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>Multi, etiam Senatores et Senatorii generis feninae, Romae veneficiorum, stuprorum et adulteriorum accusantur et supplicio afficiuntur.

[1] Dum apud Persas (ut supra narravimus), perfidia regis motus agitat insperatos, et in eois tractibus bella rediviva consurgunt, anno sexto decimo et eo diutius post Nepotiani exitium, saeviens per urbem aeternam, urebat cuncta Bellona, ex primordiis minimis ad clades excita luctuosas, quas obliterasset utinam iuge silentium! Ne forte paria quandoque temptentur, plus exemplis generalibus nocitura quam delictis.

[2] Ac licet ab hoc textu cruento gestorum exquisite narrando iustus me retraheret metus, multa reputantem et varia, tamen praesentis temporis modestia fretus, carptim ut quaeque memoria digna sunt explanabo, nec pigebit quid ex his quae apud veteres acciderunt¹ timuerim docere succincte.

[3] Bello Medico primo, cum diripuissent Asiam Persae, obsidentes Miletum molibus magnis, minantesque defensoribus cruciabiles neces, iniecere clausis necessitatem, ut omnes magnitudine malorum afflicti, peremptis caritatibus propriis, proiectoque in ignem mobili censu, arsuros se certatim congererent, in communem pereuntis patriae rogum.

[4] Hoc argumentum paulo postea digestum tumore tragico Phrynichus in theatrum induxerat Athenarum, paulisperque iucunde auditus, cum cothurnatius stilus procederet lacrimosus, indignatione damnatus est populi, arbitrati non consolandi gratia sed probrose monendi, quae pertulerat amabilis civitas, nullis auctorum adminiculis fulta, hos quoque dolores scaenicis adnumerasse fabulis insolenter. Erat enim Atheniensium colonia Miletus, deducta inter Ionas alios per Nileum filium Codri, qui fertur pro patria bello se Dorico devovisse.

[5] Sed ad proposita veniamus.

Maximinus regens quondam Romae vicariam praefecturam, apud Sopianas Valeriae oppidum obscurissime natus est, patre tabulario praesidialis officii, orto a posteritate Carporum, quos antiquis excitos sedibus, Diocletianus transtulit in Pannoniam.

[6] Is post mediocre studium liberalium doctrinarum defensionemque causarum ignobilem, et administratas Corsicam itidemque Sardiniam, rexit deinde Tusciam. Unde morato in itinere diutius successore, transgressus² ad curandam urbis annonam, etiam provinciae moderamina retinebat, egitque consideratione triplici inter exordia cautius.

[7] Primo quod recalebant in auribus eius parentis effata, quid augurales alites vel cantus monerent oscinum adprime callentis, ad usque sublimia regimenta venturum,³ sed periturum ferro poenali: dein quod nanctus hominem Sardum, quem ipse postea per dolosas fallacias interemit, ut circumtulit rumor, eliciendi animulas noxias, et praesagia sollicitare larvarum, perquam gnarum: dum superesset ille, timens ne proderetur, tractabilis erat et mollior; postremo quod tamquam subterraneus serpens, per humiliora reptando, nondum maiores funerum excitare poterat causas.

[8] Principium autem unde latius se funditabat, emersit ex negotio tali. Chilo ex vicario, et coniux eius Maxima nomine, questi apud Olybrium, ea tempestate urbi praefectum, vitamque suam venenis petitam asseverantes, impetrarunt ut hi quos suspectati sunt, ilico rapti, compingerentur in vincula, organarius Sericus, et Asbolius palaestrita, et haruspex Campensis.

[9] Verum negotio tepescente propter diuturnam morborum asperitatem, qua tenebatur Olybrius, morarum impatientes, hi qui rem detulerunt, libello petiverunt oblato, ut examinandum iurgium praefecto mandaretur annonae, idque studio celeritatis concessum est.

[10] Accepta igitur nocendi materia, Maximinus effudit genuinam ferociam, pectori crudo affixam, ut saepe faciunt amphitheatrales ferae, diffractis tandem solutae posticis.

Cumque multiformiter quasi in proludiis negotium spectaretur, et quidam sulcatis lateribus, nominassent nobiles aliquos, tamquam usos uses artificibus laedendi per clientes aliosque humiles, notos reos et indices, supra plantam (ut dicitur) evagatus, tartareus cognitor, relatione maligna, docuit principem, non nisi suppliciis acrioribus, perniciosa facinora scrutari posse vel vindicari, quae Romae perpetravere complures.

[11] His ille cognitis, efferatus, ut erat vitiorum inimicus acer magis quam severus, uno proloquio, in huius modi causas, quas arroganter proposito maiestatis imminutae miscebat, omnes quos iuris prisci iustitia, divorumque arbitria, quaestionibus exemere cruentis, si postulasset negotium, statuit tormentis affligi.

[12] Utque congeminata potestas, erectaque sublatius, altiores consarcinaret aerumnas, Maximino Romae agere disposito pro praefectis, sociavit ad haec cognoscenda, quae in multorum pericula struebantur, Leonem notarium, postea officiorum magistrum, bustuarium quendam latronem Pannonium, efflantem ferino rictu crudelitatem, etiam ipsum nihilo minus humani sanguinis avidissimum.

[13] Auxit obstinatum Maximini ingenium ad laedendum adventus collegae similis et litterarum cum ampla dignitate dulcedo. Ideoque pedes huc hue et illuc exsultando contorquens, saltare, non incedere videbatur, dum studebat inter altaria celsius gradientes (ut quidam memorant) imitari Brachmanas.

[14] Iamque lituis cladium concrepantibus internarum, rerum atrocitate torpentibus cunctis, praeter multa cruda et immitia quorum nec diversitas comprehendi, nec numerus potest, mors Marini causarum defensoris eminuit. Quem ut ausum Hispanillae cuiusdam, artibus pravis, affectasse coniugium, transeunter indiciorum fide discussa, supplicio letali damnavit.

