BOOK XXII.

ARGUMENT.

I. From fear of Constantius Julian halts in Dacia, and secretly

consults the augurs and soothsayers.--II. When he hears of

Constantius's death he passes through Thrace, and enters

Constantinople, which he finds quiet; and without a battle becomes

sole master of the Roman empire.--III. Some of the adherents of

Constantius are condemned, some deservedly, some wrongfully.--IV.

Julian expels from the palace all the eunuchs, barbers, and

cooks--A statement of the vices of the eunuchs about the palace,

and the corrupt state of military discipline.--V. Julian openly

professes his adherence to the pagan worship, which he had hitherto

concealed; and lets the Christian bishops dispute with one

another.--VI. How he compelled some Egyptian litigants, who

modestly sought his intervention, to return home.--VII. At

Constantinople he often administers justice in the senate-house; he

arranges the affairs of Thrace, and receives anxious embassies from

foreign nations.--VIII. A description of Thrace, and of the Sea of

Marmora, and of the regions and nations contiguous to the Black

Sea.--IX. Having enlarged and beautified Constantinople, Julian

goes to Antioch; on his road he joins the citizens of Nicomedia

moving to restore their city; and at Ancyra presides in the court

of justice.--X. He winters at Antioch, and presides in the court of

justice; and oppresses no one on account of his religion.--XI.

George, bishop of Alexandria, with two others, is dragged through

the streets by the Gentiles of Alexandria, and torn to pieces and

burnt, without any one being punished for this action.--XII. Julian

prepares an expedition against the Persians, and, in order to know

beforehand the result of the war, he consults the oracles; and

sacrifices innumerable victims, devoting himself wholly to

soothsaying and augury.--XIII. He unjustly attributes the burning

of the temple of Apollo at Daphne to the Christians, and orders the

great church at Antioch to be shut up.--XIV. He sacrifices to

Jupiter on Mount Casius--Why he writes the Misopogon in his anger

against the citizens of Antioch.--XV. A description of Egypt;

mention of the Nile, the crocodile, the ibis, and the

pyramids.--XVI. Description of the five provinces of Egypt, and of

their famous cities.

I.

A.D. 361.

§ 1. While the variable events of fortune were bringing to pass these

events in different parts of the world, Julian, amid the many plans

which he was revolving while in Illyricum, was continually consulting

the entrails of victims and watching the flight of birds in his

eagerness to know the result of what was about to happen.

2. Aprunculus Gallus, an orator and a man of skill as a soothsayer, who

was afterwards promoted to be governor of Narbonne, announced these

results to him, being taught beforehand by the inspection of a liver, as

he affirmed, which he had seen covered with a double skin. And while

Julian was fearing that he was inventing stories to correspond with his

desires, and was on that account out of humour, he himself beheld a far

more favourable omen, which clearly predicted the death of Constantius.

For at the same moment that that prince died in Cilicia, the soldier

who, as he was going to mount his horse, had supported him with his

right hand, fell down, on which Julian at once exclaimed, in the hearing

of many persons, that he who had raised him to the summit had fallen.

3. But he did not change his plans, but remained within the border of

Dacia, still being harassed with many fears. Nor did he think it prudent

to trust to conjectures, which might perhaps turn out contrary to his

expectations.

II.

§ 1. But while he was thus in suspense, the ambassadors, Theolaiphus and

Aligildus, who had been despatched to him to announce the death of

Constantius, suddenly arrived, adding that that prince with his last

words had named him as his successor in his dignity.

2. As soon as he learnt this, being delighted at his deliverance from

the turmoils of war and its consequent disorders, and fully relying on

the prophecies he had received, having besides often experienced the

advantages of celerity of action, he issued orders to march to Thrace.

Therefore speedily advancing his standards, he passed over the high

ground occupied by the Succi, and marched towards the ancient city of

Eumolpias, now called Philippopolis, all his army following him with

alacrity.

3. For they now saw that the imperial power which they were on their way

to seize, in the face of imminent danger, was in a measure beyond their

hopes put into their hands by the course of nature. And as report is

wont marvellously to exaggerate events, a rumour got abroad that Julian,

formidable both by sea and land, had entered Heraclea, called also

Perinthus, borne over its unresisting walls on the chariot of

Triptolemus, which from its rapid movements the ancients, who loved

fables, had stated to be drawn by flying serpents and dragons.

4. When he arrived at Constantinople, people of every age and sex poured

forth to meet him, as though he were some one dropped from heaven. On

the eleventh of December he was received with respectful duty by the

senate, and by the unanimous applause of the citizens, and was escorted

into the city by vast troops of soldiers and civilians, marshalled like

an army, while all eyes were turned on him, not only with the gaze of

curiosity, but with great admiration.

5. For it seemed to them like a dream, that a youth in the flower of his

age, of slight body, but renowned for great exploits, after many

victories over barbarian kings and nations, having passed from city to

city with unparalleled speed, should now, by an accession of wealth and

power as rapid as the spread of fire, have become the unresisted master

of the world; and the will of God itself having given him the empire,

should thus have obtained it without any injury to the state.

III.

§ 1. His first step was to give to Secundus Sallustius, whom he promoted

to be prefect of the prætorium, being well assured of his loyalty, a

commission to conduct some important investigations, joining with him as

colleagues Mamertinus, Arbetio, Agilo, and Nevitta, and also Jovinus,

whom he had recently promoted to the command of the cavalry in

Illyricum.

2. They all went to Chalcedon, and in the presence of the chiefs and

tribunes, the Jovian and Herculian legions, they tried several causes

with too much rigour, though there were some in which it was undeniable

that the accused were really guilty.

3. They banished Palladius, the master of the ceremonies, to Britain,

though there was but a suspicion that he had prejudiced Constantius

against Gallus, while he was master of the ceremonies under that prince

as Cæsar.

4. They banished Taurus, who had been prefect of the prætorium, to

Vercelli, who, to all persons capable of distinguishing between right

and wrong, will appear very excusable in respect to the act for which he

was condemned. For his offence was only that, fearing a violent

disturbance which had arisen, he fled to the protection of his prince.

And the treatment inflicted on him could not be read without great

horror, when the preamble of the public accusation began thus:--"In the

consulship of Taurus and Florentius, Taurus being brought before the

criers ..."

5. Pentadius also was destined for a similar sentence; the charge

against him being that, having been sent on a mission by Constantius, he

had made notes of the replies given by Gallus when he was examined on

several subjects before he was put to death. But as he defended himself

with justice, he was at last discharged.

6. With similar iniquity, Florentius, at that time master of the

ceremonies, the son of Nigridianus, was banished to Boæ, an island on

the coast of Dalmatia. The other Florentius, who had been prefect of the

prætorium, and was then consul, being alarmed at the sudden change in

the aspect of affairs, in order to save himself from danger, hid

himself and his wife for some time, and never returned during Julian's

life; still he was, though absent, condemned to death.

7. In the same way, Evagrius, the comptroller of the private demesnes of

the emperor, and Saturninus, late superintendent of the palace, and

Cyrinus, late secretary, were all banished. But Justice herself seems to

have mourned over the death of Ursulus, the treasurer, and to accuse

Julian of ingratitude to him. For when, as Cæsar, he was sent to the

west, with the intent that he was to be kept in great poverty, and

without any power of making presents to any of his soldiers, in order to

make them less inclined to favour any enterprise which he might

conceive, this same Ursulus gave him letters to the superintendent of

the Gallic treasury, desiring him to give the Cæsar whatever he might

require.

8. After his death, Julian, feeling that he was exposed to general

reproach and execration, thinking that an unpardonable crime could be

excused, affirmed that the man had been put to death without his being

aware of it, pretending that he had been massacred by the fury of the

soldiers, who recollected what he had said (as we mentioned before) when

he saw the destruction of Amida.

9. And therefore it seemed to be through fear, or else from a want of

understanding what was proper, that he appointed Arbetio, a man always

vacillating and arrogant, to preside over these investigations, with

others of the chief officers of the legions present for the look of the

thing, when he knew that he had been one of the chief enemies to his

safety, as was natural in one who had borne, a distinguished share in

the successes of the civil war.

10. And though these transactions which I have mentioned vexed those who

wished him well, those which came afterwards were carried out with a

proper vigour and severity.

11. It was only a deserved destiny which befel Apodemius, who had been

the chief steward, and whose cruel machinations with respect to the

deaths of Silvanus and Gallus we have already mentioned, and Paulus, the

secretary, surnamed "The Chain," men who are never spoken of without

general horror, and who were now sentenced to be burnt alive.

12. They also sentenced to death Eusebius, the chief chamberlain of

Constantius, a man equally full of ambition and cruelty, who from the

lowest rank had been raised so high as even almost to lord it over the

emperor, and who had thus become wholly intolerable; and whom Nemesis,

who beholds all human affairs, having often, as the saying is, plucked

him by the ear, and warned to conduct himself with more moderation, now,

in spite of his struggles, hurled headlong from his high position.

IV.

§ 1. After this Julian directed his whole favour and affection to people

of every description about the palace; not acting in this like a

philosopher anxious for the discovery of truth.

2. For he might have been praised if he had retained a few who were

moderate in their disposition, and of proved honesty and respectability.

