History

When these events had been spread abroad by frequent and trustworthy rumours, the officials of the province and the tribune Vincentius came out of the hiding-places in which they had taken refuge, and at last, free from fear, quickly appeared before the general. He, after having seen and received them gladly, being then still at Caesarea, inquired carefully about the true state of affairs; he learned that Firmus, under pretence of fear and submission, was secretly forming the plan of throwing our army into confusion, as if by a sudden tempest, while it feared no hostile demonstration.

Therefore he turned from there and came to the municipal town of Sugabarritanum, on the slope of the Transcellian mountain, where he found the horsemen of the fourth cohort of archers, which had gone over to the rebel; and to show that he was content with a somewhat mild punishment, he degraded them all to the lowest class of the service; then he ordered them and a part of the Constantian infantry, with their tribunes, one of whom had placed his neckchain, in place of a diadem, on Firmus’ head, to come to Tigaviae.

While this was going on, Gildo and Maximus returned, bringing Belles, one of the chiefs of the Mazices, and Fericius, prefect of the tribe, who had aided the party of the disturber of the public peace . . .

When this had been done according to order, at daybreak he himself came out, and finding the rebels surrounded by his army, he said: What think you, my devoted comrades, ought to be done with these abominable traitors? And acceding to the acclamation of those who asked that they should pay for it with their blood, he turned over those who served among the Constantiani to the soldiers, to be slain in the oldfashioned way. But he had the hands of the leaders of the archers cut off and punished the rest with death, following the example of that strictest of leaders Curio, who put an end by a punishment of that kind to the wildness of the Dardani, when, like the Lernaean hydra, they constantly gained new life.

But malevolent detractors, while praising that act of the olden time, find fault with this one as cruel and inhuman, declaring that the Dardani were murderous enemies and justly suffered the punishment which befell them, while these, on the contrary, were soldiers under the flag who had allowed themselves to commit a single fault and deserved to have been punished more leniently. But such folk we remind of what they perhaps do not know, that this cohort was harmful, not only in its action, but also in the example which it set.

The aforesaid Belles and Fericius, whom Gildo had brought, and Curandius, tribune of the archers, he ordered to be put to death, the last named on the ground that he never wished either to engage with the enemy himself or to encourage his men to fight. Moreover, Theodosius did this bearing in mind the saying of Cicero: Wholesome strength is better than a vain show of mercy.

Setting out from there, he came to an estate called Gaionatis, surrounded by a strong wall and hence a very safe refuge for the Moors. Against this he brought up his battering-rams and destroyed it, killing all the inhabitants and levelling the walls; then advancing over the Ancorarian mountain to Castellum Tingitanum, he attacked the Mazices, who were gathered together into one body and replied with missiles which came flying like hail.

And after both sides had rushed in to the attack, the Mazices, though a warlike and hardy race, could not resist the columns of our men, charging with all their strength and weapons, but involved in heavy losses at various points fled in shameful terror; and as they rushed to escape all were cut down except those who found a means of getting away, and later by abject prayers obtained the pardon which circumstances made it advisable to grant.

Suggen, when their leader . . . had succeeded Romanus, was ordered to go to Mauritania Sitifensis, in order to keep guard and prevent the province from being overrun, while he himself, encouraged by past successes, marched against the tribe of the Musones, which consciousness of their deeds of plunder and blood had joined with the enterprise of Firmus, since they hoped he would soon attain greater power.

Having advanced some distance, near the 373 f. municipal town of Adda Theodosius learned that a great number of tribes, differing in civilization and in variety of language, but united in their purpose, were stirring up the beginnings of cruel wars, instigated and abetted through very great hope of rewards by a sister of Firmus named Cyria, who, abounding in wealth and in feminine persistence, had resolved to make great efforts to aid her brother.

Therefore Theodosius, fearing lest he should involve himself in an unequal contest, and if he confronted a vast horde with only a few troops—for he had under his command only 3500 armed men—might lose them all, wavered between the shame of retreat and the desire for battle; but at last he gradually withdrew and made off, with the horde pressing at his heels.

The foe, tremendously elated by this success, followed persistently . . . so that he found it necessary to fight; but he himself would have been killed and his army utterly annihilated, had not the enemy, attacking in disorder, seen afar off the auxiliaries of the Mazices, in the van of which were some Romans; so thinking that they were attacked by many columns, they turned in flight and opened to our men ways of escape which before had been blocked.

From there, leading his army safe and sound, Theodosius came to an estate called Mazucanus, where he burned a few deserters alive and mutilated the rest as he had the archers whose hands were cut off; and in the month of February he reached Tipasa.