[15] Et quoniam existimo, forsitan aliquos haec lecturos, exquisite scrutando notare, strepentes id actum esse prius, non illud, aut ea quae viderint praetermissa: hactenus faciendum est satis, quod non omnia narratu sunt digna, quae per squalidas transiere personas, nec si fieri fuisset necesse, instructiones vel ex ipsis tabulariis suppeterent publicis, tot calentibus malis, et novo furore, sine retinaculis imis⁴ summa miscente, cum iustitium esse, quod timebatur, non iudicium, aperte constaret.

[16] Tunc Cethegus senator, adulterii reus delatus, cervice perit abscisa, et Alypius nobilis adulescens, ob levem relegatus errorem, aliique humiles, publica morte oppetiverunt: in quorum miseriis, velut sui quisque discriminis cernens imaginem, tortorem et vincula somniabat, et deversoria tenebrarum.

[17] Eodem tempore etiam Hymetii praeclarae indolis viri, negotium est actitatum, cuius hunc fuisse novimus textum. Cum Africam pro consule regeret, Carthaginiensibus victus inopia iam lassatis, ex horreis Romano populo destinatis, frumentum venumdedit,⁵ pauloque postea, cum provenisset segetum copia, integre sine ulla restituit mora.

[18] Verum quoniam denis modiis singulis solidis indigentibus venundatis, emerat ipse tricenos, interpretii compendium ad principis aerarium misit. Ideoque Valentinianus, per nundinationem suspicatus parum quam oportuerat missum, eum bonorum parte multavit.

[19] Ad cuius cladem exaggerandam, id quoque eisdem diebus acciderat, non minus exitiale. Amantius haruspex, ea tempestate prae ceteris notus, occultiore indicio proditus, quod ob prava quaedam implenda, ad sacrificandum ab eodem esset adscitus Hymetio, inductusque in iudicium, quamquam incurvus sub eculeo staret, pertinaci negabat instantia.

[20] Quo infitiante, secretioribus chartis ab eius domo prolatis, commonitorium repertum est, manu scriptum Hymetii, petentis ut obsecrato ritu sacrorum sollemnium numine,⁶ erga se imperatores delenirentur.⁷ Cuius extima parte quaedam invectiva legebantur in principem ut avarum et truculentum

[21] Haec Valentinianus relatione iudicum doctus, asperius interpretantium facta, vigore nimio in negotium iussit inquiri. Et quia Frontinus, consiliarius⁸ ante dicti minister fuisse conceptae precationis arguebatur, concisus virgis, atque confessus, ablegatus est in exsilium ad Britannos, Amantius vero, damnatus postea rerum capitalium interiit.

[22] Post hanc gestorum seriem Hymetius ad oppidum ductus Ocriculum, audiendus ab Ampelio urbi praefecto, et Maximino vicario, confestimque perdendus (ut apparebat) data sibi copia audentius⁹ imperatoris praesidium appellavit, nominisque eius perfugio tectus, servabatur incolumis.

[23] Super hoc princeps consultus, senatui¹⁰ negotium dedit. Qui cum rem librata iustitia comperisset, eumque ad Boas, Delmatiae locum, exterminasset, aegre imperatoris iracundiam tulit, perciti vehementer, quod hominem addictum (ut ipse proposuerat) morti, clementiori sententia didicerat plexum.

[24] Ob haec et huius modi multa, quae cernebantur in paucis, omnibus timeri sunt coepta. Et ne tot malis dissimulatis, paulatimque serpentibus, acervi crescerent aerumnarum, nobilitatis decreto legati mittuntur: Praetextatus ex urbi praefecto, et ex vicario Venustus, et ex consulari Minervius, oraturi ne delictis supplicia sint grandiora, neve senator quisquam, inusitato et illicito more, tormentis exponeretur.

[25] Qui cum intromissi in consistorium haec referrent, negantem Valentinianum se id statuisse, et calumnias perpeti clamitantem, moderate redarguit quaestor Eupraxius, hacque libertate emendatum est crudele praeceptum, supergressum omnia diritatis exempla.

[26] Circa hos dies Lollianus, primae lanuginis adulescens, Lampadi filius ex praefecto, exploratius causam Maximino spectante, convictus codicem noxiarum artium nondum per aetatem firmato consilio, descripsisse, exsulque mittendus (ut sperabatur) patris impulsu, provocavit ad principem, et iussus ad eius comitatum adduci,¹¹ de fumo (ut aiunt) in flammam, traditus Phalangio (Baeticae consulari) cecidit funesti carnificis manu.

[27] Super his etiam Tarracius Bassus, postea urbi praefectus, et frater eius Camenius, et Marcianus quidam et Eusaphius, omnes clarissimi, arcessiti in crimen, quod eiusdem conscii veneficiis,¹² aurigam fovere dicebantur Auchenium, documentis etiam tum ambiguis, suffragante absoluti sunt Victorino, ut dispersus prodidit rumor, qui erat amicus Maximino iunctissimus.

[28] Nec minus feminae feminac quoque calamitatum participes fuere similium. Nam ex hoc quoque sexu, peremptae sunt originis altae complures, adulteriorum flagitiis obnoxiae, vel stuprorum. Inter quas notiores fuere Claritas Charitas¹³ et Flaviana,¹⁴ quarum altera cum duceretur ad mortem, indumento (quo vestita erat) abrepto, ne velamen quidem secreto membrorum sufficiens retinere permissa est. Ideoque carnifex, nefas admisisse convictus immane, vivus exustus est.

[29] Paphius quin etiam et Cornelius, senatores, ambo venenorum artibus pravis se¹⁵ polluisse confessi, eodem pronuntiante Maximino sunt interfecti. Pari sorte etiam procurator monetae extinctus est. Sericum enim, et Asbolium supra dictos, quoniam cum hortaretur passim nominare quos vellent, adiecta religione firmarat, nullum igni vel ferro se puniri iussurum, plumbi validis ictibus interemit. Et post hoc flammis Campensem haruspicem dedit, in negotio eius nullo sacramento constrictus.

[30] Opportunum est (ut arbitror) explanare nunc nune causam, quae ad exitium praecipitem Aginatium impulit, iam inde a priscis maioribus nobilem, ut locuta est pertinacior fama; nec enim super hoc ulla documentorum rata est fides.

