2. Tacitus, Annals, 3.18.7, 4.20.2-4.20.4, 4.58.3, 6.10.3, 6.20.2-6.20.3, 6.22.1-6.22.3, 6.22.6, 6.46, 6.46.3, 11.21, 13.17.1, 14.22.1, 16.5.3, 16.13.2 (1st cent. CE - 2nd cent. CE) Tagged with subjects: •fatum, and individuals Found in books: Davies (2004) 172, 174, 175, 211, 212| 6.46. Gnarum hoc principi, eoque dubitavit de tradenda re publica, primum inter nepotes, quorum Druso genitus sanguine et caritate propior, sed nondum pubertatem ingressus, Germanici filio robur iuventae, vulgi studia, eaque apud avum odii causa. etiam de Claudio agitanti, quod is composita aetate bonarum artium cupiens erat, imminuta mens eius obstitit. sin extra domum successor quaereretur, ne memoria Augusti, ne nomen Caesarum in ludibria et contumelias verterent metuebat: quippe illi non perinde curae gratia praesentium quam in posteros ambitio. mox incertus animi, fesso corpore consilium cui impar erat fato permisit, iactis tamen vocibus per quas intellegeretur providus futurorum; namque Macroni non abdita ambage occidentem ab eo deseri, orientem spectari exprobravit, et G. Caesari, forte orto sermone L. Sullam inridenti, omnia Sullae vitia et nullam eiusdem virtutem habiturum praedixit. simul crebris cum lacrimis minorem ex nepotibus complexus, truci alterius vultu, 'occides hunc tu' inquit 'et te alius.' sed gravescente valetudine nihil e libidinibus omittebat, in patientia firmitudinem simulans solitusque eludere medicorum artes atque eos qui post tricesimum aetatis annum ad internoscenda corpori suo utilia vel noxia alieni consilii indigerent. 11.21. De origine Curtii Rufi, quem gladiatore genitum quidam prodidere, neque falsa prompserim et vera exequi pudet. postquam adolevit, sectator quaestoris, cui Africa obtigerat, dum in oppido Adrumeto vacuis per medium diei porticibus secretus agitat, oblata ei species muliebris ultra modum humanum et audita est vox 'tu es, Rufe, qui in hanc provinciam pro consule venies.' tali omine in spem sublatus degressusque in urbem largitione amicorum, simul acri ingenio quaesturam et mox nobilis inter candidatos praeturam principis suffragio adsequitur, cum hisce verbis Tiberius dedecus natalium eius velavisset: 'Curtius Rufus videtur mihi ex se natus.' longa post haec senecta, et adversus superiores tristi adulatione, adrogans minoribus, inter pares difficilis, consulare imperium, triumphi insignia ac postremo Africam obtinuit; atque ibi defunctus fatale praesagium implevit. | 6.46. This the emperor knew; and he hesitated therefore with regard to the succession â first between his grandchildren. of these, the issue of Drusus was the nearer to him in blood and by affection, but had not yet entered the years of puberty: the son of Germanicus possessed the vigour of early manhood, but also the affections of the multitude â and that, with his grandsire, was a ground of hatred. Even Claudius with his settled years and aspirations to culture came under consideration: the obstacle was his mental instability. Yet, if a successor were sought outside the imperial family, he dreaded that the memory of Augustus â the name of the Caesars â might be turned to derision and to contempt. For the care of Tiberius was not so much to enjoy popularity in the present as to court the approval of posterity. Soon, mentally irresolute, physically outworn, he left to fate a decision beyond his competence; though remarks escaped him which implied a foreknowledge of the future. For, with an allusion not difficult to read, he upbraided Macro with forsaking the setting and looking to the rising sun; and to Caligula, who in some casual conversation was deriding Lucius Sulla, he made the prophecy that he would have all the vices of Sulla with none of the Sullan virtues. At the same time, with a burst of tears, he embraced the younger of his grandsons; then, at the lowering looks of the other:â "Thou wilt slay him," he said, "and another thee." Yet, in defiance of his failing health, he relinquished no detail of his libertinism: he was striving to make endurance pass for strength; and he had always had a sneer for the arts of the physicians, and for men who, after thirty years of life, needed the counsel of a stranger in order to distinguish things salutary to their system from things deleterious. 11.21. As to the origin of Curtius Rufus, whom some have described as the son of a gladiator, I would not promulgate a falsehood and I am ashamed to investigate the truth. On reaching maturity, he joined the train of a quaestor to whom Africa had been allotted, and, in the town of Adrumetum, was loitering by himself in an arcade deserted during the mid-day heat, when a female form of superhuman size rose before him, and a voice was heard to say: "Thou, Rufus, art he that shall come into this province as proconsul." With such an omen to raise his hopes, he left for the capital, and, thanks to the bounty of his friends backed by his own energy of character, attained the quaestorship, followed â in spite of patrician competitors â by a praetorship due to the imperial recommendation; for Tiberius had covered the disgrace of his birth by the remark: "Curtius Rufus I regard as the creation of himself." Afterwards, long of life and sullenly cringing to his betters, arrogant to his inferiors, unaccommodating among his equals, he held consular office, the insignia of triumph, and finally Africa; and by dying there fulfilled the destiny foreshadowed. |
