Ammianus Marcellinus, History

§ 29.1.32 When we then and there inquired,'what man will succeed the present emperor?', since it was said that he would be perfect in every particular, and the ring leaped forward and lightly touched the two syllables THE O, adding the next letter, then one of those present cried out that by the decision of inevitable fate Theodorus was meant. And there was no further investigation of the matter; for it was agreed among us that he was the man who was sought."

§ 29.1.33 And when Hilarius had laid the knowledge of the whole matter so clearly before the eyes of the judges, he kindly added that Theodorus was completely ignorant of what was done. After this, being asked whether they had, from belief in the oracles which they practised, known beforehand what they were now suffering, they uttered those familiar verses which clearly announced that this work of inquiring into the superhuman would soon be fatal to them, but that nevertheless the Furies, breathing out death and fire, threatened also the emperor himself and his judges. Of these verses it will suffice to quote the last three: “Avenged will be your blood. Against them too Tisiphon's deep wrath arms evil fate, While Ares rages on the plain of Mimas.” When these verses had been read, both were terribly torn by the hooks of the torturers and taken away senseless.

§ 29.1.34 Later, in order wholly to lay bare this factory of the crimes that had been meditated, a group of distinguished men was led in, comprising the very heads of the undertaking. But since each one had regard for nothing but himself, and tried to shift his ruin to another, by permission of the inquisitors Theodorus began to speak; at first lying prostrate in a humble prayer for pardon, but then, when compelled to talk more to the point, he declared that he had learned of the affair through Euserius and tried more than once to report it to the emperor, but was prevented by his informant, who assured him that no illicit attempt to usurp the throne, but some inevitable will of fate, would realize their hopes without effort on their part.

§ 29.1.35 Then Euserius, under bloody torture, made the same confession, but Theodorus was convicted by a letter of his own written in ambiguous and tortuous language to Hilarius, in which he did not hesitate about the matter, but only sought an opportunity to attain his desire, having already a strong confidence begotten from the soothsayers.

§ 29.1.36 When these had been removed after this information, Eutropius, then governing Asia with proconsular authority, was summoned on the charge of complicity in the plot. But he escaped without harm, saved by the philosopher Pasiphilus, who, although cruelly tortured to induce him to bring about the ruin of Eutropius through a false charge, could not be turned from the firmness of a steadfast mind.

§ 29.1.37 There was, besides these, the philosopher Simonides, a young man, it is true, but of anyone within our memory the strictest in his principles. When he was charged with having heard of the affair through Fidustius and saw that the trial depended, not on the truth, but on the nod of one man, he said that he had learned of the predictions, but as a man of firm purpose he kept the secret which had been confided to him.

§ 29.1.38 After all these matters had been examined with sharp eye, the emperor, in answer to the question put by the judges, under one decree ordered the execution of all of the accused; and in the presence of a vast throng, who could hardly look upon the dreadful sight without inward shuddering and burdening the air with laments, for the woes of individuals were regarded as common to all, they were all led away and wretchedly strangled except Simonides; him alone that cruel author of the verdict, maddened by his steadfast firmness, had ordered to be burned alive.

§ 29.1.39 Simonides, however, ready to escape from life as from a cruel tyrant, and laughing at the sudden disasters of human destiny, stood unmoved amid the flames; imitating that celebrated philosopher Peregrinus, surnamed Proteus, who, when he had determined to depart from life, at the quinquennial Olympic festival, in the sight of all Greece, mounted a funeral pyre which he himself had constructed and was consumed by the flames.

§ 29.1.40 And after him, in the days that followed, a throng of men of almost all ranks, whom it would be difficult to enumerate by name, involved in the snares of calumny, wearied the arms of the executioners after being first crippled by rack, lead, and scourge. Some were punished without breathing-space or delay, while inquiry was being made whether they deserved punishment; everywhere the scene was like a slaughtering of cattle.