[31] Anhelans flatu superbo, Maximinus etiam tum praefectus annonae, nanctusque audaciae incitamenta non levia, tendebat ad usque Probi contemptum, viri summatum omnium maximi, iureque praefecturae praetorianae regentis provincias.

[32] Quod Aginatius indignissime ferens, dolensque in examinandis causis Maximinum ab Olybrio sibi praelatum, cum esset ipse vicarius Romae, familiari sermone docuit Probum occulte, facile vanum hominem recalcitrantem sublimibus meritis posse opprimi, si ille id fieri censuisset.

[33] Has litteras (ut quidam asseverabant), Probus ad Maximinum eruditiorem iam in sceleribus, commendatumque principi pertimescens, nullo conscio praeter baiulum, misit. Hisque recitatis, ita homo ferus exarsit, ut machinas omnes in Aginatium deinde commoveret, velut serpens vulnere ignoti¹⁶ cuiusdam attritus.

[34] Accessit his alia potior insidiarum materia, quae eundem Aginatium obruit. Victorinum enim defunctum insimulabat, ut Maximini actus (dum supererat) venditantem, cuius ex testamento legata ipse sumpserat non aspernanda, parique petulantia Anepsiae quoque, eius uxori, lites minabatur et iurgia.

[35] Quae haec metuens ut Maximini¹⁷ muniretur¹⁸ auxilio, finxit maritum in voluntate, quam condiderat nuper, argenti tria milia pondo eidem reliquisse. Qui aviditate nimia flagrans (nec enim hoc quoque vitio caruit) petit hereditatis medietatem. Verum etiam hoc (ut parum sufficienti) nequaquam contentus, aliud commentus est (ut arbitrabatur) honestum et tutum, et ne amitteret amplam sibi oblatam lucrandi uberis patrimonii, Victorini privignam, Anepsiae filiam, petit filio coniugem, idque assentiente muliere prompte firmatum est.

[36] Per haec haee et alia simili maerore deflenda, quae decolorabant speciem urbis aeternae, grassabatur per strages multiplices fortunarum, homo cum gemitu nominandus, ultra forenses terminos semet extentans. Namque et resticulam de fenestra praetorii quadam remota, dicitur semper habuisse suspensam, cuius summitas quaedam velut damnosa¹⁹ colligeret,²⁰ nullis quidem indiciis fulta, sed nocitura insontibus multis: et Mucianum Barbarumque apparitores aliquotiens discretim trudi iubebat, ad fallendum aptissimos.

[37] Hi tamquam heiulando casus quibus se simulabant oppressos, iudicis exaggerando crudelitatem, remedium nullum aliud reis ad obtinendam vitam superesse eadem replicando saepe asseverabant, ni criminibus magnis petissent nobiles viros, quibus ad sui societatem annexis facile eos absolvi posse firmabant.

[38] Ob quae implacabilitate ultra apposita iam pergente, manus vinculis sunt artatae complurium, ortuque nobiles inculti videbantur et anxii. Nec eorum culpari quisquam debuit, cum salutantes humum paene curvatis contingentibus membris, persaepe clamantem audirent, spiritus ferini latronem, nullum se invito reperiri posse insontem.

[39] Quae verba effectui propere iuncta, terruissent profecto Numae Pompilii similis, et Catonem. Prorsus enim sic agebatur, ut nec in alienis malis quorumdam exarescerent lacrimae: quod in variis et confragosis actibus vitae plerumque contingit.

[40] A iure tamen iustitiaque crebro discedens, ferreus cognitor erat uno quasi praecipuo tolerabilis. Interdum enim exoratus parcebat aliquibus, quod prope vitium esse, in hoc loco legitur apud Tullium: Nam si implacabiles iracundiae sunt, summa est acerbitas: sin autem exorabiles, summa levitas; quae tamen (ut in malis) acerbitati anteponenda est.

[41] Post haec praegresso Leone, acceptoque successore, ad principis comitatum Maximinus accitus, auctusque praefectura praetoriana, nihilo lenior fuit, etiam longius nocens, ut basilisci serpentes.

[42] In id tempus aut non multo prius, scopae florere sunt visae, quibus nobilitatis curia mundabatur, idque portendebat, extollendos quosdam despicatissimae sortis ad gradus potestatum excelsos.

[43] Et quamlibet tempestivum est ad ordinem redire coeptorum, tamen nihil impedituri temporum cursus, immorabimur paucis, quae per iniquitatem curantium vicariam praefecturam in urbe, contra quam oportuerat, gesta sunt, quia ad nutum Maximini et voluntatem eisdem ministris velut apparitoribus gerebantur.

[44] Post hunc venit Ursicinus ad mitiora propensior, qui quoniam cautus esse voluit et civilis, rettulerat Esaiam cum aliis, ob commissum adulterium in Rufinam detentis, Marcellum maritum eius ex agente in rebus reum imminutae maiestatis deferre conari:²¹ ideoque ut cunctator contemptus, et ad haec fortiter exsequenda parum conveniens,²² e vicaria potestate²³ discessit.

[45] Huic successit Hemonensis Simplicius, Maximini consiliarius ex grammatico, per administrationem²⁴ nec erectus nec tumidus sed obliquo aspectu terribilis, qui compositis ad modestiam verbis acerba meditabatur in multos. Et primo Rufinam, cum universis auctoribus adulterii commissi vel consciis, interfecit, super quibus Ursicinum rettulisse praediximus, alios deinde complures nullo noxiorum discrimine vel insontium.

[46] Cruento²⁵ enim certamine cum Maximino velut antepilano suo contendens, superare eum in succidendis familiarum nobilium nervis studebat, Busirim veterem et Antaeum imitatus et Phalarim, ut taurus ei²⁶ solus deesse videretur Agrigentinus.

[47] His in hunc modum ac talibus actis,²⁷ Hesychia quaedam matrona, ob intentatum crimen in domo apparitoris, cui custodienda est tradita, multa pertimescens et saeva, fulcro plumeo vultu contracto incubuit, et animam occluso narium spiramento effudit.

