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Valentinianus Sarmatis et Quadis Pannoniarum populatoribus bellum illaturus, in Illyricumproficiscitur, et transito Danubio Quadorum pagos vastat, vicos incendit, barbaros cuiusque aetatis iugulat.

[1] Pubescente iam vere, Valentinianus a Treveris motus, per nota itinera gradu celeri contendebat, eique regiones adventanti quas petebat, legatio Sarmatarum offertur: pedibusque eius prostrata, orabat pacifica prece, ut propitius veniret et lenis, nullius diri facinoris participes popularis suos inventurus aut conscios.

[2] Quibus saepe eadem iterantibus, hactenus perpensa deliberatione respondit, haec in locis ubi dicuntur admissa, quaerenda verissimis documentis et vindicanda. Cumque exinde Carnuntum Illyriorum oppidum introisset, desertum quidem nunc et squalens, sed ductori exercitus perquam opportunum, ubi fors copiam dedisset aut ratio, e statione proxima reprimebat barbaricos appetitus.

[3] Et quamquam terrori cunctis erat dum sperabatur, ut acer et vehemens, mox iudices damnari iussurus, quorum perfidia vel secessione Pannoniarum nudatum est latus: cum illuc venisset, ita intepuit, ut neque in Gabinii regis inquireret necem, necque inusta rei publicae vulnera, quo sinente vel agente segnius evenissent, curatius¹ vestigaret: eo videlicet more, quo erat severus in gregariis corrigendis, remissior erga maiores fortunas vel verbis asperioribus incessendas.

[4] Solum tamen incitato petebat odio Probum, numquam ex quo eum viderat minari desinens vel mitescens: cuius rei causae nec obscurae fuerunt nec leves. Hic praefecturam praetorio non² tunc tune primitus nanctus, eamque multis atque utinam probabilibus modis, in longum proferre gestiens,³ non ut prosapiae suae claritudo monebat, plus adulationi quam verecundiae dedit.

[5] Contemplatus enim propositum principis, quaerendae undique pecuniae vias absque iustorum iniustorumque discretione scrutantis, errantem non reducebat ad aequitatis tramitem (ut saepe moderatores fecere tranquilli) sed ipse quoque flexibilem sequebatur atque transversum.

[6] Unde graves oboedientium casus, et⁴ exitialia provisorum nomina titulorum, iuxta opulentas et tenues enervatas succidere fortunas, argumentis aliis post alia validioribus,⁵ usu laedendi reperiente longaevo. Denique per⁶ tributorum onera vectigaliumque augmenta multiplicata, optimatum quosdam ultimorum metu exagitatos, mutare compulit⁷ sedes, et flagitantium ministrorum amaritudine quidam expressi, cum non suppeteret quod daretur, erant perpetui carcerum inquilini: e quibus aliquos, cum vitae iam taederet et lucis, suspendiorum exoptata remedia consumpserunt.

[7] Haec ita illecebrosius atque inhumanius agi loquebatur quidem pertinax rumor; Valentinianus vero tamquam auribus cera illitis ignorabat, indifferenter quidem⁸ lucrandi vel ex rebus minimis avidus, idque tantum cogitans quod offerebatur, parsurus tamen fortasse Pannoniis, si haec ante ingemiscenda compendia⁹ comperisset, quae nimium sero tali didicit casu.

[8] Ad provincialium residuorum exemplum, etiam Epirotae acturos sibi gratias a praefecto mittere compulsi legatos, Iphiclem quendam philosophum, spectatum robore pectoris hominem, adegere (non sponte propria) pergere ad id munus implendum.

[9] Qui cum imperatorem vidisset, agnitus adventusque sui causam interrogatus, Graece respondit, atque ut philosophus veritatis professor, quaerente curatius principe, si hi qui misere ex animo bene sentiunt de praefecto, gementes, inquit, et inviti.

[10] Quo ille verbo tamquam telo perculsus, actus eius ut sagax bestia rimabatur, genuino percunctando sermone quos noscitabat, ubinam ille esset (verbi gratia) honore suos antecellens¹⁰ et nomine, vel ille dives, aut alius ordinis¹¹ primus. Cumque disceret perisse aliquem laqueo, abisse alium trans mare, conscivisse sibi alium mortem aut plumbo vita erepta exstinctum, in immensum excanduit, urente irarum nutrimenta tunc officiorum magistro Leone (pro nefas!) ipso quoque praefecturam, ut e celsiore scopulo caderet, affectante: quam si adeptus rexisset, prae his quae erat ausurus, administratio Probi ferebatur in caelum.

