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De Olybrii et Ampelii Praefectura Urbana; et de vitiis Senatus populique Romani.

[1] Diu multumque a negotiis discussus¹ urbanis, adigente cumulo foris gestorum, ad ea strictim exsequenda regrediar, exorsus ab Olybrii praefectura, tranquilla nimis et leni, qui numquam ab humanitatis statu deiectus, sollicitus erat et anxius, nequid usquam factum eius asperum inveniretur aut dictum, calumniarum acerrimus insectator, fisci lucra unde poterat circumcidens, iustorum iniustorumque² distinctor, et arbiter plenus, in subiectos admodum temperatus.

[2] Sed obnubilabat haec omnia vitium, parum quidem nocens rei communi,³ sed in alto iudice maculosum, quod citeriorem vitam paene omnem vergentem in luxum, per argumenta scaenica amoresque peregerat, nec vetitos nec incestos.

[3] Post hunc urbem rexit Ampelius, cupidus ipse quoque voluptatum, Antiochiae genitus, ex magistro officiorum, ad proconsulatum geminum, indeque multo postea ad praefecturae culmen evectus, lectus alia et ad⁴ populi favorem adipiscendum aptissimus, non numquam tamen rigidus, atque utinam in proposito perseverans. Correxisset enim ex parte, licet exigua, irritamenta gulae et ganeas taetras, ni flexus in molliora, amisisset gloriam diu victuram.

[4] Namque statuerat, ne taberna vinaria ante horam quartam aperiretur, neve aquam vulgarium calefaceret quisquam, vel usque ad praestitutum diei spatium lixae coctam proponerent carnem, vel honestus quidam mandens videretur in publico.

[5] Quae probra aliaque his maiora, dissimulatione iugi neglecta, ita effrenatius exarserunt, ut nec Epimenides ille Cretensis, si fabularum ritu ab inferis excitatus redisset ad nostra, solus purgare sufficeret Romam: tanta plerosque labes insanabilium flagitiorum oppressit.

[6] Et primo nobilitatis, ut aliquotiens pro locorum copia fecimus, dein plebis digeremus errata, incidentia veloci constringentes excessu.

[7] Praenominum claritudine conspicui quidam (ut putant) in immensum semet extollunt, cum Reburri et Elabunii Flavonii⁵ et Pagonii Gereonesque appellentur, ac Dalii cum Tarraciis et Perrasiis Ferasiis,⁶ aliisque ita decens sonantibus originum insignibus multis.

[8] Non nullos fulgentes sericis indumentis, ut ducendos duceudos ad mortem, vel ut sine diritate ominis loquamur, praegresso exercitu, arma cogentes,⁷ manipulatim concitato fragore sequitur multitudo multitude servorum.

[9] Tales ubi comitantibus singulos quinquaginta ministris, tholos introierint balnearum, Ubi ubi⁸ sunt nostri? minaciter clamant: si apparuisse subito ignotam compererint meretricem, aut oppidanae quondam prostibulum plebis, vel meritorii corporis veterem lupam, certatim concurrunt, palpantesque advenam, deformitate magna blanditiarum ita extollunt, ut Samiramim Parthi vel Cleopatras Aegyptus aut Artemisiam Cares vel Zenobiam Palmyreni. Et haec admittunt hi quorum apud maiores censoria nota senator afflictus est, ausus dum adhuc non deceret, praesente communi filia coniugem osculari.

[10] Ex his quidam cum salutari pectoribus oppositis coeperint,⁹ osculanda capita in modum taurorum minacium obliquantes, adulatoribus offerunt genua suavianda savianda,¹⁰ vel manus, id illis sufficere ad beate vivendum existimantes, et abundare omni cultu humanitatis peregrinum putantes, cuius forte etiam gratia sunt obligati, interrogatum, quibus thermis utatur aut aquis, aut ad quam successerit domum.

[11] Et cum ita graves sint et cultores virtutum, (ut putant) si venturos ventures undelibet equos aut aurigas quendam didicerint nuntiasse, ita velociter sollerter imminent eidem et¹¹ percunctantur, ut Tyndaridas fratres eorum suspexere maiores, cum priscis illis victoriis indicatis gaudio cuncta complessent.

