Ammianus Marcellinus, Res Gestae, John C. Rolfe (Translator), val1.2

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[2] This Constantine, then, born of Helena, a mother of very common origin, and brought up in the town of Naissus,¹ which he afterwards splendidly adorned, had but slight training in letters.² He was held as a hostage by Diocletian and Galerius,³ and did valiant service under those emperors in Asia. After the abdication of Diocletian and Herculius,⁴ Constantius⁵ asked Galerius to return his son; but Galerius first exposed him to many dangers.

[3] For when Constantine, then a young man, was serving in the cavalry against the Sarmatians, he seized by the hair and carried off a fierce savage, and threw him at the feet of the emperor Galerius. Then sent by Galerius through a swamp, he entered it on his horse and made a way for the rest to the Sarmatians, of whom he slew many and won the victory for Galerius.

[4] Then at last Galerius sent him back to his father. But in order to avoid meeting Severus⁶ as he passed through Italy, Constantine crossed the Alps with the greatest haste, ordering the post-horses to be killed⁷ as he went on; and he came up with his father Constantius at Bononia,⁸ which the Gauls formerly called Gesoriacum. But his father Constantius, after winning a victory over the Picts, died at York, and Constantine was unanimously hailed as Caesar by all the troops.

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).) — val1.2 focus

[2] Hic igitur Constantinus, natus Helena matre vilissima in oppido Naisso atque eductus, quod oppidum postea magnifice ornavit, litteris minus instructus, obses apud Diocletianum et Galerium, sub eisdem¹ fortiter in Asia militavit; quem post depositum imperium Diocletiani et Herculi, Constantius a Galerio repetit; sed hunc Galerius obiecit ante pluribus periculis.

[3] Nam et in Sarmatas iuvenis equestris militans ferocem barbarum, capillis tentis raptum, ante pedes² Galerii imperatoris adduxerat. Deinde Galerio mittente per paludem, equo ingressus suo, viam ceteris fecit ad Sarmatas, ex quibus plurimis stratis Galerio victoriam reportavit.

[4] Tune eum Galerius patri remisit. Qui ut Severum per Italiam transiens vitaret, summa festinatione veredis post se truncatis Alpes transgressus, ad patrem Constantium venit apud Bononiam, quam Galli prius Gesoriacum vocabant. Post victoriam autem Pictorum Constantius pater Eboraci mortuus est, et Constantinus omnium militum consensu Caesar creatus.

Notes on the current edition

History

1. In Moesia, on the river Margus; cf. xxi. 10, 5; modern Nis, in Yugoslavia.

2. minus = minus iusto, Tillemont iv, p. 132 (Wagner).

3. To secure his father’s loyalty.

4. Maximianus (Herculius), in 305.

5. Constantius Chlorus.

6. He had been appointed Caesar by Galerius; see 3, 5, below.

7. At each station, so that his pursuers could not use them; cf. Zos. ii. 8; Ps.-Aur. Vict., Caesares, 40, 2, cum ad frustrandos insequentes publica iumenta quaqua iter egerat interficeret; and for another meaning, Amm. xv. 1, 2.

8. Boulogne, cf. Amm. xx. 1, 3.

Ammianus Marcellinus Res Gestae val1.2

John C. Rolfe (Translator)

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