[48] Adiunctum est his aliud haut mitius malum. Eumenius enim et Abienus, ambo ex coetu amplissimo, infamati sub Maximino, in Fausianam feminam non obscuram, post Victorini obitum, quo iuvante vixere securius, Simplicii adventu perterrefacti, non secus volentis²⁸ maligna cum minis,²⁹ ad secreta receptacula se contulerunt.

[49] Sed Fausiana damnata, inter reos recepti, vocatique edictis, semet abstrusius amendarunt: quorum Abienus apud Anepsiam diu delitescebat. Sed ut solent insperati casus aggravare miserabilis clades, Apaudulus Sapaudulus³⁰ nomine, servus Anepsiae, verberatae coniugis dolore perculsus, negotium ad Simplicium detulit, nocte progressus, missique apparitores, indicatos indicates e latebris abstraxerunt.

[50] Et Abienus quidem, exaggerate crimine stupri, quod intulisse dicebatur Anepsiae, morte multatus est. Mulier vero ut continendae vitae spem firmam dilato posset habere supplicio, appetitam se nefariis artibus, vim in domo Aginati perpessam, adseveravit asseveravit.

[51] Haec (ut gesta sunt) malignius³¹ ad principem Simplicius rettulit, agensque ibi Maximinus infestus, ob causam quam supra docuimus, Aginatio, simultate una cum potestate in maius accensa, oravit³² impense ut rescriberetur eum occidi: et impetravit facile male sanus incitator et potens.

[52] Metuensque gravioris invidiae pondus, ne pronuntiante Simplicio, et consiliario suo et amico, periret homo patriciae stirpis, retinuit apud se paulisper imperiale praeceptum, haerens et ambigens quemnam potissimum exsecutorem atrocis rei fidum inveniret et³³ efficacem.

[53] Tandemque, ut solent pares facile congregari cum paribus, Doryphorianus quidam repertus est Gallus, audax ad usque insaniam, cui hanc operam implere brevi pollicito, deferri providit vicariam, et commonitorium cum Augusti litteris tradidit, instruens hominem saevum quidem sed³⁴ rudem, qua celeritate Aginatium sine ullo deleret obstaculo, dilatione qualibet inventa forsitan evasurum.

[54] Festinavit (ut mandatum est) Doryphorianus magnis itineribus Romam, et inter administrandi³⁵ initia, magna quaeritabat industria, qua vi senatorem perspicui generis interficeret, iuvantibus nullis. Cognitoque eum iam pridem repertum, in villa propria custodiri, ipse tamquam capita³⁶ sontium Aginatium,³⁷ pariterque³⁸ Anepsiam horrore medio³⁹ tenebrarum audire disposuit, quo tempore hebetari solent obstrictae terroribus mentes: ut inter innumera multa, Aiax quoque Homericus docet, optans perire potius luce, quam pati formidinis augmenta nocturnae.

[55] Et quoniam iudex, quin immo praedo nefandus, ad id solum quod promisit intentus, cuncta extollebat in maius, iusso sub quaestione⁴⁰ Aginatio statui, agmina fecit introire carnificum, catenisque sonantibus triste, mancipia squalore diuturno marcentia, in domini caput ad usque ultimum lacerabat exitium, quod in stupri quaestione fieri vetuere clementissimae leges.

[56] Denique cum iam contigua morti tormenta ancillae voces expressissent obliquas, indicii fide parum plene discussa, Aginatius ad supplicium duci pronuntiatur⁴¹ abrupte, nec auditus cum magnis clamoribus appellaret nomina principum, sublimis raptus occiditur, pari sententia Anepsia interfecta. Haec agitante (cum adesset) perque emissarios emissaries (cum procul ageret) Maximino, funera urbs deploravit aeterna.

[57] Sed vigilarunt⁴² ultimae dirae caesorum. Namque ut postea tempestive dicetur, et idem Maximinus sub Gratiano intoleranter se efferens, damnatorio iugulatus est ferro, et Simplicius in Illyrico truncatus,⁴³ et Doryphorianum pronuntiatum capitis reum, trusumque in carcerem Tullianum,⁴⁴ matris consilio, princeps exinde rapuit, reversumque ad lares per cruciatus oppressit immensos. Verum unde⁴⁵ huc fleximus revertamur. Is urbanarum rerum status, ut ita dixerim, fuit.

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).) — 28.1 focus

[1] While among the Persians (as I have already related)¹ the perfidy of the king was arousing unexpected disturbances, and in the eastern regions wars were rising with renewed strength, somewhat more than sixteen years after the death of² Nepotianus,³ Bellona, raging throughout the Eternal City, set all ablaze, being aroused from insignificant beginnings to lamentable massacres; and I could wish that everlasting silence had consigned these to oblivion, lest haply at some time similar crimes should be attempted, which might do more harm from their general example and precedent than through the offences themselves.

[2] And although, after long consideration of various circumstances, well-grounded dread restrained me from giving a minute account of this series of bloody deeds, yet I shall, relying on the better morals of the present day, set forth briefly such of them as are worthy of notice and I shall not be sorry to tell concisely what I have feared from events of antiquity.

[3] When in the first Medic war the Persians had plundered Asia, they besieged Miletus with mighty forces, threatened the defenders with death by torture, and drove the besieged to the necessity, overwhelmed as they all were by a weight of evils, of killing their own dear ones, consigning their movable possessions to the flames, and each one striving to be first to throw himself into the fire, to burn on the common funeral pyre of their country.

[4] Soon after this, Phrynichus composed a play with this disaster as its plot, which he put upon the stage at Athens in the lofty language of tragedy. At first he was heard with pleasure, but as the sad story went on in too tragic style, the people became angry and punished⁴ him, thinking that consolation was not his object but blame and reproach, when he had the bad taste to include among stage-plays a portrayal even of those sufferings which a well-beloved city had undergone, without receiving any support from its founders.⁵ For Miletus was a colony of the Athenians founded by Nileus, the son of Codrus (who is said to have sacrificed himself for his country in the Dorian war) and by other Ionians.⁶

[5] But let us come to our subject. Maximinus, who formerly held the office of vice-⁷ prefect at Rome, was born at Sopianae, a town of Valeria,⁸ of very humble parents, his father being an accountant in the governor’s office⁹ and sprung from ancestors who were Carpi, a people whom Diocletian drove from its ancient abode¹⁰ and transferred to Pannonia.

