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).

All this Procopius observed from his hiding- place, and thinking that when a more favourable turn of fortune should occur, the crown of supreme power could be gained with little trouble, he lay in wait like a beast of prey, ready to leap forth at once on seeing anything which he could seize.

And while he was burning with impatience to hasten his designs, fate offered him this most timely opportunity. For Valens at the end of winter hastened to Syria and had already crossed the frontier of Bithynia, when he learned from the reports of his generals that the Gothic tribes, at that time

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unassailed[*](They had remained quiet since the time of Constantine the Great, but were aroused to anger by the appointment of two emperors of provincial birth) and therefore very savage, were conspiring together and making preparations to invade the Thracian provinces. On learning this, in order that he himself might reach his destination without hindrance, Valens ordered a sufficient reinforcement of cavalry and infantry to be sent to the places where inroads of the savages were feared.

And so, since the emperor was removed to a distance, Procopius, worn out by long-continued troubles, and thinking that even a cruel death would be more merciful than the evils by which he was tormented, hazarded at one cast all perils whatsoever; and without fear now of suffering the worst, led by a desperate resolve he essayed the bold deed of hastening to tempt the legions of Divitenses and the Younger Tungricani,[*](Cf. xxvii. 1, 2.) who had been ordered with other troops to hasten to the urgent service in Thrace, and as usual were to remain for two days in Constantinople.[*](For rest and preparation for the campaign.) This he did by hastening to appeal to certain acquaintances that he had among those same troops; but because it would be dangerous and difficult to speak with all, he confided in only a few.

These men, enticed by the hope of great rewards, promised under the sanctity of an oath that they would do everything that he wished, guaranteeing also the favour of their comrades, with whom they held an important place in giving advice, since they were the highest paid[*](A soldier’s pay differed in the various branches of the army, and was increased according to his years of service; cf. Veget. ii. 21.) and the most deserving.

So, as had been agreed, as soon as the sun’s rays illumined the day, the

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aforesaid Procopius, full of conflicting emotions, went to the Anastasian Baths, named for the sister of Constantine,[*](Anastasia, wife of Bassianus Caesar; according to Zosimus, v. 9, 3, these and the Carosian baths were named from the two daughters of Valens. The other was Carosa, apparently the wife of Procopius, Socrat. iv. 9; Sozom. vi. 9.) where he knew that the legions had their quarters. There he learned from the confidants of his secrets that their whole number in a meeting by night had united in his support. Then, after a pledge of safety was willingly given him, he was received by the throng of venal soldiers and treated indeed with honour, although he seemed in a way to be held as a prisoner; for just as once before, after the death of Pertinax, the praetorians took up Julianus,[*](I.e. Didius Julianus. The praetorians publicly an- nounced that they would bestow the purple on the man who would pay the highest price. When Sulpicianus, prefect of the city, had promised 25,000 sesterces to each praetorian, Julianus offered 30,000 and won the prize.) when he was a bidder for the imperial power, so now also these troops, with an eye to every possible gain, defended Procopius, as he plotted to enter upon his ill-starred rule.

So there he stood rather wasted (you would think that he had come up from the lower world), and because a purple robe could nowhere be found, he was dressed in a gold-embroidered tunic, like an attendant at court, but from foot to waist he looked like a page in the service of the palace[*](The paedagogium was the apartment where pages or slaves were trained for service; cf. Pliny, Epist. vii. 27, 13, and xxix. 3, 3, below.) ; he wore purple shoes on his feet, and bore a lance, and a small piece of purple cloth in his left hand; just as sometimes on the stage you might think that a splendidly decorated figure was suddenly made to appear as the curtain was raised, or through some mimic deception.[*](The language is far from clear, but the general meaning is that he resembled some grotesque actor in a stage-play or mime; Salvète (see Bibliogr. Note, vol. i.) seems to take it to be a figure painted on the curtain. In that case through the curtain would mean by the curtain, as it was raised at the end of a performance; cf. Virg., Georg. iii. 24 f., vel scaena ut versis discedat frontibus utque purpureas intexti tollant aulaea Britanni. The curtain as it rises shows the figure a part at a time and the representation in a mime would be grotesque; Ammianus seems to have combined the two ideas. It is hard to see how per aulaeum can mean behind the curtain, as Büchele takes it, or that a figure on the stage could be seen through the curtain. Yonge omits per aulaeum altogether.)