[12] Horum domus otiosi quidam garruli frequentant, variis assentandi figmentis, ad singula ulterioris¹² fortunae verba plaudentes, parasitorum in comoediis facetias¹³ affectando. Ut enim illi sufflant milites gloriosos, obsidiones et pugnas contra¹⁴ milia hostium, eisdem ut heroicis aemulis assignantes, ita hi quoque columnarum constructiones, alta fronte suspensas mirando, atque parietes lapidum circumspectis coloribus nitidos, ultra mortalitatem nobiles viros extollunt.

[13] Poscuntur etiam in conviviis aliquotiens trutinae, ut appositi pisces et volucres ponderentur, et glires, quorum magnitudo magnitude saepius replicata,¹⁵ non sine taedio praesentium, ut antehac antebac inusitata, laudatur assidue, maxime cum haec eadem numerantes, notarii triginta prope assistant, cum thecis et pugillaribus tabulis, ut deesse solus magister ludi litterarii videretur.

[14] Quidam detestantes ut venena doctrinas, Iuvenalem et Marium Maximum curatiore studio legunt, nulla volumina praeter haec in profundo otio contrectantes, quam ob causam non iudicioli est nostri.

[15] Cum multa et varia pro amplitudine gloriarum et generum lectitare deberent, audientes destinatum poenae Socratem, coniectumque in carcerem, rogasse quendam scite lyrici carmen Stesichori modulantem, ut doceretur id agere, dum liceret: interroganteque musico, quid ei poterit hoc prodesse, morituro postridie, respondisse, Ut aliquid sciens amplius e vita discedam.

[16] Ita autem pauci sunt inter eos severi vindices delictorum ut, si aquam calidam tardius attulerit servus, trecentis affligi verberibus iubeatur: si hominem sponte occiderit propria, instantibus plurimis, ut damnetur ut reus,¹⁶ dominus hactenus exclamabit:¹⁷ Quid faciat male factis famosus¹⁸ et nequam? et siquid aliud eius modi¹⁹ deinceps ausus fuerit, corrigetur.²⁰

[17] Civilitatis²¹ autem hoc apud eos est nunc summum,²² quod expedit peregrino fratrem²³ interficere cuiuslibet, quam cum rogatus sit²⁴ ad convivium excusare: defectum enim patrimonii se opimi²⁵ perpeti senator existimat, si is defuerit quem aliquotiens libratis sententiis, invitaverit semel.

[18] Pars eorum si agros visuri processerunt longius, aut alienis laboribus venaturi, Alexandri Magni itinera se putant aequiperasse, vel Caesaris: aut si a lacu Averni lembis invecti sunt pictis Puteolos, velleri²⁶ certamen scertamen, maxime cum id vaporato audeant tempore. Ubi si inter aurata flabella laciniis sericis insederint muscae, vel per foramen umbraculi pensilis radiolus irruperit solis, queruntur quod non sunt apud Cimmerios nati.

[19] Dein cum a Silvani lavacro vel Mamaeae aquis ventitant sospitalibus, ut quisquam eorum egressus, tenuissimis se terserit linteis, solutis²⁷ pressoriis, vestes luce nitentes ambigua diligenter explorat, quae una portantur sufficientes ad induendos homines undecim: tandemque electis aliquot involutus, receptis anulis quos (ne violentur humoribus) famulo tradidit,²⁸ digitis ut metatis abit.²⁹

[20] Enim vero siqui vetus in commilitio³⁰ principis recens digressus fuerit in otium ut aevi provecti, ille³¹ tali praesente coetu mirionum cantilenae³² praesul existimatur: ceteri taciturni audiunt dicta solus³³ pater familias textui³⁴ narrans aliena, et placentia referens, et erudite³⁵ pleraque fallendo.³⁶

[21] Quidam ex his (licet rari) aleatorum vocabulum declinantes, ideoque se cupientes appellari potius³⁷ tesserarios³⁸ : inter quos tantum differt, quantum inter fures atque³⁹ latrones. Hoc tamen fatendum est, quod cum omnes amicitiae Romae tepescant, aleariae solae, quasi gloriosis quaesitae sudoribus, sociales sunt et affectus nimii⁴⁰ firmitate plena conexae: unde quidam ex his gregibus inveniuntur ita concordes, ut Quintilios esse existimes fratres. Ideoque videre licet ignobilem artis tesserariae callentem arcana, ut Catonem Porcium ob repulsam praeturae, nec suspectam antea nec speratam, incedere gravitate composita maestiorem, quod⁴¹ ei in maiore convivio vel consessu proconsularis quidam est antelatus.

