Ammianus Marcellinus, Res Gestae, John C. Rolfe (Translator), 23.5.17

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[17] But to leave ancient times, I will disclose what recent history has transmitted to us. Trajan, Verus, and Severus returned from here victorious and adorned with trophies,¹ and the younger Gordianus,² whose monument we just now looked upon with reverence, would have come back with equal glory, after vanquishing the Persian king and putting him to flight at Resaina,³ had he not been struck down by an impious wound inflicted by the faction of Philippus, the praetorian prefect, and a few wicked accomplices, in the very place where he now lies buried. But his shade did not long wander unavenged, for as if their deeds were weighed in the scales of Justice, all who had conspired against him perished by agonising deaths.⁴

Res Gestae. Ammianus Marcellinus. John C. Rolfe (Translator). Cambridge, MA. 1935-1940.

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Current edition Perseus

History (English) (Ammianus Marcellinus. Ammianus Marcellinus, with an English translation, Vols. I-III. Rolfe, John C., translator. Cambridge, MA; London: Harvard University Press; W. Heinemann, 1935-1940 (printing).)

Editions (1)

Res Gestae Perseus (Ammianus Marcellinus. Ammianus Marcellinus, with an English translation, Vols. I-III. Rolfe, John C., editor. Cambridge, MA; London: Harvard University Press; W. Heinemann, 1935-1940 (printing).) — 23.5.17 focus

[17] Sed ut a vetustate discedam, haec quae tradidit recens memoria replicabo. Traianus et Verus et¹ Severus hinc sunt digressi, victores et tropaeati, redissetque pari splendore iunior Gordianus, cuius monumentum nunc vidimus honorate, apud Resainan superato fugatoque rege Persarum, ni factione Philippi, praefecti praetorio, sceleste iuvantibus paucis, in hoc ubi sepultus est loco, vulnere impio cecidisset. Nec erravere diu manes eius inulti, quod velut facta librante² Iustitia, omnes qui in eius conspiravere perniciem,³ cruciabilibus interiere suppliciis.

Notes on the current edition

History

1. Tropaeati seems to be a word coined by Ammianus.

2. Emperor from 238-244; see Index I., vol. i., s.v. Gordiani. In 242 he made a campaign against the Per- sians, at first with success; but his troops, incited by Philippus, mutinied and put him to death.

3. A town of Osdroëne.

4. Cf. Capit., Gordian. 33, and Suet., Jul. 89, of the as- sassins of Julius Caesar.

Ammianus Marcellinus Res Gestae 23.5.17

John C. Rolfe (Translator)

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