ARGUMENT.
I. The Persians attack the Romans on their march, but are gallantly
repelled.--II. The army is distressed by want of corn and forage;
Julian is alarmed by prodigies.--III. The emperor, while, in order
to repulse the Persians, who pressed him on all quarters, he rashly
rushes into battle without his breastplate, is wounded by a spear,
and is borne back to his tent, where he addresses those around him,
and, after drinking some cold water, dies.--IV. His virtues and
vices; his personal appearance.--V. Jovian, the captain[151] of the
imperial guards, is tumultuously elected emperor.--VI. The Romans
hasten to retreat from Persia, and on their march are continually
attacked by the Persians and Saracens, whom, however, they repulse
with great loss.--VII. The emperor Jovian, being influenced by the
scarcity and distress with which his army is oppressed, makes a
necessary but disgraceful peace with Sapor; abandoning five
provinces, with the cities of Nisibis and Singara.--VIII. The
Romans having crossed the Tigris, after a very long and terrible
scarcity of provisions, which they endured with great courage, at
length reach Mesopotamia--Jovian arranges the affairs of Illyricum
and Gaul to the best of his power.--IX. Bineses, a noble Persian,
acting for Sapor, receives from Jovian the impregnable city of
Nisibis; the citizens are unwilling to quit their country, but are
compelled to migrate to Amida--Five provinces, with the city of
Singara, and sixteen fortresses, are, according to the terms of the
treaty, handed over to the Persian nobles.--X. Jovian, fearing a
revolution, marches with great speed through Syria, Cilicia,
Cappadocia, and Galatia, and at Ancyra enters on the consulship,
with his infant son Varronianus, and soon afterwards dies suddenly
at Dadastana.
I.
A.D. 363.
§ 1. The night was dark and starless, and passed by us as nights are
passed in times of difficulty and perplexity; no one out of fear daring
to sit down, or to close his eyes. But as soon as day broke, brilliant
breastplates surrounded with steel fringes, and glittering cuirasses,
were seen at a distance, and showed that the king's army was at hand.
2. The soldiers were roused at this sight, and hastened to engage,
since only a small stream separated them from the Persians, but were
checked by the emperor; a sharp skirmish did indeed take place between
our outposts and the Persians, close to the rampart of our camp, in
which Machamæus, the captain of one of our squadrons was stricken down:
his brother Maurus, afterwards Duke of Phoenicia, flew to his support,
and slew the man who had killed Machamæus, and crushed all who came in
his way, till he himself was wounded in the shoulder by a javelin; but
he still was able by great exertions to bring off his brother, who was
now pale with approaching death.
3. Both sides were nearly exhausted with the intolerable violence of the
heat and the repeated conflicts, but at last the hostile battalions were
driven back in great disorder. Then while we fell back to a greater
distance, the Saracens were also compelled to retreat from fear of our
infantry, but presently afterwards joining themselves to the Persian
host, they attacked us again, with more safety to themselves for the
purpose of carrying off the Roman baggage. But when they saw the emperor
they again retreated upon their reserve.
4. After leaving this district we reached a village called Hucumbra,
where we rested two days, procuring all kinds of provisions and
abundance of corn, so that we moved on again after being refreshed
beyond our hopes; all that the time would not allow us to take away we
burnt.
5. The next day the army was advancing more quietly, when the Persians
unexpectedly fell upon our last division, to whom that day the duty fell
of bringing up the rear, and would easily have slain all the men, had
not our cavalry, which happened to be at hand, the moment that they
heard what was going on, hastened up, though scattered over the wide
valley, and repulsed this dangerous attack, wounding all who had thus
surprised them.
6. In this skirmish fell Adaces, a noble satrap, who had formerly been
sent as ambassador to the emperor Constantius, and had been kindly
received by him. The soldier who slew him brought his arms to Julian,
and received the reward he deserved.
7. The same day one of our corps of cavalry, known as the third legion,
was accused of having gradually given way, so that when the legions were
on the point of breaking the enemy's line, they nearly broke the spirit
of the whole army.
8. And Julian, being justly indignant at this, deprived them of their
standards, broke their spears, and condemned all those who were
convicted of having misbehaved of marching among the baggage and
prisoners; while their captain, the only one of their number who had
behaved well, was appointed to the command of another squadron, the
tribune of which was convicted of having shamefully left the field.
9. And four other tribunes of companies were also cashiered for similar
misconduct; for the emperor was contented with this moderate degree of
punishment out of consideration for his impending difficulties.
10. Accordingly, having advanced seventy furlongs with very scanty
supplies, the herbage and the corn being all burnt, each man saved for
himself just as much of the grain or forage as he could snatch from the
flames and carry.
11. And having left this spot, when the army had arrived at the district
called Maranx, near daybreak an immense multitude of Persians appeared,
with Merenes, the captain of their cavalry, and two sons of the king,
and many nobles.
12. All the troops were clothed in steel, in such a way that their
bodies were covered with strong plates, so that the hard joints of the
armour fitted every limb of their bodies; and on their heads were
effigies of human faces so accurately fitted, that their whole persons
being covered with metal, the only place where any missiles which fell
upon them could stick, was either where there were minute openings to
allow of the sight of the eyes penetrating, or where holes for breathing
were left at the extremities of the nostrils.
13. Part of them who were prepared to fight with pikes stood immovable,
so that you might have fancied they were held in their places by
fastenings of brass; and next to them the archers (in which art that
nation has always been most skilful from the cradle) bent their supple
bows with widely extended arms, so that the strings touched their right
breasts, while the arrows lay just upon their left hands; and the
whistling arrows flew, let loose with great skill of finger, bearing
deadly wounds.
14. Behind them stood the glittering elephants in formidable array,
whose grim looks our terrified men could hardly endure; while the horses
were still more alarmed at their growl, odour, and unwonted aspect.
15. Their drivers rode on them, and bore knives with handles fastened to
their right hands, remembering the disaster which they had experienced
at Nisibis; and if the ferocious animal overpowered his overseer, they
pierced the spine where the head is joined to the neck with a vigorous
blow, that the beast might not recoil upon their own ranks, as had
happened on that occasion, and trample down their own people; for it was
found out by Hasdrubal, the brother of Hannibal, that in this way these
animals might be very easily deprived of life.
16. The sight of these beasts caused great alarm; and so this most
intrepid emperor, attended with a strong body of his armed cohorts and
many of his chief officers, as the crisis and the superior numbers of
the enemy required, marshalled his troops in the form of a crescent with
the wings bending inwards to encounter the enemy.
17. And to hinder the onset of the archers from disordering our columns,
by advancing with great speed he baffled the aim of their arrows; and
after he had given the formal signal for fighting, the Roman infantry,
in close order, beat back the front of the enemy with a vigorous effort.
18. The struggle was fierce, and the clashing of the shields, the din of
the men, and the doleful whistle of the javelins, which continued
without intermission, covered the plains with blood and corpses, the
Persians falling in every direction; and though they were often slack in
fighting, being accustomed chiefly to combat at a distance by means of
missiles, still now foot to foot they made a stout resistance; and when
they found any of their divisions giving way, they retreated like rain
before the wind, still with showers of arrows seeking to deter their
foes from pursuing them. So the Parthians were defeated by prodigious
efforts, till our soldiers, exhausted by the heat of the day, on the
signal for retreat being sounded, returned to their camp, encouraged
for the future to greater deeds of daring.