[22] Subsident aliqui copiosos⁴² homines senes aut iuvenes, orbos vel caelibes, aut etiam uxores habentes seu⁴³ liberos (nec enim hoc titulo discrimen aliquod observatur), ad voluntates condendas allicientes eos praestigiis praestrigiis⁴⁴ miris: qui cum, supremis iudiciis ordinatis, quaedam⁴⁵ reliquerint his quibus morem gerendo testati sunt, ilico pereunt, ut id impleri sorte fatorum operante⁴⁶ nec putes, nec facile possit aegritudo testari nec funus comitatur his quisquam.

[23] Alius cum dignitate (licet mediocri), cervice tumida gradiens, notos antea obliquato contuetur aspectu, ut post captas Syracusas existimes reverti⁴⁷ Marcellum.

[24] Multi apud eos negantes esse superas potestates in caelo, nec in publicum⁴⁸ prodeunt nec prandent nec lavari arbitrantur se cautius posse, antequam ephemeride scrupulose sciscitata didicerint, ubi sit verbi gratia signum Mercurii, vel quotam Cancri sideris partem polum discurrens obtineat luna.

[25] Alius si creditorem suum flagitare molestius adverterit debitum, ad aurigam confugit, audentem omnia praelicenter, eumque ut veneficum curat urgeri: unde non nisi reddita cautione, dispendioque afflictus gravi discedit. Et additur huic, debitorem voluntarium includit ut proprium, nec ante eius professionem absolvit.

[26] Parte alia uxor, ut proverbium loquitur vetus, eamdem incudem diu noctuque tundendo, maritum testari compellit, hocque idem ut faciat uxor, urget maritus instanter: et periti iuris altrinsecus assciscuntur, unus in cubiculo alter eius aemulus in triclinio, repugnantia tractaturi: eisdemque subseruntur genitalium fatorum⁴⁹ interpretes controversi, hinc praefecturas profusius largientes, et sepulturas divitum matronarum; inde ad exsequias virorum iam⁵⁰ adventantes necessaria parari oportere iubentes⁵¹ : et testatur⁵² ancilla suapte natura pallidior, spiritu⁵³ pridie consumpto defuncta um Roma atque,⁵⁴ ut Tullius ait: Nec in rebus humanis quicquam bonum⁵⁵ norunt nisi quod fructuosum sit: amicos tamquam pecudes eos potissimum diligunt, ex quibus se sperant maximum fructum esse capturos.

[27] Cumque mutuum illi quid petunt, soccatos ut⁵⁶ Miconas videbis et Lachetas: cum adiguntur ut reddant, ita cothurnatos coturnatos et turgidos, ut Heraclidas illos Cresphontem et Temenum putes. Hactenus de senatu.

[28] Nunc ad otiosam plebem veniamus et desidem. In qua nitent, ut nominibus cultis, quidam calceorum expertes, ut Messores⁵⁷ Statarii Semicupae et Serapini, et Cicimbricus Cicymbricus cum Gluturino et Trulla, et Lucanicus cum Pordaca Porclaca⁵⁸ et Salsula, similesque innumeri.

[29] Hi omne quod vivunt, vino et tesseris impendunt et lustris, et voluptatibus et spectaculis: eisque templum et habitaculum et contio et cupitorum spes omnis Circus est maximus: et videre licet per fora et compita et plateas et conventicula, circulos multos collectos in se controversis iurgiis ferri, aliis aliud (ut fit) defendentibus.

[30] Inter quos hi qui ad satietatem vixerunt, potiores auctoritate longaeva, per canos⁵⁹ et rugas⁶⁰ clamitant saepe, rem publicam stare non posse, si futura concertatione, quem quisque vindicat, carceribus non exsiluerit princeps, et inominalibus⁶¹ equis, parum cohaerenter circumflexerit metam.