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4. Ammianus Marcellinus, History, 17.1.16, 17.9.4, 17.11.5, 19.12.9, 20.11.32, 21.1.8, 21.15.2, 21.16.21, 22.16.17, 23.5.5, 23.5.9, 25.3.6, 25.3.9, 25.3.19, 25.10.11-25.10.12, 27.5.10, 27.6.15, 28.4.22, 29.1.6, 29.1.16, 29.1.32-29.1.33, 29.1.41, 29.2.4-29.2.17, 29.2.20, 29.2.22, 30.5.15 (4th cent. CE - 4th cent. CE) Tagged with subjects: •fatum, and individuals Found in books: Davies (2004) 271, 279 | 17.9.4. Where are we being dragged, robbed of the hope of a better lot? We have long endured hardships of the bitterest kind to bear, in the midst of snows and the pinch of cruel frosts; but now (Oh shameful indignity!), when we are pressing on to the final destruction of the enemy it is by hunger, the most despicable form of death, that we are wasting away. 17.11.5. While these things were thus happening, at Rome Artemius, who held the office of vice-prefect, also succeeded Bassus, Junius Bassus died in 359; according to Prudentius, contra Symm. i. 559, he was the first of his family to become a Christian. who a short time after he had been promoted to be prefect of the city had died a natural death. His administration suffered from mutinous disturbances, but had no remarkable incident which is worth relating. 19.12.9. Among the first, then, to be summoned was Simplicius, son of Philippus, a former prefect and consul, who was indicted for the reason that he had (as was said) inquired about gaining imperial power; and by a note On elogium, see p. 31, note 3. of the emperor, who in such cases never condoned a fault or an error because of loyal service, he was ordered to be tortured; but, protected by some fate, he was banished to a stated place, According to Marcianus, Digest , xlviii. 22, 5, there were three kinds of exile; exclusion from certain places specifically named ( liberum exsilium ); confinement to a designated place ( lata fuga ); banishment to an island ( insulae vinculum ). but with a whole skin. 20.11.32. Therefore abandoning his fruitless attempt, he returned to Syria, purposing to winter in Antioch, having suffered severely and grievously; for the losses which the Persians had inflicted upon him were not slight but terrible and long to be lamented. For it had happened, as if some fateful constellation so controlled the several events, that when Constantius in person warred with the Persians, adverse fortune always attended him. Therefore he wished to conquer at least through his generals, which, as we recall, did sometimes happen. 21.1.8. The spirit pervading all the elements, seeing that they are eternal bodies, is always and everywhere strong in the power of prescience, and as the result of the knowledge which we acquire through varied studies makes us also sharers in the gifts of divina- tion; and the elemental powers, Demons, in the Greek sense of the word δαίμονες; of. xiv. 11, 25, substantialis tutela. when propitiated by divers rites, supply mortals with words of prophecy, as if from the veins of inexhaustible founts. These prophecies are said to be under the control of the divine Themis, so named because she reveals in advance decrees determined for the future by the law of the fates, which the Greeks call τεθειμένα; Things fixed and immutable. and therefore the ancient theologians gave her a share in the bed and throne of Jupiter, the life-giving power. 21.15.2. When autumn was already waning he began his march, and on coming to a suburban estate called Hippocephalus, distant three miles from the city, he saw in broad daylight on the right side of the road the corpse of a man with head torn off, lying stretched out towards the west. The omen seems to consist, in part at least, in the position of the body, stretched out towards the setting Terrified by the omen, although the fates were preparing his end, he kept on with the greater determination and arrived at Tarsus. There he was taken with a slight fever, but in the expectation of being able to throw off the danger of his illness by the motion of the journey he kept on over difficult roads to Mobsucrenae, the last station of Cilicia as you go from here, situated at the foot of Mount Taurus; but when he tried to start again on the following day, he was detained by the increasing severity of the disease. Gradually the extreme heat of the fever so inflamed his veins that his body could not even be touched, since it burned like a furnace; and when the application of remedies proved useless, as he breathed his last he lamented his end. However, while his mind was still unimpaired he is said to have designated Julian as the successor to the throne. 