§ 29.1.41 Then, innumerable writings and many heaps of volumes were hauled out from various houses and under the eyes of the judges were burned in heaps as being unlawful, to allay the indignation at the executions, although the greater number were treatises on the liberal arts and on jurisprudence.

§ 29.1.42 And not so very long afterward that famous philosopher Maximus, a man with a great reputation for learning, through whose rich discourses Julian stood out as an emperor well stored as regards knowledge, was alleged to have heard the verses of the aforesaid oracle. And he admitted that he had learnt of them, but out of regard for his philosophical principles had not divulged secrets, although he had volunteered the prediction that the consultors of the future would themselves perish by capital punishment. Thereupon he was taken to his native city of Ephesus and there beheaded; and taught by his final danger he came to know that the injustice of a judge was more formidable than any accusation.

§ 29.1.43 Diogenes also was entangled in the snares of an impious falsehood. He was a man born of noble stock, eminent for his talent, his fearless eloquence, and his charm; he was a former governor of Bithynia, but was now punished with death in order that his rich patrimony might be plundered.

§ 29.1.44 Lo! even Alypius also, former vice-governor of Britain, a man amiable and gentle, after living in leisure and retirement — since even as far as this had injustice stretched her hand — was made to wallow in utmost wretchedness; he was accused with his son Hierocles, a young man of good character, as guilty of magic, on the sole evidence of a certain Diogenes, a man of low origin, who was tortured with every degree of butchery, to lead him to give testimony agreeable to the emperor, or rather to the instigator of the charge. Diogenes, when not enough of his body was left for torture, was burned alive; Alypius himself also, after confiscation of his goods, was condemned to exile, but recovered his son, who was already being led to a wretched death, but by a lucky chance was reprieved.

§ 29.2.1 During all this time, the notorious Palladius, the fomenter of all these troubles, who, as we said at first, was taken in custody by Fortunatianus, being by the very lowness of his condition ready to plunge into anything, by heaping disaster on disaster, had drenched the whole empire with grief and tears.

§ 29.2.2 For having gained leave to name all whom he desired, without distinction of fortune, as dabbling in forbidden practices, like a hunter skilled in observing the secret tracks of wild beasts, he entangled many persons in his lamentable nets, some of them on the ground of having stained themselves with the knowledge of magic, others as accomplices of those who were aiming at treason.

§ 29.2.3 And in order that even wives should have no time to weep over the misfortunes of their husbands, men were immediately sent to put the seal on the houses, and during the examination of the furniture of the householder who had been condemned, to introduce privily old-wives' incantations or unbecoming love-potions, contrived for the ruin of innocent people. And when these were read in a court where there was no law or scruple or justice to distinguish truth from falsehood, without opportunity for defence young and old without discrimination were robbed of their goods and, although they were found stained by no fault, after being maimed in all their limbs were carried off in litters to execution.

§ 29.2.4 As a result, throughout the oriental provinces owners of books, through fear of a like fate, burned their entire libraries; so great was the terror that had seized upon all. Indeed, to speak briefly, at that time we all crept about as if in Cimmerian darkness, feeling the same fears as the guests of the Sicilian Dionysius, who, while filled to repletion with banquets more terrible than any possible hunger, saw with a shudder the swords hanging over their heads from the ceilings of the rooms in which they reclined and held only by single horsehairs.

§ 29.2.5 At that time Bassianus also, one of a most illustrious family and serving as a secretary of the first class, was accused of trying to gain foreknowledge of higher power, although he himself declared that he had merely inquired about the sex of a child which his wife expected; but by the urgent efforts of the kinsfolk by whom he was defended, he was saved from death; but he was stripped of his rich patrimony.

§ 29.2.6 Amid the crash of so many ruins Heliodorus, that hellish contriver with Palladius of all evils, being a mathematician (in the parlance of the vulgar) and pledged by secret instructions from the imperial court, after he had been cajoled by every enticement of kindness to induce him to reveal what he knew or could invent, now put forth his deadly stings.