19. In this battle, as I have said, the loss of the Persians was very
great--ours was very slight. But the most important death in our ranks
was that of Vetranio, a gallant soldier who commanded the legion of
Zianni.[152]
II.
§ 1. After this there was an armistice for three days, while the men
attended to their own wounds or those of their friends, during which we
were destitute of supplies, and distressed by intolerable hunger; and
since, as all the corn and forage was burnt, both men and cattle were in
extreme danger of starvation, a portion of the food which the horses of
the tribunes and superior officers were carrying was distributed among
the lower classes of the soldiers, who were in extreme want.
2. And the emperor, who had no royal dainties prepared for himself, but
who was intending to sup under the props of a small tent on a scanty
portion of pulse, such as would often have been despised by a prosperous
common soldier, indifferent to his own comfort, distributed what was
prepared for him among the poorest of his comrades.
3. He gave a short time to anxious and troubled sleep; and when he
awoke, and, as was his custom, began to write something in his tent, in
imitation of Julius Cæsar, while the night was still dark, being
occupied with the consideration of the writings of some philosophers, he
saw, as he told his friends, in mournful guise, the vision of the Genius
of the Empire, whom, when he first became emperor, he had seen in Gaul,
sorrowfully departing through the curtains of his tent with the
cornucopia, which he bore in his hand veiled, as well as his head.
4. And although for a moment he stood stupefied, yet being above all
fear, he commended the future to the will of heaven; and leaving his
bed, which was made on the ground, he rose, while it was still but
little past midnight, and supplicating the deities with sacred rites to
avert misfortune, he thought he saw a bright torch, falling, cut a
passage through the air and vanish from his sight; and then he was
horror-stricken, fearing that the star of Mars had appeared openly
threatening him.
5. For this brightness was of the kind which we call [Greek:
diaissonta], not falling down or reaching the ground. Indeed, he who
thinks that solid substances can fall from heaven is rightly accounted
profane and mad. But these occurrences take place in many ways, of which
it will be enough to enumerate a few.
6. Some think that sparks falling off from the ethereal fire, as they
are able to proceed but a short distance, soon become extinguished; or,
perhaps, that rays of fire coming against the dense clouds, sparkle from
the suddenness of the contact; or that some light attaches itself to a
cloud, and taking the form of a star, runs on as long as it is supported
by the power of the fire; but being presently exhausted by the magnitude
of the space which it traverses, it becomes dissolved into air, passing
into that substance from the excessive attrition of which it originally
derived its heat.
7. Therefore, without loss of time, before daybreak, he sent for the
Etruscan soothsayers, and consulted them what this new kind of star
portended; who replied, that he must cautiously avoid attempting any new
enterprise at present, showing that it was laid down in the works of
Tarquitius,[153] "on divine affairs," that when a light of this kind is
seen in heaven, no battle ought to be engaged in, or any similar measure
be undertaken.
8. But as he despised this and many other similar warnings, the diviners
at least entreated him to delay his march for some hours; but they could
not prevail even to this extent, as the emperor was always opposed to
the whole science of divination. So at break of day the camp was struck.
III.
§ 1. When we set forward, the Persians, who had learnt by their frequent
defeats to shun pitched battles, laid secret ambuscades on our road,
and, occupying the hills on each side, continually reconnoitred our
battalions as they marched, so that our soldiers, being kept all day on
the watch, could neither find time to erect ramparts round their camp,
or to fortify themselves with palisades.
2. And while our flanks were strongly guarded, and the army proceeded
onward in as good order as the nature of the ground would allow, being
formed in squares, though not quite closed up, suddenly news was brought
to the emperor, who had gone on unarmed to reconnoitre the ground in
front, that our rear was attacked.
3. He, roused to anger by this mishap, without stopping to put on his
breastplate, snatched up his shield in a hurry, and while hastening to
support his rear, was recalled by fresh news that the van which he had
quitted was now exposed to a similar attack.
4. Without a thought of personal danger, he now hastened to strengthen
this division, and then, on another side, a troop of Persian cuirassiers
attacked his centre, and pouring down with vehemence on his left wing,
which began to give way, as our men could hardly bear up against the
foul smell and horrid cries of the elephants, they pressed us hard with
spears and clouds of arrows.
5. The emperor flew to every part of the field where the danger was
hottest; and our light-armed troops dashing out wounded the backs of the
Persians, and the hocks of the animals, which were turned the other way.
6. Julian, disregarding all care for his own safety, made signs by
waving his hands, and shouted out that the enemy were fleeing in
consternation; and cheering on his men to the pursuit, threw himself
eagerly into the conflict. His guards called out to him from all sides
to beware of the mass of fugitives who were scattered in consternation,
as he would beware of the fall of an ill-built roof, when suddenly a
cavalry spear, grazing the skin of his arm, pierced his side, and fixed
itself in the bottom of his liver.
7. He tried to pull it out with his right hand, and cut the sinews of
his fingers with the double-edged point of the weapon; and, falling from
his horse, he was borne with speed by the men around him to his tent;
and the physician tried to relieve him.
8. Presently, when his pain was somewhat mitigated, so that his
apprehensions were relieved, contending against death with great
energy, he asked for arms and a horse in order that, by revisiting his
troops, who were still engaged, he might restore their confidence, and
appear so secure of his own recovery as to have room for anxiety for the
safety of others; with the same energy though with a different object,
with which the celebrated leader, Epaminondas, when he was mortally
wounded at Mantinea, and had been borne out of the battle, asked
anxiously for his shield; and when he saw it he died of his wound
cheerfully, having been in fear for the loss of his shield, while quite
fearless about the loss of his life.
9. But as Julian's strength was inferior to his firmness, and as he was
weakened by the loss of blood, he remained without moving: and presently
he gave up all hope of life; because, on inquiry, he found that the
place where he had fallen was called Phrygia; for he had been assured by
an oracle that he was destined to die in Phrygia.
10. When he was brought back to his tent, it was marvellous with what
eagerness the soldiers flew to avenge him, agitated with anger and
sorrow; and striking their spears against their shields, determined to
die if Fate so willed it. And although vast clouds of dust obscured
their sight, and the burning heat hindered the activity of their
movements, still, as if they were released from all military discipline
by the loss of their chief, they rushed unshrinkingly on the enemy's
swords.
11. On the other hand the Persians, fighting with increased spirit, shot
forth such clouds of arrows, that we could hardly see the shooters
through them; while the elephants, slowly marching in front, by the vast
size of their bodies, and the formidable appearance of their crests,
terrified alike our horses and our men.
12. And far off was heard the clashing of armed men, the groans of the
dying, the snorting of the horses, and the clang of swords, till both
sides were weary of inflicting wounds, and the darkness of night put an
end to the contest.