[11] Agens itaque apud Carnuntum imperator per continuos tres menses aestivos arma parabat et alimenta, siqua fors secundasset, pervasurus opportune Quados, tumultus atrocis auctores; in quo oppido Faustinus, filius sororis Viventii praefecti praetorio, notarius militans, Probo spectante negotium, carnificis manu peremptus est post tormenta, vocatus in crimen, quod asinum occidisse dicebatur ad usum artium secretarum, ut asserebant quidam urgentes; ut autem aiebat ille ad imbecillitatem firmandam fluentium¹² capillorum.

[12] Alio quoque in eum perniciose composito, quod petenti per iocum cuidam Nigrino, ut eum notarium faceret, exclamavit ille hominem ridens: Fac me imperatorem, si id volueris impetrare. Hocque ludibrio inique interpretato, et Faustinus ipse et Nigrinus et alii sunt interfecti.

[13] Praemisso igitur Merobaude cum militari peditum manu, quam regebat, ad vastandos cremandosque barbaricos pagos, comite adiuncto Sebastiano, Valentinianus Acincum propere castra commovit, navigiisque ad repentinum casum coniunctis, et contabulato celeri studio ponte, per partem aliam transiit in Quados, speculantes quidem ex diruptis montibus eius adventum, quo plerique ancipites, incertique accidentium, cum suis caritatibus secesserunt: sed stupore defixos, cum in regionibus suis, contra quam opinabantur, augusta cernerent signa.

[14] Progressus ergo coacto gradu in quantum res tulit, iugulataque aetate promiscua, quam etiam tum palantem subitus occupavit excursus, et tectis combustis, redit cum incolumibus cunctis, quos duxerat secum, itidemque apud Acincum moratus, autumno praecipiti, per tractus conglaciari frigoribus assuetos, commoda quaerebat hiberna, nullaque sedes idonea reperiri praeter Savariam¹³ poterat, quamvis eo invalidam tempore, assiduisque malis afflictam.

[15] Unde hoc, etiam si magni intererat, paulisper sequestrate, impigre motus, peragrata fluminis ripa, castrisque praesidio competenti munitis atque castellis, Bregitionem pervenit, ibique diu compositum ad quietem principis fatum sortem denuntiabat ei supremam, prodigiis¹⁴ ingerentibus multis.

[16] Namque diebus ante paucissimis, ruinas fortunarum indicantia celsarum, arsere crinita sidera cometarum, quorum originem supra docuimus. Ante apud Sirmium repentino fragore nubium fulmen excussum, palatii et curiae partem incendit et fori, et apud Savariam¹⁵ eodem adhuc constitute, bubo culminibus regii lavacri insidens, occentansque funebria, nulla iacientium sagittas et lapides contemplabili dextera cadere potuit, certatim licet ardenti studio petebatur.

[17] Item cum ab urbe praedicta tenderet ad procinctum, per portam voluit unde introiit exire, ut omen colligeret, quod cite remeabit ad Gallias. Dumque¹⁶ locus aggestis ruderibus neglectus purgatur, lapsam forem ferratam, quae exitum obseravit, multitudo removere non potuit, viribus magnis enisa, et ille ne¹⁷ frustra tereret diem, coactus per aliam egressus est portam.

[18] Nocteque quam lux ereptura eum vita secuta est (ut per quietem solet) videbat coniugem suam absentem, sedere passis capillis, amictu squalenti contectam: quam aestimari dabatur Fortunam eius esse, cum taetro habitu iam discessuram.

[19] Progressus deinde matutinus, contractiore vultu subtristis, cum eum oblatus non susciperet equus, anteriores pedes praeter morem erigens in sublime, innata feritate concitus, ut erat immanis, dexteram stratoris militis iussit abscidi, quae eum insilientem iumento fulserat¹⁸ consuete:¹⁹ perissetque cruciabiliter innocens iuvenis, ni tribunus stabuli Cerealis dirum nefas cum sui periculo distulisset.

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).) — 30.5 focus

[1] When spring was already ripening,¹ Valentinian moved from Trier and hastened by quick marches along the familiar roads; and when he came to the regions for which he was aiming, he was met by a deputation of the Sarmatians,³ who threw themselves at his feet and begged in peaceful terms that his visit might be favourable and merciful to them, since he would find that their countrymen were neither participants in, nor aware of, any outrage.

[2] When they often repeated these same statements, after mature deliberation the emperor made this answer: that these acts must be investigated, in the place where they were said to have been committed, and punished in the light of the most reliable evidence. And when thereafter he entered Carnuntum,⁴ a town of the prefecture of Illyricum, now indeed deserted and in ruins, but very convenient for the leader of an army, he proceeded (whenever chance or design gave the opportunity) to check the attacks of the savages from a station near by.