§ 29.2.7 For he was most solicitously pampered with the choicest foods, and earned a great amount of contributed money for presents to his concubines; and so he strode about anywhere and everywhere, displaying his grim face, which struck fear into all. And his assurance was the greater because, in his capacity as chamberlain, he constantly and openly visited the women's apartments, to which, as he himself desired, he freely resorted, displaying the warrants of the Father of his People, which were to be a cause of grief to many.

§ 29.2.8 And through these warrants Heliodorus instructed Palladius (as though he were an advocate in public law-suits) what to put at the beginning of his speech, in order the more easily to make it effective and strong, or with which figures of rhetoric he ought to aim at brilliant passages.

§ 29.2.9 And since it would be a long story to tell all this gallows-bird contrived, I will recount this one case, showing with what audacious confidence he smote the very pillars of the patriciate. For made enormously insolent by secret conferences with people of the court, as has been said, and through his very worthlessness easy to be hired to commit any and every crime, he accused that admirable pair of consuls, the two brothers Eusebius and Hypatius (connections by marriage of the late emperor Constantius ) of having aspired to a desire for a higher fortune, and of having made inquiries and formed plans about the sovereignty; and he added to the path which he had falsely devised for his fabrication that royal robes had even been made ready for Eusebius.

§ 29.2.10 Eagerly drinking this in, the menacing madman, to whom nothing ought to have been permitted, since he thought that everything, even what was unjust, was allowed him, inexorably summoned from the farthest boundaries of the empire all those whom the accuser, exempt from the laws, with profound assurance had insisted ought to be brought before him, and ordered a calumnious trial to be set on foot.

§ 29.2.11 And when in much-knotted bonds of constriction justice had long been trodden down and tied tightly, and the wretched scoundrel persisted in his strings of assertions, severe tortures could force no confession, but showed that these distinguished men were far removed even from any knowledge of anything of the kind. Nevertheless, the calumniator was as highly honoured as before, while the accused were punished with exile and with fines; but shortly afterwards they were recalled, had their fines remitted, and were restored to their former rank and honour unimpaired.

§ 29.2.12 Yet after these so lamentable events Valens acted with no more restraint or shame; since excessive power does not reflect that it is unworthy for men of right principles, even to the disadvantage of their enemies, willingly to plunge into crime, and that nothing is so ugly as for a cruel nature to be joined to lofty pride of power.

§ 29.2.13 But when Heliodorus died (whether naturally or through some deliberate violence is uncertain; I would rather not say “too late”: I only wish that even the facts did not speak to that effect!) his body was carried out by the undertakers, and many men of rank, clad in mourning, were ordered to precede it, including the brothers who had been consuls.

§ 29.2.14 Thereby the entire rottenness of the folly of the empire's ruler was then completely revealed; for although he was earnestly besought to refrain from this inexcusable insult, yet he remained so inflexible that he seemed to have stopped his ears with wax, as if he were going to pass the rocks of the Sirens.

§ 29.2.15 At last, however, he yielded to insistent prayers, and ordered that some persons should precede the ill-omened bier of the body-snatcher to the tomb, marching with bare heads and feet, some also with folded hands. My mind shrinks from recalling, during that suspension of justice, how many men of the highest rank, especially exconsuls, after having carried the staves of honour and worn purple robes, and having their names made known to all the world 10 in the Roman calendar, were seen exposed to humiliation.

§ 29.2.16 Conspicuous among all of these was our Hypatius, a man recommended from his youth by noble virtues, of quiet and calm discretion, and of a nobility and gentleness measured as it were by the plumb-line; he conferred honour on the fame of his ancestors and himself gave glory to posterity by the admirable acts of his two prefectures.

§ 29.2.17 At the time Valens added this also to the rest of his glories, that while in other instances he was so savagely cruel as to grieve that the great pain of his punishments could not continue after death, yet he spared the tribune Numerius, a man of surpassing wickedness! This man was convicted at that same time on his own confession of having dared to cut open the womb of a living woman and take out her unripe offspring, in order to evoke the ghosts of the dead and consult them about a change of rulers; yet Valens, who looked on him with the eye of an intimate friend, in spite of the murmurs of the whole Senate gave orders that he should escape unpunished, and retain his life, his enviable wealth, and his military rank unimpaired.