We must, indeed, confess that the greater part of them had nourished as

it were such a seed-bed of all vices, which they spread abroad so as to

infect the whole republic with evil desires, and did even more injury by

their example than by the impunity which they granted to crimes.

3. Some of them had been fed on the spoils of temples, had smelt out

gain on every occasion, and having raised themselves from the lowest

poverty to vast riches, had set no bounds to their bribery, their

plunder, or their extravagance, being at all times accustomed to seize

what belonged to others.

4. From which habit the beginnings of licentious life sprang up, with

perjuries, contempt of public opinion, and an insane arrogance,

sacrificing good faith to infamous gains.

5. Among which vices, debauchery and unrestrained gluttony grew to a

head, and costly banquets superseded triumphs for victories. The common

use of silken robes prevailed, the textile arts were encouraged, and

above all was the anxious care about the kitchen. Vast spaces were

sought out for ostentatious houses, so vast that if the consul

Cincinnatus had possessed as much land, he would have lost the glory of

poverty after his dictatorship.

6. To these shameful vices was added the loss of military discipline;

the soldier practised songs instead of his battle-cry, and a stone would

no longer serve him for a bed, as formerly, but he wanted feathers and

yielding mattresses, and goblets heavier than his sword, for he was now

ashamed to drink out of earthenware; and he required marble houses,

though it is recorded in ancient histories that a Spartan soldier was

severely punished for venturing to appear under a roof at all during a

campaign.

7. But now the soldier was fierce and rapacious towards his own

countrymen, but towards the enemy he was inactive and timid, by courting

different parties, and in times of peace he had acquired riches, and was

now a judge of gold and precious stones, in a manner wholly contrary to

the recollection of very recent times.

8. For it is well known that when, in the time of the Cæsar Maximian,

the camp of the king of Persia was plundered; a common soldier, after

finding a Persian bag full of pearls, threw the gems away in ignorance

of their value, and went away contented with the mere beauty of his bit

of dressed leather.

9. In those days it also happened that a barber who had been sent for to

cut the emperor's hair, came handsomely dressed; and when Julian saw

him, he was amazed, and said, "I did not send for a superintendent, but

for a barber." And when he was asked what he made by his business, he

answered that he every day made enough to keep twenty persons, and as

many horses, and also a large annual income, besides many sources of

accidental gain.

10. And Julian, angry at this, expelled all the men of this trade, and

the cooks, and all who made similar profits, as of no use to him,

telling them, however, to go where they pleased.

V.

§ 1. And although from his earliest childhood he was inclined to the

worship of the gods,[121] and gradually, as he grew up, became more

attached to it, yet he was influenced by many apprehensions which made

him act in things relating to that subject as secretly as he could.

2. But when his fears were terminated, and he found himself at liberty

to do what he pleased, he then showed his secret inclinations, and by

plain and positive decrees ordered the temples to be opened, and victims

to be brought to the altars for the worship of the gods.

3. And in order to give more effect to his intentions, he ordered the

priests of the different Christian sects, with the adherents of each

sect, to be admitted into the palace, and in a constitutional spirit

expressed his wish that their dissensions being appeased, each without

any hindrance might fearlessly follow the religion he preferred.

4. He did this the more resolutely because, as long licence increased

their dissensions, he thought he should never have to fear the unanimity

of the common people, having found by experience that no wild beasts are

so hostile to men as Christian sects in general are to one another. And

he often used to say, "Listen to me, to whom the Allemanni and Franks

have listened;" imitating in this an expression of the ancient emperor

Marcus Aurelius. But he omitted to notice that there was a great

difference between himself and his predecessor.

5. For when Marcus was passing through Palestine, on his road to Egypt,

he is said, when wearied by the dirt and rebellious spirit of the Jews,

to have often exclaimed with sorrow, "O Marcomanni, O Quadi, O

Sarmatians, I have at last found others worse than you!"

VI.

§ 1. About the same time many Egyptians, excited by various rumours,

arrived at Constantinople; a race given to controversy, and extremely

addicted to habits of litigation, covetous, and apt to ask payment of

debts due to them over and over again; and also, by way of escaping from

making the payments due to them, to accuse the rich of embezzlement, and

the tax-gatherers of extortion.

2. These men, collecting into one body, came screeching like so many

jackdaws, claiming in a rude manner the attention of the emperor

himself, and of the prefects of the prætorium, and demanding the

restoration of the contributions which they had been compelled to

furnish, justly or unjustly, for the last seventy years.

3. And as they hindered the transaction of any other business, Julian

issued an edict in which he ordered them all to go to Chalcedon,

promising that he himself also would soon come there, and settle all

their business.

4. And when they had gone, an order was given to all the captains of

ships which go to and fro, that none of them should venture to take an

Egyptian for a passenger. And as this command was carefully observed,

their obstinacy in bringing false accusations came to an end, and they

all, being disappointed in their object, returned home.

5. After which, as if at the dictation of justice herself, a law was

published forbidding any one to exact from any officer the restitution

of things which that officer had legally received.

VII.

A.D. 362.

§ 1. At the beginning of the new year, when the consular records had

received the names of Mamertinus and Nevitta, the prince humbled himself

by walking in their train with other men of high rank; an act which some

praised, while others blame it as full of affectation, and mean.

2. Afterwards, when Mamertinus was celebrating the Circensian games,

Julian, following an ancient fashion, manumitted some slaves, who were

introduced by the consul's officer; but afterwards, being informed that

on that day the supreme jurisdiction belonged to another, he fined

himself ten pounds of gold as an offender.

3. At the same time he was a continual attendant in the court of

justice, settling many actions which were brought in all kinds of cases.

One day while he was sitting as judge, the arrival of a certain

philosopher from Asia named Maximus, was announced, on which he leapt

down from the judgment seat in an unseemly manner, and forgetting

himself so far as to run at full speed from the hall, he kissed him, and

received him with great reverence, and led him into the palace,

appearing by this unseasonable ostentation a seeker of empty glory, and

forgetful of those admirable words of Cicero, which describe people like

him.

4. "Those very philosophers inscribe their names on the identical books

which they write about the contempt of glory, in order that they may be

named and extolled in that very thing in which they proclaim their

contempt for mention and for praise."[122]

5. Not long afterwards, two of the secretaries who had been banished

came to him, boldly promising to point out the hiding-place of

Florentius if he would restore them to their rank in the army; but he

abused them, and called them informers; adding that it did not become an

emperor to be led by underhand information to bring back a man who had

concealed himself out of fear of death, and who perhaps would not long

be left in his retreat unpardoned.

6. On all these occasions Prætextatus was present, a senator of a noble

disposition and of old-fashioned dignity; who at that time had come to

Constantinople on his own private affairs, and whom Julian by his own

choice selected as governor of Achaia with the rank of proconsul.

7. Still, while thus diligent in correcting civil evils, Julian did not

omit the affairs of the army: continually appointing over the soldiers

officers of long-tried worth; repairing the exterior defences of all the

cities throughout Thrace, and taking great care that the soldiers on the

banks of the Danube, who were exposed to the attacks of the barbarians,

and who, as he heard were doing their duty with vigilance and courage,

should never be in want of arms, clothes, pay, or provisions.

8. And while superintending these matters he allowed nothing to be done

carelessly: and when those about him advised him to attack the Gauls as

neighbours who were always deceitful and perfidious, he said he wished

for more formidable foes; for that the Gallic merchants were enough for

them, who sold them at all times without any distinction of rank.

9. While he gave his attention to these and similar matters, his fame

was spreading among foreign nations for courage, temperance, skill in

war, and eminent endowments of every kind of virtue, so that he

gradually became renowned throughout the whole world.

10. And as the fear of his approach pervaded both neighbouring and

distant countries, embassies hastened to him with unusual speed from all

quarters at one time; the people beyond the Tigris and the Armenians

sued for peace. At another the Indian tribes vied with each other,

sending nobles loaded with gifts even from the Maldive Islands and

Ceylon; from the south the Moors offered themselves as subjects of the

Roman empire; from the north, and also from those hot climates through

which the Phasis passes on its way to the sea, and from the people of

the Bosphorus, and from other unknown tribes came ambassadors entreating

that on the payment of annual duties they might be allowed to live in

peace within their native countries.

VIII.

§ 1. The time is now appropriate, in my opinion, since in treating of

this mighty prince we are come to speak of these districts, to explain

perspicuously what we have learnt by our own eyesight or by reading,

about the frontiers of Thrace and the situation of the Black Sea.

2. The lofty mountains of Athos in Macedonia, once made passable for

ships by the Persians, and the Euboean rocky promontory of Caphareus,

where Nauplius the father of Palamedes wrecked the Grecian fleet, though

far distant from one another, separate the Ægean from the Thessalian

Sea, which, extending as it proceeds, on the right, where it is widest,

is full of the Sporades and Cyclades islands, which latter are so called

because they lie round Delos, an island celebrated as the birthplace of

the gods; on the left it washes Imbros, Tenedos, Lemnos, and Thasos; and

when agitated by any gale it beats violently on Lesbos.