21.16.21. And as he sat in the carriage that bore the remains, samples of the soldiers’ rations ( probae, as they themselves call them) were presented to him, as they commonly are to emperors, The emperors took pains to see that the soldiers were well fed. Cf. Spartianus, Hadr. 11, 1; Lampridius, Alex. Sev. xv. 5. and the public courier-horses were shown to him, and the people thronged about him in the customary manner. These and similar things foretold imperial power for the said Jovianus, but of an empty and shadowy kind, since he was merely the director of a funeral procession. 22.16.17. And although very many writers flourished in early times as well as these whom I have mentioned, nevertheless not even to-day is learning of various kinds silent in that same city; for the teachers of the arts show signs of life, and the geometrical measuring-rod brings to light whatever is concealed, the stream of music is not yet wholly dried up among them, harmony is not reduced to silence, the consideration of the motion of the universe and of the stars is still kept warm with some, few though they be, and there are others who are skilled in numbers; and a few besides are versed in the knowledge which reveals the course of the fates. 23.5.5. But the emperor, disregarding his cautious counsellor, pushed confidently on, since no human power or virtue has ever been great enough to turn aside what the decrees of fate had ordained. Immediately upon crossing the bridge he ordered it to be destroyed, so that no soldier in his own army might entertain hope of a return. 23.5.9. And, in fact, we read of other ambiguous oracles, the meaning of which only the final results determined: as, for example, the truth of the Delphic prediction which declared that Croesus, after crossing the river Halys, would overthrow a mighty kingdom; This oracle is often quoted; see Hdt. i. 53, where the envoys announced to Croesus: ἢν στρατεύηται ἐπὶ πέρσας, μεγάλην ἀρχήν μιν καταλύσειν: Cic., Div. ii. 56, 115, Croesus Halyn penetrants magnam pervertet opum vim. and another which in veiled language designated the sea as the place for the Athenians to fight against the Medes; The oracle bade the Greeks defend themselves with wooden walls. In general, see Cic., Div. ii. 26, 56. and a later one than these, which was in fact true, but none the less ambiguous: Aeacus’ son, I say, the Roman people can conquer. Cf. Ennius, Ann. 174, Remains of Old Latin, L.C.L. , i. 25.3.6. Julian, careless of his own safety, shouting and raising his hands tried to make it clear to his men that the enemy had fled in disorder, and, to rouse them to a still more furious pursuit, rushed boldly into the fight. His guards, See Index II., vol. i, s.v. candidati ; cf. xv. 5, 16. who had scattered in their alarm, were crying to him from all sides to get clear of the mass of fugitives, as dangerous as the fall of a badly built roof, when suddenly—no one knows whence Libanius said that he was killed by some Christian in his own army, but some other writers agree with Ammianus. —a cavalryman’s spear grazed the skin of his arm, pierced his ribs, and lodged in the lower lobe of his liver. 25.3.9. But since Julian’s strength was not equal to his will, and he was weakened by great loss of blood, he lay still, having lost all hope for his life because, on inquiry, he learned that the place where he had fallen was called Phrygia. He had been told in a dream that he would die in Phrygia; see Zonaras, xiii. 13, A. For he had heard that it was fate’s decree that he should die there. 25.3.19. And I shall not be ashamed to admit, that I learned long ago through the words of a trustworthy prophecy, that I should perish by the sword. And therefore I thank the eternal power that I meet my end, not from secret plots, nor from the pain of a tedious illness, nor by the fate of a criminal, but that in the mid-career of glorious renown I have been found worthy of so noble a departure from this world. For he is justly regarded as equally weak and cowardly who desires to die when he ought not, or he who seeks to avoid death when his time has come. 25.10.11. When the emperor had entered Ancyra, after the necessary arrangements for his procession had been made, so far as the conditions allowed, he assumed the consulship, taking as his colleague in the office his son Varronianus, who was still a small child Previous emperors had had their sons or Caesars declared by the Senate to be of sufficient age for office. This is the first instance of the choice of a minor. ; and his crying and obstinate resistance to being carried, as usual, on the curule chair, were an omen of what presently occurred. 