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De III praefectis Urbi, Symmacho, Lampadio, et Iuventio.¹ Sub eo Damasi et Ursini de Episcopatu Romano contentiones.

[1] Hoc tempore vel paulo ante, nova portenti species per Annonariam apparuit Tusciam, idque quorsum evaderet, prodigialium rerum periti penitus ignorarunt. In oppido enim Pistoriensi, prope horam diei tertiam, spectantibus multis, asinus tribunali escenso² audiebatur destinatius rugiens, et stupefactis omnibus, qui aderant quique didicerant referentibus aliis, nulloque coniectante ventura postea quod portendebatur evenit.

[2] Terentius enim, humili genere in urbe natus et pistor, ad vicem praemii, quia peculatus reum detulerat Orfitum ex praefecto, hanc eandem provinciam correctoris administraverat potestate. Eaque confidentia deinceps inquietius agitans multa, in naviculariorum negotio falsum admisisse convictus, ut ferebatur, perit carnificis manu, regente Claudio Romam.

[3] Multo tamen antequam hoc contingeret, Symmachus Aproniano successit, inter praecipua nominandus exempla doctrinarum atque modestiae. Quo instante urbs sacratissima otio copiisque abundantius solito fruebatur, et ambitioso ponte exsultat quem ipse,³ iudicio principum maximorum, et magna civium laetitia dedicavit, ingratorum, ut res docuit apertissima.

[4] Qui consumptis aliquot annis, domum eius in Transtiberino tractu pulcherrimam incenderunt, ea re perciti, quod vilis quidam plebeius finxerat,⁴ illum ilium dixisse sine indice ullo vel teste, libenter se vino proprio calcarias exstincturum, quam id venditurum pretiis quibus sperabant.⁵

[5] Advenit post hunc urbis moderator Lampadius, ex praefecto praetorio, homo indignanter admodum sustinens, si (etiam cum spueret) non laudaretur, ut id quoque prudenter praeter alios faciens, sed non numquam severus et frugi.

[6] Hic cum magnificos praetor ederet ludos, et uberrime largiretur, plebis nequiens tolerare tumultum, indignis multa donari saepe urgentis, ut et⁶ liberalem se et multitudinis ostenderet contemptorem, accitos a Vaticano quosdam egentes, opibus ditaverat magnis.

[7] Vanitatis autem eius exemplum, ne latius evagemur, hoc unum sufficiet poni, leve quidem, sed cavendum iudicibus. Per omnia enim civitatis membra, quae diversorum principum exornarunt impensae, nomen proprium inscribebat, non ut veterum instaurator, sed conditor. Quo vitio laborasse et⁷ Traianus dicitur princeps, unde eum herbam parietinam iocando cognominarunt.

[8] Hic praefectus exagitatus est motibus crebris, uno omnium maximo, cum collecta plebs infima domum eius prope Constantinianum lavacrum iniectis facibus incenderat et malleolis, ni vicinorum et familiarum veloci concursu a summis tectorum culminibus petita saxis et tegulis abscessisset.

[9] Eaque vi territus ipse, primitiis⁸ crebrescentis seditionis in maius, secessit ad Mulvium pontem, quem struxisse superior dicitur Scaurus, ut lenimenta⁹ ibidem tumultus opperiens, quem causa concitaverat gravis.

[10] Aedificia erigere exordiens¹⁰ nova, vel vetusta quaedam instaurans, non ex titulis solitis parari iubebat impensas, sed si ferrum quaerebatur, aut plumbum, aut aes aut quicquam simile, apparitores immittebantur, qui velut ementes diversas raperent species, nulla pretia persolvendo, unde accensorum iracundiam pauperum, damna deflentium crebra, aegre potuit celeri vitare digressu.

[11] Advenit successor eius ex quaesitore palatii, Viventius, integer et prudens Pannonius, cuius administratio quieta fuit et placida, copia rerum omnium affluente. Sed¹¹ hunc quoque discordantis populi seditiones terruere cruentae, quas¹² tale negotium excitarat.¹³

[12] Damasus et Ursinus supra humanum modum ad rapiendam episcopi¹⁴ sedem ardentes, scissis studiis asperrime conflictabantur,¹⁵ ad usque mortis vulnerumque discrimina adiumentis utriusque progressis, quae nec corrigere sufficiens Viventius nec mollire, coactus vi magna, secessit in suburbanum.