3. From thence, with a receding current, it flows past the temple of

Apollo Sminthius, and Troas, and Troy, renowned for the adventures of

heroes; and on the west it forms the Gulf of Melas, near the head of

which is seen Abdera, the abode of Protagoras and Democritus; and the

blood-stained seat of the Thracian Diomede; and the valleys through

which the Maritza flows on its way to its waves; and Maronea, and Ænus,

founded under sad auspices and soon deserted by Æneas, when under the

guidance of the gods he hastened onwards to ancient Italy.

4. After this it narrows gradually, and, as if by a kind of natural wish

to mingle with its waters, it rushes towards the Black Sea; and taking

a portion of it forms a figure like the Greek +Ph+. Then

separating the Hellespont from Mount Rhodope, it passes by

Cynossema,[123] where Hecuba is supposed to be buried, and Cæla, and

Sestos, and Callipolis, and passing by the tombs of Ajax and Achilles,

it touches Dardanus and Abydos (where Xerxes, throwing a bridge across,

passed over the waters on foot), and Lampsacus, given to Themistocles by

the king of Persia; and Parion, founded by Parius the son of Jason.

5. Then curving round in a semicircle and separating the opposite lands

more widely in the round gulf of the sea of Marmora, it washes on the

east Cyzicus, and Dindyma, the holy seat of the mighty mother Cybele,

and Apamia, and Cius, and Astacus afterwards called Nicomedia from the

King Nicomedes.

6. On the west it beats against the Chersonese, Ægospotami where

Anaxagoras predicted that stones would fall from heaven, and Lysimachia,

and the city which Hercules founded and consecrated to the memory of his

comrade Perinthus. And in order to preserve the full and complete figure

of the letter +Ph+, in the very centre of the circular gulf lies

the oblong island of Proconnesus, and also Besbicus.

7. Beyond the upper end of this island the sea again becomes very narrow

where it separates Bithynia from Europe, passing by Chalcedon and

Chrysopolis, and some other places of no importance.

8. Its left shore is looked down upon by Port Athyras and Selymbria, and

Constantinople, formerly called Byzantium, a colony of the Athenians,

and Cape Ceras, having at its extremity a lofty tower to serve as a

lighthouse to ships--from which cape also a very cold wind which often

arises from that point is called Ceratas.

9. The sea thus broken, and terminated by mingling with the seas at each

end, and now becoming very calm, spreads out into wider waters, as far

as the eye can reach both in length and breadth. Its entire circuit, if

one should measure it as one would measure an island, sailing along its

shores, is 23,000 furlongs according to Eratosthenes, Hecatæus, and

Ptolemy, and other accurate investigators of subjects of this kind,

resembling, by the consent of all geographers, a Scythian bow, held at

both ends by its string.

10. When the sun rises from the eastern ocean, it is shut in by the

marshes of the Sea of Azov. On the west it is bounded by the Roman

provinces. On the north lie many tribes differing in language and

manners; its southern side describes a gentle curve.

11. Over this extended space are dispersed many Greek cities, which have

for the most part been founded by the people of Miletus, an Athenian

colony, long since established in Asia among the other Ionians by

Nileus, the son of the famous Codrus, who is said to have devoted

himself to his country in the Doric war.

12. The thin extremities of the bow at each end are commanded by the two

Bospori, the Thracian and Cimmerian, placed opposite to one another; and

they are called Bospori because through them the daughter of

Inachus,[124] who was changed (as the poets relate) into a cow, passed

into the Ionian sea.

13. The right curve of the Thracian Bosphorus is covered by a side of

Bithynia, formerly called Mygdonia, of which province Thynia and

Mariandena are districts; as also is Bebrycia, the inhabitants of which

were delivered from the cruelty of Amycus by the valour of Pollux; and

also the remote spot in which the soothsayer Phineus was terrified by

the threatening flight of the Harpies.

14. The shores are curved into several long bays, into which fall the

rivers Sangarius, and Phyllis, and Bizes, and Rebas; and opposite to

them at the lower end are the Symplegades, two rocks which rise into

abrupt peaks, and which in former times were accustomed to dash against

one another with a fearful crash, and then rebounding with a sharp

spring, to recoil once more against the object already struck. Even a

bird could by no speed of its wings pass between these rocks as they

pass and meet again without being crushed to death.

15. These rocks, when the Argo, the first of all ships, hastening to

Colchis to carry off the golden fleece, had passed unhurt by them, stood

immovable for the future, the power of the whirlwind which used to

agitate them being broken; and are now so firmly united that no one who

saw them now would believe that they had ever been separated; if all the

poems of the ancients did not agree on the point.

16. After this portion of Bithynia, the next provinces are Pontus and

Paphlagonia, in which are the noble cities of Heraclea, and Sinope, and

Polemonium, and Amisus, and Tios, and Amastris, all originally founded

by the energy of the Greeks; and Cerasus, from which Lucullus brought

the cherry, and two lofty islands which contain the famous cities of

Trapezus and Pityus.

17. Beyond these places is the Acherusian cave, which the natives call

+Mychopontion+; and the harbour of Acone, and several rivers, the

Acheron, the Arcadius, the Iris, the Tibris, and near to that the

Parthenius, all of which proceed with a rapid stream into the sea. Close

to them is the Thermodon, which rises in Mount Armonius, and flows

through the forest of Themiscyra, to which necessity formerly compelled

the Amazons to migrate.

18. The Amazons, as may be here explained, after having ravaged their

neighbours by bloody inroads, and overpowered them by repeated defeats,

began to entertain greater projects; and perceiving their own strength

to be superior to their neighbours', and being continually covetous of

their possessions, they forced their way through many nations, and

attacked the Athenians. But they were routed in a fierce battle, and

their flanks being uncovered by cavalry, they all perished.

19. When their destruction became known, the rest, who had been left at

home as unwarlike, were reduced to the last extremities; and fearing the

attacks of their neighbours, who would now retaliate on them, they

removed to the more quiet district of the Thermodon. And after a long

time, their posterity again becoming numerous, returned in great force

to their native regions, and became in later ages formidable to the

people of many nations.

20. Not far from hence is the gentle hill Carambis, on the north,

opposite to which, at a distance of 2,500 furlongs, is the Criu-Metopon,

a promontory of Taurica. From this spot the whole of the sea-coast,

beginning at the river Halys, is like the chord of an arc fastened at

both ends.

21. On the frontiers of this district are the Dahæ,[125] the fiercest

of all warriors; and the Chalybes, the first people who dug up iron, and

wrought it to the use of man. Next to them lies a large plain occupied

by the Byzares, the Saqires, the Tibareni, the Mosynæci, the Macrones

and the Philyres, tribes with which we have no intercourse.

22. And at a small distance from them are some monuments of heroes,

where Sthenelus, Idmon, and Tiphys are buried, the first being that one

of Hercules's comrades who was mortally wounded in the war with the

Amazons; the second the soothsayer of the Argonauts; the third the

skilful pilot of the crew.

23. After passing by the aforesaid districts, we come to the cave Aulon,

and the river of Callichorus, which derives its name from the fact that

when Bacchus, having subdued the nations of India in a three years' war,

came into those countries, he chose the green and shady banks of this

river for the re-establishment of his ancient orgies and dances; and

some think that such festivals as these were those called

Trieterica.[126]

24. Next to these frontiers come the famous cantons of the Camaritæ, and

the Phasis, which with its roaring streams reaches the Colchi, a race

descended from the Egyptians; among whom, besides other cities, is one

called Phasis from the name of the river; and Dioscurias,[127] still

famous, which is said to have been founded by the Spartans Amphitus and

Cercius, the charioteers of Castor and Pollux; from whom the nation of

Heniochi[128] derives its origin.

25. At a little distance from these are the Achæi, who after some

earlier Trojan war, and not that which began about Helen, as some

authors have affirmed, were driven into Pontus by foul winds, and, as

all around was hostile, so that they could nowhere find a settled abode,

they always stationed themselves on the tops of snowy mountains; and,

under the pressure of an unfavourable climate they contracted a habit of

living on plunder in contempt of all danger; and thus became the most

ferocious of all nations. Of the Cercetæ, who lie next to them, nothing

is known worth speaking of.

26. Behind them lie the inhabitants of the Cimmerian Bosphorus, living

in cities founded by the Milesiani, the chief of which is Panticapæum,

which is on the Bog a river of great size, both from its natural waters

and the streams which fall into it.

27. Then for a great distance the Amazons stretch as far as the Caspian

sea; occupying the banks of the Don, which rises in Mount Caucasus, and

proceeds in a winding course, separating Asia from Europe, and falls

into the swampy sea of Azov.

28. Near to this is the Rha, on the banks of which grows a vegetable of

the same name, which is useful as a remedy for many diseases.

29. Beyond the Don, taking the plain in its width, lie the Sauromatæ,

whose land is watered by the never-failing rivers Maræcus, Rhombites,

Theophanes, and Totordanes. And there is at a vast distance another

nation also known as Sauromatæ, touching the shore at the point where

the river Corax falls into the sea.

30. Near to this is the sea of Azov, of great extent, from the abundant

sources of which a great body of water pours through the straits of

Patares, near the Black Sea; on the right are the islands Phanagorus and

Hermonassa, which have been settled by the industry of the Greeks.