[31] Et ubi neglegentiae tanta est caries, exoptato die equestrium ludorum illucescente, nondum solis puro iubare, effusius omnes festinant praecipites, ut velocitate currus ipsos anteeant certaturos: super quorum eventu discissi votorum studiis anxii, plurimi agunt pervigiles noctes.

[32] Unde si ad theatralem ventum fuerit vilitatem, artifices scaenarii per sibilos exploduntur, siqui sibi aere humiliorem non conciliaverit plebem. Qui si defuerit strepitus, ad imitationem Tauricae gentis, peregrinos vociferantur pelli debere, quorum subsidiis semper nisi sunt ac steterunt, et taetris vocibus et absurdis; quae longe abhorrent a studiis et voluntate veteris illius plebis, cuius multa facete dicta memoria loquitur et venuste.⁶²

[33] Id enim nunc repertum est pro sonitu laudum impensiore, per applicatos homines ad plaudendum, ut in omni spectaculo exodiario venatori aurigae et histrionum generi omni, et iudicibus⁶³ celsis, itidemque minoribus, nec non etiam matronis, clametur assidue: Per te illi discant;⁶⁴ quid autem debeat disci, nemo sufficit explanare.

[34] In his plerique distentioribus saginis addicti, praeeunte nidoris indagine, acutisque vocibus feminarum, a galliciniis ipsis, in modum pavonum ieiunitate⁶⁵ clangentium, humum summis pedum unguibus contingentes, aulis assistunt, digitos⁶⁶ praerodentes, dum patinae defervescunt: alii nauseam horridae carnis, dum excoquitur, intentius despectantes, ut discissarum pecudum exta rimari cum anatomicis Democritum putes, docentem quibus modis posteritas mederi doloribus possit internis.

[35] Sit satis interim haec digessisse super rebus urbanis. Nunc redeamus ad cetera, quae per provincias agitavere multiplices casus.

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).) — 28.4 focus

[1] After long lasting and serious dispersion from¹ affairs in Rome, constrained by the great mass of foreign events, I shall return to a brief account of these, beginning with the prefecture of Olybrius,² which was exceedingly peaceful and mild; for he never allowed himself to be turned from humane conduct, but was careful and anxious that no word or act of his should ever be found harsh. He severely punished calumny, cut down the profits of the privy-purse wherever it was possible, fully and impartially distinguished justice from injustice, and showed himself most lenient towards those wbom he governed.³

[2] But a cloud was thrown over all these merits by a fault which indeed was not harmful to the community, but yet was a stain on a high official; for almost his whole private life, since he was inclined to luxury, he spent in playhouses and love affairs, though the latter were neither unlawful nor incestuous.

[3] After him Ampelius⁴ governed the city, a man who himself also lusted after pleasures. Born at Antioch, he had been formerly marshal of the court, was twice raised to the rank of proconsul,⁵ and then, long afterwards, to the high honour of the prefecture. Although admirable in other respects and well suited to gaining the favour of the people, he was nevertheless sometimes hard, and I wish he had been steadfast of purpose; for he could have corrected in part, even though to a small extent, the incitements of appetite and gross gluttony, if he had not let himself be turned to laxity and thus lost enduring fame.

[4] For he gave orders that no wine-shop should be opened before the fourth hour,⁶ that no one of the common people should heat water,⁷ that up to a fixed hour of the day no victualler should offer cooked meat for sale,⁸ and that no respectable man should be seen chewing anything in public.

[5] These shameful acts, and others worse than these, had, by being constantly overlooked, blazed up to such unbridled heights that not even that celebrated Cretan Epimenides,⁹ if, after the manner of myth, he had been called up from the lower world and returned to our times, would have been able single-handed to purify Rome; such was the stain of incurable sins that had overwhelmed most people.

[6] And first, as often, according to the quantity of topics,¹⁰ I shall give an account of the delinquencies of the nobles and then of the common people, condensing the events in a rapid disgression.

[7] Some men, distinguished (as they think) by famous fore-names, pride themselves beyond measure in being called Reburri, Flavonii, Pagonii, Gereones, and Dalii, along with Tarracii and Pherrasii, and many other equally fine-sounding indications of eminent ancestry.