13. Fifty nobles and satraps of the Persians, with a vast number of the
common soldiers, were slain; and among them, two of their principal
generals, Merena and Nohodares. Let the grandiloquence of antiquity
marvel at the twenty battles fought by Marcellus in different places;
let it add Sicinius Dentatus, adorned with his mass of military crowns;
let it further extol Sergius, who is said to have received twenty-three
wounds in his different battles, among whose posterity was that last
Catiline, who tarnished the glories of his distinguished family by
everlasting infamy.
14. But sorrow now overpowered the joy at this success. While the
conflict was thus carried on after the withdrawal of the emperor, the
right wing of the army was exhausted by its exertions; and Anatolius, at
that time the master of the offices, was killed; Sallust the prefect was
in imminent danger, and was saved only by the exertions of his
attendant, so that at last he escaped, while Sophorius his counsellor
was killed; and certain soldiers, who, after great danger, had thrown
themselves into a neighbouring fort, were unable to rejoin the main army
till three days afterwards.
15. And while these events were taking place, Julian, lying in his tent,
thus addressed those who stood around him sorrowing and mourning: "The
seasonable moment for my surrendering this life, O comrades, has now
arrived, and, like an honest debtor, I exult in preparing to restore
what nature reclaims; not in affliction and sorrow, since I have learnt,
from the general teaching of philosophers, how much more capable of
happiness the mind is than the body; and considering that when the
better part is separated from the worse, it is a subject of joy rather
than of mourning. Reflecting, also, that there have been instances in
which even the gods have given to some persons of extreme piety, death
as the best of all rewards.
16. "And I well know that it is intended as a gift of kindness to me, to
save me from yielding to arduous difficulties, and from forgetting or
losing myself; knowing by experience that all sorrows, while they
triumph over the weak, flee before those who endure them manfully.
17. "Nor have I to repent of any actions; nor am I oppressed by the
recollection of any grave crime, either when I was kept in the shade,
and, as it were, in a corner, or after I arrived at the empire, which,
as an honour conferred on me by the gods, I have preserved, as I
believe, unstained. In civil affairs I have ruled with moderation and,
whether carrying on offensive or defensive war, have always been under
the influence of deliberate reason; prosperity, however, does not always
correspond to the wisdom of man's counsels, since the powers above
reserve to themselves the regulation of results.
18. "But always keeping in mind that the aim of a just sovereign is the
advantage and safety of his subjects, I have been always, as you know,
inclined to peace, eradicating all licentiousness--that great
corruptress of things and manners--by every part of my own conduct; and
I am glad to feel that in whatever instances the republic, like an
imperious mother, has exposed me deliberately to danger, I have stood
firm, inured to brave all fortuitous disturbing events.
19. "Nor am I ashamed to confess that I have long known, from prophecy,
that I should fall by the sword. And therefore do I venerate the
everlasting God that I now die, not by any secret treachery, nor by a
long or severe disease, or like a condemned criminal, but I quit the
world with honour, fairly earned, in the midst of a career of nourishing
glory. For, to any impartial judge, that man is base and cowardly who
seeks to die when he ought not, or who avoids death when it is
seasonable for him.
20. "This is enough for me to say, since my strength is failing me; but
I designedly forbear to speak of creating a new emperor, lest I should
unintentionally pass over some worthy man; or, on the other hand, if I
should name one whom I think proper, I should expose him to danger in
the event of some one else being preferred. But, as an honest child of
the republic, I hope that a good sovereign will be found to succeed me."
21. After having spoken quietly to this effect, he, as it were with the
last effort of his pen, distributed his private property among his
dearest friends, asking for Anatolius, the master of the offices. And
when the prefect Sallust replied that he was now happy, he understood
that he was slain, and bitterly bewailed the death of his friend, though
he had so proudly disregarded his own.
22. And as all around were weeping, he reproved them with still
undiminished authority, saying that it was a humiliating thing to mourn
for an emperor who was just united to heaven and the stars.
23. And as they then became silent, he entered into an intricate
discussion with the philosophers Maximus and Priscus on the sublime
nature of the soul, while the wound of his pierced side was gaping wide.
At last the swelling of his veins began to choke his breath, and having
drank some cold water, which he had asked for, he expired quietly about
midnight, in the thirty-first year of his age. He was born at
Constantinople, and in his childhood lost his father, Constantius, who,
after the death of his brother Constantine, perished amid the crowd of
competitors for the vacant crown. And at the same early age he lost his
mother, Basilina, a woman descended from a long line of noble ancestors.
IV.
§ 1. Julian was a man to be classed with heroic characters, and
conspicuous for the brilliancy of his exploits and his innate majesty.
For since, as wise men lay it down, there are four cardinal
virtues,--temperance, prudence, justice, and fortitude,--with
corresponding external accessaries, such as military skill, authority,
prosperity, and liberality, he eagerly cultivated them all as if they
had been but one.
2. And in the first place, he was of a chastity so inviolate that, after
the loss of his wife he never indulged in any sexual pleasures,
recollecting what is told in Plato of Sophocles the tragedian, that
being asked when he was a very old man whether he still had any commerce
with women, he said "No," with this further addition, that "he was glad
to say that he had at all times avoided such indulgence as a tyrannous
and cruel master."
3. And to strengthen this resolution he often called to mind the words
of the lyric poet Bacchylides, whom he used to read with pleasure, and
who said that as a fine painter makes a handsome face, so chastity
adorns a life that aims at greatness. And even when in the prime of life
he so carefully avoided this taint that there was never the least
suspicion of his becoming enamoured even of any of his household, as has
often happened.
4. And this kind of temperance increased in him, being strengthened by a
sparing indulgence in eating and sleeping, to which he rigidly adhered
whether abroad or at home. For in time of peace his frugal allowance of
food was a marvel to all who knew him, as resembling that of a man
always wishing to resume the philosopher's cloak. And in his various
campaigns he used commonly only to take a little plain food while
standing, as is the custom of soldiers.
5. And when after being fatigued by labour he had refreshed his body
with a short rest, as soon as he awoke he would go by himself round all
the sentries and outposts; after which he retired to his serious
studies.
6. And if any voice could bear witness to his use of the nocturnal lamp,
by which he pursued his lucubrations, it would show that there was a
vast difference between some emperors and him, who did not even indulge
himself in those pleasures permitted by the necessities of human nature.
7. Of his prudence there were also many proofs, of which it will be
sufficient to recount a few. He was profoundly skilled in war, and also
in the arts of peace. He was very attentive to courtesy, claiming just
so much respect as he considered sufficient to mark the difference
between contempt and insolence. He was older in virtue than in years,
being eager to acquire all kinds of knowledge. He was a most
incorruptible judge, a rigid censor of morals and manners, mild, a
despiser of riches, and indeed of all mortal things. Lastly, it was a
common saying of his, "That it was beneath a wise man, since he had a
soul, to aim at acquiring praise by his body."
8. Of his justice there are many conspicuous proofs: first, because,
with all proper regard to circumstances and persons, he inspired awe
without being cruel; secondly, because he repressed vice by making
examples of a few, and also because he threatened severe punishment more
frequently than he employed it.
