Constantius Aug. et Sapor Persarum rex frustra de pace per litteras et legatos agunt.

[1] Datiano et Cereali consulibus, cum universa per Gallias studio cautiore disponerentur, formidoque praeteritorum barbaricos hebetaret excursus, rex Persarum in confiniis agens adhuc gentium extimarum, iamque cum Chionitis et Gelanis, omnium acerrimis bellatoribus, pignore icto societatis, rediturus ad sua, Tamsaporis scripta suscepit, pacem Romanum principem nuntiantis poscere precativam.

[2] Ideoque non nisi infirmato imperii robore temptari talia suspicatus, latius semet extentans, pacis amplectitur nomen, et condiciones proposuit graves, missoque cum muneribus Narseo quodam legato, litteras ad Constantium dedit nusquam a genuino fastu declinans, quarum hunc fuisse accepimus sensum:

[3] “Rex regum Sapor, particeps siderum, frater Solis et Lunae, Constantio Caesari fratri meo salutem plurimam dico.

Gaudeo tandemque mihi placet, ad optimam viam te revertisse, et incorruptum aequitatis agnovisse suffragium, rebus ipsis expertum pertinax alieni cupiditas quas aliquotiens ediderit strages.

[4] Quia igitur veritatis ratio soluta esse debet et libera, et celsiores fortunas idem loqui decet atque sentire, propositum meum in pauca conferam reminiscens, haec quae dicturus sum me saepius replicasse.

[5] Ad usque Strymona flumen et Macedonicos fines tenuisse maiores imperium¹ meos, antiquitates antiqnitates quoque vestrae testantur; haec me convenit flagitare (ne sit arrogans quod affirmo) splendore virtutumque insignium serie, vetustis regibus antistantem. Sed ubique mihi cordi est recta ratio,² cui coalitus ab adulescentia prima, nihil umquam paenitendum admisi.

[6] Ideoque Armeniam recuperare cum Mesopotamia debeo, avo meo composita fraude praereptam. Illud apud nos numquam in acceptum feretur,³ quod asseritis vos exsultantes, nullo discrimine virtutis ac doli, prosperos omnes laudari debere bellorum eventus.

[7] Postremo si morem gerere suadenti volueris recte, contemne partem exiguam, semper luctificam et cruentam, ut cetera regas securus, prudenter reputans medellarum quoque artifices urere non numquam et secare et partes corporum amputare, ut reliquis uti liceat integris, hocque bestias factitare: quae cum advertant cur maximo opere capiantur, illud propria sponte amittunt, ut vivere deinde possint impavidae.

[8] Id sane pronuntio, quod si haec mea legatio redierit irrita, post tempus hiemalis quietis exemptum, viribus totis accinctus, fortuna condicionumque aequitate spem successus secundi fundante, venire, quoad ratio siverit, festinabo.”

[9] His litteris diu libratis, recto pectore (quod dicitur) considerateque responsum est, hoc modo:

[10] Victor terra marique Constantius, semper Augustus, fratri meo Sapori regi salutem plurimam dico.

Sospitati quidem tuae gratulor ut futurus (si velis,) amicus, cupiditatem vero semper indeflexam fusiusque vagantem, vehementer insimulo.

[11] Mesopotamiam poscis ut tuam, perindeque Armeniam, et suades integro corpori adimere membra quaedam, ut salus eius deinceps locetur in solido, quod infindendum⁴ est potius quam ulla consensione firmandum. Accipe igitur veritatem, non obtectam praestigiis, sed perspicuam, nullisque minis inanibus perterrendam.

[12] Praefectus praetorio meus, opinatus aggredi negotium publicae utilitati conducens, cum duce tuo per quosdam ignobiles, me inconsulto, sermones conseruit super pace. Non refutamus hanc nec repellimus: adsit modo cum decore et honestate, nihil pudori nostro praereptura vel maiestati.

[13] Est enim absonum et insipiens nunc cum⁵ gestarum rerum ordines (placatae sint aurae invidiae!) nobis multipliciter illuxerunt, cum deletis tyrannis, totus orbis Romanus nobis obtemperat, ea prodere, quae contrusi⁶ in orientales angustias, diu servavimus inlibata.

[14] Cessent autem quaeso formidines, quae nobis intentantur ex more, cum ambigi nequeat, non inertia nos sed modestia, pugnas interdum excepisse potius quam intulisse, et nostra quotiens lacessimur, fortissimo bonae conscientiae⁷ spiritu defensare, id experiendo legendoque scientes, in proeliis quibusdam raro rem titubasse Romanam, in summa vero bellorum numquam ad deteriora prolapsam.

[15] Hanc legationem nullo impetrato remissam,— nec enim effrenatae regis cupiditati responderi amplius quicquam potuit—post paucissimos dies secutus est Prosper comes et Spectatus tribunus, et notarius itemque Eustathius, Musoniano suggerente philosophus, ut opifex suadendi; imperatoris scripta perferentes et munera, enisuri apparatum interim Saporis arte quadam suspendere, ne⁸ supra humanum modum provinciae munirentur arctoae.

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

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Current edition Perseus

Res Gestae (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).)

