Res Gestae

Ammianus Marcellinus

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).

His authority was so well established that, being feared as well as deeply loved as one who shared in the dangers and hardships of his men, he both in the heat of fierce battles condemned cowards to punishment, and, while he was still only a Caesar,[*](Under the authority of Constantius; see Introd., p. xxiv.) he controlled his men even without pay, when they were fighting with savage tribes, as I have long ago said. And when they were armed and mutinous, he did not fear to address them and threaten to return to private life, if they continued to be insubordinate.

Finally, one thing it will be enough to know in token of many, namely, that merely by a speech he induced his Gallic troops, accustomed to snow and to the Rhine, to traverse long stretches of country and follow him through torrid Assyria to the very frontiers of the Medes.

His success was so conspicuous that for a long time he seemed to ride on the shoulders of Fortune herself, his faithful guide as he in victorious career surmounted enormous difficulties. And after he left the western region, so long as he was on earth all nations preserved perfect quiet, as if a kind of earthly wand of Mercury were pacifying them.

There are many undoubted tokens of his

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generosity. Among these are his very light imposition of tribute, his remission of the crown-money,[*](The coronarium was the money presented to the emperor personally by the provinces on his ascension to the throne, which was often a great amount. Avaricious rulers claimed it on other occasions, such as victories over the barbarians, and the like. Augustus, Hadrian, Antoninus Pius, and Alexander Severus had not exacted it.) the cancellation of many debts made great by long standing,[*](On taxes, cf. xvi. 5, 14.) the impartial treatment of disputes between the privy purse and private persons, the restoration of the revenues from taxes to various states along with their lands, except such as previous high officials[*](The pretorian prefects, etc. Also, Constantine, Con- stantius, and Valentinian sold or gave away lands belonging to the temples.) had alienated by a kind of legal sale; furthermore, that he was never eager to increase his wealth, which he thought was better secured in the hands of its possessors; and he often remarked that Alexander the Great, when asked where his treasures were, gave the kindly answer, in the hands of my friends.

Having set down his good qualities, so many as I could know, let me now come to an account of his faults, although they can be summed up briefly. In disposition ho was somewhat inconsistent, but he controlled this by the excellent habit of submitting, when he went wrong, to correction.

He was somewhat talkative, and very seldom silent; also too much given to the consideration of omens and portents, so that in this respect he seemed to equal the emperor Hadrian. Superstitious rather than truly religious, he sacrificed innumerable victims without regard to cost, so that one might believe that if he had returned from the Parthians, there would soon have been a scarcity of cattle; like the Caesar Marcus,[*](Marcus Aurelius.) of whom (as we learn) the following Greek distich was written:

  1. We the white steers do Marcus Caesar greet.
  2. Win once again, and death we all must meet.
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He delighted in the applause of the mob, and desired beyond measure praise for the slightest matters, and the desire for popularity often led him to converse with unworthy men.

But yet, in spite of this, his own saying might be regarded as sound, namely, that the ancient goddess of Justice, whom Aratus[*](Cf. xxii. 10, 6.) raised to heaven because of her impatience with men’s sins, returned to earth again during his rule, were it not that sometimes he acted arbitrarily, and now and then seemed unlike himself.