[13] Et in concertatione superaverat Damasus, parte quae ei¹⁶ favebat instante. Constatque in basilica Sicinini, ubi ritus Christiani est conventiculum, uno die centum triginta septem reperta cadavera peremptorum, efferatamque diu plebem aegre postea delenitam.

[14] Neque ego abnuo, ostentationem rerum considerans urbanarum, huius rei cupidos ob impetrandum quod appetunt, omni contentione laterum iurgare¹⁷ debere, cum id adepti, futuri sint ita securi, ut ditentur oblationibus matronarum, procedantque vehiculis insidentes, circumspecte vestiti, epulas curantes profusas, adeo ut eorum convivia regales superent mensas.

[15] Qui esse poterant beati re vera, si magnitudine urbis despecta, quam vitiis opponunt, ad imitationem antistitum quorundam provincialium viverent, quos tenuitas edendi potandique parcissime, vilitas etiam indumentorum, et supercilia humum spectantia, perpetuo numini, verisque eius cultoribus, ut puros commendant, et verecundos. Hactenus deviasse sufficiet, nunc ad rerum ordines revertamur.

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

Sponsored by Perseus Project, Tufts University.

Funding provided by Tufts University.

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).) — 27.3 focus

[1] At this time or a little earlier¹ a new form of portent appeared in Annonarian Tuscany,² and how it would turn out even those who were skilled in interpreting prodigies were wholly at a loss to know. For in the town of Pistoria,³ at about the third hour of the day, in the sight of many persons, an ass mounted the tribunal and was heard to bray persistently, to the amazement both of all who were present and of those who heard of it from the reports of others; and no one could guess what was to come, until later the portended event came to pass.

[2] For one Terentius, born in that city, a fellow of low origin and a baker by trade, by way of reward because he had brought Orfitus, an ex-prefect, into court on the charge of embezzlement, held the position of governor in that province. Emboldened⁴ by this, he proceeded to stir up many disturbances, and being convicted of cheating in a matter of business with some ship-captains,⁵ as was reported, he met death at the hands of the executioner when Claudius was city-prefect.⁶

[3] However, long before this happened, Apronianus was succeeded by Symmachus,⁷ a man worthy to be classed among the conspicuous examples of learning and moderation, through whose efforts the sacred city enjoyed an unusual period of quiet and prosperity, and prides itself on a handsome bridge,⁸ which Symmachus himself, by the decision of our mighty emperors, dedicated, and to the great joy of the citizens, who proved ungrateful, as the result most clearly showed.

[4] For after some years had passed, they set fire to Symmachus’ beautiful house in the Transtiberine district, spurred on by the fact that a common fellow among the plebeians had alleged, without any informant or witness, that the prefect had said that he would rather use his own wine for quenching lime-kilns⁹ than sell it at the price which the people hoped for.

[5] Symmachus was succeeded as prefect of the city by Lampadius,¹⁰ a former praetorian prefect, a man who took it very ill if even his manner of spitting was not praised, on the ground that he did that also with greater skill than anyone else; but yet he was sometimes strict and honest.

[6] When this man, in his praetorship, gave magnificent games and made very rich largesses, being unable to endure the blustering of the commons, who often urged that many things should be given to those who were unworthy of them,¹¹ in order to show his generosity and his contempt of the mob, he summoned some beggars from the Vatican¹² and presented them with valuable gifts.

[7] But of his vanity, not to digress too far, it will suffice to give this single instance, insignificant indeed, but something to be shunned by high officials. For through all quarters of the city which had been adorned at the expenses of various emperors, he had his own name inscribed, not as the restorer of old buildings, but as their founder. From this fault the emperor Trajan also is said to have suffered, and for that reason he was jestingly called wall-wort.¹³

[8] As prefect, Lampadius was disturbed by frequent outbreaks, the greatest of all being when a mob, composed of the dregs of the populace, by throwing fire-brands and fire-darts upon his house near the Baths of Constantine would have burned it, had not his friends and neighbours quickly rushed to the spot and driven them off by pelting them with stones and tiles from the house-tops.