[6] Maximinus, after some slight study of the liberal arts, and after acting as a pleader without acquiring distinction, became governor of Corsica, also of Sardinia, and finally of Tuscia.¹¹ then, because his successor lingered too long on the¹² way, although transferred to the charge of the city’s grain supply, he retained also the rule of Tuscia, and at the beginning acted with moderation, for a three-fold reason.

[7] First, because the prophecies of his father were still warm¹³ in his ears, a man exceedingly skilful in interpreting omens from the flight or the notes of birds, who declared he would attain to high power, but would die by the sword of the executioner; secondly, because he had got hold of a man from Sardinia who was highly skilled in calling up baneful spirits and eliciting predictions from the ghosts of the dead. This man he himself afterwards put to death, so the rumour went, in a treacherous fashion,—so long as he survived, Maximinus was more yielding and mild, for fear that he might be betrayed—finally, because while creeping through low places like a serpent under ground¹⁴ he could not yet stir up causes for death on a larger scale.

[8] The first opportunity to widen the sphere of his operations arose from the following affair. Chilo, a former deputy-governor, and his wife Maxima made complaint before Olybrius, at that time prefect of the city,¹⁵ declaring that their life had been attempted by poison; and they managed that those whom they suspected should at once be seized and put in prison. The accused were an organ-builder¹⁶ Sericus, a wrestler¹⁷ Asbolius, and a soothsayer Campensis.

[9] But as the affair languished because of a severe illness with which Olybrius was long affected, those who had brought the charge, impatient of delay, presented a petition, asking that the examination of the dispute should be turned over to the prefect of the grain supply; and from a desire for a speedy decision this was granted.

[10] Thus Maximinus gained the power of doing harm and poured out the natural cruelty implanted in his hard heart, as often happens with wild beasts in the amphitheatre, when they break in pieces the back-gates and are at last set free. And while the business was being looked into in many ways, as if in a kind of preliminary practice, and some persons, whose sides had been torn into furrows, had named certain nobles as having, through their clients and other common people who were notorious as malefactors and informers, made use of men skilled in harmful practices, the hellish judge, going beyond his last¹⁸ (as the saying is), in a malicious report to the emperor informed him that the offences which many men had committed at Rome could not be investigated or punished except by severer measures.¹⁹

[11] On hearing this, the emperor, in anger, being rather a cruel than a strict foe of vices, gave one general judicial sentence to cover cases of the kind, which he arbitrarily fused with the design of treason, and ruled that all those whom the justice of the ancient code and the edicts of deified emperors had made exempt from inquisitions by torture should, if circumstances demanded, be examined with torments.

[12] And that with doubled power and higher rank Maximinus might patch together a greater heap of calamities, the emperor gave him a temporary appointment as acting prefect at Rome;²⁰²¹ and he associated with him in the investigation of these charges which were being devised for the peril of many the secretary Leo, afterward chief-marshal of the court,²² a Pannonian and a grave-robber,²³ snorting forth cruelty from the grinning jaws of a wild beast, and no less insatiable in his thirst for human blood than Maximinus.

[13] The persistent natural bent of Maximinus to cruel conduct was increased by the coming of a colleague of the same character and by the charm of a commission conferring lofty rank. Therefore, full of joy, he turned his steps this way and that, seeming to dance rather than walk, and seeking to imitate the Brahmins, who march (as some say) above the earth among their altars.²⁴

[14] And now, as the trumpets sounded the signal for the murder of citizens and all were stupified by the horrible situation, besides many harsh and merciless acts, which because of their variety and number cannot be enumerated, the execution of Marinus, a public advocate, was conspicuous. This man was accused of having dared by forbidden arts to try to gain a certain Hispanilla as his wife, and when the truthfulness of the evidence had been perfunctorily examined, Maximinus condemned him to death.

[15] And since I think that perchance some of my readers by careful examination may note and bring it against me as a reproach that this, and not that, happened first, or that those things which they themselves saw are passed over, I must satisfy them to this extent: that not everything which has taken place among persons of the lowest class is worth narrating; and if this were necessary to be done, even the arrays of facts to be gained from the public records themselves would not suffice, when there was such a general fever of evils, and a new and unbridled madness was mingling the highest with the lowest; for it was clearly evident that it was not a judicial trial which was to be feared, but a suspension of legal proceedings.²⁵

[16] Then Cethegus, a senator, was accused of adultery and beheaded, Alypius, a young man of noble birth, was banished for a trifling fault, and others of lower rank were publicly put to death; and every one, seeing in their unhappy fate the picture (as it were) of his own danger, dreamt of the torturer and of fetters and lodgings of darkness.

[17] At the same time, the case of Hymetius also, a man of distinguished character, was tried, of which we know this to have been the course of events. When he was governing Africa as proconsul he took from the storehouses grain intended for the Roman people²⁶ and sold it to the Carthaginians, who were by that time worn out from lack of food, and a little later, when the crops were again abundant, without any delay completely restored what he had taken.

[18] Moreover, since ten bushels had been sold to the needy for one gold-piece, while he himself now bought thirty,²⁷ he sent the profit from the difference in price to the emperor’s treasury.²⁸ And so Valentinian, suspecting that he had sent less than he should have sent as the result of his trafficking, punished him with a fine of a part of his property.

[19] To add to his calamity, this also had happened at that same time, which was not less fatal. The soothsayer Amantius, at that time especially notorious, was betrayed on secret evidence of having been employed by the said Hymetius, for the purpose of committing certain criminal acts, to perform a sacrifice; but when brought to trial, although he stood bent double upon the rack,²⁹ he denied it with obstinate insistence.