§ 29.2.18 O noble system of wisdom, by heaven's gift bestowed upon the fortunate, thou who hast often ennobled even sinful natures! How much wouldst thou have corrected in those dark days, if it had been permitted Valens to learn through you that royal poweras the philosophers declareis nothing else than the care for others' welfare; that it is the duty of a good ruler to restrain his power, to resist unbounded desire and implacable anger, and to know, as the dictator Caesar used to say, that the recollection of cruelty is a wretched support for old age. And therefore, if he is going to pass judgment affecting the life and breath of a human being, who forms a part of the world and completes the number of living things, he ought to hesitate long and greatly and not be carried away by headlong passion to a point where what is done cannot be undone; of which we have a very well-known instance in olden times.

§ 29.2.19 A woman of Smyrna confessed before Dolabella, the proconsul of Asia, that she had poisoned her husband and her own son by him, because (as she said) she had discovered that they had killed her son by a former marriage; but she was ordered to appear again two days later. Since the council, to which according to custom the matter was referred, uncertain what distinction ought to be made between revenge and crime, hesitated to decide, she was sent before the Areopagites, those strict judges at Athens, whose justice is said to have decided disputes even among the gods. They, after having considered the case, ordered the woman to appear before them with her accuser a hundred years later, since they did not wish either to acquit a poisoner or punish an avenger of her kindred; for that is never thought late which is the last of all things.

§ 29.2.20 After these various deeds of injustice which have already been mentioned, and the marks of torture shamefully branded upon the bodies of such free men as bad survived, the never-closing eye of Justice, the eternal witness and avenger of all things, was watchfully attentive. For the last curses of the murdered, moving the eternal godhead through the just ground of their complaints, had kindled the firebrands of Bellona; so that the truth of the oracle was confirmed, which had predicted that no crimes would go unpunished.

§ 29.2.21 While these events, which have just been described, during the cessation of the Parthian storm were being spread abroad at Antioch in the form of internal troubles, the awful band of the Furies, after making a rolling flood of manifold disasters, left that city and settled on the shoulders of all Asia, in the following way.

§ 29.2.22 A certain Festinus of Tridentum, a man of the lowest and most obscure parentage, was admitted by Maximinus even into the ties of affection which true brothers show, for he had been his boon companion and with him had assumed the manly gown. By decree of the fates this man passed over to the Orient, and there in the administration of Syria, and after serving as master of the rolls, he left behind him praiseworthy examples of mildness and of respect for law; and when later he was advanced to the governorship of Asia with proconsular authority, he sailed to glory with a fair wind, as the saying is.

§ 29.2.23 But hearing that Maximinus planned to wipe out all decent men, from that time on he decried his actions as dangerous and shameful. But when he learned that Maximinus, merely through the recommendation of the deaths of those whom he had impiously slain, had attained the honour of prefect contrary to his deserts, he was aroused to similar deeds and hopes. Like an actor, suddenly changing his mask, he conceived the desire of doing harm and stalked about with intent and cruel eyes, imagining that the prefecture would soon be his if he also should have stained himself with the punishment of the innocent.

§ 29.2.24 And although many of the various acts which he committed were very harsh, to express it mildly, yet it will suffice to mention a few which are familiar and generally known, and done in emulation of those which had taken place in Rome. For the principle of good or bad deeds is the same everywhere, even if the greatness of the situation is not the same.

§ 29.2.25 He executed a philosopher called Coeranius, a man of no slight merit, after he had resisted tortures of savage cruelty, because in a letter to his wife of a personal nature he had added in Greek: “But do you take note and crown the house door,” which is a common proverbial expression, used in order that the hearer may know that something of greater importance than usual is to be done.

§ 29.2.26 There was a simple-minded old woman who was in the habit of curing intermittent fevers with a harmless charm. He caused her to be put to death as a criminal, after she had been called in with his own knowledge and had treated his daughter.