31. Round the furthest extremity of this gulf dwell many tribes

differing from one another in language and habits; the Jaxamatæ, the

Mæotæ, the Jazyges, the Roxolani, the Alani, the Melanchlænæ, the

Geloni, and the Agathyrsi, whose land abounds in adamant.

32. And there are others beyond, who are the most remote people of the

whole world. On the left side of this gulf lies the Crimea, full of

Greek colonies; the people of which are quiet and steady: they practise

agriculture, and live on the produce of the land.

33. From them the Tauri, though at no great distance, are separated by

several kingdoms, among which are the Arinchi, a most savage tribe, the

Sinchi, and the Napæi, whose cruelty, being aggravated by continual

licence, is the reason why the sea is called the Inhospitable,[129]

from which by the rule of contrary it gets the name of the Euxine, just

as the Greeks call a fool +euêthês+, and night +euthronê+,

and the furies, the +Eumenides+.

34. For they propitiated the gods with human victims, sacrificing

strangers to Diana, whom they call Oreiloche, and fix the heads of the

slain on the walls of their temples, as perpetual monuments of their

deeds.

35. In this kingdom of the Tauri lies the uninhabited island of Leuce,

which is consecrated to Achilles; and if any ever visit it, as soon as

they have examined the traces of antiquity, and the temple and offerings

dedicated to the hero, they return the same evening to their ships, as

it is said that no one can pass the night there without danger to his

life.

36. There is water there, and white birds like kingfishers, the origin

of which, and the battles of the Hellespont, we will discuss at a proper

time. And there are some cities in this region of which the most eminent

are Eupatoria, Dandaca, and Theodosia, and several others which are free

from the wickedness of human sacrifices.

37. Up to this we reckon that one of the extremities of the arc extends.

We will now follow, as order suggests, the rest of the curve which

extends towards the north, along the left side of the Thracian

Bosphorus, just reminding the reader that while the bows of all other

nations bend along the whole of their material, those of the Scythians

and Parthians have a straight rounded line in the centre, from which

they curve their spreading horns so as to present the figure of the

waning moon.

38. At the very beginning then of this district, where the Rhipæan

mountains end, lie the Arimphæi, a just people known for their quiet

character, whose land is watered by the rivers Chronius and Bisula; and

next to them are the Massagetæ, the Alani, and the Sargetæ, and several

other tribes of little note, of whom we know neither the names nor the

customs.

39. Then, a long way off, is the bay Carcinites, and a river of the

same name, and a grove of Diana, frequented by many votaries in those

countries.

40. After that we come to the Dnieper (Borysthenes), which rises in the

mountains of the Neuri; a river very large at its first beginning, and

which increases by the influx of many other streams, till it falls into

the sea with great violence; on its woody banks is the town of

Borysthenes, and Cephalonesus, and some altars consecrated to Alexander

the Great and Augustus Cæsar.

41. Next, at a great distance, is an island inhabited by the Sindi, a

tribe of low-born persons, who upon the overthrow of their lords and

masters in Asia, took possession of their wives and properties. Below

them is a narrow strip of coast called by the natives the Course of

Achilles, having been made memorable in olden time by the exercises of

the Thessalian chief, and next to that is the city of Tyros, a colony of

the Phoenicians, watered by the river Dniester.

42. But in the middle of the arc which we have described as being of an

extended roundness, and which takes an active traveller fifteen days to

traverse, are the Europæan Alani, the Costoboci, and the countless

tribes of the Scythians, who extend over territories which have no

ascertained limit; a small part of whom live on grain. But the rest

wander over vast deserts, knowing neither ploughtime nor seedtime; but

living in cold and frost, and feeding like great beasts. They place

their relations, their homes, and their wretched furniture on waggons

covered with bark, and, whenever they choose, they migrate without

hindrance, driving off these waggons wherever they like.

43. When one arrives at another point of the circuit where there is a

harbour, which bounds the figure of the arc at that extremity, the

island Peuce is conspicuous, inhabited by the Troglodytæ, and Peuci, and

other inferior tribes, and we come also to Histros, formerly a city of

great power, and to Tomi, Apollonia, Anchialos, Odissos, and many others

on the Thracian coast.

44. But the Danube, rising near Basle on the borders of the Tyrol,

extending over a wider space, and receiving on his way nearly sixty

navigable rivers, pours through the Scythian territory by seven mouths

into the Black Sea.

45. The first mouth (according to the Greek interpretation of the

names) is at the island of Peuce, which we have mentioned; the second is

at Naracustoma, the third at Calonstoma, the fourth at Pseudostoma. The

Boreonstoma and the Sthenostoma, are much smaller, and the seventh is

large and black-looking like a bog.

46. But the whole sea, all around, is full of mists and shoals, and is

sweeter than seas in general, because by the evaporation of moisture the

air is often thick and dense, and its waters are tempered by the

immensity of the rivers which fall into it; and it is full of shifting

shallows, because the number of the streams which surround it pour in

mud and lumps of soil.

47. And it is well known that fish flock in large shoals to its most

remote extremities that they may spawn and rear their young more

healthfully, in consequence of the salubrity of the water; while the

hollow caverns, which are very numerous there, protect them from

voracious monsters. For nothing of the kind is ever seen in this sea,

except some small dolphins, and they do no harm.

48. Now the portions of the Black Sea which are exposed to the north

wind are so thoroughly frozen that, while the rivers, as it is believed,

cannot continue their course beneath the ice, yet neither can the foot

of beast or man proceed firmly over the treacherous and shifting ground;

a fault which is never found in a pure sea, but only in one of which the

waters are mingled with those of rivers. We have digressed more than we

had intended, so now let us turn back to what remains to be told.

49. Another circumstance came to raise Julian's present joy, one which

indeed had been long expected, but which had been deferred by all manner

of delays. For intelligence was brought by Agilo and Jovius, who was

afterwards quæstor, that the garrison of Aquileia, weary of the length

of the siege, and having heard of the death of Constantius, had opened

their gates and come forth, delivering up the authors of the revolt; and

that, after they had been burnt alive, as has been related, the rest had

obtained pardon for their offences.

IX.

§ 1. But Julian, elated at his prosperity, began to aspire to greatness

beyond what is granted to man: amid continual dangers he had learnt by

experience that propitious fortune held out to him, thus peacefully

governing the Roman world, a cornucopia as it were of human blessings

and all kinds of glory and success: adding this also to his former

titles of victory, that while he alone held the reins of empire he was

neither disturbed by intestine commotions, nor did any barbarians

venture to cross his frontiers; but all nations, eager at all times to

find fault with what is past, as mischievous and unjust, were with

marvellous unanimity agreed in his praises.

2. Having therefore arranged with profound deliberation all the matters

which were required either by the circumstances of the state or by the

time, and, having encouraged the soldiers by repeated harangues and by

adequate pay to be active in accomplishing all that was to be done,

Julian, being in great favour with all men, set out for Antioch, leaving

Constantinople, which he had greatly strengthened and enriched; for he

had been born there, and loved and protected it as his native city.

3. Then crossing the straits, and passing by Chalcedon and Libyssa,

where Hannibal the Carthaginian is buried, he came to Nicomedia; a city

of ancient renown, and so adorned at the great expense of former

emperors, that from the multitude of its public and private buildings

good judges look on it as a quarter, as it were, of the eternal city.

4. When Julian beheld its walls buried in miserable ashes, he showed the

anguish of his mind by silent tears, and went slowly on towards the

palace; especially lamenting its misfortunes, because the senators who

came out to meet him were in poor-looking condition, as well as the

people who had formerly been most prosperous; some of them he recognized

having been brought up there by the bishop Eusebius, of whom he was a

distant relation.

5. Having here made many arrangements for repairing the damage done by

an earthquake, he passed through Nisæa to the frontier of Gallo-Græcia,

and then turning to the right, he went to Pessinus, to see the ancient

temple of Cybele; from which town in the second Punic war, in accordance

with the warning of the Sibylline verses, the image of the goddess was

removed to Rome by Scipio Nasica.

6. Of its arrival in Italy, with many other matters connected with it,

we made mention in recording the acts of the emperor Commodus; but as to

what the reason was for the town receiving this name writers differ.

7. For some have declared that the city was so called +apo tou

pesein+, from falling; inventing a tale that the statue fell from

heaven; others affirm that Ilus, the son of Tros, king of Dardania, gave

the place this name, which Theopompus says it received not from this,

but from Midas, formerly a most powerful king of Phrygia.

8. Accordingly, having paid his worship to the goddess, and propitiated

her with sacrifices and prayers, he returned to Ancyra; and as he was

proceeding on this way from thence he was disturbed by a multitude; some

violently demanding the restoration of what had been taken from them,

others complaining that they had been unjustly attached to different

courts; some, regardless of the risk they ran, tried to enrage him

against their adversaries, by charging them with treason.

9. But he, a sterner judge than Cassius or Lycurgus, weighed the charges

with justice, and gave each his due; never being swayed from the truth,

but very severe to calumniators, whom he hated, because he himself,

while still a private individual and of low estate, had often

experienced the petulant frenzy of many in a way which placed him in

great danger.