[20] Upon his denial, his secret papers were brought from his house and a memorandum in the handwriting of Hymetius was found, begging him that by carrying out a solemn sacrifice he should prevail upon the deity to make the emperors³⁰ milder towards him; and at the end of the document were read some reproaches of Valentinian as avaricious and cruel.

[21] When the emperor learned this from the report of the judges, who gave what had been done a harsh interpretation, he issued orders that the affair should be investigated with excessive strictness. And since Frontinus, an adviser³¹ of the said Hymetius, was charged with having drawn up the form of prayer that was made, he was mangled with rods, and having confessed his guilt, was exiled to Britain; but Amantius was later found guilty of a capital crime and executed.

[22] After this course of events Hymetius was taken to the town of Ocriculum,³² to be heard by Ampelius, prefect of the city,³³ and Maximinus, the deputy-prefect; and when it was evident that he would immediately be condemned to death, he boldly appealed to the emperor’s protection, when the opportunity was given him, and, defended under the refuge of that name, saved his life.

[23] When the emperor was consulted³⁴ about this matter, he referred the business to the senate. And when they had weighed the case in the scales of justice and learned the truth and had exiled the accused to Boae,³⁵ a place in Dalmatia, they could hardly bear the wrath of the emperor, who was greatly incensed on learning that a man whom he had intended to be condemned to death had been punished with a milder sentence.

[24] On account of this occurrence and many others of the same kind, the fate which was seen to overtake a few persons began to be feared by all. And lest, by so many evils that were ignored, and gradually creeping on, the mass of troubles should be increased, by resolution of the nobles envoys were sent to the emperor. These were Praetextatus,³⁶ former prefect of the city, Venustus, a one-time deputy-prefect,³⁷ and Minervius, who had been a consular governor. They were to ask that punishments should be inflicted that were not too severe for the offences,³⁸ and that no senator should, in a fashion neither practised nor permitted, be subjected to torture.

[25] When the deputation had been admitted to the council-chamber and had presented their request, Valentinian said that he had never made such a decree, and cried out that he was the victim of calumny. But the quaestor Eupraxius³⁹ mildly contradicted him, and through his freedom of speech the cruel order, which surpassed all examples of harshness, was rescinded.

[26] At about that same time Lollianus, a youth just growing his first beard, son of the ex-prefect Lampadius,⁴⁰ as the result of a strict examination by Maximinus, was convicted of having written a book on destructive magic arts, when adult age had not yet endowed him with sound judgment. And when it was feared that he would be exiled, by his father’s advice he appealed to the emperor and was ordered to be taken to his court; but he went from the smoke (as the saying is)⁴¹ into the fire; for he was handed over to Phalangius, consular governor of Baetica, and died at the hand of the dread executioner.

[27] Besides these also Tarracius Bassus, afterwards prefect of the city,⁴² his brother Camenius, a certain Marcianus, and Eusaphius, all men of senatorial rank, were brought to trial on the ground that they were said to be making much of the charioteer⁴³ Auchenius, and were his accomplices in the use of poisons; but because the evidence was even then doubtful, they were acquitted, as widespread rumour declared, through the influence of Victorinus, who was the closest friend of Maximinus.

[28] Not even women were more immune from similar calamities. For many of high birth belonging to this sex too were charged with the disgrace of adultery or of fornication, and put to death. Conspicuous among these were Charitas and Flaviana, of whom the latter, when she was led to death, was stripped of the clothing which she wore, being allowed not even to keep sufficient covering for the secret parts of her body. But for that reason the executioner was convicted of having committed a monstrous crime, and was burned alive.

[29] Nay more, two senators, Paphius and Cornelius, both of whom confessed to having disgraced themselves by the wicked practices of poisons, by the sentence of the same Maximinus were put to death. Even the head of the mint⁴⁴ perished by a like fate. But Sericus and Asbolius, mentioned above,⁴⁵ because when he urged them to name indiscriminately such accomplices as they wished, he had declared on oath that he would order no one to be punished with fire or steel, he killed with heavy blows of lead.⁴⁶ And after this he consigned the soothsayer Campensis to the flames, being bound in his case by no oath.

[30] It is, I think, fitting now to set forth the cause which drove Aginatius headlong to death, a man of noble descent from his early ancestors, as persistent report declared; for as to this there is no trustworthy documentary evidence.

[31] Maximinus, breathing blasts of arrogance, while he was still prefect of the grain supply, and finding no slight incentives to his audacity, went so far as to insult Probus,⁴⁷ the most distinguished man among all the highest officials, and governing several provinces with the rank of praetorian prefect.

[32] Aginatius, filled with indignation at this, and resentful because Maximinus, in conducting examinations, was preferred to him by Olybrius, although he himself was vice-prefect of Rome, secretly informed Probus in a confidential communication⁴⁸ that the worthless man, one who quarrelled with high merits, could easily be brought low, if Probus decided that it should be done.

[33] This letter Probus, as some maintained, without the knowledge of anyone except the bearer,⁴⁹ sent to Maximinus, fearing him as a man already very highly trained in wickedness and in favour with the emperor. On reading the letter that savage man fell into such a blaze of anger, that from then on he set all devices in motion against Aginatius, after the manner of a serpent crushed by a wound from some unknown person.

[34] There was added to this another more powerful impulse to treacherous attacks, which ruined the said Aginatius. For he accused Victorinus after his death of having sold decisions⁵⁰ of Maximinus during his lifetime, although he himself had received no contemptible legacies from Victorinus’ will; and with like impudence he threatened Anepsia also, Victorinus’s widow, with charges and litigious suits.

[35] The woman, fearful of these troubles, and wishing to protect herself by the help of Maximinus, pretended that her husband in a will which he had made shortly before his death had left him 3000 pounds of silver. Maximinus then, enflamed with excessive greed—for he was not free from that vice also—demanded half of her inheritance. But by no means content even with this, which he thought too little, he devised another plan, honourable and safe (as he thought), and in order not to lose the opportunity which was offered him for profiting from rich estate, he asked for the hand of the step-daughter of Victorinus (Anepsia’s own child) for his son; and this was quickly secured with the woman’s consent.