§ 29.2.27 Among the papers of a distinguished townsman, of which an examination had been ordered for some business reason, the horoscope of a certain Valens was found; when the person concerned was asked why he had cast the nativity of the emperor, he defended himself against the false charge by saying that he had had a brother named Valens, and that he had died long ago. He promised to show this by proofs of full credibility, but they did not wait for the truth to be discovered, and he was tortured and butchered.

§ 29.2.28 In the bath a young man was seen to touch alternately with the fingers of either hand first the marble and then his breast, and to count the seven vowels, thinking it a helpful remedy for a stomach trouble. He was haled into court, tortured and beheaded.

§ 29.3.1 At this point, as I turn my pen to Gaul, the order and series of events is a turmoil, since we find Maximus, who is now prefect, in the midst of many cruel deeds; for being in possession of extensive power, he was added as an ill-omened incentive to the emperor, who united with the majesty of his position unendurable tyranny. Therefore, whoever ponders what I have told, should also carefully weigh the rest which are passed over in silence; and, like a reasonable person, he will pardon me for not including everything which deliberate wickedness committed by exaggerating the importance of the charges.

§ 29.3.2 For Valentinian, who was naturally savage, as bitterness (which is a foe to righteous conduct) increased in him after the coming of the aforesaid Maximinus, having no one to give better advice or to restrain him, was carried as if by surging waves and tempests from one cruel act to another; to such a degree that, when he was in a passion, often his voice and expression, his gait and his colour, were changed. For his cruelty we have the testimony of various sure pieces of evidence, of which it will suffice to set down a few.

§ 29.3.3 A well-grown youth of the class called pages was posted, holding in leash a Spartan hound, to watch for game at a hunt; but he let the dog loose before the designated time, because the animal in an effort to escape leaped at him in a rush and bit him; for that he was beaten to death with cudgels and buried the same day.

§ 29.3.4 A man in charge of a smithy brought to the emperor a breastplate artistically embellished, and expected a reward for it; but Valentinian ordered him to be put to death with equal cruelty because the piece of iron armour had a little less weight than he had stipulated. An elder of the Christian faith from Epirus, who was a favourite of Octavianus, the former proconsul,... and the author of the charges was sent back, although somewhat tardily, to his home.

§ 29.3.5 Constantianus, an officer of the stable, was sent to Sardinia to test horses to be used for military service, and because he had dared to exchange a few of them, he was stoned to death by the emperor's order. Athanasius, a favourite charioteer of the day, so suspected by him for his general light-mindedness that he was ordered to be burned alive if he should try anything of the kind, not long afterward used magic arts and was charged therewith; and without indulgence being granted to a man who was an artist in entertainments, he was condemned to be burned to death.

§ 29.3.6 Africanus, a busy pleader of cases at law in the city, after governing a province, aspired to the rule of another; but when Theodosius, general of the cavalry, supported him in his request, the kind emperor gave this somewhat boorish reply: “Go, general, and change his head for him, since he wants a change in his province.” And by this pronouncement an eloquent man lost his life merely for hastening, like many, for advancement.

§ 29.3.7 Claudius and Sallustius, of the Jovian legion, who had advanced as far as the rank of tribune, were accused by a fellow whose low origin in itself made him an object of contempt, on the ground that when Procopius had aspired to the imperial power they had spoken some good words for him; but although constant inquisitions revealed nothing, the emperor ordered the generals of the cavalry, who were hearing the case, to drive Claudius into exile and condemn Sallustius to death, promising to pardon the latter on his way to execution. But when this had been done according to the directions, Sallustius' life was not spared and Claudius was not freed from the sorrow of banishment until after the death of the aforesaid Valentinian... decidedly refused, although they were repeatedly tortured.

§ 29.3.8 Accordingly, although inquisitions followed thick and fast, and some died in consequence of excessive torture, not even a trace of the alleged crimes was found. In this business even the bodyguards who had been sent to arrest persons... were beaten to death with cudgels, contrary to all precedent.