9. Lastly, to pass over many circumstances, it is certain that he
treated with extreme moderation some who were openly convicted of
plotting against him, and mitigated the rigour of the punishment to
which they were sentenced with genuine humanity.
10. His many battles and constant wars displayed his fortitude, as did
his endurance of extreme cold and heat. From a common soldier we
require the services of the body, from an emperor those of the mind. But
having boldly thrown himself into battle, he would slay a ferocious foe
at a single blow; and more than once he by himself checked the retreat
of our men at his own personal risk. And when he was putting down the
rule of the furious Germans, and also in the scorching sands of Persia,
he encouraged his men by fighting in the front ranks of his army.
11. Many well-known facts attest his skill in all that concerns a camp;
his storming of cities and castles amid the most formidable dangers; the
variety of his tactics for battles, the skill he showed in choosing
healthy spots for his camps, the safe principles on which his lines of
defence and outposts were managed.
12. So great was his authority, that while he was feared he was also
greatly loved as his men's comrade in their perils and dangers. And in
the hottest struggles he took notice of cowards for punishment. And
while he was yet only Cæsar, he kept his soldiers in order while
confronting the barbarians, and destitute of pay as I have mentioned
before. And haranguing his discontented troops, the threat which he used
was that he would retire into private life if they continued mutinous.
13. Lastly, this single instance will do as well as many, by haranguing
the Gallic legions, who were accustomed to the frozen Rhine, in a simple
address, he persuaded them to traverse vast regions and to march through
the warm plains of Assyria to the borders of Media.
14. His good fortune was so conspicuous that, riding as it were on the
shoulders of Fortune, who was long his faithful guide, he overcame
enormous difficulties in his victorious career. And after he quitted the
regions of the west, they all remained quiet during his life-time, as if
under the influence of a wand powerful enough to tranquillize the world.
15. Of his liberality there are many and undoubted proofs. Among which
are his light exactions of tribute, his remission of the tribute of
crowns, and of debts long due, his putting the rights of individuals on
an equal footing with those of the treasury, his restoration of their
revenues and their lands to different cities, with the exception of such
as had been lawfully sold by former princes; and also the fact that he
was never covetous of money, which he thought was better kept by its
owners, often quoting the saying, "that Alexander the Great, when he was
asked where he kept his treasures, kindly answered 'Among my friends.'"
16. Having discussed those of his good qualities which have come within
our knowledge, let us now proceed to unfold his faults, though they have
been already slightly noticed. He was of an unsteady disposition; but
this fault he corrected by an excellent plan, allowing people to set him
right when guilty of indiscretion.
17. He was a frequent talker, rarely silent. Too much devoted to
divination, so much so as in this particular to equal the emperor
Adrian. He was rather a superstitious than a legitimate observer of
sacred rites, sacrificing countless numbers of victims; so that it was
reckoned that if he had returned from the Parthians there would have
been a scarcity of cattle. Like the celebrated case of Marcus
Cæsar,[154] about whom it was written, as it is said, "The white cattle
to Marcus Cæsar, greeting. If you conquer there is an end of us."
18. He was very fond of the applause of the common people, and an
immoderate seeker after praise even in the most trifling matters; often,
from a desire of popularity, indulging in conversation with unworthy
persons.
19. But in spite of all this he deserved, as he used to say himself, to
have it thought that that ancient Justice, whom Aratus says fled to
heaven from disgust with the vices of men, had in his reign returned
again to the earth; only that sometimes he acted arbitrarily and
inconsistently.
20. For he made some laws which, with but few exceptions, were not
offensive, though they very positively enforced or forbade certain
actions. Among the exceptions was that cruel one which forbade Christian
masters of rhetoric and grammar to teach unless they came over to the
worship of the heathen gods.
21. And this other ordinance was equally intolerable, namely one which
allowed some persons to be unjustly enrolled in the companies of the
municipal guilds, though they were foreigners, or by privilege or birth
wholly unconnected with such companies.
22. As to his personal appearance it was this. He was of moderate
stature, with soft hair, as if he had carefully dressed it, with a rough
beard ending in a point, with beautiful brilliant eyes, which displayed
the subtlety of his mind, with handsome eyebrows and a straight nose, a
rather large mouth, with a drooping lower lip, a thick and stooping
neck, large and broad shoulders. From head to foot he was straight and
well proportioned, which made him strong and a good runner.
23. And since his detractors have accused him of provoking new wars, to
the injury of the commonwealth, let them know the unquestionable truth,
that it was not Julian but Constantius who occasioned the hostility of
the Parthians by greedily acquiescing in the falsehoods of Metrodorus,
as we have already set forth.
24. In consequence of this conduct our armies were slain, numbers of our
soldiers were taken prisoners, cities were rased, fortresses were
stormed and destroyed, provinces were exhausted by heavy expenses, and
in short the Persians, putting their threats into effect, were led to
seek to become masters of everything up to Bithynia and the shores of
the Propontis.
25. While the Gallic wars grew more and more violent, the Germans
overrunning our territories, and being on the point of forcing the
passes of the Alps in order to invade Italy, there was nothing to be
seen but tears and consternation, the recollection of the past being
bitter, the expectation of the future still more woeful. All these
miseries, this youth, being sent into the West with the rank of Cæsar,
put an end to with marvellous celerity, treating the kings of those
countries as base-born slaves.
26. Then in order to re-establish the prosperity of the east, with
similar energy he attacked the Persians, and would have gained in that
country both a triumph and a surname, if the will of heaven had been in
accordance with his glorious plans and actions.
27. And as we know by experience that some men are so rash and hasty
that if conquered they return to battle, if shipwrecked, to the sea, in
short, each to the difficulties by which he has been frequently
overcome, so some find fault with this emperor for returning to similar
exploits after having been repeatedly victorious.
V.
§ 1. After these events there was no time for lamentation or weeping.
For after he had been laid out as well as the circumstances and time
permitted, that he might be buried where he himself had formerly
proposed, at daybreak the next morning, which was on the 27th of June,
while the enemy surrounded us on every side, the generals of the army
assembled, and having convened the chief officers of the cavalry and of
the legions, deliberated about the election of an emperor.
2. There were great and noisy divisions. Arinthæus and Victor, and the
rest of those who had been attached to the court of Constantius, sought
for a fit man of their own party. On the other hand, Nevitta and
Dagalaiphus, and the nobles of the Gauls, sought for a man among their
own ranks.
3. While the matter was thus in dispute, they all unanimously agreed
upon Sallustius. And when he pleaded ill health and old age, one of the
soldiers of rank observing his real and fixed reluctance said, "And what
would you do if the emperor while absent himself, as has often happened,
had intrusted you with the conduct of this war? Would you not have
postponed all other considerations and applied yourself to extricating
the soldiers at once from the difficulties which press on them? Do so
now: and then, if we are allowed to reach Mesopotamia, it will be time
enough for the united suffrages of both armies to declare a lawful
emperor."
4. Amid these little delays in so important a matter, before opinions
were justly weighed, a few made an uproar, as often happens in critical
circumstances, and Jovian was elected emperor, being the chief officer
of the guards, and a man of fair reputation in respect of his father's
services. For he was the son of Varronianus, a distinguished count,[155]
who had not long since retired from military service to lead a private
life.