[8] Others, resplendent in silken garments, as though they were to be led to death,¹¹ or as if (to speak without any evil omen) they were bringing up the rear¹² preceded by an army, are followed by a throng of slaves drawn up in troops, amid noise and confusion.

[9] When such men, each attended by fifty servants, have entered the vaulted rooms of a bath, they shout in threatening tones: Where on earth are our attendants? If they have learned that an unknown courtesan has suddenly appeared, some woman who has been a common prostitute of the crowd of our city, some old strumpet, they all strive to be the first to reach her, and caressing the new-comer, extol her with such disgraceful flattery as the Parthians do Samiramis, the Egyptians their Cleopatras, the Carians Artemisia, or the people of Palmyra Zenobia. And those who stoop to do such things are men in the time of whose forefathers a senator was punished with the censor’s brand of infamy, if he had dared, while this was still considered unseemly, to kiss his wife in the presence of their own daughter.¹³

[10] Some of these men, when one begins to salute them breast to breast, like menacing bulls turn to one side their heads, where they should be kissed, and offer their flatterers their knees to kiss or their hands, thinking that quite enough to ensure them a happy life; and they believe that a stranger is given an abundance of all the duties of courtesy, even though the great men may perhaps be under obligation to him, if he is asked what hot baths or waters he uses, or at what house he has been put up.

[11] And although they are so important and, in their own opinion, such cultivators of the virtues, if they learn that someone has announced that horses or chariots are coming from anywhere whatever, they hover over this same man and ask him questions as anxiously as their ancestors looked up to the two sons of Tyndareus,¹⁴ when they filled everything with joy by announcing those famous victories of olden days.

[12] Their houses are frequented by idle chatterboxes, who with various pretences of approval applaud every word of the man of loftier fortune, emulating the witty flatteries of the parasites in the comedies. For just as the parasites puff up boastful soldiers by attributing to them the sieges and battles against thousands of enemies, comparing them with the heroes of old, so these also, admiring the rows of columns hanging in the air with lofty facade, and the walls gleaming with the remarkable colours of precious stones, raise these noble men to the gods.

[13] Sometimes at their banquets the scales are even called for, in order to weigh the fish, birds, and dormice¹⁵ that are served, whose great size they commend again and again, as hitherto unexampled, often repeating it to the weariness of those present, especially when thirty secretaries stand near by, with pen-cases and small tablets, recording these same items, so that the only thing lacking seems to be a schoolmaster.¹⁶

[14] Some of them hate learning as they do poison, and read with attentive care only Juvenal and Marius Maximus,¹⁷ in their boundless idleness handling no other books than these, for what reason it is not for my humble mind to judge.¹⁸

[15] Whereas, considering the greatness of their fame and of their parentage, they ought to pore over many and varied works; they ought to learn that Socrates,¹⁹ when condemned to death and thrown into prison, asked a musician, who was skilfully rendering a song of the lyric poet Stesichorus, that he might be taught to do this while there was still time. And when the musician asked of what use that could be to him, since he was to die on the following day, Socrates replied: In order that I may know something more before I depart from life.

[16] But a few among them are so strict in punishing offences, that if a slave is slow in bringing the hot water, they condemn him to suffer three hundred lashes; if he has intentionally killed a man, although many people insist that he be condemned to death, his master will merely cry out: What should a worthless fellow do, notorious for wicked deeds? But if he dares to do anything else like that hereafter, he shall be punished.

[17] But the height of refinement with these men at present is, that it is better for a stranger to kill any man’s brother than to decline his invitation to dinner. For a senator thinks that he is suffering the loss of a rich property, if the man whom he has, after considerable weighing of pros and cons, invited once, fails to appear at his table.

[18] Some of them, if they make a longish journey to visit their estates, or to hunt by the labours of others,²⁰ think that they have equalled the marches of Alexander the Great or of Caesar; or if they have sailed in their gaily-painted boats from the Lake of Avernus to Puteoli, it is the adventure of the golden fleece, especially if they should dare it in the hot season. And if amid the gilded fans flies have lighted on the silken fringes, or through a rent in the hanging curtain a little ray of sun has broken in, they lament that they were not born in the land of the Cimmerians.²¹

[19] Then when they come from the bath of Silvanus or from the healing waters of Mamaea,²² as any one of them emerges he has himself dried with the finest linens, opens the presses and carefully searches amongst garments shimmering with shifting light, of which he brings enough with him to clothe eleven men. At length, some are chosen and he puts them on; then he takes back his rings, which, in order that the dampness may not injure them, he has handed to a servant, and after his fingers have been as good as measured to receive them, he departs.