10. And though there are many other examples of his patience in such

matters, it will suffice to relate one here. A certain man laid an

information against his enemy, with whom he had a most bitter quarrel,

affirming that he had been guilty of outrage and sedition; and when the

emperor concealed his own opinion, he renewed the charge for several

days, and when at last he was asked who the man was whom he was

accusing, he replied, a rich citizen. When the emperor heard this he

smiled and said, "What proof led you to the discovery of this conduct of

his?" He replied, "The man has had made for himself a purple silk robe."

11. And on this, being ordered to depart in silence, and though

unpunished as a low fellow who was accusing one of his own class of too

difficult an enterprise to be believed, he nevertheless insisted on the

truth of the accusation, till Julian, being wearied by his pertinacity,

said to the treasurer, whom he saw near him, "Bid them give this

dangerous chatterer some purple shoes to take to his enemy, who, as he

gives me to understood, has made himself a robe of that colour; that so

he may know how little a worthless piece of cloth can help a man,

without the greatest strength."

12. But as such conduct as this is praiseworthy and deserving the

imitation of virtuous rulers, so it was a sad thing and deserving of

censure, that in his time it was very hard for any one who was accused

by any magistrate to obtain justice, however fortified he might be by

privileges, or the number of his campaigns, or by a host of friends. So

that many persons being alarmed bought off all such annoyances by secret

bribes.

13. Therefore, when after a long journey he had reached Pylæ, a place on

the frontiers of Cappadocia and Cilicia, he received the ruler of the

province, Celsus, already known to him by his Attic studies, with a

kiss, and taking him up into his chariot conducted him with him into

Tarsus.

14. From hence, desiring to see Antioch, the splendid metropolis of the

East, he went thither by the usual stages, and when he came near the

city he was received as if he had been a god, with public prayers, so

that he marvelled at the voices of the vast multitude, who cried out

that he had come to shine like a star on the Eastern regions.

15. It happened that just at that time, the annual period for the

celebration of the festival of Adonis, according to the old fashion,

came round; the story being, as the poets relate, that Adonis had been

loved by Venus, and slain by a boar's tusk, which is an emblem of the

fruits of the earth being cut down in their prime. And it appeared a sad

thing that when the emperor was now for the first time making his

entrance into a splendid city, the abode of princes, wailing

lamentations and sounds of mourning should be heard in every direction.

16. And here was seen a proof of his gentle disposition, shown indeed

in a trifling, but very remarkable instance. He had long hated a man

named Thalassius, an officer in one of the law courts, as having been

concerned in plots against his brother Gallus. He prohibited him from

paying his salutations to him and presenting himself among the men of

rank; which encouraged his enemies against whom he had actions in the

courts of law, the next day, when a great crowd was collected in the

presence of the emperor, to cry out, "Thalassius, the enemy of your

clemency, has violently deprived us of our rights;" and Julian, thinking

that this was an opportunity for crushing him, replied, "I acknowledge

that I am justly offended with the man whom you mention, and so you

ought to keep silence till he has made satisfaction to me who am his

principal enemy." And he commanded the prefect who was sitting by him

not to hear their business till he himself was recognized by Thalassius,

which happened soon afterwards.

X.

§ 1. While wintering at Antioch, according to his wish, he yielded to

none of the allurements of pleasure in which all Syria abounds; but

under pretence of repose, he devoted himself to judicial affairs, which

are not less difficult than those of war, and in which he expended

exceeding care, showing exquisite willingness to receive information,

and carefully balancing how to assign to every one his due. And by his

just sentence the wicked were chastised with moderate punishments, and

the innocent were maintained in the undiminished possession of their

fortunes.

2. And although in the discussion of causes he was often unreasonable,

asking at unsuitable times to what religion each of the litigants

adhered, yet none of his decisions were found inconsistent with equity,

nor could he ever be accused, either from considerations of religion or

of anything else, of having deviated from the strict path of justice.

3. For that is a desirable and right judgment which proceeds from

repeated examinations of what is just and unjust. Julian feared anything

which might lead him away from such, as a sailor fears dangerous rocks;

and he was the better able to attain to correctness, because, knowing

the levity of his own impetuous disposition, he used to permit the

prefects and his chosen counsellors to check, by timely admonition, his

own impulses when they were inclined to stray; and he continually showed

that he was vexed if he committed errors, and was desirous of being

corrected.

4. And when the advocates in some actions were once applauding him

greatly as one who had attained to perfect wisdom, he is said to have

exclaimed with much emotion, "I was glad and made it my pride to be

praised by those whom I knew to be competent to find fault with me, if I

had said or done anything wrong."

5. But it will be sufficient out of the many instances of his clemency

which he afforded in judging causes to mention this one, which is not

irrelevant to our subject or insignificant. A certain woman being

brought before the court, saw that her adversary, formerly one of the

officers of the palace, but who had been displaced, was now, contrary to

her expectation, re-established and girt in his official dress,

complained in a violent manner of this circumstance; and the emperor

replied, "Proceed, O woman, if you think that you have been injured in

any respect; he is girt as you see in order to go more quickly through

the mire; your cause will not suffer from it."

6. And these and similar actions led to the belief, as he was constantly

saying, that that ancient justice which Aratus states to have fled to

heaven in disgust at the vices of mankind, had returned to earth; only

that sometimes he acted according to his own will rather than according

to law, making mistakes which somewhat darkened the glorious course of

his renown.

7. After many trials he corrected numerous abuses in the laws, cutting

away circuitous proceedings, and making the enactments show more plainly

what they commanded or forbade. But his forbidding masters of rhetoric

and grammar to instruct Christians was a cruel action, and one deserving

to be buried in everlasting silence.

XI.

§ 1. At this time, Gaudentius the secretary, whom I have mentioned above

as having been sent by Constantius to oppose Julian in Africa, and a man

of the name of Julian, who had been a deputy governor, and who was an

intemperate partisan of the late emperor, were brought back as

prisoners, and put to death.

2. And at the same time, Artemius, who had been Duke of Egypt, and

against whom the citizens of Alexandria brought a great mass of heavy

accusations, was also put to death, and the son of Marcellus too, who

had been commander both of the infantry and of the cavalry, was publicly

executed as one who had aspired to the empire by force of arms. Romanus,

too, and Vincentius, the tribunes of the first and second battalion of

the Scutarii, being convicted of aiming at things beyond their due, were

banished.

3. And after a short time, when the death of Artemius was known, the

citizens of Alexandria who had feared his return, lest, as he

threatened, he should come back among them with power, and avenge

himself on many of them for the offences which he had received, now

turned all their anger against George, the bishop, by whom they had, so

to say, been often attacked with poisonous bites.

4. George having been born in a fuller's shop, as was reported, in

Epiphania, a town of Cilicia, and having caused the ruin of many

individuals, was, contrary both to his own interest and to that of the

commonwealth, ordained bishop of Alexandria, a city which from its own

impulses, and without any special cause, is continually agitated by

seditious tumults, as the oracles also show.

5. Men of this irritable disposition were readily incensed by George,

who accused numbers to the willing ears of Constantius, as being opposed

to his authority; and, forgetting his profession, which ought to give no

counsel but what is just and merciful, he adopted all the wicked acts of

informers.

6. And among other things he was reported to have maliciously informed

Constantius that in that city all the edifices which had been built by

Alexander, its founder, at vast public expense, ought properly to be a

source of emolument to the treasury.

7. To these wicked suggestions he added this also, which soon afterwards

led to his destruction. As he was returning from court, and passing by

the superb temple of the Genius, escorted by a large train, as was his

custom, he turned his eyes towards the temple, and said, "How long shall

this sepulchre stand?" And the multitude, hearing this, was

thunderstruck, and fearing that he would seek to destroy this also,

laboured to the utmost of their power to effect his ruin by secret

plots.

8. When suddenly there came the joyful news that Artemius was dead; on

which all the populace, triumphing with unexpected joy, gnashed their

teeth, and with horrid outcries set upon George, trampling upon him and

kicking him, and tearing him to pieces with every kind of mutilation.

9. With him also, Dracontius, the master of the mint, and a count named

Diodorus, were put to death, and dragged with ropes tied to their legs

through the street; the one because he had overthrown the altar lately

set up in the mint, of which he was governor; the other because while

superintending the building of a church, he insolently cut off the curls

of the boys, thinking thus to affect the worship of the gods.

10. But the savage populace were not content with this; but having

mutilated their bodies, put them on camels and conveyed them to the

shore, where they burnt them and threw the ashes into the sea; fearing,

as they exclaimed, lest their remains should be collected and a temple

raised over them, as the relics of men who, being urged to forsake their

religion, had preferred to endure torturing punishments even to a

glorious death, and so, by keeping their faith inviolate, earning the

appellation of martyrs. In truth the wretched men who underwent such

cruel punishment might have been protected by the aid of the Christians,

if both parties had not been equally exasperated by hatred of George.

11. When this event reached the emperor's ears, he roused himself to

avenge the impious deed; but when about to inflict the extremity of

punishment on the guilty, he was appeased by the intercession of those

about him, and contented himself with issuing an edict in which he

condemned the crime which had been committed in stern language, and

threatening all with the severest vengeance if anything should be

attempted for the future contrary to the principles of justice and law.