25.10.12. From here also the destined day for ending his life drove Jovian swiftly on. For when he had come to Dadastana, which forms the boundary between Bithynia and Galatia, he was found dead that night. As to his taking-off, many doubtful points have come up. 27.5.10. When this had been arranged and hostages received, Valens returned to Constantinople, where later Athanaricus, driven from his native land by a faction of his kinsmen, died a natural death and was buried after our fashion with splendid rites. See p. 32, note 1. 27.6.15. After this, all rose up to praise the elder and the younger emperor, and especially the boy, who was recommended by the fierier gleam of his eyes, the delightful charm of his face and his whole body, and the noble nature of his heart; these qualities would have completed an emperor fit to be compared with the choicest rulers of the olden time, had this been allowed by the fates and by his intimates, who, by evil actions, cast a cloud over his virtue, which was even then not firmly steadfast. 28.4.22. 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. 29.1.6. But when they came to a vigorous investigation of the deed, or the attempt, Palladius boldly cried out that those matters about which they were inquiring were trivial and negligible; that if he were allowed to speak, he would tell of other things more important and fearful, which had already been plotted with great preparations, and unless foresight were used would upset the whole state. And on being bidden to tell freely what he knew, he uncoiled an endless cable of crimes, Cf. Cic., De Div. i. 56, 127, est quasi rudentis explicatio. declaring that the ex-governor Fidustius, and Pergamius, with Irenaeus, by detestable arts of divination, had secretly learned the name of the man who was to succeed Valens. 29.1.16. For when he was quietly sleeping after midday in a wooded spot between Antioch and Seleucia, he was attacked by Sallustius, then one of the targeteers; but although at other times many men often eagerly made plots against his life, he escaped them all, since the limits of life assigned him at his very birth curbed these monstrous attempts. 29.1.32. When we then and there inquired, what man will succeed the present emperor ?, since it was said that he would be perfect in every particular, and the ring leaped forward and lightly touched the two syllables θεο, adding the next letter, of the name, i.e. δ. The prediction would apply equally well to Theodosius, who actually succeeded Valens. then one of those present cried out that by the decision of inevitable fate Theodorus was meant. And there was no further investigation of the matter; for it was agreed among us that he was the man who was sought. 29.1.33. And when Hilarius had laid the knowledge of the whole matter so clearly before the eyes of the judges, he kindly added that Theodorus was completely ignorant of what was done. After this, being asked whether they had, from belief in the oracles which they practised, known beforehand what they were now suffering, they uttered those familiar verses which clearly announced that this work of inquiring into the superhuman would soon be fatal to them, but that nevertheless the Furies, breathing out death and fire, threatened also the emperor himself and his judges. of these verses it will suffice to quote the last three: Avenged will be your blood. Against them too Tisiphonê’s deep wrath arms evil fate, While Ares rages on the plain of Mimas. When these verses had been read, both were terribly torn by the hooks of the torturers and taken away senseless. 29.1.41. Then, innumerable writings and many heaps of volumes were hauled out from various houses and under the eyes of the judges were burned in heaps as being unlawful, to allay the indignation at the executions, although the greater number were treatises on the liberal arts and on jurisprudence. 29.2.4. As a result, throughout the oriental provinces owners of books, through fear of a like fate, burned their entire libraries; so great was the terror that had seized upon all. Cf. also Zos. iv. 14. In this way Valens greatly diminished our knowledge of the ancient writers, in particular of the philosophers. Indeed, to speak briefly, at that time we all crept about as if in Cimmerian darkness, See xxviii. 