nothing but ran the risk of being killed himself.
Alexander was sedulously guarded by his mother and his grandmother and
the soldiers, and the Pretorians, on becoming aware of the attempt of
Sardanapalus, raised a terrible tumult. They would not cease their
rebellious attitude until Sardanapalus, with Alexander, visited the
camp; and he poured out his supplications and under compulsion gave up
such of his companions in lewdness as the soldiers demanded. In behalf
of Hierocles he pled piteously and lamented him with tears, foretelling
his own death, and adding: "Grant me this one man, whatever you are
pleased to suspect about him, or else kill me!" and thus with difficulty
he succeeded in appeasing them. On this occasion, then, he was saved,
though with difficulty. His grandmother hated him for his practices
(which seemed to show that he was not the son of Antoninus) and was
coming to favor Alexander, as being really sprung from him.
[Sidenote:--20--] Later he again made a plot against Alexander and, as
the Pretorians raised an outcry at this, entered the camp with him.
Then, he became aware that he was under guard and awaiting execution,
for the mothers of the two, being more openly at variance with each
other than before, were stirring up the soldiers to action. He then made
an attempt to flee, and intended to escape to some point by being placed
in a box, but was discovered and slain, having reached eighteen years of
age. His mother, who embraced and clung tightly to him, perished with
him; their heads were cut off and their bodies, after being stripped
naked, were first dragged all over the city, and then the woman's trunk
was cast off in some corner, while his was thrown into the river.
[Sidenote:--21--] With him perished Hierocles, and others, and the
prefects; and Aurelius Eubulus, who was an Emesenian by race [and had
gone so far in lewdness and defilement that his surrender had earlier
been demanded by the populace]. He had been entrusted with the general
accounts [Footnote: One of the _rationales summarum_.] and there was
nothing that escaped his confiscations. So now he was torn to pieces by
the populace and the soldiers, and Fulvius, the city prefect, with him.
Comazon succeeded the latter, as he had succeeded Fulvius's predecessor.
Just as a mask used to be carried into the theatres to occupy the stage
during the intervals in the acting, when it was left vacant by the
comedians, so was Comazon put in the vacant place of the men who had
been prefects in his day over the city of Rome.--As for
Elagabalus, [Footnote: Elagabalus, the god.] he was banished from Rome
altogether.
Such was the story of Tiberinus: and none of those even who helped him
arrange the uprising and attained great power in return, save perhaps a
single individual, [Footnote: This probably refers to Comazon.] survived.
DIO'S ROMAN HISTORY
80
Why Dio was not able to relate in detail the history of the reign of
Alexander (chapter 1).
About Ulpian, Pretorian Prefect, and his death (chapter 2).
Undertakings of Artaxerxes the Persian against the Parthians and Romans
(chapters 3, 4).
Dio's second consulship, his return to his own country, and conclusion
of the History (chapter 5).
DURATION OF TIME.
Duration of time eight years, in which the following are enumerated as
consuls.
Antoninus Elagabalus (IV), M. Aurelius Severus Alexander Coss. (A.D. 222
= a.u. 975 = First of Alexander, from March 11th.)
L. Marius Maximus (II), L. Roscius Ælianus. (A.D. 223 = a.u. 976 =
Second of Alexander.)
Iulianus (II), Crispinus. (A.D. 224 = a.u. 977 = Third of Alexander.)
Fuscus (II), Dexter. (A.D. 225 = a.u. 978 = Fourth of Alexander.)
Alexander Aug. (II), C. Marcellus Quintilianus (II). (A.D. 226 = a.u.
979 = Fifth of Alexander.)
Lucius Albinus, Max. Æmilius Æmilianus. (A.D. 227 = a.u. 980 = Sixth of
Alexander.)
T. Manilius Modestus, Ser. Calpurnius Probus. (A.D. 228 = a.u. 981 =
Seventh of Alexander.)
Alexander Aug. (III), Cassius Dio (II). (A.D. 229 = a.u. 982 = Eighth
of Alexander.)
[Sidenote: A.D. 222-229 (_a.u._ 975-982)] [Sidenote:--1--] Alexander
became emperor immediately after him [and at once proclaimed Augusta,
his own mother, Mammæa, who had in hand the administration of affairs
and gathered wise men about her son, that by their guidance he might be
duly trained in morals; and she chose out of the senate the better class
of counselors, to whom she communicated everything that had to be done].
He entrusted to one Domitius Ulpianus the command of the Pretorians and
the remaining business of the empire.--These matters I have set down in
detail, so far as I was able, in each case, but of the rest I have not
found it feasible to give a detailed account, for the reason that for a
long time I did not sojourn in Rome. After going from Asia to Bithynia I
fell sick, and from there I hurried to my duties as head of Africa. On
returning to Italy I was almost immediately sent to govern in Dalmatia
and from there into Upper Pannonia. After that I came back to Rome and
on reaching Campania at once set out for home.
[Sidenote:--2--] For these reasons, then, I have not been able to
compile an account of what follows similar to that which precedes. I
will narrate briefly, however, all the things that were done up to the
time of my second consulship.
Ulpianus corrected many of the irregular practices instituted by
Sardanapalus; but, after putting to death Flavianus and Chrestus, that
he might succeed them, he was himself before long slain by the
Pretorians, who attacked him in the night; and it availed nothing that
ran to the palace and took refuge with the emperor himself and the
latter's mother.--Even during his lifetime a great dispute had arisen
between the populace and the Pretorians, from some small cause, with the
result that they fought each other for three days, and many were lost by
both sides. The soldiers, on getting the worst of it, directed their
efforts to firing the buildings, and so the populace, fearing that the
whole city would be destroyed, reluctantly came to terms with them.