XII.

§ 1. In the mean time, while preparing the expedition against the

Persians, which he had long been meditating with all the vigour of his

mind, he resolved firmly to avenge their past victories; hearing from

others, and knowing by his own experience, that for nearly sixty years

that most ferocious people had stamped upon the East bloody records of

massacre and ravage, many of our armies having often been entirely

destroyed by them.

2. And he was inflamed with a desire for the war on two grounds: first,

because he was weary of peace, and dreaming always of trumpets and

battles; and secondly, because, having been in his youth exposed to the

attacks of savage nations, the wishes of whose kings and princes were

already turning against us, and whom, as was believed, it would be

easier to conquer than to reduce to the condition of suppliants, he was

eager to add to his other glories the surname of Parthieus.

3. But when his inactive and malicious detractors saw that these

preparations were being pressed forward with great speed and energy,

they cried out that it was an unworthy and shameful thing for such

unseasonable troubles to be caused by the change of a single prince, and

laboured with all their zeal to postpone the campaign; and they were in

the habit of saying, in the presence of those whom they thought likely

to report their words to the emperor, that, unless he conducted himself

with moderation during his excess of prosperity, he, like an

over-luxuriant crop, would soon be destroyed by his own fertility.

4. And they were continually propagating sayings of this kind, barking

in vain at the inflexible prince with secret attacks, as the Pygmies or

the clown Thiodamas of Lindus assailed Hercules.

5. But he, as more magnanimous, allowed no delay to take place, nor any

diminution in the magnitude of his expedition, but devoted the most

energetic care to prepare everything suitable for such an enterprise.

6. He offered repeated victims on the altars of the gods; sometimes

sacrificing one hundred bulls, and countless flocks of animals of all

kinds, and white birds, which he sought for everywhere by land, and sea;

so that every day individual soldiers who had stuffed themselves like

boors with too much meat, or who were senseless from the eagerness with

which they had drunk, were placed on the shoulders of passers-by, and

carried to their homes through the streets from the public temples where

they had indulged in feasts which deserved punishment rather than

indulgence. Especially the Petulantes and the Celtic legion, whose

audacity at this time had increased to a marvellous degree.

7. And rites and ceremonies were marvellously multiplied with a vastness

of expense hitherto unprecedented; and, as it was now allowed without

hindrance, every one professed himself skilful in divination, and all,

whether illiterate or learned, without any limit or any prescribed

order, were permitted to consult the oracles, and to inspect the

entrails of victims; and omens from the voice of birds, and every kind

of sign of the future, was sought for with an ostentatious variety of

proceeding.

8. And while this was going on, as if it were a time of profound peace,

Julian, being curious in all such branches of learning, entered on a new

path of divination. He proposed to reopen the prophetic springs of the

fountain of Castalia, which Hadrian was said to have blocked up with a

huge mass of stones, fearing lest, as he himself had attained the

sovereignty through obedience to the predictions of these waters, others

might learn a similar lesson; and Julian immediately ordered the bodies

which had been buried around it to be removed with the same ceremonies

as those with which the Athenians had purified the island of Delos.

XII.

§ 1. About the same time, on the 22nd of October, the splendid temple of

Apollo, at Daphne, which that furious and cruel king Antiochus Epiphanes

had built with the statue of the god, equal in size to that of Olympian

Jupiter, was suddenly burnt down.

2. This terrible accident inflamed the emperor with such anger, that he

instantly ordered investigations of unprecedented severity to be

instituted, and the chief church of Antioch to be shut up. For he

suspected that the Christians had done it out of envy, not being able to

bear the sight of the magnificent colonnade which surrounded the temple.

3. But it was reported, though the rumour was most vague, that the

temple had been burnt by means of Asclepiades the philosopher, of whom

we have made mention while relating the actions of Magnentius. He is

said to have come to the suburb in which the temple stood to pay a visit

to Julian, and being accustomed to carry with him wherever he went a

small silver statue of the Heavenly Venus, he placed it at the feet of

the image of Apollo, and then, according to his custom, having lighted

wax tapers in front of it, he went away. At midnight, when no one was

there to give any assistance, some sparks flying about stuck to the aged

timbers; and from that dry fuel a fire was kindled which burnt

everything it could reach, however separated from it by the height of

the building.

4. The same year also, just as winter was approaching, there was a

fearful scarcity of water, so that some rivers were dried up, and

fountains too, which had hitherto abounded with copious springs. But

afterwards they all were fully restored.

5. And on the second of December, as evening was coming on, all that

remained of Nicomedia was destroyed by an earthquake, and no small

portion of Nicæa.

XIV.

§ 1. These events caused great concern to the emperor; but still he did

not neglect other affairs of urgency, till the time of entering on his

intended campaign should arrive. But in the midst of his important and

serious concerns, it appeared superfluous that, without any plausible

reason, and out of a mere thirst for popularity, he took measures for

producing cheapness; a thing which often proves contrary to expectation

and produces scarcity and famine.

2. And when the magistrates of Antioch plainly proved to him that his

orders could not be executed, he would not depart from his purpose,

being as obstinate as his brother Gallus, but not bloodthirsty. On which

account, becoming furious against them, as slanderous and obstinate, he

composed a volume of invectives which he called "The Antiochean," or

"Misopogon," enumerating in a bitter spirit all the vices of the city,

and adding others beyond the truth; and when on this he found that many

witticisms were uttered at his expense, he felt compelled to conceal his

feelings for a time; but was full of internal rage.

3. For he was ridiculed as a Cercops;[130] again, as a dwarf spreading

out his narrow shoulders, wearing a beard like that of a goat, and

taking huge strides, as if he had been the brother of Otus and

Ephialtes,[131] whose height Horace speaks of as enormous. At another

time he was "the victim-killer," instead of the worshipper, in allusion

to the numbers of his victims; and this piece of ridicule was seasonable

and deserved, as once out of ostentation he was fond of carrying the

sacred vessels before the priests, attended by a train of girls. And

although these and similar jests made him very indignant, he

nevertheless kept silence, and concealed his emotions, and continued to

celebrate the solemn festivals.

4. At last, on the day appointed for the holiday, he ascended Mount

Casius, a mountain covered with trees, very lofty, and of a round form;

from which at the second crowing of the cock[132] we can see the sun

rise. And while he was sacrificing to Jupiter, on a sudden he perceived

some one lying on the ground, who, with the voice of a suppliant,

implored pardon and his life; and when Julian asked him who he was, he

replied, that he was Theodotus, formerly the chief magistrate of

Hierapolis, who, when Constantius quitted that city, had escorted him

with other men of rank on his way; basely flattering him as sure to be

victorious; and he had entreated him with feigned tears and lamentations

to send them the head of Julian as that of an ungrateful rebel, in the

same way as he recollected the head of Magnentius had been exhibited.

5. When Julian heard this, he said, "I have heard of this before, from

the relation of several persons. But go thou home in security, being

relieved of all fear by the mercy of the emperor, who, like a wise man,

has resolved to diminish the number of his enemies, and is eager to

increase that of his friends."

6. When he departed, having fully accomplished the sacrifices, letters

were brought to him from the governor of Egypt, who informed him that

after a long time he had succeeded in finding a bull Apis, which he had

been seeking with great labour, a circumstance which, in the opinion of

the inhabitants of those regions, indicates prosperity, abundant crops,

and several other kinds of good fortune.

7. On this subject it seems desirable to say a few words. Among the

animals which have been consecrated by the reverence of the ancients,

Mnevis and Apis are the most eminent. Mnevis, concerning whom there is

nothing remarkable related, is consecrated to the sun, Apis to the moon.

But the bull Apis is distinguished by several natural marks; and

especially by a crescent-shaped figure, like that of a new moon, on his

right side. After living his appointed time, he is drowned in the sacred

fountain (for he is not allowed to live beyond the time fixed by the

sacred authority of their mystical books; nor is a cow brought to him

more than once a year, who also must be distinguished with particular

marks); then another is sought amid great public mourning; and if one

can be found distinguished by all the required marks, he is led to

Memphis, a city of great renown, and especially celebrated for the

patronage of the god Æsculapius.

8. And after he has been led into the city by one hundred priests, and

conducted into a chamber, he is looked upon as consecrated, and is said

to point out by evident means the signs of future events. Some also of

those who come to him he repels by unfavourable signs; as it is reported

he formally rejected Cæsar Germanicus when he offered him food; thus

portending what shortly happened.

XV.

§ 1. Let us then, since the occasion seems to require it, touch briefly

on the affairs of Egypt, of which we have already made some mention in

our account of the emperors Hadrian and Severus, where we related

several things which we had seen.[133]

2. The Egyptian is the most ancient of all nations, except indeed that

its superior antiquity is contested by the Scythians: their country is

bounded on the south[134] by the greater Syrtes, Cape Ras, and Cape

Borion, the Garamantes, and other nations; on the east, by Elephantine,

and Meroe, cities of the Ethiopians, the Catadupi, the Red Sea, and the

Scenite Arabs, whom we now call Saracens. On the north it joins a vast

track of land, where Asia and the Syrian provinces begin; on the west it

is bounded by the Sea of Issus, which some call the Parthenian Sea.