5. And immediately he was clothed in the imperial robes, and was
suddenly led forth out of the tent and passed at a quick pace through
the army as it was preparing to march.
6. And as the line extended four miles, those in the van hearing some
persons salute Jovian as Augustus, raised the same cry still more
loudly, for they were caught by the relationship, so to say, of the
name, which differed only by one letter from that of Julian, and so they
thought that Julian was recovered and was being led forth with great
acclamations as had often been the case. But when the new emperor, who
was both taller and less upright, was seen, they suspected what had
happened, and gave vent to tears and lamentations.
7. And if any lover of justice should find fault with what was done at
this extreme crisis as imprudent, he might still more justly blame
sailors who, having lost a skilful pilot when both winds and waves are
agitated by a storm, commit the helm of their vessel to some one of
their comrades.
8. This affair having been thus settled by a blind sort of decision of
Fortune, the standard-bearer of the Jovian legion, which Varronianus had
formerly commanded, having had a quarrel with the new emperor while he
was a private individual, because he had been a violent disparager of
his father, now fearing danger at his hand, since he had risen to a
height exceeding any ordinary fortune, fled to the Persians. And having
been allowed to tell what he knew, he informed Sapor, who was at hand,
that the prince whom he dreaded was dead, and that Jovian, who had
hitherto been only an officer of the guards, a man of neither energy nor
courage, had been raised by a mob of camp drudges to a kind of shadow of
the imperial authority.
9. Sapor hearing this news, which he had always anxiously prayed for,
and being elated by this unexpected good fortune, having reinforced the
troops who had fought against us with a strong body of the royal
cavalry, sent them forward with speed to attack the rear of our army.
VI.
§ 1. And while these arrangements were being made, the victims and
entrails were inspected on behalf of Jovian, and it was pronounced that
he would ruin everything if he remained in the camp, as he proposed,
but that if he quitted it he would have the advantage.
2. And just as we were beginning our march, the Persians attacked us,
preceded by their elephants. Both our horses and men were at first
disordered by their roaring and formidable onset; but the Jovian and
Herculean legions slew a few of the monsters, and made a gallant
resistance to the mounted cuirassiers.
3. Then the legions of the Jovii and Victores coming up to aid their
comrades, who were in distress, also slew two elephants and a great
number of the enemy's troops. And on our left wing three most gallant
men were slain, Julian, Macrobius, and Maximus, all tribunes of the
legions which were then the chief of the whole army.
4. When they were buried as well as circumstances permitted, as night
was drawing on, and as we were pressing forward with all speed towards a
fort called Sumere, the dead body of Anatolius was recognized and buried
with a hurried funeral. Here also we were rejoined by sixty soldiers and
a party of the guards of the palace, whom we have mentioned as having
taken refuge in a fort called Vaccatum.
5. Then on the following day we pitched our camp in a valley in as
favourable a spot as the nature of the ground permitted, surrounding it
with a rampart like a wall, with sharp stakes fixed all round like so
many swords, with the exception of one wide entrance.
6. And when the enemy saw this they attacked us with all kinds of
missiles from their thickets, reproaching us also as traitors and
murderers of an excellent prince. For they had heard by the vague report
of some deserters that Julian had fallen by the weapon of a Roman.
7. And presently, while this was going on, a body of cavalry ventured to
force their way in by the Prætorian gate, and to advance almost up to
the emperor's tent. But they were vigorously repulsed with the loss of
many of their men killed and wounded.
8. Quitting this camp, the next night we reached a place called Charcha,
where we were safe, because the artificial mounds of the river had been
broken to prevent the Saracens from overrunning Armenia, so that no one
was able to harass our lines as they had done before.
9. Then on the 1st of July we marched thirty furlongs more, and came to
a city called Dura, where our baggage-horses were so jaded, that their
drivers, being mostly recruits, marched on foot till they were hemmed in
by a troop of Saracens; and they would all have been killed if some
squadrons of our light cavalry had not gone to their assistance in their
distress.
10. We were exposed to the hostility of these Saracens because Julian
had forbidden that the presents and gratuities, to which they had been
accustomed, should be given to them; and when they complained to him,
they were only told that a warlike and vigilant emperor had iron, not
gold.
11. Here, owing to the obstinate hostility of the Persians, we lost four
days. For when we advanced they followed us, compelling us to retrace
our steps by their incessant attacks. When we halted gradually to fight,
they retired, tormenting us by their long delay. And now (for when men
are in great fear even falsehoods please them) a report being spread
that we were at no great distance from our own frontier, the army raised
an impatient shout, and demanded to be at once led across the Tigris.
12. But the emperor and his officers opposed this demand, and showed
them that the river, now just at the time of the rising of the Dogstar,
was much flooded, entreated them not to trust themselves to its
dangerous currents, reminding them that most of them could not swim, and
adding likewise that the enemy had occupied the banks of the river,
swoln as it was at many parts.
13. But when the demand was repeated over and over again in the camp,
and the soldiers with shouts and great eagerness began to threaten
violence, the order was given very unwillingly that the Gauls, mingled
with the northern Germans, should lead the way into the river, in order
that if they were carried away by the violence of the stream the
obstinacy of the rest might be shaken; or on the other hand, if they
accomplished the passage in safety the rest might attempt it with more
confidence.
14. And men were selected suited to such an enterprise, who from their
childhood had been accustomed in their native land to cross the greatest
rivers. And when the darkness of night presented an opportunity for
making the attempt unperceived, as if they had just escaped from a
prison, they reached the opposite bank sooner than could have been
expected; and having beaten down and slain numbers of the Persians whom,
though they had been placed there to guard the passage, their fancied
security had lulled into a gentle slumber, they held up their hands, and
shook their cloaks so as to give the concerted signal that their bold
attempt had succeeded.
15. And when the signal was seen, the soldiers became eager to cross,
and could only be restrained by the promise of the engineers to make
them bridges by means of bladders and the hides of slaughtered animals.
VII.
§ 1. While these vain attempts were going on, king Sapor, both while at
a distance, and also when he approached, received from his scouts and
from our deserters a true account of the gallant exploits of our men, of
the disgraceful slaughter of his own troops, and also of his elephants
in greater numbers than he ever remembered to have lost before. And he
heard also that the Roman army, being hardened by its continual labours
since the death of its glorious chief, did not now think so much, as
they said, of safety as of revenge; and were resolved to extricate
themselves from their difficulties either by a complete victory or by a
glorious death.
2. He looked on this news as formidable, being aware by experience that
our troops who were scattered over these provinces could easily be
assembled, and knowing also that his own troops after their heavy losses
were in a state of the greatest alarm; he also heard that we had in
Mesopotamia an army little inferior in numbers to that before him.
3. And besides all this, his courage was damped by the fact of five
hundred men having crossed that swollen river by swimming in perfect
safety, and having slain his guards, and so emboldening the rest of
their comrades to similar hardihood.