There he made a long halt, and after the manner of the famous Lingerer of old took counsel with himself as the circumstances demanded, planning, if chance gave the opportunity, rather through strategy and discretion than by the danger of battle, to overthrow an enemy who was pugnacious and effective in the use of missiles.

Nevertheless he constantly sent men experienced in persuasion to the surrounding tribes, the Baiurae, Cantauriani, Avastomates, Cafaves, Bavares, and other neighbours, to entice them to an alliance, now by fear, now by bribes, and sometimes by promising pardon for their impudence with . . . intending by subterfuges and delays to overcome an enemy who foiled his attacks, as Pompey once vanquished Mithridates.

Therefore Firmus, to avoid imminent destruction, although he was protected by a strong body of troops, abandoned the army which he had got together at great expense; and when the quiet of night gave him the opportunity of concealment, he made his way into the far distant Caprariensian mountains, which are inaccessible because of their steep crags.

In consequence of his secret departure his army scattered and roamed about in small bands without a leader, thus giving our men the opportunity of invading their camp. After this was plundered and those who resisted were killed or received in surrender, the greater part of the country was devastated and our prudent leader put prefects of tried fidelity in charge of the peoples through whose country he was marching.

The public enemy, terrified by this unexpected confidence of the pursuit, quickly departed, accompanied by a few slaves, in order to provide for his safety; and to prevent being impeded by any hindrance, he threw away packs containing valuable articles which he had carried off with him. For his wife, worn out by continual hardships and by dangers . . .

Theodosius, sparing none of the enemy who came near, after refreshing his soldiers with better food and their pay, as well as disposing of the Caprarienses and their neighbours the Abanni in a slight skirmish, hastened to the municipal town of Audia. But having learned from trustworthy sources that the savages had already taken possession of hills which extended upwards in all directions in winding masses, and could be penetrated by no one except natives who were thoroughly acquainted with the locality, he retreated and thereby during the cessation of hostilities, brief though it was, gave the enemy an opportunity of being strengthened by very numerous auxiliaries from the Aethiopians who dwelt near by.

When the foe, with united forces and threatening uproar, taking no thought for their own lives, rushed to battle, they drove off Theodosius in great terror at the fearful sight of their countless throngs. But he took courage and at once returned, bringing an abundance of provisions, and with his men in close order and brandishing their shields in a terrifying posture, met the enemy hand to hand.

Then, although the bands of raging savages, blaring some ferocious tune on their barbaric trumpets and also clashing their bucklers against their knees, were close upon him, nevertheless, like a careful and discreet warrior, though distrusting the small number of his men, he formed a hollow square and then advanced boldly. Then he fearlessly turned aside to a city called Conta, where Firmus, since it was a concealed and lofty fortress, had placed those of our men whom he had captured. But Theodosius recovered them all, and severely punished the traitors and the attendants of Firmus, as was his custom.

While he was thus most successful, with the aid of the mighty godhead, a trustworthy scout informed him that Firmus had fled to the Isaflenses; whereupon he invaded their lands, to demand the traitor as well as his brother Mazuca and the rest of his kinsfolk; and when his demand was refused, he declared war upon that race.

A fierce battle followed, since the savages were uncommonly ferocious; but he opposed his army to them in circular formation and the Isaflenses were so overcome by the weight of the onrushing troops that many of them were slain. Firmus himself, after fighting bravely and often risking his life, was carried off in headlong flight by his horse, which was accustomed to run swiftly over rocks and crags; but his brother Mazuca was fatally wounded and taken prisoner.

Theodosius gave orders to send Mazuca to Caesarea, a city on which the Moor had branded the savage marks of his evil deeds; but he tore open his wound and died. However, his head was torn off, leaving the rest of his body intact, and to the great joy of all who saw it was brought into the aforesaid city.

After this our famous general overcame the race of the Isaflenses, who still resisted, and, as justice demanded, inflicted many vexatious penalties upon them. There Evasius, an important citizen, Florus his son, and some others, who were clearly convicted of having aided the violator of peace by secret counsel, were burned alive.

Then Theodosius marched farther into the country, and with great courage attacked the tribe of the Iubaleni, to which he had learned that Nubel, the father of Firmus, belonged; but he was brought to a halt by the high mountains and the circuitous passes; and although he attacked the enemy and after killing many of them opened a way, yet dreading the high hills, so well adapted to ambuscades, he led his men back in safety to the fortress of Audia. There the wild race of the Iesalenses voluntarily surrendered, promising to furnish aid and provisions.