3. We will also say a few words concerning that most useful of all

rivers, the Nile, which Homer calls the Ægyptus; and after that we will

enumerate other things worthy of admiration in these regions.

4. The sources of the Nile, in my opinion, will be as unknown to

posterity as they are now. But since poets, who relate fully, and

geographers who differ from one another, give various accounts of this

hidden matter, I will in a few words set forth such of their opinions as

seem to me to border on the truth.

5. Some natural philosophers affirm that in the districts beneath the

North Pole, when the severe winters bind up everything, the vast masses

of snow congeal; and afterwards, melted by the warmth of the summer,

they make the clouds heavy with liquid moisture, which, being driven to

the south by the Etesian winds, and dissolved into rain by the heat of

the sun, furnish abundant increase to the Nile.

6. Some, again, assert that the inundations of the river at fixed times

are caused by the rains in Ethiopia, which fall in great abundance in

that country during the hot season; but both these theories seem

inconsistent with the truth--for rain never falls in Ethiopia, or at

least only at rare intervals.

7. A more common opinion is, that during the continuance of the wind

from the north, called the Precursor, and of the Etesian gales, which

last forty-five days without interruption, they drive back the stream

and check its speed, so that it becomes swollen with its waves thus

dammed back; then, when the wind changes, the force of the breeze drives

the waters to and fro, and the river growing rapidly greater, its

perennial sources driving it forward, it rises as it advances, and

covers everything, spreading over the level plains till it resembles the

sea.

8. But King Juba, relying on the text of the Carthaginian books, affirms

that the river rises in a mountain situated in Mauritania, which looks

on the Atlantic Ocean, and he says, too, that this is proved by the fact

that fishes, and herbs, and animals resembling those of the Nile are

found in the marshes where the river rises.

9. But the Nile, passing through the districts of Ethiopia, and many

different countries which give it their own names, swells its

fertilizing stream till it comes to the cataracts. These are abrupt

rocks, from which in its precipitous course it falls with such a crash,

that the Ati, who used to live in that district, having lost their

hearing from the incessant roar, were compelled to migrate to a more

quiet region.

10. Then proceeding more gently, and receiving no accession of waters in

Egypt, it falls into the sea through seven mouths, each of which is as

serviceable as, and resembles, a separate river. And besides the several

streams which are derived from its channel, and which fall with others

like themselves, there are seven navigable with large waves; named by

the ancients the Heracleotic, the Sebennitic, the Bolbitic, the

Phatnitic, the Mendesian, the Tanitic, and the Pelusian mouths.

11. This river, rising as I have said, is driven on from the marshes to

the cataracts, and forms several islands; some of which are said to be

of such extent that the stream is three days in passing them.

12. Among these are two of especial celebrity, Meroe and Delta. The

latter derives its name from its triangular form like the Greek letter;

but when the sun begins to pass through the sign of Cancer, the river

keeps increasing till it passes into Libra; and then, after flowing at a

great height for one hundred days, it falls again, and its waters being

diminished it exhibits, in a state fit for riding on, fields which just

before could only be passed over in boats.

13. If the inundation be too abundant it is mischievous, just as it is

unproductive if it be too sparing; for if the flood be excessive, it

keeps the ground wet too long; and so delays cultivation; while if it be

deficient, it threatens the land with barrenness. No landowner wishes it

to rise more than sixteen cubits. If the flood be moderate, then the

seed sown in favourable ground sometimes returns seventy fold. The Nile,

too, is the only river which does not cause a breeze.

14. Egypt also produces many animals both terrestrial and aquatic, and

some which live both on the earth and in the water, and are therefore

called amphibious. In the dry districts antelopes and buffaloes are

found, and sphinxes, animals of an absurd-looking deformity, and other

monsters which it is not worth while to enumerate.

15. Of the terrestrial animals, the crocodile is abundant in every part

of the country. This is a most destructive quadruped, accustomed to both

elements, having no tongue, and moving only the upper jaw, with teeth

like a comb, which obstinately fasten into everything he can reach. He

propagates his species by eggs like those of a goose.

16. And as he is armed with claws, if he had only thumbs his enormous

strength would suffice to upset large vessels, for he is sometimes ten

cubits long. At night he sleeps under water; in the day he feeds in the

fields, trusting to the stoutness of his skin, which is so thick that

missiles from military engines will scarcely pierce the mail of his

back.

17. Savage as these monsters are at all other times, yet as if they had

concluded an armistice, they are always quiet, laying aside all their

ferocity, during the seven days of festival on which the priests at

Memphis celebrate the birthday of Apis.

18. Besides those which die accidentally, some are killed by wounds

which they receive in their bellies from the dorsal fins of some fish

resembling dolphins, which this river also produces.

19. Some also are killed by means of a little bird called the trochilus,

which, while seeking for some picking of small food, and flying gently

about the beast while asleep, tickles its cheeks till it comes to the

neighbourhood of its throat. And when the hydrus, which is a kind of

ichneumon, perceives this, it penetrates into its mouth, which the bird

has caused to open, and descends into its stomach, where it devours its

entrails, and then comes forth again.

20. But the crocodile, though a bold beast towards those who flee, is

very timid when it finds a brave enemy. It has a most acute sight, and

for the four months of winter is said to do without food.

21. The hippopotamus, also, is produced in this country; the most

sagacious of all animals destitute of reason. He is like a horse, with

cloven hoofs, and a short tail. Of his sagacity it will be sufficient to

produce two instances.

22. The animal makes his lair among dense beds of reeds of great height,

and while keeping quiet watches vigilantly for every opportunity of

sallying out to feed on the crops. And when he has gorged himself, and

is ready to return, he walks backwards, and makes many tracks, to

prevent any enemies from following the straight road and so finding and

easily killing him.

23. Again, when he feels lazy from having his stomach swollen by

excessive eating, it rolls its thighs and legs on freshly-cut reeds, in

order that the blood which is discharged through the wounds thus made

may relieve his fat. And then he smears his wounded flesh with clay till

the wounds get scarred over.

24. This monster was very rare till it was first exhibited to the Roman

people in the ædileship of Scaurus, the father of that Scaurus whom

Cicero defended, when he charged the Sardinians to cherish the same

opinion as the rest of the world of the authority of that noble family.

Since that time, at different periods, many specimens have been brought

to Rome, and now they are not to be found in Egypt, having been driven,

according to the conjecture of the inhabitants, up to the Blemmyæ[135]

by being incessantly pursued by the people.

25. Among the birds of Egypt, the variety of which is countless, is the

ibis, a sacred and amiable bird, also valuable, because by heaping up

the eggs of serpents in its nest for food it causes these fatal pests to

diminish.

26. They also sometimes encounter flocks of winged snakes, which come

laden with poison from the marshes of Arabia. These, before they can

quit their own region, they overcome in the air, and then devour them.

This bird, we are told, produces its young through its mouth.

27. Egypt also produces innumerable quantities of serpents, destructive

beyond all other creatures. Basilisks, amphisbænas,[136] scytalæ,

acontiæ, dipsades, vipers, and many others. The asp is the largest and

most beautiful of all; but that never, of its own accord, quits the

Nile.

28. There are also in this country many things exceedingly worthy of

observation, of which it is a good time now to mention a few. Everywhere

there are temples of great size. There are seven marvellous pyramids,

the difficulty of building which, and the length of time consumed in the

work, are recorded by Herodotus. They exceed in height anything ever

constructed by human labour, being towers of vast width at the bottom

and ending in sharp points.

29. And their shape received this name from the geometricians because

they rise in a cone like fire (+pyr+). And huge as they are, as

they taper off gradually, they throw no shadow, in accordance with a

principle of mechanics.

30. There are also subterranean passages, and winding retreats, which,

it is said, men skilful in the ancient mysteries, by means of which they

divined the coming of a flood, constructed in different places lest the

memory of all their sacred ceremonies should be lost. On the walls, as

they cut them out, they have sculptured several kinds of birds and

beasts, and countless other figures of animals, which they call

hieroglyphics.

31. There is also Syene, where at the time of the summer solstice the

rays surrounding upright objects do not allow the shadows to extend

beyond the bodies. And if any one fixes a post upright in the ground, or

sees a man or a tree standing erect, he will perceive that their shadow

is consumed at the extremities of their outlines. This also happens at

Meroe, which is the spot in Ethiopia nearest to the equinoctial circle,

and where for ninety days the shadows fall in a way just opposite to

ours, on account of which the natives of that district are called

Antiscii.[137]

32. But as there are many other wonders which would go beyond the plan

of our little work, we must leave these to men of lofty genius, and

content ourselves with relating a few things about the provinces.

XVI.

§ 1. In former times Egypt is said to have been divided into three

provinces: Egypt proper, the Thebais, and Libya, to which in later times

two more have been added, Augustamnica, which has been cut off from

Egypt proper, and Pentapolis, which has been detached from Libya.

2. Thebais, among many other cities, can boast especially of Hermopolis,

Coptos, and Antinous, which Hadrian built in honour of his friend

Antinous. As to Thebes, with, its hundred gates, there is no one

ignorant of its renown.