4. In the mean time, as the violence of the stream prevented any bridges
from being constructed, and as everything which could be eaten was
consumed, we passed two days in great misery, and the starving soldiers
began to be furious with rage, thinking it better to perish by the sword
than by hunger, that most degrading death.
5. But the eternal providence of God was on our side, and beyond our
hopes the Persians made the first overtures, sending the Surena and
another noble as ambassadors to treat for peace, and they themselves
being in a state of despondency, as the Romans, having proved superior
in almost every battle, weakened them daily.
6. But the conditions which they proposed were difficult and intricate,
since they pretended that, out of regard for humanity, their merciful
monarch was willing to permit the remains of our army to return home,
provided the Cæsar, with his officers, would satisfy his demands.
7. In reply, we sent as ambassadors on our part, Arinthæus and
Sallustius; and while the proper terms were being discussed with great
deliberation, we passed four more days in great suffering from want of
provisions, more painful than any kind of torture.
8. And in this truce, if before the ambassadors were sent, the emperor,
being disabused, had retired slowly from the territories of the enemy,
he would have reached the forts of Corduena, a rich region belonging to
us, only one hundred miles from the spot where these transactions were
being carried on.
9. But Sapor obstinately demanded (to use his own language) the
restoration of those territories which had been taken from him by
Maximian; but as was seen in the progress of the negotiation, he in
reality required, as the price of our redemption, five provinces on the
other side of the Tigris,--Arzanena, Moxoena, Zabdicena, Rehemena, and
Corduena, with fifteen fortresses, besides Nisibis, and Singara, and the
important fortress called the camp of the Moors.
10. And though it would have been better to fight ten battles than to
give up one of them, still a set of flatterers harassed our
pusillanimous emperor with harping on the dreaded name of Procopius, and
affirmed that unless we quickly recrossed the river, that chieftain, as
soon as he heard of the death of Julian, would easily bring about a
revolution which no one could resist, by means of the fresh troops which
he had under his command.
11. Jovian, being wrought upon by the constant reiteration of these
evil counsels, without further delay gave up everything that was
demanded, with this abatement, which he obtained with difficulty, that
the inhabitants of Nisibis and Singara should not be given up to the
Persians as well as the cities themselves; and that the Roman garrisons
in the forts about to be surrendered should be permitted to retire to
fortresses of our own.
12. To which another mischievous and unfair condition was added, that
after this treaty was concluded we were not to be at liberty to assist
Arsaces against the Persians, if he implored our aid, though he had
always been our friend and trusty ally. And this was insisted on by
Sapor for two reasons, in order that the man might be punished who had
laid waste Chiliocomum at the emperor's command, and also that facility
might be given for invading Armenia without a check. In consequence of
this it fell out subsequently that Arsaces was taken prisoner, and that,
amid different dissensions and disturbances, the Parthians laid violent
hands on the greater portion of Armenia, where it borders on Media, and
on the town of Artaxata.
13. This ignoble treaty being made, that nothing might be done during
the armistice, in contravention of its terms, some men of rank were
given as hostages on each side: on ours, Remora, Victor, and
Bellovædius, tribunes of distinguished legions: and on that of the
enemy, one of their chief nobles named Bineses, and three other satraps
of note.
14. So peace was made for thirty years, and ratified by solemn oaths;
and we, returning by another line of march, because the parts near the
river were rugged and difficult, suffered severely for want of water and
provisions.
VIII.
§ 1. The peace which had been granted on pretence of humanity was turned
to the ruin of many who were so exhausted by want of food as to be at
the last gasp, and who in consequence could only creep along, and were
either carried away by the current of the river from not being able to
swim, or if able to overcome the force of the stream so far as to reach
the bank, were either slain like sheep by the Saracens or Persians
(because, as we stated some time back, the Germans had driven them out),
or sent to a distance to be sold for slaves.
2. But when the trumpets openly gave the signal for crossing the river,
it was dreadful to see with what ardour every individual hastened to
rush into this danger, preferring himself to all his comrades, in the
desire of avoiding the many dangers and distresses behind him. Some
tried to guide the beasts who were swimming about at random, with
hurdles hurriedly put together; others, seated on bladders, and others,
being driven by necessity to all kinds of expedients, sought to pass
through the opposing waves by crossing them obliquely.
3. The emperor himself with a few others crossed over in the small
boats, which we said were saved when the fleet was burnt, and then sent
the same vessels backwards and forwards till our whole body was brought
across. And at length all of us, except such as were drowned, reached
the opposite bank of the river, being saved amid our difficulties by the
favour of the Supreme Deity.
4. While we were still oppressed with the fear of impending disasters,
we learnt from information brought in by our outposts that the Persians
were throwing a bridge over the river some way off, at a point out of
our sight, in order that while all ideas of war were put an end to on
our side by the ratification of the treaty of peace, they might come
upon our invalids as they proceeded carelessly onwards, and on the
animals exhausted with fatigue. But when they found their purpose
discovered, they relinquished their base design.
5. Being now relieved from this suspicion, we hastened on by rapid
marches, and approached Hatra, an ancient town in the middle of a
desert, which had been long since abandoned, though at different times
those warlike emperors, Trajan and Severus, had attacked it with a view
to its destruction, but had been almost destroyed with their armies, as
we have related in our history of their exploits.
6. And as we now learnt that over the vast plain before us for seventy
miles in that arid region no water could be found but such as was
brackish and fetid, and no kind of food but southernwood, wormwood,
dracontium, and other bitter herbs, we filled the vessels which we had
with sweet water, and having slain the camels and the rest of the beasts
of burden, we thus sought to insure some kind of supplies, though not
very wholesome.
7. For six days the army marched, till at last even grass, the last
comfort of extreme necessity, could not be found; when Cassianus, Duke
of Mesopotamia, and the tribune Mauricius, who had been sent forward
with this object, came to a fort called Ur, and brought some food from
the supplies which the army under Procopius and Sebastian, by living
sparingly, had managed to preserve.
8. From this place another person of the name of Procopius, a secretary,
and Memoridus, a military tribune, was sent forward to Illyricum and
Gaul to announce the death of Julian, and the subsequent promotion of
Jovian to the rank of emperor.
9. And Jovian deputed them to present his father-in-law Lucillianus
(who, after giving up military service, had retired to the tranquillity
of private life, and who was at that time dwelling at Sirmium) with a
commission as captain of the forces of cavalry and infantry, and to urge
him at the same time to hasten to Milan, to support him there in any
difficulties which might arise, or (what he feared most) to oppose any
attempts which might be made to bring about a revolution.
10. And he also gave them still more secret letters, in which he warned
Lucillianus to bring him some picked men of tried energy and fidelity,
of whose aid he might avail himself according as affairs should turn
out.
11. He also made a wise choice, and selected Malarichus, who was at that
time in Italy on his own private affairs, sending him the ensigns of
office that he might succeed Jovinus as commander of the forces in Gaul,
in which appointment he had an eye on two important objects; first, to
remove a general of especial merit who was an object of suspicion on
that very account, and also by the promotion to so high a position of a
man whose hopes were not set on anything so lofty to bind him to exert
all his zeal in supporting the doubtful position of the maker of his
fortunes.