The mighty leader, exulting in these and similar glorious actions, then went in quest of the disturber of peace himself with a mighty effort of strength. To that end he made a long halt near the castle of Medianum, hoping that through many carefully devised plans Firmus might be betrayed into his hands.

While he was looking forward to this with perplexed thoughts and deep care, he found that his enemy had returned to the Isaflenses; whereupon he did not delay, as before, but attacked them with all the speed he could. Their king, Igmazen by name, who was highly regarded in those parts and notable for his resources, boldly came forward to meet him. What is your rank, said he, or what have you come here to do? Tell me. Theodosius, with stern glance and resolute mind, replied: I am the general of Valentinian, lord of the world, sent to destroy a murderous robber. Unless you give him up at once, as the invincible emperor has ordered, you will perish utterly with the race over which you rule. On hearing this, Igmazen, after heaping a flood of abuse upon the general, departed, full of wrath and resentment.

At the first appearance of the following daylight both armies, with threatening mien, advanced to meet each other in battle. Nearly 20,000 savages were stationed in the very van, with bands of reserves concealed behind them, in order that they might gradually rise up and surround our men with their unexpected numbers. Besides these there were a great many auxiliaries from the Iesalenses, who, as we have pointed out, had promised help and provisions to our side.

On the other hand, the Romans, although very few in number, nevertheless brave in spirit and encouraged by their former victories, pressed side to side in close order and with shields closely held together in the tortoise-formation, stood fast and resisted them; and the battle was continued from sunrise to the end of the day. A little before evening Firmus was seen, mounted on a tall horse, his purple cloak trailing out and spreading wide, urging our soldiers with loud shouts to take advantage of the opportunity and give up Theodosius, if they wished to be saved from the dangers to which they were exposed, calling him a fierce savage and a cruel deviser of inhuman punishments.

These unexpected words roused some to fight more fiercely but induced others to abandon the battle. Accordingly, when the first quiet of night came, and the landscape was wrapped in fear-inspiring darkness, the general returned to the stronghold of Duodia, and, reviewing his soldiers, rid himself by various forms of punishment of those whom panic and the words of Firmus had turned from their duty in the battle; some had their right hands cut off, others were burned alive.

And keeping watch by night with most vigilant care, he repulsed some of the barbarians who ventured to make an attempt on his camp after the setting of the moon, when they thought they could not be seen, or took prisoners those who rushed in too boldly. Then departing by quick marches and following by-paths, he attacked the Iesalenses from a quarter where they could least expect it, believing them to be of doubtful loyalty, and so devastated their lands that they were reduced to dire need; then he returned by way of the towns of Mauritania Caesariensis to Sitifis, where he tortured to the verge of death and then burned alive Castor and Martinianus, as sharers in the robberies and atrocities of Romanus.

After this the war with the Isaflenses was renewed; and when in the first engagement great numbers of the savages were put to flight or killed, their king Igmazen, who had before been accustomed to victory, wavering through fear of the present danger, and thinking that because of his unlawful associations no hope of life was left him if be made obstinate resistance, rushed forth alone and with all possible caution and secrecy from the scene of the battle. When he came into the presence of Theodosius, he humbly begged that the general would order Masilla, a chief of the Mazices, to appear before him.

When Masilla had been sent to Theodosius, as he had asked, the king through him, in a secret interview, urged the general, who by his own nature was inclined to resolution, that in order to provide himself with the means of accomplishing his desires, he should vigorously assail his fellow-countrymen, and by constant fighting reduce them to fear; he said that they were indeed inclined to favour the public enemy, but were wearied by their many losses.

Theodosius did as he was advised, and so wore out the Isaflenses by frequent contests, that they were falling like cattle; and Firmus himself secretly escaped, intending to hide in remote and lasting retreats; but while he was there planning flight, he was taken prisoner by Igmazen and kept in custody.

And since he had learned through Masilla of the secret negotiations, he saw that in his extremity only one remedy was left, and decided by a voluntary death to spurn with his foot the desire to live. Accordingly, having purposely filled his guards with wine and made them drunk, and in the silence of the night they were buried in sound sleep, he himself, kept awake by fear of the trouble which hung over him, with noiseless steps left his bed, by creeping on hands and knees got himself some distance off, and finding a rope which he had procured for the calamity of ending his life, he hung it from a nail fastened in the wall, and putting his neck in it breathed his last without the torments of a painful death.

This event troubled Igmazen, who lamented that he had been robbed of glory, in not having had the good fortune of bringing the usurper alive to the Roman camp. Therefore, after gaining a public pledge of safety through Masilla he placed the corpse of the dead man on his camel to bring it in; and on reaching the tents of the army, which were pitched near the fortress of Subicara, he transferred the body to a pack-animal and himself offered it to the exultant Theodosius.