[3] And though he was a terror to all while his arrival was waited for, since he was likely in bitter anger to order at once the punishment of officials who through perfidy or desertion had exposed that side of Pannonia, yet on his arrival he became so mild that he neither made inquiry into the murder of King Gabinius,⁵ nor carefully investigated the wounds branded on the body of the state to learn through whose negligence or guilt they had come about. And indeed it was his way to be severe in punishing common people, but more lenient towards personages of higher rank, even when they deserved a severe rebuke in harsh words.

[4] Probus alone he attacked with bitter⁶ hatred, never ceasing to threaten him from the first time he had seen him, nor showing him any mildness; and for this conduct there were obvious weighty reasons. Probus had then, not for the first time, attained the rank of praetorian prefect, and in his longing to prolong his tenure of office in many ways (I only wish that they had been justifiable), he relied more on flattery than on worth otherwise than the glory of his stock⁷ admonished him.

[5] For considering the emperor’s inclination to seek out ways of getting money from every quarter without distinction between right and wrong, he did not call him back when he strayed from the path of justice (as peace-loving counsellors have often done), but himself also followed the emperor on his devious and perverse course.

[6] Hence resulted the grievous troubles of his subjects, and the ruinous items of imposts⁸ that had been instituted, long-continued practice in oppression finding one pretext after another, each more effective than the others, enfeebled and cut the sinews of the fortunes of rich and poor alike. Finally, the burden of tributes and the repeated increase in taxes compelled some of the most distinguished families, hounded by the fear of the worst, to leave their country; others, crushed by the severity of the dunning tax-collectors, having nothing to give, became permanent inmates of the prisons; and some of these, now weary of life and light, died by the noose as a welcome release.

[7] These things, as persistent rumour maintained, went on thus with increasing treachery⁹ and ruthlessness; but Valentinian knew nothing of them, as if his ears were stopped with wax, being eager for indiscriminate gain even from the slightest things, and taking into consideration only what was offered. Yet perhaps he would have spared Pannonia,¹⁰ if he had known earlier of these lamentable sources of profit, of which he learned all too late from the following chance occurrence.

[8] After the example of the rest of the provincials the Epirotes also were compelled by the prefect to send envoys to the emperor to offer him their thanks,¹¹ and forced a philosopher called Iphicles,¹² a man renowned for his strength of soul, against his own desire to go and perform that duty.

[9] And he, when he came into the emperor’s presence, being recognized and asked the reason for his coming, replied in Greek; and when the emperor asked explicitly whether those who sent him thought well of the prefect in their hearts, he said, as became a philosopher who made a profession of truth: With groans and against their will.

[10] By these words the emperor was struck as by a dagger, and like a keen-scented hound he searched into all the conduct of the prefect, asking Iphicles in his native tongue about people whom he personally knew: where in the world, for example, was so and so who excelled his countrymen in honour and reputation; or another, who was rich; or still another of high rank. And when he learned that one had fallen victim to the noose, that another had gone across the sea, that a third had committed suicide or had died under the blows of the knout,¹³ he burned with tremendous rage, to which Leo, who was then chief marshal of the Court (oh, horror!), added blazing fuel, a man who himself aspired to the prefecture, in order to fall from a greater height.¹⁴ And if he had attained and ruled the office, in comparison with what he would have dared, the administration of a Probus would be praised to the skies!

[11] And so the emperor remained at Carnuntum, where throughout the entire three summer months he was preparing arms and supplies, intending, if in anyway fortune favoured, to find opportunity to attack the Quadi, the instigators of the terrible uprising. It was in that town that Faustinus, nephew of Viventius,¹⁵ the praetorian prefect, when serving as a state-secretary, after an investigation conducted by Probus, was first tortured and then put to death by the hand of the executioner. The charge was that he had killed an ass, as some of his accusers alleged, for use in secret arts, but as he himself declared, to strengthen the weakness of his hair, which was falling out.¹⁶

[12] According to another, who was also suborned to ruin him, when one Nigrinus in jest asked for an appointment as state-secretary, Faustinus laughed at the man and said: Make me emperor, if you want to get that office. Since this jest was unjustly interpreted, Faustinus himself, as well as Nigrinus and others, were put to death.

[13] Valentinian now sent Merobaudes¹⁷ on ahead with the division of foot-soldiers under his command, and in company with Count Sebastianus, to plunder and burn the cantons of the barbarians; the emperor himself quickly moved his camp to Acincum,¹⁸ joined together boats for the sudden emergency, and having with swift energy made a bridge of planks upon them, crossed through another quarter into the territory of the Quadi. They indeed were watching for his coming from the steep mountains, to which most of them, in doubt and uncertain what was happening, had withdrawn with their families; but they were overcome with amazement when, contrary to their expectation, they saw the imperial standards in their territories.