[20] And, indeed, if any veteran has recently retired because of his years from service with the emperor, such a company of admirers attend him that . . . is considered to be the leader of the old song; the others quietly listen to what he says. He alone, like the father of a family, tells irrelevant stories and entertaining tales, and in most of them cleverly deceiving his hearers.²³

[21] Some of these, though few in number, shrink from the name of gamblers, and therefore desire to be called rather tesserarii,²⁴ persons who differ from each other only as much as thieves do from brigands. But this must be admitted, that while all friendships at Rome are lukewarm, those alone which are formed at the gambling table, as if they were gained by glorious toil, have a bond of union and are united by complete firmness of exceeding affection; whence some members of these companies are found to be so harmonious that you would take them for the brothers Quintilius.²⁵ And so you may see a man of low station, who is skilled in the secrets of dice-playing, walking abroad like Porcius Cato²⁶ after his unexpected and unlooked-for defeat for the praetorship, with a set expression of dignity and sorrow because at some great banquet or assemblage a former proconsul was given a higher place of honour.

[22] Some lie in wait for men of wealth, old or young, childless or unmarried, or even for those who have wives or children—for no distinction is observed in this respect—enticing them by wonderful trickeries to make their wills; and when they have set their last decisions in order and left some things to these men, to humour whom they have made their wills in their favour, they forthwith die; so that you would not think that the death was brought about by the working of the allotment of destiny, nor could an illness easily be proved by the testimony of witnesses; nor is the funeral of these men attended by any mourners.

[23] Another, who attained some rank, moderate though it be, walking with neck puffed up, looks askance at his former acquaintances, so that you might think that a Marcellus was returning after the taking of Syracuse.

[24] Many of them, who deny that there are higher powers in heaven, neither appear in public nor eat a meal nor think they can with due caution take a bath, until they have critically examined the calendar²⁷ and learned where, for example, the planet Mercury is, or what degree of the constellation of the Crab the moon occupies in its course through the heavens.

[25] Another, if he finds a creditor of his demanding his due with too great urgency, resorts to a charioteer²⁸ who is all too ready to dare any enterprise, and causes the creditor to be charged with being a poisoner; and he is not let off until he has surrendered the bill of indebtedness and paid heavy costs. And besides, the accuser has the voluntary debtor²⁹ put in prison as if he were his property, and does not set him free until he acknowledges the debt.

[26] In another place a wife by hammering day and night on the same anvil—as the old proverb has it³⁰ —drives her husband to make a will, and the husband insistently urges his wife to do the same. Skilled jurists are brought in on both sides, one in a bedroom, the other, his rival, in the dining-room to discuss disputed points. These are joined by opposing interpreters of horoscopes,³¹ on the one side making profuse promises of prefectures and the burial of rich matrons, on the other telling women that for their husbands’ funerals now quietly approaching they must make the necessary preparations. And a maid-servant bears witness, by nature somewhat pale,. . .³² As Cicero says:³³ They know of nothing on earth that is good unless it brings gain. Of their friends, as of their cattle, they love those best from whom they hope to get the greatest profit.

[27] When these people seek any loan, you will see them in slippers like a Micon or a Laches;³⁴ when they are urged to pay, they wear such lofty buskins and are so arrogant that you would think them Cresphontes and Temenus, the famous Heraclidae.³⁵ So much for the senate.

[28] Let us now turn to the idle and slothful commons. Among them some who have no shoes are conspicuous as though they had cultured names, such as the Messores, Statarii, Semicupae and Serapini, and Cicymbricus, with Gluturinus and Trulla, and Lucanicus with Porclaca and Salsula, and countless others.³⁶

[29] These spend all their life with wine and dice, in low haunts, pleasures, and the games. Their temple, their dwelling, their assembly, and the height of all their hopes is the Circus Maximus. You may see many groups of them gathered in the fora, the cross-roads, the streets,³⁷ and their other meeting-places, engaged in quarrelsome arguments with one another, some (as usual) defending this, others that.