12. And the officers who went to perform these commands were also
enjoined to extol the emperor's conduct, and wherever they went to agree
in reporting that the Parthian campaign had been brought to an
honourable termination; they were also charged to prosecute their
journey with all speed by night and day, delivering as they went letters
from the new emperor to all the governors of provinces and commanders of
the forces on their road; and when they had secretly learnt the opinions
of them all, to return to him with all speed, in order that when he knew
what was being done in the distant provinces, he might be able to frame
well-digested and wise plans for strengthening himself in his
government.
13. But Fame (being alway the most rapid bearer of bad news),
outstripping these couriers, flew through the different provinces and
nations; and above all others struck the citizens of Nisibis with bitter
sorrow when they heard that their city was surrendered to Sapor, whose
anger and enmity they dreaded, from recollecting the havoc and slaughter
which he had made in his frequent attempts to take the place.
14. For it was clear that the whole eastern empire would have fallen
under the power of Persia long before if it had not been for the
resistance which this city, strong in its admirable position and its
mighty walls, had been able to offer. But miserable as they now were,
and although they were filled with a still greater fear of what might
befall them hereafter, they were supported by this slender hope, that,
either from his own inclination or from being won over by their prayers,
the emperor might consent to keep their city in its existing state, as
the strongest bulwark of the east.
15. While different reports were flying about of what had taken place,
the scanty supplies which I have spoken of as having been brought, were
consumed, and necessity might have driven the men to eat one another, if
the flesh of the animals slain had not lasted them a little longer; but
the consequence of our destitute condition was, that the arms and
baggage were thrown away; for we were so worn out with this terrible
famine, that whenever a single bushel of corn was found (which seldom
happened), it was sold for ten pieces of gold at the least.
16. Marching on from thence, we come to Thilsaphata where Sebastian and
Procopius, with the tribunes and chief officers of the legions which had
been placed under their command for the protection of Mesopotamia, came
to meet the emperor as the solemn occasion required, and being kindly
received, accompanied us on our march.
17. After this, proceeding with all possible speed, we rejoiced when we
saw Nisibis, where the emperor pitched a standing camp outside the
walls; and being most earnestly entreated by the whole population to
come to lodge in the palace according to the custom of his predecessors,
he positively refused, being ashamed that an impregnable city should be
surrendered to an enraged enemy while he was within its walls.
18. But as the evening was getting dark, Jovian, the chief secretary,
was seized while at supper, the man who at the siege of the city
Maogamalcha we have spoken of as escaping with others by a subterranean
passage, and being led to an out-of-the-way place, was thrown headlong
down a dry well, and overwhelmed with a heap of stones which were thrown
down upon him, because after the death of Julian he also had been named
by a few persons as fit to be made emperor; and after the election of
his namesake had not behaved with any modesty, but had been heard to
utter secret whispers concerning the business, and had from time to time
invited some of the leading soldiers to entertainments.
IX.
§ 1. The next day Bineses, one of the Persians of whom we have spoken as
the most distinguished among them, hastening to execute the commission
of his king, demanded from Jovian the immediate performance of his
promise; and by his permission he entered the city of Nisibis, and
raised the standard of his nation on the citadel, announcing to the
citizens a miserable emigration from their native place.
2. Immediately they were all commanded to expatriate themselves, in vain
stretching forth their hands in entreaty not to be compelled to depart,
affirming that they by themselves, without drawing on the public
resources for either provisions or soldiers, were sufficient to defend
their own home in full confidence that Justice would be on their side
while fighting for the place of their birth, as they had often found her
to be before. Both nobles and common people joined in this supplication;
but they spoke in vain as to the winds, the emperor fearing the crime of
perjury, as he pretended, though in reality the object of his fear was
very different.
3. Then a man of the name of Sabinus, eminent among his fellow-citizens
both for his fortune and birth, replied with great fluency that
Constantius too was at one time defeated by the Persians in the terrible
strife of fierce war, that afterwards he fled with a small body of
comrades to the unguarded station of Hibita, where he lived on a scanty
and uncertain supply of bread which was brought him by an old woman from
the country; and yet that to the end of his life he lost no territory;
while Jovian, at the very beginning of his reign, was yielding up the
wall of his provinces, by the protection of which barrier they had
hitherto remained safe from the earliest ages.
4. But as he could not prevail on the emperor, who persisted obstinately
in alleging the obligation of his oath, presently, when Jovian, who had
for some time refused the crown which was offered to him, accepted it
under a show of compulsion, an advocate, named Silvanus, exclaimed
boldly, "May you, O emperor, be so crowned in the rest of your cities."
But Jovian was offended at his words, and ordered the whole body of
citizens to quit the city within three days, in despair as they were at
the existing state of affairs.
5. Accordingly, men were appointed to compel obedience to this order,
with threats of death to every one who delayed his departure; and the
whole city was a scene of mourning and lamentation, and in every quarter
nothing was heard but one universal wail, matrons tearing their hair
when about to be driven from their homes, in which they had been born
and brought up, the mother who had lost her children, or the wife her
husband, about to be torn from the place rendered sacred by their
shades, clinging to their doorposts, embracing their thresholds, and
pouring forth floods of tears.
6. Every road was crowded, each person straggling away as he could.
Many, too, loaded themselves with as much of their property as they
thought they could carry, while leaving behind them abundant and costly
furniture, for this they could not remove for want of beasts of burden.
7. Thou in this place, O fortune of the Roman world, art justly an
object of accusation, who, while storms were agitating the republic,
didst strike the helm from the hand of a wise sovereign, to intrust it
to an inexperienced youth, whom, as he was not previously known for any
remarkable actions in his previous life, it is not fair either to blame
or praise.
8. But it sunk into the heart of all good citizens, that while, out of
fear of a rival claimant of his power, and constantly fancying some one
in Gaul or in Illyricum might have formed ambitious designs, he was
hastening to outstrip the intelligence of his approach, he should have
committed, under pretence of reverence for an oath, an act so unworthy
of his imperial power as to abandon Nisibis, which ever since the time
of Mithridates had been the chief hindrance to the encroachments of the
Persians in the East.
9. For never before since the foundation of Rome, if one consults all
its annals, I believe has any portion of our territories been
surrendered by emperor or consul to an enemy. Nor is there an instance
of a triumph having been celebrated for the recovery of anything that
had been lost, but only for the increase of our dominions.
10. On this principle, a triumph was refused to Publius Scipio for the
recovery of Spain, to Fulvius for the acquisition of Capua after a long
struggle, and to Opimius after many battles with various results,
because the people of Fregellæ, who at that time were our implacable
enemies, had been compelled to surrender.
11. For ancient records teach us that disgraceful treaties, made under
the pressure of extreme necessity, even after the parties to them have
sworn to their observance in set terms, have nevertheless been soon
dissolved by the renewal of war; as in the olden time, after the legions
had been made to pass under the yoke at the Caudine Forks, in Samnium;
and also when an infamous peace was contemplated by Albinus in Numidia;
and when Mancinus, the author of a peace which was concluded in
disgraceful haste, was surrendered to the people of Numantia.
