Res Gestae

Meanwhile, gluttony and deep abysses of banquets[*](Cf. mensarum voragines, xiv. 6, 16.) grew apace, and the place of triumphs won in battle was taken by those gained at the table. The lavish use of silk and of the textile arts increased, and more anxious attention to the kitchen. Showy sites for richly adorned houses were eagerly sought, of such dimensions that if the consul Quinctius[*](Cincimnatus; cf. Val. Max. iv. 4, 7.) had owned as much in farmland, he would have lost the glory of his poverty even after his dictatorship.

To these conditions, shameful as they were, were added serious defects in military discipline. In place of the war-song the soldiers practised effeminate ditties; the warriors’ bed was not a stone

Moreover, the soldiers of those times were so insolent and rapacious towards their countrymen, and so cowardly and weak in the presence of the enemy, that having acquired riches by patronage and idleness, they were adepts in distinguishing the varieties of gold and gems, contrary to the usage even of recent times.

For it is well known that under Caesar Maximianus,[*](Emperor A.D. 286-305, a little over a half-century earlier.) when a fortified camp of the Persian king was pillaged, a common soldier after finding a Parthian jewel-box containing pearls, threw away the gems in ignorance of their value, and went his way, quite satisfied with the beauty of the leather alone.

It happened at that same time that a barber, who had been summoned to trim the emperor’s hair, appeared in splendid attire. On seeing him, Julian was amazed, and said: I sent for a barber, not a fiscal agent. However, he asked the man what his trade brought him in; to which the barber replied twenty daily allowances[*](I.e. loaves.) of bread, and the same amount of fodder for pack-animals (these they commonly call capita), as well as a heavy annual salary, not to mention many rich perquisites.

Incensed by this, Julian discharged all attendants of that kind (as being not at all necessary to him),

Although Julian from the earliest days of his childhood had been more inclined towards the worship of the pagan gods, and as he gradually grew up burned with longing to practise it, yet because of his many reasons for anxiety he observed certain of its rites with the greatest possible secrecy.

But when his fears were ended, and he saw that the time had come when he could do as he wished, he revealed the secrets of his heart and by plain and formal decrees ordered the temples to be opened, victims brought to the altars, and the worship of the gods restored.

And in order to add to the effectiveness of these ordinances, he summoned to the palace the bishops of the Christians, who were of conflicting opinions, and the people, who were also at variance, and politely advised them to lay aside their differences, and each fearlessly and without opposition to observe his own beliefs.

On this he took a firm stand, to the end that, as this freedom increased their dissension, he might afterwards have no fear of a united populace, knowing as he did from experience that no wild beasts are such enemies to mankind as are most of the Christians in their deadly hatred of one another. And he often used to say:

For Marcus, as he was passing through Palestine on his way to Egypt, being often disgusted with the malodorous and rebellious Jews, is reported to have cried: O Marcomanni, O Quadi, O Sarmatians, at last I have found a people more unruly than you.