[30] Among them those who have enjoyed a surfeit of life, influential through long experience, often swear by their hoary hair and wrinkles that the state cannot exist if in the coming race the charioteer whom each favours is not first to rush forth from the barriers, and fails to round the turning-point closely with his ill-omened³⁸ horses.

[31] And when there is such a dry rot of thoughtlessness, as soon as the longed-for day of the chariot-races begins to dawn, before the sun is yet shining clearly they all hasten in crowds to the spot at top speed, as if they would outstrip the very chariots that are to take part in the contest; and torn by their conflicting hopes about the result of the race, the greater number of them in their anxiety pass sleepless nights.

[32] If from there they come to worthless theatrical pieces, any actor is hissed off the boards who has not won the favour of the low rabble with money. And if this noisy form of demonstration is lacking, they cry in imitation of the Tauric race³⁹ that all strangers—on whose aid they have always depended and stood upright⁴⁰ —ought to be driven from the city. All this in foul and absurd terms, very different from the expressions of their interests and desires made by your commons of old, of whose many witty and happy sayings tradition tells us.⁴¹

[33] And it has now come to this, that in place of the lively sound of approval from men appointed to applaud, at every public show an actor of afterpieces, a beast-baiter, a charioteer, every kind of player, and the magistrates of higher and lower rank, nay even matrons, are constantly greeted with the shout You should be these fellows’ teachers!; but what they ought to learn no one is able to explain.

[34] The greater number of these gentry, given over to over-stuffing themselves with food,⁴² led by the charm of the odour of cooking⁴³ and by the shrill voices of the women, like a flock of peacocks screaming with hunger, stand even from cockcrow beside the pots⁴⁴ on tip-toe and gnaw the ends of their fingers⁴⁵ as they wait for the dishes to cool. Others hang over the nauseous mass of half-raw meat, while it is cooking, watching it so intently that one would think that Democritus⁴⁶ with other dissectors was examining the internal organs of dismembered animals and showing by what means future generations might be cured of internal pains.

[35] But enough for the present of this account of affairs in the city. Now let us return to the other events which were caused by various incidents in the provinces.

Notes on the current edition

Res Gestae

1. discussus, G; discretus, Novák; discursis, V.

2. iustorum iniustorumque, Val.; distinctor, G; iustorumque disiunctor, V.

3. communi, A; G omits; communis, V.

4. et ad, AG; ad, Gardt.; V omits ad.

5. Flauonii, Her.; flabunii, V 2 ( flabianii, V).

6. Ferasiis, Her.; Perrasiis aliisque, G; perrasusque, V.

7. progressae exercitu army cogites, V ( praegresso, G; cogentes, W 2G); ut progressos exercitu armato duces, Pet.

8. ubi ubi, V; ubiubi, G; ubi, V 3WA.

9. coeperint, Novák; coeperunt, V (first e from p).

10. genua suavianda, AG; genas sauiandas, Niemeyer; genia etuianda, V.

11. ita sollerter imminent eidem et, Her., uelociter imminent, uident, Val.; italos terhiminent uident, V.

12. ulterioris, Haupt; altioris, G; uiterieris, V.

13. facetias, Val.; adsentationes facetas, Haupt; cemoediis (lac. 8 letters) etas, V.

14. et pugnas contra, Clark; urbium et pugnas et, G; et pugnas aduersum, Pet.; et pugnas uirum milia, V.

15. replicata, Val.; delicata, G; saepius (lac. 2 letters) licata, V.

16. ut reus, Clark; iremus, V, deleted by Novák; iratus, Kiess.

17. exclamabit, Clark, c.c.; exclamet, Val., C. F. W. M., Kiessling; exclamat, V.

18. male factis famosus, Novák; ma (lac. 8 letters) mosus, V.

19. siquis aliud eiusmodi, Val. ( si quid, Clark); siquis (lac. 15 letters) di, V.

20. corrigetur, Val.; curetur, Pet.; cortu (lac. 11 letters) tis, V.

21. ciuilitatis, G; for V see note 5.

22. summum, added by Eyssen.; uel maximum, Novák; G omits; (lac. 8 letters) m, V.