§ 29.3.9 My mind shrinks from enumerating all the cases, and at the same time I dread seeming to give the impression of purposely having sought out merely the defects of a prince who was a very proper man in other ways. Yet one thing it is just neither to pass over nor to leave unmentioned, namely this, that having two savage, man-eating she-bears, one called Goldflake and the other Innocence, he looked after them with such extreme care that he placed their cages near his own bedroom, and appointed trustworthy keepers, who were to take particular care that the beasts' lamentable savageness should not by any chance be destroyed. Finally, after he had seen the burial of many corpses of those whom Innocence had torn to pieces, he allowed her to return to the forest unhurt, as a good and faithful servant, in the hope that she would have cubs like herself...

§ 29.4.1 These, then, are undeniable indications of Valentinian's character and his blood-thirsty tendency. But, on the other hand, no one, not even one of his persistent detractors, will reproach him with lack of ingenuity in behalf of the state, especially if one bears in mind that it was a more valuable service to check the barbarians by frontier defences than to defeat them in battle. And when he had given... if any of the enemy made a move, he was seen from above from the watchtowers, and overcome.

§ 29.4.2 But among many other cares, his first and principal aim was to capture alive by violence or by craft King Macrianus, just as, long before, Julian took Vadomarius; for Macrianus, amid the frequent changes in the policy followed towards him, had increased in power, and now was rising against our countrymen with full-grown strength. Accordingly, having first provided what the circumstances and the time demanded, and having learned from the reports of deserters where the said king, who expected no hostile move, could be seized, Valentinian threw a pontoon across the Rhine as quietly as his means allowed, lest anyone should interfere with the bridge while it was being put together.

§ 29.4.3 And first Severus, who commanded the infantry forces, took the lead by marching against Mattiacae Aquae; but alarmed when he considered the small number of his soldiers, he halted, fearing that he might be unable to resist the onrushing hordes of the enemy, and so might be overcome by them.

§ 29.4.4 There he chanced to find some of the traders leading slaves intended for sale, and because he suspected that they would quickly run off and report what they had seen, he took their wares from them and killed them all.

§ 29.4.5 Then the generals, encouraged by the arrival of additional troops, encamped, with a view to a very short stay, since no one had a pack-animal or a tent, except the emperor, for whom a rug and a rough blanket sufficed for such a shelter. Then, after delaying for a time on account of the darkness of night, as soon as the morning-star uprose, since the campaign called for haste, they advanced farther, led by guides who knew the roads; and a large force of cavalry was ordered to precede them under command of Theodosius, that nothing might be unobserved... was lying at the time; but he was prevented by the continuous noise made by his men; for although he constantly commanded them to abstain from plundering and setting fires, he could not make them obey. For the crackling flames and the dissonant shouts awakened the king's attendants, and suspecting what had happened, they placed him in a swift wagon and hid him in a narrow pass of the precipitous hills.

§ 29.4.6 Valentinian was robbed of this glory, not by his own fault or that of his generals, but by the indiscipline of the soldiers, which has often caused the Roman state heavy losses; so, after reducing the enemy's territory to ashes for fifty miles, he returned sadly to Treves.

§ 29.4.7 There, as a lion, because he has lost a deer or a goat, gnashes his empty jaws, just when the forces of the enemy were broken and scattered by fear, in place of Macrianus he made Fraomarius king of the Bucinobantes, a tribe of the Alamanni dwelling opposite Mainz. And soon afterwards, since a recent invasion had utterly devastated that, canton, he transferred him to Britain with the rank of tribune, and gave him command of a troop of the Alamanni which at that time was distinguished for its numbers and its strength. Bitheridus, indeed, and Hortarius (chiefs of the same nation) he appointed to commands in the army; but of these Hortarius was betrayed by a report of Florentius, commander in Germania, of having written certain things to the detriment of the state to Macrianus and the chiefs of the barbarians, and after the truth was wrung from him by torture he suffered the penalty of death by burning.