4, 18, note. feeling the same fears as the guests of the Sicilian Dionysius, who, while filled to repletion with banquets more terrible than any possible hunger, saw with a shudder the swords hanging over their heads from the ceilings of the rooms in which they reclined and held only by single horsehairs. Cf. Cic., Tusc. Disp. v. 21, 61 f. 29.2.5. At that time Bassianus also, one of a most illustrious family and serving as a secretary of the first class, See Index II, Vol. I, s.v. notarii. was accused of trying to gain foreknowledge of higher power, although he himself declared that he had merely inquired about the sex of a child which his wife expected; but by the urgent efforts of the kinsfolk by whom he was defended, he was saved from death; but he was stripped of his rich patrimony. 29.2.6. Amid the crash of so many ruins Heliodorus, that hellish contriver with Palladius of all evils, being a mathematician I.e., an astrologer, a caster of nativities. (in the parlance of the vulgar) and pledged by secret instructions from the imperial court, after he had been cajoled by every enticement of kindness to induce him to reveal what he knew or could invent, now put forth his deadly stings. 29.2.7. For he was most solicitously pampered with the choicest foods, and earned a great amount of contributed money for presents to his concubines; and so he strode about anywhere and everywhere, displaying his grim face, which struck fear into all. And his assurance was the greater because, in his capacity as chamberlain, he constantly and openly visited the women’s apartments, to which, as he himself desired, he freely resorted, displaying the warrants See xiv. 5, 5, note 3. of the Father of his People, Ironical, for the emperor. which were to be a cause of grief to many. 29.2.8. And through these warrants Heliodorus instructed Palladius (as though he were an advocate in public law-suits) what to put at the beginning of his speech, in order the more easily to make it effective and strong, or with which figures of rhetoric he ought to aim at brilliant passages. Text and exact meaning are uncertain. It is not clear what the subject of praemonebat is. G reads Valens for et valere and praemonebatur. 29.2.9. And since it would be a long story to tell all this gallows-bird The word may mean one who crucifies or one who deserves to be crucified —hence hangman or gallows-bird. The latter seems preferable. contrived, I will recount this one case, showing with what audacious confidence he smote the very pillars of the patriciate. For made enormously insolent by secret conferences with people of the court, as has been said, and through his very worthlessness easy to be hired to commit any and every crime, he accused that admirable pair of consuls, the two brothers Eusebius and Hypatius See xviii. 1, 1; xxi. 6, 4; they were consuls in 359. Constantius married their sister Eusebia. (connections by marriage of the late emperor Constantius) of having aspired to a desire for a higher fortune, and of having made inquiries and formed plans about the sovereignty; and he added to the path That is, the path which he alleged that they had made for carrying out their designs. which he had falsely devised for his fabrication that royal robes had even been made ready for Eusebius. 29.2.10. Eagerly drinking this in, the menacing madman, Valens. to whom nothing ought to have been permitted, since he thought that everything, even what was unjust, was allowed him, Cf. Seneca, De Ira , iii. 12, 7, nihil tibi liceat, dum irasceris. Quare? Quia vis omnia licere ; and Consol. ad Polybium , 7, 2. inexorably summoned from the farthest boundaries of the empire all those whom the accuser, exempt from the laws, with profound assurance had insisted ought to be brought before him, and ordered a calumnious trial to be set on foot. 29.2.11. And when in much-knotted bonds of constriction justice had long been trodden down and tied tightly, and the wretched scoundrel persisted in his strings of assertions, severe tortures could force no confession, but showed that these distinguished men were far removed even from any knowledge of anything of the kind. Nevertheless, the calumniator was as highly honoured as before, while the accused were punished with exile and with fines; but shortly afterwards they were recalled, had their fines remitted, and were restored to their former rank and honour unimpaired. 