23. fratrem, Val.; fratres iure, G; frure, V.

24. quamquam rogatus (lac. 5 letters), V; quam cum rogatur, Val.; quam cum rogatus sit, Eyssen.

25. opimi, Her. (cf. xxix. 1, 43); oppido, Lind.; G omits; oppidi, V.

26. uelleris, O. Hirschfeld; Duilli, Kellerbauer; uelle, V.

27. solutis, Lipsius; politas, Pet.; solitis, V.

28. tradidit, Clark, c.c.; tradiderat, G; tradeat, V.

29. ut metatis abit ( abiit, Clark), G; et metatis ne id ue id ( ne id V 3) V.

30. si qui conmilitio, Her. (also Horum de numero); siquibus in mil (lac. 7 letters), V; enim. fallendo, G omits.

31. fuerit prouecti, Her.; ille and coetu mirionum scripsi ( mirio suggested by Warmington) (lac. 14 letters) rit m (lac. 7 letters) aeut prouectibus, V.

32. cantilenae, scripsi; silentiis, Eyssen.; lenii, V.

33. taciturni audiant dicta solus, Val.; tacitur (lac. 6 letters) dicta solias, V.

34. textui narrans, Her.; tectus, Val.; tectu (lac. 2 letters) rant, V.

35. erudite, Her.; et utile, A; et urile V,.

36. fallendo (lac. 5 letters) quaedam, V.

37. potius, addidi, c.c.

38. tesserarios, G; tablistas, Her.; appellarit (lac. 9 letters) s, V.

39. atque, Novák, c.c.; esst et, Her.; et, V

40. adfectus nimii, Her.; adfectu nimio, G; adfecti nimis, V.

41. Frag. M begins here; see Clark's ed. for numerous variants; also cf. Robinson (see Preface).

42. copiosos, Gruter ex cod. Fauchetii; curio sos, MV.

43. seu, Momm.; siue, T; sine liberis, W 2HN 2; se, MV.

44. praestrigiis, Léfstedt; eos praestigiis, Val.; potest regns ( -nis, M 2), M; p. regiis, V.

45. quaedam, Her.; quae bant, M; quaebant, V.

46. operante nec facile possit . testari (operientem, YT 1, del. Novák), Pet.; putes, Eyssen. omitting nec.; puteos, MV.

47. reuerti, Novák; reuerti M. (Marcellum), G; reuertimus marcellum, MV.

48. publicum, C. F. W. M.; publico, MV.

49. fatorum interpretes, Her.; extorum interpretes, G; extoruith (lac. 4 letters, M, of 7, V) terpraeter, MV.

50. iam, added by Novák; iam iam, Val.; insignium, Clark; fama, MV.

51. iubentes, Gardt.; inuentes, MV.

52. testatur ancilla, Her.; testatura (lac. 4 letters, M; 11, V) ancillas, MV.

53. pallidior, spiritu, Her.; pallidi (lac. at end of line, M) aspirati, MV.

54. atque, Her. (lac. 9 letters, M; 15, V) um romaque, M V.

55. bonum, G (M in margin); bos (lac. 2 letters at end of line, M; no lac. in V) nouunt, MV.

56. soccatus ut, C. F. W. M.; soccos et, MV.

57. Messores, Her.; cimessores, MV.

58. Porclaca, rest. by Nissen; Pordaca, mss. ( porclaca, V, M, Robinson).

59. cans, Val.; ianos, V.

60. rugas, Val.; Eponam, Gardt.; rogant, V.

61. inominalibus, Harmon; funal ibus, Val.; prin (lac. 13 letters) nominabilis, MV ( l from s, V).

62. uenuste, P. Thomas; uenusta, G; uenustas id, MV.

63. iudicibus di (in digitos, see note 1, p. 160), lacking in M, where 7 lines are lost.

64. illi discant, Clark; ille discat, G; ille discant, V.

65. ieiunitate, Haupt; hiennitare, V.

66. digitos praerodentes, AG; digitis (gitis, M) praerudentes (from -rund-, M?) MV.

Ammianus Marcellinus Res Gestae 28.4

John C. Rolfe (Translator)

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De Olybrii et Ampelii Praefectura Urbana; et de vitiis Senatus populique Romani.

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