3. In Augustamnica, among others, there is the noble city of Pelusium,

which is said to have been founded by Peleus, the father of Achilles,

who by command of the gods was ordered to purify himself in the lake

adjacent to the walls of the city, when, after having slain his brother

Phocus, he was driven about by horrid images of the Furies; and Cassium,

where the tomb of the great Pompey is, and Ostracine, and Rhinocolura.

4. In Libya Pentapolis is Cyrene, a city of great antiquity, but now

deserted, founded by Battus the Spartan, and Ptolemais, and Arsinoë,

known also as Teuchira, and Darnis, and Berenice, called also

Hesperides.

5. And in the dry Libya, besides a few other insignificant towns, there

are Parætonium, Chærecla, and Neapolis.

6. Egypt proper, which ever since it has been united to the Roman empire

has been under the government of a prefect, besides some other towns of

smaller importance, is distinguished by Athribis, and Oxyrynchus, and

Thmuis, and Memphis.

7. But the greatest of all the cities is Alexandria, ennobled by many

circumstances, and especially by the grandeur of its great founder, and

the skill of its architect Dinocrates, who, when he was laying the

foundation of its extensive and beautiful walls, for want of mortar,

which could not be procured at the moment, is said to have marked out

its outline with flour; an incident which foreshowed that the city

should hereafter abound in supplies of provisions.

8. At Inibis the air is wholesome, the sky pure and undisturbed; and, as

the experience of a long series of ages proves, there is scarcely ever a

day on which the inhabitants of this city do not see the sun.

9. The shore is shifty and dangerous; and as in former times it exposed

sailors to many dangers, Cleopatra erected a lofty tower in the harbour,

which was named Pharos, from the spot on which it was built, and which

afforded light to vessels by night when coming from the Levant or the

Libyan sea along the plain and level coast, without any signs of

mountains or towns or eminences to direct them, they were previously

often wrecked by striking into the soft and adhesive sand.

10. The same queen, for a well-known and necessary reason, made a

causeway seven furlongs in extent, admirable for its size and for the

almost incredible rapidity with which it was made. The island of Pharos,

where Homer in sublime language relates that Proteus used to amuse

himself with his herds of seals, is almost a thousand yards from the

shore on which the city stands, and was liable to pay tribute to the

Rhodians.

11. And when on one occasion the farmers of this revenue came to make

exorbitant demands, she, being a wily woman, on a pretext of it being

the season of solemn holidays, led them into the suburbs, and ordered

the work to be carried on without ceasing. And so seven furlongs were

completed in seven days, being raised with the soil of the adjacent

shore. Then the queen, driving over it in her chariot, said that the

Rhodians were making a blunder in demanding port dues for what was not

an island but part of the mainland.

12. Besides this there are many lofty temples, and especially one to

Serapis, which, although no words can adequately describe it, we may yet

say, from its splendid halls supported by pillars, and its beautiful

statues and other embellishments, is so superbly decorated, that next to

the Capitol, of which the ever-venerable Rome boasts, the whole world

has nothing worthier of admiration.

13. In it were libraries of inestimable value; and the concurrent

testimony of ancient records affirm that 70,000 volumes, which had been

collected by the anxious care of the Ptolemies, were burnt in the

Alexandrian war when the city was sacked in the time of Cæsar the

Dictator.

14. Twelve miles from this city is Canopus, which, according to ancient

tradition, received its name from the prophet of Menelaus, who was

buried there. It is a place exceedingly well supplied with good inns, of

a most wholesome climate, with refreshing breezes; so that any one who

resides in that district might think himself out of our world while he

hears the breezes murmuring through the sunny atmosphere.

15. Alexandria itself was not, like other cities, gradually embellished,

but at its very outset it was adorned with spacious roads. But after

having been long torn by violent seditions, at last, when Aurelian was

emperor, and when the intestine quarrels of its citizens had proceeded

to deadly strife, its walls were destroyed, and it lost the largest half

of its territory, which was called Bruchion, and had long been the abode

of eminent men.

16. There had lived Aristarchus, that illustrious grammarian; and

Herodianus, that accurate inquirer into the fine arts; and Saccas

Ammonius, the master of Plotinus, and many other writers in various

useful branches of literature, among whom Didymus, surnamed

Chalcenterus, a man celebrated for his writings on many subjects of

science, deserves especial mention; who, in the six books in which he,

sometimes incorrectly, attacks Cicero, imitating those malignant farce

writers, is justly blamed by the learned as a puppy barking from a

distance with puny voice against the mighty roar of the lion.

17. And although, besides those I have mentioned, there were many other

men of eminence in ancient times, yet even now there is much learning in

the same city; for teachers of various sects flourish, and many kinds of

secret knowledge are explained by geometrical science. Nor is music dead

among them, nor harmony. And by a few, observations of the motion of the

world and of the stars are still cultivated; while of learned

arithmeticians the number is considerable; and besides them there are

many skilled in divination.

18. Again, of medicine, the aid of which in our present extravagant and

luxurious way of life is incessantly required, the study is carried on

with daily increasing eagerness; so that while the employment be of

itself creditable, it is sufficient as a recommendation for any medical

man to be able to say that he was educated at Alexandria. And this is

enough to say on this subject.

19. But if any one in the earnestness of his intellect wishes to apply

himself to the various branches of divine knowledge, or to the

examination of metaphysics, he will find that the whole world owes this

kind of learning to Egypt.

20. Here first, far earlier than in any other country, men arrived at

the various cradles (if I may so say) of different religions. Here they

still carefully preserve the elements of sacred rites as handed down in

their secret volumes.

21. It was in learning derived from Egypt that Pythagoras was educated,

which taught him to worship the gods in secret, to establish the

principle that in whatever he said or ordered his authority was final,

to exhibit his golden thigh at Olympia, and to be continually seen in

conversation with an eagle.

22. Here it was that Anaxagoras derived the knowledge which enabled him

to predict that stones would fall from heaven, and from the feeling of

the mud in a well to foretell impending earthquakes. Solon too derived

aid from the apophthegms of the priests of Egypt in the enactment of his

just and moderate laws, by which he gave great confirmation to the Roman

jurisprudence. From this source too Plato, soaring amid sublime ideas,

rivalling Jupiter himself in the magnificence of his voice, acquired

his glorious wisdom by a visit to Egypt.

23. The inhabitants of Egypt are generally swarthy and dark

complexioned, and of a rather melancholy cast of countenance, thin and

dry looking, quick in every motion, fond of controversy, and bitter

exactors of their rights. Among them a man is ashamed who has not

resisted the payment of tribute, and who does not carry about him wheals

which he has received before he could be compelled to pay it. Nor have

any tortures been found sufficiently powerful to make the hardened

robbers of this country disclose their names unless they do so

voluntarily.

24. It is well known, as the ancient annals prove, that all Egypt was

formerly under kings who were friendly to us. But after Antony and

Cleopatra were defeated in the naval battle at Actium, it became a

province under the dominion of Octavianus Augustus. We became masters of

the dry Libya by the last will of king Apion. Cyrene and the other

cities of Libya Pentapolis we owe to the liberality of Ptolemy. After

this long digression, I will now return to my original subject.

[121] Ammianus uses the phrase "worship of _the gods_," in opposition to

Christianity.

[122] Pro Archias Poeta, cap. xxii.

[123] The fable was that Hecuba was turned into a bitch, from which this

place was called +konos sêma+, a dog's tomb.

[124] To--the name +Bosporos+ is derived from +Boos

poros+, the passage of the Cow.

[125] So Virgil calls them Indomitique Dahæ. In the Georgics, also, he

speaks of the Chalybes as producers of iron. At Chalybes nudi ferrum.

[126] Or triennial, from +treis+, three; and +etos+, a

year.

[127] From +Dioskouroi+, the sons of Jupiter, _i.e._, Castor and

Pollux.

[128] From +hêniochos+, a charioteer.

[129] The old name was +Axeinos+, inhospitable; turned into

+euxeinos+, friendly to strangers--+euêthês+, according to

etymology, would mean "of a good disposition:" +euphronê+, "the

time when people have happy thoughts;" +Eumenides+, "deities of

propitious might."

[130] A people living in one of the islands near Sicily, and changed by

Jupiter as related, Ov. Met. xiv., into monkeys.

[131] Two of the chief giants, Hom. Od. xi.

[132] A time spoken of by Pliny as before the fourth watch.

[133] These books are lost.

[134] We must remark here Ammianus's complete ignorance of comparative

geography and the bearings of the different countries of which he

speaks. The Syrtes and Cape Ras are due _west_, not south of Egypt, The

Ethiopians and Catadupi are on the north; while the Arabs, whom he

places in the same line, are on the south-east. The Sea of Issus, on the

Levant, which he places on the west, is on the north.

[135] The Blemmyæ were an Ethiopian tribe to the south of Egypt.

[136] These names seem derived from the real or fancied shape of the

snakes mentioned: the amphisbæna, from +amph+ and +bainô+,

to go both ways, as it was believed to have a head at each end. The

scytalas was like "a staff;" the acontias, like "a javelin;" the dipsas

was a thirsty snake.

[137] From +anti+, opposite; and +skia+, shadow.