29.2.12. Yet after these so lamentable events Valens acted with no more restraint or shame; since excessive power does not reflect that it is unworthy for men of right principles, even to the disadvantage of their enemies, willingly to plunge into crime, and that nothing is so ugly as for a cruel nature to be joined to lofty pride of power. Cf. Cic., Ad Quint. Frat. i. 1, 13, 37, nihil est tam deformed quam ad summum imperium etiam acerbitatem naturae adiungere. 29.2.13. But when Heliodorus died (whether naturally or through some deliberate violence Doubtless through his enemies, who were numerous. Hypatius and Eusebius; see 2, 9, above. is uncertain; I would rather not say too late : I only wish that even the facts did not speak to that effect!) his body was carried out by the undertakers, and many men of rank, clad in mourning, were ordered to precede it, including the brothers who had been consuls. I.e., of subjecting men of rank to such an indignity. 29.2.14. Thereby the entire rottenness of the folly of the empire’s ruler was then completely revealed; for although he was earnestly besought to refrain from this inexcusable insult, Cf. xxvii. 11, 6. yet he remained so inflexible that he seemed to have stopped his ears with wax, Cf. xxviii. 1, 12. as if he were going to pass the rocks of the Sirens. 29.2.15. At last, however, he yielded to insistent prayers, and ordered that some persons should precede the ill-omened bier of the body-snatcher Cf. Suet., Aug. 100, 4. to the tomb, marching with bare heads and feet, A sign of mourning; cf. Apul., Metam. iii. 1. some also with folded hands. Cf. xxviii. 1, 15. My mind shrinks from recalling, during that suspension of justice, Cf. mundanum fulgorem, xiv. 6, 3. how many men of the highest rank, especially exconsuls, after having carried the staves of honour and worn purple robes, and having their names made known to all the world 10 in the Roman calendar, were seen exposed to humiliation. 29.2.16. Conspicuous among all of these was our Hypatius, a man recommended from his youth by noble virtues, of quiet and calm discretion, and of a nobility and gentleness measured as it were by the plumb-line; See xiv. 8, 11, note 2; xxi. 16, 3, note 4. he conferred honour on the fame of his ancestors Cf. C.I.L. i. part 2, ed. 2, 15 (epitaph of Scipio Hispanus), virtutes generis mieis mribus accumulavi. and himself gave glory to posterity by the admirable acts of his two prefectures. At a later time; Flavius Hypatius was prefect of Rome in 397, praetorian prefect in 382 and 383. 29.2.17. At the time Valens added this also to the rest of his glories, that while in other instances he was so savagely cruel as to grieve that the great pain of his punishments could not continue after death, ferret . . . dolores , hexameter rhythm. yet he spared the tribune Numerius, a man of surpassing wickedness! This man was convicted at that same time on his own confession of having dared to cut open the womb of a living woman and take out her unripe offspring, in order to evoke the ghosts of the dead and consult them about a change of rulers; yet Valens, who looked on him with the eye of an intimate friend, in spite of the murmurs of the whole Senate gave orders that he should escape unpunished, and retain his life, his enviable wealth, and his military rank unimpaired. 29.2.20. After these various deeds of injustice which have already been mentioned, and the marks of torture shamefully branded upon the bodies of such free men as bad survived, the never-closing eye of Justice, the eternal witness and avenger of all things, was watchfully attentive. For the last curses of the murdered, moving the eternal godhead through the just ground of their complaints, had kindled the firebrands of Bellona; so that the truth of the oracle was confirmed, which had predicted that no crimes would go unpunished. 29.2.22. A certain Festinus of Tridentum, a man of the lowest and most obscure parentage, was admitted by Maximinus Cf. xxviii. 1, 5 ff. even into the ties of affection which true brothers show, for he had been his boon companion and with him had assumed the manly gown. By decree of the fates this man passed over to the Orient, and there in the administration of Syria, and after serving as master of the rolls, Cf. xv. 5, 4, note 3. he left behind him praiseworthy examples of mildness and of respect for law; and when later he was advanced to the governorship of Asia with proconsular authority, he sailed to glory with a fair wind, as the saying is. 30.5.15. Therefore, setting this I.e., selecting winter quarters. aside for a time, in spite of the great need for a halt, That is, the need of rest for his soldiers. 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. Szoeny near Comorn. There the fate which had long been designed to end the emperor’s labours foretold his approaching end by a repeated series of portents. |
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