[36] Through these and other equally lamentable crimes, which were a blot on the fair aspect of the Eternal City, this man, to be named only with groans, made his violent way over the ruins of many fortunes, passing beyond the limits afforded by the courts. For he is said to have had a cord hanging from a secluded window of his palace, the lower end of which could pick up certain seemingly incriminating charges, supported, it is true, by no evidence, but nevertheless likely to injure many innocent persons.⁵¹ And sometimes he ordered Mucianus and Barbarus, his attendants, who were most skilled in deception, severally to be cast out of his house.

[37] These two then, as if bewailing the fate by which they pretended to be overwhelmed, exaggerated the cruelty of the judge and often repeated the assertion that the accused had no other means of saving their lives than by charging men of high rank with serious crimes; for they declared that by involving such men in the same accusations with themselves they could easily secure an acquittal.

[38] Because of this, with a ruthlessness now passing all bounds, the hands of very many were bound in fetters, and men of noble birth were seen in mourning garb and in distress. And none of them could rightly be blamed, since very often when waiting upon him with bodies bent so as almost to touch the ground, they constantly heard that brigand with the heart of a wild beast shout that no one could be found innocent without his consent.

[39] Such words, which accomplishment quickly followed, would surely have terrified men like Numa Pompilius, and a Cato. For, in fact, the business was conducted in such a way that some people could not even contemplate the ills of others with dry eyes, a thing which often happens in the many difficult trials of life.

[40] Nevertheless, the iron-hearted judge, often as he deviated from law and justice, was endurable in what may be called one special thing. For at times he could be prevailed upon to show mercy to some; although this, we read in the following passage in Cicero,⁵² is almost a vice: For, he says, when anger is implacable, there is extreme severity; but if it yields to entreaties, the greatest inconstancy: yet the latter, as a choice of evils, is to be preferred to severity.

[41] After this, Maximinus received a successor,⁵³ and was summoned to the emperor’s court, as Leo⁵⁴ had been before him; and there, being promoted to the praetorian prefecture, he was no whit milder, but like the basilisk,⁵⁵ was harmful even from a distance.

[42] At that time, or not much earlier, the brooms with which the assembly-hall of the nobles was swept were seen to bloom, and this was an omen that some men of the most despised station would be raised to high rank in the offices of state.

[43] Although it is high time to return to the course of the history which we have begun, yet, in order not to interfere with the connection of events, I shall linger over a few of the wrongful acts committed by the iniquity of the vice-prefects in the city, since it was according to the nod and wish of Maximinus that they were done by those same subordinates—I might say attendants.

[44] After him came Ursicinus, inclined to milder measures; he, wishing to be prudent and kindly, had referred to the Court the information that Esaias (with others who had been imprisoned because of adulterous relations with Rufina) was trying to bring a charge of treason against her husband, Marcellus, a former agent of the state. In consequence, Ursicinus was despised as inactive and unfit for the vigorous prosecution of such matters, and was forced to withdraw from his deputyship.

[45] To him succeeded Simplicius⁵⁶ of Hemona, a former teacher of literature and later an adviser⁵⁷ of Maximinus, a man who during the administration of the prefecture was neither proud nor arrogant, but excited fear by his sidelong glance, and in language of studied moderation plotted severity for many. And first he put to death Rufina, with all who were implicated in, or aware of, the adultery that she had committed, whose case (as we have previously said)⁵⁸ Ursicinus had referred to the Court; and then many others, regardless of whether they were guilty or innocent.

[46] For vying in bloody rivalry with Maximinus, as his leader,⁵⁹ he strove to outdo him in cutting the sinews of distinguished families, imitating Busiris of old, and Antaeus and Phalaris⁶⁰ to such a degree that he seemed to lack only the Agrigentine bull of the last-named.

[47] Amid these and such acts so perpetrated a matron called Hesychia, who because of an attempted crime was committed to an official’s attendant to be guarded at his house, and was in fear of much cruel treatment, pressed her face in the feather bed on which she was lying and so stopped her nose and her breath and gave up the ghost.

[48] There was added to these another no less cruel evil. For Eumenius and Abienus, both of senatorial rank, being accused under Maximinus of improper conduct with Fausiana, a woman of position, after the death of Victorinus, under whose protection they lived with less anxiety, terrified by Simplicius’ coming who with threats planned no less cruelty than Maximinus, fled to secret retreats.

[49] But after Fausiana had been found guilty, a charge was made against them also; but though summoned by edicts,⁶¹ they kept themselves in still closer concealment, and Abienus remained hidden for a long time in the house of Anepsia. But as unexpected chances often aggravate lamentable disasters, a slave of Anepsia, Sapaudulus by name, seized with resentment because his wife⁶² had been flogged, went by night to Simplicius and reported the matter; then attendants were sent and dragged the accused, whose whereabouts had been pointed out, from their hiding-places.

[50] And Abienus, assailed with an additional accusation of improper relations which he was said to have had with Anepsia, was punished with death. But the woman, that she might have strong hope of retaining her life by putting off her punishment, declared that she had been worked upon by evil arts and had suffered violence in the house of Aginatius.

[51] Simplicius gave the emperor a spiteful account of what had been done, and Maximinus, who was at court, and, for the reason which I have given above,⁶³ was hostile to Aginatius, while his hatred was set ablaze with his rise in power, strongly urged the emperor to give him a warrant for putting Aginatius to death; and this the mad and powerful instigator easily brought to pass.

[52] But Maximinus, fearing the weight of greater hatred, if a man of patrician stock should die by the sentence of Simplicius, who was his adviser and his friend, kept back the emperor’s order for some time, in perplexity and doubt as to whom he would find most trustworthy and efficient in carrying out the cruel design.

[53] At last, since like and like readily flock together,⁶⁴ a Gaul called Doryphorianus was found, reckless to the point of insanity, on whom, since he promised to accomplish the business in a short time, he arranged to have the post of deputy conferred. Accordingly, he gave him with the epistle of Augustus⁶⁵ a letter of advice instructing the savage but inexperienced man how he might quickly and without any hindrance destroy Aginatius, who, if he gained any possible respite, would perhaps make his escape.