§ 29.5.1 Then amid... it has seemed best to give an account, without a break, of what happened next, lest while, amongst matters and places widely separated, others are intruded, the survey of many varying events may inevitably be confused.

§ 29.5.2 Nubel, as a petty king, had great power among the Moorish peoples; on departing from life, besides legitimate sons he left some that were the offspring of concubines. Of the latter Zammac, who was beloved by the general called Romanus, was secretly murdered by his brother Firmus, an act which occasioned dissensions and wars. For Romanus, hastening with extreme zeal to avenge his death, resorted to many formidable means for the destruction of the assassin; and, as persistent rumours divulged, even at court vigorous measures were taken to make sure that the reports of Romanus, which heaped up many serious charges against Firmus, should be gladly received and read out to the emperor; and many voices united in supporting these reports. But, on the contrary, the arguments which Firmus through his friends frequently presented in his defence for the purpose of saving his life, although they were received, were long concealed; for Remigius, at that time marshal of the court, a relative and friend of Romanus, declared that amid the more important and pressing business of the emperor such trivial and superfluous communications could not be read until opportunity offered.

§ 29.5.3 When the Moor perceived that these things were being done to break down his defence, he was now in dread of the worst; and fearing that the rebuttal which he offered would be set aside and he would be executed without a trial as dangerous and unruly, he revolted from the rule of the empire, and sought the help of neighbouring peoples... for devastating...

§ 29.5.4 To avert this danger before an implacable enemy should increase in strength, Theodosius, commander of the cavalry, was sent with the aid of a small body of the court troops, since in his merits (as a man efficient in accomplishing his ends) he surpassed all others of his time. He might well be compared with Domitius Corbulo and Lusius of old, of whom the former under Nero, the latter during Trajan's reign, were famed for many brave deeds.

§ 29.5.5 Then setting out from Arelate under favourable auspices and crossing the sea with the fleet under his command, preceded by no report of his coming he landed on the coast of Sitifian Mauritania, which the natives call Igilgilitanum. There he chanced upon Romanus, whom he addressed courteously, and sent him to take charge of the guards and frontier defences, with a very slight rebuke for the conduct which made him apprehensive.

§ 29.5.6 When Theodosius had departed to Caesarean Mauritania, he sent Gildo, the brother of Firmus, and Maximus to arrest Vincentius, who as second in command to Romanus participated in his insolence and thefts.

§ 29.5.7 Then, after being joined by his troops somewhat tardily, since they were delayed by the long sea-voyage, he hastened to Sitifis, and gave orders that Romanus should, with his attendants, be handed over to the guard, to be kept in custody. During his stay in that town Theodosius was torn with twofold anxiety and turned over many things in his mind, considering by what way and by what devices he might lead his soldiers, who were accustomed to a cold climate, through lands parched with heat, or might capture an enemy who was a runabout, making sudden moves and trusting rather to secret ambuscades than to stand-up fights.

§ 29.5.8 When this became known to Firmus, at first through uncertain rumour and then through definite information, overcome by the arrival of so brilliant a general, he sent envoys with a letter to ask pardon and indulgence for what had happened, declaring that he had not of his own volition taken a hasty step which he knew to be criminal, but because of unjust and outrageous treatment by Romanus, as he promised to show.

§ 29.5.9 When the general had read the letter, he accepted hostages and promised peace; he then proceeded to the station called Pancharia, in order to review the legions which were guarding Africa and had been bidden to assemble in that place. There he aroused the hope of all by a lofty, but discreet, address, and returned to Sitifis, where he united the native troops and those which he himself had brought; then, impatient of further delay, he hastened with all speed to open the campaign.

§ 29.5.10 But among many other excellent measures he made himself immensely more beloved by this — that he did not allow the provincials to furnish supplies for the army, declaring with splendid confidence that the harvests and stores of the enemy were the granaries of our valorous troops.