12. Accordingly, when the citizens had been withdrawn, the city
surrendered, and the tribune Constantius had been sent to deliver up to
the Persian nobles the fortresses and districts agreed upon, Procopius
was sent forward with the remains of Julian, to bury them in the suburbs
of Tarsus, according to his directions while alive. He departed, I say,
to fulfil this commission, and as soon as the body was buried, he
quitted Tarsus, and though sought for with great diligence, he could not
be found anywhere, till long afterwards he was suddenly seen at
Constantinople invested with the purple.
X.
§ 1. These transactions having been thus concluded, after a long march
we arrived at Antioch, where for several days in succession many
terrible omens were seen, as if the gods were offended, since those who
were skilled in the interpretation of prodigies foretold that impending
events would be melancholy.
2. For the statue of Maximian Cæsar, which was placed in the vestibule
of the palace, suddenly lost the brazen globe, formed after the figure
of the heavens, which it bore in its hand. Also the beams in the council
chamber sounded with an ominous creak; comets were seen in the daytime,
respecting the nature of which natural philosophers differ.
3. For some think they have received the name because they scatter fire
wreathed like hair[156] by a number of stars being collected into one
mass; others think that they derive their fire from the dry evaporation
of the earth rising gradually to a greater height; some fancy that the
sunbeams as they rapidly pass, being prevented by dense clouds from
descending lower, by infusing their brilliancy into a dense body show a
light which, as it were, seems spotted with stars to the eyes of
mortals. Some again have a fixed opinion that this kind of light is
visible when some cloud, rising to a greater height than usual, becomes
illuminated by its proximity to the eternal fires; or, that at all
events there are some stars like the rest, of which the special times of
their rising and setting are not understood by man. There are many
other suggestions about comets which have been put forth by men skilled
in mundane philosophy, but I must pass over them, as my subject calls me
in another direction.
4. The emperor remained a short time at Antioch, distracted by many
important cares, but desirous above all things to proceed. And so,
sparing neither man nor beast, he started from that city in the depth of
winter, though, as I have stated, many omens warned him from such a
course, and made his entrance into Tarsus, a noble city of Cilicia, the
origin of which I have already related.
5. Being in excessive haste to depart from thence, he ordered
decorations for the tomb of Julian, which was placed in the suburb, in
the road leading to the defiles of Mount Taurus. Though a sound judgment
would have decided that the ashes of such a prince ought not to lie
within sight of the Cydnus, however beautiful and clear that river is,
but, to perpetuate the glory of his achievements, ought rather to be
placed where they might be washed by the Tiber as it passes through the
Eternal City and winds round the monuments of the ancient gods.
6. Then quitting Tarsus, he reached by forced marches Tyana, a town of
Cappadocia, where Procopius the secretary and Memoridus the tribune met
him on their return, and related to him all that occurred; beginning, as
the order of events required, at the moment when Lucillianus (who had
entered Milan with the tribunes Seniauchus and Valentinian, whom he had
brought with him, as soon as it was known that Malarichus had refused to
accept the post which was offered to him) hastened on with all speed to
Rheims.
7. There, as if it had been a time of profound tranquillity, he went
quite beside the mark, as we say, and while things were still in a very
unsettled state, he most unseasonably devoted his attention to
scrutinizing the accounts of the commissary, who, being conscious of
fraud and guilt, fled to the standards of the soldiers, and pretended
that while Julian was still alive some one of the common people had
attempted a revolution. By this false report the army became so greatly
excited that they put Lucillianus and Seniauchus to death. For
Valentinian, who soon afterwards became emperor, had been concealed by
his host Primitivus in a safe place, overwhelmed with fear and not
knowing which way to flee.
8. This disastrous intelligence was accompanied by one piece of
favourable news,--that the soldiers who had been sent by Jovian were
approaching (men known in the camp as the heads of the classes), who
brought word that the Gallic army had cordially embraced the cause of
Jovian.
9. When this was known, the command of the second class of the Scutarii
was given to Valentinian, who had returned with those men; and
Vitalianus, who had been a soldier of the Heruli, was placed among the
body-guards, and afterwards, when raised to the rank of count, met with
very ill success in Illyricum. And at the same time Arinthæus was
despatched into Gaul with letters for Jovinus, with an injunction to
maintain his ground and act with resolution and constancy; and he was
further charged to make an example of the author of the disturbance
which had taken place, and to send the ringleaders of the sedition as
prisoners to the court.
10. When these matters had been arranged as seemed most expedient, the
Gallic soldiers obtained an audience of the emperor at Aspuna, a small
town of Galatia, and having been admitted into the council chamber,
after the message which they brought had been listened to with approval,
they received rewards and were ordered to return to their standards.
A.D. 364.
11. When the emperor had made his entry into Ancyra, everything
necessary for his procession having been prepared as well as the time
permitted, Jovian entered on the consulship, and took as his colleague
his son Varronianus, who was as yet quite a child, and whose cries as he
obstinately resisted being borne in the curule chair, according to the
ancient fashion, was an omen of what shortly happened.
12. Here also the appointed termination of life carried off Jovian with
rapidity. For when he had reached Dadastana, a place on the borders of
Bithynia and Galatia, he was found dead in the night; and many uncertain
reports were spread concerning his death.
13. It was said that he had been unable to bear the unwholesome smell
of the fresh mortar with which his bedchamber had been plastered. Also
that his head had swollen in consequence of a great fire of coals, and
that this had been the cause of his death; others said that he had died
of a surfeit from over eating. He was in the thirty-third year of his
age. And though he and Scipio Æmilianus both died in the same manner, we
have not found out that any investigation into the death of either ever
took place.
14. Jovian was slow in his movements, of a cheerful countenance, with
blue eyes; very tall, so much so that it was long before any of the
royal robes could be found to fit him. He was anxious to imitate
Constantius, often occupying himself with serious business till after
midday, and being fond of jesting with his friends in public.
15. He was given to the study of the Christian law, sometimes doing it
marked honour; he was tolerably learned in it, very well inclined to its
professors, and disposed to promote them to be judges, as was seen in
some of his appointments. He was fond of eating, addicted to wine and
women, though he would perhaps have corrected these propensities from a
sense of what was due to the imperial dignity.
16. It was said that his father, Varronianus, through the warning of a
dream, had long since foreseen what happened, and had foretold it to two
of his most faithful friends, with the addition that he himself also
should become consul. But though part of his prophecy became true, he
could not procure the fulfilment of the rest. For though he heard of his
son's high fortune, he died before he could see him.
17. And because the old man had it foretold to him in his sleep that the
highest office was destined for his name, his grandson Varronianus,
while still an infant, was made consul with his father Jovian, as we
have related above.
[151] Primicerius: he was the third officer of the guard; the first
being the lower; the second, the tribune--answering, as one might say,
to our major.
[152] The Zianni were an Armenian tribe. The legion belonged to the
Thracian establishment.
[153] Tarquitius was an ancient Etruscan soothsayer, who had written on
the subject of his art.
[154] That is Marcus Aurelius.
[155] It must be remembered that throughout Ammianus's history a count
is always spoken of as of higher rank than a duke.
[156] From +komê+, hair.