Besides these occurrences, Epagathus, who was believed to have been
chiefly [Footnote: Reading [Greek: to pleon] (Reimar, Bekker,
Boissevain).] responsible for the death of Ulpianus, was sent into
Egypt, supposedly to govern it, but really to prevent any disturbance
taking place in Rome when he met with punishment. From there he was
taken to Crete and executed. [Alexander's mother, being a slave to
money, gathered funds from all sources. She also brought home for her
son a spouse, whom she would not allow to be addressed as Augusta. After
a time, however, she separated her from her son and drove her away to
Libya, in spite of the woman's possessing his affections. Alexander,
however, could not oppose his mother, for she ruled him absolutely.]
[Sidenote:--3--] Many uprisings were made by many persons, some of which
caused serious alarm, but they were all checked. But affairs in
Mesopotamia were still more terrifying, and provoked in the hearts of
all, not merely the men of Rome but the rest of mankind, a fear that had
a truer foundation. Artaxerxes, a Persian, having conquered the
Parthians in three battles and killed their king, Artabanus, [made a
campaign against Hatra, which he endeavored to take as a base for
attacking the Romans. He did make a breach in the wall but, as he lost a
number of soldiers through an ambuscade, he transferred his position
into Media. Of this district, as also of Parthia, he acquired no small
portion, partly by force and partly by intimidation, and then] marched
against Armenia. Here he suffered a reverse at the hands of the natives,
some Medes, and the children of Artabanus, and either fled (as some say)
or (as others assert) retired to prepare a larger expedition.
[Sidenote:--4--] He accordingly became a source of fear to us; for he
was encamped with a large army over against not Mesopotamia only but
Syria also and boasted that he would win back everything that the
ancient Persians had once held, as far as the Grecian Sea. It was, he
said, his rightful inheritance from his forefathers. He was of no
particular account himself, but our military affairs are in such a
condition that some joined his cause and others refused to defend
themselves. The troops are so distinguished by wantonness, and
arrogance, and freedom from reproof, that those in Mesopotamia dared to
kill their commander, Flavius Heracleo, and the Pretorians found fault
with me before Ulpianus because I ruled the soldiers in Pannonia with a
strong hand; and they demanded my surrender, through fear that some one
might compel them to submit to a régime similar to that of the Pannonian
troops.
[Sidenote:--5--] Alexander, however, paid no attention to them, but
promoted me in various ways, appointing me to be consul for the second
time, as his colleague, and taking upon himself personally the
responsibility of meeting the expenditures of my office. As the
malcontents evinced displeasure at this, he became afraid that they
might kill me if they saw me in the insignia of my office, and he bade
me spend the period of my consulship in Italy, somewhere outside of
Rome. Later, accordingly, I came both to Rome and to Campania to visit
him. After spending a few days in his company, during which the soldiers
saw me without offering to do me any harm, I started for home, being
released on account of the trouble with my feet. Consequently, I expect
to spend all the remainder of my life in my own country, as the Divine
Presence revealed to me most clearly at the time I was in Bithynia.
Once, in a dream there, I thought I saw myself commanded by it to write
at the close of my work the following verses:
"Hector was led of Zeus far out of the range of the missiles,
Out of the dust and the slaying of men, out of blood and of uproar."
[Footnote: From Homer's Iliad, XI, verses 163-4.]
* * * * *
PRESERVED FROM BOOKS
PRECEDING No. 36.
* * * * *
(The "Fragments" of Dio.)
[Frag. I]
1. Dio says: "I am anxious to write a history of all (that is worth
remembering) done by the Romans both at peace and in war, so as to have
nothing essential lacking, either of those matters or of others.
(Valesius, p. 569.)
2[lacuna] everything about them, so to speak, that has been written
by any persons, and I have put in my history not everything but what I
have selected. However, let no one entertain any suspicions (as has
happened in the case of some other writers), regarding the truth of it
merely because I have used elaborate diction to whatever extent the
subject matter permitted; for I have been anxious to be equally perfect
in both respects so far as was possible. I will begin at the point where
I have obtained the clearest accounts of what is reported to have taken
place in this land which we inhabit.
This territory in which the city of Rome has been built" [Lacuna]
(Mai, p. 135.)
[Frag. II]
1. Ausonia, as Dio Cocceianus writes, is properly the land of the
Aurunci only, lying between the Campanians and Volsci along the
sea-coast. Many persons, however, thought that Ausonia extended even as
far as Latium, so that all of Italy was called from it Ausonia. (Isaac
Tzetzes on Lycophron, 44. and 615, 702.)
2. Where now Chone is there was formerly a district called Oenotria, in
which Philoctetes settled after the sack of Troy as Dionysius and Dio
Cocceianus and all those who write the story of Rome relate. (Idem, v.
912.)
3. ¶ About the Etruscans Dio says: "These facts about them required to
be written at this point in the narrative, and elsewhere something else
and later some still different fact will be told as occasion demands, in
whatever way the course of the history may chance to prepare the point
temporarily under discussion. Let this same explanation be sufficient
[Footnote: The MS. here has [Greek: ekontes] = "being (plural)
sufficient." I have adopted the reading [Greek: eketo], suggested by
Melber.] to cover also the remaining matters of importance. For I shall
recount to the best of my ability all the exploits of the Romans, but as
to the rest only what has a bearing on the Romans will be written."
(Mai, p. 136.)
[Frag. III]
1. Dio and Dionysius give the story of Cacus (Tzetzes, History, 5,
21).