[54] Doryphorianus, as had been ordered, hastened to Rome by long days’ journeys, and at the beginning of his administration⁶⁶ cast about with great energy, to see by what act of violence he could without anyone’s help destroy a senator of conspicuous lineage. And on learning that Aginatius had long since been found, and was under guard in his own villa, he arranged personally to examine him, and Anepsia as well, as the chief of the guilty persons, in the midst of the horrors of night, when men’s minds are commonly dulled in the bonds of terrors: as among countless other instances is shown by Homer’s Ajax,⁶⁷ who wished rather to die by daylight than endure the additional suffering of dread by night.

[55] And since the judge, nay, rather the godless brigand, intent only on keeping his promise, carried everything to excess, having ordered Aginatius to be put to the question, he caused a whole train of executioners to enter, and amid the gloomy clanking of chains had the slaves, who were already drooping through long continued filth and neglect, tortured to the very verge of death, to give evidence to endanger their master’s life: a thing which our merciful laws forbade to be done in a trial for fornication.

[56] Finally, when tortures already almost mortal had extorted from a maid-servant a few ambiguous words, without fully examining the trustworthiness of the testimony, he ordered Aginatius to be led off to execution, hastily and without a hearing, although with loud cries he called upon the emperors’ names. Accordingly he was hoisted up⁶⁸ and put to death; and Anepsia was executed on a like sentence. While Maximinus was thus busied in person when he was in Rome and through his emissaries when he acted from a distance, the Eternal City wept bitterly for its dead.

[57] But the final curses of his victims did not sleep. For, under Gratian, as shall be told later at the proper time,⁶⁹ not only did this same Maximinus, because of his intolerable arrogance, fall victim to the executioner’s sword, but Simplicius also was beheaded in Illyricum. Doryphorianus, too, was charged with a capital crime and thrown into the prison called Tullianum,⁷⁰ but Gratian, at the suggestion of his mother, had him taken from there, and on his return home put him to death with tremendous tortures. But let us return to the point from which we made this digression. This, if I may say so, was the state of affairs in Rome.⁷¹

Notes on the current edition

Res Gestae

1. acciderunt, Clark; acciderint, EG; accidere, Her.; acciderit, V.

2. successore, transgressus, Pet.; s. progressus, G; successoribus gressus, V.

3. uenturum, Iuretus, Val.; scan su rum, Novák; erigendum, Pet.; V omits without lac.

4. retinaculis imis, A; retinaculis, EG; retinaculo imis, Novák; retinaculim missum mamiscente, V.

5. uenumdedit, Her. and Clark, c.c.; dedit, V.

6. ob secrato numine, Her.; obsecrata ritu sacrorum, G; obsecratoribus agrorum numina, V.

7. imperatores delenirentur, N 2, Clark; imperatoris deleniret furorem, Her.; imperatoris delinirent, V.

8. consiliarius, Lind.; consularius, N 2; consutarius, V.

9. audentius, Novák; erectius, C. F. W. M.; tectius, V.

10. senatui, EAG; senatu, V.

11. adduci, Clark, c.c.; duce, V.

12. ueneficiis, V, rest. by Her.; ueneficii, EAG.

13. Charitas sugg. by Clark; Claritas, V.

14. Flauiana, G; Fuluiana, Her.; fluuiana, V.

15. prauis se, Hadr. Val.; se, G; peruersis se, Pet.; preuenisse, V.

16. ignoti, Her.; rotae, Kiessling; molis, Corn.; noti, V.

17. Maximini, Pet., Novák; M. etiam, EAG; maxumin et, V.

18. muniretur, V; emuniretur, Pet.

19. quaedam uelut damnosa, Pet.; quaedam uelut damn usam, V.

20. colligeret, Dederichs; colligaret, EAG; collegaret, V.

21. conari, Momm.; conatos, Günther; conatis, V.

22. conueniensque, V; aptus conueniensque, Novák.

23. e uicaria potestate, G; efficere testate, V; quae efficeret exacte, Pet.; quae efficere (lac.) abrogata potestate, Her.

24. per administrationem, W. Meyer Spir.; post administratam without lac., V; prouinciam, added by Lind., praefecturam, by Novák, in lac. indicated by Momm.

25. cruento, Novák; in cruento, G; merciento, V.

26. ut taurus ei, Val.; ut aereus taurus ei, Her.; uitae rusei, V.

27. actis, Clark; exactis, EAG; actitatis, vulgo; aetatis, V.

28. uolentis, AG; loquentis, Novák; uolentes, V.

29. magna cum nimis, V; uolentis magna ( maligna, Her.) in animis Corn.; uiolentis, sed magni acuminis, Pet.

30. Sapaudulus, Clark and Her.; apaudulus, V.

31. malignius, Pet. ( malignus, Schneider); auctius, Hermann; mugitus (from maugitus), V.

32. orauit, added in G; V omits.

33. et, added in G; V omits.

34. sed, V; et, Gardt.

35. administrandi, Val.; scrutandi, Pet.; minandi, Brackman; interandi, V.

36. capita, V, rest. by Her.; caput, G.

37. Aginatium, added by Her.; V omits.

38. pariterque, Val.; perque, VA.

39. horrore medio, Val.; horrorem, G; horrorem et, V.

40. quaestione, added by Her. (cf. xv. 5, 13); sub aginatio, V.

41. pronuntiatur, EA; pronuntiatus, Lind.; pronuntiatum, VG.

42. uigilarunt, Her. (cf. 6, 25); accelerarunt, G; ut celarunt, V.

43. truncatus, EA; trucidatus, W 2G; trunnatus, V; truonatus, V 2.

44. in carcerem Tullianum, Haupt; in carcere Tulliano, G; trusum queret tulliano, V.

45. uerum unde, Her., Novák (cf. xxx. 4, 22); munde, V.

Ammianus Marcellinus Res Gestae 28.1

John C. Rolfe (Translator)

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