The latter called together his soldiers and with them the populace, and asked them whether they recognized the features; and when he bad learned beyond any doubt that it was the face of Firmus, after a brief stay there he returned to Sitifis in the guise of a triumphing general, where he was received with applause and commendation by all, of every age and rank.

While the said general was panting through this dust of Mars throughout Mauritania and Africa, the Quadi, who had long been quiet, were suddenly aroused to an outbreak; they are a nation now not greatly to be feared, but were formerly immensely warlike and powerful, as is shown by their swift and sudden swoops in former times, their siege of Aquileia in company with the Marcomanni, the destruction of Opitergium, and many other bloody deeds performed in rapid campaigns; so that when they broke through the Julian Alps, the emperor Marcus Pius, of whom we have previously written, could with difficulty check them. And, for savages, they had a just cause of complaint.

For Valentinian from the very beginning of his reign burned with a desire of protecting his frontiers, which was indeed praiseworthy, but carried too far; for he ordered the building of a garrison-camp across the Danube in the very territories of the Quadi, as if they were already claimed for Roman rule. The natives, being indignant at this and cautious for their own interests, tried to prevent them for a time merely by a deputation and by whispered complaints.

But Maximinus, being prone to every kind of wickedness and unable to control his native arrogance, which was swollen still more by his prefecture, upbraided Aequitius, who was at the time commander of the cavalry in Illyricum, as rebellious and slothful in not yet having finished the work the earlier construction of which had been arranged; and he added, as if having regard for the general welfare, that if the rank of general in Valeria were given to his own son Marcellianus, the fortification would rise without any excuses.

Both objects were presently attained. When the newly appointed general had set out and had reached the spot, with unreasonable arrogance, as was to be expected of the son of such a father, without any words to soothe those whom the dreams of a design never actually carried out was driving from their country, he took up the work which had been begun a short time before, but was suspended because of the opportunity given for protesting.

Finally, when king Gabinius mildly asked that no new step should be taken, he pretended that he would assent, and with feigned kindness invited the king with others to a banquet. But as Gabinius was departing after the feast and suspected no treachery, Marcellianus, with abominable violation of the sacred duties of hospitality, had him murdered.

The report of so atrocious a deed at once spread abroad on all sides and roused the Quadi and the tribes round about them to madness. Weeping for the death of the king, they mustered and sent out devastating bands, which crossed the Danube while no hostility was anticipated, and fell upon the country people, who were busy with their harvest; most of them they killed, the survivors they led home as prisoners, along with a quantity of all kinds of domestic animals.

Surely at that time an irreparable crime would have been committed, to be numbered among the shameful disasters of Roman history; for the daughter of Constantius, when being conducted to marry Gratianus, was very nearly captured while she was taking food in a public villa called Pristensis, but (by the favour of the propitious godhead) Messalla, the governor of the province, was at hand and placed her in a state-carriage and took her in all haste back to Sirmium, twenty-six miles away.

After the princess was saved by this fortunate chance from the danger of wretched slavery, which, if it had been impossible to ransom the captive, would have branded the state with the greatest disaster, the Quadi, in company with the Sarmatians, ranged more widely; and being peoples most skilled in rapine and brigandage, they drove off as booty human beings of both sexes as well as cattle, exulting in the ashes of burned farmhouses and the sufferings of the slain inhabitants, whom they took by surprise and destroyed without any mercy.

So, when the dread of similar evils spread over the whole . neighbouring country, Probus, the praetorian prefect, then at Sirmium, being accustomed to no horrors of war and so overcome by the sorrowful and unusual sights that he barely raised his eyes, hesitated for a long time in doubt what action to take. And after he had equipped swift horses and determined on flight the next night, he thought of a safer plan and remained where he was.

For he had learnt that all those who were shut up within the walls would at once follow him, in order to take refuge in convenient hiding-places; and that if this should happen, the city, being without defenders, would fall into the hands of the enemy.

Therefore, soon calming his fear, he roused himself with vigorous effort to meet the urgent situation. He cleared out the moats, which were choked with rubbish, and being naturally inclined to building, since the walls through long-continued peace had in great part been neglected and had fallen, he raised them even to the completion of pinnacles of lofty towers. And the work was quickly finished, because he found that the materials which had long since been collected for the purpose of building a theatre were sufficient for what he was hastening to accomplish. Also to this excellent plan he added another equally useful by summoning a cohort of bowmen from the nearest station, to aid them in a siege, if one should come.