Translations (1)

History Perseus (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).) — 17.5 focus

[1] In the consulship of Datianus and Cerealis, while all provisions in Gaul were being made with very careful endeavour, and dismay due to past losses halted the raids of the savages, the king of Persia was still encamped in the confines of the frontier tribes; and having now made a treaty of alliance with the Chionitae and Gelani, the fiercest warriors of all, he was on the point of returning to his own territories, when he received Tamsapor’s letter, stating that the Roman emperor begged and entreated for peace.

[2] Therefore, imagining that such a step would not be attempted unless the fabric of the empire were weakened, he swelled with still greater pride, embraced the name of peace, and proposed hard conditions; and dispatching one Narseus with gifts as his envoy, he sent a letter to Constantius, in no wise deviating from his native haughtiness, the tenor of which, as we have learned, was as follows:—

[3] I Sapor, King of Kings, partner with the Stars, brother of the Sun and Moon, to my brother Constantius Caesar offer most ample greeting.
I rejoice and at last take pleasure that you have returned to the best course and acknowledged the inviolable sanction of justice, having learned from actual experience what havoc has been caused at various times by obstinate covetousness of what belongs to others.

[4] Since therefore the consideration of truth ought to be free and untrammelled, and it befits those in high station to speak as they feel, I shall state my proposal in brief terms, recalling that what I am about to say I have often repeated.

[5] That my forefathers’ empire reached as far as the river Strymon and the boundaries of Macedonia even your own ancient records bear witness; these lands it is fitting that I should demand, since (and may what I say not seem arrogant) I surpass the kings of old in magnificence and array of conspicuous virtues. But at all times right reason is dear to me, and trained in it from my earliest youth, I have never allowed myself to do anything for which I had cause to repent.

[6] And therefore it is my duty to recover Armenia with Mesopotamia, which double-dealing wrested from my grandfather. That principle shall never be brought to acceptance among us which you exultantly maintain, that without any distinction between virtue and deceit all successful events of war should be approved.

[7] Finally, if you wish to follow my sound advice, disregard this small tract, always a source of woe and bloodshed, so that you may rule the rest in security, wisely recalling that even expert physicians sometimes cauterize, lance, and even cut away some parts of the body, in order to save the rest sound for use; and that even wild beasts do this: for when they observe for what possession they are being relentlessly hunted, they give that up of their own accord, so as afterwards to live free from fear.¹

[8] This assuredly I declare, that if this embassy of mine returns unsuccessful, after the time of the winter reat is past I shall gird myself with all my strength and with fortune and the justice of my terms upholding my hope of a successful issue, I shall hasten to come on, so far as reason permits.

[9] After this letter had long been pondered, answer was made with upright heart, as they say, and circumspectly, as follows:—

[10] I, Constantius, victor by land and sea, perpetual Augustus, to my brother King Sapor, offer most ample greeting.
I rejoice in your health, and if you will, I shall be your friend hereafter; but this covetousness of yours, always unbending and more widely encroaching, I vehemently reprobate.

[11] You demand Mesopotamia as your own and likewise Armenia, and you recommend lopping off some members of a sound body, so that its health may afterwards be put upon a firm footing—advice which is rather to be refuted than to be confirmed by any agreement. Therefore listen to the truth, not obscured by any juggling, but transparent and not to be intimidated by any empty threats.

[12] My praetorian prefect, thinking to undertake an enterprise conducing to the public weal, entered into conversations with a general of yours, through the agency of some individuals of little worth and without consulting me, on the subject of peace. This we neither reject nor refuse, if only it take place with dignity and honour, without at all prejudicing our self-respect or our majesty.

[13] For at this time, when the sequence of events (may envy’s breezes be placated!) has beamed in manifold form upon us, when with the overthrow of the usurpers the whole Roman world is subject to us, it is absurd and silly to surrender what we long preserved unmolested when we were still confined within the bounds of the Orient.²

[14] Furthermore, pray make an end of those intimidations which (as usual) are directed against us, since there can be no doubt that it was not through slackness, but through self-restraint that we have sometimes accepted battle rather than offered it, and that when we are set upon, we defend our territories with the most valiant spirit of a good conscience; for we know both by experience and by reading that while in some battles, though rarely, the Roman cause has stumbled, yet in the main issue of our wars it has never succumbed to defeat.

[15] This embassy having been sent back without obtaining anything—for no fuller answer could be made to the king’s unbridled greed—after a very few days it was followed by Count Prosper,³ Spectatus, tribune and secretary,⁴ and likewise, at the suggestion of Musonianus,⁵ the philosopher Eustathius,⁶ as a master of persuasion; they carried with them letters of the emperor and gifts, and meanwhile planned by some craft or other to stay Sapor’s preparations, so that his northern provinces might not be fortified beyond the possibility of attack.

Notes on the current edition

Res Gestae

1. imperium, added by Clark c.c.; V omits.

2. recta ratio, Erfurdt; moderatio or ratio, Val.; recordatio, V.

3. feretur, Haupt; fretus, V.

4. infidendeum, Damsté, cf. Val. Flacc. i. 687; infringendum, Haupt; in fundendum, V.

5. nunc cum, Clark; cum, Es 2 BG; nam, Bentley; num, V.

6. contrusi, Bentley, Haupt; contra si, V.

7. bone conscientiae, Novák, cf. xvi. 7, 7, etc.; benevolentiae, V.

8. ne, added by Clark; ut, BG; dum, Bentley; V omits.

Ammianus Marcellinus Res Gestae 17.5

John C. Rolfe (Translator)

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