[14] Valentinian then advanced forcing the pace as far as occasion demanded, put to death without distinction of age all those who were still roaming about and were taken unawares by his sudden onset, burned the dwellings, and returned without losing a man of those whom he had led with him. He also lingered at Acincum, since the autumn was swiftly passing on, and being in lands where the cold weather always covered everything with ice, he looked about for suitable winter quarters; and he could find no convenient place except Savaria,¹⁹ although that town was then weak and had suffered from repeated misfortunes.

[15] Therefore, setting this²⁰ aside for a time, in spite of the great need for a halt,²¹ he quickly moved from there, marched along the banks of the river, and having protected his camp with an adequate force and with castles came to Bregitio.²² There the fate which had long been designed to end the emperor’s labours foretold his approaching end by a repeated series of portents.

[16] For a very few days before his arrival comets blazed in the heavens; these foreshadow the downfall of men of high position, and of their origin I have already given an account.²³ Before that, at Sirmium, with sudden crash of the clouds, a thunderbolt fell and set fire to a part of the palace, the senate house, and the forum. Also at Savaria, where the emperor was still settled, an owl perched on the top of the imperial bath, and uttered notes foretelling death; and no skilful²⁴ hand could bring it down with arrows or with stones, although many vied with one another in eager attacks upon it.

[17] Again, when he was on his way from the aforesaid city to a campaign, he wished to go out through the same gate by which he had entered, in order to gain an omen that he would quickly return to Gaul; but while the neglected place was being cleared of accumulated debris, the iron-clad door which barred the exit was found to have fallen, and could not be removed by the greatest efforts of a large number of men; and to avoid wasting a day there, he was forced to go out by another gate.

[18] And on the night before the day which was to deprive him of life, he had a vision (as men often do in their sleep); he saw his absent wife sitting with disordered hair and dressed in mourning attire; and it was possible to infer that she was his own Fortune, on the point of leaving him in the garb of sorrow.

[19] Then the next morning, when he came out somewhat gloomy and with frowning brow, the horse that was brought to him would not allow him to mount, but reared its fore feet high in the air contrary to its usual manner; whereupon the emperor fell into one of his innate fits of anger and, being naturally cruel, ordered the groom’s²⁵ right hand, which as usual had supported him in leaping on to the animal, to be cut off. And the guiltless young man would have suffered a cruel fate, had not Cerealis, the tribune in charge of the stable, at the risk of his own life postponed the terrible wrong.²⁶

Notes on the current edition

Res Gestae

1. curatius, Bent., Novák; accuratius, EG; ut curatius, V.

2. non tunc, Her. (cf. xvii. 11, 1); haud (for tunc), Momms.; V omits non.

3. spatium gestiens, Her. c.c.; gestiens tempus, Novák; gestiens, V.

4. et, add. Her.; V omits.

5. aliis post alia ualidioribus, Her.; aliis post allis, G; aliis post u. aliis, V.

6. per, add. Her.; V omits.

7. conpulit, V, rest. by Val.; compulerunt, G.

8. quidem, V, deleted by Her., Nov., Pet.; uel, G.

9. conpendia, V; dispendia, Her., Nov.

10. suos antecellens, Her.; inter suos antecellens, G.; ante suos cellens, Val., V (tr.).

11. ordinis, V; sui ordinis, Her. (cf. xxviii. 6, 4).

12. autem fluentium, added in G; V omits.

13. Sauariam, Her.; sabariam, V.

14. prodigiis, V; prodigiis se, Pet.

15. Sauariam, Her.; Sabariam, EG; suariam, V.

16. dumque, Bent., C. F. W. M.; cumque, V.

17. ille ne, sugg. by Fletcher; ne ibidem, Momms.; dum, G; ne tandem, C. F. W. M.; ideo ne, Her.; idene, V.

18. fulserat, W 2, Pet.; pulsarat, C. F. W. M., Corn.; pulserat, V.

19. consuete, Pet.; inconsulto, Kiess., Corn.; consuetu, V.

Ammianus Marcellinus Res Gestae 30.5

John C. Rolfe (Translator)

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Valentinianus Sarmatis et Quadis Pannoniarum populatoribus bellum illaturus, in Illyricumproficiscitur, et transito Danubio Quadorum pagos vastat, vicos incendit, barbaros cuiusque aetatis iugulat.

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