§ 29.5.11 After these arrangements had thus been made to the joy of the land-owners, he marched to Tubusuptum, a town near Mount Ferratus, but declined to receive a second deputation from Firmus, because, contrary to the previous agreement, it had brought no hostages with it. From there he carefully examined into everything, so far as present circumstances allowed, and then advanced rapidly against the peoples of the Tyndenses and the Masinissenses, who were provided only with light arms and were led by Mascizel and Dius, brothers of Firmus.

§ 29.5.12 When the enemy, active in all their limbs, were in sight, a fierce battle began after volleys of missiles from both sides; amid the groans of the dying and the wounded the mournful howls of the barbarians were heard, as they were taken prisoner or killed; and when the contest was ended, many fields were plundered and burned.

§ 29.5.13 Among such disasters conspicuous were those to an estate called Petrensis, which its owner, Salmaces, a brother of Firmus had built up in the manner of a city, and which was utterly destroyed. The victor, elated by this success, with remarkable speed seized the town of Lamfoctum, situated among the aforesaid peoples, where he caused an abundance of provisions to be stored, so that if on penetrating farther into the country he met with a scarcity of food, he might order it to be brought from near at hand.

§ 29.5.14 During the course of these events Mascizel, having recovered his strength by bringing in helpers from neighbouring tribes, engaged with our men; but when very many of his troops were routed, he himself barely escaped the danger of death through the swiftness of his horse.

§ 29.5.15 Firmus, weakened by the losses of two battles and chafing in his inmost heart, in order not to neglect even one last measure, sent priests of the Christian sect with hostages to beg for peace. These were received courteously and, on their promise to furnish the necessities of life for the soldiers, as was ordered, they brought back a favourable reply and peace; whereupon the Moor himself, after sending presents, went with some confidence to the Roman general, mounted upon a horse that would prove useful in times of danger; and when he had come near, dazzled by the gleaming standards and the fear-inspiring expression of Theodosius, he sprang from his mount, and with bowed neck almost prostrate on the ground blamed with tears his rashness, and begged for pardon and peace.

§ 29.5.16 Being received with a kiss, since the interests of the state so demanded, he was now filled with joyful hope, furnished a sufficient amount of provisions, left some of his relatives by way of hostages, and went away, after agreeing to fulfil his promise and return the captives which he had taken at the very beginning of the rebellion. Two days later, without hesitation, he restored, as had been ordered, the town of Icosium, of whose founders I spoke before, the military standards, and the priestly crown, as well as the rest of the booty which he had taken.

§ 29.5.17 When after this our general had hurried through long marches and was now entering Tipasa, to envoys from the Mazices, who had joined with Firmus, and humbly begged for pardon, he replied with lofty spirit that he would at once take the field against them as traitors.

§ 29.5.18 And when they, paralysed with fear of the imminent danger, had been ordered to return to their homes, he went on to Caesarea, formerly a powerful and famous city, the origin of which I have also fully discussed in my description of the topography of Africa. On entering the city, and finding it almost wholly burned down from widespread fires, and the paving-stones white with mould, he decided to station the first and second legions there for a time, with orders to clear away the heaps of ashes and keep guard there, to prevent the place from being devastated by a renewed attack of the savages.

§ 29.5.19 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.

§ 29.5.20 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.

§ 29.5.21 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...

§ 29.5.22 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 old-fashioned 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.

§ 29.5.23 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.

§ 29.5.24 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.”

§ 29.5.25 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.

§ 29.5.26 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.

§ 29.5.27 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.

§ 29.5.28 Having advanced some distance, near the 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.

§ 29.5.29 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.

§ 29.5.30 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.

§ 29.5.31 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.

§ 29.5.32 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.

§ 29.5.33 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.

§ 29.5.34 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.

§ 29.5.35 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.

§ 29.5.36 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...

§ 29.5.37 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.

§ 29.5.38 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.

§ 29.5.39 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.

§ 29.5.40 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.

§ 29.5.41 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.

§ 29.5.42 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.

§ 29.5.43 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.