[9] He himself, terrified by such violence in the first stages of a growing tumult, fled to the Mulvian bridge¹⁴ — which the elder Scaurus¹⁵ is said to have built—as though to wait there for the cessation of the tumult, which a serious cause had aroused.

[10] For when preparing to erect new buildings or restoring old ones, he did not order materials to be obtained from the usual taxes,¹⁶ but if there was need of iron, lead, bronze, or anything of the kind, attendants were set on, in order that they might, under pretence of buying the various articles, seize them without paying anything. In consequence, he was barely able by swift flight to avoid the anger of the incensed poor, who had repeated losses to lament.

[11] As his successor came Viventius, a former¹⁷ court-chancellor, a just and prudent man of Pannonia, whose administration was quiet and mild, and rich in an abundance of everything. But he, too, was alarmed by sanguinary outbreaks of the factions of the people, which were caused by the following affair.

[12] Damasus and Ursinus, burning with a superhuman desire of seizing the bishopric, engaged in bitter strife because of their opposing interests; and the supporters of both parties went even so far as conflicts ending in bloodshed and death. Since Viventius was able neither to end nor to diminish this strife, he was compelled to yield to its great violence, and retired to the suburbs.

[13] And in the struggle Damasus was victorious through the efforts of the party which favoured him. It is a well-known fact that in the basilica of Sicininus,¹⁸ where the assembly of the Christian sect is held, in a single day a hundred and thirty-seven corpses of the slain were found, and that it was only with difficulty that the long-continued frenzy of the people was afterwards quieted.

[14] Bearing in mind the ostentation in city life, I do not deny that those who are desirous of such a thing ought to struggle with the exercise of all their strength to gain what they seek; for when they attain it, they will be so free from care that they are enriched from the offerings of matrons, ride seated in carriages, wearing clothing chosen with care, and serve banquets so lavish that their entertainments outdo the tables of kings.

[15] These men might be truly happy, if they would disregard the greatness of the city behind which they hide their faults, and live after the manner of some provincial bishops, whose moderation in food and drink, plain apparel also, and gaze fixed upon the earth, commend them to the Eternal Deity and to his true servants as pure and reverent men. But this will be a sufficient digression; let me now return to the course of events.

Notes on the current edition

Res Gestae

1. The text (3, 11) has Viuentius.

2. escenso, V, restored by Bent.; ascenso, W 2AG.

3. fruebatur dedit ipse, V; et a. p. e. atque firmissimo q. condidit, added by G; iudicio principum maximorum, scripsi (cf. English note 3), om. atque . condidit.

4. plebeiusfinxerat, EAG; plebe eius infixerat, V.

5. sperabant, Her. c.c.; sperabatur, V.

6. ut et, Her.; V omits et.

7. laborasse et, Her.; laborasset, V.

8. primitiis, Pet.; primitus, EA; premitus, V ( primitus, V 3).

9. ut lenimenta, Pet.; lenimenta, Novák; ad lenimenta, V.

10. exordiens, Bent.; exoriens, V.

11. afluente. set, Clark; adfluens. sed, C. F. W. M.; fluentes et V ( fluens et, V 3, EAG).

12. quas, Pet.; quae, V.

13. excitarat, Pet.; excitauere, EAG; excitare, V ( excitauere, V 3).

14. episcopi, Her.; episcopalem, EAG; epicops, V ( episcopalem, V 3).

15. conflictabantur, G; conflictabant, V.

16. ei, GV 3; causae eius, Her.; eius, V.

17. iurgare, V, rest. by Pet.; iurgari, EAG.

Ammianus Marcellinus Res Gestae 27.3

John C. Rolfe (Translator)

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De III praefectis Urbi, Symmacho, Lampadio, et Iuventio.¹ Sub eo Damasi et Ursini de Episcopatu Romano contentiones.

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Search the Perseus Catalog for:

De III praefectis Urbi, Symmacho, Lampadio, et Iuventio. 1 Sub eo Damasi et Ursini de Episcopatu Romano contentiones.

Current edition Perseus

Notes on the current edition

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De III praefectis Urbi, Symmacho, Lampadio, et Iuventio.¹ Sub eo Damasi et Ursini de Episcopatu Romano contentiones.